Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Noland)

It’s nearly 7 p.m. on a Tuesday snowy night and UPS employee Brad De Vries has finally gotten home after a long day at work and driving through the hazardous winter conditions. He realizes he’s wanting some movies for the upcoming weekend, but doesn’t want to go back out into the cold now that he’s finally home and resting.

Instead, De Vries heads to the computer and orders two new DVDs from Netflix; an internet movie rental website.

“I actually was told about Netflix by my Mom last year after complaining to her about never being able to see any new movies that came out on rental,” De Vries said. “Netflix is just easier than going to the movie store because I’m too lazy to do anything after work.”

Netlfix started business in 1998 and has been growing ever since. Netflix states on their company web page that they had one million subscribers as 2004 came to an end, and 5.6 million subscribers by the end of 2006. In only two years, there has been a dramatic increase in business.
Due to the popularity of Netflix, Blockbuster video started an online video rental service at the beginning of 2005 according to their web page. As a result of the popularity of online rental, smaller rental stores feels they are being pushed aside and losing business.

Douglas Redding, the video store manager of Liberty Hall video in Lawrence says his company is doing its best to compete with huge video rental companies such as Blockbuster and Netlfix.
“We do our best to compete with Blockbuster and Netflix,” Redding said. “When Blockbuster started their ‘no late fee’ policy,’ we introduced the same thing here. When the popularity of online renting began, we started that too.”

Despite using the same business techniques as its competitors, Liberty Hall video began to lose money.

“As far as online renting, we would get scratched or chipped discs back a lot and then the movie would be no good,” Redding said. “We spent a lot of money replacing them.”

Liberty Hall video also got into some big trouble with customers in early 2006 after a controversy with their late fee policy.

“We offered the ‘no late fee’ policy like Blockbuster did but there was a loop hole,” Redding said. “After a month, if a customer didn’t return the movie, there was a 10 dollar re-stocking charge and people were getting pissed off because they were unaware of the charge.”

Unlike Liberty Hall video, Movie Gallery, which is a slightly smaller video rental store than Blockbuster, is one of the few places that has chosen not to get in on the online rental business.

Bryant Larimore, the manager of Movie Gallery on 6th street in Lawrence believes online renting service could bring both good and bad effects, just as Blockbuster and Liberty Hall video have experienced.

“I’d have to see the economic profit from it,” said Bryant Larimore, the manager of Movie Gallery on 6th street in Lawrence. “I could imagine the headaches.”

Unlike Liberty Hall video, Movie Gallery is feeling positive about their business. Larimore says the Movie Gallery in Lawrence is doing better than it has in recent years.

“Jan. 2007 profits were better than any single months profits of 2006,” Larimore said. “I feel like this store in particular has improved dramatically.”

Instead of appealing to online customers, the Movie Gallery in Lawrence has chosen to focus on its most popular type of customers, college students.

“One-third of Lawrence is made of college students,” Larimore said. “This Movie Gallery is trying to appeal to that audience. We offer Wednesday night ‘buy one, get one free,’ specifically for college students. Every 13th rental is free.”

Larimore admits profits aren’t as big as Blockbuster, but they are steady. New releases are $2.99 for five nights and old releases are only $1.99 for five nights. Larimore believes customers will take the bargain going to the store over paying more online.

KU sophomore Joshua Barton is an avid renter at Movie Gallery and agrees with Larimore.
“I rent at Movie Gallery because it’s convenient and cheap,” Barton said. “I have to go over there, but I’m saving money doing that than renting online and I don’t have to wait for the movie to get here, so who cares?”

While bigger businesses like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery still seem to be doing good, smaller rental stores are getting hurt by more than just online renting.

“The Weinstein Company, a production company of Mirimax films, just signed an exclusive 4 year deal with Blockbuster to only allow their films to be rented there,” Redding said. “So when films like Bobby (a film starring Anthony Hopkins, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy) comes out, only Blockbuster will carry it. So all our customers will have to go to Blockbuster for the movie if they want to see it.”

