peels that racers used against opponents. Every round eight participants raced through two laps on oversized tricycles. The winner each round won a $15 gift card.
Parr opted for bouncy balls, which forced racers to spin around if hit by one.
"One hundred percent bounce ball every time," Parr said.
Others went for banana peels.
Heather Kaplan, a sophomore from Shawne, handed out peels to racers. She also donned a banana suit for the event.
"What's more fun than wearing a banana suit?" Kaplan said.
Kaplan and other event staff originally tried to eat the bananas for the peels but gave up after about 10.
Rain had threatened to derail Kansas Kart, but the sky held for the event.
The event is just one of several events SUA is producing in the remaining month and a half left in the semester. SUA vice president of communications Andrew Fillmore, a junior from Belle Plaine, spoke about some of the highlights:
KU'S BEST DANCE CREW Students will have the chance
Auditorium Tuesday, April 19, to speak about the "It Gets Better" project, which he created.
"It Gets Better" consists of a series of videos designed to communicate to gay and lesbian youth that "it gets better" regardless of the hostility or insecurity they may be experiencing. Celebrities and politicians have lent their names to the cause, including President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Fillmore said that although Savage often did his "Savage Love" presentation, the Union event will be focused on "It Gets Better."
The event is $5 with a KU student ID.
MIKE POSNER
SUA will host hip-hop artist Mike Posner at Liberty Hall Tuesday, April 26.
Posner is perhaps best known for his songs "Cooler Than Me" and "Please Don't Go."
Tickets are available at the SUA Box Office on the fourth level of the Kansas Union and are $15 for students.
SEE SUA ON PAGE 3A
Memorial Stadium to house major events.
Travis Young/KANSAN Jon Sabillon, a senior from Lawrence, dresses up as Mario for SUA's Kansas Kart event Thursday afternoon and cheers as Jeni Burrows, SUA's special event coordinator from Belle Plaine, drives them through the finish line. There was a track set up in the parking lot of the Visitor's Center with various obstacles and had handful of different projects the drivers could pick up.
Johnson said the platform stemmed from listening to a friend's parents reminisce about their time at the University.
"They talked about how when they went to school they remember having concerts after basketball games." Johnson said. "And we would like to welcome big name artists and speakers, things like that, back into Allen Fieldhouse and even Memorial Stadium."
KUnited's goal is to make those venues more accessible as an option to infrequently house big events.
SUA president Rachel Anderson said attempts were made year after year to have an event in Allen Fieldhouse.
Funding will always be an issue to book events, Anderson said, but developing a partnership could help fray those costs.
"Something like what KUnited is proposing would be ideal," Anderson said. "But the question will still be do we spend a huge amount of money for that one show or spread it out over the entire year?"
Anderson, a senior from Manhattan, said as an organization SUA had discussed this idea extensively.
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"But," Marchiony said, "It is very difficult to schedule outside events at Allen Fieldhouse." During the academic year, Fieldhouse is I exclusively end in the sum
mer it is reserved for camps.
Historically, though, it's been done.
As recently as 2006 Allen Fieldhouse hosted comedian and actor Bill Cosby during Homecoming week.
Even artists such as Bob Marley and Louis Armstrong once graced the University with their musical presence.
"Certain artists won't come because we have to be able to offer them a sell-out space and this could help in bringing any artist," Johnson said.
Marchiony said the first discussions regarding this kind of proposal would most likely take place between himself and the Athletics Department facilities staff.
Without knowing specifics and without speaking to other staff members, he said it was difficult to discuss feasibility.
"We would talk about it as a department and decide on whether or not it would be something we would want to schedule here and something we would want to represent," Marchiony said.
INDEX
Classifieds ... 8A
Crossword ... 4A
Cryptoquips ... 4A
Opinion ... 5A
Sports ... 10A
Sudoku ... 4A
Neither Marchiony nor Anderson said they had personally spoken with KUnited coalition members.
WEATHER
TODAY
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Cloudy
INDEX
SFE COALITION ON PAGE 3A
SATURDAY
90 68
Partly Cloudy
weather.com
Forecasts by University students. For a complete detailed forecast for the week, see page 2A
www.weather.com
United States used data from NOAA, NASA and other sources.
SATURDAY
N ft
Some events move to downtown
RELAYS|3A
Kansas Relays moves three events to downtown Lawrence.
FOOTBALL|10A
Team has first spring practice
Coach Turner Gill studies his players during practice to decide on their positions.
Kansas needs to strengthen its defense for weekend's game against Oklahoma St.
After losing its two games against Oklahoma earlier this week, the Kansas softball team fell 0-8 in its conference record.
SOFTBALL | 8A
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