SPORTS: The Missouri women's basketball team stuns No. 12 Kansas in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament. Page 11.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL. 103, NO. 115
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66121
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
MONDAY, MARCH 7.1994
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
'IF WE ONLY KNEW'
Gene and Peggy Schmidt, parents of murdered Pittsburgh State University student, Stephanie Schmidt, listen to testimony in the Kansas House Judiciary Committee, for one of the bills in the sex predator act. The act, if martial law, would place stricter conditions on release on sex offenders.
Sex offenders not checked at University
Notification may be required by law
Stephanie Schmidt
The day convicted rapist Donald Gideon got out of prison he began searching for his next victim.
After he had served half of his 20-year sentence for the rape of a 20-year-old college woman, his hunt took him to the university town of Pittsburg, Kan. There he found a job working with college women at a restaurant, and he has said in interviews that he began making plans to attend Pittsburg State University.
However, Gideon never quite got there. On June 30, he brutally beat, raped and strangled Stephanie Schmidt, a 19-year-old waitress with whom he worked and a student at Pittsburg State.
Experts agreed that Gideon would attack again. If it hadn't been Schmidt, it could have been a classmate of his, a
woman walking from the library or a woman living in his residence hall.
"Over the time that I was on the Kansas parole board, I saw Done Gideon several times," said Carla Stovall, Kansas attorney general candidate. "Each time, we denied his parole because of his horrible record. But when his 10 years were served, since in Kansas a convict only serves half of his time, we had to let him go, knowing that he would probably commit again."
Gideon is not the only felon who could easily penetrate the university environments that many students think are safe. At the University of Kansas and other Board of Regents schools, convicted felons can obtain admission and university housing. All they must do is meet academic requirements.
in class while you read this or living on the floor where you sleep at night. KU officials admit that there could be predators in our midst.
KU officials have said it is possible that a sex offender could be sitting next to you
The first step to alerting the public of released sex offenders may be the sex predator act, which entails five bills that are in the Kansas Legislature. If this act becomes law, it would require released sex offenders to notify employers and the county sheriff. It also would require a civil trial after sex offenders have finished their sentences to determine if they should be committed to a mental institution. However, some experts, including a constitutional law professor, say the measures could come at the expense of individual rights.
But in the eyes of Schmidt's father, Gene, the public's right to know outpassive about preventing violent crimes. They felt an obligation to their daughter to tell her story, Gene Schmidt said.
See 'if we only know,' Page 14.
Daughter's death prompts family's activism
Stephanie Schmidt's last visit with her mother ended with an admonishment.
"Mom, you worry too much. I am almost 20 years old, and I have lived by myself for almost three years. Don't worry, Mom, I'll be all right," she told her mother June 20 while she prepared to leave for Pittsburg, her college home.
Two weeks later, Peggy Schmidt's worst nightmare came true. Her daughter was missing after a night of celebrating with friends. And until three weeks later, when Stephanie's raped, sodomized and strangled body was found, Peggy and Gene Schmidt could only worry.
After the funeral, the Schmids decided that they no longer would be
"The day after the funeral, we went on the radio," Peggy Schmidt said. "Stephanie knew we would do this. She knew we wouldn't just accept what had happened to her."
Besides creating public awareness through the media, the Schmidtss started two nonprofit corporations in memory of their daughter. The Speak Out for Stephanie Corporation advocates and endorses stronger legislation for victims' rights and services in Kansas. And the Stephanie Schmidt Foundation provides information to create public awareness about sex offenders, victims and problems
within the criminal justice system.
Peggy Schmidt said she thought that the family and the organizations had accomplished a lot since her daughter's death on June 30. The organization has developed a photo identification program for Kansas City schools to create awareness and provide parents with a child identification kit.
The Schmidtis also have organized a book entitled "Missing Still, Stephanie Rene Schmidt, the Life, the Death, the Dream." It is an anthology
They also have drafted the sex predator bills, which are being debated in the Legislature.
"We can't bring her back, but hopefully we can help others from suffering like she did," she said.
Stories by Terrilyn McCormick
Sex Predator Act
The three main bills of the five in the act are:
1. A sex offender would be evaluated by psychiatrists and committed to a mental institution if a jury determined the offender's release would be appropriate.
2. A released sex offender would be required to register with the county sheriff where the sex offender lives.
3. A paroled sex offender's criminal record would be released to the offender's employer by the Department of Corrections.
of poems, letters and short anecdotes about Stephanie Schmidt. The profits of the book go to Speak Out for Stephanie.
The books are $15. They may be ordered from Speak Out for Stephanie, P.O. Box 7829, Overland Park, Kan., 66207.
DR. OSCAR ARIAS SÁNCHEZ
BORN Sept. 13, 1941 in Heredia, Costa Rica
FAMILY is one of the richty of Costa Rica.
