xt78gt5fff6f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt78gt5fff6f/data/mets.xml The Kentucky Kernel Kentucky -- Lexington The Kentucky Kernel 2006-03-20 Earlier Titles: Idea of University of Kentucky, The State College Cadet newspapers  English   Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Kentucky Kernel  The Kentucky Kernel, March 20, 2006 text The Kentucky Kernel, March 20, 2006 2006 2006-03-20 2020 true xt78gt5fff6f section xt78gt5fff6f SPORTS

A NEAR SWEEP: Baseball narrowly misses taking all three
weekend games from top-10 conference foe PAGE 3

 

Monday, March 20. 2006

 

UCONN 87, UK 83

UCONN CANS UK CMBACK

C

elebratlng 35 years of independence

muv scum | snrr

UK sophomore Ramel Bradley hugs senior Patrick Sparks after his last game as a Cat after yesterday's 87-83 loss to UConn in the NCAA tourney.

Huskies' late free throws ice
game, knock UK out of NCAAs

By Josh Sullivan
THE KENTUCKY KENNEL

PHILADELPHIA —— With less than
three minutes remaining, the UK men’s
basketball team was on the verge of va-
porizing the memories of a disappoint-
ing regular season.

Led by an electric 28-point effort
from senior guard Patrick Sparks. the
Cats had charged back from a 12-point
halftime hole and were riding a wave of
momentum that appeared primed to
wash over topseeded Connecticut.

But then they experienced a fatal
case of déja-vu.

Trailing by four points, the Cats
gave up four offensive rebounds, three of
which came off missed Husky free-
throw attempts. Those boards allowed
UConn to stretch its lead to seven with
1:50 remaining and put the game out of
reach.

"I saw those rebounds and all I could

think about was Michigan State,” said
sophomore guard Ramel Bradley, refer-
ring to last year’s doubleovertime loss
to the Spartans in the regional finals,
when the Cats gave up a flurry of offen-
lsive rebounds that contributed to the
ass.

“They had two (players) up on the
line and we had four and we just could-
n’t pull them down,” said sophomore
guard Rajon Rondo. “(The rebounds)
were hea’rtbreakers.”

And back-breakers.

The Cats cut the lead to two points
three more times before the final buzzer
sounded, but the Huskies knocked down
six straight freethrows in the last 30
seconds to end UK‘s season with an 87-
83 loss.

When asked about the emotional im-
pact of the offensive rebounds, sopho
more guard Joe Crawford couldn’t bring
himself to answer right away. After the
question was posed, he slumped over
and buried his head in his arms for sev-
eral seconds before sitting back up and

See Cats on page 2

 

Cats' true leader
emerges too late

PHILADELPHIA —v It's been this
way all season: it‘s been
a cause-andeffect his
teammates have tried to
emulate.

It‘s always a big
shot when Patrick
Sparks lets fly.

- “We put the ball in
Patrick's hands, I think
that helped some,“ Tut}
by Smith said. “When
he gets hot. you can see
the team‘s spirit lift."

He‘s this season‘s
version of Chuck
Hayes. He‘s the emo

tional touchstone for every blue-clad

ballet", as Sparks flies, so do the Cats.
Yesterday, he flew higher than ever

Johnson
SPORTS EDITOR

See Johnson on page 2

 

 

SG court: Violations deep-six two Senate campaigns

By Sean Rose
Til WY mm

Four candidates in the spring Stu-
dent Government campaign Were origi-
nally disqualified before spring break
over technicalities with their unnature
sheets, but two of those were maimed
and the candidates will be on theballot.

The Elections Board of Supa'visions
monitors the process for violations be
fore, during and after the elections, to be

flutlssuelreeJubseguentlssuesZScents.

-

held March 29 and 30. At-large Senate
candidates must obtain 400 student sig-
natures to run for office.

The Supreme Court said it upheld
disqualifications for both Jessica Hobbs,
an accounting a finance junior. and Sean
Cooper, a political science junior, be
cause they didn’t provide proof that
their signature sheets were legitimate.
which they were required to do.

"It would be nonsensical to conclude

that because the candidate failed to sub
mit the required documentation in a sat-
isfactory manner, the Board then would
have the burden to prove that the candi-
date was not eligible," the court‘s opin.
ion said.

