FEATURES: Latin inspired rhythms are heating up Lawrence's music scene. Page 9.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103.NO.86
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
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Pro-choice activists may sue
Supreme Court ruling threatens abortion foes
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Abortion-rights activists may use a federal racketeering law to sue protesters who block women's access to abortion clinics, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday. The ruling threatens Operation Rescue and other anti-abortion groups with financial ruin.
The decision focused only on interpreting a federal law, but nevertheless is a big victory for the National Organization for Women
Celebration: Pro-choice activists gather in Topeka to celebrate the ruling. Page 5
which took the case to the high court, and for the Clinton administration.
Lower courts had thrown out NOW's nationwide class-action lawsuit that invoked the anti-rateeering law against Operation Rescue and other groups. Yesterday's decision reinstated that lawsuit.
The ruling also allows federal judges to invoke the anti-racketeering law in ordering a halt to some anti-abortion activities.
Just last Friday, the high court agreed to clarify — sometime by July — how far courts and local governments may go in restricting protesters outside abortion clinics.
That case pits the free-speech rights of anti-abortion protesters against the rights of women seeking abortions and of abortion clinic employees to be free from harassment, intimidation and other illegal conduct.
The ruling falls far short of resolving all legal issues surrounding anti-abortion activities.
The court in 1992 reaffirmed the core holding of its landmark Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973—that women have a constitutional right to abortion.
The focus of yesterday's ruling was more on illegal conduct than on peaceful protest outside abortion clinics, and whether such conduct can lead to lawsuits under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, called RICO.
Wendy Wright, a spokeswoman for Operation Rescue, called the decision "a complete travesty of justice. The Supreme Court justices obviously do not understand how far-reaching this case is.
"This opens the floodgates for RICO to be used against anybody who uses free speech in a way that offends somebody else, or freedom of religion or freedom of assembly," Wright said.
Eve Paul of Planned Parenthood said, "We're delighted. NOW has to go back and establish the facts, that there were criminal acts. I'm sure NOW will be able to do that."
Enacted in 1970, RICO was aimed at organized crime. But increasingly it is used in lawsuits involving just about any business dispute.
Writing for the court, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said RICO can be invoked to sue over ideologically motivated crimes, not just economically motivated crimes.
NOW and other abortion-rights activists contend that Operation Rescue and others are engaged in a "nationwide campaign of terror" and, like mobsters, are violating RICO's ban on organized crime.
The law makes it a crime for "any person employed or associated with any enterprise in interstate or foreign commerce to participate in a pattern of racketeering activity."
Under RICO, a pattern of racketeering amounts to two or more "predicate acts" from a long list of underlying crimes, including extortion. NOW's lawsuit alleges that a coalition of anti-abortion groups are engaging in extortion by use of harassment, assault, destruction of property and other illegal acts.
In his opinion, Rehquist said, "We granted (review) to determine whether RICO requires proof that either the racketeering enterprise or the predicate acts of racketeering were motivated by an economic purpose. We hold that RICO requires no such economic motive."
A learning experience
A fresh approach is featured in a new school designed by Don Bushell, professor of human development and family life. Page 6.
Holidays bring students' children to classes
New programs created to provide alternatives
By Angelina Lopez Kansan staff writer
Kaye Adkins, Lawrence graduate teaching assistant, has a drawer in her office full of crayons, markers and coloring books.
These toys occupy her 8-year-old son when she has to bring him to school with her. Like many KU students who are also parents, Adkins has difficulty finding child care on days such as Columbus Day, teacher in-service day and other random days her son has off from elementary school.
Elementary school holidays, Angela Gonzales, Burlington, Colo., senior, said
she brought her 7-year-old daughter Jessica to class with her.
"It's so hard to find a babysitter and tell them, 'OK, I need you two days in January and one day in March,'" she said.
Because of the difficulty of finding and affording a temporary baby sitter, many KU students' only option is bringing their children to class.
Kate Grover, Topeka senior, said her 6-year-old son regularly attended day care before and after school. On school holidays, she said, it cost her an extra $7 or $8 for him to go all day. On the days when this extra cost is more than she can afford, she has to bring her son to her classes.
"One instructor was uncomfortable with it," Grover said. "But after class, he said, 'Your son's really good!'
Beth Collins, Lawrence graduate teaching assistant, said that children were welcome in her class. She said her 10-year-old daughter spent some of her days off sitting in the back of her classroom.
The emotional and financial hassle of school holidays has not gone unnoticed. Several organizations have developed programs for children whose parents do not want to leave them alone at home.
Hilltop, KU's child development center, offers occasional care day care for students who have the day off from school but spaces for this program are limited, said Martha Langley, financial manager for Hilltop. Usually, it only has room for three extra students, she said.
child care services to provide before-school, after-school and temporary day care for Lawrence schools.
The Lawrence School Board USD 497 has approved a plan that will allow outside
The program went into effect at Kennedy Elementary School, 1605 Davis Rd., on Jan.3, said Kathy Jorgensen, director of the Kennedy After-School program. Day care on school holidays is provided, she said.
