Basketball: No. 12 Kansas women's team defeats No. 11 Texas Tech, 69-52. Page 1B
Star Wars: KU Students ready for return of Vader and Skywalker. Page 12A
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KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 4
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 66601-3585
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1997
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.103,NO.#88
(USPS 650-640)
KU student assaulted in parking lot dispute
A dispute involving an empty parking space Wednesday morning led to a KU student being verbally assaulted and having her car beaten on.
Mollie Lapad, Pratt senior, and an unknown female driver were searching for an empty parking space at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday in lot 62 at Sunnyside Avenue and Illinois Street.
Both women were waiting for a car to pull out of a parking space. Lapadra turned into the empty space first, claiming the space.
The suspect then got out of her maroon Ford Tempo and approached the car, telling Laprad that she had prior claim to the parking space and that Laprad should move her car.
When Laprad refused, the suspect began banging on the car's window. That was when Laprad became frightened, she later told KU police.
After the suspect had left, Laprad then left her vehicle in the lot and reported the assault to KU police two hours later.
Police said that the suspect eventually gave up, returned to her own car and drove away from the scene.
KU Police Sergeant Chris Keary said that police did not have a particular suspect at this time.
Kansan Staff Report
WASHINGTON — A former banker who is a fugitive from Lebanon on embellishment charges sipped coffee at the White House with President Clinton last April.
Clinton entertains fugitive accused of embezzlement
Roger Tamraz joins a cast of controversial figures — including a businessman whose company has been linked to Russian organized crime, a Chinese arms dealer and a convicted felon — who were welcomed into a White House that has since admitted lax security.
The Associated Press learned that Tamraz was among 10 guests who attended a coffee sponsored by the Democratic National Committee on April 1. Tamraz's U.S.-based oil company donated $72,000 to the party in 1955 and 1996.
Tamraz, now a U.S. citizen, said in a telephone interview Thursday that Clinton aides were aware of the charges filed against him in Lebanon but did not consider them legitimate.
He denied all allegations.
He denied all allegations.
Tamraz was accused by the Lebanese government in the late 1980s of embezzling about $200 million from the collapsed Al Mashreq Bank when he was its chairman.
Lebanon issued an arrest warrant for him in 1989 and asked the international police agency to declare him an international fugitive.
—The Associated Press
TODAY
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Television . 2A
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National News. 9A
World News. 10A
Features . 12A
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Alumni donate sculpture
By Megan Jordan Kansan staff writer
They look like blue and red tropical flowers blooming on the wall of the Spencer Museum of Art. And, like bees attracted to bright colors, they are drawing more students than usual to the museum.
They are six bright pieces of blown glass, created especially for the art museum.
The artist, Dale Chihuly, is considered the best glass blower in the world, said Sally Hayden, public director for the museum. As of Dec. 9. Chihuly's work has had a permanent home on the far wall of the museum's central court.
"We are thrilled to have it," Hayden said. "It pulls people in because you can see it from the hall."
These colors and large fluid forms distinguish Chihuly's work.
The glass sculpture, entitled Persian Wall, is hard to miss once visitors walk through the front doors. Thanks to special lights, all six forms seem to glow. This illuminates the glass and casts bright colors and shapes on the wall.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
"He's one of the people who took glass from being a functional thing to be more decorative," Hayden said. "He blew glass larger than anyone thought was possible."
Chihuly works out of a studio in Seattle and runs a school for glass blowers. He has a traveling exhibit of unusually large and exotic chandeliers that is now on display at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Kansas City, Mo.
In response to a request by a KU alumna, Chihuly visited the University of Kansas in October so he could design an appropriate piece of art for the museum.
Persian Wall, a sculpture by glass artist Dale Chihuly, hangs in the Spencer Museum of Art's central court. The piece of art was commissioned by KU alumni Barbara and Larry Marshall. The Marshalls said they had wanted to do something for the University for years and were inspired to donate the sculpture after they purchased one from Chihuly for their home.
Barbara and Larry Marshall, class of 1960, asked Kühly to create a piece after viewing his work in an Alaska museum and buying a sculpture for their own art collection.
"We had wanted to do something for the University for years, but nothing had ever struck us," Barbara Marshall said. "Then we thought the museum might want a piece of Chihuah's because we've enjoyed it so much in our own home."
Kristina Swahn, Ostersund, Sweden, junior is majoring in textiles and spent last summer studying glass blowing. She agreed that Chihuly was a talented artist and that the bright piece attracted other students to the museum. But, she said, the contemporary art looked out of place in the subdued central court.
Not everyone is impressed with the art, however.
"I think it's too gaudy," she said.
Getting into the groove
John Craven, Hannibal, Mo., freshman, studies between classes in the fourth floor hallway of Snow Hall.
