Wednesday, April 2, 1975
University Daily Kansan
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Pedestrian safety is bikers' concern
By BILL GRAY Kansan Staff Reporter
Kansan Staff Reporter
Bicycle riders not only need to watch out for themselves but also for other travelers and others on the road.
Mike Thomas, director of the KU Security and Parking Department, said Monday that many cyclists probably didn't realize that it was important to watch out for pedestrians.
Thomas said he encouraged cyclists to walk their bicycles on sidewalks.
"They don't realize that pedestrians can't hear a bicycle approaching." Thomas said. "We had a person almost run over by a bicycle just last week."
Sgt. Miguel Garcia, head of the trunk division of the Lawrence Police Department, said it was illegal in Lawrence to ride 100 feet of a public building or business.
THOMAS SAID bicycle routes to and from campus had been established in conjunction with the Lawrence Traffic Safety Community Commis-
tion and bicycle traffic flowing freely.
Bicycle-related accidents don't occur in great numbers, Garcia said. Thirty bicycle accidents were reported to police in 1974, he said, as compared to 20 in 1973. The last bicycle rider killed in a traffic accident in Lawrence was in 1973. Garcia said.
One marked bicycle route starts at the Chi Omega fountain and proceeds west on Crescent Road, then road on Engel Road to Daisy Hill. Another route proceeds from the fountain north on Emery Road, then west on Harvard Road to West Junior High.
"The entire campus is also a bicycle route." Thomas said. "We decided that it would be too inconvenient to bikers if we rode there." Haiku by Jayhawk Boulevard or some other street."
Bicycle parking hasn't presented any problems so far this year, according to Thomas. Adequate parking for bicycles exists at almost every building, he said, but problems arise when bicycles are chained together or obstructed Buildings and Grounds workers.
ENFORCEMENT OF BICYCLE LAWS is
infuriate. Caricature said four people should try to
beat them up.
"A bicyclist is the same under the law as any driver of a car," Garcia said. "He can be arrested and ticketed just like a car driver."
Cyclists who never use hand signals or who run stop signs are the most common violators, Garcia said. He said no one had been arrested so far this year for those
Remodeling underway for library
Remodeling and furnishing a new reference library for the German department have been made possible by a gift from the family of a former professor of German, according to Helmut Huelsbergen, chairman of the department.
The endowment, made in 1970, was to commemorate Elmer F. Engel, professor of German from 1828 to 1941 Hulbsbergen said the university's scholarship funds for students studying German.
Remodeling began March 18 on the second floor of Wescool Hall near the department's office. The library will replace four module offices that were constructed with partitions that allowed for easy removal.
A special feature of the library will be a stereo center with earphones. The recording center will provide students an opportunity to hear tapes and records of famous musicians. Huetuisberg said the center was designed to complement the language laboratory.
ACCORDING TO HUELSBERGEN, the endowment will cover the cost of remodeling and furnishing the new library. The gift also provides for subscriptions to German periodicals and an annual sum for acquiring new books.
The German department has always maintained a small reference library, he said. Because the library depends on both public and private support, Hulsbergen said, the operation costs have never been included in the department's budget.
The library, which will accommodate approximately 3,000 volumes, is scheduled to close this summer.
JRP incidents investigated
The KU Security and Parking Department is the KU investigating a power outage and an explosion that occurred shortly after midnight Monday at Joseph R. Pearson
Transformer switches at JRP were thrown at 12:01 a.m., according to a Security and Parking report. Two pieces of one-quarter inch rope and a broom were used to pull the transformer switches, the report said.
A urinal in the south wing of the second floor of the hall was destroyed by an explosion at 12.32 a.m., according to another report. The resulting report. Damage was estimated at $175.
Mike Thomas, director of Security and Parking, said Tuesday the explosion apparently was caused by a cherry bomb or some type of firecracker. He said the department had no indication yet whether the explosion was a prank.
No evidence has been uncovered to link the explosion with the power outage. Thomson
violations, but two or three citations had been made against celebrities without permits.
The city of Lawrence requires that all bicycles ridden within the city limits be licensed. Licenses must be renewed each year and expire May 1. They may be purchased for 25 cents at the Lawrence Police Department at the KU Security and Parking offices.
Cyclists are required to give a description of the number of their bike in order to receive a ride.
