Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, January 30, 1991
3
GLSOK helps high school organization
Student starts support group to address LHS homophobia
By Lara Gold Kansan staff writer
Influenced by Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas, a Lawrence High School student has formed a group to discuss students' concerns about homosexuality.
"Why should you hide your identity when that's what you are?" said Eric Barnhart, Lawrence High School senior.
This thinking was part of his motivation to start the group Sexual Orientation Support, SOS, he said.
The group discusses students' concerns, such as coming out, religion, homophobia, civil rights and any other that may be brought up in a meeting.
Barnhart said he started attending GLSOK meetings in November to get information and ideas for the group.
He said he had not experienced any opposition to the formation of the group but was warned that there were risks.
"I've constantly been told, 'You're going to get beat up.' " he said.
Parents and school administrators have been positive about the group, he said.
"The principal has been very supportive," he said.
Brad Tate, Lawrence High School principal, said the group, though not school-sponsored, was allowed to meet on campus. Group members were on the cateriael bulletin board and advertised in the student newspaper.
Barnhart said that the group had six members but that more were anticipated to come to the weekly, Tuesday night meetings.
"I didn't expect a large group," he said. "I was happy with the six people."
Mike Sulivan, GLSOK treasurer,
said he was pleased that such a group
had been formed in the high school.
— Mike Sullivan GLSOK treasurer
'Many of us, when we were in high school, didn't have support. I felt very isolated until I got to college.'
'SOS is a move to prepare for later in life. People that are gay and lesbian are not recognized until there is something they can be recognized for.'
Board proposes $10 garage pass fee
Eric Barnhart Lawrence High School senior
"Many of us, when we were in high school, didn't have support." he said. "I felt very isolated until I got to college."
Sullivan said many high school students faced a challenge because they were not sure about their sexual orientation.
"It really took someone like Eric to take the authority and say 'We want to do it.'"
Barnhart was presented with the GLSOK "Gay Hawk of the Week" award for his work in creating the discussion group. Sollyan said.
Barnhart said that he was surprised he received the award and that it made his efforts to start the group even more worthwhile.
"SOS is a move to prepare for later in life." he said.
He said he would like to see the discussion group become a school club.
"People that are gay and lesbian are not recognized until there is something they can be recognized for."
James Berglund, second-year law student, uses his garage pass at the Parking Facility.
By Katie Chipman
Kanean staff writer
If the proposal is approved by the executive vice chancellor, the chancellor and the Board of Regents, it will go into effect Aug. 1.
The KU Parking Board proposed in a University Council meeting last week to charge faculty, staff and students who use the Parking Facility $10 a year for garage passes, previously have been issued for free.
The $10 garage pass charge would be added to the charge for regular, color-zoned permits.
Don Kearns, director of parking,
said, "Right now there are 725 cards out. We are not over-selling on purpose, because we guarantee the people with gate cards that there is always a space for them."
Kearns said the garage was almost always three-fourths full and was fuller when the weather was bad.
The $ 2 million garage was built to ease congestion on the west side of campus. It has 778 spaces, include two parking lots and eight for handicapped parking.
Donna Hultine, assistant director of parking, said the remainder of the spaces were divided between students, faculty and staff who were approved by the department to receive parking garage passes.
Staff, faculty members, graduate teaching assistants, graduate students and upper-level students are eligible for the passes. To get a garage pass, they must work or have classes in Allen Field House. Teachers at Robinson Center or Green, Learned, Murphy, or Summerfield halls.
"If there is any under-utilization of the garage, it's in the faculty and staff spaces." Hultine said.
During KU basketball games, the lot is filled, she said. The spaces in the garage are pre-empted by the Williams Fund for people who are contributors. The Williams Fund pays $2 for each space.
Visitors are charged 50 cents an hour to park in the facility.
Visitors receive a ticket when they enter the garage. Hultine said.
Election group evaluates code
to concern proposal
Kansan staff writer
Mark your calendar
The commission has sent copies of its proposal to all Senate members and some past members to elicit responses to the revision, Poer said.
The Student Senate Elections Commission plans to spend the next two weeks looking for loopholes in its recently released elections code proposal, said Tom Poer, elections commissioner.
The elections commission is scheduled to have a public forum Feb. 7 to answer students' questions about the proposed code. The deadline for challenges to the code is Feb. 8. The commission requires that challenges be written on a form they be picked up in 316 Strong Hall, Poor said.
■ Feb. 7, election commission public forum.
■ Feb. 8, deadline for challenges to code.
■ Feb. 15, code scheduled to be made final.
He said the proposed code was formed by looking at approximately 20 other schools' election codes and selecting various parts from them.
Curt Winegarner, election commis
One of the bigger changes in the proposed code is the removal of a mandatory spending limit on campaigns. The commission will decide on a suggested limit if the code is made final, Poer said. The code is
sion chairperson, said the revision
the largest change in recent
year.
Poor was in charge of Senate elections last year. He said he realized a change was needed during last year's campaign.
"The idea was to start from the bottom up and just rewrite it," he said. "What that's what we did."
Students running for Senate positions will have the option of following the suggested limit or coming up with their own budgets, which the proposed code requires be turned in to election 10 days before the election.
scheduled to be made final Feb. 15,
and a limit would be set shortly
afterward.
The proposed code also requires candidates to report their campaign activities to the commission four different times before the election. This is to ensure that the code is being followed, Winegarner said.
Finney lacks guarantee on property tax relief
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — If the Legislature won't approve her entire sales tax package, Gov. Joan Finney said yesterday, she wants whatever new revenue it will support to go for property tax relief.
However, Finney said in an interview that she wasn't ready to give up on her plan and would fight for a significant expansion of the sales tax more than a half billion dollars could be raised for property tax relief.
Finney commented after the Senate Ways and Means Committee took its first look at her tax and budget proposals.
State Sen. Wint Winter, R-Lawrence, asked acting Budget Director Gary Stotts what contingency plan Fimney had in case the Legislature approved a plan that involved around $200 million in new revenue.
Stotts said Finney had no back-up plan. The governor confirmed as
much.
"I'm holding firm for property tax relief over $200 million," Finney said. "The ball's in the legislature now. I've told them that if they don't like my method of funding, then for them to present their own plan."
"If they put other proposals out, I'll look at every one of them."
Finney proposed last week that 35 sales tax exemptions be repealed and 77 categories of services have the state's 4.25 percent sales tax applied to them. This would generate $478 million new revenue in fiscal year 1992 and would use $373 million for property tax relief.
Staats told the committee that property tax relief remained Fineney's No. 1 priority and said if new revenue was not available for her other property she would prefer to put any money that is available into tax relief.
In later years, her plan would produce $664 million in new revenue and commit $662 million to property
Gov. Joan Finney
tax relief.
Committee members noted there was nothing in her plan to ensure that cities, counties and school districts — which spend 99 percent of the money generated by property taxes — would use the new money for tax relief.
"There certainly is the opportunity for that," Stotsa said, suggesting the Legislature could force a distribution plan that would make local units spend the money to reduce property taxes.