SPORTS; George Brett retires but continues to give it his all until the last at-bat. Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103,NO.26
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1993
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
GTA benefits Here is how KU GTAs fare against GTAs from peer universities based on workloads of 20 hours a week.
benefits on workloads of 20
Health care provided Tuition waived Collective bargaining
Kansas no fully waived under discussion
Colorado partially in-state no, out-of-state gets in-state rate no
Iowa partially in-state no, out-of-state gets in-state rate under discussion
North Carolina at Chapel Hill no in-state no, out-of-state gets in-state rate no
Oklahoma no in-state no, out-of-state gets in-state rate no
Oregon partially fully waived yes, since 1985
Source: Kansan staff reports John Paul Foel/KANSAN
Health benefits part of drive to form union
By Kathleen Stolle Kansan staff writer
Shelley Steele is having a skin lesion biopsy today, but her health is not her only concern. Because the KU graduate teaching assistant does not have medical insurance, her financial future could be at risk as well.
"If it comes back that it's (the lesion's) something bad, I wish I had it, but I don't know so I'll deal with that later."
she said.
Health care,
salaries and
work loads
are a few
issues GTAs
may negotiate
if they are
allowed to
form a collective bargaining unit, GTA David Reidy said.
form a collective bargaining unit, GTA David Reidy said. GTA status hearings continue this week and will determine if KU's 1,100 GTAs are state employees and, therefore, eligible to negotiate with the University on employment issues.
"Collective bargaining would be a chance for us as a group to discuss and prioritize our own concerns," Reidy said.
GTA Jeff Beasley said he was covered by his parents' medical insurance but would prefer to have his own.
"The main thing I'd like as a GTA is health insurance because right now it's impossible to live on the money they give us and also have health insurance," he said.
Beasley said he earns about $800 a month as a political science discussion leader.
Spanish GTA Terri Heusinger said she would like to see more uniformity in GTA pay as it related to workloads. She said GTAs in her department had more responsibility than some GTAs in other departments but were not paid accordingly. Heusinger said she received about $800 a month for teaching two three-hour classes.
"I'm responsible for 55 University students, and nobody else helps me teach my class," she said.
if GTAs do eventually bargain on medical benefits and pay increases, Reidy said it could take three to four years before GTAs see any improvements.
"Anything that involves money is going to take time to phase in," he said.
The source of additional funds for GTAs' needs is a matter of speculation.
Howard Mossberg, dean of the graduate school, said he did not expect to see significant increases in the state's higher education allocations.
"I assume we'll be working with restrictive budgets," he said.
Reidy said he hoped that the Legislature could be persuaded to provide additional GTA funds. However, if funds were not available, Reidy said that he hoped the University would consider the GTAs' role at KU and adjust its own budget.
"If it was inevitable, I do think we'd be justified in claiming a little bigger piece of the pie," he said.
Singing in the street
Six local bands played Saturday during the first Fall Fest, an outdoor concert in downtown Lawrence.
Degrees open for debate this week
Program eliminations are focus of hearings
Page 3.
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan staff writer
Starting tonight, students, faculty members and the general public will have their only chance officially to express opinions about the future of eight degree programs when the University of Kansas' program discontinuance hearings begin this week.
The hearings will be conducted by the Committee of Academic Procedures and Policies, a University Council committee made up of seven faculty members and three students.
The meetings will allow anyone to speak for or against the elimination of the degree programs, said Bob Anderson, professor of French and Italian and head of the committee.
"They literally are open hearings," he said. "As long as they address the topic up for discussion, we are ready and willing to hear them."
Anderson said speakers who had filed a written summary of their comments with University Governance prior to the hearing would be allowed to speak first.
Because each hearing will last about two hours, Anderson said, the committee will try to hear everybody's opinions, but a time limit may be set.
"We hope people would be to the point and concise," he said. "Filibustering would not help at this time."
Robyn Weeks, Overland Park senior and an atmospheric science major, said everyone should be allowed to speak no matter how many people are at the hearings.
David Shulenburger, vice chancellor for academic affairs, said people should attend the hearings and should speak because the final decision would affect so many people.
"You will find there are a lot of emotions affiliated with this " he said
Anderson said that if someone could not attend the hearings, they could submit a written proposal stating their opinions to University Governance, 308 Strong Hall.
When the hearings finish, Anderson said, the committee will deliberate for a few weeks until it reaches a decision about each
The student members are Travis Harrod, Topekaunior; Andrew Irwin, Overland Park senior; and Balchander Jayaraman, Prairie Village senior.
degree program.
The committee's recommendations then will be sent to Council, which will make its own decision. Council will send its recommendations to Shulenburger, who will send his recommendations to Chancellor Gene Budig for a final decision.
If Budig approves the proposed degree eliminations, each program will be phased out within three years. During that time, new students will not be accepted into the programs, but enrolled students will be able to finish their degrees.
