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NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
TRANSPORTATION
Moped popularity booms on campus amid high gas costs
Allison Richardson/KANSAN
ANURK HIRJAHAR/KKMAR A KU student rides his moped down Jayhawk Boulevard on Thursday afternoon. The University has issued 158 permits so far this year, compared to 122 sold all last year. Since 2002, the number of permits issued has risen by 953 percent.
BY JOE PREINER
jpreiner@kansan.com
Cruising around the KU campus on a scooter is an effective and energy-efficient way to get to class, and more students are riding along with the idea.
Mopedds at the University is on the rise. Donna Hultine, director of Parking & Transit, said students had bought many more scooter permits this year than in the past. Within the first few weeks of the semester, the department has issued 158 permits, compared with 122 sold during all of last year.
Scooters on campus is a trend that has been on the rise at the University the last several years. In 2002, only 15 students bought permits for their scooters. The number of permits sold has increased by 953 percent during the last six years.
Dan Doherty, De Soto junior, got caught up in the scooter trend two years ago. He said he enjoyed the benefits of good gas mileage. An average gas station fill-up costs him about $4, and he only needs to fill his tank about once a week. He said the best part about having a moped at the University was that he was allowed to ride on campus.
"It's a huge plus." Doherty said. "It feels great riding by people who are walking to class — like when it's raining."
With the increase in scooter use, wear and tear on the vehicles is inevitable. Doherty said that although
he used the scooter constantly, he had only brought the vehicle into the shop once in two years of using it. Mark Lepley, owner and operator of Quick Trick Cycle and Scooter, has been bringing his truck to campus to fix older scooters recently.
He said many moped riders were putting off maintenance on their vehicles because they didn't have the time. The delayed maintenance often resulted in problems for the rider, Lepley said.
"Students here are invested in making it through these four years," Lepley said. "They're busy. They don't have time to worry about these things. The problem is that it can actually be dangerous."
Lepley said the most common problems he saw with mopeds on campus were related to extended use without maintenance. He said problems such as worn tires, faulty fuel lines and excessive wear and tear contributed to major safety issues. Lepley said he had seen graphic accidents where worn tires had resulted in blowouts, steering the scooters into oncoming traffic.
Doherty said he wasn't worried about the condition of his scooter. But, he said, the consequences of not maintaining his vehicle could negatively influence his scholastic motivation.
"If my scooter breaks then I might not go to class anymore," Doherty said. "It just wouldn't be the same."
Last spring, the Jayhawks became National Champions...
- Edited by Kelsey Hayes
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E tr H
MUSIC
The library does not plan to sell, but if it did, the single sheet would likely be worth around $100,000, the expert said. In all, only about 100 such examples of musical drafts by Mozart are known.
Leisinger said the work had been "entirely forgotten." Such a find is rare. The last time unknown music in Mozart's handwriting came to light was in 1996, when a portion of an aria was sold at Christie's, Leisinger said.
The sheet was bequeathed to Nantes' library by a collector in the 19th century, along with a letter from Mozart as well as one from his father. Both the letters were published in Mozart's complete correspondence, said Agnes Marcetteau, director of Nantes' municipal library.
Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarture Foundation in Salzburg, Austria, said Thursday that there is no doubt that the single sheet, the top third of which has been cut off, was written by the composer.
"His handwriting is absolutely clearly identifiable," he added. "There's no doubt that this is an original piece handwritten by Mozart."
The single manuscript page, long hidden in a provincial French library, has been verified as the work of Mozart, the apparent underpinnings for a Mass he never composed.
There have been up to 10 Mozart discoveries of such importance over the past 50 years, Leisinger said.
Missing Mozart piece found
The previously undocumented music fragment gives insight into Mozart's evolving composition style and provides a clue about the role religion may have played for the composer as his life neared its turbulent end, one prominent Mozart expert says.
PARIS — It's a forgotten melody, sketched in black ink in a swift but sure hand.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A library in Nantes, western France, has had the fragment in its collection since the 19th century, but it had never been authenticated until now, partly because it does not bear Mozart's signature.
Philip Gosset, a music historian and a professor in music at the University of Chicago, urged caution about interpreting the fragment.
"It is certainly not something that can just be scored up and played as Mozart's," he said.