2A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS IN BRIEF
THURSDAY, NOV. 8, 2001
CAMPUS
Freshman to be remembered in services this weekend
Funeral services for Robert Justin Aycock, 20, Dallas freshman who died Monday morning, will be this weekend in Texas.
The first service will be tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m at the Restland Funeral Home,9220 Greenville Ave.,in Dallas.
A graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Farmersville Cemetery, 100 F. Road in Farmersville, Texas.
Services also will be 2 p.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, in Highland Park Texas.
Todd Cohen, assistant director of media relations, said there also could be a student memorial service at the University, but it had not yet been planned.
planned. The Lawrence Police department ruled that suicide was the cause of death.
— Luke Daley
STATE
Lower attendance causes $1 million state fair loss
HAYS — Attendance at this summer's Kansas State Fair was down nearly 20 percent, causing an estimated $1 million loss for the fair and fair vendors.
In response, the Kansas State Fair Board decided during meetings Tuesday and yesterday to eliminate free admission on the first Friday of the fair and approved other measures to improve its cash flow.
improve rescue measures Denny Stoecklein, assistant manager of the fair, attributed the sharp drop in attendance — almost 80,000 fewer people than last year — to concern about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a hepatitis outbreak in Reno County and natural gas explosions that hit Hutchinson in January.
January.
Losing 80,000 attendees translates to about $1 million in unrealized revenue,
Stoecklein said.
NATION
Mysterious slashings rock 900-person Montana town
FLORENCE, Mont. — Three women were found dead in a beauty salon with their throats slashed, and investigators said yesterday they have only one clue: a sighting of a man in a dark suit and a top hat.
top hat. The bodies of The Hair Gallery's owner, a manicurist and a customer were discovered Tuesday in this town of about 900.
"Why this occurred, we simply don't know," Sheriff Perry Johnson said yesterday. "What I fear is this could be somebody that, for whatever reason, decided this was a good day to do some evil work."
The salon was not robbed, there was no money missing from the women's purses, and there was no indication the victims had been sexually assaulted, the sheriff said.
shern said. The victims were owner Dorothy Harris, 62; manicurist Brenda Patch, 44; and customer Cynthia Paulus, 71, of Florence.
NATION&WORLD
Court rules damages excessive in Exxon spill
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The $5 billion in punitive damages awarded for the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill is excessive, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
An Anchorage, Alaska, jury had ordered the award against Exxon to thousands of commercial fisherman, Alaska natives, property owners and others harmed by the nation's worst oil spill.
worst oil spit.
exon, which later merged with Mobil,
argued that it shouldn't have to pay any punitive damages. The oil giant said it had learned its lesson and had spent more than $3 billion to clean up the Prince William Sound area and to settle federal and state lawsuits.
to settle federal cases.
In its appeal, Exxon Mobil Corp. said the award was unwarranted, unfair and excessive by any legal or practical measure.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said some damages were justified to punish the company, but agreed that $5 billion — the largest punitive damage award in history at the time — was excessive and ordered that a smaller amount be determined.
The plaintiffs noted that the spill, which polluted Alaska's Prince William Sound with 11 million gallons of crude oil and smeared black goo across roughly 1,500 miles of coastline, had reduced their property values and damaged fishing and hunting grounds.
damaged fishing and killing the same jury also found recklessness by Exxon and the captain of the Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, who caused the tanker to run aground on a charted reef. That finding of malfeasance made Exxon liable for punitive damages.
The plaintiffs had alleged that Hazelwood ran the ship aground while drunk and that Exxon knew he had a drinking problem but still left him in charge of tankers. Hazelwood, however, was acquitted in 1990 of operating the tanker while drunk.
the tanker winked.
The jury also awarded commercial fishermen $287 million to compensate them for economic losses as a result of the spill. Months after the court battle, U.S. District Judge Russell Holland upheld the verdicts.
The 9th Circuit left the compensatory damage award intact.
FBI investigates security snafu
The Associated Press
CHICAGO - A major security breach at O'Hare International Airport, where a passenger carried knives and a stun gun through a checkpoint, has prompted federal authorities to order background checks for eight private security workers.
security workers.
"We want to know if they have any criminal convictions and if they are who they say they are," Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Corv said Tuesday.
One of the knives reported seized from the passenger was missing, the Chicago Sun- Times said yesterday.
Times said yesterday. Saturday's security breach at a United Airlines checkpoint at O'Hare came about two weeks after federal officials ordered new background checks of Argenbright Security Inc. employees at 13 airports nationwide, including O'Hare.
The company was put on probation last year for hiring people with criminal records to staff security checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport.
It was unclear whether the company had begun the checks at O'Hare before Saturday. Atlanta-based Argenbright issued a statement
Tuesday saying seven of the eight employees had previously undergone fingerprint-based FBI background checks that revealed "no disqualifying crimes preventing their employment."
ment.
Convictions in the last 10 years for any of 35 crimes listed by the FAA would be disqualifying, Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
The Sun-Times reported yesterday that two knives seized during the initial screening disappeared, and one still had not turned up. The newspaper cited unnamed police sources saying Argenbright workers initially denied knowing about the knives, but that one worker turned in a knife on Monday.
United Airlines will not comment about the missing knives, spokeswoman Chris Nardella said. Argentbright officials did not immediately return phone calls yesterday. Local police and federal officials also did not respond to phone calls.
calls.
Federal officials said they would provide additional training to Argenbright employees at O'Hare and would assign plainclothes inspectors to monitor job performance at the checkpoints.
Shapely sperm demonstrates increased fertility for men
NATION
Shapely sperm is the best indicator of a man's fertility, according to a study that rewrites the standards for analyzing semen samples.
