Volume 124 Issue 124
kansan.com
Friday, March 30, 2012
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self addresses questions in New Orleans Thursday about losing assistant coach Danny Manning to Tulsa. New Orleans is drawing hundreds of students and fans for Saturday's national semifinal against Ohio State.
BASKETBALL
Bourbon Street welcomes Kansas fans with music, unique energy
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
As loads of people walked by the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets — the very center of downtown New Orleans — four Kansas students stopped walking. Something had caught their attention.
Sending ripples into the standing water from earlier rain was a New Orleans street band, and for those four Kansas students, the bright lights of Bourbon Street could wait another minute. They wanted to watch the nine New Orleans locals blast their brass instruments.
These Kansas students had a particular interest in the street band on New Orleans' most eccentric street because the students themselves are in the KU Pep Band.
"Its pretty sick, they play entirely different from the way that we play," said Sarah Rucker, a junior from Lawrence. "And it's really cool to see something that different. It sounds great. I love it."
As the University students applauded the band, Rucker did not hesitate to explain just how different this street band is from the one that livens Allen Fieldhouse at every Kansas home game.
"When we play, it's all about tone, and we play much quieter than they do." Rucker said. "For them it's pretty much about energy it seems like, and volume is incredible. It's a street band; it's completely different."
And this unique energy is exactly what downtown New Orleans
adds to the Final Four.
Basketball fans have started to arrive, wearing Mardi Gras beads in their teams' colors, and extra enthusiasm for the weekend's events.
And two Kansas fans, Bob and Mac Austin, who have attended all but one Final Four tournament since 1990, were particularly excit-
SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 7A
MADNESS
Police in two cities prepared for final buzzer, crazed fans
RACHEL SALYER
rsalyer@kansan.com
If the Jayhawks win The Final Four, fans will flock to Bourbon and Massachusetts Streets to celebrate, and both Lawrence and New Orleans are taking measures to make sure there aren't any party foul's.
The Lawrence Police Department announced its plans to block traffic from Massachusetts Street from Sixth to 13th streets following a Jayhawk victory.
"If it looks like there is going to be celebration, we will put the barriers up sometime during the game," said Sgt. Trent McKinley, a spokesperson for the Lawrence Police Department.
McKinley said the barricades may be used if the basketball team loses and if it appears people still plan on crowding the streets, and the department will keep the barricades up until the streets clear out.
"The number of people anticplated to be in the streets will
THE BIG EASY: BY THE NUMBERS
$135 to $140 million
The estimated amount of money New Orleans will make from the games.
74,400 The number of seats sold out in The Mercedes-Benz Superdome for all games.
More than 100,000 The number of people New Orleans expects to be in town for the games.
About 36,860 The number of hotel rooms reserved for Saturday night.
175,000
125,000 The number of people employed in the New Orleans travel industry.
Source: New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp.
really shut the streets down anyway," McKinley said. "So, it's a safety consideration. The number of people who are there plus the amount of alcohol combined
with moving vehicles is a bad one."
Nancy Longhurst, general
SEE SAFETY PAGE 7A
ARTS
Final Fridays benefit art students, local shops
REBEKKA SCHLICHTING rschlichting@kansan.com
The Lawrence art community has something to offer everyone on Final Fridays.
Downtown businesses work with artists from around the country to exhibit and sell artwork on the last Friday of every month. The art event brings hundreds of people downtown every month.
"A recent economic impact study shows that Final Fridays are bringing in at least $85,000 each final Friday to restaurants and businesses around the locations," said Final Fridays Coordinator Molly Murphy.
Lawrence Art Center, Downtown Lawrence Incorporated, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, art galleries and artists collaborated in August 2010 to create the monthly event.
Before it started, artists and galleries worked individually. Murphy said the art community is now coming together, and there is more emphasis on community projects.
"This sort of energy is good for Lawrence, and it is a more cohesive night for everybody." Murphy said.
This Friday, 26 businesses and galleries downown will take part in the event. LASpace Art,845
Massachusetts Street, for instance, has participated in Final Fridays four times, and hosts both art displays and live music during the event. Five local artists create all of the art that this gallery hosts on a final Friday.