Hobbs‘ was disqualified when the
elections board found another candi-
date’s name crossed out and replaced
with her own on the signature sheet. in

SeeVloletlonsonpageZ

 

www.kykernel.com

Staff pay woes
heard at forum

Packed Memorial Hall lets Todd hear gripes

By Dariush Shafa
nit mnucro mm

Staff members at UK con-
tinued to voice their outrage
at a town forum-style meeting
held Wednesday afternoon,
when UK President Lee Todd
took questions and tried to
defuse anger and concerns
over a twotier pay raise sys-
tem which many
staff said makes ..
them feel under-
valued and unap-
preciated.

The proposed
pay raise system
would issue a 5.5
percent faculty
salary pool raise
and a 3 percent
staff salary pool
raise. Both groups
received a 4 per-
cent salary pool
raise last year af-
ter averaging a 1.3
percent raise over the three
years prior to that. Both facul-
ty and staff operate on a mer-
it-based raise system, mean-
ing that. for example, a staff
member could earn more or
less than the 3 percent raise.

But the difference in pro
posed salary pool
raises has struck a
raw nerve with
many of the more
than 10,000 staff at
UK.

“The message
they are conveying
is that we are sec-
ond class citizens,"
said Samantha
Gange. a staff
member in the
College of Law.

Todd said
that’s not the message he‘s try-
ing to send.

“That bothers me a lot." he
said. “I take that pretty per-
sonally"

Someone in the crowd
shouted “it should!" in reply
and drew applause from the
entire audience a standing»
room only crowd in Memorial
Hall. Staff members frequent-
ly voiced their opinions. at
times booing Todd and
launching personal criticisms.

“Without us. this universi-
ty will not be able to reach top-
20 status." said Drusilla Bak-
ert. associate dean of admis
sions in the College of Law.
who is also a staff member.

Though the pay raise was
of chief concern. many are

There are peo-
ple that work
three and four
jobs and are
still on food
stamps."

Jay Prentice

UK carpentry shop worker

“Theissueis
that we have
finite resources.
We have to
prioritize."

still concerned about the abili-
ty to earn a living, and staff
members pointed out that
about 1700 UK employees
working full-time earn a
salary that still places them
below the poverty level. and
countless others work two or
more jobs to make ends meet.

Paul Wilson, a Staff Sen-
ate representative, said that,
according to
Todd’s figures, the
cost of living went
up 3.3 percent last
year, above the
maximum most
staffers could get
through merit-
based raises.

“No one is per
fect at their job,"
Wilson said,
adding that he ex-
pects most people
to get an average
raise of 2.4 per-
cent. “A lot have told me they
cannot live at this wage."

“There are people in there
(the forum) that work three
and four jobs and are still on
food stamps," said Jay Pren-
tice, a staff member who
works in the Physical Plant‘s
carpentry shop.

Many staff
members felt their
questions went
unanswered.

“I‘m leaving
here more frus-
trated than when I
got here." said
William Young. a
building operator
on the staff,
adding that he felt
this was a chance
for Todd to justify
the current proposal and not
to give staff the opportunity to
be heard. "This was not a
chance for us to change some
minds.“

Others foresaw problems
in UK‘s immediate future be-
causeof this course of action.

“We are going to see an
exit of staff members." Wil'
son said. “We're going to lose
some good people.

“We‘re already seeing it."
he continued. "I see people
now looking for jobs (else—
where)"

Others like Young said
they can't just leave their jobs.

”(Todd‘s) got us all by the
throat." Young said. “We have
to take what they‘re going to
give us. It would take a whole

See Forum on page 2

Lee Todd

UK president

Staff discussing unions
to gain leverage with UK

By Dariush Shata
iazkrkrucxi KERNEL

UK staff members angry
over a current salary pool
raise proposal are weighing
their options and one of the
choices unionizing is get-
ting added attention. But the
head of the Staff Senate does
n‘t believe that‘s a smart move
at this pornt.

UK President
Lee Todd. as part
of the Top20 Busi-
ness Plan. has pro
posed a 3 percent
staff salary pool
raise and a 5.5 per-
cent faculty salary
pool raise. Many
staff members
have seen that dif-
ference as sending
the message that
they’re not as im-
portant to UK as
faculty are. an idea that Todd

dencef'

denies is true.

'Ilodd held a town hall-style
forum last Wednesday to lis-
ten to staff concerns and try
to address them, but many be
lieve nothing has changed.

“I think a lot of people
who were angry before the
meeting are still angry." said
Staff Senate Chairman Kyle
Dippery “I don‘t think a lot of
minds were changed."