Current standards under- or overestimate many men's fertility, said the study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
"Every treatment for infertility depends upon first establishing what's normal and abnormal," said Dr. David Guzick, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Up until now, we've just been using guidelines without rigorously testing them."
Guzick and doctors at seven other universities studied sperm from the men in 765 infertile couples and 696 couples who had children.
A well-shaped sperm has, among other things, an oval head and whipy tail.
WORLD
Harvard genetic patent upheld by European officials
MUNICH, Germany — European officials upheld Harvard University's patent on a mouse genetically altered so that it predictably develops cancer, throwing out a complaint by Greenpeace and other groups.
The pan-European patent, granted in 1992, protects the "method of producing transgenic animals." Following a two-day hearing, Bernd Isert, head of the European Patent Office's appeals department, upheld the patient yesterday but said the wording should limit it to rodents. In its current form, the patent is too wide and oversteps ethical limits, he said.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to the Harvard mouse in 1988, the first transgenic animal patent ever granted.
Environmental and animal rights groups, along with church organizations and individuals, sought to have the patent reversed, arguing that it violated the dignity of living beings.
Turkish prisoners set selves afire to protest police raid
ANKARA, Turkey — Two prisoners died yesterday after setting themselves ablaze to protest a police raid that killed four of their friends, their lawyer said.
The deaths are the latest incidents in a year-long standoff between the government and leftist prisoners protesting Turkey's new maximum security prison system.
system. More than 40 inmates and their supporters have died in a hunger strike launched over a year ago to protest the treatment of prisoners.
ON CAMPUS
Engineering Student Council general meeting will be at 5.30 p.m. today in 1046 Learned Hall.
Contact Marcus Dunavan at 830-0302.
Ecumenical Christian Ministries and ENVI-RONS will serve a vegetarian lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at the ECM building, 1204 Read Ave. The lunch is prepared by student volunteers. Non-vegetarians are welcome. Contact Thad Holcombe at 843-4933.
KI Millennium and Moments Ultimate Frisbee
Campus Crusade for Christ will meet at 8
tonight in 1040 Haworth. Contact John liffn at
KU Men's and Women's Ultimate Frisbee Clubs will meet at 4:30 p.m. today at Shenk Sports Complex, 23rd and Iowa streets. Contact Clay or Tony at 843-7099 or at claved@ku.edu.
Pre-Journalism Club will hold a dinner for students and the journalism faculty at 5:30 p.m. today at the dining room in Ekdahl's Dining Commons, Contact Julie Jantzer at ku_pre_j@hotmail.com or Janice Davis at 864-4768.
979-6488.
KU Karate Kobudo Club will have practice
KU Karate Kobbø Club will have prefeite from 8:30 to 10:30 tonight at racquetball court No. 15 in Robinson Gymnasium. Contact Hannah Reynolds at 312-3419.
MRC will sponsor a presentation and signing of Dan Wildcat's book Power & Place: Indian Education in America at 7 tonight at the English Room in the Kansas Union.
ET CETERA
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4962) is published at the University of Kansas, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Periodical postage is paid in Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $120. Student subscriptions of $2.33 are paid through the student activity fee.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60454.
The Kansan prints campus events that are free and open to the public. When information is submitted, the event's sponsor, name and phone number must be on the form, which is available in the On Campus mailbox in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Items must be turned in two days in advance of the desired publication date. Forms can also be filled out online at www.kanesn
these requests will appear on Kansan.com as well as the Kansan. On Campus is printed on a space-available basis. On Campus is a free service provided by the Kansan to the University community.
DON'T WORRY, YOUR TASTE BUDS CAN PRONOUNCE IT.
Chipotle
HARD TO SAY. EASY TO LOVE.
9TH & MASS
free computing classes
All classes are FREE for KU students, staff, and faculty and don't require registration UNLESS otherwise noted.
www.ku.edu/acs/training
kegister at acsworkshop@ku.edu or 864-0494.
Class descriptions and schedule:
Directions & map:
www.klu.edu/acs/
directions.shml
Access: Forms Prerequisite: Access: Intermediate. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Mon., Nov. 12, 9 a.m.-Noon., Computer Center South Lab
Outlook: Folder Management Prerequisites: A KU Exchange account and Outlook: Introduction. No registration or fee. Mon., Nov. 12, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Budig PC Lab FileMaker Pro: Intermediate Prerequisites: FileMaker Pro: Introduction. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Mon., Nov. 12, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Computer Center South Lab
Excelf: Functions and Data Analysis Tools Prerequisite: Excel: Intermediate. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Tues., Nov. 13, 9 a.m.-Noon, Budig PC Lab Web Authoring: Tables, Frames and Image Maps Prerequisite: Web Authoring: Intermediate. No registration or fee. Tues., Nov. 13, 9 - Noon, Computer Center South Lab Photoshop: Web Graphics Prerequisite: Photoshop: Introduction. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Tues., Nov. 13, 1:30-2:30 p.n., Computer Center South Lab Outlook: Granting Folder Access Prerequisites: A KU Exchange account and Outlook: Introduction. No registration or fee. Tues., Nov. 13, 3-4:30 p.m., Computer Center South Lab
Access: Reports Prerequisite: Access: Intermediate. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU.Wed., Nov. 14, 9 a.m.-Noon, Computer Center South Lab
Web Authoring: Intermediate Prerequisite: Web Authoring: Introduction. No registration or fee. Wed, Nov 14, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Computer Center South Lab
Dreamweaver: Introduction Prerequisite: None. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 a.m.-Noon, Computer Center South Lab
SAS intrNet Prerequisite: None. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Thurs.. Nov. 15, 10 a.m.-Noon, Budig PC Lab
Introduction to Palm Computing Prerequisite: Bring your PDA to class. Requires registration for all and a $75 fee for non-KU. Thurs., Nov. 15, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Computer Center South Lab
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