WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1996
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.102.NO.106
Change of opponents
The No.21 women's basketball team will face Kansas State in the first game of the conference tournament. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Domestic violence
Women's rights advocates say domestic abuse is ignored,and violators go unpunished. Page 5A
NATION
The presidential contender made a strong showing in yesterday's Arizona primary. Page 6A
Forbes surges ahead
Yugoslavia lifts sanctions
WORLD
(USPS 650-640)
Bosnian Serbs are rewarded for accepting peace agreement. Page 7A
High 30° Low 13°
Weather: Page 2A.
INDEX
Matt Flickner/KANSAN
National News ... 6A
World News ... 7A
Features ... 8A
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 6B
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Ballard attracts respect
African-
American
History Month
Co-workers value her ideas, energy
By John Collar
Kaneen staff writer
Kansan staff writer
As a KU administrator and state legislator, Barbara Ballard is concerned about the major issues affecting the state.
State Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, says she want to make the political system work for all citizens, Ballard also is KU's associate dean of student life and director of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center.
However, even though Ballard has a voice in crafting the state's $8 billion budget, she sees her task in the Legislature as making the political system work for all citizens.
One of Ballard's accomplishments is a 1994 student employment program that gave afterschool and summer employment to 67 economically disadvantaged high school students in Kansas.
"You spend a lot of time going before committees, reviewing the statutes and just trying to get a minor change that can save people's lives and can make life easier for them," said Ballard, D-Lawrence, who has served in the house since 1992.
Yesterday, the House voted to reauthorize the program, called the Neighborhood Improvement and Youth Employment Act.
The program's goal is to give students a stake in their communities while avoiding the pitfalls of gangs and drugs, Ballard said.
"If you take pride in your community, you're not likely to tear it down," Ballard said.
State Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, who shares an office with Ballard at the Statehouse, said representatives respected Ballard's opinion, especially when she addressed the entire House.
Ballard's colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the Legislature say she is a tireless lawmaker.
"When she goes to the mike, people really listen to what she has to say," Findley said. "She usually has the attention of everyone in the body."
At the University, Ballard has been associate dean of student life and director of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center since 1982.
Renee Speicher, Hutchinson graduate student, has been Ballard's graduate assistant for five years. She said Ballard was a dedicated and student-oriented leader.
"Working with Barbara is like working with a friend," Speicher said.
"Barbara seems to have a well of energy," Hardy said. "She just seems to keep going. She's a great resource for the institution."
David Hardy, associate director of the Organizations and Activities Center, said Ballard's knowledge helped solve problems and build consensus at the University.
Numbers don't gauge diversity
Demographics differ from University's goals, expectations
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas' chancellor, executive vice chancellor, director of administration and three vice chancellors are white males.
But appearances can be deceiving, and administrators — white and African American — say this statistic does not reflect accurately the University's dedication to diversity.
"When you look at deans and key support positions, you get a much more diverse picture," Gaunt said. "Plus, sometimes we make assumptions based just on the visual images; just because people are white doesn't mean they don't value diversity."
Several administrators are African American, including two associate vice chancellors, a dean and the directors of minority affairs and affirmative action.
According to the University's Fall 1995 faculty/staff demographic report, two of 31 faculty administrators are African American. Of the University's 976 unclassified professionals, which includes administrators who aren't faculty members, 33 are African American.
Gautt said she had been comfortable as an African-American female in the University's administration.
Sandra Gaunt, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said that simply looking at top-level administrators painted an inaccurate picture of the University's diversity.
"In terms of my own experience, it has been a very supportive environment," she said.
Kitchen said that administrators were committed to the idea of diversity but that that commitment needed to be back up by actions.
James Kitchen, dean of student life, left the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in July 1994 to come to the University of Kansas. He said that although the University lacked some diversity, he knew that he could help improve that.
"KU embraces diversity verbally and on paper, but the proof is in the pudding," he said. "I want us to do more than say and write it — I want to put that into reality."
The number of African-American unclassified professionals has increased from 29 in Fall 1991 to 33 in Fall 1995, but Maurice Bryan, director of affirmative action, said the University needed to continue to seek qualified minority candidates for positions.
"We're getting better, but sometimes we have a tendency to just advertise a position and see who applies," Bryan said. "We need to do more than just hope that they come to us."
"When a coach wants an athlete on his team, he's calling him; he's nurturing him; he's making that athlete feel wanted," Bryan said. "We need to make direct contacts and encourage people to apply."
Qualified African-American administrators are in demand. Bryan said the University should emulate the athletic model when trying to attract these individuals.
