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The University Daily Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Fridav. September 22, 2000
Sports: The Kansas women's volleyball team will face Iowa State in Ames, Iowa tomorrow.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Department of Student Housing reports that more students are living on campus this year.
For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Michael Obrien, Winnetka, Ill., junior puts bananas in the oven during a filming of "Spatula City" on www.nibblebox.com. Obrien co-hosted the show with fellow KU film student Matt Blume, Hays sophomore, which features cooking recipes and musical acts in a series of films. Contributed photo
KU film students cook up music on Web site show
By Jason Kraill
by Jason Kraill
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Nothing goes with peanut butter and jelly like great live music.
And there are plenty of easy college recipes and a variety of musical acts on "Spatula City,"a series of short films produced by two University of Kansas film students.
An episode featuring the group Shaking Tree debuted this week on the Web site www.nibblebox.com.
Matt Blume, Hays sophomore, and Michael Obrten, Winnetka, Ill., junior, created "Spatula City," this summer. It looks like MTV-meets>The Food Network.
Blume, who is studying abroad in Scotland this semester, and Obrien co-produced and co-hosted the show. In the newly released episode, the two share their recipes for peanut butter and jelly, pancakes and enjoy a performance by the band in Blume's kitchen.
Nibblebox supplies college film students across the country with equipment and a professional mentor to consult on their productions.
"Cooking is far from being the focus," said Blume via e-mail "It is more of a come-and-sit-around-and-eat and talk music, then play type-ofthing."
The company also put Blume and Obrien in contact with Tamra Davis, director of "Billy Madison." "Half-Baked" and "CB4." Davis served as a mentor for the show, providing ideas and critiquing
each of Spain City's 11 episodes.
"She'd call us and be like 'Cook this' or 'This would be cool', and then after she saw it she'd call and tell us if she liked it." Oblren said.
Nibblebox loaned Blume and Obrien equipment for the project. The pair edited the first few episodes themselves. Nibblebox took on the editing duties when the deadlines they set for production left the "Spatula City" crew no time to do it themselves.
"They kind of threw us into the fire and we like that. We appreciated that." Orbien said.
Nibblebox owns distribution rights to the show and markets it to networks and producers. They receive a commission if the show is picked up, Obrien said.
But Niblebox also paid Blume, Obrien and other KU students who helped produce the show.
Robert Sokol, Leawood graduate student, and John Ahearn, Prairie Village graduate student, co-directed the show. Matt Cassity, Wamego junior, did opening text and graphics.
The show's list of musical guests included The Draft, Holstein, Ralph Perta Band, Myra Wray, Armada Trio, Celia, DVS Mindz, Majestics Rhythm Revue, Client K Band, B.O.M.B. The One Man Band and MiS.
— Edited by Kathryn Moore
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire that started yesterday morning in a duplex, home to a University of Kansas student and two Lawrence residents. They were not injured in the fire. Photo by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
Fire burns local duplex
The occupants, Adam Hagemann, Brett Terrin and Jason Andrews, were home but were not injured, said Dan Morrow, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical battalion chief.
Half of a duplex that a University of Kansas student shares with two other Lawrence residents caught on fire about 11 a.m. yesterday at 2508 Crestline Circle.
Morrow said the cause of the fire is still being investigated. .
Three engines, two ambulances and a ladder company responded to the fire, which took 15 minutes.
Damage was confined to the garage, where a sport-utility vehicle was parked, but there was smoke damage throughout the house, he said.
for firefighters to bring under control, Morrow said.
"The garage and everything in it was a total loss." Morrow said.
Damage estimates were unavailable yesterday.
— Louen Brandenburg
Neighbors would not confirm which resident attended the University, and the occupants could not be reached for comment.
Dave Strano, Lawrence resident, avails the Critical Mass bike ride in South Park. Strano, along with about 125 other cyclists, took to the streets yesterday to raise awareness of biking issues. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
Police intervene in bike ride
One arrested, 12 others receive safety violations
By Matt Merkel-Hess writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Like an atom bomb, the Critical Mass bike ride exploded on Lawrence last night.
What started as a peaceful ride to raise awareness of bike transportation ended with 12 bicyclists being issued traffic-safety violations, one person forcibly arrested for attempting to steal an officer's radio and one person given notice to appear in court for disorderly conduct, said Sgt. Paul Fellers of the Lawrence Police Department.
