THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.100,NO.118
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSIAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1990
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Soviet troops 'kidnap'23 in Lithuania
The Associated Press
VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. — Lithuania's leaders yesterday angerly accused Moscow of inexcusable aggression and of kidnapping its citizens after Soviet troops stormed two hospitals on harsh ground of army deserters.
Later, the Kremlin ordered all foreigners to leave the republic, which declared independence March 11. Soviet troops occupied a fifth Communist Party building in Vilnius, the capital.
Washington and other foreign governments urged restraint but avoided attacking Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who faces growing independence movements in Europe amid publics as he tries to institute reform.
The Bush administration, in declining to denounce Moscow, said it did not want to inflame the situation.
Soviet officials defended their actions and condemned the Lithuanians' aspirations as dangerous.
In a furious letter to Gorbachev, Lithuania's president, Vytautas Landsbergis, and prime minister, Kazimera Prunkskie, said their government demanded the return of its kidnapped citizens. They also urged negotiations with Moscow in neutral territory.
Both Landsbergis and Prunskiene said Gorbachev had refused their calls
Soviet soldiers stormed two hospitals before dawn yesterday and
U.S. quiets loud criticism of U.S.S.R.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The White House abruptly muted its criticism of Soviet actions against Lithuania yesterday but reminded Moscow that a severe crackdown could damage superpower relations.
"We do not want to inflame the situation," said White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, declining to criticize the Kremlin for seizing at least 23 army deserters from two hospitals in Lithuania in a bloody show of force.
While toning down its public rhetoric, the administration was privately warning Moscow against taking a tough stand, officials said.
seized 23 Lithuanian deserters who had sought refuge, the official Tass news agency said.
Witnesses said some deserters were beaten as they were taken from a run-down psychiatric hospital in Vilnius. A trail of blood led down the steps and out the front door of the hospital.
Murlin Heffner, facilities operations employee, adds a fresh coat of paint to a light pole on Naismith Drive in front of Allen Field House. Heffner and his crew were painting poles Monday as part of an ongoing program to beautify the campus.
Shade of spring
U.S.TV signals jammed by Cuba
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Busi-
administration began beaming U.S.
television to Cuba yesterday, includ-
ing MTV videos, a 1971 World Series
tape and an old episode of "Kate and
Alice," but the communist govern-
ment handed the transmissions and
accused the United States of aggression.
"We regret that Cuba has refused to permit the free flow of information and ideas," said State Department spokesman Margaret Tuwiler.
Testing of the long-planned TV Marti began on channel 13 at 12:45 a.m. In Havana, viewers saw a strong and clear test pattern.
Two hours later videos from MTV, dubbed in Spanish, the World Series tape and an episode of "Kate and Allie," appeared.
After that, viewers saw a report on the success of Hispanics in the United States, said Jorge Mas Canosa, chairman of the Miami-based organization that oversees TV Marti.
Although viewers in outlying areas of Havana had few problems during the five-hour test, residents of downtown Havana encountered the signal of a Cuban jamming transmitter after the first 23 minutes.
Mas Canosa said Castro jammed not only channel 13, but also three domestic stations as well, in case TV Marti charged channels.
On Friday, Cuba broadcast a radio speech by President Fidel Castro to the United States.
Willner's fate to be decided Committee to issue its report on tenure revocation hearing
By Pam Sollner
The long wait ends today for professor Dorothy Wilner.
The Faculty Senate Committee on Tenure and Related Problems will issue its 100-page report in the long-awaited tenure revocation
nearing that began last semester.
The committee has only two options — to dismiss or to dismiss the charges.
Frances Ingemann, chair. Dorothy Wilner man of the committee, will distribute copies of the decision to
the parties involved in the dispute at 4:30 p.m. in the Walnut Room at the Kansas Union. Committee members have been instructed not to discuss the report or answer questions.
Wilmer, who became a full professor of anthropology in 1970, is the first KU faculty member to undergo dismissal hearings. The charges brought against her by Chancellor Gene A. Budig are for unethical behavior and failure to perform academic duties.
According to the University Handbook for Faculty and Other Unclassified Staff, copies of the committee's decision and report will be issued to each of the individuals as well as the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the
American Association of University Professors and the University Archives.
William Scott, chairman of FacEx, said the committee probably would not call a special meeting to implement the decision. The committee will meet at its usual time Monday afternoon immediately following the Senate Executive Committee meeting.
"There seems to be no point in meeting immediately," he said. "We have to read it first."
After the decision is implemented, either party has the opportunity to appeal to the Board of Regents. There is no guarantee that the Regents will hear the case.
The 120 hours of dismissal hearings began Oct. 16 and ended Dec. 18.
The committee met once during Christmas break and began detailed deliberations Jan. 10, after receiving the legal briefs from the Treasury. Today marks the 11th week since the deliberations began.
The committee comprises five faculty members from various departments in the University.
The committee has poured over pages of evidence, including a 3,467-page transcript of the hearings and legal briefs from both sides. Rose Marino, associate general counsel for the University, submitted a 19-page brief, and Donald Koster, Willner's adviser, submitted a 30-page brief.
Coalition still trying to fulfill promises
Common Cause's ideas took a different turn, but it achieved goals, president says
By Eric Gorski
Kansan staff writer
This the second in an occasional series of articles examining Student Senate and its role and responsibility at the University.
Promises promises
Every spring, RU students listen to the ideas of a handful of Student Senate coalitions. Some may seem attainable while others seem outlandish or out of Student Senate's turisdiction.
