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THURSDAY, NOV. 3, 2016 | VOLUME 132 ISSUE 22
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Associated Press
A squirrel with a piedbald coat perches on a limb while eating. Mild winters in recent years could mean an increase in the campus squirrel population.
Mild winter may mean more KU squirrels
CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boese
W when junior Chloe Adams moved from
moved from the scholarship halls to Oliver Hall, she started to miss one of her favorite parts of campus: the University's squirrel population.
"They just bring a lighter side to campus life," she said. "When you come out of Malott after a tough test or whatever, and you see two squirrels eating fried chicken outside, it just makes you a little happier."
Many students, like Adams, have probably
noticed the strange behavior of the squirrels on campus, as well as their unusually high population. Robert Timm, a professor of ecology at the University, said the squirrel population will likely go up in the next year.
Timm, who specializes in studying mammals such as squirrels, said squirrel populations are largely dependent on two factors: winter habitat and food availability.
If the winter is mild or squirrels have good shelter from the cold, Timm said, more will survive through the winter and mate in the springtime. On the University's campus, the animals have plenty of places to shelter, including thick trees and the attics of old buildings.
"If you're in a really good spot, like a hole in a tree or an attic of an old building and we have a lot of older buildings here on campus — then it's easy to overwinter,"
pens is that the squirrels that are in those leaf nests freeze to death. So we lose half the squirrel
When you come out of Malott after a tough test or whatever, and you see two squirrels eating fried chicken outside, it just makes you a little happier."
Timm said. "If you have a really, really severe winter, then what hap-
populations, if not more, just from freezing to death."
Chloe Adams Junior
According to Weather Underground's record of Kansas City weather by month, it appears that squirrels have had ide-
ai conditions for survival in recent years. Between December, January and February in the past five years, the average monthly temperature dipped below freezing in only five months out of 15. That's better than the five winters before that, during which nine months were below freezing.
If this year's winter is as mild as previous years' have been, the squirrel population should go up, according to Timm. Fewer squirrels will die during the winter, and many will be able to breed earlier than normal.
"What you're going to see in late December or January, if it's a mild
SEE SQUIRRELS PAGE 2
Axiom Equities buys former bookstore
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
A real-estate investment firm has purchased the University bookstore that closed earlier this year, but has yet to decide what to do with it.
Axiom Equities, a firm based in Kansas City, Kan., confirmed on Monday that it has purchased the building that previously housed the Jayhawk Bookstore, near Crescent Road and Naismith Drive. The bookstore, which was owned by the Levin family, has been closed since June 30.
Axiom Equities confirmed Monday that it has purchased the building that used to house Jayhawk Bookstore. Ashley Hocking/KANSAN
actually purchased.
Ben Kalny, a co-founder of Axiom Equities, said although the company has looked at several real-estate options in Lawrence over the past decade, this is the first property it has
"We understand the Lawrence community to a fair degree, and recognize [the bookstore] as a very, very good real estate," Kalny said.
Wiley Hocking/KANSAN
"We would rather get it right than get it fast."
As to what will replace the bookstore, Kalny said he doesn't know yet. The building sits just west of the Chi Omega fountain in a high-traffic area of campus. Kalny said Axiom is holding several conversations with different businesses, but wants to take time to get it right.
"We're having discussions with a number of interested parties, some of the discussions we're having don't sit as well as others," Kalny said. "It's a real front and center KU piece of real estate, it's going to be
highly disruptive if it's not right."
Although some students already have an idea of what they'd like to see in the empty building, Kalny said they're going to continue weighing options.
"We would rather get it right than get it fast, so that's kind of our focus," he said.
- Edited by Missy
Minear
KU Dining utilizing new app
TANNER HASSELL
@thassell17
If you love a good crunchy chicken cheddar wrap, but you're sick of waiting in lines, KU Dining is utilizing a new app that could help.
The new app, Tapingo, was designed to eliminate wait times and stress associated with everyday purchases, according to its website.
Assistant Director of Retail Dining Alecia Stultz said the app allows students to order and pay for food and drinks, which they can pick up without waiting in line. She said the app was rolled out during homecoming week.
"It was a bit of a slow launch with all of the festivities but we expect it to pick up," she said.
Stultz said the app has 600 users on campus, with 50 to 60 transactions daily. Locations like Brella's and Roasterie coffee shops around campus have the app.
KU Dining implemented the app to help members of the University community buy food quickly, Stultz said.
"The app is the way to go now, it seems like [a lot of companies have] one," she said. "The biggest thing is offering another service for our students. Everybody's busy, everybody has a place to go, so if you can go into an app, pre-order your crunchy chicken cheddar wrap, walk through the Underground, pick it up and leave, then that is certainly an advantage."
Lannette Peoples, a junior and employee at the Underground, said some are already taking advantage of the app, but it can be inconvenient for workers.
"My main concern is that there isn't a specific time you have to come pick it up. Some people order in and pick it up right away, but others don't," she said. "At the coffee shop we have about 10 people a week."
Aside from her concerns, Peoples said the app could be a useful resource for students, staff and faculty on the go.
INDEX
"I think it's a big time-saver," she said. "Some people want to get their food quick and keep going, so I think this is a good way for them to do that."
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