Thursday, August 20, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Fumes close organizations center
Staff members resumed work after 21/2 hours
By Chris Fickett
Kansan staff writer
Fumes temporarily closed the Student Organization and Leadership Development Center in the Kansas Union at about 11 a.m. Tuesday.
The center, which houses Student Senate, the KU Information Center and student organizations, reopened about 1:30 pm, when the odor from the fumes dissipated.
Employees were given the option of returning to work or taking the rest of the day off.
Operators at KU Info began to notice a strange odor between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The smell forced the operators to shut off incoming phone lines and to leave their office space.
Once the odor began to permeate the entire suite and people developed headaches, Danny Kaiser, the center's director, made the decision to evacuate the office.
"It it got so bad that we just cleared everybody out," he said.
on the exterior of the Union.
Wayne Pearse, building engineer for the Kansas and Burge Unions, said that the source of the fumes was a contractor spraying a sealant
Christian-Wyatt Construction of Lawrence was performing tuck-pointing work on the north brick wall when the sealant was sprayed. Pearse said that the fumes from the sealant made their way into the fresh-air intake vents when a construction worker sprayed the sealant on a section of brick that was directly in front of a vent.
Pearse said that no one was hurt and that no one was in danger from the fumes at any time.
"Any time a contractor is going to be using toxic chemicals, they are required to notify us," he said. "This contractor has worked for us many times before, and I'm sure they wouldn't bring anything dangerous
near the hill without telling us first.
Linda LaPierre, Student Senate office secretary, said that the smell was similar to ink fumes from a printing press.
Terrie Nichols, Organizations and Leadership secretary, said the fumes were much worse.
"They were very noxious," she said, "it was not pleasant at all."
Pearse said that the intake vents were closed as soon as the source of the fumes was discovered. While the outside vents were closed, the ventilation system remained on, which allowed for the fumes to be circulated out of the offices.
The sealant was similar to a polyurethane or a paint, Pearse said, and once the sealant dries, it
loses its odor. He said that the intake vents to the center were reopened about 4 p.m., when the sealant dried.
Students who were in other parts of the Union also noticed the fumes.
Erin Jones, Lawrence senior, was in the Kansas Union Ballroom picking up her tuition refund when she smelled the fumes.
"I started smelling something funny," she said. "I'm sure it was even worse in the O&L because the circulation there isn't very good."
Pearse said that the contractor would return Saturday to continue the tuckpointing and that the intake vents would be closed during spraying.
Union employees discover obscene posters
By Kelli Raybern
Kansan staff writer
Kansas Union employees discovered filers that appeared to advertise topless dancers at the Replay Lounge. 946 Massachusetts St.
The posters displayed a naked woman to promote the shows of two bands, Cocknoose and Icarus, that played at the Replay on Aug. 15.
"There was a nude woman sitting behind the steering wheel of a car," said Pat Beard, manager of building services at the Kansas Union. "The poster had the 'F' word all across it."
Jack Rosser, manager of the Replay Lounge, said the posters were only a joke.
"Most people don't understand sarcasm," Rosser said. "The part about the semi-nu dancers was a joke."
Rosser said that at the concert advertised by the flier the only nudity was humorous and male.
"There were two men with their shirts off." Rosser said. "One was wearing skin-tight polyester pants, and one guy might have had Depends diapers on," he explained.
The men were friends of the band members who performed at the Replay that night. There were no female strippers at the show.
Pat Beard
"The pornographic nature of it is what made us feel like we needed to advise the KUPD. Whenever anything of an obscene nature shows up, we notify them."
"It wasn't anything like that. It was just a joke, and a lot of people having fun." Rosser said.
Regardless of what went on at the
Manager of building services at Kansas Union
show itself, Beard did not feel the posters were appropriate material to post on campus. When the employee who discovered and removed the poster brought it to Beard, he contacted the KU Public Safety Office.
"The pornographic nature of it is what made us feel like we needed to advise the KUPD." Beard said.
"Whenever anything of an obscene nature shows up, we notify them."
KU police Sgt. Troy Malen said that posting fliers containing nudity was not appropriate for campus.
"I think the University as a whole would wrown on that," he said. "I'm sure it's covered somewhere that certain items are prohibited from being posted on public bulletin boards."
Rosser said the tavern did not post filers for the bands that perform there. Bands post the filers themselves and not always in the most appropriate places.
"We've had problems before where people put filers where they weren't supposed to," Rosser said. "I don't go around with each hand and watch where they put filers up."
Rosser also said that he thought the flier could be offensive to some people.
"There was a copy of it up here, and I censored it," he said. "When I see the bands and tell them, they're going to get a big giggle out of it."
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