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Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, January 19, 2000
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1 Galaxy Quest 2.05 4.55, 7.38, 9.55
2 The Talented Man R. Mipley 1.10 4.55, 7.00, 10.55
3 Snow Fallow On Cedars 1.35 4.25, 7.15, 9.55
4 Anna And The King 1.30 4.25, 7.15, 9.55
also magnolia 1.30 7.35
5 Girl, Interrupted 1.05 4.55, 6.55, 10.00
6 The Hurricane 1.00 4.00, 7.00, 10.55
7 The Green Mile 1.00 4.00, 7.45
8 The Gate House 1.00 4.15, 7.45
9 Tory Story 2.00 4.55, 7.15, 9.20
10 Biotemental Man 2.00 4.15, 7.10, 10.50
11 The Older House Rules 1.95 4.20, 7.05
12 Magnolia 1.55 7.00
| | Sat & Sun | Daily |
| :--- | :--- | ---: |
| 1 Ride With The Devil ™ | 1:50 | 4:30, 7:19, 9:45 |
| 2 Deuce Bigalow ™ | 1:45 | 4:40, 7:00, 9:30 |
| 3 The Man On the Moon ™ | 1:50 | 4:55, 7:00, 9:30 |
| 4 Any Given Sunday ™ | ----- | 4:80, 8:00 |
| 5 Next Friday ™ | 1:55 | 4:55, 7:15, 9:55 |
| 6 Suemosova ™ | 1:45 | 4:45, 7:15, 9:40 |
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Traffic problem remains unsolved
City rejects idea to stop left turns at top of the Hill
KU Transportation Board asked the Lawrence Traffic Safety Commission to place an island at the intersection of Naismith Drive and Jayhawk Blvd. that would ban left turns. The Transportation Board's proposal was unanimously rejected. The board wanted to ban left turns because of traffic backup in the area during peak hours. Photo by Ellie Hajek/KANSAN
By Jim O'Malley writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Everyone agreed that traffic jams at Naismith Drive and Crescent Road were a problem, but no one liked the solution proposed by the KU Transportation Board, the Student Senate organization that runs KU on Wheels.
At peak hours, northbound traffic on Naismith often backs up down the Hill. Holly Krebs, transportation coordinator for KU on Wheels, said this happened because Naismith wasn't wide enough for drivers wanting to turn right off Naismith to get past drivers waiting to turn left.
According to the University's short-term traffic mitigation plan, most northbound traffic on Naismith turns right, toward campus. Krebs said the traffic jams caused by the cars turning left delay all traffic, including buses headed for campus. This is unsafe as well as inconvenient, especially in the winter, she said.
Erika Zimmerman, Dodge City junior, lives in Oliver Hall and rides the buses regularly. She said she had been on buses caught in the traffic ions on Naismith.
This proposal didn't sit well with the owners of the Jayhawk
"I've been late to class a couple of times," she said.
In November the Transportation Board asked the city's Traffic Safety Commission to fix the problem by banning left turns from Naismith onto Crescent and making sure no one turned left by replacing the left turn lane with an island.
The nine-member commission unanimously denied the board's request at its regular meeting on Jan. 3.
Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road, either.
"We were concerned about the effect on access to the store," said Bill Muggy, one of the bookstore's owners.
Indeed, the proposal would have cut the most direct route to the store's parking lot from the south on Naismith.
Muggy said the proposal also would have affected residents near the intersection by making it harder for them to reach their homes. He notified people in the neighborhood about the proposal so they could come to the commission meeting.
The proposed ban on left turns also would have affected residents of the fraternity and sorority houses on West Campus Road, north of the Chi Omega Fountain. The most direct route to those parking lots from Naismith is left onto Crescent, and then a quick right back onto Naismith at the Jayhawk Bookstore. Belleville, IL, junior
Amy Liddy, Belleville, Ill., junior.
lives at the Sigma Kappa house. She said she knew the congestion at the intersection was a problem that needed to be addressed. She said it was good that someone was trying to fix it, even though this proposal would have made it harder to get to the parking lots.
Traffic Safety Commissioner Jeremy Anderson said the commission denied the board's request because commissioners thought the ban on left turns would move the problem without fixing it. He said the ban on left turns would force drivers who wanted to go left to circle the Chi Omega fountain, another traffic choke point.
Anderson and Commissioner Tom Bracciano said commissioners recognized that there was a problem but that a proposal like this should come from the University rather than a Student Senate organization.
Bracciano said the University's growth caused the problem, and that it was for the University to solve.
Muggy said the problem was that as the University had grown and traffic had increased during the past 20 years, access points to the campus, such as 14th Street, have been cut. Bracciano said he agreed that this was the underlying problem.
