Friday
November 1, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 50
Today's weather
42°
Tonight: 29°
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Kansas meets K-State tomorrow Sunflower State Showdown p.1B
Task force makes KU Info report
By Caleb Notwehr
cnothwehr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The KU Info task force will submit a recommendation to administrators today to centralize the information service at Anschutz Library with possible satellite locations throughout campus.
For now, the plan suggests keeping the phone line in its current form. Members of the task force are unsure whether these changes will come at the cost of student jobs.
The recommendation includes a plan to expand the current service to include face-to-face communication and Webbased components, Student Body President Jonathan Ng said.
"We're looking at centralizing it more on campus," Ng, a member of the task force said.
Ng said he didn't know if the recommendation would contract the KU Info phone line KU Info or eliminate student jobs.
"Perhaps there may not be a need to have as many people manning phones," Ng said.
The recommendation does suggest that KU Info remain in its current state at the Kansas Union through the spring semester.
The final decision for the fate of KU Info will lie with Senior Vice Provost Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, Provost David Shulenburger and the vice presidents for Information Technology.
The decision to change KU Info came
"It doesnt make sense to move KU Info when you can just call from home."
Brian Stucky
Topeka sophomore
as a result of budget cuts, in order to improve cost efficiency and to consolidate information services.
McCluskey-Fawcett said no formal deadlines had been set, but she wanted to have a decision by the end of the semester. Changes would likely be phased in during the spring and the summer, McCluskey-Fawcett said.
Ng said administrators would discuss the budget issues of the plan as the semester progressed.
The committee also addressed the possibility of putting KU Info under the responsibility of the KU libraries rather than student services, Ng said.
Some students question whether a centralized information center would help the University.
"It doesn't make sense to move KU Info when you can just call from home," said Brian Stucky, Topeka sophomore.
Other students saw the possible change as an enhancement to information accessibility.
Liz Elzi, Denver sophomore, said she would enjoy a face-to-face component of KU Info.
"It would be more personal," Elzi said.
— Edited by Matt Gehrke
University considers use of wind power
A proposal to use wind energy could cut the cost of utilities at the University of Kansas.
By Lindsey Hodel
lhodel@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
At the end of September, Kansas Wind Power LLC, a private wind energy supplier based in Overland Park, offered power to the University for 43 cents per megawatt per hour—a savings of just under $400,000 per year, Troy Helming, chief executive director of Kansas Wind Power. The University currently pays about $7.9 million each year on utilities, Cindy Strecker, utilities assistant director for Facilities Operations. said.
The wind power would come from a wind farm near El Dorado in Butler
County. The farm generates enough power to supply 100 percent of the University's electricity. Helming said.
"One of the obvious benefits is that wind energy is renewable," Helming said. "Wind power doesn't emit greenhouse gases or pollutants like burning coal does."
The administration is deciding whether the proposal is a feasible option before considering details of the contract, Doug Riat, director of
Helming also said Kansas was one of the best places in the country to produce wind power.
"Kansas is ranked as the state with the most wind power potential," he said, "and we would like to get institutions like KU involved."
SEE WIND ENERGY ON PAGE 6A
Chris Burket/Kansan
Shattered windows
Adam John, Topeka senior, and Meredith Springgs, Overland Park junior, rock out at Bullwinkles. Bars in Lawrence were packed with party-goers dressed up for Halloween
Sorority members' cars hit with burglaries
By Michelle Burhenn
mburhenn@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Monster mash
Emily Keating doesn't lock the doors of her 2000 Jeep Wrangler.
She said she would rather a car burglar open her unlocked doors than slash her soft top.
Keating is one of five Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members whose cars were burglarized or damaged last month while they were parked in the sorority's parking lot at 1 Gower Place, near Tennessee Street.
"If I were to get my windows cut, it would cost more than getting a new CD player." Keating, Manhattan sophomore, said.
Keating's car was hit twice in October. Once someone went through her glove box, didn't take anything and left her Jeep doors open, she said.
Then her car was burglarized again Oct. 23.
