KU LIFE: For some KU students, being a witch is more than just a Halloween costume. Page 5.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103,NO.47
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26.1993
Regents appeal budget
Plan to increase faculty salaries given to Finney
By David Stewart Kansan staff writer
Responding to the projected state budget from the legislative budget director, members of the Board of Regents appealed a proposed cut of $12.9 million for fiscal year 1995 to Gov. Joan Finney and her staff yesterday morning at the Statehouse.
John Montgomery, head of the Regents, and Donald Slawson, head of the Regents fiscal affairs committee, appealed the state budget director's proposed 3 percent reduction from the 1994 fiscal year Regents budget of $410 million.
"Some people have said that we've been getting a disproportionate share of the general funds, but in fact, we haven't," Montgomery said. Students have had to support about two-thirds of the Regents budget increases through tuition increases during the last three years, he said.
The appeal accompanied the introduction of the Regents three-year plan, called the Partnership for Excellence, designed to increase faculty salaries.
Montgomery said the Regents first priority was ensuring faculty salary increases.
"We're very hopeful we'll be able to sell this partnership program to the governor and the legislature," Montgomery said.
Montgomery said he thought the Regents were justified in proposing an 11 percent increase of $54.2 million in the next fiscal year's budget.
(USPS 650-640)
"I would call this proposed reduction pretty serious," Montgomery said. "I think the governor was receptive to our concerns, but she certainly wasn't committing herself to anything."
The Partnership for Excellence plan calls for a set annual increase in student tuition during the next three years, along with a 3 percent yearly increase from the state's general fund.
The general fund is a portion of revenue that can be allocated for general purposes.
Gloria Timmer, state budget director, said the governor had not attempted to make any definitive decisions during yesterday morning's appeal.
The Regents appealing the budget director's recommendations was a normal part of the budget process, said Ed Meyen, executive vice chancellor. The estimates at first tend to be much lower than what the University needs, he said.
"I don't think there was any position being staked out at all." Timmer said. "This is going to be a very tight budget year, and we're very concerned with keeping the programs the state already has in place."
John Shoemaker, student body president, said Finney should realize students were willing to sacrifice in order to increase faculty salaries.
"More than likely what happens is the government thinks it's politically correct to decrease the budget by cutting the Board of Regents budget," Shoemaker said. "On the surface, it appears that they're helping students, but really they're harming them because faculty quality suffers."
Allocating money from the general revenue fund to increase faculty salaries by 3 percent.
Regentsgoals
- Setting aside tuition increases from Regents institutions for an additional faculty salary increase of 3 percent, for a total of a 6 percent raise.
- Hiring more minority research graduate assistants.
- Improving the library systems at Regents institutions.
- Improving the Regents health care through increased training of health care professionals.
KANSAN
Staff writer Donelia Heame and The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Moving up
Men's tennis player Reid Slattery yesterday advanced to the Rolex National Indoors Championships.
Page 7.
It's never too early for candy
NEWS:864-4810
Kim Endsley, Overland Park freshman, left, and Abbie Riopelle, Green Bay, Wis., freshman, hold a box of Halloween candy out to Stephanie Jian, 3, who is trick or treating as a ballerina in Ellsworth residence hall. About 65 children from area elementary schools and Strupper Place apartments visited the hall last night for some pre-Halloween fun.
Services offer relief from creditors
By Shan Schwartz
Kansan staff writer
Victoria Mann answers her phone with caution.
The Chesterfield, Mo., junior is avoiding calls from credit card collection agencies.
She only has one Visa card, but she did not waste any time to spend it to the limit on restaurant food, tuition payments and a cordless phone.
Mann said her initial credit limit was $1,000, but she got it raised to $1,500 after two months and "maxed out" her balance in six months at $1,600.
After she missed one month's payment to the card issuer, the following months' minimum payments went up because of interest. She did not have the money to pay for them.
"I haven't made a payment in a year," she said. "I fully intend to pay it off someday, but I can't see myself make payments for the rest of my life."
Michele Kessler, staff attorney at Legal Services for Students, said students came to the legal services office for help in defending themselves against creditors.
Mann's situation is not unusual among KU students. Help is available for students who spend more than they can afford.
it off if you really owe the money," Kessler said. "We just try to keep students from being sued."
The legal services staff helps students by serving as their attorneys, Kessler said. The attorneys could work out agreements with credit card issuers and negotiate the debts if the students could not pay them.
Kessler said if a student was represented by an attorney, a collection agency by law could contact only the attorney and not the student.
"It's a legitimate debt, and you have to pay
Kessler said many credit companies could not collect from students because the students had little savings and did not earn enough to have their wages garnished.
"A lot of times, that helps on the anxiety level," Kessler said. "Collectors are not supposed to call you at inconvenient times or harass you, but they can get pretty close to harassment sometimes."
Last spring, after accumulating about $5,000 in debt, Lyons said he felt that his spending was getting out of control. He went to Consumer Credit Counseling Services in Lawrence to get help.
Gordon Lyons, Lawrence junior, took advantage of a local nonprofit service to harness his credit card debts.
Lyons said that the credit service designed for him a debt management program and
Legal Services for Students 8645665
Free of charge for enrolled students. Full-time staff attorneys help students negotiate with creditors and establish payment plans to reduce or eliminate debts.
