SPORTS: The Kansas baseball team defeated Missouri Western 10-7. Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.102,NO.118
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1993
ADVERTISING:864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
Lawrence's musical underground
The Outhouse provides the pulse of alternative music's local vein
By James J. Reece Kansan staff writer
ney call it the pit.
they can it the pr
It's a dance floor like no other in Lawrence — a place where adrenaline is king,
where elbows pump, shoulders bump and bodies collide in a frenzy of shredded drumsticks and unravelled steel guitar strings. Where beer- and sweat-soaked dancers stumble away bleeding or are dragged away unconscious.
The pit is under the flat roof of The Outhouse, a 60-by-40-foot blue cinder block shell of a building four miles east of Lawrence.
forget fraternity and sorority members bopping on a happy-faced disc jockey. Forget basketball players in snake-skin boots two-stepping in a cowboy
tess of name, the music is what has given the secluded Outhouse a notoriety unmatched by other Lawrence venues
"It's not the most cusky of accommodations," says Shelle Rosenfeld, assistant editor of The Note, a Lawrence-based music and entertainment periodical. "But it serves a purpose as a home for alternative music."
She says the Outhouse is a testing ground for new bands in Lawrence. It also showcases older bands. It catches some, like Nirvana, before their crusades into mainstream music. Others, like Fear, the early 1980s punk band that recently reunited, appear on reconstruction tours. The Outhouse catches still others, like Ice T's Body Count, in mid-swing.
The recent Body Count and Fear concerts had be the music and the politics
By Ben Grove Kansan staff writer
Beer bill concerns merchants
Kansas liquor store representatives yesterday asked state legislators not to take away a vital part of their livelihood — the sale of certain types of beer.
That is what would happen, they said, if the House passed a bill that would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell "strong beer." Such stores now only can sell beer with 3.2 percent alcohol or less. Only 'liquor stores can sell beer with
ater alcohol content, and liquor
owners are worried the legislauld rob them of much of that
Police expect same old crowd
Officers ready for large groups of partying, drinking students
"We overlap them and work extra hours. We are also bringing in other agencies to help and hiring some off-duty officers from departments in the valley."
when they are miles away from home school.
By Jennifer Swan Special to the Kansan
Unless they are on spring break.
Doing keg stands and beer bongs is not a part of the normal daily routine of most people.
Efforts to preach responsible drinking to vacationing college students may be on the rise, but those who have to deal with the annual party-goers say this year will be the same old story.
"Kids go on break with a sense of freedom that they feel gives them the right to drink like fish and act the fool," said David Geyer, Fort Lauderdale police department captain. He is affectionately known to spring breakers on the beach as "the cop in the jeep."
"Drinking is still the most popular pastime for students on break," he said. "They come down here hoopin' and hollerin'. I think some of them drink from breakfast to bedtime."
Paula Miller, Washington, Mich., senior,
said when it came to assessing the average
college student's spring break itinerary,
Geyer hit the nail on the head.
"People drink all day and night," she said. "They take a break for dinner, sober up and then drink some more."
But Geyer said drinking had caused some of the worst accidents he had seen in his 19-year career.
"A couple of years ago we had two young men jump right off their balcony," he said. "Balcony leaping used to be an intramural sport around here during spring break."
Predictably, Geyer said the best way for students to stay out of trouble was to drink responsibly.
"As long as they are not infringing on the rights of other people, youthful exuberance can be tolerated," he said. "But dancing out into the middle of the street will get you pulled in."
Miller said she had a run in with the police when she went to Fort Lauderdale for spring break in 1889.
"They came up to me, took my beer away and said they would call my parents," she said. "I only had to deal with them once. They just try to scare you because they really can't do anything. Everyone is so out of control, it is impossible to keep them all in line."
Tom Atkinson, South Padre Island police department captain, said extra precautions were taken during the spring break season to keep the students who visit Texas from wasting away in Margaritaville.
"We change our shifts around," he said.
Atkinson said alcohol consumption presented the biggest problem for police in South Padre Island. But he said the percentage of college kids who got in trouble was small.
"People say, 'I can't believe how many people you brought in last night,' " he said. "But the total is less than one percent of all the students. The number of people brought to the station is nothing compared to the thousands who come to Padre."
