Wednesday June 8,1988
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Vol. 98, No.146 (USPS 650-640)
Frat may be charged for violating fire code
By Karen Boring
Kansan staff writer
City Prosecutor Jerry Little said yesterday he would file charges against the Triangle fraternity next week for failure to comply with city fire codes.
Jim McSwain, Lawrence fire chief,
said in a video-taped press conference
on May 5 that after the April 26, 1987,
fire at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity
house, the Lawrence Fire
Department developed a program to
bring all KU greek houses into compliance
with the fire code.
The department inspected the 37 active greek houses in June and July 1987, said Fire Marshal Rich Barr. The corporation board of each house was given a list of violations and was required to turn in plans of compliance, including a schedule for completion, by January 1988. A corporation board is a group of alumni that acts as landlord of the house.
The Triangle board turned in a statement to Barr, asserting that all required changes had been made, Little said. However, when the fire marshal inspected the Triangle house on May 2, he found that none of the changes had been made.
The only course of action that the
Five other Greek houses also are under investigation by the city prosecutor's office. Barr said.
fire department is interested in with the Triangle house is prosecution." Little said. "The next step is filing charges against that fraternity."
Ron Gast, Triangle corporation board president, said a new board, including himself, was elected in February and that the original plan of compliance had been submitted by the former board. Gast said he and other board members learned of the fire-code problems from the house's student officers after the May inspection.
The board is taking bids so it can make a new plan of compliance. Gast said. He anticipated no problems in meeting the December deadline.
"We want to get costs in mind first," he said. "I think we will have a firm plan by this summer and have some of the work completed by September."
The Alpha Kappa Lambda and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternities and the Alpha Chi Omega sorority have not come to agreement with the fire department on plans of compliance with the fire code, Little said. The
"They either have not submitted plans of compliance or the compliance time frame is not acceptable." Little said. "What I'm trying to do is to open the lines of communication."
Tau Kappa Epsilon and Phi Kappa Tau fraternities also have been submitted for investigation.
The project involves obliterating grandfather clauses, under which older structures do not to have to comply with fire codes enacted after they were built, he said.
Normally, the fire department inspects greek houses twice a year to ensure that existing fire equipment is working properly. Barr said. The present fire-code project, however, involves seeing that the existing equipment adequately complies with today's fire code.
Dave Nieberzall/KANSAN
"If they do not involve sprinkler systems, because sprinkler systems are a very large project from a structural standpoint, we are requiring those plans of compliance to be completed by December 1988." Barr said at the press conference. "If they involved sprinkler systems, then we extended that deadline by one year."
Water safe, tests indicate
Give it a twirl
Cancer-causing chemical no longer present at Lindley
Terri Maness, Lawrence resident, twirls batons with glow sticks attached to the ends. Maness entertained golfers during the Moonshine Night Golf Tournament on Saturday night at the Orchards Executive Golf Course. The tournament was a benefit for the Achievement Place Boys' Home.
---
By Monica Hayde
For two weeks, signs were posted inside and outside Lindley Hall warning people not to drink the water in the building. On Friday, they were removed.
Warning notices were posted in the building on May 20 after state and University inspectors found high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the water in Room 107. But a reporter who exists, a University statement, released Saturday said
Kansan staff writer
Inspectors from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment found high levels of 1,2-dichloroethane (also called ethylene dichloride) in the water after a complaint was made about the odor and color of the
Bearse said it was unlikely the water in any other campus buildings was contaminated.
"Tests have not been run campus-wide, but they are in the process of being run," he said. "However, the water coming into Lindley Hall is of acceptable quality, so the assumption is it's probably of acceptable quality going into all the other buildings."
Steve Cater, University environment, health and safety officer, said no one knew why such an elevated level of ethylene dichloride was in the water.
Official reverses Hoch ruling
"It's quite possible we'll never know where it came from," he said.
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor. said the
Bv Paula Messbarger
Kansan staff writer
A state fire official who said in April that Hoch Auditorium might have to be closed because of fire hazards now says it is a safe building.
Paul Markley, who is chief of the fire prevention division for the state fire marshal's office, said after his April inspection of Hoch that the 61-year-old building was too dangerous to use because of fire-code violations.
But Markley said Monday Hoch is safe and can be used by the University of Kansas for classes and concerts.
