The University Daily Kansan
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Fridav. March 30, 2001
Sports: Reggie Duncan may be the Jayhawks' top running back next season.
See page 10A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL.111 NO.113
Inside: Campus recycling increases drastically despite a lack of funding.
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
See page 3A
Robinson changes closing hours
By Amanda Beglin
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
KU students who flee to the gym for late-night workouts will have to rearrange their schedules — Robinson Center will close at 10:30 p.m. for the remainder of the semester, an hour and a half before its normal midnight closing time.
But that has happened every year for the last decade, said Bob Lockwood, facility director of recreation facilities management.
The gymnasium stayed open
every day until midnight to accommodate students during basketball season, Lockwood said.
"There's a big demand to have courts open at night for people to play." Lockwood said. "Now that basketball season is over and there are more options for things to do, especially outside, we just don't need to keep it open."
Nevertheless, some students are sweating the time change, including James Coltrain, Wichita senior.
"I go down there all the time after 10:30." Coltrain said.
"There's not as many people there, more courts are open and I don't have to wait to lift weights. I just think it's ridiculous that we've got such a poor facility as it is, and they don't even keep it open."
Andrew Schurle, Manhattan freshman, said he was aggravated by the earlier closing time but was glad to find out before he trekked to a closed gymnasium.
"I don't like this," Schurle said. "It's inhibiting my physical fitness."
But Amber Benham, Great Bend sophomore, said she was
more annoyed than aggravated.
"That sucks. I don't get off work until pretty late, so the only time I could out was after 10." Benham said.
Britt DeTienne, Wichita freshman, echoed Benham's comments — also irritated by the hour and a half of exercise he no longer had.
"It definitely decreases availability for students."
DeTienne said. "I used to go at 10:30 or 11 after work."
For the students who enjoy a late-night workout after long study sessions, like Jacob
Williams, Topea freshman,
the workout will have to wait.
"A lot of people have late classes or they study late, and I know I study later than 10:30." Williams said. "So I don't know when I'm going to go down there."
Lockwood said the center would revert to normal open gym hours of 6:30 p.m. to midnight in the fall. Summer hours will be Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Edited by Courtney Craigmile
Behind wild student revelry lurks unknown danger. From sexual battery to assault with a beer bottle, students never know what legal issue they're going to bump into at a social gathering.
Party time could mean jail time
WWW.KANSAN.COM
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Courtney File has thrown three 21st- birthday bashes for friends this semester. But File, Beloit junior, said she didn't worry if a party got out of control.
"If people fight, we kick them out," she said.
With flowing alcohol and a crowded atmosphere, altercations between students can arise at parties. Drunken students may resort to fistfuls, and men and women may become the objects of unwanted attention.
arrying students might not consider the long-term consequences that they could face if the situation gets out of control.
If a disagreement gets too serious and a physical fight starts, that is considered disorderly conduct, Lawrence police Sgt. The Patrick said
Mike Patrick said. "If two people are fighting, we charge both with disorderly conduct and physically remove them to keep other fights from starting,"
Charges such as disorderly conduct and assault are misdemeanors. But other charges that can arise at a party, such as criminal threat, aggravated sexual battery and aggrivated battery count as felonies, and they
File said she did not think many students understood the possible legal ramifications. "I don't know if legally everyone is quite aware," she said. "Information about all the date rape stuff is out and about, and everyone is aware of it, but little things like sexual harassment not everyone knows about."
See BATTERY on page 3A
Candidates speak out as election nears
By Erin Adamson
By Erin Adamson
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
City Commission candidates answered questions about their visions for the future of development in Lawrence last night at the Lawrence Public Library.
Candidates Scott Bailey, David Dunfield, Adam Mansfield, Marty Kennedy and Erv Hodges spoke before about 30 Lawrence residents for the last time before Tuesday's city elections. Candidate Sue Hack was unable to attend.
Preserving the older, central neighborhoods and dealing with changing residential patterns have been at the forefront of the campaign.
Kennedy said that older neighborhoods had been changed by
an aging population and by an influx of many renters. He said the ordinance to reduce the number of unrelated people living in neighborhoods zoned for single families would encourage families with children to move back into those neighborhoods.
