Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Iansan
Cooling down a little tomorrow with mostly cloudy skies.
Monday
March 30,1998
Section:
Online today
Get your projects, papers and resumes ready and grammatically correct with this helpful Web Site.
http://www.grammarlady.com
Sports today
The Tennessee Volunteers won the NCAA women's basketball championship last night at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
SEE PAGE 4B
Contact the Kansan
WWW.KANSAN.COM
News: (785) 864-4810
Advertising: (785) 864-4358
Fax: (785) 864-5261
Opinion e-mail: opinion@kansan.com
Sports e-mail: sports@kansan.com
Advertising e-mail: onlineads@kansan.com
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
Friends remember victim of accident
Spring break crash kills KU student
By Laura Roddy
lroddy@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
Friends of Heather Norris remember the 19-year-old Ballwin, Mo., freshman's contagious smile and warm personality.
"She was everyone's guardian angel," said Gillian Burrow, Lincoln, Neb., junior and friend of Norris. "She took care of everyone else before she even thought about herself. She loved everybody unconditionally."
Norris, a McCollum Hall resident and KU Ambassador, died shortly after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday when a truck crossed the median into the eastbound lanes of Interstate 44, six miles west of Lebanon, Mo..
McCollum Hall and KU Ambassadors have organized a memorial service for Norris, which will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Spooner Hall courtyard. In the event of rain, the service will be in Danforth Chapel.
and hit her vehicle, according to a Missouri Highway Patrol report. The 19-year-old truck driver suffered only minor injuries.
Kate McGee, resident assistant on McColum's third floor and student coordinator for KU Ambassadors, described Norris as the floor mother and as someone who loved to talk.
"She was a beautiful, friendly girl," said McGee, a Loveland, Colo., junior. "There was some sort of magic about her that made people really want to be around her."
"She didn't have a mean bone in her body," Kloner said. "When you looked at her, she let you know right away that she was someone you could tell your deepest secret."
Dain Kloner, De Pere, Wis., senior and KU Ambassador, said he met Norris in January when he trained her as a KU Ambassador.
In addition to volunteering as a KU Ambassador, Norris was an equipment manager for the Kansas football team, a member of McCollum's social committee and a volunteer at the Natural History Museum at the University.
Mike Morgan. Minneapolis, Kan.. junior and third-floor resident assistant at McCollum, said he remembered meeting Norris during the first week of school. He said that he found her in front of an elevator, talking through a crack in the elevator doors to a student stuck inside.
Morgan said Norris spent 45 minutes talking to the trapped student, even passing a newspaper to him.
On another occasion, Morgan said he,
Norris and Ben Anderson, Topeka junior.
staved up all night talking about life.
"We named everything that we loved," Morgan said. "We went on for hours about every little thing in life."
Jeska Bracke, Cameron, Mo., junior, said that she treasured the memories and the photographs from a road trip that she and Norris took earlier this month. They traveled to Arkansas on a whim, returning to the University 25 hours later, she said.
"My cheeks hurt from smiling so much on that trip," Bracke said.
Friends said that Norris and her roommate Jamie Higgins, Edgerton freshman, were inseparable.
"They're like two halves of a whole," Burrow said.
Resident assistants, along with representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services and Campus Crusade for Christ, met with residents of McColum's third death last night to inform them of Norris' death.
Heather Norris, Ballwin, Mo., freshman, in site Grove, Okla., during an early March road trip to Arkansas, Norris, 19, died Tuesday in a car crash on Interstate 46 six miles west of Lebanon, Mo. Contributed photo.
Students take break from typical trips
By Emily C. Forsyth
eforsyth@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Sarah McPartlin brought more than a new tattoo home from spring break.
McPartlin, Glen Ellyn, Ill., senior, participated in one of three alternative spring break trips organized by Ecumenical Christian Ministries. She and 24 others, mostly KU students, embarked on a nine-day trip to north central New Mexico where they worked on a ranch and in surrounding villages. The trip cost $250, not including three meals and spending money.
McPartilin said the trip was an opportunity to escape the school environment, to help others and to get to know other participants.
"It was a life-changing experience," McParklin said.
Josh Lee, Chicago senior, said the conditions were not bad.
"We weren't really roughing it." Lee said. "It was a lot like camp."
The group worked for two days on the ranch and two days in surrounding villages. They performed jobs such as cultivating farmland, planting vegetables, recycling tires, working on a sewage system and cleaning irrigation ditches.
Mike Soifer, Chicago senior said that he enjoyed helping people in the community because they appreciated the assistance.
"No one minded doing the work," Soifer said. "It was really rewarding."
The trip was not all work, however. Participants hiked in their spare time and traveled to Santa Fe, where some shopped, visited museums and got tattoos.
Many participants said they enjoyed a break from television and news.
Eric J. Reid, Dodge City junior,
said that he learned an important
lesson from observing the residents
of Abiquiu.
"There's a lot of importance placed on nature and history and a lot less placed on material things and rushing around like we do." Reid said. "It was important to see and appreciate that and think about taking it back into your own life."
Although the trip was sponsored by a religious organization, religious activities were optional and participants said that they did not feel pressured to get involved.
The two other alternative spring break destinations were Denver, where participants worked with Habitat for Humanity, and Piedras Negres, Mexico, where participants worked in construction and with cultural activities.