Krebs said the board made the proposal as a short-term fix. The long-term solution would have been to widen the intersection, she said.
"You can only put so much into a funnel," he said.
Kansas conservation group seeks tax increase
By Katrina Hall
writer@kansan.com
By Katrine Hull
Kansan staff writer
A Kansas conservation group may have picked a bad year to ask legislators to propose a sales tax increase to help cure Kansas water woes.
The Kansas Association of Conservation Districts would like legislators to put a quarter-cent sales tax increase on a statewide ballot. The money would help clean up state water; however, the request may be dead in the water in a year when budgets are tight and every legislative seat is up for re-election.
The quarter-cent sales tax increase would generate about $70 million a year and increase the state's overall tax on retail sales to about 5.15 percent from 4.9 percent.
"It may be hard to do," said Richard Jones, KACD executive director. "I don't feel it will be easy, but I do feel it is a need."
A need for cleaner water and more money for state parks is what Jones
said he hoped lawmakers would endorse and Kansans would vote for. Missouri has a water conservation and recreation tax that citizens have voted for twice, he said. However, for the tax to be considered in Kansas, a legislator must propose a constitutional amendment.
Charles Benjamin, a KU assistant professor of environmental studies who lobbies for the Sierra Club and Kansas Natural Resources Commission, said environmental issues in Kansas often were not a priority.
"It costs people money either to clean up damage already done or prevent further damage," Benjamin said. "No politician wants to force constituents to pay money."
As for cleaner water, the challenge increases with Kansas' powerful agriculture lobby and the demand placed on local landowners to protect water quality. Beniamin said.
The tax would provide financial and technical assistance needed at the local level for cleaner water, and the
fairest means of doing that is a sales tax, Jones said.
"I think if put to the vote of the citizens, it would let legislators off the hook," Benjamin said. "Let the debate rage whether people want to pay the tax."
In Kansas, little precedent for environmental taxes exists. The closest the state comes to environmental taxes are levies on new tire sales and dry cleaning. But the 50-cent tax on each new tire purchased and the 2.5 percent tax on dry cleaning both go toward tire and dry-cleaning solvent disposal, not broader environmental programs.
Jones said his organization planned to meet with House and Senate leaders Jan. 24 to request that Kansans be allowed to vote on the tax increase—a tough sell, though many lawmakers say they are sympathetic.
House Speaker Robin Jennison, RHealy, agreed the money needed to come from somewhere, but said this was an unlikely year to gain backing for the proposal.
thing about that," Jennison said. "There's a demand that local landowners do more, and the demand is so big that landowners can't do it on their own."
"Eventually we'll have to do some-
The increased attention to water quality stems from a 1998 lawsuit brought against the Environmental Protection Agency by environmental groups and states, including Kansas. The lawsuit required the EPA to enforce a provision of the Water Quality Act that says the EPA and states must determine the amount of pollution acceptable for water's designated use, Benjamin said.
"At one point Kansas ranked as having the worst water quality in the U.S.," Benjamin said. "However, the bigger question is what's in the water and what do we want in there."
And once that's determined, Benjamin said, the tax would step in to provide money to clean up state water.
"As we proceed into this new century, we need a better plan." Jones said. "This will ensure that monies are available for keeping our water clean."
Officials unravel two cases
The University of Kansas Public Safety Office recently took action in several crime cases from last semester:
A man was arrested on Jan. 5 for lewd and lascivious behavior that occurred around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, 1999, in parking lot 91, the visitor parking lot southeast of Memorial Stadium.
Sgt. Troy Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office said several women observed the man exposing himself in his car. The case was investigated and the witnesses were questioned prior to issuing an arrest warrant, Mailen said.
Suspects in an October spree of burglaries and trespassing have been located, identified and interviewed, according to the KU Public Safety Office. Reports were forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney's office and are being evaluated, said Sgt. Troy Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office.
Between 10 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on October 23, 1999, KU police were notified of two to eight men attempting to enter rooms in Ellsworth, McCollum and Templin Halls, Mailen said. If the doors were unlocked, the suspects entered the rooms regardless if they were occupied. In rooms where residents were present, Mailen said one individual distracted the occupant with conversation, while the others ransacked the room. Mailen said the most significant item reported missing was a Sony PlayStation.
Detective Bob Williams of the KU Public Safety Office said the suspects were students from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. The students were in Lawrence for the Kansas-Missouri football game.
Mailen said KU police were able to locate the suspects and recover most of the stolen property by working with Springfield police.
"Through a series of events, our investigators were able to track them," Mailen said.
The series of events included one suspect allowing a resident to sign his cast and another suspect posing for a photograph with a resident.
The police log for the residence hall incidents included three reports of aggravated burglary, two reports of burglary, four reports of criminal trespassing and one report of criminal damage to property.
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