Classified emploves sav pav is root of discontent
BvJOYCE HADLEY
Staff Writer
Last month state classified employees at the University of Kansas won a race for recognition. But, in many ways, for many employees, that race is far from over.
The Kansas Legislature passed a bill providing for a cost of living increase of 3 per cent or $2 a month, whichever is smaller, to all classified Civil Service employees. The increase in the cost of an original provision for a 2.5 per cent increase.
The new increase is in addition to merit, "step"
increases most classified employees automatically
to merit.
Despite the amended increase, some classified employees at the University of Kansas say morale is lower.
"THE CIVIL SERVICE people get a raw deal sometimes here at the University," Jane Gates, a Clerk-IV in the Financial Aid Office, said. "Everything that happens comes from Topeka. We might have unique problems here that they might not have in Topeka and nobodv's listening."
Lydia Jones, a custodian in Wescoe Hall, was
discontented with the amount of the increases classified employees receive.
"I feel like if there's just one person in the family working they don't make enough to make ends meet."
Harold Elkington, a custodial foreman, said, "We don't get near the raise as the higher income people. Groceries are just as high for us as they are for other people."
many classified employees' complaints seemed to stem from problems with the Civil Service system, a scale of rigid pay steps. A through F, that provide a per cent merit increase with each step up. An employee usually move one step every six months to a year.
THE 1,640 LAWRENCE campus classified employees, as well as the 1,500 at the KU Medical Center, are governed by a set of general specifications for each job classification. The system is based on the three categories: limit level, level F, that increases ultimately reaches when either merit or "step" increases should end.
"It's just like having professors with tenure not get anything," Wayne Spellman, director of Personnel
Transactions and Records, "if they had this for classified and unclassified both, there would be a lot
Administrators, professors and teaching assistants are unclassified employees.
James Feldenstein, director of personnel at KU, said that the faculty were probably a chance to get publicity.
"THE TRUTH OF THE matter is," he said, "that we're somewhere in the middle. We're not as bad as people feel, and we're not as good as we should be relative to the cold, hard facts."
"I'll conceivable," Fieldstein said, "that the
student is well-paid employ on campus,
in unhappy with his salary."
No one, however, discounts the problems inherent in the Civil Service system. Understaffing is one of
According to Feldstein, the formula now used in determining the number of employees to be hired is
"In my mind, it's one of the major flaws of the system," he said. "The budgeting is historical. It's
based on what you had last year rather than what you need."
Generally, for every 15 students, one unclassified Equivalent Full Time (EFT), or 40-hour work week, is provided for. For every three unclassified EFTs one classified employee may be hired.
HOUSE BILL 3234, now before the legislature, would require budgeting of salaries to be based on the amount and type of work a given agency had to do, and the current salary rate for the position. A comprehensive survey of classified salaries be made once a year, rather than the periodic surveys done now.
The bill is in committee now but is expected to be raised again next year.
Classified employees are concerned about the turnover rate within their ranks. Many blamed it on non-competitive or under-competitive pay scales at the University.
Roertt Jaeger, acting director of the KU Printing Service, said he had recently lost a skilled pressman to a service in Kansas City offering a higher salary. He was working for Jaeger at KU, Jaeger said, to a $15,000 in Kansas City.
TURNover IS Predictably higher, among unskilled workers, particularly in the Department of Building and Grounds, Roger Droke, director, said that high turnover there could be attributed to "a combination of the low wage scale and other problems, inherent organizational problems. I'm for trying to get some of our areas on a more competitive wage scale," he said.
Feldstein said the turnover rate was an indication that hiring practices weren't bad.
"you don't want a lifetime commitment or job-hopping," he said. "We want mobility based on in-
"That's our fault," he said.
HE SAID EXCESSIVE turnover in the building and grounds department attemtified primarily from the staff.
The discontent and lack of organization within the ranks of classified employees seems to imply a need for more training.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Classified Office and Clerical Workers Advisory Committee in Western Civilization department, is an attempt at
See CLASSIFIED page six
KANSAN
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Wednesday, June 22, 1977
Flood held back by Clinton Dam
Horses help lung research
See story page seven
The Army Engineers started using
food control yesterday
clothes it is not finding.
Gates were closed in the 114-foot-high barrier about four miles southwest of Lawrence when the National Weather Service for casters predicted the Wakaraus River would rise four feet above its banks because of a perennial rains in its basin over the Weekend.
The Army's district engineer in Kansas City announced that the flow through the dam would be restricted to 1,000 cubic feet per second until the danger of downstream flooding.
The dam was structurally sound, he said. Paving the road and installing the guardrails along the road was the only work which had not been completed.
"THEER WON'T BE any high water downstream," Buck Vannanam, Army Corps Engineer at Clinton Lake, said, "and the real rain won't affect the dam operation."
