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SPORTS: The top-ranked Jayhawk basketball team will travel to Boulder, Colo., to take on the Buffaloes. Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1993
VOL.102.NO.84
ADVERTISING:864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Museum houses bottled-up fire hazard
By Ben Grove
Kansan staff writer
Thousands of glass bottles full of frogs, salamanders and fish have fire officials worried.
the bottles, crowded on steel shelves in the Museum of Natural History at Dyche Hall, contain about 507,000 specimens of reptiles, fishes, mammals and birds preserved in a manageable 70-percent ethyl alcohol blend.
Museum director Philip Humphrey said he had known for a long time that the building did not meet fire codes, but that money had not been available
to make necessary changes.
However, the Board of Regents on Wednesday moved to ask the 1983 Kansas Legislature for $790,000 to match a recently approved federal grant from the National Science Foundation. The money would be used to build 75,000 square feet of storage space for the specimens.
The proposed six-floor storage addition would meet fire codes by using noncombustible building materials, doors and electrical spark protection.
Most importantly, the new storage areas must separate the specimen from the sample during transport.
students and faculty doing research there.
Humphrey said the storage addition would be west of the museum.
A 1991 museum report to the fire department said that between 10,000 and 11,000 gallons of the flammable preservative were in the building.
Lawrence fire Chief Jim McSwain, who investigated the collection before the museum made its report, said the storage areas were especially crowded. So the specimens were stored in glass and were together in large quantities.
The specimens are stored primarily on three floors of the museum, and
McSwain said the flowing ethanol could carry the fire from floor to floor.
“You have a domino effect,” McSwain said. “The racks with the containers would start to collapse, and as they did, the bottles would break. You’re going to have this sequence, and the fire would run through them.” The caps explosions, flashovers, collapse of portions of the building as it burns.
The museum houses a nationally recognized specimen collection.
"People come to Lawrence just to go to this museum, and it would be devastating to lose the building and the inside history it." McSain said. "But
we didn't want any misunderstand ing. We — any fire department could not fight a fire in that building."
If there were a fire in one of the specimen storage areas, McSwain said it would be too dangerous to send firefighters into the building and that firefighters would have to go to the Kansas Union and other surrounding buildings from igniting.
"I was relaying the situation to the "I was relaying the situation to the "Kansas City fire chief," MeSwan said, "and he asked me, 'If that building is ever on fire, will you call me?' I said, 'Yeah, I'd probably call you for help. But why?' He said, Jim, I'll never see a fire that big."
Kip Chin / KANSAN
Improving accessibility
Erik Wild, River Falls, Wis., graduate student, shelves specimens at the Museum of Natural History
Businesses move to comply with disabilities act
By Todd Selfert
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
When Community Mercantile opens at its new location at Ninth and Mississippi streets, shoppers will not find the cramped isles that are typical at its current address.
"You almost have to be an athlete to move through our store now," said Jeff Helknn, project manager for the store at 700 Maine St. "It would just be impossible for people who use wheelchairs to maneuver through that mess."
Widening aisles is among the things Community Mercantile and other businesses are doing to comply with standards set in the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law enacted in July 1980 that prohibits state and local governments and privately owned businesses from discriminating against persons with disabilities.
Jason Auld / KANSAN
Local businesses are starting to work toward meeting the act's requirements, which call for businesses to allow disabled people equal access to their buildings and the services they provide. The deadline is Jan. 26, 1995.
Alvin Schmidtberger, owner of Alvin's IGA, said his store widened the area around checkout counters and added slopes to its sidewalks, which helped provide equal access to wheelchairs.
"It's kind of sad that we have to have the government make us make things accessible when the modifications really make good common sense," he said. "It's time to treat people like we should instead of ignoring the difficulties some people have."
Bob Mikeski, advocacy coordinator for Independence Inc., said the law scared some business owners because they thought the modifications needed for compliance would be
"I have had a few discussions with concerned business owners," he said. "For the most part, I think the people have been relieved after they have spoken to us. The ADA is realistic and balanced as far as costs to the owners go."
The act has provisions that prevent undue costs to the business owner, Mikesic said. Business owners would not have to comply with the act if they can prove the modifications to their buildings will cause them economic hardship.
David Hull, general manager of the Holiday Inn Holidome, said some businesses in Lawrence saw the modifications as an opportunity to increase income.
"We looked at the act not as a negative, but
like it opened up a new market. "Hull said. "By enhancing our building, we're saying we want to be the best hotel in the area and we want to serve everybody."
