A shower today
A man running on a rainy road.
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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
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 McCollum halls did not have smoke detectors, 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 1811, state fire codes have required residence halls to either 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 safer," Markley said yesterday.
Markley said the fire office inspected the residence halls each
ke
Stuart Brown,
Overland Park
resident, poses
with his Klein
mountain bike.
"I had been operating under the assumption that the plan is acceptable." Stoner said.
Photos by Bill Baethke
But Markley said the housing office was violating state law or 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.
lin in 1988, in Hashinger and Elsworth in 1989 and McCollum in 1990. Stoner said.
Mountain Bikes top the Hill
He said the tubing is made of an alloy that is 50 percent stronger than conventional tubing but is not heavier.
"There's just more material present," he said. "There's more metal in the rims, more rubber in the tires and more tubing in the frames, which, of course, is more expensive."
"Of course, that technology
costs." he said.
Mountain bikes, which cost $300 and more, are typically a little more expensive than road bikes, but Beals said there was good reason for the higher price.
"With a mountain bike, you quadruple your opportunities."
"On a mountain bike, you can take curbs or steps. If you know
The versatility and the simplicity of the bikes also make them a better buy than road bikes, Beals said.
"All the controls are on the handle bars," he said. "You don't have to take your hands off to make a shift. They have lower gears for hills, which is convenient because they stuck the University on the biggest hill around.
"Mountain bikes give you flexibility," said Spence, who bought his 890 bike in Norfolk two years ago. "By increasing and decreasing the pressure in the tires, you can do a lot of things."
tim spence, Norfolk, Va., junior, can testify to that. He said he has ridden his Mt. Fuji mountain bike on the beach in Virginia and in the snow of the Rocky Mountains.
Story by DARRIN STINEMAN
"It does great," he said. "If I go down to the lowest gear, I can do sitting down without standing up. I'd rather have this bike than any other bike."
Spence rides up the 18th Street hill to campus every weekday, but he said his Mt. Fuji bike easily scaled it.
KANSAN MAGAZINE October 14, 1987 3
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.'
Beals said the bikes first appeared in California in 1977 or 1978 but were priced around $1,500 because there were so few being produced. He said they were produced in the mass market beginning in 1981, cutting the price in half. Since that time, mountain bike prices have fallen, and sales have shot up. Uptown now sells more mountain bikes than 10-speeds.
Kevin Beals, the owner and manager of Uptown Bicycles, 1337 Massachusetts, said the durability of mountain bikes was one of many reasons more people are buying mountain bikes instead of 10-speeds. He said road bikes are designed for long-distance riding and racing.
"Ten-speeds were a fad, but they've always been poorly suited to the urban environment," he said. "If you hit a bump on a 10-speed, you're going to bend a rim. Most students are on a limited budget and don't have the money to repair a 10-speed.
awrence bicyclists have a lot of impediments to deal with. There are the standard, curbs, cars
The unique characteristics of mountain bikes, including an 18- gear capability, have helped their popularity grow at the University.
But there is a solution. A relatively new type of bicycle, the mountain bike, which out-maneuvers, out-lasts and simply outperforms its ever-popular counterpart. The 10-speed bicycle.
Beals, the mountain bike chairman of the Lawrence Bicycle Club, a private organization of bicycle enthusiasts, said stronger brakes and higher handle bars made mountain bikes easier to maneuver than 10-speeds.
standard curbs, cars and pedestrians, and the perennial obstacle: Mount Oread.
what you're doing, all those things are possible."
Paul Markley
Of the state
Fire Marshal Department
"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 Jayhawer 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?
Also, the Board of Regents discuss Margin of Excellence and open admissions.