SPORTS: The Kansas men's basketball team defeats Oklahoma State 84-72. Page 9
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
VOL.102, NO.98
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1993
ADVERTISING:864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
KU makes enrollment a bit easier University to end policy of waiting for KUID stickers
By Brady Prauser Kansan staff writer
Long lines to pick up KUID stickers are a thing of the past.
When enrollment starts April 2 for Summer and Fall 1993 classes, students will be able to get their stickers immediately after completing enrollment instead of waiting in lines later at Fraser Hall or at the Kansas Union. A University Registrar's office employee will distribute the stickers in the rotunda of Strong Hall to students who have completed enrollment and present class schedules.
Quicker transactions should bring smiles to the faces of students who this semester were upset because they had to wait in long lines outside Fraser Hall to pick up their KUID stickers. Many of those students already had completed enrollment and fee payment, and needed only to pick up their KUID stickers. Others waited in line because they needed their enrollment cards to pick up financial aid checks at the Union.
"We got to the point where it was just unreasonable to expect students to come back and stand in line just to get their stickers," said Rich Morrell, University registrar. "We've made it more convenient for the students. It ought to be a quick transaction."
Morrell presented the idea to the University's fees committee. The committee recommended that the system be implemented.
"I see the lines, and I'm concerned how much time students spend in them," he said. "We felt we should be providing a better service to the students."
KUID stickers are not proof of fee payment but are verification that a student is enrolled. The stickers are necessary for many University activities and services, including admission to some theater events at Murphy Hall and sporting events.
Linda Mullens, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said the new sticker distribution system would make things easier for students waiting in line for financial aid. Under the current system, lines are lengthened by students wanting to pick up their stickers two days early. Under the new system, those students will have received their stickers during enrollment.
"We're trying to separate the confusion and shorten the lines." Mullens said.
Justine Crawforth, Manhattan junior, said she was looking forward to being able to pick up her KUID sticker after enrollment.
"It's great," she said. "It should all be in one place."
Chemical leak closes buildings
Firefighters seal off area in afternoon; source of contamination escapes officials
By Mark Kiefer
Kansan staff writer
Police and fire department officials were investigating a chemical leak yesterday that led to the closing of five buildings on campus during the busiest part of the day.
"We may never find out the source," said KU police Lt. John Mullens.
Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, said he could not explain the odor.
"As of right now, we still have no idea what the chemical was or how it was spread," he said. "I don't know if all the buildings affected are connectlawrence and no police and the lawrence fire department responded to a chemical leak on campus yesterday. The odorous gas prompted the closing of five university buildings for several hours. No one was injured, but five students and one firefighter were treated for possible toxic gas inhalation. The source of the protruding crackedaches and was described to smell similar to natural gas and model airplane glue, has not been determined.
About 10.45 a.m., KU police and the Lawrence Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in Lindley Hall. Students and staff members had noticed a strange smell and were in the process of evacuating the building when officials arrived. Students described the smell as that of natural gas or propane.
By 11:20 a.m., evaluations of nearby buildings had led to the cancellation of classes in Marvin Hall, the Art and Design Building, Wescoe Hall and Maiott Hall.
The fire department ordered the evacuation of the buildings because officials did not know the source of the leak or the nature of the chemical, Mullens said.
"We're not going to take any chances on it," he said. "It's not something you want to overexpose people to."
Don Beckner, a Lawrence firefighter, was treated and released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital for complications from the fumes he inhaled in Malott.
Tests of the air in the five campus buildings by officials from Kansas Power and Light confirmed that natural gas was not the source of the smell. Mullens said.
Mullens said that the source of the smell could be a potent chemical.
"As of right now, we still have no idea what the chemical was or how it was spread."
Mike Richardson Director of facilities operations
Director of facilities operations
"A lot of times when you have a leak, you can trace it by smell," he said. "Just a drop of this chemical could overcome the smell of a garlic truck."
More than 120 officials from KU police, Lawrence Fire Department, Lawrence police and the University were present at the scene. Approximately 5,000 feet of yellow police tape surrounded the closed buildings, Mullens said.
All buildings except Malott were reopened to faculty at 1:10 p.m. Classes resumed at 2:30 p.m.
Malott, the last building closed, remained closed while firefighters ventilated the building. Fans were turned on and the windows were open for almost four hours in an attempt to remove the odor. Officials opened Malott's doors to faculty and staff at 4:45 p.m. Even though Malott remained closed longer than the other buildings, Mullens said that did not mean that Malott was the source of the odor.
