2A
The Inside Front
Monday December 8,1997
News from campus,the state,the nation and the world
CAMPUS/AREA
Coke machines in Wesco Hall are blocking wheelchair access to water fountains.
NATIONAL
WASHINGTON: Republicans threatened Attorney General Janet Reno with contempt of Congress yesterday because of her decision to forgo an independent counsel's investigation of White House campaign fund raising.
INTERNATIONAL
IRKUTSK, Russia: A huge military cargo jet, that seconds earlier had lifted off from an airfield a mile away, slammed into No. 45 Grazhdanskaya on Saturday, clipping an orphanage with its wing and demolishing one end of the five-story apartment building.
CAMPUS/AREA
Problem:
Problem:
Coke machine is too close to handicapped-accessible drinking fountain. Wheelchair users cannot maneuver in just 3-1/2 inches of space.
Solution:
Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN
By moving the recycle bin to a different location — for example, around the corner — the machines can be shifted away from the fountain. The electrical outlet is situated with plenty of space for the machines' cords.
Coke machines block access to water fountains
People who use wheelchairs may have to buy a Coke if they want their thirst quenched in Wescoe Hall.
On the second floor of Wescoe, there are two Coke machines, one of which blocks the handicapped-accessible water fountain in the main hallway. There is a similar problem on the third floor with a Coke machine and a Hershey's machine.
"It was brought to my attention by an F&O employee who is himself disabled," said Elizabeth Banks, associate professor of classics. "It seemed to be something that needed attention. It makes me angry that the big corporation now has all of the concessions on campus and is not responding to a University official to remedy the situation. We have to comply with ADA regulations."
Banks is not the only faculty member who has seen the problem and complained.
"The day after they put it in, I noticed that they set it up so that a wheelchair would have to come in at an angle — not an effective way to get in," said David Dinneen, chairman and professor of French and Italian.
Dinneen and Banks filed complaints to the University.
Michael Shuttie, associate director of Services for Students with Disabilities.
"Since the Coke machines are bolted down, F&O can't do anything to them," Shuttic said. "I called the representative from Coke before Thanksgiving, and she said that they would be moved last week, but they still haven't been moved. I guess I'll need to call her again."
received the complaints and has tried to get Coke to remedy the situation for almost four weeks, he said.
Shuttic said that he had been working with Coke to get the machines equipped with braille buttons and that he didn't know what it would take to get the machines moved.
Kansan staff report
NATIONAL Republicans threaten Reno with contempt of Congress
WASHINGTON — Republicans threatened Attorney General Janet Reno with contempt of Congress yesterday because of her decision to forgo an independent counsel's investigation of White House campaign fund raising.
One GOP senator,
Orrin Hatch of Utah,
said he was asking
FBI director Louis
Freech to bypass Reno,
his boss, and investigate
allegations of Democratic impropriety in fund raising.
"I have no doubt that the political appointees in the department who have been influencing her are doing nothing but
Reno: Receiving Republican threats
protecting the president," said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Hatch on CBS" Face the Nation."
Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, shot back,
"Was it protecting the president when she
appointed four independent counsels that
all took aim at the White House?"
Before the cameras were turned on, Glenn flashed Reno a thumb-to-forefinger OK sign and told her he admired her for standing up for her principles on the independent counsel decision.
On Tuesday, Reno announced her decision not to request a court-appointed independent counsel to look into fundraising calls that President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore had made from the White House. In a 69-page brief and accompanying news conference, she said they had broken no federal laws.
Furious about Reno's decision, Republicans used yesterday's talk-show circuit to lob a series of threats at her and the Justice Department.
Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" that the panel would consider recommending a contempt of Congress charge if she refused to comply with its subpoena seeking Freeh's memo endorsing an independent counsel.
"We're going to reach maybe a little crisis here," Burton said. Asked whether he would cite Reno for contempt, he said:
"That's the step we'll have to look at next."
"Obviously if we cited her for contempt, it would have to go to the Justice Department for carrying out that contempt citation. And she would be making the decision on that," he said.
But with a chuckle, he acknowledged an inherent problem with that action.
Reno did not rule out sending Burton the memo with sensitive information blacked out.
On "Face the Nation," Reno insisted she was not protecting anyone.
"If I were protecting people, I'd close up the shop and go home," she said.
