Multimedia Reporting (Fred-Musser)

Jim Millikan is preparing for a battle against his friend Ryan Murphy that could last decades -- and push each man’s cunning to the limit. But though their strategies may vary, each will have only one weapon: pizza.

Millikan is the first franchisee of Murphy’s Lawrence-based company, Wheat State Pizza, and he has vowed to beat Murphy at his own game: he is determined to open more Wheat State Pizza shops than his friend. But the competition is an old game for the two men; And regardless of who claims victory, both expect to profit.

“That's all we've done our entire careers in the pizza business,” said Millikan, Wheat State’s former director of operations. “That's what's brought us along; that's what has picked us up. We've always battled each other. There's always been a friendly competition between the two of us.”

Millikan opened a Wheat State Pizza in September in Junction City. And though it is the seventh location to open, it is the first that is not owned by the company. The store is a symbol of Murphy’s new direction for Wheat State Pizza: franchising. And since announcing the opportunity, Murphy said the interest has come pouring in.

“We've had four different franchise groups look at us and they're all still very interested,” Murphy said. “One dropped out -- however, they're wanting to invest in the company.”

Franchisees have to pay $20,000 and pledge 5 percent of sales before taxes for the privilege of opening their first store -- though for subsequent locations the franchise fee falls to $10,000 and the same 5 percent of sales. After factoring in the other costs of opening the restaurant, Murphy estimates the average investment to be about $125,000.

But Millikan said the company is structured to help franchisees turn a profit right away. Sales at his Junction City store broke into the black -- after operating costs and a payment on the 5-year loan that financed the shop -- the very first month.

"We hit the ground running," Millikan said. "We made money the first month, we made money the second month, we made money this month.”

In fact, each of the Wheat State Pizza stores made a profit the first month, Murphy said, except one: the original Lawrence store. In Lawrence, the competition is fierce. There are 18 other restaurants that specialize in selling pizza, and that's not including restaurants like Milton's or Old Chicago.

The fact that Wheat State Pizza was able to survive and eventually thrive in Lawrence is a testament to the size of the niche that the company occupies, Murphy said. It's an example he uses often to tout Wheat State's competitive edge.

“This market is a perfect example of how we compete with major chains. We are sitting in a store right now that's tucked away in a corner, directly across the street from Papa John's and Pizza Hut that are very visible off of 23rd and Louisiana in Lawrence, Kansas,” Murphy said. “I use that as a marketing approach. I'm not afraid to compete with a major competitor. The biggest thing is to have really, really good quality.”

Murphy is expecting many more to jump at the opportunity to open their own Wheat State Pizzas in the next 18 months, but keeping the growth controlled is essential to maintaining quality and preserving the spirit of the company.

“In the next six months, I'd say we'll do at least two, possibly three in this area. After '07 I think we'll start reaching out and trying to tackle other markets like St. Louis, Omaha,” Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Millikan will be hard at work opening stores in Kansas. He's already looking into opening a store in Manhattan next summer, where the Kansas State University market could promise a huge number of sales. But that's just the beginning. To outdo Murphy, he'll be playing catch up. Murphy already takes the credit for opening six locations, including the original, which he opened in Lawrence in 2004.

Luckily, Millikan believes the investment is a shoe-in, and for Wheat State Pizza, there's no telling how far it might go, he said. He is clear about his own goals, however.

“Who knows what the future holds?” Millikan said. “What do I want to do personally? I want to own 20 pizza stores, at least.”

But for Murphy, the decision to franchise his company is about more than just numbers: It’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Murphy opened the first store in 2004 with $40,000 of personal loans and credit card debt and a $40,000 loan his brother-in-law took out, using his house as collateral.

Less than three years since opening, Murphy has met his lifelong goal of opening a restaurant -- six times over. So he’s refocused his ambition on developing the quality of the company’s products, and putting Wheat State Pizza in the minds, and bellies, of customers nationwide.

“That's kind of my dream -- is to expand large enough to where people are familiar with the name, familiar with the quality and the taste of it. It's real simple. It doesn't matter how many stores we have,” Murphy said. “The growth will take care of itself if people hear about it and it has a good reputation.”

And in Millikan’s eyes, it is Murphy’s dedication to quality that sets Wheat State Pizza apart from its largest competitors -- even Papa John’s, which occupies a similar niche. But Millikan’s belief in the future of Murphy’s company was strong enough to bring him back to the pizza business after he had retired from the industry. He just couldn’t find a pizza outlet where he felt his talents could be fully utilized -- until Murphy called him in 2005, asking for help with his new business.

And with Millikan and Murphy renewing their old competitive streak, the sauces are flowing like never before. Even if Murphy wins the race and opens stores more quickly, Millikan is glad to be reunited with the business and an indescribable feeling that he had been craving since he left.

“Once you’ve been in the business -- it’s kind of hard to explain -- but you really never leave it. You might take a vacation for a while,” Millikan said. “But once you’ve got that pizza sauce running through your veins, you can’t get it out.”

