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Kansan
Today: Mostly cloudy with a high of 34 and a low of 24 Tomorrow: Snow with a high of 26 and a low of 17
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Tuesday, January 16, 2001
Sports: The Kansas men's basketball team remains only one of two unbeaten teams in Big 12 conference play.
See page 1B
Inside: Students will pay more next fall to live on campus.
(UPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 70
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OBITUARIES
Student dies in accident during the winter break
By Danny Phillips
writer @kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
Whenever Mark Tolbert Jr.'s friends walked into Mrs. E's, they could always count on a loud, cheerful greeting.
The Kansas City, Mo., freshman died in a car accident on 22 in his hometown on his way to work.
Tolbert, 19, was driving his 1990 Honda when it collided with a Kansas City Fire Department truck that was responding to an accident.
Last semester was Tolbert's first at the University of Kansas. He was active in the Black Student Union and Black Men of Today. He went home almost every weekend to visit his family and girlfriend.
Tolbert
Tolbert's cousin, Lorraine Tolbert, Lawrence graduate student, said he had big plans for the future. He planned to major in business administration and had thought of opening a music company with
his friends, starting a convention center/hotel or possibly managing a restaurant chain, his cousin said.
J. R. Roland, Grandview, Mo., senior, met Tolbert last semester and quickly developed a friendship with him. He said he would remember Tolbert's smile and the way it seemed to lift the spirits of everyone around him.
Lorraine Tolbert said her fun-loving cousin made friends very easily and enjoyed calling out to his friends in a loud voice whenever they entered the cafeteria.
"It got on my nerves," joked Lorraine Talbert about her cousin's loud nature. She said she once intentionally ignored her cousin's calls while passing by Wescoe Hall. She walked away from him and ducked into Strong Hall, prompting him to chase after her.
Because the accident occurred during winter break and some of Tolbert's friends were not able to attend the funeral, a memorial service for anyone wishing to attend is planned for 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Big 12 Room in the Kansas Union.
Roland, who is president of the student organization Black Men of Today, said the event would be an opportunity for people to talk about Tolbert and would include a dedication, songs and a poetry reading.
"When someone close to you passes away, they deserve to be remembered on campus," he said.
Edited by Doug Pacey
Mrs.E's employee dies Saturday in car accident on way to work
By Sarah Warren writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A morning-service supervisor at Mrs. E's died in a one-car accident on her way to work early Saturday morning.
Donna Piene, 59, of McLouth, was driving westbound on Kansas Highway 16 in heavy fog when she tried to turn south onto Wellman Road, said Jeremy Simon, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper.
Piene
Piene's 1993 Chevrolet pickup slid off the road and rolled twice, landing upside down. Piene, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and pinned beneath the truck. Simon said.
Sheryl Kidwell, Mrs. E's unit manager, said that when Piene didn't arrive to unlock the doors for the morning shift, employees began to worry.
"She was supposed to come to work at 5 a.m.," Kidwell said. "When she wasn't here within the hour, we started making phone calls."
Once Kidwell learned of the death, she faced the task of telling Piene's co-workers.
telling him the school's headmaster,
"We called all the staff together that was here and told them what had happened," Kidwell said. "It was pretty much a breakdown, crying sort of thing."
Pliene had been a cafeteria employee since 1995. Before becoming one of two morning-service supervisors, Pliane had also been a cook at the cafeteria and the head cook at E's Express.
Plene drove 45 minutes from McLouth to Lawrence three to four days each week for the 5 a.m. shift.
Other caterers employees enjoyed Plene's company on those early mornings.
"I always admired that she worked that shift and lived that far away," Kidwell said. "To drive that far every morning, she must have enlisted her job."
Plene had an easy-going attitude that made tasks such as preparing large batches of French toast enjoyable, said Jim Carroll, a grill cook.
"We'd do the French toast disco dance in the morning," Carroll said. "We'd just have the best time preparing breakfast, I've worked with her for three years. She's like a sister to me. She's a real treat lady; I miss her already."
Shes a real learner Kidwell contacted the University of Kansas' Human Resources Department about grief counseling for the cafeteria's 58 full-time adult employees and 48 student employees.
"We're definitely a family that has iest a family member." Kidwell said. "She was very well-liked and will be missed very much."
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Barnett Funerell Home in Oakelope.
- Edited by Laita Schultes
Housing ordinance up for vote
City may decide proposal's fate in February
By Erin Adamson
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The future of off-campus student housing in Lawrence still is undecided.
The Lawrence City Commission will vote at its Feb. 6 meeting on the proposed housing ordinance that would lower the number of unrelated people allowed to live in residences zoned for single families from four to two
Although the Planning Commission recommended that the commission not approve the proposal, the City Commission continues to consider it. The commission voted to draft the ordinance at its Dec. 12 meeting. A vote to approve the draft is expected Feb. 6, and by law, the commission would need to vote once more for final approval after a public hearing.
Commissioner Erv Hodges said that if the ordinance is approved, the commission would like to phase it in
during a three-year period and register landlords with non-complying residences.
