Baseball: Kansas picks up four wins at home during the weekend. Page 11A
Twisters: Siren's sound to warn Kansans of the danger of tornadoes. Page 3A
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KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 3
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS   66601-3585
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING 864-4358
NEWS 864-4810
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1997
SECTION A VOL. 103, NO. 114
(USPS 650-640)
Fire not intentional; started in water heater
The fire that destroyed Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St., and damaged other buildings on Feb. 26 was not intentional, the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Department said on Thursday.
Investigators said the fire originated in a gas-supplied hot water heater. Combustible material was near the hot water heater, which contributed to the spread of the fire throughout the structure
Officials said the investigation was complete.
Suspected bomb box sent by Florida man
A box that KU police thought was a bomb mailed to the University last week contained painted seashells and photographs from an apparent KU fan, KU police said.
Sgt. Chris Keary said the box was addressed to "Dean or President and Basketball Coach." He said that a sticker on the box indicated that it was mailed by Lawrence Axelrod, a man from Daytona Beach. Fla.
The box was X-rayed Wednesday to detect wires or explosives and was opened in a field next to KANU radio station with a water cannon.
The box contained hand-painted seashells, eight cents, five cash register receipts and four photographs of a man police think is Axelrod. One photo shows a young man in a military uniform, another is a picture of an abdominal scar with fresh sutures and the others show an older man, whom police also assume is Axelrod.
The March 5 issue of the Kansas City Star reported that a similar box had been sent to Carol Lehman, mayor of Gardner.
Kansan staff report
Daytona Beach police told KU police that they were familiar with Axelrod. They said they did not consider Axelrod a threat, but they said he was schizophrenic.
Gangsta rapper dies in drive-by shooting
The 24-year-old rap star, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was shot outside a party while sitting in his parked GMC Suburban last after midnight.
LOS ANGELES — The Notorious B.I.G. made his name as a gangsta rapper barking hip-hop rhymes about his real-life past dealing crack on the tough streets of Brooklyn, N.Y. He died in a drive-by shooting yesterday.
He was attending a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum Saturday in celebration of the 11th annual Soul Train Music Awards. No immediate arrests were made.
Recent kidnappings link with Mexican official
MEXICO CITY — The former drug czar charged with taking payoffs from one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords now is being tied to several recent kidnappings, The New York Times reported yesterday.
The bulk of the victims had no proven links to the drug world, although some had had run-ins with authorities, The Times said.
Gutiérrez's appointment was part of the government's effort to give the military a more visible role in the drug war and replace corrupt police forces.
Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo's lawyers did not return calls seeking comment, the paper said.
Since his arrest last month after only three months in office, a number of families of kidnapping victims have emerged to tell their stories, the paper said.
Steve Puppe/KANSAN
—The Associated Press
ON TO THE DANCE
Scot Pollard hoists the Big 12 Tournament trophy after Kansas defeated Missouri, 87-60. The Jayhawks play in the NCAA Tournament against Jackson State. For coverage of the Big 12 Tournament, see pages 13A and 16A and today's NCAA Tournament special section.
Natalie Sullivan, Kansas City, Mo., Junior, makes her contribution to the sidewalk "editorial page" in front of Wesco Hall on Friday.
Students say it with chalk
Passers-by urged to express views on Wescoe Beach
By Paul Eakins
Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
People walking on Jayhawk Boulevard Friday may have noticed some writing in the "sand" of Wesco Beach.
Andrei Urasov / KANSAN
A group of KU students spent the afternoon passing out chalk, encouraging passers-by to use the sidewalk as an editorial page.
The students distributed the chalk to get people to express their opinions and to show the diversity of views on campus.
"We're doing it so that everybody knows that there are many different ways to look at an issue," said Matt Caldwell. Lawrence junior.
Caldwell said the group did not want to promote certain views but wanted to allow everyone's views to be spread.
Chalk writing can be a forum in which every voice can be heard, said Andy Pressman, Columbus, Ohio, sophomore.
"Anyone can come out and express what they feel," he said.
"Real Christians don't endorse hate. Seek peace and pursue it."
And many people did. Natalie Sullivan, Kansas City, Mo., junior, said that at least 30 people took part in the sidewalk editorializing.
