CAMPUS/AREA UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, October 18, 1993
3A
Debate surrounds construction of east trafficway
Opponent says parkway is a 'classic pork-barrel project'
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
It's mentioned occasionally in city planning meetings — and on faded bumper stickers that say, "Stop the Eastern Porkway."
Overshadowed by the controversy over the South Lawrence Trafficway, the proposed two-lane, 3.5-mile Eastern Parkway has been forgotten by many. But city planners expect to begin construction within the next six months on the $14 million project. If all goes well, they say, it will cut down on increasing traffic in east Lawrence's residential areas.
Voters approved a $4 million bond for the parkway in 1990. The parkway, which passed by a slim margin, was designed to move traffic to north Lawrence and downtown Lawrence without directing it through local neighborhoods.
Some east Lawrence residents disagree, however. They say the parkway is the result of pork-barrel politics and will cause more harm than good.
"It has always been a concern in the neighborhood organization because east Lawrence gets too many cars and trucks," said Jo Andersen, Lawrence mayor.
For motorists coming west from Kansas Highway 10, the
quiet, tree-lined streets of east Lawrence are the only way to reach downtown. But such motorists have created traffic congestion and endangered pedestrians since the early 1970s, Andersen said.
The solution, she said, was to build the parkway and direct downtown traffic through the parkway.
"If you look at the current traffic, you'll see there's a need for this for a long time," Anders said.
The parkway didn't get to the 1990 ballot without a fight, however. A task force was appointed to study the issue prior to the 1990 vote, and the task force voted 7-6 in favor of the issue, Andersen said. And when the plan was finished, several east Lawrence residents said the parkway would bring pollution and development, some of the problems the parkway was supposed to curtail.
The project also has run into delays. An environmental impact study, which is required for projects that need federal funds, was expected in April but now is expected in the next six months, said Mike Wildgen, city manager. The project can't begin until then.
These problems are only the tip of the iceberg, said Richard Kershenbaum, a board member of Citizens Opposed to the Eastern Parkway. Kershenbaum said the current $14 million estimated cost was an increase over estimates during the 1990 vote, and the recent $20 million increase in the cost of the South Lawrence Trafficway showed how such projects easily went over budget.
Proposed Eastern parkway route
The city also needs another $10 million from state and federal funds to meet the rest of the projected cost, but hasn't received it yet. Kershenbaum said.
Source: Kansan staff research
Kersenbaum said the group had submitted a 300-signature petition asking the Lawrence City Commission to put the parkway up for its consideration, but Andersen in a return letter declined. She said in the letter that many of the facts on the petition about the parkway were inaccurate.
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
Such a lack of dialogue shows that the city does not care about east Lawrence, Kershenbaum said.
"They don't destroy homes immediately with the road.
but large portions of the older neighborhoods will be destroyed over time," he said.
Kershenbaum also said the "demand" for the parkway was really business interests who wanted east Lawrence commercial development and had no interest in the neighborhood.
"The only support is the special interests who would benefit." he said. "It's a classic pear-barrel project."
Graves, Slattery to debate tonight
Kansan staff report
Kansas gubernatorial candidates Bill Graves and Jim Slattery will participate in a candidates' forum at 7 tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
The hour-long event is free and open to the public.
Graves and Slattery will present opening and closing remarks and answer questions posed by a fivemember panel. The panelists are: Marc Wilson, co-chairman of the Student Political Awareness Task Force; Burdett Loomis, professor of political science; Marilyn Bradt, member of the League of Women Voters; Jim Sullinger,
political analyst for the Kansas City Star and Nicholas Haines, Statehouse bureau chief for Kansas Public Radio.
Ellen Reid Gold, associate professor of communication studies, will serve as moderator for the forum. Audience members will have the opportunity to write questions on note cards during the debate, and panelists will pose some of these questions to the candidates.
The forum, which is sponsored by the Student Political Awareness Task Force and the League of Women Voters, will be broadcast live on KHIK. 90.7 FM.
By James Evans
Kansan staff writer
Speaker will debate Shakespeare's work
Theory suggests that others may have written bard's plays
Most people would agree that William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and Macbeth.
But tonight, Charles Vere, the Earl of Buford, will present the viewpoint that his descendant Edward Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the actual author of the works of Shakespeare.
The lecture, which will take place at 7:30 tonight at the Jayhawk Room in the Kansas Union, is part of the Richard W. Gunn Memorial Lecture Series.
Richard Hardin, professor of English, said Charles Vere would argue that his ancestor was the real author of Shakespeare's works. Hardin, a coordinator of tonight's speech, said he had spoken with Vere about his views during the past few weeks.