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Restaurants in downtown Lawrence may serve healthier food than you think. Many of them cook with oils that do not contain trans fat. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), trans fat can increase the risk of coronary heart disease, of which 500,000 Americans die each year. These health concerns prompted New York to become the first city to ban trans fat from all its restaurants today.

A survey of eight restaurants downtown resulted in five that avoided using cooking oils that contained trans fat. Free State Brewing Company fries all of its foods in peanut oil, which is non-hydrogenated and contains no trans fat. Other restaurants use soybean oil and coconut oil to cook foods; both do not contain trans fat.

Not all restaurants are so conscious of what they serve. An employee at Jefferson’s, a restaurant in downtown Lawrence, said she had no idea if its food contained trans fat.

According to the FDA, trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods and foods fried in partially hydrogenated oils such as vegetable oil. About 40 percent of all trans fat consumed is from cakes, cookies, crackers, and pies. Since January the FDA has required food manufacturers to specify if food contains trans fat.

But why do some oils contain trans fat while others don’t? According to Nancy O’Connor, Education and Outreach Director at Community Mercantile Co-op (The Merc), non-natural oils that have been hydrogenated contain trans fat.

“The oils have been pumped up with hydrogen to make them liquid at room temperature,” O’Connor said. “The trans fat can affect the texture of the food, especially in things like pie crusts.”

Food manufacturers have been rushing to eliminate trans fat from food items for the past few months. KFC is in the process of eliminating trans fat from its menu, and McDonalds has expressed interest in doing the same. Local grocery store The Merc only carries one brand of hydrogenated margarine, while “Trans fat free!” is proudly displayed on the cartons of the rest of the brands. Some crackers and cookies can also be seen with prominent labels informing customers the product is trans fat free.

“It has really become a big selling point,” O’Connor said.

According to a Journal-World story, it is unlikely that Lawrence will ban trans fat from its restaurants anytime soon. In the meantime, the FDA recommends asking what fats were used when preparing a meal.

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Clustering of bad health habits among KU students was discovered in a study published in the August edition of the Journal of the American College Nutrition.

The study, titled “Smoking, weight loss intention and obesity-promoting behaviors in college students”, was done at Watkins Memorial Health Center form 2003 to 2005. The study looked at 300 KU students smoking and weight related behaviors. Of the 300 students, 49 percent said they had smoked and about 18 percent defined themselves as regular smokers.

The original hypothesis of Shawna L. Carroll, a KU PhD student and the projects coordinator, was different from what the results showed.

“It was different from my original hypothesis that students smoked to lose weight.” Carroll said. “Instead smoking was part of a clustering of poor health behaviors in college students.”

The results showed that those who smoked indeed did want to lose weight. However, the smokers were more likely to eat high calorie food and were less likely to exercise. The relationship between unhealthy eating and smoking was a lot closer than many would believe. The study showed that the more cigarettes an individual smokes the more high calorie food they are likely to eat, according to Carroll.

“There is a dose response between fast food and smoking.” Carroll said.

The dose response also correlated with time spent exercising at the gym. The more cigarettes and fast food eaten the less often students exercised.

This discovery was a small part of a much bigger study called “Must DO” that was funded by the American Heart Association according to Carroll. Dr. Terry Huang, Health Scientist and Program Director for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, headed the “Must Do” study. The larger study looked at obesity behaviors in college-aged students at the University, with cigarette use being one component.

Kevin Walker, the Vice President of Advocacy for the American Heart Association, said that although it is illegal to market cigarettes to minors, cigarettes are still portrayed as cool.

“Cigarette and tobacco ad’s paint a glamorous picture of a smoker,” Walker said.

This is a problem, according to Walker, because most cigarette smokers start before the age of 18. According to a 2002 Center for Disease Control (CDC) study obesity rates for 18 to 29 year old Americans has almost doubled since 1990.

Mary Jayne Hellebust, the Executive Director of Tobacco Free Kansas, says data from the CDC shows 21 percent of high school students in Kansas smoke.

“The overall smoking rate for adults is 19.6 percent,” Hellebust said. “The smoking rate for college students 18 to 24 in Kansas is 26.4 percent.”

With the rising levels of obesity and high levels of youth smoking the two unhealthy lifestyles are clustering. Although many young people plan on quitting smoking they find it harder than they originally planned, according to Hellebust.

“Someone who wants to quit and does successfully will try between seven and nine times over a period of a few years,” Hellebust said. “It is all about the individual and what works best for them whether it is medication, support groups, work with a physician.”

The results of this study could change the way could change they way that smoking prevention and intervention is done according to Carroll. After analyzing the research, Carroll believes, new interventions should be aware of the poor health choices clustering.

“Because poor health behaviors cluster, I recommend interventions that target the whole person,” Carroll said.

