THE BIRD WALKING IN THE CLOUDY SKY
The University Daily Kansan
Weather
Today: Mostly cloudy with a high of 33 and a low of 29.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with a high of 51 and a low of 32.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Wednesday, December 6, 2000
Sports: Injuries to four players will hamper the men's basketball team against Wake Forest tomorrow.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Professors discuss other close-call elections today at 10 a.m.
SEE PAGE 3A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 65 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Party drug's popularity leaps
Story by Melissa Davis Photos by Thad Allender
Kevin Miller steers his 1975 red Chevy Caprice to a stop in front of BarbWire stewhouse, where he works as a cook. He glances at his watch, slips a small white pill from the pocket of his overcoat, pops it into his mouth and swallows.
Miller then walks through the restaurant to the office to pick up his paycheck. He knows he has less than an hour before the pill kicks in, so he grabs his check and walks briskly back to his car to make the 30-minute drive to Kansas City. Miller is on his way to his dealer's house — to get more ecstasy. Miller is stocking up on the drug so he will have enough for tonight's rave. Miller, who says he flanked out of the University of Kansas because of his excessive use of the drug, is among a growing number of teen and college-age users who have made ecstasy the fastest-growing recreational drug in the United States. A survey released last week by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America showed that ecstasy use by teens had more than doubled since 1995.
Users say the drug enhances sexual performance and makes them more sociable and happy. Pharmacists and drug counselors say ecstasy, a cousin of amphetamines, can lead to overheating, grinding of teeth, erratic behavior, residual confusion, depression and even death. But users
still shell out more than $20 per pill to feel the sexual energy and euphoria the pill packs.
Ecestasy is so popular in Lawrence that it has spawned its own culture, featuring raves, toys, techno/trance music and clothing style. Just as cocaine was the drug that drove the disco era, ecestasy is the fuel for raves, all-night dance parties and a whole sub-culture associated with the drug.
The drug has gone mainstream, making appearances in such movies as Go and in endorsements by music artists such as Moby, who described the feeling of being high on ecstasy at his recent concert in Kansas City. Ecestasy — the drug of choice for a new generation
Miller is greeted by a rush of color and sound as he enters the outdoor arena on the outskirts of Kansas City. Although the arena is cold, Miller can't tell because he is miles away in his mind, flying high on ecstasy. Despite the cold, men are dancing without shirts and women dressed in revealing tops sweat as they dance.
Their cockeyed smirks suggest the pill is working.
Anybody can see the neon lights at work, but only users notice that the
See FEEL-GOOD on page 7A
Kim Thoten, Iola sophamore, dances late into the night at a rave on the outskirts of Kansas City. The fluorescent lights and hypnotic beats at raves attract ecstasy users because the intense atmosphere fuels their high. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
Community groups seek more student volunteers
By Joanna Miller Kansan correspondent
With the changing of the seasons, many students began focusing their attentions on the upcoming winter break and finishing their finals, but local charities hope students would also consider helping others and their community.
Many community organizations sought student support for holiday charities and programs.
Mary
Beth Karlin, co-director of Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Douglas County, said students often forgot about holiday volunteering when
More information
To read more
about the holiday
season.
See pages 3B-6B
pressure from finals and the pending holiday drew near. She encouraged students to get involved during the holiday season to help relieve some of the stress.
"It is letting a college student become a kid again." she said.
Although the program required a nine-to 12-month commitment, depending on the area of volunteer work, Karlin said she felt the holidays would be a good time to start the program or review program information.
Each year, the national Big Brothers-Big Sisters organization challenges local branches to recruit a certain number of new members based on previous membership. With Christmas looming, the Douglas County branch continued its search for 50 more volunteers to meet this year's 230-volunteer quota. Karlin said she hoped the holiday spirit would help Big Brothers-Big Sisters meet its goal by Christmas.
Other organizations also anticipated an increase in support during the holiday season.
E. J. Reedy, financial director for the Center for Community Outreach at the University of Kansas, said people tended to turn to community service during the gift-giving season.
"We had a lot of support from the KU community last year," Reedy said.
The Center for Community Outreach will have its second annual holiday party this
see PROGRAMS on page 3B
University ranks high for alumni donations
Nearly 25,000 graduates contributed an average of $1,273,report shows
By Jason Krall
writer@kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
The University of Kansas ranks third in the size of its average donation from alumni and third in total donations from alums among Big 12 Conference schools, according
its average donation donations from alums among Big 12 Conference schools, according to a new report.
It also ranks fifth in total support from alumni, corporations and foundations with $80,921,000 in the 1999 fiscal year. That figure includes some donations that were not included in the annual
According to the 1999 Voluntary Support of Education report released last month by the Council for Aid to Education, the University ranks sixth in percentage of solicited alumni who actually make donations at 19.8 percent.
