TODAY'S WEATHER: Showers with a high of 54. INSIDE: Coming Out Day to support students struggling with their sexuality.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Kursten Phelps or Leita Schultes at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FRIDAY OCTOBER 5,2001
ISSUE 30 VOLUME 112
Response to proposed downtown hotel mixed
By Andy Gassaway Special to the Kansan
Lawrence hotel managers and business owners have mixed reactions about the possibility of a new hotel in the 900 block of New Hampshire Street.
Lindquist and Craig Hotels Inc., a Lawrence development company, 1611 Andrews Drive, wants to build a seven-story chain hotel in downtown Lawrence as a part of the Downtown 2000 project.
But the company must first reach an agreement with the property's owner, 9-10 LC, the Lawrence developers behind the Downtown 2000 project, which includes the new parking garage at Ninth and New Hampshire streets.
Lindquist and Craig and some local businesses are optimistic about the economic possibilities a hotel would bring, but the development company has not made any definite plans to build vet.
The company says it is still confident in the potential of the project, in spite of modest economic conditions.
"As with anything of this magnitude, the state of the economy is a major factor," said Steve Craig, president and CEO of Lindquist and Craig, whose past developments include Radisson and Holiday Inn hotels across the country.
"My business judgment tells me it will be successful," he said. "We believe there's a strong likelihood that a hotel in that area would out-perform the others in town."
David Burress, a research economist at KU's Policy Research Institute, said he believed the economy would recover from its recent turbulence by the time the proposed hotel might open.
However, local hotel managers said starting a new hotel in Lawrence would be a challenge because of the recently flat hotel market. Smith Travel Research reported a 2 percent drop in hotel occupancy rates nationwide last August.
"A new hotel couldn't survive," said Johnita Jones, assistant manager of the Lawrence Days Inn, 2309 Iowa St. "The only time Lawrence has business is when KU has something like football going on. No motels are full unless a KU event is happening."
Stephanie Bowler, manager of SpringHill Suites by Marriott, One Riverfront Plaza, said a new hotel also would established businesses.
"There's just not enough business to go around. A new hotel would take from what's here, rather than give back." Bowler said.
Despite the economic challenges, other Lawrence business owners say a new hotel would bring more revenue to their businesses.
"I'm for anything that will bring people downtown," said Melodie Christal, president of Downtown Lawrence Inc. and manager of Savannah Lingerie, 735 Massachusetts St.
Raegann Urish, Lawrence senior and employee at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., said she also believed an additional hotel would stimulate business downtown.
"KU brings in so many people," Urish said. "I don't think it would hurt at all. Being on-site downtown, it helps guests to be in this area."
Marty Moore, a 9-10 LC partner, said his group was conducting feasibility tests and considering alternative projects, such as the development of a multi-story building with shopping and offices.
Until 9-10 LC makes a commitment to the hotel, no prospective time frame for construction will be determined.
Open house first of its kind
Campus groups plan about 1,500 activities for tomorrow's event
By Eve Lamborn
Kansan staff writer
Visitors to the University of Kansas this weekend will have a chance to sail a concrete canoe, explore the Campanile, examine a 3,000-year-old Egyptian papyrus scroll or play basketball with former Kansas guard Jerod Haase.
The University is opening its doors to the community from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m tomorrow for the first-ever Universitywide open house.
Margue Frederick, associate director of admissions and coordinator of the KU
These activities range from tours to lectures to demonstrations to performances, allowing visitors to sample the diversity of experiences the University offers, she said. Most groups will set up tables along lavawk Boulevard.
Visitor Center, said more than 100 groups at the University had planned about 1.500 different activities.
The day will culminate with a Hispanic Heritage Parade at 2:30 p.m. on Jayhawk Boulevard with Chancellor Robert Hemenway acting as the grand marshal.
"It's a good way to acquaint the public with all the research we do," Frederick said.
She said she hoped 15,000 people would visit campus this weekend.
"We're particularly targeting families and potential students," she said. "It's a
family event to get children feeling comfortable about KU."
Frederick said many people in Lawrence did not see the need to visit campus often, but she said she hoped this event would change that perception.
"Local people see KU as a place they have to drive around to get downtown," she said. "This has the potential to do a lot for the community."
Many schools and academic departments have programs planned for the day, such as the School of Pharmacy.