Hodges said the benefits of the proposal to the community would be twofold. It would keep families in areas zoned for single-families and would increase the amount of affordable housing available to home buyers in Lawrence. And the commercial value of houses in these neighborhoods would fall when landlords moved out, putting them in the price range of families, Hodges said.
However, Lawrence rental-property manager David Gage of Gage Management said he feared limiting to two the number of students who can live together would raise the rent in housing across the city and make housing unaffordable for students
"The only people this really helps are the guys that run apartment complexes." Gage said.
Gage also said landlord registration would lead to higher rent because landlords would pass new costs on to renters. He estimated that in the 23 houses he manages that the ordinance would affect, two-thirds of the tenants are students who would have to find other housing.
Affected neighborhoods would
include single-family residences south of 19th Street, east of Connecticut Street, north of Sixth Street and west of campus, Gage said. The Mount Oread Neighborhood, however, is zoned to allow student housing and would not be affected by the proposal. Densely populated Ohio and Tennessee streets are zoned as residential dormitory neighborhoods and allow renting even by the room.
Some students living in the affected neighborhoods could either live with fewer students or move into apartment complexes in other areas of town, Gage said.
town, Sage Sarah Scully, Warrensburg, Mo. senior, used to live in a house that would be affected by the ordinance. She said the commission should care about what would happen to students if the ordinance passes.
"I think that landlords should do their jobs," Scully said. "Don't kick out college students; just take care of the existing housing."
Holly Krebs, chairwoman of the Student Rights Committee and an opponent of the proposed ordinance. said the Student Senate would organize students to attend upcoming meetings.
Edited by Megan Phelps
Housing ordinance timeline
Here's how the proposed housing ordinance has unfolded:
Sept. 5. Two versions of the proposed housing ordinance that would reduce from four to two the number of unrelated people who can live together in single-family neighborhoods are sent to the Lawrence Planning Commission for review. One proposal is drafted by the city and the other by the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods. The planning commission is set to hear the proposal Oct. 25.
Nov. 1 — The planning commission votes against both versions of the housing proposal after the hearing is moved back until today because of interest from students, landbords, neighborhood residents and other renters. About 60 students, including nine representatives of Student Senate, speak. Ben Walker, student body president, presents a petition signed by 1,769 students opposing the ordinance and a Senate resolution that opposes the proposed change.
Dec. 12 — Lawrence city commissioners vote to draft an ordinance forbidding more than two unrelated people from living together in single-family housing. A minimum of two public hearings of the ordinance must take place before it can be made law.
Feb. 6. — The first public hearing of the ordinance is set to take place today.
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
The Lawrence Martin Luther King Jr. Children's Choir performs a tribute song in honor of King. The Ecumenical Fellowship, Inc. held a holiday observance for King last night at the Lied Center. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
King remembered on holiday
Students participate in community service, ceremony yesterday
By Danny Phillips
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff write
As some University of Kansas students trickled back to campus yesterday, others spent the day volunteering and attending a sermon in memory of Martin Luther King Jr.
"I understand that this is an awkward time for students," the Lawrence sophomore said, pointing out that many were just returning to campus yesterday.
Although the day's activities were fewer than at other universities — such as Kansas State University, which has planned a week-long campus celebration — Black Student Union president Courtney Bates said she wasn't disappointed.
The Center for Community Outreach sponsored its second
While the turnout was considerably smaller than last year's 100 participants, CCO co-director Julia Gilmore said she wasn't disappointed. She attributed last year's turnout to aggressive advertising.
annual Martin Luther King Jr. service day, dispersing 10 volunteers across town to clean and paint for various community organizations.
"I think as long as there are people out there doing work who want to be doing work, then that's successful," the Clay Center senior said.
The volunteers were split up and sent to the Community Drop-in Center, the First Step House, and
King: residents honor slain civil rights leader
Health Care Access, local community outreach centers.
"KU's been a great source for us."
said Teresa Thompson, Drop-in Center board chairwoman.
While some students repainted a room inside the center, which provides basic needs for the homeless, others went outside to rake leaves.
Three more volunteers helped create a mural on an inside wall of the First Step House. The volunteers drew the outline of the mural — a scenic painting complete with trees, birds and flowers — and let the house residents paint it in.
"I usually look around for different community service projects," said Mike Leighnor, Overland Park freshman.
The final volunteer went to Health Care Access to do some odd jobs.
Earlier yesterday afternoon.
He said he learned about the CCO projects yesterday while walking through the Kansas Union lobby and signed up for the mural project on the spot.
After the service projects were completed, CCO had a dinner and panel discussion at Ecumenical Christian Ministries.
See page 8A
More information For more information about Martin Luther King Day.
Pastor Cedric Britt addressed an audience of nearly 350 people during a commemorative service at the Lied Center. The sermon was the final event of the Ecumenical Fellowship's 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration.
Britt used a Bible story from the book of Joshua to frame his speech about the need for greater equality.
In the story, a memorial of stones was established by the bank of the Jordan River as a reminder of how God parted the river's waters and allowed Joshua and his descendants to cross over into the Promised Land.
"There is a Jordan River standing between us and our promised land," Britt said, describing how there is still work to be done in the quest for equality.
- Edited by Melinda Weaver
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