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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY MARCH 3,2008
MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008
6A NEWS
1046928356789
NATION Fans reminisce, get excited as Plaza Hotel reopens
NEW YORK — Hundreds of New Yorkers and tourists alike flocked to the Plaza Hotel on Saturday for the landmark's reopening after a three-year, $400 million renovation.
"They say this place is the world's most famous hotel," said doorman Freddy Davila, who worked for the hotel for 15 years until it closed in 2005. "It's wonderful to be back," he said as he wel- comeed visitors up the red-carpeted steps.
"We just had to see inside," said Owen Mathieu, visiting from Marblehead, Mass. "We've seen it in the movies. Everybody's heard of it."
Associated Press
The Plaza, a National Historic Landmark overlooking Central Park, first opened in 1907. Marilyn Monroe was photographed here, and guests included the Beatles and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Gale Sayers visits the Kansas Union
Former Jayhawk and NFL player signs copies of his book for students, fans
BY LUKE MORRIS
Imorris@kansan.com
CAMPUS
Rachel Anne Seymour/KANSAN
Fans of all ages came to the Kansas Union to meet Kansas football legend and National Football League Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers on Saturday afternoon. Sayers signed his new book "Sayers: My Life and Times" at Oread Books.
"It was great that he was so personal. I've been through book signings before where they don't even look up at you, but he's a very personable guy', said Schipfmann, who like a few other fans, wore a replica of Sayers' No. 40 Chicago Bears jersey to the event.
Carlene Schipfmann, a Kansas alumna from Lenaea, said that it was a wonderful experience to meet the "Kansas Comet."
Sayers, the two-time All-American running back, played at Kansas before joining the Chicago Bears. He went on to become the youngest inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also served as an associate athletics director at Kansas before serving as athletics director for Southern Illinois University.
Gale Sayers, former KU football player and NFL hall of famer, signs copies of his new book at Oread Books in the Kansas Union on Saturday. "The line was constant for about three hours," said Lisa Eitner, general book buyer for Oread Books. Sayers' book sales will help fund the Gayle Sayers Center in Mount Prospect, III, which opens in the fall.
"The line was constant for about three hours," said Lisa Eitner, general book buyer for Oread Books, on Level 2 of the Union. "KU fans are always like this with KU sports figures. They're very excited to meet them and get a photo with them."
Several University students from the Chicago area came to meet Sayers. James Buddig, Hinsdale, Ill., sophomore said meeting Sayers was awesome and unforgettable.
"I'm a big fan because he went to KU and played for the Bears," Buddig said. "My dad had met him once before, and my friend met Mike Ditka before for a signing like this, so I had to one-up them."
Eitner said that the store sold more than 350 copies of Sayers' new book that day. The store will donate a portion of its sales from Saturday to the Gale Sayers Center, an educational center for children ages 8 to 12 in Mount Prospect, Ill., that will open in the fall. Sayers is also donating all of his royalties from the book to the center.
Schipfmann said that she admired Sayers' commitment to community and that she wasn't surprised he would donate his royalties from the book.
Some of the older fans in attendance relived memories of watching Sayers' playing days. Steve Kovinski, Schipfmann's father, recalled the day he watched Sayers return a 96-yard kickoff for a touchdown in Wrigley Field in Chicago in 1966.
"He always seemed open in interviews that I've seen and read," Kovinski said. "If there was an example to follow, I'd say he would be it."
Fans who missed the event may have another chance to meet Sayers in the fall.
"He offered to come back again, so we're thinking about possibly doing another book signing around the start of football season," Eitner said.
Edited by Jessica Sain-Baira
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He is expected to rule in concert with his mentor, an arrangement that could see Putin calling the shots despite his constitutionally subordinate position as Russia's prime minister.
With ballots from more than half of Russia's electoral precincts counted, Medvedev had 68.2 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov had nearly 20 percent, it said.
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INTERNATIONAL Putin's desired successor wins presidential election
MOSCOW — Dmitry Medvedev, the man Vladimir Putin hand-picked to be his successor, scored a crushing victory in Russia's presidential elections Sunday, a result that was long anticipated but that still raises questions about who will run this resurgent global power.
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The Illinois senator also sought to ease lingering Internet-fed concerns about his religion, in particular whether he was a closet Muslim.
"What precise foreign-policy experience is she claiming that makes her qualified to answer that telephone call at 3 a.m. in the morning?" Obama asked of the former first lady at a town-hall meeting. It was a reference to dueling television ads over who would exercise superior judgment in responding to a national emergency in the middle of the night.
"I am a devout Christian, he said. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. I pray to Jesus every night."
PRESIDENTIAL Obama asserts positions on judgment, religion
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Democrat Barack Obama worked to fend off an intensified attack on his foreign policy credentials from rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as their paths crossed two days ahead of a potentially race-ending showdown in Ohio and Texas.
Associated Press
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Come meet Waterway Representatives at the
KU Spring Career Fair - February 12th and 13th
Waterway of Kansas City will be conducting on campus interviews Thursday, March 4th in the Business Career Services Center
WEDNESDAY vs. K-STATE 7pm
ADIDAS JAYHAWK T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY
COURTESY OF STATE FARM FOR
THE FIRST 5,000 FANS
STUDENTS ADMITTED FREE WITH KU ID
SINGLE GAME TICKETS $15
KANSAS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
800-34-HAWKS KUATHLETICS.COM