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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Sunday: The heat never ends! Temperatures cooling with sunny skies.
Kansan Weekend Edition
Friday
August 28,1998
Section:
THE STUD
A
Vol.109·No.08 Saturday & Sunday
WSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
(USPS 650-640)
Dow drop hits local investors
By Melissa Ngo Kansan wire editor
The Dow's 357-point fall yesterday hurt more than just Wall Street firms. It also affected University of Kansas students.
"Most people saw it coming because the Dow's been high for a really long time, but it's kind of frightening. A lot of people are losing money, and if a lot of people get scared and sell out their stocks that would make it worse," said Susan Dunavan, Charlottesville, Vir, sophomore.
This is the market's third-largest point drop for one season, behind last October's 554-point loss and the 508-point loss of Black Monday on Oct.19, 1987. The Dow is 1,171 points below its July 17 record of 9,338.
The market's volatility has also affected agricultural prices, including the price of wheat, a main crop of Kansas.
Wheat is selling for $2.69 a bushel, down 35% from its high last year of $4.10 a bushel.
Parsons junior Phil Johnson's parents have farmed since 1956. They grow wheat, soybean and milo.
Johnson said that because Russia and countries in Asia have cut the amount of wheat they've been importing, the price of wheat has gone down.
"The stock market volatility will keep the price there if not pull it down further," Johnson said. "Right now, because Russia, an enormous importer of Kansas wheat, is not importing, the wheat's sitting in our ports and no one's making any money."
Paul Daniier, associate professor of political science, who teaches international politics and international political economy, said the loss would affect the nation, including manufacturers and consumers.
Danieri said he thought confidence was at the root of the market's problems.
Mark Hirschey, professor of finance and Stockton Research Fellow in the School of Business, said he wasn't worried about the drop.
"There have been an increase in reports in the U.S. media over the past few weeks that more and more people believe that the boom is going to slow down," he said. "Both corporate profits and consumer confidence have slowed a bit and the stock market is very affected by confidence."
"It's been almost nine years since there's been a major correction, which is anything from a 10 to 15 percent drop," Hirschey said. "My guess is that we're mostly through with corrections. We've already gone down 12.5 percent and the economy is basically sound. You have to remember that this volatility is on top of a huge upswing for the market. In April 1997 the Dow was at 6,000."
Hirschey said that if there were impeachment hearings or a further deterioration of the Russian or Asian markets, the problem could get worse.
At least one KU student is not worried about the market's drop.
"I've got money in technology stocks," said Steve Davis, Overland Park junior, who has invested since middle school. "I think they'll rebound. They always go up and down, so I'm not too worried."
More information
Wall Street reacts after a 375-dip in the otherwise healthy stock market
See page 6A
Topeka target of Nintendo Invasion
By Augustus Anthony Plazza
Kansas staff writer
TOPEKA - Twenty members of the KU marching band dodged a swarm of sweaty, over-enthusiastic children yesterday while playing at the U. S. debut of Pokemon.
"It's just for today," Mayor Joan Wagnon said. "It's one of the fun things mayors get to do."
The marching band played at Forbes Field to entertain both the children and adults who attended the Pokémon invasion.
Pokémon is a cartoon phenomenon that started in Japan as a best-selling Nintendo video game and evolved into a line of toys, comic books, CDs and a movie — all of which will soon be appearing in the United States.
The band was contacted by Rob Wheat, a KU Alumni who works for Nintendo, to play a t
"It's fun for us to get out of class," said Devin Burr, Ellinwood sophomore and band member.
Topeka was chosen from among several different cities to play host to the event because of its central location and because the mayor was willing to change the name of the city for a day to "Toolkachu."
the event.
Burr said that the band liked to do favors for people and that "Hawks" had to stick together.
Rick Neely, Oak Grove, Mo., sophomore, said that the band's
said that the board's appearance also might be a good way to recruit high school students who attended the invasion.
After the mayor surrendered the city to Pokémon, the aerial assault began. A plane flashed through the sky and dropped hundreds of
More information Pokémon pictures and a breakdown of KU students' video-game playing preferences See page 88
plush Pokemon toys and ten sky divers over the Forbes Field Air Industrial Park.
Ten new Volkswagen Beetles painted to look like Pokemon, called PokePatrol cars, also showed up at the event. The cars, equipped with TVs, VCRs and game-playing
Children of all ages then left the Pokemon carnival and scampered through the park attempting to grab one of the yellow toy monsters that parachuted from the sky.
stations, were scheduled to leave after the festivities and spread the news to 10 other U.S. cities. The Pokémon television show will air Sept. 7 on enough stations to reach 92 percent of the Ameri can pub lic.
See page 6A
Index
Campus .2A
Nation .6A
Sports .1B
Opinion .4A
Feature .8A
Horoscopes .2B
Classifieds .6,7B
Movie Listings .5A
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Dollar Daze
See page 7A
Lawrence's last dollar theater is closing its doors.Will any alternative arise to help cashstrapped KU students?
Long-distance scoring threat
...
The KU soccer team has a new member who traveled all the way from her home in Sweden to be a Jayhawk. See page 3B
Big Predictions
The winners, losers and also-rans are illustrated as the Big 12 football season prepares to kick off. See page 1B
Unmoving Summer Movies
Kansan movie critic Jeremy Dougherty examines a decidedly mediocre crop of 1998 summer films.
Seepage 8A