About 5:45 p.m., firefighters responded to a report of another odor in Wescoe. They checked the entire building and found no trace of a gas.
See related story, Page 12.
The stench that stole classes
Sean M. Tevis / KANSAN
Students gather in front of Strong Hall while a possible gas leak is investigated in Wesco Hall. The Lawrence Fire Department evacuated Lindley Hall, The Art and Design Building, Marvin Hall, Malott Hall and Wesco Hall about 11 a.m. yesterday after a mysterious odor was reported. Classes resumed in four of the buildings at 2:30 p.m.; Malotl reopened at 4:45 p.m.
Kip Chin/ KANSAN
Douglas County paramedic Dennis Knight administers aid to Adam Webb, WaKeeney junior, behind Wescoe Hall while Webb's dog, Mike, looks on. Five students and one firefighter reported having headaches and feeling nauseated after being in Malott Hall at the time of the chemical leak.
Steven Krigas /Special to the KANSAN
Students report nausea, headaches after gas leak
Symptoms may indicate exposure to Mercaptan
By Will Lewis Kansan staff write
Firefighters closed five campus buildings after faculty and students at Lindley Hall reported a smell they said may have been propane or natural gas.
Five students and one firefighter were treated and released yesterday after being exposed to chemical odors in Malott Hall.
Four KU students at Watkins Memorial Health Center and one student at Lawrence Memorial Hospital reported having headaches and feeling nauseated after being in Malot Hall at the time of the incident. A firefighter who entered the building reported the same symptoms. Some students were treated by paramedics on the
scene.
Myra Strother, physician at Watkins, said that judging from the students' symptoms, their conditions may have been caused by Mercaptan.
The chemical is used to make odorless gases detectable, said Dan Kellerman, representative of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in Lawrence.
"It would give you some way of telling that there was a gas leak." Kellerman said.
Mercaptan is the additive that gives natural gas its foul odor, he said.
Strother said that Mercaptan produced nauseous fumes and was an irritant when inhaled.
The additive does not cause biochemical changes and has no long-term side effects, she said.
Drinking plenty of liquids is the best thing those exposed to the gas could do to reduce their illness, Strother said. No medicine is available for the symptoms.
Alternative a cappella
Student could not evacuate
A concert by The Flirtations could give a new twist to Valentine's Day. Once a Greenwich Village, N.Y., street band, the all-gay, a capella singing group will show Kansas City, Kan., a new side to 1950s dooop tunes.
Wheelchair-bound man gets stuck on third floor
By Brady Prauser
Kansan staff writer
When fire alarms screamed through Marvin Hall yesterday to warn students of a chemical leak, Jim Skinner could not leave.
The Overland Park senior, who has used a wheelchair since a 1991 repelling accident left him with a broken spine, was trapped on the building's third floor. The elevator had been shut down and his wheelchair would not allow him to navigate the stairs alone.
But students leaving the building found Skinner and were able to lift his chair and carry him down the stairs to safety.
He said he did not panic, but he was frustrated that he could not exit by himself.
"There really is absolutely nothing you can do," Skinner said. "There needs to be an alternative to the elevator, but I'm not sure what it is. We need to figure something out."
Although he was rescued, Skinner said the stairs in Marvin were steep and made him nervous.
"If they drop you,you can get just as dead that way,"he said.
When a fire alarm sounds in a University building, the elevators automatically travel to a ground-level floor designated by the University and the Lawrence fire department, and then shut down.
The fire department checks elevators and stairwalls immediately after they arrive at a building, said Bob Turvey, chairperson of the KU Architectural Barriers Committee.
Turvey said the elevators shut down immediately because they are computer-
operated, and the heat from a fire could cause the elevator to malfunction.
Turvey said that he was not aware of other emergencies during which a student in a wheelchair had to be carried out of a University building to safety. He has been on the Architectural Barriers Committee for 17 years.
The tops of stairways should be safe for about one hour. Turvey said.
"This is the first time, but that's one too many," Turvey said. "People need to know where to go. That's a scary situation to be in when you can't use the elevator or stairs."
Turvey said if people in wheelchairs found themselves in situations similar to Skinner's, they immediately should go to the top of the nearest stairway. Stairways, especially in newer buildings, are designated fire-protection areas that are enclosed to separate them from the rest of the building, he said.
Jim Skinner, Overland Park senior, waits outside Manin Hill after students carried him out of the building. Skinner was trapped inside for several minutes when elevators shut down.