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the university daily kansan 5A
Wescoe'dungeon'a hotspot for skating, ticketing
By Laura Pate
lpate@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Skateboarders seem to be damned if they do, and damned if they don't.
In its Jan. 2004 issue, Thrasher skateboarding magazine touted Lawrence as the "jewel of the Great Plains." But if skateboarders want to experience Wescoe, what Thrasher refers to as the "Dungeon of Stoke," they risk receiving a ticket. If they go the safe route, they skate at Centennial Park's Skateboard Park, 600 Rockledge Rd. — a skate park that is a bit old and not big, said local skaters.
local skaters.
In 1990, a skater lost control of his board and hit a 20-year-old student in the head at Wescoe Terrace. On Sept. 18, 1990, commissioners approved an ordinance, which made skateboarding illegal on the sidewalks along Jayhawk Boulevard from West Campus Road to 13th Street. This encompasses any place within 1,000 ft. of that area, including Wescoe.
But skaters still flock there Tuesday afternoon, a Kansas City, Mo., senior who wished to remain anonymous, filmed J.P. Redmon as he skated on the Wescoe stair rails. He filmed the Manhattan sophomore for a skateboarding video, Through Being Nice, which will premiere
in April at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St.
"Skateboarding wasn't meant to be in a caged area," Redmon said about the skate park. "It's coolest to express yourself on something not meant for skateboarding."
boarding. The filmer, who worried the KU Public Safety Office would track him down for skateboarding on campus, has received more than a few tickets for skating at Wescoe.
The danger of receiving a ticket is worth it to Redmon. He said he had received three to four tickets in the five years he has skated at Wescoe. His tickets have ranged from $35 to $75, he said.
from $35.00
Mike Moreno, Lawrence High School junior, skated a staircase at Wescroft Hall. Braving the daylight last summer, he got a $35 ticket after a police pursuit on foot, he said.
foot, the said.
The possibility of injuring a passerby with his board won't stop him either. Moreno once almost hit someone with his board, but no one was hurt.
board, but no skateboarding on campus does not present a big problem, said Capt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office. Officers issue tickets if they catch skateboards on campus, he said.
Skaters also receive tickets for skating on Lawrence sidewalks.
Tom Wilcox, owner of Round Corner Drug Co., 801 Massachusetts St., said skateboarders beat
Wescoe, a national skate spot
Thrasher skateboarding magazine held a contest, King of the Road, in August 2003. Four hand-picked teams of professional skaters traveled to skate sites across the country and earned points by conquering skateboarding challenges. Among those skate sites were the Wescoe staircases, which Thrasher referred to as the Dungeon of Stoke. Team Tumyeto performed tricks, such as salad grinds and monster back lips, at Wescoe.
Source: Thrasher magazine
on his building and push open doors once or twice a week as they skate by.
He hesitates to say anything to the skateboarders.
they skate by. "They're usually hootin' and hollerin'," Wilcox said.
"I figure if I go out and say something they'll be back every day."
day.
If police officers receive a call to stop a skateboarder, they ask the him or her to leave, said Sgt. Mike Pattrick of the Lawrence Police Department. If the skateboarder continues, the officer handcuffs the skater and drives him to the
Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center, 330 Northeast Industrial Lane, or to the Douglas County Jail, 3601 E. 25th St
County jail, 2001 L E R. Mike Herrera, Free State High School senior, said his friends sat in jail for a couple of nights after they damaged the end of a stair rail with their skateboards. They paid more than $500 to repair the damages, he said.
Since the construction of the Lawrence Skate Park in 1998, skating on public property has decreased, said Mike Wilden, city manager. In 1987, the city passed an ordinance prohibiting skateboarding on downtown sidewalks.
"The main complaint downtown is that people get bowled over." Wilden said.
The sidewalks are not wide enough to accommodate skaters and pedestrians, he said.
and petition Between Jan. 1, 2003 and yesterday, the municipal court issued 30 citations.
