INSIDE: Kansas soccer, volleyball teams pause this weekend. SEE PAGE 7A. INSIDE: Kansas golfer's cousins dodged terrorist attacks. SEE PAGE 7A.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TALK TO US: Contact Jay Kral or Sarah Warren at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Commentary
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2001
Aaron Fulk
Columnist
sportskansan.com
Fill stadiums with pride next week
Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light...
This will be a weekend without football, as collegiate athletic conferences and the NFL have canceled games nationwide.
The decisions did not come without hesitation. Many thought that the games should be played, as America tries to maintain a sense of normalcy in a time when nothing seems normal.
However, others said that the games should be canceled or temporarily put on hold to show respect to the many people in New York and Washington who lost their lives, or lost loved ones.
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming...
Three days after the attack, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced that the 15 scheduled games would not be played. It was the first time NFL games had been canceled for non-strike reasons.
Tagliabue said, "The priorities for this weekend are to pause, grieve and reflect."
"Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight"
The NCAA left the decision to the conferences as to whether games would be played. As of Wednesday, the Atlantic Coast, the Big East and the Pac-10 conferences had decided to postpone weekend games. One day later, the Big 10, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences joined the other conferences in canceling weekend activities.
O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming. . .
While many Americans seems to agree that retaliation for this week's events should be harsh, they do not agree on the cancellation of this weekend's sporting events.
To many, football is as American as apple pie, cookouts and the Statue of Liberty. It is seen by many as a symbol of our country. It's a chance for 50,000 or more people to come together and enjoy our freedom — something that could boost our nation's morale after its trials this week.
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air...
But it makes me mad. I'm mad at them.
I strongly agree with the NFL and the NCAA in deciding to postpone this weekend's events in honor of the victims and their families.
"Them" who caused this and thought that they could take away our freedom.
This is the reason why people aren't in agreement. Some are mad. When the country is so focused on moving on, and not letting "them" think they affected us, we're stopping.
Gave proof through the night,
that our flag was still there...
What needs to be understood is that we're stopping this weekend's games for our brothers and sisters who were directly involved. We're postponing the games in their memory, not because anybody made us.
Next week, the games will resume,
and the stadiums will be full. The ref will
blow his whistle, and the clock will
count down. When you stand up, when
hats are removed, and when the red,
white and blue flag is lifted, remember
the faces from your television of the victims, their families and the heroes as
you sing our country's national anthem.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave — O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
the free and the home of the brave.
Play Ball.
Fulk is a Gardner senior in journalism.
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
A day after announcing the University of Kansas would play football tomorrow, Allen Bohl, Kansas athletics director, confirmed yesterday that the game against Wyoming would be postponed until an unknown date near the end of the season.
The initial decision to play was changed when the Big 12 Conference athletics directors had a teleconference at 1:30 p.m.yesterday.
During the teleconference, the consensus was that canceling all Big 12 events, not strictly football games, through the weekend would be the best way to pay tribute to those affected by
the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., Bohl said.
"We were dealing with what was the right thing to do," Bohl said. "This issue is so minute. In New York, they're trying to figure out how to move bricks, mortar and steel to evaluate what to do then. In the Pentagon, they're trying to figure out what to do with that situation."
Bohl said that Wyoming almost boarded its bus to make the 14-hour trip from Laramie, Wyo., to Lawrence. The game could have been played, he said. However, other Big 12 teams had experienced scheduling conflicts with road games. Baylor was supposed to travel to Minnesota; Colorado was supposed to
play at Washington State; Louisiana Tech was supposed to pay a visit to Kansas State, to name a few The key was to act as a conference, Bohl said, not as an individual school.
"We've been dealing with this for the past 48 hours," he said. "We walked through our decision with what was going on through the landscape of college athletics. Today, we are staying in unity with the rest of the Big 12."
Kansas coach Terry Allen said he was not surprised that tomorrow's game was postponed. He said that his players were ready and excited to play, but that most of their reactions indicated that they anticipated the postponement.
"We had a meeting with the players at 2:15, and they really wanted to play the game," Allen said. "It became more and more apparent that less and less games were going to be played."
Not playing tomorrow means that the Jayhawks will play their first conference game Sept. 22 against Colorado without a final week of seasoning against a nonconference team. Allen also said that after practicing this afternoon, the Jayhawks would take the weekend off before resuming Monday afternoon. Monday is ordinarily an off day, but this has not been an ordinary week, he said.
Search for theft-case closure
Contact Denton at 864-4858
Student says her snatched purse was more than just missing items
By Courtney Craigmile Kansan staff writer
Ask any woman what's in her purse, and you'll get the usual answers: keys, wallet, pictures, cell phone, gum.
For Lindsay Douglas, Chesterfield, Mo., senior, it was more.
"My whole life was in that purse," Douglas said. "It's scary to think that someone else has all your stuff. It's just a really, really scary feeling."
Douglas said she was sitting on a bench outside Bailey Hall with 25 students in her "Theories of the Interview" class June 12, when she set her purse down.
The class was taking a short break and went outside for some air. As soon as Douglas walked back into her classroom, she realized she had left her purse on the bench.
Douglas: Filed charges against Duncan, Kinsey
"First, I panicked," she said.
