CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, February 14, 1996
3A
Most KU offices remain open for lunch
Chancellor wants students served
By Kansan Correspondents
Chancellor Robert Hemenway worries about lunchtime — not what he eats, but whether University of Kansas offices will be open to help students during the noon hour.
Since the beginning of his administration, Hemenway has said that University offices should remain open during lunch.
"We need to be a student-centered university," Hemenway said. "I think we have to be open during the times our students need help, and the only time they have may be over the noon hour."
Many University offices seem to be heeding the chancellor's mandate. In a survey of 30 campus offices, 26 had their doors open between noon and 1 p.m.
Four offices were closed, including a darkened, locked dean's office in the department of mathematics, 405 Snow Hall.
"We close the office from noon until 1 p.m." said Gloria Prothe, office supervisor for the department. "We interpreted the chancellor's statement as pertaining to the administrative offices only."
But Hemenway maintains that any office serving students should
be open during lunch.
"I perceive those offices to be departmental offices as well as administrative offices," Hemenway said. "However, I do understand that some only have two or three people to juggle."
Staff shortage was the reason that the doors of the School of Pharmacy, 2056 Malot Hall, were locked during the noon hour, said Diane Massey, office specialist for the school.
"We lock the doors for security reasons," Massey said. "Only one person is left to watch the entire office over noon, but we do answer the phones."
Massey said that the pharmacy students know the office hours and that the office never had received any complaints.
The department of history was closed during lunch, as a sign on the door of 3001 Wescoe Hall indicated. Charles Stansifer, chairman of history, said that he would like to see the office remain open but that the department was low on staff.
Although many University offices suffer from a shortage of personnel, some have solved the problem by staggering shifts. Rob Macrae, student assistant for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences administrative offices, 200 Strong Hall,
He said he planned to shift funds this spring so he could hire students for hourly positions.
said three secretaries and two student assistants rotated shifts in order to cover the lunch hour.
"This office is always open during lunchtime," Macrae said. "Some of the secretaries get a lunch break, but we always know where everyone is in case we need to contact them."
Other offices, such as the department of health, physical education and recreation, 104 Robinson, opted to hire employees specifically for the noon hour. Heidi Coleman, Lawrence graduate student, works for the department on weekdays from 12 to 4 p.m.
"When I started the job in January, the department especially wanted me to work over lunch time," she said. "Few people come in, but the phone is usually busy."
Although some offices have had to make staffing adjustments, several offices have found it simple to comply with the chancellor's lunchtime policy.
The college graduate division, 209 Strong Hall, has stayed open during lunch for the past five years, said Beryl Johnson, office clerk. She said that unless the computers went down she and her fellow office workers would be at their desks for lunch.
"It's our job to be here," said Helen Sheu, who also works in the office.
At the college advising support center, 401 Wescoe, closing during the lunch hour is not an option,
said secretary Sue Schumock.
"We're too busy to ever close the office over lunch break," Schumock said. "A steady flow of students, phone calls and computer work is normal over the lunch hour."
A busy noon hour was not always the case for the department of chemistry, 2010 Malott Hall. Before Hemenway began his administration, the office was closed during lunch.
"Since we've opened, the number of students who come in has been increasing," said Carol Bray, program assistant for the department of chemistry. "It's convenient for the students."
In addition to easing students' schedules, an open lunch hour also benefits the staff.
"We have five people in the office, and each day one person stays over lunch," Bray said. "The one who stays for lunch gets to leave an hour earlier at the end of the day."
Compiled by Kansan Correspondents Lindsey Henry and Eric Westlander. Correspondents Bradley Brooks, Nicholas Charalambous, Adam Darby, Stephanie Fite, Stefan Hartmann, Cameron Egghe, Bessie James, Harumi Kogarimati, Stephanie McDuff, Dave Morantz and Rachel Thompson did research for this story.
Sylvia Stone, administrative assistant for women's studies, and Jamie Scheilbach, student assistant in American Studies, work during lunchtime. Chancellor Robert Hemenway wants KU offices open during the noon hour.
