HUD grants enable local owners to upgrade homes
By JANE PIPER
Staff Renorter
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Ruth Estelle, 67, worries that her grandchildren could get electrocuted by the wiring in her house at 629 N. Fourth St. Because of the lack of adequate outlets, extension cords run through several upstairs bedrooms and plug into a single outlet in the living room.
Several blocks away, water stains line Victoria Wright's kitchen ceiling at 418 Elm St.
Both women will have their troubles solved within a couple of weeks. They have two of 35 houses that will be fixed to meet Lawrence's minimum housing code with community development grants.
THE HOUSING rehabilitation grants of up to 85,000 a house are administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to Lawrence's community development department. For many families that meet income guidelines and live in one of the city's target area neighborhoods—north, east, far east or Pinkney—the grants are a way to return to decent living conditions.
"It's a great program," Estelle said recently. "I
really appreciate what they've done for me because I couldn't have done it."
In addition to getting new wiring, her house was covered with new siding, which replaced the original siding damaged when the Kansas River flooded in 1926. The house also has windows will help cut down her $80 a month winter gas bills.
HER HOPES are echeoded by Ron Marsh and Gene Shaughnessy, rehabilitation specialists of the community development department. Under their direction, the housing rehabilitation program has expanded in recent months and is now awaiting $215,000 in federal funds.
According to Shaughnessy, the houses are being fixed in five main areas-plumbing, electrical wiring, heating, foundation structure and roof. We will meet the code before the money is spent elsewhere.
"Basically, what we want to do is make these houses safe, sanitary and decent," he said. "We work hard on the projects."
IF ANY OF the initial $6,500 ($5,000 under the first book) is left after the first steps, it will be used for "continuing" reading.
ting, bathroom fixtures, paneling or perhaps new appliances.
"We use the money where it is needed and try to cover as much of the area as we can," Brent McFall, temporary community development director, said. He said the purpose of the grants was to make the funds available.
Muriel Puts, 333 Elm St., moved back into her home last week after it was renovated.
"It was just unbelievable—you couldn't imagine the change," she said.
HER HOME of 32 years received new floors, wiring, plumbing, ceilings and other improvements.
Donations from the community, her church and friends enabled workmen to go beyond the $5,000 grant limit and install carpeting, paneling and new bathroom fixtures.
"Her's was really a community project," Marsh said.
Marsh said that high on the list of the grant program's priorities was an attempt to remedy high utility bills. Furnaces, insulation and storm windows are installed when needed.
"TD STAND by the window when it was cold out and just feel the air blowing in." Wright said.
The record-low temperatures of last winter placed a heavy burden on families with limited locoons.
Wright's house in north Lawrence, where most of the work is now being done, will receive a new roof, furnace, storm windows, doors, plumbing and paint before workmen finish in about two weeks.
She said she had applied for the grant at the urging of neighbors, even though she didn't think she would
The grants are for owner-occupants (of at least one year of single-family houses only). They may be used only to bring the houses up to minimum city standards. McFall said.
Some applicants work through the neighborhood associations, but most approach the city in-person.
IN ADDITION, the house must be in one of the target neighborhoods and the owner must meet income guidelines. For example, after certain adjustments, a family of two isn't eligible if they earn more than $5,760 and a family of four can't earn more than $6,910.
Eligible families are then put on a waiting list which becomes shorter in recent months.
"It's set up on a first come, first serve basis." Shaughnessy said.
The community development department makes the initial inspection of the property, determines what needs to be done, helps the applicant to select a contractor and oversees the construction work.
"OUR BIGGEST problem is the money." Marsh said. "We're really limited."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
The private contractors are usually used on a bit basis, Marsh said, but the applicant can choose a flat surface.
Federally backed three per cent loans are also available from the community development department for more extensive housing rehabilitation in the four target neighborhoods. There are no income restrictions on persons applying for the loans, which can be for as much as $17,400.
Both Marsh and Shaughnessy are contractors and they often negotiate lower prices within the grant limits. The actual construction work usually takes less than a month.
KANSAN
The University of Kansas—Lawrence. Kansas
Tuesday, April 19. 1977
See story page eight
Collector hunts rare jazz films
Women's sports increases sought
By JOHN WHITESIDES
Staff Renorter
The University of Kansas will request additional funds for the women's intercollegiate athletic program for fiscal year 2015 to executive vice chancellor, said last night.
