CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, November 15, 1993
3
Task force frustrated with lack of input
By Christoph Fuhrmans
Kansan staff writer
When Kim Wilcox, associate professor of speech, language and hearing, was named head of the consensual relationships task force, he said he expected the task force would receive some input from students and faculty members.
But since the task force was formed by University Governance on Sept. 16, it has not received any input from the University, Wilcox said.
Despite the lack of student and faculty input, Wilcox said the task force still would be able to accomplish its goals.
The task force was charged with collecting input from students, staff and faculty members that would help the task force clarify the policy. The task force will make recommendations to the University Senate
Executive Committee by Nov. 24.
Wilcox said the task force represented the University because the task force members were students, staff and faculty members.
Wilcox said he expected the task force would get some input from the University Daily Kansan's Oread Forum, which on Thursday asked people to phone in their opinions about the policy. The Kansan asked for opinions about what types of conduct between a professor and student were acceptable outside of the classroom, whether the University should have a policy and what would be the best way to publicize such a policy.
"I thought this was a promising option on getting some student input," he said.
for discussing the policy. Eleven people attended the meeting, nine of whom were task force members.
Wilcox said he was disappointed because he thought the forum would generate more input than the task force's open meeting
"I expected something," he said. "I was rather frustrated we didn't get any calls."
"It might actually mean that no one is terribly outraged by the policy," he said.
Bob Friauf, professor of physics and astronomy, head of University Council and member of the task force, said the lack of input might represent the University's attitude about the policy.
Wilcox said there would be no more open meetings for students and faculty to discuss the policy. But he said people still could submit material about the policy to his office in 3031 Dole Human Development Center or contact other members of the task force.
Because of the lack of significant response to the Kansan's Oread Forum about the consensual relationships policy, there will be no story today about responses to the forum's questions.
Students, staff and faculty members who still want to submit information about their views on the policy can send a written response to Kim Wilcox in 3031 Dole Human Development Center
KANSAN
No more flu shots available at Watkins
There are no more flu vaccines available at Watkins Memorial Health Center or the Douglas County Health Department. About 6,250 vaccines have been administered between the two organizations since the beginning of October.
Vaccines are still available at First Med, 2323 Ridge Court and cost $12.1. First Med is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Vaccines must be administered before Thanksgiving break to allow the body a chance to adjust to the immunization, said Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins. Ideally, the vaccine should be administered in October, he said.
Yockey said a flu vaccine would only protect people from the flu and not the common cold.
Life goes on Fire in house gives professors new perspective
By Jav Lisondra
Special to the Kansan
Cal Downs, professor of communications studies, and his wife, Alice, live in an apartment with few of the possessions that once surrounded them in their house at 1515 W.21 St. A fire that gutted their home has changed their lives in many ways.
In the past five weeks their schedules have been a lot busier. Dealing with the utility company, the insurance company and contractors has taken more time than they expected.
They've had fewer clothes — the smell of smoke could not be washed out, they said.
And Alice Downs, associate professor of piano, lost her $36,000 Steinway grand piano.
The emotion is over, it's just work now. "Cal Downs said."
"Downs immediately called his wife. He rushed out of the building and sprinted to his car, which was parked behind Murphy Hall. His wife, who also had parked behind Murphy, got there first. She got in her car and peeled off toward home, not noticing her husband trying to flag her down.
Cal Downs, professor of communications studies, looks out a window from inside his home, which was gutted by fire last month. Downs and his wife, Alice, associate professor of piano, installed new windows just weeks before the fire as part of a remodeling project. A recently constructed sun room and a Steinway grand piano also were destroyed.
It all began the afternoon of Oct. 4 when a phone call disturbed the quiet of Cal Downs' Wescoe office. It was a neighbor who told him that his house was ablaze.
react.
So Downs jumped in his car and raced home alone, trying to imagine how much of his house was burning. He listened to the sirens of fire trucks walling in the distance. Downs knew where they were going. He hoped that they would get there in time.
He arrived and first noticed all the fire trucks. He then saw flames leaping into the air from the south side of his house. He was not sure how to
"When I got there, people were suggesting the inside was gone, and then there was this sadness that set in," Downs said. "I was sort of numbed. People wanted me to make decisions when I wasn't ready to grapple with them."
Alice Downs felt the same way.
"I was in disbelief and in shock," she said.
