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Friday, February 20. 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Scholar speaks of author's genius
By PAUL SCHRAG
Staff writer
Eric Norbert/Special to the Kansar
When Russian-American Literary giant Vladimir Nabokov visited the University of Kansas in 1954, he described it as a charming place.
Brian Boyd, right, a leading scholar on novelist Vladimir Nabokov and a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, talks with three people who attended his lecture. Boyd spoke to about 40 yesterday in Wesco Hall.
Nabokov is the author of the novels "Lolita" and "Ada," as well as poetry and short fiction.
When the world's leading Nabokovian scholar spoke at KU yesterday, he told his audience of about 40 people in a Wescock Hall classroom that he also was enjoying his KU visit.
Brian Boyd, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Nabokov the "Writer" as part of his three week lecture tour of U.S. universities.
"Boyd is the foremost expert on the life and work of Nabokov," said Stephen Parker, professor of Slavic languages and literatures. "No one has a better understanding of Nabokov's art."
Parker is founder and editor of "The Nabokovian," the only scholarly journal in the world devoted to Nabokov literature. It is published twice a year.
Boyd's visit was one of the most important literary events at KU this spring.
Boyd is writing a critical biography of Nabokov, which Boyd said would be the first serious and complete work of its kind. Nabokov's widow granted Boyd access to all of her late husband's papers, a privilege no other biographer has had. Parker said he thought the biography would be recognized as an exceptional achievement.
"I'm sure it will earn him every accolade and all prizes for which literary biographies qualify," he said.
Nabokov was born in Russia in 1899 and educated in England. He immigrated to the United States in 1939 and worked works in English. He died in 1977.
Boyd said he considered Nabokov and James Joyce the two greatest writers of the 20th century. In his
lecture, Boyd described Nabokov's philosophy and innovative literary style.
"Nabokov shows how it might be possible that this world might hide other worlds we cannot see," he said. "Against all logic, the part contains the whole, the inside surrounds the outside."
Nabokov enjoyed the creative surprise of life, he said.
Boyd said that 12 years of
"I don't get the excitement of discovery from any other author that I do from Nabokov," he said. "As I've worked intensely on him, it just gets better and better."
research, including visits to 16 countries in five years, had deepened his appreciation of Nabokov's genius.
Boyd also told about Nakobok's visit to KU in 1954. For six days, Nakobok lectured at KU about various prominent writers.
U.S. working hard in oil competition Phillips CEO says
By JENNIFER FORKER
Staff writer
C. J. Silas, the chairman, spoke yesterday in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union to about 50 people.
The chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips Petroleum Co. said yesterday that the U.S. oil industry has been following these days to compete with OPEC.
"If having a lot of oil puts OPEC in a position to make a lot of money you can bet that they'll take advantage of that situation," he said.
He said that his company needed to reduce costs to compete with OPEC. For instance, Phillips is using high technology to find oil and to develop and refine it less expensively, he said.
Silas said other factors, such as taxes and regulations, reduced the ability of the U.S. petroleum industry to meet demand, he said, the industry needs public support.
"Building public support is critically important, not only in the petroleum industry, but in all businesses." he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the public concentrated on the abuses and excesses of the industry, and not enough on its helpful aspects.
Silas noted that a recent study found that two out of every three
"We'll need the cooperation and trust of the general public."
businessmen were portrayed on television as either crooks, conmen or clowns, he said.
"It would be nice to be able to say that the business community is just different."
"Some people have suggested that the best thing the oil industry could do in the way of advertising would be to buy up all the commercials for "Dallas" and then take it off the air," he said.
But, he said, that is not always the case. Events such as insider trading scandals and the illegal dumping of consumer products on the business community's credibility.
Sitas said that improving corporate credibility took substantial work and
DLA backs off plan for mall site
"It's not some sort of false image we can all hide behind," he said. "We need to earn credibility through our actions."
In a question and answer period after his 20-minute lecture, Silas said that the United States failed to look as far into the future as Japan, which now is forecasting its petroleum industry up to the year 2030. He said that he couldn't visualize the U.S. Congress thinking in those terms.
He also said it was only a matter of time before the United States experimented.
"Nothing has changed. We'll just have another date for the crisis," he said.
Staff writer
By TODD COHEN
The Downtown Lawrence Association withdrew its support of a proposed site for a mall in the 600 block of Massachusetts Street yesterday, further clouding an issue that has troubled Lawrence for years.
At its next meeting, the commission plans to re-evaluate the city's official position on a downtown mall site. The commission also will decide whether to accept a citizens' petition demanding an April 7 vote on the street closings necessary for the sit-
The DLA statement was the third event this week in the continuing mall development saga. On Tuesday, city attorneys argued before city commissioners that the citizen petition, circulated by Citizens for a Better Downtown, was not worded correctly and couldn't legally be placed on the ballot.
On Wednesday, the 600 block mall developers, Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs of Cleveland, and the local Town Center Venture Corp., reported that the mall would cost the city $20 million rather than $15 million because a third department store had been added to the proposal.
lop a mail in the 700-800 block until commissioners voted in November 1983 to support the 600 block site proposed by JVJ.
DLA president Jim Bateman said the group could no longer support the 600 block mall site proposal because its members preferred on a 126-11 vote a site in the 700 and 800 blocks of New Hampshire Street.
Bateman said association members didn't like JVJ's traffic-routing plan, the location of a parking garage at Sixth and Kentucky streets and the size, 360,000 square feet, of the mall.