INTERNATIONAL Russian jet crashes, hits housing buildings
IRKUTSK, Russia — It was a quiet, bitterly cold afternoon on Grazhdanskaya Street, where a group of men chatted and smoked while tinkering with their battered cars. Many of their wives were out shopping.
A teen-age girl sit by her living room window, puzzled about her chemistry homework. Suddenly, a roar shook her apartment building — and set her neighborhood on fire.
"When I looked out the window, I saw a burning car and a woman running out of another apartment building with her fur coat on fire. A man was lying on the ground," said Lena Meistakhova, 15. "Then a wave of heat came through the house."
A huge military cargo jet that seconds earlier had lifted off from an airfield a mile away slammed into No. 45 Grazhdankaya Saturday, clipping an orphanage with its wing and demolishing one end of the five-story apartment building. The men who had been happily chatting by their cars died beneath falling wreckage.
Those who saw the crash spoke of huge sheets of flames that engulfed surrounding buildings. A day later, steam and smoke from burning fuel that had soaked into the ground was rising into the overcast sky.
Rescuers searched for bodies in the 5-degree weather, and the stench of burned wood and fuel filled the air. Water from bursting pipes and firefighters' hoses coated flame-scarred buildings with a layer of ice. Curtains of icicles draped every shattered window.
The An-124 Russian air force transport plane that crashed Saturday was carrying two jet fighters built at a local factory for export to Vietnam. The export was a rare bit of good news for the battered aircraft industry in this Siberian city of 700,000 people.
Ten seconds after taking off, the plane was in trouble. A woman who heard the shrill, ragged roar of the jet's engines said it was leaning to one side, a wing tilting toward the ground.
Once the pride of the Soviet aircraft industry, Irkutsk factories barely function these days, starved of cash and orders. Thousands of workers have been laid off or go months without being paid.
Then came a shattering explosion. The
plane, the size of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet,
was carrying 100 tons of fuel in its tanks.
There were 23 crew and factory staff
aboard, escorting the fighters to Vietnam.
—The Associated Press
ON THE RECORD
A KU student's 1984 Hana Accord was stolen between 4:30 and 5:05 a.m. Thursday from the city at large, Lawrence police said. The car was valued at $250.
A KU student's 36 CDS, RCA CD player and other items were stolen between 11:30 p.m. Nov. 27 and 2 a.m. Nov. 28 from the city at large, Lawrence police said. The items were valued at $450.
A KU student's passenger-side window was damaged between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 7:20 a.m. Thursday in the 4000 block of Wheat State Street, Lawrence police said. The damage was estimated at $200.
A KU student's 1995 Toyota 4-Runner was damaged and Lanzar amplifier and other items stolen between 5 p.m. Wednesday and 9:44 a.m. Thursday from the 1800 block of Arkansas Street, Lawrence police said. The damage and items were valued at $3,380.
ON CAMPUS
The Feminist Union will meet at 1 p.m. in the Governor's Room of the Kansas Union. Contact Jen Keltner, 331-2514.
OAKS will have a end-of-semester celebration to 5 on 7 p.m. Friday at Dos Hombres VI, B15 New Hampshire St., and the business meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Alcove B of the Kansas Union. Contact Susan Randall, 864-7317.
The International Student Association will meet at 6 p.m. today in the International Room of the Kansas Union. Contact Scott Grisley. 864-4848.
Tae Kwon Do Club will practice from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today and Wednesday, and from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at 207 Robinson. Contact Adam Capron. 842-912-112
The KU Meditation Club will meet at 6 p.m tomorrow in the Sunflower Room, Burge Union. Contact Pannir, 864-7736.
The Native American Student Association will meet at 7 tonight at the Multicultural Resource Center. Contact Lori Huxwell, A41.853-825 or Benny: Gross, A41.825-696
KU Environers will meet i: 6 p.m. tomorrow.
Contact Jason Daniels, 864.7325.
The St. Lawrence Staff invites students to study at St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Road, during finals. We have plenty of space, a computer lab and hot chocolate. Contact Anna Witherow. 843-0357.
- Ecumenical Christian Ministries will conduct Carols and Candles Advent Worship Service at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Canterbury House Chapel, 1116 Louisiana St.
- Contact Thad, 843-4933.
University Forum will hold the Spring '98 Planning Meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. Contact Thad, 843-4933.
Suicide Support Healing Group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday. Contact Thad, 843-4933
ET CETERA
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