Friday April 29, 1988
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Vol. 98, No. 145 (USPS 650-640)
Auditorium faces closure Fire official says Hoch lacks lights, sprinklers
By Brett Brenner
Special to the Kansan
A state fire official has threatened to close Hoch Auditorium if several major fire code violations are not corrected by December.
University officials have not been informed of that formally. But Paul Markley, chief of the fire prevention division for the state fire marshal's office, said this week that repairs must be made to Hoch by the next inspection or the building will be closed for safety reasons. The next inspection is expected to be made by December.
A meeting between University officials and the fire marshal's office will be soon, Markley said. The exact date of the meeting has not been determined.
University officials received a report from the state fire marshal's office detailing code violations at Hoch, but the University has not committed itself to spending money for repairs to the auditorium, which
"I
If there aren't emergency lights in Hoch soon, the University won't be able to use it any longer.'
Paul Markle chief, fire prevention division
state fire marshal's office
is used daily for classes and as a campus entertainment center.
The major fire code violations cited by the fire marshal and reported to the University include lack of emergency lighting and lack of a sprinkler system for the stage area.
The lack of emergency lightning, also cited during a fire inspection last year, is the most serious of the violations, Markley said.
"If there aren't emergency lights in Hoch soon, the University won't be
able to use it any longer," Markley said. The lighting is necessary for the quick evacuation of Hoch in case of a fire.
"We don't care if the building burns down, as long as everyone gets out safely," Markley said. "Without lighting, no one could see to be able to get out."
KU officials continue to hope that Hoch, plagued for years by structural and safety problems, will be usable until a new performing arts center is built within the next few years.
University officials have planned to bring Hoch up to standards in two or three years, said Allen Wiechert, University director of facilities planning.
After learning of the possibility of Hoch's being closed, Wiechert said he still was reluctant to pledge any funds for the auditorium.
"It wouldn't speed up renovation."
he said. "It might get the exit lights sooner."
Officials recently decided how to spend what little money they would have next year for repairs. Hoch repairs were low on the priority list, Wiechert said. That decision was made because the University had only about $500,000 to repair more than 25 campus buildings.
"We are faced with the problem that we are underfunded when it comes to repairs," Rudamelay, executive vice chancellor, said earlier this week. She said she had not noticed the notification of the possibility of closure.
"We aren't prepared to put any money into Hoch until we know what its future is," Wiechert said.
Houses violate city codes Problems plague Oread neighborhood homes
By Kim Lightle
Kansan staff writer
A City of Lawrence form tacked to the front of 1023 Tennessee St., reads, "Substandard housing. Do not enter this building, unlawfully managed by housing inspector Swartens."
It is one of at least four houses in the Oread neighborhood, a 50-square block area east of the KU campus, that were cited for violations of the city housing codes last year. Some homes call the area the student ghetto.
Ted Flis, Northbrook II., senior,
one of the tenants in the house,
moved out in November. He called
his apartment the pigeon roost and
said he moved because of the con-
fidence from the pigeons living in
his walls.
But the house might be rentable soon, said city housing inspector Margene Swartz. The building's owner, Lois Hieronymus of Spring, was in charge. She had been granted a building permit and had made $9,000 in repairs.
The house was cited Dec. 1 for violations such as plastic water pipes instead of metal pipes, copper tubing on natural gas lines and too few electrical circuits for the number of rooms. Swarts notified the owner on Dec. 7 that the building would have to be vacated in 30 days if no attempt to repair the violations was made. Since then, the house has remained vacant.
Repairs still needed
condemned Jan. 22, 1986, also owned by L & M of Hieronymus, still needs repairs.
Brandon Whitehead, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore, said that he was evicted from his alice apartment at the house after a Nov. 17 article in the Kansan detailing the violations. Lynn Meredith, a manager for L & M of Hieronymus, had rented the apartment to Whitehead, even though it had been cited for violations such as a lack of hot and cold running water, holes in the floor, hazardous wiring and being too small for habitation.
