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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday, January 22, 2001
Sports: Bradford scores 20 points in Kansas' win against Missouri.
SEE PAGE 1B
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 74
Inside: Student senator redrafts bill that would involve senators more closely with their constituents.
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
City declares five canines dangerous
Bv Erin Adamson
The pet was declared a dangerous dog by the City of Lawrence under a revamped ordinance, and Sheahon, a University of Kansas alumna, must either give Miso away, keep her in a cage or put her to sleep.
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Meredith Sheaon must decide the fate of ber.dog Miso.
Owners of dogs that attack or threaten other dogs or people are being held accountable by Lawrence's dangerous dog ordinance. The first dog owners to have court hearings because of the ordinance appeared in court Tuesday.
Sheahon, one of seven dog owners to appear at a Jan. 16 hearing, said she thought her dog was unjustly declared dangerous. She said that when she was walking Miso, a gray husky, her pet got into a fight with another dog.
The City Commission strengthened Lawrence's dog control ordinance in July of 1999 to hold owners of dangerous dogs accountable for their dogs' behavior.
The ordinance went into effect Aug. 1, 1999, said Beth Visoscy, court manager at the Lawrence municipal court. Previously, the ordinance was called the vicious dog ordinance.
The city ordinance defines a dangerous dog as one that threatens or attacks the safety of human beings or domestic animals. If a dog is determined to be dangerous, the owner or keeper must either register and confine the dog, give it to someone who lives outside city limits or have it put to sleep. The alternative is jail time.
The same day the seven dog owners appeared in court for violating the ordinance, the City Commission approved the planning of an off-leash dog park north of the Clinton Lake spillway. The off-leash dog park would offer dogs an opportunity to interact but also would open the possibility of dogs fighting.
Grinstead said the issue of dog attacks could come up at the new off-leash dog park.
Visocsky said the dogs of five of the seven dog owners who appeared at the Jan. 16 hearing were declared dangerous. One case is still pending, and one owner agreed to put the dog to sleep. The five dogs declared dangerous included a basset hound, a husky, a Labrador mix, a pit bull and a Labrador/chow mix.
"I think that it might be a problem," she said. "I think people don't pay attention to what's going on."
Riot police face protesters lining Pennsylvania Avenue as the motorcade of President George W. Bush passes. The protests Saturday in Washington, D.C. were mostly nonviolent, with police arresting only six people. KRT photo
Although a dog does not have to have a history of fighting to be declared dangerous, the ordinance is designed, in part, to protect citizens from perpetually violent dogs. The city also maintains a leash law within city limits that requires owners to keep their dogs on a leash at all times. This law also is designed, in part, to protect people from violent dogs.
Sheahan said that she was given 15 days to decide what to do with her dog and that she likely would give Miso away. She said the law was good for keeping violent dogs off the street, but that in her case, a friendly dog was being punished.
Midge Grinstead, director of the Lawrence Humane Society, said she thought the officer on the scene needed the freedom to practice discretion in determining whether the dog was actually dangerous.
Although Grinstead said there was a possibility that a nonviolent dog could be deemed dangerous, she said she thought the ordinance was an important tool in catching owners whose dogs were a threat to the community.
She said owners would have to watch their dogs carefully at an off-leash park.
"If you have a dog that hasn't socialized, you run the risk of your dog fighting with other dogs," Grinstead said.
"I think the committee worked really hard," she said of the group that designed the ordinance. "I think the city has gone above and beyond."
Bush takes office amid protests
By Cassio Furtado writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
- Edited by Malissa Cooley
WASHINGTON — The nation's capital has seen everything but unity in the beginning of the George W. Bush presidency, as opponents from around the country protested his inauguration Saturday.
As the 43rd president was sworn in at the Capitol, the controversy surrounding Bush and the United States Supreme Court was as high as during the Florida vote recount.
Police ordered Bush's motorcade to slow in anticipation of some protests — at one point stopping it for five minutes — while it seed through others.
A couple of protesters threw bottles and tomatoes before the presidential limousine arrived, and one hurled an egg that landed near the motorcade, the Secret Service $^{sa1}$
But the protesters managed little else to interrupt the festivities in the face of a massive show of 7,000 police officers. As the day grew darker and colder, authorities had arrested only six people and activists began to disperse, said Terrance W. Gainer, executive assistant chief of police. One of them was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after slashing tires and trying to assault an officer, Gainer said.
Still, despite the protests and differing opinions of pro- and anti-Bush protesters, no big problems were reported, and many joked and jested with each other on crowded subway trains.
Bush remained in his limousine for most of the traditional parade route: up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
The new president left his car only after he reached a secure zone near the White
House filled with inauguration ticket holders and no protesters.
The protests were the largest since those during Nixon's 1973 inauguration at the height of the Vietnam War. Those protests drew about 60,000; organizers of the Bush protests anticipated 20,000.
As Bush began his speech, hundreds of
protesters along Connecticut Avenue held signs with slogans, including: "King George:D.C. Coronation" and "Bush raped America." Thousands more gathered outside the Supreme Court to protest the election's result. The bitter signs contrasted with the speech itself, which preached the ideals of civility and courage.
