University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 9. 1991
Campus/Area
3
Social services bill gets approval from House
Bv Joe Gose
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA - The House passed a social services bill 71-44 yesterday, after a committee added almost $20 million to the Senate's recommended spending package.
The bill would provide almost $1.2 billion for social rehabilitation services and seven state hospitals in Kansas for fiscal 1982, $350 million of Gov. Joan Finney's recommendation.
Taxpayers would pick up about $500 million of the cost of the bill.
State Rep. Henry Helgerson Jr., D-Wichita, the bill must minimum
levels of financing for social services.
"I think we've maintained the level of financing the House and Senate passed last year," he said. "It's a step forward for children suffering from abuse and neglect."
"I think it's a reasonable budget because it addresses the tremendous problem of more and more people who are looking toward SRS for the kind of help that they need."
Helgerson also said he expected resistance to changes from Senate conservatives, who would send the bill to a conference committee today or tomorrow.
State Rep. Robert Vancrum, R-Overland
Park, was the only legislator who vocally opposed the bill.
"We're $100 million over our current resources budget, and the only major tax increase we passed last week was spent before the ink was dry. he said. "You're seeing these bills come in for the veto session, and we'll have to go back to cutting budgets."
"I don't know where the $100 million is going to come from unless we have a tax levy on it," he said.
Before final action on the bill, legislators debated 15 amendments for more than five hours.
Republicans proposed nine of the amendments, most of which were designed to cut spending. Only four out of the 15 were passed. The Republican's radical rather than financial aspects of the bill
State Rep Kerry Patrick, R-Leawood, was one conservative who wanted to increase the number of teachers.
Patrick reintroduced his controversial Norlant contraventive bill.
The bill, which was killed by the House Public Health and Welfare Committee earlier this year, would have paid women on Medicare for contraceptive implant in their arm voluntarily.
"Social welfare in this country hasn't worked," he said. "This is a chance for Kansas to become the first state to conduct a great social experiment. If it doesn't work, we don't have to reappropriate the money next year."
But State Rep. Donna Whitenman, D-Hutchinson, said that it was not voluntary and would make the state practitioners of sexism.
"It's bad public policy," she said. "Why
n't there incentives to make men sterile."
Freeway II offers low-cost, environmental transportation
The amendment failed 86-23 after more than 90 minutes of debate.
By Sarah Davis
Kansan staff writer
"This is called basic transportation — no folks." said Prieper, laughing.
Jane Priesen pushed her three-wheeled, four-foot high, canary yellow car out of its
The car, called Freeway II, weighs only 750 pounds and has no reverse gear.
"As soon as you turn the key, it's on and it will go forward," said Priesner, who is assistant editor for illustrations at the Paleontological Institute in Lindley Hall.
The car is one of 750 in the United States. It was made by H.M. Vehicles in Minnesota. H.M. stands for high mileage, which is one of the reasons Priersee and her husband bought
Priresser and her husband, Dennis, who is an electronics technician for the KU School of Pharmacy, were living in California during a crisis, when long lines formed at gas pumps.
Jane Priesner, assistant editor for illustrations at the Paleontological Institute, sits in her three-wheel, gas-powered Freeway II outside of Lindley Hall.
Dennis had seen a picture of the yet-to-be-completed car in a magazine and sent away for information. They ordered their car for 600. It was the 32rd model off the assembly line.
"It's a high-mileage car, and it was more affordable than other cars." Jane said, mentioning that the car could use any kind of gas. "We got yellow because it's the brightest, most noticeable color, and we figured being small, we needed to be seen."
And by 1862, they had bought a second
bellow car for $300.
Dennis agreed and said they were happy with their selection.
"it's biggest advantage is mileage - it's
reduces absolutely lightweight - you can't
beat 7.5 mileage."
Jane drives this car to KU each day from Williamstown, which is 13 miles northwest of Lawrence, and 6-foot Demens manages to ride around the front seat, with his legs wrapped around the front seat.
The front of the car comes to a point dotted with a single headlight and is flanked by two wheels, with one wheel balancing it in the rear, said potholes in the road could be a problem.
The two-foot-wide panel inside the car provides only the essentials — a steering wheel, windshield wipers, lights. The back windows provide the rearview mirror, the motor window, and heat in the cabin and a Plexiglas window pops out to provide instant air conditioning.
But there have been a few problems, Jane said.
The car has trouble in big puddles, bursts of strong wind, gravel and loosely packed snow. She remembers a time when the windshield wiper flew off because of a sudden crack.
Response to the car has ranged from
people doing double takes, snapping pictures and truck drivers giving thumbs-up, to a time when someone pulled Jane over one day and offered her $4,000 on the spot for the car.
"It's a matter of curiosity for people who don't know about it," Dennis said. "We get a number of questions and comments from people."
Liz Brosius, assistant editor for text at the Paleontological Institute, rode in the car with Jane one day and said they received a lot of attention.
The car, which reaches 60 mph, is relatively safe as long as the person driving is a
defensive driver," she said. "One of the things that makes me feel safer is that there's this heavy frame that goes all the way around it."
"You really can't drive in it if you're not a
Dennis said the car was easy and fun to drive.
"I like it very much," he said. "We wouldn't have two of them if we didn't."
Survey on rape sent to 1,500 KU students
By Rick C. Honish
Kansan staff writer
A survey on sexual violence was mailed to 1,500 randomly selected KU students yesterday as part of an effort to answer questions about rape and gather data that will be used to change and improve rape prevention programs at KU and other schools.
The survey was compiled by the Division of Student Affairs Research Committee with aid from the Office of Institutional Research and funding for the Sexual Violence Education Project.
Jeff Weinberg, a member of the committee and assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said the survey was based loosely on studies study done in 1988 at Stanford University.
Weinberg said the committee spent six months studying the Stanford survey, reading literature about sexual violence and developing the survey into one that would produce results that could be used as an educational tool.
"If we can quantify the extent of the problem, we can then move to develop programs that can meet the problem head-on." he said.
Weinberg said valuable efforts had been made to create a safer campus with staff and students.
"But that does not get to the root of the problem," he said. "This is an effort to get to the roots of the attitudes surrounding sexual violence."
Barbara Ballard, associate dean of student
life, said she hoped the results of the survey would help demonstrate the severity of the sexual-violence problem, particularly date and acquaintance rape.
"This issue is a great concern to all of us," she said.
Ballard said that there were no easy answers to the problem because of all the variables but that the survey should help more vivid picture of what is really going on.
"I think there will be a large number of people that will say it has happened to
Weinberg stressed that the survey was confidential.
"The mailing list has already been destroyed." he said.
Cost to clean up after celebrants and replace trees will top $9,000
Kansan staff report
"The cost of replacing those will be from $600 to $600 per tree, depending on what they need."
KU officials say that by the time all the damages caused by Final Four celebrations have been repaired, the cost will have exceeded $9,000.
Steve Green, assistant director of facilities operations in administration, said that the University of Kansas would have to replace four trees in front of Wesco Hall.
Green said that so far, not including the cost of the trees, $6,000 had been spent to
repair damages inflicted by crowds on campus after the mans basketball team played Arkansas, North Carolina and Duke.
He said that most of the cost was caused by the extra labor that was needed to clean the house.
"We've had to pay employees about 400 hours of overtime," he said.
Jim Mathes, assistant director of facilities operations in landscape, said that the landscaping crews were re-evaluating the work to show that similar damages might be avoided.