Big 8 blues
SINCE 1889
Women lose heartbreaker in tournament's first round. See page 13.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1986, VOL. 96, NO. 110 (USPS 650-640)
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City gives gun ordinance initial approval
By Juli Warren Staff writer
City commissioners last night approved on first reading an amended version of an ordinance that would require a 72-hour waiting period before taking possession of a handgun.
Arl Black, the lawyer representing the JPL Gun Shop, 2449-A St., spoke in opposition to a the three city commissioners who voted for the bill, from left, David Longhurst, Sandra Praeger and gunbill that passed on first reading at the city commission meeting last night. Facing Black are Howard Hill, Mayor Mike Amyx and Commissioner Ernest Angino against the bill.
The commission passed the ordinance with a 3.2 vote. Mayor Mike Amyx and Commissioner Ernest Angino, who had stated their opposition, voted against the measure. The ordinance will become law if it passes a final reading and vote March 18.
Commissioners David Longhurst and Howard Hill allowed Commissioner Sandra Praeger to modify the ordinance so the measure would pass with her swing vote.
Praeger deleted a portion of the ordinance that would prohibit handgun sales to any person addicted to narcotics or drugs or a person who was an alcohol abuser.
She said after the meeting that she omitted the section because she thought it was unrelated to handgun control.
"You're presuming those people have a tendency to commit a criminal act, and I think that's unfair." she said.
sales also weren't regulated.
But Praeger did let stand the part of the ordinance that would prohibit a gun dealer from selling a gun to anyone apparently under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
According to the ordinance, dealers would have to keep a sales record that would include the name, age, address and phone number of each buyer. The records would be open for inspection by police officers to check for those convicted of
Praeger also deleted from the ordinance an exemption for gun shows from the three-day waiting period and deleted the word "person" where the ordinance referred to "person or dealer," to make it clear that private
felonies and insure that buyers are not under 21.
Commissioner David Longhurst, who suggested consideration of such a proposal after a 21-year-old KU student committed suicide shortly after buying a handgun in October, said after the meeting that he was pleased
with the amended ordinance.
with the presence of humans.
Nine people made public comments on the issue, most of whom spoke against the proposal.
John Barrett, who represented the National Rifle Association, said of the ordinance, "It will have no effect other than to inconvenience law-
shiding citizens"
Suicides, he said, are unaffected by waiting periods.
Of the 13 suicides in Lawrence from Jan. 1, 1982, to the present, three used handguns, he said.
Douglas County and area shoppers who opposed the ordinance.
Carl Black, an attorney representing JPL Gun Shop, 2449-A Iowa St., said he thought the ordinance was how businesses regulated how businesses operated.
Barrett presented a petition with about 780 signatures of Lawrence,
Library trying to solve mold problem
See CITY, p. 5, col.1
Staff writer
By Lori Polson
If Watson Library doesn't solve its problem soon, the University of Kansas will be in danger of losing scores of valuable books.
In the stacks, water drips from the ceiling and puddles sit on the floor. Cartloads of moldy books are brought to the circulation desk every week.
"Look at this," Kendall Simmons, circulation superviser said yesterday as she held up a book covered with brown mold. "We're finding whole shelves of books like this."
Concerned library staff members met with representatives from facilities operations yesterday morning to discuss the problem. Although the group made no definite decisions, they did consent to continue investigating.
Paulette Difilippo, vice chairman of the library faculty assembly, said the library had a continuing problem with temperature fluctuations since its most recent renovation in 1982.
It is most noticeable in the spring and the fall when the temperature changes, she said.
"We've had temperatures from 80 to 86 degrees in the stacks."
"The situation is really hard to get a handle on because of the uniqueness of the building." he said.
Bob Porter, associate director of plant maintenance, said the temperature system in the library was based on detection of outside temperatures.
The situation exists because of a combination of water leakage and malfunctions in the heating system, he said.
In addition to leaks in the roof and
foundations, water sometimes enters around the windows, according to Porter.
Simmons said the high temperatures increased the amount of humidity in the stacks, which in turn caused mold to grow and books to rot.
The conditions are so bad that the library is in danger of losing many valuable books, which will have to be replaced, she said.
"We're in an epidemic situation right now."
Many students complained about not being able to study because of the uncomfortable temperatures, Simmons said.
However, Porter said, personal comfort would have to take a back seat while solutions to the problem were sought.
Facilities operations was not aware of the extent of the problem before the meeting, he said.
"I don't have any ready answers."
To combat the problem, officials will look into ways to repair the leaks. Porter said.
Also, he suggested that a better line of communication should exist between library personnel and facilities operations.
When a portion of the library becomes unbearable hot or cold, a designated library representative should notify facilities operations, he said, instead of having numerous employees contacting the office.
Simmons said library personnel would work with facilities operations to try to establish such communication.
SenEx scoffs at shorter exam period
Staff writer
Some KU administrators wrinkled their noses yesterday at a proposal to shorten final examination periods by increasing the number of finals scheduled each day.
At the University Senate Executive Committee meeting, committee chairman Sidney Shapiro said, "I think it's possibly the worst idea I've heard vet."
By Leslie Hirschbach
A few members of SenEx scoffed openly at another proposal by the University Senate Calendar Committee to change the name of stop day to "Study and Review Day."
Arno Knapper, University Council chairman, said changing the name was pointless.
the fall of 1986. Each day would have four two-hours exams scheduled instead of the present three three-hour exams.
anyway," he said.
SenEx decided to send the proposals back to the calendar committee for further consideration and clarification.
