Car trouble?
How to beat a parking rap: a student's guide
The vast tract of waste space smack in the middle of the University of Kansas campus, jocularly referred to as "Wescoe Hole," could have a beautiful destiny.
Imagine a multi-level parking garage, replete with ramps, elevators and uniformed attendants. One could drive to school, park one's car in this sparkling new facility, then enjoy a brief walk to class.
KU, however, is not a shopping center, and the Legislature would doubtless frown on such expenditures.
But the parking game must be played. What follows is an exhaustive guide to parking slots, complete with playing rules.
We will not deal with esoteric chaps whose mode of
transportation leans to the sporty-bicycles, motorbikes, tricycles and the like. Leave them to their pedals. We are talking about serious driving here.
Unzoned parking
Obviously, the most painless way to park is to rent an apartment on a street adjacent to the University. Recommended are Louisiana, Oread and Mississippi Streets, all close to Fraser Hall, Blake Hall and the Kansas Union. Also good are 12th Street, 13th Street, 14th Street, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Maine and Missouri Streets. You can park at home and beat the parking lot hassle.
If you happen to live in Gatehouse, Ridglea, or any other more distant apartment complex, early risers can beat the rush to the above streets and grab the slots
unoccupied by tenants. Come before 7:30 a.m., or employ the commuter time-zone approach (CTZ). A CTZ devotee knows that at twenty minutes past the hour, at noon and at 5 p.m., parking areas are in a state of transition, with folks moving out for home. Use a cruising tactic, circling the side streets around the Hill. A slot should open within five minutes.
Zoned parking—legally
Apply for a permit to Zones O or X, or any other zone for which you qualify. For wealthy students, this is no big problem.
Wescoe hole: A parking lot?
It should also be emphasized that the following zoned areas are open to the public during these hours: Zones N, O, M1, M2, Y and I, after 3:30 p.m.; Zone J and the west side of Jayhawk Boulevard, after 4:45 p.m.; and Zones F1, F2, K and X, after 5:30 p.m.
The dodge
CTZ tactics apply in these areas as well.
Devil-may-care drivers can beat the rap in numerous ways. The author does not advocate illegality, it must be emphasized. But occasionally it's the only viable alternative. For those occasions, here are a few handy hints.
Don't register your car. When the men in blue ticket the vehicle, have a friend walk up to the tugboat and tell the police officer on duty that he is a visitor and unaware of the regulations. Don't try this one too often.
For masochists with thick pocketbooks, try this. Drive past the "Halten Sie Hier" area at any approach to Jayhawk Boulevard at 30 m.p.h. Zoom down the street, and park in a highly illegal zone such as the newly paved lot beneath Spencer Library (on Poplar Lane).
Develop an overnight case of mononucleosis and call Watkins
Hospital early in the morning. You will be legally allowed on Jayhawk Boulevard, where you can park and attend all your classes. If you should be questioned, say you have been waiting to see the doctor all day. They just might believe you.
Break something
Break an ankle, preferably the left. You are in line for one free pass to Jayhawk Boulevard, and a legal parking slot on the Hill.
If you persist in parking your car in restricted zones for which your car does not sport a sticker, you'll have to keep your wits about you. You have several options: a.) Leave a vicious dog in your car. b.) Don't bother tucking an old ticket under the windshield. That gambit doesn't work any more. The cops are wise. c.) Station a girlfriend or boyfriend in your vehicle. d.) Park your car as far to the end of the lot as possible. Then spot-check every ten minutes for a suspicious-looking man in blue carrying a small book and a pen. That's a police officer with a ticket-book, and he's eager to give your car some unwanted decoration. Rush out and move your vehicle before he makes his way to your end of the lot. e.) Come when the lot is jammed, then wedge your car in the last remaining slot. You might get a ticket, but they'll never be able to tow your car away. I have seen hapless tow-truck drivers trying to maneuver in some of the mini-lots. It's rather amusing.
Somewhere on this Hill (and where, I'm not telling) there is a mini-lot, strategic in location, usually quite empty, only a block from Fraser Hall, and above all, legal and unzoned. That's my secret, although if any money exchanged hands, I might be willing to let you in on it, too.
I need to pay for the $28 worth of parking fines I've accumulated.
Greenhouse safe for now
The greenhouse at KU has been given a temporary reprieve
been given a temporary reprieve. Harry M. Buchholz, superintendant of physical plants, said the greenhouse will eventually be torn down and replaced by a cooling tower for the new humanities building. He added he did not know if the greenhouse would be relocated elsewhere.
Buchholz said the main job of the greenhouse is to supply plants for campus and to provide the red geranium which are
used for graduation ceremonies.
used for graduation ceremonies.
"The greenhouse is in disreputable condition," said Keith Lawton, vice-cancellor in charge of operations. "We're not maintaining it at the level at which it should be maintained.
In essence, we're not using it."
He added that removal of the greenhouse is not an urgent matter. When the building becomes unusable or when the site is needed for the humanities building it will be torn down, whichever comes first.
Lawton said that although the University probably won't build another greenhouse, if another is built, it probably wouldn't be as large as the present one.
Some students have expressed concern that the destruction of the greenhouse may affect the beauty of the campus, Lawton said.
"Campus beauty won't suffer," Lawton said. "We'll buy as many plants as we now raise." He added this would also be more economical.
Another Reapportionment Upheaval Seen After '70
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The Supreme Court's "one man, one vote" concept may have re-made the political map of the United States in the last six years but the revolution has only begun.
So says Prof. Robert G. Dixon Jr. of George Washington University Law School in his new book, "Democratic Representation," an exhaustive study of legislative reapportionment. Dixon, who may well be the best informed individual in the
"Now the freeze is over. . needed and long overdue is a fresh dialogue on the BASICS of representative democracy. . Man is a political animal, as well as a census statistic. . "
country on his subject,has come through with an engrossing as well as a scholarly work,which looks to the future as well as the past.
The court's early decisions required electoral districts for Congress, state legislatures and local governing bodies to be as nearly equal in population as possible. Another upheaval is sure to develop after the 1970 census.
The author's style is informal and large chunks of history are offset by descriptions of Supreme Court arguments and comments by the justices.
Although Dixon does not downgrade the fundamental importance of "one man, one vote," he insists that "fair and effective representation" embodies much more than mere equality in numbers. Party competition, economic views and racial considerations also are part of the picture.
" 'Political' interests never exist in isolation as pristine entities devorted from sex, race, economic class, vocation and so forth." he says.
As for who should actually draw district lines, Dixon comes out strongly.
2 KANSAN Apr.16 1969