SUNSHINE
Weather
The University Daily Kansan
**Today:** Cloudy with a high of 28 and a low of 18
**Tomorrow:** Cloudy with a high of 41 and a low of 19
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Sports: Kansas women's basketball player Dalchon Brown is committed to caring for her son.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Vandals strike Ellsworth Hall men's bathroom.
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 96
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MTV hopefuls advance to next round of Real World
By Sarah Smarsh writer @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Fifteen area people, including three University of Kansas students, are a step closer to living their lives on national television after auditions held in Lawrence for MTV's The Real World.
Almost 1,000 hopefuls auditioned for The Real World when casting directors came to town Feb. 10. The vast majority of applicants left empty-handed, but 15 progressed to the next round of the nationwide search for seven people to live
together on camera for five months
J. D. Boyle, Cleveland junior, said he was asked to stick around for a while after a group interview and was told to complete a 15-page application. The casting agency, Bunim/Murray Productions, called him Feb. 14 to tell him he had made the cut.
The selected applicants also must submit a 10-minute video of themselves. Boyle said his plan was "to lock myself in a room and do it over and over again 'til I am happy with one of them."
"I thought there'd be no chance I'd make it this far," he said. "I don't think I'll make it."
Despite Boyle's meticulous approach, he said he wasn't optimistic — the casting agency would receive about 50,000 video applicants. Boyle and other casting call selectees are already in the next round, unlike most who submit videos, but Boyle said he didn't have high expectations.
Boyle: isn't conflent he'll make it to the next round
Garcia: says picked because of down-to-earth approach
Kawa: says she's not stereotypical, innocent girl
Ashleigh Garcia, Stillwell junior and Kansan staff member, said she didn't get tapped on the shoulder like Boyle, so she was surprised when she received an email asking for paperwork and a video submission.
Garcia said she was probably picked for her down-to-earth approach.
Muffy Kawa, Omaha, Neb., sophomore, also chosen for the next round, said she had a positive attitude.
"I think I have a pretty good chance because they probably don't get too many people from the Midwest," Kawa said.
She said in her video that she would be an asset to the show because she couldn't be pigeonholed.
"I'm from the Midwest, but I'm not the stereotypical, innocent girl." she said.
Bunim/Murray Productions would not reveal the 15 names because of a privacy clause.
Students to pay for fire damage
— Edited by Melinda Weaver
By Cynthia Malakasia
writer @kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A lamp left on overnight Saturday has left nine University of Kansas students temporarily homeless and facing potential financial and legal complications.
The iridescent, free-standing lamp fell and landed on a couch in apartment 2115 of the Quail Creek complex at 2111 Kasold Drive, igniting after several hours, said Rob Cort, battalion chief for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical.
A firefighter, who noticed the fire on his way to work Sunday morning, called 911 and then knocked on the apartment doors and got the residents out. The fire had already spread to apartments 2113 and 2117, causing severe damage. Apartment 2119 suffered minimal smoke damage. None of the residents were injured.
Physical harm, however, may be the only consequence the residents escaped. They lost all their personal possessions, including books and clothing.
"They pretty much got out with what was on their books." Cort said.
Because the fire resulted from negligence, paying damages to the apartment complex may be another issue the students have to tackle.
Michele Kessler, assistant director at Legal Services for Students, said renters' insurance would cover all damages if residents had it.
"It's like car insurance," Kessler said. "They turn the deal over to their insurance company and let them fight with the complex's insurance."
Kessler said all major insurance companies offered renters' insurance to students.
"That policy will cover all the contents of the apartment, as well as damages caused by the residents' negligence." she said.
Kessler said if residents caused damage to property and did not have insurance, the complex could and probably would sue for damages.
It is unknown whether the students displaced by Sunday's fire have renters' insurance. The students could not be reached for comment.
Bob Carlson, insurance agent with State Farm Insurance, 2201 W.25th St., said students who were dependents of their parents may qualify under their parents' homeowners' insurance
"If they're not dependents and they don't
have a tenants' homeowner policy, they've left themselves wide open," he said.
Carlson said the best thing students could do was check with their home agent and confirm that they were covered by their parents' policy.
Stephanie Jackson, volunteer coordinator for the Lawrence Red Cross, said the residents had been offered space in other apartments in the complex. The Red Cross also saw to the students' immediate needs and put the students up in hotels.
Leah Kraft, Overland Park junior and girlfriend of one of the residents, said the students were looking for another apartment.
Quail Creek apartment complex declined to comment.