’ f‘riim

“I think one of
the downfalls is
we lose a lot of
ourindepen-

Kyle Dippery

chairman. Slall Senate

For now. unionization is
being talked about but is not
underway The lexington Her-
ald-leader reported yesterday
that L’K staff would be meet-
ing this week with officials
the Communications
Workers of America union.
But Bryce McGowan. the exec-
utive vice president of the
union's chapter covering the
Lexington area. said he's un-
aware of that
meeting and acne
al organization is
not taking place.
He declined fur-
ther comment.

Todd said he
did not intend to
make anyone up-
set by proposing
the unequal salary
pool raises. adding
that this is the un-
fortunate result of
having to stretch
funds.

“The issue is that we have
finite resources. We have to
prioritize,“ Todd said. “All of
our employees are important.
They contribute to this insti-
tution. But the fact is that we
need to pay faculty more com-
petitively to recruit more
teachers to lower classroom
sizes. retain them, and dra-
matically improve the re-

See Union on page 2
NmmnnZST-NB

e

 

    

 
   
  
  
  
  
 
 
   
   

    

 

Forum

Continued from page I

 

body effort to walk out to
change his mind, and we can’t
do tha

That has some staff con-
sidering unionization, which
has already happened at many
of UK’s benchmarks.

PAGE 2 | Monday, March 20,2006

“There are staff talking
about it." Wilson said, adding
that he believes if UK’s staff
unionized. staff at the rest of
the state’s universities would
follow suit. “Suddenly. you’d
be talking to every staff mem-
ber in the state of Kentucky”

In the meantime, some are
trying to organize UK's staff
to fight the current proposal.
Gange said a proposal that she
is helping circulate has al-
ready garnered more than

2,000 signatures from faculty
and staff who are opposed to
the differential pay raise pro
posal. and as of Wednesday
the petition had yet to circu~
late through the medical cen-
ter. where she expects even
more support.

“They cannot propose
this," Gange said. “It is un-
equal; it will create a huge
amount of outrage and it at
ready has.”

Email dshafatwkykernelcom

 

Continued from page I

 

search engine at this institu-
tion to grow jobs and create
opportunity for this state."

Dippery said unionizing
carries its own degree of risk.

“I think we need to be
careful in how we approach
this and make sure we know
what we’re trying to do.“ he
said.

The upside is that doing so
would “give the staff a much
stronger voice in bargaining
with the administration.” he
said. On the other hand. “I
think one of the downfalls is
we lose a lot of our indepen-

dence,” Dippery added.

Dippery doesn’t believe
unionizing is a wise choice at
this time.

“I would kind of hope that
would be looked at as a last re
sort.” he said. “I think we’d be
better served working
through the senate and the
usual channels.

“I think the administra-
tion is willing to listen and
work with us and the intro
duction of the idea of a union
could be counterproductive.”
he said.

Dippery also said that be-
cause UK is still listening,
once information is provided
to back up the staff’s asser-
tions, the university might
make a move to help.

“If we can show them the
staff salaries are below rele-

vant comparisons, I think
they'll be willing to address
staff concerns,” he said.

In the meantime. Todd
said there isn’t much else that
can be done.

“I fully admit that there
are tough issues in terms of
staff compensation that need
to be examined and. I hope.
addressed over time. We are
committed to doing that be-
cause I deeply value the con-
tributions that both faculty
and staff make to this institu-
tion." Todd said.

“But as president, I have to
make decisions — sometimes
very tough ones — on how
best to move UK forward. This
is one such decision and I am
committed to it.”

E—mail
dshafatadrykernelcom

 

Violations

Continued from page i

 

Cooper’s case, the elections
board originally found he did-
n’t turn in the required num-
ber of signatures. Cooper ar-
gued that several sheets were
misplaced by the SG office.
The Supreme Court over-
turned the disqualifications
for integrated strategic com-
munications sophomore
Meredith Storm and arts ad-

ministration junior B.J. Lee
and both will appear on the
ballot.

One of Storm’s signature
sheets had another candi-
date’s name marked out, but
she supplied enough evidence
showing that the sheets were
blank when she obtained
them.

“Ms. Storm offered state-
ments by signatories from the
top of the ambiguous signa-
ture sheets.“ the court’s opin-
ion said. “We are satisfied that
under the facts of this case.
these statements are enough
to show that it is more likely

than not that Ms. Storm’s
name had replaced the previ-
ous candidate’s name before
the signatures were gath-
ered.” the court said.

