NATION
DNA tests implicate O.J. Simpson in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, prosecutors say. Page B7.
FEATURES
---
University of Kansas students' account of the peace and love experienced at Woodstock's 25th anniversary. Page 4B.
CHANCE OF RAIN High 89° Low 67° Weather: Page 2.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.104.NO.2
TUESDAIR AUGUST 23 1994
ADVERTISING 864:4358
Shanks faces one less rape charge
(USPS 650-640)
By Manny Lopez
Kansan Staff Writer
The trial of former KU graduate assistant football coach Jeffrey Shanks began yesterday with a new development.
Shanks, who was to be tried on three counts of rape together, now is facing two counts after one of the plaintiffs decided not to pursue her case.
Frank Diehl, assistant district attorney, would not comment on why the charges were reduced.
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS 874342.
Shanks, 27, was charged with raping a registered nurse from Parsons last February and a Kansas City, Kan., woman in
March. Both incidents were said to have taken place at Shank's apartment in Jayhawker Towers. The third woman had alleged that she was raped by Shanks in February in her apartment off campus.
Yesterday, Shanks maintained his innocence.
About 15 people sat in the Douglas County Division One Courtroom to hear Diehl and Shank's lawyer, Mike Warner, give opening statements.
In his statement, Warner described Shanks as a bad student who had trouble communicating with people, especially women.
had a low confidence level," Warner said.
"Jeffrey Shanks has always been shy and
"Jeffrey Shanks has been charged with two counts of rape," Warner said. "He is many things — maybe self-centered, maybe promiscuous — but he is not a rapist."
had a low confidence level, "Warner said. One thing he said Shanks was confident about was becoming a college football coach.
Shank's lawver disagreed.
But Diehl said the series of events that lead to the alleged rapes were calculated. He said Shanks used his size and strength to control the women.
"Both women knew him," Warner said. "They only reported the incidents after a
period of time passed, and they spoke to someone else."
The first victim said she did not report the rape because she thought she could handle the incident and did not want to have to explain it to her two children.
She testified yesterday that she had intercourse with Shanks three times Feb. 26. She said she initially tried to resist Shank's advances but stopped struggling because she was afraid of further injuries.
Nine men and three women will hear testimony in the case, which is expected to last through the end of the week.
The second plaintiff is scheduled to testify today.
Jeffrey Shanks, left, looks on as his attorney, Mike Warner, gives opening remarks at the beginning of Shanks' trial.
Paul Kotz / KANBAN
Wetlands debate continues
No solid plans set for trafficway construction
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
A line of pink flags snakes its way down the hill. A few feet away, the ground has been cleared for construction. The only way to get there is by the dirt road climbing up the hill's bank.
It's not very impressive by itself. But this clearing near the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 and Douglas County 14 is the beginning of the South Lawrence Trafficway, one of the most contested issues in the past two years in Lawrence and Douglas County. Plans to build it along 31st Street in the vicinity of the Baker Wetlands and Haskell Indian Nations University have led to fiery debate in public hearings and plenty of hard feelings on both sides.
But like it or not, the clearing indicates the four-lane traffic definitely will be built
The only question now, say county officials and trafficway opponents, is where it will eventually go.
But that's not the end of problems with the trafficway, said John Pasley, Douglas County project coordinator. He said the county wants to work with Haskell students, who say the trafficway will ruin the spiritual quality of the wetlands, and with environmental groups.
The official ground-breaking Aug. 11 followed a victory for the trafficway in a lawsuit filed by a local environmental group. On July 1, a federal court ruled in favor of the Federal Highway Administration, which wrote the final environmental impact statement.
So the final plan has been altered, he said. Only the western half of the trafficway will be developed for now. That part starts at Interstate Highway 10, extends south toward Clinton Lake, then curves east until it hits U.S. Highway 59.
And after that? Nobody is quite sure, Pasley said.
Carlos Tejada / KANSAN
"People come up to me and ask me, 'Where's it going to go?' he said. "And I have no idea."
Pasley said the county has three options. It can build it along 31st Street, as was originally planned. Or it could be built south of the Wakarusa River. The third option is to build it along 35th Street, which lies between 31st Street and the Wakarusa.
The 31st Street option is the option being challenged, but the other two have complications as well. The 35th Street route, which is off Haskell property, would put the trafficway right through the wetlands, angering environmental groups. And Pasley said traffic studies
Construction crews begin making way for the South Lawrence Trafflowy near U.S. Highway 40 and Douglas County 14. Construction has been delayed by a lawsuit, environmental concerns and protests from students at Haskell National Nations University.
showed drivers wouldn't use the road if it dipped as far south as the Wakarua.
The county won't decide until it consults with Haskell students, who return this week, and with environmental groups, Pasley said. But, he said, the change in the plan had helped calm the debate down a bit.
