Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Volek)

Sam Funk and the EyeBowls is not a trendy new Lawrence band. They are employees at a local business, the Lawrence Optometric Clinic, that are bowling to raise money for Douglas County Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“It’s the biggest fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Sam Funk, Holcomb junior, said.
Funk has worked at the Lawrence Optometric Clinic for about a year. He also happens to be a weekly bowler.

“It’s a good way for us to get our name out there and do something really good for the community at the same time,” Funk said. “Also, I’m pretty pumped for the bowling.”

The event is called Bowl for Kids’ Sake and it is the single largest Big Brothers Big Sisters fundraising event, raising about one-third of all of the organization’s funds. Lately, local businesses, like the Optometric Clinic, have discovered the advertising potential of this event.

“Some businesses sponsor us, some donate, some match donations, and others just volunteer,” said Meg Hooper, Public Relations Specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County.

Big Brothers Big Sisters then shows its’ appreciation by putting company logos in the Lawrence Journal-World ads, on the lanes at Royal Crest Lanes where the event takes place, and in the Thank You Sponsorship campaign, Hooper said.

Big Brother Big Sisters makes two annual presentations to local businesses - one about the organization and one about the event itself.

“People really want to get involved because of what we do for the community,” Hooper said.

Bowl for Kids’ Sake has eight different event times from February 16th through February 24th. Teams of five must register with the event and each member must have at least $125 in donations to participate. The goal this year is to raise $200,000, more than double last year’s amount of $80,000.

Sam Funk’s page

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Lawrence is sprawling. But, like in most developing cities, the city management is trying to avoid ugly urban sprawl and suburbia that stretches out to the horizon.
The city commissioners brought in PlaceMakers, a group that specializes in traditional neighborhood development (http://www.placemakers.com ) to help with help. The group offers an alternative called “SmartCode” to Lawrence’s existing development code to make the city more attractive for potential residents.

“I don’t want it to be attractive,” Lin Topping, Lawrence resident, says. “I don’t need people coming in.”

Topping is one of Lawrence’s residents who is threatened by the city’s growth. An interchange needs to be built for the future of city development west of K-10, according to a memorandum from City Manager David Corliss. This interchange would take another chunk out of the Topping land at 1500 Road and K-10.

Topping is concerned not for herself, but for her father. “It is definitely his heart and soul,” she says.

The city annexed three acres from my grandfather, Topping says. They took 12 acres from my father for the interchange. The city representative said we won’t use eminent domain. Now they’re asking for 12 to 15 more acres for the same interchange.

Eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use, John Solbach, Lawrence attorney at law says. The city annexes the land for various projects but must give the landowner a fair price.

Topping’s great-grandfather, James Richard Topping, homesteaded the land in 1870. It’s been passed down through her family and is now owned by her father, James Richard Topping. Lin Topping lives on the 180 acres today. The land is the site of an Underground Railroad stop. A leg of the Oregon Trail passes through it and ponds made by Topping’s great-grandfather contribute to the spillway that makes a waterfall in the wet season.

The land is not currently under the jurisdiction of the City of Lawrence, Kevin Doyle, city infrastructure and development coordinator, says. “But if the city decides to annex it, it’s not a terribly lengthy process.”

“If we can just keep it intact as long as Dad lives, so he can live out the rest of his life without seeing it chopped up,” Topping says.

Topping has seen what the use of eminent domain can do.
“There’s been a real misuse of eminent domain in the past,” Topping says. “There are a lot of farmers that are really taken advantage of by developers.”

The City of Lawrence opposes changes to the current annexation policy. The policy is an important city managing and planning tool, according to the City of Lawrence 2007 Legislative Policy statement (http://www.lawrenceks.org/legislative_policy).

Topping talks about her friend Jane Buttenhoff, maiden name Sutton, whose childhood home was on a farm in West Lawrence. The Sutton farm is now under the waters of Clinton Lake.

”They said, ‘We’re putting a lake in here and we’re going to take your property,’” Jane Buttenhoff, Overbrook resident says. “We didn’t have any option.”

The Corps of Army Engineers built Clinton Lake in the 1970s as a U.S. Government project.

The Corps told the Suttons that they couldn’t pay what it would take to replace the land, Buttenhoff said. It came down to the final offer and our choice was to take it or file a lawsuit.

The construction could not start without demolition. The Corps had to either bury or blow up all of the buildings in the area.

Some of the bridges were blown up by the demolition team, Buttenhoff said. The blasts could be seen and felt within at least a mile radius.
“They broke windows, cracked my chimney and the cows went crazy.”

Buttenhoff says that the construction traumatized the area and its residents.

Topping has a realistic outlook on city growth. She says she used to live in a suburban area and saw it grow and take over the surrounding fields.
“I understand the concept of bringing in families and development,” Topping said. ”It’s not until now that you think about the poor farmer that used to live there.”

Buttenhoff and Topping both agree on one matter regarding the government’s decision to take over private land. It’s just not something you can control.

If the city decides to use eminent domain, a legal process takes place and there can be some negotiation, but there is generally little the resident can do, Doyle says.

Fume-spewing buses covered with “Quit Smoking” ads are a familiar sight on campus at the University of Kansas. But the environmentally and ADA unfriendly buses will soon be a thing of the past, and KU’s long history with the Lawrence Bus Company could potentially follow.
KU on Wheels is switching from using Lawrence Bus Company’s buses to building its own fleet.
“We will have 30 new buses by the end of July 2007,” said Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Coordinator and head of KU on Wheels.