The excess water collected behind the dam will be released gradually after the Wakauras has receded. The emergency unit is expected to continue more than a few days.
It was forecast to crest at 29 feet before storms were closed at the dam. Flood stage at 29 was 16 ft.
The river was at 22.9 feet at 10 p.m.
yesterday, down from 25.8 feet earlier
 yesterday afternoon at the gauge at the
U.S. 59 bridge just south of the city.
THE 9,250-FOOT earth-fill dam is essentially complete and there has been a
small backup of water behind it. The total project, costing about $68 million, is 85 per cent complete, and the engineers expect to start the regular impounding of water late this fall or in the spring of 1978. Construction was started in 1972. Flood control is its main purpose, with water conservation and recreation as secondary benefits.
the headwaters of the Wakarusa are about 40 miles due west of Lawrence. The river flows through the Pleasant River and empties into the Kansas River a few miles east of Lawrence.
Todaydry; tomorrowmore rain
Today may be the only day for the rest of this week that the Lawrence area won't be drenched in heavy rains, according to the National Weather Bureau in Tonkin.
Partly cloudy skies are forecast for today, with a slight chance for thunderstorms tonight. Temperatures today will settle in the mid-80's and in the 70's tonight.
Tomorrow through Sunday will be wet days.
Thunderstorms are forecast through Sunday, with temperatures expected to climb to the 90's during the day and fall into the 60's at night.
Wednesday
From our wire services
Travel to England assured
WASHINGTON - The United States and Great Britain approved a new air transportation agreement early today, avoiding an interruption of scheduled air service between the Chamber of Commerce and Department of Transportation official, said today.
new part. The prediction, made by the chief American negotiator at the talks, came only hours after Transportation Secretary Brock Adams said he expected scheduled airline service between the two countries to cease this morning.
Announcement of the agreement
awarded an optimistic prediction that
Shares would be able to close.
Oil tax could finance rebates
A shutdown would have affected the scheduled flights of Pan American World Airways, Trans World Airlines, National Airlines and British Airways.
FDA Commissioner Donald Kennedy, dentistry before a Senate small business subcommittee, said the main active ingredient in both daytime sedatives and nighttime sleep aids, as well as many cough and cold remedies, was under scrutiny as a possible cause of tumors in test animals.
WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it will propose a ban on some non-prescription sedatives, primarily "Compoz" and "Quiet World," if they are promoted for use during the daytime.
FDA proposes ban on sedatives
If the FDA does issue a ban on the promotion of sedatives for use during the day, it would not mean that such products would disappear from the market. It would mean that their advertising and labeling could not suggest use during the day. Most have switched from daytime use promotion already.
Kennedy said the FDA would move against so-called daytime sedatives, or tranquilizers, because persons who use them run the risk of being drowsy during the day when they may be operating cars or other machinery.
WASHINGTON—The House Ways and Means Committee voted 19-17 yesterday for special $28 federal payments to must be made on behalf of President Carter's new tax on crude oil.
As approved by the committee, the rebates are likely to be extended through 1981 at amounts ranging up to $80 per student. In addition, receive 440 over the four-year period.
year.
The payments would be $25 per adult in
1978, $44 in 1979, $81 in 1980 and $57 in
1981.
When fully in effect in 1980, the tax would be expected to raise the price of gasoline by 7.6 cents a gallon and home heating oil by 3 to 4 cents.
The vote authorized the special payments only for 1978 to adult taxpayers and Social Security and welfare recipients. But the tax that will pay for
By voting the rebate for only one year, the panel would allow Congress to repeat the process again next year, an election year.
the payments already has been voted for 1978, 1979 and 1980 as well as the first nine months of 1981.
Islands in the stream
Islands in the stream
Islands form as heavy rains continue to fall on and upstream of Clinton Reservoir. The
reservoir gates were closed prematurely to prevent a four-foot flood of the Wakarusa River.
Citv returns zoning to planners
Rv.JANE PIPER
Staff Writer
Pinckney Neighborhood Association members, interested doctors and commissioners debated for over 2½ hours the problem of rezoning certain parcels of land surrounding Lawrence Memorial Hospital to a residential office classification. Such action would allow for the construction of homes on land now zoned residential.
After lengthy discussion last night, the Lawrence City Commission threw the long-standing dispute concerning the location of medical offices in the Pinckney neighborhood into the hands of the Planning Commission.
A SPECIFIC REZONING request by David Hebert, physician, was also deferred by commissioners until the planning commission could develop recommendations for overall office site expansion in the neighborhood. The recommendations are expected to come back to the department around August 1, when action will be taken.
Commissioners Jack Rose and Ed Carter
both stressed from the beginning of the planning committee should be referred to the planning committee.
Although the planning staff developed the original map showing eight optional locations for medical offices, the planning commission made no recommendations at that time. Rezoning requests normally go through the planning department before the final decisions are made by the city commission.
