BOAT
Tomorrow's weather
The University Daily Kansan
Hot and mostly sunny with a high around 100.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday, August 28, 2000
Sports: Current Kansas team sweeps Kansas alumnae in volleyball alumni game Saturday. SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: A Kansas State student died of complications from viral meningitis Friday.
SEE PAGE 7A
(UPSP 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 04 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Tribe looks at plans to build casino in Lawrence
By Matt Merkel-Hess writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Students could have a new place to get lucky if a proposed casino is built in northeast Lawrence.
The Delaware Tribe of Indians, of Bartlesville, Okla., may buy an 80-acre farm near the Lawrence airport to build a casino, hotel and convention center. The tribe began to explore construction locations after voting in Feb. 1999 to consider gaming as a means of economic development, said Gary Roulston, public relations
director for the tribe.
"Everything is just under study," he said. "We're not on a timetable here."
Student reaction to the potential Lawrence casino was mixed.
"It's too much of a temptation for college students," said Craig Gordinier, Topeka senior. "Five minutes and you're gambling."
"It's too much
temptation for college students. Five minutes and
you're gambling."
Craig Gordinier
Topeka senior
he has been to the boats in Kansas City and said he thought those were close enough.
Rob Maddux, El Dorado graduate student, said he would go to a casino if it was built near Lawrence and thought it could enhance the area.
"I don't think I'd mind that much if the tax money was going back to the community," he said.
The tribe, which currently has 10,500 members, is exploring a variety of economic development projects, including gaming, Roulston said. Lawrence was chosen for legal reasons — except for bingo, gaming is illegal in Oklahoma. The tribe also has historical links to the area.
The Delawares lived on a reservation in the Lawrence area from 1829 to 1867. They left their mark with towns such as Fall Leaf and Tonganoxie, both named for former chiefs. Also, after William Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Chief White Turkey organized a party of his men that chased Quantrill off.
Roulston said the Delawares would like to build a center that would be an asset to the community.
"We are absolutely opposed to a casino in Douglas Country or as far as any of us are concerned, in any surrounding counties," said Boh Walters, chairman of the group.
"It wouldn't be a flashy, neon, Las Vegas structure," he said. "We hope people would be proud to say the Delawares are in Kansas and Lawrence and are friends to the people. The Delaware's full intention if they set up an operation is to be good neighbors, just like their ancestors were."
"A lot of the money would stay in the community." he said.
The proposed complex would create more than 1,400 jobs, most of them entry level positions that could be filled by college students, Roulston said. Douglas County also would be reimbursed for any lost property tax revenue if the land became property of the tribe. They would also establish educational scholarships in Lawrence.
Although the casino is still in planning stages, a group known as the Concerned Citizens for a Casino Free Greater Lawrence, formed this month. The group is currently circulating a petition to measure public opinion.
The group is opposed for a variety of reasons.
"It it would have a dramatic effect on our quality of life," Walters said. "And it would produce social costs that would be hidden, such as an increased crime rate and gambling addiction."
The group hopes to collect more than 5,000 signatures.
"We'd like to show that a resounding number of people here are opposed to a casino." Walters said.
Besides collecting signatures, the group will gather information and meet with local citizens and business people. Walters said members were prepared to go to Washington, D.C. if necessary.
-Edited by J.R. Mendoza
Security stifles at Burge party
By Leita Schultes
writer@kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
A KU public safety officer, a posted list of rules and a metal detector greeted guests at the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity party Saturday night at the Burge Union.
The increased safety precautions stemmed from last year's shooting at the union during an Alpha Phi Alpha party. Increased security finally ended the
More information
For a complete list of the new rules for late-night parties at the unions,
See www.kansas.com
resulting ban on union parties, and it was met Saturday night with both frustration and appreciation.
Andre McCloyn-Fortune, Kansas City, Kan., senior and president of Phi Beta Sigma, said the precautions were probably a good idea, but that many people viewed the added expense as a hardship for the traditionally African-American Greek organizations that hold parties at the Kansas and Burge unions.
Terrance Stigler, Waterloo, Iowa senior, waits while, JT Hytton a member of Phi Beta Sigma, scans him with a metal detecting wand. The heightened security at parties at the Burge Union is because of a shooting that occurred last year. Photo by Selena Jabara/KANSAN
The fraternity had to pay three KU public safety officers approximately $350 to monitor the party.
"That's a huge chunk of our funds taken away," McCloyn-Fortune said. He added that a $3 admission charge
See NEW on page 6A
A random telephone survey of KU students were polled between April 11 and 27 concerning students's perceptions of campus, local, and state issues.
