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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM News WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2004
TRANSPORTATION
Riding away from high prices
Timothy Michael Burns, St. Louis fifth year, rides his bike on Jayhawk Boulevard Tuesday afternoon. He walks sometimes, but said he used his bike as his primary means of transportation.
BY ASHER FUSCO
afusco@kansan.com
Simon Baek saves some green by going green — when the weather permits it, at least.
The Seoul, South Korea, senior, rides his moped the four miles from his off-campus apartment to the University as often as possible because the scooter goes nearly 60 miles on one gallon of gasoline.
"It's good to take to campus because it's so much cheaper," Baek said. "When it's cold or bad weather, and I have to take my car, I end up going to get gas twice a week."
Baek's hesitance to drive to school every day isn't unusual. Popular alternative modes of transportation for students include bicycles and mopeds, while on-campus organizations are turning to electric cars and Segways.
With gas at $3.82 per gallon, a four mile commute costs about 25 cents on a scooter like Baek's. In a car that goes 20 miles per gallon of gas, the same commute costs about 75 cents per trip.
"With anything on two wheels it has been ridiculous as far as the level of business," Jae Landreth, owner of Fineline Vespa, said. "It's because of gas prices — and it might be a good thing to get away from relying on fossil fuels."
"With anything on two wheels it has been ridiculous as far as the level of business. It's because of the gas prices..."
Kasold Dr. Walt Nitcher, Cycle Works employee, said the store's business had been on the upswing
JAE LANDRETH
Owner of Fineline Vespa
Landreth said most of the scooters at Fineline Vespa, 1502 W. 23rd St., went anywhere from 80 to 100 miles on one gallon of gas.
Warm weather and escalating fuel prices have turned 2008 into a big year for Cycle Works, 2121
"It's more fun than walking — it's good exercise and it's quicker,"
for the past few months, and that one of its biggest suppliers recently ran low on bicycles, delaying a shipment to the store.
The KU Public Safety Office is also turning to green methods of transportation. The University Patrol Unit and the Security Unit share two Segway Personal Transporters, and the Security Unit uses an electric car.
Nitcher said. "You can actually ride on Jayhawk Boulevard and some other places on campus where you can't drive."
The Segways, which were subsidized by Student Senate, travel about 10 miles per hour using an
electric engine. The $5,000 devices use no gasoline.
"Sometimes I'll put one or two officers out on those instead of in a patrol car," Patrol Sergeant Troy Mailen said. "It helps reduce cost in fuel and gives them a little help on patrol to get around a little quicker."
Mailen said the department would like to expand its use of Segways because the small devices were more convenient than patrol cars on the University's compact campus.
The University Security Unit's electric car, or "GEM car," travels up to 25 miles per hour and is fully battery-powered.
"It has allowed us to add another vehicle to our fleet without increasing our gas consumption," Elizabeth Phillips, assistant director of the Public Safety Office, said.
Phillips said the department had not used the one-year old electric vehicle long enough to confirm how much money it had saved.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
》 NIGHT LIFE
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Students play poker during a game hosted by the Lawrence-based entertainment company Poker Pub Inc.
Community poker? Students go 'all in'
BY REBEKAH SCAPERLANDA
rscaperlanda@kansan.com
It may not be Las Vegas,but Texas Holdem fans can be high rollers right here in Lawrence every Wednesday and Sunday nights at The Pool Room, 925 Iowa St.
Lawrence-based entertainment company, Poker Pub Inc., plays host to no limit Texas Hold'em tournaments at local bars around the region for anyone to play. With no entry fee and no pre-registration, anyone from those as experienced as two-time World Series of Poker Champion Doyle Brunson to someone who doesn't know their "pocket rockets" can sit down to play at the same table.
"You have some people come in who have never played a hand in their life and others who have played in Vegas. It's a wide, wide range," said Alex Saunders, a Poker Pub official.
Once poker players sign up for a tournament, they are given $4,000 worth of chips to play with for the
details
What: Poker tournament
Where: 925 Iowa St.
When: Wed. 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Sun. 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
next three hours. Because commercial gambling is illegal in Kansas, tournaments are played for prizes. Normally prizes range from $15 to a new poker set. Some nights, Saunders said, are played for points that players can add up for larger prizes. He said the grand prize was qualifying for a larger tournament at Conroy's Pub in Lawrence where the winner received a trip to Las Vegas.
Abel Martens, Lawrence senior, heard about the poker tournaments through a friend and decided it would be worthwhile to check out.
"I'd never even been to The Pool Room before," Martens said. "I really like poker, so the concept is nothing new, but this provides another way for me to do the activity."
Kerri Emel, Hutchinson junior and a waitress at The Pool Room, said the bar didn't seem like a typical college town bar when you first walked into it, but she said the people were friendly and everyone treated each other like family.
"Some people will be more serious and others will just want to play and drink," Emel said. "I think everyone comes just to have a bit of fun."
Edited by Rustin Dodd