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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
22.
Sports: Three freshmen swimmers aren't fish out of water they're providing a muchneeded boost to the Kansas team.
SEE PAGE 1B
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 110 NO. 78
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2000
Inside: Alternative Winter Break broadened volunteers horizons.
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Fieldhouse seat has a hazardous history
Runaway player lands in fan's lap
By Sara Shepherd
writer @ kansan.com
Kansan staff write
Maybe the best seats in Allen Fieldhouse should come with a warning.
Wanda Reinking, Overland Park resident, has been landed on in her first-row seats at the fieldhouse by ball-chasing basketball players — twice.
"Seat seven, section Q seems to be jimmed," she said.
Reinking, 63, was injured last week while watching the Kansas basketball game against Kansas State at the fieldhouse. Shortly before the end of the first half of the game, Kansas player Kenny Gregory chased a loose ball over the visiting team's chairs and into the stands, landing in Reinking's lap.
Reinking said she suspected the jump was easy for Gregory — who has a team-high 41-inch vertical leap.
The ball remained in play, and Gregory quickly followed.
"It happened so fast," Reinking said. "And he was back down on the court in no time."
But unlike Gregory, Reinking did not escape uninjured.
"I knew it immediately did something," Reinking said. "I didn't know what."
Reinking was checked by a doctor at the fieldhouse, who told her nothing was broken, but the blow had separated cartilage from her ribs. She then was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and released later that night.
Reinking said she was wearing a rib belt and would need some time to recuperate from her painful injury, but she had no hard feelings about the situation.
Reinking said the athletic department and medical staff were helpful and concerned. She even received two autographed photographs, one of Roy Williams and one of the entire team.
"I have tried to keep the whole thing light." Reinked.
Reinking said she also received the following note from an athletic department official:
"Sorry you drew the charge from Kenny Gregory. In typical fashion, the referees didn't call the foul, and you didn't get to shoot the free throw."
It wasn't the first time Reinking has drawn a charge. About five years ago, she said, former Jayhawk Greg Murray followed a loose ball into the stands and fell on her, though she was not injured.
"I just ended up with him and the basketball in my lap," Reinking said.
Dean Buchan, who is in his 10th year as Kansas' sports information director, said he had seen a few cheerleaders and photographers injured from players diving out of bounds but never a fan.
"It's the first time I can remember anything like that happening," Buchan said. "It's more common for a player to get hurt, actually."
"Seat seven, section Q seems to be jinxed,"
Overland Park resident
Wanda Reinking
Buchan said players were sometimes injured from running into the press row or sideline photographers.
Buchan said Kansas basketball statisticians have tallied floor burns since the career of Jerod Haase, who still holds the team record.
"On our team, they're encouraged to go after every ball." Buchan said.
Though he was doing his job, Gregory apologized for the incident when he heard Reinking had been injured.
"I just found out about that and I feel badly," he said. "I had no idea, although I do remember the play."
Reinking, who grew up in Lawrence, said she had been a basketball fan her entire life. She has had Kansas basketball season tickets for the past 40 years, and she and her husband have been sitting behind the opposing team's bench since seats were added there, she said.
Reinking said she and her husband also planned to attend the Kansas-Kansas State game Feb. 12 in Manhattan.
With any luck, their seats will be safer.
Kansas guard Kenny Gregory landed in the lap of a fan this season at Allen Fieldhouse. He is not the first player to do so.
KANSAN file photo
Student Senate looking to fill seven empty seats
Reasons vary for senators resignations, suspension
By Erinn R. Barcomb
Kansan staff writer
Seven Senate seats are open because of six resignations and one suspension in the last two months. And while some of these seats were held by Delta Force members, the resigned senators said their decision was unrelated to the coalition.
Two student senators announced their resignation just last week. Brian Hanks, a replacement senator, said he resigned because he is leaving the University to find a full-time job. Brett Stoppel, offcampus senator, said he wanted to spend more time working on his business.
"I'm pretty busy and I'm burnt out,"
Stopple said. "I want to do other nonschool activities."
Senate Executive Chair, Marlon Marshall, said Senate would be placing advertisements for replacement senators in the Kansan, and he said he expected to have the positions filled by the Feb. 16 Senate meeting.
December resignations included liberal arts and sciences senator Nicole Skalla, off-campus senator Matt Dunbar, graduate senator Adam Godderz and fine arts senator Jennie Hornbaker.
A space is open to replace suspended senator Hannah Jorgenson, Marshall said, because Senate must wait for four open seats or for two months before searching for replacements. Jorgenson was suspended for excessive absences.
Skalla said she wanted to concentrate on school to graduate early and work with Student Union Activities as a
forums coordinator
Because of the level of involvement required of senators, Marshall said he did not think the number of resignations was unusual.
Dunbar said he been involved in Senate for three years and thought it was time for somebody else to take control.
