Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, March 8, 1990
3
Fire damages Quaker plant
By Pam Sollin and Steve Bailey Kansan staff writers
A fire yesterday morning at the Quaker Oats Co., 727 N. Iowa St., was extinguished by the Lawrence Fire Department after two plant workers could not gain control of the fire.
Ed Cunningham, plant manager of employee and community relations, said that no employees were injured during the smoke inhalation at the scene for smoke inhalation
He estimated equipment damage at $2,000 to $3,000. Firefighters kept the room well ventilated, so there was no smoke damage. The direct cause of the fire has not been determined.
Joe Alonzo, production manager of the plant, said two workers in the pre-mixing room smelled smoke about 9 a.m. The company prepares ingredients for pet foods in that room.
Alonzo said plant workers dismantled the mixer but could not find the direct cause of the fire. They related that the fire began in the motor.
Pat Cordle, administrative assistant at the plant, said she saw smoke coming through the ceiling of her office. A cement wall separates her office from the pre-mixing room.
The plant employs 165 people, who work in three shifts. The first shift began at 8 a.m.
He said it was unusual for a motor of that type to catch fire. The motor and filter systems are inspected regularly.
'I got one whiff of it and got out of there.'
administrative assistant at the plant
- Pat Cordre
administrative assistant at the plant
Employees in the plant storeroom called the fire department, and the bakehouse called the food room.
The men tried to put out the fire with two extinguishers. They left the room when the fire spread to the 12 to 16 people in the system and could not be controlled.
Jim McSwain, Lawrence fire chief, said three fire engines and one ladder truck responded to the call at 9:12 p.m. at the courthouse furnished with about 30 gallons of water.
About 70 employees stood in the sprinkling rain or waited in their vehicles in the company parking lot while firefighters put out the fire. At 9:50 a.m. they were allowed to wait in the plant cafeteria.
Steve Traynor/KANSAN
"I got one whiff of it and got out of there," she said.
Bob Bolden, manager of packaging and warehouse, said the employees evacuated quickly according to the company fire drill plan.
McSwain said the Douglas County Hazardous Materials Team was called because of sorbic acid in the mixer. The acid is classified as a hazardous material.
He said the acid, like any common structure, decomposed to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide when it burned.
Alonzo said the acid was used as a preservative in the pre-mixture for pet foods.
Cunningham said all employees returned to work at 11:45 a.m. The plant returned to full operation by4 p.m.
Leo Souders wipes sweat and rain from his face.
Blaze wasn't threat to special unit
By Mark McHugh
Kansan staff writer
For the second time in a week, the Douglas County Hazardous Materials Team suited up for action.
A fire yesterday at Quaker Oats Co., 727 N. Iowa St., burned sorbic acid, but the compound posed no serious danger.
"We weren't at risk whatsoever," said Gary Karr, captain of fire station 4. "It was just a matter of ventilating the building and letting the people return to work."
Jim McSwain, Lawrence fire chief, said the protective gear the team wore yesterday was not the familiar bulky body suit that hazardous material workers wore.
"The chemical today was not of the type that there was a skin absorption possibility that would toxify an individual," he said. "The standard firefighting gear
along with a self-contained breathing apparatus was adequate protection."
Friday, the team responded to a diesel fuel spill at 23rd and Iowa streets.
McSain said the team normally responded to about three or four calls a year, excluding minor gasoline spills and leaks. Already this year, the team has responded to three or four incidents.
Ron McCutcheon, chief of the field removal section of the Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas City, Kan., said the agency trained firefighters to handle hazardous materials.
McSwain said the Douglas County Hazardous Materials Team was formed in 1982. Fire departments nationwide have formed teams to deal with hazardous materials.
Committee suggests not financing Margin
mittee's proposal.
Campus recycling effort picks up
Some peer schools have tuition rates that account for a smaller portion of total financing than the tuition rates at Regents schools.
TOPEKA — The third year of the Margin of Excellence will not be financed if the Senate Ways and Means Committee recommendations are accepted.
Documents prepared by Alan Conroy of the Legislative Research Department show that tuition in Kansas accounts for more than 25 percent of financing for higher education.
The Senate committee agreed with Gov. Mike Hayden's proposal to not finance the Margin. The Regents are moving in for the third year of the Margin.
The Regents have announced a 6.1 percent, or $35, tuition increase for
By Eric Gorski
Kansas staff writer
resident undergraduate students for Fall 1990. Tuition increases for graduate students will be 6 percent, or $44.
