University Daily Kansan
Wednesdav. August 24. 1977
11
Time may stand still in tower but progress continues below
What appears to be a suspended
saturation is actually evidence of the
abundance of oxygen.
The renovation of the building, which began May 1, has a year to go before its completion.
"It's a very old building and needs lots of things done to it," said Jim Williams, architect with Peters, Williams and Kubota, who are in charge of the project.
The cornerstone of the courthouse was laid in 1903, and since then only minor changes were made.
The 75-year-old slate roof is being completely replaced. Other repairs include the replacement of the mortar in the courthouse's stone walls.
"It's good stonework, but the mortar has deteriorated and leta water in," Williams said.
The exterior of the building will be retained Because the county wants to maintain its architectural heritage and architecture, which the placed the building on the National Register of Historic Places
"Back when the building was built, there were huge bulbs." Williams said.
In addition to repairs, the remodeling will concentrate on the modernization of the building. Fluorescent fixtures, for example, will also be installed.
The current cost estimate for the remodeling, including architect fees and contingency funds is $1,110.000. The actual remodeling will cost about $975.000.
Staff photo by RICK PADDEN
Courthouse cleanup
The aging Douglas County courthouse, a Lawrence landmark for 74 years, is being modernized on the inside and renovated on the outside. The project is expected to be completed in 2018.
Bv DAVID A. WALSH
On Tuesday nights, Lawrence's mayor, Marnie Argenringer, is a tough and demanding politician who questions little things—like the wording in the minutes of the last meeting—and big things—like a proposed $2.3 million bond issue.
Staff Writer
Mavor boldly challenges issues
Argersinger doesn't hesitate to give her opinion about issues.
"We ought to have some areas in town where there aren't any beer tasters," she
However, even in the midst of the complex and controversial issues she grills and discusses.
"I figured I didn't have to ask all the questions when you had all the experts in the United States here," she told a group that brought about afflictions to appear
In April, Argersinger became the second woman to serve as the Lawrence mayor, and her enthusiasm about her work as a commissioner and mayor hasn't diminished any.
"I have really just literally been having a ball," she says.
About four years ago Argersinger was one of those neighbors who became involved in the fight.
Although she had said she thought the hardest thing about being a city commissioner would be working with the other people to make sure her job has been easy and rewarding.
Another rewarding aspect of her job, she says, has been seeing the increase in the number of neighborhood groups that participate in local matters.
"NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS make a better impression on the commissioners than any expert does, even if they stumble and stamper," she says.
The city had proposed to build a city garage at Second and Indiana streets, she says, and says the neighbors in that area have been opposed. The city agreed with a petition drive against the garage.
"On Christmas Eve we were in front of Woolworth's gathering signatures for the Woolworths."
BECAUSE OF HER WORK in the petition drive and because she was known throughout the city in which she has lived for 37 years, her neighbors and her family attempted to persuade her to run for city commissioner.
"I kept telling them, 'I'm $2 and I just want to play bridge.'" she saves.
But she was persuaded to run in the primary, and she finished first out of 20 candidates. In the election in April 1975, Arsinger came in first.
"I'm not the world's biggest women's libber," she says, "but the most exciting thing about the election was beating six men."
Argersingi credits her participation in the league of Women Volunteers with providing the support and encouragement.
Lawyers not needed in this courtroom
A $5 fee and an hour in a courtroom without lawyers has proven beneficial to hundreds of Douglas County residents who have taken their complaints about landlords, tenants, restaurants and other conditions to the Douglas County Small Claims Court.
Most of the 1,042 pleadings that have been filed in the small claims court since its inception four years ago have involved the failure of a lawsuit according to Joyce Burns, a clerk at the court.
However, Burns said that there had been some unique cases, too.
One case last year, she said, involved a claim for $1.98 against a restaurant for steak that was not served.
Burns said that the plaintiff took the food home with him and froze it. When the hearing was held, the plaintiff removed the food from his freezer, thawed it and presented it as evidence against the defendant.
DESPIE THE PLAINITT'S efforts, the case was dammed, Burns said.
nesses. If a witness refuses to appear at the hearing, the court will subpoena him.
After listening to both sides in a smallClaims hearing, Elwell often asks questions that he said might help him make a decision. Elwell said he often had to draw upon his own background and experience in making a decision.
In a recent hearing, Elwell dismissed a case involving damages sought because a sump pump in the basement of a house that had not did work during recent heavy rains.
Elwell, who during the hearing said that he was fairly familiar with sump pumps, said that the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that the pump, whose age had been about seven months, had been installed improperly by the house's original builder.
Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant in a hearing can be represented by a lawyer. Each side must present its own case within the court's jurisdiction. Mike Elwell, associate district court judge,
"The cases are never dull," she said.
Often the hearings amount to the plaintiff's word against the defendant's word, Elwell said. But he said that didn't reduce the court's effectiveness.
"For the most part it works," he said. "Most people tell the truth—about 95 per cent. Abest five per cent try to abuse the court."
Often, however, the decisions are not clear-cut. Elwell sand. In those cases he would have had to make a decision.
However, appeals of the court's decisions can be made in cases in which both parties were present, she said. An appeal is filed before the district court, she said, but that makes the hearings legally more complex and more expensive.
EACH SIDE PRESENTS its version of what happened and is allowed to call wit-
BURNS SAID THAT AN individual was allowed to file five claims in the small county of Douglas County, and said that a defendant must be a resident of Douglas County, or in some way be connected with the county, to be eligible to file a claim in the Douglas County Small Claims Court.
"It would be necessary for each side to its lawyers just to file the necessary paperwork."
HOOD WANTS TO SEE YOU.
The small claims court, which hears cases
them. The small claims court, is designed to reduce
legal fees. Karmas are
If one of the parties does not appear at the hearing, then the case is awarded automatically to the party who is present, and if another party cannot be reified or appealed, she said.
plaintiff the full amount that he is seeking,
he said.
joined the League of Women Volunteers in 1951 and served as its president in 1959-60.
ARGERINGER SAYS SHE now spends about 20 hours a week performing her duties and is very busy.
The duties of the mayor are more than those of a commissioner, she says, but they are mostly ceremonial, such as attending public events and siming documents.
"However, I sometimes spend as much as 40 hours a week on those duties." she says.
She says that her husband, William Argersinger Jr., dean of the graduate school and vice chancellor for research and graduate studies, has been helpful.
"He has been incredibly supportive," she says.
Her husband, who she says is not domestically educated about the late-night sleeps
ARGERSINGER MET HER husband in Chittaneng, N.Y. when she was 13.
"I was standing on a corner with a friend when Billy came by," she says. "After he had left, I asked my friend what his name was and when she told me I said, 'Can you imagine marrying someone with a name like that?'"
It was her husband who gave her her unusual first name.
Argersinger says that during World War II, she and her husband lived in Dayton where her husband, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, worked on the Manhattan Project, a project which developed the atomic bomb.
Her first name is actually Margaret, but she pronounced it "Marmite" until she was 5-years-old. When she and her husband started dating, he found out about her misprunciation and started calling hername. The name has been with her since then.
ONCE IN LAWRENCE, Argersinger resumed her undergraduate work on a part-time basis. In 1951 she completed her work as an English teacher and she earned her master's degree in Spanish.
Argeringers says her seemingly incongruous degrees of result of a KU baker's attic in the 1990s.
While in that country she says she fell in love with its culture, especially its language.
She also reads mysteries and plays bridge. She belongs to one bridge club that meets every Friday afternoon, and during winter she year she belongs to two other bridge clubs.
Her love for Spanish is evident. She has made 10 tries to Mexico and three to Spain.
"I BELONG TO A GROUP of faculty wives who read plays in Spanish," she says. "We get together every two weeks to talk about them and to have a补贴 succker."
But her time isn't spent doing only mayoral work or reading Spanish plays.
Even in Lawrence she still uses her Spanish.
She also walks her dog—four times a day.
Sammy, a Dalmation with one blue eye and
one brown eye, will not stay within a block of the house.
"I don't know, I might run," she says. "I do know I don't have as many friends now as I did four years ago because of some of the decisions I have had to make."
“It’s really nice,” she says, “except when it rains.”
--much more, New items every week.
Those numerous walks do give her a chance to think about her political ambitions after her term as commissioner expires in 1979.
A GROCERY STORE in JAYHAWKER TOWERS??
Not quite, but we do have pop, candy bars, pizza, sandwiches (hot to go), potato chips, lunchmeat, dairy products, fruit pies Twinkles, HoHo's, donuts, cookies, FROGURT paper goods, dishwashing soap, laundry soap, soup, ice and much, much more. New items every week.
OPEN DAILY 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Fri. and Sat. 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
WAXMAN
1407 MASSACHUSETTS ST. Candles LAWRENCE, KANSAS 66044 913-843-8593
Apartment decoration Sale through Sept.1 Up to 50% off
Hours 9-5 Mon.-Sat.
All regular stock included