Marshall said Godderz resigned because of other activities, and he said Hornbaker was leaving the University.
Stoppel, Dunbar and Skalla all said their decisions had nothing to do with Delta Force.
"Every year people drop out of senate because they realize it's not for them," Dunbar said. "I don't think it has anything to do with Delta Force."
Delta force has made no decisions about who will run in this spring's election, said president Luke Pfannenstiel. After members are back in town and school has been in session for awhile, the group will sit down and decide what is going to happen, he said.
Liberal Arts and Sciences senator Eric Rush said by this time last year he already had decided to run.
"It's been more of an accountability organization; those of us in Senate checking up on each other," Rush said. "It's not a political coalition anymore, but an activist group."
Religion class may be taught at local church for KU credit
By Mike Hoffman
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
If Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Mo., and the University of Kansas can come to an agreement, KU students will be able to get credit for a class on the Bible taught by a pastor at a Lawrence church.
Nathan Rice, Richardson, Texas, sophomore, came up with the idea. Rice said he thought that the Bible class he took at the University was not teaching the Bible in a serious manner. He said he wanted a class that would show that it presented certain fundamental truths.
"The class I took on the Bible at KU treated the Bible as a bunch of myths and fairy tales that were used for social and political purposes." Rice said.
So last October, he approached Rev. Beau Abernathy at his church, Christ Community Evangelical Free Church,
1449 Kasold Dr. about the possibility of a Bible class that would regard the Bible more seriously.
Rice said his KU class did not focus on evidence that the stories in the Bible might be true and that the class sought more to discredit the Bible than to understand it.
The proposed class would not necessarily encourage students to take the Bible literally, but would look at the Bible fairly and
"This is a state university, and we do not promote religion, nor do our classes resemble those of a theological seminary or Bible college."
Tim Miller religious studies chairman
objectively. The class would also focus on the Bible as a guide on how to live a moral life based on the teachings of Jesus. Rice said.
Tim Miller, chairman of the religious studies department, said he could understand how devout Christians could have problems with the Bible being taught as a product of ancient culture and people instead of the word of God.
But, Miller said, advocating religious doctrine is not the job of religion classes at the University.
"This is a state university, and we do not promote religion, nor do our classes resemble those of the theological seminary or Bible college." Miller said.
See LOCAL on page 2A
Burrito boom ends in a bust for two restaurants, other to expand
The Z-Teca Fresh Mexican Grill closed during winter break along with New York Burrito Gourmet Wraps. The Chipotle Mexican Grille is now he only place to get burrito wraps on Massachusetts Street. Photo by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
By John Audlehelm
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Indeed, two burrito restaurants on Massachusetts Street have left, but a local full-menu Mexican restaurant plans to add a second location.
The burritos may have bombed, but Mexican cuisine is still en fuego in Lawrence.
Z-Teca Fresh Mexican Grill, 743 Massachusetts St., and New York Burrite Gourmet Wraps, 939 Massachusetts St., both closed during winter break. But El Mezcal, 1819 W. 23rd St., is opening a new restaurant at 804 Iowa St.. formerly Pizza Hut.
Alejandro Sanchez, manager of the original El Mezcal, said the new building would open in about four to six weeks. He said it would be about the same size but featured a basement and would probably have more tables. Sanchez said business was going well enough to open a second store.
"We have a lot of customers," he said.
"We had a tremendous response at the very beginning," he said.
Z-Teca was part of a franchise owned by Denver-based Qdoba Restaurant Corp., formerly Z-Teca Restaurant Corp. Bruce Marano was the owner of the Lawrence restaurant.
The other ill-fated wrap restaurant, New York Burrito, was also part of a franchise.
But after three months, Warner said, business started going downhill.
Joe Warner, former owner of the Lawrence restaurant and area developer for New York Burrito, said he closed the restaurant because of a lack of business.
Gary Beisler, CEO of Qdoba, said he would not comment on why the Lawrence location had closed, but he said litigation was pending with Marano.
Warner said he had spread himself too thin by trying to manage three stores in the Kansas City area and the one in Lawrence.
Both of the restaurants that closed had opened during the burrito boom in 1998. At that time, burrito fans could choose from four eateries in the downtown area alone.
"I had four stores and two managers," he said. "One was competent, and the other was honest." The Lawrence restaurant had the honest one, he said.
Warner said he sold one of the Kansas City restaurants and closed two, then came to Lawrence to manage his last New York Burrito.
But by then, he said, it was too little, too late.
Chipotle Mexican Grille, 911 Massachusetts St., is now the only burrito wrap restaurant left standing on Massachusetts Street.
Matt Easley, store manager, said that his restaurant was doing very well and was not following suit.
"We're certainly not headed that way," he said. "I don't know why the other places went."
Easley said the burrito business was good, and the fact that both closed restaurants served burritos was coincidence.