Tomorrow's weather
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 6601-3585
Kansan
After a bout with dreary conditions, things start to warm up tomorrow.
Thursday
April 9, 1998
Section:
A
Vol. 108 : No. 133
Online today
Stop by the Ridiculously Enhanced Pi Page to see that geometric enigma, $ \pi $ extended to outlandish decimal places. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ learning_studio/pi/
Vol.108·No.133
Sports today
Yesterday was John Crider Day in Horton, where the 6-foot-4 home-town hero signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Kansas.
SEE PAGE 1B
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No heat leaves it chilly on the Hill
By Laura Roddy
lroddy @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
April showers may bring May flowers, but showers also have made some University of Kansas buildings chilly.
University residence halls and some other University buildings have had the heat turned off for the spring.
According to the National Weather Service in Topeka, temperatures have dropped to the 50s and 60s since Monday's high of 76 degrees. Yesterday's high was 47.
The recent temperature fluctuations have made residence-hall life uncomfortable for some.
Turning the heat on again in the residence halls would take three days, said Phil Garito, associate director of housing maintenance.
He said that if temperatures did not warm up tomorrow and Saturday as expected, the heat would be turned back on at the residence balls.
Megan Heald, Lindsborg junior and Ellsworth Hall resident, said nights had been especially cold.
"We're kind of at the mercy of what they want to do," she said.
"When we first came back from spring break, it was so hot because the heat was on." she said.
Lexi Janssen, Lee's Summit, Mo., freshman and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall resident, also said the temperature fluctuations were frustrating.
Now that the heat is off and temperatures have fallen, the rooms and bathrooms have been cold. Janssen said.
"I wish we were able to control our own rooms." Janssen said.
Although the heat is off in some older University buildings, Jill Stark, a Study Abroad office assistant at Lippincott Hall, said her office actually had been stuffy, but some of the other offices in Lippincott Hall were chilly.
The University's heaters typically are shut off between April 1 and April 15, and some already are turned off, said Bob Porter, associate director of facilities operations.
Students, faculty and staff in the newer buildings enjoy automatic heaters that turn on at temperatures below 55 degrees, he said.
In the wake of a tragedy
Bouquets of flowers and a statuette lie at the base of a tree near 14th and Tennessee streets, where Lisa Rosel, Overland Park freshman, was fatally injured March 31. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
Driver in fatal accident intoxicated, report says
By Ronnie Wachter
rwachter@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Matthew Vestal, the driver of the 1997 Mitsubishi Montero that fatally injured Lisa Rosel was legally intoxicated and speeding, according to the Lawrence Police report released yesterday morning.
Vestal, Englewood, Colo., freshman, has not been charged with any crime and has not been arrested.
The accident occurred at 11:55 p.m. March 31 in the 1400 block of Tennessee Street. Vestal was given a breath test at 1:39 a.m. April 1 at the Lawrence police station, and the test results showed that the 19-year-old had 081 blood-alcohol content, according to the report.
Police also took a sample of Vestal's blood, which was given to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for a blood-alcohol content analysis. That analysis is not back yet. Sgt. George Wheeler said.
Pedestrians and alcohol In total pedestrian accidents nation
In Kansas, a person younger than 21 years of age is considered intoxicated if his blood-alcohol content is .02. Wheeler said. For a person older than 21 years of age, the legal limit is .08. he said.
The report stated police officers estimated Vestal's vehicle was traveling at 45 mph when it hit Rosel, who was knocked to the ground and run over by the vehicle. The 1400 block of Tennessee has a 30 mph speed limit
After the breath test, Reporting Officer James Martin Jr. asked Vestal if he thought he could drive
Source: National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1996 Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN
safely, and Vestal said "Obviously not," according to the report. Martin asked Vestal if he thought he was under the influence of alcohol at the time, and Vestal said "Yes." according to the report.
The Douglas County Coroner's report on the autopsy of Rosel, and KBI blood tests for Rosel's companions, Angie Boley, Eden Prairie, Minn., freshman, and Billy Hogan, Minnetonka, Minn., freshby marie sheffergen
msheforgen@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
See DISTRICT ATTORNEY on page 3A
Board lifts candidate's voting rights
Environmental group cites Yoder for missing meetings
By Marc Sheforgen
Kevin Yoder, Campus Cause candidate for student body president, has lost his voting rights on the Student Environmental Advisory Board by accumulating more than three unexcused absences.
