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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2008
NEWS
3A
CAMPUS
Rock the Block lets students enjoy alcohol-free tailgating
BY JOE PREINER
jpreiner@kansan.com
Rocking out with your hawk out will be even easier for fans of KU football this year thanks to the Rock the Block pregame tailgate.
GSP-Corbin Hall, located about a block from the stadium, will hold the event two and a half hours before every home football game this season.
Tailgaters will have access to a wide range of entertainment activities, including a disc jockey, prize giveaways and lawn games such as ladder golf. Students and KU fans who arrive to the party early will receive free T-shirts.
Tracey Condon, GSP-Corbin complex director, said people
in the Department of Student Housing had high hopes for Rock the Block.
"We would really like to see this event become something fun for students to attend where the focus is enjoying themselves and the excitement that surrounds KU football." Condon said.
Planning for the event began last spring after the Alcohol Priority Committee proposed the idea. Jocelyn Maul, assistant complex director of Corbin, said alcohol-free tailgating provided students with an alternative to the typical parties that surrounded the stadium on game days. Maul had headed the planning of the event and said she hoped to attract a large crowd.
"We hope to see lots of people coming by and having a place to hang out before the games," Maul said. "I'm hoping for a couple hundred people at each Rock the Block tailgate."
She said she hoped give-aways of prizes such as iPods, DVD players and theater systems would help attract students. Maul also said students should
The tailgate will also offer food
said the package would include a hotel stay and limousine ride to the Border Showdown.
"We hope to see lots of people coming by and having a place to hang out before the games."
JOCELYN MAUL Assistant complex director, Corbin Hall
keep an eye out for a getaway package for the Kansas-Missouri game at Arrowhead Stadium. She
that students and other fans can buy using cash or their KU meal plans. Chicken wings and bratwurst will be among the items available for hungry football aficionados.
The event will employ volunteers from each of the residence halls in an effort to involve the entire Department
of Student Housing. To encourage students to help with the event, the Rock the Block tailgate will end 30 minutes before kickoff so everyone involved will have the opportunity to watch the games.
John Hagen, Leawood freshman, said he planned on attending the event. He said that he thought the alcohol-free aspect of the tailgate was probably a good idea, and that it would give new students a chance to meet and hang out away from an academic setting.
The Rock the Block inaugural tailgate begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
—Edited by Kelsey Hayes
when to party
Aug. 30 vs. Florida International (6 p.m. kickoff)
Sept. 20 vs. Sam Houston State (6 p.m. kickoff)
Oct. 11 vs. Colorado (time TBA)
Sept. 6 vs. Louisiana Tech (6 p.m. kickoff)
Oct. 25 vs. Texas Tech (time TBA)
INTERNATIONAL
Nov. 1 vs. Kansas State (time TBA)
Nov. 15 vs. Texas (time TBA)
Thai protesters clash with police, demand prime minister's resignation
BY SUTIN WANNABOVORN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, Thailand — Thai anti-government protesters occupying the grounds of the prime minister's office forced several hundred policemen off the compound early Friday and promised more action in their bid to oust the leader.
Police exercised restraint when the demonstrators — some armed with golf clubs, batons and bamboo sticks — pushed up to 400 officers out of the Government House grounds at about 1 a.m.
"We can relax now, but please be cautious, they might return soon," protest organizer Samran Rodpetch announced from a stage.
Protesters celebrated by dancing to rock music, a sharp contrast to the tensions Wednesday before when they feared a raid and threw up makeshift barricades.
Thousands of supporters of the conservative People's Alliance for Democracy spent a third night encamped at Government House in support of their campaign to force Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej from office.
The alliance accuses Samak's government of serving as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and faces several pending corruption cases. Thaksin is in self-imposed exile in Britain.
After Thaksin was deposed in the bloodless coup, his party was dissolved and he was banned from public office until 2012.
