2A
The Inside Front
Tuesday September 21, 1999
News
from campus, the state the nation and the world
CORRECTION
Yesterday's Kansan misidentified the sponsors of the John Blubaugh Memorial Wheat Meat. Chi Omega sorority and Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity organized the event.
CAMPUS
Investigation continues in student's fatal accident
The Kansas Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the July 10 accident that killed a 21-year-old KU student near Wamego.
Ethan Lichti, Newton sophomore, was killed when his car was struck by a Kansas Bureau of Investigation vehicle on Interstate 70. The KBI vehicle lost control when one of its tires blew, and the vehicle crossed the center line, hitting Lichti's车 head-on.
Lichti was killed instantly.
The investigation has indicated the tire may have been a retread, which was unsafe for highway driving.
Sgt. John Eichkorn said the Highway Patrol reconstruction team had the tire in evidence and would have it analyzed by a neutral and independent lab.
STATE
— Katie Hollar
Plane crash in Kansas leaves one man dead
ATLANTA, Kan. — A man was killed and his son was critically injured Sunday night when their single-engine plane sud-
denly lost altitude and crashed in a cow pasture just outside of Wichita.
Pilot William "Bill" McBee, 53, of Atlanta, Kan.. was pronounced dead at the scene. His son Joe McBee, 22, also of Atlanta, was flown to a Wichita hospital where he was listed in critical condition Sunday night, Cowley County Sheriff Bob Odell said
Witnesses said the left wing of the aerobatic plane suddenly dipped before the aircraft plunged to the ground, about a quarter-mile south of an airstrip, Odell said.
The elder McBee was reportedly an experienced pilot who spent years dusting crops and performing aerobic stunts, Odell said.
Crowds nearly double at state space center
HUTCHINSON—The Liberty Bell 7 exhibit is being credited with a 40 percent increase in attendance this month at the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center.
The announcement of the 40 percent increase compared to last year at this time came only a week after the exhibit was unveiled.
The week of the Kansas State Fair usually isn't a particularly high-draw
period for the museum, said Karen Siebert, spokeswoman for the Hutchinson aerospace museum.
The space capsule, once plotted by astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom and recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, will be dismantled and cleaned in a few weeks by a restoration team.
Cosmosphere visitors will be able to watch the restoration through windows in the Hall of Space Museum.
The unveiling also included the installation of a digital camera that sends pictures of the capsule to the Cosmosphere's Web site, www.cosmo.org.
NATION
Volunteers start to rebuild church at Waco site
WACO, Texas—A libertarian talk show host and volunteers used shovels and pickaxes during the weekend to begin rebuilding a church at the site of the Branch Davidians' compound fire six years ago.
A fire during the 1993 government raid leveled the compound, killing leader David Koresh and about 80 followers.
Austin talk show host Alex Jones, 25, said Sunday he wanted to rebuild the church as a memorial and increase publicity about the FBI's possible role in the fire.
Jones said he chose now to build a memorial and church because of a recent admission by the FBI that agents had fired potentially incendiary tear gas canisters at the compound the day it burned, despite years of statements to the contrary.
Family sues SeaWorld after son found dead
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The parents of a man who was found dead in a killer whale's pool at SeaWorld are suing the park.
Daniel Dukes' naked body was found July 6, scratched, bruised and draped over the 5-ton Tilikum, the largest killer whale in captivity.
The 27-year-old apparently made his way past security at SeaWorld, remaining in the park after it closed. Wearing only his underwear, Dukes either jumped, fell or was pulled into Tillikum's huge tank.
A medical examiner concluded Dukes suffered hypothermia and drowned
The suit contends that SeaWorld offers no public warning that Tilikum could kill people who enter the water. It also alleges that puncture wounds on Dukes' leg and foot are consistent with him having been pulled into the pool by Tilikum.
suffered hypotension and drowned.
His parents, Patricia and Michael
Dukes of Columbia, S.C., sued the
theme park on Sept. 10, seeking
several million dollars in damages.
African-Americans relate to Clinton, author says
Vic Abbey, SeaWorld's executive vice president and general manager, called the suit crazy.
WASHINGTON—President Clinton agrees with author Toni Morrison; he is — unofficially — the nation's first African-American president.
Clinton jokingly claimed that distinction for himself Saturday night at the Congressional Black Caucus' annual awards dinner.
He said comedian Chris Tucker told him he'd like to see the Oval Office to prepare for an upcoming movie role as the nation's first African-American president.
"I didn't have the heart to tell him that I've already taken the position," Clinton said.
In an October 1998 essay in The New Yorker magazine, Morrison said African Americans tended to be sympathetic to Clinton because his impoverished childhood and personal struggles seemed to mirror many of their own experiences.
Supreme Court justice recovers from surgery
WASHINGTON—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, being treated for colon cancer, is recovering without complications from surgery, a court spokeswoman said yesterday.
Ginsburg, 66, underwent the surgery Friday and is expected to remain hospitalized for about a week. It is unknown whether she will be able to return to work for the start of the court's 1999-2000 term on Oct. 4.
Ginsburg became ill while teaching in Crete in July. She was hospitalized there but initially was diagnosed as suffering from a gastric disorder. It was not until she recently sought treatment at Washington Hospital Center that the diagnosis changed to cancer.
WORLD
U.N. Children's Fund halts operations in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia—The United Nations Children's Fund suspended its operations in southern Somalia yesterday following the killing last week of its highest-ranking health officer in the region.
