SOONERS TRY TO RECOVER AGAINST UNDERDOG HAWKS Coach Mark Manginos team travels to Norman, Okla., on Saturday. GAME DAY | 8B
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
ENCOURAGING INVOLVEMENT Students get politically active. ELECTION 2008 | 6A
NIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 15,2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 40
LAWRENCE
DOUBLE DUTY
Wall Street hasn't hurt Mass Street
While much of the nation is cringing at the economy, Massachusetts Street vendors may have an ace in the hole: KU students. Some stores did not have falling sales last month.
FULL STORY PAGE 8A
CRIME
Cat killings prompt offer of reward
A serial cat mutilator is on the loose in Lawrence and there is a $2,500 reward for information leading to his capture. Mary Prewitt, director of the Kansas State Humane Society of the United States, said whoever was convicted could face a felony penalty, including a year in jail, a mandatory psychological evaluation and restrictions on owning animals in the future.
FULL STORY PAGE 7A
ATHLETICS
Mangino's request falls on deaf ears
Coach Mark Mangino's plea to stop the kickoff chant at football games came up short last weekend. The Athletics Department, student leaders and The Kansan are searching for alternatives to the chant.
FULL STORY PAGE 6A
HOWARD ENJOYING THE RIDE
Making KU football 'big-time' and cheering for his brother in the NLCS is full-time job
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman and 2006 National League MVP Ryan Howard has hit home runs in dozens of ballparks around the country. But his brother, associate athletics director Chris Howard, remembers two in particular.
The date was April 7, 1999. Chris was finishing up law school at Kansas and Ryan was a freshman at the university then known as Southwest Missouri State. The Bears were in Lawrence to play the Jayhawks at Hoglund Ballpark.
Howard
Ryan had wanted to go
Kyla had mended to Kansas like his brother but was told no thanks by the Kansas coaching staff, because they already had a first baseman, and they just weren't that interested in him.
Chris hurried from class down to the game and saw Ryan standing in the on-deck circle. He went right down by the fence and called his younger brother over.
"I said, 'Hey, remember these guys said you weren't good enough to play for them. You're nothing but a big scrub." Chris said. "So he went up there and the guy grooved him one and he took it out onto Naismith Drive — an opposite field bomb"
That afternoon Howard went 5-9 with five runs scored, five RBIs and two home runs to lead the Bears to a doubleheader sweep of the Jayhawks as he stuck it to Kansas for not offering him a chance to play.
Nine years later, Ryan is one victory away from reaching the World Series, and his brother Chris is an associate athletics director at Kansas where he works as the senior administrator for the football, track and field, and cross country teams.
Chris, who is 12 years older than his brother, spent time in the Army after earning his undergraduate degree at Kansas before deciding on a career in sports administration. He returned to Kansas for both graduate school and law school before latching on with a law firm in Kansas City.
SEE HOWARD ON PAGE 3A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAMPUS
Fitness center addition scheduled to open next Friday
A worker finishes some of the final stages of floor construction at the new addition to the Student Recreation Fitness Center. The opening of the addition has been postponed multiple times because of delays in construction. The grand opening is scheduled for Oct. 24 if construction is completed.
Shaymarie Genosky/KANSAN
BY HALEY JONES
hjones@kansan.com
Mary Chappell, director of recreation services, said the project was delayed because a product that prevented moisture from entering the building was not applied to the walls where the two buildings — the addition and the existing recreation center — meet. She also said that rainy weather had a significant effect on construction because the addition
The $6.3 million David A. Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center, originally slated to open in May 2008, is near completion. The 45,000-square-foot addition to the Student Recreation Fitness Center will provide students with a virtual golf simulator, martial arts studio, four gymnasium courts, an extension of the indoor track and two racquetball courts.
The Ambler addition, which was named in honor of David A. Ambler, vice chancellor emeritus for student affairs who is now retired, is scheduled for dedication at 3 p.m. on Oct. 24. Construction began in May 2007 and was projected to be complete by May 2008.
"We just started having delays and missing target days," Chappell said. "Just numerous delays on and on and on."
Although construction is nearly complete, some of the inside is still in the works. Chappell said she didn't think the gymnasium courts, which are made of synthetic wood, would be completed by the dedication ceremony. She said the contractor was still in the process of pouring the synthetic courts and that the courts would have to be cured, varnished and painted.
was located in a valley and that the brick exterior was applied incorrectly.
"Our anticipation is when we cut the ribbon we won't be able to bounce balls on the court," Chappell said.
She said the addition's features were determined by a consultant who talked to different parties such as the Athletics Department, Recreation Services, and Health, Sports and Exercise Sciences to see what they wanted in a recreation center addition.
The synthetic wood courts will have a dasher board system, similar to walls of an ice hockey rink, which would frame the court and prevent balls from bouncing away.
The center also has a virtual golf simulator allowing students to go to the driving range without going outdoors. Chappell said the golf simulator was popular at other schools and would be a fun option for students especially during the cold months.
index
"it's not as intimidating as going to a full-fledged golf course?" Chappell said.
Chappell said the boards would provide more space and give students more flexibility for the types of sports and games they could play on the courts.
Adam McGonigle, Wichita junior and student body president, said Student Senate contracted a St. Louis-based aquatics planning and engineering firm, Counselman-Hunsaker, to create several proposals for another recreation center expansion project. A new aquatic center was one of the platforms McGonigle was elected on last spring, but he said there were no formal plans for building an aquatic center yet.
Though the Amber Center brings several new options for student workouts, it does not include an aquatic center.
SEE AMBLER ON PAGE 3A
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RESCUE PLAN TAKES EFFECT
Proposed $250B cash infusion helps relieve credit crunch. ECONOMY | 7A
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