The Lawrence Community Theater focuses half-day, whole-day and weeklong theater programs on children who will be out of school because of holidays, said Mary Doveton, managing artistic director of the theater. The one-day programs cost $18, she said.
"We wanted to offer an alternative to parents who work whose schedules didn't coincide with their children's," Doveton said.
Disc Jockey Laura Koenpnick, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., graduate student, prepares for an on-air announcement during her afternoon shift at KJHK. The station recently has made some changes in format that have cut the number of CDs played on the air to 150.
KJHK format change bears criticism
Some have doubts about programming
By Jamie Munn
Kansan staff writer
KJHK 90.7 FM has been Lawrence's sound alternative for years, but the station has revamped its format to focus on its strengths — special programing and local musicians.
The change comes at a time when Lawrence's KLZR 105.9 FM, which has been an alternative station for almost a year, was voted best FM radio station for Kansas City by the Pitch Weekly.
"We have to pay attention to the LAZER, but we don't let them tell us how to program," said Jay Berberick, JKH program director and Lee's Summit, Mo.
But listeners and DJs of the station say the changes may not be for the better.
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Nikole Hendricks, KJIK rock DJ and Lawrence senior, said the station's DJs weren't given much say in the recent decisions. She said that although she still enjoyed her job at the station, she was concerned by some of the changes there.
However, KJHK has opted to cut its list of compact discs available for air play rotation. That change should spotlight what sets the station apart, Berberick said.
But this cutback has angered some and annoyed others.
From a pool of more than 300 CDs, the station has cut its play rotation to about 150 CDs. he said.
"There's a huge musical library that's not going to get played," Hendrick said. "It's such a waste of all that KJ has stood for."
"We used to have a huge amount (of CDs)," Berberick said. "But listeners would never hear the same artist."
Hendricks said that the station has ranked every song on every CD for tempo or mood and that now, those songs must be played in a certain order. She said she sometimes told the station did not trust her to do her job.
"Trained monkeys could do my job," she said.
Hendricks also said the station was not taking as many requests as it had in the past because of the new limitations. Instead of being able to play reggae or jazz during her rock show, Hendricks said she must now play what the station defines as "college alternative rock."
"It's like it's the LAZER," she said.
Sean Meyer, former program director for KJHK and Fairway senior, said he had heard complaints from students about some of the changes.
Berberick said that although the CD cuts may sound drastic, the plan is working for the station.
"We've cut it in half to emphasize more
of the bands we have chosen," he said.
Playing new music earlier, especially bands that haven't reached national recognition, has been the goal of the station, he said.
"If you listen to KJHK, you're not going to be able to tell a difference," said Jordan Jacobson, KJHK music director and Chicago sophomore.
New programing for the station this semester also includes "Wild Women Don't get the Blues," a program featuring female artists Sunday nights; "Slow Jam," a program of rhythm and blues artists late Saturday nights; and "The Classical Show" early Monday mornings.
Another change this semester is KJHK's jazz programming. The show has been extended from its 10 a.m. to noon slot.
Now the program runs from 6 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday and 6 to 9 a.m. on weekends.
By Susan White
Kansan staff writer
Repairing the damage could cost KU $9,300
During the summer, a lot of time and money were spent to replace the seats in Murphy Hall's Crafton-Preyer Theatre — time and money that may have been a waste for the University.
Students who took classes in the theater during the fall semester ripped the seams of the seats and wrote obscenities and other miscellaneous sayings on them, said Jim Carothers, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and sciences.
The new seats were used only for a short
time before students damaged 186 seats that will cost $50 each to replace, if the University decides to do so. The damages total $9,300.
"I think students feel they can destroy the seats because they write on them anonymously." Carothers said. "We don't have the money to fix them right now. I also question if we fix them, if they will be destroyed again."
Linda Hope, manager of development and ticketing for the University theater, said the theater department was apprehensive when it found out that some of the classes that were previously taught in Hoch Auditorium would be moved to Murphy. She said she was disappointed that students felt it necessary to destroy the new seats.
"It's disheartening, to say the least," she said. "We didn't have problems before the theater was used for a classroom."
Hone said the vandalism began a few
Hope also said she never noticed any outstanding graffiti before the seats were replaced.
weeks after the new seats were installed.
Hope said that the way the graffiti was written on the seats led her to think that students wrote on the seats next to them during class. Also, the seats seemed to have been poked by students with their fingers orpens several times.
"It is not major damage," Hope said. "But you can tell that intentional damage was done everywhere."
"I guess it's just not as fun to deface old seats," she said.
She said the theater housekeeping staff removed a lot of the graffiti but that some
Rows of destruction
186 seats were damaged in Crafton-Preyer Theatre during the fall semester. Four types of vandalism were reported:
■ Ink damage — 142
■ Scuffed — 13
■ Poked and Torn — 28
■ Obscenities — 3
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of it will not come off.
However, the special cleaning supplies cost the University money too, Carothers said.
Hope said the worst part about the vandalism was that patrons who came to watch the shows saw the obscenities.