Ayub Sheikh Yarow, 41, died Thursday from wounds received during an apparent robbery attempt. Five other local UNICEF workers were wounded in Wednesday's assault, which occurred in Dibi Arab, a small town near Jowhar in central Somalia.
UNICEF officials said yesterday that its activities in southern Somalia, including distribution of high-energy food biscuits, would cease until at least Friday, when the decision would be reconsidered
The aid suspension comes at time when famine has produced the worst rates of hunger and disease in southern Somalia two years.
ON THE RECORD
The Associated Press
A KU student's Sony radio and CD were stolen between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday from the 10th floor of McCallum Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The items were valued at $25
A KU student's passenger-side door was damaged between 5 p.m. Sept. 15 and B a.m. Sept. 16 in the 2100 block of Heatherwood Drive, Lawrence police said. The door was valued at $200.
A KU student's Sony CD car stereo and radar detector were stolen between 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday from KU Lot 112 behind Oliver Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The items were valued at $325.
A Papa John's lighted sign was stolen between 2:45 a.m. and 2:55 a.m. Friday from the top of a delivery driver's car as he delivered pizzas inside Oliver Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The sign was valued at $103.
A KU student's wallet was stolen between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. Wednesday from the 3rd floor women's bathroom of Ellsworth Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The wallet and its contents were valued at $150.
A KU student's Pioneer car stereo and raincare were stolen from his car between 9 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday from KU Lot 112 behind Oliver Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The items were valued at $400.
Racist convicted in dragging death African American
The Associated Press
BRYAN, Texas—A white supremacist today became the second man convicted in the gruesome slaying of a black man who was chained by his ankles to a pickup truck and dragged to death.
Lawrence Russell Brewer, 32, could get the death penalty for murdering James Byrd Jr. in Jasper last year.
Brewer stood with his attorneys to hear the verdict, delivered just four hours after deliberations began. He had no visible reaction.
The judge had admonished spectators to have no show of emotion in the courtroom, and there was none.
The jury of 11 whites and one Hispanic returned to the courtroom to immediately begin hearing testimony on whether Brewer should be sentenced to death or life in prison.
The judge indicated he did not expect to complete the punishment phase yesterday, meaning Brewer would not learn until today if he will join John William King, 24, who has been on death row since
his February conviction in Byrd's slaying.
A third man, Shawn Allen Berry, also 24, faces trial late next month.
Prosecutors said they believed the three men killed Byrd to promote their fledgling white supremacist organization — the Confederate Knights of America — and initiate Berry into the group.
Brewer testified last week that he was on a road with King and Berry in the early hours June 7, 1998, when Byrd was chained by his ankles to the bumper of Berry's pickup truck, then dragged for three miles.
"He just admitted enough to comply with the facts and staying just short of the death penalty," Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray said.
Brewer testified that Berry had first slashed Byrd's throat, then chained him to the back of the truck. He said he even urged his two companions to release Byrd.
"I didn't mean to cause his death," Brewer said. "I had no intentions of killing nobody."
ON CAMPUS
The KU Intrafraaternity Council is having an information session at 6 p.m. today at the multi-purpose room in McCollum Hall.
OAKS, the nontraditional student organization,
is having a brown bag lunch from 11:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m. today at Alcove in the Kansas
Union. Call Simmie Berrava at B3000724.
University Christian Fellowship is meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. Call Birk Clock at 841-3148
■ Queers and Allies is having a support group at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Call 864-3506 or 841-2345 for location.
Ecumenical Christian Ministries is having a University Forum from noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow at the ECM, 1204 Oread Ave. The program is "Pomography: A Panel Discussion." Call Thad Holcombe at 843-4933.
The Spencer Museum of Art is having a lecture about its exhibition of Mexican prints at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Kress Gallery in the museum. Call Sally Havden at 8640135.
Student Senate is having a series of meetings
tomorrow night in the Kansas Union. Graduate Affairs is meeting at 6 p.m. at the Pine Room. Multicultural Affairs is meeting at 6 p.m. at the International Room. University Affairs is meeting at 6 p.m. at the Kansas Room. The Student Rights committee is meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Partors A, B and C. The Finance committee is meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Wakeup Room.
United Methodist Campus Ministry is having a Wesley fellowship, free supper and Bible study at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St. An alternative worship service will follow. Call Rev. Heather Hengsling at 841-8641.
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center is
sponsoring a three-part car maintenance work
shop from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Byron's
Autohaus, 640 N. 2nd St. Classes will follow
on Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. The cost is $15, and
preregistration is required. Call B64.3552
The KU writing center is open only by appointment today through Thursday. Call 864-2399 for an appointment.
ET CETERA
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the
University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kanson are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stuuffer-Flint Hall.
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4962) is published at the University of Kansas, 119 Stauffart Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Periodical postage is
The Kansan print campus events that are free and open to the public. When information is submitted, the event's sponsor, name and phone number must be on the form, which is available in the On Campus mailbox in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Items must be turned in two days
paid in Lawrence, Kan. 66044,
Annual subscriptions by mail
are $120. Student subscriptions
of $2.33 are paid through the
student activity fee.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansas, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, K6045.
in advance of the desired publication date. Forms can also be filled out online at www.kansan.com - these requests will appear on Kansan.com as well as the Kansan. On Campus is printed on a space-available basis. On Campus is a free service provided by the Kansan to the University community.
Kyle Matthews in concert September 26th 7:00pm
First Baptist Church 1330 Kasold Admission: Free
Kyle Matthews is a concert artist, songwriter, and musical storyteller who travels full-time to present challenging images of the Gospel. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists such as Point of Grace, Bob Carlisle, Avalon, Mark Lowery, and Glad.