Volume 124 Issue 94
kansan.com
Friday, February 10, 2012
SHOW ME THE MONEY
CAMPUS
FEATURE
--without the use of jumps or ramps, on occasion at Wescoe Beach.
X-Games event on TV and began taking his bike off small jumps when he was 14. When the Lawrence skate park was built the same year, he says he was immediately hooked.
For the younger riders like Anthony Guerrero, seeing the veterans at the skate park fly through the air was usually what got them riding. "I started going to the skate park, and seeing Grant do fuckin' tuck no handers (when the rider tucks the handle bars into their lap while in the air, and then releases their hands from the bike) and tail whips in front of me, that's what really got me going," Guerrero savs.
For some riders, going without their bikes would be like trying to walk without their legs. BMX has become a way of life for them, and not being able to ride on two wheels in not an option. "I was married once and that was one reason why we split up," says Meisenheimer. "She didn't like me riding as much as I did."
Although some riders can't live a day without their bike by their sides, there are some who see it as a strictly recreational sport. Rider Zunwu Zhou, a freshman from Wuhan, China, got into the sport after seeing it on TV and in magazines. But to him, BMX is only a hobby and his main focus is on his education. Zhou practices flatland BMX, a form of BMX where the rider performs tricks on a flat surface
He says that is the best place for him to practice due to the smooth surface that the area provides. Non-Flatland riders have a harder time practicing on campus, however, because jumping off things and grinding rails is frowned upon by the University.
While he doesn't see himself taking his riding to the professional level, Zhou does see BMX as a useful tool in helping him prepare for his future. He says it has taught him how to focus on a task and how to work to accomplish his goals.
Damon Mar, a graduate student from Lawrence, also sees his BMX riding as something to do for fun, but he believes that he would not be the same person without BMX in his life. "It has completely shaped who I am," Mar says. From the clothes he wears, the music he listens to, the people he looks up to, and the things he wishes to do in life like becoming a mechanical engineer, Damon says he owes all of it to his riding.
Mar has been riding for almost 12 years, and has had experience in street, park, dirt, and flatland BMX. The thing that he says his craft has done for him the most is something that can be seen as universal with almost all BMXers. "It sharpens you mentally to have focus and that can
RIDING IN A PROFESSIONAL WORLD PRO BMXER TERRY ADAMS
The BMX spark hit professional BMX flatlander Terry Adams when he was 12 years old. Seeing riders perform tricks on TV and in magazines convinced him to hop on a bike and try them himself.
Soon after he decided to try out the BMX scene, the desire to go to the professional level consumed him. BMX is a sport that's rules are made by the rider, and as a kid, Terry says he had an addictive personality that made the sport fit him like a glove.
Flatland BMX caught Terry's eye when he first saw adults doing it. "It looked like they were floating," he says. Flatland seemed to be more complicated than other BMX branches, so he decided that he would take the challenge and learn it.
Eventually, Terry reached the level he is at today and became one of the best flatland riders in the world. He is even the owner of an X-Games gold medal for flatland riding that he won while competing in the 2005 X-Games in South Korea. The X-Games is an annual sporting event held in the both the summer and winter for extreme sports like BMX, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc.
Even though he now travels all over the world and is sponsored by big name brands like Red Bull, he still feels that being able to ride with his friends is a much better option than competing. For Terry, it feels good to train hard and win, but the feeling isn't as pure as just having fun while riding around with his friends.
PHOTOS BY CHRIS NEAL
definitely be taken outside of BMX and be put into other things."
Riding BMX has taught Mar many different things, but there is one life lesson that BMX has given him that all riders share since "it gives you a certain motivation, a certain determination, and a sense that if you put your work in you will get something out of it eventually." Mar says. An understandable statement con-
sidinger the amount of time riders devote to riding and learning new tricks. Grant Meisenheimer, for example, says he has spent tens of thousands of hours to get to the level he is at now, and all of those hours were spent doing trial and error runs until he accomplishes what he wants. The same goes for riders across all the disciplines of BMX.
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Lawrence police arrested an Ottawa man Wednesday suspected of kidnapping and the robbery of a Lawrence apartment.
Kim Murphree, a police spokesman, wrote in an email that the 23-year-old man was located in Ottawa, brought by the Lawrence Police Department to the police training center during the investigation, and arrested.
According to Douglas County Jail records, the suspect is charged with four counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery and one count of aggravated robbery. The charges stem from a robbery reported January 10, in which four men robbed an apartment in the Applecroft Apartments at 1734 W. 19th St.
The men took cell phones, mar-
Mack Hartwell, a 19-year-old former University student and victim in the case, was not aware of the second arrest, but recalled the robbery.
cash, most or which was located in a safe.
It was the second arrest made in the case. The LPD arrested a 19-year-old Ottawa man hours after the robbery.
Hartwell said he and his roommates knew the 19-year-old man first arrested by police because he had come over before.
"They were yelling, 'we want all your stuff,' Hartwell said. "They said, 'we have guns, we will kill you.'"
That suspect returned January 10, and when Hartwell heard a knock at the door, the 19-year-old said more of his friends had come
"I don't know for sure if they did, but they said they did and it looked like they had them," Hartwell said. "When it's in the moment, you just don't question it."
Hartwell and the others were forced to stay in the bathroom until the men left, and were left without a way to contact the police, because the robbers had taken their cell phones and torn up
As soon as the men entered, all four suspects began yelling and some appeared to have guns.
Hartwell heard his friend, who owned the safe, being hit by the suspects while another man stayed with the other four victims.
"They started beating him because he wouldn't open the safe." Hartwell said. "Eventually he did though."
They walked to a gas station and called the police.
Another resident felt Applecroft Apartments should have notified residents of the robbery.
"It's pretty safe here usually," said Danielle Garcia, a University graduate. "But I think they should have notified us, because when something happens, you should be put on alert."
The owners of the apartments declined to comment on the case.
Hartwell thinks the remaining suspects will also be arrested, but said he will remain more attentive.
"I will definitely check out whoever comes over from now on," Hartwell said. "I'm just going to be more careful."
Edited by Amanda Gage
enology, pph dance routines and build sets. Some parts of the preparation start even before the fall semester. Around 12 pairs of fraternities and sororities compete in the fall to make it into the final show, but only five are selected.
Then the process becomes even more intense; each group practices is at least an hour per day, which makes it difficult to have a life outside of Rock Chalk.
"It's like you put everything into this," said Hannah Schoeb, a sophomore from Leawood and one of the six directors of Delta Delta Delta and Sigma Nu's show. "I mean, I still did fine in school, but I got an A- and I'm a perfectionist. I've put a lot of my friendships on hold and my relationships on hold."
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"I'm from out-of-state and I was fairly new to the house and the community, so I figured it would be a good way to get to know people," Morrison said. "It turned out to be an awesome experience."
Rock Chalk Revue is on March 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. and March 3 at 5 p.m. at the Lied Center. Tickets are available at the Lied Center box office and website.
Kirk Morrison, a sophomore from Tulsa, Okla., first participated in Rock Chalk as a freshman as a way to branch out.
CLASSIFIEDS 11
CROSSWORD 4
- Edited by Amanda Gage
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 9
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
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