Administrative demographics
The number of African-American faculty administrators and unclassified professionals has increased slightly during the last five years, but the vast majority of the University's decision-makers still are white.
Faculty administrators
Diversity is not simply about the number of administrators from different ethnic groups. Bryan said.
Noah Musser/KANSAN
Unclassified professionals
North America/KABANI
"The commitment to diversity should not just be about numbers and color and gender," he said. "We should value having people from different backgrounds because that enriches the community."
Students turn out to vote on rec center
By Nicole Kennedy
Kansan staff writer
Despite yesterday's cold weather, students turned out to vote on the proposed campus recreation center.
Cherryre Gayer, a worker at the Kansas Union polling site, said between 300 and 350 people already had voted at that site by 2:30 p.m.yesterday.
Shawn Henessee, elections commissioner, said that it was too early to estimate the total number of students who voted yesterday.
Two students who voted for the recreation center said that they thought Robinson Center was an inadequate recreation facility.
"Ihave siblings who will come here, and they will need it," said Eric Trytten, Overland Park senior. "I've been working out at Robinson for the past three years, and it's not adequate for the amount of people at KU."
"My reasoning was that in order to keep pace with our peer institutions, we need it, and if we
Derek Dye, Ulysses senior, agreed.
Several students who voted against the recreation center said it was inappropriate to ask students to pay for a facility they may never use.
"We need to help build an education instead of a sports curriculum," said Brian Sailer, Conway Springs junior. "I thought it was unfair to pay for something for somebody else to get."
wait 10 years, then it will cost more," Dye said. "Obviously as a future alumnus, I care about the future of the University."
Leks Economidis, Overland Park senior, said she voted against the recreation center because she would not be able use to it.
Economidis said that the plan to give free one-year memberships to KU alumni did not affect her decision.
"I not going to come back to Lawrence to work out," she said. "I read one of their brochures, and it just didn't seem good enough for what I'm going to have to pay."
Brian Flink / KANSAN
Voting will continue today from 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. Polling sites include the Kansas Union, the Burge Union, Strong Hall and Robinson Center.
MIKE LANGDON, St. Petersburg, Fla., senior, votes in the rec center referendum at Robinson Center. Students can vote today between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
House opts for qualified students
Senate to debate new standards for universities
By a vote of 65-59, the House approved a bill yesterday that would establish minimum admissions standards at Board of Regents universities.
By John Collar Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA — For the first time in 81 years, the Kansas House of Representatives has decided to change admissions standards at state universities.
"We haven't seriously looked at the curriculum since 1915," said State Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin City, former Baker University president and the bill's sponsor.
admissions oim still consists of basically the same members, Lawrence said.
In recent years, qualified admissions has been a popular item on the Legislature's agenda. The bill has been defeated about a dozen times, with the House usually voting against the proposal.
The bill will proceed to the Senate, where its chances of passing are favorable, said State Sen. Barbara Lawrence, R-Wichita, who is chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee and a former teacher.
The Regents, who are occupied with passing of a capital improvement bonding proposal and a tuition accountability plan, support the proposal but were not lobbying as strongly as they had in previous sessions.
The Senate passed a qualified admissions bill in 1993, and the body still consists of
The Senate Democratic leader, Jerry Karr of Emporia, said he had some reservations about the bill. Rural schools would struggle with the adjustments to the curriculum because of their smaller budgets, he said.
The qualified admissions bill would require incoming freshmen: to have a 2.0
grade point average
Kansas now allows all graduates of Kansas high schools to enroll at state universities.
to score of 21 on the ACT or to rank in the top one-third of their
"It's a challenge to provide a diversity of curriculum that is needed," Karr said.
"If it reaches his desk, he is likely to sign it," said Mike Matson, communications director for Graves.
If the Senate and Graves approve the bill, the law would eliminate the only open admissions policy for state universities in the nation. Incoming freshmen would be required to have a 2.0 grade point average in a college-preparatory curriculum, or a score of 21 on the ACT or rank in the top one-third of their class.
Gov. Bill Graves has expressed support for the proposal.
The bill keeps intact a controversial provision that would allow an institution to admit up to 10 percent of the freshman class who do not meet the requirements. Universities would be required to document who is admitted under this provision.
The requirements, which would not take effect until 2001, provides future high-school students with an opportunity to prepare for the more stringent curriculum. The Regents would set the curriculum, which under the bill is required to have four units of English, three units of mathematics, three units of social studies, three units of natural science and one unit in computer technology.