CAMPUS A clock that hung in KU's first building returns to campus Page 3A. WARMING High 73° Low 49° Page 2A.
勇
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.104.NO.25
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26,1994
ADVERTISING: 8644358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Trafficway protest brings arrest
One woman jailed goes on hunger strike
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
A Lawrence resident was arrested Saturday afternoon and remained in jail yesterday following an otherwise peaceful protest of the South Lawrence Trafficway.
Mary Gray, 39, was arrested and charged with failure to abide by lawful order, a misdemeanor, after she walked about the trafficway construction site at U.S. Highway 40 and Douglas County Road 13 uprooting surveying stakes. She was in Douglas County Jail yesterday on $150 bond. Gray apparently also told friends Saturday
afternoon she was on a hunger strike and would remain in jail until a Douglas County Commissioner came to speak with her.
Gray, an active member of the trafficway opposition, pulled out six stakes before two Douglas County deputy sheriffs, who were supervising the protest, arrested and handcuffed her.
Lena Johnson, a member of the Alliance for Environmental Justice, one of the protest's sponsors, said she had spoken to Gray on Saturday in jail. Johnson said Gray had told her that she would remain in jail and continue the hunger strike until one of the three county commissioners came to speak with her. Johnson said Gray also had declined offers by friends to pay her bond.
"She seems pretty determined to stay down there." Johnson.
County commissioners could not be
Gray could face a maximum penalty of $500 and/or six months in jail, according to state law.
The arrest followed a peaceful protest by about 30 people, including Lawrence residents and KU and Haskell students, who said the trafficway would damage the wetland area south of Haskell Indian Nations University. Haskell students have said the wetlands hold a spiritual value, and environmentalists have said the wetlands are ecologically important because of their diversity.
After lining U.S. Highway 40, protesters formed a circle and spoke on the environmental and spiritual threat of the trafficway, which the state and Douglas County are building to relieve traffic on the city's south side.
"I condemn my race for pursuing the almighty dollar," said Mike Todd, Lawrence resident.
Speaking above the nearby traffic, Jayleen Farrell, Haskell sophomore, told the people forming the circle that they should oppose the trafficway to preserve the land for future generations.
"Do you really want your children to live like that?" said Farrell as she gestured to a child in the circle. "These precious children? I want them to smell. I want them to be able to touch a tree and know what it is."
Terry Huerter, Kansas City, Kan, sophomore and member of KU Environs who attended the protest, said KU students should get involved.
"It's a unique land that's part of our community," he said. "This development could eradicate it."
PROFILE
"Vic the Barbarian", also known as Victor Wortman, is well kown in Lawrence for his three-wheeled 1948 Harley Davidson and his free-wheeling attitude.
'Vic the Barbarian' is incurable extrovert
Once known for his wild exploits in Lawrence, "Vic the Barbarian" has cleaned up his act but still has a good time.
By David Wilson
Kansan staff writer
A loud roar rips through the quiet of the afternoon as a three-wheeled 1948 Harley Davidson tears up Indiana Street in a cacophony of engine exhaust.
Sitting astride the antique piece of American machinery is "Vic the Barbarian", certified Lawrence character.
This afternoon, "Vic the Barbarian" is dressed in knee-high black motorcycle boots, jeans, a tight
He swings out of the wide seat of the Harley and strides into Yello Sub, wallet chains and assorted keys dangling from his belt. Everyone in the shop stops eating for a second to look at him.
black T-shirt and a red bandana around his neck. His shoulder-length wavy brown hair frames a pair of aviator sunglasses with a heavy purple tint.
Alternately smirking and smiling, he looks and sounds like a cross between David Lee Roth and Kirk Douglas.
Inside, he spies a woman waiting for her sandwich. He marches up and begins complimenting her in a raspy rendition of French. She is flattered but a little bemused, and she edges away nervously.
He brushes off the rejection with a booming laugh and turns to exchange "hey mans" with a friend he hasn't seen in a while.
"Vic the Barbarian", otherwise known as Victor Wortman, 36, is an incurable extrovert. Nobody who wanders within 10 feet of him escapes his conversational web.
Even in the battered Cutlass he drives when the Harley is out of commission, he keeps the window down so he can vell to passers-bv.
