Me&
Richard Devinki/KANSAN
Richard DeWink/KARNAI Jason Greenwood, Chanute sophomore, and Mike Fine, recreation coordinator, check in a tent at the Kansas Union JayBowl.
Story by Sara Bennett
"I'm the boss!" children scream at each other as they battle for the right to rule the sandbox. "Stop being so bossy," a 10-year-old shouts at her older brother. A father slumps at the dinner table after a hard day at work and mutters, "I
my boss
hate my boss."
Todd Stineman, Newton senior, left, and his boss, David Bay, prepare a box of supplies to be sent from the Union Bookstore. Stineman works for Support Services in the bookstore.
Since childhood, people have associated the boss with an insufferable and domineering dictator. After such conditioning, students may look at their first employers with awe and dread.
Most find, however, that their bosses are people too, with feelings and interests just like their own. These KU students have learned to appreciate their bosses' good points as well as their differences.
When Todd Stineman, Newton senior, entered his offices in the support services section of the Kansas Bookstore in the Kansas Union last Halloween, he found a scary sight waiting for him.
A child-size Jayhawk costume stood in the corner with a knife in its stomach. The figure wore a green monster mask and a sign proclaiming, "This is
what happens when you work for support services.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Paul Kotz/ KANSAN
Stineman said such antics are typical of his boss, David Day, assis tant supervisor of support services.
"He's easy to work with and funny," Stineman, said
motioning to Day's side of the office. Miniature moose, lion and rhinoceros heads protruded from the wall above a desk littered with plastic animals and GLJoe dolls.
"He keeps our spirits up," Stineman said. "He's just kind of a goof-off, but he also very knowledgeable."
Stineman said although Day is tremendously busy, he always finds time for his employees.
"He will drop what he's doing to help you," Stineman said. "He maintains a good frame of mind when a normal person wouldn't."
Day said he tries to keep the atmosphere pleasant for his employees.
"We just try to make things interesting," he said. "I try to treat them in a way that keeps things lively."
Day took the full-time position he holds now in 1991. Before that, he worked part time at the bookstore as a student employee. He said he can relate
to his employees better because he was once in their position.
"She's very polite when she's angry." Dunkelberger said of his boss. "We know she's angry by her disapproving smile."
Ann Eversole, director of the organizations and activities center (OAC) in the Kansas Union smiles extra big when she's angry, Kelly Dunkelberger, Woodland Park, Colo., senior said.
"They have to worry about with the pressures of school," he said. "So we don't want this job to be mundane and boring."
Coby Craghage, Wichita senior, right, and his boss Mark Lorentz, assistant manager for food services, pose at the Kansas Union cafeteria.
Dunkelberger, who runs the front desk at the OAC said he appreciates Eversole, not just for her tactfulness under pressure, but also because she trusts her employee to do their jobs without keeping a close eye on them.
"She's really encouraging," he said. "I've worked for other departments and she gives us the free rein other departments may not afford a student."
Eversole said, "I do as much as I can to give them autonomy."
Eversole also said Dunkelberger's observations about her handling of anger are accurate. "It's probably one of those unconscious things," she said. "If you're really annoyed with someone, you try not to say things you might regret later."
"If I had enough time to get everything I need to do done, there would probably be less smiles." he said.
Dunkelberger said he enjoys working for Eversole, even when he becomes the object of her polite anger.
Kara Eddey, Columbus, Ohio, graduate student, finds quotes from Seinfeld hidden in the nooks and crannys behind her counter at the Union Square cafeteria in the Kansas University. Her boss, assistant food service manager Mark Lorentz, plants them there for the employees' enjoyment.
Eddey described Lorentz as a fun and laid-back boss who doesn't expect his employees to be in a good mood.
"He's a Seinfeld fanatic," Eddey said, shaking her head.
"If I want to be grouchy, he lets me be grouchy," she said. "He just smiles and nods and says, "How nice for you."
Lorentz said he tries to be more flexible with his student employees.
"I think especially in this environment you have to be understanding of the needs of students," he said. "They're here to go to school, so if they need time to study, or something comes up, I try to work around their schedules."
Coby Craghead, Wichita graduate student, agreed Lorentz is a good boss. But maybe a little too good at times.
"He's such a nice guy that you almost wish he'd start cracking heads a bit," Craghead said.
"I think that's just my personality." Lorentz said. "If you'rehard, that creates other problems. I'd rather deal with trying to be a nice guy and deal with the problems that come from that."
