TODAY'S WEATHER: Chance of rain with a high of 84.SEE PAGE 4B SPORTS: Baseball team sweeps Centenarv. SEE PAGE 1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Leita Walker, Jay Krall or Kyle Ramsey at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
MONDAY
MAY 6,2002
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ISSUE 145 VOLUME 112
Bank uses Watkins fund for some legal fees
By Meredith Carr Kansan staff writer
Unless a court intervenes, a lawsuit brought to preserve the Elizabeth Miller Watkins Trust may end up draining it instead.
Residents of the Watkins and Miller Scholarship Halls have sued Bank of America and the University of Kansas over the management of the trust, which
provides for the maintenance and operations of the two scholarship halls.
Bank of America, the trustee, may use money in the trust to pay some of its legal bills if the court approves. In recent legal filings, David Brown, the lawyer for the scholarship halls, has accused the bank of running up its legal bills to drain the trust.
In a brief filed with the court in March, Brown stated that the bank had paid $44,000 to its former law firm using
funds from the trust
Eric Zahnd, attorney with the bank's current law firm of Bryan Cave, said the law allowed this.
"The language of the trust and Kansas law allows some of the trustee's legal fees to be paid from the trust pursuant to the court's approval," Zahnd said.
Brown argues that the bank and the University are stalling in order to waste money in the trust.
The brief filed with the court alleged that the bank and the University had made several frivolous court filings in order to delay a hearing that could lead to a final resolution of the case.
In the brief, Brown describes the possible reasons for the filings. "Yet another accomplishment is to waste trust assets. Indeed, even the bickering over the hearing date for considering motions results in an inexcusable waste of trust assets by the
trustee and the University."
The residents brief asks the court to hold the key hearing as soon as possible and limit it to the issue of whether the bank and the University were misusing the money.
Rose Marino, associate general counsel for the University of Kansas, said the spending of the trust funds was the fault of the residents.
Odd autos prowl around downtown
SEE BANK ON PAGE 5A
Art Togeau serves up crazy cars, pimping pickups and sunny fun
Participants throw candy from their decorated vehicles in the annual Art Tougeau parade. The spectacle took place at noon on Saturday along Massachusetts Street.
By Lauren Beatty
Kansan staff writer
PHOTOSBYJOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
Everything from a toaster to a giraffe
— all on wheels, of course — showed up
for the Art Tougeau parade Saturday
Steve Jacobs gives a salute from his "Wealth and Hell Being." The '79 Lincoln Continental was named grand champion Saturday.
The seventh annual art-car parade rolled down Massachusetts Street in front of around 500 onlookers lined up on the sidewalks of downtown Lawrence.
"It it was great," said Joanna Dyrka, a Lawrence High School exchange student from Krakow, Poland. "It was good for the kids and there was good weather. It was so special for me. It was so cool."
About 40 different cars, bikes and scooters were featured in the parade. Stacy Hedlund, 2001 KU graduate, painted her Geo Metro two years ago after she was in a car accident. The car was decorated to look like stained glass and also had a turtle and a dragonfly painted on it. This was the first year she drove in the parade.
"It's the only time of the year my car fits in." she said.
Charles Jones, Douglas County commissioner and creator of the parade, said he named the parade "Art Tougeau" because of the way it sounds: it's pronounced "to go" and as a play on art nouveau, an art movement in the early 1900s. Jones said he was impressed with the turnout.
"It went perfectly," he said. "We had wonderful entries. It went great."
Winners included a Black Cat Firecracker car; a car from Omaha, Neb. completely covered in pennies and a "Yellow Submarine."
At the end of the parade, trophies were given out by parade judges Bev Chapman a reporter for KMBZ Channel 9 News; Jan Biles, features and art editor of the Lawrence Journal-World and reporter Allison Mann of Channel 6 News.
"It's the only time of the year my car fits in." Stacy Hedlund 2001 KU graduate
Gary Coover, Fayetteville, Ga., resi.
dent, drove the submarine. The car was painted yellow, played the Beatles' tune of the same name and squirted bubbles out of the exhaust pipe.
"I built the car three years ago for the art car parade in Houston," he said. "But this is the greatest parade. It was a beautiful day and everyone was smiling and laughing."
Saturday evening the first annual Art Tougeau Film Festival took place at the
Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St. An Oscar nominated film, Leo Beurman, about a Lawrence resident was shown as part of the Art Tougeau tradition. Wild Wheels, a documentary about art cars, and its sequel, Driving the Dream, were also shown.
Contact Beatty at beatty@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Sarah Warren.
KU Hillel loses leaders, students look to fill gap
By Adam Pracht Kansan staff writer
The Jewish community at the University of Kansas could be facing a leadership crisis as their campus organization is set to lose its three primary officers.
Susan Shafer-Landau, executive director of the KU Hillel Foundation; Lisa Raschke, assistant director; and Andrew Zidel, outreach coordinator, will all leave Kansas for new opportunities.
"My concern is—as with any transition—I don't want there to be some big gap in the momentum." she said.
In addition, Judith Beiner, rabbi at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Drive, will move to Atlanta this May. Her husband, Stan, was hired as the headmaster of Solomon Schechter Day School there.
Shafer-Landau said she had some concerns as the search began for new leadership.
Shafer-Landau will leave on June 30 for Madison, Wis., where the University of Wisconsin recently hired her husband, Russell.
"I think it's inevitable," she said. "I find working with the Jewish community both as a member of the community or as a professional to be
Shafer-Landau said that she will continue to work for the interests of Jewish people.
very enriching."
Zidel, 23, is a University of Kansas graduate who worked for Hillel under a fellowship grant from the Jewish Campus Service Corps. Now that his fellowship is over, he plans to study to become a rabbi.
Raschke will head to Raleigh, N.C., on June 23. Her husband, Gregory, has accepted a position at North Carolina State University.
The three years that Shafer-Landau led Hillel brought the renovation of the Hillel House at 940 Mississippi St., organizational adjustments and a larger staff.
He said the change in leadership should be looked at as an opportunity for new ideas and energy for Hillel.
"There are new possibilities," he said. "When you think something's over, other things are beginning."
Sara Rubin, Elgin, Ill., senior said that she appreciated the opportunities to travel to Israel, special Shabbat dinners every month and the opportunity to meet other Jewish students.
"They're just so comforting and so supportive, it's like a family," she said.
She said the three made students feel at home.
Charlie Richman, Dallas junior, said that finding new leadership as skilled as those
SEE HILLEL ON PAGE 5A
A CLEEBRATION OF SPRING
JOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
Pagans, Wiccans and the curious gathered Saturday night near Clinton Lake for Beltane, a celebration of the rebirth of Spring.
FOR THE COMPLETE STORY SEE WICCANS ON PAGE 6A
Chancellor's student award winners named
Richard Johnson, dean of Student Life Administration, was the chair of the committee that selected the winners. He said that all the winners were chosen based on their leadership and academic skills along with their involvement in campus organizations. The winners are as follows:
By Leah Shaffer Kansan staff writer
At 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 18 at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union, the students will be the recipients of the Chancellor's Student Awards as part of the 130th commencement that weekend.
Nine seniors will be honored for the time and work they put into improving the University of Kansas.
Anneliese Stoever, Overland Park senior, will receive the Donald K. Alderson Memorial Award. This award goes to students active in benefit other students.
Karrigan Bork, Lawrence senior, and Holly Worthen, McPherson senior, will both receive the Class of 1913 Award which
SEE AWARDS ON PAGE 5A