"My landlord told me I had to get out that day." Whitehead said.
Whitehead now lives at 1313 Tennessee St. in an another apartment managed by Meredith.
Swarts said that no action would be taken against owners who did not make repairs. After the owner is cited, he usually is given 30 days to visit the violations. If the time limit is not met, the building is usually vacated.
However, the city does not double check properties to make sure that they remain vacant, said Swarts.
"We assume that the building will remain vacant," she said. "In many cases, the utilities are shut off to ensure that they remain vacant."
The buildings are not inspected again until the owner is granted a building permit and some repairs are made.
But a house at 1319 Tennessee
Buildings usually are not demolished unless they are in very poor condition, Swarts said.
Tenants still live in a house at 1299 Ohio St., which has had a history of violations, including citations for infestation and improper wiring. Swarts said last week that all the devices found at of the property had been fixed.
The house's owner, Robert Munsch, said he had been making reparations in the building he owns next year. St. But not at the 1209 Ohio property.
Cheap housing
Although those four houses have come to the attention of city officials, many of the houses with violations go unnoticed and pay rent for substandard housing.
Like many others in the area, Flis said that he moved into the apartment at 1023 Tennessee because it was too close. He paid $180 a month plus utilities.
He hesitated to file a complaint with the city because he didn't think he could find another apartment with the same rent. He was also worried that the other tenants would have to find new apartments.
The city cannot investigate houses until a written complaint is made, and because many residents don't know who the violations are rarely corrected.
Swarts said she didn't know how many complaints came from the Oread neighborhood but she thought there tended to be many in that area.
See OREAD, p. 12, col. 1
Class' act is signing, not singing
Kansan staff writer
Human hands, not voices, will be the most important element of a musical and theatrical program tonight.
The hands will be those of students in Alice-Ann Darrow's Signing in the Arts class. The students will perform "An Evening of Song, Sign and Mime" at 7:30 p.m. in 3140 Wescoe. Admission is free.
Bv Brenda Finnell
Bill against sending Coast Guard
The class teaches students how to use sign language to perform songs, poetry and play scenes. A beginning sign language course is a prerequisite.
"The Reagan administration should use the Coast Guard's scarce resources to fight the war on drugs, not the Iran-Iraq war." Lowy said.
produced a measure in the House that would ban use of the Coast Guard in the gulf.
WASHINGTON — New opposition developed yesterday on Capitol Hill to sending Coast Guard boats to the Persian Gulf, while the Coast Guard command defended the proposal that it would hurt anti-drug shorts at home.
The Associated Press
The Pentagon is considering sending six Coast Guard boats to help Navy warships patrol the gulf.
Sen. Brock Adams, D-Wash, told his colleagues it would be a mistake to send lightly armed Coast Guard
Lowry's proposal will be considered next week as an amendment to a bill authorizing the Pentagon for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
This is the third year Darrow, assistant professor of music education and music therapy, had her first performance at the end of the semester.
vessels into the war-torn gulf.
Rep. Mike Lowry, D-Wash., in-
Two injured in auto accident
Two people were seriously injured in a one-car accident last night near 31st Street and Haskell Road. The vehicle was traveling south on Haskell when it lost control and rolled into a ditch, Lawrence police said. The accident occurred about 8 p.m. As of 11:45 p.m., an injury report was not available.
"From the assignments for the courses, I pull the best of the signing and put together a program," Darrow said. "It's a way for them to use what they learn in class to communicate with the deaf."
Tonight's performance is geared toward University faculty and students. A performance May 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Community Theatre, 150 New Hampshire St., is scheduled for Sunday, March 24. Lawrence as well as dead people Olathe and Topeka, Darrow said.
The 15 students in the class will perform songs such as "Man in the Mirror" and "Lean on Me." They also will perform skirts.
Dede Dresser, Lawrence special student in Darrow's class, also said that the class performance was much better both the students and the audience.
Darrow said that in addition to enjoying performing, students always enjoyed seeing how positively the audience reacted.
