HAWKY
Tomorrow's weather
Partly cloudy with a high near 100 and a low in the mid-70s.
The University Daily Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Thursdav. August 24, 2000
Sports: Volleyball player Molly Scavuzzo is happy at Kansas after leaving Wyoming. SEE PAGE 1B Inside: A KU student is injured after a KU on Wheels bus hits her car.
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 02 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansai.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
NCAA rules stop Axtell's CD sales until after season
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Scratch that country theme. Luke Axtell might be singing the blues.
After visiting a recording studio and recording his first compact disc, a country album titled The River Runs Dry, Axtell, Austin, Texas, junior, hit a bump in the road. The NCAA stepped in citing
a rules violation, forcing the young musician and Kansas basketball player to pull his albums from the shelves until after the season, when his NCAA eligibility expires.
NCAA rule number 12-5-1s says "continuation of modeling and non-athletically related promotional activities" denies student-athletes the right to promote products of any sort, including their own non-sports related products.
Axtell: music careen puton hold by NCAA rules
Essentially, the rule is in place because the NCAA is afraid that any sort of profit made by the student-athlete may be related to their status as an athlete at their respective university.
Axtell's CD has been sold from his Web site, www.lukaexell.com, for $12.99, but sales officially stopped at midnight last night to comply with NCAA demands. The Web site focuses on his family life and the production of his album.
Axtell was allowed to sell his CD in the summer because the NCAA misunderstood that the CD was an individual release, but the CD will become available again following the NCAA Tournament. Then, the door opens again for album sales.
"I think that it's a horrifying thought as an artist to go through the process and then be told that you can not do this," said Brooke Axtell, Luke's sister.
Actually, Axtell's CD can be sold during the school year if his picture and name are removed from the album cover. The only other way to continue sales during the season is to challenge the NCAA rule in court, an option family members said they would not pursue.
Brooke Axtell also recorded a CD, *Paper Doll*, over the summer. Both had scheduled a promotional signing at Hastings, 1909 W. 23rd St., from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. Although Luke will not appear, Brooke still plans to be there and deliver an in-store performance.
The only time the University of Kansas is mentioned is to announce he has played his songs twice at Allen Fieldhouse.
"Regardless of the argument a student-athlete might make about the popularity or success of a nonatletic venture ... the NCAA will argue part of the success of the venture is based on the notority of the student-athlete." KU compliance director Janelle Martin told the Laurence Journal-World.
"I'm really excited to return (to Lawrence) because I used to be a student at Kansas and I have a heart for a lot of the souls up there," she said.
- Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Accused player transfers tries out at Garden City
By Jason Franchuk sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
While one accused KU football player remains a possible starter this year after an alleged assault on a KU soccer player last February, the other has found a fresh start.
The player has transferred to Garden City Community College, where he is walking on to the football team. There is no guarantee of a roster spot, said Bob Larson, Garden City coach, but they will give him a chance.
The player could not be reached for comment, but Larson said he was familiar with the player's tumultuous history at Kansas,
which included academic probation for the season. Larson declined to make that an issue until formal charges were pressed. The school paper ran a scathing editor-
player outside the Yacht Club, 530 Wisconsin St. Since the police report was made public, Athletics Director Bob Frederick and KU football coach Terry Allen have apologized for their handling of the situation.
"He was dismissed from school for academic reasons and could have appealed for reinstatement," Allen said in a written statement Aug. 10.
Allen did not renew the scholarship of the player, but he had already been dismissed from the University for poor grades before heading to Garden City.
"He's done everything right to be here."
"He went to summer school here and passed the required courses needed to play," Larson said. "He's done everything right to be here. If this is just an academics issue, there are plenty of kids who make mistakes and goof around their freshman year.
The other player, still in good academic standing, remains at the University and is on probation in KU's football team. His status is
ail upon the player's arrival, saying the school "accepted anyone." Larson said he has had no direct problems with the player so far, as Lawrence police continue to investigate.
On Feb. 27, two football players allegedly assaulted a Kansas soccer
"But if you're suspended for that reason for an entire season, what are you going to do? Go somewhere and pump gas, or go and play football somewhere."
