THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 91
BY ADAM STRUNK
astrunk@kansan.com
Governor Brownback signed an order Monday to abolish the Kansas Arts Commission, which will likely cost University of Kansas institutions $35,572 in state funding.
The Kansas Arts Commission, which provides funding to organizations or individuals that create and increase the public access to art, gave the Spencer Art Museum $21,286 and the Lied Center $16,286 for the fiscal year of 2011. So far this year the KAC has given $950,932 to 242 different entities.
Kristina Walker, director of education at the Spencer Museum of Art, said that without funding from the KAC or alternative funding, the museum would likely have to make cuts.
SEE ARTS ON PAGE 3A
Walker said the museum would possibly cut a full time art education position. The Spencer's education outreach program is entirely funded by the Kansas Art Commission.
CRIME
Student's vehicle stolen, ticketed, towed and sold
BY PAT MUELLER pmueller@kansan.com
On Sept. 10, Josh Petersen, a junior from Overland Park, went out with his friends. Like any other Friday night, he returned to his apartment at 1433 Ohio, and went to bed. When he woke in the morning, he discovered his car was stolen.
"I just walked out of the parking lot and saw it was gone. It was shocking," Petersen said. "After I talked to the police officer he told me he thought whoever stole it probably did it for parts and I'd probably never see it again."
Dalton Gomez/KANSAN
Josh Peterson, a junior from Overland Park, had his vehicle stolen last semester. The abandoned car racked up 12 parking tickets that Peterson discovered when he went to enrol.
Petersen said he immediately went to Oliver Hall to look for his car, but it was gone. He contacted KU Parking and Transit through the Lawrence Police Department, and was told his car had been towed by Bull Dog Towing Company.
The thief abandoned the 1996 Volvo 850 in the Oliver Hall parking lot. While the car sat in the lot, it gathered more than $300 in parking tickets before being towed at the end of October.
While finishing enrollment for the spring semester in early December, Peterson discovered a hold on his KU account for unpaid Oliver Hall parking tickets issued to his stolen car.
Petersen's car had been sold by Bull Dog Towing Company at a public auction because no one claimed it for at least five weeks. Towing companies can sell the cars they tow after notifying the owner by sending a letter to the address on the cars registration. Petersen's car was registered to his parents who had moved from the house that the car was registered to last summer: They never received the letter.
"This officer took me over to Bull Dog that night, and we called them because no one was there, and they said they had sold it two days earlier," Petersen said.
When Petersen found this out, he tried to hold KU Parking and Transit responsible.
"They should not tow a car and not check if its been stolen," said itersen. "There could be a dead
body in there. It is very irresponsible to tow a car and not check it out?
Donna Hultine, KU Parking department director, said KU Parking does not have access to records of stolen vehicles, but the department reports the tag numbers of the towed cars to the Lawrence Police Department. She said the University was ultimately not responsible for cars in its parking lots.
Petersen's family also contacted the buyer, Nick Rolla, of Topeka Kan., to discuss repurchasing the car.
"I don't know if money was an issue," he said. "But at the end of the week [Petersen's mom] called me and said it was probably going to be a big mess."
Rolla said he offered to sell the car back at cost and also drive the car back to Lawrence.
Rolla said he purchased the car for about $600. He also fixed parts of the interior damaged during the theft and got a new key for the car.
"We thought we could hire an attorney," Peterson said. "But after we found out the whole interior of the car was destroyed by the person who stole it, we figured it wasn't worth it."
KU Parking and Transit is still processing his claim.
Rolla eventually sold the car to a private buyer. Petersen now drives a different family car.
Edited by Emily Scetaert
JAYPLAY INSIDE
An evolving definition of cheating
7
Cheating complicates and often destroys relationships. Throw technology in the mix and it get more confusing.
INDEX
Classifieds...9A
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips ...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...10A
Sudoku...4A
WEATHER
TODAY
29 11
FRIDAY
Partly Cloudy
3921
SATURDAY
Mostly Sunny
44 30
Mostly Sunny weather.ovm
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