The University Daily
Spring '85
Kansan celebrates first day of spring with special section. See supplement.
KANSAN
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Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas.
Vol. 95, No. 114 (USPS 650-640)
Wednesday, March 20, 1985
A Lawrence firefighter leaves the smoke-filled Vista Drive-In Restaurant, 1527 W. Sixth St., after battling a fire there. Yesterday's fire caused an undetermined amount of damage to the restaurant, which will be closed for several weeks.
Grease fire flashes through Vista
BY KATHY FLANDERS
Staff Reporter
A kitchen fire yesterday closed a popular student hangout and Lawrence restaurant for at least several weeks.
The fire began in the kitchen of Vista Drive-In Restaurant, 1527 W. Sixth St., shortly after noon and caused extensive fire, smoke and heat damage to the building, said Jim McSainw, Lawrence fire chief. Despite the damage, no injuries were reported.
McSwain said last night that a damage estimate wasn't ready yet.
"We'll try to have an accurate figure by Wednesday," he said.
"The fire started in the grill behind a french fryer," McSwain said. "The fire caught the grease on fire, which shot up through the ventilation hood and flashed across the ceiling. We received a call at 12:23 p.m. from the restaurant."
McSWAIN SAID he didn't know why the grease in the fryer had ignited. He said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Mike Gasper, owner and manager of the restaurant, said about 30 people were in the restaurant when the fire began.
"It's one of our busiest times of day," he said.
The ventilation hood over the stove draws grease and fumes outside, McMain said, and flames from the fire went up and out the vent, which were reported by people outside the restaurant.
Sixteen firefighters fought the fire and cleaned up the building.
FIREFIGHTERS BATTLED flames on the roof around the vent area and inside the restaurant for about 30 minutes before extinguishing the fire. Water poured down the side of the building from the roof, and firefighters threw parts of the vent and charred pieces of wood from the roof to the ground.
So much smoke filled the restaurant that firefighters used flashlights to find their way as they cleaned up debris. They wore masks and oxygen tanks to protect their lungs from
After extinguishing the fire, firefighters set up fans on windows to blow smoke out of the restaurant and prevent further damage.
"The fire started behind the fryer and went over the whole grill." Gasper said. "It spread quickly, but stayed mostly in the kitchen area.
"There wasn't much in the dining area
Just mainly smoke."
Gasper said the last fire at the restaurant occurred about 10 years ago. Vista opened in December 1970.
Gasper said he didn't know the extent of the damage but planned to contact his insurance company and reopen the restaurant as soon as possible.
"Even though the fire stayed in the kitchen, there is extensive heat and smoke damage to the entire restaurant," McSwain said. "But the kitchen was gutted."
McMwain asked his supervisor to call the state fire marshal to investigate whether the air vent was defective or had malfunctioned. The marshal should have prevented the fire from spreading.
McSwan said of the fire marshal's office,
"They inspect all the hood systems upon installation, and it appears that the hood system was defective. It's up to them if they want to investigate it or not. But we're going to look into it."
McSain said two fire stations responded to the first call.
"After we arrived at the fire, we called in station two for extra help, and they sent another engine."
Senate passes bill easing liquor laws for all but minors
By NANCY HANEY Staff Reporter
TOPEKA — Beer, wine and hard liquor would be off limits by 1988 to Kansans under 21, but the state's liquor laws would be relaxed under a bill passed last night by the Kansas Senate.
The Senate passed the bill, 24-14, approv.
See related story p. 3
all 16 amendments added last week by the Sepate Federal and State Affairs Committee.
and State Attorney's Committee.
The bill started in the House and included a provision that would allow anyone with a valid driver's license to enter a private club. The Senate committee deleted the provision from the version it approved.
The drinking age would be raised over a three-year period starting Sept. 1, 1986, when the age would be 19. The age would be raised to 20 in 1987 and reach 21 in 1988.
The 16 amendments were added to the bill last week in an attempt to soften the drinking-age legislation, which many senators have criticized.
THE VERSION OF the bill approved by the Senate will be passed back to the House, which will vote to approve or reject the changes the Senate made. If the House rejects the changes, three members from
both the House and the Senate will be chosen to form a conference committee.
State Sen. Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence, voted against the bill. Winter said raising the age to 21 was discriminating and unfair to 18-to-20-year olds.
Winter, however, voted in favor of adding the amendments because he said that if the age was raised, he thought something else should be gained.
"The amendments were thought out as a compromise," he said. "It is also a way of modernizing the liquor laws."
WINTER SAID HE was not worried by the federal mandate sent to states last summer ordering them to raise their drinking ages to 21 or lose federal highway funds.
Winter offered another amendment to the bill that would allow the Legislature to reconsider the drinking age issue if the governor fails to mandate for a nationwide drinking age of 21.
THE ORIGINAL provision called for a review of the bill if the federal government rescinds the mandate by July 1, 1986. Winter asked that the date be omitted so the Legislature could review the bill at any time if the federal government changed the mandate.
See DRINKING, p. 5, col.1
Senate OKs building of more MX missiles
By United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Senate gave President Reagan an important victory yesterday, buying his argument that the MX missile is essential to the Geneva arms talks and voting 55-45 to build more of the 10-warhead weapons this year.
Kansas Republican Sen. Bob Dole, the Senate Republican leader, voted for the missile program, but Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, also a Republican, voted against it.
Reagan went to Capitol Hill before the vote to lobby wavering Republicans to back the 12-year-old missile program. He said the United States must present a united front to the Soviets in arms control negotiations and
said failure to vote for the MX would be seen by the Kremlin as "a collapse of our resolve."
THE VOTE WAS on a resolution to free $1.5 billion to build 21 of the missiles in fiscal 1985. Before the missile can be built, it must clear one more Senate vote, likely this afternoon, and two similar House votes — one to raise money and one to release it to the Pentagon.