Sandra Wick, SenEx administrative assistant, said the calendar committee had been trying to make these changes for a few years, but SenEx continually had sent the proposals back for review.
"I think it's ridiculous to name it such an asinine name as that when everyone's going to call it stop day
Proposals must have SenEx and University Council approval before they go into effect.
According to Shapiro, the proposal would shorten the final exam period from eight to six days, beginning in
In a letter to SenEx, members of
Stop days that fall on Mondays, they said, would be eliminated.
the committee said a reduction in the number of exam days would provide more academic days for teaching. It also would provide greater flexibility in scheduling and bring an earlier end to finals in some semesters.
Contra aid panned by religious leaders
James Drury, professor of political science and member of the calendar committee, said the committee would try to find a better rationale for the changes and send them back
See EXAMS, p. 5, col. 2
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Almost 200 religious leaders, including bishops and heads of denominations, yesterday accused the Reagan administration of lying about the situation in Nicaragua to prepare American citizens for U.S. military action.
In one of the harshest criticisms ever of the administration by the mainstream religious community, 181 religious leaders said the administration has created a scaffold of deception around its support for the contras and their efforts to topple the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
"Exaggeration, misinformation and outright falsehood form the heart of the Reagan administration's case against Nicaragua," the religious leaders said in a statement they called, "In the Name of God — Stop the Killing, Stop the Lies."
"The purpose of the government's distortion campaign is to prepare the American people for further U.S. military action in Nicaragua," the religious leaders said.
Following release of the statement, dozens of aid opponents, bearing white crosses of "Sorrow and Hope," marched to the steps of the Capitol to read the statement and urge defeat of President
Reagan's $100 million aid request for the contras.
As the religious leaders stood outside, Secretary of State George Shultz was in the Capitol, defending the administration request.
Shultz called the Sandinista government an undesirable cancer in the region and accused critics of the contra forces of being misinformed.
"We see a gigantic military buildup supported by the Soviet Union with a lot of Cuban fighting people there. And they can't help but say to themselves if the United States won't help people in that country who want to fight for their freedom and independence, where does that leave us?" Shultz asked.
The religious leaders, organized by Witness for Peace, an interfaith antiwar group that has sent teams of observers to the combat zones along the Nicaraguan border, kicked off a national campaign aimed at defeating Reagan's proposed aid package and other aid for the contrasts.
The religious leaders' argument received support from a separate study by Americas Watch, an independent human rights organization that accused the administration of providing false information to Congress and the American public about gross human rights abuses by the contrasts in an effort to explain away those abuses.
Kevin Remick, director of concessions, is retiring after 35 years of supplying KU students and fans with hot dogs and soft drinks. Remick is moving to Florida to be near his children.
Director of concessions to retire
Shauna Norfeet/KANSAN
Bv Leslie Hirschbach
Staff writer
While KU athletes were playing football and basketball games, Kevin Remick played guessing games with hot dogs and soft drinks.
Remick, KU's director of concessions for 35 years, decided this year to leave the refreshments behind and retire to Florida.
Remick, 60, who ordered concessions for all sporting events, campus cafeterias and vending machines, said ordering refreshments on game days involved a lot of guesswork because it depended on many variables.
The team's win-loss record, the day of the event and the weather directly affect the performance.
"On hot days, people want cold drinks," he said. "I call cold days 'coffee and hot dog days.'"
Remick said he was practically a meteorologist. He regularly watched weather forecasts to predict the type of food KU Concessions, a division of the Kansas Union, should provide at games.
This year, he said, the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation accepted a bid from another company to furnish refreshments at games — eliminating one of his most important duties.
"They have a wide array of foods, from hot dogs and chips to ribs," he said.
He expressed concern that independent campus organizations wanting to raise money through concessions sales wouldn't be able to compete with companies' products. Companies that cater for Royals games or KU sporting events almost provide meals, he said.
Regardless of the new system, Remick said he decided it was time to move to Florida, where his children live, and to forget the smell of hot dogs.
"I won't eat a hot dog," he said. "They have a smell to them."
James Long, director of the Kansas Union and Remick's supervisor, said Remick would be hard to replace.
Nobody has been hired yet to fill his position. Long said.
Remick's co-workers don't want to see him go.
"I'd never worked in a warehouse setting, and he took a chance on me," he said.
Andy Arnold, warehouse supervisor at Memorial Stadium, said Remick was the best man he had ever worked for.
"He's brought a lot of change and growth to the University after 35 years," he said.
Remick said his job was easy when he first came to KU in 1951 after graduating from Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn.
"There were only 6,600 students then," he said. "Now, there are 25,000."
Remick said that last year he was responsible for ordering concessions that brought the Kansas Union about $500,000 in revenue.
But Remick said he had made his share of mistakes. Every year, KU Concessions would overestimate or underestimate the amount of food needed at about two games.
"I look back at the first game and think, how did you ever survive?" he said.
"The weekend that Kennedy was killed, all of our hot dogs had to be sent back," he said.
"There was no game that weekend."
Remick said he ordered what students wanted to eat, even though he didn't care for much of the selection.
"I like the candy you can't buy from the machines — cinnamon bears and juji fruits," he said.
Remick said he looked forward to his retirement. He plans to collect seashalls in Florida and spend more time working with stained glass — one of his hobbies.
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Remick said he would miss all of the friends he had made at KU during years when the campus had more of a family atmosphere.
"The faculty and staff aren't as personal as when I first came here," he said. "As KU grows, you get a little farther away from them."