The original report cited the lack of
If you bring naked fire dancers to commencement, they'll remember you at reunions
main concerns when inspecting a building: fire alarms, clear exits and emergency lighting that comes on when the power goes off. Hoch has all three. Markley said.
since 1982.
What is going on? Today's students are no less intelligent, creative or funny than those who preceded them. If anything they are more so. aren't you brighter and wittier than your parents? Sady, some of the decline must be attributed to laziness. The Great American Couch Potato Epidemic has reduced some collegians to chairbound ALF worshipers. Many of the greatest escapes had their genesis in boredom. But the incentive to do creative things with statues of past campus presidents is lost when a student turned sofa spud has 64-channel cable.
Today's young scholars are abundining a legacy, frittering away a trust fund of truly great pranks perpetuated by their predecessors. Students now seem less inclined to commit the devilish deeds that have had adults chuckling. Oh, those college kids!" since at least the 18th century. Panty raids are down nationwide. Campus statue thefts and "alterations" are at their lowest level in years. Even the champions are dormant: MIT, usually in the first division, hasn't disrupted the Harvard-Yale football game since 1982.
emergency lights are in operation.
the decline could also be blamed on the gradual relaxation of moral standards. Students are less likely to be creeping out in the predawn hours playing tricks if they could be spending that time creeping into someone's boudoir. A more probable explanation is that students are just more cautious about everything. Simply put, future Yuppies don't want to jeopardize tomorrow's gravy train with today's tombolery. What if Merrill Lynch finds out that you were the one who put grain alcohol in the football team's Gatorade jar, precipitating the greatest second-half collage in school history? Bang. A promising career floc-
state fire marshal's office
BY JOHN FRIEDMANN
Pranks for the Memories
ation.'
college education remains. Wake up, campers! Remember when you were in high school, and you dreamed of all the wild things you'd do when you got to college? How many of them have you done? Campers more than bad beer, junk food and a better computer games. It's supposed to be an awakening of the spirit, an opening of the soul, a broadening of the mind. Simply put, college is a place to get away with as much as you can.
Our system of higher education is in crisis. Yes, Johnny can read. And write. Doesn't too bad a job programming a computer, either. But he lacks the know-how to play a good prank. Whether he realizes it or not, without this crucial skill, his career will be woefully incomplete.
He said not having a sprinkler system above the stage would not make it necessary to close Hoch.
give eurobonds goes down the tubes. That's scary, but not likely. Successful jicksters don't end up flippingburgers. Your future boss probably went his classmates one better prankwise, and that's why he's a boss.
"There is an emergency lighting system, and its been there for at least 15 years," he said. "The problem was, no one asked the right person."
Hoch Auditorium once was used as the home court for the Jayhawks basketball team until Allen Field House was dedicated in 1955. Hoch has had a long history of safety and success in the school. University's decision to build a new performing arts center within the next few years.
This isn't professional wrestling; a prank isn't necessarily legal just because it happened in the ring. There are some things, however hilarious they sound, that go beyond the bounds of good taste. One general rule to follow is: if the endeavor could earn you a felony conviction, it usually isn't a good idea. Other than that, just have fun and repeat the true prankster's credo: "If David Letterman can do it, so can I."
John Friedman is a senior at Carnegie Mellon who plans to become a college administrator.
If you still lack for inspiration, look to role models. Allen Funt of "Candid Camera" is the dean of pranksters. Although now only late at night on channels with numbers larger than your IQ. Funt is a veritable fountain of ideas. Even check out top administrators at your school; you'll probably be surprised at the percentage who were college cutups. Maybe that's why they're still in school instead of being out in the real world. Another thing you'll find is that once word of your first adventure makes the rounds, other jokers will start asking you to join them, or coming with plans of their own.
you brought to conference. The sad thing is, the '80s should be the golden age of pranks. Administrators are too busy trying to rein in underaged drinkers and apartheid protesters to harass those well-rounded collegians who think underwear looks fine flapping at the top of a flagpole. The students of the '50s had to visit the seeder parts of town to engage a stripper for the faculty-senate meeting. Now one phone call and a Visa card is all that's required to precipitate embarrassment throughout campus.
and of a sprinkling stage area. Mark could be closed safely corrected theember. However, University officials as informed there mentor at Hoch, seen, that contact emergency
, " Markley said. hts are in opera-
prankwise, and use the explanation for the current lack of prankishness. Perhaps one explanation that potential merry tricksters are ignorant of our neewards for palling off of memorable capes. You want evarling fame? There's no better way to attain immortality. Think about it. Whom does your father remember better—the president of Young Dweebs for Better Civil Engineers or the guy who turned on the stadium sprinklers during the ROTC parade? When you return for your class reunion 30 years from now, no one will give a damn about the great job you did with the student senate. But it's guaranteed that they'll remember the naked fire dancers you brought to commencement.
reservations to take.
