Cameras, cops observe sneaky shoplifters
Staff Renorter
By DEBRIECHMANN
A grocery store manager eyed a size-16 woman who had ripped off his store后 he watched as she lifted her full skirt and slipped a half gallon of ice on her plump thighs before heading for the door.
The manager approached her and struck up a friendly conversation. Soon melting ice cream tricked down her legs. She was in a "sticky" situation-caund red-handed for shoilifting.
"IT GOT PRETTY messy myessage the whole thing is over so I asked Lawrence grocer when he demanded it."
Market managers cannot excuse any customer of stealing inside the store. Legally, customers are not allowed to leave inside the store. Instead, he used one of many techniques to catch dishonest customers who are stealing local supermarkets.
Jack Leatherman, manager of Falley's Discount Foods, 255 Iowa St., told of other shoplifting tricks that every month account for a $4,000 to $6,000 loss and lost 10 percent of the value loss for 10 of the largest shopper stores in Lawrence.
"We had a guy back in the meat department who tucked some packages of sliced ham into his pants and the assistant manager walked up to him and casually asked him to put the ham back." Leather-
"WELL, THE assistant manager wasn't about to reach into the guy's pants and so he got away with it."
man said. "The guy told him if he wanted it back he'd have to get it himself.
Although there is no way to tell exactly how much is stolen, last year as much as 15 percent of U.S. supermarket prices went to cover the cost of dishonesty, according to industry estimates.
Despite one-way mirrors, video cameras and signs that threaten prosecution, customers are nickel and silver. The state Department of Public Works marked up 1 percent to compensate for shoplifting in some Lawrence stores, Leatherman said, and "the store was the first."
So far this year, 203 shoplifters have been caught stealing merchandise off the shelves of grocery and pharmacy stores.
Shirley Easum, municipal court clerk, said most of the shoplifters were caught stealing at supermarkets. Stores frequently hit her she said, were Falley's, which they are calling "the black market." Nandasm Drive; and Dillons' 1 W. 6th st.
SIE SAID K-Mart Discount Store, 31st and lown
trees, and 25th and discount Center, 2525 Iowa st,
St. Louis, MO.
While merchants are stepping up the precautions against slappiers, another concern is the rate at which they can be killed.
Some local greecers said that shoplifting by University of Kansas students was one of their biggest problems, but that the largest part of their thefts were in the school system which would explain the higher number of student thefts.
Grocery store employees across the nation last year reported were responsible for as much as 30
However, Easum, who sees shoplifters appear in court, estimated that 75 percent of Lawrence shoplifters were not students, but housewives and people from low-income families.
About three-fourths of the prosecuted shopfronters are female, she said. The most common offenders are young business owners.
REASONS FOR stealing are diverse.
Leatherman said he thought students shoplifted because they wanted to see whether they could get
"They don't do it because they need something to eat," he said.
Terry Garman, manager of Wayne's Way-1o, 848 New Hampshire St., described one incident involving a girl who was struck by a car.
"There was this girl dressed really nice. She didn't need to steal," Garman said. "She took a pack of strawberries, and I asked her why she took it. She told me all the other kids did and got away with it.
"She said she didn't know why she had to get caught and that it was her first time."
The most common answer given by detected shopfitters is, "I have never done this before," according to the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C.
A brochure published by the SBA says: "Failure to prosecute first offenders encourages shoplifting. It is best to operate on the premise that he who steals also lie. Call the police when you catch a shoalfier."
SOME GROCERCS in Lawrence, however, sine use,
did not always call the police when they caught it.
"What's really sad," said one store owner, "is stealing by elderly people who are on fixed income."
Mike Valentine, manager of Safety, 26rd and Iowa streets, said that if the offender was elderly, senile or mentally retarded, he would take the person's condition into consideration.
Most supermarket thefts involve less than $100 worth of food or other merchandise. An average of 20 petty larceny cases—mostly from groceries—have been viewed by the municipal court each month
The municipal court has dismissed or deferred 41 percent of all shipbuilding cases reviewed since Jan. 1. Although second offenders can be jailed for up to 10 years, they must never serve time in jail. They can be fined up to $100.
This year about 30 shoplifters have had to pay fines because they did not pay at the store. Only 12 shoplifters have to pay the full time and only seven served time behind bars.
An effort is being made by grocers to catch customers stealing, but many more people are stealing.
EVERY WEEK at Falney's, Leatherman said, he sees at least 10 people scampling, but he thinks many are not.
