A raucous bird is running away from a storm.
Weather
The University Daily Kansan
Today: Partly cloudy with a high of 80 and a low of 54.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with a high of 78 and a low of 49.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Tuesday, September 26, 2000
[22]
Inside: Business at bars and liquor stores jumps when students return to Lawrence.
SEE PAGE 6A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 21
Sports: SuperTarget Field, home of the Kansas soccer team, is getting a face-lift.
SEE PAGE 14A
For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Pierce listed in fair condition
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Player stabbed in Boston fight early yesterday
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Former Kansas basketball player Paul Pierce is in fair condition at a Boston hospital after he was stabbed multiple times in the face, neck and back early yesterday morning outside a Boston nightclub.
Pierce, who now plays for the NBA's Boston Celtics, was attending a private party at the Buzz Club in Boston's theater district. At about 1 a.m., Pierce, 22, was involved in an altercation with another group of partygoers in the club's pool room and was stabbed more than five times, said Boston police representative Marielle Burns in a press conference.
"He was very lucky," former Celtics coach K.C. Jones said to the Associated Press when he left the hospital. "He had the angels on his side."
She added that Pierce was with several friends — including one unidentified Celtic teammate — who drove Pierce to the hospital. While no immediate arrests were made, Boston police are looking for a black
male suspect.
Jayhawk coach Roy Williams expressed his sympathies for Pierce.
"I am shocked and saddened by last night's events," Williams said in a written statement. "Paul Bierzo is one of
the greatest young men I have ever been around. I have been in contact with the
Celtics people and the hospital, and I expect to be in touch with the family later today. Right now, it's just too early to tell what the final word on this will be."
Williams, who left yesterday on a recruiting trip, may stop in Boston this week to visit Pierce, said sports information director Mitch Germann.
The police are investigating whether the fight involved the rap group Made Men, who attended the party. Police still are unsure of what incited the altercation.
"We're not sure what the alteration was about." Burns said. "We're not even sure Mr. Pierce and his friends were involved in what this alteration was about."
See PIERCE'S on page GA
Cocaine use speeding up across nation
Bv Melissa Davis
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Cocaine, once considered an upper-class luxury drug, is accessible to college students — even at the University of Kansas.
And Allen, McPherson senior, knows first-hand just how dominant cocaine really is in Lawrence.
"Cocaine is much more prevalent in Lawrence than people suspect," said Allen, who refused to give his last name because of legal consequences.
Allen was addicted to cocaine for two months then quit cold turkey because he said his addiction was too costly.
"My addiction got very, very expensive," he said. "I was spending about $300 a week on coke."
Allen used to spend about $40 on about half a gram, or about four laps of coconut, every day.
The thing that forced him to stop using was what drew him to the drug in the beginning.
"Cocaine is a rich person's drug — it's glamorous," he said. "It's more expensive, so it's not to be better."
But Allen is not alone. According to the National Household Survey on Drug abuse, an estimated 1.8 million Americans used cocaine in 1999 — up 300,000 from 1997.
A drug dealer in Lawrence who goes by the name "Smoky" said 95 percent of his clientele was current or former KU students.
And, according to the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, people between the ages of 18 to 25 years old — typical college age — had a higher rate of cocaine use than any other age group.
Smoky, who dealt more than just cocaine, refused to comment on where his supply came from.
"Pot is the most popular drug, but most of my money comes from coke." he said.
Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that one of the biggest concerns about drug use was a long-term addiction. Rock said he was aware that the drug had emerged in Lawrence and warned that it was not healthy or safe for students or society.
"There is no safe, appropriate recreational use of cocaine," Rock said. "We are not immune to the problem of cocaine in our society."
A recent National Institute of Drug Abuse research report on cocaine stated that the high from coke came from an imbalance the drug gives to the brain's pleasure and alertness receptors. When the brain tries to correct the imbalance, a high is produced.
The NIDA stated that side effects of cocaine use may include a decrease in appetite, an increase or decrease of sexual desire and can cause sleepsiness. When the drug wears off, a person might feel depressed, irritable or paranoid.
According to the NIDA, cocaine is made from coca leaves that are processed into a powder. Cocaine is most often snorted, or in the case of crack cocaine, smoked.
