Weather
Kansan
Weather
Today: Snow showers with a high of 23 and a low of 5.
Tomorrow: Cold with a high of 26 and lows between 5 below and 5 above zero.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday. December 11, 2000
Sports: Bradford scored 20 points in Kansas' win against Missouri.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Students react differently when making embarrassing purchases.
SEE PAGE 3A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 68 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Man dies in front of friends
By Kursten Phelps writer at kanson.com Kanson staff writer
A 20-year-old Lawrence man died early Saturday morning, possibly from a heart attack. His death is under investigation.
Matthew Ray Michael, who lived at Jefferson Commons apartments, 2511 W. 31st St., collapsed and died at his apartment.
Roommate Rachel Meyer said she and a third roommate, Nicholas Autry, would be enrolled at the University in the spring. Michael was not a KU student.
Autry said he and others at the apartment thought at first that Michael might be suffering alcohol poisoning. But when the paramedics arrived, they told Autry
and his roommate that Michael may have had a heart attack, Autry said.
According to the police report, Michael collapsed between 12:35 and 12:50 a.m. Saturday at his apartment.
Sgt. Mike Patrick of the Lawrence Police Department said the death was being investigated and that more information would be available today.
Meyer said Michael had not consumed much alcohol.
"He really hadn't been drinking that much. He was in no way drunk enough for anyone to be concerned," she said. "He was talking fine, walking fine. His collapsing really took everyone by surprise. It was totally unexpected."
ran in the family. It's a real tragedy."
"As far as we know, a poor heart kind of
Meyer said his collapse was unexpected. "We were just hanging out with some friends, having a good time and joking around with some friends, and he suddenly just collapsed over into a chair," she said. "He pretty much immediately stopped breathing, and his heart stopped beating. We called 911 and started doing resuscitation."
Autry attended high school with Michael in Iola.
"He was a great person and very personable," he said. "He was fun-loving and fun to be around. Everybody love him. He was an excellent person to be around."
Kristin Murray, Iola junior, said police were still at the apartment when she arrived at 2 a.m., but paramedics had
already taken Michael to a Topeka coroner for an autopsy.
Murray said she had known Michael since they attended kindergarten together and that he was a caring person with a lot of friends.
"He had the heartiest laugh," she said. It was deep and heartfelt. He had so many friends that loved him."
Danielle Daugharthy, tola junior, said Michael was a genuine person who liked to rebuild cars.
"I remember one time he designed 'cruise night,' she said. "He wanted everyone to cruise the main square, and he did it, and everyone was out there."
Meyer said a funeral was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in Iola.
— Edited by Clay McCuistion
Upping the ante
Web sites, credit cards make sports gambling a problem at universities
By Jason Franchuk
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Scott recalls numerous Saturdays he spent sitting at his computer with the sports section of his newspaper and a cold Corona within reach. But his fingers instead were clutching the mouse, poised to click in another $150 wager.
First bitten by the gambling bug when he visited Las Vegas with three buddies for a spring break trip, the then 19-year-old no longer had to leave his own apartment to bet on college sports. Between Internet betting and visits to Kansas City casinos, it didn't take him long to lose several thousand dollars that he had saved for college and run up $3,000 in credit card debt. He withdrew from the University and moved back to Colorado, too embarrassed about what had happened to want his name used in this story.
Scott, like many KU students, bet regularly on college sports. Just as it has been with pornography, the Internet has made gambling accessible to anyone anywhere who has a computer, Internet service and a credit card. Such gambling remains illegal in Kansas — and
Winter weather to chill students' last days of class
By Leita Schultes
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Winter weather has arrived, and for most students, the major challenge will be braving wind, ice and snow as they head up the hill to hand in final papers and walk to review sessions.
The National Weather Service predicted freezing drizzle and snow for yesterday, with blowing and drifting snow last night into this morning.
The snow is predicted to taper off to flurries by noon today, but there is a chance of snow for the rest of the week. Temperatures in the teens and wind chills well below zero will be also expected to greet students as they walk to their last few classes of the semester.
Jeremy Cates, Tonganoxie senior, makes the near 20-mile commute to Lawrence on a daily basis, but said that the predicted five inches of snow would probably keep him at home.
He said he had a paper due but would probably just e-mail it to the professor.
"If I can make it, I'm going to assume that a lot of other people can't either," he said.
Holly Krebs, coordinator of KU on Wheels, said the day manager for the Lawrence Bus Company would be
be checking streets early this morning to decide if the buses would run.
"We will run unless it is unsafe to run," she said.
