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The University Daily Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday. October 30.2000
Sports: The Kansas football team's hopes for a bowl appearance grew dimmer Saturday after falling short to Texas Tech Saturday.
See page 1B
Inside: Indian students celebrate Diwali Dhamaka.
(USPS 630-640) VOL.11 NO.45 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 5A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Sentencing due for student's death
By Derek Prater
Lafthow died Aug. 15 of injuries suffered in an accident on Interstate 70
By Derek Prater
writer@kansan.com
Kansan senior staff writer
Alex Wolfson, Omaha, Neb. sophomore, pleaded no contest Friday to vehicular homicide in the death of 18-year-old University of Kansas student Laura Lewich.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.
The judge could suspend all or part of the sentence and order probation, said Roger Marrs, Leavenworth deputy county attorney.
Billy Breedlove, 43, of Kansas City, Mo., also has been charged with vehicular homicide for his role in the Aug. 12 accident that caused Leftwich's death.
Leftwich, a Skokie, Ill., sophomore,
died Aug. 13 of injuries suffered in
the accident, which occurred on Interstate 70 about seven miles east of Lawrence. She was in the passenger seat of Wolfson's Honda Accord.
At Friday's pre-trial hearing, Breedlove was granted a continuance until Nov. 8. At that time, the judge will hear any pre-trial motions and determine a trial date.
According to police, the accident occurred after Wolfson and Breedlove exchanged gestures and followed one another closely.
Breedlove, driving a Geo, passed Wolfson, and Wolfson pulled behind Breedlove, who them braked suddenly. Wolfson swerved his car to miss the Geo, spinning out of control and coming to rest in the right lane facing oncoming traffic.
Breedlove left the scene and contacted investigators the next day about his role in the accident.
He also faces charges of leaving the scene of an injury accident, a misdemeanor that carries the same sentence as vehicular homicide.
Wolfson was transported to Providence Memorial Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., where he was treated and released.
He declined to comment yesterday.
- Edited by John Acklebahn.
- Edited by John Audlehelm
Supreme Court reinforces laws for ABC agents
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer @kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld laws allowing officers to ask for identification from people whose youthful appearances lead officers to suspect they are drinking underage.
The ruling sends the case of the State of Kansas v. David L. Pritchett back to the Douglas County District Court.
The court delivered its ruling Friday in the Sept. 12 case that could have changed how law enforcement officers can enforce Minor in Possession statutes.
Pritchett, Wichita junior, said he did not have time, did not have his ID and was leaving the party. Wilson did not believe Pritchett, and Wilson said he would not allow Pritchett to leave until Wilson found out who he was.
The case began when David Pritchett, then a 19-year-old sophomore, attended a catered fraternity party on Aug.27,1999. Jim Wilson, an Alcohol Beverage Control agent, asked him for identification.
As Wilson was taking Pritchett to the ABC van, Pritchett ran away. Wilson found him and arrested him.
Don Strole, Pritchett's attorney, argued that Wilson could not stop Pritchett for simply looking young. Looking young, Strole said, was not enough for the reasonable suspicion Wilson needed to detain Pritchett.
The district court originally sided with Strole and threw out the case, saying Wilson did not have the right to make Pritchett show his ID. The Kansas Supreme Court reversed the court's ruling.
One of the issues the Supreme Court considered in its ruling that District Court Judge Paula Martin originally ignored was the wristband Pritchett was wearing.
PRITCHETT CASE
What happened: The Supreme Court reversed a district court ruling that raised questions about when law enforcement officers could demand identification from people. What it means: Officers can stop people who they believe are drinking underage and ask for ID based on the officers' judgments about how old the person looks. What's next: The case goes back to the district court, where David Pritchett, Wichita junior, will be prosecuted.
Wilson argued that Pritchett would have had to show ID to receive the over-21 wristband he was wearing, so he knew Pritchett was lying about not having ID. The Supreme Court said that counted as reasonable suspicion.
Strole said the case would have been clearer if Pritchett had refused to answer the agent's questions and had not been wearing a wristband.
"We knew it was going to be a tough case for them to uphold." Strole said. "The good thing is that they didn't make any new law. We will try to work out something with the (District Attorney's) office. There is no point going to trial."
Pritchett will be prosecuted through the district court.
"I figured it was going to happen," he said. "I didn't mean for it to get this big. I just wanted to beat it in court. I didn't think they'd appeal it."
"I don't really care anymore," Pritchett said. "I'm 21. I wish they would just give me whatever they're going to give me so I can get it over with, because it doesn't affect me anymore."
Prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Strole said diversion was probable.
Edited by Erin McDaniel
The case will go back to Martin, who originally dismissed it.
