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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Sports: The Kansas men's and women's tennis teams played in the Big 12 Tournament. SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: A face-to-face Bush-McCain meeting is likely postponed if not canceled.
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2000
(USPS 650-640) • VOL.110 NO.143
SEE PAGE 7A
*WWW.KANSAN.COM
Old Navy, OfficeMax to open stores
By Katring Hull
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students looking for paper clips and capri pants soon will have two new suppliers.
Both OfficeMax and Old Navy have signed agreements this month to open stores on South Iowa Street.
The two national retailers have reserved spaces in the Pine Ridge Plaza at the northeast corner of 33rd and Iowa streets next to Kohl's Department Store, 3240 Iowa. Neither store has announced an opening date.
For Maggie Erickson, Old Navy shopper and Houston junior, a Lawrence store will save
her a trip to Topeka or Kansas City to purchase trendy, casual clothing at a reasonable price.
"The prices are better and more affordable for college students," Erickson said. "It's the same variety as the Gap but more affordable." Old Navy is owned by Gap Inc., a San Francisco-based company. At the end of January, Old Navy had 513 stores in the United States.
Erickson said she thought an Old Navy would fare well in Lawrence because it would attract University of Kansas students.
OfficeMax will occupy a space west of Kohl's and just down the road from another discount office supply store, Office Depot, 2525 Iowa.
OfficeMax Inc. is an Ohio-based company that operates 946 stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Office Depot, based in Florida, operates 829 stores in 46 states and Canada.
Along with value-priced clothing and discount office supplies, the two national chains will bring more competition to the Lawrence retail market.
The Old Navy store will sit north of Kohl's, a department store that sells name brand clothing at value prices. Wisconsin-based Kohl's only operates about 300 stores nationwide.
Phil Dahl, Kohl's assistant manager, said that the Kohl's in Overland Park was in the same shopping center as Old Navy and that
the Old Navy helped to attract more business to Kohl's. However, in Lawrence, the market is more diverse with Wal-Mart, Super Target, Big Kmart and J.C. Penney's all located on South Iowa Street.
"In this case, we already have so much diversity that I can't imagine Old Navy would hurt us any more than the existing competition." Dahl said.
Keith McWatters, Office Depot manager, said that he didn't know what effect more competition would have on the Lawrence office-supply market but that Office Depot had loyal customers.
"All I can say is that competition is always good," McWatters said.
Journey to the land of opportunities
Family's strength key to student's success in school
My Truong, Lawrence senior, will graduate with a business degree from Truong became a naturalized citizen in 1996. Photo by Tara the University of Kansas on May 21. Originally from Saiao, Vietnam. Kraus/KANSAN
Story by Warisa Chulindra
Biology 100 was one of My Truong's first classes at the University of Kansas.
"It was terrible," said My, a 26-year-old Lawrence senior. "It was in a big auditorium in Haworth with more than 100 people. The professor showed slides and kent talking."
My had more trouble adjusting than most freshmen. She didn't speak much English when she emigrated from Saigon, Vietnam, to Lawrence in 1991 with her parents — Dan Lee Truong and Muoi Chieu — and seven brothers and sisters — Mindy, Wendy, Kevin, Alan, Derek, Andy and Brandon.
There were other problems. In Vietnam, her teachers wrote class notes on the chalkboard. To understand her KU biology class, My was forced to read ahead or be lost. She recorded her classes and listened to them on tape at night.
In 1990, the U.S. Census reported that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders made up 3 percent — 2,581 people — of Douglas County's population of 81,798 people. Of those 3 percent, 96 were Vietnamese and 1,005 were Chinese.
Between 1990 and 1998, the number of Asian Americans increased by 967 people, while Douglas County's population swelled to 91.093.
In Lawrence, two families — the Truongs and the Chieus, who have both Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry — form a large chunk of the Asian-American community. Following Vietnamese tradition, My's mother kept her maiden name. During the last decade, the two families have helped to build a local Chinese-Vietnamese community that puts education before material possessions, work before play and family before just about everything.
This month, My will walk down Campanile hill with a degree in business administration
with an emphasis in information systems. As a graduate, she'll join her brother Andy, who earned a degree in electrical engineering last year. Her cousin Dung Chieu also will graduate this year. Five of her cousins are following her by attending the University.
Despite My's early struggles, she never
"I're ready to go," My said. "I'm ready to graduate. I felt sad because I didn't graduate when I was younger. Now it doesn't matter because I've got my own knowledge and my own degree."
has earned a grade lower than a C and is
proud to be on the honor roll.
Taking care of one another
See TOUGH on page 6A
It's a Monday night, and it's been a long day. My is sleeping on the couch, exhausted from studying late the night before for a programming test in her computer science class.
Police find homeless man dead in alley
Bv Mindie Miller
By Mindie Miller
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A hit-and-run early Friday morning killed a 38-year-old homeless man.
Lawrence police found John Lowe's body around 2:30 a.m. near the Community Garden Project behind the Community Mercantile, 901 Mississippi St.
Sgt. George Wheeler of the Lawrence Police Department said the man was struck by a vehicle in an alley behind a brightly painted storage shed and dragged half a block and around a corner.
Lowe carried no identification, Wheeler said, but police identified him by fingerprints.
Wheeler said that because the vehicle did not stop, investigators were trying to piece together what happened.
All the police know now, Wheeler said, is that Lowe was hit by an automobile and dragged to the place police found him - in the gutter along Mississippi Street south of Ninth Street.
Wheeler said autopsy results likely would be available today and might paint a better picture of what happened. Police think Lowe might have been sleeping in the alley at the time.
Tavniah Betts, a manager at Community Mercantile, said that she did not work Thursday evening but that she often saw small groups of homeless people sitting near the community garden.
She didn't know whether Lowe was one of them.
Police don't know who might have been driving the vehicle that struck Lowe. If the driver is apprehended, he or she could face a range of charges.
Wheeler said a murder charge was possible if the driver intended to hit Lowe.
Steppin' out
Left: Members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity step in the National Pan-Hellenic Council step show Friday at the Lied Center. Kappa Alpha Psi was one of seven sorority and fraternity groups that competed.
Above: Members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity perform their routine, which won the award for best stepping by a fraternity. Proceeds from the show go to the Latina Sullivan Scholarship Fund. Photos by Melissa Thornton/KANSAN