THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Defensive flaws on display
Homecoming showed aspects of the game that need improvement FOOTBALL | 1B
Beyond gay and straight
MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
More sexual orientations exist than the ones commonly discussed. OPINION | 7A
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 38
MARCHING IN THE 'MILLION-DOLLAR WEEKEND'
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
The Marching Jayhawks perform at the 2009 Homecoming Parade Saturday morning. Homecoming Weekend brings increased revenues to the city, with alumni returning to Lawrence to see the name and partake in the weekend festivities.
Homecoming brings in big bucks
Local businesses make more money during celebrations
BY JESSE BROWN
jbrown@kansan.com
The University calls it homecoming — the Lawrence community calls it a "million-dollar weekend."
But according to Susan Henderson, marketing director of Lawrence Convention and Visitor's Bureau, that nickname is a low estimate of revenue
Follow Kansan reporter Jesse Brown at twitter.com/jessebrownthe1.
the weekend brings each year. With the temporary population increase of parents and alumni, Homecoming Weekend is one of the most profitable times of the year for Lawrence businesses.
David Johnston, director of Internet services and marketing at the University of Kansas Alumni Association, said that homecoming brought thousands of alumni to campus each year. With a global network of an estimated 300,000 alumni,the largest concentration of them in Kansas City,he said he expected many to travel to Lawrence for homecoming.He said that the Adams Alumni Center would be bursting at the seams during festivities and that most alumni would stay at local hotels.
Both the Eldridge Hotel and Springhill Suites were booked for the weekend for months in advance.
Nancy Longhurst, manager at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., said each of the hotel's 48 suites were booked nine to 10 months ago.
The suites on football game day weekends and graduation
weekend average $189. Regular weekend suite rates average $169. According to Longhurst, increasing the price was a standard move made by all hotels.
"It helps us tremendously." Longhurst said of the week.
end business." To have that huge sales tax incoming in which parents stay at hotels, take their chil-
SEE HOMECOMING ON PAGE 8A
ENGINEERING
Famous alumna talks energy
BY RAY SEGEBRECHT rsegebrecht@kansan.com
Since alumna Linda Cook graduated 29 years ago with a degree in petroleum engineering, she has served on the boards of directors for both Shell and Boeing. Her prominence in the energy industry has earned her repeated recognition by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world, reaching No.43 in 2008.
Cook spoke to more than 100 undergraduates assembled in Eaton Hall Friday. Cook said she chose to visit the University because, for as far as she could remember, the need for engineers specializing in energy had never been greater.
"We need more engineers in the world today and, in particular, in the energy sector." Cook said. "So, if I can come here and try to encourage the kids who are thinking about engineering to devote their energy toward the energy sector, then it would be well worth it."
Cook said the current worldwide energy crisis created a need for engineers specializing in all energy fields and challenged students to fill this demand. She spoke from experience. She herself landed her first job—with Shell in Northern Michigan—during a time of similarly high demand.
"I was lucky because the demand for petroleum engineers at the time was right after the oil crisis of 79." Cook said in her speech. "The demand was very, very high for petroleum engineers."
Cook said that solving the current energy crisis required innovation in both alternative renewable energy and traditional energy resources.
"Even if renewable supply grew
SEE FORBES ON PAGE 3A
Follow Kansan reporter Ray Segebrecht at twitter.com/rsegebrecht.
Volunteer group hopes to rejuvenate local architect's train station
Stan Hernly, Hernly Associates, gives a presentation to stakeholders at the Santa Fe Depot. The City of Lawrence recently acquired the depot and will help fund its rehabilitation. The depot, on 7th and New York, will be redesigned by Hernly Associates.
Amanda Kistner/KANSAN
BY JUSTIN LEVERETT jleverett.kansan.com
Corman is now 83, and his life's work was to design and oversee the design of buildings on campuses throughout Kansas. In addition to the depot, he helped design Allen Fieldhouse and managed the
When Warren Corman first stepped off the train at the Santa Fe Depot in East Lawrence in 1946, he grabbed his father's leather suitcase and trudged up the hill to the University.
Eight years later, Corman would design a new train depot on the very spot he stood with his father's suitcase in 1946.
Follow Kansan reporter Justin Leverett at twitter.com/schmendric.
design of more than 600 buildings, including every dormitory on campus except Corbin.
And thanks to a local effort to renovate the deteriorating local depot, his work is once again in the spotlight. Depot Redux, an East Lawrence-based community organization led by Carey Maynard-Moody, has been fighting for the past 18 months to preserve the 55-year-old train station located at 413 E. Seventh St.
It looks like Depot Redux might be getting somewhere: An outside agency is assessing the property value and the city is looking into purchasing the depot.
"I took it on because it seemed hopeful and the time was right," Maynard-Moody said. "And here we are. I just never imagined wed get this far."
CORMAN'S CAREER
index
Corman returned home to Topeka from World War II on Mother's Day, 1946, to find that his father, who had inspired him to study architecture, had died of cancer.
Depot Redux hosts a series of concerts at the depot called "On Time Performances," where acoustic and folk artists welcome and send off passengers on the 12:32 a.m. train. The next performance will be Oct. 25 and will feature the Wiseacres.
Although his mother had never
worked before, she took a job at a veteran's hospital in Topeka to pay the $5,000 mortgage she and her husband had taken but before
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SEE DEPOT ON PAGE 3A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2009 The University Daily Kansan
Gay activists march in D.C.
Some assembled with hope after supportive remarks from Obama. NATIONAL | 5A
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