Pinball: Technology has changed but pinball still is the same game. Page 6B
Volleyball: Junior Maggie Mohrfeld shows dedication on and off court. Page 1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15.1996
SECTION A VOL.103, NO.60
ADVERTISING 864-4358
Grand jury ruling leads to 9 injuries in Florida
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For two weeks, members of a Black separatist group called for the execution of a white policeman for the fatal shooting of a Black motorist, threatening to burn the city unless the officer was charged and fired.
The shooting itself had touched off rioting on Oct. 24, so police took the threats seriously. They scoured the streets for days, clearing trash bins and alleys of six tons of rocks and bottles they thought the group stashed as ammunition to use against them.
And on Wednesday, the day a grand jury cleared the officer, police prepared to arrest leaders of the group so they would spend the night in jail.
But the strategy may have backfired. The group leaders were arrested in front of their headquarters in full view of already seething protesters.
Within hours, two police officers were wounded by gunfire, and seven other people were injured Wednesday when people took to the same streets in which they had rioted after Officer Jim Knight shot 18-year-old TyRon Lewis through his windshield last month.
China ready to iron out human rights issues
BEIJING — Chinese officials will discuss human rights issues when U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher visits next week unless they feel the Americans are trying to meddle, a Foreign Ministry representative said yesterday.
Cul Tiankai said all disputes between the two countries could be resolved through negotiations on the basis of equality, and China was willing to discuss human rights if that sense of equality was preserved.
"What we oppose is using the excuse of human rights to meddle in internal affairs," Cul added. "We do not approve of creating confrontations about this problem."
"This is an important visit," the Cui said. "We will help it move China-U.S. relations on a path of healthy and stable development."
After months of acrimony over trade, Chinese war games aimed at intimidating Taiwan and other issues, Christopher's trip is a sign that Washington and Beijing are working hard to smooth out their differences.
Hong Kong chief justice dumps royal knighthood
HONG KONG — "Call me Mister," said TI Liang Yang, shrugging off 150 years of colonial baggage.
Not long ago, he was Sir Tl Liang Yang, chief justice of Hong Kong — until he asked Queen Elizabeth II to take back the knighthood.
Now, having traded his judge's wig and crimson robes for a business suit, he is just plain Mr. Yang and is ready to vie for the top job in Hong Kong's first, post-colonial government.
Today, the Selection Committee, a panel of 400 notables organized by China, will announce its short list of candidates for chief executive — the leader of the government that takes over July 1 when this British colony becomes a semi-autonomous region of China.
The winner will be announced Dec. 11.
Yang is one of eight candidates hoping to make the short list. He's ahead in opinion polls against shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa, widely thought to be China's favorite. Businessman Peter Woo and retired Judge Simon Li are other candidates who, while far behind in the polls, probably will reach the final round.
But opinion polls are no yardstick, because the public doesn't get to vote — only the Selection Committee does. Those who get at least 50 votes make the short list.
The Associated Press
Photo Illustration by Rich Devinki / KANSAN
With thousands of people using e-mail as a quick and easy way to communicate, many are finding out that information is not always seve
(USPS 650-640)
From: System Administrator <postmaster> To: All e-mail users <security list-serv>
Re:e-mail security
Story by Stephanie Fite Illustrations by Demond Robinson
Many people assume their right to privacy and freedom of speech are absolute under the U.S. Constitution.
They're wrong.
E-mail may be the fastest, cheapest, slickest way to communicate since Alexander Graham Bell called for Mr. Watson, but e-mail is not as secure as the thousands of people who use the University's system think. In fact, every e-mail message can be read.
"E-mail is the functional equivalent of receiving a post card that is lying in the office mailbox," says William Staples, associate professor of Sociology and the author of The Culture of Surveillance, a new book on privacy in the United States.
Those in charge of KU e-mail accounts insist it is a safe, private way to communicate. But most experts in the field say any e-mail, including the University's, can be intercepted or monitored at any one of a number of points in the
transmission process. Although there are steps that students and faculty can take to thwart computer hackers and protect e-mail, in the end, e-mail puts private thoughts in a public place.
"The Internet is a weird mixture of public and private forum. Most people treat it as if it were private," Staples says. "People treat e-mail like a phone conversation and transfer the same privacy assumptions from the telephone to the Internet."
Ironically, Staples' 10 years of email experience and his research about Americans' lack of privacy have not altered his expectation of privacy when he sends his messages.
"I don't know if there is anything I wouldn't save on it." he admits.
University of Kansas, said e-mail is one of the least private forms of communication.
Others are less optimistic about their privacy.
Howard Sypher, director of communications studies at the
"The very essence of Internet is shared public information," he said. "I don't send what I don't want other people to see."
Fei Lok, Hong Kong senior, frequently uses e-mail to communicate with his friends and family here and abroad, he says. He is aware that the Internet is a public medium, but he uses it because it allows him to communicate quickly.
"What I say is very private, and I would be angry if someone read my e-mail," Lok said. "If I found someone was reading my messages, I would find ways to shut my account down or find the person who is reading my account."
The frantic pace of evolution in electronic communication has left a wake of legal uncertainty leaving lawmakers to play catch-
up.