The interventions would include information on the importance of working out, an improved diet and an emphasis on quitting smoking, according to Carroll.

Walker says the idea of quitting smoking alone is only one part of reducing your health risks.

“Refraining from tobacco use, consumption of a healthy diet, and staying active all help control health risks,” Walker said.

Quitting smoking would make working out easier according to Don Gregory, Lawrence junior. Gregory said he began smoking with his friends in 2001 and has not quit yet. He said he exercised for the first three years of his smoking but began losing people to go to the gym with and eventually stopped going altogether.

“I definitely notice a difference,” Gregory said, “It’s harder to run.”

However Gregory does not believe that exercise would help him quit smoking, because he does most of hissmoking while drinking or out with friends. This is a common trend in smoking among young people according to Hellebust.

“Many people who smoke do so in certain social settings,” Hellebust said. “Behavioral changes and eliminating smoking from those is the key.”

Hellebust cited the Lawrence smoking ban at bars and restaurants as encouraging in the battle against college smoking, and hopes the pattern is continued nation wide.

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If you look for the much-hyped Zune – Microsoft’s music gadget released in November – at the Tech Shop in the Kansas Union, you won’t find it. To Zack McDougall, the Zune hype exists almost as a myth.

“I think I’ve only had two people ask for a Zune,” McDougall, technology consultant for the KU Bookstore, said. Amazon.com sang a similar song; three weeks after Zune’s release, it fell from the Web site’s list of 20 most popular MP3 players. Apple products accounted for 13 of the top 20 players.

McDougall said Apple’s large market share and the iPod’s user-friendly reputation obstructed sales of the Zune.

“It’s definitely a cultural icon,” McDougall said of the iPod.

What do Zune users think about this?

Students using the Zune proved to be a rarity on campus early December. For Zune opinions, bloggers offered some perspective.

“I bought something others didn't like and have enjoyed it, simple as that,” TDavid, main contributor of makeyougohmm.com, said. “We might be buying another for our teenager this Christmas.”

McDougall, who has been selling iPods since their original release five years ago, said the Tech Shop considered selling Microsoft’s new player.

“It’s got a lot of potential, just because of the features it does have,” McDougall said. “At the moment, I just don’t see it being the iPod contender that everybody was hoping it was going to be.” Zune’s biggest innovation is wireless music sharing between users.

If you go to Best Buy, sales employees will tell you songs can be transferred from one Zune to another, where their lifespan is three days or three plays, whichever comes first. They’ll also tell you iPods are still selling better than their newest contender.

The wireless Zune loses much of its functionality, “unless everyone you know has one,” McDougall said. “It’s not like you’re able to surf websites or download music over a wireless connection. It’s really more for sharing, sort of social networking, like MySpace.”

But instead of the Zune, McDougall said Apple’s new iPod shuffle generated the most consumer interest for the Tech Shop.

“Before I had two out of the box, I sold two,” he said. Apple controls over 70 percent of the MP3 player market, McDougall said. However, not every iPod user is proud of the media player.

“I just want to stop,” Dan Watson, Overland Park senior, said. “It hasn’t been a pleasurable experience, well, it’s just guilt. It’s become a massive phenomenon of isolation. Everybody’s got their iPod.”

Still, blogger TDavid thinks that among MP3 players, the Zune is a good choice.

“If you like the ability to have the greatest amount of music at your disposal, over a million songs, and don't mind a monthly rental fee, go with something like the Zune,” he said.

Alternatively to both the iPod and the Zune, Stefan Bachrodt, Algonquin, Ill. senior, decided to purchase a Zen, made by Creative. He said the Zen offered more options for a lower price.

"The iPod doesn’t seem like it’s that customizable to your own preferences,” he said. “It’s almost too utilitarian.”

Along with the Zune comes the Zune Marketplace, a store where a song costs 79 Microsoft Points – the equivalent of 99 cents. Just like when songs are downloaded from the iTunes music store, downloads are encoded with digital rights management, or DRM.

“If you don’t know what DRM is right now, you’re going know exactly what it is within the next year or so. It’s going to be a household word like iPod,” McDougall said. DRM is how copyright holders protect their intellectual property, he explained. Songs that TDavid might buy from the Zune music store can only be played on the Zune. For Watson, songs from the iTunes music store have a DRM only compatible with the iPod; Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM works with Bachrodt’s Creative Zen, but not with the Zune. DRMs also limit the number of computers a song can be on and the number of CDs songs can be burned to.

“It’s completely restrictive,” McDougall said.

As the MP3 player market continues to expand and become more complex in many ways, some people would rather stay out of the technology tangle completely.

“It’s not a big, pressing need,” Scott Pinkelman, Lenexa senior, said. Instead of an MP3 player, Pinkelman owns a Sony Walkman ESP Max CD player. “Considering how many used CD players there are around, it doesn’t seem to me like I need to get anything else.”

“It’s a little unwieldy, a little outdated, nevertheless, enjoyable,” he said.

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