Toys!
Lawrence man
crafts
wooden toys
See p.8
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THE University Daily KANSAN
Vol. 94, No. 154 (USPS 650-640)
Published since 1889 by students at the University of Kansas
Nice
High, 84
Details on p.2
Friday morning, June 29, 1984
Alumni carry a bit of KU into the blue
Jayhawks in Space
Three University of Kansas alumni have ventured into man's last frontier: space. Ron Evans, a 1955 graduate, was first he. He took a walk in space as part of Apollo 17 in 1972. Joe Engle, also a 1955 graduate, was part of the second space shuttle crew in 1982, bringing a KU flag on board Columbia. Steve Hawley, a 1973 graduate, is a member of the latest shuttle crew, which was scheduled to take Discovery's maiden flight this week. The mission has been delayed until mid-July. When Discovery eventually does lift-off, more KU memorabilia will probably be on board.
By JOHN SIMONSON Staff Reporter
When the space shuttle Discovery rises from its Cape Canaveral landing pad sometime in the near future, a bit of the University of Kansas will be going with it.
Astronaut Steve Hawley, class of 1973, is one of six crew members on Discovery's maiden flight. And as he soars through space he doesn't realize that Hawley won't be forgetting his alma mater.
ALTHOUGH HE DOESN'T know exactly what he'll be able to take with him, Hawley has received a good selection of KU gift-shop paraphernalia to carry skyward, including baseball caps, pennants, embroidered patches and stickers.
"I sent him some items to take up with him." Fred Williams, executive director of the KU Alumni Association, said recently "I'm not sure what he will be able to take."
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration people know, but they're not telling. A NASA spokesman said it was policy not to make such information public until the items could be authenticated by the crew after the flight. This, he said, is to prevent would-be hucksters from manufacturing duplicate items to sell to an unsuspecting public.
Astronauts are allowed to take items for other people on shuttle flights, but the items usually are just freight, stored in the cargo hold of the craft.
THE OWNERS CAN then boast that their items have "been in space."
"I talked to him (Hawley) about what he would be able to take with him," Williams said. "I wanted him to wear a KU baseball
cap that fits the right.
"He said, Well, Fred, I don't know. Sometimes they let you do it and sometimes they don't."
cap during the flight.
Nevertheless, Hawley has two such caps from Williams, as well as:
*several embroidered Jayhawk patches mounted on cards. Williams said he hoped Hawley would autograph them for presentation to members of the Alumni Association at a September meeting.
- several KU stickers, which Hawley had requested. It is not known whether these will adorn the windows of Discovery.
Hawley is not the first alumnus of the University to travel among the stars. Astronaut Joe Engle and Ron Evans, both class of 1955, preceded Hawley. Evans took a walk in space during the flight of Apollo 17 in December 1972. Engle flew the second shuttle mission aboard Columbia in April 1981.
Engle carried a red-and-blue KU flag with him on Columbia and returned to campus afterward to present the banner to the University. It now hangs in a display case on the third floor of the K.S. "Boots" Adams Alumni Center, along with other memorabilia from his flight and photographs from Evans' Apollo flight.
As "Jayhawks in Space" now has become something of a tradition, so does "KU
Gunners".
And if all goes as Williams hopes, the case will soon hold KU momentos from the first flight of Discovery, too.
Steve Hawley
Joe Engle
Local store's ads stir controversy
By SHAWNA SEED Staff Reporter
What they thought were offers of free microwave ovens drew some Lawrence consumers to the offices of a new appliance company, but some consumers left thinking the company's mail advertisements misrepresented its claims.
Howard Appliance, 1000 Iowa St., began mailing cards to Lawrence
three weeks ago.
The first three lines of the cards read,
"Congratulations! Your family has been approved to receive a deluxe touchstone microwave oven."
THE CARD CONTINUES,
"All we ask is
that you buy,
from us, the
cleaning products
your family
normally buys
and uses, as a
part of a combination offer."
