SAN
009
TEAM RELISHES OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY FOR LARGER AUDIENCES
Postseason success has led to a boom in attendance for women's basketball home games. SPORTS 1B
MORE THAN JUST WORD PROBLEMS
Math department explores Earth's issues. ENVIRONMENT 6A
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY,APRIL 3,2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120ISSUE 128
SHAKESPEARE MEETS SESAME STREET
Spencer Lott, Lawrence junior, showcases his favorite puppet creations. Lott has been interested in puppet making since watching Sesame Street during his childhood and will performing on Saturday at Oread Books in the Union.
POETRY PUPPETEER
Theater and film student narrates poems with handmade puppets
BY JENNIFER TORLINE
jtorline@kansan.com
An entire bedroom in Spencer Loitt's house is filled with trash bags and plastic containers full of puppets. On a shelf, a replica of actor Don Knotts siss next to a green troll that hides under a bridge from the children story "Three Billy Goats Gruff"
The room is Lott's studio and it's where he creates puppets of all shapes, sizes and colors.
lott, Lawrence junior and puppeteer, will use a few of these puppets to narrate and act out some of Shel Silverstein's poetry and short stories on Saturday at Oread Books in the Kansas Union in honor of National Poetry Month.
SQUIGGLE PUPPET THEATER SHOW
"It's fun and challenging for me because it's almost an improv," said Lott, who described himself as a huge fan of children's literature. "It's a lot of audience participation and if I'm feeling that I'm doing a character and it's working, then I keep it up."
WHAT: Puppet show with
Spencer Lott
WHERE: Oread Books in
the Kansas Union
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to noon
Saturday
HOW MUCH: Free
Lott, a theater and film major and the one-man show behind Squiggle Puppet Productions, has been presenting puppet shows for children at Oread Books since Spring 2007. In addition to Saturday's show, he will present another show Saturday, May 2.
Lisa Eitner, general books buyer for
Oread Books, said Lott's past shows have ranged from his own stories to dramatic readings to stories with shadow puppets.
As many as 100 people have come to the shows in the past, Eitner said, and the shows had to be moved to a bigger space in the store for a larger than expected crowd.
SEE PUPPETS ON PAGE 3A
"It's something out of the ordinary and he is really quite talented and creates something that is worth experiencing." Eitner said.
For Lott, creating something out of the
SUA
George Stephanopoulos to visit campus
BY MICHELLE SPREHE msprehe@kansan.com
Politician and journalist George Stephanopoulos will visit Lawrence April 7 to answer students' questions about his life experiences and thoughts on politics.
The event is free and open to students and the public but tickets are required.
Briana Saunders, social events coordinator, said Student Union Activities was out of tickets for the event in the Union ballroom. Students interested can still get
adviser for the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign and for his appearances on a variety of news television shows.
tickets to watch the lecture from a live feed in Woodruff Auditorium.
Stephanopoulos is well-known for his role as a senior political
George Stephanopoulos is a good person to bring to KU because
Stephanopoulos
"I think
he is a younger journalist and has experienced a lot of things that go on in politics that affect students' daily lives." Saunders, Vancouver, British Columbia, senior, said. "He's engaging and entertaining and he really understands the direction the country is going."
Stephanopoulos will be interviewed by Jonathan Earle, associate director for programming at the Dole Institute of Politics, before the conversation opens up for audience questions in a town-hall format.
students and things that matter to the community as well" Earle said. "People definitely want to hear how he thinks the Obama administration is doing in its first 100 days."
"I want to touch upon things during the interview that matter to
Students are encouraged to e-mail questions they would like to ask Stephanopoulos to the SUA social issue committee and several will be chosen to be asked during the event. Saunders said she had not received many questions yet.
AN EVENING WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS
WHEN: April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Kansas Union
Ballroom and Woodruff
Auditorium
SEE GEORGE ON PAGE 3A
TICKETS: Free but must register — visit Union Programs Box Office on the 4th floor of the Union
Do you have a question you want to ask George Stephanopoulos?
E-mail suasocialissues@ gmail.com
Machines will turn exercise into power
ENERGY
BY AMANDA THOMPSON
athompson@kansan.com
Working out at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center will soon be about more than powering muscles.
It will also be about powering the building.
In the fall, 15 elliptical machines will be revamped with new technology that captures the energy used by students to move the machine and turns it into renewable electric power.
Andrew Stanley, Overland Park
senior, found the ReRive company
SEE AMBLER ON PAGE 3A
The technology, called ReCardio, comes from a company called ReRev in Florida. The Envision coalition worked with the Student Environmental Advisory Board to provide funding for the project. The SEAB agreed this week to fund the recreation center with $15,900 to pay for the new upgrades.
ATHLETICS
Department eyes record attendance for title game
BY ADAM SAMSON asamson@kansan.com
In Kansas' first and second round NIT match-ups, the total attendance for each game never topped 2,000 fans.
This wasn't the semifinal victory against the Illinois State Redbirds. Kansas' attendance, 8,360, vaulted it into the No. 5 spot on the Allen Fieldhouse single-game attendance record list for women's games.
The expectations for attendance numbers at Saturday's 1 p.m. WNIT championship game against South Florida at 1 p.m. were set high, said Jim Marchiony, associated athletics director.
"Our goal is to break the attendance record, which is 13,352," Marchiony said. "I see it as a realistic goal."
Wednesday's game was the first KU basketball game to be played in the Fieldhouse in April. Marchiony said. He also said that the WNIT championship would mark the first time a national championship game was held in the Fieldhouse.
index
"I think this is great for the women's basketball program because of the attention it receives," Marchiony said. "It is also good for the athletic department and University as a whole with positive publicity generated by the success."
Edited by Liz Schubauer
Classifieds...6B
Opinion. 7A
Sports. 1B
Sudoku. 6A
Horoscopes...6A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2009 The University Daily Karissa
ORGANIZATION HONORS FORMER KU LAW STUDENT
the group, Eleven Hundred Torches celebrates the legacy of Jana Mackey, who died in July. | KANSAN.COM/VIDEOS
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