THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TRADITIONS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19. 1992
INSIDE THIS SECTION
The University of Kansas student-operated radio station, KJHK 90.7 FM, has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the early 1950s to being awarded "Station of the Year" by the National Association of College Broadcasters in November.
According to a KJHK brochure, the station's history at the University of Kansas can be traced to 1952, when it was called KDGU 630 AM and could be received only through a KU cable system.
Please see story, Page 4.
With the University of Kansas positioned at the top of Mount Oread, KU students have always had the need for transportation up and down the Hill. This need was first met with a streetcar system in 1910, which provided all students with affordable and accessible transportation.
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More than 80 years later, KU on Wheels strives to meet that same goal, said Chrissy Kaiser, Student Senate coordinator of transportation.
Please see story, Page 7.
The man Lawrence was named for shunned public attention.
He did not want the town named after him and he did not visit here until 30 years after its founding. When he finally did visit, he left as soon as he could.
Amos Adams Lawrence, a wealthy New England textile manufacturer who opposed the spread of slavery, was the treasurer and principal manager of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, the anti-slavery enterprise that promoted the founding of the city of Lawrence.
Please see story, Page 9.
Lawrence is home to one of the oldest Native-American institutions of higher education in the country. The historic Haskell Indian Junior College sits at the corner of 23rd and Learnard streets.
In 1884, the federal government opened the United States Indian Industrial School with 22 Native-American students. The school grew to more than 400 students within a semester.
Please see story, Page 12.
It may not be as modern or as big as other theaters in Lawrence, but for University of Kansas students and Lawrence residents alike, historic Liberty Hall continues to provide a variety of alternative entertainment.
The building, which has roots reaching back as far as the mid-1800s, has been named the Bowersock Theater, Dickinson Theater and the Jayhawk. It has been used not only as a theater but also as a dance hall, a disco and a playhouse, and it has provided a stage for many professional performers.
Building a campus chapel was prompted by a $5,000 donation from William H. Danforth, the cofounder of Ralston Purina Co. of St. Louis. Before his death in 1958 at the age of 85, Danforth had provided funds for more than 15 campus chapels through his foundation.
Please see story, Page 8.
Please see story, Page 10.
Jayhawk represents tradition of KU students
By Jan Bachle
Special to the Kansan
Now that you're finally a Jayhawk, you may be wondering what exactly that is. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines the Jayhawk as a "fictitious bird of Kansas."
The mythical Jayhawk is of unknown origin but has an adventurous background The verb "to Jayhawk" and the name "Jayhawkers" were words associated in the 1850s with forgers, guerrillas and fighting regiments all the way from Illinois to Texas.
gold fields without the necessary equipment or supplies. When asked how they were going to survive, one member said, "We're going to Jiahawk' our way."
According to one story, a wagon train was traveling from Illinois to California
The group became known as the "Jayhawkers."
In the pre-Civil War skirmishes in which Lawrences aimed a target, the term Jayhawk-
The legy bird that first symbolized the Jayhawk was created in 1912 by Henry Maloy. Maloy, a student at KU, began drawing his rendition of the Jayhawk in the student paper and in other publications. He put shoes on the Jayhawk so it could kick Missouri's mascot, the Hound Dog.
By the end of the Civil War, "Jayhawk" was associated with the spirit of the comradeship and the courageous qualities of the Kansans to keep their state free of slav-
Through the years, University of Kansas teams and people have become associated with the term "Jayhawkers."
In 1920, a somber, motionless bird perched on the Klembell was used.
perched on the KU emblem was used. A few years later, Jimmy O'Byron and George Hollingberg designed a quaint, duck-like Jayhawk. It had wide acceptance; however, in 1929 the Jayhawk changed again.
The alumni club of Kansas City adopted the name "Jayhawk Club" and hired artist Forrest O. Calvin to draw a bird that represented the stern, fighting spirit of the Jay- hawk.
Calvin, also a KU student, drew the Jayhawk's beak so that it would be facing up instead of down. He also swept the tail up and gave up and the Jayhawk yellow shoes.
That symbol remained popular until 1941 when Gene "Yogi" Williams created an irascible Jayhawk with a friskey, arrogant attitude. This bird became known as the "Fighting Jayhawk."
The most recent rendition is the "Happy Jayhawk," which was dreamed up in 1946 by Harold D. Sandy. Today, this Jayhawk beams from all kinds of KU souvenirs.
Carillon restoration planned
Pointing out treble bells that are to be replaced, Al Gerken, University Carillonneur, hopes the new bells will improve the sound of the carillon. About half the bells will be recast and replaced, and minor structural changes will be made to accommodate the new bells.
Kansas Union alters over time
History repeats itself in current renovations to Kansas Union structure
By Chris McCann Special to the Kanpan
Nearly every class that has attended the University of Kansas since the 1920s will have a different memory of the Kansas Union. Since its placement at its present site in 1924, the building has been under constant change and remodeling.
The first Kansas Union was started in 1914 in a small building at 1200 Tennessee St. The building was closed after one year because the University could not pay the rent. Because the building was so far from campus, students did not go to the Union enough to generate necessary revenue.
