CAMPUS AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, May t, 1985
Baker students must seek fun elsewhere
Page 2-E
By PEGCY HELSEL Staff Reporter
BALDWIN CITY — The faint aroma of soyeans being milled or cattle greets visitors to this peaceful town about 15 miles south of Lawrence.
Baker, like Baldwin City, is small. Almost all of the campus is contained in three short blocks.
The main attraction in Baldwin City is Methodist-affiliated Baker University.
Students at Baker are like students at any other university. They like to meet with their friends for a cold beer after a hard week. They like to eat fast food, go to movies and meet new people.
But in Baldwin City there are no fast food joints, and only one theater. Alcohol is not allowed on campus, so the two bars in the city are of the two bars in town for a beer.
AND AS FOR meeting new people. well, most of the students at Baker already know each other. There are only 676 of them to meet.
The general complaint around Baker University is one heard at the University of Kansas, but with more conviction — there's nothing to do.
Stephany Byrd, a Baker freshman from Tulsa, Okla., says Baldwin City is a far cry from Tulsa.
"It's so boring here," she says. "I go home as much as possible.
"The bar is a good place to go because you always know everybody there. It's fun at first, but it gets really old."
When Baker students are bored,
they go to the same bars, clubs, fast
food places and theaters as KU
students. Because almost all Baker
students come to Lawrence to have fun
"IT'S ALMOST automatic," says Grace Niemi, an Overland Park junior. If you're going out, you go to the gym; if you're pretty much closed down at 5 p.m.,
The move from a large high school to college at Baker was a big hit.
"Growing from a graduating class of 750 to a college of 700 is quite a change," she says.
Many of the women in Niemi's sorority combat boredom by driving into Lawrence for a movie and pizza. If they do go out to drink, Niemi says, they always designate one woman to drive and not drink.
She says many Baker students are
"We're really self-conscious about that here," she says. "There are a lot of workshops and alcohol awareness stuff."
especially wary of drinking and driving.
FOR JEFF BISNING, a senior, the small town atmosphere is a welcome change from his hometown of Leawood.
"It's nice coming to a small school," he says. "There's nothing to do down here so there's nothing to distract you."
Bissing says he and his friend, usually go to Lawrence once a week to unwind. A popular attraction is the Wednesday night drink-and-drown promotions at many private clubs. He says there usually aren't any problems with driving back and forth between Lawrence and Baldwin City after a night on the town. But that could change.
"I think it'll get a lot worse when the drinking age gets to 12." Bissing there. There won't be a bar in Baldwin to warrant the more people driving to Lawrence."
Bissing lives in one of the four fraternities at Baker. The fraternies and four sororites there house about a percent of the university's students.
THE PARTIES THAT come with joining a fraternity or sorority make greek life an attractive proposition
But 40 percent of the population isn't greek. So they find other ways to entertain themselves.
Susen Dugan, a resident assistant at one of the school's three residence halls, says independents are at a disadvantage.
"If you're not interested in the greek system, it's almost a total waste of time to come here," she said. "I do activities, but no one ever comes."
She says that a good time can be had in Baldwin City if a person is able to break a few rules. The rule that gets the most attention is the one against alcohol on campus.
"People party here," she says. "You can go down to the guys' dorm and party any hour of the day."
Dugan says the lack of activities prompts some students to create their own. One fad that hit the campus last winter was swimming—and Baker doesn't have an indoor pool.
"Sometimes it's like, 'God, get me out of here. I'm going crazy I'm so bored," "she says."
Hanuman Brown. 21/2-year-old son of Debbie Brown, finds that the best way to learn a game is by watching the big boys. Brown paid close attention to, left to right, Kurt Limesed, Lawrence junior;
Roy Stewart/KANSAN
Joel Ashmore, Kansas City, Mo., freshman; and Francisco Fierro, Panama City, Panama, sophomore, in a recent game of Hackey Sack.
VCR dealers viewing record business
By JENNIFER BENJAMIN
Staff Reporter
Video cassette recorders and video cassettes have become popular within the last couple of years because they give people freedom, education and entertainment, say the owners and managers of video sales
And their popularity shows no sign of slowing down.
"We've noticed a big increase since last August," said Steve Warner, owner of Wipe Biz. K32 Iowa St. "I do see it dropping any in the near future."
Five stores that sell or rent VCRs or cassettes have been in Lawrence since December 1983. Every weekend, Lawrence residents and students rent more than 170 VCRs from video stores.
GEORGE SMITH, owner of Smithy's TV, 1447 W. 23rd St., says. We have 70 VCRs in our rental rooms. Saturday night, we're cleaned out.
Annette Pennel, part-time assistant manager of Popingo Video, 600 Lawrence Ave. says the store's VCRS are rented every weekend.
"If we had more, they'd go too," she says.
In addition to renting VCRs, two stores rent between 800 and 1,000 movies on weekends. Smitty's TV rents about 300 to 400 movies on weekends, and Servi-Tronics, 23rd and Louisiana streets, rents 500 to 600 movies. The other video stores in Lawrence also rent many movies.
Max Pittman, manager of Picafle,
100 W 23rd St., says about half of the
trees' movie rentals go to
families and the other half goes to
students.
Charles Berg, associate professor of radio, television and film, says, "We live in a video age."
PEOPLE LIVE in an increasingly consumer oriented society, he says. They prefer to buy things rather than use their own skills.
"We're more dependent on entertainment that is made for us," he says.
Berg says VCRs give people more control over what they watch and when they watch it. The television no longer has a personal, individual, who now has more freedom.
Dave Clark, general manager of Sunflower Cablevision, 644 New Hampshire St., says most people use VCRs for "time shifting," recording off the television and watching at a later time.
This makes VCR use compatible with cable TV, Home Box Office and
any of the other pay services, Clark says.
When people watch a taped movie or TV show, the remote control of their VCR gives them even more control because people can turn commercials off or turn to another channel.
Sam Elliott, assistant professor of journalism, says that although he doesn't know advertisers are hurt by losing the potential to hart advertising.
PEOPLE'S ABILITY to use VCRs to avoid watching commercials is similar to their skipping over the ads in the newspaper, he says.
James Cox, manager of Fathers
Videos, 601 Kaidan Drive, says VCRs
make it so convenient to stay home
and watch movies that they may
See RECORDS, p. 6-B
AIRD NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER
NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER TOYOTA LAIRD NOLLER TOYOTA
JOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD NOLLER TOYOTA LARD
The first time you dined with us,you discovered our pleasant atmosphere,friendly service reasonable prices,and excellent Chinese food. And you kept coming back. Thank you! From our house to yours, thank you for your patronage throughout this school year. If you haven't tried us yet, now's the time to see what good fortune awaits you at House of Hupei.
We wish all the students good luck on finals. When you don't have the time to cook, let us prepare your meals—lunch or dinner. So, next time you're here, pick up your carryout menu. Call, and your order will be ready in 15 minutes or less. This way you can still enjoy delicious Chinese food during your busy schedule.
湖北
Lawrence's Original Authentic Chinese Restaurant
Open 7 days a week
Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Dinner: 4:30-9:30 p.m.
Fri. & Sat.'til 10:30 p.m.
2907 W. 6th
Next to Econolodge
843-8070