Anne Eversole, director of Organizations and Activities, right, talks with Kelly Dunkelberg, Woodland Park senior.
theater
Lawrence troupe offers abstract skits untouched by mainstream theater
Chameleon theater group likens itself to a cross between Monty Python and the Blues Brothers
Chameleons are unobtrusive reptiles who protect themselves by blending in with their surroundings.
By Sara Bennett Kansan staff writer
Deborah McMullen, Lawrence, wore a sliced up trash bag white greeting people at the Lawrence Arts Center before Saturday's performance of "Bite This."
Founded in 1992 by Lawrence writer Robert Baker, the Chameleons are dedicated to producing works by local playwrights. Baker described the troupe's experimental productions as "Monty Python meets the Blues Brothers."
The actors and writers of this fledgling theater company prefer to expose the world rather than hide from it.
Chameleon Productions is a different animal.
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
"We have a dark comedic bent that's rooted in reality," he said. "We emphasize the abstract, absurdist themes in society."
The Chameleon's latest offering, "Bite This, A Theatrical Monstrosity," did just that. The show, which ran last Friday and Saturday at the Lawrence Arts Center, presented multi-media sketches on a variety of controversial subjects: A born-again Christian saw Jesus in her refrigerator, a trailer park prodigy killed his abusive uncle, and "The Toilet Trilogy" addressed America's preoccupation with the commode.
"Our goal in 'Bite This' was to
Baker said the not-for-profit company was formed in response to a lack of opportunities for local playwrights to have their work produced.
The Chameleon troupe consists of 12 amateur performers aged 15 to 52. Most of them write, direct and perform their own material. Many of the performers have previous theater experience and were recruited for the company by a core group of writers and performers.
assault the audience's senses from the beginning to the end," Baker said.
Penny Weiner, an award-winning Topeka playwright, and David Ohle, a Lawrence author who wrote the '70s expose "Cows Are Freaky When They Look at You," have both had plays produced by Chameleon Productions. Last spring, the company produced Ohle's black comedy "Crank Calls." Its next project will be Wiener's play "Dancing With the Big One."
"We want to encourage local talent and give them a venue for their writing," he said.
Ohle said Chameleon Productions is an ideal venue for his work because the company is willing to perform plays about subjects that may not be acceptable in mainstream theater.
"Community theater doesn't lend itself to the kind of material I do," he said. "We're doing the kinds of works
Baker said the Chameleons' work would appeal to anyone who is turned off by traditional theater.
"Anyone who thinks theater is boring, abstract and pretentious, we're none of the above," he said.
Baker said he hoped the Chameleons' work would challenge the audience's world views.
"If we don't get a reaction, good or bad, then we're not doing our job," he said. Chameleon productions will have its next performance Sept. 30 as part of the Lawrence Art Center's Harvest of the Arts.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SEPTEMBER 23,1993 PAGE 7
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
NIGHTLIFE
Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill 1601 W, 23rd St.
Turquoise Soul, 9 p.m. Thursday Room Full Of Walters with That Statue Moved. 9 p.m. Friday Wake, 9 p.m. Saturday
Dos Hombres
The Crossing
12th and Oread
Ricky Dean Sinatra, 9 p.m. Friday
Danger Bob, 9 p.m. Saturday
Dos Hombres 815 New Hampshire St. Eight Men Out, 9 p.m. Friday
The Jazzhaus
926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Acoustic Juice with Mother Well, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday
Slamjammy, 9:30 p.m. Friday
Johnny Clueless, 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Poetry Slam, 7-10 p.m. Tuesday
Rick's Neighborhood Bar & Grill 623 Vermont St. The Red Dirt Rangers with Arkansaw White Trash Express, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, $3
The Jazzhaus
Free State Brewing Co.
636 Massachusetts St.
Free State Jazz Quartet, 7-9 p.m. Friday
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire
Tenderloin, 10 p.m. Friday
Fall Fest' '93, 1-8 p.m. Saturday, $5
1 p.m.- Mountain Clyde
2 p.m.- Love Squad
3 p.m.- L.A. Ramblers
4 p.m.- Baghdad Jones
5 p.m.- Tenderloin
6 p.m.- Salty Iguanas
7 p.m.- Billy Goat
Peter Case, 10 p.m. Saturday.
Granada Theater
1020 Massachusetts St.
The River City Six, 8-11 p.m. Thursday
The Stringers, 9 p.m. to midnight, Friday, $3
Staying Alive: '70s Flashback, Wednesday
See CALENDAR, Page 8
》