A bird is walking on the grass. There are clouds in the sky. The sun is shining.
The University Daily Kansan
Weather
Today: Partly cloudy, with a high of 39 and a low of 21 Tomorrow: Partly cloudy, with a high of 29 and a low of 18
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Thursday, January 18, 2001
Sports: The Jayhawks blasted Nebraska by 22 points last night in Allen Fieldhouse.
See page 6A
Inside: Several Lawrence bars designate certain nights for alternative lifestyles.
SEE PAGE 1B
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 72 For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Merit scholar enrollment up
By Cassio Furtado
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The University of Kansas rose from ninth to eighth place among public universities in enrolling National Merit Scholars.
The ranking, which was made available to the University two weeks ago, is based on this year's fall enrollment, when the University enrolled 116 incoming merit scholars. This year's total surpasses the 101 incoming merit scholars who enrolled during the 1999-2000 academic year.
"This ranking strongly demonstrates the strength of the University and how much it offers to students from Kansas and across the country," Chancellor Robert
Hemenway said in a prepared statement.
The University has enrolled more merit scholars than all other public universities in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska combined. It also had the largest increase in merit scholar enrollment of all Midwestern universities.
Kathleen-McCluskey Fawcett, associate provost, said the ranking gave the University nationwide recognition.
"We are attracting the best students in Kansas and around the country," she said.
Alan Cerveny, director of admissions, said the rankings would have a positive effect on recruiting.
"This is evidence that merit scholars are choosing KU over other universities," he said.
Cerveny also emphasized that although
schools like the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin had the top two rankings, California and Texas had more merit scholars because they had a larger population.
This year, Kansas had 166 students designated as merit scholars, but some states had as many as 1,600 designated merit scholars, he said.
Fewer than 10,000 students, or 1 percent of graduating high school seniors, receive the designation nationwide out of the 1.2 million who compete annually.
Merit scholars are selected based on their PSAT scores, academic record, extracurricular activities, recommendations and essays.
A total of 3.496 merit scholars are
1. University of California at Berkeley 245
2. University of Texas at Austin 245
3. University of Florida 166
4. Texas A&M 142
5. University of North Carolina 137
6. University of Oklahoma 132
7. Arizona State University 119
8. University of Kansas 116
9. Iowa State University 113
10. Ohio State University 110
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
enrolled in 148 public universities this academic year.
Edited by Jacob Beddy.
Company plans to offer phone, cable, Internet
By Erin Adamson
writer @kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
If all goes according to plan, students will have a new telecommunications service at the end of the summer.
At Tuesday night's City Commission meeting, commissioners voted to draft a franchise agreement which would bring WorldNet LLC one step closer to completing its project that uses fiber-optic cables from Sunflower Cablevision to provide phone, cable and Internet services. WorldNet LLC is primarily owned by The World Company, which publishes The Laurence Journal-World.
Patrick Knorr, general manager of Sunflower Cablevision, said he hoped that the service would begin for some customers in late summer.
"We still have a lot of regulation hurdles to jump through," he said.
One remaining obstacle is a partnership with Southwestern Bell, which provides telephone service in Lawrence.
Knorr said opposed to a regular phone line, the broadband service that WorldNet would provide would be a high capacity cable line that would allow simultaneous TV, voice and Internet communication. He said Sunflower Cablevision would offer services similar to Southwestern Bell, such as three-way calls, caller ID and voice mail. He said the company would offer those services at a discounted rate.
NEW DEAL
What happened: The Lawrence City Commission drafted an agreement to allow WorldNet LLC to deliver telephone, Internet and cable television service through Sunflower Cablevision fiber-optic lines.
What it means: The deal could allow students living off-campus to receive all three services through one high-bandwidth connection and pay for them with one bill. The monthly charge for service has not yet been announced.
What's next:
WorldNet hopes to begin service this summer.
Anne-Wesley
Roberts, Washington, D.C. senior, said the service would be an improvement on current phone service in Lawrence.
"I would be interested in this kind of service," she said. "You could be talking on the phone, checking your e-mail and watching TV all at the same time."
Courtney Crouch, Wichita junior, said she thought the service would be especially important to students.
"I would definitely be interested," she said.
