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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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Vol.104-No.7
Senior running back Eric Vann rushed for 85 yards in the Jayhawks 24-0 defeat of Alabama-Birmingham last night at Memorial Stadium.
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
A = 250 m³
B = 400 m³
C = 600 m³
Excess alcohol can cause death
(USPS 650-640)
Even little amounts of booze can have big effects on students
A 200-pound male drinking three 1.2-cuce beers per hour will see his blood-alcohol content rise at a rate of approximately .03 percent per hour. If he starts drinking at 7 p.m., he'll notice these symptoms.
A night on the town
Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN
By Sarah Chadwick
schadwk@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Labor Day weekend can be filled with sun, fun, drinking ... and death.
Last year, alcohol played a part in 40 deaths during the Labor Day weekend in Kansas, said Jim Schaller of the Kansas Department of Transportation.
For that reason, students need to be aware of how much they have had to drink, both on the road and on the water, said Julie Francis, Watkins Memorial Health Center health educator.
"Even before people reach the legal drinking limit, they're starting to have effects," Francis said. "Even after one or two drinks the effects will be there, even though people might not think that could
cause negative effects."
The legal blood-alcohol content limit in Kansas is 0.08 percent, but at a level of 0.05 percent, a person's thought, judgment and restraint may be more relaxed. Also, there may be increased errors in steering, according to statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
At the legal limit of 0.08 percent, the likelihood of a car crash increases three to four times because virtually all drivers are significantly impaired, the MADD statistics said.
The risk of a car crash is 100 times higher once the level reaches 0.20 percent. At this level, the entire motor area of the brain becomes significantly depressed and the brain area controlling emotional behavior also is affected
At a level of 0.45 percent or higher, death is likely.
Louisiana State University student Benjamin Wynne died last week with a blood-alcohol content of 0.588 percent, nearly six times Louisiana's legal limit.
"Things like this usually happen when people are playing drinking games or when pressured by friends to chug the beer," Francis said. "Your body burns about 20 ounces of alcohol an hour. When you're chugging, you down a lot of alcohol before the effects hit you. It bypasses the body's defense system and you don't know how much you've had."
Drinking in the sun also can wreak havoc on the body.
"If you try to replace liquids with a beer, you're just going to get further behind," said Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins. "The body's cooling system is less efficient in humidity. If you add alcohol, your regulatory control is impaired."
sun.
Rock also recommended keeping a close eye on friends while out in the
"Often times people attribute a person's confusion or silliness with alcohol when it could really be confused with a sign of a heat injury, like heat stroke," he said.
If a friend passes out from too much alcohol, there are steps a person should take to ensure safety. Francis said.
"If all vital signs are normal except that the person has passed out, turn them on their side in a way that makes it difficult to roll forward or backward," she said. If not turned on his side, the person can choke on his own vomit.
After turning the person to the side, do not just leave the victim alone.
"They still need to be monitored," she said. "Make sure they're still breathing and the pulse is there. If not, the line has been crossed. If you can't evoke a response, call 911."
Safe ride at Brewfest means drink carefully, plan ahead
By Tim Harrington
Kansan staff writer
At tonight's Brewfest there will be one political-action group, three bands, seven microbrews, 30 homebrews and no Safe Ride.
Chris Ogle, owner of the Lawrence Bus Company, said that Safe Ride is unable to run outside of Lawrence city limits because of a stipulation in the company's contract with the University of Kansas.
The Action Alliance fund-raiser will be held at Shirk's Barn north of Lawrence, outside of the city limits.
Matt Caldwell, Overland Park
Kip Curtis, Action Alliance co-coordinator, said that drunk driving is a concern that the people organizing Brewfest have addressed.
"We do have several drivers who will be available at the end of the night to give rides to whoever might need them," Curtis said. "We convinced a few people not to party."
senior and Action Alliance member, said that the Delta Force mobile command unit, a blue-and-green Volkswagen bus, will be among the designated driving fleet.
"There'll be a fairly constant stream of designated drivers going back and forth," Caldwell said. "People shouldn't have to wait too long."
Those drivers will most likely be in high demand. A DUI can strike fear into even the most intoxicated of hearts.
"I don't know anything about it," Detective John Lewis of the Lawrence Police Department said of the Brewfest. "But that doesn't mean patrol doesn't."
The arm of the law that actually has jurisdiction at Shirk's Barn is the Douglas County Sheriff's office. But Sheriff Loren Anderson said that he had no plans to set up any roadblocks outside the beer-tasting contest.
"We don't have anything in the plan," Anderson said.
