THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
FITNESS
3A
Recreation center to offer new hip-hop dance class
BY LAUREN HENDRICK
lhendrick@kansan.com
Students can try for free the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center's latest addition to the KU Fit class schedule, Hip-Hop Hustle. The free sessions take place from 5:30 to 6:30 ontright and 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday. The classes are taught by KU Fit instructors.
Vina Wiredia, Singapore senior and KU Fit instructor, said Hip-Hop Hustle was similar to Turbo Kick because it was pre-choreographed with a routine repeated and built on over a six-week period. Hip-Hop Hustle was designed by Powder Blue Productions, which also designed Turbo Kick.
"I wanted to teach Hip-Hop Hustle initially because I wanted to do more than just Zurnba," Wiredja said. "The fact that they're both dance-based made it very appealing to me."
Stephanie Thompson, Shawnee junior and KU Fit instructor, said anyone could participate in Hip-Hop Hustle and that there was no reason to be intimidated by a dance routine. "If you mess up, just get back into it," she said.
When the trainers were preparing for the classes, Thompson said she would improvise if she got off a step.
"It's so fun that you don't even notice you're working out," she said.
Amber Long, fitness coordinator at the recreation center, said the class was offered in response to Zumba's popularity. Zumba is a Latin dance-infused cardio class.
"Dance-based classes are on the rise in the fitness industry because it's fun and fitness. People are looking for entertainment and a workout," Long said. She said the
Hip-Hop Hustle schedule beginning March 23
Wednesdays 7:30 - 8:10 p.m.
Thursdays 3:45 - 4:25 p.m.
Fridays 5:30 – 6:25 p.m.
Sundays 7:15 - 8:15 p.m.
dancing would be choreographed to popular music as well.
Hip-Hop Hustle will be offered four times a week after spring break. Students with KU Fit passes can attend the regular sessions. Students who are not currently pass holders can purchase half-semester passes at the fitness business office in the recreation center. Half semester passes cost $25 and individual class passes cost $3.
- Edited by Liz Schubauer
Susie Williams, Sioux City, Iowa junior, and Vina Wiredia, Singapore senior, practice the dance moves as instructors for the New Hip-Hop Hustle class at the Abbott Student Recreation Fitness Center. The first class/ Release Party will be offered today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Libbv Napoli/KANSAN
EVENTS
Students can win prizes at SUA's "Price is Right"
Come on down! You could be the next contest on "The Price Is Right" Or at least the Student Union Activities version at 10 p.m Saturday night in the Ballroom in the Kansas Union.
Students can play games seen on the TV show such as Plinko and Punch-a-Bunch to win about $4,000 worth of prizes.
Jacque Lumsden, Wichita senior and special events coordinator for SUA, said she expects about 200 people to attend.
The night's big prizes will be a two-night stay in a hotel in downtown Kansas City and a package for four people to stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kan.
To be eligible to win, students can donate $2 or bring paper towels or dog food, which will go to the Lawrence Humane Society.
"As a college student, I think the prizes are things other college students would want." Lumsden said. "And if you can get it for free, then you might as well come to the event."
Other prizes will include local restaurant gift cards, video games and video game consoles.
Dennis Rosen, associate professor of business, will host the event which will conclude with winners spinning the Price is Right Wheel and a Showcase Showdown.
— Michelle Sprehe
Greg Gagne, a former wrestler, keeps pictures of his former wrestling days and of his father, professional wrestler champion Verne Gagne at his home Thursday in Bloomington, Minn. Last month Verne Gagne, who is now 83 and suffers from Alzheimer's disease, apparently caused the death of a fellow Alzheimer's patient at the nursing home where they lived. The case is still under investigation, but has brought much sadness to both families as well as fans of Verne Gagne who remember him in the glory day of "All Star Wrestling".
CAMPUS Hiroshima exhibit to open in event at Nunemaker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Ecumenical Christian Ministries is hosting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Exhibit at Nunemaker Center March 8 to 15. The event will also be hosted by the KU Honors Program student council with support from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan.
Mishizu Ohtake, Okayama, Japan, graduate student, said the exhibit was meant to encourage Americans to think of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"In Japan, throughout the year, for some people that event has affected their lives a lot," Ohtake said. "Even though it happened over 60 years ago, the people of Japan will never forget."
There will be an opening reception from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Nunemaker with speakers presenting at 3 p.m.