"We mention that we want to sell our (cleaning) products. We never use the word 'free,'" he said.
John Howard, the owner of the company, said the cards didn't say the microwaves were free.
However, two women who received the cards
appliances if they agree to buy a three-year supply of cleaning products. Howard said. They can pay for the cleaners and the appliances in one payment each month. Those payments are spread out over a three-year period.
Leroux said she didn't realize the company was offering a combination deal, and she and her husband, Herman, thought they had won a microwave oven.
"I read the card to my husband, and
told her the company didn't give anything away.
Alice Lafrenz, 2014 Maple Lane, said, "I am pleased with what I bought, but I have to agree that the card implies that you've won a microwave. I agree that it misrepresents."
The Lerouxes didn't buy the cleaning products or the appliances.
Another woman who did buy cleaners and appliances from Howard Appliance also said the card she received in the mail was misleading.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your family has been approved to receive
A DELUXE TOUCHTONE MICHAWLOW OVEN
NO
YOU MUST CALL WITHIN FOUR DAYS OR OFFER WILL BE FORFEITED.
CALL 842-6600
we're new and this is how we say "thank you" for
There's no gimmick shopping with us.
All we ask is that you buy, from us, the cleanest normally buys and uses, as part of a combination You may exchange microwave for other a
Howard said the company offered consumers a "combination deal." The consumers choose, from brochures, appliances they would like to have, he said.
Marjorie Leroux, 455 Perry St., who received one of the cards and visited the company's offices, said she thought the Howard Appliance arrangement was "the biggest rip-off I have ever seen."
and a local consumer affairs official said they thought that the cards seemed to misrepresent the company's actual arrangement.
Weekdays 10am-8pm HOWARD APPLIANCE
Saturdays 10am-8pm LAWRENCE, 65044
(For reservation to the present)
THE CONSUMERS CAN buy the
Howard Appliance, 1000 lows St., (shown in the background) has been mailing these cards to Lawrence residents. Two recipients and a consumer affairs official claim that the cards misrepresent the company's actual arrangement.
— John Howard, owner
"We mention that we want to sell our (cleaning) products. We never use the word 'free' ".".
They made an appointment with Howard Appliance and chose a dryer and a radio from the brochures, she said, and the salesman told them the cost would be $1,800.
he said, 'What does that mean?' , "she said. "And I said, 'It sounds like you win a microwave if you use their products.'"
SHE SAID SHE asked the salesman what the $1,800 price included, and he told her it covered the cost of a three-year supply of cleaning products and the appliances.
H O W A R D
SAID HE was sure that no consumer had come to the office thinking that the microwaves were free.
Leroux said that when she asked it the appliances were free, the salesman
Clyde Chapman of the Consumer Affairs Association said he had received five or six inquiries about Howard Appliance, but no complaints.
He said he had called the attorney general's office about possible misrepresentation in the Howard mail advertisements, but said no investigation was under way. The attorney general's office could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Howard Appliance is a dealer for Sir Anthony James
Company of Omaha, Neb., Howard said. It is also affiliated with Showcase of Appliances in Omaha.
He said that Sir Anthony James had been in Omaha for about seven years, and that the Omaha Better Business Bureau had received few complaints about the company during that time.
"There were never any complaints except that the product didn't last the full three years," Howard said.
He said that the company's main objective was to sell the cleaning products, and that the appliances were an inducement to get people interested in those products.
Drinking age is 'catch-22' facing Kansas Legislature
By MICHELE HINGER
Staff Reporter
The Kansas Legislature is in a 'catch 22' situation. Whether lawmakers raise the drinking age for 3.2 beer to 21, or leave it as it is, Kansans could lose money.
If Kansas complies with the recent U.S. Senate decision to restrict federal highway construction funds to states that refuse to raise the drinking age to 21, revenue from malt liquor sales could decline and local 3.2 tavern owners would suffer.
