Thursday
January 16, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No. 77
Today's weather
26°
Tonight: 3'
CM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
1 CENTIMETER = 0.3937 INCHES - 1 METER = 39.37 INCHES OR 3.28 FOOT FEET 1 OR 1.094 DOS - 1 LINCH = 2.54 CENTIMETERS - 1 DECIMETER = 3.937 IN OR 0.328 FOOT
1 FOOT = 3.048 DECIMETERS - 1 YARD = 0.9144 METER
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Tell us your news
School Rockers
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert, and Justin Henning at 864-4810 editor@kansan.com
Students in local bands balance rockin' with hittin' the books Jayplay
KU student rolls truck near home; wreck fatal
By Erin Ohm eohm@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The friendly smile of Joseph "Joe" Niehues Jr. is what friends and family will miss most about the University of Kansas freshman.
Nichues, 18, died in a car accident Jan. 1 when his truck drifted into a ditch and rolled several times.
Kansas Highway Patrol officials said the accident had happened about two miles south of his hometown, Corning, on Highway 63.
Nichues was traveling alone when the accident occurred.
Joseph Niehues Sr. said his son loved to work on cars, and his dream was to design cars for NASCAR. Niehues was a mechanical engineering major.
Niehues
Fric Braem/Kansan
Niehues' mother,
Judy Niehues, said he loved to tinker with his 1991 Dodge Ram,
which he was driving at the time of the accident.
He also enjoyed hunting and fishing.
his mother said.
One of Niehues' outstanding characteristics was his smile.
"He pretty much had a smile for every one. It didn't matter who you were or what you were," she said. "He could relate and hold a conversation with about anybody."
Ronald Dougherty, chairman of mechanical engineering, taught Niehues in an introductory engineering class. Dougherty said Niehues was friendly and helpful in class.
"He was easy to get to know. I think that's what people will miss," he said.
"He was outstanding from a person point of view. He was someone people can say, 'I'd be happy to know him.'"
Dougherty said Niehues had been a solid student had always sat in the front row wearing a backward baseball cap.
At more than 6 feet 5 inches tall, Judy said Niehues sat in the front row because he wouldn't have room for his long legs otherwise.
Anthony Evgenidis, a Manhattan, N.Y., freshman and Niehues' roommate, said everyone knew Niehues by his size and baseball cap.
"Of everything I can think of to blame for what happened, it's just something Joe would say, 'Don't worry about it, Mom,'" she said.
"Everyone would see a big, tall kid walking around with an orange cap and say 'That's Big Joe.'" he said.
Niehues' mother said he was laid back and didn't let much bother him.
Snow falls on Allen Fieldhouse before the start of last night's basketball game. With the brunt of a Northeastern storm hitting Lawrence after midnight, meteorologists predicted up to six inches of snow by this morning.
Edited by Julie Jantzer
Book-buying blues
By Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Textbook prices send KU students searching for bargains
Buying books used to be a burden for Lara Squyres. Now she doesn't pay a cent.
semester, which is actually really cheap," she said. "But it's still nice to have the refund."
Because Squyres, Topeka junior and Student Union Activities employee, works at the Kansas Union for more than 10 hours a week, the Union will refund the money she spent on books for this semester.
For students without free textbooks, the beginning of the semester can frustrating and expensive.
"I've spent $200 on books this
Paul Shoulberg, Lawrence senior, said he had spent about $360 at the Kansas Union Bookstore on books for his film classes.
"One book was $80 for 100 pages, and it's paperback," he said.
Competition between campus and off-campus bookstores can create a
range of prices.
Peter Doddema, textbook manager at University Book Shop, 1116 W.23rd St., said textbook pricing followed a formula.
The publisher sets a recommended selling price for the book and then sells the books to the stores at a discount, which is usually 20 or 25 percent for books labeled "textbooks." Individual stores then mark up the book's price within the 20 or 25 percent margin;
SEE BOOKS ON PAGE 6A
Sergey Zolotukhin, a Fulbright visiting scholar, walks by security guard Matthew Bryan near the entrance of the Kansas Union bookstore. Bryan said the security guards, who will be at the bookstore until next Sunday, had not experienced serious problems.
Union bookstore adds guards to control theft
Courtney Kublen/Kansan
By Megan Hickerson
mhickerson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
While students browse the bookshelves this semester, others may be watching.
The Kansas Union Bookstore hired a private security firm to minimize crime during one of the busiest times of the year for textbook sales.
merchandise easier than in the summer time.
