KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, MAY 6.2010 / NEWS
5A
LAWRENCE
Students to open hot dog cart this fall
BY ANNA ARCHIBALD
aarchibald@kansan.com
Sophomores Jason Mandel and Justin Shankar got approval to open a food cart downtown until 2:30 a.m. The cart will open on Aug. 16 and serve hot dogs, chips and garlic cheese.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Six months ago, opening a food cart downtown seemed like a near impossibility for Jason Mandel and Justin Sharkan.
But now the time restriction and various other roadblocks, including safety and rent, standing between them and "Last Stop Snack Shop" are in the past.
Last Tuesday, their petition to have a hot dog cart open downtown until 2:30 a.m. finally got the City Commission's approval. Mandel and Sharkan, both sophomores from Wilmette, Ill., plan to have the food cart open by the beginning of Hawk Week. Aug. 16, when students are moving back to Lawrence and residence halls open up again.
"it's been a long road, and hopefully it will work once we open it up." Mandel said. "We initially wanted to try to have it open a couple nights before the end of finals, but both of us aren't going to be in Lawrence this summer."
Mandel and Sharkan estimated it would cost more than $4,000 to get the food cart up and running, which includes getting their health code license and fire department inspection of the cart.
weeks of operation as a trial period.
Mandel said they are funding the project with money from their own pockets.
They aren't sure how much they will initially have to spend on food, but they plan to use the first couple
He projected all of the food will cost $5 or less - $1 for chips and water - and will include hot dogs, hamburgers, walking tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches.
"We want the food to be as fresh as possible," Mandel said. "It could be more or it could be less, but the majority will be in that range."
Their food cart will be similar to the one located on Wescoe Beach during the school year.
Sara Beth McGlasson, a senior from Topeka, said she typically ate at the food cart on Wescoe Beach when it's open and that she's excited about the possibility of one opening downtown.
"It usually get a hot dog and chips. It's simple, easy and cheap," she said. "It will be really nice to have once the bars close, and you need to unwind but aren't ready to go home."
McGlasson said she thought a food cart that made pancakes and breakfast food would be "ultimate" but thought that this idea was good, nonetheless.
City Commissioner Mike Dever said he has concerns about large crowds forming around the food cart.
"I do worry about the congregations and people hanging around." Dever said. "But the extension of time for me is simply serving a niche, and they certainly done a good job."
At the meeting, the two sophomores addressed safety concerns
and rent standing in the way of initiating Last Stop Snack shop.
The original idea to have the stand located at Sixth and New Hampshire streets was denied at the commission meeting because of safety and vandalism concerns from business owners in the area.
"Most of the trouble that happens downtown late at night is outside of a bar," said Jane Pennington, executive director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc. "If there is congregation outside of this place, there is the potential to cause problems."
The stand will be located on one of the corners of Tenth and Massachusetts Streets. Mandel said once they bought their permit from the city, they would have to specify which corner they want.
Despite concerns from Pennington and local business owners, the commission was overall supportive of the students' effort to open the food cart.
"I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit," Commissioner Lance Johnson said during the meeting. "I'd be willing to give it a try."
Because of the expense and hassle of starting a business, Mandel said he didn't think competition from other students would be a big issue, either.
"You have to be up all night, and there are taxes and big legal problems you could run into," he said. "It's a lot of work besides standing out and selling hot dogs."
Edited by Allyson Shaw
Prayer services offered for pooches
HEALTH
ODD NEWS
DANVERS, Mass. — A Massachusetts church is scheduled to launch a new monthly worship service — for dogs. Calvary Episcopal Church will offer later this month its first "Perfect Paws Pet Ministry" aimed at giving area poaches and their owners improved odds at getting canines into heaven. The Danvers
Church officials said well-mannered, leashed dogs are invited. People can submit a paper prayer if their pets are sick, not good around other dogs or deceased. Prayers can also be offered for other types of pets.
church plans to hold the service on the third Sunday of every month, complete with communion for the humans and special blessings for pets. Dogs will get special treats.
Associated Press
Donor drive will save lives, challenge myths
Don's Auto
proud to be a part of the tradition for
BY SAMANTHA FOSTER sfoster@kansan.com
Today's bone marrow donor drive will be the first on campus. Leslie Hall, a junior from Paola and organizer of the bone marrow donor drive, said people have many misconceptions about the event.
Julie Thomas, a sophomore from Albuquerque.
N. M.I. who helped organize the event, said people often let fear keep them from realizing how important it is.
"The bigger part of it that people don't see is that it could be saying someone's life." Thomas said.
Hall said people who register need to know that they're making a commitment.
MYTH #1:
BONE MARROW MATCHES
ARE EASY TO FIND
Bone marrow is usually used to treat patients with leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone.
"We want to add more and more people to the registry so there are more and more chances to match with someone,"Hall said.
Hall said it was important for people to be on the registry because so few matches are found for people who need bone marrow transplants. She said only four out of 10 people who need a transplant ever find a match.
"The worst thing that can happen is if you get matched to someone and the person backs out," she said. "That's pretty horrible."
MYTH #2:
IT WON'T MATTER IF I
CHANGE MY MIND
— Edited by Ashley Montgomery
Event organizers will do cheek swabs for people who want to join the donor registry. The registry is a database of possible donors that doctors check to find matches for patients who need bone marrow.
Unlike blood donation, Hall said, being able to donate bone marrow depends on your individual genes. Doctors look for matches among family members first, but if that fails the registry is the only option.
MYTH #3:
DONATING BONE
MARROW IS PAINFUL
Hall said hip bone marrow was used for children under 12.
Hall said this was the most common myth about donating. Hall said 80 percent of the time the process only involves the donor's blood. Blood is taken out, marrow is filtered out of the blood and the blood is put back in. It is no more painful than a blood donation. The other 20 percent of donations take marrow out of the hip bone.
"It hurts about as much as if you fall on a patch of ice and your butt's sore for a few days." Hall said.
BONE MARROW
DONOR DRIVE
WHEN: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today
WHERE: Fourth floor, Kansas Union
749-0055 • 704 Mass. • rudyspizzeria.com
May 27th - 30th, 8am-5pm
at Carl Knox Natorium, LHS
*Pre Registration and Payment are Required
DIVE INTO A SUMMER JOB Water Safety Instructor Courses
Fundamentals of Instructor Training Pre-Course:
May 18th, 8:30am - 12:30pm
Pre-Course Water Skills:
May 26th, 4-5:30pm
at Carl Knox Natatorium, LHS
Congratulations Class of 2010! You're invited to
Grad Grill
5:30-7:30 p.m. • Thursday, May 6 • Adams Alumni Center
Join us for your first alumni event. Don't miss out on all the great prizes, music and free food! No RSVP needed.
Check out www.kualumni.org/classof2010 for more details.