"GETTING A LICENSE is good, cheap insurance," Thomas said. "The police have a record of the bike and its serial number. Several stolen bikes have been recovered and returned to their owners because the owner had his serial number recorded."
Garcia said 140 bicycles were recovered by Lawrence police in 1974. He said many of the bicycles were never claimed and had to be sold at auction.
"We've put the overflow of recovered Lawrence Public Library," Grace said.
There have been no specific complaints about night bicycle骑ers, he said. A cyclist is required by law to have a light and reflector on his bike, and Garcia said it was advisable for persons riding at night to wear light-colored clothing.
Students are going to have a difficult time ending summer employment in Lawrence, Kentucky.
By SUSIE HANNA Kansan Staff Reporter
Summer job crunch predicted
Ed Mills, manager of the Lawrence Job Opportunity office, said recently that students would face a tight job market and because of the government and because of keen job competition.
Industrial employment and general labor are the most difficult areas in which to find work. Mills said, but work demands are low all over.
Mills, estimated the February unemployment rate for Lawrence at just under 6 per cent. The January unemployment rate was 13 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent in October.
"With unimpressed around 6 per cent, it
the economy records," he said.
Mills estimate isn't as bleak at the national rate of 8.2 per cent, but is slightly higher than the state rate of 4.6 per cent reported for the week ending Feb. 15.
GLEN WEST, executive secretary for the Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Mills.
"I think this reflects that no area can be entirely isolated from a soft national economy," he said. "I don't think the prospects for summer employment will be
particularly good. Mills is being realistic." West said Lawrence would probably remain three to four percentage points below the average, largely because of the diversity ex-
Mills said that most of the decline was in construction and manufacturing, which he said had suffered a continued downward trend. The economic slump and seasonal decline
Construction usually picks up during March, Mills said. Although he predicted a general upswing in outside work by April 1, he said this seasonal increase probably wouldn't alleviate the overall problem for the Lawrence area.
"NORMALLY AFTER the weather breaks, unemployment declines, but I'm not expecting it now with the heavy unemployment of January and February," Mills said. "A recovery can't be made that quickly."
Lawrence's major employer is the University of Kansas. One out of every four workers, about 6,000, is employed by the University.
Currently, University employment is stable, but West foresees a potential drop in enrollment if enrollment drops to 13,000 or 14,000 until 1980 s, as some studies have predicted.
New construction work at the University should contribute to an upwelling in emerald deposits.
for summer work will be competing with petrils already unemployed, which perhaps would have been better.
Several manufacturing firms have closed in Lawrence. The most recent to close was Flintwood Homes of Kansas Inc., 807 E. 29th. That closet resulted in the loss of 45 jobs.
THE FLEETWOOD closing followed the closing of Kansas Footwear Inc., Kansas Fibreboard Inc. and the layoff of 35 employees at Agency Records Controls
The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce is encouraging more business firms to locate in Lawrence to broaden the economic base. TRW Crescent Wire & Cabell Co. will open in July in the building vacated by Kansas TRW Crescent Wire will employ about 50 persons by the end of the year of the boom. Bob Moore, co-chairman of the Chamber of Commerce economic development
Bob Moore, co-chairman of the Chamber of Commerce economic development
THE AMOUNT OF commercial construction will be heavy, Moore said, and he predicted that manufacturing would pick up.
Darwin Eardens, assistant to the director of Student Financial Aid, said it would be more difficult this summer for students seeking work than in previous summers.
"I think it will be good this summer," he said. "Students always have a rought time. If you really want a job you have to put in applications early and be ready to work hard. If a student really wants a job you must bust for it. You have to sell yourself."
Eads said there had been a substantial increase in the number of people coming to England.
"I'm expecting the same trend for summer jobs." he said.
Employers are contacting the office by the middle of April or the first part of May. Eads said, but it is imperative that students apply early to jobs outside the county. Many of these jobs are with the government and already been taken, he said.
City personnel director, Dave Manfield,
said the turnover rate for city employees had
been steadily declining. Employees area
designated as jobs as jobs as jobs
become harder to find, he said.
The city hires as positions become available, Manfield said. This low turnover rate will probably continue, decreasing job opportunities with the city, he said.
Local industry surviving decline of nationwide housing construction
By WARD HARKAVY Kansan Staff Reporter
The amount of local housing construction nose-dive last year, but the housing construction industry in Lawrence is still in business, according to five local businesspress.