Steadfast Jayhawk fans
The status of Prof. Jimmy Green and an unknown student in front of Lippincott Hall silently roots for the Jayhawks yesterday afternoon. The Jayhawks went on to defeat Alabama-Birmingham, 24-0. Photo by GR Gordon-Ross/KANSAN
The show's over at Varsity Theatre
Downtown cinema closes after 50 years
By Ann Premer and Tom Winter
aipremer@kansan.com
twinter@kansan.com
Kansan Staff Writers
One of the oldest operating movie houses in Lawrence will close Monday.
The Varsity Theatre, 1015 Massachusetts, has been sold to an undisclosed buyer, said Tracy M. Bundy, Hollywood Theaters director of marketing and advertising. Hollywood Theaters owns the Varsity Theatre along with Cinema Twin Theaters, 3110 Iowa St.; Hillcrest Theaters, 925 Iowa St.; and Southwind 12 Theaters, 3433 Iowa St.
Hollywood Theaters decided to sell the Varsity after the unnamed buyer approached the company about purchasing the building. Bundy said.
The company also is closing the Cinema Twin, Lawrence's only dollar theater, on Monday. The building's lease expired and was not renewed. Bundy did not say why the lease was discontinued.
She did say that the company decided to sell the Varsity because the company is expanding to theaters with more screens. The company's new
Southwind complex has 12 screens. The Varsity Theater only has one screen while Cinema Twin has two.
"I'm disappointed that the corporation is going to close it down," Joy Weroha, Lawrence junior and Varsity employee, said. "This place has more character than any of the Southwind theaters."
Lloyd Kirk, city manager of Hollywood Theaters, said that the employees at the closing theaters will have an opportunity to work at other Hollywood Theater complexes in Lawrence.
The company will replace the Cinema Twin with another dollar theater, Bundy said. She did not disclose the location of the new theater.
Ryan McKinney, Topeka senior, said that he would like to see them keep the Varsity open because it was a piece of the city's heritage.
Varsity Theater was built in 1927 and has had several owners. The movie house was owned by Common Wealth, United Artists and Crown Cinema, which sold the theater to Hollywood Theaters in 1996.
"I like the lights, the old-style sign and everything," he said.
"It would be nice for somebody to give it lots of love," he said.
Scott Bliss, manager of Liberty Hall, said that he hoped someone would renovate the Varsity.
Spotlight shines on KU football in season opener
New coach leads way in lighted night of firsts
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallogher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
At the foot of Campanile Hill at 5:40 yesterday evening, tailgating fans waited for the Kansas football team to arrive.
Once the Jayhawks had descended to the foot of the hill, they heard the cheers and entered Memorial Stadium behind new coach Terry Allen. The masses of fans then rushed through the stadium gates behind the team in anticipation of the 1997 football season.
"I thought it was a success," said Oliver King, Orlando, Fla., sophomore. "I think it's good for the students and alumni to see their team before they battle an opponent face-to-face. This is the start of a new tradition and that is what KU is all about."
A three-fifths capacity crowd of 32,100 people watched Kansas defeat Alabama-Birmingham 24-0 in its season opener.
"This is my first time at a Kansas football game," Warren said. "It's good to see just how excited everyone is about the season."
A newcomer to the university, Kansas City, Kan, freshman Patrick Warren said he was impressed with the amount of support the football team had.
Coach Allen and the walk down the hill were not the only new features for KU football fans to analyze in the season opener. Four new, permanent light posts surround Memorial Stadium.
The lighting system cost about $406,000,
said Darren Cook, director of facilities.
Temporary lighting had been used in the
six previous night games at Memorial
Stadium. Kansas has a 4-3 record in home
games played under the lights.
The Jayhawks defeated Michigan State in 1994, Texas Christian in 1995, Ball State in 1996 and Alabama-Birmingham last night. They lost to Haskell in 1931, California in 1992 and Kansas State in 1994.
Jayhawk Bookstore to become campus' only source of Pepsi
To satisfy on-campus cravings for non-Coca-Cola products, the Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road, will install a Pepsi machine next month.
The new machine should appear outside the bookstore within two weeks, store employees said. Coca-Cola will remove its machine next week.
"We're going to be the only source of Pepsi on the Hill," said manager Mike Swalm.
In light of the new contract between the University of Kansas and Coke, owner Bill Muggy decided to make the switch to Pensi.
"We decided to put the machine in right after Coke got the exclusive deal." Swalm said.
This will be the first time the bookstore has carried a Pepsi machine. It has had the same Coke machine for about 20 years.
"It been there a long, long time. Even when we remodeled years ago, we just moved it outside on the sidewalk and filled it there." Swalm said.
The new machine will offer bookstore patrons Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper and other Pepsi products which can no longer be purchased on campus.
-Kansan staff report
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