Sachiko Masuoka, an atomic bomb survivor living in Chicago, will speak at the event. She will be accompanied by Yuki Miyamoto, an assistant professor of religious studies at DePaul University and daughter of an atomic bomb survivor. The exhibit will include large posters with photographs and information sent by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Attendees will have the opportunity to make a paper crane to contribute to the exhibit. The Nunemaker Center is on Engel Road just west of Templin and is open 4 to 10 p.m. Sundays. 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and is closed on Saturdays.
David Ugarte
NATIONAL
Former wrestler may have killed fellow patient
BY STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — During his glory days as a pro wrestler, Verne Gagne shared the spotlight with other burly men in trunks, guys with names like Killer Kowalski, Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher and Baron Von Raschke.
But all of that seemed well in the past until just weeks ago, when authorities say Gagne, 82 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, apparently body-slammed a 97-year-old fellow patient at the suburban nursing home where they both lived, causing the man's death.
Bloomington police are investigating, but not even the victim's widow wants to see the dementia-stricken Gagne prosecuted.
"It's been so hard on both families," said Greg Gagne, Gagne's son and a former wrestler himself.
Helmut Gutmann, a former cancer researcher who suffered from dementia himself, died Feb. 14, about three weeks after breaking his hip in the confrontation. Authorities ruled his death a homicide.
Police said there was no clear indication of what set Gagne off, and neither man could remember the incident afterward. Behavior and personality changes are common as Alzheimer's progresses, and victims of the mind-robbing disease can become agitated.
Like others with the disease,
Gagne had all but lost his short-term memory, while his recollections of long-ago events were vivid. But whether he was suffering a flashback to his days in the ring, as some have speculated, is anybody's guess.
Joseph Daly, a former prosecutor who is now a professor at Hamline University Law School in St. Paul, said he doubts Gagne will
Police said they plan to forward the case to prosecutors by the end of the week for possible charges. Gagne, who has since turned 83, has been moved to another institution.
be charged.
State law
prohibits
prosecuting
anyone
who is too
mentally
deficient to
"It's been so hard on both families."
GREG GAGNE
Verne Gagne's son
understand the proceedings or offer a defense. Daly said that would appear to apply to Gagne.
"It's a tragedy for the man who was killed, it's a tragedy for the man's family, but it's equally a tragedy for the family of Verne Gagne," said Daly, who has warm memories of Gagne from his youth.
ground as a college wrestling champion in the 1940s, and typically finished off opponents with
In the ring, Gagne (pronounced GAHN-yuh) drew on his back.
his trademark "sleeper hold" — a headlock that appeared to make the beaten man pass out.
Gutmann's widow,
Betty Gutmann, said she
was told by residents
and staff members at the
nursing home that Gagne picked her husband up and threw him to the ground. She said that they had had one scuffle before, when her husband had been shouting at other residents and Gagne put a chokehold on him. Gutmann wasn't hurt in that incident.
But Betty Gutmann is not blaming Gagne, saying he didn't know what he was doing.
She said most Alzheimer's victims are old and frail, and when they lash out, they don't usually cause much harm. The difference
with Gagne is that "he was a professional athlete and was trained to do certain moves. This is what makes him much more dangerous than the ordinary one."
son" with dementia.
where he worked to try to develop an antidote for mustard gas, among other projects, according to his family. He spent 40 years as
JOSEPH DALY Law professor
Helmut Gutmann fled Nazi Germany in 1936, became a U.S. citizen and joined the Army,
a cancer researcher at a veterans hospital in Minneapolis.
The company that runs the nursing home refused to comment, citing federal privacy laws.
Gagne was the founder and owner of the American Wrestling Association and wore its championship belt. In the 1960s and '70s, his "All-Star Wrestling" was a TV sensation. The show was a modest affair, taped before small audiences, but it was syndicated on up to 120 channels across the Midwest.
NATIONAL Sept.11 family lawsuits settled for $500 million
NEW YORK — A mediator said Thursday that all but three of nearly 100 lawsuits brought on behalf of those killed or injured in the Sept. 11,2001,attacks have been settled for half a billion dollars.Many of the legal battles hinged on on money, she added,but on a chance for families to express their losses and anger.
Ninety-seven percent of the families of those killed on Sept. 11 chose to receive payments from a special fund Congress established that distributed more than $7 billion to over 5,000 survivors.
But 95 lawsuits on behalf of 96 victims were filed by those who chose to reject the fund, the great majority on behalf of families whose loved ones were killed on planes.
Associated Press
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