Chris Hamilton / KANSAN
Advising center could be answer
Students would get help before confusion sets in
By Kevin Bates
Kansan staff writer
Advising at the University of Kansas has disappointed and frustrated many students trying to receive help.
Diana Carlin, chairwoman of an advising improvement committee, hopes to turn that around.
"There are too many studies with consistent findings that say advising needs work," Carlin said. "We can't ignore the problem."
Carlin said the system can be improved by establishing a centralized advising location, better staff development, more incentives for good advisers and regular student-adviser contact.
Advising at KU needs to be changed, she said, both in how it is done and who delivers it.
The 18-member committee, made up of administrators, faculty, staff and student senate members, will meet on Thursday and Feb. 10 to discuss a 14-page report describing an advising center for freshmen and sophomores.
The proposed center, for which no cost estimates are available yet, is necessary because KU students tend to get lost in the advising shuffle. Carlin said.
stunite, Carlin said.
"Some students don't know what to major in yet, so they don't know where to go for advice," Carlin said.
Carlin also said many students think advising only involves class selection.
"Advising is much more than that," she said. "A lot of students need it long before enrollment. They need to know what classes to take even before they get into a program."
In 1996, KU seniors ranked the quality of advising they received at the bottom of a list of different areas, such as instructor availability, course integration and quality of instruction, according to a 1996 survey conducted by the
Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
"There are enormous improvements we can make," said Provost David Shulenburger. "I think the committee is on target, and we'll get a good airing of the subject to the public."
The proposed center would allow students to meet with any of about 20 advisers, Carlin said. Students would have immediate access to find answers to any questions they may have.
The first time Isabelle Gissord, Stavanger, Norway, freshman, went through advising, she left feeling a little confused.
"I had a few questions, but they really didn't answer some of them," said Gissord, who now has a new adviser. "I saw my first adviser for only about 10 minutes."
This confusion could be avoided if the right people are chosen, said Lloyd Sponholtz, committee member and associate professor of history.
"Advising is not held in high repute in many departments," Sponholtz said. "We should no longer impose advising on unwilling faculty. We should instead give training and incentives to those who actually want to do it."
Committee member Frank DeSalvo agreed.
"The failure to reward faculty who are good advisers sends them a clear message that it is not valued by the University," said DeSalvo, director of Counseling and Psychological Services.
students sometimes become detached from KU, Carlin said. She thinks a better advising system would cut down on the number of freshmen who drop out after their first year.
"Freshmen have problems because they don't know where to go for help." Carlin said.
KU took seventh place out of 11 Big 12 schools in returning freshmen for the Fall 1995 semester, tying at 76 percent with Oklahoma State University. Information from the University of Nebraska was not available.
Nicole Mermis, Houston, Texas, sophomore, has seen four different advisers in two years. She would like to see more consistency, she said.
"It would be nice to get just one adviser to follow you through and to get to know you a little better," Mermis said.
Committee to review reduced funding for education
Rv Ann Marchand
Kansan staff writer
By a narrow margin of 66-59, the Kansas House voted Wednesday to send a property tax reform proposal back to the committee on taxation.
If it had passed, the bill would have eradicated the primary source of funding for education in Kansas.
The bill was authored by State Rep. Phill Kline, R-Overland Park, committee chairman for taxation.
The bill sought to eliminate the current residential property tax and require commercial enterprises to pay a smaller property tax.
This would have created approximately a $166 million budget shortfall. Property taxes fund the largest share of education expenditures for the state.
Kline's bill was opposed by a coalition of the 48 House Democrats and 18 moderate Republicans.
The entire Lawrence delegation voted against the bill.
"This vote was not a vote against property tax relief. It was a vote against irresponsible property tax relief," The Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan, told the Associated Press.
"It is a reckless plan that places at risk the state's ability to fund future priorities, including Regents funding," Findley said.
State Reps. Tom Sloan, R, and Barbara Ballard, D, both of Lawrence, also voted against the bill.
State Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, rep resents the 46th district, in which the University of Kansas is located. He said that Kline's plan jeopardized Regents funding to such an extent that he could not support it.
Governor Bill Graves outlined his property tax relief plan in his State of the State
Kline did not return calls seeking comment.
address earlier this month.
Graves' plan would reduce the current residential mill levy of 35 mills to 29 mills this year and 25 mills next year.
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Graves' plan would gradually reduce property taxes, allowing the state to seek alternative methods of education funding without a harsh revenue cut.
Findley said he felt the legislature acted responsibly in sending the bill back to committee because it was too soon to outline the state's complete budget.
"It's too early in the session to deal with a major tax bill," Findley said. "We haven't even completed the budget analysis."
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