2 Tomorrow's weather The University Daily Kansan Storms possible with a high near 77 and a low near 62. THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Sports: The best team at Kansas? These girls know. Inside: James Kitchen, vice chancellor of student affairs, accepted a post at San Diego St. (USPS 650-640) * VOL. 110 NO. 145 SEE PAGE 3A WWW.KANSAN.COM Libraries, Union to extend hours as students study for final exams By Erinn R. Barcomb writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer As final exams approach, some popular study locations are staying open later. Anschutz and Watson libraries will have extended hours, and the Kansas Union will stay open 24 hours during much of next week. Mary Rosenbloom, assistant to the dean of libraries, said Anschutz would be open later than Watson, until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, because of safety factors. Since April 28, Watson has stayed open until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It is open until midnight on weeknights. "I think it's felt that Anschutz is a safer library — that it's more opened," Rosenbloom said. "There aren't so many nooks and crannies." Rosenbloom said Anschutz provided a study space for students but did not necessarily allow students to do in-depth research at the last minute. "It will just be the main level, level three," Rosenbloom said. "If you're an English major, your books won't be here. It's only a portion of the collection." LIBRARY TIMES Anschutz hours: until May 16 Mondays through Thursdays until 2 a.m.;. Fridays 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturdays 9 a.m. to midnight Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Watson hours: until May 16 Mondays through Thursday's 8 a.m. to midnight, Fridays 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Kansas Union hours: Saturdays 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. midnight. Kansas Union hours: Sundays 10 a.m. to midnight. Kansas Union hours: May 8-11, open 24 hours; May 14-16, open 24 hours May 12-13, open until 11 n.m Rosenbloom said she was interested to see how well the space would be used.She said that in 1993 and 1994, Anschutz was kept open until 2 a.m., and counts were taken on the number of students using the building. Rosenbloom said the results showed that the numbers dwindled as the night wore on but that about 50 students were left at closing time. "It will be interesting to see what happens," Rosenbloom said. "As people hear about it, it may catch on." Similar to last semester's schedule, the Kansas Union also will have extended hours for studying. Gene Wee, Union reservations coordinator, said the Union would be open 24 hours Monday through Thursday next week and again May 14-16. During the weekend, the Union will close at 11 p.m. "Not too many people want to come in on a Saturday night," Wee said. Some kind of refreshments, like last year's coffee and donuts, will be provided. Wee said. Despite last semester's mediocre turnout, Wee said keeping the Union open was a good service to provide students. "I remember we had a lot of people the very first night," he said. "As you get farther into the exams, fewer people come." Jessica Sandifer, a Shawnee freshman who works at Java Dive, 10 E. Ninth St., said the coffee shop also was planning to extend its hours next week because of finals. Instead of closing at 11 p.m., it will remain open until midnight. 'Love bug' bites world's computers 'Veryfunny' virus also found last night By Chris Wristen writer kansan.com Kansas staff writer A phony love note is spreading hate to computer servers around the world, but the Academic Computing Service at the University of Kansas may have caught it just in time. A computer virus started to spread via e-mail yesterday morning and has crippled computers worldwide. The e-mail bears the title "ILOVEYOU" and spreads itself when its "LOVELETTER" attachment is opened. If opened, the virus is sent to all addresses on the recipient's address list. The virus then downloads itself onto the user's computer and overwrites files with copies of itself. "This seems to have just shown up first in Asia this morning," said Mickey Waxman, statistical consultant for the ACS, yesterday. "I've seen some fast-moving viruses, and this beats them all." Last night, at least one copy cat virus, "joke" with the attachment "veryfunny" left national computer network administrators battling a new problem causing similar damage, according to the CNN Web site. Some administrators predicted dozens more copy cats today. They suggested that e-mail users block all e-mails containing attachments. Bill Pollack, spokesman for the CERT Coordination Center in Pittsburgh, a government-chartered computer security team, said the center was looking into ways the "ILOVEYOU" virus could have spread. The virus may be transferring VIRUS PROTECTION Protect yourself from the computer virus 1. Delete all e-mail with "ILOVEYOU" or "joke" as the subject line. 2. Under no circumstances open (click on) an