FOLLOWING OF STUDENT SENATE CAMPUS EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1.7% Very Closely
18.9% Somewhat Closely
45.8% Not Too Closely
33.7% Not At All
0.2% Don't Know
IMPACT OF STUDENT SENATE ACTIVITIES ON STUDENT AFFAIRS
8.6% Very Significant Impact
40.3% Somewhat Significant Impact
34.2% Not Too Significant Impact
10.2% Not At All Significant Impact
9.7% Don't Know
COLLECTION OF THE CURRENT STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
16.8% Yes (can correctly identify Korb Maxwell)
3.3% Yes (incorrectly identifies someone else)
80.2% No (states he/she cannot)
RECOLLECTION OF THE CURRENT STUDENT BODY VICE PRESIDENT
6.9% Yes (can correctly identify Dede Seibel)
0.7% Yes (incorrectly identifies someone else)
92.4% NO (he states he/ she cannot)
RECOLLECTION OF THE STUDENT SENTOR THAT REPRESENTS YOU
8.3% Yes
8.3% Yes
04.7% No
STUDENT OPINION OF STUDENT SENTATE 4.0%
4.0% Very Favorable
33.8% Somewhat Favorable 7.3%
82.9% Neither Favorable nor Unfavorable
7.3% Somewhat unfavorable
2.0% Very Unfavorable/No Opinion
Melissa Carr/KARSAI
Most students indifferent to Student Senate actions
By Kursten Phelps
Kansan staff writer
Chances are you don't know that Ben Walker is student body president and Marlon Marshall is student body vice president, according to the results of a student survey issued last spring by Student Senate.
The final report of the survey shows that only 16.5 percent (about 95) of the 577 students surveyed could identify the student body president and 6.9 percent (about 40) could name the student body vice president.
Add to that the statistic that nearly 80 percent of respondents said they paid little or no attention to Senate activity, and you have a situation of student anarchy that senators say they want to change.
"I think students have a very valid point, and this is pretty concerning," said Nathan Knipp, fine arts senator. "I think the main reason why is because senators only seem to be present three weeks before election time."
Knipp, a first-year senator, said that before he decided to run for election, he was indifferent toward Senate, too.
"I didn't really care either," he said. "It didn't seem like they were doing much. Now I realize that they do a lot, but Student Senate has to prove to the student body that they are there to serve their needs. Students need visible proof that Student Senate is working for them in a positive way."
More Information For the complete results of the survey. See www.kansan.com
Laynie Richman, Dallas junior, said she didn't know who the student body president or vice president were.
"I don't really have any reason to pay attention. It doesn't affect me at all." Richman said. "Other than parking, I'm pretty much satisfied. I just don't really pay attention to that stuff."
Monica Rayford, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore, said she would care more about Senate if it addressed issues that affected her, such as tuition.
"They should definitely do something to change tuition," she said. "Having to pay for every little thing is ridiculous."
Jamie Goode, School of Education senator, said she thought students tended to be apathetic toward Senate because they weren't informed about what it was doing in meetings and on campus. Senate Outreach Week, which takes place this week on Wescoe Beach, should help, she said.
"Part of Outreach Week is getting other students involved, so they see that we're not an elite group that they can't join." Goode said. "I think things could change. There's always going to be people who don't know who the student body president is, but things could definitely change if we focus on students, not just on meetings."
Edited by John Audiolheim
Departments to unify in Bailey
Bv Jennifer Valadez
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Although the School of Education moved to Joseph R. Pearson Hall, its former home, Bailey Hall has not been abandoned.
After Bailey receives a facelift of its own, it will primarily house humanities and social science departments funneled from Wescoe Hall beginning in December.
"The provost wanted to keep a percentage of classrooms in Bailey Hall to maintain it," said Erin A. Spiridigliozzi, assistant dean of liberal arts and sciences.
She also said the chairpersons from the departments of humanities had been working closely with the provost to determine which departments would benefit from the move.
The space created for those making the move would unify some departments for the
first time, Spiridigliozzi said.
But Spiridigitozzi said there were more accommodations that had to be made in dealing with space issues for some departments that are not in Wescoe but still in need of unification.
"It was difficult working through, but the positive result was that we were able to dedicate classrooms to departments for the first time," she said. "This is the upshot of having more classrooms in the building."
"We have to determine what kinds of units can make use of the space available," she said. But the structural condition of some facilities in Bailey will cause a space shortage.
Mark Reiske, associate director of design and construction management, said although the majority of Bailey would not be remodeled, repairs would still need to be made.
"We're remodeling to satisfy
codes and the occupants who are moving in," he said.
Reiske said the remodeling was being done to meet fire codes and to correct past code citations.
Spiridigilozzi said design and construction management would also be responsible for any painting, cleaning and recarpeting that Bailey needed before the new occupants began arriving in December.
"The units moving in are feeling good; it will be the first time they will have contiguous space," she said.
— Edited by Gleisson Abreu
The divisions making the move are Humanities and Western Civilization, Communication Studies, African & African-American Studies, American Studies, Women's Studies, Central Eastern Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Russian and East European Studies.
Pickin' and sweatin'
Ken Plummer and his son, Efrum Plummer, Wichita residents, perform a song called "Pick Away" at the Kansas State Pickin' and Fiddlin' Championship at South Park yesterday. Lawrence's high was 109 degrees, the highest in the nation, according to The Associated Press. Highs in the upper 90s are expected this week. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
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