CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, August 24,1995
3A
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
The three sombreros worn by the students above have been passed down among acquaintances through the years.
Living group focuses on faith
By Hannah Naughton
Kansan staff writer
Sean Sheridan and his four roommates christened apartment four at 1311 Tennessee St. the Juan Tan Amara six years ago.
Since they lived there, the Mastercraft pad has been passed down a long line of male students interconnected by friendships and their faith in Jesus Christ.
The Juan Tan Amara legacy now has come to a crossroads.
The legacy was split this semester when the present links in the chain relocated from the Juan Tan to what they now call the White House, 1538 Tennessee St. And, for the first time since its birth, women reside in the old apartment, now called the Juan Tanita.
"It was a tremendous place of encouragement," said Sheridan, who graduated from the University of Kansas in May 1992 and now works for Microsoft Works in Seattle. "It was remarkable to see what happened with people's lives.
I'm convinced it was because we came together around the person and spirit of Christ."
Sheridan and one of his roommates, Tim Keel, moved into the Juan Tan looking for a change from their previous fraternity lives.
They wanted to be in a community where they practiced the true meaning of brotherhood, one where they would be together and really care for each other. Sheridan said.
One way the powerful and supportive relationships evolved at the Juan Tan was through Wednesday night dinners, he said.
"Every Wednesday night we would have a meal together. Each week one person would be in charge," Sheridan said. "At the meal, we would ask really tough questions about what was going on in each other's lives and we would hold each other accountable. For us, that is what held the house together."
The spirit of the place was so real it transformed an original roommate's life dramatically, he said.
Jeff Onnene evolved from a lonely hermit living alone in a residence hall. He grew in leaps and bounds and his amazing personality traits unfolded.
The friendships and personalities of the Juan Tan group also grew through their humor and crazy antics.
On several occasions, the five roommates would load into Sheridan's orange Volkswagen bug and cruise around Lawrence and campus wearing sombreros.
"It was our intention to find someone younger to live with us to keep the Juan Tan going after we were gone," Sheridan said.
Sheridan and his roommates' legacy did persist, but it has changed this year.
The most recent link in the Juan Tan's long chain of residents has moved into a new place with almost twice as many roommates.
A part of the legacy the White House took from the Juan Tan was its founding purpose, said John Forney, Edina, Minn. senior.
"We took the purpose that it would be
a place of believers," Forney said. "It would also have an open door, welcome to anyone."
The former Juan Tan Amarans also brought their sombreros with them when they moved.
"We've got them hanging up now." Forney said. "What we will do with them, whether we will take the tradition started there or start our own remains a mystery."
The women who have moved into the old Juan Tan also are unclear whether they will continue the houses' traditions or start their own, said Elie Robertson, Edina, Minn. senior and resident of the Juan Tanita.
The women now living in the Juan Tanita still are carrying on the legacy of the house through their friendships with the old male residents, said Juan Tanitan Christine Jones, Wichita senior.
"Even though they couldn't live here, someone could who was connected through friendship," Jones said.
Psychology professor dies of cancer
Memorial scholarship established to honor prize-winning teacher
By Phillip Brownlee Kansan staff writer
A private grave side service will be held in Boulder, Colo., and a memorial service will be held at 1 p.m on Sept. 16 at Adams Alumni Center.
Houston is remembered by friends and colleagues as a great listener who
B. Kent Houston, professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, died of liver cancer Aug. 19 at the Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. He was 56.
worked long hours and was deeply con-
"He always made time no matter how
busy he was," said Rick Snyder, professor of psychology and director of the clinical psychology program at KU. "His open-door policy was unmatched."
Dennis Karpowitz, chairman of the psychology department, said Houston worked 60 to 70 hours per week and
"He was a wonderful scholar and an excellent methodologist and was untir-
maintained high standards for himself and his students.
B. Kent Houston
ing in his efforts to help students," he said.
Houston served as the director of KU's clinical psychology program from 1974 to 1975, was chairman of the psychology department the fall of 1975 and became a full professor in 1976. He was named an outstanding educator of America in 1974, and in 1989, he received KU's Louise Byrd Graduate Educator Award.
Houston came to the University in 1970. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Stanford University in 1967 and was an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas from 1967 to 1970.
Houston authored a book entitled "Type A Behavior Pattern" and contributed to more than 70 journal abstracts and ten book chapters. He also published proceedings, abstracts, reports, symposia and conferences and received several research grants.
Houston is survived by his wife, Elaine; a son, Brent, Kansas City, Kan.; a daughter, Heather Houston, Overland Park; and a brother, Jerry, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Mrs. Houston said her husband loved convertibles, his students, and his family.
"He spent six days a week at school and was very interested in his graduate students," she said. "He expected a lot out of them, but they saw him as a mentor."
Houston became ill during the summer and was not scheduled to teach this fall.
Monica Kury, Davenport, Iowa, graduate student, was a student of Houston.
"He was brilliant and had a great sense of humor." she said.
The B. Kent Houston Scholarship in Health Psychology has been established in his honor.
Housing policy forces students to pack, study at same time
Finals leave little time for students to move out
By Laurie Hudson
Kansan staff writer
Rushing to meet the 9 p.m. checkout deadline did not make studying for Friday finals any easier for some residence hall students the final day of exams last spring.
Nor did it please some parents who were called into action for the moving process. They watched their children cram clothes into suitcases and cram information into their brains simultaneously.
"I would have preferred to move out the day after finals," said Amber Rossman, Tulsa, Okla., junior. "I felt like I should be studying rather than packing up my stuff."
Rossman lived in Ellsworth Hall last year.
But a one-day grace period is not an option, said Ken Stoner, director of student housing. He said the check-out time has been moved back two hours, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. for 1996.
Residence halls must be prepared immediately for their next round of guests, Stoner said. For example, last spring, custodial staff cleaned rooms minutes after students checked out to prepare for the arrival of 250 commencement guests who had reservations in Templein Hall and Lewis Hall. Also, switching into the rooms were 52 students who had a housing contract between the spring semester and summer school.
Stoner said the need for quick turnovers meant students must evacuate quickly.
"It's just an efficiency thing." he said.
But according to a letter from Constance Anderson, who observed the moving of her two sons from McCollum Hall last year, this is not an acceptable excuse.
"It is a sad comment that a university would place its needs for efficiency and economy above the academic well-being of its students," she wrote.
Anderson wrote that her son, Gabriel Merrihew, had two finals on Friday, May 12. In fact, any student enrolled in a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9:30 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. class, or Tuesday and Thursday 12:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. class, had a final that day. The last final ended at 6 p.m., three hours before the check-out deadline.
Kassie Stallings, Overland Park sophomore, said this was plenty of time for her. Stallings planned ahead and took most of her belongings home the weekend before.
"I'd packed up what I could to cut down on the time crunch." she said.
But for Rossman, moving the bulk of her things all the way to Tulsa the weekend before wasn't an option. She rushed home after her final, but still checked out an hour late. However, Rossman said, her understanding resident assistant did not charge her the $15 late fee.
Rossman said it would have been nice if she could have gone back to her residence hall room and relaxed for one evening.
"I was exhausted from studying for finals and I had to come home and start packing," she said. "It ended up being kind of crazy."
And staying in a Lawrence hotel wasn't an option, because they were all booked up with guests waiting to see graduates walk down the hill Sunday.
"It's helpful that they extended that," Rossman said. "It's a step forward."