Brian Hott / KANSAN
Elders addresses health-care ills
Kansan staff writer
By R. Adam Ward
Kenyon staff writer
Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general, spoke yesterday about the roles of race and education in the American health-care crisis and about some of the controversy that has surrounded her.
Elders spoke to a crowd at the Lied Center as part of African-American History Month. The crowd of about 800 gave Elders a standing ovation as she took the podium.
Most of Elders' remarks dealt with health-care system ill. Elders described the system as opulent splendor, side by side with misery and evil.
Elders said she was honored to be part of the month-long celebration, which has the theme "African-American Women: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."
One of the evils of the system is the widening gap between Caucasians' and African Americans' health in this country, she said.
"If you take the infant mortality of white babies and multiply it by two, you will have the Black infant mortality," she said.
Elders said chronic high blood pressure, diabetes and mortality from cancer and HIV were higher in African-Americans than in Caucasians.
She proposed educating about healthier lifestyles at a younger age to solve these and other problems in the country's health-care system.
But lawmakers prefer to legislate morals instead of providing education for young people, she said.
She illustrated the lack of health education with statistics: The average young person watches 15,000 hours of television.
son but only receives 43 hours of health education.
"Forty-five percent of sixth graders think there is more fat in watermelon than whole milk," she said.
Along with health education, sex education needs improvement, she said. It should focus on the ABCDs: abstinence, being faithful, using a latex condom and doing other things, she said.
"I was fired for teaching about those other things," she said. "Nobody wants to teach young people about masturbation."
People should tell children the truth about masturbation, Elders said. Instead, children are told that masturbation will make them go blind or grow hair on their palms.
Teaching children about masturbation and recommending that the country reconsider its drug policy were part of her vision, but that differed from the administration's vision, she said.
Elders said those differences made it necessary for President Clinton to fire her. But she doesn't hold a grudge, she said.
Lynley Budinas, Junction City sophomore, said she thought the most important message students got from the sneech was the importance of voting.
Politicians will be more willing to change the health-care system if students express their desire for more preventative health care, she said.
Lola Loeb, Los Angeles graduate student, said she was disappointed that the crowd was mostly older people.
"I think it's too bad that more college students didn't come to the speech, because they could teach others about her message," she said.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders speaks at the Lied Center.In her speech yesterday, Elders emphasized the importance of education in improving health care.
Man escapes after seeking more exposure
By Amy McVey
Kansan staff writer
A man whipped out more than just money when paying for his purchases at a local convenience store early Monday morning.
"After I rung up his purchases, I asked him if he needed a sack," said the 25-year-old clerk at E Z Shop, 1000 W. 23rd St. "He said yes, and that's when I noticed his manhood."
The clerk said the man's penis was sticking out of the zipper of his pants. She said that she had not seen it until he came up to the counter but that she had noticed that he was acting strangely when he first walked in the store.
"He looked suspicious," she said. "I thought he was going to shoilift, so I watched him."
"He was taking a long time, and he kept looking at me," she said. "And the whole time he looked at me, he would pick things up and put things down.
The clerk said the man had lingered in the store for more than 20 minutes, opening and closing the coolers that line the wall and sifting through the candy section.
"I had three customers come in while he was wander-ing around," she said.
It wasn't until the man purchased a soft drink, a candy bar, a cigar and two pornographic magazines that the clerk noticed his penis protruding from his unzipped pants.
"When I noticed, I told him to get out," she said. "He kind of hesitated."
The man left the store but stood outside in front of the window and masturbated as the clerk called the police.
"He stood there and watched me," she said.
He stood there and watched it, site said.
But the time the police arrived, the man had left
By the time the police arrived, the man had left. Police have no suspects.
Police have no suspects.
The clerk described the man as a 5-foot-10-inch, 160-pound, 25-year-old Caucasian male with shoulder-length light hair and a mustache.
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