CAMPUS/AREA UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, December 5, 1995
3A
Unfinished portrait depicts T.S. David
By Scott Worthington Kanson staff writer
Staff Photographer / KANSAN
Kansan staff writer
She'd seen him on campus, like every one else. He intrigued her. His bone structure, hair, deep, dark color, solemn expression.
Linda Brennaman is unsure whether to finish her portrait of T.S. David, the wandering man in Lawrence who died last month. He agreed to the project if it wasn't for a grade and if she brought him potato chips.
One day in early October, Linda Brennan worked up the courage to talk to him. She tapped him on the shoulder. T.S. David turned around.
"I said, 'Mir, Sir.' And he just kind of looked at me. And I said, 'I'm a painting major, and I want to do a painting of you." said Brennanman, Lansing senior.
"He looked at me kind of funny and said, 'OK. If you don't do it for a grade.'"
And so it was that Brennaman, 39, began meeting David every Monday at the Chi Omega fountain, bringing him two bags of Crunchers potato chips — jalapeno flavored — as his requested payment. She said she showed him poems, which he, a doctoral candidate in English, critiqued.
But Brennaman was never able to finish that painting. David, a notable but mysterious campus figure known to scribble Bible passages with chalk on campus sidewalks, died Nov. 25, at the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack earlier in the month. From his bed in Lawrence Memorial Hospital, David asked his daughter to phone Brennaman to tell her he wouldn't be able to make it to their meeting.
The unfinished painting now sits in its loft in Joseph R. Pearson Hall. The face is stoic, pained, quite different, actually, than the face she saw each week.
"He was smiling, bubbly, energetic," Brennaman said. "He was a totally different man than I saw on campus and everyone else saw."
Brennaman said he talked about going back to his native India, and teaching children English. "I'd say, 'Where do you sleep?' He'd say, 'On the ground.' I'd say, 'What about when it's cold?' And he'd say, 'I sleep in a parking garage.' I said, 'How do you get money for school?' And he said, 'I work in the summer — just enough
to get my tuition — and that's all I need. "I
told, 'What do you do with your books?' And he said, 'That's what libraries are for.'"
Now Brennaman is contemplating what she should do with the painting.
Andrea Norris, director of the Spencer Museum of Art, said she had neither seen
the painting nor considered it for campus, but she was not closed to the idea.
"He was kind of a personality that would be nice to have remembered on campus." she said.
Brennaman said she doubted she could finish the painting accurately from memory. She said she was getting advice from
all sides on what she should do.
"Some think it should be finished. Some think it shouldn't," she said. "And some of my friends think I immortalized him. And others think it's some sort of omen — like he knew he was going to die. And I'm like, 'Gosh, you guys are scaring me.'"
Law students preside in parking court
By Joy Marie Lofton
Special to the Kansan
In this court, the judges are paid $5 an hour, and the attorneys are not paid at all.
The University of Kansas Court of Parking Appeals gives disgruntled students the chance to appeal a parking ticket, and it gives law students the opportunity to gain courtroom experience.
Amber Rossman, Tulsa, Okla, junior, received a ticket for parking at an expired meter. Rossman said she was unable to move her car because she lost her keys at Clinton Lake during crew practice.
"I had gotten three tickets, and the guy giving tickets told me my car would be towed," she said.
Rossman said she called the parking department to explain her situation and asked it not to tow her car. After a park ranger returned her keys, Rossman moved the car and filled out an appeals form.
"I wrote two pages on this whole incident, and two weeks later I got a letter from them telling me they granted my appeal." Rossman said.
Matt Wiltanger, second-year law student from Olathe and chief justice of the Court of Parking Appeals, said the majority of cases involved people who owned a permit but did not have it hanging on the rear-view mirror.
"But they lose because you don't want people to lie and start saying, 'I just didn't hang my tag up,'" he said.
Wiltanger said the court dealt with both written appeals and hearings. If students
ask for a hearing, they will be represented by an attorney who will research the case.
The attorneys are primarily first-year law students who each work about two cases a semester. Wiltager said.
There are about 45 attorneys, and each attorney spends three to four hours preparing two cases, he said. The attorneys receive no class credit.
Wiltanger said the judges heard six cases each Tuesday and Wednesday and that it took about three hours to hear six cases.
Mike Mohlman, first-year law student from Overland Park, serves as an attorney for the court. He said that before they can serve as judges, students have to serve as attorneys.
