University Daily Kansan / Monday, January 22, 1990
Campus/Area
3
Habitat dedicates first house
Low-income families get group's help
After the dedication, Sen. Nancy Kassebaum wishes Mary Richter well in her new home built by Habitat for Humanity.
By Christine Reinolds Kanaan staff writer
The resounding strains of "Bless This House" filled the air yesterday afternoon at the dedication of Lawrence Habitat for Humanity's first house.
Leo Barbee, reverend of the Victory Baptist Church, sang in a deep booming voice as Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas, Habitat volunteers and the Richter family watched slides of the Habitat house-raising.
Habitat for Humanity International, founded in 1979, is an organization that builds houses for low-income families. There are 450 chapters in the United States. The houses are built using as much volunteer labor and donated materials as possible.
Kassebaum said she worried that available, affordable housing was becoming scarce.
"The key to solving this problem is finding ways to find adequate affordable housing for families that are underprivileged," she said.
there is a bill in the U.S. Senate and a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that concern housing assistance, Kassebaum said.
hamaley said KU students put in approximately 500 hours of service on the building of the house.
"This project has touched the lives of so many students, incorporating pleasure and joy with the act of learning and service," she said.
Teresa Leudke, Omaha, Neb. senior, is working on starting a KU
Habitat for Humanity chapter in conjunction with the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity.
"I wanted to give something back to the community that has given so much to KU students," she said.
The dedication was held at the Lawrence Indian United Methodist Church. Volunteers and guests
were then invited to an open house at the Richter's three-bedroom home.
At the open house, 2705 Harper St. $r$; Gerald and Mary Richter proudly showed off their home as their daughters, LeAnna, 7, Melissa, 3, gave Kassebaum and other guests a guided tour.
New ECM pastor will promote dialogue
Kansan staff writer
By Mark McHugh
Susan Hartley, as the new campus pastor at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, said she planned to inspire dialogue on controversial issues.
Hartley, a 1967 KU graduate, was officially introduced yesterday to the campus community and ECM.
"I think the tie between the University and ECM is her outreach to the community," said Jeanne Cook, board member of ECM. "She does a lot of counseling of KU students. She does a lot of pre-marital counseling for couples. She will oversee the studies here, and she will reach out to the campus community in any way she can."
Hartley, who received a degree in journalism, has spent time in other campus communities since her graduation. She has worked at the Univer-
sury of Vermont, the University of Chicago and the National College of Business in Rapid City, S.D. She is a graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and is now the pastor at Westport Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Mo.
She worked in collegiate journalism for 15 years and was involved in advertising until she answered a different calling.
"It just happened," she said. "Writing was always like second nature for me. And that sparkle just sort of left. And the charisma and the energy went into a whole different end after that.
She wants ECM to be more prominent in the campus community this semester, particularly in the area of dialogue on controversial issues.
"I can still write stories and press releases, but that real sparkle isn't there anymore. I hope it comes out in my personal conversations with people."
"I hope to invite discussions on things that are important to people," she said.
She said the University Forum was high on her agenda.
Hartley said, "People usually present their topics in such a way that it's very one-sided. Here we invite a dialogue, and we try to invite people on both sides of an issue as many times."
"The University Forum is a place where people can come and talk about issues that are controversial sometimes, or emotional, or of a particular interest," she said. "It puts things in context where people can be heard with respect.
Susan Hartley
ASK council will attend Lobby Day for Margin
By Matt Taylor Kansan staff writer
Sherri Sweers, KU campus director for ASK, said one of the group's first actions to gain legislative support will be sponsoring Lobby Day at the capitol on Feb. 19.
Kanean staff Writer
Associated Students of Kansas Policy Council on Saturday in Topeka plotted its strategy for gaining support for the third year of the Margin of Excellence.
Sweirs said any students interested in Lobby Day are invited to attend at least one of two preparation days scheduled for Feb. 8 and 15.
"We're encouraging students to push for the Margin," Sweares said. "We can't fade away and reappear next fall. We need to show the Legislature that education should not be cut."
Policy council chairman Bill Moseley said, "We strongly support the Margin, despite Hayden's proposed cut. The Margin is still our highest priority."
The Margin is the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers.
At the meeting the council agreed to give supportive testimony today to a House bill that would allow funding for a dual-credit system for high school students.
Although the Legislature financed the first two years of the Margin, Gov. Mike Hayden's budget includes none of the $16.3 million requested for the third year.
juniors and seniors enroll in college courses and receive credit applicable to a degree." Moseley said. "Funding would be available so the pupil, the school district and the respective institution would share the tuition expense. We also want the State Board of Education to help pay the universities for the students' tuition."
The bill would help high school
Moseley said high school students in some districts, including Lawrence, could now enroll in college courses, but no existing programs offered funding.
Moseley said the council needed to study the geographic opportunities of such programs before it could give full endorsement.