The burglar took out her compact disc player halfway and put three holes in her climate control.
On Oct. 24, Laren Bauer, Rogers, Ark., sophomore, found her 1983 Mercedes with a passenger-side window shattered and her CD player torn out of the console.
"They're coming back for the same cars," she said. "They're getting cars lined up against the tree line and ones without alarms."
Total damage to Keating's car and CD player was estimated at $500.
Her car was fingerprinted, she said, but the Lawrence Police Department couldn't find conclusive prints.
Bauer said the recent string of break-ins caused her to be more cautious. She said she thought all of the car burglaries were connected.
CD players were the targets in the thefts, Bauer said.
Sgt. Mike Pattrick of Lawrence police said car burglar typically targeted parking lot areas.
"People who typically do car burglaries go where they'll find more vehicles in a low amount of time." he said.
He said the easiest way to protect cars from break-ins was to hide valuables out of sight from passers-by.
Keating said the sorority had asked Lawrence police to patrol the area more, but if more cars were burglarized, the fraternities and sororites near Tennessee Street might hire a security guard to help monitor their parking lots.
"A lot of time auto burglar will window shop to see if there is anything they'd like to have before they break a window or force entry." Patrick said.
— Edited by Amy Schmitz
Photo illustration by Chris Burket/Kansan
Cigarettes and candles can be the cause of fire if left unattended or not extinguished properly. Private residents may request a free inspection from the Lawrence and Douglas County Fire and Medical to make sure their home is up to Kansas safety standards.
Where there's smoke...
Fire safety differs depending on where students reside
By Louise Stauffer
lstauffer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
As heat replaces air-conditioning and fireplaces replace fans, students need to be conscious of dangers that come with warming living areas in the winter.
Rich Barr, fire marshal for Lawrence and Douglas County Fire and Medical, said students living in on-campus housing had fewer fire hazards than those living in off-campus housing. This is because students living on campus had to comply with state fire-safety standards.
Diana Robertson, associate director of student housing, said some of the state standards included no candles and no open-coil appliances, such as a plug-in burner. She said all student housing was inspected annually by the fire marshal to ensure the buildings complied with the standards. She said it was the responsibility of the hall's staff and maintenance crew to make sure the fire safety guidelines were followed.
For students living off campus, it is their personal responsibility as well as their landlords to make sure their homes
have necessary safeguards such as smoke detectors and fire extinguishers
Barr said the levels of fire safety vary greatly in off-campus housing. Barr said the Lawrence and Douglas County Fire and Medical had the authority and responsibility to inspect multi-family buildings such as an apartment complex, but they do not inspect houses. However, he said anyone could call Lawrence and Douglas County Fire and Medical to request a free inspection to make sure their homes complied with Kansas safety standards.
In living areas that get drafty in cold weather, objects that produce heat, such as space heaters, can be dangerous if not used properly.
Barr said space heaters needed to be treated as open-flame devices.
"You should turn it off if you leave the room for any period of time," he said.
He said users should make sure space heaters are located 36 inches away from anything flammable, such as furniture, clothes, or curtains.
Also, he said to either plug a space heater directly into the wall or into a power strip. He said to always use heavy duty cords, because small cords cannot handle as much current and could start a fire.
At Sunflower House, 1406 Tennessee St., Astrid McMullen-Baker, house manager, said some of the Sunflower House
"The other night we had so many candles lit that it set off the smoke alarm."
Astrid McMullen-Baker Lawrence senior
residents used space heaters. The Lawrence senior said she did not know of any resident who had problems with the heaters.
Candles were another story for the cooperative living establishment.
"The other night we had so many candles lit that it set off the smoke alarm," she said.
Barr said the department had more fires because of candles during the holiday season. He said the main dangers were when people left the lit candles unattended or kicked over the candle holders.
Barr said he had seen many fires that began from improperly disposed cigarettes. He said to make sure cigarettes were disposed in a noncombustible container and to make sure they were completely out.
Barr said halogen lamps, especially floor ones, were other devices that should be treated like open flames, and could cause a fire just as easily.
Edited by Chris Wintering