Friday October 25, 2002 Vol.113. Issue No.45 Today's weather 50° Tonight: 37° Tell us your news Call Jay Krall, Brooke Hesler or Kyle Ramsey at 864-4810
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN New trophy gives Kansas-Missouri rivalry new incentive p. 7A
An alarming occurrence
False alarms are a frequent disturbance and a familiar practice to many students. More than 70 percent of all false alarms last year were to residence halls, with McCollum leading the pack.
Photo illustration by Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Frequent fire alarms cause problems for students, firefighters
By Michelle Burhenn mburhenn@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
When Ann Heidebrecht picked a residence hall to live in her freshman year, she didn't consider fire alarms.
But after living a year in McCollum Hall, it became an important part of her decision to move to Templin Hall this year, she said.
The McPherson sophomore said the constant fire alarms, most of them false alarms, made her freshman year difficult and unpredictable.
"When it first went off I didn't really know what it was," she said. "After a while it became a standard routine because we had so many of them."
False alarms are frequent at the University of Kansas residence halls, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical officials said.
Officials said the number of false alarms each year more than 70 percent of all fire calls to residence halls last year had changed the way the fire department reacted to residence hall fire calls and desensitized students to the possible dangers.
During the last school year, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical responded to 91 total fire calls said Maj. Rich Barr, fire marshal.
Last year, firefighters responded to 27 false alarms at McCollum. Hashinger Hall and Oliver Hall each had eight, the second-most false fire alarms. McCollum has had four false alarms this semester. Residence halls have more false alarms a year than Jayhawker Towers and the scholarship halls, Barr said.
False alarms are often the result of
resident behavior, said Randy Timm; assistant director of student housing in charge of Daisy Hill. False alarms are frequently caused by students irresponsibly using items such as microwave popcorn or pulling alarms.
"If you're pulling a fire alarm then you're meeting with me or another assistant director," he said. "I'm going to ask why because I need to know why I should keep you here."
The case could be forwarded to the Dean of Students Office, he said. The KU Public Safety Office investigates malicious fire pulls as a misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum penalty of $2,400 and no more than a year in jail.
Barr said students who ignored fire alarms were a college-town firefighter's worst nightmare. Barr said he kept in mind the 2000 residence hall fire that killed three students and injured more than 50 at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Many students went back to sleep after they heard the fire alarm because they thought it was yet another alarm in a string of false alarms.
False fire alarms could also be a danger for the entire community. Deputy Chief Mark Bradford said.
Because of the frequency of false alarms, the fire department treats fire calls from residence halls differently. The number of firefighters who respond has been adjusted, Barrsaid, but the fire
department always has the capacity to respond fully if needed.
"Years ago we'd send the whole parade," he said.
The fire department now sends a fire engine, ladder, ambulance and nine firefighters initially. If there were a fire, there would be an automatic upgrade, he said.
Barr said firefighters were trained to stay focused no matter where the call comes from.
"But I can tell you it's human nature to be affected when you're going to the same place and dealing with the same situation," he said.
Edited by Jessica Hood
Fraternity numbers fluctuate over years
By Todd Rapp
trapp@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
For the past four decades fraternity membership throughout the nation has gone through ups and downs.
The changes come as generations pass through fraternity life. The baby boomers stayed independent of fraternities during the 1960s and 1970s. Early Generation X couldn't get enough fraternity life, and college men moved back toward independence in the 1990s.
Baby boomers generally avoided organizations as part of the anti-establishment era of the 1960s, said Jon Williamson, the executive vice president for the North-American Interfraternity Conference. During that period undergraduate fraternity numbers dropped to about 250,000 nationally.
Williamson also said that during the 1980s a different generation with different values started college, and numbers surged. By the end of the 1980s, undergraduate fraternity men numbered about 400,000.
In the 1990s, fraternities declined 25 percent throughout the decade.
KU fraternities have been affected by low membership. Since 1998, four fraternities, Zeta Beta Tau, Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Kappa Lambda and Alpha Tau Omega, lost their housing, followed by their charters because of low membership. Similar to the national trend, KU's fraternity numbers have fluctuated.
