Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Warm tomorrow and mostly sunny with some haze.
Kansan
Monday
August 24, 1998
Section:
A
Online today
The complete On Campus list of free meetings and events can be found on the UDKi every day. The information is just a click away. http://www.kansan.com/services/oncampus
http://www.kansan.com/services/oncampus
Vol. 109 No.4
Bombing update
Congress, the American public and the world respond to the two U.S. missile strikes last Thursday.
SEE PAGE 9A
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Lawrence firefighters work to extinguish a fire that broke out at Melsea Court, 1605 Tennessee Ave., an empty apartment block that was being renovated. The fire was put out by 12:05 a.m. Photo by GR Gordon-Ross.
Fire rips through building Park and ride
Kanson online editor
Melrose Court, an older structure at 1605 Tennessee Ave, being renovated as new apartments, was engulfed in flames at 11:00 p.m. last night.
At least 10 fireman at the scene and atop three fire trucks worked to put out the blaze, which was shooting embers into the sky like a giant bonfire.
The firemen were directing water coming from one of the trucks toward flames surrounding the top of the building. By 11:25 p.m., flames mostly were visible on the north and south sides of the house. Smoke hung heavily in the air and could be smelled several blocks from the blaze.
More than 50 people gathered to the south, north and east. Four members of the Lawrence Police Department kept people on 16th Street from getting to close.
By 11:30 p.m., Lawrence police officers at the scene had no information about the fire.
Smoke and fire did not obscure the Mercantile Bank and First Management signs in front of the building announcing the redevelopment plans.
Several onlookers said they saw the beginnings of the blaze. Danielle Ryan, Chicago sophomore, was sitting on her porch at 308 W. 16th St. with Christian Walter, Girard junior.
and Mike Baker, Iola sophomore, at 10:45 p.m. when the three saw a small fire in the corner of the building. Ryan immediately called 911.
Walter said he was not sure whether he heard a sound before he saw the fire. The other two said they heard nothing. They all said it took less than 10 minutes for the building
to be completely on fire.
By 11:40 p.m., the upper half of Melrose Court was heavily burned in a zig-zag pattern and small fires were visible through the remnants of the building's windows.
Water still was spouting from the fire trucks. Much of the water that had been sprayed at the building ran
down the muddy hill upon which the building stands.
Fire Update
For more information, refer to the UDKI
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Home again
The completed mosaursaur hangs from the ceiling in the entryway of the Natural History Museum. The 60-foot lizard was found at an archeological site in Kansas. The only other mosaursaur remains have been found in Belgium.. Photo by Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
For more information about this exhibit See page 6A
Park and ride ends parking headaches
By Chad Bettes
Kansan staff writer
A new "park and ride" bus service has been rolled out this semester by KU on Wheels with the goal of relieving parking lot overcrowding on campus and increasing the number of transportation options available to students.
The park and ride service is being offered from the Lied Center on West Campus. There, students leave their cars and await bus service, which is scheduled six times per hour. Buses stop just inside the Lied Center parking lot on Ruppenthal Drive. KU on Wheels then takes students anywhere on the bus route.
Nicole Skalla, KU transportation coordinator, said she estimated that approximately 150 of the 300 available passes would be sold this semester. As of Thursday afternoon, 80 of the passes had been
purchased at a price of $120. Skalla said the price was attractive because a student parking pass and bus pass together would normally cost $185.
"We wanted to entice students with the price." Skalla said. "And, as people get disgusted and have to hunt for spaces, they will get more interested."
Two students who are taking advantage of the service are pleased it is being offered. Matthew Sampson, Leavenworth graduate student, has not experienced on-campus parking first-hand, but he has heard about
the problems and observed them while at the University.
"I didn't even want to fight the parking problem," Sampson said. "I also want to make maximum use of the bus pass to go downtown." Amanda Matthews, Salina junior, lives in a townhouse off-campus and off the bus route. She will use the park and ride service to get to classes.
"It's a good price because it's only 10 bucks more than a bus pass for the year," Matthews said.
Park and ride is a pilot program and comes after several years of discussion by the KU Transportation Board and others. Last year, Scott Kaiser, then-transportation coordinator, and Don Kearns, director of parking, initiated serious discussions to get the idea off the ground. They reached a compromise to ensure that the program can break even financially, that enough parking is available at Lied Center, and that KU on Wheels can support additional riders resulting from park and ride.
