TODAY'S WEATHER: Warming up with a high of 55. SEE PAGE 6B
SPORTS: Read about the football team's first day of practice. SEE PAGE 7A
TALK TO US: Contact Leita Walker, Jay Kraill or Kyle Ramsey at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
THURSDAY APRIL 4,2002
ISSUE 123 VOLUME 112
KU Card officials want to improve card services
By Mike Gilligan Kansan staff writer
Contracts for the KU Card expire next January, but before that happens, KU Card officials want student suggestions on how to make the card more useful for them.
KU Card officials held a meeting last night to discuss improvements to the card, which was introduced in 1998.
The meeting, at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union, was attended by two students.
"We want to gather input from the stu"
tures," said Nancy Miles, KU Card administrator.
dents to find out how they feel about the card and if they want any new fea-
The University has a contract with three separate vendors for the card, she said. The contracts are with CyberMark, CBORD and Commerce Bank.
Commerce provides banking services, CyberMark is responsible for the mass
production of the cards and CBORD deals with privilege control services, such as giving students access to the facilities at Robinson Center and other University buildings.
The University has different options regarding the contracts for the card, Miles said, such as renewing the current contracts or adding new features to the card.
To gather input, the KU Card Center took an on-line survey, asking students about how often they used the cards, what they used them for and any additional services they wanted the cards to provide.
Miles said the survey ended March 25, but the KU Card Center received only preliminary data yesterday.
Diane Goddard, assistant associate provost and comptroller, said by looking over the survey data briefly, she was able to pick out one complaint of the card.
"A lot of the students complained about cards falling apart," she said.
Paige Isaacson, Salina junior, said there should be more cash-to-card machines available to the students.
"Hashing has the only machine on Daisy Hill, and I've heard people complain that there isn't a machine at GSP"Jaacson said.
Miles said the KU Card Center would continue to hold forums on campus and at the residence halls, then make recommendations to the Provost Office.
She said if changes were going to be made, the KU Card Center would like to start implementing them in June.
Contact Gilligan at mgilligan@kansan.com. This story was edited by Gillian Titus.
Home Alone
Win or lose,some KU sports still struggle to bring in fans
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
By Ryan Wood Kansan sportswriter
The air in Allen Fieldhouse filled with electricity. Cheers drowned out the Kansas band. Where section upon section of seats usually remain empty, spectators packed in for February's Sunflower Showdown between the Kansas State and Kansas women's basketball teams.
But for a home game, something sounded dreadfully out of whack. "K-SU Wildcats!" reverberated through the
The Kansas women's basketball team's Feb. 13 loss to Nebraska was played in front of just 754 fans in Allen Fieldhouse. For the season, Kansas averaged 1,806 fans, 11th in the Big 12.
Women's basketball attendance Kansas vs. Kansas State
2001 Kansas K-State
Overall 12-17 12-16
Conference 5-11 2-14
Avg. attendance 2,458 3,424
2002 Kansas K-State
Overall 5-25 26-8
Conference 0-16 11-5
Avg. attendance 1,806 8,158
house that Phog Allen built.
Of the 11,858 fans in the stands, more than 10,000 were rooting for Kansas State.
With a smirk, a young K-State fan turned to his friend. "Where are all the Kansas fans?" he asked.
One thing is clear: They weren't at women's basketball games in 2002. Nor did Kansas fans show up at other Olympic sport events, like soccer, baseball and softball games.
At Kansas State and other Big 12 universities, Olympic sport attendance has meant sport for their athletics department programs. While Kansas has had to cut smaller sport programs, athletics departments like K-State's and Texas' have kept, and even added, programs.
Could larger crowds for Olympic sports actually help Kansas' revenue woes? Athletics director Al Bohl has seen firsthand how Olympic sports can bring revenue into his program — but not at Kansas. Instead, it was at Fresno State, where he served as athletics director from 1996 to 2001.
"At Fresno State, we were bringing in $300,000 a year in softball, and $400,000 in baseball," he said.
Kansas' numbers pale when compared to Fresno State's. According to Susan Wachter, chief financial officer for the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation, the total revenue for Kansas baseball in
"There is no question that our basketball team has not done well and that's definitely going to impact attendance."
Al Bohl Athletics director
2001, excluding fund-raising, was $7,910.
Kansas softball finished 32-27 in 2001, good enough for third place in the Big 12, one of the toughest softball conferences in the nation. Still, Jayhawk softball games drew among the smallest crowds in the Big 12, and generated just $1,835.
While other Big 12 universities are reaping the benefits from the popularity of smaller sports, the Olympic sports at Kansas are struggling to bring in fans—and, as a result, money.
Basketball's misfortunes
When Bohl announced he was sticking with women's basketball coach Marian Washington following the Big 12 tournament, he made it clear that winning records and revenue need to improve. As the popularity of women's
basketball peaked nationwide, the Jayhawks 0-16 conference mark made the sagging attendance at Kansas games painfully apparent.
The crowd at the women's K-State Kansas game in February was larger than Kansas had seen in its previous 11 home games combined.
That game marked only the third time the Jayhawks had drawn more than 10,000 fans for a game in team history. K-State eclipsed that mark six times this season alone. Texas Tech and Iowa State, both programs with winning traditions, average more than 10,000 a game, and have done so for years.
"There is no question that our basketball team has not done well," Bohl said, "and that's definitely going to impact attendance."
K-State's attendance figures at Bramage Coliseum grew significantly as the Wildcats charged up the national rankings, and the athletics department at Kansas State cashed in as a result.
"We're obviously seeing some revenue coming our way that wasn't planned for," said Casey Scott, K-State's associate athletics director, "and that's always a good thing."
SEE EMPTY SEATS ON PAGE 5A
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Freshman forward Amy Geha helped the Kansas soccer team to a 5-0 victory over Drury on Oct.23.The game attracted just 143 fans,the lowest turnout for a soccer game in 2001.
Participants in the Bataan Memorial Death March try to complete the 26-mile hike through rugged terrain in New Mexico.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Cadets to honor fallen soldiers
By Adam Pracht
Kansan staff writer
It was a death march.
On April 9,1942,the starving,parched American and Filipino defenders of Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
Without giving them food or water, the Japanese forced the captured troops to march more than 70 miles through the hot peninsula jungles for days, and in some cases up to two weeks,
SEE MARCH ON PAGE 3A
University mechanic upset about sludge in garage
By Lauren Beatty
Kansan staff writer
A mechanic at the University of Kansas fears his health may be in danger because of some possibly toxic sludge dumped down the main drain of the University Garage. 3005 W. 15th St.
Officials from Facilities Operations say the sludge has been tested, was not toxic and has been cleaned up.
Tom Bryce said he and co-workers
INSIDETODAY
at the garage, which performs maintenance on KU vehicles, uncovered the sludge in a grease trap in the drain. Bryce said they were concerned about where the sludge came from and what chemicals made up the sludge.
Last week, Bryce said one coworker developed a headache and became flushed from the fumes coming out of the drain. The employee, who
SPORTS ... 7A
SEX ... 2B
WEATHER ... 6B
CROSSWORD ... 6B
SEE SLUDGE ON PAGE 3A
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
SUBLEASING: Leaving town this summer? It's time to find someone to sublease
COUNTING SHEEP: Most students don't get enough sleep and are suffering from sleep deprivation.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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