Bob Larson Garden City Community College football coach
pending the results of the Lawrence Police Department's investigation.
If the player who transferred to Garden City is formally charged, he faces a "longterm" suspension by Garden City city rules.
"I only get so many out-of-state players, and I am deciding that right now," he said. "And I've got guys with bruises, guys with sprains and a guy who might be charged with assault."
Larson admitted the player could be a liability with limited scholarships available, and because the team, by NJCAA rules, is allowed only 12 out-of-state players.
"The trial overrides everything," Larson said. "If it comes to be, it overrides football, school — everything."
so far the former KU player has impressed on the field, Larson said, but a possible trial would send the player's trek tumbling.
Students given 'survival' tips
Hemenway urges students to learn in,out of class
By Karen Lucas
writer @kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
Instead of staying at home to watch the final episode of *Survitor*, a near-capacity crowd — about 1,800 people, mostly students — attended the 135th opening convocation at the Lied Center last night.
"You traded that TV survivorship for an evening surviving the speeches," he said.
In his convocation address, Chancellor Robert Hemenway thanked the audience for the choice it made.
Hemenay also shared some survival tips with the new students.
First, he said it was important for them to get acquainted with and understand their professors.
"Get to know the human being in the front of the class." he said.
He told students they should not take foolish chances, such as drinking and driving.
Hemenway also recommended that students make the most of learning opportunities at the University of Kansas. He urged them to focus on learning inside as
well as outside the classroom, by doing things such as voting, participating in a language club or writing for the newspaper.
Thomas Beeisecker, chairman of the University Senate executive committee, advised students about the importance of learning and,becoming more globally focused.
Ben Walker, student body president, said he envied the new students because they had a wonderful experience ahead of them.
"I wish I could go back and do it all over again," he said.
Walker encouraged students to be active and experience new things.
"Leave your mark," he said. "If you do, you'll be part of the KU family, and it will be part of you."
Chancellor Robert Hemenway smiles as he acknowledges the large turnout at the convocation speech, despite the finale of TV's Survivor last night. The convocation was the 135th opening of the academic year. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Provost David Shulenburger mentioned various awards that would be given during the academic year, which he said gave a sense of the kinds of things that the KU community could accomplish.
Before the speakers and other University representatives marched in and took their places on stage, the audience viewed a brief video, "Once a Jayhawk ..." which focused on different aspects of life at KU, including sports, Rock Chalk Revue, study abroad and waking down the hill at graduation. The video had shots from the present as well as other periods in KU history.
Becky King, Iola junior, said she enjoyed the video.
"It had a lot of good information, and it was entertaining," she said.
This year, for the first time,
Hemenway sent students an e-mail invitation to the opening convocation.
"The e-mail was sent by the chancellor to every KU student that the
Computer Center was able to place in one group," said Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor. "This was a new way to invite a broad section of the student body to opening convocation."
Edited by Shawn Linenberger
A bittersweet goodbye
After each of the four remaining survivors was voted off the island, Rick Thomas, Parkville, Mo., senior, rehung their ripped-up photos. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
A group of students gather to watch the two-hour finale of the CBS series Survivor. About 40 million people were expected to tune in last night. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
Survivor fans gather to mourn the ending of captivating series
By Meghan Bainum writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
No one at Rick Thomas's Survivor party got voted out or had to eat a rat.
Thomas, Parkville, Mo., senior, threw the bash with his roommates — Josh Johnson, Excelsior Springs, Mo., senior, and Rick Turvey, Lawrence senior — to celebrate an obsession and to say goodbye to a familiar Wednesday-night companion.
"Everyone here is a Survivor fan," Turvey said. "It's a good way for us to get together before school and see everybody — kick off the semester."
Survivor is a TV show on CBS that took 16 strangers and marooned them on a deserted tropical island in the South Pacific Ocean. The castaways had to battle mosquitoes and tropical storms and sometimes resorted to eating rats and bugs. During 39 days, castaways were voted off the island until only four remained. That number was narrowed to two.
With three TVs, two tiki torches, and a variety of fruity island drinks, the crowd at Thomas' apartment anxiously awaited the final vote to see who would win the cool million and the new ride.
See MERIT on page 3A
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