Thursday inside
Jayplay
Love's not all you need. A blind date for
Day wouldn't be bad. And if that
Polling site problems
The debate over polling sites for the spring elections will go on at least another week, after a bill passed last night to expand the number of sites. The bill will be voted on next week at full Senate. PAGE 3A
Cats crush 'Hawks
Playing in front of nearly 4,000 Wildcat fans, the K-State
Vol. 114 Issue No. 91
women's basketball team came into Allen Fieldhouse last night, and left with a 81-51 victory. PAGE 1B
Fist-pumping freshman
Kansas basketball guard J.R. Giddens is
playing his first year as a Jayhawk. Giddens explains how he handles the pressure of playing in a clamorous environment such as Allen Fieldhouse PAGE 1B
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index
Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 1B
Sports briefs 2B
Crossword 6B
KANSAN
February 12, 2004 IN ITS 100TH YEAR AS THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
February 12, 2004
Inclement weather puts strain on Facilities Operations budget
Costs high for snow
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
Dana Evans, Facilities Operations employee, shovelled snow outside Dyche Hall last Thursday. Evans said it was hard to keep up with the snowfall.
In response to weather forecasts, Facilities Operations pretreats main walkways with "ice slicer." The solution helps prevent the accumulation of ice.
But when snow falls and the "ice slicer" has already been distributed, the water from the snow melt washes the solution away. This can lead to the formation of ice. Another problem is the expense of the "ice slicer": $100 per ton. And Facilities Operations has already ordered 78 tons.
By Steve Vockrodt svockrodt@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Students at the University of Kansas received a treat when classes were cancelled last Thursday. But while they went home for an afternoon of freedom, students might not have realized the storm cost the University thousands of dollars.
Mike Lang, Facilities Operations landscape manager, said the use of "ice slicer" meant ice storms often cost more for the Department than snowfall.
The Department of Facilities Operations scrambled around campus to try to remove snow from walkways and streets. It was the latest in what has been a tough and expensive winter.
Facilities Operations associate director of information management Steve Green said the Department had spent $141,000 for the 2003-04 season. That means the costs have already surpassed the previous three-year average of $135,000 per season.
the Department combats snow storms with rock salt and sand, which costs $2 to $3 a ton — substantially less than "ice slicer."
SEE SNOW ON PAGE 9A
after a $12,000 order for magnesium chloride. or "ice slicer," is made.
And the total will grow to $153,000
Rec Center stops play of The Buzz
By Dave Nobles
nobles@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Student Fitness Recreation Center has taken the buzz out of exercising.
After several complaints, the radio station 96.5 The Buzz has been removed from the selection of radio stations that may be played at the center, director of Recreation Services Mary Chappell said.
"Supervisors have made discretionary changes because there's been enough complaints about it," Chappell said.
Chappell said that the station was removed because of offensive content between the songs. She said that the commentary was degrading to several groups.
The center plays 105.9 The Lazer, 98.9 The Rock and 99.7 KY. Chappell said that they were considering playing Student-run 90.7 KJK, although it has not been played yet.
When the center opened, a survey of students was taken to determine which radio stations to play. Initially, The Buzz was at the top of the list and very few students requested KJHK.
The removal of The Buzz has created a sort of buzz among some students. Stacy Fagan, Wellington senior, said she thought that taking the station off the playlist was the wrong thing to do and that The Buzz played the type of music the majority of KU students listened to.
"If someone's against the stations they play, they should bring a Walkman and listen to that." Fagan said.
Chappell said that there was the option for students to bring personal sound systems to listen to.
"All of those stations kind of blend together after a while anyway," said Josh Atkinson, Kansas City, Kan., senior.
The center has 44 sound zones in which volume can be altered by users but not station selection. All sound zones must also be on the same station.
Atkinson said that he was disappointed that the center did not play KJHK more often.
A staff of mostly students operate the main control board that dictates which stations are played.
"I want to hear the local stuff," Atkinson said.
The only locations in the center in which the music selection can be independent of the others are the gymnasium and the aerobics room. Chappell said those areas could be altered because the purposes of the rooms demanded it.
Chappell said that the sound system in the center was still new and that the kinks were being worked out.
