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Kansan
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Thursday
August 26, 1999
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Vol. 110 • No. 7
Sports today
http://www.kansan.com
Vol. 110 · No.7
One thing the Jayhawks are assured of by playing Notre Dame in Saturday's football kickoff game isn't a win — it's a lot of money.
SEE PAGE 1B
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Kevin Sliva, Chicago senior, walks over a chalk advertisement for BigWords.com, an online textbook company. The University of Kansas has no policy banning sidewalk writing, but the increase of advertisements on the campus sidewalks is causing the University to rethink its policy. Photo by Eric Schmann / KANSAN
Sidewalk scribbles may be banned
KU may chalk advertisements
（USPS 650-640）
By Nathan Willis
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Most of the sidewalk chalk is gone now, washed away by the rain or facilities and operations crews.
But the first couple days of school last week, the usually gray concrete campus sidewalks were flooded with a sea of color — largely student-etched advertisements pitching Web sites.
And that had administrators seeing red
"I think it's extraoardinarily discourteous to the University community," said Provost David Shulenburger.
Discourteous, however, is all it is for now. There is no policy at the University of Kansas specifically barring sidewalk writings.
But, Shulenburger said, that might change. He said that any potential policy changes would come from university governance.
Mary Hawkins, president of University Council, said governance had dealt with the issue before but had not passed a regulation against sidewalk writing. She said she didn't know if governance would address the issue again this year.
Meanwhile, Shulenburger said the proliferation of chalk forced facilities and operations crews to wash off the sidewalks as part of their cleaning rounds.
"It adds to the expense of the University, an institution that has a limited budget," he said.
Shulenburger also said he was concerned about the number of writings and drawings that were advertisements, such as an ad in front of Wescoe Hall plugging bigwords.com, an online textbook
company that promised a 40 percent discount and free shipping within 48 hours.
Jodi Gershini, communications director for the online textbook company, VarsityBooks.com, said the company hired KU students to serve
For now, bigwords.com and other companies are treading a fine line between University policy and the administration's discouragement of the practice.
as marketing representatives. She said it was those students, not VarsityBooks.com, who decided how to market the company on campus, meaning the students were responsible for placing sidewalk advertisements.
"We don't tell them what to do or how to do it." Gershini said.
She said the students had to pore through University regulations to determine which forms of marketing were allowed before they could design marketing campaigns.
She said she didn't know that KU administrators had discouraged the practice and that if other companies were willing to stop, VarsityBooks.com probably would, too.
—Edited by Allan Davis
"If the school is not happy about it and passes some rule against it, then we would tell our campus reps to stop doing it." Gershini said.
He said that the sidewalk writing was drinkspecials.com's major ad campaign on campus and that it had significantly increased hits on its Web site.
Another frequent sidewalk advertiser, drinksspecials.com, lists drink specials in local bars and restaurants. It also was careful to check the legality of the practice before hiring students to scrawl on sidewalks.
"We checked with the Public Safety Office on Wednesday and were told by officers on duty that it was legal," said John Laing, chief executive officer of Drinkspecials.
New jurors chosen for Hunsucker trial
By Katie Hollar
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Credibility was the credo yesterday at the second rape trial for Gregory Hunsucker II, Olathe sophomore.
It was a running theme as Prosecutor Dave Zabel and Defense Attorney Don Smith questioned 45 potential jurors for more than two hours yesterday morning.
Credibility was also an issue in the afternoon, when Smith focused on several discrepancies between the alleged victim's initial written statement last October, testimonies this June and responses to questioning yesterday.
Throughout his opening statement and subsequent questioning of the alleged victim, Smith pointed to several examples of inconsistencies. These included whether she was laying or sitting on her bed when Hunsucker restrained her and whether he unnapped her bra or pushed it aside.
The rape charges stemmed from events on Oct. 17 at Ellsworth Hall. The alleged victim, a female resident of the hall, said Hunsucker overpowered her, penetrated her vagina with his finger and touched her
She said although her memory was sketchy, she did not waver from the truth.
breasts without consent.
Kansas law defines rape as sexual intercourse with a person who does not consent under several circumstances, including when the victim is overcome by force or fear.
Sexual intercourse is defined as any penetration of the female sex organ by a finger, the male sex organ or any object. Kansas law states that any penetration is sufficient to constitute sexual intercourse.
Hunsucker initially was tried in June for rape and two other charges from the night of Oct. 17 — furnishing alcohol to a minor and sexual battery. He pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to a minor and was fined $250 and ordered to undergo an evaluation for alcohol treatment. The jury found him not guilty of sexual battery.
