Raymant: Athlete's eligibility to be reinstated after three-game suspension. Page 1B Discussion: KU students share their experiences with the Kansas City Church of Christ. Page 3A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
SECTION A VOL.103,NO.81
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1997
ADVERTISING 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
House votes to fine, reprimand Gingrich
WASHINGTON — In a day of dishonor for Newt Gingrich, the House voted for the first time in history to discipline its speaker for ethical misconduct. After months of partisan stifle, the vote was a lopsided 395-28 to reprimand Gingrich and impose a $300,000 penalty.
"The penalty is tough and unprecedented," said Ethics Committee Chaiwoman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., at the start of a 90-minute debate. Republicans and Democrats agreed that Gingrich had done wrong — indeed, he had admitted it — but they clashed about the gravity of his misbehavior.
The partisanship that permeated the two-year investigation was undiminished yesterday despite the overwhelming vote. At one point, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calf., questioned whether Gingrich was "ethically fit" to continue as speaker.
However, most of the 435 seats on the floor — and most in the visitors' gallery — were empty.
After two years of denials, Gingrich confessed to committee findings that he failed to seek and follow legal advice, which would have warned him not to use tax-exempt projects to further partisan goals.
Car bomb explosion kills 16 in Algerian capital
ALGIERS, Algeria — A car bomb rocked the Algerian capital yesterday, destroying houses and killing up to 16 people in the latest violence blamed on the North African country's Islamic insurgency.
The 4:40 p.m. bomb exploded near a cultural center and an apartment block housing hundreds, but the exact target was unclear.
The blast, which could be heard throughout the capital, came just two days after a car bomb in the city center and an attack on a village outside Algiers killed 66 people.
Reports on yesterday's death toll varied, with hospital sources putting it at 16. Rescue workers initially said 11 people died and security forces, who often downgrade casualties in such attacks, said five were killed.
The sources all spoke on condition of anonymity.
Security forces told Algerian state-run radio the explosion was caused by a car bomb. Shops and houses crumbled, balconies collapsed and roofs fell on people's heads, witnesses said.
Earthquake shakes northwestern China
BEIJING — Two powerful earthquakes struck China's remote northwestern province of Xinjiang yesterday, killing at least seven people and seriously injuring 1.0 others, officials said.
an earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck at 9:47 a.m. and a 6.3 quake hit a minute later. Both were centered in the region of Jiashi, near the market city of Kashgar, said Ren, a spokeswoman of the Central Seismology Bureau, who only gave her surname.
Houses collapsed, apartment blocks cracked, and people in the cities of Artux and Kashgar felt heavy shaking. Ren said.
The deaths were reported in three farming towns, she said.
On March 19, 1996, Jiashi County, approximately 40 miles east of Kashgar, was hit by an earthquake that killed 28 people. That quake, which registered 6.9 on the Richter scale, leveled four towns, leaving 170 people injured and 10,000 homeless during severe winter weather.
The Central Seismology Bureau also reported yesterday that a 5.0 quake had shaken a sparsely inhabited region in eastern Tibet. There were no reports of damage or injuries from that tremor.
The Associated Press
The Millennium Bug
It began as a computer programming shortcut. Has it grown into a monster?
In a short three years and 344 days the year 2000 will bring a computer nightmare that could corrupt most data stored in KU's computers and render software useless campus-wide.
It's called the Millennium Bug, and it has the potential to create mass confusion for everyone at the University of Kansas and in the community.
Already, KU is encountering programs that won't run, loans that don't go through and scholarships figured wrong. What's more, officials are warning the class of 2000 to mistrust every piece of paper KU issues.
The basic problem behind the Millennium Bug is that programmers never bothered to tell computers that years have four digits. Instead, all dates are stored in the familiar day-day format, with the year as two digits.
"Disk space used to be very expensive and wherever he could, the programmer would save space," said
See BUG, Page 5A
Stauffer-Flint lightning rod dangerous in storms
Ungrounded wire unable to diffuse, absorb energy
By Dave Morantz
Kansan staff writer
*u rain looks likely and rumbling thunder can be heard, make sure you are not standing near an ungrounded lightning rod wire.*
Such a wire lies on the asphalt pavement behind Stauffer-Flint Hall, posing serious health threats to anyone standing near it during a rain storm, said Dale Rummer, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science.
When Hoch Auditorium burned after lightning struck it during the summer of 1991, the University equipped buildings that did not already have lightning protection systems with such systems, said Roger Harmon, construction manager at facilities operations.
He said a Florida-based company named Godwin Lightning Protection was installing lightning protection systems on about 20 buildings on campus.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
The systems consist of numerous, small lightning rods that can be seen on top of most campus buildings. The rods are connected by thick wires that run down the sides of the buildings to 8-foot poles that are driven into the ground. Between four and 10 ground wires are on the buildings, depending on the building's size.
