THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2005
▼ SCIENCE ▼ BUSINESS
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3
SCIENCE
Final launch for Titan rocket
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — For the 368th and last time, the United States launched a Titan rocket into space Wednesday.
The blastoff of the 16-story, unmanned Titan IV signaled the end of an era that began in 1961, as the U.S. military converts to cheaper space boosters.
The last Titan carried a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees the nation's spy satellites.
Titan's past included many high-profile missions, including boosting Gemini-manned spacecraft into orbit in the mid-1960s as preparation for the Apollo moon landings.
The workhorse rocket, originally designed as a weaponbearing intercontinental ballistic missile for the Cold War, also sent many scientific craft on their way to Mercury. Mars and the outer planets.
About 3,000 spectators and military dignitaries gathered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles, to watch Wednesday's historic launch.
"The Titan has been the backbone of heavy launch for many, many years," said Walt Yager, vice president of the Titan program at Denver-based Lockheed Martin Corp., which developed the rocket.
The rockets have always been expensive and time-consuming to launch. Titan's retirement will make way for a new generation of rockets, including Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 and Boeing's Delta 4.
Both are designed to be cheaper, more reliable and less dependent on big support staffs.
Jared Soares/KANSAN
Spirit Halloween Superstore is using this space in the Hillcrest Shopping Center, 925 Iowa St., as a seasonal location. The store opened Sept. 9 and will do business until Nov. 1.
Store in town for a spell
BY ALY BARLAND
abarland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Halloween only comes once a year, and so does the Spirit Halloween Superstore.
Terry York, owner of the Lawrence Spirit Halloween Superstore, opens his business only during the Hallowen season. The Lawrence branch of the national chain, which is composed of 337 stores, is a consignment business. This means Spirit Halloween Superstore ships a full stock of merchandise to York but only requires him to pay for the merchandise he sells. After the season is over, York shops leftover items back to warehouses in California and North Carolina at no charge and closes up shop.
This is the second year that Spirit Halloween Superstore, 925 Iowa St., has come to Lawrence. Last year the store moved into a vacant space next to Pizza Shuttle, 1601 W. 23rd St. York also owns a Spirit Halloween Superstore in Topeka. He opened his
Lawrence business Sept. 9 and will close it Nov. 1.
For the other 10 months of the year, York works as an independent contractor. He is a retail consultant for businesses that are opening or closing.
"We just don't have the room and there's just not the demand," Schlosser said.
Kyle Billings, owner of Fun and Games, 816 Massachusetts St., said the presence of Spirit Halloween Superstore hurt business for year-round local stores that supplied Halloween merchandise.
if necessary, he marked down prices on Halloween items to get as much of it out of the store as possible.
York said the business catered primarily to college students and upper-income families. He said both groups tended to have disposable income to spend on Halloween supplies.
A benefit of consignment stores is that they never run short on anything, York said. The company continually ships them merchandise so they are never forced to mark down prices or tell customers they have run out of an item.
"It takes a big hunk of money out of Lawrence every year," Billings said.
Sara White, employee at Party America, 1441 W. 23rd St., said the store sold primarily party supplies but stocked Halloween merchandise during the season. Larry Schlosser, owner of the store, said he stocked Halloween merchandise from July to November but did not want to keep any in-stock during the rest of the year. He said that
Billings said some people understood the concept of keeping money local and tried to shop for Halloween at local stores such as Sarah's Fabrics, 925 Massachusetts St., and Fun and Games. He said the local businesses gave back to the community by providing costumes and supplies yearround and that elementary students and University students used the local businesses to get supplies for theater productions.
◆ A caption in Tuesday's The University Daily Kansan contained an error. The Kansas tennis player in the photo accompanying the story "Hawks head to near-last tourney" is sophomore Elizavita Avdeeva.
- Edited by Erin Wisdom
CORRECTIONS
An article in Wednesday's The University Daily Kansan contained an error. The article, "House catches fire," should have said Lynn Sander lived at 1201 Tennessee St.
An article in Wednesday's The University Daily Kansan contained an error. The brief, "Free speech, political literature display," incorrectly identified Bill Tuttle. He was a professor for Rusty Monhollon, author of "This Is America? The Sixties in Lawrence, Kansas," and a speaker at the event.
ON THE RECORD
◆ An 18-year-old KU student reported the theft of a Trek bicycle and a cable lock between 5 p.m. Oct. 12 and 8 a.m. Monday from Templin Hall. The bicycle is valued at $450 and the cable lock is valued at $20.
♦ A 19-year-old KU student reported the theft of a Mongoose bicycle and the damage of a cable lock between 9:30 a.m. Oct. 12 and 8:15 a.m. Monday from Oliver Hall. The bicycle is valued at $100 and the cable lock is valued at $20.
- A 29-year-old reported the theft of a silver Honda emblem between 7:30 a.m. and 4:19 p.m. Monday in campus garage 57, 1501 Irving Hill Drive.The emblem is valued at $50.
The Beijing Modern Dance Company is performing at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Lied Center. Tickets range from $11,50 to $28 and can be purchased at the Lied Center Box Office. Student Union Activities is selling a limited number of student tickets for $7 at the SUA box office on level 4 of the Kansas Union.
ON CAMPUS
- Patrick Wilbur, vice chairman of the Kansas Libertarian Party, is speaking at 6 p.m. Monday in the International Room of the Kansas Union.
Note: The University Daily Kansan prints campus events that are free and open to the public. Submission forms are available in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Items must be turned in two days in advance of the desired publication date. On Campus is printed on a space available basis.
THIS WEEKON CAMPUS
October 20, 2005