Last semester, the committee recommended the elimination of six degree programs: B.S. in toxicology; Ph.D. in visual arts education; B.A. in history and philosophy of science; B.S. in geophysics; B.S. in recreation; and B.S. in engineering physics.
Hearing schedule
The public is encouraged to speak out about the proposed program eliminations. The hearings are:
■ Wednesday, 7:15:9:30 p.m. at the English Room in the Union.
Tonight, 7:15 p.m. at the Centennial Room in the Kansas Union.
To be considered: B.A., B.G.S. and
You consulted B.K. International.
Thursday, 7-8:30 p.m. in 100 Smith
Hall
To be considered: B.A. in comparative literature and B.A. in humanities.
Thursday, 8:30-10 p.m. in 100 Smith Hall.
To be considered: B.A. and B.G.S. in computer science.
KANSAN
Mattress sprint
Jodie Bellemere, Kansas City, Kan., junior, top, gets a ride during the Fun Relay at Wheat Ray 1993 with help from teammates Nick Pivonka, Alameda, Calif., sophomore, left front; Ryan Brownling, Denver sophomore, left rear; Chris Dunny, Leawood sophomore, right rear; and Max Myers, El Dorado sophomore, right front. The meet yesterday at Memorial Stadium involved 350 students who participated in track and field events. The Chi Omega sorority and Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity sponsored the 11th annual Wheat Meet to benefit KU Cancer Research and the Jon Blubaugh Memorial.
Holly McQueen / KANSAN
Overcrowded
85 percent of Haskell students live on campus. Campus housing can accommodate only 700 residents.
Budget shortages cramp Haskell
John Paul Fogel/KANSAN
Some By Carlos Tejada
studentslive
studentslive Kansan staff writer
room while
Haskell Indian
Source: Kansan staff reports
government.
federal
Brandon Girty is getting out.
The Haskell Indian Nations University freshman looks about his residence hall room with a weary smile. He says he is going to move to an apartment off-campus in a few days, and he says he is relieved.
awaitsfunds
"It's not going to be too bad to get out of here," Girty says. "A lot of guys have been here longer than I have, and they don't like it."
Girty is one of about 830 Haskell students who live in university housing built for 700 students. And since 85 percent of Haskell's 981 students live on-campus, overcrowdedness has become
a way of life.
The women at Wiона Hall are not much better off than the rale residents, says Elena Lopez, Haskell sophomore. She shares her room with eight other women and the floor's candy and soda machines.
"It wasn't like this when I first came," she says.
"When I was a freshman they gave me a room and there was no problem."
If Haskell were a state university such as the University of Kansas, it would raise endowment money or lobby the Kansas Legislature for funds. But Haskell is different. It is the nation's only university aimed solely at educating Amer-
See HASKELL, Page 12.
Rain-drenched '93 making history
Kansanstaffwriter
By Shan Schwartz
Those who are upset about the heavy rains in Lawrence could look at things from a different perspective.
There is no official annual precipitation record in Lawrence because the National Weather Service does not have a Lawrence office to make those observations. And the KU weather service has not compared precipitation totals for past years to determine an all-time high.
This wet weather is making history. In all probability, 1993 will go down as the wettest year ever in Lawrence.
But as of last night, the KU weather service had recorded 58.65 inches of rain and snow for this year. That is within a downpour's
reach of the all-time annual precipitation records in Topeka, 60.89 inches in 1973, and Kansas City. 60.25 inches in 1961.
And there's still three months to go
Is this rainy, snowy weather a trend or just a flake?
Paul Castleberry, graduate teaching assistant in atmospheric science, said there were several different factors that may have contributed to the wet weather this year.
Large snowfalls in January and February or last year's eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines could be attributed to the lingering effects of El Niño, Castleberry said. El Niño is a periodical weather pattern caused by warmer waters in the southern Pacific Ocean. Castleberry said more warm moisture was pushed west of the United States by El Niño and then pushed into our area by the
natural easterly flow of storm systems.
In May and June, Castleberry said, the summer weather pattern over Kansas didn't set up as usual. The jet stream, a high-altitude air current that drives storm movement, usually shifts northward to Canada during the summer. Castleberry said the jet stream didn't move that far north this year and hung just north of Kansas for much of the summer, causing above-average rainfall.
Castleberry said there was no indication that wetter-than-normal weather would continue.
About this time each year, Castleberry said, the jet stream moved back southward to set up a winter weather pattern. As the jet stream now passes southward over Kansas, the Lawrence area receives more rain, he said.
Precipitation totals
KU Weather Service.
1993 average
Jan. 1.6" 1.0"
Feb. 1.7" 1.1"
March 2.6" 2.4"
April 7.1" 3.2"
May 7.1" 4.4"
June 6.5" 5.1"
July 18.3" 4.1"
Aug. 1.7" 3.7"
Sept. 10.7" 4.3"
Total to date: 57.3"
Lawrence yearly average: 36.8"
4. 1
Source: KU Weather Service, Kansas Statistical Abstract
6
Dan Schauer/KANBAN