But Samak led Thaksin's political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback on the strength of his continued popularity in Thailand's rural majority.
The number of protesters in and around the government compound has varied from a few thousand most mornings to a high of 30,000 who staged demonstrations at several locations Tuesday across Bangkok.
The alliance promised a "final showdown" this week, but has suffered several setbacks, including when it sent several dozen masked thugs Tuesday to take over a government-controlled television station. The band surrendered to police and video of the bullying tactics were broadcast repeatedly.
Police issued arrest warrants Wednesday for nine of the group's leaders on charges of insurrection, conspiracy, illegal assembly and refusing orders to disperse. Insurrection, the legal equivalent of treason, carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.
Another court issued an order late Wednesday demanding that the protesters leave the government compound immediately and stop blocking streets. On Thursday, a court rejected the alliance's appeal of the order to vacate Government House, which was seized Tuesday.
One of the top alliance leaders, Chamling Srimuang, told reporters Thursday night that protesters would continue to rally at the compound despite the court order.
Chamlong, one of the nine leaders sought by police, insisted the protesters were doing nothing wrong.
"We are staging a protest because the government has made too many mistakes and has no legitimacy to run the country," he said. "From now on, it will be stickier. Our political rallying will get stronger because more of our supporters from upcountry will come to help us. We will not back down."
The alliance's best known leaders are Chamlong, an influential former politician and army officer, and Sondhi Limthongkul, a media mogul.
stoppages by Thai railway workers on several lines Thursday after an unknown number of employees took immediate two-day sick leaves.
"We can withstand any difficult conditions if we can topple Samak," said Kitja Usaiphan, 43, a fisherman who has been camping at the government compound since Tuesday.
In what appeared to be a related development, there were work
Thousands of additional protesters poured into the site in response to the court orders, and many formed a human chain overnight around the group's top leaders to prevent them from being taken away.
Chamlong claimed he and other leaders were ready to be arrested, but encouraged supporters to stay on the grounds.
"You must remain here and continue fighting," Chamlong said. "If you leave the Government House, that means we have been defeated."
Samak, who refuses to resign, has accused the protesters of trying to provoke violence.
"They want bloodshed in the country. They want the military to come out and do the coup again," Samak said.
The military has said it is not planning a coup. Thailand has had 17 constitutions since 1932—a reflection of the political instability and military coups that followed the drafting of the first charter that created a constitutional monarchy. The last coup was in 2006, when Thaksin was ousted.
The conditions at the government compound were deteriorating — bags of trash piled up and protesters hung laundry from buildings. The grounds were mostly covered with sleeping mats and some protesters could be seen lounging in the hallways of buildings.
A number of ambulances parked outside the site, anticipating the possibility of violence.
CONGRATULATIONS NEW MEMBERS OF PI BETA PHI!
Christine Curtin
Kaitlin Marquis
Ramsey Ratcliffe
Grace Eisenhauer
Jessica Marshall
Anne Tampke
Macey Guthery
Maggie Finn
Megan Hardy
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Annmarie Arensberg
Jade Holmes
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Marie Wilcox
Taylor Newman
Jessie Lewis
Madison Stockwell
Keri Kenning
Jessika Downing Sarah Warth Hillary Golubski Ashley Voran Caroline Roth Alexa Cole Sophie Tully Hillary Ferguson Gina Speer Taylor Mann Caroline Kraft Kathryn Deck Kaley Kane Jette Higgins Anna Ebert Gracie Leek Kennedy Crawley Kelsey Hinds
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Brittany Bellings
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Missy Lightner
Emily Cox
Jordan Frederes
Danielle Self
Spenser Airey
Katelyn Roberts
Abigail Brown
An anti-government protester, prepared with goggles and other anti-tear gas measures, looks on Thursday outside the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand. Anti-government protesters defied a court order to end their occupation of the Thai prime minister's office compound in Bangkok, saying they had a right to remain and would stay until the country's leaders resign.
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