Anthony Richards, Exeter, England, graduate student, waves at the audience during a performance by the Wide River Ensemble yesterday in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall.
Artist's performance stimulates creativity
Kansan staff writers
By Michael Carolan and Kevin Dilmore
The blast of the steam whistle at 12:20 p.m. yesterday was not just a signal for the end of classes.
It was the cue for dozens of artists, poets and other revelers to begin the “Grand Happening” in honor of composer and performer artist John Cage on the lawns in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall and east of Wescoe Hall and on Wescoe Beach.
Two performance pieces highlighted the afternoon's activities: a performance of Cage's "Suite for Toy Piano" on a toy piano, and "Time Chords," performed by the Wide River Ensemble. The performances were supplemented by readings of Cage's writings in the stairwells of Wesco Hall, signs with quotes from Cage's work worn by people parading among the bystanders, and, directing the events, a giant puppet with swelled head and hands designed by Cage.
Cage is one of 100 composers, artists, and musicians who are in town this weekend for the Society's annual conference incorporated 23rd annual conference.
The $4_{12}$ event, from yesterday until Sunday, will feature more than 14 concerts and eight lectures from many nationally and internationally known contemporary composers.
Most of the composers' music
will be performed by faculty and students in the School of Fine Arts, but some composers will perform performances are free to the public.
Meanwhile, at the "Grand Happening," Kevin Picolet, member of the Wide River Ensemble, called the piece he performed environmental in spirit and easily understood.
"The piece was something you could walk by and view for a couple of minutes but still see the essence of the whole thing." he
Besides honoring Cage, the afternoon's events were designed to call attention to a speech by Dr. Bennett in Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall.
About 200 people attended Cage's lecture on anarchy, which consisted of what he called a combination of quotes from his own writings and those of others, including Emma Goldman, R. Buckminder Fuller, Henry David Thoreau and Albert Einstein.
"If nonsense you find intolerable, then think of my work as music." Cage said.
Stephen Addiss, professor of art history, introduced Cage by saying he remained on the cutting edge of the artistic world and calling his writing a sigpost for for 20th Century aesthetics.
"His is the power to be misunderstood and to enlighten," he said.
Retirement bill would affect KUPD
By Rebecca J. Cisek
Kansan staff writer
A bill reducing the retirement age of university police officers would help to strengthen security arrangements at Board of Reserves schools, a University of Kansas police officer said this week.
The retirement bill, which was approved by the state Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday, will be released in October. It will go to the full Senate today.
The bill would give Regents institutions the option of bringing their police officers under the Kansas Police and Fire Retirement System, or KPF. If KU chose that option, the retirement age for KU police officers would be 54. University police officers now are under the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System, whose retirement age is 65.
State Sen. Wint Winter, the Bill Lawrence, said the holdup on the bill was financial because the state's payment for university police retirement would increase if the bill were passed.
Sgt. John Brothers, KU police spokesman, said the cost to the state would increase by about $200,000. It
also would double the amount of the contribution a police officer would have to make.
Opposition to the bill also exists because legislators fear that other groups of state employees would change their retirement programs.
Despite increased costs to university police officers and to the state, Brothers said, the KPF system is better.
And James Denney, director of KU police, said, "If we don't find a way for people to retire, the majority of officers again will be too old to do the job.
Brothers said that most KU police officers wanted the KPF program, which is administered by Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, though they would have to wait almost 20 years to be able to claim benefits.
"An early retirement program keeps police from getting geriatric," Brothers said.
The current retirement system requires 10 years for an employee to be able to claim retirement benefits, and 25 years to have a law retirement checks until age 65.
Denney said the problem with getting the change adopted was the image university police departments had.
Brothers said that when he was a student at KU in 1968, the emphasis of KU police officers was on handing out parking tickets. Now, the department does its own criminal investigations and assists other agencies.
In 1974, the average age of KU police officers was 54, and most had a high school education. Today, the average age of KU police officers most have had three years of college.
Today is the last day of the Kansan for the spring semester.
The summer weekly edition of the Kansan will begin publishing June 8.