30 clauses
A mile west of downtown, past a black trash can with "sicko" spray painted on it, down a 16-step staircase. Moreno skated Friday afternoon at the skateboard park in solitude. He had six concrete slabs, a steel grind rail and a mini-ramp to choose from.
While skateboarders don't have to worry about tickets, the park has sub-par ramps and already has too many cracks from skateboards, Herrera said.
Five skateboarders went to the Lawrence City Commission to petition for improvements two weeks ago. Fred DeVictor, director of Lawrence Parks and Recre
John Paul Redmon performed a backside five-o-grind at Wescoe Hall. Wescoe is a popular site for illegal skateboarding on campus.
ation, said he planned to look into improving the skateboard park at some point.
— Edited by Nikki Nugent
Taboo sexual acts focus of student theater production
By Samia Khan
skhan@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Phillip Vocasek likes knowing people's secrets. It's why when he was younger he skipped church to explore neighborhood back alleys.
"The fronts of houses are always kept nice," he said. "But in the back you can see the dirty unkempt side of people."
It's why when he worked at a video rental store in high school, he'd look to see who had rented what movie.
what it means.
It's why for his senior theater project at the University of Kansas, Vocasek is directing a show that explores the fringe sex acts nobody talks about.
Vocasek, Dodge City senior, created a show called Essiex for his senior project because has always
been interested in seeing people's reactions to taboo acts. Essiex opens Saturday, at 2:30 p.m. with a second show on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. in Murphy Hall's Inge Theatre. He adapted the script from Harold Jaffe's book Sex for the Millenium, a collection of short stories about deviant sexual behavior.
Sexual secrets are often the best kind of secrets,he said.
Vocasek began working on putting the show together last year, finished the script over winter break and started rehearsals Feb. 1.
His assistant director, Blake
vocasek.
"It got under my skin, and I needed to do it to get it out of my brain," he said. "I couldn't let it go."
When he read Jaffe's book three years ago, he instantly knew he would eventually create a theater production from it. The graphic stories of blood, sex, violence, humor and perversity in Jaffe's book intrigued Vocasek.
Bolan, said Vocasek's excitement and energy for the show rubs off on everyone involved with the project.
"I can tell that sometimes the rehearsal for this show is the best part of his day," said Bolan, Manhattan junior.
Vocasek wrote Essiex to include a tone that crosses several emotions from sensual to sexual and from funny to scary.
Vocasek designed workshops to test the material with his cast. For one of the first rehearsals, he had the cast spend 30 minutes making sex noises.
"The reaction should go from laughing to thinking nobody should be watching or doing this ever," he said.
Matt Simon, cast member and Overland Park senior, said the
Bolan said Vocasek was honest and told everyone from the start that the show was about graphic sex.
workshop format helped the cast bond and made everyone comfortable with the subject matter. Simon said Vocasek knew the right things to say to put the cast at ease.
People who know him might be surprised that someone with his friendly personality could produce a such a disturbing show, Vocasek said.
"I'm sure people will look at me differently a few days after the show," he said.
Vocasek said he hoped his show would get under people's skin much like Jaffe's stories gnawed at him. He expects surprise, but enjoys the controversy. He said he hoped at least one shocked person walked out in the middle of the show. Most of all he wants to explore the secret corners of the everyone's back alleys and sexual lives.
"I want the audience to walk away with a million and one
Matt Simon, Overland Park senior, Phil Vocasek Shawnee senior and Megan Carter, Overland Park junior, practiced a scene from a play called Essixtale last night in Murphy Hall. The play is directed by Vocasek and is based on short stories by Harold Jaffee called "Sex for the Millennium". The sexually graphic play will be preformed on March 13th and 14th at the Inge Theater in Murphy Hall.
questions," he said. "I want people to question the scary dark corners of their brain and sexual
being that nobody looks at."
—Edited by Michelle Rodick
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