Wednesday
August 28, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 6
Today's weather
89°
Tonight: 66°
Tell us your news
Call Jay Krall, Brooke Hesler
or Kyle Ramsev at 864-4810
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN Mangino names Dyer quarterback for Jayhawks' upcoming season p.1B
John Nowak/Kansan
Jill Pflum, Shawnee Mission freshman, (left) and friend congratulate Elle Hess, Shawnee Mission freshman, as she is welcomed into Delta Gamma sorority. More than 800 women crammed into Budig Hall awaiting sorority acceptance.
Bid Day ends recruitment
Ceremony announces 635 women selected for sorority placement
By Todd Rapp and Matt Stumpff Kansan staff writers
Recruitment for women's sororities officially ended yesterday when participants walked onto the Budig Hall sidewalk to the sounds of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."
The music was part of a ceremony announcing the placement of the 635 women who completed the recruitment process.
Emily Stelzer, Overland Park freshman, was inducted into Gamma Phi Beta sorority—her first choice.
"I am so excited," Stelzer said. "There's no way to describe how I'm feeling right now."
Emily Walz, vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Association, said the women were optimistic about Bid Day, but some walked away disappointed.
"I think emotions were high and women are excited to start the new year; said Walt, Prairie Village senior.
"But we do get some disappointment every year. We encourage everyone to give it a chance, but there is no obligation to stay if they are unhappy."
The recruitment process began Thursday and spanned the weekend. The women visited fewer houses each night, and then ranked their houses on Monday night.
The Panhellenic Association at the University of Kansas guarantees the women a bid in one of their top three choices after preference night.
Of the 819 women who enrolled in formal recruitment this year, 635 were placed in sororities. Last year, 600 women were placed in sororites out of 825.
Angie Carr, coordinator for fraternity and sorority life, said the recruitment administration encouraged the women to maximize their options.
"Very few universities guarantee a bid," Carr said. "It is very risky. We try to be fair to all the young women, but we have to be fair to each chapter to prevent one from getting a larger class than another."
"I am so excited."
Emily Stelzer
Overland Park freshman
Kelly Masters, recruitment counselor, said seeing disappointed women made the experience difficult.
"When you love the women you are in charge of and they get dropped by a chapter — your chapter — you get frustrated," said Masters, Pittsburg senior. "You want to say, 'Take this woman, she is such an outstanding person,' but there isn't the time for every chapter to truly get to know every woman."
Contact Rapp at trapp@kansan.com and Stumpp at mstumpp@kansan.com. This story was edited by Nicole Roche.
Students discuss KU Info's future
By Caleb Nothwehr
Kansan Staff Writer
More than 20 students discussed ways to keep KU Info alive at an open forum meeting yesterday in the Kansas Union.
Mary Lee Hummert, interim vice provost for student support, said last week that the University was considering a plan to eliminate the telephone component of KU Info and switch it to a Web-based service.
Brian Thomas, Plano, Texas, junior, organized the meeting to inform and mobilize students. Thomas said KU Info was a successful, centralized service on the KU campus.
"It's one of the most used services on campus," Thomas said.
Galen Turner, non-traditional student senator and KU Info employee, attended the meeting on the current state of KU Info.
Turner said KU Info's funding had decreased, causing service to suffer.
"We're running as thin as we can right now." Turner said.
Students in attendance acknowledged the possibility of instituting an additional $1 to $4 student fee that would keep KU Info alive.
Student Body President Jonathan Ng said Senate was strongly in favor of maintaining KU Info as a phone line. He hoped an additional student fee was only a last resort.
"It's too early to speculate something like that." he said.
Ng said a resolution would be the first step in taking action to preserve KU Info.
Ngsaid he planned to introduce a Senate resolution next week to support keeping KU Info alive.
"Passing a resolution is the easy part," he said. "The hard part is finding viable solutions and alternatives where KU Info still exists in its current form."
Contact Nothweir at cnothweir @kansan.com. This story was edited by Amanda Sears.
irate House KU women pose for 'Playboy,' gain publicity
Pirate House residents call it quits
John Nowak/Kansan
By Michael Vennard Kansan staff writer
Jennifer Whalen, St. Louis, Mo., graduate, and Kristin Black, Wichita junior, converse with admirers as they sign issues of Playboy magazine in Hastings Books Music & Video, 1900 W.23rd St., on Tuesday.
The Pirate House, once a landmark punk institution and activist hotbed, is now just another whitewashed house in the Oread neighborhood.
The final incarnation of the Pirate House, 300 W.14th Street, fell apart late last May when the last wave of residents were unable to get along.
Desmond said the Pirate House was started with strong convictions to underground music, leftist politics, vegan
"Living in the Pirate House was supposed to be more than just having a room and paying rent," he said. "Some people didn't care about it and it just kind of died out."
SEE PIRATE HOUSE ON PAGE 6A
Dylan Desmond, Overland Park junior, was one of the original residents at the Pirate house.
By Louise Stauffer
Kansan staff writer
For the record, Jennifer Whalen got her genital area pierced before she knew she was going to pose for Playboy.
Whalen, along with Kristin Black, Wichita junior, and Carey Oroke, Tonganoxie senior, appeared in the October issue of Playboy magazine after trying out last March at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St.
"I got it a day after I turned 18, and it just kind of grew on me," said Whalen, University of Kansas graduate from St. Louis, Mo.
At 3 p.m.yesterday,the line of students stretched onto the sidewalks in front of Jayhawk Bookstore,1420 Crescent Road,where the three women signed copies of the magazine until 5 p.m.The bookstore sold 800 copies and received about 1.000 more yesterday afternoon business manager Janet Muggy said.
The bookstore had a shuttle driving students from the parking garage on Irving Hill Road to the bookstore to control parking problems. Two employees also provided security for the women.
Students, some holding multiple
copies of Playboy, had mixed reactions about the pictures.
Devin Carter, Overland Park senior, tried out for Playboy last March, but didn't approve of the final product.
"I don't think that they're posed tastefully," she said. "When I first saw the pictures, I was disappointed."
Ryan Hodge, Bentley sophomore, wasn't complaining.
"It's awesome," he said. "I was bragging to all my other friends at other schools about our girls."
Whalen said the Playboy experience had been pretty positive, although she wished they had chosen a different photograph.
"I went in and thought. I'm not going to put up a boundary; I didn't want to be shy," she said. "I wanted to portray a strong, confident woman because that's what I am."
Oroke said she was very happy with her picture. She was determined not to let her nervousness about the shoot hinder her.
She said getting ready for the shoot was nerve-wracking, but it was her fiancee's idea for her to try out in the first place. The women said reactions from classmates and professors had been positive so far.
She said she could choose how much she wanted to reveal when she was photographed, but otherwise the models had little creative input.
Oroke said the women had been awake since 4:30 a.m. to do publicity in Kansas City and Lawrence, but she said she enjoyed every minute of it.
"Today has been wonderful," Black said. "We've been treated like celebrities."
Contact Stauffer at stauffer@kansan.com. This story was edited by Erin Ohm.