She said she left class about four times to check the bench, but there was no sign of her black purse.
"It was gone," she said. "No one was out there either. Everyone was gone and so was my purse."
**Thrown into the spotlight**
The week before Kansas' home football opener, Douglas was propelled into the local spotlight. Mario Kinsey and Reggie Duncan had been suspended from the Sept. 1 game for violating "unspecified team rules." Then, local newspapers reported that the two players were suspects in the purse theft.
A week later, Douglas' name was in the paper again. This time she had participated in and won the Miss Kansas USA pageant in Wichita. She is now preparing for February's Miss USA pageant in Gary, Ind., she said.
After class on June 12, she went home and called to cancel her two credit cards. That's how she learned that a pizza and gasoline had been charged to her card.
Douglas will serve as Miss Kansas USA until September 2002.
"I called Domino's, and they gave me the address and the phone number of who had ordered the pizza," she said.
The investigation begins
Douglas said she was relieved to know where her things were, but she was still worried because her keys, driver's license, Social Security card, credit cards and camera were in someone else's possession.
"I was worried about everything," she said. "I was scared to sleep at my place. It's just a bad feeling knowing that someone else has your things."
Just after she called Domino's, Douglas called the KU Public Safety Office to report the theft.
Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said that theft of unattended property was the No.1 crime on campus.
After Douglas' call, Officer Jeffrey Neavitt was sent to Douglas' house to file the report.
It was then she decided to press charges.
It turns out that the men who took her purse were Kansas football players Kinsey and Duncan, she said.
She filled out the necessary reports, gave the police the address and phone number she had from Domino's and told the officer she thought an athlete took her purse. The address was for Jayhawker Towers, where some members of the football team live, and she had seen several football players outside Bailey Hall when she was there.
Doug Vance, sports information director, said both men had declined interviews about the incident. He also said that athletes were not allowed to interview this late in the week.
"It didn't really matter to me that they were football players," Douglas said. "They were just the guys who stole my purse."
The next step for Douglas was getting her purse back and pressing charges.
Douglas' purse was left in a sewer near the Towers, but officers retrieved it for her. She was able to get everything back except two credit cards and her wallet, which were kept as evidence, Bailey said. Pressing charges
After getting her purse back, Douglas went home to her parents' house for about two weeks. During this period she played phone tag with District Attorney Christine Kenney.
Upon returning to Lawrence, she visited Kenney's office to confirm that she wanted to press charges.
Now she is receiving forms in the mail to sign and return to Kenney's office, she said.
Charges were filed against Kinsey and Duncan Tuesday. Kenney said the two had a summons to appear in court on Wednesday, Oct. 10, to be advised of the charges against them and set a trial date. She couldn't discuss the details of the case.
Douglas said she was pleased that charges were being filed and she was ready to put the situation behind her.
"I just have no idea what goes through someone's mind when they are stealing someone else's purse," she said. "Especially two guys that obviously didn't need my purse or what was in it."
Contact Craigmile at 864-4858
Players' suspensions result of new policy for athlete conduct
By Jay Krall Kansan sports editor
The University of Kansas Student-Athlete Code of Conduct Sanctions Policy was revamped last spring by Bob Frederick before he resigned as Kansas athletics director June 30.
A new Athletics Department procedure for disciplining athletes was tested when Mario Kinsey and Reggie Duncan were suspended from the Kansas football team's Sept. 1 home opener.
The University Daily Kansan obtained a copy of the new policy last week after submitting a request for the code of conduct.
The policy states that any disciplinary action for misdemeanor charges or arrests must be made by a committee, consisting of "the athletics director, the coach, the sport supervisor of the student-athlete team or other individuals designated by the athletics director."
Richard Konzem, associate athletics director and sport supervisor for football, said he was a member of the committee that formed to discipline Kinsey and Duncan. The other committee members were Allen Bohl, Kansas athletics director, coach Terry Allen and Don Green, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, Konzem said. Green is the University's faculty athletic representative to the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA.
Doug Vance, sports information director, described discussions between members of the disciplinary committee as "informal."
"I talked to Richard, and he conveyed to me what had been planned," Green said.
Bohl did not return phone calls yesterday.
"That isn't necessarily the way it would work." Vance said when asked whether members of the discipline committee would convene for a meeting.
Green said that he had received a phone call from Konzem the week before the game. Konzem told him of the decision to suspend Kinsey and Duncan, Green said. No meeting had been held.
Konzem said he could not remember when committee members had contacted each other to discuss the suspension.
"I don't know," Konzem said. "I deal with football issues on a daily basis."
Under the old policy, disciplinary matters had been handled between the coach and the athletics director, Green said.
The policy adopted last spring allows coaches to discipline players for team rule infractions without forming a committee
— provided that the infractions are less serious than those outlined in the sanctions policy itself, including misdemeanor charges and arrests.
At the time the suspensions were announced, neither player had been charged in the June 12 purse theft that occurred in front of Bailey Hall. In connection with that incident, both were charged Tuesday with property theft and criminal use of a financial card.
Kinsey had been charged with possession of marijuana after a May 25 arrest in his hometown of Waco, Texas.
The code of conduct guidelines prohibit players from using illegal drums or engaging in property theft or damage.
Contact Kraill at 864-4858
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