McPartlin and her travel mates drove to Abiquiu, New Mexico, where they stayed at Ghost Ranch. The ranch has been a filming site for several movies, including City Slickers, Wyatt Earp and Silverado and also was the home of artist Georgia O'Keefe.
Soiler agreed. "I definitely think that we probably did something more special than most other trips," he said. "It wasn't all work. It was fun, too."
Overall, the New Mexico group agreed that the alternative trip was much more rewarding than other options.
"I wanted to do something besides going to Cancun and getting wasted for seven days," McPartlin said.
Above: K.C. Haywood, Lawrence resident; Mike Soifer, Chicago senior; Andy Brown, Lawrence resident; Sarah McPartlin, Chicago senior; and Boh Hines, Wichita State student, tour a monastery after building a fence around a cemetery. Ecumenical Christian Ministries sponsored the alternative spring break trip to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. Photo by Holly Grashong/KANSAN.
Left: Services take place in the El Sanctuario in Chimayo, N.M. Chimayo was one of the villages that alternative spring break participants traveled through last week.
Photo by Holly Grashoff/KANSAN
University to receive million dollar donation
By Brandon Copple
Kansan staff writer
By Brandon Copple bcopple@kansan.com
The University of Kansas will receive a gift that could total $10 million from a Hays banker who died in January.
Paul Miller, a 1932 graduate of the University, willed half of his estate to the University. Fort Hays State University and the Hays Medical Center will split the other half.
The money will fund scholarships and professorships at the school of engineering. Several of those scholarships were established by Miller before his death, said Dennis Blecker, a Hays attorney who drafted
Miller's will and represents the estate.
Bleeker said the Millers owned about 7,000 acres of farmland scattered in seven or eight counties in northwest Kansas. The land will be sold at public auction in early August, and the University will receive its share of the proceeds then.
The University already has received more than $1 million from the Miller estate, Biecker said.
"Paul had very fond memories of his years at KU." Biecker said. "He always cared very deeply about the University, and he wanted to help students get as much from college as he did."
The total value of the gift will not be known until the property sale, but
Bleeker said that the total estate could be worth about $20 million.
Locke said that, with the latest gift, the Paul and Virginia Bassett Miller Scholarships could help support as many as 15 University students.
Carl Locke, dean of engineering, said proceeds from the Miller estate would finance two scholarship funds for engineering students and one faculty development fund.
Locke said the scholarships were established in honor of Virginia Miller's father, a graduate of the school of engineering.
"My wife and I had the opportunity to get to know the Millers before their deaths," Locke said. "They were wonderful people, and because of their gifts we've been able
to attract some very fine students."
John Scarfle, communications director for the KU Endowment Association said the awards were paid for with interest generated from investing the estate's proceeds. Because the gift is so large, the dean of engineering will have discretion to create new academic awards if the interest generated exceeds the amount necessary to fund the three existing awards, Scarfle said.
Scarffe said a $10 million gift probably would be the largest received by KU Endowment. However, a 1925 gift of 25,000 acres in Western Kansas from Elizabeth Watkins may have been worth nearly as much, he said.
Basketball star from 1993-97 takes her life
By Rannie Wachter
rwacher@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
By Ronnie Wachter
The Lawrence Police Department shed little light on the March 25 suicide of former University of Kansas basketball player Jennifer Trapp when it released its suicide report yesterday.
Trapp shot herself between 7:50 a.m. and 12:28 p.m.
Wednesday in her home, 223 Marvone Road, accord-
doring to the above.
ing to the report. Her body was discovered at about 12:30 p.m. by her mother, Patti.
The report did not include any information regarding a motive for the suicide.
Donald Pojman, Douglas County deputy coroner, said the autopsy, which was performed Wednesday night, showed no signs of foul play.
Lawrence police Sgt. Dave Hubbell said that if a motive or a note did exist, police probably would not be able to release details.
Trapp, 23, was buried Saturday. Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington was among
Trapp: described as a fierce competitor by former coach
those who attended Trapp's funeral. It took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 3655 W. 10th St.
Washington released a statement Wednesday afternoon but had not commented since.
"I cannot put into words the shock and devastation that our program is experiencing," Washington's statement said. "I extend my deepest condolences to the Trapp family, and I ask that you pray for them during this difficult time."
Trapp's father, Rick, said that the family still was stunned and that Jennifer would be missed.
"She was a beautiful and loving and caring daughter," he said. "She was a fierce competitor on the court, but that was just a small part of Jennifer."
Trapp played three sports at Lawrence High School, lettering in volleyball, track and basketball. She won the 1993 Gatorade Kansas High School Player of the Year Award. She was a member of the Lady Lions teams who won the 1992 Class 6A state basketball championship and who were state runners-up in 1993.
Trapp played as a forward for the Kansas women's basketball team from 1993-97 and lettered each season. She had played professionally in Luxembourg and Finland, and she returned to the U.S. earlier this year to prepare for trvouts with an American Basketball League team.
She started 121 games at Kansas and is tied for fourth place for most games played during her career with 122. She averaged 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and played on two of the most successful teams in KU women's basketball history.
During the 1995-96 season, she helped the Jayhawks win the final Big Eight Conference championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time in the history of Kansas women's basketball. During the 1996-97 season, Trapp helped Kansas capture the inaugural Big 12 Conference championship.
More information
Former women's basketball reporter Tommy Gallagher comments on Trapp's puzzling death.
See page 1B
4.