About 125 people participated in the ride, which was modeled after other critical mass rides across the country.
The ride began with bicyclists heading north on Massachusetts Street. At times, riders surged into both lanes, blocking southbound traffic. The group turned west on Sixth Street, and some riders moved into the oncoming lanes of traffic, which had slowed to a crawl and moved to the side of the road.
Many bicyclists arrived at South Park for the 6 p.m. ride dressed in capes, helmets, anarchy symbols or flags with skull and crossbones.
oncoming traffic lanes, sounded sirens and ordered the riders to the right. All riders moved right, but later some crossed the center line and were stopped by police.
Michael Newman, Ponca City, Okla., senior, was charged with being left of the road's center.
Trailing police cars surged into
"The left-of-center charge was especially ironic and perhaps telling because given the fact that we weren't putting ourselves in danger or anyone else in danger," Newman said. "I think they were ticketing our viewpoint."
As the ride turned north on Iowa Street, other bikers were stopped for left-of-center violations and running red lights as they attempted to stay with the pack of riders.
Near the corner of Iowa Street and University Drive, Michael Hedstrom, 17, a Lawrence High student, was knocked to the ground by police. He received a bruise on his left temple and officers attempted
to handcuff him.
A group of bicyclists formed a circle around the officers, yelling and spitting at them, and then a man grabbed an officer's radio and ran. Two officers chased and tackled the man, handcuffed him and took him to the police station.
Though Hedstrom was given a citation for being left of the center line, he denied the charge.
"I don't know; I guess I was just too close to them," he said. "I'm really not sure."
The ride ended at about 7:15 p.m. on the lawn east of the Douglas County Courthouse.
Llowell Fletcher, Lawrence resident, helped organize the ride and said he hoped it would raise awareness of bike issues and other forms of sustainable transportation such as buses or trains.
"The community has tried real hard to get bike lanes, but the city is trying to jerk us around," he said. "They're
ignoring where we need bike lanes."
Aaron Bartlett, Lawrence transportation planner and bicycle coordinator, said the city had added some bike lanes within the past few years on streets such as Louisiana Street and Naismith Drive, and was looking to retrofit streets such as 19th Street. He said the best way for bicyclists to improve conditions was to work within the system.
"If they're blocking traffic, critical mass demonstrations can have a more negative impact," Bartlett said.
— Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Lawrence residents and University of Kansas students take over Massachusetts Street during the Critical Mass bike ride. The bikers followed a route through Massachusetts, Sixth, Iowa and 23rd streets before returning to Massachusetts. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
Pageant contestants share similar experiences
Bv Meahan Bainum
Kansan staff writer
Lindsey Mackey didn't mean to win the Miss Teen Kansai pageant — it just happened.
Mackey, Olathe freshman, won the title Sept. 9 in Maize. Unlike most of the participants, Mackey had never competed in a pageant before.
"It was a fluke," she said. "I'm not the typical pageant girl. It's really out of the ordinary that I would do something like this."
Unlike Mackey, Lindsay Douglas, St. Louis senior, has been training for the Miss Missouri
USA pageant for months and said she looked forward to competing in pageants.
Douglas, who has competed in four previous pageants, she did two hours of cardiovascular exercise every day and watched what she ate in preparation for Miss Missouri. She did this, she said, because contestors must be in top condition to win.
"Honestly, to do well, you have to be in really good shame." Donatius said. "It stucks."
Even though Mackey and Douglas have approached appearing in pageants in slightly different ways, the Miss Teen Kansas and hopeful Miss Missouri are strikingly similar. Both girls said they
didn't fit in the stereotypical beauty-queen mold.
"I'm a horrible dancer," Mackey said. "I have no talent. I the most uncoordinated person."
Mackey and Douglas said that they were klutzes and shared a hatred of the opening dance number that many pageants require.
The swimsuit portion of the pageants was another common hatred, especially because Douglas and Mackey said that wearing a swimsuit necessitated using "butt glue" to keep the swimsuits in place.
"It holds your swimming suit over your rear end so it don't ride up on you when you're walking."
See PAGEANTS on page 3A