THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
JOURNALIST SEYMOUR HERSH VISITS CAMPUS TO ACCEPT AWARD
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BAYLOR'S GUARDS PROVIDE CHALLENGE FOR OPPOSITION
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2008
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Students compete for cash
Ten students put their best entrepreneurial ideas on the table this afternoon and compete for $5,000.
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FULL STORY ON PAGE 6A
FULL STORY ON PAGE 10A
ATHLETICS
In Kansas men's basketball, there are two types of student-fans: campers and latecomers. Add a third to this Saturday's Baylor game, when about 50 seats will be taken from students for Hall of Fame inductees. When campers and latercomers end up the same distance from the court, some campers can get upset.
While campers spend sometimes more than a week camping for seats close to the court, latecomers show up to the games an hour before, sometimes less, and ask ushers to force camping groups to give up seats they're trying to save for other group members.
Seat saving proves to be troublesome
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TORNADOES DEVASTATE FIVE STATES
Storms sweep through southern region kill at least 57 people FULL AP STORY PAGE 6A
weather
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TRIAL
Witnesses testify in hit-and-run case
BY JESSICA WICKS iwicks@kansan.com
All three friends who were with Ryan Kanost the night he was killed testified in Douglas County District Court on Thursday.
Kanost was killed in a hit-and-run accident in the early morning hours of September 23, 2006. Josh Walton, former University of Kansas student, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence and failure to stop at an injury accident in relation to Kanost's death.
According to reports from that night, Kanost and his friends were leaving a party at which they had been drinking beer. According to witnesses, as they crossed the intersection of 13th and Kentucky streets, a white Toyota Camry driving over the speed limit struck Kanost. He died on the scene.
Walton turned himself in to police the next day after hearing of the incident from his friends. He told friends he thought he had hit something, but he did not know what it was. Reports showed that Walton's white Toyota Camry was severely damaged on the right fender.
Walton's trial, which started on Monday, detailed the accounts of police response to the situation and witness accounts of the
situation.
On Thursday, witnesses testified that a northbound car sped through the intersection they were crossing and barely missed students Kale McLin, Brandon Seitzer and Nicole Schenfeld. The car struck Kanost, who was trailing a few feet behind.
Walton's lawyer, Tom Bath, is disputing the charges. The state wants to convict
ring the charges. The stat Walton of involuntary manslaughter while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which is a felony and carries a minimum of two and a half years in prison. Bath is seeking a lesser charge of vehicular homicide while driving in a manner that creates unreasonable risk of injury.
Enoch Jennison, 2006 graduate, testified on behalf of the prosecution. Jennison was not with Kanost and his friends, but was walking on the street near them. Jennison said he saw Kanost get hit. He said that Kanost flew to the side of the road near a fire hydrant. Jennison said he was not sure whether the driver braked, but by the time everyone understood the gravity of the
situation, the car was gone. Jennison said he called 911. The paramedics asked him to check whether Kanost was breathing. He was not. Jennison told paramedics that he thought Kanost had died.
Seitzer said he saw the car speed away, but could not recall whether the car slowed down. When he turned around, he found Kanost on the ground. He wasn't breathing.
Seitzer, Kanost's roommate and former University of Kansas student, testified that he saw a white sedan heading in their direction before he crossed the intersection at 13th Street, but that he felt safe enough to cross. Seitzer testified that the car came faster than he expected, so he jumped to get out of the way. Seitzer said he saw the car speed away, but could not recall whether the car slowed down. When he turned around, he found Kanost on the
The maximum sentence for that crime is only one year in prison and up to $2,500.
While testimonies differed about the order in which the students were walking, they all agreed that Kanost was the last to
McLin, Kanost's former neighbor and former University student, said they were on their way to Seitzer's car. He said that Kanost was the designated driver and the most sober of the group, but according to Walton's attorney, Kanost had been over the legal limit to drive.
ground. He wasn't breathing.
cross the street.
The car was South of 14th Street when the group of students entered the intersection, according to all the witnesses. By the time they had made it halfway across, McLin testified, the car made it an entire block to the intersection on 13th Street.
When Bath pointed this out on a diagram, McLin answered. "Yes. That is what was so amazing about it."
A fourth witness, Kyle Courtney, who saw the accident from a house adjacent to the intersection, testified that he saw the car traveling fast down the west lane of the intersection. He said he saw a man jump out of the way and an article of clothing fly in the air. He said he heard the screeching of tires as the driver hit the brakes, but did not stop.
