Rainy day.
Today: Mixed rain and snow with a high of 41 and a low
The University Daily Kansan
Tomorrow: Foggy with a high of 41 and a low of 23.
Today: Partly cloudy with a high of 48 and a low of 32.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Friday. December 1, 2000
Sports: The Kansas men's basketball team defeated Illinois State 80-61 last night at Allen Fieldhouse. See page 1B
LKU
For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
See page 1B
Inside: KU students criticize a professor's study about race. SEE PAGE 3A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL.111 NO.62
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Students will receive grades via mail, e-mail
By Jennifer Valadez writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Student and faculty feedback revealed concerns of security and legal issues surrounding electronic distribution of students' grades, but administrators are confident in the plan.
However, Marla Herron, assistant registrar, said that the University decided Wednesday that all students would also receive hard copies by U.S. mail because the e-mail plan was still in its developing stages.
"Everything is just the same, everybody will get their grades by paper this semester." she said.
Associate Provost Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett sent an e-mail to KU faculty stating that students' fall grades would be sent by e-mail to speed up delivery and save money.
"Once the letter went out to faculty, we received a couple of letters from faculty and about 10 from students questioning security," said Bob Turvey, associate registrar.
McCluskey-Fawcett could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Turvey said that the University realized the concerns surrounding the issue, and said the University had taken a careful approach to security when deciding to send students their final fall grades by e-mail.
"We determined that e-mail is reliable and safe in the system that we have," he said.
As far as the legality of sending grades via e-mail, Turvey said that the federal government had not decided whether or not e-mailing grades was safe.
"It's a matter of judgment," he said.
"A couple of comments had been made by TAs saying they had been advised that it was illegal, and I don't believe that's accurate."
What is illegal, however, is posting students' grades by KUID numbers. This is constituted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which provides privacy rights to educational institutions and students.
Only the University exchange e-mail system will be used, so only students who have accounts will receive their grades via e-mail. Because there is more confidence in the security of the system, students who have non-University accounts will not be e-mailed their grades.
However, Herron said that teachers could e-mail grades to students who wanted their grades sent to a non-KU account as long as those students understood there was a possibility that their grades could be accessed.
"Anytime we're dealing with confidential student information, we have to be careful and follow FERPA guidelines," she said. "As long as a student understands that e-mail might not be secure, if students are aware of that risk, it would be fine."
Herron said grades could be mailed as late as Tuesday, Jan. 2 because of the holidays and abundance of mail being sent during the holiday season.
A police officer stands guard with a shot gun as employees flee First Bank, 900 Massachusetts St., after a gunman, 57-year-old Paul David Lee, attempted to rob it. He eventually turned himself into police. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
Man attempts to rob Firstar bank
— Edited by Kate McCarty
Paul David Lee, in sunglasses, is taken into custody. The 57 year-old Lawrence resident was charged with counts of aggravated robbery, criminal threat and kidnapping. Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Employee taken hostage in building; no injuries reported
By Lauren Brandenburg*
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
An armed robbery attempt turned into a hostage situation at 12:30 p.m. yesterday at Firstar Bank, 900 Massachusetts St.
Seven police entered the bank with guns about an hour later, and the man voluntarily surrendered. Lawrence Police Sgt. Mike Patrickk said police had negotiated with the man on the phone. He did not harm the hostage.
Paul David Lee, a 57-year-old Lawrence resident, was booked into the Douglas County Jail on felony charges of aggravated robbery, criminal threat and kidnapping.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now involved with the investigation.
Jeff Lanza, FBI special agent, said that federal charges were expected against the man today.
Pattrick said 20 to 25 employees and one patron were in the bank when a white male in his 50s entered the bank with a BB gun that looked like a handgun and asked for money.
Police responded to the call immediately, securing the area, removing people from the area and keeping traffic out of the area. The KU Public Safety Office
and Douglas County Sheriff's Office also responded.
The man took a male bank employee hostage, and the patron and the rest of the employees left unharmed, Patrick said. There were unconfirmed reports that the hostage was the president of the bank.
The suspect did not have a bomb as police were initially told. Pattrick said.
Garth Terlizzi, a man who works at LPL Financial Services on the third floor of the Firstar building, said he had no idea what was going on when police came to turn off lights and barricade his door.