Kari Austin, chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party, was indifferent to the protests. For Austin, who was in Washington for the inauguration, it was perfect. She said that even though protesters were exercising free speech, they
Marcus McLaughlin Kansas City, Kan., senior, shares his thoughts on the state of Black America — the obstacles overcome and struggles for the future — at the annual Alpha Phi Alpha Martin Luther King Jr. vigil. The event took place Friday afternoon at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Although the cold, windy weather did not permit candles to be lighted for the march across campus, the fraternity did promote the purchase of marble bricks to build of a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
Fraternity holds King vigil
See INAUGURATION on page 2A
Alpha Phi Alpha men address King's legacy ongoing U.S. racism
By Danny Phillips
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Not according to Alpha Phi Alpha member Marcus McLaughlin, a Kansas City, Kan., senior, who spoke Friday at the fraternity's annual Martin Luther King Jr. candelight vigil. McLaughlin addressed the continued discrimination African Americans face in the United States.
It's 2001 Are all races equal?
"When you're in the classroom, how many times does it feel like you're always singled out because of your race?" McLaughlin asked the predominantly African-American audience.
"When you sit down for an interview, yes, he's going to see you as a man," McLaughlin said. "Yes, you might be smart. But don't you think he's going to notice your color?"
He said that same type of discrimination would continue when they entered the work force.
A majority of them raised their hands.
Alpha Phi Alpha traditionally holds the vigil the weekend after the observance of King's birthday so that more students can attend.
McLaughlin said that as an African American he felt nervous when he stopped in small Kansas towns while taking a trip to Dallas during winter break.
He said he was also nervous about getting pulled over by the police.
McLaughlin said he would keep his hands on the steering wheel and would make sure he said the right things to the officer, "just to make sure the situation doesn't get a little heated."
"I hope the cold weather doesn't scare everybody away," said fraternity president Christopher Haydel, Philadelphia senior, as he waited for students to arrive in front of Wescoe Hall.
It was the lack of heat that got Friday's vigil off to an inauspicious start.
He had hoped to draw at least 50 people to the opening candlelight march from Wescoe Hall to the Kansas Union, but the bitter cold temperatures and strong winds kept away all but eight students.
Neither Haydel nor the Office of Multicultural Affairs was able to secure a keynote speaker for the event, but McLaughline and several fraternity members spoke to the audience of 30 students.
Unit candles in hand, they proceeded to the auditorium, where a larger group of people and the University's Inspirational Gospel Voices met them.
"We're in college," McLaughlin said.
"We as a people — not only Black, but Latino and even White — we're going to make something of ourselves.
"Don't forget about our young brothers and sisters who haven't made it as far as we have. Don't call them thugs and criminals, because a lot of them aren't. They just haven't had the opportunities we've had. With your success, try to bring them up to your level."
"When you're in the classroom, how many times does it feel like you're always singled out because of your race?"
Marcus McLaughlin Kansas City, Kan., senior
Fraternity member Alfred Harris, Kansas City, Mo., senior, evoked the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp to illustrate the contributions and legacy Martin Luther King Jr. left to his people.
He said if he had one wish, it would be to have the same passion, endurance and determination of the civil rights leader.
Belinda Hinojos, Kansas City, Kan., senior, said she thought the speakers did a good job of showing why people still needed to remember what King did, but she was disappointed with the vigil's turnout.
"I just wish more of the campus would have come out to hear it." Hinjos said.
— Edited by Joshua Richards
"This is what Dr. King stood for," Harris said. "This is what he wanted out of all of us."
Harris concluded his message by urging the crowd members to pattern their lives after King and find their own passions, such as education, a significant other, God or "anything that's positive."
Group aims to boost peace with Web site
For Avraham Mor, designing a Web site promoting peace in the Middle East is a departure from his creative efforts as an architectural and theatrical lighting design major.
By Michelle Ward writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The site will offer no opinions on the conflict in the Middle East. Instead, white-ribbon.org will serve as an informational tool. It will have links to various news sites to give visitors a full picture of events. The organization is developing the site, which should be operational within the next few weeks. It's not yet available for public view.
"People need to be able to find out the truth," said Mor, a Wilmette, Ill., senior. "We knew we had to give them a place to do that. That is what our mission had to be."
Members of KU Hillel Foundation, the student Jewish organization, applied for a grant through their headquarters to develop the site. Hillel granted the request and gave the KU group $400 for its project, which it received this semester.
"The media is so one-sided," said Justin Jordan, Shawnee senior. "We are offering a place to get both sides of the story."
"It scared us that only one side was being represented." Mor said. "If you only hear one side of the story, that is what you are going to believe. We wanted people to hear both sides and then make an informed decision."
The site will continue a peace movement started by the KU Hilliell Foundation this fall. In response to a Palestinian student protest on the violence, Hilliell made its own statement with white ribbons, to promote peace in the Middle East.
Hiliel handed out thousands of ribbons to students on campus, which led to a nation-wide movement among Hillel organizations. KU took the next step to reach even more people with the creation of the Web site.
"It is exciting," Jordan said. "I have never done anything like this before. I am graduating in May, so I figured I would do something good before I go."
Edited by Jason McKee
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