Lee was originally disqual-
ified because he did not have
the required number of signa-
tures __,, after the board with-
drew several of his sheets that
did not have his name on
them. but Lee provided state-
ments from 45 signatories sup
porting him. which the
Supreme Court found was sat-
isfactory proof.

E-mail
srosemkykernelcom

 

Cats

Continued from page 1

 

responding.

“We had the game." he
said. “I was very confident we
were going to pull it out. But
we just gave it away on those
free throws. This is a hard
way to end it.”

In the final game of his
UK career. it was obvious
Sparks had no intention of al-
lowing the underdog Cats to
end it without scaring the day-
lights out of the team many
experts have tabbed as the fa-
vorite to win it all. He record-

ed what might have been his '

finest college game against
the Huskies. posting a UK-ca-
reer-high 28 points and also
notching five steals.

“They were closing out on
me quick and giving me dri-
ving lanes." Sparks said. “I
was able to hit some mid
range shots and make some
extra passes in there. Then I
started hitting some threes.”

()n a couple of occasions.
he single-handedly kept the
Cats in the game as UConn
teetered on the edge of break
ing it open.

He pulled up from deep
and nailed one of his four 3-
pointers to cut the Husky lead
to 58-48 with just under 13
minutes to go. Two posses-
sions later. he cut into the lane
and swished a short jumper.

On UConn’s next trip
downeourt. he darted behind
guard Marcus Williams and
swiped the ball away. then
found UK forward Sheray
Thomas underneath. who
knocked down two free throws
to complete an 80 UK run and

Johnson

Continued from page i

 

before, and the team played its
best game of the season.

He played all 20 minutes of
the best half of basketball the
2005-06 Cats have had to offer.
as UK outscored UConn 5244.

It wasn't enough to rid UK
of the 12-point cave it had hid-
den in by halftime. But that
doesn't change the fact that
he‘s the leader this team never
had.

He did everything he could
yesterday. scoring 28 points
and playing his best point
guard game all season.

He stayed on the referees
from the outset. even when he
took out UConn stud Rudy
Gay with a supposedly inten-
tional foul. It was the play a
leader makes keeping me
mentum in check for at least a
few more seconds.

And with every shot he
hit. and every open man he
found, his teammates' heads
got a little higher. shoulders
grew a little taller. tenacity a

 

 

 

ituvsum 1 sun

UConn guard Marcus Williams comes away with the ball as UK center
Randolph Morris and senior guard Patrick Sparks try to steal it back.

shrink the gap to 5&53

“Patrick. when he gets
hot. you can see the team spir-
it lift because he gets things
going." said head coach Tub.
by Smith. “We place a lot of
faith in him. Everybody be-
lieves in him.“

After the momentum-shitt-
ing series of Husky rebounds.
Sparks drained another three
pointer. then drove into the
lane after a UConn shot-clock
violation and hit Thomas
with another pass for a layup
to cut the gap back to two
points at 81—79.

“He stepped up huge."
Bradley said. "He was the
leader for us today"

little stronger.

Randolph Morris took on
UConn's Josh Boone the
Big East defensive player of
the year with the worst dread-
locks this side of Dave Chap-
pelle in “The Nutty Professor"

~ and scored on him often in

the second half. Bobby Perry
notched his second straight
20point game.

Playing in the second half
against the best team in
America. Sparks. the smallest
player on the floor. put his
team on his back.

He didn't want the second
round to be his finale.

“I wasn‘t trying to think
about that. really.“ Sparks
said. before relenting. “1 didn’t
want it to be my last game."

Rajon Rondo. his room-
mate and closest confidant
since arriving from Western
Kentucky two years ago. put
Sparks‘ head under his arm as
the Moot guard walked off the
court.

“He played great; that‘s the
way you want to go out. swing-
ing." Rondo said.

With every punch Sparks
landed. UK got tougher to
knock down.

UConn raced out to 15+

 

   

 

Williams matched Spark’
heroics. scoring 16 second-half
points and dishing out eight
assists. He hit four straight
free-throws in the last half
minute to help seal the win.

UK senior guard Ravi
Moss said it took a while for
him to fully absorb the full im-
pact of the loss his last
game in a UK uniform.

“It didn‘t really hit until
later on the locker room.
when everybody started talk-
ing." Moss said. “I didn’t even
think about it when the
buzzer sounded. It didn’t hit
me until just now"

E-mail
jsullivanmlcykernelrom

point, 10