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Today: Snow showers with a high of 26 and a low of 13.
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Sunday: Partly cloudy with a high of 43 and a low of 24.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Friday, February 9, 2001
Sports: Kansas faces the Oklahoma State Cowboys tomorrow in Allen Fieldhouse.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Kansan taste testers risk cavities and rate Valentine's candy.
For comments, contact Lori O'Otoole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 6B
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 88
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Students often don't know rights
Miranda Rights
YOUR RIGHTS
Before we ask you any questions,you must understand your rights.
unjustify your right.
You have the right to remain silent.
- Anything you say can be used against you in a court.
- You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions and to have him with you during questioning.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time. You also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer.
WAIVER OF RIGHTS
I have read this statement of my rights and I understand what my rights are. I am willing to make a statement and answer questions. I do not want a lawyer at this time. I understand and know what I am doing. No promises or threats have been made to me and no pressure or coercion of any kind has been used against me.
Kari Kelley / KANSAN
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A police officer knocks on your door and tells you that you are suspected of committing a crime. He wants to ask you questions. What do you do?
This happened this school year to Kevin Hoskinson, a Garden City junior accused of kissing and fondling a girl who was sleeping in Hashington his sixth floor lobby in August.
He opted to answer the questions, according to court testimony, which meant he had to sign a statement that said he understood his rights, was willing to answer questions and write a statement without a lawyer present and had not been coerced or threatened into talking.
Lawrence police Sgt. Mike Pattrick said police could never promise that a person wouldn't be charged in a crime if he talked with police or that he would receive a lesser sentence. He said police would lose that confession if it were later questioned in court. But to some students, the rights aren't clear.
Police have to read the Miranda rights whenever the person they are talking with might not think he is free to leave, Pattrick said.
But sometimes students don't understand the process and wonder if they are under arrest, said
Sgt. Troy Malen of the KU Public Safety Office.
"It can be very alarming to have rights read to you if
you want your baby dead or not before." Mallory said.
you've never had them read to you before," Mallen said. Gina Matteoni, Olathe senior, said police began questioning her and her friends without reading them right last semester while they were walking on Massachusetts Street. Matteoni was cited for criminal damage to property after she pulled a branch from a potted tree and used it as a microphone.
"He just pulled over and called us over and kept asking what we were doing and why we were tearing off the branch of a tree," Matteoni said. "They didn't read us our rights. I don't know if they had to. We didn't know we were free to leave. We didn't even know what was going through his head. We didn't know what we could be charged with. We didn't know what was going on."
One of the Miranda rights allows a person to decide to stop answering questions at any time. The way the police respond when the person says he doesn't want to answer any more questions depends on the way the person says it. Pattrick and Malen said.
"If they say they don't want to talk to me anymore until they get an attorney, it is different than them saying they don't want to answer questions," Patrick said.
See STUDENTS on page GA
Late-night games a unique pastime
By Sarah Smarsh
One local business offers more than commerce to its patrons. It offers companionship, too.
Every Friday night after the neon "open" sign goes dark, a faithful group of customers pours into HobbyTown USA, 2108 W. 27th St. The store sells a wide variety of hobby materials, including model trains, Star Wars figures, Magic the Gathering trading cards and intricate games like Mordheim. But members of the late-night Friday crowd don't to buy games — they go to play them.
"It keeps the imagination going, finding new ways to do things." Richard Duran, a Lawrence resident, said about Warhammer, the most popular game among the Friday revelers. Duran
But Donovan — a Space Marine army man — said the ritual was about more than displaying his prized creatures or annihilating his opponents. He said he found as much satisfaction in finding like-minded people at the back of the store.
Josh Donovan, Wichita senior, explained the allure of gaming as he pulled intricately painted, pewter characters from his plastic tool box.
"It's just fantasy." Donovan said. "Some people play video games. It's a way to escape."
"It's just fantasy. Some people play video games. It's just a way to escape."
Josh Donovar
said he'd been playing the game, a was scenario with a loose storyline, at the store for about a year.
Warhammer players compete with specific armies — composed of dwarves or elves, demons or the undead. The playing board, a detailed landscape of trees and battle sites, spreads across an entire table. A thick book details the complex set of rules on moves, assaults and challenges like the "Meat Grinder Mission."
"Your army is kind of an extension of your personality," said Ryan Lance, Shawne junior. "I'm really stubborn, so I like Necron. I also have a malicious streak, so I like Dark Eldar." Lance described Necron armies as relentless "robotic killing machines."
"It's a way for us to gather around," Donovan said. "I've met more people here in the last year and a half that I have in the last five years."
Josh Cox, University of Kansas graduate, said he had been part of the after-hours scene
at HobbyTown USA for more than five years. He moved to Overland Park after graduation, but continues to make the drive to Lawrence for the Friday night gathering.
Donovan knows all about the financial costs of being hooked on gaming. He said that in two years he had spent about $400 collecting and painting figures and supplies for Warhammer.