Mirrors and video camera have been installed at Falley's. Although Leatherman would not say how many cameras he had, he promised that more would be installed soon.
Valentine, manager of the new Safeway store, has a different method for detecting shoplifters. The entire store is visible through six one-way mirrors installed on the second floor of one side of the store.
Valentine said he did not want to give the impression that there was someone constantly watching the store, but that he placed someone behind them when he thought the store needed to be watched.
Senators sued by law students
Jim Meyer, who has managed Rusty's at Hillcrest for four years, does not use commercial shopfitting equipment on alert employees. Six years ago, he installed video cameras from the ceiling—only two actually work.
By TAMMY TIERNEY
See THEFT back page
Charging infringement of their First Amendment rights, the Student Bar Association and three law students are the takers in this case.
Staff Reporte
A class-action suit was scheduled to be filed in Kansas U.S. District Court this morning by the SBA, John Gage, Katieheen McCormick and others.
Named as defendants in the suit were Mike Harper, student body president, Reggie Robinson, student body vice president,
According to Jeff Roth, SBA president, the suit was filed in response to an amendment passed by the Senate Wednesday. The amendment stipulated that the SBA could not receive Senate approval for a petition urging the moving of the Jimmy Green statute.
SBA IS requesting $200, which is one dollar for every law student, plus court costs and attorney's fees, from the 23 student.
The Senate's restriction on the SBA said no SBAA member attempt to persuade Gov. Robert F. Bennett to move the Jimmy Green statue to new Green Hall from its location on Jayhawk Boulevard.
However, Harper said yesterday he would veto the amendment because he thought it suppressed minority opinion. But, he said, the amendment will not be officially rescinded until the next Senate meeting in January.
The amendment was proposed by Barry Shalinsky, holdover senator, who said he did not think the opinion of the law students was correct.
Although Shalinsky proposed the amendment to offset a petition circulating in the law school that favored moving the杖, Roth never had the power to do so.
HALINSKY SAID he thought Bennett might order the statue because he had only few weeks left in office and "noticed that he is a very hard worker."
Roth said the Senate's attempt to put conditions on SBA's funding was a violation of the group's civil rights of freedom of speech and right to petition the government for redress of grievances as provided under the First Amendment.
HOWEVER, ROTH said, he is pleased that the amendment affected the SSA rather than another student organization.
"I'm happy that it happened to us because we're more well-equipped than any other group on campus to handle it," he said. "Were they to put conditions on another group, those people would not have the machinery at hand to handle it."
Although SBA members appear to be taking the suit seriously, Harper said it "was the funniest time I ever heard."
"I can't believe a third-year law student came up with such a lame-brain idea," he said.
Harper said he did not think SBA could sue the Senate because it was a state body and therefore was immune from lawsuits.
"The only way they can sue us is if they cain we are a law agency," he said. "And, if they do that, they'll have to sue the entire University and the Board of Regents because that is whom we are ultimately responsible to."
"Jeff Rosth stolmed into my office and demanded that I call an emergency meeting to get that amendment off the books by Monday," he said. "I didn't feel it was necessary to call a meeting because of his attitude."
"I'm not worried about a lawsuit at all. I'm having a good time with it. I think it's hilarious."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
The University of Kansas
Monday, December 4. 1978
KANSAN
Vol.89.No.67
Lawrence, Kansas
Cold limbs
Cold weather and a dusting of snow yesterday slowed down Christmas tree sales for Stephen Olson.
who lives at 1247 Kentucky St. Otion works at the Pence Garden Center, 15th and New York streets, and in warmer weather does landscape work for the center.
Faculty defends IHP
Bv DEBRIECHMANN
Staff Reporter
Faculty members of KU's Integrated Humanities Program said Saturday they would favor competition from another university in course at the University of Kansas.
The committee members questioned the professors for about two hours at the Kansas Union in the committee's last meeting all sides of the controversial program.
He said he had taken a "gamber's point of view" and would even quit for two years to give another program a head start.
"We would welcome competition—we'd be delighted to have it," Dennis Quinn, director of IHP, said.
QUINN SAID he did not mind if another program was developed to cover the humanities in a different way.
"Our argument is that there is only one way of integrating the humanities," Quinn asks. "We need to forward our unified, common philosophy, we don't say five and 'take your pick'."
Quinn and two other IHP professors met with a six-member evaluation committee to defend the program's "academic merits," and to respond to criticism made by opponents at one of two public hearings held last month.
