Peaks and valleys The Kansas softball team finishes an inconsistent regular season against the Iowa Cyclones this weekend in Ames, Iowa.
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FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM VOL.117 ISSUE 148
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THE STUDENT VOICES NCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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fees
See what your new $54.75 in student fees will do for you next fall. Improvements include SafeBus and more
3A wireless access.
tea
Although green tea has become popular recently, many people disagree on its variety of tastes. Kansas State researchers now have a solution. 3A
football
Kansan sportswriter Asher Fusco predicts how Kansas will do in its first half of Big 12 Conference play next year.
track and field
The Big 12 Championship for track is fast approaching. KU athletes have this weekend as a last chance to qualify.
weather
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index
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Classifieds... 3B
Crossword... 6A
Horoscopes... 6A
Opinion... 7A
Sports... 1B
Sudoku... 6A
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© 2007The University Daily Kansan
》 BOARDWALK TRIAL
Rose continues to deny arson
In videotaped questioning, Rose says he burned only a piece of paper
BY ERICK R. SCHMIDT
The jury in the Boardwalk Apartments fire trial continued to watch more than 10 hours of give-and-take, back-and-forth video-taped questioning of Jason Allen Rose on Thursday. Rose's history of setting fires as a teenager was at the center of interviews in which Rose repeatedly insisted that he did not start the deadly fire. Eventually,
Rose admined that he had set on fire a piece of paper that contained a phone number from a man named "Star" and that the piece of paper caught wooden railing on fire.
Rose is accused of starting the boardwalk Apartments fire, which killed residents Jose Gonalez. Helen "Yolanda" Riddle and K student Nicole Bingham. Rose is charged with aggravated arson, three counts of murder and seven counts of
aggravated battery. The case originally went to trial in February but was declared a mistrial because of a late-surfacing witness.
The interrogation began Oct. 10, 2005, just two days after the deadly fire and continued for nearly seven hours the following day. In the interrogation, Rose was questioned by Police Detective Troy Squire of the Lawrence Police Department and Christy Widener of the U.S. Bureau
of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives. They asked Rose several questions about a series of fires he was accused of setting while growing up in group homes.
The interrogation was taped in a span of two days in separate sessions, just two days after the fire.
Squire and Weidner continued to question Rose through long gaps of
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Students 'travel art world'
SEE BOARDWALK ON PAGE 3A
>> SPENCER ART MUSEUM
Soencer Art Museum featured "Student Night and Party," an event where students won prizes, created post cards and viewed the different exhibits.
Cross-cultural event displays work from Asia, Europe and Africa
The sound of international music, the smell of catered snacks and the promise of a free T-shirt lured a soulful crowd to the Spencer Art Museum on Thursday night. The "Student Night and Party" was the museum's student night, an event held every year.
BY BETHANY BUNCH
KJHK kept the turntables spinning with "cross-cultural jazz and soul" played loudly over speakers while students mingled, explored
"Travel the art world", the theme of the pary, showcased exhibits in Asia, Europe and Africa. The newest addition to the museum, the 20/21 Gallery is still under construction. The curators of the night previewed the new exhibit by showing videos of international artists.
the exhibits, ate rachos and sippen on iced tea.
"We chose about 10,000 of 20,000 pieces of art to be in the 20/21 Gallery" Graf said. "We even had an impartial artist come from New
York to help with the exhibit."
"I've been here for lots of things, like openings and lectures," Birmingham said. "I think if events like this bring in more students than would normally come, then it's a success."
Sally Birmingham, Spring Hill junior, said she's not a stranger to the museum.
That was the goal for the Spencer Student Advisory Board. Megan Graf, St. Louis senior and volunteer for the Board, said the point of holding events like student night was to attract students who normally wouldn't visit the museum.
Kim Brook, president of the Student Advisory Board, said the museum strived to reach the University campus to attract them to things like lectures and gallery openings. The student night and party was one effective way to do this.
"We'd like to make the Spencer a
SEE SPENCER ON PAGE 3A
》 HOMELESS
Event aims to curb violence
BY MATT ERICKSON
Twice this winter, Lawrence homeless people were beaten in random, violent attacks by adolescent males.
Now, two graduate students want to prevent more attacks from happening.
Shannon Williams and Jenn Holtaway, both master's students in social work, have organized a demonstration to take place Saturday afternoon in South Park to raise awareness of violence against homeless people.
"We're just trying to bring awareness that these attacks are happening, and that they're happening in Lawrence," Williams said.
Random attacks on homeless people have become more common nationwide. The attackers sometimes refer to the practice as "bum bashing."
In 2006, 142 of these attacks were reported across the country. a 65 percent increase from the year before, said Michael Stoops, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Some of those victims were raped, beaten with weapons or set on fire, and 20 of them were killed.
"That's just disturbing to me," Williams said. "That's 20 individuals who died for no apparent reason except for (someone's) joy and entertainment."
For their demonstration, called "Bag the Violence," Williams and Holtaway are collecting sleeping bags to represent each of the 142 victims of homeless violence last year, as well as the two Lawrence victims this winter. The demonstration will run from noon to 2:30 p.m.
》SOLARIS
They said they probably would not meet their goal of 144 bags and would need to represent each victim
SEE BAGS ON PAGE 3A
To donate new or lightly used sleeping bags for the Bag the Violence event, drop them off at Lawrence Community Shelter, 214 W. 10th St, or e-mail shoutlawrence@gmail.com for someone to come pick them up.
Donations
Students ready lander prototype
BY BRIAN LEWIS-JONES
If everything goes as planned next Saturday, a Mars Lander prototype will fall 500 feet from a helium-filled balloon by parachute, fire three simple model rocket engines to slow its decent and softly land upright at a Clinton Lake radio control airfield.
Then the Lander's ramp will open, an American flag will flip up and a small rover will creep out that will image the terrain with its two attached cameras.
Ben Parrott, Overland Park senior and systems engineer for the Mars Trekker project, said the endeavor received skepticism from some professors, but the team of students
remained optimistic during the venture.
The Lander, planned, designed and constructed by University of Kansas engineering students, began development in September 2006.
The team, Simulated Operational Lander And Rover Integrated System (SOLARIS), is composed of 16 aerospace engineering students including two graduate students. Parrott said the close-knit group worked on the six-pound Lander with a $2,500 budget as a two-semester Space Systems Design class project.
"None of us had done anything like this, a project of this magnitude," he said.
"With the workload, it's tough to
have fun," Parrott said, "but we try."
Trevor Sorensen, associate professor of aerospace engineering, has been teaching and guiding the students in what he calls a "very complicated mission."
He said the Lander was a demonstration of concepts and techniques that could be used on a real Mars Lander.
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"I still have concerns about the whole project," Sorensen said. "It's so complicated on the first attempt that I don't think everything will go as planned. The more we test, the more chance at success we have."
Elizabeth Gregory, Topeka senior who is mission control director and ground station lead engineer, said
Contributed photo
The prototype Mars Lander will be tested May 12 at Clinton Lake. In production since September 2006, the lander is the product of SOLARIS, a team of University engineering students.
the biggest technical holdups were the onboard computer system and
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SEE LANDER ON PAGE 3A