CAMPUS/AREA
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 6, 1994
3A
Twelve jurors selected to hear candidate's case
Lawsuit stems from botched business deal
By David Wilson
Kansan staff writer
A 12-person jury selected yesterday in Douglas County Court will attempt to resolve a civil lawsuit brought by Eric Schmidt, candidate for state representative for the 46th district.
The lawsuit stems from a botched business deal in 1992 between Schmidt and Jim Montee, an employee of Buschart Office Products, an office products distribution company based in St. Louis.
Buschart Office Products had agreed to step in and buy Schmidt's Lawrence, computer
Eric Schmidt
lawrence computer store, Computer Supply Source, after Schnidt had unsuccessfully tried to sell the store in 1991.
Schmidt alleges that Montee and Buschart
Office Products broke an oral contract to pay him a salary for one year, during which time Schmidt was to help smooth the transition of ownership.
In a deposition taken May 10, Schmidt said he had been promised a salary of $3,200 a month for one year and the purchase of $4,251 of his inventory as a condition of the purchase of the business. But when the Computer Supply Source underwent a sales slump in early 1992, Montee and Buschart Office Products were unable to pay Schmidt.
Soon after, the store closed. Schmidt works as a financial consultant for Berthel Fisher in Overland Park.
The Computer Supply Source case hasn't been Schmidt's only lawsuit. Since 1992,
Schmidt has filed two other lawsuits against area businesses and has been sued once, according to records at the Douglas County District Clerk's office.
In April, he sued James Brady of Brady Chiropractic, 1104 E. 23rd, for $227.50, alleging that he was charged for X-rays he thought were part of a free examination. The suit was dismissed.
In May 1993, he sued Barry Grimmer of Auto Medic, a car repair service, for $36.32, alleging that he was charged for services not performed. That case was also dismissed.
In 1992, Schmidt was sued by a business called World Company for failing to pay a debt of $833.02. Schmidt was ordered to pay the debt plus court costs.
Schmidt did not want to discuss details of the Computer Supply Source case because it was still pending, but did say the other lawsuits did not reflect badly on him.
"It's definitely not bullying people," he said. "I am not willing to be bullied by people who treat me unfairly or illegally."
Schmidt, a 1986 graduate of the University of Kansas, is the Republican opponent of Democrat Troy Findley in state representative race for the 46th district. The 46th district encompasses the area east of Iowa Street and north of 23rd Street, and includes most of the KU campus.
The jury is expected to hand down a decision on the Computer Supply Source case today.
Meghan Dougherty / KANSAN
Brian Paulette, Lenexa sophomore, and Jeremy Wilhm, Roeland Park freshman, rehearse for the English Alternative Theatre production of "The Beadsman". The student theatrical group will present "The Beadsman" and "Canvass" from October 6-9 at Hashinger Hall.
Student playwrights showcase talent
By Ashley Miller
Kansan staff writer
Pasty Lyman is not your average prostitute.
Lyman not only satisfies his clients sexually, but also psychologically, by listening to stories about their sexual experiences. And Lyman is a fictitious character portrayed by Brian Paulette, Lenexa sophomore, in an original play, "The Beadman," which is being presented at 8 tonight by English Alternative Theatre in Hashinger Hall.
"Pasty listens to their stories to learn about humanity, and then he sells them to a television producer," Brian Boies, director of the play, said.
EAT also will present "Canvass," an original play by Sarah Zercher. Zercher's play deals with the business ethics of an environmental
organization who goes door to door to raise money for his cause.
Zercher, who graduated from the University of Kansas in May, said she got the idea for her play when she worked as a canvasser in Ohio three years ago. Canvassers are people who travel door to door soliciting donations and support of an organization.
"When you go door to door, you meet so many people and have so many different experiences," Zercher said. "They react differently to what you are doing."
She said many people wanted to talk all day and canvassers had to pretend interested in the person, even if they needed to finish knocking on doors.
"It's a fake sort of experience I struggled with over the summer," Zercher said.
Zercher said she tried to show that
struggle in her play. The canvasser in the play spends his time working, but does not feel comfortable working.
Lim also submitted the plays to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival XXVII, a competition for college-level theater productions.
Both Zercher and Boies said they wrote their plays in a beginning playwriting class taught by Paul Stephen Lim, professor of English.
The regional competition for the festival will be in January 1995 in Lincoln, Neb., Lim said. Plays selected at that level will move on to the national competition at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. next spring.
Lance Gharavi, a graduate student in theater and film, is directing the two plays for EAT.
The EATison
"Ive tried to make my direction
"Canvas" and "The Beadsman" will be presented at B tonight in Hashinger Hall. English Alternative Theatre is presenting the two one-act plays.
The plays will run at 8 p.m. Oct. 6.
There will be a 2:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, Oct. 9.
$3 general admission
KANSAN
However, he said keeping his influence invisible sometimes was tough. "I've tried not to leave fingerprints,
invisible, "Gharai said. "I wanted to show the playwright's vision as much as I could and in the best light that I can."
Internet service restored, more lines to be added
By Nathan Olson Kansan staff writer
Internet service for KU students and faculty has been restored, said West Hubert, assistant director of Academic Computing Services
RU's connection to the Internet, an interconnected set of computers across the world, was broken about 3 a.m. Monday when lightning struck a router. The router is the device used to send and receive messages through the Internet.
by 8 p.m. Monday, a temporary link was established through the University of Kansas Medical Center. The link provided KU with partial access to the Internet.
Yesterday afternoon, a new router was installed, restoring all Internet services.
services. Hubert said that connections occasionally were broken.
"But, I don't know of a particular case in which we've lost the connection for so long." he said.
Dave Nordlund, associate director for Information Technology Ser-
Dave Nordund, associate an vices, said that the University was taking steps to ensure KU's connection to the Internet would not be broken in the future. A connection exists from KU to Midnet, a service in Lincoln, Neb., that connects university, governmental and business institutions in the Midwest to the Internet.
Nordlund said that two connections through Wichita and Manhattan would be added to Midnet and that KU would make connections to Midnet through those cities.
"We expect those connections to be up by Nov. 1," he said.
"The effect is like going from a four lane highway to a six-lane highway."
Nordlund said the advantage
Associate director of Information Technology Services
"The effect is like going from a four-lane highway to a six-lane highway." he said.
Normally said the advantage for users would be a 50 percent increase in bandwidth. Bandwidth corresponds roughly to how much information each user can transfer to and from the Internet at one time.
way. The said.
Students who use the Internet said the broken connection didn't affect them too much. Tom Grelinger, Kansas City, Kan., senior, said that he barely noticed the lack of Internet service.
"I had a feeling something was up because Monday morning I had four messages and then Monday afternoon I had none, which is unusual because of the number of mailing lists I'm on," he said. "But it really didn't hurt my work. If I had had to do some research, I would have noticed it then."
The increased access to Internet would benefit students, Grelinger said.
"I imagine it would definitely help people by lessening the load on the network," he said.
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