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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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March 15, 1999
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Vol. 108 • No. 113
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Vol. 109·No.113
Sports today
The Kansas women's basketball team will face top-ranked Purdue tonight in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.
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SEE PAGE 1B
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Allergies spark smoke-free policy
Each building on campus to have at least one non-smoking entrance
By Chris Hopkins and Kristi Reimer
chopkins@kansan.com
kreimer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
(USPS 650-640)
Students, faculty and staff who want to avoid cigarette smoke will soon be able to enter any building at the University of Kansas through a designated smoke-free doorway.
People who are used to smoking outside those entrances will have to find somewhere else.
Wescoe Hall, Dole Human Development Center and Fraser Hall already have non-smoking entrances after a student who is severely allergic to cigarette smoke approached the University with her problem.
"If I get some in my lungs, my lungs tighten up," said Crystin Burd, Kansas City, Mo., junior. "I have to try to relax and get some air in. It tends to take away your concentration and wear you out if you're fighting to breathe."
But those entrances were getting harder to find, she said. So she approached Services for Students with Disabilities for help.
Burd said she scheduled her classes early in the day, tried to avoid smokers and walked around buildings to find the least-smoky entrances.
That organization contacted the Office of the Provost, which agreed to make temporary accommodations for Burd and asked the Senate Executive Committee to discuss the matter.
In the meantime, temporary signs at the southeast entrance of Fraser Hall, the east entrance of Wescoe Hall's third floor and Dole Center's main entrance read, "Smoke-free entrance, no smoking within 30 feet of this doorway."
SenEx approved a recommendation Feb. 9 to make at least one entrance at each building, preferably handicapped-accessible, smokefree.
Shuttic said the permanent signs would be in place by fall 1999, but the committee still had to solve some problems, such as choosing the entrances, incorporating new signs and establishing how far smokers must be from the doorways.
Mike Shuttic, associate director of Services for Students with Disabilities, is on a committee that will study the situation.
Thirty feet might not be far enough for buildings with an overhang that traps the smoke, such as Wescoe Hall, he said.
Smokers, like this student, who take cigarette breaks near building entrances, may be required to find somewhere else to smoke soon. A new University policy makes one entrance to every building a smoke-free entrance, prohibiting smoking within 30 to 50 feet of the doorway. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/ KANSAN
"Fifty feet should cover the vast majority of those," Shuttic said.
Burd said she had heard about negative reaction to reports of the change in pol
See SMOKING on page 2A
Group pursuing alternative rec center plans
By Nadia Mustafa
nmustafa@kansan.com
nmusia staff writer
Even though the recreation task force collected 1,000 student signatures last week to put the proposal for a $15.5 million campus recreation center to a student-body referendum, some Delta Force members want to explore other alternatives.
In April, students will vote on the construction of a free-standing fitness and recreation center solely for student recreational use, open at least 18 hours a day.
The center would include four multi-purpose gymnasium courts, a cardiovascular fitness and weight training center, an aerobic and dance studio, suspended walking and jogging track, combative arts room, activities lounge and student service center
Student fees would increase $15 per semester in fall 2000, and $34 per semester in fall 2001, when the center would open.
Seth Hoffman, Nunemaker senator, said that the task force had not told students about the proposal and that many students' opinions were not being heard. He also said that the task force did not tell students whether Robinson Center would be available if a new recreation center was built.
Scott Kaiser, student body vice president and vice chairman of the task force, said that the task force conducted extensive research and outlined specifics about the proposal in
its petition. Hoffman and Erin Simpson, student legislature awareness board research coordinator, delivered a formal request to Kevin Yoder, student body president and task force chairman, to inspect the task force's official documents last Friday.
"Before asking students to tack on $400 to a four-year education, I'd like to hear a more in-depth view," Hoffman said.
He said that he and other Delta Force members would review the task force's materials and create a different proposal.
posal was not needed to solve the main problems with Robinson Center, such as its limited hours, lack of weight room space and small number of basketball courts.
In the task force's survey, 42.3 percent of students surveyed said they never went to Robinson Center, and 19 percent said they went less than once a week.
"They're calling the fire department to put out a match." Hoffman said.
members of the task force will answer questions this week about the proposal at town hall meetings at residence halls and tables set up around campus. Today through Thursday, there will be a table from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union.
out a matr. Thomson said.
Kaiser said that expanding Robinson Center was an abstract idea that lacked necessary research.
Hoffman said that such an expensive pro
— Edited by Julie Sach*
Ellsworth fire forces evacuation
By Katia Burford
kburford@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A fire in the north wing on the fourth floor of Ellsworth Hall left residents standing in the cold for more than an hour Saturday night.
The fire, which began in room 426, was reported at 11:01 p.m., said Sgt. James Anuiano of the KU Public Safety Office.
No one was injured in the fire, which was thought to have been started by either an alarm clock or a burning candle, said Anguiano.