"We don't dictate what is true—it is there to be seen."
Critics of HIP have said that the views of three IHP professors are presented in a book.
The HIP advisory committee's next task is to compile the information collected throughout the evaluation and to present it at a conference in Undergraduate Studies and Advising.
"I don't think anyone could possibly learn," courses were given, flirting someone, or thinking about finding out the truth of things. We are not in the business of simply expressing opinion.
Quinim disagrees. It would be wrong to persuade a student to believe something unless the person sees and accepts that viewpoint, he said.
So far, the evaluation committee has held three public hearings to listen to oral testimony from supporters and opponents who wrote 191 letters about IHP.
Quinn said he was skeptical of the committee's ability to complete its evaluation by Jan. 1, and said he expected it to "drag through next semester."
WIL LINKUGEL, chairman of the advisory committee, said he hoped the committee could present its findings before the end of the year.
"We spend half our time not teaching the program, but defending it," Quinn said.
He said that he was not unhappy with how the evaluation unfolded, but that he
was not sure the committee obtained a complete picture of the program.
HE SAID he be understood that this weekend's meeting was an opportunity for the IPH professors to defend the program, but he thought the meeting just "scratched
At the meeting, Quinn presented a copy of a letter sent to the committee that listed former IHP participants, their current occupations, and their fields of study.
"I don't know how they're going to decide what is true or what to believe." Quinn said. "I've read all the letters and some of them have flat errors in them."
Much of the controversy about IHP surfaced after 11 IHP students decided to study in a French monastery.
The list showed more than 28 former students studying law, 12 medicine, nine nursing, 14 theology and 33 pursuing graduate studies.
The list is not a complete list of all HIP participants, Quinn said, but it gives a sampling of other areas of study HIP alumni have pursued.
"The faculty of IHP places great emphasis upon the fruits of our labor's—the students themselves," the letter said. "We believe that we have indicated on the quality of IHP alumni."
Quinn said, "The graduates are influential, intelligent members of the community who still support IHP—not fanatics or crazy people."
Watson branch questioned
By CAROL BEIER Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
University of Kansas plans to consolidate branch libraries were compared to a "aFransson army directive" Friday by one member of the university's board.
the member, Charles Himmelberg, chairman of the mathematics department, told committee members at their Friday meeting that he was not convinced continued operation of separate branch libraries was an economic problem for KU.
Himmelberg said the convenience of a mathematics library for faculty research was worth some additional cost.
JIM RANZ, de l'offices, said a centrally located library would be more accessible to students and would require less
Himmelmeyer was not a member of the library committee the past two years when its members discussed and approved a two-part grant.
The first part of the plan provides for the renovation of Watson Library. Funds for the $5.2 million project were approved by the Kansas Legislature last spring. Remodeling is scheduled to begin next fall.
The second part of the plan has been approved by the University administration and has been submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents for funding. It provides for the construction of West an additional library on the site of the military science building.
PLANNING AND construction of West Watson would cost between $15 million and $20 million, according to Ranz. Ranz said the new building would house collections from the sciences, music, architecture and mathematics departments.
Ranz said initial recommendations for consolidation of branch libraries had come from three University committees. He said the new library would be based on the existing library.
Ranz said that until there was funding by the Regents, West Watson would "remain a matter of conjecture."
Paul McCarthy, professor of mathematics and chairman of the mathematics department's library committee, said the "master plan" to consolidate the branch libraries need not be the final word.
"I CAME TO the University 18 years ago and I've seen several master plans made," he said. "I dare say master plans can be changed."
Another committee member, Debra Nails, Baton Rouge, La., graduate student, said she had two friends on the mathematics faculty who she thought would not support Himmelberg's research. The faculty members consulted library resources 20 to 30 times a day.
Another committee member doubted some mathematics faculty's claims concerning the importance of the library collection in Strong Hall.
"Two or three is a lot different from 20 or 30," she said.
Nails suggested a compromise if the mathematics library were moved to West Watson. She said a certain percentage of the collection's most used and most recent material could be duplicated and left in Strong Hall.
4
HIMMELBERG ESTIMATED that the mathematics collection contained 10,000 volumes, 400 of which were journals.
Other business at the meeting included a talk by A趴 Head, law ibrarian in Green Hall. Committee members toured the law office and reviewed documents.
The law and medical libraries are administratively separate, Ranz said, from the branches and Watson. Head said the law library would not be part of the West Watson plans because it was not considered a branch library.