The lightning protection systems transfer the electrical charge of a lightning strike from the rods to the wires to the ground where the charge is harmless absorbed. The systems prevent structural damage to buildings.
But the ground wire on the southwest corner of Stauffer-Flint Hall does not connect to a pole in the ground. It simply lies on the pavement.
He added that the pavement did not make a good electrical conductor and that a charge from a lightning strike would spread across wet pavement seeking the ground. This could severely injure and possibly kill a person standing nearby, he said.
"If a lightning rod is going to do any good it has to be connected to the ground." Sumner said.
Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that people should stay away from such a wire during an electrical storm, just as people should stay away from trees during a storm.
"The energy in a lightning strike could be life threatening," he said.
A lightning rod wire lies exposed near Stauffer-Flint Hall. During a thunderstorm, this wire poses a risk to anyone standing nearby.
The ungrounded wire would not harm the building, Rumner said.
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was not able to connect the wire to a pole because it was unable to bore the pole through the frozen ground.
Harmon said that Godwin Lightning Protection
But Runmer said that most power equipment could dig holes in frozen ground.
Godwin Lightning Protection was unavailable for comment.
"I'm not an electrical contractor but it seems that these things can be driven through frozen ground," he said.
Harmon said that the work of the contractor was done under specifications of Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc., a nonprofit organization that conducts safety testing and a certification program for electrical work.
Traci Maloney, corporate communications specialist for Underwriters Laboratories, said her organization trains and certifies companies that install lightning protection systems.
She said that her organization certified a North Carolina company named Godwin Brothers Lightning Protection Company but did not know if the company was the same as the Florida-based Godwin Lightning Protection.
Cars damaged at Oliver Hall may be work of same group
Kansan staff report
Four vehicles parked in lot 112 near Oliver Hall this weekend may have been vandalized by the same party, police said.
All four owners reported that their vehicles had been burglarized, although only two owners reported items stolen.
Police said that the incidents occurred between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
A second student's stereo and cassette player were stolen from the front seat of the car. The stolen stereo equipment was valued at $150. A window, valued at $300, was broken to gain entrance into the vehicle, police said.
The third student only reported her plastic window broken. The student told KU police that nothing had been disturbed inside her vehicle. The damaged window was estimated at $100.
One owner said his radar detector had been stolen. It was valued at $135. The driver's side window was broken and the plastic stripping around the door damaged, causing $800 in damages, police said.
The passenger side window of a 1994 Jeep was also broken, resulting in $100 damage. The Jeep owner reported no items missing.
Police Sgt. Chris Keary said that all four incidents appeared to be linked because of the similar nature and time frame involved. Keary said should police identify a suspect in one of the occurrences, the individual would also be investigated for possible participation in the other three incidents.
Growth in finance jobs good for all Preparation can help job-hunters find work
By Sean Demory Kansan staff writer
Steady improvement in the economy could mean jobs for students and new graduates alike.
"Any time there's a need for finance professionals, that's a sign of growth in other parts of a company." Hersh said.
Shinley Martin-Smith, owner of the Lawrence branch of Adecco Personnel Services, concurs.
The Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index shows a net 5.1 percent increase in the hiring of finance professionals for the first quarter of 1997. Michelle Hersh, vice president of Robert Half of Kansas City, Inc., said that she considered it a sign of increased hiring across the board.
"A significant number of companies across the country are in a growth mode." Martin-Smith said. "The economy is growing steadily, wages are going up and growth needs from retail and administration to production are steadily rising. I think the opportunities are especially good for people who want to stay in the Douglas County area."
Martin-Smith said that the upswing in the economy had been present in the area for several years.
"This moderate growth has gone on since 1993," Martin-Smith said. "I tend to think that it's reflective of the country at large."
She urged upcoming graduates to start hunting for jobs immediately. "Have your resume ready," she said. "You should pick a city where you want to live and get a sense of what's going on in the community. A bit of education about where you're going can be helpful."
Despite this trend, getting a job has not necessarily become any easier. Terry Glenn, director of the University Placement Center in room 110 of the Burge Union, said that potential job-seekers often limited themselves, counting out certain types of jobs or areas of the country in which they could look for work. Glenn advised a moderate amount of early preparation.
"A job-hunter's best chance will be if they do a little work ahead of time. I think also that a person needs not to be impatient. Sometimes it can take a little longer than you'd hope."
Several students, Glenn added, don't take advantage of campus resources.
Glenn said that planning and patience could yield rich rewards.
"Students looking for work need to know what kind of offices on campus can help them find work. They need to utilize services that exist to help them," he said.
TODAY
INDEX
Television ... 2A
Opinion ... 4A
National News ... 6A
World News ... 8A
Features ... 12A
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 10B
Classifieds ... 11B
Weather: Page 2A