1. 2. 3.
Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Temperatures will drop tomorrow with partly cloudy skies
Kansan
HIGH 35
LOW 19
Wednesday
January 27,1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 81
Online today
Your online guide to offbeat tourist attractions while taking road trips across the country. http://www.roadsideamerica.com
Sports today
The men's and women's basketball teams hit the road tonight to face conference rivals Nebraska and Texas.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
SEE PAGE 1B
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Tricia Riordan, Abilene sophomore, pushes 3-year-old Yared Etyleish, Lawrence resident, at Watson Park, 7th and Kentucky streets. Riordan has worked as a teacher's assistant at the school for a semester. Photo by Eric Sahmann/KANSAN
For more photographs from yesterday go to the UDKI at www.kansan.com/extra
Motion by City Commission increases underage alcohol fine
By Heather Woodward Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence City Commission approved a motion last night to increase fines for minors in possession of alcohol and possessing or attempting to use false identification to $300 minimum and $500 maximum. This is $100 more than the current minimum fine for these charges.
The commission also approved $2,000 in city funds to go to Crimestoppers for the purpose of awarding anonymous tips about manufacturers of false identification.
Ronald Olin, Lawrence chief of police and task force member, said the Crimestoppers Board of Directors would determine how much money would be awarded
to those who called in anony mous tips.
Commissioner Bonnie Augustine said she thought the underage drinking problem in Lawrence needed to be addressed.
"Bar owners in the past have been held accountable for underage drinking in their establishment," Augustine said. "Although they are still accountable on some levels, this way, the perpetrators will be held accountable for their own actions."
"And then those same people are driving vehicles home, too, and endangering others as well," she said.
Augustine said she realized the problem with underage drinking went beyond a violation of law.
Kevin Yoder, student body
president and task force member, said he thought binge drinking was an issue the city should look at more closely.
"As long as people perceive the goal as getting one beer out of an 18-year-old's hand, then that 18-year-old will want to drink that beer," Yoder said. "I think we should put less emphasis on that. The biggest issue should be binge drinking, whether it's an 18-year-old or a 21-year-old. Once students are missing class and driving home after binge drinking, that's really a problem."
More information
the information The City Commission,also made decisions about serveral other motions.
See page 2A
COMS class overflow hurting some seniors
By Chris Hopkins
Kansan staff writer
Several communications studies classes are closed and overflowing, knocking some University of Kansas students in the major off their course to graduation.
Many seniors expecting to graduate are among the group unable to get into the communications studies classes. There are 430 students majoring in communications studies at the University and 2,342 students taking department classes.
The communications studies department has expressed hope that this will be a single-semester problem.
Howard Sypher, chairman of the communications studies department, said the problem had arisen because the communications studies program was using five fewer professors than it had last year.
Katherine Miller and Chris Segrin were both associate professors in the communications studies department until they were offered larger salaries at Texas A&M University and the University of Arizona. Both left the University last summer.
This semester, Jon Blubaugh, professor, will begin a phased retirement: Ellen Reid Gold, associate professor, will take a medical leave;
and Mary Lee Hummert, associate professor will be on a sabbatical.
Sypher said that these five professors made up 25 percent of the communications studies staff and that their loss had squeezed the department.
"It been a rather painful experience for all," he said.
To partially compensate for the loss, the department has let more students in some of the most popular classes. Paul Friedman, professor, more than tripled the size of his relational communications class from 30 to nearly 100.
Students, landlord tangled in legal fight about house
See CLASS on page 2A
Kansan staff writer
By Jamie Knodel
Kansas staff writer
Six University of Kansas students may take legal action in response to a lawsuit from their former landlord.
Amy Allen, Chicago sophomore; Eily Ritter, Rye, N. Y., sophomore; Katie Levedahl, Raleigh, N. C., sophomore; Kristen Ranus, Brookfield, Wis., sophomore; Jessica Leet, Lyons sophomore; Susan Leuold, Milwaukee, Wis., sophomore, were served with lawsuits from Jim Edwards, owner of the house at 1247 Kentucky St.
