CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, July 8, 1992
3
Album is taken off shelves either by stores or by fans
By Becky Lucas
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Fans hoping to buy rapper Ice-T's album Body Count in Lawrence will be disappointed at at least one local record store, which pulled the album from its shelves in late June.
Hastings Books Music and Video,
2000 W. 23 St., under orders from its
national offices in Amarillo, Texas,
pulled the album from its shelves
because it did not want to place store
associates at risk of criminal prosecution
in any cities or states with laws
restricting book purchases.
One of the album's songs, "Cop Killer," recently sparked controversy among groups opposing its release and others arguing that censorship violates Constitutional law.
"Hastings Books Music and Video believes that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution means exactly what it says: "Congress shall make no laws...abridging the freedom of speech or the press..." said Lewis Windham, Hastings store manager.
"However, some cities and states have decided to trespass on the First Amendment by passing laws and making it a crime to knowingly sell, to a consenting adult, material which the local authorities have subjectively determined to be obscene in accordance with community standards. And these crimes are punishable by
umes and/or a jail term. And Hastings will not place our store associates at risk of a criminal charge, prosecution or a jail term. And therefore we have removed the Body Count album from sale in our stores."
Kansas does not have a law pertaining directly to offensive material on album covers.
Windham declined further comment about sales of the album prior to its removal.
Down the road at Streetside Records, 1403 W. 23 St., employees have similarly been warned not to make comments about ice-T's album. An employee who would not identify himself said that all press calls were to be referred to Streetside headquarters in St. Louis.
Randy Davis, vice president of Streetside Records, said sales went up about 50 percent during the week the controversy about the album made the national news. "Sales went up an additional 20 percent last week on the album Body Count," he said.
Davis said he was unaware of any protests at any of the Streetside stores to remove the album from the shelves.
He had little to say regarding the album's content. "We leave it up to the consumer to make a decision," Davis said.
However, Davis said there was a Streetside policy not to sell albums bearing warning stickers about offensive lyrics to children under 18 without a parent being present.
The controversy about the lyrics, which have a fictional character saying, "I'm 'bout to dust some cops off," has improved sales of the album at the national level, said Jim Baltutis, publicity department representative for Warner Brothers Records.
"I think because of the controversy, people are going out to buy the album and listen to it."
"Before this happened it had sold about 250,000 albums," Baltuis said. "Since it started it has almost reached gold. 500,000."
The controversy also has caused a national boycott of Time Warner Inc., the company that governs Warner Brothers. In the past week the National Rifle Association took out full-page advertisements in national publications advocating a boycott of all Time Warner products.
Baltuts declined to comment on any national boycott on Time Warner, but he said that the best responses came from Gerald Levin, president and co-CEO of Time Warner, in an article Levin wrote for the June 24 issue of The Wall Street Journal.
In the article, Levin advocated creative freedom for all media, saying that artists should not depend on approval from corporate censors or cultural elite.
Both sides fuel abortion dispute with propagandistic definitions
By Anne Grego
Kansan staff writer
The weapon of choice in the abortion war is words.
"People try to define themselves in a way that enhances their concept of themselves," said Samuel Adams, professor of journalism, who teaches a class called "Propaganda and Censorship."
He said this defining was a form pre-propaganda and a way to attach a positive or negative connotation to a group. When a group uses a negative term for another group, it is usually done for political reasons.
Hence, terms such as pro-choice.
pro-life and pro-family dot the abortion debate landscape.
Adams said defining terms like prochoice was difficult.
"What is pro-life?" he said. "Who isn't pro-life?"
When defining opposing sides, groups let negative terms fly.
"If you define me as a 'baby killer,' you have a negative definition of me," Adams said.
"All of us are influenced by pre-propaganda," he said.
The media tends to get caught in the crossfire of this word war.
Newspapers try to handle the issue with balance. Adams said.
Steve Smith, managing editor of The
He said the Eagle focused on the issue of rights, using the terms anti-abortion rights activists and abortion rights advocates.
Wichita Eagle, said his paper did not use terms like pro-choice or pro-life when describing a group because the terms did not accurately describe the groups.
Smith said his paper called places and things by their names or titles rather than by propagandist terms, except in direct quotes.
"Both sides would like to be pro-choice and pro-life," Smith said.
"No matter what, you're going to get fak."
"Clinics are clinics." Smith said.
Daron J. Bennett / KANSAN
Although most of the work has been done, the finishing touches are still being added Amini Scholarship Hall on Louisiana Street. The hall is expected to be completed for the fall semester. A donation by KU alumni Koli and Margaret Amini financed construction.
KU seeks money to create new scholarship hall for women
By Ana Kostick
Kansan staff writer
A miniature three-dimensional model of a proposed women's scholarship hall and parking garage sits in the KU housing department next to a replica of Amini Scholarship Hall.