A range of messages appeared on the sidewalk, including:
Apathetic sadness "Love thy veggies."
Lighthearted greetings also graced the walkways, such as "I hope your day is as nice as the weather."
"Keep our Earth clean. Stop careless littering."
Some people used the sidewalk
Anna Palos, Lawrence freshman, drew flowers but said she did not write much because she thought there were better ways to express opinions. She said that it was interesting to see the views of others but that the writings probably would have little impact.
not as an editorial page but as an artist's canvas.
"No one's going to change their religion because of something they saw on the sidewalk." Palos said.
Sullivan said reactions to the chalking were mixed. Some people were excited by it, and others imored it.
"Some people just shook their heads and tried nnc. to read it," she said. "They probably thought, 'Oh, those crazy lefters.'"
Chalking has been controversial
because some people seem to be bothered by it. Sullivan said.
Caldwell said there were competitions of a sort between chalkers with different views last semester.
"We had a bunch of reactionaries coming out writing about the 'meat is murder' writings," he said.
After some anti-meat-eating messages were left on sidewalks, proponents of eating meat responded. Caldwell said chalking was a good forum for this because it allowed both views to be expressed equally.
Although students may enjoy expressing themselves on the sidewalk, at least one University staff member wishes they would find another medium.
Mike Richardson, director of Facilities Operations, said that whenever people wrote on the side
walks, his crews had to wash away the writing, wasting time and money.
"It takes us away from the work that needs to be done," he said. "We have better things to do than washing off sidewalks."
Richardson said the equipment, water and employees needed to wash a sidewalk could cost from $35 to $40 an hour.
"Rather than try to censor what was and was not offensive, we wash everything off," he said.
The students who organized the chalkhalls plan to cover more sidewalks this week and hope to *cover* locations other than Wescoe.
Facilities Operations policy is to wash writing off sidewalks because some chalkings can be offensive to some people. Richardson said.
Murphy lot will remain ungated, KU officials say
By Dave Morantz
Kansan staff writer
After protests and a petition from students, staff and faculty of Murphy Hall, a University planning official said the parking lot across from Murphy Hall probably would not be gated under the new campus access plan.
Tom Waechter, planning coordinator for design and construction management, said he and a University committee in charge of filtering feedback to the access plan have received numerous complaints about gated lots in general.
The untitled committee consists of Waechter; Grey Montgomery, student body president; and other University officials. After receiving the committee's recommendation for the access plan in late March, Provost David Shulenburger and Chancellor Robert Hemenway will make a decision on the plan in early April.
The access proposal calls for some campus lots to be gated, a shuttle system to run between lots at Memorial Stadium and Robinson Center, the creation of a parking garage north of the Kansas Union and additional surface lots on campus.
"I think it's safe to say that gated lots will be a very small percentage of the total number of lots on campus," Waechter said. "There may even be none."
Jennette Selig, Manhattan junior and office assistant at Murphy Hall, solicited more than 125 signatures protesting the proposal to gate the lot and other parts of the access plan, such as a raise in the price of parking permits.
Waechter and other planners presented the plan to the University community in a series of town hall meetings. Students, staff and faculty at Murphy Hall became concerned about not having adequate access to the lot across from the hall.
She said that faculty and staff needing to run errands during the day were concerned about a lack of access to the lot. Students needing to study or rehearse at Murphy Hall late at night also were concerned about the lot being closed.
In the petition, Selig alerted the administration that patrons of performances at Murphy Hall did not like to walk long distances or take a shuttle to the hall.
"Since the administration seems to be motivated by revenue concerns rather than cultural concerns, I thought we'd point out that aspect of it," she said.
Selig said that other people in the University community needed to take action to express their concerns with the plan rather than just complaining.
"The administration as a whole is acting very selfishly. They seem to be valuing profit more than education," she said. "People on campus need to be more proactive and voice their concerns."
Montgomery said Student Senate also opposed the plan to gate lots. In Senate's response to the access plan, Montgomery and Robert Grunzinger, campus transportation coordinator, said that the proposal to gate lots would not benefit students and would create a problem finding evening parking spaces on campus.
TODAY
INDEX
Television ... 2A
On Campus ... 2A
Opinion ... 4A
National News ... 8A
World News ... 9A
Weather: Page 2A