Mansfield opposed the housing ordinance and said the older neighborhoods lacked services that newer nsighborhoods provided.
Audience members asked the candidates if the members of the Planning Commission were a reflection of the community. The Planning Commission is a group of city and county residents appointed by the mayor to
"It costs the city more with hiring inspectors and enforcing the licensing ordinance," Mansfield said.
make planning and development recommendations to the city.
Hodges and Kennedy said they thought the Planning Commission had done a good job in making growth decisions. Dunfield said the Planning Commission didn't represent balanced interests.
"Many people on commission have a direct interest in development." Dunfield said.
Bailey said that the Planning Commission should follow the planning guidelines in Horizon 2020 more closely than they had. Horizon 2020 is a planning document created as a guideline for responsible, long-term growth in Lawrence.
Polls for Tuesday's election will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Edited by Country Crimeman
City Commission candidates Marty Kennedy, left, and Erv Hodges answer questions from the public at the Lawrence Public Library. Candidates discussed neighborhood preservation and the importance of the Planning Commission at last night's forum. Photo by Augustus Anthony Piazza/KANSAN
Edited by Courtney Craigmile
Fraternity not charged in alcohol-related car accident
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house will not face penalties for the events of Sept. 16 that preceded a fatal accident on Kansas Highway 10, said Danny Kaiser, director of Organizations and Leadership.
The Alcohol Beverage Control will look at additional evidence before deciding whether the Wheel will face penalties, said Scott Holeman, communications director for the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Sean Scott, a Shawnee 16-year-old, drank alcohol at both places that night before his car crossed the median and struck another car, killing its driver, 39-year-old Lawrence resident Felicia Bland, according to a March 1 court hearing. His blood-alcohol content was .15, almost twice the adult legal limit and almost eight times the limit for minors.
Scott was sentenced March 15 to two- and-a-half years in a youth correctional facility followed by two years of aftercare, a program which requires community programs such as the Teen Advisory Council and the Wrong of Passage program.
Holeman said the ABC was not closing the door on any action.
Holeman said he thought that the ABC would have to look closer at the evidence.
At his sentencing March 15, Scott told the judge that he had drunk at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house but not at the Wheel.
"We're just waiting to see if there's additional evidence in the case." Holeman said. "However, in final testimony the defendant said he did not drink at the Wheel."
However, two weeks before at a hearing, Scott's attorney, Tom Bath, told the court that Scott was accompanied by his brother and members of his brother's fraternity to the Wheel, where he joined his mother and stepfather and was allowed to consume alcoholic beverages, according to court transcripts.
At approximately 6:45 p.m., Bath said, Scott left and went to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. His brother left for Kansas City, leaving Scott with other fraternity members who provided alcohol to Scott, encouraged him to drink and ridiculed him when he did not. He then drank a number of shots of rum, got in his car and traveled toward Kansas City, Bath said.
At the University, Kaiser said the fraternity had not violated any University policies based on the University's own investigation. He said fraternities and sororities were not on University property, and he could find no other violations.
"The fraternity did not provide any alcohol, and there was not a fraternity social event," Kaiser said. "It's comparable to as if this had happened at an apartment."
Kaiser said the University would always accept new information in its investigation.
"It's complete to the extent that I don't know where to look any more," Kaiser said. "If somebody points us in a different direction, we may look again."
Kaiser said he had heard that fraternity members had pressured Scott to drink but could not corroborate or dispute that information in the investigation. He said the University did not always have access to a police investigation, and he did not have a copy of the report.
"In the early stages we got preliminary information, but they stopped giving us information and we were left on our own." he said.
Kaiser said it appeared that Scott's brother and one of his brother's friends provided him with the alcohol. He said it happened to occur on fraternity property but it was the limited actions of individuals — not the corporate action of an organization.
Richard Ramos, Bland's brother, said he was disappointed that the issue had become so muddled.
"It's pretty disheartening that people can't just be honest for things," he said. "Somebody is not coming clean."
— Edited by Sydney Wallace
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