Permits for housing construction fell from 372 living units in 1973 to 181 living units in 1974, with 51 per cent. That drop was attributable to the increase in living units in 1972 to 372 living units in 1973.
Marshall D. Biggerstaff, vice president of Anchor Savings Association and manager of Anchor's Lawrence office, said last week he didn't think the drop in housing construction was an indication that the local housing industry was in trouble.
"I think we're in excellent shape," Biggserstaff said. "We don't have as large an inventory of houses on hand as we had in the last installment home-buyers still can't get financing."
He said interest rates on loans to home buyers should continue to go down, making financing for home building a little easier to obtain.
INTEREST RATES for government-insured home building loans were as high as 9.5 per cent last November. Since then, they have dropped to 9.0 per cent locally and even lower in some other areas of the country. lower interest rate gives the potential home builder more incentive to build because of a lighter financial burden in repaying loans.
Alan Cordonier, real estate salesman for the Gill Agency, also predicted a further drop in the interest rates on loans to home buyers.
The number of building permits for apartment and duplex construction fell from 54 permits for 220 living units in 1973 to 16 permits for 56 living units in 1974.
Cordonier said this decrease was at least partly due to "a glut on the market."
William Lienhard, vice president of First National Bank, said interest rates don't affect the local housing industry as much as they affected the general availability of mortgages.
Duane Schwada, president of Continental Construction Co., said he was concerned about the current high interest rates. He said that the rates would probably decrease in the short run, making loans to home buyers easier to obtain, but that long-term prospects for low interest rates weren't very bright.
CORDONIER SAID the 51 per cent drop in house-building permits from the year 1973 to the year 1974 wasn't an accurate measure of housing construction in Lawrence.
*Long-range apartment building will have to slow down because of predictions
that KU enrollment will eventually decline," Cordierian said.
Schwada agreed that the sharp decline in the number of building permits wasn't necessarily an indication of trouble in the local housing construction industry. He also noted that multi-unit builder may be suffering now, the single-unit provider probably isn't.
"THE SINGLE-FAMILY house owner builds for different reasons. He builds for his own use," Schwanda said. "The multi-family unit builder is an investor interested in numbers. If the numbers are right—if he can afford a decent rate of return—he'll invest."
Cordonier he thought apartment construction in Lawrence was cyclical. The large number of new apartment complexes in the city required a response to an increasing need among students for off-campus housing, he said. Cordonier said this need had been fulfilled, and the special reduced rental rates of a few rent-hogged had given way to recent rent hikes.
"Rents are increasing over the last 12 month period." Cordonier said, "especially during the week."
Larry Danielson, manager of membership and public relations for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, also said the decrease in housing construction wasn't necessarily an indication of economic trouble.
"THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC situation hasn't affected Lawrence that much," Danielson said. "The economy is catching up with Lawrence. We've been used to tremendous growth. Now things are leveling out, but they're not sharply going down as they are in some other areas of the country."
Cordonier said many people had decided
to go ahead with buying houses because inflationary construction and maintenance costs are rising.
Danielson said the presence of KU had helped the housing industry in Lawrence in the past and would continue to be a positive effect on the local economy.
He said that Lawrence had an inordinately high number of realists for a city of its size. He said the presence of so many students and the relatively high turnover of faculty at KU had meant a continually high amount of real estate activity here.
LIENHARD SAID that although com-
panies are becoming a national pro-
blem in western Europe,
“Our economic situation in Lawrence is stable.” Lienhard said. “The University and other industry are solid and pretty well suited to be used to the car industrial, for example.”
Bigger staff said that housing patterns in Lawrence would probably change considerably.
"In 25 years, Lawrence will be able to house one-third more people in 25 per cent less area," Biggerstaff said, "because of its proximity and more condominiums and town houses."
Cordonier also said that condominiums and town houses were likely to increase in popularity and use in the future. But he said that people in this part of the country were slow to accept the principle of multi-family housing.
BIGGERSTAFF SAID that smaller multifamily unit housing, such as condominiums and town houses, would become an necessity for middle-class Americans.
Cordonier said the Lawrence housing construction industry was in good shape, considering the depressed state of the national economy.
Customer and many people had secured national contract.
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