But like the woman at Yello Sub,
not everybody warns up to him
Wortman, who had worked as a doorman for The Hideaway, 106 N. Park St., a bar that closed during the summer, tried to get a job doing the same thing for the recently reopened Hideaway, now a gay and lesbian bar.
See VIC ,Page 6A.
David Novlin, Lawrence resident, protests the Lawrence trafficway at U.S. Highway 40 and Douglas County Road 13.
Traffic study to end problems
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
The congestion caused by cars jamming Jayhawk Boulevard each day during the early evening hours eventually could be alleviated, said a Minneapolis, Minn., traffic consultant.
Rick Nau last week began a six-month study of traffic patterns on and near the KU campus. Nau, a senior associate of BRW Inc., a consulting engineering firm, said he would develop short-term solutions for traffic problems and a long-term transportation master plan.
"For the longterm, I've been instructed to be as visionary as possible," Nau said. "I view my challenge as not being tied to the paradigms of the present."
"We also will take counts of pedestrians and bikes," he said. "The following week, we will monitor turning movements at campus intersections."
Nau, who has served as the traffic consultant for the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota, said employees of BRW Inc. and some KU students would be paid to collect data for the study. After analyzing the data, Nau will submit his final report in June 1995.
"We will consider expansion of the transit system and alternatives to the bus system for the long term," he said. "In the short term, we'll look at adding turning lanes, may beidy widening the street or rerouting traffic."
Nau met with University and city officials last week in Lawrence. Although he will make only a few brief trips to KU during the next few months, Nau said his continued presence was not imperative for an effective study.
"You don't have to watch the traffic congestion every single day on Nalsmith Drive to understand that there's a problem," Nau said.
Nau said the improvements outlined in his report would be implemented over a period of years.
"I can't say that this study will solve the traffic problems associated with a home football game," he said. "But I do think that we can make some definite improvements."
Greg Wade, site and landscape development manger for KU's office of capital programs, said the study was part of the University's long-range master plan.
"I expect this study to be very comprehensive," Wade said. "This should allow us to make a long-range plan for transportation in the future."
Wade, who is serving as the campus contact person for the study, said the study should address traffic problems such as congestion and parking.
"After the study is completed, we will identify projects and find a funding mechanism," Wade said. "This won't be a simple process, so I would say changes are at least two years away."
Record-setting day Kansas junior running back L.T. Levine and a host of other Jayhawks helped pound the Division I-AA Alabama-Birmingham Blazers 70-0 Saturday.
Record-setting day
Page1B.
KU phone books to arrive this week
By Manny Lopez
Kansan staff writer
Trying to get a new telephone directory is at times as difficult as trying to get an extra ticket to a Kansas basketball game.
But later this week, after Facilities Operations employees deliver The University of Kansas Telephone Directory 1994-95 to campus offices, people will be able to book a directory at any one of three area bookstores.
Last week, about 4,500 of the 16,500 telephone directories that were printed were delivered to students who live in the residence and scholarship halls, said Julie Swords, publications coordinator for University Relations.
Later this week or early next week the telephone directories can be purchased at the Mt. Oread Bookshop in the Kansas Union, Jayhawk bookstore, 1420 Crescent and Jay-
"Over the last 10 years the University has gotten free copies into more hands than they used to," said Bill Getz, assistant manager for books at the Mt. Oread Bookshop. "We will try to keep the price at $1.50."
hawk Book Shop, 1116 W. 23rd St., Swords said.
Last year, the telephone directory cost $3 at the Jayhawk Bookstore and $2.50 at the University Book Shop.
Although each bookstore charges for the directory, the University does not pay the publisher to have the book printed, Swords said. For the second consecutive year, the directories were printed by University Directories of Chapel Hill, N.C. In return for the printing rights, University Directories sold advertising space in the yellow pages section.
"We have a small profit margin built in," said Mike Swale, assistant manager.
"We are always working to try and make it more readable," Swords said.
er of the Jayhawk Bookstore. "We don't make much on the books, but it's still a business."
Changes to this year's directory include placement of the emergency telephone numbers on the first page instead of the third page and a cover photo by David McKinney, Lawrence graduate student.
Students whose names appear in the book and are listed incorrectly should refer to listing information on page 173, Swords said. Wrong information occurs most likely because of students not changing their information with the registrar, she said.
"Usually what happens is that students' names or numbers might be wrong one year, but they remember to update it the following year." Swords said.