About 24,700 of 125,000 KU alumni made a donation in fiscal year 1999, according to the report. Those alumni donated $31,444,000, an average of $1,273 per donation.
alumni have given so much more."
"It is true that according to the report, a higher percentage of K-State alumni give than do KU alumni, but the amount that the 24,700 alumni gave to KU endowment is a whole lot more than the amount given by K-State alumn." Scarfe said.referring to K-State's 28 percent of alumni donating. "It would appear to be to be far more important that the KU
Alumni at Baylor University, the conference's lone private institution, averaged the highest donation at $1.492.
But the University of Nebraska took in the most total support and gifts from alumni. There, 26,440 donors contributed $151,704,000, and the university's total support dwarfed the rest of the conference at $218,746,000.
Donations at Nebraska averaged $5,737, first on the
report of the Kansas University Endowment Association, said John Scarffe, director of communications for the association.
"We feel strongly that our partnership over the long term brings results for the University in terms of donations." Jennifer Jackson
senior vice president for communications, Kansas Alumni Association
Sanner
Big 12 list, and provided a conference-high 69 percent of the total support for the university.
Kansas State ranks second in solicited alumni contributions, but came in eighth in donations from alumni with $17,780,000. Jennifer Jackson Sanner, senior vice president for communications for the University of Kansas Alumni Association, credited the association's efforts to keep alumni informed about campus funding needs through the bimonthly Kansas Alumni Magazine, which reaches 45,000 association members.
By comparison, KU alums gave about 39 percent of all University contributions.
"We feel strongly that our partnership over the long term brings results for the University in terms of donations," Sanner said. "Informed alums are more likely to give what they can, and that was certainly true in our last fund-raising campaign. That would explain our high rankings in average donations and total alumni donations."
Edited by J. R. Mendoza
Support of Big 12 schools
Donations for Big 12 Conference schools in fiscal year 1999, ended June 30, 1999.
| Total Support(R) | Alumni solicited | Alumni donors | Alumni money |
|---|
| KU | $80,921,000 (5) | 125,000 (5) | 24,700 (6) | $31,444,000 (3) |
| K-State | $35,042,000 (12) | 119,847 (7) | 33,496 (2) | $17,780,000 (8) |
| Iowa State | $49,490,000 (8) | 142,098 (4) | 26,159 (5) | $11,120,000 (10) |
| Mizzou | $40,371,000 (10) | 44,822 (11) | 19,396 (10) | $17,001,000 (9) |
| Oklahoma | $64,565,000 (6) | 84,839 (10) | 20,439 (8) | $25,997,000 (5) |
| Oklahoma State | $35,088,000 (11) | 120,872 (6) | 15,282 (11) | $7,948,000 (11) |
| Texas | $132,940,000 (2) | 189,000 (2) | 28,328 (3) | $29,291,000 (4) |
| Texas Tech | $60,480,000 (7) | 115,363 (8) | 22,892 (7) | $6,300,000 (12) |
| Baylor | $41,843,000 (9) | 88,945 (9) | 13,981 (12) | $20,862,000 (6) |
| Nebraska | $218,746,000 (1) | N/A | 26,440 (4) | $151,704,000 (1) |
| Colorado | $86,455,000 (4) | 185,071 (3) | 20,121 (9) | $18,863,000 (7) |
| Texa A&M | $423,590,000(3) | 192,000 (1) | 43,874 (1) | $35,010,000 (2) |
| Percentage of alumni who made donations | Percentage of total support that is alumni money | $ per alum (R) |
|---|
| KU | 19.8 (6) | 38.8 (6) | $1,273 (3) |
| K-State | 23.0 (2) | 50.7 (2) | $590 (9) |
| Iowa State | 18.4 (7) | 22.5 (9) | $425 (11) |
| Mizzou | 43.3 (1) | 42.1 (4) | $876 (7) |
| Oklahoma | 24.1 (3) | 40.3 (5) | $1,271 (4) |
| Oklahoma State | 12.6 (10) | 22.7 (8) | $520 (10) |
| Texas | 15.1 (9) | 22.0 (10) | $1,033 (5) |
| Texas Tech | 20.0 (5) | 10.4 (12) | $275 (12) |
| Baylor | 15.7 (8) | 49.9 (3) | $1,492 (2) |
| Nebraska | N/A | 69.4 (1) | $5,737 (1) |
| Colorado | 10.9 (11) | 21.8 (11) | $937 (6) |
| Texas A&M | 22.9 (4) | 28.3 (7) | $797 (8) |
- Rankings are in parentheses
Source: 1999 Voluntary Support of Education report
Melissa Carr/KANSAN