Tuesday inside
Recalling the past
Deborah Dandridge experienced firsthand the changes made from Brown v.
Board of Education. She was appointed to a board that celebrates the case.PAGE 3A
Up all night
College students have always pulled all-nighters. Some use energy pills,but others say there are safer ways to study. PAGE 6A
Peptalk
The halftime atmosphere in
the Kansas locker room inspired the Jayhawks to win
Saturday against the Bears. PAGE12A
Hoop dreams
Nineteen KU students tried out for the men's basketball team yesterday at Allen Fieldhouse. PAGE 12A
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Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 12A
Sports briefs 9A
Horoscopes 10A
Comic 10A
Vol.114 Issue No.44
KANSAN
Tuesday, October 21, 2002
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Natural gas prices have been skyrocketing lately and forecasters only expect rates to rise further as winter sets in. Students are already feeling the financial pain of the increasing gas prices.
Natural gas prices rising
Weather is key factor when determining winter price increase
By Abby Mills almills@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Even as temperatures drop, rising gas prices may have Americans keeping their thermostats low.
Robert Riley, Lawrence junior, said he and his roommates had not turned on the furnace yet at their house on Kentucky Street because the weather was still warm, but he wanted natural gas prices to not spike as they did last year. He said he went from an $80 bill one month to one that exceeded $300 the next.
"I don't have the money to pay it," he said, "so we're going have to figure out some way to keep gas use down, which is hard since we have gas heat."
Natural gas prices aren't as high as last year's peak, but prices are on the rise. George Minter, spokesman for Aquila, which provides Lawrence with natural gas, said the fuel was selling for $10 per thousand cubic foot (MCF) last February. It is now about $5 per MCF up from $4 this time last year.
Those high prices could translate into high heating bills this winter.
into high heating bill for a Midwest customer this winter could be as high as $915, said Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, at the National Petroleum Council Summit on Natural Gas in Washington, D.C., in June. That is a 19-percent increase from last year.
Minter said October gas bills for Aquila customers were already 22 percent higher than last October, but customers would probably not notice the higher prices until winter set in.
"You don't notice it as much at this point because you aren't using as much gas," he said. "But when we get to higher usage, 22 percent becomes more of a factor."
When winter sends natural gas usage up, weatherization techniques can significantly reduce gas bills. Minter said.
He recommended making sure homes were well-insulated, windows and doors were properly caulked and thermostats were kept low.
"Lowering the temperature by just a few degrees can make a big difference," he said.
Miner also recommended checking furnace filters regularly. He said when filters get dirty or blocked, the furnace runs less efficiently and took more natural gas to maintain the same temperature. Each furnace varies as to when filters should be cleaned, so checking regularly is important, he said.
But much of the cost of natural gas is out of the hands of the consumer.
Factors such as storage, weather, oil prices, demand and production combine to affect natural gas prices. As natural gas becomes more popular, the price rises.
"Demand for natural gas has risen significantly in the United States in the last few years," said Tim Carr, co-director of the Energy Research Center at
Fall break allows students time for vacation, relaxation
SEE RISING ON PAGE 7A
By Joe Hartigan jhartigan@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
"I'm just going to go out and relax." Alex Breeding, Algonquin, Ill., junior, said. "There won't be so much commotion at the bars."
After eight weeks of school and a round of midterms, University of Kansas students are ready to take a break. With two days off of school for fall break, many students look forward to forgetting about tests and homework.
Breeding is staying in Lawrence over fall break this year for the first time. She said she was looking forward to a more relaxed atmosphere.
"Lots of people won't be here, so there won't be any lines," she said.
This is the third fall break in University history, but this year's break will be the first without a home football game. Rob Farha, owner of The Wheel, 507 W. 14th St., said he didn't know what to expect this weekend. Farha said it would be hard to predict how his bar would do this weekend because the University had home football games during fall break the past two years. This year, the Jayhawks will be squaring off against Kansas State University in Manhattan.
Farha said The Wheel hadn't lost much business during the first two fall breaks.
support the footballs. For the past two years, Adam Handshy, Lawrence senior, has stayed in town for fall break. Though it was a bit slower during the break,' he said, the nightlife didn't suffer much.
"We stayed busy because there were still students and alumni who wanted to support the football team," he said.
SEE FALL BREAK ON PAGE 7A
Sightings reignite mountain lion myth
Myth, it has been said, is the concealed part of every story.
Three years ago, Paula Conlin, facilities manager for Nichols Hall, was walking to work in the morning when she said she spotted what looked like a mountain lion on West Campus near Youngberg Hall.
Physical proof of the lion's existence, such as feces or an actual body, must be present in order to qualify as a confirmed sighting, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Web site.
A resurgence in mountain lion sightings on West Campus over the past few months continues to contribute to the idea that the large cats are in Kansas, even though there hasn't been a confirmed sighting since 1904.
By Kevin Kampwirth
kkampwirth@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Confirmed or not, West Campus mountain lion sightings have been reported as recently as last Thursday and as far back as 25 years.
"I saw it up the path a ways and I just stopped," Conlin said. "We looked at each other and I remember thinking, 'This can't be. This is what you see in movies.'"
Conlin is one of five KU employees who claimed to have seen a mountain lion on their way to or from work in the West Campus area in the past three years
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Although none of the sightings were
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SEE LION ON PAGE 7A
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