Krebs said if the buses did not run, KJHK and KU info would be contacted. She said that a few years ago snow kept the buses from running, which created some problems.
"I think it was because classes weren't canceled but the bus service was." she said.
THIS WEEK'S WEATHER
Tomorrow: Very cold. A chance for snow in western Kansas during the day and in eastern Kansas in the evening. Lows between 5 below and 5 above. Highs mainly in teens.
Wednesday: Continued cold temperatures with a chance for snow. Laws zero to 10 above. Highs 10 to 20.
Thursday: Still cold with a chance of flurries. Laws zero to 10 above. Highs 15 to 25.
Source: National Weather Service
In case of severe weather. Provost
David Shulenburger or Chancellor Hemenway will decide by 5:30 a.m. whether classes are canceled.
An snailburger or Chancellor Robert Heineman will decide by 5:30 a.m., whether classes are canceled. Trooper Paul Alexander of the Kansas Highway Patrol urged drivers to "just take it slow," and that an underlayer of sleet added to the danger of driving. He advised drivers to evaluate whether they really needed to be on the road.
"Don't travel unless you just have to." he said. "If you do have to travel, make sure you have a full tank of gas, good wipers, your car's in good running shape it wouldn't hurt to throw in a blanket or two."
Alexander said that the first storm of the year usually caught people off guard.
"First storm — they learn all over again how to drive on it," he said. "We'll probably have plenty of accidents or slideoffs."
With Stop Day not until Wednesday, most students won't have to worry about traveling home yet, and Joe McBride, representative for Kansas City International Airport, said they probably wouldn't have to worry about flights.
"The goal is to keep on top of it and keep the airport open and usually we do just that, he said."
The major issue when it comes to flying is a lack of visibility, which could delay flights. He said students concerned about flights should check with individual airlines, which are linked to kcairports.com.
— Edited by Megan Phelps
Wescoe clears after bogus bomb threat
By Jason Krall
By Jason Krui
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The KU Public Safety Office still has no suspects in a bomb threat that prompted some instructors to evacuate their Wesco Hall classes Friday afternoon.
Sgt. Troy Mailen said the caller identified himself as a Palestinian and said there was a bomb in the building that would explode at 2:30 p.m. The man said he and other Palestinians had been discriminated against and wanted to retaliate. Mailen said. Police did not know if the caller was referring to discrimination at the University, he said.
A Wescoe Terrace cafeteria worker received the threat to Wescoe Hall around 1:30 p.m., and classes resumed at about 3 p.m.
Police left the decision about whether to evacuate classes in the building with department heads, Mailen said. Classes with exams in progress when the threat was called were moved to other locations to finish their exams, Mailen said.
Margaret Arnold, associate professor of English, was about halfway through a discussion with her honors proseminar when a police officer came to inform her of the threat.
Kitty Steffens, Lawrence junior, said students were very calm as they were informed about the threat and as they
left the building.
"Someone came in and said, 'There's a bomb threat; you might want to leave.'" Steffens said. "Nobody even raised their voice. I mean, we're standing 10 feet from the building. This wouldn't help us if a bomb exploded."
"I would have liked to have finished," Arnold said. "I felt it was my responsibility, in case it was real, to let them go."
Mailen said the decision by the public safety office not to evacuate the building sent a message to anyone who calls in phony bomb threats.
"You eliminate the false alarms," Malen said. "It's basically sending the message 'Look, making false alarms is not going to cancel an exam or evacuate a
class. We're going to take every situation as a serious event, but we leave that evacuation decision up to the instructors."
From his office in Wescoe, Danny Anderson, chair of the Spanish and Portuguese department, said many of his GTAs had evacuated their classes. He has an office in Wescoe, but police did not contact him.
At 2:30 p.m., public safety officers had not found a bomb, Malen said. Staff members blocked entrances so students could not enter the building.
Eric Rath, assistant professor of history, attempted to continue his class but his students grew restless after a campus safety officer entered the classroom to inform them of the threat. After a few minutes, Rath said he let them leave.
"There were 10 minutes left, and it really blew a hole in our discussion." Rath said. "I didn't think it was a serious threat at all, from what the officer told me. Had it been a serious threat, I'm sure we would have had to evacuate."
Mailen said anyone with information about the threat should call KU Crimestoppers at 864-8888.
— Edited by John Audlehelm
Protesters and shoppers mingle in front of the Gap and Eddie Bauer stores at 6th and Massachusetts streets. The demonstration Saturday afternoon was designed to draw attention to clothing manufacturing labor practices and wage disparities. It included a puppet show, cheerleaders, free food and clothing. Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
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Everyone in protest
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