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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Thursday. February 15, 2001
Sports: Kansas women's basketball team lost to No.14 Texas Tech 49-45.
See page 6A
Inside: Love Zone in the Kansas Union yesterday offered Valentine's Day activities.
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 92
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
See page 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Universities unite, lobby State Capitol for funding
By Brooke Hesler
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Students from all six Kansas Regents schools showed a united front yesterday at the State Capitol in Topeka as they lobbied for issues concerning higher education — particularly the two-for-one technology fee, which was eliminated in Governor Bill Graves' budget proposal.
"This is a great gesture of cooperation," said Ben Walker, student body president. "I think that these are all issues that unite
Matt Wolters,
Kansas State
University junior
and governmental
relations director,
agreed with Walker.
"It really gives us a lot more validity by having all of the schools here," he said.
Approximately 75 students from the schools — the University of
Walker: said the technology fee issue united schools
Kansas, Kansas State, Wichita State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State universities — spoke to Kansas senators and representatives about budget cuts that affected the schools.
For the last three years, students have paid $1 per credit hour for the technology fee. The state doubled that, paying $2 per credit hour. Graves' budget proposal didn't include continuation of the fee. Yesterday, students told state senators and representatives what they thought about the fee.
"We're not here asking for new spending," said Aravind Muthukrishan, liberal arts and sciences senator. "We're just trying to keep what we already got."
Oleen said with a tight budget year, it was difficult to know where the money for the programs would come from.
"It was a three-year program to be looked at with the possibility of an increase, not elimination," she said. "There are some holes in the budget, and the governor is aware of that."
"It's a question of what hat you're pulling something out of," she said. "You're talking to the choir when you're talking to me about the fee. I'm all for it."
Jessica Bankston, Student Legislative Awareness Board director, said she was encouraged by Oleen's comments. She also said the group had received positive feedback from senators and representatives.
Walker said it was too soon to make any predictions whether the state would continue its end of the technology fee.
"I'm a little ambivalent about how people are all dealing with a difficult budget year," he said. "It's very difficult to find the money to fund these programs. A lot of state agencies are hurting."
Bankston said Student Senate was in the process of organizing a letter-writing campaign. She said the Senate Web site would contain a link where students send e-mails to their state senators and representatives.
Board of Education
— Edited by Jason McKee
Evolution returns to Kansas schools
By Cassio Furtado
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
TOPEKA — The Kansas State Board of Education restored evolution to the state's public school curriculum yesterday in 7.3 vote.
The vote marks the end of a controversy started in August 1999, when macroevolution, which says man descended from earlier species, was deleted from the
state's science curriculum in a 6-4 vote.
References to microevolution, or change
within species, were left intact at the time. "It's a great day for Kansas. It's a great day for science," said Lee Allison, director of the Kansas Geological Survey.
Sue Gamble, a Republican board member from Shawnee, said she was happy with the board's decision.
"They provide a document from which local boards can develop a high-quality curriculum." she said.
Tairl Witmer, vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, said he was pleased by the board's decision to reinstitute mainstream science standards in Kansas.
"But it's not the end of it," he said. "The opposition to evolution will gather and try again."
In August 1999, some said the removal of
macroevolution from the state schools' curriculum was driven by religious motives.
Tim Miller, chairman of religious studies, said religion and science shouldn't be mixed.
"You ought to teach religion as religion and science as science," Miller said. "Don't teach religion in a science class and call it science."
Joe Nash, Olathe senior, said he had mixed feelings about the vote.
"There's evidence that supports evolution, but there's also evidence that does not support it," he said. "Both are theories."
See KANSAS on page 3A
EVOLUTION RESTORED
**What it means:** The board's move to remove the standards in August 1999 drew national attention. The decision to bring back evolution standards came after two board members lost re-election bids last fall to newcomers who supported teaching evolution as a scientific theory.
What happened? The Kansas State Board of Education voted 7-3 to restore the theory of biological evolution to state science curriculum.
In deep thought
What's next: Evolution will be reinstated into science classes at all levels of education throughout the state.
LTC. Eddie Dillon from Trenadad in Tabago, left, and LTC. Coias-Ferreria from Portugal listen to officers answer questions about media relations in their home countries. Officers representing more than 90 countries met yesterday in the Kansas Union to learn how to improve media relations and internal military communication with the public. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
Senate suspends two funding clauses
Rv Bronke Hasler
Kansan staff writer
Certain clauses in the Student Senate rules and regulations could be unconstitutional, Marlon Marshall, student body vice president, told student senators last night.
