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CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, March 14, 1996
House passes abortion bill
Debate may not ever reach the Kansas Senate
TOPEKA — The only abortion bill to pass the House this session might not be debated on the Kansas Senate floor, State Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, said yesterday.
By John Collar Kansan staff writer
Praeger, who is chairwoman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, said the committee would not be able to work on the bill, which was passed by the House last month.
"There are so many provisions that need to be addressed." Praeger said. "I don't think we'll have time."
The bill, called the Woman's Right-to-Know Act, mandates that information about fetal development and options to abortion be given to women considering an abortion. It also would increase the waiting period from eight to 24 hours.
State Sen. Nancey Harrington, R-Clearwater, said the committee should at least debate the provisions of the bill.
"This bill in no way limits a woman's access or hinders her ability to choose an abortion," Harrington said.
The committee heard testimony yesterday from both supporters and opponents of the bill.
Two women, who did not want
their identities revealed, said they had obtained an abortion.
They said that if they had received more information about the procedure, they would have chosen to carry the fetus to term.
"Prior to my abortion, no attention was given to alternatives, what the procedure entailed or fetal development," one woman said.
Carla Mahany, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said the bill had significant constitutional flaws.
Another part of the testimony centered around the information that would be given prior to an abortion. This information says there is a definitive link between breast cancer and abortion.
She said the bill would create an undue burden on women because it would require them to visit the clinic twice in 24 hours.
Praeger said that the studies were faulty because of a lack of a representative population.
The results would be skewed because many women do not wish to reveal that they had an abortion. Prazer said.
"Iguarantee you that those studies are very inconclusive," Praeger said.
KU students reach new heights
On Tuesday, State Rep. Carlos Mayans, R-Wichita, combined three other abortion bills that had failed this session into one bill that will be voted on by the House.
He said that he didn't want to get the House bogged down while debating the individual bills.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
Combining the bills would alleviate this, he said.
Andrea Prince, Lake Arrowhead, Calif., freshman, climbs the 24-foot-wall at Robinson Center. The KU Rock Climbing Club meets every Monday and Wednesday night.
Rock climbing wall can provide thrills for different people
By R. Adam Ward Kansan staff writer
People who use the climbing walls at Robinson Center aren't just Mountain Dew-swilling adrenaline junkies.
A wide range of people use the wall, and many are not very athletic, said Jasper Denniston, Lawrence senior.
The climbing walls in 207 Robinson are available for anyone to use from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday, from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Denniston said. The only requirements are a KUID to check out climbing shoes and a harness.
The room contains an eight-foot bouldering wall, which is climbed without safety ropes. The room also has a 24-foot-high main wall, which requires a harness and rope to climb. Mike Gee, Thousand Oaks, Calif., senior, said the room had a good safety record.
One of the only injuries that has occurred there happened to him when he was on the bouldering wall, he said. Gee was talking and fell off, spraining his ankle.
But this experience did not lessen his interest in climbing, and he has been president of the KU Rock Climbing Club for two years. he said.
Gee said that during the last two years the size of the club had grown from 30 members to 90 members, and attributed the growing interest of the club to a national interest in extreme sports.
He said rock climbing had been grouped into the category with other activities that raise adrenaline like mountain biking, bungee jumping and extreme skiing.
Denniston, who began climbing his
"One disadvantage of using the climbing wall is that it's nothing like the real thing."
Jasper Denniston Lawrence senior
freshman year, said that many people interested in the sport craved the adrenaline rush.
But Denniston said others liked rock climbing because they liked traveling and being outdoors.
"One disadvantage of using the climbing wall is that it's nothing like the real thing," he said. "The scenery in Robinson sucks."
But Denniston said safety and yearround availability were the advantages of indoor climbing.
Tyler Bergmeier, Longford graduate student and manager of the climbing wall, said the safety standards for the Robinson climbing wall were higher than any other climbing wall he'd been to.
The belaying staff, the people who hold the ropes for climbers, are certified in first aid and CPR. he said.
Recreation Services finances the upkeep of the room and pays the staff,he said.