Redding says Liberty Hall video might be losing business to bigger rental places like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery, but is fighting to get all the movies they can get these days.
“We made our kitten by being one of the only places carrying Indie films, which are now carried everywhere,” Redding said. Now, companies are starting to do business with only big companies like Blockbuster, like the Weinstein company.”

Despite his company’s business issues, Redding believes all movie rental businesses will start to struggle in the near future because of technology.

“At this rate, all video stores will be gone in the next 10 years,” Redding said.
While Redding feels like the time is coming to an end for movie rental stores, Larimore doesn’t agree with the notion that the business will completely die.

“Movies are important because they set social and economic boundaries,” Larimore said. “As long as movies are made, people will come to the rental stores to get them.”

Sixth Street is one of the most populous roads in Lawrence due to the number of businesses that can be found alongside. However, those who travel down the road notice building 1400, located at the intersection of Sixth and Michigan streets, has been vacant for over a year because of problems the owners are having with the location.
Purchased in the spring of 2006, the owners originally planned to open a Church’s Chicken eating establishment by the end of the year. Soon after their purchase, the owners realized there were issues that were needed to be brought up with the city of Lawrence regarding their property’s potential to have a successful business.
“The first issue the owners explained regarded safety of their customers,” Douglas county city commission member Paul Patterson said. “The location has two exits; one onto Michigan and the other onto Sixth Street. If the business were to open without change, then their drive thru lane would turn right into cars entering the lot from Sixth Street.”
The property’s exit onto Sixth Street is not only a safety concern, but also problematic for business says Patterson.
“There is a lack of parking available on the lot,” Patterson said. “In order to have an efficient business the owners are purposing that the particular exit be barricaded so sufficient parking can be made and they can eliminate safety problems.”
While parking and the two exits on the property are of concern, the location still has an issue with size. The lot is a total of 18, 687 square feet, but the property line ends right in middle of where the owners hope to put a drive thru lane. The potential drive thru area, located on the east side of the building is the only location logical for a drive thru, as the west end is desired for parking spaces.
“There is a fifteen foot setback which causes difficulty for a successful business,” the property owners’ business lawyer, Terrence Campbell said. “We were asked to meet a list of requirements given to us by the city of Lawrence, but were unable to meet all the requirements with the fifteen foot setback.”
Campbell and his clients sorted out all of the issues and proposed a variance to the City of Lawrence. However, it took over a month for an answer from the city.
“There were roughly about 15 agencies, such as utilities and parks, that had to give approval to the owners for their variance,” the current City of Lawrence planner of building 1400, Mary Miller said. “It took 21 days to get approval from all agencies and over a month to inform the owners.”
In addition to seeking approval from various agencies in Lawrence, the owners discussed their issues with businesses and home owners around the property.
“There was no opposition from anybody regarding our variance,” one of the property owners, Zarif Haque said. “We developed something that has utility and a nice look to it.”
On March 1, 2007, the property owners were granted the variance they needed to come one step closer to business. The variance grants the owners to go ahead and barricade the sixth street exit on the property and put in their drive thru lane. While the variance gives the owners hope and relief regarding their business future at 6th and Michigan, there still lies a challenge in the future.
“We took a step in the right direction but it’s a work in progress,” Campbell said. “We don’t have a building permit yet because of a series of ordinances we still have yet to meet and work out.”
Campbell believes there is no way to predict when construction on the location would begin, as it all depends on when the building permit is granted to his clients.
“I don’t have an exact date on when construction would begin because we don’t have the permit yet, but I believe my client hopes to start by fall of 2007.”
A lot of planning and work is being done in hopes of having a successful restaurant in the current vacant building. Changes are being made that look to make the property a successful restaurant in the future, but there are still those who doubt any change will do the property any good.
“I don’t think it will work,” a home owner whose house is located directly to the east of building 1400, Jo Barnes said. “I’ve been here 50 years and seen a lot of establishments come in and out of this location.”

