Sidewalks: Campus walkways become site of chalk war about meat. Page 3A
Tennis: Former Kansas women's coach accepts job on men's team. Page 1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
ADVERTISING 864-4358
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13. 1996
PAGE 1 VOL.103 NO.58
(USPS 650-640)
Toxic drug delivers severe birth defects
WASHINGTON — Thalidomide, which became the world's most infamous drug after causing thousands of horrific birth defects more than 30 years ago, may soon be sold in the United States — perhaps as early as next year.
While the drug shows promise in fighting some AIDS-related disorders, leprosy and other devastating diseases, the Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to protect women who could bear children with no limbs or with tiny flip-perlike arms and legs after taking one pill in early pregnancy.
Geoff Krieger / KANSAN
"We never thought there would be another generation of thalidomiders," said Canadian Randy Warren, his voice choked with emotion. Warren was born with no hips and malformed legs.
Thalidomide, once sold in 48 countries as a sleeping pill and as a morning-sickness cure, was banned worldwide in 1962 after about 12,000 babies were born with missing or malformed limbs, serious facial deformities and defective organs.
It was never sold in the United States because FDA scientist Frances Kelsey uncovered signs of toxicity that the drug's manufacturer had denied.
Cleveland suffers with record snows
CLEVELAND — Is it EVER going to end? People who had barely finished raking the autumn leaves wanted to know yesterday as they shoveled their way out of one of the city's heaviest recorded November snowfalls.
"When I was shovelling last night, it was up to my knees," grumbled resident Judy Toth of suburban Munson Township, which had four feet by yesterday afternoon. "And we got at least another foot and a half overnight."
Parking lot 90, located off Naismith Drive and behind Robinson Center, is closed this year to general parking for men's basketball games. Parking is restricted to members of the Williams Educational Fund.
Totals by yesterday afternoon ranged from about one foot in Cleveland's western suburbs to the four feet in Munson Township, 20 miles east.
The onslaught began Saturday, with the heaviest accumulations along the shore of Ohio's Lake Erie.
The official total so far this month at the city's Hopkins International Airport — in the less snowy western suburbs — was only 19.1 inches, but even that ranked as the third snowiest November on record. The snowiest November was in 1950, when 22.3 inches of snow fell.
Jets crash in India; possibly 351 dead
NEW DELHI, India — A Saudi jumbo jet climbing from New Delhi's airport collided with a Kazak plane coming in for landing yesterday, creating twin fireballs that turned the sky red as dawn and scattered the bodies of up to 351 people onto the farmland below.
If the death toll is confirmed, the crash would be the third-deadliest in aviation history.
Wreckage dropping from the sky left big craters. Body parts, baggage and clothes were strewn across six miles of fields near the town of Charkhi Dadril, about 60 miles west of New Delhi.
"I saw 60 or 70 bodies, but only about 15 were identifiable," said Manjit Singh, a 20-year-old college student who sped to the site on his motorcycle after seeing the collision.
Seventeen foreigners were on board the Saudi jettier, including two Americans and a Briton, Press Trust of India news agency reported.
—The Associated Press
Game parking more elusive
The Saudi Arabia-bound Saudi jetliner with 312 passengers and crew members had been in the air for seven minutes when it collided with Kazakstan Airlines Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, which was on a landing approach, aviation officials said.
Prime spots open to fund donors, closed to public
By Jeff Ruby
Kansan staff writer
The art of finding a parking spot at KU basketball games has become a bit more abstract.
The Athletic Department made a decision last week to close lot 90 — formerly a prime parking spot for Jayhawk basketball spectators — to the general public during ball games, said Don Kearns, director of parking. The arrangement caused traffic jams on Naismith Drive when cars were denied entrance to the lot before last night's game against Australia Geelong.
The lot, which is south of Robinson Center and which has approximately 1,000 parking spots, now is reserved for members of the Williams Educational Fund, Kearns said.
ment for more parking, who asked me for input," he said. "They wanted to take away spots from students at Oliver, and I wasn't going to do that. They wanted to take away handcapped spots, and I wasn't going to do that."
"They asked the Athletic Depart-
The Williams Educational Fund is a scholarship fund for student athletes made up between 3,300 and 3,400 alumni, fans and faculty members.
Rodger Oroke, director of service management, said parking in the lot would run more smoothly under the new system. The lot previously was shared between parking-permit holding members of the fund and the general public, which paid $2 a spot on a first-come, first-served basis.
"I'm pissed off," said Ann Feeney, Lawrence junior. "They're always trying to screw the students over. This would be my third year parking there, and now there's so much space — it's a shame we don't get to take advantage of it."
Students arriving for last night's game were upset to find they no longer were allowed to park in the lot.
Corey Proffitt, Pleasanton freshman, is a parking assistant who met cars at the entrance of lot 90 to check for permits. He said KU fans were surprised to be turned away from the lot.
