THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.100, NO.76
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
MONDAY JANUARY 21
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College freshmen want legal abortions, clean environment, study shows
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - College freshmen are becoming more conservative about drugs and crime but more liberal about legalized abortion, environmental issues and student activism, according to a study released yesterday.
The 24th annual survey of entering college freshmen conducted jointly by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute and the American Council on Education found an "abrupt change" in student attitudes about legalized abortions.
support for legalized abortion, which had remained fairly stable — between 35
percent and 59 percent — since 1977,
jumped sharply between the 1888 and 1988
surveys, from 57 percent to 64.7 percent.
"An abrupt change in student attitudes of this magnitude in just one year is most unusual," said Alexander W. Astin, professor of higher education at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and the survey's director.
He added that "it may well reflect the students' growing concern about the current Supreme Court's position on this highly charged topic."
The survey found the environment was the top concern, with six out of every seven
of those questioned agreeing that "the federal government is not doing enough to control environmental pollution."
About 78 percent of the students endorsed greater governmental efforts to control handguns — a new question asked for the first time in 1989.
for the first time abolition of the death penalty continued its sharp decline, as did student use of drugs and alcohol. The survey found a growing tendency toward student activism.
"While student attitudes seem to be moving in a 'conservative' direction on the issues of drugs and crime, their views on
most other issues are changing in a decidedly 'liberal' direction,' said Austin
The 1989 national survey is based on the responses of 216,362 students at 403 of the nation's two- and four-year colleges and universities. These data have been statistically adjusted to reflect the responses of the 1.6 million first-time and full-time students entering college as freshmen in the fall of 1989.
Some key findings were:
Some key findings were:
* Only 21.3 percent oppose the death penalty, compared to 23 percent in 1988 and 57.6 percent in 1971.
The percentage of freshmen who
reported drinking beer dropped to 60.3 percent, down from 65.3 percent in 1988 and 75.2 percent in 1981.
Freshmen who reported drinking wine or liquor dropped to 60.7 percent in 1989, compared to 66.7 percent in 1988.
The percentage of students who agree that "marijuana should be legalized" reached another all-time low of 16.7 percent, down from 19.3 percent in 1988 and 52.9 percent in 1977.
The percent of students who agree that employers should be allowed to require drug testing of employees and job applicants jumped sharply.
Activists join march, rally Pro-choice forces downplay gathering of anti-abortionists
By Rod Griffin
Kansan staff writer
Anti-abortion activists Saturday marched through downtown Lawrence in silence. Their message was expressed by the signs they carried.
"Don't execute the innocent," one sign read.
Among the 275 marchers were representatives of KU Students for Life. Stephen Ternes, president of the organization, said the group had two goals.
give him.
"We want to tell people exactly what abortion is, and what it does," he said. "The second thing we want to do is show people that there are people on campus that do not accept abortion as a viable alternative to birth control."
The marchers were addressed in South Park, 1141 Massachusetts St., by Joe Patton, president of Kansans for Life.
"In our country, it's illegal to destroy eagles' eggs," he told the crowd. "But you can destroy an unborn child at any point during pregnancy without any penalty at all."
Patton said the goal of Kansans for Life was to get legislation enacted to protect unborn children.
"Our philosophy in Kansas is 'Let's get some legislation on the books,'" he said.
Current legislation under consideration is House Bill 2663, which would require parental notification before a minor could get an abortion.
The march in Lawrence and a subsequent rally in Topeka were held on the 17th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortions.
Members of the Lawrence contingent joined more than 2,000 people from across the state and rallied on the steps of the state capital. The crowd was addressed by three state legislators, Sen. Eric Yost, R-Wichita, Sen. Norma Daniels, D-Valley Center, and Rep. Artie Lucas, R-Holton.
"For the last 17 years we have come together on this date to mourn the travesty known as Roe vs. Wade," Yost said.
Wade, Lucas told the crowd that new legislation would be introduced to counter Roe vs. Wade.
Among them is the Informed Choice Act. This bill would require doctors to counsel patients on the alternatives to abortion and tell them about the risks involved.
"Next week I will be introducing three more bills dealing with abortion," he said.
we consider that very important that ladies are going to be able to make an informed choice," Patton said.
See ABORTION, p. 5
Troops in Baku fight ethnic war
More than 2,000 anti-abortion activists rallied in Topeka on Saturday, the 17th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
The Associated Press
State Radio Moscow later Saturday announced that the Presidium of the national Supreme Soviet, the government's top executive body, had declared a public emergency in the presence of the "sharp aggravation of the situation" that it blamed on "criminal extremist forces" in the city.
city. The radio confirmed that military units entered Baku, saying they were fired on by "militants of the Popular Front" of Azerbaijan and "were forced to retaliate."
MOSCOW — Soviet troops broke through blockades set up by ethnic extremists in downtown Baku early Saturday and killed at least seven people in street battles, a spokesman for a militant Azerbaijani group said.
The spokesman said two battles were fought inside the Azerbaijani capital, leaving at least seven Azerbaijanis dead.
"It's very dangerous on the street," she said.