Gene Hotchkiss, assistant to the dean, said the School of Pharmacy would have a table set up on Jayhawk Boulevard and would also invite visitors into Malott Hall.
The school will provide free blood pressure monitoring, body fat analysis, blood glucose screenings, cholesterol
screenings and bone density checks. The school also will demonstrate how different medicines are compounded.
Francis Devlin, assistant to the dean, said the KU Libraries would show visitors the largest and smallest books at the University, display books written by KU faculty and teach kids how to do research on the Internet.
Frederick said she proposed the idea of the open house to the the chancellor last February. She received a positive response from him as well as other members of the University community.
"The enthusiasm was so great we just tried to have it happen this fall," she said.
She said the open house would likely become an annual event.
Contact Lamborn at 864-4810
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
Ed Meyer and Jon Crumet inspect the repairs and enhancements they made to the car of Jerry Yeoman. Yeoman's car, a Pontiac Grand Am, is raced around the country on a national drag circuit.
Students find a 15-second thrill
Contact Gassaway at 864-4810
Dragsters gather on Thursdays in Topeka
By Courtney Craigmile Kansan staff writer
The Christmas tree lights start out red, flash to yellow and finally turn green. The gas pedal on Jason Bishop's 1991 Honda CRX drops to the floor, his tires squeal, dust flies and 15 seconds later, it's all done.
This pro stock drag racing car is being prepared to compete next week in Shrieveport, La., by Steve Bruce Race Cars of Lawrence.
Every Thursday night, people gather at Heartland Park racetrack in Topeka to drag race and compare cars. For $10, anyone can enter a car in the draig races that take place from 5 to 9 p.m.
J. E. WILSON/KANSAN
"A couple of my buddies told me about it," he said. "And I just decided to go. There are some people out there every week, but there are a lot of people there just one time."
Bishop, Topeka freshman has been going to drag races since he was 17.
The track is a quarter-mile long, and two cars race side by
side to the finish line.
A drag race is between two cars that start from a standstill. An electronic device, called a Christmas tree, displays lights that signal to the drivers when to start the race. It is called a Christmas tree because of its multicolored lights.
Cars race down a quartermile track and are measured for two things: speed and elapsed time. The first car to cross the finish line wins.
Aaron Weigel, Brookville sophomore, went to Heartland Park for the first time last week. He said he and a friend
decided to check it out after reading an ad about it in the paper.
Weigel said that some people were there for fun, but others took the competition seriously, spending time and
SEE RACING PAGE 6A
Planners may wind new leg of trafficway into wetlands
Baker property's fate to be considered Monday night
A proposed route for the eastern leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway that would cut through the Baker Wetlands could be a step closer to reality if the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission recommends it on Monday.
The planning commission will have a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets, to consider a task force's recommendation for extending the traffic along a proposed route known as 32nd Street.
The task force, whose members were appointed by the planning commission, voted 5-2 on Tuesday in support of the recommendation, which calls for the trafficway to cross the wetlands south of 31st Street.
By J. R. Mendoza Kansan staff writer
The task force also recommended moving a part of 31st Street that runs through Haskell Indian Nations University onto land owned by Baker University. The task force had considered tracing 42nd Street with the trafficway. That was the only option that would have brought the route south of the Wakarusa River and avoided the disruption of the Baker Wetlands.
Mike Rees, chief counsel for Kansas Department of Transportation, said the task force's recommendation was significant.
"I thought this was the best solution to preserve and enhance the wetlands." Rees said.
The planning commissioners' recommendation will go before the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission for consideration. The two commissions will convene for a joint meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 23, to decide on a route for KDOT to build.
The South Lawrence Trafficway was designed to bypass Lawrence and provide a quicker route from Topeka to Johnson County by connecting Interstate 70 to Kansas Highway 10. The eastern leg has been a source of controversy for years because of concern about disrupting the Baker Wetlands.
SEE TRAFFICWAY PAGE 6A
INSIDETODAY
U.S. NEWS ... 2A
HOROSCOPES ... 2B
WEATHER ... 4B
CROSSWORD ... 4B
COMING IN MONDAY'S KANSAN
NEWS: The Spencer Museum of Art is awaiting a photograph that commemorates the terrorist attack
SPORTS:The Jayhawks play Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock after a week of rest.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.