— Edited by Jennifer Valadez
Faces of meth: the users
Meth's destructive mind games
story and photos by phil cauthon kansan senior staff writer
In most ways, it was an unremarkable night in August. But because he took meth, it's one night 21-year-old John will never forget.
The summer weather in Lawrence was exhilarating, and he'd been drinking off and on since evening. It was 5 a.m., and John was sitting on a friend of a friend's couch in Topeka. Not by coincidence, the friend of a friend was a doe dealer. And his drug of choice — methamphetamine.
It was evident the dealer had money, but his house was a wreck. The only decor was racks of pistols, rifles and shotguns. The dealer stationed himself in front of a coffee table accessorized with another handgun, heaping ashtrays, Budweiser cans and a decorative glass bong which would be passed around a dozen or so times in the next 10 hours. Although John had never encountered this particular drug before, he
took his turn without hesitation.
"The best way I can describe meth is like souped-up Ritalin that makes your alertness really high. Your brain thrives off an negative
The dealer's attention snapped compulsively between his guests and his sentry through the blinds. A frail man — little more than a heap of bones slouched in the corner — giggled incessantly in between his rhymes. "Fifteen days, crystal crank cain't sleep, fifteen days, man no body seen. To be he—"
houghts to the point that you actually see things. I saw people I thought would kill me, aliens, a SWAT team. I thought the house was buurped."
The room's nervous inactivity was continually interrupted by customers like the 50-something wretch who crept in the room asking about a gram. The dealer retrieved a baggie from a back room. "One-twenty."
The customer frowned, recounting her $100 worth of small bills. Then, with something less than a gram in hand, she flashed a wild smile of sparse teeth and blurred out the door.
The nightmare would last until dawn, though John wouldn't sleep for another day.
A year later, John still frequently thinks about his' night on meth. He's come to the conclusion that meth is one drug that should definitely be outlawed. "And that's coming from a guy who likes to do a lot of drugs," he said.
Still, he did meth again. He hopes that second time will be his last. But he can't
say for sure.
That's the typical beginnings of meth addiction, according to Eric Voth, a physician specializing in Addiction Medicine at Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka.
Even while the user's experience on meth may be horrific, Voth said the drug quickly lures the body into addiction by dramatically altering the brain's chemistry. Essentially, meth tricks the brain into thinking it needs the drug to function normally.
"Meth really does cause an element of true brain damage," said Voth, who has regularly advised the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations on drug-related issues. "People who use it every month have trouble with basic brain function — memory, personality, and attention — and it can cause chronic psychosis."
See METH'S on page 8A
Former resident director accused of bending rules
Bv Cvnthia Malakasis
Kansan staff writer
Two former Naismith Hall resident assistants came forward yesterday with allegations against Hugo Vera, the resident director of Naismith Hall who was fired Feb. 12.
Lauren Cuchna, Downers Grove, Ill., junior, and Sandi Sandib, Overland Park resident and former University of Kansas student, accused Vera of not following official policies and procedures in disciplining residents, even when alcohol and drug offenses were involved, and of using his power arbitrarily in dealing with staff members.
Cuchna said that, according to College Park Community rules, staff members were supposed to terminate the leases of residents that had three alcohol offenses or call the police on residents who were suspected of drug use.
"He knew of the drinking and the drugs and who did them and who
Vera: says his lenient policies helped residents
lealt, "Cuccha said. "However, Hugo did not kick them out."
The two former RAs said that, instead of following standard procedure with residents, Vera signed personal contracts with them, in which the residents promised they would not repeat their offenses.
Vera said that his supervisor, Jason Olds, property manager of Naismith Hall, was aware of Vera's contractual agreements with the residents.
Vera responded to allegations by saying he followed a more lenient policy with residents, hoping to help them and teach them a lesson.
"By kicking them out, they were not going
He said he dealt with offenders by making them do volunteer work and setting up consultation meetings with their parents.
to learn anything," he said.
"There were several occasions where he
Vera also denied drinking with residents, having any knowledge of hard drug use in the building or allowing residents to stay after three alcohol offences.
"They're freshmen," Vera said. "It's a transitional period, and they're allowed to make mistakes."
Cuchna and Sandborn also said Vera abused his power and mistreated staff members.
would threaten termination of RAs merely for disagreeing with an idea of his," Sandborn said.
Cuchna added that Vera would make up his own rules in dealing with hall issues, rules not included in the official manuals. She also said that Vera would leave the disciplinary role up to the RAs, choosing to be a friend to residents rather than an authority figure.
"As a resident director, I felt I had to make decisions best for the dorm as a whole," Vera said. "Each dorm is different, and you have to base your rules on the dynamics of the dorm."
— Edited by Jay Pilgreen