Tass, the official news agency,
carried no reports of troops fighting in
Baku, an oil center and port of 1.8
million residents on the Caspian Sea.
Western reporters have not been allowed to go to the scene since the ethnic violence flared a week ago.
The army intervention, the first such combat reported in Baku involving Soviet soldiers, came after ethnic riots turned into open warfare between Azerbaijani and Armenian militants.
About 5,000 regular army troops and thousands more Interior Ministry soldiers and police had moved into the troubled areas.
Jayhawks' loss probably means fall from No.1
By Paul Augerl
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks' perch atop The Associated Press college basketball poll was short-lived.
The Kansas basketball team arrived at the top of the poll after previously No.1 Syracuse lost to Villanova two weeks ago. When Kansas beat Winthrop 94-51 on Jan. 6, the victory solidified the Hawks as
the No.1 college basketball team in the country.
As he said when the Jayhawks reached the top spot in the AP poll for the first time since 1957, Kansas coach Roy Williams said KU's fall from the No. 1 spot meant little to him.
"Everybody probably thinks I'm lying, but it doesn't affect me," Williams said.
After a 95-87 loss to Missouri on Saturday, the 'Hawks will more than likely tumble from the top spot. The question is, how far will the Jay-hawks fall?
hawks in Kansas is ranked second in the first national poll to be released. The Jayhawks fell below top-ranked Missouri in the CNN-USA Today top 25 rankings.
the AP poll, said Missouri was his choice for No. 1, but Kansas was not likely to fall beyond the No. 3 spot.
Ivan Maisel, a voting member of
Georgetown's 'loss to unranked Connecticut on Saturday night wiped away the last perfect record among nationally ranked teams.
"I think it is tough to penalize Georgetown for losing in Hartford."
See RANKINGS, p. 5
Students wait in freezing rain for busses in front of Lippincott Hall. Snow that was expected on the weekend bypassed the area, yielding to warmer temperatures on Sunday.
Unseasonably warm weekend is stark contrast to rainy, cold Friday
Bo Criss' winter exercise usually consists of a few games of racquetball in Robinson Gymnasium.
But mostly sunny skies and a high temperature of 46 degrees yesterday brought Crisn, Prairie Village junior, and Derek Moffett, Overland Park sophomore, out for a game of Irisbee on campus.
"It's beautiful; I love it," Chas said. "I’m a biker and I love it." January there's a warm front. I always enjoy it."
Lawrence was not expecting beautiful conditions after a winter storm
Crisi and Moffett also went on a 50-mile bike sideway morning.
warning was issued Friday night for the area.
The National Weather Service in Topeka said that the bulk of the storm passed to the north of Lawrence and that warmer temperatures here kept the rain from turning into snow.
Moffett said he was not really
"Kansas weather is really sporadic," he said. "I really like it, though."
surprised by the area's unpredictable weather.
The National Weather Service said the area was scheduled to receive one more dose of spring-like weather today.
Kansan staff writer
KU students teach teens about AIDS
By Steve Bailey
As the problem of AIDS becomes more apparent in this country, one group of students at the University of Kansas Medical Center is busy doing its part to help stop the spread of the disease among adolescents.
took.
James Coney, dean of the School of Allied Health, said the program was developed nationally about four years ago. It was started at the Med Center two years ago to help fight ignorance about AIDS. Today, the program is gaining in popularity among area schools.
STATS, Students Teaching AIDS To Students, is a program in which Med Center students travel to Kansas City area schools to teach junior high and high school students about AIDS and its prevention.
schools. The program has been presented at more than 20 schools in front of about 2,500 students, Cooney said.
through education.
"We are addressing a population that is very much at risk — the adolescent population."
we are concerned with preventing the spread of AIDS," he said. "The only way to stop it is through education.
adolescent population. The Med Center program differs from the national program in that not only medical students, but also allied health and nursing students are involved, Cooney said.
are involved, he coached.
He said he thought the program was important because it was a learning experience for the students receiving the program as well as those presenting it.
"The students are learning a lot about AIDS in the process of
teaching it," he said. "At the same time, they are learning to communicate with others. It is very important for any student to learn to communicate effectively."
Program volunteers go through an intense one-day training session in which they learn about AIDS and how to teach an adolescent audience, he said.
"We feeling is that the younger the teacher, or closer in age to the subject, the more effective he is in being the message across," Cooney said. "Hopefully, we are providing a role in the prevention of the spread of this disease to this population."
Evan Alley, second-year medical student, got involved with STATS two years ago when he heard it at a Med Center orientation. This year, Alley is student coordinator of the program.
Alley said more than 50 volunteers were involved in the program, all of whom attended the introductory training session. An important aspect of the program is the volunteers' ability to deal comfortably with the teen-agers.
"We have to be very casual and very open." Alley said. "We are teaching them something, but we don't really want them to know we are teaching them something. We want them to relate and apply this to the rest of their lives."
One method the volunteers use to get the students involved is to collect and answer anonymous questions about AIDS. Eventually, the students lose their timidity and ask questions on their own.
See AIDS, p. 5