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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1996
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.102 NO.98
(USPS 650-640)
TODAY KANSAN
KANSAS
KU BASKETBALL
Freshman isn't homesick yet
Kansas freshman Paul Pierce was a bit of a homebody before he left Los Angeles for college. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Ringing in the New Year
KU students will sponsor a party tomorrow to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Page 3A
FEATURES
Virginity: save it or share it?
These days, defining virginity isn't as easy as most students might think. Page 6A
London bomb deactivated
Coded telephone warnings led Scotland Yard to a bomb in the city's busy theater district. Page 5A
WEATHER
SUNNY
High 35° Low 15°
Weather: Page 2A
INDEX
Opinion ... 4A
Nation/World ... 5A
Features ... 6A
Sports ... 1B
Scoreboard ... 2B
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.
Senate rec center meeting spirited
By Nicole Kennedy
Kansan staff writer
Turnout was low at the Student Senate town-hall meeting last night, but tensions ran high.
Only about 15 students, including senators, showed up to discuss the proposed recreation center.
Dan Hare, student body vice president, and Renee Speicher, graduate senator, outlined the recreation center plans.
Hare and Speicher sponsored the bill that was passed by the Senate on Tuesday to hold a student referendum on Feb. 27 and 28. Voting booths will be set up across campus.
Shannon Tauscher, Lawrence junior, spoke at the meeting.
"I am astonished and disgusted that the Senate would even consider a proposal such as one for this glorified gymnasium," Tauschen said. "We're here for an education, not a four-year gym class.
"Spending money on NordicTracks and treadmills is irresponsible."
Tauscher said student money could be better spent on improving the academic facilities and classroom technology.
The money, she said, should be used to purchase more computers and upgrade the printers in the Computer Center.
Kim Cocks, student body president, responded to Tauscher's concerns about the quality of KU's academic facilities. She said the Board of Regents soon would discuss increasing tuition or student fees to pay for
academic improvements and new technology.
Hare said he understood Tauscher's frustrations.
"I think technology is a problem at this University," Hare said. "It's definitely a priority of the chancellor and that makes it a priority for the University."
Hare also said that Senate was resistant to raising student fees to pay for academic improvements on campus.
Paying for academic improvements is the responsibility of the University and the state, he said.
Speicher also responded to Tauscher's comments.
"I advocate strongly that education doesn't always occur in the classroom," Speicher
said. "Your point is well taken, but I would encourage you to consider the benefits."
After the meeting, Tauscher said she hadn't changed her mind about the recreation center.
"They addressed concerns from their perspective, but I'm still very much opposed to it." Tauscher said.
Brian Flink / KANSAN
Brian Schaal, Overland Park senior, attaches a container of liquid nitrogen during a dress rehearsal for the testing of the rocket engine Schaal and three other engineering students designed
Students have a blast with rocket
Cocks said that she wasn't sure why the meeting turnout was low, but that she expected to see more discussion on the issue next week.
"You can't complain when it's over if you don't make your voice heard beforehand," Tauscher said.
Volatile fuel forces increased safety
By David Teska
Kansan staff writer
After one-and-a-half years, it all comes down to a 10-second test.
Today, if all goes as planned, four students from the department of aerospace engineering will test-fire the first liquid-fueled rocket engine ever designed and built by KU students.
Brian Schaal, Overland Park senior and president of the Rocket Systems Development Organization, said a significant feature of the engine was that it used a fuel mixture of liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol.
Because of the fuel's volatile nature, the presence of any contaminant in the fuel system, such as a speck of dirt or oil residue, could lead to a violent explosion, Schaal said.
"A particle in the fuel line with a diameter of .05 inch to .06 inch could destroy this motor." he said.
With safety always in mind, the four students — Schaal; Bill Harms, Olathe senior; Troy Wallace, Wichita senior; and Arthur Fowler, Atchison senior — had to pay particular attention to the many safety issues during the design and construction of the engine.
"It blew me away how much safety stuff went into it," Harms said.
The group held a full dress rehearsal on Wednesday to finalize
the procedures. At the rehearsal, the team went through the entire preflight checklist, with each student assigned a specific task.
Schaal and Wallace simulated loading the fuel. Because it was only a simulation, they used liquid nitrogen and water instead of real fuel.
During the actual engine test, the two fuels will be brought together in a controlled burn, a regulated reaction that creates an explosion, giving the rocket its thrust.
Because the explosion could escalate out of control, the group worked closely with the Lawrence Fire Department. Again citing safety, Schaal said they worked with the same crew of firemen throughout the project.
Building the engine wasn't cheap either, Schaal said.
