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KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27. 1997
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.103, NO.107
Scott Whittaker charged with domestic battery
A former Kansas offensive tackle has been released on a $500 bond after being charged with domestic battery of his exigirlfriend.
Lawrence police said Scott Whittaker, Alta Loma, Calif., senior, was
Scott Whittaker
arrested for grabbing his ex-girlfriend by her clothes and shaking her about 2 a.m. Saturday morning at 12th and Ohio streets and again in the 1,100 block of Louisiana Street. Police said the
woman left a party at 12th and Ohio streets. As the woman walked to her apartment on Louisiana street, Whittaker, 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, followed her inside, grabbed her and shook her. Whittaker hung up the phone when the woman twice tried to call 911.
A neighbor heard the two arguing and called the police after escorting the woman into the neighbor's apartment, police said. Officers found Whittaker banging on the neighbor's door when he was arrested.
Lawrence apartment consumed by flames
A fire destroyed one apartment and damaged several others yesterday at 2507 Redbud Lane in the Crescent Heights Apartments. Nobody was in the apartment.
Flames and smoke poured out the front and back doors of the apartment, witnesses said. The fire melted the blinds on the windows of the upstairs apartment.
Li Min Chang Cho, Malaysia sophomore, who moved into the upstairs apartment a month ago, said she had been home when the apartment caught fire. When she smelled smoke and heard approaching sirens, she looked out her window and saw a firefighter waving at her to get out of the building.
—Kansan staff reports
Five found guilty of crime that killed six firemen
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More than eight years after an explosion that killed six Kansas City firefighters, five people were convicted of setting the fire that led to the men's deaths.
Leah Baldridge, Lawrence resident, was walking her dog near the building around 4:45 p.m. She said she had just gone into her apartment down the block when she heard sirens approaching.
Jurors return today to begin the sentencing phase. Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole and $250,000 in fines.
A federal jury deliberated for nearly two days before returning a unanimous guilty verdict, agreeing with prosecutors who said the defendants set the 1988 fire to cover-up thefts from a construction site.
"I had just been there, and nothing was wrong," Baldridge said. "Five minutes later, it was awful. I saw the blinds burning and smoke billowing out."
Frank Sheppard, 46; his brother Skip Sheppard, 36; their nephew Bryan Sheppard, 25; Darlene Edwards, 42; and Richard Brown, 26, all of Kansas City, were convicted of one count each of using fire to destroy property in interstate commerce, resulting in deaths.
The firefighters were killed about 4 a.m. on Nov. 29, 1988, after arriving at a construction site fire along U.S. 71 in southern Kansas City. Two construction trailers loaded with ammonium nitrate exploded in separate blasts about 40 minutes apart, shaking homes in the area.
The victims, who all died in the first blast, were firefighters James Klventon, Geraid Halloran, Robert McKamin, Michael Oldham, Luther Hurd and Thomas Fry.
The Associated Press
Fire blazes downtown
Buildings burn, electricity cut
By Kevin Bates Kansan staff writer
As the rain fell, fire consumed the southeast corner of Eighth and Massachusetts streets last night, burning at least four buildings and almost taking the life of a Lawrence woman.
The Lawrence Fire Department said that it responded to an alarm at 6 p.m. at the Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St. The fire appeared to be concentrated, however, on top of the building that formerly housed Herbivores restaurant, 9 E.Eighth St., directly northeast of the bike shop. Officials said they did not immediately know the cause of the fire.
Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St., bums. It caught fire last night, along with the building that formerly housed Herbi vores restaurant, 9 E. Eighth St., and some apartments above Sunflower. Officials said they did not immediately know the cause of the fire.
Terry Thompson, 53, said she was watching the 6 o'clock news in her apartment above Sunflower when she smelled smoke. She went into her kitchen to investigate what she thought was burning plastic.
"I looked behind my oven to check for fire, and I saw smoke pouring out from a hole back there," Thompson said. Suddenly the lights went off, leaving Thompson to grope her way through the smoke-filled darkness to the stairway.
Thompson said she almost fell as she felt her way down the stairs and outside.
"I was lucky to get out," Thompson said. "But I had three beautiful calico cats up there that I couldn't get to."
