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The University Daily Kansan
Today: Partly cloudy with a high of 85 and a low of 60
Saturday: Partly cloudy with a high of 76 and a low of 60.
Sunday: Partly cloudy witha high of 84 and a low of 60.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Friday, April 27, 2001
Sports: Former Kansas fullback Moran Norris is excited after being drafted by the Saints.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: The seventh annual National Panhellenic Council step show is tomorrow.
SEE PAGE 3A
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Athletic club members mad about frozen memberships
By Thad Allender
writes @kanson.com
Special to the Kansan
A popular 24-hour fitness center destroyed in a March fire is feeling the heat again, but this time from some of its 4.100 members.
The Kansas Attorney General's office in Topeka is investigating two complaints from members of Total Fitness Athletic Center, 925 Iowa. The members complained that "frozen" contracts violate their consumer rights.
"We are investigating two cases at the moment and other consumers are encouraged to call our office," said Mary Tritsch, director of communications at the attorney general's office.
Tritsch said that if the attorney general's office found the fitness center was in violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, her office could file a lawsuit. That could mean thousands of dollars in membership fees would be repaid to members.
More information
To lodge a complaint about the Total Fitness Athletic Center or any other business, call the attorney general's consumer protection hotline at:
Right now, members have nowhere to exercise, and some of the club's 4,100 members are tied to a $300 yearly membership fee because of the "frozen" contracts. Freezing a contract means memberships are paused and that all days lost will be credited to members' account when TFAC reopens.
1-800-432-2310
Joe Booth, club member and Overland Park junior, said Total Fitness promised to establish a temporary workout site during reconstruction. Booth said he paid $300 in cash for a one-year membership just three days before the fire, and he was only able to use the facility once.
"We've all been left in the dark," he said. Total Fitness managers declined to comment, and Total Fitness owner Martin Tuley did not return phone calls.
Seven weeks later, Boothie said no alternative site has been created. He said the only letter he had received was that the fitness center hoped he would return when it reopened.
Lawrence Athletic Club owner Rick Sells said his club was bombarded with people wanting to join after the fire.
"LAC deals with angry Total Fitness members on a daily basis," Sells said.
Sells knows all too well how disastrous the situation is. On Feb. 4, 1999, LAC was destroyed by a fire that caused $1.5 million dollars in damage and displaced 4,000 members and 60 employees.
But Sells said after LAC's fire, it offered special rates to its members following the fire to retain membership.
For students like Boothe, money is hard to come by at this time of the year. He said he doesn't have the extra cash to spend on another membership somewhere else. For now, he works out at the Community Building, 1105 W. 11th. He said the building had only one set of dumb bells and one treadmill.
"The Community Building has meager accommodations," said Booth. "I really wish Total Fitness would figure out something better for their members."
Kansas athletics director resigns
Bob Frederick, Kansas' soon-to-be former athletics director, announced his resignation from the position yesterday. He will continue to teach classes at the University in the School of Education. Photo by Augustus Anthony Piazza/KANSAN
— Edited by Matt Daugherty
By Chris Wristen
sports @kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
When he uttered the two-word phrase, "I'm leaving," which he pointed out was an about-face from what Roy Williams said last July, Kansas' soon-to-be former athletics director gave credence to what many had been expecting for the last few months.
When Bob Frederick made his announcement, it almost seemed like he was hiding a smile.
He said pressures resulting from cutting the men's tennis and men's
However, Frederick, who served as Kansas' athletics director for 14 years, isn't actually leaving the University of Kansas. He'll remain as athletics director until June 30, but will continue to teach classes in the School of Education.
swimming and diving programs and the financial shortcomings of a football team that has endured five consecutive losing seasons had no bearing on his thought process.
"I thought this was the best thing for me at this time," Frederick said. "It wasn't anybody's fault or anything. This has been a tough year, and we had to make some tough decisions. I don't regret anything from the last 14 years, but I'm 61 years old, and I've spent a lot of time in this job. It's become a lot harder in the last few years."
It was the current state of college athletics and a desire for more family time that led him to his decision.
"I've always considered myself an educator, first and foremost," Frederick said. "The opportunity to work with young people, some of them having a change in their life that was positive in the long haul, that's the thing that means the most to me."
frederick, who earned a $166,303 salary as athletics director, guided the University to its most prominent year in sports when Kansas went to the men's Final Four, the
College World Series and the football team won a bowl game in the 1992-1993 academic year.
He said he needed a change, but wanted to continue educating young people.
Chancellor Robert Hemenay said no replacement candidates had been contacted yet, but a nationwide search would begin immediately to fill the position by July 1.