Earned his doctorate from the University of Essex in England.
Member of the Partido de Liberación Nacional.
Photos by Tom Leininger
FAMILY is one of the richest coffee-growing families in Costa Rica.
GRADUATED with a law degree from the University of Costa Rica.
ELECTED general secretary of the Partido de Liberacion Nacional in 1979. Elected president of Costa Rica in 1986.
Won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
Source: The Associated Press
KANSAN
Former leader of Costa Rica to speak at KU
Oscar Arias Sánchez won Nobel for Central America peace plan
By Angelina Lopez Kansan staff writer
Give peace a chance.
"When Arias comes to KU, it will be more than just one person coming," said Gustavo Alvarado, president of the Costa Rican Student Association. "It will be a whole country, a whole culture coming to KU."
Alvarado, a San Ramón, Costa Rica, junior, said the most important cultural aspect of Costa Rica is that its people live and believe in peace. In this way, he said, Arias is a true representative of Costa Rica.
These were the words that Oscar Arias Sánchez spoke to the U.S. Congress in 1987.
On April 6, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica will bring his message of peace to the University of Kansas.
Arias became president of Costa Rica in 1986. His focus was to end the bloody conflicts that plagued Central America. As president of the only country in that region without an army, Arias acted as the negotiator in a peace plan that he hoped would bring the countries of Central America together.
Arias will be speaking at the Lied Center as part of the Student Lecture Series, which is sponsored by Student Union Activities and Student Senate.
Arias' plan called for an immediate cease fire in all guerrilla wars, suspension of outside military aid, general amnesty and democratic elections. It also forbid Central American countries to use another country's territory for military reasons.
Because of this last point, the Reagan administration disapproved of Arias' plan. The Contras, the guerrilla army of Nicaragua that was supported by the Reagan administration, wanted to operate on Costa Rican soil. When Arias told Congress to "give peace a chance," he warned them that continued support of the Contras would ruin a chance for peace in the rest of Central America.
His peace plan was signed in August 1987 by Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. For this plan, Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize.
plan, he said if the chance to see a Nobel Prize winner didn't draw students to Arias' speech, the opportunity to hear an intelligent and optimistic speaker would.
"With all the problems in the world, it will be good to listen to a positive perspective, to listen to peace," Alvarado said.
Small blaze kills bushes
A small brush fire caused minor damage to an area by the southwest corner of the Anschutz Sports Pavilion yesterday morning around 1.15.
The Lawrence Fire Department quickly brought the fire under control.
Sgt. Randy Kern of KU police said the fire destroyed several bushes near the building but did not cause any damage to Anschutz or the surrounding buildings.
The damage to the bushes was estimated to be about $100.
Stormin' in Norman Richard Scott led Kansas with 20 points in the Jayhawks' 84-81 victory.
Page 11.
Theater company deals with last-minute problems
Paul Lim, an associate professor of English, has been directing and producing plays for the English Alternative Theatre since it began three years ago.
By Roberta Johnson
Kansan staff writer
"I coordinate the whole project," Lim said. "I help the director assemble the cast, hold the opening auditions, arrange rehearsal space and set up special lightning
Lim, born in the Philippines, received a bachelor's degree from KU and was hired by the English department four years ago. The director's and producer's duties
"I sometimes forget that theater is meant to be fun."
The director's and producer's duties change from show to show, Lim said.
"Once the show has opened, it has a life of
one," he said. "After opening night, the
job of the director is finished, with the exception of giving additional notes."
This weekend, when the group presented "Owners" at Hashinger Hall, there were a few additional changes.
At the last minute, Lim added shopping
baats from England, where the play is set.
"It's not an ideal situation bringing something new on the cast," he said. "It throws everything off."
A stolen prop also caused last-minute troubles.
"Losing a $200摊 in and of itself is distress.
"Lim said. "But when it's a gun..."
The .38 caliber gun was taken from Hashinger Hall auditorium the night of Feb. 27, he said. Lim found a replacement, but, he said, the gun had not been found by opening night.
"It only shoots blanks, but at close range
Despite the problems, the three showings of "Owners" were staged this weekend.
it could hurt someone," he said.
Because the group depends on private donations, it can produce non-commercial, more controversial plays, he said.
Lim said he started the English Alternative Theatre because he wanted to help students get their plays on stage.
"Owners," a play about a man who tries to kill his wife because of his jealousy of her success, is the second of four productions the English Alternative Theatre will present this spring. "Bent," a play about homosexuals in Nazi Germany, and staged readings of four one-act plays written by KU students will be presented later this spring.
"They learn by watching the group of actors together acting it out to work out revisions," he said.
Amv Solt/ KANSAN
Penny Weiner, director and Paul Lim, producer and artistic director, worked together on the play, "Owners," which was performed this weekend at Hashinger Hall.