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 McSain, Lawrence fire chief,
said in a videotaped 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
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 with 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."
Five other greek houses also are under investigation by the city prosec-
"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."
The Alpha Kappa Lambda andLambda Chi Alpha fraternities and theAlpha Chi Omega sorority have not come to agreement with the fire department on plans of compliance with the fire code, Little said. The
Tau Kappa Epsilon and Phi Kappa Tau fraternities also have been submitted for investigation.
The project involves obiterating 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.
"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."
Dave Niehernall/KANSAN
Give it a twirl
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.
Water safe, tests indicate
Cancer-causing chemical no longer present at Lindley
Official reverses Hoch ruling
Kansan staff writer
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 the latest tests have shown that no health hazard exists, a
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 one knew why such an elevated level of
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.
But Markley said Monday Hoch is
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.
T H E A R T S
Paul Marklev
state fire marshal's office
Miming her directions because I'm an actress': Working with Hanks on the set
Number 1: Cast of 'Laverne and Shirley'
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. Marklev said.
As "Laverne and Shirley" zoomed to the top, it passed "All in the Family," costaring Marshall's second husband, Rob Reiner. She'd met Reiner—the son of producer-director Carl Reiner—while they were performing in an improv troupe. But the marriage unravelled under prime-time stress. By the time "Laverne and Shirley" ended its run in 1983, Marshall was divorced and very, very tired. For the next three years, she had little to do with show business.
by the Universes and con-
46 NEWSWEEK ON CAMPUS
Marshall jumped back into the business by deciding to direct, but the choice was hard. "I need an enormous amount of en-
Garry created two lower-middle-class girls daydose date Richie and Fonzie on "Happy Days." The duo—Laverne and Shirley (Cindy Williams)—was spun off the next fall and became an instant hit.
Hoch is safe as is. The
**comic timing:** She was more than ready when "Big" came along. Dressed in permanently crested pants and neobright Converses that matched her ponytail ribbons, she would mime her acting instructions to flesh out her one-word commands of "happy," "sad," "scared." "I can't help it," says Marcia "I'm an actress." And, she adds, while chewing gum and smoking at the same time, "I was directing a 13-year-old, girl, who has this ductal approach may have been, it drew praise from Elizabeth Perkins, who plays Hanks's workaholic adult girlfriend in the film: 'Penny has an incredible sense of comic timing.' It's rote with her—line two beats, vaboon. She never misses."
Directing has gobbled up so much time that Marshall has had to forge acting—to her regret. "It doesn't take a year and a half to do a role," says the exhausted director who might take her next job in front of the camera. Her only recreation now is the Sunday New York Times crossword. "I don't have time to be depressed," she smiles. After "Big" comes out she may not have any reason.
JANET HUCK in Los Angeles
ation.'
couragement to do anything—even go out to dinner," she says. She took on "Peggy Sue Got Married" in 1984, but was fired after three weeks. "It was like being kicked in the stomach," says Marshall. A year later she got another chance. Whoopi Goldberg's director on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was leaving after eight days of shooting. Could she be there on Monday? She could, and now she remembers with a laugh, "It was all so blurry." A fellow alumnus was in one semester. The finished movie didn't win enormous praise, but it showed that Marshall could deliver even in difficult circumstances.
A Feast for Eye and Ear
Technologized squater: Child in Nairobi
RON GIVENS
With his second film, "Powaqatsi." director Gordrey Freiggy shows that he has the courage of his convictions. His first motion picture, "Koyannisqati?" (1983), was a stunning, iconic classical piece of work. A documentary without narration about America, "Koyannisqati" combined time-lapse photography and a beautiful, relentless musical score by Philip Glass into a dazzling feast for the eyes and ears. Now comes "Powaqatsi," the second of his projected "gats" trilogy named after the Hopi Indian term for "life." Reggio has broadened his scope from the United States to the world, but he's maintained the non-narrative blend of riveting cinematography (high-speed photography, which translates normal action into slow motion) and propulsive music (again by Glass).
"Powaqatsi" spans the globe, but it focuses on such Third World countries as Nepal and Peru. It's hard to decipher a specific message out of "Pawaqatsi," but Reggio splices a pointed contrast between native, undeveloped cultures and emerging, semi-technologized societies. Simple folk societies seem especially pristine next to the squailer of newly overcrowded Third World cities. The word "pwaqatsi" roughly translates into "an entity that consumes the life forms of others to further its own life." Through Reggio's eyes, it seems unfortunately clear that man is both the exploiter and the exploited.
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 structural problems, which led to the creation of a decision to build a new performing arts center within the next few years.
He said not having a sprinkler system above the stage would not make it necessary to close Hoch.
"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."
ed the lack of a sprink- area. Mark- id be closed orrected the r. However, official officials 'ormed there at Hoch, n, that con- emergency
farkley said. are in opera-
"The sprinklers are there to protect the buildings," he said. "We care about the buildings, but our main concern is getting the people out."
ice has three
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.
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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.
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"We're 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.
Dukakis finishes with nomination
The Associated Press
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.
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.
DUARKS 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.
"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.