r
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 14, 1990
Campus/Area
3
Regents want to raise entrance requirements
By Rod Griffin
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA - The number of Kansas high school students allowed to attend Board of Regents schools could be limited if a bill introduced by the House Appropriations Committee becomes law.
The committee heard testimony yesterday about the bill, which would establish minimum requirements for entrance into Regents schools.
The requirements would include: a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, completion of four units of English, three units of social studies, three units of mathematics, three units of natural science and two units of foreign language. Additional rules also could be enacted by each school.
Similar bills have been introduced in recent years and have failed to achieve
>stanley Kopilk, executive director of the Regents, said this session's bill was designed to better prepare high school students for the rigors of college education.
"Qualified admissions will help to guard against students being shocked or victimized by gaps they discover between their preparation and the expectations universities have of them," he said.
If the qualified admissions bill passed, it would first be applied to students that would graduate four years after it was enacted.
"We are confident that if we raise the high bar in Kansas, our high school students will respond," Koplik said.
The Regents now recommend the curriculum that would be required by the bill. Since 1983, when the Regents made its recommendations to public schools, 17 percent of resident undergraduates have completed the recommended courses, Koplik said.
He said the percentage would increase dramatically if the curriculum were required.
"Many students will continue to resist taking a more rigorous curriculum until it becomes a prerequisite for entry to college." Kolopi said.
State Rep. Al Lane, R-Mission Hills, said he urged his son to take more math and science courses to prepare for college.
"Why should I do that?" Lane said his son asked. "Anybody that graduates from a Kansas high school can get into a Kansas university."
State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence, expressed concern about the ability of a 14-year-old to make a decision, such as attending college, that could be life forming.
State Rep. Rochelle Chronister, N-Neodesha, said the decision to take the extra courses would not be made until the student was 16 or 17.
"The problem is that the parents are not helping students make those decisions," she said.
Opponents of the bill said adding courses to high school curriculums would not affect the dropout rates at the university level.
David DePue, executive director of the Kansas Council on Vocational Education, taught at the University of Illinois. He said the university had the highest entrance requirements in the state and students still were not prepared for college study.
"I had to drop or put on academic probation about one-fifth of the freshmen each year, including some high school valedictorians," DePue said.
He said the reasons for failure were seldom academic, citing social, personal and financial difficulties as the sources of students' problems.
He said students needed to learn vocational skills, such as resource management and applied math and science, to be successful in the work force. Such skills would benefit the Kansas economy as well.
"Increasing the number of traditional courses and emphasizing a liberal arts curriculum will not make our students more involved in the global workforce," he said.
Bill Curtis, assistant executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards, said the Regents should not be free to establish admissions requirements.
"We believe that this is such an important matter of state public policy that if admissions criteria are to be developed, they should be developed by this legislative body and placed in statute," he said. "Most of our members simply are not convinced that there is a problem."
Student Senate claims Emery is hazardous
City to consider sidewalks
By Kathryn Lancaster
Kanean staff writer
Lawrence city commissioners are considering a proposal to add sidewalks along Emery Road, from Ninth Street to West Hills Terrace.
The proposal, introduced by two KU student senators, would add a four-foot wide walkway.
Commissioners yesterday tabled the proposal for further study and discussion but heard some public comment.
"Hundreds of students walk on Emery Road every day," said Kelli Rogers, chairman for a Student Senate subcommittee on community affairs. "It's a necessary and needed project."
Some neighborhood residents are concerned that they would be forced to pay for sidewalks that would not be used.
Sally Casad, secretary for the Westhills Homeowners Association, said the area by the street provided an important buffer zone between a quiet neighborhood and noisy apartments.
"There is a serious doubt that students would use the sidewalk anyway." Casad said.
anyway. Barton Fisher, a member of the Senate subcommittee, said Emery Road curved around and was too dangerous for both pedestrians and drivers.
City staff recommended that the sidewalk construction be vetoed because of cost constraints.
People owning property adjacent to the project would pay for most of the work, said Mike Wildgen, acting city manager.
The city also would pay for part of the project.
City-owned right-of-way is minimal along Emery Road, Wilden said. If the city decided to install the sidewalks, it would have to purchase the right-of-ways. If a homeowner refused to sell the right-ofway, the city would have to condemn the property needed.
Casad said the city would have to condemn property owned by the Westhills Homeowners Association if it wanted a sidewalk along the west side of the road.
George Williams, director of Public Works, said the project would be difficult because of steep grades along the street, a narrow right-of-way and stone walls built on both sides of the street.
Although Mayor Bob Schumm agreed the street was very dangerous, he said the project would not be an easy one to complete.
RAILROAD NEWS: City commissioners have cleared a path for a 1.1-mile hiking and bicycling trail just west of Haskell Road from 23rd Street to 31st Street.
Commissioners yesterday approved 4-1a proposal authorizing a $7,500 payment to the Santa Fe Railway Co. for rails, ties and related hardware. The city negotiated with the Santa Fe Railway Co. for about 14 months for the rights to an abandoned rail line, which will be used for the trail.
The city will gain a temporary right-of-way, which could revert to the railway ownership if it is ever needed. Wildgen said.
The rails and ties will be removed and sold, Wildgen said. Two years ago the estimated income from such a sale was $5,600.
Two people already have expressed interest in the rails and ties. Wilden said.
David Penny, the only commissioner voting against the proposal, said he was concerned about potential security and trash problems along the tracks.
A number of groups, including Kansas Crew and the North Lawrence Neighborhood Association, have expressed interest in the depot, which was donated to the city last Wednesday. United Way already has an agreement to lease space at the depot.
In other railroad news, commissioners authorized Schumm to sign a lease agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad and allow the city to sublease space in the Lawrence Train Depot.
