University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
KANSAN
The University Daily
Tuesday, January 19, 1982
Vol. 92, No. 77 USPS 650-640
Firefighters rushed to the scene of a trailer house fire last night, but the flames engulfed and completely destroyed the trailer. See related photo page 5.
Fire destroys mobile home; no injuries
By STEPHEN BLAIR Staff Reporter
When Keith Cowart, 24, returned to his mobile home at 2200 Harper St. last night, he saw its aluminum siding melting away in flames.
He knew that his wife and children were safe, visiting relatives in Venezuela, but it appeared he had lost all of his belongings. He watched as samil explosions punctured the sound of jets of water punching their way onto collapsing furniture.
Later in the night, Cowart directed three tightlers into a mass of debris. The explosion knocked down several buildings.
He knelt in the mud and picked through the ashes. Fire fighters tried to steady the
flashlights as Cowart extracted singed an-
d dampened currency from a box. There was a
silvery clink as he found his $4,000 collection
of rare coins.
Recovering the coins did not make him feel any better, "not without those pictures of my brother."
He thought he would make a telephone call South America last night to break the news that Mr. Garrison was dead.
Neighbors who witnessed the fire said it appeared to have been under control until the fire was extinguished.
Justin Pitts, Clifton, had been talking to
the fire fighters pulled up at
about 9:00 p.m.
"At that time, just the center of the house was involved," he said. "Then they ran out of money."
water) back on. By that time the first part of the trailer was involved and it had spread to
Maj. Bob Couleman, of the Lawrence Fire Department said, "The problem was we had three fire calls going at the same time; four really."
Lawrence Fire Chief Jim McSwan said the trainees were a minor factor in the trainer's defense.
There was no indication as to the cause of the fire, McSwain said.
McSwain could not give an estimate of the amount of property damaged from the blaze.
Cowart estimated the value of his trailer at $7,000 to $7,000. The insurance on the trailer is $2,500.
Students' semester moves cause vacancies
Rv.JAN BOUTTE
Staff Reporter
Many KU students took advantage of the semester break to change their addresses, some moving out of Lawrence, some moving to other states, and others just relocating for the spring semester.
"We always have the usual graduates and flunk-outs move out," said Sheryl Lemosay, manager of West Hills Apartments 1013 Emery Street. The students who vacated were higher than usual this semester.
of the vacated apartments quickly, since she had been expecting problems because of enrollment
Lemesany said she was surprised to fill all 13
Other apartment complexes reported less luck in filling apartments vacated at the end of the year.
At Park 25, 241 W. 25th St., manager Gary Stephenson said that they had filled only six of their 12 vacancies, which he said was not as good as in other years.
The Jayhawk Towers has yet to fill its four towers, but manager Tom Pratt said he had leased about 10 more units than last semester, bringing the vacancies down into the 50s.
Pratt said most of the new occupants were new
His office was still working with the canceled and new contracts, but Denke said there were as many moving into the residence halls as there were moving out of them.
Mark Denke, assistant director of residential programs, said the KU residence halls were able to accommodate new students.
Denke said there were a lot of cancellations of contracts, but many were students who had been hired.
to the University, but some had moved from other student housing.
Naismith Hall, a privately owned residence,
has 16 students leave and 50 move in over
the morgue brook.
Spring enrollment pleasing to officials
By ANNE CALOVICH and ANN WYLIE Reporters
Spring enrollment has increased at the University of Kansas despite a national trend of decreasing university enrollments, according to Richard von Ende, executive secretary of the
"We've been more attractive to non-
traditional students," von Ende said yesterday.
The University of Florida has made a
great effort.
A RECORD 23,602 students were enrolled on the first day of classes this semester, an increase of 110 students over last spring's first-day enrollment, von Ende said.
The Lawrence campus gained 15 students for a total enrollment of 20,155; off-campus enrolment increased 22 students for a total of 1,282 students; and enrolment at the KU College of Health Sciences increased 73 students for a total enrollment of 2.165, von Erde said.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig said in a press release yesterday that he was pleased that KU had continued its enrollment increase despite fewer graduating high school seniors in the
"I am delighted that enrollment continues to grow at the University." Budiz said.
Bugis was in Los Angeles yesterday meeting with KU alumni.
GILBERT DYCK, dean of admissions and records, said in the same release, "If late enrolment continues as expected, this increase is more than worth the effort, which are computed after the 20th day of classes."
KU's fall enrollment marked the first decrease other fall or spring enrollments that KU has experienced.
Last fall enrollment decreased by 476 students,
285 lawrence-campus students and 448 of-
fice teachers.
Figures for fall and spring enrollment are not compared to each other, von Ende said. Spring enrolment is always lower than fall enrolment because more of students who drop out after the fall semester.