Chappell said that two alternatives that the center was considering to resolve the radio station issue were to turn the music off altogether or to switch to CDs for users' music needs.
- Edited by Ashley Arnold
Chappell said that students with concerns about the variety of music at the center could voice their opinions in the suggestion box.
Cookie "dough"-re-mi
Abby Huckvale, Winfield senior, baked cookies last night for the Sigma Alpha Iota musical fraternity for women at Douthart Scholarship Hall. The fraternity made 133 dozen cookies to fill orders to support the music department."We help with scholarships and general needs of the department,"Huckvale said.
Kit Leffter/Kansa
Candidate announced for dean
By Rupl Gor
rgor@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Will Norton, Jr., dean and professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, will visit the University Feb. 15 to Feb. 17, to meet with faculty and students as well as tour the campus and journalism school.
The position is open because James K. Gentry, dean of Journalism, will leave his position at the end of the academic year. He will step down from his position but will continue to teach at the University.
Norton has been a visible and successful candidate, said Susanne Shaw, professor of journalism and chairwoman of the dean search committee. Norton is qualified because he shows leadership and has been an outstanding fundraiser at the University of Nebraska, she said.
During Norton's time as dean, the endowment greatly increased. An annual phone drive that began in 1991 grew from bringing in $3,000 a year to about $30,000.
Norton is excited to be a candidate for the dean position.
"The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications has a great tradition, excellent students, a fine faculty and exceptional media connections." Norton said.
Norton was a professor at the University of Mississippi from 1974 until 1990. He received his bachelor of arts in history at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and his masters of journalism at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
The dean search committee members agreed Norton was the strongest candidate for the position.
"He was the unanimous choice of the committee." Shaw said.
The committee will meet with Norton for dinner on Sunday. The following days he is scheduled to meet with journalism faculty. Students are invited to meet with Norton 3 p.m. Monday.
Before his 14 years as dean of journalism at Nebraska, Norton had experience working in the media. He was the managing editor at The Daily Iowan in Iowa City, Iowa, and sports copy editor at the Chicago Tribune. These were among many other positions he held in his journalistic career.
Norton is a national leader in journalism, said Mary Wallace, assistant to the KU journalism dean. He has an outstanding record as leader of journalism councils, such as the president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and a board member of the Freedom Forum. Wallace, who is on the dean search council, met Norton a couple years ago. She said people always have good things to say about him.
"He has an excellent reputation across the country as a leader in journalism education," Wallace said.
Edited by Ashley Arnold
Bar-hopping party bus not hopping yet, ridership low
By Dave Nobles
nobles@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A new bus service is taking the leg work out of pub crawls, but nobody knows about it.
The service, called Bar Hop, is operated by Midwest Transportation Corporation. Two buses run the route, which caters to 24 different bars and nine housing areas. The full route takes about 95 minutes and the buses run about 45 minutes apart en route to various bars, residence halls and apartment complexes. The route stretches from about New Hampshire to Iowa streets and Sixth to 23rd streets. Bar Hop started carting around bargoos Jan. 29.
The only way to get a feel for how the system works was to climb on one of the
buses myself, and that's what I did Saturday night.
I ventured to Rick's Place, 623 Vermont St., first to catch up with one of the buses.
"Taking me to more bars?" Utt said. "Hell wea!!"
Bar Hop does not just cater to the student population. Anyone with a dollar bill can hop into the belly of one of the steel beasts.
Joe Wilk, Overland Park junior, said he thought that Bar Hop would prevent people from driving drunk.
"It's a good, cheap way to get people home." Wilk said.
Wilk works at It's Brothers Bar and Grill, 1105 Massachusetts St. He said he noticed people using the service, but only late at night.
It wasn't long before the bus showed
Dave Old, manager of Bar Hop and Midwest Transportation, was driving the bus.
Old said even though patrons could bring their own alcohol on the bus, ridership had been low ever since the service began.
up in front of Rick's Place, so I grabbed my coat and hopped on.
The bus was completely empty, except for Jay Helms, who was the door watcher.
"So far, we haven't filled it up," Old said. "It's only been a handful, but we have to build into it."
Old attributed the low-ridership to the lack of advertising.
Old said eventually there would be two or more buses and an option for
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