Ten Democrats joined 45 Republicans supporting the missile, while eight Republicans joined 37 Democrats in voting against.
The MX, Reagan said, "will strengthen our national security and our negotiating position" in the superpower arms talks at
See MX, p. 5, col. 1
By NANCY STOETZER
Staff Reporter
Student groups last night began their requests for a share of over $50,000 available for distribution, but the hearings ended early when the Student Senate Finance Committee lost its 12-member quorum.
After hearing from five of the eight non-revenue code groups scheduled to give presentations, one committee member left to study for a test, leaving the Finance Committee with 11 members. The Finance Committee's rules say that at least one-third of the group's 36 members must be present for the committee to conduct business.
This week, the Finance Committee is scheduled to hear presentations from 33 student groups requesting money for fiscal year 1986. Next week, the committee expects to vote on how much money to allocate to each group. The committee's recommendations then will go to the full Senate for approval.
ALL GROUPS BEFORE the committee this week are non-revenue code groups, small student groups that annually request funds from the Senate and generally promote special interests.
The committee can allocate up to $51,181 among the groups. The money comes from the $24 student activity fee that students pay each semester with tuition.
The five groups that made presentations requested funds for administrative costs, special projects and equipment.
The Hispanic-American student group, MECHA, last night requested $1.026. The group serves as a referral system for Hispanic students. MECHA provides information about tutors, counseling, employment and scholarships.
The Free China Club requested $1,492. The group provides information about the Republic of China and works to strengthen friendships between Chinese and non-
counseling groups, legal and medical referrals, educational programs and social events.
GAY AND LESBIAN Services of Kansas
for $728 GLOSK provides peer
peer
The Sociology Club, a new group on campus, requested $257. The club sponsors lectures and discussions on topics that might be of special interest to students.
The KU Cricket Club, a sports group, asked for $1.388. The club competes with teams nationwide.
Before the hearings began, the committee determined its policy on what student group expenses could be financed with Senate money.
Presentations by the KU Crew Club, M'SIA KU and the Chinese Student Association were rescheduled for later this week.
Small said he objected to the committee rule saying only groups currently receiving funds for office or phone rental would be eligible to continue receiving money for these purposes. He said the rule was unfair because not all groups had office space in the Union.
Before losing quorum, the committee voted and later overturned a ruling that would have prohibited groups from using Senate money for office and phone rental.
Dick Small, Finance Committee member, said he supported prohibiting funds for office and phone rent because there was not a fee for office groupings to rent space in the Kansas Union.
In determining policy, the committee voted to prohibit using Senate funds for pens, pencils, staples and postage for internal business. The committee also voted to prohibit allocating funds for long-distance calls.
The committee also passed a rule prohibiting officers and discouraging members of student groups who are members of the Finance Committee from voting when determining budget allocations for those groups.
Another rule passed last night would prohibit any committee member not present for the financial presentation of a student group from voting on the allocation of funds to that group.
Memories haunt old Theta Chi house
Staff Reporter
Only a ghostly shell decorated with graffiti remains of the old Theta Chi fraternity house. Ninth Street and Emery Road. The abandoned building, home for Theta Chi members from 1959 to 1972, once boasted a penthouse and rooftop garden.
By MICHELLE WORRALL Staff Reporter
The ruins of the old Theta Chi fraternity house represent shattered dreams and tales of black magic.
What was once a home for 57 fraternity brothers is now a hawk for teen-agers and an occasional hobo. And some say the skeletal remains, perched high on the bluffs overlooking Ninth Street and Emery Road, are a favorite haunt of devil worshippers.
"Personally, I've never seen anything, but guys have gone up at night and seen people there," said Brad Proctor. Stilwell junior and senior were one of the ones who should not be shamed.
However, he said he would not visit the deserted building alone.
Throughout the years, curiosity, ignorance and rumors have rewritten much of the old Theta Chi house's history. But its past is as rich as the soil upon which it rests.
THE FRATERNITY was built on the site of the millstone of an authentic Dutch windmill, which was one of the first of its kind in the United States. The windmill was built in 1883 by a Swedish blacksmith and burned to the ground a year later.
An old stone house also shared the bluff. The house was the only building left standing after its destruction, and on it in 1863. It was raided during the construction of the fraternity house.
Today, the site is deathly still, except for the rustling of dead grass and the cries of
From the top story of the building — if one dares to venture that far — the entire city seems to curl around the base of the bluff.
IN THE SPRING and summer, the deserted house is shrouded by the foliage of stately trees. But when the leafy veil is removed, the building's silhouette dwarfs the naked trees and its surroundings.
doorways and windows stare like the eye
ockets of a skull. ...
And like a carcass picked clean by scavengers, a scarred skeleton is all that remains of the former show place. Its dark
Graffiti cover the structure like a colorful patchwork quilt. A menacing message, scrawled over a blue face that closely resembles that of rocker Billy Idol, greets visitors at the front door with: "Death to all That Walk the Hall."
Other messages, such as "Get Strangled" and "Life is Pain," remind visitors that this is not home sweet home.
But for 13 years, the structure was home for the members of Theta Chi.
19 IN 1957, DEROS Hogue, a fraternity member and architecture student, presented the blueprints for a multi-level dream house that would satisfy the
fraternity's need for larger living quarters.
The construction of the fraternity attracted extensive press coverage because of its unique form of construction — the slip form method. This process, which was common for grain elevator construction, had never been tried in a building planned for human occupancy.
A small form was built at ground level and filled with concrete. As the concrete set, the form was raised and refilled until the structure reached the desired height
The speed and economy of this process enabled the builders to keep construction
See HOUSE, p. 5, col. 4