Tuesday inside
Martin trial continues Amid death threats,the trial of slain University student Shannon Martin moves forward with closing arguments on Monday. PAGE 3A
Meteor shower It's the time of year to view the Leonid meteor shower. The best way to see the falling stars is to go to Clinton Lake or another area away from city lights between midnight and 2 a.m. tonight. PAGE 3A
Pills or vegetables? Despite the growing popularity of vitamin supplements, dieticians say they are no substitute for a balanced diet. PAGE5A
Sweet Sixteen The Kansas soccer team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and will face UCLA Friday in Los Angeles. PAGE 10A
Lone Jayhawk
Benson Chesang will be the only runner for Kansas who will compete at the NCAA Championship
meet on Monday.
PAGE10A
Weather Today
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Two-day forecast tomorrow Thursday 6339 6642
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Talk to us
Tell us your news. Contact Michelle Burhenn-Rombeck, Lindsay Hanson or Leah Shaffer at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
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Vol.114 Issue No.62
KANSAN
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Funding cuts prompt response
By Paul Kramer
pkramer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Maybe it was the free hot chocolate, maybe it was the smiling senator soliciting students behind the table or maybe students wanted to make a difference.
Whatever the reason, 250 postcards addressing tuition increases were filled out in less than 90 minutes by students yesterday on Wescoe Beach. The cards will be sent by Student Senate to the appropriate representative of the students who filled them out.
The postcard campaign, which will
"That's a way to show the representatives that we do care about it."
Marynell Jones
Student senate executive secretary
continue today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wescoe Beach, is part of the effort to get students to tonight's rally for higher education at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, which is next to the Lied Center.
Marynell Jones, senate executive sec
retary, said that the postcards would send a message to Legislators about the reduction in state higher-education funding.
"That's a way to show the representatives that we do care about it." Jones said.
State funding cuts caused an $18.8 million reduction in University general funding last year alone, a deficit that the University is attempting to recoup through the five-year plan of tuition increases.
versities to create their own rally to show how the funding problem affects them all. Jones planned the rally as a tuitionincrease panel, open to all students
The idea for the rally began last year at Kansas State University as a library sit-in to stop library hours from being cut. The Kansas State rally was successful. It led Kansas State to ask all other Regents uni-
Jones said while there was nothing as pressing as reduced library hours facing the University, the tuition increase was a concern among students. Jones said the panel, along with the postcards, would hopefully get the attention of state Legislators.
The panel will convene at 7 tonight at the Dole Institute to address issues surrounding the current and future state of
SEE CUTS ON PAGE 5A
Local personal ads spring up online attract students to Internet relationships
B boy goes to a bar. Boy has a few beers.Boy meets girl.Boy and girl have a few beers together.Boy and girl exchange phone numbers never to hear from each other again.
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This is exactly the scenario that Alison Vavra is trying to avoid.
Maggie Newcomer
Illustration: Scott Drummond
Emily Howard, a member of the Kansan's ad staff, started selling personal ads for the annual Sex on the Hill issue, which appeared Sept. 15. There was such a good response that she decided to continue the ads and put them online. Howard said the ads had become more popular than she expected.
"You're not going to meet the guy of your dreams in a bar." Vavra said.
The Newton senior and 121 other University of Kansas students have turned to the The University Daily Kansan online personal ads to meet new people.
Lawrence.com, a site run by The Lawrence Journal-World, also has its own online personalities.
Phil Caution, lawrence.cor* editor,
said the ads cost $9 a month and
have helped the Web site make ends meet.
The ads, known as the "hook-up." have been running for three months and have had a good response, he said. Cauthon credited
Hill said online dating could be an easier method of dating for people who were shy or too busy to get out much.
Vavra, or glaciergrl as she's known.
unat to the compatibility of the site's audience and the Internet. Lawrence.com's target audience is 18- to 35-year-olds.
"You're not going to meet the guy of your dreams in a bar."
ALISON VAVRA
Newton senior
"It's widely accessible, it's fun and it's very successful," Hill said.
Shirley Hill, associate professor of sociology, said the growing popularity of the Internet and its convenience was part of the reason for the surge of online dating services.
in as she's known online, has been getting to know other users through e-mails. This is the first online dating service she's used.
ber, she decided to post an ad, just a few days after the service started. She said she was reading other people's ads and thought they were funny, prompting her to give it a try.
Vavra said she hadn't met anyone face to face yet. She prefers to get to know them a little bit first.
One bored night in Septem-
Some of the users are just looking for sex, Vavra said. There was even
SEE ONLINE ON PAGE 5A
Naismith resident charged with arson
By Danielle Hillix
dhillix@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A University of Kansas student has been charged with aggravated arson in connection with a weekend fire at Naismith Hall.
Jason Olds, property manager at Naismith, said a fire broke out in the privately owned apartment complex around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
Brian Kurtz, 19, was charged with startling at Naismith on Saturday morning.
Olds said the fire started when a student took a lighter to a dry-erase memo board, which was on a fourth-floor apartment door. The memo board caught fire. The flames quickly spread from the memo board to the wooden apartment door.
A member of the Naismith Hall staff noticed the fire and put it out with a fire extinguisher.
All residents were evacuated, and no one was hurt.
"We were on it within two minutes," he said.
Naismith's sprinkler system did not go off, but the fire alarm was pulled. Firefighters responded to the call at 4:44 a.m.
Kurtz, a freshman resident of Nalsmith, was taken into custody on Sunday. He spent Sunday night in the Douglas County Jail and remained there yesterday.
He appeared at his arraignment from the jail via closed-circuit television. At the arraignment, he was officially charged with aggravated arson, a level three felony. It carries a maximum sentence of 247 months in the state penitentiary.
"We're taking the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of all our residents," he said.
Kurtz, who has no criminal history, will next appear in court Nov. 19. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled at that time. His bond was set at $10,000.
Olds declined to discuss Kurtz's future at Naismith. He said that situation was under evaluation.
Edited by Joey Berlin
New KUJH programs to vary station lineup
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When KUJH isn't showing its own news broadcasts, it's likely showing old KU football or basketball game re-runs on the station.
"It's like putting out a Kansan three times a day or something," said Gary Hawke, general manager of KUJH.
Now new shows are being produced that may cut back on the repetition.
Hawke has encouraged the production of more student-driven projects to maintain a steady and varied lineup of programming. The station began reassessing the programming in January when the All News Channel, a station
similar to CNN, stopped providing its service to KUH.
As a result, KUJH looked for alternatives.
"What we're trying to do now is cover as much campus kind of stuff as we possibly can." Hawke said.
Chris Martin, Prairie Village senior, helped form the Television Production Club, where volunteers can play a role in developing new shows. The club now has about 40 members, Martin said.
Martin has produced Out of Focus, a show that highlights film projects by students and professors, since September 2002. And he has other projects already in production.
Voice of Choice is a talk show that will focus on political issues. Early episode topics include the 2004 presidential election, an action-comedy-drama series called with representatives from Young Democrats and College Republicans as guests.
Kara Hansen/Kansan
Dick Nelson, KUJH supervisor, and Jason Matsioff, Piano, Texas, sophomore, recorded news spots with the Newsroom 4 software that was recently added in the newsroom.
Martin held auditions in October for
SEE KUJH ON PAGE 5A
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