The eight sites mapped include private and public owned land. All sites, approximately a half-acre each, lie adjacent to the hospital. Office development on any of the sites would require the destruction of some houses.
"It's interesting that the one body charged by the law to deal with this hasn't had anything to do with it yet," Rose said. "Everyone else—the doctors, the neighborhood association and the commission—has been consulted."
COMMISSIONERS WERE sharply divided on the issue of how to send the controversy to the planning commission. Mayor Marine Arngersinger and commissioners Don Binns and Clark said the city commission should first make known its recommendations on what sites to be zoned for office use. They said that specific action on the Hiebert request should be deferred until the planning staff came back with a comprehensive growth plan for the neighborhood.
However Rose and Carter said they would rather send the issue to the planning commission without recommendations from the city commission. Both said that action should have been taken on Hiebert's request last night.
"The problem with doing it piecemeal like that is that nobody ever knows what to expect," Bins said in disagreement. "We need people who know how to communicate neighborhood can know what to expect."
Binn's statements drew the approval of about 20 "Punckney neighborhood residents" in a news conference.
"PLANNING WITHOUT a plan encourages speculation," one resident said. "We'd rather wait until a plan is developed."
in the Republic
According to Jim Hewitt, acting planning
Several Pinckney neighborhood residents expressed their doubts about the wisdom of locating many doctors' offices in one particular area of town and opposed the idea that their neighborhood should absorb the brunt of so many offices in the future.
director, the planning commission's recommendations can be back to the city commission by the first of August. He said the planning commission would deal with the issue as they completed Plan 95 in July. Plan 95 deals with comprehensive growth patterns for Lawrence over the next 20 years.
Binns said, "We're talking about convenience for the doctors. We haven't even given them a chance."
"IT'S REALISTIC to recognize that we have a hospital there," Carter told her, "and we need to move it."
Phyllis Campbell, 435 Main St., said that having most medical offices in the neighborhood would create problems for residents in the southern part of town.
Kose said it would be for the public good to designate a sizeable amount of land for his project.
See COMMISSION page
Regents slash FY'79 library budget request
Bv PEGGY SPENCER
Staff Writer
University of Kansas library administrators said yesterday that they were surprised and disappointed at the Board of Regents' decision to cut more than $900,000 in budget requests from fiscal year 1979 recommendations.
"We were absolutely shocked." Jim Ranz, dean of the University libraries said yesterday. "The Regents had toured our library system and were aware of the appearance, crowding and inadequate safety problems that existed."
HOWEVER, GLEE SMITH. Regents member, said, "It's not a question of not recognizing the University's library needs. It's a problem of presenting these requests to the governor and legislature stuffed." It is like knocking your head against the wall."
Ranz said that the library budget request had been prepared very carefully and that
the university had given it number one priority.
Smith said that under the new program budgeting plan, the budget requests for libraries at all Regents' institutions would be presented as a package.
He said that increased funding for improvements at all Hogens' institution's headquarters.
UNDER THE CURRENT budgeting procedure, the urgency of the problem at all the Regents institutions is not illustrated very well. Smith said.
Among library programs that didn't receive funding approval were a $500,000 increase for the purchase of new books, a $300,000 increase for bookstack and lighting
However, Ranz said he didn't understand why such programs as Women's Intercollegiate Athletics and replacement of research overhead costs were funded when the University's number one priority, the library system, was passed over.
improvements for the basement of Watson and Spencer libraries, a $100,000 increase for the installation of a book theft detection system, a $67,000 increase for expanded inter-library program services, a $50,000 increase for special book purchases for the law library.
SMITH SAID THAT the Regents used their discretion in postponing these library improvement requests until fiscal year 1980.
"In the past few years, we haven't been able to justify these funding increases to the governor and legislature in an acceptable manner. Hopefully, next year with our new program budgeting system, we will be able to get approval for these items," Smith said.
Walter Hierssteiner, Regents member, said that although he was not able to attend last Friday's discussions, he felt strongly about the need for her to be involved in deal with weighing
"The board has to deal with weighing
priorities. We make decisions to the best of our abilities." Hersteiner said.
Ranz said that the library system was constantly under criticism for inadequate operating hours, disorganization of staff and too few specialized books and journals.
Hanz said that in the past 20 years, the KU libraries had dropped from 14th to 48th place for annual book purchases among the 100 largest university libraries in the nation.
"AND, THE PROBLEM of book theft is very substantial. However, we don't have a large enough staff to do a complete inversion." he said.
Ranz said that there wasn't much that could be done to correct the problems with the library system without increased funding for staff wages and book purchases.
The library budget request was reduced from $1,068,227 to $100,000 for the purchase of the Ohio College Library Center computerized cataloging program.