When the fire was out, their house of 26 years had been gutted. Firefighters found that a living-room lamp with a broken electrical cord had started the fire.
Even the afternoon of the fire, when Cal Downs' torment peaked, the healing process had begun. Many of his friends came to offer their support after a friend, Paula Phillips, called and told them what had happened. Phillips had heard about the fire on her dispatch scanner.
Phillips, the Douglas County Emergency Preparedness coordinator, immediately listed what needed to be done.
"I don't think they realized the extent of the fire," Phillips said. "I made a few lists of things they should do, like contact the utility companies, and also a list of items they would need to get by for a few days, like toiletries and underwear."
The fire department also helped ease the pain.
Holly McQueen / KANSAN
"I have a great respect for the Lawrence Fire Department," Downs said. "The people we met were very professional and very considerate."
streets. all had been very sundortive.
Downs and his wife said that their relatives, their neighbors, various organizations, such as Sigma Alpha Iota, and their church, the First Christian Church at 10th and Kentucky
"We even received notes from people we didn't even know," Downs said. "I learned when people are going through bad times, it's important to get in and offer to help and share whatever you can."
But Downs and his wife learned more than the importance of helping others. The destruction of their most valuable possession, Alice Downs' Steinway grand piano, taught them how temporary material objects can be.
"What this does is that it tells you that you can't get too attached to things that can easily be destroyed," Cal Downs said.
Now, life is just a lot busier for Downs and his wife.
His wife agreed. The piano was the first piece of furniture she and her husband bought for the house.
"The greatest impact is the sheer work to make all the decisions about the house and get everything done for insurance purposes," Downs said, holding up a 52-page list of items destroyed by the fire. They lost irreplaceable photographs and mementos, such as a German nutcracker doll, an Austrian vase and souvenirs from Italy, Australia and Turkey. The fire claimed a sun room that was built earlier this year.
Cal Downs has dealt with the trauma of the fire well, said Darren Lawson, Greenville, S.C., graduate student.
"What really struck me was that just six hours after the fire occurred, Professor Downs came and conducted our three-hour, Monday night class," Lawson said.
Lawson also said that Cal Downs was reacting a lot better than he thought he would under the circumstances.
laughs about it now.
Since the fire, Downs' car window was kicked in by vandals. But he
"He has a genuine maturity in his emotions that someone as young as I am would not handle very well," said Lawson, 29.
"When I saw the car, I said to myself,
'I don't need this. When is this
destruction going to stop?' Downs
said.
The Downs say that because they like their neighborhood, they do not
plan to move. Their house will be rebuilt in two or three months, they said.
"We regret the loss, but nothing can really be done." Downs said. "We have a faith in the future that we'll rebuild the house and continue on with our lives."
Recruiter touts college to minority students in high school
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
Dawn Kovats said she had learned an important lesson while recruiting minority high school students throughout Kansas; the blank looks on students' faces do not indicate blank intellects.
"They look at you with this blank face, then they ask really penetrating questions when you get through," Kovats said with a laugh.
admissions, Kovats travels to high schools throughout Kansas and neighboring states talking with students.
As associate director of undergraduate
Kovats also has been in charge of minority recruitment, an issue of concern both at the University of Kansas and in the rest of the nation.
"Minority recruitment is a huge title to give a person," said Pearl Rovaris, an admissions representative who works with Kovats to bring minority students to KU. "What we have done is to find, in our minds, our capabilities and what's best
Kovats said the responsibility kept her busy. She said that she tried to interest African-American, Hispanic-American and American-Indian students in KU at the beginning of their senior years. A lack of a tradition of higher education in their families can keep them from preparing earlier, she said.
for the students."
"Minority students — and students whose parents have not been to college — start this process later in the year," Kovats said. "Consequently, they don't gather as
much information as other students."
To reinforce the idea of college, Kovats said she tried to bring students to the KU campus. She said minority student organizations helped her bring the students.
One of Kovats' projects is the Inter-Institutional Task Force, which fosters communication between KU and Haskell Indian Nations University.
She said she tried to recruit graduates from Haskell to come to KU for their bachelor's degrees, but the extreme
Kovats said appointing one person to oversee minority recruitment kept KU's efforts centralized. But she said other segments of the University should not become complacent.
poverty and the distance from home discouraged many American-Indian students.
"Minority recruitment has to be everybody's job," she said. "Having one person in charge of it shouldn't absolve other people of responsibility."
Dawn Kovats
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