Money for Amni Scholarship Hall, which is under construction, was donated by KU alumini Koli and Margaret Amni of San Antonio in October 1900, but the University is waiting for a donation for a women's hall.
Mearwhile, 120 women remain on a waiting list for a women's hall.
Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said the Kansas University Endowment Association, which coordinates all fund raising and manages private funds for the University, was seeking a private donor to finance the women's scholarship hall.
Even with the completion of Amini, the demand to live in the scholarship halls leaves 70 men on the waiting list in addition to the 120 women.
grade point average with at least 28 hours per year to live in one of the halls. An application and interview also are part of the selection process.
Scholarship hall residents benefit from a cooperative living arrangement similar to a fraternity or sorority, said Leah Peck. Prairie Village junior. Peck was put on a waiting list twice before she was admitted.
Additionally, scholarship hall resides pay up to $2300 less year than students living in other residence halls. Students living in a double-occupancy residence hall pay $3080 a year for room and board, while students in seven scholarship halls pay $2216.
KU has four scholarship halls for women and five for men, including Amini. Students must maintain a 2.5
Women in Watkins and Miller Scholarship Halls pay $768 plus food expenses.
The Amiens' donation was one of 40,000 donations the Kansas University Endowment Association received during the 1991 fiscal year.
The donations,totaling $30 million, are the largest in history, said John Scarffe, director of communications for the Endowment Association.
lasted from July 1, 1990 to June 30, 1991. The total number of donations from the 1992 fiscal year, which ended June 30, has not been compiled.
The 40,000 donations were part of Campaign Kansas' $262.9 million five-year fund-raising drive that ended June 30.
The University 1991 fiscal year
The Endowment Association uses various publications, such as the KU Alumni magazine, informational booklets and direct mail to explain the need for funds. An interested donor can read about the needs of the University and contact the Endowment Association.
"The whole process of meeting a donor may involve several people with the University," Scarfie said. "The Endowment Association identifies prospects for particular gifts, usually based on previous giving and presents to them a proposal, by hand, in case of a major gift such as a scholarship hall."
Scarife said the University also received unsolicited donations through wills and other means such as unrestricted scholarships, works of art, collections for a museum and real estate.
Patrons of the Power Plant dance to a pounding bass during Ladies' Night. The Power Plant will close its doors on Sunday, and a business auction will be held the following Wednesday. The Community Mercantile Company, with three other cooperative businesses, plan to open a complete grocery store at the location in early December.
Andrew Arnone / Special to the KANSAN
Four years of late-night dancing come to an end on Sunday as Lawrence club owners lose their lease
By Andrew Arnone Special to the Kansan
After four years of providing dancing and nightlife entertainment for its clientele, the Power Plant is closing its doors for the last time.
The Community Mercantile Cooperative will take over the 9,000 square-foot building at 901 Mississippi St., and additional subleases have been contracted with Amazing Grains Bakery, Kroeger's Country Store and the Free State Credit Union.
The Power Plant's last night of dancing will be Sunday, followed by a business auction at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 15.
Jon Schmidt, who along with his brother,
don't owns the Power Plant, said everything
chairs, tables, booths, sound equipment, office equipment, and even the light show
Amy Fields, a co-owner of the Community Mercantile Cooperative, said the businesses would take possession of the building on Sept. 1, with a projected opening date in
early December.
The lease loss caught Jon and Don Schmidt by surprise. The brothers have operated the dance club for more than four years and have served more than 2.5 million people, they said.
Jon Schmidt said the club was given notice in mid-June to vacate the building by the end of July.
"It's a whirlwind for all of us," he said.
"It is a whiff when for an or so she said.
Three of the four owners of the property, Joseph and Wendy Mandina and Donna Millett, be required for comment. Mrs. Michael Messina, the fourth owner, had no comment about the change in tenants, his secretary said.
The brothers' company, D.J.'s, invested more than $400,000 in the Power Plant for building and sound equipment improvements.
Stephens Real Estate commercial consultant Marilyn Bittenbender said the change took place after the Mercantile agreed to sign a five-year lease with two five-year renewal options.
"We think it will be a great use of the space for the community," she said, mentioning that Amazing Grains Bakery, Kroeger's Country Store and the Free State Credit Union would share the space.
Fields said the Mercantile had been interested in moving from its 700 Maine St. location for about two years and had investigated several possibilities. After a private consultant recommended the 901 Mississippi St. location as ideal, it actively pursued that location.
"It saves energy for people to go to one store instead of four," said Sarah Goldberg, Amazing Grains Bakery co-owner.
while things look promising for the new tenants, the Schmidt brothers are trying to make the best of their situation.
The Schmidtts had previously signed one and two-year leases. They said they were not willing to sign a long-term lease because of the unpredictability of the business.
"We're keeping it optimistic." Don Schmidt said. "We're doing everything we can to get people out to see it one more time."
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