Don't be missed, though: traditional capers are in no way outdated. Although it has been known to pave some of the more militant neighborhood feminists, a good old panty raid is hard to beat. An added bonus is the resurgence of campus ROTC programs, which provides all-important leadership talent for the assault. This isn't a strictly male endeavor; either, women could do quite well with an attack on a fraternity. Other, more personal, crusades are just as effective. If you know any blow-off seniors (and aren't they all), introduce them to the Fear of God. Get some departmental stationery and write up a little note informing the hapless upperclassman that graduation is out of the question because of unfulfilled freshman distribution requirements. Pop it in the mail and be sure to be around when the letter arrives—it's fun for the whole family.
embarrassment thru switch to standby. High tech should also lead to high jinks. Computer, open up previously undreamed-of computer places where no jokester has gone before. Without leaving your dorm room, you can alter menus, program stoptops or change the school president's flight reservations from first class to standby.
James Modig, campus director of facilities planning, said his office and a committee appointed by Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, are reviewing possibilities for using Hoch once the new performing arts building is completed. Modig said some suggestions were offices, classrooms or an addition to the new science library.
"The sprinklers are there to protect the buildings," he said. "We care about the buildings, but our main concern is getting the people out."
Tom Anderson, director of facilities operations, said the problem with the original inspection probably was a result of a KU Facilities and Operations employee who was sent with Markley on the inspection. Anderson said it was common practice for KU employees to assist the fire marshals during inspections. He said the employee probably was not familiar with Hoch and its lighting system.
MAY 1988
office has three
"We looking for the general needs of the campus." Modig said.
As for the near future, not much will be done to Hoch, he said. Some of the stonework will be repaired this year under the fiscal year 1988 budget. But there will be no projects for the fiscal year of 1989 because the Board of Regents did not approve the requests.
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Michael Dukakis clinched the Democratic presidential nomination with a four-state flourish Tuesday night and forecast a "golden opportunity" to win the White House in 1988. Republican George Bush labeled himself the underdog heading into the fall campaign but said, "I'm fighting back."
Dukakis dominated Jesse Jackson coast to coast on the final night of a grueling Democratic primary marathon. He was winning primaries in New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and California by margins of 2-to-1 or more.
Dukakis finishes with nomination
The Associated Press
The three-term Massachusetts governor began the night needing about 150 delegates to achieve a mathematical lock on the nomination. He was winning more than 131 in New Jersey, Montana and New Mexico combined, and early returns from California showed him ahead for more than 200 delegates.
Dukakis emerged as the winner of the Democratic primary marathon and owner of a lead over Bush in the nationwide public opinion polls. But Bush, who wrapped up the GOP nomination six weeks ago, holds formidable Electoral College advantages in the South and West, and Republicans have won four of the last five presidential elections.
Thus, the prospect is for a close general election, and Bush and Dukakis seemed to share an eagerness to begin.
"My friends, what a golden opportunity this is for us," Dukakis said as he savored his nominating triumph in a speech in California. He pledged to use his campaign to stand up for factory workers thrown out of their jobs with no warning, to ease the burden of families hit by medical bills and to "share the rage" of those living in neighborhoods threatened by drugs.
NEWSWEEK ON CAMPUS
50
"Every day between now and November, the American people will want to hear how we intend to build a strong and vibrant future for our country," he said. "They aren't interested in slashing attacks. They want to judge our positive ideas for change."
Bush posted uncontested primary victories in all four states and said, "I think I can overcome this deficit (in the polls)." he said.
In a television interview, he likened Dukakis to Walter Mondale, the landslide Democratic loser in 1984, for refusing to rule out a tax increase. "I'll rule it out," Bush said in an interview with CBS, and rely on a spending freeze to reduce the deficit.
He decried the "gloom and doom" that he said was emanating from the Democrats and said the polls would change as he began to establish his own political identity. "When we get through in the fall talking about opportunity and peace and numbers of jobs and how much better things are and what I'll do to keep it that way, I think I can overcome that deficit," he said.