Wednesday inside
BrewHawk moves in A new restaurant and bar received permission to open from the city commission last night with a catch. The BrewHawk will open for business on Friday, but will spend the first three months on probation. PAGE 3A
Snake sense
Stores like Pet World are selling more and more exotic pets, such as snakes, lizard
and spiders. Students find that these pets are easier to take care of. PAGE 5A
Fitto a 'T'
Vintage T-shirts are popular with college students, and some are willing to pay as much as $2,000 for authentic vintage shirts. PAGE7A
`Hawk starts anew`
Linebacker Banks Floodman, returns from injury stronger in mind and body and
leading the team in tackles. PAGE 1B
Walk-on Scholarships
Three of the football team's walk-ons garnered athletic scholarships yesterday.Football coach Mark Mangino says walk-ons are important to the team's performance. PAGE4B
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Vol.114 Issue No.15
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-Matt Laubhan/KUJH-TV
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Tell us your news. Contact Michelle Burhenn, Lindsay Hanson or Leah Shaffer at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
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KANSAN
Wednesday, September 10,2003 The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas.
City considers increase
Commissioners propose raising downtown parking meter rates
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
astairrett@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Downtown visitors will probably pay higher fees for parking on Massachusetts Street, but not until January 2004.
The City Commission last night proposed raising the parking meter fee to 25 cents for an hour, instead of 25 cents for 90 minutes. In addition the commission proposed raising the limit at downtown meters from 90 minutes to two hours, and recommended yellow tickets be left at $2.
The proposals were sent to city staff members who will prepare an ordinance. It will likely take several weeks for the ordinance to be written and officially placed in the agenda for two readings. The ordinance is part of the City of Lawrence's 2004 budget, meaning it will not go into effect until January.
the ordinance proposals were a result of issues discussed at a Sept. 3 Downtown Parking Advisory Board meeting.
The board recommended the limit on all 90-minute parking meters be
increased to two hours. There are more than 700 of these meters, mostly on Massachusetts Street. The board also suggested the rate should increase from 25 cents for 90 minutes to 25 cents per 30 minutes for all meters.
The board also discussed how to deal with habitual violators. The board also proposed that the city tow or use wheel locks, and that fines for habitual violators be raised from $15 to $50.
Mike Rundle, city commissioner, said violators owed the city about $300,000 in unpaid meter fines.
Board members proposed ways to deal with downtown employees who park in the short-term spaces. They suggested individuals purchase parking passes for long-term lots like the one at 9th and New Hampshire streets. Those passes would be discounted 50 percent.
"As a professional that works downtown, I don't believe we have a parking problem downtown," said David Dunfield, Lawrence mayor.
David Schauer, city commissioner,
later agreed and said he rarely had difficulty finding a parking spot less than one block from his destination.
"As a professional that works downtown, I don't believe we have a parking problem downtown."
David Dunfield Lawrence mayor
Maria Martin, co-director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., has long been critical of the meter increase. She said last night that the advisory board's recommendations were a good solution.
"Going from 90 minutes to two hours is giving customers and downtown merchants something more," she said.
She later added that the increase in fees were going back to beautify the downtown. Dunfield said beautification was not a primary reason for the fee hike.
Martin suggested signs be placed along Massachusetts Street to remind drivers of
free two-hour lots. Dunfield disagree with Martin. He said the signs would go against beautification efforts.He encouraged local businesses to distribute existing pamphlets from the parking department, outlining where lots were.
Another topic of discussion was dealing with downtown employees who take up spaces usually reserved for shoppers. Schauer said there was no solution for employees who parked on Massachusetts Street.
"They are disuading shopers from spending money," Schauner said.
Rundle said there needed to be aggressive marketing to employees about long-term lots.
Dunfield supported the proposal that meter violations rise from $2 to $5. He said a $2 ticket was not a big enough incentive to deter illegal parking. The mayor said towing and wheel locks required a large amount of enforcement.
Surprised Zetas deal with loss
"I think they send too harsh a message," he said.
—Edited by JJ Henslow
By Abby Mills almills@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Two weeks after the end of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at the University of Kansas, former Zetas are still trying to cope with their loss.