Two clauses were called into question. One clause stated that Senate could not allocate money to groups whose primary function was the promotion of any religion or religious philosophy. The second clause stated that funds could not be used for partisan activities.
money couldn't be allocated to religious organizations last night and allocated $877 to the Society for Open-Minded Agnostics and Atheists. Marshall recommended the clause stay suspended until it was revised. He said reinstating it could cause problems.
Marshall said he had consulted the University General Counsel, who told him the clauses couldn't hold up under scrutiny because they discriminated on the basis of expressed beliefs.
Senate suspended the clause stating that
Peter Brabant, SOMA president, said he took offense to the organization being categorized as a religious organization.
SOMA is not registered as a religious organization with the office of Organizations and Leadership.
"If you understand light and dark, dark is the absence of light," the Lawrence senior said.
Marshall suggested that Senate consult Legal Services for Students and make some changes to the clauses.
The regulation will stay suspended until a two-thirds majority of Senate votes to reinstate it.
SENATE RULING
What happened: Senate suspended a possibly unconstitutional clause in its rules and regulations and allocated money to the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Aamostics.
- What it means: Pending legal advice, Senate could grant money to religious and partisan organizations in the future.
What's next: Marion Marshall, student body vice president, suggested that Senate consult with Legal Services for Students.
Also last night, a bill which would require senators to meet with their constituency at least three times per semester was sent back to Senate committees.
Marshall said the Student Senate Executive Committee thought there were too many changes made between the time the committees approved the bill last week to the time when full Senate was set to vote on the bill last night.
In other business, Senate:
Passed a bill allocating $10,840 to the Student Lecture Series Board for a guest speaker. Ralph Nader, Rubin Carter, Dave Barry and Bernard Shaw are possible speakers.
Passed a bill allocating $5,278 to the First Nations Student Association for the American Indian Big 12 Conference and the 2001 KU Powwow.
Passed a bill to increase the student health fee to $6 per semester.
— Edited by Jason McKee
KU author's book about bees wins national publishers' award
By Lauren Brandenbura
Kansan staff writer
A book about bees by Charles Michener, a distinguished professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, recently won the 2000 Association of American Publishers R.R. Hawkins Award, which is awarded to the book's publisher.
The award is like the Emmy of the publishing industry, said James Jordan, director of the John Hopkins Press.
Michener wrote the book, The Bees of the World, because of his interest in bees that started when he was in high school and the graduate thesis he did many years ago, he said.
He is a curator emeritus of insects for the KU Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center. He worked on the book full time after he retired from the University of Kansas in 1989. He starting working at the University in 1948.
Some of Michener's colleagues joked about him finally completing his graduate thesis with the work. However, Deborah Smith, associate professor of entomology, said she could not think of a person who had tackled such a large scope of species.
"I can't think of another systematic work that's similar that has this kind of scope," she said.
Michener still helps advise a graduate student, Molly Rightmyer, who said Michener was one of the reasons she
chose the University for her graduate studies.
"Before I came here I heard about him all the time," she said. "He's kind of like the master of bees, at least for this country."
Rightmyer called the book fantastic and said having all the information in one volume helped her in her studies.
"It's so great to have the keys to them," she said. "It's the first time I can go to one source and identify the gena of any bee of any area."
The book, though, is not one someone would sit down and read, Michener said, because it's highly technical. He wrote a book before this one about bees' social behavior but said he did not plan to write another book.
Most of this book is an account of nearly 20,000 kinds of bees that exist, he said.
"It's not all something I did or any one person can do." Michener said. "It's my experience and the work of others around the world."
He said he consulted about 2,500 references in writing the book.
Michener said that he was pleased about the award but that it primarily honored the publisher.
"It is, you know, an award for the book for the press," he said. "It's not exactly an award to the author."
The book's dedication reads, "To my students, now scattered all over the world, from whom I have learned much and to my family, who lovingly tolerate an obsession with bees."
— Edited by Melinda Weaver
Charles Michener,
distinguished profes-
sor emeritus of ecology and evi-
vationary biology,
consulted about
2,500 references
for his book, an
account of nearly
20,000 bees that
exist. Contributed
art
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