The end of July is also when Lawrence Bus Company’s three-year contract with KU on Wheels will expire.
The new contract will be open for bids from various transit companies including MV Transportation Inc., a national transportation company that currently runs the Lawrence Transit System. MV Transportation will definitely make a bid on the KU on Wheels contract, said Mike Sweeten, general manager of the Lawrence division. The 2006 contract that MV Transportation has with the “T” is worth $2.6 million. It is part of a five-year contract that expires in December 2008.
The contractor would be responsible for maintaining and running the new KU fleet as well as operating SafeRide and the LiftVan service. These three are a package deal with the option of also managing Park & Ride.
KU on Wheels purposely designed the contract beginning August 1, 2007 also expire in December 2008. In the past, the University and the city have discussed merging the two transit systems.
The Lawrence Bus Company is the only private transport company left in America, manager Debbie Kelly said. All the other transportation companies use federal or state funding. The Company caters mainly to KU. It also operates a charter service. After KU buys their own fleet, this service will be the primary use for the old buses. The Lawrence Bus Company has worked with KU for the past 50 years.
They are able to stay competitive because of their willingness to offer a lower price.
Asked about the upcoming contract, Kelly said, “If they go with the lowest bidder, we’ll stay low enough to get the contract.” Of course, every time the contract comes up for renewal, they get a little bit nervous, Kelly said.

The Lawrence Bus Company contract for 2006 was worth $1.4 million dollars, said Mortinger. It is unlikely that the University will be able to pay much more than that to any contractor despite the recent fee increase. The extra $20 per semester will go to fund the 30 buses that KU on Wheels plans on purchasing before the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester.

To get to Humanities and Western Civilization 204 (known to students as Western Civ. One) you drive to campus, park at the Student Recreation Fitness Center, walk through the lot, climb exactly 146 steps and then attempt three flights of steps before finally arriving, sweaty and breathless, on the third floor of Bailey Hall. This is all performed while wearing a 5- to 10-pound backpack.

This is not a part of your daily fitness training for the 2008 Olympic Games. This is life at the University of Kansas.

It is a fact that to get almost anywhere at KU a student has to climb steps, hills or even trees. (There is a new tree-climbing club on campus.) You start to wonder: exactly how many steps are there on campus? So you go to that repository of knowledge – KU Info.

KU Info doesn’t know. But they do know how many trees there are: 17,900 as of four years ago.

“There are always new steps popping up on campus,” KU Info said.

Well then. The exact number might not be that important. You’re going to have to climb them anyway, but while you’re climbing you might consider whether your daily trek is a good excuse for not going to the recreation center every day with your fit-and-dedicated roommate. Also, does walking up and down Mount Oread makes you more fit than students at a certain flat campus about 90 miles west of Lawrence.

Fitness Coordinator for KU Recreation Services, Amber Long, worked at Kansas State University before coming to KU.

Walking to class up KU’s hills definitely helps students stay fit, Long said.

“If you’re walking 20 minutes, you’re walking a mile,” she said.

As people leave here and get jobs, they find that they become more sedentary and they gain weight, Long said.

So, the recreation center might as well shut its doors, right? Here in Lawrence we walk the hills and everyone stays thin.

Ann Chapman, dietitian for Student Health Services Administration, disagrees.

“The hills don’t aid in stored-fat reduction,” Chapman said. She also says they’re no use in cardiovascular training because heart rate isn’t elevated for long enough to burn calories.

Chapman said that freshmen complaining to her about gaining 20 pounds say, ‘But I walk so much on campus!’

The only thing the hills affect physically, Chapman said, is the size of your calves and thighs.

The hills are the cause behind the “KU calves.”

“You can tell someone’s a senior by the way their calves look,” KU Info’s Chris Morpher said.

Of course, all of this only applies to students who actually walk to class or drive and park at the recreation center or at Memorial Stadium. Taking the bus will not result in bigger calves, and zooming around on a scooter will only mess up your hair.

As to the actual physical benefits of the steps, students tend to take the middle ground.

“It’s an important part of daily activity,” said Becky Kudma, doctoral student in exercise physiology. But it doesn’t cover the 20 minutes of activity on most days of the week recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Paul Lantis, Ottawa senior, walks to campus from either Ninth Street and Emery Road or 14th and Tennessee Streets.

“I think that anything that gets people moving is a good thing,” Lantis said. “I consider myself physically fit, but my heart rate still increases.”

Maryna Silchenko, Lawrence graduate student, walks to class from 11th and Ohio Streets but also exercises at the recreation center on a regular basis.

“I think it makes a difference, but it’s only a 15 minute walk,” Silchenko said.

The general consensus is that, to stay truly fit simply walking to class isn’t enough. KU hasn’t had a physical education requirement since the 1930s, said
Jim LaPoint, professor of health, sport, and exercise science. Anyone who is not a physical education major can only take up to three credit hours of an activity and have it count toward the credits needed to graduate.

A new wellness website, Hawk Health, , offers fitness tips that students can work into their busy schedules. Many of them can be implemented just by walking around campus.

One of the fitness programs is called 10,000 steps. It was developed by the Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshiro Hatano. According to the study, people who burned 300 extra calories a day were than their sedentary counterparts. Hatano established 10,000 steps as a benchmark for the 300 calories. According to Sports Medicine people who walk less than 5,000 steps a day are considered "sedentary."

Ten thousand steps is the equivalent of five miles, 2,000 steps equal one mile and walking a mile will burn around 100 calories.

This campus has 2,600 steps. I know. I counted. Walking even a portion of that will go a long way towards keeping you fit.

Until you walk those 2,000 steps from Budig Hall straight to the Wheel.