2A
The Inside Front
Thursday October 14, 1999
News
from campus,the state the nation and the world
STATE
Geological Survey awarded $1.9 million
The Kansas Geological Survey and the Tertiary Oil Project were the recipients of a $1.9 million award from the federal government to conduct research in extracting additional oil from matured oil fields.
The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Field Demonstration Program, which assists domestic independent oil companies to employ new technology for oil recovery from dried-up wells that otherwise might be abandoned.
Paul Willhite, co-director of the oil project, said the research would involve the Hall-Gurney Field in Russell because of its potential for success.
The research involves injecting carbon dioxide into oil wells to displace oil from petroleum reservoirs.
"It's a great example of research applied to the needs of Kansas because it will extend the life of oil fields in Kansas," said Robert Barmhill, vice chancellor for the KU Center for research.
In addition to the funding awarded by the federal government, $3.5 million will be contributed to this project by other sources including Shell CO$_2$ Company Ltd. and MV Energy.
— Todd Halstead
NATION
Ramsey grand jury goes back to work
BOULDER, Colo. — A grand jury investigating the JonBenet Ramsey slaying returned to work for a second consecutive day yesterday, one week before its term is to expire.
The eight women and four men began arriving at the courthouse at 8
Ramsey: Grand
jury works to indict
someone in murder
a. m. as about 50 photographers and reporters watched from the parking lot. Jurors met for nearly seven hours Tuesday, after which they were escorted to their cars by armed sheriff's deputies as part of an increased effort to keep
the media at a distance.
This morning, district court officers initially barred reporters from the Boulder County Justice Center, but relented an hour later.
Boulder County representative Margaret McKinney refused to say
who gave the order to ban journalists, but said, "There were a lot of complaints from the public, a lot of frazzled citizens."
The grand jury, which was convened in September 1998, faces an Oct. 20 deadline to decide whether to issue an indictment or a report, or simply disband without comment.
The jurors took the summer off,
then returned to work last month.
District Attorney Alex Hunter has said he could continue the investigation without the grand jury's help. Under state law, a prosecutor can file charges directly if he thinks there is enough evidence.
Fox wants to 'cash in' on Millionaire craze
NEW YORK — Would you turn on a friend — on national television — if $2 million was at stake?
Fox is betting you will, since that's the premise behind *Greed*, a new primetime game show it hopes to air for at least three weeks beginning Nov. 4.
The network is rushing Greed through production to be ready for the ratings sweeps in November and to beat the stampede of network producers developing game shows to capitalize on the success of ABC's Who wants To Be a Millionaire.
"By the time there are five or six of them on the air, they won't be as special," Mike Darnell, the Fox executive in charge of specials, said yesterday. "By being second on the air with this, we could have an impact."
Each show will have a team of five players, who initially work together to answer questions on popular culture that start easy and get progressively more difficult. As the stakes rise, participants can work either as a team to win prizes or compete against each other to win more money.
WORLD
Butter-truck driver charaed with homicide
GRENOBLE, France — The Belgian driver whose smoking truck triggered a deadly blaze in the Mont Blanc tunnel has been charged with involuntary homicide, a lawyer close to the investigation said yesterday.
Alain Jakubowicz, a civil party lawyer representing families of victims who died in the tunnel, confirmed that a court in Bonneville in the French Alps has sent a letter to Gilbert Degrave informing him of the charges.
The law prohibits the Bonneville court from confirming or denying the action because the charges were sent by mail. Degrave's lawyer, Paul Muylaert, could not be reached for comment.
days in the tunnel linking France and italy under Europe's highest peak. Dozens were trapped in their cars, and 39 people were killed.
The March 24 fire raged for two
Investigators said they thought it was likely that Degrave's truck — carrying flour and margarine — was on fire when it entered the tunnel.
DARMSTADT, Germany — A growing amount of space junk is orbiting Earth, increasing chances that satellites or spacecrafts could be destroyed by the hurting debris, the European Space Agency warned yesterday.
Space junk could harm equipment, agency says
There are about 8,000 pieces of trash at least 4 inches in diameter orbiting Earth, and 150,000 pieces that are at least a half-inch in size, the agency said at an international conference.
Because of the great speeds at which they travel, a half-inch piece of space junk could destroy a satellite, while a four-inch chunk could destroy a space shuttle, the agency said.
The space shuttle Discovery, for example, had to make six evasive maneuvers in the past year to avoid hitting garbage, it said.
The space agency called on countries to take measures to prevent further space trash like curbing rocket explosions in space, which account for 41 percent of the garbage.
U.N. military observers seized near Moscow
SUKHUMI, Georgia — Seven U.N. military observers were taken hostage yesterday morning in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, an official said.
The U.N. observers had just arrived by helicopter in the mountain village of Azhara when they were seized by unidentified gunmen, said Astamur Tarba, minister for state security in the breakaway territory.
The gunmen also tried to command deer the helicopter, but the pilot managed to fly away, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Abkhazia's mission in Moscow.
About 100 U.N. observers are in Georgia to monitor the truce between the Georgian government and the separatists in Abkhazia, a northwestern province on the Black Sea.