Where to find help
Consumer Credit Counseling Services
749-4224
A United Way agency that provides services for a one-time $20 fee. The service designs a personal debt management program. Clients must destroy credit cards. The service works out agreements with creditors to reduce monthly payments, finance charges and/or interest rates to help clients pay off debts.
worked out agreements with his various creditors to have all his debts paid in 2 1/2 years. Lyons had to destroy his cards, but he said the credit counselors worked with him and the creditors to reduce the interest rates and his monthly payments.
Source: Kansan staff research
KANSAN
"It was a good deal, because I was getting in over my head," Lyons said. "I didn't have to do it. I had the means to pay them all off, but it would have taken forever."
Electronic transfers available for loans Direct transfer loan to cut fee payment lines, paper work
By David Stewart
Kansan staff writer
For some students, qualifying for their financial aid loans is only half the battle; they also have to wade through long lines to pick up their checks at fee payment.
But starting in January, at least 2,700 loan recipients can say good-bye to picking up their paper checks thanks to the power of the computer, said Diane Del Buono, director of the office of student financial aid.
Because the program requires students' authorization before releasing funds, only one lender, Mercantile Bank, will allow electronic transfers for Spring 1994, Del Buono said. Mercantile handles 43 percent of the KU Stafford loans.
On Nov. 8, the financial aid office will mail borrower's authorization statements to KU students who use Mercantile Bank as their student loan lender, Del Buono said. By signing the form, students allow the University to receive and credit their loans electronically.
Del Buono said she expected that many of the 20 other major KU student loan lenders would allow electronic transfer by Summer 1994 when the 1994-1995 federal student loan application includes the forms authorizing electronic transfers.
With electronic fund transfer through Mercantile, 2,700 students will no longer have to stand in line next January at fee payment.
Along with eliminating lines during the fee payment process, Del Buono said electronic fund transfers would help cut down on the work her staff does in processing paper checks.
"Right now, when a loan check is received at KU, it has to go through a number of different steps before we're done with it," Del Buono said. "This new system could minimize our staffing needs for processing loan checks."
Carol Wirthman, vice president of Mercantile Bank, said electronic fund transfers were the way of the future for processing student loans. Mercantile handled about $10 million in 1993-1994 Stafford loans, she said.
Electronic fund
The electronic fund transfer process involves the following steps:
1. Participating banks will electronically transmit the loan amounts to a restricted account at the University.
2. The University credits each student's University account by the total amount of loans transferred.
3. Students who use electronic fund transfer system must still go to fee payment if they select the fee payment deposit option. Students still owing money after their loans are credited can go directly to the cashier's line to pay off their remaining balances.
4. Students who have a credit balance may pick up their refunds directly at fee payment.
Off-campus living tests culinary skills
KANSAN
By Chesley Doh
Kansan staff writer
If your dream is to become a culinary genius, try living off campus.
KU students eat and prepare a wide variety of foods, but it all depends on how much time and money they have.
Depending on who is wearing the chefs hat, instant macaroni and cheese can become a delicacy.
James Mardock, Overland Park junior,
said that in his apartment instant macaroni
and cheese was a staple food. He said it had
gotten to the point where he and his room-
mates had tried just about everything in
their macaroni.
Students who live off campus must depend on themselves for food, so they often test their creativity in the kitchen.
"Just today we threw in frozen peas — not too bad. We've tried tuna fish and then there's spices. Paprika tastes great but never go with oregano. Oregano sucks
Mardock said his grocery shopping sprees usually consisted of the essential college diet.
in macaroni and cheese."
"Lots of pop tart, gotta have pop tarts," he said. "Friday I went shopping but it wasn't a very exciting day. I got bagels, green peppers — which is also good in macaroni and cheese — coffee mate, macaroni and cheese, and a Dillons mincemeat pie."
Other students splurge at the beginning of the month and try to make it last as long as they can.
Travis Worley, Overland Park sophomore, said he and his roommate usually spent up to $60 on meals alone such as steaks, bratwurst, bacon, hamburger and sausage. He said they enjoyed cooking when they had the time.
"We try to make big dinners but we usually make tons of hamburgers," Worley said. "Sometimes our countertops are so covered with stuff we don't cook at all. On those
nights we order out, and it's probably a lot safer."
Andrea Finter, Olathe senior, said she ate a lot of cereal, yogurt and chicken for dinner.
Though a lot of students do not seem to care about their eating habits, some students watch what they eat.
Bryan Tylander, Alexandria, Va., junior, said he enjoyed cooking for his roommates and friends. He said he was surprised at his ability to amaze people with his cooking skills.
"Once I boiled some spaghetti and put some canned sauce on top of it and people couldn't believe what I'd made," he said. "I just boiled some noodles and opened a can!"
"It's hard to cook for just yourself or two people," she said. "It's easier to go out to Taco Bell and buy a chicken tortilla than to go to the store and buy chicken, tortillas, green peppers, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and picante sauce. It's a lot cheaper, too."
usan McSpadden/ KANSAS
Traws Worley, Overland Park sophomore,
cooks his spaghetti sauce while making
dinner for his friends.
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