Balancing act
a unicyclist pedals down Massachusetts Street as part of the second Critical Mass bike ride on Friday. More than 100 supporters rode down Tennessee, Kentucky and Massachusetts streets chanting "bike lanes." Unlike the previous ride, policice issued no violations because riders obeyed traffic lights and signaled turns with their hands. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
New system gives students more flexibile dining options
By Kursten Phelps
By Kursten Phelps
writer@kansan.com
Kansas state writer
Kansan staff writer
Students who live in residence, halls can now get three square meals a day — even if they oversleep.
Starting today, residents can use their allotted meals anytime Mrs. E's is open. The change also applies to Oliver Hall and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall cafeterias.
Under the previous system, certain hours were specified for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If a students did not eat one of their meals during each period, they lost that meal.
Now, students can eat their meals during any meal period, said Nona Golledge, assistant director of student housing for dining services.
"It gives students more flexibility and lets them decide when they're going to eat," she
said. "If they choose to eat three times a day, they can have a 10:35 late breakfast, a 1:30 late lunch and then dinner. It provides a little bit more flexibility, keeping in mind their busy lifestyle."
Jonathan Ng, Nunemaker student senator and Leawood sophomore, said his own experience on Daisy Hill and comments from other students prompted him to push for the change.
MEAL PLAN CHANGES
What happened: The Department of Student Housing changed its residence hall meal plan policy that restricted when residents could use their meals.
What it means: Students with meal plans at Mrs. E's, Oliver Hall and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall cafeterias can eat their meals any time those cafeterias are open. They can also get two meals at once from E's Express.
The change
affected E's Express differently, he said. Residents can now use up to two of their daily meals at one time at E's Express.
Dining services piloted the new system at Oliver Hall last week to iron out any problems with the new system. Golledge said.
She said the budget was the major consideration when switching to the new system. The budget, which determines a meal plan's price, is based on the assumption that students will not generally use all of their meals.
Golledge said factor helped keep meal plan costs down, and she expected the "missed meal factor" to decrease under the new system.
"There may possibly be an increase in the meal plan's price sometime in the future because of this," she said. "But you have to keep in mind that with any added service, benefit or flexibility, there's typically a cost attached to it."
Katie Wilkinson, Colorado Springs, Colo., freshman, said the change was a step in the right direction because she had lost money because she couldn't use her meals during the scheduled times.
"I don't know why they didn't do it in the first place," the Templin Hall resident said. "I'm excited about it because you'll actually be able to get what you're paying for."
Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Students get inventive to find cheap Halloween costumes
Bv Meahan Bainum
Kansan staff writer
Laura Dellinger needed a Tina Turner wig for Halloween, but couldn't find one in heat price range.
For Dellinger and many other college students, Halloween is a time to find the best costume for the least amount of money.
The Wichita senior found a cheap werewolf mask at K-Mart, 3106 Iowa St, cut the face off of it, leaving her with a luxurious Tina Turner-esque mane.
"It looked just like Tina's hair," she said. "Everyone thought it was pretty funny."
This search leads many students on a trek through thrift stores, roommates' closets and discount stores hunting for the perfect costume for the perfect price
Low prices were one of the reasons Kelly Garrity, Atchisor, junior, headed to Sugartown Traders, 918 Massachusetts St., when she was looking for the perfect piece of clothing to make her "washed-out prostitute" costume a success.
- usually less than $20.
The final touch to complement the miniskirt and fishnet stockings she found in her roommate's closet was a faux-leather lacket.
("My roommate) found it, and we knew," Garrity said. "It really added an element of trash."
Garrity, who found the jacket for $12.50, said she thought Sugartown was a great place to look for costumes.
Massachusetts St., is another popular thrift store for college students seeking a fun, fashionable costume at a not-so-high price.
"They had all kinds of stuff," she said. "A lot of '60s and '70s style dresses, a bunch of fun coats and a lot of wigs."
Jennifer McKnight, owner of Arizona Trading Company, said people who were hunting for costumes at the store were generally looking for something unique.
Arizona Trading Company, 734
"Most of our customers are very creative, and they might already have a good idea of what they want," she said. "Or they'll get inspired by something they see in here."
McKnight said students seemed to be buying the crazy things the store offered like fake eyelashes, wigs and brightly colored flamethats.
She said about half of the clothes in the store were under $20 and costumes could be very cheap, especially if students traded clothes in for store credit.
A biking helmet, a paintball mask, a rock-climbing harness and a load-bearing vest were parts of the Topeka junior's costume.
But some students chose not to shop for costumes.
Scott Wadley, a biking, camping and paintball enthusiast, came up with the perfect "Stealth Avenger" costume by throwing together a selection of different things he used every day.
Though Wadley's costume won major points with his friends for inventiveness and cost-effectiveness, he said his costume wasn't perfect — especially when it came to the bicycle helmet and paintball mask.
"Getting the straw through the mask for the beer — that's the biggest hitch," he said.
- Edited by Casey Franklin
Randy Foster, Lawrence senior, checks out a selection of wigs and Halloween paraphernalia at Fun and Games, 816 Massachusetts St. The store provides a variety of Halloween ideas. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN