Tomorrow's weather
KU
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Warm tomorrow with partly cloudy skies.
Kansan
Wednesday October 14, 1998
HIGH LOW 82 58
Section:
Online today
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http://www.vote-smart.org
Vol. 109 · No. 38
On the road with the Kansas soccer team. Kansan sportswriter Brad Hallier recounts the games, meals and movies of a trip to Oklahoma.
SEE PAGE 1B
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Students remove offensive quotation
Internet site raises content questions
By Liz Wristen
By Liz Wriston
Kansan staff writer
Last night, three University of Kansas students removed potentially libelous information from their Web site after University officials began investigating it.
J. D. Jenkins, Shawnee sophomore; Chris Borniger, Wichita sophomore; and Brian Bartelt, Des Moines, Iowa, sophomore, all Templin Hall residents, designed a site in 1997 using the name Paula Revere, which displayed a picture of Templin exploding and contained obscene language.
WEB SITE
The students were advised by KU Legal Services to remove a quotation from the site attributed to a former University housing official. Jenkins said it was considered libelous because it likely was
The students' site is at www.angelfire.com/kis/TemplinRevolution.
■ Kansas University Campus Internet Association received a complaint about a link from its Web site last week.
■ On the advice of KU Legal Services, the students who created the site removed potentially libelous material from the site.
■ Guidelines are in the process of being written so students understand the University Internet policies.
the students linked their site, Templin Revolution, to the Kansas University Campus Internet Association Web site (www.ukans.edu/kucia) last month.
Tenight, the association will meet with members of Student Senate to discuss the issue of Internet censorship guidelines at the University.
Jerry Niebaum, vice chancellor for information services and director of the Academic Computing Center, received a complaint from Ken Stoner, director of student housing, last week that the association page's link to the Templin Revolution site was upsetting.
Stoner could not be reached for comment.
Jenkins said the site was started because the students thought their hall government wasn't representing them.
not written by the official.
"We weren't trying to offend anybody,
we just thought it was funny," he said.
we just thought it was funny, the. Josf Fry, vice chairman of advocacy for the University branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said, "KUCA is receiving direct complaints about it, and in our view, we thought they hadn't done anything wrong."
Niebau said that the link had been under discussion for about a month and that he met with members of KUCIA Friday to discuss the situation.
Hafid Saba, KUCI vice president, said the KU Facts Advisory Committee recommended the KUCI site be left alone.
"Basisically, there was really nothing that they could do to control what we put on the site." Saba said. "However, now that something like this has come up, we can help write up some rules that may be used in the future if this happens again."
Saba said the KU Facts Advisory Committee would work on developing University Internet policies.
Guidelines could state that student Web sites should be used for instructional research projects and they are related to a University mission, Niebaua said.
Michael Grobe, assistant director of academic computing services and KUCIA adviser, said he thought the Templin Hall link was reasonable because it was associated with the University.
"I think one of the issues that needs to be clarified is whether students can put links on their Web pages that point to offensive documents." Grobe said.
Fraternity to face hazing investigation
University places Phi Kappa Theta on interim suspension after complaint
By Augustus Anthony Plazza
Kansas staff writer
Phi Kappa Theta fraternity was placed on interim suspension yesterday pending a hazing investigation.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, suspended Phi Kappa Theta, 1941 Stewart Ave., while University of Kansas and fraternity officials investigate allegations of hazing at the fraternity.
First, there will be an investigation to verify that the allegations are true. Second, a hearing will be held to see if the hazing codes were broken. Third, some type of action ranging from a probationary status to a lengthy suspension could be imposed by Ambler.
According to a written statement from the University, a student filed a formal complaint against the fraternity yesterday, and the fraternity was notified of its suspension yesterday afternoon.
"There was no life-threatening action here," Ambler said last night. He said that the student who filed the complaint didn't have any serious injuries.
In the written statement, Ambler said: "Hazing not only violates University policy but
According to the Students Rights and Responsibilities policy for Conduct of Students and Organizations, Article 22.A: "Hazing includes, but is not limited to any action, activity or situation which recklessly, negligently or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health, welfare or safety of a person."
regulations of the Interfraternity Council and Phi Kappa Theta's national policy as well. No student should have to suffer or tolerate this kind of childish behavior, and we are intent on eliminating it from our Greek system."
Bill Nelson, coordinator for Greek programs; Tim Nadon, Kpi Phappa Theta president; Cory Littlepage, Interfraternity Council president, and Bruce Cuppo, president of the
Phi Kappa Theta Alumni Board, were contacted, but they did not want to comment on the situation until the investigation was completed.
Ambler said there were three steps in the University's investigation process.
Nelson said that he didn't know how long the investigation would last.
"At this point, I don't want to speculate," he said. "As we learn more, that will dictate the duration of the investigation."
Relationship issues
A group of panelists discuss interracial relationships at the Multicultural Resource Center. The panel examined the issue in detail, speaking from personal experience. Photo by Joseph Griffith/KANSAN.
Interracial dating discussed
Supporters stress relationships focus on character, not race
By Angela Johnson
Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
A panel of KU students talked last night about their experiences dating outside their race.
The seminar, which was part of Hispanic Heritage Month, was held at the Multicultural Resource Center and sponsored by the Hispanic American Leadership Organization. About 40 people attended the event.
All of the panelists said they had received little or no criticism from their family and friends by being in interracial relationships.
Conway Ekpo, Lawrence senior, said because his mother was white and his father was black, he had always had the freedom to date anyone, regardless of race.
"I am the product of an interracial relationship, so I never had any restrictions from my parents," he said. "My dad told me to judge by character and not by race."
Dion Jones, Saint Croix, Virgin Islands.
Johnny's Tavern is up for sale
See INTERRACIAL on page 2A
A nearly century-old business north of the Kansas River is up for sale.
By Chris Fickett
Establishment may close doors after almost a century
Kansan staff writer
Competition from downtown bars, lack of recognition as a restaurant and bar and increased liquor law enforcement are among the reasons that Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St., was put up for the sale simp a month ago.
Rick Renfro, co-owner, said Johnny's still attracted its traditional working-class crowd but KU students weren't coming out to the bar at night.
"It's nice for the kids to drop off their cars and walk from bar to bar. They just don't seem to want to drive across the river," he said.
Johnny's also pulls in 35 percent of its total revenue from food sales.
Johnny's opens at 9 a.m. daily and attracts third-shift workers and a blue-collar crowd for lunch, he said
Renfro said Johnny's was losing business to bars across the river on Massachusetts Street because of convenience.
RenPro said that students did not realize that
Johnny's was a place to have a drink and get something to eat.
The tavern also lost revenue from increased liquor law enforcement. Renfro said customers under 21 years of age now were admitted into Johnny's only under special circumstances, usually for lunch or if the staff could monitor them effectively.
"I still think that we can pull through if I can get some college kids to come down for a cheeseburger," he said.
Stephen Jones, Dallas senior, had his 21st birthday party at Johnny's.
But, Jones said that he hadn't visited Johnny's since last year when his friend had a party there. That night, two KU sophomores in their group received minor in possession violations from police.
Jones said that there was no point in going to Johnny's anymore because no one was there.
Renrof said that both the building and the business were up for sale. Depending if the person who buys the property wants to maintain the business as Johnny's will determine whether the tavern will survive in Lawrence, he said.
Co-owners Doug Hassig and Louie Rieder definitely want to sell the Johnny's location in Lawrence, but Renfo said he was optimistic the tavern could remain open.
Other Johnny's locations in Shawnee and Overland Park will remain open under the same ownership.
Parking officials stick to their policy
Students cannot tape tags inside vehicles
By Seth Jones Kansan staff writer
The board met yesterday and talked about people appealing tickets because they had taped their permits to their car rather than applying the permits as
The parking department wants everyone with a parking permit to stick it.
stickers to the outside. Their decision; Anyone with a parking permit — yellow, red, or blue — needs to stick the sticker to their car. If they do not, they will be ticketed.
Donna Hultine,
assistant director
of parking, said it
is not necessarily
stated in the directions to apply the sticker to the car, but word of mouth should be enough to let everyone know.
Kaiser: Says stickers meant to prevent pass swapping.
"Some people come to me and want to
know why they've gotten a ticket," she said. "They have the permit in the proper place but it's taped up on the inside of the window. We want people to apply the sticker to the outside of the car. If they come in and complain about a ticket because they've taped their permit up, I'll cancel the ticket as soon as they apply the sticker properly to the outside of the car."
Corrections
Scott Kaiser, parking board member,
said the reason for applying the stickers
was to avoid students swapping passes.
Hultine said that with the hang tags last year, problems arose when students let others use them. If the person who was borrowing the permit got ticketed, the ticket was charged to the person who owned the permit.
The Parking Board has had several appeals from people who either thought they shouldn't be ticketed because they were tapping their permits up or people who asked for a hang tag. People asked for a hang tag because they either didn't want to put a sticker on their car or drove two cars.
Don Kearns, director of parking, said hang tags were still available, but before anyone is allowed a hang tag they have to provide the parking department with information on both cars they drove to school.
An article on Page 1A of yesterday's Kansan listed a Web site address that students could visit to download Wormscanner software. The correct Web site address is http://members.aol.com/jwalker/pages/worm.html.
An article on Page 1A of yesterday's Kansas referred to Conway Ekpo, vice president of the Black Student Union and Lawrence senior, as "she." The sentence should have read "he."
Just playin' around
Ashlee Mills, Andover sophomore, plays with children while enjoying the sunshine near Dyce Hall. Mills said the children, who are enrolled in Hilltop Child Development Center, love to play outside when the weather is nice. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
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