OFF THE HILL
1D
www.kansan.com
Monday, August 16, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Bicycles transport, entertain students
By Jay Sonter jsenter@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
It's no secret that parking on campus is a hassle. So to avoid the stress of dodging tickets from the parking department, many students get themselves to and from class using a bicycle
Schuyler Bailey, KU Public Safety Office captain, said the most frequent violation for which officers issued citations was failure to stop at a stop sign. Cyclists caught not stopping are ticketed for $92.50.
But the University of Kansas Public Safety Office warns students to exercise precaution when using their bikes on campus. Bicycles are subject to the same traffic regulations as automobiles, and KU Public Safety officers will ticket cyclists for traffic law infractions.
Also, Bailey encouraged students to invest in a good bike lock, and to learn to use it properly. Though bike thefts are relatively uncommon at the University, a wave of thefts will hit campus from time to time.
"Some of these bikes are incredibly expensive," Bailey said. "If you are going to spend that kind of money on a bike, don't buy a $5 lock."
While bikes offer students a convenient and relatively cheap mode of transportation, the right bike can serve students as a form of recreation as well.
Lawrence has several miles of trails for mountain bikers. Dan Hughes, the owner of Sunflower Bike Shop, 802 Massachusetts St., said he recommended a low to mid-level mountain bike for most students who used their bikes primarily for transportation on campus. Those bikes typically cost from $300 to $500, though Sunflower does carry high-end, professional mountain bikes that can cost as much as $4,000. The more expensive mountain bikes offer greater durability, less weight and better suspension. But, Hughes said, most students should be able to afford a bike that would get them around campus and let them take on the occasional trail without having to take out another student loan.
The most technical bike trails in the Lawrence area are at Clinton State Park, where steep hills and a rocky terrain make for a challenging course. But the most popular trail in the area is an 8.5-mile loop that runs along the north side of the Kaw River. The trail features moderate hills and relatively smooth terrain, and should be accessible to even inexperienced bikers. Furthermore, its proximity to campus makes it an attractive destination for most students.
“It's pretty easy to ride to that trail from anywhere in town,” Hughes said.
"And the fact that Free State Brewery is on the way back doesn't hurt. Sometimes it's nice to finish off a ride with a beer on the patio."
Police target fake IDs
Edited by Abby Tillery
Photo illustration by Courtney Kuhlen
New law increases risk for ID makers
By Miranda Lenning
mlenning@kansan.com
kansan staff rwriter
The beginning of the school year means students hit the books — and the bars. Bar owners expect to see a lot more people crowding their establishments in the next couple weeks, which means that underage patrons will be trying to sneak in as well.
Possessing, manufacturing and using false identification is always a big problem at the beginning of the school year, said Sgt. Dan Ward of the Lawrence Police Department. But possession of fake IDs this year could be even more serious.
With the implementation of the Federal Terrorist Act, people who manufacture fake IDs could be prosecuted at the federal level if one of their buyers used that ID to participate in a terrorist act, Ward said.
"People making and selling fake IDs assume they are selling them to minors with the intent to go to bars and drink," he said. "But it is possible that the person they think is a student is really a terrorist."
Ward said that if a scenario like this were to occur, the person who made the ID could be held responsible for enabling a terrorist act.
That is just one of the repercussions of making a fake ID, he said.
Sgt. Dan Ward Lawrance, Police Department
"People making and seing fake IDs assume they are selling them to minors with the intent to go to bars and drink. But it is possible that the person they think is a student is really a terrorist."
"Chances are you will get caught," Ward said.
The Lawrence Police Department increases its bar patrol at the beginning of the school year.
It has more bar checks, where patrolling officers go to bars looking for underage drinkers, and it increases the number of officers assigned to patrol on foot.
"When school starts up, the citation level skyrockets," said Ward. "It takes a while for new students to catch on that this is a very serious issue."
used an ID to get in the bar. This decreases the bars' responsibility for underage drinkers if minors get caught, and allows police officers to prove that underage patrons have used a fake ID.
Additionally, local bars are cracking down on fake IDs by scanning IDs at the door. Ward said that most bars have adopted a system where they scan IDs and take pictures of the ID user, proving that the bar-goers
"This is a step that shows that bars are working with us to control this issue." said Ward.
In addition to the Lawrence Police Department's efforts to control the use of fake IDs, Alcoholic Beverage Control has a stronger presence at the beginning of the school year. It performs its own bar checks in addition to those done by the Lawrence Police Department, except its officers are unmarked, said Ward. The ABC works in conjunction with the Lawrence Police Department to write citations to underage drinkers.