Ellsworth resident Katie Post, Overland Park freshman, said that she and her boyfriend were not in a hurry to leave her room because they assumed a false allege.
"But when we got outside we saw fire rolling off windows," she said.
An Ellsworth resident assistant was the first to find the fire and pull the alarm, Anquiano said.
Firefighters put out the fire with extinguishers. Fans also were needed to ventilate the building before residents could return to their rooms, said Brian Lawrence, a battalion chief with the Douglas County Fire and Medical Department
Lawrence said that officials didn't have a damage estimate yet.
The student who lived in the room, which was declared uninhabitable, was not at home when the fire started.
Lawrence said that three fire engines, three medical units and one ladder truck responded to the call.
He said that there was more manpower than usual on hand for the call because of the concern that some residents might suffer from smoke inhalation.
He said he was not sure whether any students were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, but nobody was transferred to the hospital and no injuries were reported.
Anguiano said that the building was evacuated relatively quickly. He emphasized that this was an example of why it was important for residents to take all fire alarms seriously.
Post said that, although there had been two false alarms this semester that she could recall, she would get out faster next time.
"I didn't think it would ever happen," she said.
Students proud of Kansas' performance
Edited by Juan Heath
By Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com Kanson sportswriter
As Kentucky exchanged hugs
The silence was more powerful than any words could have been when the final seconds of the Kansas-Kentucky basketball game concluded in a 92-88 Kentucky overtime victory.
The Kansas run at the end of regulation had caused screams, hugs and high fives, but the celebration ended when Kentucky's Scott Padgett hit a three-point shot and sent the game into overtime.
"What more could we have asked for from our guys?" asked Lupie Ramirez, Kanopolis sophomore. "Robertson had a career-high point total, and the young guys played their hearts out. There isn't as much disappointment as last year when we should have won. They played a great game."
and smug grenny angry Kansas fans glared at their电视 sets.
The fans could not dispute that Kansas had played well and made a good showing against a veteran team.
While fans cursed at Kentucky players as they watched them celebrate, Kirsten Drickey, Lindsborg sophomore, said she didn't think Kentucky played as well as all the sports announcers said it could.
Many attributed the difference
"The two guys with the most heart didn't even get to play in overtime," said Kelvie Fitzgerrel, Copeland sophomore. "That hurt us."
"For as much as they played up
Kentucky, I wasn't that
in the game to the loss of T.J. Pugh and Nick Bradford, both of whom fouled out before regulation ended.
Assistant coach Matt Doherty, redshirt freshman Jeff Carey and senior T.J. Pugh react to a made shot by Kansas late in the second half of the game against Kentucky. The Jayhaws lost to the Wildcats last night in New Orleans, 88-92. Photo by Graham Johnson/KANSAN
impressed," Drickey said. "Our freshman took their 'well-seasoned seniors' right down to the wire. They're going to get killed by Miami (Ohio)."
KU contingent witnesses new nations join NATO
Albright: Officially welcomed new countries into NATO
By Ezra Sykes
esykes@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland officially joined NATO on Friday at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, bringing a new sense of security and belonging for the three Eastern European countries.
ical figures.
"You are truly allies. You are truly home." Albright said in her address. "We must never forget the destinies of Europe and North America are inseparable. No force on earth is more powerful than our solidarity."
Secretary of State Madeline Albright and foreign ministers from each of the joining countries spoke to a crowd of about 300 international and local polit-
Albright accepted instruments of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty, which was originally signed on April 4, 1949. from the three countries.
A van full of KU students and faculty members made the trip to Independence to watch the historical event.
Anna Cienciala, professor of history.
said that watching the ceremony brought her to tears.
"I cried bucketfuls," she said.
Tweedie was born in Poland and as a child witnessed the German invasion of her country in 1839. Her family fled to France, Spain, Portugal and finally to England, where she went to school.
For Cienciaal, who teaches Eastern European history and The Rise and Fall of Communist Nations, the ceremony was very meaningful.
"Looking at everyone speak, I said to myself, 'How wonderful.' I never would have imagined this 10 years ago.
When I think of it all, it's quite amazing," she said.
Jan Kavan, minister of foreign affairs for Czech Republic, said that the ceremony taking place in Independence was significant for another reason.
The selection of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library as the site for the event was significant because President Truman was one of the chief architects of the alliance.
Kavan said that the last time he had visited the Kansas City area was in 1968. While in town, he received word that Russian tanks had swept into
Prague, marking the start of Russian occupation in Czechoslovakia.
"The powerless anger that struck me was unbelievable," he said. "It's symbolic that we accept a guarantee that my country will never again become a victim to a powerless invasion."
robert Choromanski, Lenexa junior, watched the ceremony on television in a room at the Truman Library with the rest of the KU contingent.
Choromanski, who was born in Poland, said that the day was very
4
See NATO on page 2A