TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
Man decorates home with trash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VICTORIA — Driving the streets of northwest Victoria, it's hard not to notice Don Weber's striking vard.
Weber's yard is filled with the sort of decorations often called "grassroots art." His kind of art is also called by other names — "homespun," "eccentric," "bizarre" "outside art" "primitive" and "kitsch" among them.
A Christmas display takes up much of the south part of Weber's yard. A Christmas tree with a tall metal candle underneath it stands on permanent display. So does a manger scene with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus in a manger.
Weber's yard is decorated with treasures made from trash.
"There's a lot of people stop and look at these things," Weber said.
In other parts of Weber's yard, they see a tin man made from cans, statues, painted concrete cylinders, tubs, candelabras, power line insulators, pumpkins, gourds and numerous hanging pots of silk flowers.
Santa perches on the bright red chimney on the house's south roof. Two more Santas stand near the tree, one on a sled, the other in a covered wagon. Reindeer graze beside them.
Besides the hanging flower pots, flower pots of a different sort can be found on Weber's lawn. Three toilets — two white and one turquoise — stand along the west side of the property with silk flowers protruding from the bowls and tank.
Weber said the items he uses to make his yard displays come from auctions and garage sales.
small" impor- habit tree or ena intoess.
"Gotta do something to pass the time," Weber said. "I change it around every once in a while. Gives me something to do."
There's little else for Weber to do with his time. He's retired because of bad health and a
back injury. His bad health stems from years of hard drinking.
"I about took my life drinking. Came awfully close," Weber said.
For 10 years, Weber has been sober. He attends daily Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
"I if I didn't go there, I would be underground." Weber said.
He spent his early years working in the oil field.
"Before my mom died, she wanted me to get out of the oil field. Too many of them died." Weber said.
He went to work for a construction company. That's when he injured his back, bringing his working days to an end.
Four years ago he had two heart attacks. Now his doctors don't want him doing much of anything, he said. In the afternoon, he putters around in his yard, rearranging, adding to, taking away from and tweaking his displays.
Six cast iron skilllets hang from an old telephone wire spool. Guttering downspouts form a wavy pen around statues of owls, rabbits, geese, cats, squirrels, dogs, turtles, mice, chickens and ducks.
"I go to Hays in the morning and mess around in my yard in the afternoon. That's all I do," he said.
Antique hand tools are mounted on his garage wall. Parts of his yard are fenced with pieces of garage door. Wooden spindles that used to hold telephone wire are stacked into pyramids. Bird houses and bird feeders are mounted from them.
"I've got quite a few birds coming around," Weber said.
"I was 8 years old when we moved here. It was my folks' place, it I'm 64 now. I've been here all my life," Weber said.
Weber lives in the house his parents bought when they moved from Colorado.
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which is legal in Kansas, was not a new problem.
He said the department's stance on scalping was too vague to take action this year, but officials have monitored tickets for sale on eBay and at ticket brokers such as Ace Tickets and Sports, 647 Massachusetts St.
Some eBay auctions are proving quite profitable for sellers. One auction for two tickets in row four, section 13 to the Jan. 29 game against Texas was at $300 yesterday afternoon, with eight days to go before the end of bidding.
An auction for two tickets to the Jan. 1 game against Georgia Tech in row one, seats one and two, was at $407 yesterday afternoon with three days left to bid.
"We'll probably even go as far as buying some seats just to try to find who is selling them," Marchiony said.
TICKET: Policy could punish ticket holders
More than 180 auctions for KU men's basketball tickets were listed on eBay yesterday.
Hal Wagner, owner of Ace
Tickets and Sports, said revoking ticket privileges for those caught reselling their seats would be insane and absolutely unfair. Wagner said he brought money to the school by selling tickets to people who, in turn, attended games and spent money on souvenirs and concessions.
"We provide a necessary service to people who can't afford to donate tens of thousands of dollars annually. If there is someone out there who wants their son or daughter to go to a game, why shouldn't they be able to buy a ticket from me?" he said.
Without a written policy for bidding it, faculty can't be punished for reselling their tickets this season, even though Marchiony said he thought they knew it was wrong.
Some people who sell tickets are season ticket holders who simply can't make it to one or two games, like Karuga.
The new policy would not differentiate between faculty, who get a 20-percent discount on tickets, and nonfaculty caught reselling their seats.
"We provide a necessary service to people who can't afford to donate tens of thousands of dollars annually. If there is someone out there who wants their son or daughter to go to a game, why shouldn't they be able to buy a ticket from me?"
Hal Wagner owner of Ace Tickets and Sports
Rather than scalping, ticket holders can donate their seats back to the Williams' Fund or let a friend go in their place if they can't attend a game, Marchiony said.
If season ticket holder is unhappy with seats assigned to them under the points system,
Marchiony said they should get a refund from the University, rather than reselling them. Refunded or donated tickets are redistributed to people on a waiting list for tickets.
"We don't want people selling their tickets, period," he said.
One scalper, who didn't want to be named, said a policy such as the one Marchiony hoped to enforce would definitely be bad for business.
Ticket scalpers outside Saturday's game against Pacific said they haven't seen a significant increase in ticket sellers or buyers so far this year, but that could change when the higher profile games take place after Christmas.
But Wagner isn't worried.
"People will still sell their tickets. It's not even an issue," he said.
The NCAA does not have regulations about ticket scalping during regular season games.
However, it does take into consideration whether a state has a scalping ban when choosing postseason tournament sites.
Edited by Ashley Bechard
ONLINE: Students laud technology expansion
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channels. The "My Employee Info" tab offers student employees a way to check their pay information, current or past.
The information services department made all the changes in responses to user requests, Loats said. Samantha Wilson, Overland Park freshman, said the Kyou Portal had an easy setup and was nicely mapped out.
"I want technology to help my
Many students agreed that the Kyou Portal fulfilled their expectations for technology.
everyday life and make it easier."
Stuart Reynold
Lenexa freshman
He said he got everything he needed on one Web site with the Kyou Portal. Christopher Engel, Shawnee junior, said the Kyou
"I want technology to help my everyday life and make it easier." Stuart Reynolds, Lenexa freshman, said.
Portal represented all the advanced technology the University provided.
After working in the business sector, Engel said he was surprised at how similar the Kyou Portal was to the portals and models used by business professionals.
"You were lucky if someone had a microphone," Engel said of professors.
Engel returned to college after working for about 10 years. The technology at the University is much more advanced than in his college days, Engel said.
Student Senate offered suggestions and requests for overall technological issues on campus, Loats said.
Technology at the University has become more useful, said Kristan Seibel, Hays junior and student senator. Regarding the Kyou Portal, Seibel said she was particularly pleased with the ability for student employees to check their pay status online and for students to check their Beak 'em Bucks balance and history.
"It's advancing," Seibel said of University technology. "But there's still work to do."
More KU Card cash locations on campus and the installation of wireless Internet service in Allen Fieldhouse are goals for Student Senate, she said. More
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Text messaging, instant messaging and online chatting Increase the level of personal contact students have with professors, librarians and other experts.
Source: Julie Loats, director of enterprise Web services
foreign language settings for grammar help on computers would also be beneficial, she said. Loats said the overall rating of technology at the University depended on how it helped the campus community.
"When technology serves it users, it's doing something well," she said.
Edited by Bill Cross
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