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wednesday ▲
3.17.99 ▲
tena.▲
Dyeing to celebrate
story by gerry doyle photo illustrations by graham k. johnson
If James Naismith were here today, surely he would celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a green tint.
t. Patrick's Day is a time of many traditions.
Pinch a person if he or she is not wearing green.
If you find a four-leaf shamrock on St. Patrick's Day, it is twice as lucky.
Perhaps the most well-known tradition on St. Patrick's Day is one that originates in the Northern United States. In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green for the occasion.
"I don't have a clue," McCloskey said. "I've been to the parade in Kansas City a couple of years. It was pretty fun. There were a lot of people."
Lawrence just has a parade
I think it's great," she said.
Drink.
According to the Chicago Public Library, the tradition began in 1962, when city crews were using dye to trace discharges into the river. A city worker whose overalls had been turned green by the process thought it would be fun to replicate the process for the whole river. So, Mayor Richard Daley gave the order to dump 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river, turning it green for a week. Now, only 40 pounds are added — enough to change the river's color for a few hours, or the duration of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day parade.
If you follow a rainbow, it will lead to a pot of gold, or at least a box of cereal.
Katie McCloskey, Atchison freshman, said she didn't know whether she would dye anything on St. Patrick's Day, or do anything else, for that matter.
McCloskey said that although she had no solid plans, she enjoyed the holiday.
To some students at the University, this is not a problem. The traditions that now exist in Lawrence for St. Patrick's Day—the parade, drinking, and skipping class—seem to satisfy at least a few.
Similarly, despite the parade and expected wide spread student par
ipation in various celebratory activities, Lawrence City Manager Mike Wilden said that the city had no plans to dye any part of the city.
tic.
The Kaw, at least, was out of the question.
"No, I don't think so," Wilden said. "It's flowing too much, for one thing. Where would you start? Where would you end?"
Wildgen said that although the city would not dye the Kaw,it had no backup dye ing plans,
either. City Hall? Massachusetts Street? The Riverfront Mall?
"Not that I can think of," Wildgen said. "The parade is our celebration."
The University will most likely have more participants in St. Patrick's Day than any other institution in Lawrence. With more than 25,000 students, the legions of celebrators will be swelled by Jayhawks intent on enjoying the holiday.
For students at the University, the traditions of St. Patrick's Day can mean at least a day of entertainment.
Liz Yoder, Lawrence freshman,
said that she, like McCloskey,
had no definite plans for March
17. In the past, she said, the festivities meant an opportunity to skip class.
"A lot of people I know would get out of school for the parade," she said.
The traditions of St. Patrick's Day would at least provide some distraction during the day, she said. St. Patrick's Day activities were a break from the drudgery of eating, drinking, sleeping, not making it to the Final Four and going to class.
"They're somewhat entertaining," she said. "Things like wearing green, running around and pinching each other."
Dyeing things at the University was a possible way to add to the festivities, she said. Although a dyed building, administrator, street or statue might be out of the question, a
body of water might be the way to drive away the
snakes
snakes of St. Patrick's Dav dullness.
"The fountain," Voder said. "It's a visible place that people know well."
The University, although not opposed to St. Patrick's Day, was not planning on dyeing anything in an effort to embrace participation in the Irish day of green, shamrocks and a saint, said Jeanette Johnson, assistant to the provost.
they stretched all the way to the seat of power in Kansas.
The consequences, she said,
went beyond just the University
So, without a dyed river, building, street or person, KU students may be forced to search for other ways to paint the town green today. Between the city and the University, most major options for dyeing seem to have been cut off.
Dyeing one another?
Dyeing pets? Dyeing cars, or computers, or shoes, or clothes, or midterms? No clear option seems to present itself.
"I think that would be a frivolous use of state money," she said. "The Legislature would frown on the use of that money."
But with a little luck, one probably will surface.
Above: The bells would ring an Irish jig if the Campanile were green.
Left: Since the Kaw River is an unseemly shade of brown, why not perk it up with a bit o' green?