A 10 percent increase was announced for non-resident undergraduate and graduate students. The will be $198 and $213 respectively.
Kansan staff writer
Officials do not anticipate enrollment decreases as a result of the tuition increases.
The Senate committee did not recommend a 5 percent student salary increase requested by the Regents. It recommended that graduate teaching assistant fee waivers remain at 75 percent.
During the last week of February, Hebert's prediction came true. From Feb. 26 to March 2, 400 pounds of cans were collected, compared to 15 pounds from Jan. 22-26, said Jeff Morris, student body vice president. Word of mouth and advertising
Bv Rod Griffin
The Margin is the Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers.
"I knew it was a matter of time before common sense overwhelmed everybody," he said.
"Increases in tuition at Regents schools don't hurt as much because Regents have one of the lowest tuition rates in the country in the first place," said Bruce Lindvall, director of the KU Office of Admissions.
caused the increase, Morris said.
The committee completed recommendations for the Board of Regents institutions Friday. The House Appropriations Committee was briefed yesterday on the Senate com-
The recycling effort is a joint project involving Student Senate, Environs and River City Recycling. The facilities are placed in nine campus buildings.
During the last week of January, John Hebert of River City Recycling had few aluminum cans to load into his pickup truck.
Hebert is on campus four or five days a week, collecting cans for the school library. He wasn't worried about the lack of cans during the project's early stages.
Morris said the task force hoped that Facilities Operations eventually would take over the collection process.
Phil Endacott, faculty member on the task force, said that the few times the barrels overflowed, River City was prompt in collection.
Endacott said the University could not afford the project unless it received extra financing.
"Facilities Operations is under budget restraints as it is," Endacott said. "We pick up and accept another job." We don't have the resources. We just don't have the resources."
The task force will present an informational notebook about the project's progress after spring break and describe the executive vice chancellor, Morris said.
Mary Jane McCool, task force chairman, said that Student Senate allocated $300 two weeks ago for increased advertising for the project. The money will be used to advertise in newspapers and to purchase "No Aluminum" stickers that would be placed on regular garbage cans.
Morris said the project probably would expand next year to include about 60 containers and possibly outdoor collection.
"We're on the move now," he said. "Hopefully, we can convince the students and the University that we can make money in addition to helping the environment."
Universities see slight tuition increases
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Many colleges and universities are announcing some of the smallest tuition increases in a decade for next fall.
approaching the end of the big increases. What's doing it is the demographics, the student
But some higher education leaders think next fall's modest increases are also a response to a growing sense of outrage among students, legislators and others after a decade in which tuition increases were far in excess of the nation's inflation rate.
College officials credit themselves with cutting costs, especially in administration, and passing the savings on to students.
"The market and the political context are beginning to have an impact," said Robert Atwell, president of the American Council of Education. "I think we're response, the legislative response in some cases, the governing
'I think we're approaching the end of the big increases. What's doing it is the demographics, the student response, the legislative response in some cases, the governing boards getting interested in this issue, the editorial boards of newspapers and magazines.'
ROBERT AWELL,
president of the American Council of Education
boards getting interested in this issue, the editorial boards of newspapers and magazines."
Especially sobering, said Atwell and others, has been a recent falloff in applications at many colleges, including at top ones such as the University of Chicago; schools no longer can simply raise their rates with immunity.
Average tuitions rose by 5-to-9 percent during the current school year, according to the College Board's most recent annual college cost survey. Costs rose in double digits from 1981 through 1984.
Five coalitions will run for student body offices
Ten candidates file
By a Kansan reporter
Five coalitions for student body president and vice president have filled for office. The deadline was 5 p.m. yesterday.
The five coalitions and their candidates are:
Fast Break: Greg Hughes, Merriam junior, president; Pat Warren, Overland Park junior, vice president.
Jayhawk Pride: Jeff Milligan,
Topeka junior, president; Marc
LeBeau, La Grange, Ill., junior, vice president.
New Blood: Brad Sanders, Prairie Village senior, president; John Fawcett, Neodesha senior, vice president.
Real Representation: Todd Boerger, Winfield senior, president; Mike Thomas, Lake Forest, Ill., vice president.
YOU: Mike Schreiner, Wakeeney junior, president; Aimee Hall, Manhattan sophomore, vice president.
Elections are April 11-12.
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