Despite a three-hour deliberation, however, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. Kansas law allows a case to be retried indefinitely if there is a hung jury.
While the jury in June was comprised of 11 women and one man, this jury includes six men and six women.
Hunsucker's trial will resume at 9 a.m. today in Division II court. Zabel said he expected the trial to continue for three days.
Student Senate has money to spend
--Edited by Chris Hutchison
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
By Chris Borniger
How to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in Student Senate's reserve account will probably be a contentious issue when senators first meet next month.
The account, which holds money left over from previous Senate fiscal years, contains about $350,000, according to Student Body President Korb Maxwell. The entire Senate budget for this year, is $737,000.
The money in the reserve account, however, is in dispute. Maxwell said it could pay for several small projects, such as shelters at KU on Wheels bus stops.
"We want to do something that will improve the overall University community," he said.
Student Senate Executive Committee Treasurer Patrick McGiffert said about $200,000 of the money was reserved for emergencies, such as when Senate in 1994 allotted $140,000 to ball out the KU on Wheels system.
"It's smart to keep a substantial amount in
reserve." he said.
According to Maxwell, using surplus money from the reserve account is typical. He cited a memorial west of Potter Lake honoring students who served in the Vietnam War, which was built in 1983 with funds from the account.
Maxwell said he favored spending some of the money rather than letting the account continue to grow.
Maxwell also said he was exploring ways to get matching funds through the Kansas University Endowment Association.
"If we find someone to match our money, we can leverage it more." he said.
"I'm of the opinion that, if the project is worthy, then yes, go ahead and spend the money," he said. "But don't spend it just for
Aravind Muthukrishman, finance committee chairman, said he opposed spending the money in the reserve account.
"We want to do something that will improve the overall University community."
the sake of spending it. Giving it up wouldn't be a prudent move."
Because the reserve account is subject to state control, the state claims the interest.
"The way it it's treated now is like a tax," he said. "I'd rather sit on it and let it grow in an interest-bearing account. Then the money students pay is like a donation. With no restrictions, then we could really do something to benefit students more than a $25,000 program that falls flat on its face."
Student Body Vice President Dede Seibel said senators would have to work together to resolve the issue.
Edited by Kelly Clasen
Provost pleased that KU loses party ranking
Bv Clav McCuistion
By Clay McCusinno
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Princeton Review's guide to the 331 best colleges in the nation ranked the University as the eight best party school in 1997 and 1998.
Breaking a two-year streak, the Princeton Review did not rank the University of Kansas as one of the top party schools in the nation this year.
And KU administrators couldn't be happier. "I'm very pleased with that," Provost David Shulenburger said. "I think that was an anomaly the last time. This is a serious place."
To determine the rankings for this year's issue, the Princeton Review surveyed 59,000 students around the nation about aspects of their colleges' campus lives. California's Sonoma State University took over the University's eighth-place slot. Florida State University was ranked first.
TOP 10 PARTY SCHOOLS
University was rated "The Princeton Review is a pretty disreputable guide of this type," said Shulenburger.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said he also was pleased that the
Source: Princeton Review
University was no longer ranked as a top party school.
"That's the best news in respect to a rating I've ever received," he said. "You're always concerned about the image portrayed of your institution in the media."
6. U.
7. University or Alabama-Tuscaloosa
8. Sonoma State University (California)
9. Washington State University
10. University of Georgia
Ambler said the Princeton Review's rankings received too much attention.
"It's the most irresponsible, unscientific and frivolous rating, and yet damaging," Ambler said.
Evan Schnittman, vice president of publishing for the Princeton Review, said the ratings
weren't supposed to be statistically perfect. Instead, he said, the rankings were supposed to convey a general picture of university life.
Schnittman said the University's anti- alcohol campaign during the last year may have contributed to its disappearance from the top 10.
"We never, ever, ever claim to be scientific," Schnittman said. "It's never been anything less than anecdotal."
"My hunch is that people have pulled back and are a little gun-shy," he said.
"I doubt very much that has anything to do with it," he said.
Shulenburger said not enough time had passed for students' attitudes toward alcohol to change dramatically.
Dede Seibel, student body vice president, said she hoped the University's absence from the list would alleviate some of the stereotypes about the campus. She said positive mentions in U.S. News and World Report and Fiske college guides should be highlighted instead.
"These are the stats that truly say what KU is about," Seibel said.
Edited by Katrina Hull
Come sail away
The University of Kansas Sailing Team is recruiting new members for the 1999-2000 season. This Sports Club has a traveling racing team and also has lessons for beginners on learning to sail. Photo by Tara Kraus/KANSAN
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