But Bergmeier said fear of injury wasn't the main reason people didn't participate in the sport. Most people assume they have to be in shape to climb the wall, and that's not true.
He said climbing was one of the easiest sports to learn — after all, people start climbing as babies in the crib.
Gang violence may be nearing Lawrence, panel warns
Citizens told to work to keep streets and neighborhoods safe
By Sarah Morrison Kansan staff writer
Dr. at a community meeting on gang awareness.
That was the message a panel of speakers sent last night at Southwest Junior High, 2511 Inverness
Gang violence will become a problem in Lawrence if members of the community do not actively work to prevent gang activity.
The meeting was sponsored by the Lawrence Alliance and included representatives from the Douglas County District Attorney's office, the Lawrence Police Department, the City of Lawrence, Mothers Against Gang and Gun Violence and Project Freedom.
Assistant City Manager Rod Bremby said gang activity was escalating in Lawrence.
There are no neighborhoods where gangs have taken control or set up air drug markets, as in
urban cities, he said. But there have been problems with kids joining gangs.
"It will continue to progress unless we act and act quickly," Bremby said. "By no means are we isolated from what is going on."
Lawrence resident Marsha Cook told the audience that she was in denial about her 15-year-old son's gang involvement until the police searched her house and found a loaded gun in her son's closet.
Cook later found out rival gang members had planned to shoot her son that weekend.
She said she never suspected he was a gang member until the incident.
Bremby said community awareness and prevention efforts were the only things that would keep gang activity down in Lawrence.
"Are there places in the city where you should not go? My answer is no," Bremby told the audience. "Will there be places in the city where you should not go? It depends on you. It depends on the community."
Reporting any possible gang activity to the police is one way to help
keep the problem under control, said Lt. Dan Affalter of the Lawrence police.
People should not let fear prevent them from becoming involved in gang prevention, he said.
Cook agreed that people could not succumb to gang members' intimidation tactics.
"If we fall to the fear of retaliation, we've lost the battle," Affalter said. "This is a quality-of-life issue."
"I am not allowing some little kids to take my community away from me," Cook said.
"If we fall to the fear of retaliation, we've lost the battle."
Lt. Dan Affalter
Lawrence Police Department
Environs feeds starving, broke students vegetarian lunches
By Susanna Löof
Kansan staff writer
Lunch time can be a dilemma for students when their stomachs are growling and the change in their pockets isn't even enough for a candy bar.
But today, and every Thursday, the dilemma doesn't have to be a problem.
The KU Environers offers students and others free vegetarian lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays
at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
Chris Foster, Los Gatos, Calif., graduate student and KU Environors member, said the main purpose of the free lunches was to give people a chance to meet and have fun.
"It's also to promote vegetarianism and talk about environmentalism," he said.
But the group does not try to convert the people coming to the lunches into vegetarians, he said.
The vegetarian lunches usually
The organization accepts donations, and on average, each visitor gives about $1. That is not enough to cover the cost for groceries, Foster said, and the club loses money on the lunches, but that loss is not much.
attract about 20 people each week. Most of them are interested in learning more about vegetarianism or environmentalism, Foster said.
The ECM does not charge for the use of the building, and the organization buys organic rice and
beans, which are the main ingredients for the lunches, in bulk to keep the cost low.
Today's menu includes vegetarian chill and cornbread. Another popular meal is black bean burritos. Four of the club's members help cook every week, and the meals are easy to prepare, Foster said.
Thad Holcombe, pastor for ECM,
said the food served was good.
"It's real simple," he said. "It's basically rice, beans and tortillas,
and that's fine."
The lunches were an opportunity for people with similar interests to gather, Holcombe said.
Foster said he didn't mind spending a couple of hours cooking for others every week.
"It's satisfying to be able to provide a meal for people who enjoy it," he said. "It's doing something that is positive and makes people think about vegetarianism and environmentalism."
Free food
What: Free vegetarian lunch
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
every Thursday
Where: Ecumenical Christian
Ministries, 1204
Oread Ave.
Sponsored by KU Environs and ECM.