Although the engine won't be used in an actual rocket in its current form, Schaal said they used parts certified for space flight.
This increased the cost, but the students were still able to build it for less than $3,000 from money they received from the NASA Space Consortium, a group that grants money to school projects.
Schaal said that by working together, the students had all grown to appreciate the effort required to put the space shuttle into space.
He added that the complex nature of space flight meant that one group could not do it alone.
Troy Wallace, Wichita senior, helps Brian Schaal, Overland Park senior, get ready to work on their rocket engine, which will be test-fired today.
Brian Flink / KANSAN
Profs on leave give up pay
Instructors on leave
Legislature includes 2 percent adjustment in University budget
By Jason Strah
Kansan staff writer
More than $1 million worth of knowledge is on leave without pay from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences this semester, and most of the money is not being used to hire replacements.
Twenty-one professors from 14 departments in the college have forfeited their salaries to go on leave for various reasons. The Legislature builds in a 2 percent adjustment to account for the salaries of professors who may leave during the year. The forfeited salaries already had been accounted for by this adjustment, and therefore a majority of the money is not used for replacements and is returned to the Legislature.
Jolene Fairchild, accountant of the college, said that when the Legislature budgets finances for the University, it assumes that 2 percent of the faculty will leave for either personal or medical reasons.
Part of the forfeited salaries goes to hiring lecturers, instructors or graduate teaching assistants to cover essential classes, Fairchild said. The remainder of the money is used to pay back the 2 percent to the Legislature.
Ling Bian, geography
The University still is given its full budget but must pay back the 2 percent.
Diana Carlin communication studies
Raymond Christensen, political science
Ann Willner, political science
Debbie Corner, political science
C.K. Rowland, political science
Philip Schrodt, political science
William Comer, Slavic languages & literature
Bryant Freeman, African & African-American studies
Bartholomew Dean, anthropology
Aletha Huston, human development & family life
John Wright, human development & family life
Rex Martin, philosophy
James Carothers, associate dean of the college, said the department chairmen in each college recommended a professor be granted leave without pay, which then is approved or disapproved by the college.
James Muyskens, philosophy
Amy McNair, history of art
Xiaang Mo mathematics
“If the purpose has something to do with developing a career, we try to find a way to accommodate that.” Carothers said. “I've never heard of someone wanting to take leave because they're tired of teaching. It's always for a purpose.”
Amy McNair, history of art
Xiaokang Mo, mathematics
Allen Omote, psychology
Alan Ortona, psychology
Phillin Paludan, history
"The question is, can we continue to meet our academic concerns?" Carothers asked. "That's what drives all of us."
Theodore Wilson, history
The department chairmen who make the requests usually make them with the knowledge that the courses can be covered by other professors in the department, he said.
De-Min Wu. economics
The decision to find a replacement for a course depends on whether it is an introductory course that can be covered easily or a specialty course for which instructors are hard to find, he said.
Each department in the college is responsible for hiring replacements, and the decisions are approved again by the college.
Carothers said that a department's request for a professor to go on leave usually is made prior to class scheduling so that no problems with canceling courses after enrollment occur.
But sometimes unexpected opportunities arise for professors to work outside the University.
Five classes, POLS 618 Political Leadership and 662 Political Persuasion, HAIT 110 and 120, Elementary Haitian I and II, and AFS 320 Haiti Today, were canceled because the instructors had such opportunities.
Both departments said students in the canceled courses were accommodated with replacements.
Police continue embezzlement investigation
By Amy McVey Kansan staff writer
No charges were filed yesterday against a former KU employee arrested in connection with the embezzlement of $39,000.
KU police arrested 53-year-old Lenexa resident Theresa Louis Mercer on Wednesday night on 109 counts of forgery, 17 counts of felony theft and 98 counts of misdemeanor theft. She was booked in the Douglas County Jail on $172,500 bond but was released at 11 a.m.yesterday.
Mark Knight, Douglas County district attorney, said Mercer was released because the investigation wasn't completed.
KU police Sgt. Chris Keary said that although police hadn't finished the investigation, they thought the arrest was warranted.
"We knew that there was still more investigating to do, but the officer who made the arrest felt there was probable cause for the arrest he made," Keary said.
Mercer, former administrative assistant for the department of pharmacology and toxicology, is suspected of forging documents and writing fraudulent checks from the department's endowment account to herself and others during a three-year period.
Elias Michaelis, chairman of the department of pharmacology and toxicology, discovered the money was missing two weeks ago. Mercer had quit to work in the private sector.
Michaels said Mercer intercepted the checks and documents before he had a chance to see them.
Keary said KU police were continuing the investigation.