Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, July 3, 1990
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Kansas unemployment decreases
State's jobless rate drops 3.7 percent, hits lowest rate since December 1979
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The state's unemployment rate for May was 3.4 percent, the lowest in more than 10 years, the department of Human Resources said in a report released yesterday.
The jobless rate was down from 3.7 percent in April, and 3.8 percent in May 1989.
Ray D. Sienhndel, secretary of human resources, said the May unemployment rate reflected a healthy labor market. The report said the May jobless rate was the lowest since December 1979.
"Our employment levels have increased by more than 10,000 over the month and by more than 22,000 over the year," Siehndel said. "Kansas' employment picture was strong
when we went into May, and now it's even better."
i were here 1, 258, 888 Kansana working in May 1990, compared to 1, 248,714 in April 1990. In May of 1989, there were 1, 238,181 people working in Kansas.
In May of 1989,49,287 people were looking for jobs in Kansas.
The Department of Human Resources also reported that 44,919 people were actively looking for work in May of this year, while the month before, there were 48,383 people seeking employment in the state.
A seasonal upwading in employment in one industry can cause another industry to hire more people, Siehndel said.
Seasonal job gains over the month were reported for mining, manufacturing, construction, transportation and utilities, finance, insurance and real estate.
"He sometimes sees gains and losses in manufacturing cause related seasonal fluctuations in other industries," he said. "For instance, the job gains in stone, clay and glass products were directly related to the seasonal upswing in construction activity. The seasonal government jobs in May were created by summer programs and activities."
before. The unemployment rate for the Lawrence area in May of 1899 was 3.4 percent. Finance, insurance, and real estate and services gained jobs over the month while job losses were reported in manufacturing, trade and government.
Job gains were reported for all principal industry categories over the year.
The Lawrence area unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in May, an increase from 2.8 percent the month
The jobless rate in Topeka was 3.8 in May, up from 3.7 percent in April. Job losses were reported in printing and publishing, finance, insurance and real estate.
Last year in May, the Topeka area unemployment was 9.9 percent. Construction, mining, manufacturing, government gained jobs over the year.
The Wichita area unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in May, the lowest reported*In Butler, Harvey
and Sedgwick counties since December 1978. In April, the jobless rate for that area was 3.9 percent, and 4 percent for May of 1989.
For the month, construction, manufacturing, trade, finance, insurance and real estate have gained jobs in Wichita. For the year, government, finance, manufacturing, mining, construction, insurance, transportation and public utilities picked up jobs.
The report did not include the Kansas City metropolitan area, which is in a different statistical reporting area.
However, Wyandotte County had an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent in May 1950, the highest in the state. The unemployment rate was nonetheless, was lower than in April.
Dispute continues over church's demolition
Bv Eric Swanson
Special to the Kansan
The Lawrence Preservation Alliance and the Kansas State Historical Society plan to return to court today to continue their fight to prevent demolition of the Old English Lutheran Church, 1040 New Hampshire St.
The alliance, a citizens group dedicated to preserving historical landmarks, and the society won one round of the fight Friday after District Judge Ralph KIng signed a temporary restraining order forbidding the city and Allen Realty Inc. to take further action.
King said the restraining order was necessary to give everyone time to organize their arguments.
Ron Schneider, the alliance's attorney, said the society and the alliance were seeking another restraining order against Allen Realty Inc., 1617 Hillcrest Road, to prevent it from demolishing the church.
The alliance also wants an order requiring Allen Realtor to grant the society access to the building, so that inspectors can assess the building's potential for renovation, he said.
If a demotion occurs, the request was first heard at a June 12 commission meeting, when the commission decided to allow Allen Realty to demolish the
The society and the alliance also are seeking a court order requiring the Lawrence City Commission to rehear Allen Realy's request for a demolition permit, Schneider said.
church
The alliance filed suit in Douglas County District Court after the hearing. A court brief filed by the alliance claims the city commission's finding was arbitrary and unreasonable.
King said Friday that he was not sure the city commission would rehear the original request.
commission would rehear the original request.
"I don't know that the city commission is going to change its mind because I send the mayor and say, 'Look at it again, guys.'" he said.
girls, the aid.
Dave Billings, president of the alliance, said June 12 that the alliance needed time to gather evidence supporting its position.
"I feel that we need 60 days to determine a proposal," he said. "We are not trying to hold
up the project, by any means."
"I guess what botheres me is whether or not we've had the time to pull together a complete hearing," he said. "I can just see this thing back up to appeals court in a year."
Arly Allen, who represents Allen Realty, said the alliance does not really want to save the church.
"I'm perfectly happy to donate the building to them if they'll take it off my land," he said. "They don't really want the building. They want to keep me from using the land."
But an alliance spokesman said the building in the heart of the historical architectural district and could not be moved from the land.
