THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL. 115 ISSUE 115
TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
BUSINESS
The journey to the tourney
March Madness merchandise comes to Lawrence
BY ADAM LAND
aland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The Final Four will be in St. Louis, but competition for fans' dollars begins in Lawrence.
NCAA Tournament T-shirts and other merchandise are produced to commemorate each step along the Jayhawks' journey.
"The first day we were open after we won the Final Four, it was like a madhouse," said Mark Trompeter, gift and clothing buyer for the KU Bookstore.
Businesses have to prepare for the rush of fans and buy accordingly. Final Four merchandise isn't usually displayed until after the Jayhawks win their Elite Fight game.
"We buy on 'if and when," Trompeter said. If the Jayhawks make it past the Elite Eight, the store will have shirts on order, he said. But if they don't make it that far, shirts won't be ordered, he said.
Stores buy on a contingency basis, meaning that they place an order for shirts only if the KU men's basketball team makes it to the Final Four.
“
want to get a Final Four
shirt because it's the Big Dance. I can find money for that."
Jared Johanning
Lawrence freshman
Big 12 Conference championship shirts are bought with the same plan in mind, but in smaller amounts.
Few people buy Big 12 shirts, but many buy Final Four shirts. The Sports Dome, 924 Massachusetts St., had to mark down its Big 12 shirts from $18 to $12.50, owner Brian Hoffman said.
"We only bought about two dozen Big 12 championship shirts, and only sold a few," Hoffman said. "Buyers look at it as 'Who really cares about the Big 12?'"
Some students said it was too expensive to buy shirts for the Big 12 championship and each
round of the tournament.
"I don't want to waste my money on a Big 12 shirt," Lisa Kauffman, Weston, Mo., freshman, said. "We don't make it to the Final Four every year."
Jared Johanning, Lawrence freshman, said he would wait to see how far the Jayhawks went in the tournament before he would buy a shirt.
"I want to get a Final Four shirt because it's the Big Dance," he said. "I can find money for that."
Procrastination purchases such as Johanning's make it hard on stores to estimate orders.
"We don't sell a lot of Big 12 or Sweet 16 shirts," said Toni Retonde, store manager for Jayhawk Bookstore. "It's funny because, often, we see people buy backwards."
People will often wait, and if the University makes it to the Final Four, people will buy the shirts they have neglected to that point. Retonde said. Customers will buy a Big 12 championship shirt, a Sweet 16 and a Elite Eight shirt once the team has made it to the Final Four, she said.
Edited by Ross Fitch
CRIME
Mangino dismisses Randle from team
BY JOSHUA BICKEL
jbickel@kansan.com
STAFF WRITE
Kansas coach Mark Mangino dismissed sophomore running back John Randle from the Kansas football team after he was charged with one count of battery yesterday.
Randle pleaded not guilty at
Douglas County District Court.
A $1,000 bond was set and, as of yesterday afternoon, he had not been released from the Douglas County Jail.
"We will continue to support and help John in any way we possibly can," Mangino said. "We have encouraged him to continue his education at KU. If he decides to do so, we will honor his scholarship."
Randle
Randle was arrested last year for attempted theft, disorderly conduct and use of a fake drivers license and was suspended for the first half of the team's season-opening game against Tulsa. Randle served two days in jail for that incident and was on probation when the current incident occurred.
The prosecution suggested that bond prohibit Randle from consuming alcohol entirely, but the judge could not grant that request.
As conditions of the bond, Randle can't contact anone listed as a witness on the police report.
Lawrence police arrested Randle early Sunday morning outside of It's Brothers Bar and Grill, 1105 Massachusetts St. RANDLE has been banned from the bar as a condition of his bond.
Between 1:51 a.m. and 1:55 a.m. a 21-year-old man and Randle were involved in an argument inside the bar, said Sgt. Dan Ward, Lawrence Police Department spokesman.
The argument continued outside after the bar closed. A police officer witnessed Randle punch the other man, Ward said.
The officer approached the scene, attended to the man and arrested the suspect without incident, according to a police report.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical treated the man at the scene and transported him to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Ward said. The man had injuries on his nose and cheek.
The nature of the argument was unknown, Ward said. Alcohol was listed as a contributing factor on the police report.
Randle was arrested in November 2003 on charges of domestic battery and criminal damage. The District Attorney's Office didn't file charges
SEE RANDLE ON PAGE 3A
V PHI KAPPA THETA
House adopts new policies
BY ERIC SORRENTINO
esorrentino@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Phi Kappa Theta fraternity appealed to the Interfraternity Council's executive board yesterday on grounds that its expulsion from the University was too severe.
The judicial board of the IFC expelled Phi Kappa Theta March 7 after finding that the fraternity had an unregistered party at its house, 1111 W. 11th St. The IFC filed 24 charges against the fraternity for recruitment and alcohol policy violations, and the Lawrence Police Department cited nine members of the fraternity for allegedly operating an "open saloon,"
selling alcohol without a license and selling alcohol to minors.
Matt Moreno, Wichita sophomore and Phi Kappa Theta president, drafted two of what he described as proactive outlines that detailed short-term and long-term goals of the fraternity. He said he would present the second outline to the IFC at the hearing.
The fraternity participated in a cleanup of North Park, South Park and Morning Star Church last weekend as part of its short-term goals. The 35 members of Phi Kappa Theta also listened to a guest speaker discuss the risks and dangers of alcohol Thursday.
SEE POLICIES ON PAGE 3A
Rediscovering dinosaurs
BY TY BEAVER
beaver@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Excavated fossils at the Natural History Museum are safe from being buried again in storage.
The exhibit, which opens tomorrow, is a partnership between Science City in Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., and the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in Dyche Hall, located just south of the Kansas Union.
Matt Christopher, Olathe graduate student in paleontology, and his assistants will work to prepare and cast fossils at Dino Lab at Science City as visitors watch.
Visitors will be able to communicate with Christopher through a special
SCIENCE
"Hopefully it will keep them from knocking on the glass," he said.
Christopher recommended the interactive fossil preparation exhibit before he left Science City a year ago to complete his master's at the University of Kansas.
Christopher, who is a staff paleontologist, has worked off and on at Science City since its opening in 1999.
Dino Lab will be the largest fossil preparation lab of its kind in the country, said Larry Martin, senior curator of the Natural History Museum.
The distraction doesn't concern Christopher too much.
Today's weather
Contributed photo
"This increases our credibility
Matt Christopher, Olathe graduate student and staff paleontologist at Science City, stands by a model of the dinosaur Coelophysis at Science City, located in Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. Christopher will work with real fossils rather than models when the interactive fossil preparation exhibit, Dino Lab, opens tomorrow.
microphone that will connect to a headset.
SEE DINOSAURS ON PAGE 3A
All contents, unless stated otherwise,
© 2005 The University Dally Kansan
Dad's Place
A Lawrence church group owns and operates an alternative coffee shop for teenagers on Ninth and Massachusetts streets. The shop is open from 6 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. PAGE 6A
Tournament breakdown
Life after basketball
We've got the first-round goods on the four NCAA Tournament regions. Today you'll find the Albuquerque regional specs. PAGE 2B
Former Kansas men's basketball player Bryant Nash has not been living his dream since his days with the team. Nash has had knee surgery and few job offers to play basketball. PAGE 1B
Intramurals For additional coverage, as well as photos
kansan.com
EXCLUSIVE
day's intramural contest, go to kansan.com. PAGE 6B