THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL. 116 ISSUE 3
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19.2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Food for thought
Kristin Driskell/KANSAN
Ali Sultani, Shawnee Mission junior, enjoys his lunch outside of the Underground. The new tables that line the sidewalk in the back of the Underground gave students an opportunity to sit and relax while they got something to eat yesterday during his first day of classes.
CRIME
Student kidnapped driven to KC airport
BY STEPHEN LYNN
slynn@kansan.com
KANSAN WRITE WRITER
Kansas City International Airport police arrested a man on charges of kidnapping a 21-year-old KU student Aug. 14.
The man is suspected of kidnapping the student, who asked that her identity not be revealed, from her home and driving her to the airport between 12:30 and 4 a.m. on Aug. 14, said Sgt. Dan Ward of the Lawrence Police Department, citing a police report released yesterday.
The suspect, whose name is unavailable, choked the victim and forced her into a vehicle, which he drove to the airport, Ward said.
Another 21-year-old KU student, who also asked that her identity not be revealed, witnessed the battery in the residence and notified police after the victim and the suspect did not return to the house, the witness said.
"She said she would call me in two minutes and that was the last I heard from her," the witness said. "Then I called the police."
The suspect became angry after they finished a drinking game, but then the witness left to take a phone call in another room, she said.
While on the phone, the witness heard muffled arguing between the suspect and victim. When she finished her phone conversation, she found the victim in her bedroom without the suspect, she said.
"I came in and she told me, in tears and holding her neck, that he hurt her and left," the witness said.
She said she would call me in two minutes and that was the last I heard from her."
The witness
Shortly after, the suspect and the victim exchanged phone calls, she said. The victim said she would leave to search for the suspect in her vehicle, the witness said.
The suspect and the victim have been in a relationship for one year, the witness said. The victim declined comment.
Then the victim told the witness that she saw the suspect approaching the car and told the witness she would call back in two minutes, the witness said. The victim did not call back.
"I said If you pick him up I'm going to call the police," the witness said.
The victim left the residence in her vehicle and the women agreed to speak on their cell phones, the witness said.
There are no details about how the suspect gained control of the victim's automobile or how they ended up at the airport. He left the victim in the car and entered the airport, Ward said.
Alone in the car, the victim asked the first person she saw for help. Ward said. That person then contacted airport police, who apprehended the suspect. Ward said.
The suspect also damaged the victim's cell phone, valued at $100.
Edited by Jonathan Kealing
Shots all around
HEALTH
BY TRAVIS ROBINETT
trobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The University of Kansas has a new meningitis vaccination policy, which took effect at the start of this semester.
The policy now requires all students living in KU Department of Student Housing buildings to receive the vaccine, provide written documentation of immunization or sign a waiver saying they willingly chose not to be immunized. Those buildings include residence halls, scholarship halls and Jayhawker Towers.
The new policy strongly recommends that students living in group housing not administered by the University, such as fraternities, sororities
Meningitis vaccine now required
and Naismith Hall, receive the vaccine. The policy also encourages all other students to consider vaccination.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "What you need to know" flier, meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Ten to 15 percent of meningitis victims die. Another 11 to 19 percent either lose limbs, become deaf, have problems with their nervous systems or suffer from mental disabilities, seizures or strokes.
Students living in the residence halls have an increased risk of contracting the disease because the bacteria that causes meningitis can spread to other people who have had close or prolonged contact with a person who has meningitis, according to the CDC's meningococcal disease Web site.
"We have had a huge campaign over the past several months," said Patricia Denning, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center. "Our Wellness Resource Center has been sending out information packets canpuswide."
Erin Loehr, Overland Park freshman, said she got the vaccine before she came to school after hearing about someone getting the disease last year.
"It wasn't that bad," she said. "It
▼ SECURITY
SEE SHOTS ON PAGE 3A
Cameras on campus offer increased safety
BY STEPHEN LYNN
slyn@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
They are perched above, and if you haven't craned your neck recently to catch a glimpse, you may not have noticed them. But they have noticed you.
The University of Kansas has almost finished installing security cameras in phase one of its project to make campus safer, said Chief Ralph Oliver of the KU Public Safety Office.
"We're about 90 percent finished," Oliver said.
