16PAGES THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE MARCH24, 1998
Proposed morality clause struck down, but tensions linger
By Steve Bittenbender
Editor-in-Chief
It's rare that a meetin_g of a
department's professors makes
headline news; it's even rarer
for a month-old meeting.
However, Paul Weber, direc­tor
of the University of
Louisville's McConnell Schol­ars
Program, fears recent re­ports
of Sen. Mitch
McConnell's (R-Ky.) attempt
to include a morality clause in
the program, may jeopardize
the future of the program. The
proposal was struck down 12-
0 in a Feb. 27 meeting.
The Courier-Journal and
other Louisville media outlets
reported on the concern among
the political science faculty and
McConnell Scholars about
McConnell putting his own
politics into the program, espe­cially
on illegitimate births.
Those reports, Weber said,
helped McConnell "lose a lot
of enthusiasm" for the program.
"First of all, this was an in­ternal
matter and not meant for
public consumption," Weber
s~id. "The faculty felt a more
general statement was appro-priate."
.
According to McConnell
Scholar Scott Jennings, a
sophomore political science
U of L researchers
working with NASA
By Kristi Martin
Staff Writer
A group of researchers from
the University of Louisville are
helping NASA build space
technology.
U of L Physics Professor
Karl Pitts and Holis Cox, a pro­fessor
at the Speed Scientific
School, head a group that is
working on radiation detectors
that could be used by the Na­tional
Aeronautics and Space
Administration to pick up the
presence of gamma-rays in the
atmosphere. Gamma niys are .
indicators of the occurrence of
material falling into "black
holes."
The detectors are designed to
recognize several types of X­ray
radiation, which has several
applications for space pro­grams,
medicine, and industry.
The trick in creating the tech­nology
is to make detectors that
work more efficiently, are more
powerful, and are more cost­efficient
than NASA's current
technology ..
"Power is limited in a satel­lite,"
Pitts said. "And every­thing
in space is expensive."
Other members of the U of
L research group include
Harrison Simrall, a senior in the
Physics Department who spent
Spring Break in Maryland
working at NASA's Goddard
Spaceflight Center. Harrison is
one of two undergraduates
working in the lab, along with
three graduate research assis­tants
and one full-time techni­cian.
The research began a few
years ago when Pitts needed ra-diation
detectors to aid with his
nuclear physics experiments.
His search for someone who
would know how to create the
detectors led to Kevin Walsh,
an electrical engineering pro­fessor
at the Speed Scientific
school.
Pitts learned it would only
cost about $300-400 to make a
single detector, but that it re­quired
$150,000 of equipment.
The two professors con­structed
a proposal for govern­ment
funding and were
awarded grants to begin
microfab'rication of detectors.
The U of L group has some
competition. Both NASA's
Marshall Spaceflight Center in
Huntsville, Ala., and Stanford
University are working on
similar technology. But U of L's
group does benefit by working
closely with the Goddard Cen­ter.
'The research is slow and me­thodical,
but Pitts is optimistic
about the future of the research.
The group hopes to have a
working detector that is two­square
feet in size before
NASA's Technology Review in
Dec., 1999. Currently, the
group's working detector mea­sures
only one square inch,
which explains why the re­searchers
consume about 20
pounds of coffee per month.
"We have to do what we are
doing better, and on a larger
area," Pitts said. "We're here a
lot."
If the research is successful,
U of L's microfabrication group
could be included in the next
contract for a telescope for
NASA.
and communication major, the
scholars are divided on the is­sue.
"I think a majority of schol­ars
are upset with McConnell,"
Jennings said. "I'm in a small
majority that thinks you can
disagree with McConnell's
idea, but still remain loyal a1t1d
supportive to him (and the pro­gram).
· ·
"Loyalty to someone doesn't
mean you have to agree with
them 100 percent of the time,"
he added.
Several scholars declined to
comment on the matter until
they received a chance to dis­cuss
the situation with
McConnell, which is likely to
happen sometime next month.
"McConnell had good inten­tions
of trying to address the
problem of unwed pregnan­cies,"
junior McConnell
Scholar and political science
major Craig Bingham said.
"His proposal, in my opinion,
would not deter the scholars
from having sex, but it would
provide an incentive for having
an abortion. That's contradict­ing
him as a pro-lifer."
Chris Davenport, a
McConnell Scholar and junior
political science major, said he
felt that the senator overstepped
his bounds when he introduced
the proposal and most scholars
he said showed "reserve alarm"
when it was introduced.
"It's not his job to pick the
scholars or review the criteria,"
he said.
In a memo to the McConnell
Center Advisory Board on Feb.
4, McConnell urged the board to
consider setting "exemplary
standards" of conduct and char­acter.
Arepresentative from Sen.
McConnell's legal counsel dis­cussed
this matter with Univer­sity
Counsel Thomas Lyons,
McConnell said in the memo,
and it was determined that the
proposal had a strong legal foun­dation
"for the simple reason that
Em.otion in motion
Photo by Dan Spaulding
Dancer Kimberli Boyd performed "Dancing Between the Lines" at Thrust Theatre on March 20
and 21. The Florida StatE! University graduate's dance was interpretive in nature and con­sisted
of four parts: "Touched," "Candle Libation," "Nana's Wedding Suite" and "Heritage
Bluesology." For more ab1:>ut the performance, part of U of L's celebration of Women's History
Month, see page 8.