When Judge Robert Fairchild called a recess halfway though the trial, a woman on the right side of the court let her whimpers turn into tears. Walton heard her and stiffened up. He did not turn around, but put down his head and folded his hands in front of him until the jury left and the woman quieted. Walton was the last to move after the dismissal.
The defense will present their witnesses today.
— Edited by Jared Duncan
CULTURE
Professor's art showcased in China
University photographer's work on display
BY ANDREW WIEBE awiebe@kansan.com
Pok Chi Lau's photographic documentation of the lives and culture of Chinese immigrants has stretched for 40 years. For the past month, the collection of his life's work has been on display in an international exhibition in Guangzhou, China, a city of 10 million people. The exhibition began
on Jan. 12 and will end Feb.12.
The exhibition and book that accompanies it, both entitled "Flow, China," are on display at the Guangzhou Museum of Art. Lau had traveled to over 30 countries, some as many as 50 times, to capture the human dimension of the
University was far from a straightforward process. After being born to Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong, Lau found himself in the no man's land between Chinese culture and the British colonial rulers of his home.
"They made sure you didn't know English as well as they do, and your Chinese will never be as good as the Chinese in China," he said. "You become a nobody and that's when I came to understand 'if I'm a nobody, where can I be somebody'?"
"The photograph is a vehicle for conversation to carry from one generation to the other."
POK CHI LAU Professor of photography
movement of the Chinese people from their homeland. As a child of immigrants and an immigrant himself, Lau said his goal was to help people understand their heritage.
"The dragon is released now," Lau said. "The Chinese are all over now looking for resources. All this was about understanding one's history. What are the opportunities that you can recognize and what opportunities can you create?"
That sentiment led Lau to immigrate to Canada as a 17-year-old in order to join his brother in Toronto. With few skills and lacking a work permit, Lau said he was forced to work under-the-table jobs to support himself. It was in Toronto that Lau dis-
Though his work has been shown all over the world, Lau said it was extremely gratifying to be able to see the way his work affects people in China. Over 180 prints are on display along with multimedia presentations of some of Lau's travels. The content for both the exhibition and book were subject to approval by the Chinese Government, Lau said.
"It's satisfying to see another person look at the work and practically put their nose on the glass to examine the details," Lau said. "Or see a grandfather talk-
Professor Pok Chi Lau shows two pictures that he keeps in his wallet, his mother and son. Pok Chi Lau's first body of documentary photography focused on Chinese Diaspora and includes portraits of racially mixed descendants. Pok Chi Lau's biggest exhibition opened on Jan 12 in Guangzhou, China
covered a passion for photography.
While working for a commercial photography studio in 1971, he was accepted into the Brooks Institute of Art in Santa Barbara, Calif. Lau saved money for a year while working in a Chinese restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Then he made his way to the United States where his meager earnings paid a semester's tuition, bought a camera and paid rent for only three months.
Once again, Lau said he was forced to find under-the-table work to support himself and his dreams. He said he knew his options if he did not succeed as a photographer, and decided that he would do what-
Marla Keown/KANSAN
"This is someone who can get a faculty position really anywhere he wanted to. We are fortunate to keep him here."
GREG THOMAS Chair of design department
ing to a grandson and saying "This is what I went through in the Cultural Revolution. This is where my house was. This is how I lived, and you guys have it made"
Despite his success, Lau's journey to the
ever it took to realize his goals.
"I was not only interested in photography but I told myself 'if I don't make it, I'll never make it at anything,' Lau said. "I did not want to run a restaurant. I did not want to run a laundry. So I had to be good. I had no choice."
His work spoke for
itself. Under financial pressure, Lau said he received the first scholarship given by the school, although it was only for one semester. Eventually he graduated after four years of study, almost double the time it takes
the average student. Though he would have liked to open his own studio, Lau said he had neither the labor status nor capital to start a business.
Instead he found an opportunity to continue his education as a graduate student at the California Institute of the Arts north of Los Angeles. Receiving a scholarship and stipend gave Lau the opportunity to continue the documentary work he began
while at the Brooks Institute.
"It was the freedom that propelled me to do documentary work," Lau said. "I was free. I didn't need to tell myself that I needed to make a living doing commercial work."
After graduation he was faced with yet another dilemma, either return to Hong
SEE PHOTOGRAPHY ON PAGE 6A