On the basis of last semester's decreased enrollment, Gov. John Carlin has recommended deleting 15 faculty positions and $292,000 from KU's fiscal year 1983 budget.
THE INCREASE in spring enrollment may be due to the senior's recommendation, however, von Ende supports it.
"I think the Legislature will take a hard look at the governor's suggestion because it's not congruent with legislative policy," von Ende said.
State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence; said the increase in spring enrollment could be used as an argument against the governor's proposed budget and faculty cuts.
"The governor's overall budget is very
large, and I don't agree with what he did to
KU." Sobach said.
"They didn't increase University of Kansas appropriations when we had an enrollment increase a few years ago, but they did decrease it. The university enrollment decreased in the fall." Solbach said.
"We're going to do whatever we can to put things back on an even footing."
Thunderbird pilots die while practicing stunt
By United Press International
INDIAN SPRINGS, Nev.-Four Air Force Thunderbird jets, practicing a daring "line abreast loop" maneuver, crashed yesterday, one after another, into the desert floor and exploded.
All four pilots were killed in the worst single accident in the history of the precision military
Two witnesses reported seeing the jets nose into the desert, one after the other, side by side.
"I SAW the first one hit, there was a ball of flames—just like a napalm bomb," Tom Sullivan, an equipment operator, said. He said the ball was struck and was followed within seconds by the three others.
The accident brought to 16 the number of Thunderbird aviators killed since the formation of the air force.
The planes were streaking at 230 to 400 mph when they slammed into the rugged Nevada
Maj. Gen. James Gregory said the pilots were practicing maneuvers over the Indian Springs auxiliary station in preparation for the 87-show, 1982 season. Two other pilots, who were to have performed in solo roles with the four-plane unit, had been flying some miles away at the time of the tragedy.
GREGORY SAID the foursome were "performing the line abreast loop and completing that at the time of the crash. I don't know at what point in the loop the crash occurred."
See THUNDERBIRD page 5
Prof observes voodoo describes Haiti initiation
Weather
Today will be partly cloudy with light and variable winds becoming northerly from 10-15 mph and a high around 40, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Temperatures tonight will drop to a low of about 10. It will be colder tomorrow with a high in the low 20s.
By ANNE CALOVICH Staff Reporter
For one week they are fed nothing but rum.
They lie in a dark room, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and when they stumble into the light after seven days, they must pass the test of fire.
This is vooodo initiation, as described by Bryant Freeman, professor of French and teacher of Haitian Creole at KU. Freeman taught at the University in Hawaii, a small island in the Caribbean Sea.
FREEMAN SAID he has attended about 30 voodoo ceremonies in Haiti, the first one in 1968
The latest ceremony marked one of the high points of vooado, the manjie loua, the feast of the dancers.
He said the ceremony was similar to others he had attended except that participants offered food to their particular loa, a god or spirit comparable to a patron saint.
Freeman, who said he attended the ceremonies as a student of Hindustan culture, took a photo of the group.
"You know you're near because you hear the drums," he said. "There are three drums—one large, one medium and one small drum. The beat is hypnotic to me—the very soul of a voodoo torch."
There are usually six to eight possessions in a typical ceremony, he said.
Under the peristyle, a roof with no walls, to the incessant beat of the drums, possession takes
"A POSSESSION takes place when one loua
takes over the body and mind and speaks
them. The patient who was possessed
has no recorder of this.
*Non-believers interpret this as self-induced hypnotism, but followers believe in the laou actually descending and taking over temporarily mind and body of the worshiper.* Freeman said.
"A very heavy man in his 40s or 50s climbed up the central pole (from which the laura are believed to descend) and hung by a rafter for half-an-hour by one leg. He climbed up with the agility of a small boy. It was amazing—the intellectual power of the human mind," Freeman said.
Freeman said he once witnessed the possession of a man by the snake and fertility god, Damh.
"Then the dancing and singing—all of this to the drum beat. It's always going on. After several hours, they change drummers because it's exhausting."
Freshman and vowed was curry-infused.
"It can be hot, sweaty and dusty. It's usually packed. You usually end up standing or sitting on a tree stump for hours," he said.
Freeman said voodoo wasn't all romanticism.
THERE IS also a bad side to vooood, Freeman said, and that includes blank magic.
"That's the bad side of voodoo—the fear," he said.
Freeman said black magic was widely practiced. "A person will go to a bokor (a priest dealing in black magic) to put a spell or hex on some enemy. The only way to counter it is to get a good priest whose good power is stronger than the bad."
See VOODOO page 5
JOHN HANKAMMER/Kansan Stal
Bryant Freeman sits among some of his voodoo artifacts from Haiti.