"It's like breaking up with a long-term boyfriend," said Anja Winnika, former Zeta member. "There's a hole in my life and I haven't decided what to do with it yet."
Zetas had planned a party at Centennial Park, 600 Rockledge Rd., to welcome new members to the organization. Instead, members of the national organization and KU Fraternity and Sorority Life staff officially announced the end of the colony. They told members the University was not ready for a 14th sorority vet.
The news surprised members. Winnika said the national sorority had tried to contact members, but were unable to reach many. Zeta Tau Alpha headquarters in Indianapolis did not return calls requesting comment.
Kit Leffler/Kansan
Anja Winikka, Overland Park junior and former Zeta Tau Alpha member, continued to mourn the loss of her sorority yesterday. Zeta Tau Alpha closed Aug. 26 because of poor recruitment.
Sarah Connelly, a former Zeta member, said hearing the news second-hand caused more pain and frustration.
"A lot of the heartache was caused by girls finding out from other sorority members that their own colony had closed," she said. "I think that's horrible."
Some members, such as Kelly Duggan, Minnetonka, Minn., sophomore, didn't know the colony had closed until the Bid Day party. She said she was glad
she heard the news with other members.
"I would rather have found out with all my sisters rather than by myself in the morning," she said. "I was glad my sisters
were there to comfort me."
were there to comfort the Members said they knew they would
SEE ZETA ON PAGE 7A
Improved toiletries delight students
Campus bathrooms switch to foam soap; two-ply toilet paper a temporary luxury
By Amber Bylaray
abylaray@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Facilities Operations has started replacing powder and liquid soap dispensers throughout campus. The powder and liquid soaps were leaking, and many students complained about using the powder soap. The new dispensers will have foam soap.
The University of Kansas washed its sands of another student complaint.
Lorene Damewood, assistant director of custodial services, said Facility Operations employees have been changing soap dispensers for a couple of months.
Lindsev Gold/Kansan
Damewood said she didn't know how much longer workers would be replacing the dispensers but that all academic buildings would have foaming soap.
buildings. Dennis Ireland, storekeeper specialist for Facilities Operations, said close to two-thirds of the buildings on main campus had the new dispensers, and work on West Campus would begin soon. Ireland said that about 1,200 dispensers were ordered.
Throughout campus, Facilities Operations started replacing powdered-soap dispensers with liquid-soap dispensers. The new liquid soap has been met with rave reviews. According to Dennis Ireland, storekeeping specialist for Facilities Operations, the liquid soap is supposed to last longer and be cheaper in the long-term than the powdered soap.
Damewood said, "The decision was made to change to foam soap and we
a temporary luxury have had really favorable feedback."
Shana Hughes, Wichita graduate student, welcomed the change.
"I especially like the new soap." Hughes said. "Wescoe used to have horrific powder that didn't work very well and the new foam is much nicer. I have my office there in Wescoe and it makes a big difference."
Rachel McFadden, Andal sophomore, agreed with Hughes.
"Foam soap rocks," McFadden said.
"It just feels cleaner."
Ireland said that the foam soap was paid for by a Facilities Operations fund that the state issued at the beginning of each fiscal year. Although the foam soap was more expensive than the liquid or powder soap, Ireland said it was supposed to last longer and save money overall.
Andrew Wolff, St. Louis senior noticed another change in the University's bathroom supplies—toilet paper.
"It's nice to know the toilet paper isn't rough anymore," Wolff said, "that they actually care. I'd like to see less powered soap; only if I had paint on my hands would I want to use it."
Wolff's joy will be short-lived, however. Damewood said that the change in the toilet paper would not be permanent. One of the University's suppliers had a distribution problem and refunded extra cases of two-ply toilet paper.
The new two-ply toilet paper is softer than the one-ply that the University is contracted to buy. Damewood said the
paper's rolls were also smaller than the toilet paper the University normally uses, which meant the newer rolls did not fit most of the dispensers on campus. Damewood said the paper could only be used in a few buildings.
-Edited by Scott Christie