The hotel also was trying to find job opportunities for disabled people. Hall said.
Renee Williams, employer lanson for Full Citizenship Inc., said employment was an
The law protects against discrimination but is not an affirmative-action policy, she said.
"There're always a few exceptions," she said.
"But for the most part the local business community has been progressive and receptive."
Above, special magnification tools allow Marla Herron, who is visually impaired, to perform her job at KU's parking department. At left, Mike Young, who is mentally disabled, works at Teller's, 746 Massachusetts St., weighing pasta into servings for the cooks.
See related story, Page 5.
Andrew Arnone / KANSAN
Closed classes common
By Jess DeHaven
Keeps an staff writer
Among the departments suffering the most are communications studies, sociology, political science, Western Civilization, English and psychology. All psychology courses are closed, VanZandt said.
KU's growing enrollment has made it difficult for several departments to keep up with the rising demand for education, coordinator of advising support.
Class closed. Those words are likely to greet students trying to add a course in English, psychology or Western Civilization.
Overcrowding is not a new problem at the University of Kansas, nor is it to be the case in the United States.
VanZandt said several departments had been battling serious overcrowding and insecurity.
Richard Colyer, assistant professor of English, said his fiction writing course was one of many English classes that could not keep up with student demand.
"I've had students come in, in tears, saying 'What can I get into?' Colyer said. "Students have a justified complaint. They've paid their money and are forced to spend five years here because they can't get classes."
The problems in the English department are intensified not only by an increase in majors, but also by the number of students from other majors who are required to take certain English courses.
Colyer's course, Fiction Writing L, is required for education majors but also is sought by creative writing majors.
Jack Cohn, coordinator of undergraduate studies, said that 40 percent of those enrolled in Fiction Writing I were education majors and 40 percent were in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Both Colyer and Cohn said the principal reason for the overcrowding was the loss of several senior staff members who had not been replaced.
"The shoe is pinching." Cohn said. "We've reissigned instructors to some areas to try and keep up with the demand, but funding just isn't there."
Cohn said that starting next semester, the English department would be adopting more stringent requirements for enrolling in certain courses. Other departments have started to do this too.
Marketing healthy foods
The newly opened Wild Oats Community Market, which sells organically grown foods, aims to contribute to the health of its customers, the environment and the Lawrence community.
See story. Page 3.
Chinese New Year celebrates life
Chinese Festivities planned for Year of Rooster
The Year of the Rooster begins tomorrow, and several campus organizations are celebrating with a New Year festivities this weekend.
By Angela Sclara
Kansan staff writer
For Chinese students, the new year is a time to celebrate the coming of a new period of life, said Michael Wang. "We will continue," she also reminds us we are getting older.
Legends of the Nian beast, which means "year beast," remain a part of the Chinese tradition. The ancient story, which is passed down from the past to the present, of a terrible beast that roams the streets on New Year's Eve, devours
everything in its path, and disappear on New Year's Day.
"When we see a friend on New Year's Day, we congratulate them for surviving the beast." Waaid said.
Although the concept of the American New Year and the Chinese New Year is basically the same, the two celebrations are different. The Chinese New Year is a time spent with family, Wang said.
"In China, New Year's Eve dinner is just like Thanksgiving," he said.
Instead of spending the holiday with his family as he has in the past, Wang is organizing the Chinese Student Association's New Year celebration at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Lawrence Community Center.
The celebration will feature traditional Chinese food and costume and a film from Taiwan with English subtitles.
The Chinese-Student & Scholar Friendship Association is having a
celebration along with the Taiwanese Student Association at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kansan Union Ballroom.
Dominic Lui, Overland Park senior and vice president of the organization, said the group's activities would include dinner, music, a comedy play and Karaoke featuring Chinese music.
The Hong Kong and Macau Student Association also will be partaking in Chinese traditions mixed with some modern celebrations.
Xiaohua Yang, president of the Chinese Student organization, said she was excited about the opportunity for the public to share in the celebration for the first time. In years past, the festivities were closed to the public.
Along with group dances and songs, the festivities will have martial art displays, food and a costume show feature traditional Chinese imperial costumes.
The Chinese zodiac
The Chinese zodiac combines 12 animals with five elements (wood, metal, fire, water, and earth) to represent a 60-year cycle. The Chinese lunar calendar is the world's oldest chronological record, dating from 2637 B.C. China adopted the Western calendar in 1911 but uses the lunar calendar for festivals.
Source: Knight/Ridder Tribute Andrew Hodges / KANEAN