FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117 ISSUE 72
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 1A
>> ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
Coach Bill Self commits to five-year deal
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Get used to seeing Bill Self on the bench as Kansas men's basketball coach.
On Thursday, the Kansas Athletics Department announced that it had signed Self to a five-year contract, worth $1.3 million per year. If contract stipulations are met, his salary could increase to $1.6 million each year. The contract is retroactive to April 1, 2006, and expires in March 2011.
SEE CONTRACT ON PAGE 6A
Self had two years remaining on his original contract, but Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins was glad to get a new contract finalized at this point in time.
coaches' salaries
1. Tubby Smith, Kentucky $2.04 million
2. Billy Donovan, Florida
2. Rick Barnes, Texas
4. Bill Self, Kansas
4. Tom Izzo, Michigan State S1.6 million
4. Roy Williams, North Carolina 5.1.6 million
7. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke $1.5 million
7. Kelvin Sampson, Indiana
7. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut $1.5 million
Source: Media reports
>> WEATHER
Jared Gab/KANSAN
A **tractor plows** the sidewalks along Jayhawk Boulevard on Thursday. Facilities and Operations employees have been cleared the roads and walkways of the ice and snow around campus.
Onset of winter snow causes accident, injury
BY NATE MCGINNIS
After snowfall Wednesday and Thursday, a KU student slipped and allegedly broke her leg Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk on the west side of the Kansas Union.
Lawrence paramedics and KU Public Safety officers responded to the accident. Paramedics at the scene said the victim was being taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for further care.
Phil Duncan, Corvallis, Ore., sophomore, found the victim alone on the sidewalk after she fell. Duncan called police and stayed with the woman until she was loaded into the ambulance.
When I came up to her, she said
that she had fallen and possibly broken her leg and she was in a lot of pain," Duncan said.
Gustavo Diaz, Asunción,
Paraguay, sophomore, walked by
about the same time as Duncan.
Diaz said he and Duncan did what
they could to help the woman.
When inclement weather strikes, the safety of students and staff is a top priority for snow-removal crews, said Larry Rawlings, assistant director for construction facilities operations.
"We came to talk and she was here alone in the cold," Diaz said. "There was nothing to do but call someone for help."
SEE WEATHER ON PAGE 6A
involves, unless stated otherwise
© 2006 The University Daily Kansan
NON-TRADITIONAL
Enrolled with CHILDREN
Student parents juggle full-time class schedules and part-time jobs with full-time parental responsibilities
BY MATT ELDER
PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMANDA SEILEPS
these days Rebekah Ruggles does everything for two. Waking up at the crack of dawn each weekday, Ruggles gets both herself and 6-year-old Ethan ready for another day of classes. She prepares breakfast for herself and feeds him, tying her shoes and looping his, and finally checks both of their backpacks before rushing out the door.
With money tighter than in the past, Ruggles, Fresno, Calif., senior, can't afford a yellow parking pass as she had previous semesters. Circling down 19th Street east of Naismith Drive until Louisiana Street, Ruggles hopes to find a free place to park on the outskirts of campus in time to get to her morning classes.
It's one of many sacrifices Ruggles has
"We had only one income for our house payment and sending Ethan to private school on top of everything else." Rugges said.
made this semester, but her real burden -her brown-haired, 6-year-old son that's a bit tall for his age. it is a burden she embraces.
Ruggles is one of many KU students balancing her academic workload with the responsibility of caring for her child. Sick kids often cause these student parents to miss work shifts and classes, and force them to find last
minute sitters before exams. These non traditional students have transferred colleges and moved across states to raise their newborn responsibilities, and have to throw day jobs in the mix of school and parenting responsibilities to provide for their children.
Ruggles recently added a 30-hour
workweek to her schedule this semester as a carhop at Sonic Drive In, so that her husband, Casey, isn't the sole provider for the family. She said that her parenting duties and new job had affected her academic career. Her grades have been falling lower than what she's used to, and Rugles is having to fight to get them back.
"It seems like you're always having to juggle teeling like you are a parent to the child and putting a higher percent into your school work," Ruggles said. "It seems like you're always neglecting something."
Riggles spends her afternoons rushing to get her homework done before playing chauffeur to Ethan, who has to be picked up from a private school at 3:45 each afternoon.
SEE PARENTS ON PAGE 4A
》 ACCIDENT
Cat Tracker driver not correctly licensed
BY DAVID LINHARDT
The Cat Tracker fan bus driver, who was involved in the Nov. 18 accident that killed one person and severely injured another, was driving with a DUI-restricted license that did not allow him to drive a commercial vehicle.
Lawrence Police and the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed this week that Brent Simonsson, a 41-year-old Wamego resident, had been arrested for a DUI offense in Riley County in November 2003.
Marcy Ralston, driver control bureau chief for Kansas DMV, said Simonsson's license only allowed him to drive vehicles with an ignition that required him to test his blood-alcohol level before the vehicle would start.
The ignition-interlock device would not allow a car to start if Simpson blew a blood-alcohol level of approximately .04, Ralston said. It is illegal in Kansas to drive with a blood-alcohol level of 08 or higher.
In addition, Simonsson had his license completely suspended from February 2005 to February 2006 for previous DUI convictions, Ralston said.
Simonsson's license remains restricted through February 2007.
Alan Anderson, chief of the Kansas Driver's License Bureau, said even without DUI convictions, Simonsson still did not have the correct commercial driver's license.
a commercial license is required? Anderson said.
"If the vehicle is designed for transporting 16 passengers or more, including the driver, then
Lawrence police confirmed that Simonsson's license did not comply with requirements for driving the Cat Tracker.
The Cat Tracker is capable of carrying 71 people. At the time of the accident it carried 19 passengers, according to the Lawrence Police Department's accident report.
John Green, of Shawnee, hit the overpass and was pronounced dead at the scene. Chris Orr, of Salina, was critically injured and remains at
Simonsson was driving K-State fans to the football game against Kansas earlier last month when the top of the bus struck the Irving Hill Road overpass. Eight passengers were riding on top of the bus when the accident occurred.
the University of Kansas Hospital.
Robert Pottroff, a Manhattan attorney who owns the Cat Tracker bus, was out of his law office for the rest of the week and was unavailable for comment.
Pedro Irigonegara, attorney for Simonsson, did not return a call for comment Thursday.
The Douglas County District Attorney's office is reviewing the full report from Lawrence police. Cheryl Wright, assistant to district attorney Charles Branson, said they had set no timetable yet for charging anyone with any crimes.
Kansan staff writer David Linhardt can be contacted at dlinhardt@kansan.com.
Edited by Erin Wiley
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