Reasons for lower membership and interest nationally include a loss of focus during the 1980s. Williamson said frater-
SEE NUMBERS ON PAGE 5A
Big 12 rivalry to pit bottom-ranked teams
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Every year the winner of the Kansas-Missouri football game gets a drum, a tradition that dates back to 1912 when it was known as the Indian War Drum.
For tomorrow's 111th meeting between the Jayhawks and the Tigers at Fauroft Field in Columbia, Mo., it might be a better idea if the victorious team receives a brick to signify another piece
in the rebuilding projects that are taking place in the Jayhawk and Tiger football programs.
Both Kansas (2-6 overall, 0-3 Big 12 Conference) and Missouri (3-4, 0-3 enter the game with three-game losing streaks and zero Big 12 conference victories.
The winner will move out of the cellar of the North division of the Big 12, but more importantly, bragging rights are at stake in the border war.
"This rivalry for the two teams, it really takes in the team."
doesn't matter what your record is up till now." junior strong safety Zach Dyer said, "It's a huge game for both teams and the alumni at both schools as well."
At least on paper, tomorrow's game is
towards game is shaping up to be an offensive show with Missouri's 11th-ranked and Kansas'
12th-ranked defense in the Big 12
Kansas junior quarterback Bill Whitemore looks to continue to build on his season statistics that have him averaging 243.3 yards per game in total offense including 178 yards passing and 65.3 rushing yards per game.
Last week against Texas A&M,Whittemore carried the load for the offense by totaling 230 of the Jayhawks' 289 offensive yards. That included his first reception of the season of a 16-yard halfback pass from junior Dan Coke.
This will be Whittemore's first experience with the rivalry, but he said he sensed the enthusiasm that surrounds the game when he attended the Kansas-Missouri basketball game last January in Lawrence.
Another Jayhawk that will see his first action against Missouri is second-year freshman running back Clark Green.
So far, Green is the team's second-leading rusher and the Jayhawk's top
SEE RIVALRY ON PAGE 5A
Kansas' intelligence insulted
By Justin Henning
jhenning@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Big balls of twine do not a genius make, so says nationally syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry.
A September study by a Lawrencebased company, Morgan Quitno Press, rated all 50 states' intelligence level. Kansas ranked 14th.
In Barry's Sunday column, the survey came under fire.
Kansas rambled The smartest state was Connecticut and New Mexico came in last place.
His home state, Florida, ranked 47th out of the 50 states.
out of the How dare they suggest that Florida is more intelligent than three other states," he said in his Oct. 20 column.
He went on to suggest that Kansas should be ranked as the stupidest state because, not only was Lawrence home to Morgan Quitno Press, but also because Cawker City in north central Kansas, home to of one of the two largest balls of twine in the world, hosts an annual "twine-a-thon" festival.
"We're very excited about the mention." Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press, said.
The study only takes into account primary and secondary schooling, not university-level schooling.
A list of 21 factors determined a state's spot on the list.
According to the survey's methodology, its factors are a reflection of commitment to quality education in a safe and well-run environment.
Dick Patterson, principal of Lawrence High School, said he thought the ranking was accurate for Kansas.
"Fourteenth is very good considering the budget we have to operate under," he said.
Despite the University of Kansas not having any effect on the rank, students still have an interest in the ranking.
"I think we should be ranked somewhere around 20th," Dan Bedard, St. Louis junior said.
Morgan said the factors for the test would stay the same for next year's study.
This way, statistics would remain consistent from year-to-year.
Edited by Christina Neff and Lauren Beatty.
Playing around
John Nowak/Kansan
Matt Royal, Des Moines, Iowa, freshman, and Lisa Gieselman, Overland Park freshman, engage in a game of air hockey at the Jaybowl in the Kansas Union. The two were there as a part of Haunted Hawk Nights, an SUA sponsored event that featured numerous activities including bowling and pumpkin craving.
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