COCAINE USE STATISTICS
— Edited by Kimberly Thompson
About 1.8 million Americans were cocaine users last year, which is from 1.5 million in 1997.
Overall, men have a higher rate of cocaine use than women
— Source: National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
Based on the additional data sources that take into account users under-represented in the NHSDA, the office of National Drug Control Policy estimates the number of chronic cocaine users at 3.6 million.
Cocaine may be more prevalent in Lawrence than one may suspect. Cocaine is a narcotic manufactured from coca leaves. Photo illustration by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Professor files discrimination. retaliation lawsuit
By Kursten Phelps
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Architecture and urban design professor Dimitrios Dendrinos filed a federal discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Design and a fellow professor Sept. 11.
The complaint said the school and department of urban planning discriminated against Dendrinos, professor of architecture and urban design,
because of his Greek national origin. The complaint lists as defendants John Gaunt, dean of architecture; Eric Strauss, urban planning graduate program chairman; and James Mayo, professor of architecture and urban design.
Dendrinos, who has been a KU professor since 1975, is seeking in excess of $75,000 in each of 11 counts, a total of about $22,000 for damages in the lawsuit.
Jim Wisler, Dendrinos' attorney, said he thought Dendrinos had a good chance of winning the lawsuit.
"Of course each case has to stand on its own merits," Wisler said. "But there's certainly a pattern of discrimination and retaliation against Dimitrios Dendrilos throughout the department and the School of Architecture."
The lawsuit also claims that
The complaint said the defendants subjected Dendrinos to ethnic slander, derogatory remarks and intimidation. It also claims Dendrinos lost promotions, received low performance evaluations and low salary increases because of his national origin.
Dendrinos suffered from a pattern of assault and battery from Mayo.
Rose Marino, associate general counsel for the University, said the University had not been officially notified of the lawsuit.
Gaunt also refused to comment on the lawsuit.
"Not having seen any papers, I really can't comment on it," Marino said.
Wisler said Dendrinos filed a similar case in Douglas County Court that was dismissed at their request Aug. 16 so that they could refile it in federal court.
Edited by Erin Adamson
Complaints could spur investigation
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
By Lauren Brandenburg
The association then will decide whether the findings merit a formal investigation of the University.
The American Association of University Professors is investigating allegations made by six University of Kansas professors last spring regarding inconsistencies in the promotions and tenure processes.
"In April, faculty from KU contacted the Kansas conference of AUP telling us they wanted to talk about some complaints," said Dolores Furtado, national association executive committee member and professor of microbiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Furtado said she was part of a group of four professors throughout the state who came to listen.
"Having heard them, and in listening to peers and colleagues, we found the situation sufficiently troubling and decided we should at least pass on the report to the national AUP," Furtado said. "There may be inconsistencies in how individual faculty were handled."
She said the state conference gave the report to the American Association of University Professors, the association's national office, in June for review.
FACULTY
COMPLAINTS
"My understanding is that they are in contact with faculty obtaining documentation that we did not." Furtado said.
What: The American Association of University Professors is looking into complaints made by six University of Kansas professors about inconsistencies in promotions and tenure.
What's next: The AAUP will gather documentation and conduct more interviews to determine whether to proceed with a full investigation.
we only listened and heard. They will analyze in greater detail."
Provost David Shulenburg said no one from either the state or national Association of University Professors had contacted the University.
"We were not sent the findings, and no one from the state chapter ever contacted me or anyone involved with the University committee on promotion and tenure," Shulenburger said. "It's strange that no one at the University has been contacted and there is a report out there somewhere."
She said the initial investigation may be inconclusive, or it may result in a fullfledged investigation. Furtado said even if the documentation wasn't consistent with national standards, the next step would be a long way down the road.
Shulenburger said the University had nothing to do with the process of compiling the report and was never asked to respond to any of the state findings.
"All I could say with certainty is that the national AUP has begun getting more documentation for more detailed analysis," Furtado said.
Furtado said she believed the American Association of University Professors would look into how the University followed procedures in the association's handbook. She said the handbook consisted of policies and procedures that provided a national standard.
- Edited by Sara Nutt
Pullina an ollie
Caroy Humble, Baldwin City resident,
takes advantage of the nice weather and
open space in front of the Kansas Union
yesterday afternoon. Photo by Nick
Krug/KANSAN.
106