Natalie Sullivan, chairwoman of the board, said Yoder missed his third meeting March 31, violating the board's attendance policy.
Yoder said that he was unaware of any attendance policy and did not know that his status as a board member was in jeopardy.
"I don't think efforts were made to make me aware of my status on the board at all," Yoder said. "Everybody should know the rules, and I was never informed."
However, Sullivan said Yoder wrote the attendance policy with her last October.
Yoder was the chairman of last year's board, and Sullivan said she and Yoder began to draft this year's policy manual during the leadership transition.
"He wrote the policy manual with me," Sullivan said. "I guess he could have forgotten; I don't know."
Yoder said he did start to work on the policy manual with Sullivan but did not finish the project
Yoder: Said he was unaware of attendance policy
"I don't remember what exactly I worked on with the policy manual." Yoder said.
Yoder said he was disappointed with the board's effectiveness this year; therefore, he said, he stopped attending the meetings.
"No one's going to keep going to a board that isn't doing anything." he said.
Scott Sullivan, student body president, said he had appointed Yoder to the board and he had sent a letter to all of the people he appointed expressing his expectations.
"You would expect any committee members to make it to the board or committee meetings." Scott Sullivan said.
Scott Sullivan said Yoder performed admirably as chairman of the environmental board last year and said he did not think this year's absences were an indication of Yoder's abilities to be student body president.
Last year, with Yoder at the helm, the board helped implement a $1 environmental improvement fee, which has generated almost $50,000 for recycling. The board also won the project-of-the-year award, which is given by Student Senate.
"A lot of the recycling that's going on right now is because of the efforts of last year's SEAB," Yoder said. "SEAB in a sense hasn't really done a lot this year. It's been frustrating."
Emily Heath, Delta Force candidate for student body president, said she questioned Campus Cause's concern with the environment, something it has billed as a top priority in this year's campaign.
"If he can't even come to the meetings of the sole environmental board that he's on, I mean, I don't see how he can say he cares," Heath said. "There's a lot of talk but no action."
Yoder said he stood by the work he had done for the board and said the complaints about his attendance were nothing but politicizing.
"This is an attempt by people to smear the work I've done on SEAB in the last year and a half," he said.
University terminates contract for new library database system
By Aaron Knopf
aknopf@kanson.com
Kansan staff writer
Despite allowances manufacturer missed installation deadline
The University of Kansas canceled its contract to buy a comprehensive library information system from VTLS Inc. after the Blackburg, Va.-based company repeatedly missed production deadlines.
The new VTLS system, Virtua, would have replaced KU libraries' core applications, including the online catalog and the circulation system. Virtua also would have provided a platform for new services.
begin in the Summer 1997, said John Miller, assistant dean of KU Libraries.
The University began a development partnership with VTLS in 1996 with the expectation the transition to the new system would
Miller said the University agreed to push the implementation date back to Summer 1998 after it became clear VTLS would not have a full product ready in 1997.
"When it appeared that they were not going to meet that certain deadline was when we decided to investigate backing out." Miller said.
William Crowe, vice chancellor for information systems and dean of libraries, said VTLS had agreed to refund the University's $100,000 down payment and to provide $30,000 to cover expenses incurred during the period that the University worked with VTLS.
Although the University is getting its money back, Crowe said there was no way to retrieve the 18 months spent on the project.
But Miller said the time was not wasted. The work to prepare existing library catalog records for conversion to Virtua will be applicable for any new system. Miller said.
Barbara Scheid, VTLS marketing manager, said one of the reasons VTLS was not able to finish on schedule was the inability to find enough programmers in a competitive employment market.
Scheid said VTLS was disappointed Virtua would not be implemented at KU libraries and said the relationship between VTLS and the University was good, despite the contract termination.
The University now will look at other vendors.
"This time, we're going to go with a vendor that is ready to install," Crowe said. Of the three or four venders available two years ago, none had complete products
Crowe said the University chose VTLS because it had the strongest financial backing and the largest customer base.
Crowe said it probably would take about two months to select another company but estimated that, even with the delays, KU libraries could have a new system by December.
Chris Vincent,
Norfok, Neb.
senior, poses for
the picture on his
new smart card.
Students can get
free smart cards
until April 21 at
the Kansas
Union. After April
21, the cards will
cost $10.
Replacement
cards will cost
$15.
Photo by Carie
Waters/
KANSAN
Look smart!