Edwards said he was suing the students for a total of more than $10,000.
Edwards said his reason for suing the former tenants was to recover lost rent and damages incurred after the tenants moved out of the house before their year-long lease ended.
The house was condemned on Aug. 28 by the City of Lawrence after the tenants contacted the health department about an open pipe that was draining sewage into the basement.
Edwards said service crews were sent to the house twice to fix the problem, but the tenants refused to let them in.
He also said that the problem was taken care of and that the city gave the OK for the residents to move back in on the next business day.
Leupold said the residents never moved back into the house.
The same day the city gave permission for the tenants to move back into the house. Edwards received a legal notice from the tenants that sited other problems such as electrical problems that needed attention.
"They walked out on their lease without giving me reasonable time to respond and rectify the problems," Edwards said.
The notice also said if the repairs had not been started in 14 days, the tenants could move out in 30 days.
Leupold said Edwards was to blame for the problems and that, if necessary, she planned to counter sue Edwards for the damages and expenses that the tenants incurred. She said the total was about $10,000.
He also said that within 48 hours of receiving the legal notice, the tenants had trucks in the yard, moving their belongings out.
Leupold said every action the women had taken had
Edwards said he thought the tenants contacted city officials about the sewage problems as a way to get out of their lease.
The tenants were served with the lawsuits in December.
The house at 1247 Kentucky St. was condemned last August by the City of Lawrence Health Department after the tenants reported sewage in the basement. The previous tenants are being used by their former landlord for damages and lost rent. Photo by Erin McElhiney/KANSAN
been with the advice of Legal Services and lawyers.
After sitting empty for four months, the house got new tenants this month: Dave Sislow, Chicago junior, and Sean McKeon, Chicago senior.
Sislow said since moving in, he hadn't had any problems with either the house or the management.
Leupold said her lawyer also has advised Ranus. Allen's lawyer advised her not to comment about the impending lawsuits.
Ritter, Levendahl and Leet could not be reached for comment.
University fraternities may approve new chapters next week
By Jamie Knodel
Years staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Two national fraternities will have to wait until next week to see whether the University of Kansas will be their new home.
Members of the greek expansion committee proposed last night to invite both Delta Sigma Phi and Pi Kappa Phi to establish chapters at the University within a three-year time frame.
Members of the Interfraternity Council voted to table the vote until next week on
Ryan Sheahan, Interfraternity Council president, said putting the vote off one week would enable council members to become more familiar with the expansion.
that recommendation.
ned people can investigate the expansion issue further," he said. The committee's recommendation included bringing Pi Kappa Phi fraternity to the University and inviting Delta Sigma Phi fraternity to the campus in two years.
"By voting to table the decision, a committee of concerned people can investigate the expansion issue further," he said.
Wes Simons, assistant director of greek programming, said both fraternities
would bring different perspectives to the University.
we decided to recommend both," he said. Committee members said the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity emphasized education and the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity had a very strong history.
"Both are so strong and so unique that we decided to recommend both." he said.
Interfraternity Council delegates from smaller chapters such as Theta Chi fraternity said that bringing in two new chapters could take away from their fraternities' membership and recruitment numbers.
Simons said the two groups would not be a threat to existing chapters.
"There are different types of men coming to campus, and these new groups can appeal to them," he said.
If the committee's recommendation is
Expansion committee members said bringing new chapters to the University would promote general interest in the Greek system.
Simons said research studies showed that the percentage of people involved in fraternities and sororites increased as new chapters were added.
passed next week, Pl Kappa Phi would be the first new fraternity at the University in 15 years.
The national chapter has the largest philanthropy project in the nation, Push America, Simons said.
The project takes place during the summer when members bike across America to do charity work at stops along the way.
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is also the largest national fraternity not represented at the University, Simons said. There are Pi Kappa Phi chapters at eight of the Big 12 universities.