The amount of additional funding and its priority in the fiscal 1970 budget requests will be determined from a separate basis.
He said these decisions would be made during the next three weeks as requests for the trip to Japan are finished. The budget must be submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents by June 1
The University now provides about $120,000 to the women's program. The Student Senate provides the program fee and allocates the allocation from the student activity fee.
HOWEVER, LAST week the Senate passed a resolution stating it wouldn't fund the women's program after this year. The resolution stated that funding of women's intercollegiate athletics should be the availability of the University, not the Senate.
SHAKENL SAID that it would be difficult to determine budget priorities now and that the final decisions on priorities would be made by Chancellor Archie Dykes before he presented the budget requests to the Regents.
Speaking to the Senate last week, Steve Leben, student body president, said passage of the resolution would serve notice to the University that the Senate would no longer be responsible for funding the women's program. He also said the University should continue its efforts to insure passage of the request by the Regents and the Kansas Legislature.
He said it would be difficult to rank
Forms for staff now available
Applications for staff positions on the summer and fall Kansan are available in 105 Flint Hall, the Student Senate office, 875 Fifth Avenue, or the offices of the deans of men and women.
Summer and fall editors and business managers will interview candidates next Monday and Tuesday. Interview sign-up will be posted outside 111 and 141 Flint Hall.
Positions are on open on both the news and business staff. Applications must be turned in by Wednesday.
Nation asked to sacrifice to meet energy challenge
funding for the women's program a high-priority item because the University must consider other special programs, such as improvised library and recreational services.
"WE'RE TAKING about a lot more than $54,405," she said. "That not the budget I felt we needed for this year or next year. We拿来 much more than that to be competitive."
Marian Washington, women's athletic director, and it would be a challenge to the team in front of the state championship.
She also said she would explore every possible avenue to find additional funding. One possibility would be the Senate's reconsidering its policy if the administration doesn't provide the additional funds.
She said she understood the Senate's position and hoped the Senate and administration would both be responsible for the program.
IF THAT amendment passes, a Senate majority vote must before Jan. 1 would restore the program's funding. After Jan. 1 a two-tails vote would be needed to restore the funding. Leben, however, doubted either would happen.
Leben said the Senate would consider at its May 4 meeting an amendment to change the Revenue Code by withdrawing the women's block allocation.
CARTER WARNED that the nation's oil and gas supplies are running out and that reservoirs in other parts of the world won't be able to supply the demand for more than a few years longer.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Jimmy Carter asked the nation Monday night to make sacrifices and support what be called his painful, unpopular programs to conserve energy because "the alternative may be a national catastrophe."
"It would be very difficult for us to reintroduce funding," he said. "If we don't say no to the program at some point we would have to fund it infinitely."
Washington said another possibility would be more alumni donations, although it would not be enough.
"It's so hard to get ourselves established.
But that I'm not sure we're solid enough to ask for advice."
"With the exception of preventing war," Carter said in a television address, "this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly."
SHE SAID THAT without the funds the program surely would decline.
He said his energy proposals "will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices. Many of these proposals will be unmacular."
A draft of White House proposals obtained by the press showed that Carter was seriously considering a 'standby' gasoline range as high as 50 cenders a gallon, taxes ranging from $2,000 to $2,500 on gas-guzzling automobiles and price hikes on oil and natural gas in general.
"Unless it's decided we should no longer be competitive there is no way we could supply everything we need. We'll have to do it." The client will have to be cut," Washington said.
Jill Grubaugh, student senator and member of the Women's Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory board, was upset with the Senate's handling of the resolution.
However, he stressed, the energy crisis will "get worse every day until we act."
"THE SENATE really rushed this through," she said. "I asked them to send this to the Sports Committee for more study and discussion. That's why we have the committee structure. At least we could have studied the resolution before voting on it."
Leben explained to the Senate last week that the resolution needed to be voted on by the administration would have time to be implemented in its budget requests for next year.
"We must be fair," he said. "Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, every interest group. Industry will have to do its part to conserve, just as consumers will. The energy producers deserve fair treatment, but we will not let the oil companies profiter."
CARTER DECLINED to unveil the details of his program. He plans to do that when he addresses Congress on Wednesday. Instead, he cited specific goals to be achieved and the principles used to formulate his program.
