University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 4, 1987
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Groups offer tips, services for finding summer housing
By PEGGY O'BRIEN
Staff writer
For students who need a place to live in Lawrence this summer, now's the time to brush up on apartment-hunting skills.
Before descending on landlords and property managers, students can explore a variety of resources to help them with rental questions.
Area apartment management companies say they begin showing apartments for summer rental in late April and throughout May.
Mark Racunas, a leasing agent with Kaw Valley Management, 901 Kentucky St., said people should start looking for apartments two months before they want to move in.
An employee at Mastercraft Management, 1927 Moodie Road, said the company's larger apartments started filling up quickly.
"Groups of three to live interested in living together using a look at images."
One of the most helpful resources for renters is the Lawrence Consumer Affairs Association, 819 Vermont St. The association, financed in part by KU student activity fees and Douglas County revenue sharing bonds, helps students and Douglas County residents with landlord-tenant questions, Cynthia Harris,
consumer services specialist said.
The association also tells renters whether it has received complaints about a specific landlord, Harris said.
To help with these problems, the association puts out the "Rental Housing Handbook." The handbook, which costs 75 cents for students and $1.50 for non-students, provides an overview of responsible responsibilities. The handbook also suggests ways for both parties to avoid disruptions.
To help students decide whether to live in an apartment, a house or a room in a house, the handbook lists guidelines to follow. These include determining what you can afford, what kind of location you want and with whom you could live.
The handbook also contains a simplified outline of the Kansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. The act applies to all leaves except dorms, homes that are going to be bought, motels and hotels, and condominiums. The handbook explains the exceptions.
The handbook advises apartment hunters to check bulletin boards, rental listing agencies, University housing offices, newspapers and real estate agencies to see what housing is available.
"As you meet people, mention that you are looking for an apartment or other housing option."
of-mouth as a good source
Because the KU housing system can only accommodate 7,500 students, most KU students don't live on campus.
The office of residential programs, with financial support from Student Senate, provides a roommate listing service.
The listing is on a bulletin board outside the residential programs office, 123 Strong Hall. Students who already have a place to live can post a notice that they are looking for a roommate. Students who need a place to live can post their names phone numbers.
the handbook also suggests word-
Along with their names and phone numbers, students can give preferences, such as smoking or non-smoking, for roommates.
Students who feel they've been discriminated against in housing can contact the Department of Human Relations-Human Resources in City Hall, at Sixth and Massachusetts streets.
The housing manager, Arvilla Vickers, will investigate valid complaints alleging discrimination based on age, origin, age, ancestry or disability.
Researchers glue together bones to understand past
By JERRI NIEBAUM
Staff writer
Last summer, a group of archaeologists found tiny pieces of two human skulls in Shawnee County near Clinton Lake.
Now about 30 of those tiny pieces are labeled and glued together to form a small section of a skull. Hundreds of pieces still sit in small boxes waiting to be pieced together.
He said Native American Indian cremations were unknown anywhere before this site was uncovered.
"It's like a jigsaw puzzle," said Brad Logan, research associate for the KU museum of anthropology and a member of the group.
The bones were cracked, warped and burned. Logan said that the bones were warped in a way that indicated that they had been burned while still attached to flesh.
"Indians have been in this area for at least 10 to 12,000 years," Logan said.
Carbon found in the bones and in surrounding limestone indicated that the bones burned about A.D. 820.
The bones and charred rock
were found less than a foot underground, and part of the site was being plowed, exposing and damaging some of the artifacts. In another five or 10 years the site would have been destroyed.
To help researchers understand and preserve discoveries like this one, the museum of anthropology is producing "The Kansas archaeological Preservation Plan." The plan emphasizes prehistoric archaeological sites in Kansas, after almost three years of research.
Bound copies of the study will be available soon at libraries throughout Kansas and at the Kansas Office of Historic Preservation at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka.
Alfred Johnson, director of KU's museum of anthropology, said the study would provide information about discoveries, current research and sites that have been neglected or damaged.
He said the study was the first comprehensive plan for Kansas, although state and federal laws were not enforced on government-owned sites for several years
"It's a summary of what we know," Johnson said.
He said that by understanding the past, archaeologists could make predictions for the future.
"It's our cultural heritage," Johnson said.
of what Logan finds is debitage, chips of stone that were left when Native American Indians carved arrowheads. By studying these chips and the weaponry that prehistoric man produced, researchers can begin to understand the evolution of today's culture.
"Some of us are just curious about the past." Logan said.
But a lot of digging goes into every discovery.
"On some hot summer days, you feel like you're digging your own grave," Logan said.
He said that he was discovering that prehistoric people might have abused their environment by promoting erosion.
Rolfe Mandel, a geo-archaeological consultant who works at the museum, helps archaeologists find areas that will yield artifacts. He looks for buried surfaces, on which people used to walk and build their homes.