Aaron is studying the commentators with hopes of someday becoming one of the next great sports broadcasters on ESPN. Almost done with his sophomore year, Francis has done some radio work for KUJH and became Monday night director for "Jayhawk Sportstalk" in Januray of 2007. Francis, who sports a goatee and a backwards LA Dodgers cap, is not the "typical" broadcaster. He knows he still has a long way to go, but his troublesome childhood has him feeling lucky for where he is at already.

Francis was born in Mont Claire, California, but his Mom moved the both of them to the nearby Ontario to live with his Grandparents after a few years. Francis remembers living in poverty from the beginning.

“My Mom was working two or three jobs at a time trying to support the both of us,” Francis said. “My Grandma raised me with my Mom and we eventually moved in with her and my Grandpa.”

After a few years living in a house, Aaron and his Mom found themselves living in a small trailer located on the site of his Grandparents’ truck stop business.

“It wasn’t much. We lived in a camper on the lot, so there was a sleeping area and a small spot for a television,” Francis said. “I washed myself in the truck stop bathroom using the sink.”

“My parents fought a lot, so when my Dad was around he was kicking in doors or just fighting with my Mom,” Francis said. “I have a lot of negative memories of my Dad when I think of California.”

When third grade began for Aaron, sports captivated him. he began to take a huge interest in sports.

“I would watch Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers and Angels’ game,” Francis said. “I would listen to the pre-game shows, listen to the commentaries and thought that would be a great job. I would like to do that.”

Playing video games, Francis began doing play-by-play commentary. As his fascination for sports and broadcasting grew, Aaron found himself giving play by play commentary when he played video games.

“I would listen to commentaries I heard on television and then do the same kind of thing when I played sports games for Sega Genesis,” Francis said. “If I was playing MLB, NBA or whatever, I was like a broadcaster.”

But as his dream grew, its reality seemed to shrink. it seemed while Aaron’s dream of becoming a sports broadcaster got bigger, the chance of making his dream a reality got smaller. His Mom earned enough money to move them to a small apartment in Upland, California. But they were nearly broke. but Aaron found himself once again in a poor financial situation.

“We had this new apartment but “We had no money to afford anything like electricity,” Francis said. “All my Mom could afford at the time was to pay the gas bill.”

As a result of having little money to live on, Their apartment sat was located in in a neighborhood full of gangs and violence. Aaron was victim to several incidents of bullying while living there.

“I was thrown off a roof of a building,” Francis said. “My shirt got caught in a tree branch though so nothing major happened to me. But I got messed with a lot when I lived there.”

It was soon after the roof incident; Despondant, he once Aaron attempted to commit suicide once.

“I just did not want to live,” Francis said. “I just did not feel like I had a future. where I was at. I remember always asking my Dad when he was around if I would be able to go to college and never getting a sure answer.”

The future for Aaron looked slim, as his neighborhood was full of gangs and the violence often hit close to home.

“I was sitting on the steps one day and heard gun shots being fired outside,” Francis said. “When I stopped hearing the noise, I went outside and found out from my neighbor next door that it was his house that was shot at. His older brother was a member of the Bloods.”

In 1996, the Grandmother who helped raised him died of breast cancer. The family divided. and Aaron says it put a bigger divide in the already troubled family.

“My Dad moved out here to Salina to be near his Mom,” Francis said. “I did not care because all he did was hurt my Mom. They would fight and he would slash her tires or he would threaten to kill her. He even took me with him to meet girls he was cheating on my Mom with.”

His cousin says he sees why Aaron did not care about his Dad.

“Aaron and his Dad were never that close when we lived in California, because his Dad was always causing in the family and letting him down,” Annema said. “I did not have my Dad around, but I would be just as mad as Aaron if I were in his situation.”

After many years of living in poverty in southern California and some issues with her own siblings, Aaron’s Mom decided it would be best for them to follow his Dad out to Salina and have a fresh start at life. While both Aaron and his Mom have much better relationships with his Dad today, Aaron still has resentment towards his Dad for the past.

“My parents are married and my Mom is happy, so I would never cause problems with my Dad unless it was necessary,” Francis said. “But I would not ever tolerate what he did before now.”

Aaron has lived a life many would hear about on a rap CD or see in a movie. His experiences make him one of the most interesting individuals one will come across.

