thursday, february 19, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Students to take to the Big Easy streets for Mardi Gras
By Patrick Cady pcady@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
In less than 48 hours, New Orleans will be transformed. The city will become a swirling entity of masks, beads and screaming revelry. Crowds will take the streets in force.
They will join parades filled with surreal costumes all to usher in Fat Tuesday. In the middle of the insanity, University of Kansas students will be there.
"Expect the wildest possible trip," Paul Brand, Overland Park
"Expect the wildest possible trip. But once you get there, imagine a step beyond that."
junior and former Louisiana native, said. "But once you get there, imagine a step beyond that."
Paul Brand
Overland Park junior
Abe Sipe has been there before. The Topeka junior is going this time with the University ROTC Naval Drill Team for a national competition, officially. Unofficially, he's there for a good time.
For those taking the trek down to the party—some for business, others for fun—the expectations are high.
After he and the 25-person battalion finish their maneuvers, they'll have liberty from noon on Friday to early Saturday morning, Sipe said.
"This time we're going to try and experience more of the Cajun culture," Sipe said.
As Sipe and Brand wander the wild wonderland after their own serious work, others are there for the simplest of reasons: to party.
help of Brand, he intends to see more of the inner workings of New Orleans, Sipe said.
In the past, Sipe and his friends spent time on the bustling Bourbon street. This time, with the
"It's something you have to do while you are in college," Rebecca Pauls, St. Louis senior, said. "It's probably-something you won't be able to do once you graduate."
Pauls and her five friends have also been there before, and look forward to some of the familiar aspects of the town.
"I'm just looking forward to all the crazy people," Pauls said. "Sucking the head off a crawfish is an experience too."
To celebrate the experience, Pauls and her friends are making T-shirts with the Jayhawk logo, Pauls said. They do this to have a conversation piece and to be able to connect with former Kansas alumni in New Orleans, Pauls said.
Pauls and her friends started preparing for the trip two weeks ago, and found a hotel room a block from Bourbon street, she said.
For those leaving at the spur of
me moment to try the Big Easy, the trip might be a big hard time, said Veronica Duncan, Branch Manager of STA travel. Almost everything is booked, but you can still find a place if you don't mind driving to get downtown, Duncan said.
Once there though, Brand understands an important caveat.
"Go as wild as you want and remember some have got cameras rolling," Brand said. "So don't do anything you don't want your parents to see."
Warmer temperatures help prepare for future clean up
Edited by Guillaume Doane
By Steve Vockrodt
svockrodt@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Now that temperatures have risen beyond freezing this week, campus has become soggy and sloppy from the melting snow.
Despite the sudden snow melt, Facilities Operations has experienced relatively few problems associated with the water-logged campus.
The warmer weather has given the heavily burdened department a brief respite to allow for equipment repairs. Larry Rawlings, associate director of construction, said several instances of minor equipment failures occurred but now many of the problems were straightened out.
One of the problems the department encountered was roofleaks.
One such instance occurred in the southwest corner of Stauffer-Flint Hall.
Rawlings said fixing leaks
"We'll be ready for anything. But we hope it doesn't happen."
Larry Rawlings Associate director of construction
became a problem with sudden water runoff, but most of the leaks he knew of were minor.
Additionally, the wet campus has delayed efforts to remove sand that accumulated from recent clean up efforts. Rawlings said street sweepers could not do their work until campus was drier.
The warmer weather might not be around for long as a combination of rain and snow forecast for tomorrow could make for an icy campus, according to Lang.
Should bad weather occur, Rawlings said the department was ready to combat another round of winter weather with the usual routine of snow removal.
Plans for upcoming winter weather are initiated by pretreating sidewalks and steps with magnesium chloride to reduce ice as much as possible.
Once the snow starts, the University mandates priority roads and walkways on campus to be cleared first.
Lang said handicapped stalls on campus were the highest priority.
After the handicapped areas, walkways that get students to campus as well as main bus routes on campus receive attention.
"After that, it's just about getting everything else taken care of." Lang said.
Work crews also move snow piles to remote areas on campus, which provides space to move new snow, should another storm follow.
"We'll be ready for anything," Rawlings said. "But we hope it doesn't happen."
—Edited by Ashley Arnold
Jaywalkin
Kit Leffler/Kansan
Casey Cole, Wichita sophomore, crossed the street to wait for a bus yesterday afternoon. "The weather is beautiful today," Cole said. Yesterday's high temperature was 59 degrees, melting piles of snow on campus.
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