After World War I, the administration decided that a student union should be built in memory of an estimated 130 former students who had died serving in the war.
The University raised $210,000 for the project, and the groundbreaking took place at the 1925 Commencement.
The Memorial Union was dedicated in 1927, and in the following years various portions of the building were added, including the Ballroom in 1933, the Old English Room in 1938, and the Kansas Room in 1939.
In 1928 the Union Operating Committee was set up to manage the Memorial Union, and the Student Union Activities Board was set up to coordinate social activities.
A three-year renovation began in 1950, when the University spent $2.25 million to double the size of the old structure, bringing the Union close to its present size.
In 1946 the students decided to rename the Union by dropping "Memorial" from the name because they thought that a memorial only for World War I casualties made little
sense in the aftermath of World War II.
sense in the interim of world war II.
In the late 1980s another addition was completed at a cost of more than $1 million. But soon after the completion, tragedy struck.
In April 1970, fire ravaged the Union. The cause of the fire was considered arson, and during the turbulent times of the unpopular Vietnam War and massive student unrest, the National Guard was called in, and a curfew was imposed on students.
The Union's main structure survived the fire, and in 1971 remodeling was completed. Throughout the next 20 years the Union went through other large-scale renovations and additions, culminating in the work that is in progress.
The new renovations will give the front of the Union a new look with large plate glass windows and a terrace on the South side of the third floor.
Overall the additions will cost close to $10 million, but as the students of KU have seen over the past 70 years the additions probably will not be the last.
Campile to get new bells in '93
By Doug Hesse Special to the Kansan
Since 1950, the 53-bell carillon in KU's campanile on Memorial Drive has been counting the time.
The campanile, which was built as a memorial to honor the 276 University of Kansas students and faculty who lost their lives in World War II, will undergo restoration beginning in Spring 1993 and should be finished in late summer.
A campanile is a carillon housed in its own structure rather than as a tower on another building. At KU, the campanile contains 53 fixed bellts that chime when struck by a clapper timed to sound every quarter of an hour.
The carillon also is used for concerts performed by Al Gerken, who has been the University carillonneur for 29 years. Gerken works on a control panel that is similar to a keyboard, using his fists and open hands to strike the keys, which look like small paddles.
Gerken also helped raise money to finance the restoration. Funds were raised from private donors during Campaign Kansas. Many others donated to an endowment fund that will supply money for future restorations when they become necessary, he said.
The project will cost about $4,000 in Mod, director of
security planning.
About half of the carillon's bells will be replaced. The campanile has not been restored since its construction in 1950 because there was no money. Gerken said.
Probably the best known use of the campanile is during the graduation ceremony in May when graduates walk through the tower on their way down to the stadium.
Changes include the recasting of the treble bells and replacing part of the structure that houses them, Gerken said. No decision has been made about the disposal of the old bells.
The keyboards in both the practice room and the room connected to the carillon will be replaced with a North American design instead of the English design now in use, Gerken said. This should improve the action and make playing a little easier, he said.
Questions? Call KU Info for the answers
answers
000 000
In an average year KU Info
By Andrew Arnone
Special to the Kansan
students and Lawrence residents. Calls have
phone calls from KU
come from as far away as England and Indonesia.
Need to know when University of Kansas buses are running? Or how many trees are on campus? Or how long to cook a lobster? The answers are only a phone call away at the KU Information Center.
The Information Center, KU Info for short, at 864-3506, is a free service, open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., designed to answer just about anything, said Susan Elkins, assistant director of the Organizations and Activities Center.
"We answer about 200,000 phone calls a year," she said. KUInfo's automated answering service, J-Talk, serves an additional 200,000 callers every year.
But KU students in Lawrence are not the only ones calling KU Info has received calls from New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Dallas, Los Angeles, England and Indonesia.
Yet, as advanced as KU Info seems,
the information is not on-line.
Instead, KU Info uses more than 3000
Rolodex cards, rows of files and
shelves of reference books.
KU Info even received calls from alumni working for CBS and the Wall Street Journal. Elkins said.
But KU Info wasn't always a one-
stop-shop for unanswered Trivial Pursuit questions.
The rumor control center operated for about a year and a half in the basement of Strong Hall before being closed for six months. It then reopened primarily as a general information source and personal crisis hot line.
In 1970, KU Info was established as a rumor control center in the wake of campus riots and the burning of the Kansas Union.
"It was a place people learned to trust," Elkins said.
Today, however, people who call KU in search of personal cou
That doesn't mean KU Info won't help you make some decisions.
seling are referred to Headquarters.
And though the KU Info staff will gladly look up any tidbit of information, there's one question that still needs no answer:
"When is the midnight movie?"
"Last year we named two babies."
Elkins said.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of KU Info is the innovative questions people ask. A few of the staff's favorites are, "If your teacher dies, how do they grade you?" "What's the Q in Q-tip stand for?" "How big is a nine-nine ball?"
Andrew Arnone / Special to the KANBAN
A KU info employee Heather Campbell answers a caller's questions about batting averages.