“When he tells me about what his life was like growing up, it is hard to believe one person could go through so much at that young of an age,” KU sophomore and good friend, Josh Barton said. “His experiences as a kid are way different and make myself and anyone else who lived a decent childhood appreciate it more.”

While some might not think being a student at KU or doing some local television work is a big deal, it is important to Aaron.

“I feel like I have a million and one reasons why I should not be alive,” Francis said.

While proud of his achievements so far, Francis is not settling for Director of a college sports show. He plans to work hard to reach his dream he has had since a kid, becoming a professional sports broadcaster.

“My motivation is my Mom and to be successful in life,” Francis said. “I want to make the most out of the opportunity my Mom gave me by getting me out of a bad situation.”

Over 4.5 million people worldwide currently suffer from Parkinson’s disease and it is estimated by the National Parkinson’s Foundation the number will increase by thousands each year unless a cure is discovered. While a cure has yet to be found, scientists here at the University of Kansas are staying optimistic after finding a new development in slowing down the effects Parkinson’s can have on the body.

“New screening tests are being conducted everywhere really for potential drug therapies,” Erik Floor, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Bioscience studying Parkinson’s Disease at KU said.

Parkinson’s Disease is a disorder that attacks the central nervous system and damages the victim’s motor skills and speech. While most people who suffer from the disease are 60 years and older, it is becoming common to see a younger generation with Parkinson’s in recent years.

KU sophomore Leah Massey has had experience with Parkinson’s disease, as her father, Gary Massey, learned he had Parkinson’s in 2002.

“My Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about five years ago,” Massey said. “He was 45-years-old when he found out about it, but he probably had it much longer because doctors originally thought his symptoms were the result of an old football injury.”

Like majority of Parkinson’s victims, Massey’s father lost the ability to multi-task, saw a significant loss of weight, rigidity and posture instability. Rigidity can be defined as stiffness of limbs in the body and increased resistance to passive movement. As a result of the side effects, her father was put on medications called Levodopa and Dophamine-IR.

Levodopa and Dophamine-IR are two types of medications which are designed to help Parkinson’s disease victims control the characteristics of the disease, such as bad posture and rigidity. However, the medications can result in other side effects which cause problems.

“The medications make him moody; he can be really upbeat one minute and angry the next,” Massey said. “It is common with the medications that are recommended for the disease and something everyone deals with.”

Victims of the disease are forced to live with the problems the disease and current medications prescribed to them can cause, but the new studies being conducted at Universities such as KU suggest new medications are in development that would get rid of negative side effects, like mood swings, and slow down the disease’s ware on the body.

“The study suggests Creatine might slow down the disease,” Floor said. “It is used as a nutritional supplement to boost physical endurance.”

Creatine is a nitrogenous acid that is used to help supply energy to muscle cells in the body. 95 percent is stored in the body’s skeletal muscles, while the other 5 percent is dispersed with the brain and the heart.

The research being conducted by Floor and many others has shown that Creatine will decrease the number of mood swings, boost memory and help control motor skills. Floor says the use of Creatine has proven to be successful in patients tested and that he hopes to see it be used by Parkinson’s disease victims and not just weight lifters in the near future.

“I would be surprised if there was not some kind of therapy, probably something a multi-drug cocktail that contains Creatine that they come up with,” Floor said.

While Floor says he is almost certain Creatine will be used as treatment for victims, it will still be a few years before it sees the light.

“More research will have to be conducted to be positive it will help victims of the disease,” Floor said.

Until Creatine is made available for Parkinson’s treatment, people will have to hope for the best.

“I have not heard of treatment involving Creatine and I do not believe my Dad has either,” Massey said. “But if they find it works than I’m sure my Dad and other people with Parkinson’s are going to give it a try. It’s a disease nobody tends to think about, but it really can take its toll on a person.”

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View imagebr />Photo: Matt Lindberg

At the CD Tradepost, a music store located on Iowa street not far from the University of Kansas, manager Dustin Hall busily stocks his goods, an array of used CDs customers have sold to the store.