Ramaley to review proposed program
By Melissa Bulgren
Kansan staff writer
The University Senate Executive Committee today will review a draft of a letter to Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, recommending the implementation of an employee assistance program.
The letter includes composite results of a University-wide survey detailing faculty support for on-campus assistance programs.
SenEx, the Unclassified Professional Staff Association and the Classified Senate are reviewing the letter and changes that they feel are necessary.
After corrections have been made, the letter will go to Ramaley, who will decide if an EAP would be useful on campus.
The Employee Assistance Program Task Force was formed last spring to evaluate the feasibility of an EAP for the University.
The task force defined employee assistance as a comprehensive set of programs designed to provide a supportive work environment. The program would address issues like financial counseling, physical fitness, mental health counseling and legal assistance.
Proposed trafficway will spare wildlife habitats
Changes made in route of new highway to save endangered plants and animals around Lawrence
By Deron Graul
Kansan staff writer
leger assistance.
Barbara Watkins, a member of the task force, said there were already some EAP components on campus, such as pre-retirement counseling and mental health counseling.
A rare species of frog and two endangered plant species will continue to live safely despite a proposed highway that would pass through parts of their habitats, according to county and state officials.
In the past, local environmentalists expressed concern that the trafficker would further threaten the Northern crayfish frog, which lives in the Baker University Wetlands, and Mead's milkweed and the Western-pronged milkweed which found in Elkin's prairie. To protect these areas, several changes were made in the proposed route of the trafficking.
Chris McKenzie, Douglas County administrator, said he thought most people were satisfied that detrimental environmental effects would be kept to a minimum.
The South Lawrence Trafficway would cut Into Baker University Wetlands.
"Reactions have been, for the most part, positive," McKenzie said yesterday.
But Joyce Woy, co-president of the Jayhawk Audubon Society, said she still had some concerns about the effects of the trafficway.
"I applaud the efforts at reducing the impact but I still have some doubts that the wetlands can be rebuilt," she said.
Robert Wood, ecologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, said yesterday that before a construction permit could be issued, part of the wetlands would have to be relocated.
According to the environmental
impact statement for the project filed with the Environmental Protection Agency, state officials would dig four acres of shallow breeding pools. Water levels in and around these pools would be controlled, creating between 15 and 72 acres of wetland.
The Northern crayfish frog is a
The wetlands are owned by
threatened species in Kansas. The Baker University Wetlands lie south of 1st Street between Louisiana and Haskell streets. The proposed trafficway will pass through part of the area, claiming 11.89 acres, which is about 2 percent of the wetlands
To avoid extensive damage to the wetlands, the proposed path of the trafficway was moved north from 35th Street to 31st Street. A highway along 35th street would have bisected the wetlands,
Baker University, in Baldwin City, KU, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
destroying approximately one-third of the frogs' habitat, according to the environmental impact statement.
the other area of environmental concern surrounding the trafficway has been Elkin's prairie, located about three miles west of Lawrence on U.S. Highway 40. The area is virgin prairie and a natural entity of wildlife life included in Heard's milkweed and the Western-prairie fringed orchid, both of which are on the endangered species list.
To avoid harming the habitat of the two plants, the proposed route for the trafficway was moved west to provide a 450-foot divide between the roadway and Elkin's prairie.
Representatives of the Kansas Biological Survey said the new route would not threaten either plant species.
When completed, the trafficway will consist of about 15 miles of four-lane divided roadway from the Kansas Turnpike, about three miles west of Lawrence, to a connection with Kansas Highway 10, near the southeast corner of Lawrence.
McKenzie said that in its initial phase, the traffickway would be limited to two lanes. The additional two lanes were designed to ensure safety considerations warrant and additional money is made available.
Approval of $27.7 million of state funds for the project was announced by Gov. Mike Hayden last week.
Last spring the task force sent about 4,000 surveys designed to gather staff reactions to the proposed EAP. About 1,000 surveys were returned.
"The goal of the survey was to find out what the whole campus community's perceptions were of various components of the EAP and to find out a better way we might have in expanding the EAP," Watkins said.
Pre-retirement financial counseling received the greatest support from staff respondents, with 79.6 percent saying they wanted the service to remain available. Physical fitness activities received more than 50 percent support.
William Scott, professor of English and the presiding officer of the University Council, said many staff members expressed concern for child care and other family-oriented issues.
"I think it would be needed for a number of members of the University community," he said. "I know it is a very serious concern for many people."
In other business, the Faculty Executive Committee will also discuss the Board of Regents annual unclassified staff leave policy today, which was proposed and approved by the Regents last Thursday.
Under the proposed policy, nine-month faculty members would not earn annual leave. Nine-month faculty are those who do not teach during the summer session. Because the faculty member's academic duties are closely related to the presence of students on campus, student recesses offer nine-month faculty an opportunity to engage in research and perform other necessary departmental duties.
FacEx will discuss the policy and suggest changes to the Regents that they feel are necessary.