"You may not even know that they are there unless someone gets arrested." said Ward.
Ward said the police department busted an average of three to six groups of fake ID manufactures and distributors in Lawrence each year. Ward said that once a group of people started getting caught with IDs that had similar characteristics, the police were able to put together an investigation, mainly through interviews, and catch fake ID manufacturers.
Have fun without any risk
- Edited by Jay Senter
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Some get a fake ID and risk getting caught at the bars, but for others the risk is not worth it.
Upon coming to the University of Kansas, freshmen often want to celebrate their new-found freedom. But for most of them, the option to drink legally doesn't exist.
There are options for going out without a fake ID, said Ryan Rosemore, Plano, Texas, senior. He said he planned his weekends around friends that spent time hanging out at each other's places.
"It's cheaper that way and you don't run the risk of getting caught with a fake ID." Rosemore said.
Freshmen and sophomores often spend weekends hanging out at apartments and house parties, but there are bars in Lawrence that are 18 and older. Bars such as Jack Flanigans Bar & Grill, 806 W.24th St., Henry's, 11 E. 8th St., and The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., have systems that allow minors to enter.
Dannie Thompson, owner of Jack Flanigans, said when he first opened the bar in 1999 it was 21 and older, but it never looked full because it was so large and it had a somewhat hidden location. He said he made it 18 and older to pull in a larger crowd.
"The major drawback is the enforcing and the policing part of it," Thompson said of allowing minors in.
Jack Flanigans runs an armband system where minors get Xs on their hands and people of age get armbands, but some minors try to wash off the Xs in the bathroom. Thompson said.
That caused him to implement a system where minors who tried to wash Xs off had to leave or repay the cover
"I ended up buying less paper towels and soap." Thompson said.
Henry's, which is much smaller than Jack Flanigans, has a different system. It lets everyone in and only cards people when they buy a drink.
Craig Whalen, Lansing senior and bartender at Henry's, said they had had problems of people buying drinks for underage friends in the past. He said most people respected the rules and only about 5 percent were underage.
Karen Routsong, St. Louis senior, said she tried not to risk getting caught drinking when she was a minor.
"I borrowed an ID a couple times," she said. "But I was always scared doing it, so I didn't do it very often."
Routsong said finding activities to do on the weekends was never much of a problem because she was in a sorority and there were always people to hang out with.
- Edited by Julie Jones
Students help build first satellite to ever be assembled in Kansas
By Erik Johnson
ejohnson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Driven by a voracious desire to explore that which lies beyond the protective atmosphere of earth, a team of engineering students at the University of Kansas has spent the summer months striving toward the completion of a lofty goal: to launch the first satellite ever produced in the state of Kansas.
The Pathfinder, a 4-inch cube satellite known to project members as a CubeSat, is a joint effort of the University's aerospace and electrical engineering departments that began design phases in August 2002. The University's CubeSat program is called KUTESat, an acronym for Kansas
Marco Villa Velsalds, Italy, aerospace engineering doctoral student
Of course every time you build something it's better if you test it immediately so that every subsystem takes care of its own part correctly."
Universities Technology and Evaluation Satellite.
Marco Villa, Valsolda, Italy, aerospace engineering doctoral student and project manager for Pathfinder, heads up six teams of roughly 20 students during the regular school year
During the summer many volunteers go home, and Villa has kept a staff of eight paid workers to ensure considerable progress.
Altogether, Pathfinder will hold in its 4-inch shell a digital camera, a small instrument called a dosimeter to measure radiation and a circuit-board processor to transmit recorded information back to earth. Design phases for the project are completed and approved, and Villa and his summer staff are in the process of constructing and testing Pathfinder, an often arduous task.
"The construction phase itself is only one part of the project," Villa said. "Of course every time you build something it's better if you test it immediately so that every subsystem takes care of its own part correctly."
Courtney Kuhlen/KANSAN
Umakanth Mogilji Goud, Gadwal, India, graduate student, left, gives a progress report to Marco Villa, Valsolda, Italy, aerospace engineering doctoral student, center, as Sriram Chadalavada, Hyderabad, India, graduate student, listens. Villa is project manager for a team of KU engineering students building a satellite to launch.
Once the difficult process of testing, making minor but critical adjustments and retesting is complete, Pathfinder will finally be ready for launch. A private Russian-Ukrainian company, Kosmoswas, will launch Pathfinder
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