UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, January 22, 1997
7A
DC interns spread their wings
'Hawks learn about urban life capital realities
By Ann Marchand Kansan staff writer
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Just north of the nation's capital, 15 students from the University of Kansas have formed a sort of mini-enclave at a local apartment complex.
These KU students, along with three students from Wichita State University, are participating in the political science department's Washington Semester program. The program offers credit in exchange for internship work and a weekly seminar.
The program, established in the fall of 1983 by political science professor Burdett Loomis, gives students a chance to test urban life in Washington, D.C. without a permanent commitment.
The students intern for public and private agencies including congressional offices, CNN major newspapers and the White House.
The program is open to all KU students. Informal meetings are held in the fall for potential applicants. Students apply to the program through the political science department, but are then expected to arrange their internships.
The students had mixed reviews about Washington, D.C. Roommates Nicole Kennedy, Overland Park senior, Julie King, Lansing senior, and Britta Campbell, Lansing junior, spoke lightly about the differences between metropolitan Washington and Kansas.
Casey Liebst Wichita junior
"I talked to Hillary!"
"Everything's (on television) an hour later," King said. "That takes some getting used to."
King is an intern in Vice President Al Gore's press office. Campbell's internship is with the Nature Conservancy, and she will help track environmental-policy legislation. Kennedy is an intern for the Washington bureau of the Omaha World-Herald.
Alisa Stucky, Moundridge senior, is an intern at Amnesty International. She said that the pace of life in Washington made it easy to stay busy.
"It's fun because there's so much going on," she said. "You could do something every
All of the students said they were glad to have been in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural festivities.
"I talked to Hillary!" said Casey Liebst, W巫奇华 judge, who met the First Lady at a ball hosted by her employer, the National Women's Political Caucus.
Because of her work for the Clinton administration, King had a different perspective. Having witnessed the some of the massive preparations made for the inauguration events, she said, "It's amazing to see how choreographed it is. All we've ever seen is the TV version."
Tom Moore, Lawrence junior,
said that his biggest surprise was how small everything looked compared with television images. Moore, who is interning for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said
that the Oval Office was incredibly small.
And the House and Senate chambers?
"They're tiny compared with how they look on TV," he said. "Senators look smaller too."
"I interview any witnesses to the actual crime, photograph crime scenes..." he said. "I go into some, uh, pretty interesting areas of southeast D.C. — it is the nation's murder capital."
Dave Toland, Iola sophomore, said he was learning about the parts of Washington, D.C. that are rarely seen on television. Toland works as an intern investigator at the Public Defenders Service of D.C. He works closely with an attorney to piece together details about often violent cases.
Toland said he constantly kept his guard up to protect himself, but Loomis said that in the history of the program, its participants had generally been safe.
"We've had two or three muggings, but never any serious injuries," he said.
And Loomis certainly wasn't worried about this year's group.
"This year is a fairly small class," he said. "But it may be the most academically talented we've had."
Exchange student to stay extra year
Grant allows continuation of chemical investigations
By Umut Bayramoglu
Kansan staff writer
Everyday Maoping Song goes into a laboratory in 1014 Mallott to separate, purify and identify chemicals.
Song, the current exchange scholar from Zhengzhou University of Henan province in China, is part of a chemistry research team headed by Kristen Bowman-James.
"When a former exchange scholar told me about the good research environment at KU, I decided to apply for this program and continue my research in Kansas." Spur said.
ple's Republic of China.
The exchange program with Zhengzhou University is one of the oldest exchange programs at the University of Kansas.
The University established this exchange program in 1980 when it was still unusual for U.S. universities to have formal arrangements with institutions in the Peo-
Under the exchange program the University of Kansas sends one student of Chinese culture and language to Zhengzhou University while Zhengzhou sends one scholar to Kansas.
Since March 1996, Song has taken Applied English Center classes to improve his English writing and listening skills. He is also working on synthesizing molecular macrocycles, which are compounds that could be used in decreasing pollution when combined with other metals.
Song's exchange program would have ended this March if it hadn't been for a grant he received from the KU chemistry department to stay another year.
"My adviser, Kristen Bowman-James got another project from the United States Department of Energy which is related to the research I'm currently working on, so I will be able to stay for another year." he said.
Last week, Song had an opportunity to see some of his colleagues from Zhengzhou University when a delegation of four professors came to visit the University of Kansas.
This was the first visit of a delegation from Zhengzhou University in 12 years.
Qiangping Dai, chairman of university affairs at Zhengzhou University said that the reason for the long interval since their first visit was because they had ties with universities from 10 other countries, which made it difficult to have frequent visits.
"The purpose of our trip is to pay a visit to the six American universities with which we have sister relationships," Dai said.
he said that the delegates were pleased with the warm welcome they received from faculty and students and that they were hoping to expand and further promote their relationship with the University.
Song, who accompanied the delegation from Zhengzhou during their visit to the University said that he had received great help from the KU faculty and students.
"I hope to build a long-term cooperation with the KU chemistry department that would continue even after my return to China," Song said.
Cosby nearly extorted for $40 million
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - A woman accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from Bill Cosby is among the numerous students who have benefited from the comedian's belief that hope for young African Americans lies in education.
With his own doctorate, Cosby has been speaking at graduation ceremonies for years and has backed up his efforts with donations of time and money — including $20 million to the mostly African-American Speel-
But one act of kindness apparently backfired.
including $20 million to the mostly African-American Spelman College in Atlanta.
Autumn Jackson, 22, who received tuition money from Cosby for years, tried to extort $40 million from him, federal prosecutors charged. She claimed to be Cosby's illegitimate daughter and earlier this month threatened to sell her story. Cosby's lawyers contacted the FBI after getting another fax from Jackson on Thursday, the day Cosby's son, Ennis, was shot to death.