IF KANSAS DOES not raise the drinking age, highway funds will be reduced 5 percent in fiscal 1987, which begins Oct. 1, 1986, and 10 percent in fiscal 1988.
The 5 percent penalty for the first year could result in $5.5 million being withheld from highway construction funds, said Bill Thomas of the American Association Division of Planning and Development.
In fiscal 1988, the 10 percent penalty would cost the state about $11 million, Watts said.
"The penalty would affect a five-year program that was planned out based on full utilization of funds," said Watts. "Some adjustments would definitely have to be made to program the available funds, but it's impossible to say now exactly which projects would suffer."
DURING THE TIME that Kansas did not comply with the law, the 5 percent in funding would be denied, said Watts, but if the state raised the drinking age in the future, the money withheld could be returned to the state.
"Of course it could have a great effect on any year we haven't got the funds," he said. The effect that declining revenue from 3.2 beer sales would have is not known, said Federal and State Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Reilly, R-Leavenworth.
"I have suggested that a study be done on the effects, but to the best of my knowledge, no such information is available." Reilly said.
The taxes collected on malt liquor sales total $5 million, although that figure doesn't distinguish between 3.2 and strong beer sales, Dorothy Mohler, marketing director for the Alcohol Beverage Control Division of the Department of Revenue, said.
Of the total liquor revenue received quarterly by Douglas County from the state, one third is put into a special alcoholic fund, one third into the general county fund and one third into a special parks and recreation fund, said Donna Jennings, of the county treasurer's office.
Raising the drinking age to 21 would kill a lot of 3.3 beer taverns, said Howard Koerth, manager of the Hawk's Crossing, 618 W. 12th St.
NO FIGURES SPECIFICALLY stating the tax revenue gained from the beer purchased by 18 to 20-year-olds are available, Mohler said.
"If the age was raised to 19, it wouldn't taze us," said Koerth, "but there's a lot of 19- to 20-year-old's that come here. During the school year, probably half of them are under 21."
"Raising the drinking age would do major damage," said Rick Renfro, manager of Johnny's Tavern, 401 N Second St. "We would have to combine with Up and Under to make it."
Up and Under, also managed by Renfro, is the 21 club located above Johnny's.
"Lawrence is a town of about 60,000," said Renfro, "and probably half the drinkers are under 21. We'll probably have a lot more trouble with fake ID's — that would be a good business to get into."
University hopes to cut fuel bills by buying directly from producer
By CINDY HOBSON Staff Reporter
By taking bids from natural gas companies to provide the University's gas supply, KU officials are hoping to substantially reduce University fuel bills.
because of a new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). high priority users of natural gas, such as institutions or schools, can now purchase natural gas directly from a producer.
Previously, high priority users had to go through local supplier.
THE EVENTS THAT led KU to look for other sources of natural gas began on a cold winter day.
On Dec. 19, 1983, the University's supplier of natural gas, Kansas Public Service Co. Inc., asked KU to curtail use of natural gas, said Tom Anderson, director of facilities operations.
KPS was able to ask KU to limit its natural gas usage, Anderson said, because it had an
alternate fuel source. KU has the ability to switch to fuel oil at any time, he said.
The University power plant, located behind Watson Library, can use natural gas or fuel oil to make the steam that provides the heat and air conditioning for campus buildings.
Fuel oil was used when it could be obtained for a lower price than natural gas.
AT THAT TIME, the price of natural gas from KPS was $5.17 per 1,000 cubic feet. Dick Perkins, associate director of utility management, found that the price of fuel oil was cheaper than that of natural gas, Anderson said.
"We switched to oil." Anderson said, and KPS reduced its price to $3.95 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas. So KU went back to natural gas from KPS last spring.
But KPS raised its price, and Anderson said that the University again switched to oil.
Rodger Oroke, director of supply services at KU, advised that Anderson check around and see how other universities obtained their power supply. Anderson said.
See FUEL, p. 5, col. 1
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