THOUGH THEY RETOOK THE LEAD LATE IN THE GAME, the Kansas Jay- hawks could not manage to hang on and fell to the Nevada Wolfpack 72-70. This is the Jayhawks first loss at home this season. Nevada’s Nick Fazekas scored a career-high 35 points in the game. FULL COVERAGE PAGE 10A THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904 VOL. 116 ISSUE 72 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2005 WWW.KANSAN.COM t BELIEFS t STUDENT FINANCES Controversial class canceled Additional e-mails Faculty Senate Credithooked cards often further offend public defends intent of the course lure students BY FRANK TANKARD [email protected] Mirecki, chairman Prof. Paul Mirecki with- KANSAN STAFF WRITER into debt of the department of drew his “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design Paul Mirecki’s “Special Top- religious and Creationism” class from By Aly Barland ics in Religion: Intelligent De- studies, the spring class schedule on [email protected] sign and Creationism” class will Thursday in light of contro- kansan staff writer not be taught next semester, said in a versy about his motives for University of Kansas officials statement teaching the class. Photo illustration announced Thursday. that he Mirecki, chairman of the de- In response, the University by Ginny Weatherman partment of religious studies, withdrew of Kansas Faculty Council said in a statement that he with- the course unanimously passed the fol- drew the course because of pub- because of lowing resolution Thursday he credit card company in debt lic controversy about e-mails he Mirecki evening: keeps calling Meghan Ve- can public con- The majority of college had posted on a yahoo.com list “The University of Kansas atch. be as students possess credit server since 2003. troversy about e-mails Faculty Council reaffirms that Her credit limit is $1,700 and high as cards but do not pay The list server was a discus- he posted on a yahoo. academic freedom, including her Visa card is maxed out. The 30 percent. them off each month. sion board for the Society of Tcompany calls her two or three times a day to Robert Baker, the right to offer courses that Open-Minded Atheists and Ag- com list server. F 65 percent of college examine controversial sub- try to collect payments, but the interest keeps counselor at nostics, the 121-person student accumulating. Consumer Cred- students carry credit jects, is essential to the mis- group for which Mirecki serves “I’ve gotten to the point where I recognize it Counseling card debt. F 58 percent never pay as faculty adviser. sion of the University: to edu- the phone numbers and I just don’t answer Services, 2518 balances in full or do “My concern is that students to vomit after swallowing the cate students and to engage it,” Veatch said. Ridge Court, in scholarly inquiry. so less than half of the with a serious interest in this Eucharist at a Catholic church When the hard drive on her computer said he saw a time. important subject matter would service as a child because of the Open inquiry for all citizens crashed and she had to buy a new one, she lot of KU stu- F 50 percent charge their not be well-served by the learn- idea that he had swallowed the is at the heart of a democra- was broke and couldn’t use her maxed-out dents in serious cards to the limit some ing environment my e-mails and flesh of Jesus. cy. Furthermore, the Univer- card, so she opened up a Dell account and debt and tried to or most of the time. the public distribution of them Chancellor Robert Hemenway sity of Kansas Faculty Coun- charged the new hard drive to that. Now she show them how Source: creditcardsmagazine.com have created,” he said in the issued a statement in which he cil acknowledges that the can’t pay that bill either. credit card debt statement. “It would not be fair said Mirecki made the right de- academic freedom enjoyed Veatch, Wichita junior, said she was unem- mounts easily. to the students.” cision in withdrawing the course by the faculty also imposes ployed for a month this summer after quitting For example, he said a student who charged The class made national news and called Mirecki’s e-mail her job, and her parents were unable to sup- $1,000 for a spring break trip, always paid special obligations. when a Nov. 19 e-mail Mirecki comments “repugnant and vile.” port her financially. the 2 percent monthly minimum ($20), never wrote was disseminated to poli- “He has a right to free speech, As stated in our Faculty Veatch’s credit card debt and resulting fi- missed a payment and never charged anything ticians and news organizations but he has