Cox said a passion for gaming could easily spiral into a borderline obsession. "It's very easy to just get roped in and have to have the latest toy," he said.
"The reason I come up here is just to hang out with my friends," Cox said.
See GAME on page 6A
Josh Donovan, Wichita senior, plays Warhammer at HobbyTown USA. A regular group of about ten players gather on Friday nights after the store closes to play war simulation games. Photo by Katie Moore/KANSAN.
Students can contribute ideas for rec center
By Brooke Hesler
Kansan staff writer
Members of the Recreation Center Program Committee want student input about plans for the new recreation center, which will be located south of Watkins Health Center.
Mary Chappell, director of recreation services, said students would be welcome at the committee's meeting at 3 p.m. Monday at the Front Room in the Burge Union.
She said the committee had already received feedback from students about what they would like to see included in the new center, which is set to open in Fall 2002.
"We try to keep students aware of what's going on." Chappell said.
"Students have had a lot of input on this project," she said. "We've ever had suggestions for an ice skating rink."
Although an ice skating rink is not in the plans right now, the rec center will include: a track
two outdoor basketball and volleyball courts
an aerobics/martial arts area
a gymnasium
spaces for sports clubs
Chappell said she envisioned a food area similar to the Hawk Stop in Joseph R. Pearson Hall.
a climbing wall
a conference room a food court
a climbing wall spaces for sports clubs
"We'll have sandwiches and some other stuff there, but we need students to tell us what they want," she said.
a multimedia lecture room
a multimedia lecture room
a conference room
two racquetball courts
The committee is already finishing a lay-
REC CENTER
What's happening: The committee planning the new student recreation center will hold a meeting at 3 p.m. Monday at the Frontier Room in the Burge Union. Committee members have asked students to attend.
What's next: The committee will wrap up concept planning and start on schematic design planning.
www.ukans.edu/~recserv
out plan for the building. Chappell said the group would start on the schematic design stage in June or July. That process will include choosing colors, coming up with program policies and dealing with accessibility issues.
She said she thought construction would begin in late summer or early fall of this year.
Not everyone is so excited about the center. Last fall the building fee took effect. This school year, students paid $15. Next year the fee increases to $49. Marlon Marshall, student body vice president and member of the committee, said he estimated the fee would be around for 20 years.
Matt Jones, Overland Park senior, will graduate before the center opens. He said he thought it was unjust having to pay the fee.
"It doesn't seem very fair that we have to pay for it if we're not going to use it," Jones said.
Marshall said he understood the concerns.
"That's why we've tried to stagger the fee instead of having it all at once," Marshall said. "I'm a senior, and I probably won't be around to use it myself, but it's something that benefits the University."
— Edited by Joshua Richards
Breaking News
Severe weather conditions caused slick roads that contributed to several car accidents last night, including at least one fatality as of press time. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that all roads in Northeast Kansas were slick and many were icy and snow packed. For the latest information see
For the latest information see www.kansan.com
Tooty-Toot welcomed back to life
Kansan staff writer
By Brandon Stinnett
The campus whistle made its return Wednesday afternoon after more than two months on hiatus. The whistle, which had been dormant for much of the winter because of cold weather, sounded for the first time at 3:20 p.m.
Doug Riat, director of facilities operations, said the decision was made late last semester to shut down the whistle because it wasasted steam that was needed to heat University buildings.
Although temperatures have been higher lately, work was being done on boilers inside the University power plant that prevented the whistle from being used sooner.
The whistle, which signals the end of classes every hour during the week, has been a University tradition since its inception in 1912. But this was not the first time it has been shut down.
During September 1999, the whistle, referred to as Tooty-Toot, was shut down for two weeks while repairs were made and parts were upgraded.
In 1977, the University silenced the whistle on an experimental basis because of complaints that it affected people's nerves. The whistle blew again ten weeks later after students voted for its return.
Not everyone is ready to welcome the whistle back to life. In fact,some people just don't care.
Chuck Richards, a Sand Springs, Okla., graduate student who teaches introductory philosophy classes, uses his watch to keep track of time during class and doesn't rely on the whistle. He said the whistle often startled him when he was walking to classes.
"It makes me flinch," Richards said.
While Richards wouldn't mind if the whistle was silenced forever, he understands its purpose.
"I suppose there does have to be some way to signal the proper time to start and stop classes." he said.
Eric Johnson, Overland Park junior, said the whistle made him feel like he was working in a factory.
However, some students do see the whistle's merit.
Andrea Hammill, Milwaukee sophomore, views the whistle as part of the University's culture.
"It's cool," Hammill said. "How many other universities have a big whistle that goes off when classes are going to start?"
For Allison Werth, Lawrence freshman, life without the whistle was quite unnerving.
"The whistle is kind of handy," she said. "It's just been kind of different. Something seemed not quite right."
— Edited by Sydney Wallace
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