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell
a privately-funded scholarship is
a privilege, not a government en­titlement."
McConnell also quoted the
See PROPOSAL, page 4
Part-time
professor
juggles
three jobs
By John Friedlein
Staff Writer
Due to the nature and number
of Jim Hunter's jobs, he will
likely see more receptions than
· unemployment lines.
"If you fall in love with some­one
in this class, I'll marry you,"
Hunter, a part-time professor at
U of L, told his Religion in
America class.
Most of the about 12 wedding
services per year Hunter presides
over involve former students.
"They must be former stu­dents,"
he said.
Squeezed in between his two
classes and matrimonial services
is his full-time job at Lincoln Fi­nancialAdvisors.
He is an invest­ment
and insurance broker as
well as a mutual funds trader and
planner of retirement plans.
Hunter said juggling all the
jobs isn't a problem.
"My students should know
they can communicate with me
even though I'm not on campus
all the time," Hunter said. "Ev­eryone
knows I do something
else for a living. They can page
me, or even call my office at my·
other job.
"My schedule helps me under­stand
what a lot of my students
are going through," Hunter said.
"U of Lis a city university; they
(students) have other things go­ing
on."
University has big plans fbt its 200th birthday party
One of these preoccupations
seems to be finding and secur­ing
a mate. Hunter formally com­pletes
this process at Duncan
Memorial - an interfairth
By Robin Goben chapel.
Staff Writer
Have big plans for April
Fool's Day? The University
does. April 1. 1998 is the date
for U of L's 200th Birthday cel­ebration.
The bicentennial of­fice
has been working vigor­ously
to make this a birthday
to remember. This outdoor
event will be held in the oval at
the entrance of Grawemeyer
Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m.
Robin Edmond-Durham is
the Chair of the Bicentennial
Celebration and has been on the
committee for two years.
"The celebration is the cul­mination
of three years of work
for us," she said.
Edmond-Durham said her
main objective is to get all three
constituent groups (faculty,
staff and students) involved in
the event and share in the sense
of pride and accomplishment
while celebrating the
University's 200th birthday.
Free food, clowns, door
prizes, contests, games, and
music should provide the sense
of festival that the committee
hopes to achieve. The carnival­style
foods include pretzels,
popcorn, caramel-cand ied
apples, and so on. Edmond-
Women Making History Showcased
Katherine Burger Johnson, an associate archivist with
the University of Louisville, spoke on March 10 about
some of the positive contributions women have made
to U of L over the years. For more on the speech, see
page 3.
Durham explained that there
will be four food stations. in
hopes of avoiding long lines
and waits. In addition to free
food, attendees can count on
party favors, entertainment, and
plenty of opportunities to par­ticipate
in the celebration. Door
prizes include t-shirts, calen­dars
and gifts donated by letcal
restaurants, Actors Thealtre,
Kentucky Kingdom, the Red­birds,
the Louisville Science
Center, the Louisville Zoo, and
local hotels. The clock tower
will play "Happy Birthday" at
noon, and so will the pep band
when President Shumaker
speaks at 12:45 p.m.
"The Thinker is in his birth­day
suit, so we thought that he
needed a birthday hat," is the
explanation Edmond-Durham
gave for the hat decorating con­test.
All students, faculty and
groups are invited to decorate
a hat for the Thinker. In order
to fit the Thinker's head, caps
must be 40 inches in circum­ference
and should be no more
than three feet tall and 2 feet
wide. The "Thinker Cap" con­test
will be judged by applause
at 1 p.m. the day of the festi­vaL
Contestants in the indi­vidual
category will have the
opportunity to win a blue park-
Staying Out Of Check
The Cardinal Knight Chess Club is less than three
years old, but last year they earned third place in their
division. This season, the team is 4-2. For more
information on the club, see the story on page 8.
ing permit, while contestants in
the group category are eligible
for a pizza party. The commit­tee
needs all submissions by
March 30th in Patterson Hall
Room 307, or -;heck out the
Birthday Bash Banner on the U
of L homepage.
Most of the contests and
games will take place on the
day of the birthday bash. There
will be a watermelon eating
contest, aU of L trivia compe­tition,
and other interactive
games. Iron Kids Bread is host­ing
a soccer kick contest and
measuring kick speeds, while
See THERE'S, page 16
"It's neutral ground," he said.
"Interfaith weddings create a lot
of difficult situations, because
some churches frown on them."
"In wedding times," Hunter
said, "they do four or five back­to-
back. Anyone can rent the fa­cility,
and if they don't have
someone to perform the ceremo­nies
then Duncan Memorial will
call someone in to do it. Not me,
though; I don't have time (to be
on call)."
Hunter is a schedule juggler.
"I work by appointment at .
Lincoln, with. the exception of
See U OF L, page 16
Women's Hoops Falls To Duke
The University of Louisville women's basketball team
advanced past the first round of the 1998 NCAA
Basketball Tournament. However, they could not get
out of Durham, N.C. as Duke ended the Cards season
in the second round. See story on page 12.
I ~ I