Jackson was among numerous students around the country to whom Cosby and his wife, Camille, have given aid.
Cosby has denied that he is her father.
Jackson and an alleged accomplice, Jose Medina, 54, of Bethesda, Ohio, were arraigned yesterday in federal court in New York and held without bail.
Medina's lawyer, Neil Checkman, said his client was not part of any extortion conspiracy. Medina says he is a screenwriter, the lawyer said.
Those chosen for scholarships from the Cosbys "have to meet strict scholarship criteria," said Joel Brokaw, a family spokesperson in Los Angeles. He said he didn't know where
"I don't believe he necessarily knew that anything was going on," Checkman said.
"It's a philanthropic activity they do very privately. And they're very hands-on about it, monitoring their progress closely," he said, adding that he couldn't estimate how many young people have benefited during the years.
Jackson attended college, what she studied or how the Cosbys had heard of her.
Cosby, never shy about pointing out problems in the African-American community, urges young people not to blame their setbacks on race. Instead, he said in an interview last year, the answer is to become better educated.
State exploring sources of funding for improving universities' technology
Student body president Grey Montgomery wants student input for allocation
By Dave Morantz
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA—KU students may have to pay additional fees or a higher tuition to keep the University's technology equipment and systems competitive with out-of-state universities.
The possible increase in tuition or fees was part of a plan presented yesterday to the Council of Business Officers meeting, a group of chief financial officers from Regents' schools.
The council requested $12 million from the legislature, but Gov. Bill Graves recommended in his State of the State address Jan. 13 that only $7.5 million be budgeted for technology. The budget must be approved by the legislature.
Roger Lowe, vice president for administration and finance at Wichita State University, said he expected some problems in receiving money for technology from the legislature.
Grey Montgomery, student body president, attended the meeting to advocate the creation of a student board to have some input in the allocation of money raised through fees or tuition.
"I really hope they recognize the need for student involvement in the allocation of this money," he said. "It's a little unfair to accept the students' request to tax them but
then deny their request to have any say in where the money goes."
Montgomery said he hoped that if students provided one-third of the money, the legislature would provide the rest.
However, he also recognized that the legislature may feel that the Regents are asking for too much.
Most members of the council supported Montgomery's proposal.
"The cost of providing a competitive American college classroom is much higher than it was 25 years ago," Montgomery said. "But so many people got elected on platforms of lower taxes that it may be really hard to get that money."
"I think it's a good proposal," said Tom Rawson, vice president for administration and finance at Kansas State University. "We'll have to come back and look at it from different points of view, but it sounds pretty good."
But Lowe hesitated to give students control of the allocation of money raised through fees or tuition increases.
"Taking it out of the hands of administration would probably not be wise and would have to be discussed," Lowe said.
But Marlin Rein, KU director of budget and governmental relations, said that he supported student input.
"I suspect that if the students are going to pay for it, they should have some say in how it is spent." Rein said.
The issue will be discussed again at the Feb. 5 meeting of the council. The council's final proposal for the source and allocation of the money is due in March.
Schools of engineering pharmacy already assess student technology fees
By Dave Morantz
Kansan staff writer
While fees or higher tuition for technology equipment are being debated by the Board of Regents, the schools of engineering and pharmacy at the University of Kansas already have fees that go toward the purchases and maintenance of technology equipment.
The School of Engineering has had an equipment fee for four years to help pay for computer hardware, software and chemicals, said Tom Mulinazzi, associate dean of engineering.
Mulinazzi said that the school implemented the fee four years ago so that it could be an accredited, first-class engineering school.
Engineering students pay a fee of $15 per hour each semester, which is assessed on their tuition bills.
"If we didn't have this fee we would become a third-rate institution immediately."Mulinazzi said.
"Fifteen dollars per hour is quite a bit, but in the end I think it's worth it," said Matt Prentis, St. Louis senior. "We're getting 24-hour access to the computer labs."
Many students in the school support the fee despite the cost.
The School of Pharmacy also assesses a fee by the credit hour. However, only 40 percent of the school's students are charged.
Students in the Pharm D. program, a six
year program that offers an entry level professional degree, must pay an $85 per pharmacy credit hour supplemental fee each semester.
Like the fee in the engineering school, the money pays for computers and other equipment.
Students pay the fee with their tuition.
"It's a necessary reality for us to have a fee to provide the students with an adequate program," said Jack Fincham, dean of pharmacy.
He said that the school had to implement the fee to remain competitive, despite its cost.
"We have to put it in context," Fincham said. "It's still less expensive than other programs across the nation."
To account for the higher cost of education for students in the Pharm D. program, Fincham said that increasing the number of scholarships in the program was a high priority.
Ashish Dhingra, Kuwait senior, said that despite paying about $1,200 extra because of the supplemental fee, he supported it.
One-third of the students in the program are already on scholarship, he said.
"It's definitely worth it," he said. "It helps when we see where our money is going."
But Dhingra said he felt uneasy about the possibility of a University-wide fee.
"An entire institution charging for academic fee is not appropriate," he said. "What is the point of it being a state institution if the state doesn't pay for anything?"
Mulinazzi expressed concern about engineering students being charged for a University-wide fee on top of their current fee.
"If it's for all students and our students had to pay for it, I would be very upset," he said.
ATTN:STUDENTS
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the C.L.A.S.S. Award Citation for Leadership and Achievement in Student Services
Nomination Forms are in the Organization and Activity Center (OAC), 4th Floor Kansas Union. Deadline: Wed., Feb.5th 5pm THE BOARD OF CLASS OFFICERS
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