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VOL. 115 ISSUE 113
FRIDAY, MARCH 11.2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
CRIME
Teen suspected in break-ins
BY JOSHUA BICKEL
jbickel@hansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Five Colony Woods residents report vehicle burglaries and vandalism
Lawrence police arrested a 16-year-old male in connection with five automobile burglaries in and around Colony Woods apartments yesterday morning, according to Lawrence police reports.
Three of the vehicles involved belong to KU students.
One of those students was Nicole Trapp, Leavenworth sophomore.
She reported an unknown amount of damage to her car and a $250 MP3 player and an $80 radar detector stolen from her car Wednesday night.
Trapp said that she had never had anything like this happen to her since she moved into Colony Woods, 1301 W. 24th St., in July 2004.
Her personal safety was never an issue while living at the apartment complex, Trapp said.
"I don't feel unsale here," she said. "This just makes me angry."
Fred Marti, Colony Woods resident, reported the burglaries to Lawrence police around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday.
He told police he saw people walking in the parking lot checking the locks on car doors, said Dan Ward, Lawrence police department.
Police arrived shortly after the call. They identified and arrested one suspect at 1:13 a.m. yesterday.
Ward said he thought other people were involved, but police
had not identified or located them.
Most of the burglarized vehicles were not locked, Ward said.
All items taken from the vehicles totaled about $1,000. Unknown amounts of damage to the vehicles were also reported, according to the police reports.
Colony Woods, along with other Lawrence apartment complexes, have tried to educate its residents about the importance of personal safety, said Gina Olinger, Colony Woods manager.
A Colony Woods security officer patrols the apartment complex four times a night in a marked vehicle. Olinger said.
Later this fall, Colony Woods might have a "courtesy officer" who lives at the apartment complex. Olinger said,
The officer, from the Lawrence police department, would likely begin living at Colony Woods later this fall, Olinger said.
"Residents are encouraged to keep their cars locked at all
times and are advised not to leave valuable items in their cars." Oliner said.
A second KU student reported $50 worth of damage to his wind-shield, also from Colony Woods, according to the police reports.
A third KU student reported that nothing was stolen, but that her car had been burglarized in the 1500 block of W.25th Court, south of Colony Woods, according to police reports.
Edited by Lori Bettes
SPEAKER
Nicoletta Niosi/KANSAN
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg answers law students questions yesterday in Green Hall, east of the Burge Union. President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993. She was the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first.
Justice reflects on career, life Student says justice is 'liberal'
BY JASON SHAAD
jshaad@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
"If you were in an exam and nature called you had to make a mad dash to the bathroom and get back to the exam in time," she said.
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended Harvard Law School in the 1950s, she was one of nine women in a first-year class of about 500 male law students. Pressure of studying in a maldominated environment wasn't the most difficult part of her education, she said. It was the lack of women restrooms.
Ginsburg is the second woman to serve as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. She spoke yesterday to KU students and faculty at the School of Law.
Ginsburg talked about her experience as a Supreme Court justice and the power of the court.
When one student asked if the court had gone beyond its constitutional powers in recent years, Ginsburg answered with a definite "no." The court does not control the issues or cases it must rule on, she said.
Carly Farrell, Overland Park second-year law student, said she was inspired by Ginsburg's ability to balance an intense legal career and a family.
"We're like firefighters," she said. "We don't make the issues, we just deal with them."
"She is the second female justice ever and she has still managed to have two kids, be a mom and have a husband," Farrell said. "She is very grounded."
Ginsburg's visit gave students an opportunity to humanize a justice who writes much of the material they study, said Stephen McAllister, former dean of the law school.
"It's important for them to understand that they're not infallible," McAlister said. "But that they're not evil either. They're good people trying to do their best."
Ginsburg brought a different perspective from other Justices who have visited the law school in the last few years, Farrell said. Justice Clarence Thomas has visited the school two times since Farrell has been there. Farrell said she considered him to be a conservative justice.
Lawrence third-year law student Misikir Tilahun said Ginsburg had a different perspective and interpretation of the law than Thomas.
"Our school has gotten a lot of slack lately for being onesided." Farrell said. "But the dean is bringing in one of the most liberal justices on the bench."
Ginsburg was the 10th Supreme Court justice to visit the University. She was the fifth to visit since 2000.
"She will strike a good balance with the other justices we've heard." Tilahun said.
— Edited by Lisa Coble-Krings
ONLINE
[the fakebook] Web site features fraudulent profiles
By Neil Mulka
nmulka@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Bill Self, Martha Stewart, Mark Mangino and Axl Rose all have one thing in common: A profile on thefacebook.com, the popular social-networking Web site for college students.
But, wait a minute, Axl, a high school dropout, never went to college — unless he attended Jack Black's School of Rock.
And Martha was is prison when the profile was created on Feb. 21.
Go to the global search option on thefacebook, and you can find other fake profiles from about 400 schools.
For example, "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff has eight listings. Brad Pitt has more than a dozen.
Making fake profiles breaks the terms of agreement on thefacebook's Web site.
However, thefacebook isn't proactive about removing fake profiles, said Chris Hughes, thefacebook.com spokesman.
"If we don't receive any complaints about a fake profile, we usually aren't forced to take them off the network." Hughes said.
David Peal, Leawood senior, made a Bill Self profile as a tribute to the men's basketball coach.
"I knew it would be a big hit at Kansas," Peal said. "I thought it would pay homage to him because he's our basketball coach at one of the greatest basketball schools of the country."
As of 10 a.m., yesterday, Self's profile had more than 1,500 friends from universities throughout the nation. More than 1,300 of them came from the University of Kansas.
The profile has been up since Feb. 6, 2005.
"When I first was making this, I wondered if I could get in trouble for this," Peal said. "The only person who would care would be Bill Self. I tried to make it as well-reflecting of him as possible."
Because thefacebook.com is a publishing medium, there is potential for defamation, said Mike Kautsch, professor of law and director of media law and policy.
Defamation is communicating false information to third parties about a person that injures the reputation of or deters others from associating with that person.
Examples of defamatory statements would be saying that someone is known as promiscuous or a serial shoplifter, Kautsch said.
The person making a defamation charge would have to prove that the statement is defamatory to a reasonable person within the publication.
The Self profile includes his birthday and the phone number for the KU basketball office.
"You have to ask, 'Would you take this seriously?' he said.
SEE FAKEBOOK ON PAGE 3A
Cameron Monken/KANSAN
Rolling in it
Rolling in it Students face the happy dilemma of what to spend their forthcoming tax refunds on. For some it will be a week-long bender in New Orleans, for others, a last-minute method for paying their bills. PAGE 6A
Men's Big 12 Tournament
Vaulting to success
Missouri narrowly staved off a comeback attempt from Nebraska in yesterday's first game in Kansas City, Mo. See what other teams advanced. PAGE2B
Amy Linnen has overcome many obstacles in her track and field career. As this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championship approaches, Linnen reflects on her career. PAGE 1B
Poetry
Hear poet Martin
Espada read poems
kansan.com
EXCLUSIVE
from his
latest
book.
Espada's
work
combines poetry with social justice.
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