"We'll look for someone who does everything well," said Hemenay. "We'll look for someone who has the same values and integrity as Bob Frederick."
Edited by Doug Pacey
Lori Neuenschwander and Jennifer Miller weren't looking for religion when posters attracted them to Smith Hall for a presentation on the supernatural earlier this semester.
and The Exorcist popped up on the overhead projector screen. Then Jesus of Nazareth came on and talked turned toward the Holy Bible.
When they walked into a packed auditorium in Smith Hall, home of the religious studies department, Miller, a former KU student, said people quickly approached them and began shaking their hands. They took their seats, lined in a semicircle around the room, and the presentation began.
thinking that ghosts and supernatural experiences would be the topics of discussion, the women decided to attend.
Miller and Neuenschwander said they were chagrined to learn The Net, an evangelical Christian group, sponsored the event.
Clips of movies such as The Sixth Sense
Evangelical Christians say they just want to share the good news about Jesus and redemption. While some students appreciate the message of salvation, others say the evangelical's efforts are falling on deaf ears. Critics say the groups prey on freshmen and lonely international students looking to belong. They say some groups employ
unethical strategies to attract new members. Some say the groups come on too strong and others don't like the implicit message that their religion is not the true one and that they are condemned to hell for all eternity.
Miller said she became offended and left the meeting. She said she was angered the group miarepresented itself using a bait-and-switch tactic.
"In the presentation, they were saying that the devil tries to hide himself, yet they were trying to hide themselves," Miller said.
Neuenschwander she stayed because she didn't want to be rude. The presentation ended with the guest speaker asking group members to bow their heads in prayer. As
soon as he was done, Neuenschwander said she bolted for the door without looking back. She said the group's dishonesty turned her off of Christianity.
EURK FISH, campus minister for The Net, said if anyone was misled by the posters, it was unintentional. Fish said some posters contained the name of the group and others didn't. He apologized if there was an oversight.
"They should have said it's a Christian prayer group and given the name of the sponsor on the poster," Neuenschwander said.
See EVANGELICAL on page 6A
Officer tells tale of time in China
By Sarah Warren writer@kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
--looked at the other officer, and I'm sure my eyes were as big as his were."
As Lt. j.g. Jeff Vignery stood in front of a group of Navy ROTC students yesterday, smiling in his white U.S. Navy uniform, his short red hair sparkling under the lights in Woodruff Auditorium, he declared, "I'm very happy to be alive."
Vignery was one of three pilots on the EP-3 plane that collided with a Chinese fighter plane on April 1, leaving the crew marooned in China for 11 days. The 1997 University of
Jim Cooper, commanding officer in the Naval ROTC department, said he called Vignery's base in Whidbey Island, Wash, hoping that, if he was in the area, he would come and share his story with his students because it was something that was unique.
Kansas graduate returned yesterday afternoon to campus on his way to his hometown of Goodland for a home welcoming celebration next week.
"It's good to hear it from us, but it's nice to bring somebody who's been through this," Cooper said. "They've got a bigger story."
Vignery's story is certainly big — it's a national phenomena. For almost two weeks, newspapers were filled with news reports of the plane and the crew, stranded in China as the government did negotiations.
Vignery has found himself as an important player in the story because of his position on the plane. When Chinese fighter pilot Wang Wei's plane crashed into the EP-3, Vignery was seated in the left pilot's seat. The plane impacted on that left side.
"He carne in so fast, I was kind of in disbelief," Vignery said. "I
The plane managed to make an emergency landing at a military airport in China. Once the plane had landed, Chinese military men surrounded the plane, but the crew was so happy to be alive that they weren't too worried that they were being encircled by Chinese men and women, Vigney said.
Vignery said he was restricted on how much he could say about his time in China and what his mission there was, but his younger brother, Josh Vignery, Goodland freshman,
can tell you exactly what was going on in Goodland.
"The media was attacking my family," Josh Vignery said. "I was here trying to keep a really low profile so no one could find me."
Now that his brother is back in his home state, Josh Vignery said he was taking advantage of spending time with his brother, going to lunch and dinner with him yesterday. Josh Vignery said he had always thought his brother was smart, but since his brother's ordeal he has become even more impressed with him.
See OFFICER on page 2A
Lt. j.g. Jeff Vignery breaks into a grin after being asked whether he received pay during his time being held captive in China. Vignery, a KU ROTC Naval alumni, spoke to a group of Navy ROTC students yesterday in Woodruff Auditorium. Photo by Selena Jabara/KANSAN