The compromise included revenue being split between the parking department and KU on Wheels and the addition of one permanent bus by KU on Wheels to handle the increased bus traffic. The program may be expanded if it is successful. Skalla said.
Skalla said she had been promoting the program with filers and newspaper advertising. The service also will be advertised at the Commuter and Non-traditional Information Fair. Graduate students and commuters are expected to use the service, Skalla said.
Skalla said her office had received many inquiries about the service. The University Information Center has also handled several calls regarding the service, said Angela Reilly, Leavenworth senior and KU Info employee.
New course studies masculinity
By Carolyn Mollett
Kansan staff writer
Joel Morton didn't expect a large turnout for his Studies in Masculinity class last Thursday because the course wasn't listed in the fall course directory.
Morton, a Humanities and Western Civilization graduate teaching assistant, was pleasantly surprised to have six students in his first class
There is no prerequisite for the course which has a capacity of 30 students, and it can be an elective credit for any student.
"I would welcome anyone from any walk of life on campus, man or woman," Morton said.
"I would love to get ten, fifteen students in it." Morton said.
He said his area of interest within the men's movement was in critical studies of masculinity — a progressive wing of the movement resulting from and supporting the women's
Morton wrote a dissertation on the United States and British men's movements.
movement.
"The idea is to think of masculinity as something historical, something that changes over time according to the prevailing or dominant paradigm of the time." Morton said.
The liberal left are anti-sexist and pro-feminist men, and the conservative right includes evangelical Christians such as the Promise Keepers. The middle group focuses on examining masculinity and its separate existence apart from femininity.
He said there were three major parts to the men's movement.
"I think it's really important that men especially, and women as well, work critically about gender: interrogate themselves and the world about it." Morton said.
Morton will require a research project that will dominate the class work for the second half of the semester. Each student will examine the roles of gender in a part of college life.
Studies in Masculinity will examine all three views but will focus on critical studies of masculinity.
The course is only offered for the fall 1986 semester, but Morton would like to extend its existence if students show interest in the subject.
"Why is it, for example, that there
is a kind of cultural acceptance for the violence of football along with the public displays of affection of football'
— patting each other on the butt on the field?” he asked. “Of course the idea is not simply to criticize but to understand what part it plays on our culture.”
Studies in Masculinity is a 300-level course in Humanities and Western Civilization.
Jim Leiker, senior instructor of the Humanities and Western Civilization department, said HWC 300 courses were a product of the union of the Humanities and Western Civilization departments at the beginning of fall semester 1997.
"HWC 300 has been an ongoing topics-oriented course." Leiker said.
Lelker said HWC 300 was an opportunity for graduate students to create a one-time course. The department's 27 GTAs have varying backgrounds and special interests, he said.
Task force to study colleges
Search begins for improvements in higher education
The Governor's Task Force on Higher Education Structure for Excellence, will use state legislators, Board of Regents members and university and college representatives to submit a detailed report on possible improvements to university, community college and vocational school governance.
Improvements in higher education will be at the forefront of discussion when a new state task force begins work next Monday.
Gov. Bill Graves formed the task force in July and
By Jason Pearce
Kansan staff writer
"The governor asked the task force to submit a thoughtful report to assure that each unit of higher education provide measurable results," Havner said. "We also want to make sure that unnecessary duplication of programs and barriers of cooperation are eliminated."
Ken Hawner, vice chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents and task force member, said the task force would look at ways to improve the coordination and effectiveness of higher education. This will include ways that students can move from community colleges to universities more smoothly.
Earlier this year a bill died in the Senate that would have started a Council on Higher Education and overseen the six
requested that the task force make recommendations to the Legislature by mid-January.
state universities, 19 community colleges, and 16 vocational schools. It died when lawmakers began to see problems with financing the council. The council, which had a price tag of $140 million, would have eliminated the Board of Regents.
When the Legislature reconvenes in January, it will use the report from the task force as a starting point for implementing any changes.
Barb Conant, director of communications for the Kansas Board of Regents, said the task force would not propose taking direct control of the 19 community colleges in the state.
"They recognize how important the local governing bodies of the community colleges are," Conant said.