A new security camera surveys the grounds around Daisy Hill. Cameras have been installed on the hill, at Jayhawker Towers, and the Lied Center during the first phase of a two-phase project to increase security around campus.
Taylor Miller/KANSAN
But some students doubt their effectiveness on a campus the size of the University.
University officials agreed that the installation of the cameras will serve a dual purpose: to make campus safer and to eventually improve parking efficiency.
"There are so many people on campus, it would be hard to catch a person," said Veronica Jacobs, Kansas City, Kan. sophomore and Jayhawker Towers resident. "But it's a good step."
Networking and Telecommunications Systems began equipping Daisy Hill, Jayhawker Towers, GSP-Corbin Hall and the Lied Center with cameras in the beginning of July, in what is called phase one of the two-phase project. Cameras already located at Allen Fieldhouse and Memorial Stadium were upgraded, Oliver said.
The University has provided $280,000 for the project, and the Department of Homeland Security has provided $150,000, said Captain Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety office.
Cameras outside the Kansas Union, Watson Library and the Student Recreation Fitness Center would be installed in phase two of the project, Oliver said. Phase two cameras would be installed as funding becomes available, said Rhonda Birdsong, administrator at the KU Public Safety Office.
Sparing crime
"This was the best way to enhance security instead of putting more manpower on the street." Oliver said.
The cameras aren't meant solely to prevent crimes in progress, though students will monitor the cameras at random times, Oliver said.
The cameras would help deter and prosecute violent crimes at the University, Oliver said. Three violent attacks since October 2003 played a major role in the decision to install them, Oliver said
Chancellor Robert Hemenway requested that students be used, Birdsong said. The monitoring would be a paid position, she said.
For students worried about fellow students peering into their private lives, the computers used for monitoring have a function in the software that can "gray" windowpanes, making them opaque, Oliver said.
Some students still dislike the idea of being constantly observed.
"I think it's great they're trying to make the parking lot safer, but a feeling of paranoia might result," Shad Morton, Garden Plain freshman and Oliver resident, said.
The cameras are "pan, tilt, zoom" and are capable of close-up shots, though Birdsong would not offer any information concerning resolution, she said.
Officials hoped the cameras would discourage people from committing property crime, as well. Oliver said. Most of the cameras cover parking lots, where automobile thieves thrive, but Oliver would not indicate the number and locations of the cameras.
"That's too much information for the bad guys," he said.
Students shouldn't become complacent. The cameras add a single level of security and should not be seen as a sweeping measure of safety, Oliver said.
Signs would be placed in general areas informing people they are in an area under security, Birdsong said.
Open spaces
While the cameras may enhance security on campus, they also may increase efficiency in campus parking lots.
Donna Hultine, director of KU parking, said she would use the cameras to determine whether lots were full.
"When somebody calls me on a cell phone saying 'I can't find a space' I'll say 'go to this lot,'" she said.
If the department decides to follow the recommendations of the study conducted by the Philadelphia-based consulting firm Chance Management Advisors to restrict cars to specific lots instead of the "hunter's license" method used currently then the cameras would be less useful, Hultine said.
Though the cameras can capture close-up shots of objects, Hultine said the department would not use the software to enforce parking regulations, she said. Parking attendants would still perform regular duties.
Parking officials didn't have access to the software yet because the installation isn't complete, Hultine said.
Today's weather
— Edited by Erick R. Schmidt
All contents, unless stated otherwise.
© 2005The University Dally Kansan
Bullwinkle's
Bullwinkle's Since taking over controlling ownership of Bullwinkle's, Marley Polian has started renovations aimed at making the bar more attractive. Some students are disappointed by the loss of character, however. PAGE 2A
Memorial Stadium to receive new scoreboard The Athletics Department has announced a new scoreboard for Memorial Stadium. The new board is similar to other Big 12 teams' boards. PAGE 10A
One-hundred-year-old man revisits a century G. Baley Price, one of the inventors of "New Math", recalls the University's first computer and WWII work. Price recently donated $100,000 to Spencer Research Library for archiving work. PAGE 2A
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Index
OPINION 5A
CROSSWORD 6A
SPORTS 10A
CLASSIFIEDS 7A
V