ALCOHOL ORDINANCE DISCUSSED: Commissioners are considering amending the city alcohol consumption ordinance to exclude the Riverfront Plaza from the ordi-
Gretchen Pippenger/KANSAN
nance's restrictions
The ordinance restricts alcohol consumption on most city property. Although independently owned, the plaza is being developed on city
Commissioners have tabled a plan for a sidewalk along Emery Road.
property.
The Chelsea Group, the plaza developers, would like to sell alcohol in the plaza's food court, RiverCity Market.
Program helps students with taxes
Kansan staff writer
By Chris Siron
KU students worrying about income taxes can get free advice at the Kansas Union.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance,
an IRS program, will be available
from noon to 4 p.m. and from 6:30
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and
Thursdays until April 16 at the Union.
VITA, sponsored in Lawrence by the University of Kansas Accounting Club, is a program designed for low-income people who need basic tax advice. Ross I. Hirst, Topeka IRS agent, said it was adaptable to college students.
First said that because most students' tax responsibilities were straightforward, VITA could help them.
Steve Dvsorke, a VITA representative and accounting student, said he helped people file their federal 10-40 and 10-40 EZ forms and their state tax forms.
He said it took students about half an hour to file with his help.
approached.
"Most of them could probably have done it on their own, but we assure them it is done right," Dvorske said.
He said that not many students has sought help since the program began Jan. 29 but that he thought more would as the April 17 deadline
He asks students should bring the tax information they receive from employers and banks. Other materials are provided to VITA by the IRS, although VITA does not have some out-of-state forms.
Students who do not use standard forms or who use complicated filing procedures should get help from KU Student Legal Services, Dvorske said.
Jo Hardesty, director of student legal services, said so many students were coming in for advice that some had to wait two weeks for an appointment.
She said three attorneys were prepared to help students with more difficult tax problems. KU Student Legal Services helps many foreign students, who follow more complex filing procedures.
She said her office also served many out-of-state students who had problems filing federal, Kansas and home-state taxes.
Hardesty said she was helping some students file Kansas K-40-FD tax forms. Using this alternate form can save some Kansans money through federal income tax deductions.
Pat Duerkesen of R&R Block, 738 New Hampshire St., said the K-40 FD
Tax help
Where KU students can get free help with filing taxes:
**free help with filing skates**
**Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, from noon to 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday at Alcoves B and C in the Kansas Union.**
- Student Legal *Services*, by appointment in 148 Burge Union.
- Internal Revenue Service tax information line, 1-800-242-1040.
- Robert Hulla, IRS tax advisor, said students should remember that they cannot exempt themselves from federal tax withholdings if their parents claim them as a dependant.
He said students receiving financial aid could deduct tuition and textbook expenses paid with scholarship money, but other expenses were considered taxable income.
was not for everyone, because though it grants a deduction for federal income tax, the person is taxed by the state at a higher rate.
People with tax questions also can get help from the IRS tax information line, 1-800-424-1040.
Israeli journalist predicts continued conflict
Calls combined Palestinian-Jewish state unrealistic
Bv Steve Bailey
Kansan staff writer
There is no immediate solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and neither group is going to simply disappear, an Israeli journalist said yesterday at the Kansas Union.
Emmanuel Halperin, senior editor of Israeli Television, Foreign News and Israeli Affairs, told a gathering of about 20 people that a combined Palestinian and Jewish state would probably be difficult.
"This solution will not work because the Jewish people don't want it and the Palestinians don't want it." Halperin said. "We cannot force a solution on the people that they don't want."
Halperin said the creation of only one completely unified state without the acceptance of the other also would be unrealistic.
"There cannot be one unitary Arab state in Palestine, just as there cannot be only one unified Jewish state," he said. "The basis of understanding a solution is the realization that there are two people."
The lecture soon became a
'We cannot force a solution on the people that they don't want.' — Emmanuel Halperin Israeli journalist*
neated discussion between participants about which people were the aggressors in the conflict. Audience members had to be reminded several times that Halperin was the invited speaker.
"No one wants to have military occupation," Halperin said. "We have no pleasure in the occupation of that territory. But we have neighbors who do not recognize the Jewish people or their right to exist."
Halperin said one reason for the conflict was the lack of communication and negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
"The purpose of the PLO is the destruction of Israel," he said.
"Destruction of the state of Israel would not be an accepted solution. It could not be accepted because there are four million Israelis who will not accept it."
Dan Acheson-Brown, Topeka graduate student, said after the discussion that he did not agree with many of Halperin's statements that the PLO was the primary aggressor in the conflict and had not been making steps toward negotiation.
"He used almost no historical documentation for his claims." Acheson-Brown said. "He made statements that were totally inaccurate."
Acheson-Brown said historical documentation as well as other scholarly works on the subject had to be investigated to get an accurate picture of the conflict.
Sweetheart Specials
- FREE Fried Ice Cream
- $1.95 Strawberry Daiquiris
- $1.50 Mexican Beer
for each couple
- $1.00 Watermelon Shots
DO8
Specials good only February 14, 1990
815 New Hampshire
LET MUNCHERS BAKE A SWEET HEART FOR YOUR SWEETHEART
Munchers Bakery
Hillcrest Shopping Center—Near Hillcrest Theatres
Open Tues.-Sun. 24 Hours
READING FOR COMPREHENSION AND SPEED
Thursdays, February 15, 22
and March 1
3:30 to 5:30 P.M.
Register and pay $15 materials fee by 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 14th at the Student Assistance Center, 123 Strong Hall
Throw a SCHOONER down at
LOUISE'S BAR
DOWNTOWN
$1.00 on Tues. & Wed.