A shower today
(continued)
Details page 6
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday October 15, 1987 Vol. 98, No. 39
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
(USPS 650-640)
5 residence halls lacking required smoke detectors
By BEN JOHNSTON
Staff writer
Six years after state fire codes were changed to require university residence halls to have smoke detectors in halls or rooms, five KU halls still do not have them.
Dean Milroy, associate director of maintenance for the office of student housing, said Lewis, Templin, Hashinger, Ellsworth and McColum contractors, but the housing office did plan to install them in those halls.
Paul Markley, chief of the fire prevention division for the state Fire Marshal Department in Topeka, said that since 1981, state fire codes have been changed. "We have a smoke detector in each room or 30 feet apart in each corridor.
"I am rather surprised KU still has five dormitories that do not have fire detectors, because fire detectors are portable and fire safety," Marky said yesterday.
Markley said the fire office inspected the residence halls each year. But each year when the smoke
lin in 1988, in Hashinger and Ellsworth in 1989 and McCollum in 1990, Stoner said.
"I had been operating under the assumption that the plan is acceptable." Stoner said.
But Markley said the housing office was violating state law by not having alarms in the five halls. He said the housing office could be liable if someone was injured or killed in a fire in one of the halls.
I am rather surprised KU still has five dormitories that do not have fire detectors, because fire detectors are our top
priority in fire safety.'
Pull!...Boom!
Paul Markley Of the state Fire Marshal Department
Story and photos by RICHARD ANKERHOLZ
with the season. The rooftop of Fraser Hall is visible about five miles in the distance.
"I'm a cyclist and used to ride my bike by here," said Daniel Glaeser, Overland Park senior. "I wondered what these people were doing, so one day I stopped to check it out. Then I came out with my gun."
O on Sunday afternoons, men, women and children gather on a hill in southern Douglas County. The surrounding tree-laden hills are changing in accordance
"Pull!" Room!
Cedar Hill Gun Club is southeast of Lawrence on Route 3 near Baldwin. A weathered sign points the way onto the shooting range after a short drive through some of Douglas County's most seagic country. The club is open from noon on Sundays and on Thursday evenings. Cedar Hill stays open until everyone who wants to shoot has done so.
Cedar Hill is owned and operated by John and Mary Watkins. It is a family business, and the Watkins live next to the range. The late Herb O'Bryan, Mary's first husband, started the club with a single trap in 1960. From that small beginning, the club has grown to a complex of five traps, three of which are lighted for night shooting, and a club house where refreshments are sold. Cedar Hill Gun Club is for the sport of trappingshoot.
Some of the people sit in the shade of trees. Others sit in the shade of the clubhouse. They speak of the weather. They speak of the exploits performed by the Jayhawks during the week.
As these people speak, the air is accented with the report of gunfire coming from those who are standing at shooting stations behind concrete trap houses. So goes an afternoon at Cedar Hill Gun Club.
Pull! Boom!
Traphooting is a sport where small targets, referred to as clay pigeons, are launched through the air by a mechanical device called a trap. One of the sports of the sport is to shoot the target with a shotgun.
“It’s the same size target as they use in sketcher shooting,” said John Watkins, “but the difference comes in the way the target is thrown. In skeet, one target comes from a high tower, followed by a target from a low tower. Also, the guns are different. Skeet shooters use a shorter, open-choked run.”
In trapshooting, the targets come from just one position at a preset ankle, but knowing where
it's coming from doesn't make it any easier to hit.
The target may appear off to either side, or in front of the shooter. Five shooting stations are behind each trap house. After firing a series of five shots from one station, the shooter moves to the next until he has shot from all five positions. Watkins estimated the speed of the target between 40 and 45 mph.
Though Cedar Hill Gun Club has an established league of shooters, one of the traps is always opened to the public for those who want to improve their shooting skills. New members are always welcomed into the league, and the Watkins use a handicap system of scoring to allow for equality among shooters. However, the handicap system isn't the only way to improve on scoring.
"I just now getting to where I can hit pretty good," said Charles Hall. Carbondale resident. "I get to where I can hit, and then something seems to happen which prevents my coming out for awhile. Then I have to start again with practice. I guess it's like golf — the more you practice, the better you get."
A lot of practice with a 12-gauge could lead to a sore shoulder, and would under normal circumstances.
"If someone is really serious about shooting, the first thing they'll do is send their gun to a gunsmith," said Jim Higgins, Lawrence resident. "The gunsmith will remove the choke and do what they call backboring to relieve pressure build-up in the muzzle. Then most shooters switch to the lightest load they can use."
In addition to offering shooters a place to shoot, Cedar Hill Gun Club also offers a course on trapshooting through the Lawrence Parks and Recreation office. By taking the course, a person not only learns how to shoot but how to shoot in the name Cedar Hill Gun Club is a mismanner.
Backboring is the process of drilling a series of holes in the end of the gun barrel. Higgins said doing those things would enable a competition shooter to fire between 200 and 300 rounds a day during a tournament without encountering any problems. However, such expenses or extremes aren't necessary for someone who simply wants to enjoy the sport for relaxation.
Most shooters who use the sport for relaxation fire between 50 and 100 shells a week. The minimum amount of equipment needed is a shotgun and a box of shells.
Cedar Hill Gun Club is a club without member shins. a club without dues.
“It’s a club only in the sense that people who enjoy trapshooting can come here,” said Nelson Krueger, Lawrence resident.
"It's more of a social event," Krueger said. "You don't see a lot of people shooting here today, but you do see a lot of people talking and visiting with each other."
"A jury would probably have to answer that question," Markley said. "If they believed the University was negligent, or not making enough of an attempt to comply with the law, they could possibly be held responsible."
Two halls are about the most that could be wired with smoke detectors in one year because the housing office has a limited number of electricians. Also, the cost of the installation would take money away from other projects such as roof repairs, Stoner said.
Don McConnell, assistant director of maintenance for student housing, said that Oliver still was being wired for the smoke alarms, and that the project would be completed by the beginning of next semester.
Milroy said smoke detectors were installed in the scholarship halls in the early 1980s.
Stoner said smoke detectors had been installed in Jayhawk Towers some time after the housing office began operating the Towers in 1980.
NCE s support
from both. The load has to be shared."
Even though the amount of money KU receives from the state is 85.9 percent of the average amount received by peer schools, KU has the largest private endowment. KU's endowment totals $196 million. North Carolina has the second largest endowment at $105 million and Oklahoma has the smallest at $23 million.
KU's total spending for fiscal year 1987, which ended June 30,
was $183.99 million. The Endow-
See PRIVATE, p. 14, col. 1
TOMORROW
Chancellor Gene A. Budig says KU will lose its best professors if the Kansas Legislature fails to approve Margin of Excellence this spring. What do legislative leaders say?
14
Also, the Board of Regents discuss Margin of Excellence and open admissions.
KANSAN MAGAZINE October 14, 1987