e-mail attachment named "LOVE- LETTER-FOR-YOU" or "veryfunny". Source: Academic Computing Services itself through instant messenging services such as ICQ. The "joke" virus is believed to have transferred the same way. The biggest concern is the speed at which the virus has gone global. The University may have caught the bug before the KU server was affected, Waxman said. He said he was informed about it at 7:30 a.m. yesterday. No one at the University could be reached for comment about the copy cat virus. One of the University computer servers was shut down to prevent the virus from contaminating the system. The ACS worked on the server last night, but a specific time when the server would be reactivated today was not given. Student e-mail accounts were not expected to be affected, but faculty and staff accounts were on the disabled server and were not accessible. The ACS office was installing software to prevent the virus from infiltrating the system. Cathy Smith, assistant vice chancellor for information services, said the system was shut down as a precaution. Campus reflections Jessica Ostrom, Independence, Mo., junior, relaxes in the sun yesterday morning by Potter Lake. More students visit Potter Lake as the weather warm up and summer approaches. Offtimes, many dogs also are running near the lake. The high today is 80 degrees with partly cloudy skies. Photo by J.M.Dailey/Kansan State disputes drugs alcohol take rural route - STORY BY ERINN R. BARCOMB * Despite statistics that indicate teen-age drug use is high in rural Kansas, the numbers may not tell the whole story — at least not in one western Kansas town. Garden City sits in southwestern Kansas, about 335 miles east of Denver and 200 miles west of Wichita. Its teenagers fit some drug use patterns, according to some surveys, but not others. It makes a great story — kids in rural areas using more drugs and alcohol than their inner-city peers. A headline in the The Washington Post this year read "Small town teens more likely to have used drugs, study finds," and the Chicago Tribune said this year that drugs were moving "From Manhattan to Main Street." Jason Williams /KANSAN Although drugs have gotten most of the attention, some statistics about the increased use of alcohol are available as well. in the Kansas Communities That Care survey, sponsored by the Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services Office of Prevention. a department of the state. 20 percent of sixth graders in Finney County, where Garden City is located, said they tried alcohol at least once in the last 30 days. The statewide average was 14 percent. See KANSANS on page 7A Local police to patrol railroad crossings By Katrina Hull Kansan staff writer Optical illusions of speed and distance make crossing railroad tracks doubly dangerous. Starting Monday, the chances of getting caught illegally crossing railroad tracks will double as well, Union Pacific Railroad officials and local law enforcement announced yesterday. Lawrence and Douglas County police will be watching railroad crossings extra closely and ticketing drivers who drive around crossing bars or trespass on railroad tracks. A train often is traveling faster and is closer than it appears. Simpson said. "For motorists looking down the track, the parallel lines toward the horizon create an illusion of distance." Simpson said. "Plus, with the size of the train, it's often moving faster than motorists think." In 1999, 62 collisions at railroad crossings resulted in seven deaths and 36 injuries in Kansas. Since 1995, Lawrence has had only four collisions, but two fatal collisions have occurred in the last two months. Two KU students and one Lawrence man died in car-train collisions at Union Pacific railroads crossings. "These crossing collisions can be prevented if people simply follow the signs and signals already there." Simpson said. Union Pacific trains travel through Lawrence at 40 POTENTIAL FINES Crossing train tracks that the bars are down is a $35 fine with $22.50 in court costs. Railroad crossing and trespassing fines ■ Trespassing on railroad tracks, which includes crossing tracks anywhere other than marked, is criminal trespassing and carries a $500 fine and up to six months in jail. In Doualas County: Crossing train tracks when the bars are down is a $60 fine with $46 in court costs. Trespassing on railroad tracks does not have a set fine but requires a mandatory appearance in court. Source: Douglas County and Lawrence Municipal courts miles per hour, crossing city streets at seven intersections all of them equipped with crossbars. Outside of town, the trains travel at 70 miles per hour At 40 miles per hour, a train needs about one mile to stop. But at 70 miles per hour, it takes about two miles for a train to stop. Richard Steiner, Union Pacific manager of operating practices, said that when an engineer saw a vehicle or person on the tracks, stopping in time usually was out of the question. "It's more of a David and Goliath thing, in favor of Goliath." Steiner said.