"We didn't know the extent of what was going on," he said. "All we could see was out the win
See ATTEMPTED on page 5A
Student senators won't have to meet with constituents
Bill requiring Senate involvement fails
By Kursten Phelps
by KURTEN PHLEPS
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Justin Mills, Lansing senior and holdover student senator, left Wednesday's Student Senate meeting disappointed with his colleagues.
Senate rejected a bill he co-sponsored that would have required senators to attend a meeting of an organization relevant to their constituents at least once a month.
Senators are required to attend only Senate and Senate committee meetings and to serve one office hour a week.
"I think that it would have made a large
REJECTED SENATE BILL
What happened: Senate voted against a bill that would have required senators to attend a meeting of an organization relevant to their constituencies once a month.
What it means: Senators will continue to be required to attend Senate and Senate committee meetings and serve one office hour a week.
What's next: Justin Mills, holdover senator and co-sponsor of the bill, said he would revamp the bill and introduce it again next semester.
impact because it would allow senators to basically go out and advertise for Senate," Mills said. "It would show students we want to listen to what they have to say. That's what Student Senate and representation are all about. That is what we are supposed to do." Dallas Bakestraw, Wichita edupharm and Nunemaker senator, said that the bill had good intentions, but it would be difficult to enforce.
ing liars," he said. "I can call in and tell a friend to sign in for me for office hours or lie about attending a meeting and not get counted absent. Then someone who's just as good of a senator as I am misses and doesn't call in gets punished. It's an issue of enforcement."
"It seemed to me that this would be promot-
Mills said fair enforcement of the proposal shouldn't have been an issue.
"It has a lot to do with the executive staff," he said. "I would hope the person in charge would pick people that are impartial. I guess that's just the faith I have in people, and I guess others don't have that faith that we would pick people who are competent. If you're impartial and do your job well, there shouldn't be a problem."
Rakestraw said better representation was needed, but that existing Senate outreach efforts should be improved first.
"I think this semester the outreach effort has been fantastic," he said. "What senators should do right now is put more energy into outreach. Instead of requiring it in a bill, we should be thinking about how to better promote the outreach we're already doing."
Mills agreed that outreach efforts had improved, but said that the bill requiring senators to have better contact with their constituents was an appropriate next step.
"Even when we do outreach, we only meet so many people when we sit in a booth in front of Wescow or in the Union," he said. "If we really want outreach to happen, we have to be proactive and not just stand behind a table."
Mills said that although the bill failed Wednesday night, reworking the legislation and introducing it again when Senate reconvenes next semester would be a priority.
"Next semester I really do hope that people look into why they want to be a student senator," he said. "We'll go back and revamp it and see what we can fix because the goal of it is good. If it still doesn't pass, that proves Student Senate doesn't really do much, and people are still basically lazy."
Edited by Warisa Chulindira
Construction of waterline will reroute traffic on campus
By Rob Pazell
By Rob Pazzell
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Lawrence Public Works will continue construction of a waterline this weekend that will close a main access road from campus — rerouting traffic and delaying KU on Wheels buses — for about two weeks.
Westbound traffic on Crescent Road will be closed from the Chi Omega Fountain to Naismith Drive in front of Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road, and the Chi Omega Sorority House so public works can link up a waterline from Crescent Road into a line by the sorority house.
John Mullens, assistant director of security at the KU Public Safety Office, said the construction
would begin during the weekend, when campus wasn't as busy. Detour signs will be posted before Monday.
Mullens said the public safety office hoped the construction wouldn't last more than two weeks.
He said that vehicles traveling westbound on Crescent would be detoured northbound on West Campus Road. Vehicles will be able to turn left onto University Drive and then left again on Nalsmith, where they can go south past Jayhawk Bookstore.
Dave Osborne, project inspector for City of Lawrence Utilities, said the city would be replacing an eight-inch cast iron water main, installed in 1984, with a new 12-inch plastic water main. The main runs from Spencer Art Museum to West Campus.
He also said that, weather-permitting, the new line would be finished in two months.
Osborne said the pipe was being upgraded because of its age and the poor water quality created by rust in the pipes.
The construction is expected to cause delays for KU on Wheels bus routes. Holly Krebs, coordinator of KU on Wheels, said that buses going east on Crescent Road from campus would follow the detour and that students should expect delays of five to 10 minutes.
Jenessa Hartman, Hays sophomore, said that closing the road would cause a lot of problems and that the city should wait until January when school wasn't in session.
— Edited by Sharon Mitchinson