Atkinson said students who drink excessively south of the border could find themselves in real trouble.
"A lot of people go to Mexico while they're here," he said. "Many of the people who live there are very religious and family oriented. They consider disruptive conduct a personal insult. The bar owners need the students so they try to be tolerant."
A group at KU is doing its part to see that alcohol doesn't lead to trouble for KU students.
"But they will only put up with so much," he said. "The police won't hesitate to jail you. And their jails aren't exactly the best in the world."
The Watkins public health education department will offer Safe Break, a program designed to promote safe behavior during the break. Julie Huntingster, Watkins health educator, said students behaved differently
"People do things because they see other students doing them," she said. "They know some of these activities are wrong, but when they are surrounded by hundreds of other college students, they chime right in."
Huntingsi said she hoped to make sure KU students were prepared to make good decisions when they reached their vacation destinations.
"We will be setting up displays and distributing information about drinking responsibly on spring break, having safe sex and other spring break issues," she said.
Safe Break will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 15 to 19 in front of Wescoe Hall.
"We are holding Safe Break right before the students leave to keep the information fresh in their minds," she said. "We want them to remember that even though other students are doing risky things it's not wise for them to follow."
Capt. Geyer said students should be careful about staying sober so they were aware of the people around them.
"People need to know there are a lot of locals who try to take advantage of them or take their possessions during parties," he said. "Most college kids are way too trusting. But this is not a college campus. You've got to know when you come here that you're not in Kansas anymore."
"NO COUPON SPECIALS" EVERYDAY
PIZZA SHUTTLE DELIVERS
TWO-FERS
2-PIZZAS
2-TOPPINGS
2-COKES
$9.00
PARTY 10" 10-PIZZAS 1-TOPPING
PRIMETIME
$30.00
3-PIZZAS 1-TOPPING 4-COKES
$11.50
CARRY-OUT
CARTY-OUT
1-PIZZA
1-TOPPING
1-COKE
$3.50
DELIVERYHOURS
842-1212
Mon-Thurs
Fri-Sat
Sunday
11 am-2 am
11 am-3 am
11 am-1 am
1601 W.23rd Southern Hills Center
ore owners told the House State Affairs Committee such as half of their sales sales.
licensed as a sole proprietor
I store that the big chains
hundreds and thousands of
that they must take 50 pery
beer business to show a
ud Patricia Oppitz, a Topeka
are owner.
ita liquor store owner point-
al liquor stores are permitted
o sell only alcoholic bever-
that beer was only a small
aher store's total sales.
Nebb, owner of Webb's Fine
id Spirits, 800 W. 23rd St., was
of the 12 bill opponents to
they take our one item it evastating." Carl Mitchell s like asking us to run a race, ting one of our legs off and s to be competitive."
n a college town," Webb said. oung crowd. Young is beer."
the hearing, he said his busi-
sion would be hit hard by the leg,
because beer made up about
en of his total sales.
assion during the hearings also with the social issue of making with higher alcohol content at more locations.
as stated that the amount of ng stronger beer would not se—that it was simply a matter it were bought," said Francis a state and national Christian crance Union volunteer. "I dis- Availability is the key here. Ifdy, you buy it."
r bill opponents warned the
entatives that if grocery and
science stores got 5.0 beer, the
would sure see a glut of
enfluence store requests to sell any
alcohol.
Pandora's box will be open,
jehard Ferguson, president of
s Retail Liquor Dealers Associ-
ponents of the bill spoke on ay. No action was taken.
ctions
candidates
51% presidential candidate: Edward
Olsa; junior education and engineering
senior presidential candidate: Jeff Rus-
tina; junior president of the junior
SPRING BREAK '93 * X-you * March 10, 1993
TE: presidential candidate; John Shoeb
Topka junior and liberal arts and
senior senator. Vice presidental
candidate Dminson, Topka junior and Nume
SANSAHIs presidential candidate:
Cox, Palatine III, illi. Vice presi-
candidate: Charles Frey, Brockport,
Junior.
T. I. O. N.! : presidential candidate:
Mcintosh, Tulsa, OKa, senior and
labs and sciences senator. Vice presi-
candidate: Marielle Romero, Topela
and off campus senator.
1 Senate Elections Commission
KANSAN