Michael Hoefflich, dean of the law school at the University, is conducting a class, Copyright and Digital Works Course, via the Internet, to introduce KU law students to legal problems on the Internet.
"Anyone who uses e-mail has to suspect it may be read," he says.
"The nature of the Internet is such that there are a lot of points where someone can illicitly access it. Privacy expectation of e-mail is not realistic."
The extent to which an employer can eavesdrop is not limited by any law, he adds. Neither the e-mail sender nor receiver are protected under the Wire Tap Act, which addresses privacy issues in oral communication but does not cover transmission of computer data or stored data.
Legally, Hoeflich says, reading e-mail is like reading a letter. But
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Features ...6A
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Man exposes self outside restaurant
By Andrea Albright Kansan staff writer
According to Perkins' slogan, the restaurant offers breakfast, dinner and everything in between. Yesterday morning, two KU students got everything in between.
Lawrence police said that a man in the parking lot at Perkins Restaurant, 1711 W. 23rd St., exposed his buttocks and genitals as the two women drove out of the parking lot.
He then began to masturbate, police said.
"They were Daisy Dukes," Shields said. "I was thinking it was a little chilly for those pants."
Elisa Shields, Topeka sophomore, and Hartley Smith, Chico, Calif., freshman, ate at Perkins about 12:45 a.m. yesterday. Shields said
they were driving out of the parking lot when they noticed a man who was wearing extremely short shorts.
Shields said Smith, who was driving the car, honked the horn after the man pulled up the shorts and exposed his buttocks.
"When he realized we were looking at him, he pulled up the front of his shorts and pulled out his penis," Shields said. "It was obvious that he was looking for an audience."
Shields said that as they drove away she looked back and could see that the man was masturbating as he sat on the bumper of a parked truck.
Shields said that they were aware of the other incidents of lewd and lascivious behavior in Lawrence
Hadi said the man was described as a Caucasian male in his late 20s or early 30s, with brown hair, weighing 150 pounds.
Lawrence police Sgt. Susan Hadi said the women drove from Perkins to a telephone at Pizza Hit, 1606 W. 23rd St., to call the police.
this semester and decided to report the man to the police.
Shields said the man may not have weighed that much.
Smith said she did not feel threatened by the man because they were in their car, and she locked the doors immediately.
"He was really small," Shields said. "He was skimdy and short."
Luckily the women already had eaten; neither had an appetite after the incident.
"It's really not what I wanted to see after my meal." Shields said.
Retired teacher dies at age 68
Professor of 39 years was model for faculty
By Eric Weslander
Kansan staff writer
Retired KU professor Donald McCoy died Tuesday in his Lawrence
Donald McCoy
hone after a lifetime devoted to the study of American politics. He was 68.
Mr. McCoy taught in the history department from 1957 until his retirement in 1995. He was named distinguished professor in 1974. Colleagues remember him as someone who gave honest advice, took time to work with students and kept a sense of humor.
Surendra Bhana, associate professor of history, met Mr. McCoy in 1967 as a student at the University of Kansas. Mr. McCoy supervised his master's and doctoral theses.
"He was someone I could always rely on for good, sound advice." Bhana said. "I came to see him as my older brother over the years."
"He would always needle me about being a vegetarian, and I would needle him because he wasn't a vegetarian." Bhana said.
Bhana was one of a group of professors who ate lunch with Mr. McCoy every week at the Adams Alumni Center. The conversation, which usually centered on U.S. politics, was kept light by Mr. McCoy's sense of humor. Bhana said.
The professors met last Friday for what was to be their last lunch together. Bhana and two other faculty members went to visit Mr. McCoy in the hospital with an apple pie and ice cream.
"The topic was the same as it had always been," John Dardess, professor of history, said. "What he wanted to talk about was the recent elections."
Mr. McCoy checked out of the hospital later that day and returned to his home to receive care under the hospice program. He had experienced heart problems during the past two years, but he died of lung cancer.
In his 39 years at the University, Mr. McCoy wrote a variety of books, including biographies of political figures such as Harry Truman and Calvin Coolidge. He presided on the University Council and served on the Senate Executive Committee. In addition, Mr. McCoy was involved with federal and state committees, including the U.S. Committee on the Records of Congress and the Kansas Historical Records Advisory Committee. As well as devoting time to those causes, Mr. McCoy continued to supervise students' theses, and he worked at the departmental level. Dan Bays, chairman of the history department, said McCoy consciously had tried to be a role model for younger faculty.
"Donald was a productive and respected scholar of American politics," Dan Bays, chairman of the history department. " said he never shirked his good-citizen duties at KU, and for that I especially admire him."
Mr. McCoy is survived by his wife, Sandra Jo Bachman Van Meter, Lawrence; daughter, Patricia McCoy, Cleveland Heights, Ohio; two sons, Bernard McCoy, Hazlett, Mich., and William McCoy, Prairie Village; a stepdaughter, Clare Oroke, Boulder, Colo.; and two stepsons, Alan Van Meter, Wichita, and Don Van Meter, Wakeau Ga.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Bruckmiller Room in the Adams Alumni Center. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Oak Hill Cemetery.