"We're concerned that high school students in western Kansas don't have the availability to community
The council hopes to set a more consistent method of awarding tuition to students, Moseley said.
colleges or Regents schools," Moselev.said.
The council also changed its budget for Youth Educational Service from $100,000 to $50,000. The service allows college students to receive pay for tutoring educationally disadvantaged grade school and high school students.
"We want to first stabilize the program and finalize some administrative matters," Moseley said. "We're not prepared to expand yet, although this program is still very important to us."
ASK will meet at 5 p.m. Jan. 25 in Alcove B. of the Kansas Union, Sweeps said.
The University of Kansas ranks 15th among public universities and 30th among all institutions in the enrollment of first-time National Merit Scholars.
Forty-nine scholars are enrolled in this year's freshman class, eight more than last year, said Marti Ruel, assistant dean of educational services.
he said that the increase in ars had been increasing, but that this year's increase was probably the most dramatic.
not want to learn
"I think what it shows is that the academic reputation of this institution is attracting scholars," she said.
Ruiel said the National Merit Corp., based in Evanston, Ill., named the scholars.
summaries.
The students take the PSAT during their junior year of high school, and the corporation categorizes students by their scores. National Merit semifinalists are then named, the first step to becoming a National Merit Scholar, she said.
The students take the SAT during their senior year of high school to verify that score and must get a
he ranking is persuasive testimony to the quality of our academic programs.'
T
- Gene A. Budig Chancellor
recommendation from their high school and prove U.S. citizenship. The corporation then names the scholars.
Ruel said National Merit finalists who chose KU as their first choice received scholarships from KU.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig said in a prepared statement, "The ranking is persuasive testimony to the quality of our academic programs. We draw some of the nation's finest young scholars to Mount Oread."
New scholars enrolled at 228 private and 138 public institutions this year. Harvard University ranks first with 314 new scholars, and the University of Texas ranks second with 217.
Local schools' income may fall short of needs
By K. Lancaster
Kansan staff writer
A slower pace of property tax collections and reduced payments for some property owners will mean lost revenues for the Lawrence school district, county officials said Friday.
Nancy Hempen, county treasurer,
said that School District 497, which
receives more than half of its income
from property tax revenue, would
fall more than $1 million short on its
first distribution of that income. This
report came at Wednesday's county
commission meeting.
In the first of seven distributions that was sent on Friday, the district received $10,760,236, confirming Hempen's report.
Tax collections in general are more than $2.5 million behind 1988 collections for the same period, Hempen said.
"As far as making a difference in our schools, we will survive," Neuenswander said. "A lot of people are panicking and saying that we won't be able to operate. That's not true. It will hit us next year, but we will be able to operate. But we might need to make adjustments in the coming year's budget."
Hempen said that most people had expected to see a decrease in tax collections because of individual concerns that taxes would increase.
Any decrease in revenues will not have a great impact on the school district this year, but could create problems next year, Dan Neuenswander, superintendent for Lawrence Public Schools, said yesterday.
County and school officials said the delayed payments would cause a loss in investment potential. McKenzie estimated that the county's losses in yearly interest would be about $12,000.
$12,000.
Neuwander refused to speculate on the amount of money that the school district, which has a mill levy that more than doubles the county's, could lose.
Because of the creation of a quarter payment option, the delay in tax payments and the greater attention placed on property taxes, fewer people paid in full this year, Chris McKenzie, Douglas County administrator, said Friday.
'A lot of people are panicking and saying that we won't be able to operate. That's not true.'
— Nancy Hempen county treasurer
"Obviously if we have a million dollars less to invest, we won't generate as much interest," Neuwswander said. "We're not talking major dollars. In a multi-million dollar budget we're talking about losing a few thousand dollars."
Most city and school officials were not surprised by the delay in payments.
What has surprised some officials is the income lost because of tax protests.
process.
After hearing about one-seventh of the appeals filed, the county appraiser's office has recommended reducing taxes for 108 taxpayers, amounting to about $300,000. McKenzie said.
To the county this means $10,331 in lost tax dollars. The school district could lose as much as double that amount, McKenzie said, but the figure would not necessarily be that great.
"If they are still going through the appeal process, then we may get less than we anticipated," Neuenswander said.
School district officials had anticipated receiving about $16.5 million from property tax collections.
from property tax.
Neuenswander said that if the district did not receive all the money anticipated from property tax revenues, he predicted the district's mill levy would increase next year.
"In the short term, as long as we can continue to meet our bills, we'll be OK." Neuenswander said.
But concern about increased taxes has already delayed plans for a new high school.
At its Dec. 4 meeting, the school board decided not to present a bond issue in the school until Nov. 6, which coincides with the general election.
Hempen said that as of Friday, about 1,000 protest forms had been filed with the police in connection with the deadline for filing protests by people who have paid their taxes.
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