"It goes straight from the wood shop to the easel to the wall and then out the door," said Paul Flinders, an artist at Lost Space Art.
"We've had anyone from KU professors, to people who ship their art in from Seattle," said Summer Bradshaw, an intern at Wonder Fair Art Gallery, 803 $ \frac{1}{2} $ Massachusetts Street.
Like many downtown galleries, its busiest day of the month is on the last Friday.
Artists from around the country, as well as those from the Lawrence area, have benefited from Final Fridays.
"The place gets pretty packed," Flinders said. "The town is on fire on Final Fridays."
Among the local artists who participate in the event, University students have taken advantage of showcasing their work during the event.
In 2011, Jessie Kelley, a senior from Wichita, curated a gallery specifically for 16 college students.
CLASSIFIEDS 2B
CROSSWORD 4A
Kelley said it was a great opportunity for students to get used to the idea of showing their work in public.
Businesses outside of art galleries, such as the Fox Trot shoe store, 823 Massachusetts Street, also participate in Final Fridays. Owner Caroline Mithias said the event brings in a lot of foot traffic into her store, and it supports the art community.
"It's always good to get the KU art department out from campus," Kelley said. "Not a lot of people see what we do on campus. It was nice to bring art downtown and let people view it."
"Final Fridays gets people in the store," said Irene Walker, an artist and employee at BDC Tattoo. "Sometimes there are people who would never step foot in a tattoo shop that have come in."
Big Daddy Cadillacs Tattoo, 938 Massachusetts Street, features one artist a month. This Friday, they are showing Erin Brazler's "Fatties on Parade" exhibition, which are marker-drawn portraits of humorous cartoon characters.
Edited by Corinne Westeman
CRYPTOQUIPES 4A SPORTS 18
OPINION 5A SUDOKU 4A
3. THE ELDRIDGE HOTEL (701 Massachusetts St.)
FINAL FRIDAY VENUES & EVENT LISTINGS (in order from 6th Street to 12th Street in Downtown Lawrence)
4. LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY (707 Vermont St.)
2. VAN GO! MOBILE ARTS (see Lawrence Art Party)
1. DIANE'S ARTISAN GALLERY (4 E. 7th St.)
5. SIGNS OF LIFE (722 Massachusetts St.)
6. THE LAWRENCE ART PARTY (718 New Hampshire St.)
7. TELLER'S RESTAURANT UPSTAIRS (746 Massachusetts St.)
10. THE INVISIBLE HAND GALLERY (801 1/2 Massachusetts St.)
14. DOWNTOWN UPSTAIRS (824 1/2 Massachusetts St.)
11. WONDER FAIR (803 Massachusetts St.)
12. FOXTROT
(823 Massachusetts St.)
13. LOVE GARDEN SOUNDS (822 Massachusetts St.)
8. PACHAMAMAS
(860 New Hampshire St.)
15. PHOENIX GALLERY (825 Massachusetts St.)
9. SMILING MAD DESIGNS & INKELLO LETTERPRESS (801L, Suite 3 Massachusetts St.)
22. KANSAS SAMPLER (921 Massachusetts St.)
23. THE GRANADA (1020 Massachusetts St.)
16. LOST ART SPACE (845 Massachusetts St.)
17. THE BOURGEOIS PIG (6 E. 9th St.)
18. Z's DIVINE DOWNTOWN ESPRESSO
(10 E. 9th St.)
21. LAWRENCE ARTS CENTER (940 New Hampshire)
20. LAWRENCE PERCOLATOR (in the alley behind Lawrence Arts Center on 9th SL.)
24. AIMEE'S CAFE' & COFFEE SHOP (1025 Massachusetts St.)
19. BDC TATTOO (938 Massachusetts St.)
25. WATKINS COMMUNITY MUSEUM (1047 Massachusetts St.)
Air contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
26. 1109 GALLERY (1109 Massachusetts St.)
Continuing student enrollment begins for summer and fall semesters, 2012. For more info, see Office of the Registrar, www.registerar@ku.edu.
Today's Weather
Skies will be clear with a warm temperature and a calm north wind.
Everyone can see you sweating.