UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, January 17, 1995
5A
Thieves target campus bikes
Experts recommend owners use U-locks
By Teresa Veazey
Kansan staff writer
After class Thursday, Josh Ditto,
Shawnee freshman, came out of Wescoe Hall to find that his bicycle had been stolen. Only the lock and front wheel were left behind.
"I just saw one tire sitting there, and I was freaked." Ditto said.
Ditto wasn't the only student who lost a bicycle Thursday night. Two other KU students reported their bicycles stolen from the same area that night.
Brian Stuckey, Prairie Village sophomore, wasn't even left with a front wheel.
"At first, I was just looking around," Stuckey said. "I thought I parked it somewhere else, but then Irealized it was stolen. I didn't know what to think."
Stuckey locked the frame of his bicycle to a rack on the east side of Wescoe with a U-lock.
He said he did not know why his bicycle was singled out from the other bicycles locked to the rack.
Kathleen Shannon, an employee of Rick's Bike Shop, 916 Massachusetts St., said that all bicycles were targets
of thieves, regardless of their value.
"What I tell people when they buy bikes is that every bike is subject to being stolen," Shannon said. "The price of the bike doesn't matter anymore."
According to Shannon, using U-locks, or U-shaped locks made of steel, are the best way to prevent a bicycle from being stolen. Some bicyclists use a regular chain and padlock or a cable lock, both of which can be cut by a thief, she said.
U-locks cost about $30. A cable lock in combination with a padlock costs between $10 and $20.
For the best protection, a cyclist should remove the front wheel and set it by the back wheel, locking both wheels and the frame with a U-lock, said Brian Duff, an employee of Sunflower Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St.
Duff said that bicycle owners should use a U-lock to secure the bike's frame and then run a cable lock through both tires and the frame.
"If the person really wants the bike, they'll get it," Duff said. "Using both locks is more of a deterrent."
Duff recommended that on campus, students park their bicycles in the steel post bike racks, which are concreted into the ground.
Shannon said bike owners should not lock bikes to movable objects, such sign posts or wooden railings.
Safety first protect bicycles
Here are some tips to protect your bicycle from theft. Do:
1. Register your bicycle with the Lawrence police department.
2. Lock all wheels and bicycle frame to a secure rack.
Don't:
1. Lock your bicycle to movable objects like sign posts, wooden railings or fences.
2. Leave anything on your bicycle that could be stolen, such as the seat or seat post.
Sgt. Rose Rozmiarek of the KU police department encourages bicyclists to register their bicycles in case of theft.
"Registering bikes aids in recovery should they be stolen," Rozmiarek said.
Stuckey and Ditto are skeptical about police recovering their bicycles. They said they planned to replace their bicycles.
Malott Hall's acidic smell is harmless
Kansan staff writer
By Ian Ritter
Lawrence firefighters responded to a call about an acidic smell coming from the fourth floor of Malott Hall on Friday afternoon.
But the smell couldn't be traced to a chemical leak and did not pose any danger to people in the building, said Battalion Chief Jerry Carr. KU police and firefighters left after about 20 minutes.
Battalion Chief Bill Stark said maintenance workers were waterproofing
windows with a silicon solution. The solution gives off an acidic smell when it dries but is harmless, Carr said.
Stark said that calls were made in the past because of smells coming from materials that maintenance workers used with windows and carpeting.
Albert Burgstahler, professor of chemistry, said no chemistry labs were in session on the fourth floor of Malott on Friday.
Carr said if the fumes had been dangerous, people would have been
"We would have evacuated the entire structure, and structures down wind from that." he said.
Stark estimated that the fire department is called about six times every semester because of smells in Malott.
"We treat it pretty seriously until proven otherwise." Stark said.
And although Friday's incident didn't pose a threat to people in Malott, Carr said calling the fire department was a good idea.
"It's good that people are sensitive to that kind of smell," he said.
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