The city worked with a New Orleans company for a year to deve-
However, Bateman said DLA did not plan to promote a new site at this time.
The DLA statement said, "The Board wishes to remain on record supporting any future development in the downtown area that will enhance the vitality of our existing retail core and provide orderly, quality growth."
Wescoe gets U.S. stamp machine
Staff writer
By KJERSTI MOEN
Patrons of Wescoe Hall cafeteria now can buy postage stamps as well as food.
An electronic postage stamp machine, which sells books of five 22-cent stamps for $1.25, was installed Tuesday in the cafeteria. It will be there for 30 days while the University decides whether to buy it.
Opal Electronic Postage Stamp Machine Specialists of Kansas City, Kan.. installed and owns the machine. But the 15-cent profit from each book of stamps goes to the Kansas and Burge unions.
Opal wants to sell the stamp machine and others like it to
University, said Mike Griggs, Opal's president. The machine's market price is usually $2,195, but Opal and the university have not agreed on a price vet. Griggs said.
Bob Derby, KU's concessions manager, said the University might buy stamp machines for residence halls and other University buildings as a service to students rather than to make a profit. The cost of maintaining the machines would exceed the 15-cent profit from each book of stamps, he said.
If the machine in Wescoe becomes popular with the cafeteria's patrons during its 30-day trial period, the University may buy it, Derby said.
business office and University residence halls met yesterday to discuss the need for postage stamp machines in residence halls. Now, the business office sells stamps at face value to residence halls, which then sell the stamps to residents for the same price.
Representatives from the Union
Derby said that residence hall representatives had not complained about this procedure and that he was not sure whether electronic stamp machines were really needed in residence halls.
If the Union does decide to buy the machines, the money would probably come from Kansas and Burge union funds and possibly also from the office of student housing. Derby said.
Deadline set for class officer applicants
By a Kansan reporter
The deadline to file applications for the Board of Class Officers is 5 p.m. on Feb. 27.
Freshmen, sophomores and juniors will vote for class officers
"We present the Rock Chalk Revue, and we put on the homecoming ceremony and parade downtown," he said.
many activities.
Andy Draper, freshman class president, said the board was involved in
Brian Rodkey, sophomore class president, said the board also was in charge of elections for the annual HOPE award, which goes to a member of the University faculty.
"We work the polling places and present the gift," he said. "We also provide money, ideas and planning for the senior gift."
John Fevurly, senior class president, said the board sponsored several activities during commencement in May.
Group helps doctoral students cope with dissertation anxiety
By LAURA BOSTROM
Staff writer
Joan Casari's mom thought her daughter's doctoral dissertation in psychology was just a big term paper.
"I ended up with a book," said Cesari, a counselor at the University Counseling Center.
She saw in herself and her classmates some of the common symptoms of graduate research: anxiety, procrastination and doubt.
Cesari joined a thesis support group while studying at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and started a similar group at the University of Kansas more than four years ago.
Many people don't understand the all-encompassing nature of graduate work, Cesari said. The thesis support group gives to members that support and understand ing.
That small number gives everyone a chance to speak, McNeill said.
Brian McNeill, the group adviser, said group members gave each other support and guidance in setting well-defined goals. The group is limited to eight people and meets once a week.
Some academic departments offer introductory research courses, Cesari said. But other departments don't give that preparation, instead saying, "Welcome to your dissertation," she said.
Sometimes, group members ask the others to confront them about not meeting a goal. Or they might ask the other to explain what action to complete projects, he said.
very little structure.
The man kept adding more and more notecards to his work, but he didn't write his dissertation, she said.
She remembered a young man working on a dissertation in mathematics who filled hundreds and hundreds of color-coded index notations with notations and codes and stored them in an elaborate filing system.
"When you start out in school in kindergarten it's structured," she said.
Diane Lindeman, assistant director of financial aid, said she thought she was putting off work on her master's thesis in counseling before joining the support group in spring 1983.
"He got stuck in the filing system," Cesari said.
Lawrence offers 200 summer jobs
By a Kansan reporter
Positions range from camps and pools to sanitation and cemeteries
The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department now is accepting applications for about 200 full- and part-time summer jobs.
Fred DeVictor, parks and recreation director, said applications would be accepted during regular business hours at the city personnel office, Room 310, in City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.
The application deadline is March
20. The department will have interviews and fill all positions by May 1, DeVictor said.
DeVictor said the pay varied between $2.75 an hour and $4 an hour. Jobs begin either in May or June and some last into the fall, he said.
Jobs are available in the areas of concession operations, pool maintenance, ball diamond maintenance, parks/cemetery operations, hand-capped children's day camp, youth sports, playgrounds, nature day camp, sanitation/streets/utilities maintenance, bookmobile/storytelling, bus driver, arts and crafts instructor and naturalist specialist.
For more information, call city offices at 841-7722 extension 450 or 360.
Persons with water safety instructor certificates may apply for jobs as aquatic instructors, aquatic instructor and adaptive aquatic guard and adaptive aquatic instructor.
On the Record
A radar detector, valued at $255, was taken about 1 a.m. Wednesday from a student's car parked in the 1500 block of West 15th Street, Lawrence police reported. A window of the car, valued at $100, was broken
in the burglary.
A crate containing 11 telephones, valued together at $15, was taken Tuesday or Wednesday from Strong Hall, KU police reported. A person at $75 was
A postal scale, valued at $75, was
taken Monday or Tuesday from Strong Hall, KU police reported.
■ A wall clock, valued at $24.95, was taken from Marvin Hall sometime between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Tuesday, KU police reported.
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