"One bit of evidence he will offer is that the Earl of Oxford's Bible has annotations in the margins that are marked and used in Shakespeare's works," Hardin said.
He said Vere also would offer other pieces of evidence to support his theory.
The theories that Shakespeare's works were written by someone other than Shakespeare have been around for a long time, said David Bergeron, professor of English who specializes in Shakespeare.
Bergeron said there was no evidence to support Vere's claim that his ancestor was the original author of the numerous plays and sonnets.
"It's one of my favorite non-topics," he said.
Bergeron said 26 other people had been named as possible authors of Shakespeare's writings. The Earl of Oxford theory, which came about in the late 19th Century, is one of the three most prominent theories.
Proponents of these theories said that Shakespeare could not have written his works because of
his limited education. But Bergeron said there was no connection between education and the ability to write.
Bergeron, who has taught Shakespeare for the last 30 years, said he was convinced that William Shakespeare was the actual writer of the works credited to him.
"Nobody in Shakespeare's lifetime ever raised the question that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare," he said, noting that it would be even more unreasonable to raise the question now.
William Scott, professor of English, said there were no valid arguments against Shakespeare being the original author. Scott, who has taught Shakespeare for almost 30 years, said that records from 16th Century England were not extensive, but that they showed Shakespeare was a member of a premiere English acting company and helped produce a number of his plays.
"I don't see a reason for questioning the author-
ship of those plays," he said.
Native American class to be offered
vere could not be reached for commem.
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
Students who wish to study Native American languages and language issues have only one chance.
Next semester, the department of linguistics will offer Linguistics 491, Topics in Linguistics: Native American Languages and Language Issues, from 12:30 to 1:20 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Giulia Oliverio, graduate teaching assistant and instructor for the course, said the class would be offered next semester only. Oliverio will complete her doctorate in linguistics next semester and no longer will be available to teach the course.
Oliverio said the first half of the course would be a survey of Native American languages north of Mexico, and the second half would examine government policies addressing Native American languages and issues.
"Most of these languages are dying, and I think we need to make students aware of their importance," Oliverio said. "If no one does anything now, the languages will be gone."
The class, which has no prerequisites, is open to both KU
students and Haskell Indian Nations University students.
Oliverio said she hoped the class would compel students to work to preserve Native American languages.
"Right now, most of the fluent speakers of these languages are part of the older generations," she said. "I want to make students aware of the richness of these languages so that the languages can survive."
Oliverio, a French citizen, said she became interested in Native American issues after completing several classes at KU examining the language and the culture of Native Americans.
Clifton Pye, head of the linguistics department, said the course would address language issues that often were overlooked.
"Nobody gives attention to the fact that human cultures are lost when languages are lost," Pye said. "Much of the Native American culture is linked to their languages, and their culture could disappear with the languages."
Pye said students who wished to enroll in the course needed to pick up a consent form from the linguistics department at 427 Blake Hall.
Graves says Slattery is off mark with ads
By John Hanna
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Graves tried yesterday to undercut criticism of his campaign for accepting $20,400 linked to an Alabama insurance conglomerate with legal problems.
Graves called Torchmark Corporation of Birmingham, Ala., "one of the really fine corporations in this nation." He received donations from its officers, who include his father-in-law; two subsidiaries and officers of subsidiaries.
Democrat Jim Slattery has raised the issue in a recent television commercial, pointing to the fact that a Torchmark subsidiary recently settled a lawsuit, in which it was accused of cheating customers, for $55 million. It also is being sued in Oklahoma.
But Graves said Slattery is being hypocritical because he accepted $500 contributions from Torchmark in 1989 and 1991, returning them only as he prepared to broadcast the television commercials.
He also said Slattery had taken donations for his congressional and gubernatorial campaigns from three other large insurance companies that faced legal judgments in Alabama.
Graves made his remarks during a Statehouse rally
designed primarily to call attention to his endorsement by five former Republican governors. But a few Democrats showed up, holding up signs mocking Graves and criticizing him for taking the Torchmark money.
Graves described the Torchmark controversy as "simply a political opportunity" for Slattery.
"You just might as well recognize the signs," former Gov. William Avery told about 60 Graves supporters. "The television cameras certainly do."
Jim McLean, Slattery's press secretary, said Graves' comments show that he is out of touch.
"I am just amazed, amazed, that Bill Graves would call it one of the finest corporations in America," McLean said, referring to Torchmark.
in the Alabama lawsuit it settled, a Torchmark subsidiary was accused of inducing policyholders to switch existing policies for new ones. The lawsuit alleged that the new policies were worth less and that the company engaged in a systematic effort to get customers to switch.
In a second, similar, Alabama lawsuit, a jury awarded $1 million in punitive damages against the same subsidiary, and the case is on appeal.
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