"I think everybody now understands the process," he said. "We agreed to stop work, and that made for a better atmosphere."
The problem now is time, Pasley said. He
said the county was expecting a report from Haskell students on the religious and spiritual significance of the wetlands by the end of September. Plus, the county has ordered a supplement to the final environmental impact statement, which won't be ready until the end of 1994. Then comes a series of public meetings, which won't be finished until September.
"And that's just round one," Pasley said. Lena Johnson, representative for the
Alliance for Environmental Justice, said a lot of problems still had to be ironed out with the trafficway before student and environmental groups would agree to it. Specifically, she said, a human-made wetland about a mile east of the current wetland would not make up for the loss of natural wetland if the trafficway goes through.
She also said the wetlands comprised almost 95 percent of the county's total wetlands, an amount too precious to endanger.
Students find voice by voting
By James Evans
Kansan staff writer
The newly created Student Political Task Force is trying to get a greater, more respected political voice for KU students.
The task force, a new committee within the Student Senate, started a voter registration campaign yesterday on campus, said Marc Wilson, Hiawatha senior and co-chairperson of the task force.
"Right now, our age group has the lowest voter turn-out," Wilson said of the 18- to 24-year-old bracket. "We want to bring students into the political system."
With the voter registration drive, Wilson and David Stevens, Wichita junior and the other co-chairperson of the task force, said they hoped that they could help make students have an "active effect" on Kansas politics. The task force will have voter registration tables in front of Wescoe Hall every Wednesday starting Aug. 31, and every Thursday at the Kansas Union starting Sept. 1.
To help increase KU students influence as a lobbying group, Stevens said that political debates are being set up now between all the major political races.
"The debates will help in getting students educated about the upcoming November elections," Stevens said. He said that the debates would also show help the major candidates that students are an important constituency that should be addressed. "In November we'll be able to flex our political muscle." Stevens said.
Wilson said that U.S. House Second District candidates, Jan Meyers and Judy Hancock, have already agreed to a debate in October. Gubernatorial candidates Jim Slattery and Bill Graves have not yet agreed to a debate he said.
The great student political push on campus is largely do to the demise of Associated Students of Kansas, said Sherman Reeves, student body president. In the fall of 1993, Attorney General Bob Stephan ruled that student funds could not be used for lobbying in Topeka, he said.
"The way we're trying to hit Topeka is by hitting them here in Lawrence," Wilson said.
KU, EPA discuss misspent funds
The University of Kansas may owe the Environmental Protection Agency more than $500,000 for missent funds an EPA official said this week.
By Shannon Newton Kansan staff writer
In June, the EPA's inspector general's office in Washington released a 14-month audit of the expenses from a 1989 EPA conference hosted and organized by KU. Among the allegations was that both KU and the EPA broke federal laws by spending $506,929 of the federal government's money on items such as alcohol and a billboard welcoming conference participants.
The EPA was given 90 days after the audit's June 17 release to respond with what action, if any, it planned against the University.
Scott McMoran, chief of Grants Information and Analysis for the EPA
in Washington, said that the EPA planned to work with KU to come to an agreement over what expenses should be paid back.
"We plan on working with the university for input and justify with them the costs that were spent that were unnecessary and unreasonable," McMoran said. "We will ask for repayment of those unnecessary cost."
But Tom Hutton, director of University Relations, said that KU was not to blame for the mishandling of funds. Hutton said that the EPA in Kansas City, Kan., had approved all of the expenditures.
"The EPA approved the costs every step of the way," he said.
In a statement released in July, Hutton said KU had acted appropriately in organizing the conference.
"KU fulfilled all its obligations to this project as established in the award document," he wrote. "By now
EPA costs
Some of the costs from a 1989 EPA conference in Kansas City, Mo., hosted and organized by KU
$1,233 for alcoholic beverages from an open bar.
$2,058 for a robot from California entertain conference partial pants
$4,125 for hotel phone rentals and to install additional lines.
$5,623 for meeting space.
$2,458 for rental chairs.
$3,480 for a photographer.
$4,239 for a highway billboard that "EPA Welcome You to KC!"
KANBAN
suggesting that the University return funds, the report effectively denies EPA's responsibility and accountability."
Mexico announces newest president
By Nathan Olson Kansan staff writer
The victory of Ernesto Zedillo in Mexico's presidential elections Sunday brought both relief and anxiety from observers of Mexican politics.
With 32 percent of the votes counted by yesterday afternoon, Zedillo, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, had 48 percent of the vote. Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, of the National Action Party, or PAN, was second with 30 percent. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, of the Democratic Revolution Party, was third with 16 percent. The PRI has won every presidential election in Mexico for the last 65 years.
Local reaction to Zedillo's victory was generally positive from a political perspective.
Zedillo succeeds President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who leaves office Dec. 1
"Most of the interests of the United States will be best
---
See REACTION, Page 8A.