Book theft is more common early in the semester when students purchase textbooks and sell back old ones. Students bundle up in bulky winter clothing, allowing them to conceal stolen
Stolen textbooks are sold back to the bookstore resulting in an easy profit for the thief.
The increase in book theft does not surprise Bill Getz, textbook manager at the Kansas Union Bookstore.
"Stealing and selling back books is unfortunately a steady diet on college campuses," he said. "Books are liquid fluid as a means of revenue."
Getz said in-store security guards were proven to deter crime. But Bill
SEE THEFT ON PAGE 6A
University supports new MRC
By Cate Batchelder
cbatchelder@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
By Cate Batchelder
Just as construction crews leave the area north of the Kansas Union, a new Multicultural Resource Center may bring them back to break fresh ground.
KU officials and the Kansas University Endowment Association endorsed a new MRC estimated at $2.5 million that Student Body President Jonathan Ng and other Senate members had proposed
during winter break.
The current center stands as an island surrounded by parking lots and sandwiched between Summerfield Hall and the Military Science Building. And though it is centrally located on campus, no one knows where it is, Ng said.
"It's a grand idea," Provost David Shuilenburger said. "We certainly need a better facility than what we have now."
He said the demolition of the current structure was long overdue. Moving the center or renovating the current building
is necessary to have effective programming. Ng said.
The current MRC was established in 1995 in the building formerly known as the Military Sciences Annex. It holds offices, two meeting rooms and a small computer lab to meet the needs of campus organizations such as the stEp Program and the Hispanic American Leadership Organization. These organizations as well as classes and inhouse programs have pressed the center
Santos Núñez, MRC program director, said a more visible and accessible facility would help the MRC expand and improve.
"It sometimes becomes difficult to provide the adequate programming requested by the KU community due to space or location issues," Nunéz said.
The new location is necessary, Ng said.
"In order to improve upon the current programming, you had to have a new
Local Kmart one of 326 announcing plans to close
SEE MRC ON PAGE 8A
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Some students are still supporting the store. Sara Klassen, Louisburg sophomore, searched for bargains at the discount retailer Wednesday.
Lawrence shoppers might soon have one less option.
Kmart announced Tuesday that Lawrence's store at 3106 Iowa St. was one of the 326 stores the business planned to close, pending a Jan. 28 bankruptcy hearing.
"My mom taught me to check everywhere for the best price, so I look everywhere," she said. "I like the store. It's not crowded, it's kept clean, and I've found a bunch of cute clothes for my niece."
But other students have given up on Kmart. Jessica Bush, Tula, Okla., senior, hasn't scoured the racks at Kmart since moving to Lawrence.
"I actually thought it was already closed," she said. "Everybody else seems to hate it." "I like the store (Kmart). It's not crowded, it's
The store, which opened in October 1974, has faced competition from other nearby discount stores such as SuperTarget, 3201 Iowa St., and Wal-Mart. Sara Klassen 3300 Iowa St. Louisburg sophomore kept clean, and I've found a bunch of cute clothes for my niece."
"it's hard to resuscitate an image when you become the butt of jokes," he said.
sor of business, said the competition was a factor in the planned closing but was merely a step in the domino effect. As a business professor, Barker said he had been paying close attention to Kmart's bankruptcy.
For those who continue to support Kmart. Barker said the company might not be able to bounce back.
Vince Barker associate profes
"The store's top management decided a decade ago to invest in more specialty stores, such as Borders bookstore, and ignored the diverse product line that made Kmart popular," he said.
Barker said the closing of the Lawrence store was one wave of down-sizing in a series.
"Kmart is like an ice cube in a bowl of warm water—it will continue to shrink until it fades away," he said.
"They tried to upgrade their advertising and products, but by then it was too late," Barker said. "They had built up enough debt that they weakened their ability to refurbish the stores and invest in new technology. That caused the store's image to suffer, so they made even less money."
Barker said by the time the company abandoned the speciality businesses it had lost its ability to compete.
The Smart Distribution Center. 2400 Kresse Road, will remain open for now.
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John Rose, manager of the Lawrence Kmart, said employees weren't allowed to comment on the possible closing.
According to a representative of Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group, a local commercial real estate company, Rubenstein Real Estate owns the property. Employees of Rubenstein, who were unavailable for comment, have been anticipating the closing since buying the property in July, said the representative. Though no possible replacement had been announced as of yesterday, Rubenstein representatives said they would continue to examine all options.
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- Edited by Lindsay Hanson
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