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Check out page 8B for Big 12 tournament coverage from Dallas, including Kansas State firing coach Jim Wooldridge on Thursday. Also check back with Kansan.com this weekend for live updates from the tournament.
KANSAN.COM
The University of Kansas
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.116 ISSUE 112
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
LEGISLATURE
Tenants bill criticized
BY FRED A. DAVIS III
fidavis@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Opponents of a tenant's rights bill initiated by the KU Student Senate were in full attack mode Thursday at a House Committee hearing on the bill. The bill would standardize automatic renewal clauses in leases.
The legislation was debated for nearly 90 minutes as landlords and landlord groups both railed against and praised the Student Legislative Awareness
Board (SLAB) director Josh Bender for his efforts.
"Josh Bender is doing a great job," said Ed Jaskinia, testifying against the bill on behalf of the Associated Landlords of Kansas, "but he should get involved with something constructive and not destructive."
The main goals of the bill, as Bender, Sterling senior, described them, were to not only standardize automatic renewal clauses in leases, but also to eliminate predetermined lists that indicate what charges await tenants should they incur damages to their residence.
The bill would have a statewide effect on all landlords if adopted and supported by other Regents institutions, such as Kansas State and Pittsburg State. Bender said.
The bill already passed through the Senate 23-17, and now must make its way out of the committee.
Bender, who testified in support of the bill, and Ian Staples, SLAB coordinator, who was present at the hearing, said that three to four times more opponents of the legislation were present at the House Commerce and Labor Committee hearing than when
bill went through the Kansas
ate Judiciary Committee.
Roughly 20 opponents of the bill — composed mostly of landlords and landlord groups — attended the hearing.
One of those opponents was Matt Hoy, a lawyer for the Lawrence Apartments Association, which represents some 20 landlords in the Lawrence area. Hoy testified before the committee that his group was disappointed that they were not contacted by Bender to help with the bill.
SEE BILL ON PAGE 4A
PROFILE
School House Rock Professor knows how to jam
BY CATHERINE ODSON codson@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Summer doesn't seem like the right word to describe the 10 below zero temperatures Dave Besson encountered during the South Pole's "summer" season.
Sheltered from the frigid temperatures and snowy ground inside Amundsen-Scott Base, the 48-year-old professor of physics grabbed one of 10 guitars provided by the National Science Foundation in the base's arts
and crafts room. He was taking an indoor break from his outdoor research project in Antarctica during winter break.
"The National Science Foundation provides for good, wholesome, clean American fun," Besson said of the small room, about the size of a Malott Hall physics lab, nestled within the base's main building, equipped with the guitars, amplifiers and a drum kit.
In Antarctica, Besson pounded out tunes from his Kansas City-area band with the help of the
band's drummer, Michael Haines, Bentonville, Ark., senior, and one of Besson's research assistants. The music echoed through the halls of the base, but no one complained about the classic rock melodies.
Besson's strong background in research, both in the United States and Antarctica, paired with a laid-back approach to teaching, makes him a favorite among students. Outside of the classroom, he immerses himself!
SEE PROFILE ON PAGE 4A
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
The band, Noble Quitters, performs a small set at The Cup and Saucer in Kansas City on Feb. 11. Guitarist Mike Schonohoff, left, drummer Michael Haines, Bentonville, Ark., senior, and Bassist Dave Besson, professor of physics, have been together for about two years. They rehearse about a week on a convenient evening for all the three of them.
ENTERTAINMENT
'Millionaire' hot seat tests KU employee
BY KRISTEN JARBOE
kjarbose@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Johnny Andris had no idea when he auditioned for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2004 that nearly two years later an episode would air with him in the hot seat.
He will appear on the show today on NBC Channel 27 at 2:30 p.m. and NBC Channel 41 at 4 p.m.
The Louisville, Ky., native is currently a media relations assistant for the University of Kansas Athletics Department. He graduated from Wake Forest University last year with a degree in psychology before coming to Lawrence.
"We were just bored one day," he said. "They were hosting auditions in the student union at Wake Forest so we decided to try out."
But in October 2004, before he came to the University, he and his friend Chad Broderick decided to try out for the show.
SEE MILLIONAIRE ON PAGE 6A
Contributed Photo
Johnny Andris, a media relations assistant for the Athletics Department will appear on the syndicated version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" today.
BELIEFS
Jeff Larkin, Garden City senior, attends morning mass on Thursday at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, Larkin tries to attend mass two times a week.
Carlv Pearson/KANSAN
Lent celebrations require discipline from KU Christians
BY ANNE WELTMER
aweltner@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
A week after KU students celebrated Mardi Gras with excessive drinking and colorful beads, Christian KU students are delving into one of the most important religious seasons of the Christian calendar: Lent.
Lent is the 40-day period, excluding Sundays, before Easter. Jenny Wilson, a Roman Catholic sophomore from Alma, said she gave up fast food for Lent. She said fast food was hard to avoid as an on-the-go student, but she finds ways, like eating a salad at the Underground instead of Chick-Fil-A.
"It's through that sacrifice that helps me grow." she said.
Some people who give up something for Lent do it only Monday through Saturday for the 40 days, but Wilson said Christ didn't take a break on Sundays, so she doesn't either.
Wilson thinks that coming to the University helped her "blossom" as a Catholic. In her hometown, there were almost no Catholics and she was an outcast, she said. When she came to the University, she found support with the 7,000 to 8,000 other Catholic students on campus, especially those who were involved at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center as she is.
Of those students, about one-third come to mass regularly, and about one-sixth get deeply involved in Catholic activities such as Bible studies and group meetings through St. Lawrence, Troy Hinkel, director of theological studies, said.
He said it's not just during Lent that Catholic students were challenged to balance their faith and their education. Students have a hard time being away from home for the first time without someone
"t's through that sacrifice that helps me grow."
Jenny Wilson Alma sophomore
telling them to go to church and get involved, he said.
Those who do "recognize they are created for something deeper," Hinkel said. Those students use Lent to wipe the slate clean. Many students give up chocolate or drinking, and he said those were good sacrifices as long as the student purified their intention from possibly losing weight — if that's their motive — to living a more balanced, and therefore closer-to-God life.
Andrew Farina, a Pentacostal senior from Warren, Mich., said he gave up all computer usage besides necessary schoolwork last year. He said he replaced the time he spent playing computer games and surfing the Web with praying and getting more involved with church.
Farina said he thought most KU students had a harder time in college keeping their Lent promises because they didn't have their family or someone to hold them accountable and be supportive. He said if he were to give up dessert, at home, his family wouldn't offer any to him, but being alone on campus, he saw it all the time and thought students would have a harder time resisting.
Reverend Thad Holcombe of Ecumenical Christian Ministries said every denomination celebrates Lent differently, but all Christian students face the same challenge of juggling the University's schedule with the Christian calender.
AAAAAHHH
SEE LENT ON PAGE 4A
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