Every inch of the store is filled with various forms of used entertainment, specifically CDs. Unlike most retail stores,CD Tradepost has no selection of “brand-new” merchandise that can be found in the store; only used.

“I think people are finding that used CDs or any type of used entertainment are the exact same as a brand-new one,” Hall said. “They are smartening up and realizing they can spend far less money buying it used than new.”

He is not the only one who knows the fresh new market used has become. All around Lawrence, as it has become nationwide, stores such as CD Tradepost and Hastings’ Entertainment have become popping up, all catering to the used market in an era when sales of new CDs, and their prices, have been dropping because of new technologies such as I-Pods.

Between 2000 and 2003 (the most current year for statistic), CD sales in the $11.5 billion recording industry dropped 31 percent, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

While the music industry has seen increased sales in the past four years, the industry association reports sales are still down 13 percent as of December 2006 compared to sales of 1999, due to the ability of people to download music from their computers legally and illegally.

That trend has even hurt the used market. If people are not buying new CDs, Hall said, the market in used CDs eventually also drops. Even his sales have slipped.

“It hurts us to an extent because if new releases are not selling, then we do not get a lot of copies,” Hall said. “Then our customers are forced to buy them at our competitors, like Target or Best Buy.”

Hall says sales of his store’s used music can be attributed to technology.

“We sell a lot of music, but obviously technology is going to hurt any store,” Hall said. “People find it easier to download from I-Tunes or Napster, online.”

Rather than fight the trend, Hall says his company has decided to join it, at least in part. “All CD Tradeposts have begun carrying used I-Pods and they sell somewhat well,” he said.
CD Tradepost’s rival, Hastings’ Entertainment, has been dealing with similar issues.

“Used music, music in general sells less than it used to, but it has not fallen off,” Hastings’ music manager Jon Hunter said. “We don’t do anything out of the ordinary to compete with technology. We just know that there are always people out there who want the actual CD and booklet as opposed to ripping it off the internet.”

And “used” in the CD market does not mean “worn” to customers, he said.

“Sales are back and forth, but used music tends to be preferred by our customers,” Hunter said. “People are buying it because they know it’s cheap and ultimately they are getting the same product.”

University of Kansas junior Dru Walstrom is apart of that market.

“I buy used CDs because the price of a new one even after it has been out for a while is still pretty ridiculous,” said Walstrom. “I need to save money as much as possible.”

Used CDs are offered at most stores for less than $10, whereas a new CD can sell for up to $20 and it cost $1 to download a single song off of I-Tunes or any other internet-based music stores. Hall says CD Tradepost has a system for deciding what the price should be for each release. Used CD stores also appeal to students as places to make a little bit of cash off of their own collections, selling them to the stores.

“We offer typically $3.99 if we do not have it, and it decreases by a quarter for every copy we already have,” Hall said. “People can make some money.”

Hastings’ Entertainment buys used CDs for prices ranging from 99 cents to $7.99 depending on popularity..

“If it is something current and popular, people will get some good money for it,” Hunter said. “But if it just some junk music they would typically throw away, they might be able to make a buck or two.”

One large question raised within the used CDs market is whether selling the music should be legal, as the artists and record companies are not paid for each transaction after original purchase.

It’s not right if the people who are making the music are not being paid,” Doug Grober, a music client of the Nielsen sound scan charts, the company who keep statistics about record sales, said. “It is just like stealing and should not be tolerated.”

Walstrom, the KU student, does not care.

“I do not think it is like pirating,” said Walstrom, the student. “Someone else already paid entirely too much for that CD.”

BandRadio.com reports 28 million albums were downloaded in 2006, a 103 percent increase from the previous year.

While overall CD sales may have slipped, stores are not worried about the technology era ruining their business for good.

“We may have to lower our prices more so they are bargain base prices,” Hall said. “But there will always be people who rather have the hard copy of an album as opposed to 10 to 12 songs stored on their computer, so I am not worried.”

Hunter agrees with Hall’s notion.

“It is a phase,” Hunter said. “People still buy the actual albums and I am sure they always will.”