Enticina dance
Staff photos by GEORGE MILLENER
Dressed in a home-made bellydancing costume, Janet Powell, Lawrence graduate student, teaches a bellydancing class every Thursday night in the Lawrence Community
Building basement. Some of Powell's students, about half of whom are KU students, claim they bled-dance because it's good exercise. See story page three.
Survey to be used in library budget request
By SUSAN HUME
Staff Renarter
Administrators at the University of Kansas intend to use a recent survey that indicates a need for improvement in the library system to compile next year's budget, Del Shankel, executive vice chancellor, said yesterday.
The survey, conducted by Wallace Johnson, associate professor of East Asian studies, was completed by 322 KU students. Of those, 41% were students that 200 of the respondents were students.
SHANKEL SAID that the problem of a shortage of materials would be partly alleviated by a "reasonable" addition of $189,000 to the library acquisition budget for
JOHNSON SAID last week that he decided last semester to conduct the survey because he thought many people at KU were affected by shortcomings in Watson
Shankel said that although the University was already aware of library problems, the survey would be additional evidence to regulators ("the crucial needs of our library."
The second major complaint, made by 203 respondents, was that too many books were written about the topic.
"This problem is not unique to KU,"
"The library is simply inadequate in everything at once." Johnson said. "A university is a library, and it ought to be doing more to serve the students."
The problem most commonly cited in the survey was a lack of needed books and journals. A lack was cited by 211 of the 322 respondents to the survey.
Shankel said, "High acquisition costs and inflation rates are hitting everyone."
Requested money for additional student help in the libraries hasn't been granted by the Board.
The need for more student assistants is the reason the library isn't open more hours, according to Jim Ranz, dean of the library.
MOST BIG EIGHT schools' libraries are open an average of 100 hours a week, Ranz said, but Watson is only 86 hours a week.
"Library not open sufficient hours" was
marked by 171 respondents to the survey as a problem. It was the third most common
Shankel said that the need for more student wages had been given high priority in recent years' budget requests to the legislature, along with requests for other staff additions, more list acquisition money and capital improvements.
"SOME YEARS back, for several years, the library wasn't getting the share of resources it should have had, and it fell badly behind," Shankel said. "But for
several years now we're really tired to catch it up.
The Board of Regents, the governor and many legislators are more aware now of the problems in the library system, Shankel said. But because of a limited supply of books, the library also faces "wrestling with priorities," the library still isn't getting as much money as it could use.
Concern about the library has increased since the latest report by the North Central Library.
See LIBRARY page eight
Indecision stalls school finance bill
By DEENA KERBOW
Staff Renorter
Two members of a House-Senate conference committee considering Kansas public school finance questioned last night whether the Kansas Legislature could agree on a compromise school finance plan this session.
According to Kansas law, if the legislature fails to pass a finance plan the state will be required to increase next year's school budget finance to 105 per cent of this year's—a change that would automatically increase property taxes.
"THERE'S LITTLE agreement at the moment between the Senate and House Committees on the job."
One committee member, State Sen. Jack Steinerg, D-Kansas City, said the finance plan bill probably won't receive final legislative action this year.
committee was pretty well deadlocked when we convened."
"There's been no attempt by the Senate to sit down and really work it to what we can do."
Another committee member, State Rep. Daryan Sandy, R-Wichita, said, "You'll have to talk to the Kansas Senate about how much we want to help their version of the bill with no changes.
"WE'RE IN A world of hurt because we have no school finance plan," he said. "We could be in serious problems as far as armor is concerned, but we are distracted, abilities suffer on their own shows."
"If senators refuse to reach an agreement, simply by the act of refusal they will not be able to work."
Duncan agreed that the Senate and House weren't near a compromise on the bill and that it probably wouldn't receive final action this session.
Duncan explained that the standing law requiring an increase to 105 per cent in operating costs also includes a higher Local Effort Rate (LER), the method of determining property taxes. A higher LER means higher property taxes.
He said that the proposed House version of the bill would set the LER at 1.77, which translates into about $44.5 million in property taxes. About $49 million in property taxes would be required under the 105 per cent increase.
DUNCAN SAID the property tax portion of school SAIDing was figured by multiplying the LER by the district wealth that from the total school finance budget.
"And the state kicks in the rest," he said. However, he said a mistake made in the governor's budget would prohibit the state from contributing in case no decision is
See FINANCE page three