Last year, B. Jake White and Jeff Morris' Common Cause coalition supported a new late-night campus escort service, a student grievance center and a new orientation program.
A year later, White and Morris said their promises were not empty ones.
Although some of the ideas have taken different turns, the goals of the coalition were accomplished. White said.
Morris, student body vice president, said that although some items on coalitions' platforms technically might be out of Senate's hands, they still had merit.
"In addition, we've added programs, like campus recycling," said White, student body president.
In past years, conditions have suggested adding a McDonald's restaurant on campus and turning it into a rooftop.
"You can't really call anything outlandish." Morris said. "Senate has jurisdiction over student groups, but it can also take student concerns to the administration. They can have an impact. They may not be able to do it themselves, but changes can be made.
Student Senate Elections Student Senate Elections Student Senate Elections
Morris said that Common Cause's escort service and grievance center ideas never took shape but that other programs introduced by Senate accomplished the goals of those ideas.
"This year, there are a lot of good ideas and,
from what I hear, quite a few students like them."
'You can't really call anything outlandish. Senate has jurisdiction over student groups, but it can also take student concerns to the administration.'
The escort service would have presented liability problems, Morris said, if an escort attacked the person he was escorting, or vice versa.
Instead, Senate provided $43,545.00 to reinstate Secure Cable in August. The program, which had taken many forms since its introduction in 1986, offers service to students from 11 p.m. to 3 o'clock every day.
— Jim Morris
student body president
Charles Bryan, director of KU on Wheels, said
The grievance center was part of an idea called "First Contact Office," where students could come to a Senate office and receive help from peers in filing grievances with University departments.
the service provided to 4,500 riders since August. Morris said, "We've got an escort service. It's on our schedule."
Morris said that because most student concerns involved grade changes, Senate decided to abandon the First Contact Office and concentrate on changing the grade appeal process.
William Sanders, Student Executive Committee chairman, said Senate initiated the idea of altering the process, which requires the student to file an academic grievance against a teacher.
The new system, which was approved in January by University Council, will begin in Fall 1980. Sanders said. It will remove the academic grievance requirement and allow students to file complaints through the department or school involved. Then the complaint will be presented to a judiciary board.
"It will be better for students because there will be a written procedure that they know will be used for grade annoals." Sanders said.
Morris said the orientation program advocated by Common Cause, "University 101," was still being researched and reworked. The program would consist of a one-day summer orientation that would allow students to learn about classes offered by the University and about improving study skills. The participants also would receive one hour of credit.
A pilot program should be ready in about a year, Morris said.
Kansan staff writer
Gun dealer faces ordinance charge
By Curtis Knapp
Knaps staff writer
Rodney Nickell of Lawrence fat:
in the head Jan.
21 with a 22-
caliber, semi-
automatic hand-
gun he purchased
that day at the
Jyhawk Gun
Show at the Holiday
Inn Holidome,
according to police reports.
According to court records, Magee was charged with violating the section of the ordinance stating that a dealer must make a customer wait 72 hours before purchasing a handgun.
Magee, 30, pleaded not guilty at a March 19 arraignment on charges of violating the ordinance. His trial was delayed until May 18 in Lawrence Municipal Court.
According to court records, Magee was charged with violating the section of the ordinance stating that a dealer must make a customer wait 72 hours before purchasing a handgun. During that time, the seller must send an information form about the customer to police.
Kirk Heeringa, a promoter for the gun show, said he thought Nickell
Chris Mulvenon, Lawrence police spokesman, said there had not been any previous ordinance violations.
Mulvenon said the waiting period was created so police could check the customer's background. Police check to see if the customer has committed a felony and if the information about him, such as his age, is correct. Handgun purchasers in Lawrence must be at least 21 years old.
Mulvenon said the waiting period also was designed as a cooling-off period for people who might want the staff to warm themselves or to commit a felony.
He said people were denied purchase because of information uncovered about them during background checks by police. They either were convicted felons or had given false information.
Mulvenon said that about six customers had been denied purchase of handguns in Lawrence.
David Longhurst, a city commissioner at the time the ordinance was passed, said the 72-hour waiting period was implemented in response to the October 1985 death of a 21-year-old KU student. She bought a handgun from a local merchant and shot herself with it a few hours later.
bought the handgun after the show in the parking lot outside the Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive. About 50 gun dealers attended the show.
"The Jayhawk Gun Show had nothing to do with it," Heeringa said.
Mulvenon said police did not attend gun shows to ensure that merchants complied with the law requiring them to fill out a permit. The merchants know that if they do not comply, they can be penalized, he said. Violations are punishable by a maximum of six months in jail and a $500 fine.
"We've had very good compliance." he said.
According to the coroner's report, Nickell died at 4 p.m. Jan. 21 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He had a blood alcohol level of .033 percent.
Nickell, 32, had been on the phone with his wife and threatened to shoot himself. After his wife heard a shot, she contacted authorities who found him with a gunshot wound to his right temple, according to the coroner's report.
Lt. Bud Brooks of the Topeka police said Topeka did not have a waiting period for gun purchases.
Lt. Sam Reid of the Kansas City, Kan., police said a $150 permit had to be obtained before purchasing a gun in Kansas City. To get a permit, a person must be photographed and fingerprinted for police to get proof of identification.
The process of obtaining a permit takes two weeks, Reid said. The chief of police has to approve the transaction.
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