Tena Reber, Topeka junior, was working at The Buckle, 805 Massachusetts St., when she saw smoke coming from the buildings across the street. Reber said the fire began slowly, but grew quickly.
"The firefighters had just three hoses on the fire at the beginning, but about 45 minutes later the fire just took off," Reber said. "Then they started raising all the ladders and the crowd started getting big."
By 6:30 p.m., about 300 people had lined the sidewalk across the street to watch the firefighters try to control the blaze.
Firefighters sprayed water through the front windows of the vacant building to prevent the fire from igniting buildings nearby. Fire Inspector Mark Grinstead said that firefighters also doused the adjacent buildings to keep them safe.
"We want to keep them cool so they don't catch too," Grinstead said. "The fire is pretty well stuck where it is. We're just trying to keep it there."
Grinstead said that firefighters wanted to keep the fire on the west side of the alley. Electricity was cut in the 700 and 800 blocks of Massachusetts Street soon after the fire department arrived. Power was restored to the 700 block about 7:30 p.m.
Several scholarship halls and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall also lost power for about 20 minutes because the electricity had been cut.
The Olathe and Overland Park fire departments assisted the Lawrence Fire Department in fighting the fire. Firefighters from
"I looked behind my oven to check for fire, and I saw smoke pouring out from a hole back there."
Terry Thompson Lawrence resident
outlying townships also volunteered to help.
Roadblocks were set up by Lawrence police, but pedestrians continued to filter downtown to watch the spectacle.
The fire still was not under control at 7:50 p.m. Flames flared on the roof of Sunflower almost two hours after the fire began.
Firefighters still were battling the blaze at 9:30 p.m., but Lawrence police said the fire was under control.
The fire is concentrated at the top of the building at 9 E. Eighth St. The building is located directly northeast of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop. Firefighters also were spraying adjacent buildings to keep them from igniting.
Celine Dion (left) was one of the winners at the 1997 Grammy Awards last night. For a complete list, see page 6.
TODAY
INDEX
Opinion ...4
National News ...7
Horoscopes ...8
Classifieds ...9
Sports ...10
Dole donates archive to University
WINDY AND COOL
Weather: Page 2A
Records to open as public resource
By Ann Marchand Kansan staff writer
Bob Dole, former U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate, is donating his congressional archive to the University of Kansas.
Dole, who attended the University from 1941 to 1943 before he served in World War II, said the University was the most logical choice for his records, which cover a public-service career of more than 30 years.
"Nothing has made me prouder than the trust the people of Kansas have always placed in me," he said in a press release yesterday. "That's why it is important to me to have my congressional archive and personal papers housed in Kansas at a great institution like KU. I hope that this collection is a useful resource for students and for future generations interested in history and public service."
The storage location has not been determined for the collection of papers, records, photographs, audio and video tapes, computer files and personal objects. Dole's paper records alone are estimated to amount to more than 3,000 feet — more than half a mile of files.
Chancellor Robert Memenway said that the University would provide public access to the collection as an educational and historical resource.
Nothing has made me prouder than the trust the people of Kansas have always placed in me.
"KU's interest here is not only to be a good repository for the papers but also to have programs and events associated with the papers that are in keeping with the great affection that Kansas has for its favorite son," he said. "Bob Dole is widely admired in Kansas for his career in public service, and I think his career really serves as a kind of example of the way we need to think more positively about public service."
Ryan Kauffman, Overland Park junior and chairman of College Republicans, said that, although he was a little surprised that Dole had
Bob Dole former U.S. senator
"I think it's great," he said. "I think it says a lot that a leader like Bob Dole would donate his records to KU when there are other institutions like the National Archives that are vying for them."
Once the collection has arrived in Lawrence, University archivists and preservation specialists will begin to catalog and preserve the collection.
Tom Hutton, director of University Relations, said that the issue had been discussed for several months.
chosen the University, it would be a great asset to the campus.
Blaise
The final preparations were made at a meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., with Dole, the current Kansas congressional delegation and Hemenway.
Now that Dole has donated his collection, the University must ensure that the items are properly maintained.
A
"We have to be able to decide what we have, and then figure out where to put it," Hutton said. "This is important for the University and for history to make sure that these things are preserved."
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