Abkhazian separatists drove out Georgian government troops during a 1992-93 war and have run the breakaway province since then. They have balked at the return of more than 300,000 ethnic Georgian refugees who fled the fighting, and peace talks have stalled.
A KU student's KULD, driver's license and check card were stolen between 3 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. Oct. 7 at the 1800 block of West 26th Street, Lawrence police said. The items were valued at $30.
— The Associated Press
ON THE RECORD
A KU student's KUID
A KU student's camera was stolen between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. Oct. B at the 100 block of West 23rd Street, Lawrence police said. The camera was valued at $100
A KU student's purse and checks were stolen between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. Wednesday at the 600 block of Florida Street, Lawrence police said. The items were valued at $20.
A KU staff member reported that a fire extinguisher was stolen between 9 and 11 p.m. Monday from the first floor of Oliver Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said.
PUBLIC SCHOOL MEMBER
A KU student's cellular phone was stolen between 6 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday from a car parked at lot 102 west of Lewis Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said.
A KU student's purse and its contents was stolen between 4 and 9 p.m. Sunday from a car parked at 218, the KU Public Safety Office said. The purse and it contents were valued at $28.
Broken pipe, smoke empty two buildings
by Randal Vrons and
Jason Walker
writer @kansan.com
Kansas staff writers
By Nathan Willis and
A pair of pipe problems triggered fire alarms that forced students, faculty and staff to evacuate Strong and Stauffer-Flint halls within a few minutes of each other yesterday afternoon.
The KU Public Safety Office received a call at 3 p.m., and the fire alarm in Stauffer-Flint was triggered at 3:04 p.m. as a result of smoke coming from an exterior rain gutter on the west end of the building.
"We could see smoke billowing out of the pipe when we came outside," said Coryanne Graham, University Daily Kansasman managing editor.
Firefighters from the Lawrence/Douglas County Fire and Medical Department quickly quelled the smoke with a combination of foam and water, said Capt. Shaun Coffy. After the department was sure the smoldering was out, it allowed people to re-enter the building and flushed the rain gutter with water from a hose.
Coffy said that he didn't know what caused the fire and that the cause would remain unknown
because flushing the pipe removed any evidence that could be used to determine the cause.
However, he did speculate that it could have been caused by a cigarette tossed down a hole in the pipe that ignited material sitting in the pipe — an ironic possibility, given that the pipe is near a door that is designated a non-smoking entrance.
At almost the same time, Strong Hall had to be evacuated because a steam pipe broke in the basement.
About 150 people had to go outside when the fire alarm sounded after a pipe in room 45 broke. No emergency vehicles were called in.
Jeannebell Johnson, assistant to the provost, said that alarms going off at Strong Hall were nothing new. She said that about once a month, the building had to be evacuated because of some type of disturbance.
She said that she remembered an instance in which someone spray painting set off the alarm and another in which someone making popcorn triggered the alarm.
"It's a very sensitive system," she said.
ON CAMPUS
— Edited by Chris Hutchison
- Golden Key National Honor Society is having an information table from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in the Kansas Union.
The Office of Study Abroad is meeting to discuss tropical studies abroad at 9 a.m. today at parrors A, B and C in the Kansas Union. Call David Wiley at 864-7812.
Ecumenical Christian Ministries and KU Environs are having a veggie lunch from 11:30 a.m. to: 1:30 p.m. at ECM, 1204 Oread Ave. Call Thad Holcombe at 843-4933.
The Center for East Asian Studies is having an Anime Festival and is showing Grave of Fireflies by Takahata Isao at 5 p.m. today at 308 Dyche Hall. The festival is free. Call 864-3849.
OAKS, the nontraditional student organization, is meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today at Alcove G in the Kansas Union. Call Karen Boyd at 864-7313.
- The KU HorrorZontals ultimate frisbee team is practicing at 5 p.m. today at Shenk Complex.
Call Will Spotts at 841-0671.
KU Meditation Club is meeting at 6 p.m. today at the Daisy Hill Room in the Burge Union. Call Pannir at 864-7735.
- Psi Chi and Psychology Club are meeting to discuss coping with rape at 6:30 p.m. today at 547 Fraser Hall, Cell Lorna Roemisch at 841-6738
Amnesty International is meeting at 7 tonight at Alcove D in the Kansas Union. Call Kyle Browning at 842-1351.
LaGarde Inc. is helping students who want to learn more about developing Web applications in Active Server Pages and who are interested in joining the Northeast Kansas ASP at 7 tonight at Borders Books Cafe & Music. Call Sarah Fender at 830-9800.
KU Scuba Hawks is meeting at 7:30 tonight at the English Room in the Kansas Union. Call Catherine at 312-2133.
The Asian-American Student Union is meeting at 7:45 tonight at the Multicultural Resource Center. Call 830-0685.
KU Yugo is meeting at 8 tonight at the Sunflower Room in the Rugged Jungle. Coulk, Kirsty at 33371798
Room in the Burge Union. Call Kristy at 838-378-9
KU Badminton is practicing from 6 to 10:30 p.m.
tomorrow and Saturday at rooms 211 and 212
in Robinson Center. Call Tee or Kevin at 843-
2267.
ET CETERA
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the
student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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