3
Tuesday, March 19, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
CLAS requires new-student advising
Program intends to answer questions and make enrollment process easier
By Sarah Davis
Kansan staff writer
College of Liberal Arts and Science students new to KU this semester are required to attend advising meetings to emphasize their adaptation to the University.
"My goal is that students who are new to the college will feel less apprehensive and more sure of themselves during the advising and enrolling process," said Pam Houston, director of the college undergraduate services office.
"What we're trying to do with this program is to help them with the transition between orientation and placement and main enrollment and advising."
Students who do not attend the meetings will be penalized by not receiving the dean's stamp necessary for enrollment.
"I realize it's a very harsh penalty." Houston said. "But we felt that it was really going to help the stucco builders we decided to make it required."
There will be 12 meetings during the week, each lasting 50 minutes, in which about 600 students will participate. All required to attend only one meeting.
During the meetings, staff from the Advising Support Center will clarify basic course requirements, explain the KU timetable and catalog, introduce the Advising Support Center and clarify advising period procedures.
Houston said she also wanted to alert students to the availability of the services office, which could help clear up misinformation.
"One of the reasons for these meetings is to encourage students to contact us when they have questions or need assistance working to decrease this problem."
Another problem occurs when students and their advisers have different expectations of each other, she said.
"If we help get those expectations clear, then the advising session will be more productive, and the students will be more prepared." Houston said.
Leann Piche, Leavenworth sophomore, said that before the meeting she had hoped to gain a better relationship with her teacher, she needed to take for her major.
"I thought it went pretty well," she said after the meeting. "I answered some questions I had about my major."
Bill Sharp, advising assistant, led yesterday's meeting and said he thought it could be beneficial.
"With any luck, this will alleviate any possible problems," he said. "It shows that the college is doing its best in getting out this information."
He said that an advising program such as the new one was becoming more necessary for large universities.
Houston said the idea for the meetings came from the University of Toledo in Ohio, which has a similar program.
She said she hoped to continue the advising program next year, when more new students could participate.
"If things go well this week and we get good responses, we'll do it in the fall," she said.
Bill Sharp, an advising assistant, addresses new students in a required pre-enrollment meeting.
Kansas lawmakers pass four appropriations bills
TOPEKA — Lawmakers moved to state government operating yesterday, passing a total of four appropriations bills, while Gov. Joe Biden signed the law the only significant piece of legislation passed in the 1991 session.
Legislators returned to Topeka after a long weekend and continued work on moving appropriations bills through the process to finance state government. Each house passed two spending bills.
The Associated Press
Kansas borrowers. The bill allows banks in Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas and Iowa to borrow money if there is a reciprocal agreement.
Finney signed into law a bill that allows limited interstate banking yesterday, a measure that she said ensured capital would be available to
"Today we move to reform and modernize Kansas banks law." Finney said after she signed the bill. "As we join the other states of the union in this endeavor, we will be able to meet tome Kansens' needs first."
The House gave first-round approval yesterday to two budget bills financing 17 state agencies, while the Senate approved two bills that would provide money for another 17 agencies.
One bill contained the Department of Health and Environment's budget, in addition to $100,000 in state finance-based family planning programs.
Rep Kent Campbell, D-Miltonvale,
offered an amendment to remove the
money. It failed 39-80, with other
House members arguing that the
programs helped prevent teen-age
pregnancies.
They also said that workers in such programs were not allowed to counsel teen-agents or to give them information without their parents' permission.
Other House members said that the programs were morally wrong
because they did not tell teen-agers that they should abstain from sex until they were married.
"I don't know how your Bible reads, but my Bible reads that it is a sin," Rep. Lee Hamm, D-Pratt, said of premarital sex.
While lawmakers voted on the floor to spend money, a House committee began work on a plan to raise $2000 for property tax relief
The Senate passed and sent to the House an appropriations bill for the department of Commerce that kept intact the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp., despite Finney's recommendation to abolish it.
The bill, which passed 337, also would keep the Economic Development Initiatives Fund alive, although it was not a major part as well. Money the state receives
from the Kansas Lottery and taxes on pari-mutuel bets on dog and horse races will go to the fund.
The Taxation Committee has before it a plan to raise money to pay for a decrease in property taxes by increasing income taxes by about 10 percent, raising the sales tax from 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, and eliminating some sales tax exemptions and imposing the tax on some services.
Judge allows adoption by homosexuals
The Associated Press
KEY WEST, Fla. — A county judge yesterday declared unconstitutional a 14-year-old state law that prevented homosexuals from adopting children
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida challenged the law on behalf of a AIDS activist whose application last month诱拐 a "special needs" child was rejected because he was gay.
Monroe County Circuit Judge M. Ignatius Lester ruled that the law violated the constitution of 1986 and required protection and due process.
"The statute suffers from the trite notions of homosexuals' unsuitability as fit parents and evidences discrimination through archaic stereotypes associated with homosexuals." Lester said in his 22-page ruling.
"Homosexuals have been proven to be capable, loving parents whose sexual orientations are unbiased by their children," he said.
The ACLU said New Hampshire was now the only state that explicitly forbade homosexuals from adopting. Lester's ruling invalidates the adoption ban in Monroe County could persuade other judges in Florida to follow his lead.
"I think it will open the door to lesbians and gay men throughout the state of Florida who want to adopt and will have a positive impact nation-wide," said William Rubens-below, who co-founded the AGU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project in New York.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Edward Seebol, 53, a 23-year resident of Key West Hydropark DBS Help Inc. a support group.
"Everyone in the state ganks by utilizing the full resources of all its citizens." Seebol said in a statement yesterday. "But most important of all are the children who will be the real winners as they may find homes."
Seebel has been a court-appointed guardian for several years, helping mentally and emotionally injured people through the court system.
If You Thought We Were Too Expensive, You're About To Get An Education.
College living that makes cents! Now the best place to live is more affordable than ever. And when you factor in free utilities and individual lease liabilities, the cost is even more reasonable. College living that makes sense! We feature a convenient location close to campus, fun social activities, a computer center and much, much more. Before you choose, call us and make an educated decision.
Naismith Hall
1800 Naismith Drive 913/843-8599
GERGEN
DAVID GERGEN • EDITOR-AT-LARGE • U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
GERGEN
DAVID GERGEN • EDITOR-AT-LARGE • U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
GERGEN
DAVID GERGEN • EDITOR-AT-LARGE • U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
GERGEN
DAVID GERGEN • EDITOR-AT-LARGE • U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
GERGEN
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VICKERS LECTURE SERIES
KANSAS UNION BALLROOM
TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1991
8 P.M.