"My roommates and I always have to use the Internet when someone is using the phone."
"It's very difficult living with lots of people who all use the phone," she said. "It's hard for students who need the phone or the Internet to do homework."
Roberts agreed that living with roommates is hard with only one phone line.
One advantage to the customer, Knorr sald, would be that bills for cable, phone and Internet service could be bundled into one.
He also said that WorldNet still needed to make some minor upgrades to its system, which it planned to have completed in the next 60 days.
Sunflower Cablevision added fiber-optic lines in 1999, and in 2000 completely overhauled it's cable system to provide this service, Knorr said.
Abandoned house burns
Edited by Brandy Straw
A firefighters at 1030 New York St. works diligently to extinguish a fire prolonged by a second story full of mattresses and magazines. A neighbor called the firefighters at about 11 a.m. yesterday. Photo by Melissa Carr/KANSAN
Mattresses, stored items smolder, keep fire ablaze
Firefighters responded to a 911 call made by a neighbor who saw smoke billowing out of a crawl space beneath the house and the back of the house, located at 1030 New York St.
A fire broke out in an abandoned two-story house yesterday and caused major damage to the interior of the house, fire officials said.
Fire Chief Jerry Clark said the house was filled from floor to ceiling
with old furniture, magazines and other storage items. At least seven mattresses were piled up in front of an upstairs front window, partially blocking the window.
Clark said the items stored in the house smoldered and made it difficult for the firefighters to control the fire. Firefighters had to cut ventilation holes in the roof to get to the fire on the second floor.
Clark confirmed that the house
was vacant.
Neighbor Kim Hatch watched the billowing smoke and flames from across the street.
"I've lived here for five years and I've never seen anybody go in," she said.
Damages were estimated at $50,000:
No firefighters were injured.
By Erin Adamson
Study abroad director fired unexpectedly
By Michelle Ward
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Margareta O'Connell is reeling from the past week's events, which culminated in the loss of her job.
The University of Kansas study abroad director returned from a trip to Cuba, where she was coordinating a new program, and found that her department was no longer hers.
O'Connell was told of a rebuilding process in study abroad — one that she would not be part of.
"They told me they were reorganizing," she said. "There would be no room for me. I was told. When things like this happen, it always takes a while to sink in."
Diana Carlin, dean of international programs, publicly announced the removal of O'Connell on Tuesday. She declined to comment on the specifics, citing that it was a personnel issue. She offered O'Connell an assistant-to-the-dean position in the Office of International Programs.
Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco will become the interim director of study abroad after serving as the assistant to the provost since 1996.
Maureen Gillespie, an assistant professor of French, worked with O'Connell during the last few years. The women planned two overseas trips that Gillespie directed. She said she was surprised by the news of O'Connell's dismissal.
"She has had six years of experience in the Office of International Programs," Carlin said of Gronbeck-Tedesco. "She has worked in a variety of positions at the University. She knows how the University operates and the faculty. A lot of her organizational skills will be important in developing new programs and expanding on existing ones."
"I am very sorry to hear the news," Gillespie said. "I thought she actively encouraged both students and faculty to travel abroad. I felt the visibility of the programs increased under her tenure."
O'Connell led the study abroad program for more than four years. During her tenure, she helped create the program's Web site along with a database cataloging the last four decades of KU students who travelled internationally. Her office added at least 20 more short-term programs during summers and winters and an additional 20 full-length exchange programs.
"I know what I have accomplished at that office," she said. "I am very proud of the quality and well-roundness of the program. I am leaving with my head held high and with my dignity."
Nick Crews, Tulsa senior, first traveled to Scotland through study abroad and then came back to work in the office. He wanted to help other students achieve the same experience he had through the program.
He said that he didn't know much about the situation but that O'Connell's departure was unexpected.
"I thought she was a nice lady," he said. "I thought she did a good job of helping people that didn't have a large student network supporting them. The people that only had one or two people traveling with them."
O'Connell isn't sure what the future has in store for her. She said she didn't know whether she would accept the job in the Office of International Programs or begin looking for something else.
"Whenever one door closes, another one opens," she said. "I am staying optimistic."
— Edited by Melinda Weaver
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