Mohman said there were about 15 judges who were second-and third-year
law students.
He said that in 1995, the parking department issued 69,451 tickets. Of those tickets, 1,632 were appealed. He said the court granted 843 and denied 789 appeals.
"The parking department makes mistakes just like everyone else," he said. "We try to give people the benefit of the doubt."
He said it was important to give as much evidence as possible to the courts when appealing a ticket. He recommended submitting photos, drawing maps and being honest.
Wiltanger said that sometimes he felt horrible about denying appeals.
you feel bad because we're all students and money's tight," he said.
Issues linger as senators enter break
Rec center proposal will be on the agenda
By Sarah Wiese
Kansan staff writer
Mary issues that Senate will tackle in the spring have the potential to affect the whole campus.
Although Student Senate'a first semester ended Wednesday, there still is much left to do.
A proposal for a $50-million student-financed recreation center, the fate of KU on Wheels and changes to the academic advising process hang in the balance when the school year resumes in January.
Ken Martin, Student Senate Executive Committee chairman, said he thought Senate was prepared.
"I'm really optimistic about next semester in terms of what Student Senate can do," he said. "We're going to continue on the track we set at the beginning of the year."
Senate probably will vote on a bill for a new student recreation center early in the semester, Martin said.
The bill would create a restricted fee to pay for the center. Stevie Case, residential senator, said she thought Senate debate would be fierce.
"I think the recreation center will dominate a lot of time in Senate because it's a huge amount of money," she said.
Senate also will have to decide what to do about KU on Wheels, the student-run bus system that will be operating in the red at year's end if no changes are made. A $150,000 loan from Senate and the creation of a restricted fee are two proposed solutions.
Kim Cocks, student body president, said Senate should reach a consensus on short-term solutions as well as a long-term plan for KU on Wheels.
Later in the spring, Dan Hare, student body vice president, and Senate's University affairs committee will make recommendations for improvements in the academic advising process, Cocks said.
Case said Senate's newly created campus fee review subcommittee would scrutinize three student fees. Until now, restricted fees weren't reviewed unless a fee increase was requested.
The final version of the campus master plan is another issue Senate will be considering next semester.
With the Legislature in session, Senate's Student Legislative Awareness Board will make sure the student voice is heard relating to issues of higher education.
Cocks said senators would be ready for those challenging issues.
"I think they've learned a lot this semester and will hopefully come back and apply that knowledge," she said.
Professors are in spirit of giving finals during Hanukkah
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
Instead of celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, some Jewish students at the University of Kansas will be taking their last final exams.
Hanukkah, the eight-day festival in which Jews commemorate the victory of the Maccabees, begins at sundown Dec. 18, the same day as the last day of finals.
The Maccabees were a family of
Jewish patriots who were active in the liberation of Judea from Syrian rule.
Carol Holstead, chairwoman of the University Calendar Committee and assistant professor of journalism, said she did not know the origins of the University policy but
University Senate Rules and Regulations state that tests should not be scheduled in conflict with religious observances, but this did not include final exams.
that professors were not required to reschedule final exams because of Hanukkah.
The only time students can reschedule finals is when they have three exams on the same day.
"We considered rescheduling, but regulations showed that it did not break any rules."
"Realistically, you cannot give time off for every religion's religious holidays," she said.
Holstead said she had not heard
complaints from Jewish students about the schedule.
Steven Jacobson, director of the KU Hillel Foundation, said that professors usually were careful to schedule around religious observances but that they could not be expected to plan around the eight-day holiday.
"University administration and departments should pay a little more attention to issues of diversity on campus, but Hanukkah is
not one of them," he said.
Sheryl Adelman, Chicago graduate student, said that most Jewish students were more concerned about observing Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, than they were about celebrating Hanukkah.
"Hanukah is not as big a deal as Christmas," she said. "Nobody really gets school or work off for Hanukah."
Jeremy Patnoi, Englewood, Colo., junior, said he would rather spend Hannakkah with his family but that
he had a final on the first day of the holiday.
He said he understood the University's policy because it would be difficult to plan around the eight-day celebration.
The dates of Hanukkah vary from year to year because they are based on the Jewish calendar, but the holiday usually begins in November or
"If I was still in high school, it may be a more important holiday," he said. "But part of the reason that it is considered a big holiday is because it is around Christmas."