2A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2005
Mon-star
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
As her mother Gerda steadies her, actress Charize Theron takes the first "official" step on her new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during dedication ceremonies in Los Angeles, Thursday.
Law firms find no evidence of affair
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul dodged questions about a review that Fox said found no evidence that she had an affair with a former contestant, and Simon Cowell said viewers could expect more scandals among competitors.
"I'm sitting right here happy doing what I'm doing," Abdul said Wednesday when asked if she felt vindicated by a report last month by two law firms that found nothing to corroborate former contestant Corey Clark's claim of an affair with the former pop star.
Abdul did say later that "when you have a show this successful it's crazy we haven't had any more discrepancies."
'AMERICAN IDOL'
Abdul, Cowell, fellow judge Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest were in San Francisco for auditions for the upcoming season, which starts in January.
The judges also said viewers shouldn't expect every contestant to have a flawless background, and that a good scandal can keep the show interesting.
"Not everybody is perfect and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people," said Cowell, who routinely skewers "Idol" candidates he deems aren't up to snuff. Cowell also promised to be "nice."
The judges also praised former "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson's transition to mainstream stardom. Clarkson recently won MTV awards for Best Pop Video and Best Female Video for her hit "Since U Been Gone."
"We're proud, we're happy, and it's nice that she remembers the show as well," Cowell said.
The judges said viewers should be prepared for plenty more contestants like William Hung. Hung's dismal performance of the Ricky Martin song "She Bangs" failed to earn him a spot on "Idol" but won him a cult following and spots on television ads.
The allegations that Abdul had an affair with Clark, who competed unsuccessfully in 2003, received nearly as much publicity as the Fox-TV show last year and led to an ABC special called "Fallen Idol."
Senior greeks stick together
HOUSING
BY LOUIS MORA
lmora@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Senior year for members of the greek community means the opportunity to move out of the house but still share a bond by continuing to live with fellow senior members off campus.
Though living out of the house can provide freedom, it also requires more responsibilities.
"Everyone wants to move on as the last hurrah," said Joel Dreiling, Leawood senior and member of Phi Kappa Psi.
Ashley Withers, Shawnee senior, lives under the same roof with 11 other Kappa Delta seniors.
She said because her house was filled to capacity it provided the option of living off campus.
"V
You get so used to living around so many girls. I couldn't imagine living with anyone else."
Ashley Withers
But still living around the girls she has known since freshman year was a must.
"You get so used to living around so many girls," she said. "I couldn't imagine living with anyone else."
Molly Cobb, Overland Park senior, lives with six Chi Omega seniors. She said the freedom
that comes with living away from the house was rewarding.
"You create the rules of the house," she said. "There are no consequences if you don't follow the rules."
Dreiling said he could now have friends over to visit and have parties with kegs on football game days, which was not possible living under fraternity rules.
"You get kegs, but you get noise complaints," he said of throwing parties at his new place.
Living with 11 senior members of Gamma Phi Beta, Anna Zuroweste, Overland Park senior, said to keep the house clean they had come up with the wheel of chores that assigned cleaning duties.
Last year, living in the sorority house, Zuworeste didn't have
to worry about anything other than cleaning her room and paying bills.
She said this year has helped prepare her for when she has to live on her own.
"It increases your responsibility and makes you feel like you're on your own more than you were before," she said.
Withers said having a place off-campus has helped the younger members get to know the seniors.
The off-campus house provides an extension to the sorority, because the sophomore members use the house as a place to relax, she said.
"It's helped the house as a whole to bond," she said.
— Edited by Kellis Robinett
Casting call
Senior Casey Topol of Mamaroneck, N.Y., works on her slip cast for her ceramics class Thursday. Her cast is a Japanese-inspired wave bowl.
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
EVOLUTION
Science critics' rhetoric called 'demeaning'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA — They may be Nobel Prize winners, but they didn't do their homework before criticizing how proposed Kansas science standards would handle evolution, intelligent design advocates argue.
The intelligent design advocates described the critics — prominent chemists, physicists, and medical experts — as "clearly ignorant" about changes the advocates are seeking in current standards that treat the theory of evolution as well-accepted and crucial to understanding science.
Thirty-eight laureates, led by Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, sent a letter to the State Board of Education earlier this month. Intelligent design advocates who helped draft the proposed standards fired back in a letter they made public Thursday.
The intelligent design advocates suggested the laureates didn't review the proposed changes and said the criticism was part of a larger campaign to discredit intelligent design advocates and suppress debate over evolution's flaws.
"We all want good standards," the letter said. "However, demeaning rhetoric that does not address specifics but serves only to belittle and misrepresent the changes is not helpful."
The state board expects to vote later this year on proposed standards, which will be used to develop tests for students but would allow local boards to decide how science is taught. With a 6-4 conservative majority, the board is expected to adopt language sought by intelligent design advocates.
But Steve Case, assistant director of the University of Kansas' Center for Science Education, said intelligent design advocates' language deserves the criticism.
"What they're proposing is the same old debate and arguments that were disposed of by the science community in about 1860," Case said.
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