"They're used to the same old routine or whatever," he said. "They talk like they've been doing it for 20 years. Now they've got to walk up there."
Scott McMichael, director of the fund, said athletic director Bob Frederick made the decision to close the lot except to members of the fund, some University staff, Sports Information staff, corporate sponsors and the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation. Frederick was unavailable for comment.
The conversion of a nearby open field into a soccer field took away hundreds of overflow parking spots for games, pushing the excess cars into church lots and residential neighborhood. McMichael said.
The general public will have to look elsewhere for parking this season. Oroke said.
"Say you purchase season tickets, but don't buy the parking package or don't make contributions to the
Williams Educational Fund," he said. "Then you park wherever you can in a legal designation."
McMichael said a yearly $250 contribution would entitle the donor to a parking spot at both basketball and football games.
John Hadd, executive director of the Williams Educational Fund.
said his organization had a demand for additional parking places.
"Every year we always needed parking, so we would buy the spots we needed," he said. "This year the parking department's policy changed. They said we had to buy all or nothing. So we bought them all."
Kathleen Driscoll / KANSAN
The parking lots east and west of Jayhawker Towers will remain vacant and will not be taken care of by the University for another six months. Demolition of the structures has slowed because of a lack of money.
Towers garage delays to continue
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan staff writer
The crumbling structures next to Jayhawker Towers will not be coming down anytime soon.
Don Kearns, director of parking services, said towers residents would have to wait another six months before the University would deal with the structures.
Despite the fact that the towers' east and west parking garages have been unusable for more than a year, the University of Kansas is taking its time removing the empty buildings.
"We will first raze the east garage after graduation," Kearns said. "Then it will be another year before the west garage comes down."
ing the garages down has taken time because the demolition needed approval.
"We had to get authorization for demolition from the legislature, and we got that this year," Modig said. "That went into effect on July 1, and we have just been waiting for a good time to get to work."
Modig said the University had hired Schwerdt Design Group Inc., 2231 SW Wanamaker Road in Topeka, to do the demolition. The cost has not been determined.
"We could've done it a long time ago, if we had the money," Kearns said. "But that didn't happen because nobody wanted to pay or had the money. In fact, we had to spend some money to reinforce the structure so that it wouldn't fall down."
James Modig, director of design and construction management, said the garages were unsound structurally. Tear-
Kearns said the demolition was slowed because of a lack of money.
After the structures are torn down, surface lots will be built in their place. Thirty-five to 40 spaces will be lost when the east garage is torn down, Kearns said.
After the east garage is razed, the University will get an estimate this spring on the cost of tearing down the west garage. The west garage should be torn down in the summer of 1998.
He said that Engel Road, which runs near the residence halls, was being held up by the wall running along the west garage. Therefore, the structures could not be demolished simultaneously.
But Kearns said surface lots were less expensive and were easier to maintain.
"The west garage is a lot more complicated," Kearns said. "That west wall off the garage pretty much holds up the street out there. We have to make sure all that doesn't collapse."
Relief in sight for KU faculty going abroad
Debicki says travel fund clause does not mean increased costs
By Lindsey Henry
Kansan staff writer
Faculty stressed out by the words "new service obligation" will find relief in the near future, thanks to a little bit of revision and editing.
Anxiety struck several KU faculty members when they read a revised statement of the University's travel fund that included a new, time-consuming obligation that could result in increasing their overseas expenses.
The fund, which consists of private research money, pays for 60 percent of instructors' flight expenses when they are selected to present their research or dissertation in a foreign country.
Andrew Debicki, dean of the graduate school and international programs, said in a Faculty Executive Council meeting yesterday that the clause was simply an effort to boost the University's foreign relations.
"We figured these people were going to be there anyway; we could arrange contacts and cover overstays," he said. "But I'd be happy to make any changes."
The new clause stated that when faculty members used the fund, they would commit to completing a University service project while abroad. Examples of service projects include meeting with KU foreign alumni or recruiting international students.
"I didn't think this would be such a controversial issue," Debicki said. "I didn't write this thing; I must admit I didn't pay attention to the wording."
Michael Doudoroff, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, said the wording seemed forceful.
The clause was strongly stated as an obligation and dropped on the faculty at a time when they are especially dependent on the fund, Doudoroff said.
Lloyd Sponholtz, associate professor of history and president of the Senate Executive council, said if the wording were softer, faculty members would be more apt to fulfill the request.
"Faculty read this as, 'We'll tell you what we'd like you to do,' without any mention of extra expense coverage," Soonholtz said.
Debicki said the statement would be changed from a "service obligation" to "service request" to appease the concerned faculty.
www.kansan.com
Visit it Sept. 1!
INDEX
Campus ... 3A
Opinion ... 4A
Features ... 6A
Sports ... 1B
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 4B
Entertainment ... 4B
TODAY
CHANCE OF SLEET
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas.The first copy is paid through the student activity fee.Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
---
x