to realize the rev- Handbook, we recognize nancial predicament are all too common on else would need 15 years to pay it off. The stu- in which he referred to religious elation of his past e-mails has among those obligations that: college campuses. According to a 2004 study dent would end up repaying $2,329 instead fundamentalists as “fundies” tainted the environment for his F The public may judge us as by Nellie Mae, a student loan agency, under- of $1,000 because of additional interest at the and said his class would serve course,” he said. “He insulted scholars and educational graduates carry an average outstanding credit rate of 16 percent. as “a nice slap in their big fat both our students and the Uni- officers, our profession, card balance of $2,169. The study showed The average interest rate is 17 percent for face.” versity’s public, and he misrep- and our institution by our that 9 percent of undergraduates are more credit cards, but some retail store cards are Older e-mails came to light resented beliefs of KU’s faculty public utterances, and than $3,000 in credit card debt. Problems be- higher — about 21 percent. When there are sig- when National Review, a conser- and staff.” F We have a responsibility gin when credit card companies target college nificant late fees, credit card vendors can place vative political magazine, pub- Hemenway said the subject students who have little experience with fiscal to be accurate, to exercise users in a penalty fee category with interest rates lished excerpts from Mirecki’s matter of Mirecki’s class had no responsibility and are away from home for the as high as 30 percent, Baker said. Students car- appropriate restraint, and to past e-mails on Wednesday. bearing on the withdrawal of first time. Their debts spiral out of control be- ry cards with higher interest rates because they National Review printed one the course. show respect for the opin- cause late fees and small minimum monthly don’t have established credit yet. e-mail excerpt that was Mirecki’s ions of others.” payments keep students repaying their debt — Frank Tankard detailed description of starting SEE CLASS ON PAGE 4A over a long period of time at interest rates that SEE HOOKED ON PAGE 2A t ENTERTAINMENT Vespers brings holiday spirit BY MALINDA OSBORNE CONCERT INFORMATION Besides men’s basketball and football events, this is the most- [email protected] Vespers Holiday Concert Lauren Kansan staff writer F Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005 attended event at the University Marshall, left, F Performances will be held at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. of Kansas. Salina senior, Dan Forrest was proud of F Tickets are $12.50 for general admission and $10 for students and Robert Douglas Helvering, and Sara Koven, “Never a Brighter Star,” the senior citizens. Omaha, Neb., graduate student, right, Overland song he composed that was said he had heard the 2:30 show Park senior, published this spring. So For ticket information, call the Lied Center Box Office at (785) 864-2787 was virtually sold out, and the prepare Monday when he met with choir di- or the KU department of music and dance at (785) 864-3436. 7:30 show had 90 percent of the evening at rector John Paul Johnson this Source: Department of Music and Dance tickets sold already. Murphy Hall for summer, he wanted to offer Each show, which will be per- the upcoming the song for Holiday Vespers my song and wanted to use annual end-of-the-year concert. formed Sunday, can seat 2,000 Vespers Holiday this year. But the Greenville, it for Vespers,” Forrest said. This is the 81st consecutive year people. concert. The S.C., graduate student didn’t “Here I was coming to pitch that the event will ring in the Helvering has two pieces that show will be have to try hard to persuade it, and he already had the holiday season, making it one will be performed, and he will performed Sun- Johnson. same idea.” of the nation’s longest-running be singing in the concert choir. day at the Lied “One of the first things he Holiday Vespers is the the KU holiday concerts at a college or Center. said was that he had found music and dance department’s university. SEE VESPER ON PAGE 4A Kim Andrews/KANSAN Today’s weather Texas won’t look past Colorado on Saturday First-round preparation Index Colorado looks to repeat its 2001 Big 12 title upset The Kansas volleyball Comics. 6A against Texas this Saturday when the two teams team is gearing up to Classifieds. 7A 38 22 meet at Reliant Stadium in Houston. P AGE 10A play UCLA tonight in Los Crossword. 6A Partly cloudy Angeles.