COLLEGIAN k a n s a s
S t a t E
www.kstatecollegian.com
friday, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
Vol. 115 | No. 65
INside Shaolin Warriors practiced a 1,500-year-old art form Thursday in McCain. Turn to Page 10 to read about the show.
Kirk Schulz presents response to audit findings
Sports
Multimedia The movie “New Moon,” was released today. Go to kstatecollegian.com to watch a video about “Twilight” fanatics at the midnight-showing.
K-State beat Boston Thursday to advance to in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament. Get the scoop on Page 5.
Royal renovation
By Tim Schrag Kansas State Collegian
K-State President Kirk Schulz presented the Kansas Board of Regents with a report of what his administration has done to ensure sound business and management practices are in place at K-State, both now and into the future. This presentation is the result of findings of the exit analysis upon the retirement of former K-State President Jon Wefald by Grant Thornton LLP. In August, Schulz appointed a 12-member committee to assist him in preparing the university’s response to Grant Thornton’s findings. The committee had representation from K-State faculty, staff, students, alumni and other supporters. The committee developed a 12-page report disclosing their findings of the exit analysis, and recommends what should be done to rectify discrepancies that can be found at k-state.edu/president/reports/kstate_ responds/ along with all of the assisting documents, including the exit analysis. The committee was chaired by Brian Spooner, university distinguished professor and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The most important thing to take away from this report is that there were a number of practices that were inadequate without sufficient oversight, without checks and balances, that lead to the possibility of inappropriate use of funds or at least the perception of inappropriate use and as a university we can have neither of those,” Spooner said.
See AUDIT, Page 7
Police report
Van driver suspected of harassing kids By Tyler Sharp and Sarah Rajewski Kansas State Collegian
A man driving a blue van has been suspiciously approaching children in Manhattan throughout the last three weeks, according to a news release from RCPD. Three incidents have been reported from Nov. 2 to Nov. 14, and in each instance the suspect drove a dark blue van with a black horizontal stripe along the bottom side of the vehicle, according to the release. The van was described as an older model with tinted windows, and the suspect was described as an older white man with gray hair and glasses. The three incidents from the release are as follows: A woman and her 2-year-old daughter were at a business in south-central Manhattan Nov. 2 when a man approached the daughter and made unusual comments that were suspicious in nature. He then drove off in a blue van. A 9-year-old boy was walking home from school in the northwest area of Manhattan Nov. 10 when he was approached by a man in a blue van. The driver offered the boy a ride home, but the 9-year-old ignored the male, continued walking and made it home safely without any further incident. Three young girls were walking in the northwest part of Manhattan Nov. 14 when a driver in a blue van slowed down and reportedly made hand gestures toward the girls. Anyone who sees a vehicle matching this description is encouraged to call the RCPD at 785-537-2112 or Riley County Crime Stoppers at 785-539-7777.
Rape from 2007 reported
A rape from 2007 was reported to the Riley County Police Department, said Lt. Herbert Crosby Jr. The rape, which allegedly occurred in October 2007, was not reported at the time. The victim reported it after recently seeing a subject resembling the suspect in the area, Crosby said. The victim was concerned the subject was back in the area, according to the report. The victim was in her late teens at the time of the incident, according to the report. Crosby described the suspect as a black male.
Matt Castro | collegian
Rebecca Manes, senior in sociology and international studies, and Kathryn Goddard, junior in food science and industry, order a meal at The Palace, located in Aggieville. The Palace features salads and pizzas.
Aggieville store offers nostalgia, new cafe By Melissa Short Kansas State Collegian
In 1900, Aggieville was a muddy and vacant lot students were forced to trudge through to get to the main shopping district on Poyntz Street. By 1913, things were turning around, and people began to build stores and restaurants on Moro Street, creating what would become Manhattan’s beloved Aggieville, according to Riley County Museum archives. One of these stores was The Palace Drug Store, built in 1913 on Moro Street, near where Thread is today. “The Palace and Varney’s are the two oldest names in Aggieville that are still around; not very many places have stayed the same,” said Ben Pease, who now owns The Palace with his wife, Phyllis. The Peases said The Palace used to be a very popular hangout among students, with a soda fountain attached to the drugstore and a second-story dance floor. After a fire, the store moved to its current location at 704 N. Manhattan Avenue in 1924 and lost the dance floor, but
kept its reputation as a quality drug store and fun place to hang out. The Peases said they have had customers come into the store and tell them they had their first date in The Palace, or became engaged there and are still married. The Palace is very colorful and ornate, and original details like the mosaic tile floor and wooden booths are still intact almost a century later. Over time, The Palace transformed into the lifestyle boutique it is today, with products from bar glasses to furniture hand-crafted by Phyllis. When the Peases bought the store last summer, they decided to add a cafe to the boutique, and closed The Palace for two months to remodel. “The store started out with food; there was a soda fountain from 1929 to 1976, and it felt like a good fit to bring back fresh, quality food,” Ben said. Ben runs the cafe side of the store while Phyllis runs the retail side, but they say both sides intertwine quite a bit. Ben created the menu, which includes sandwiches, pizzas and salads, all made to order with fresh ingredients. “Even all the dressings are made
in-house,” Phyllis said. “It’s not like you’re getting something poured out of a can.” Ben also runs Bluestem Bistro, and the Peases said Aggieville is a great place to start a business. “We are both K-State graduates, and it would have been very easy to just go somewhere else and start a business, but we came back,” Phyllis said. “There are so many great local places to shop, and the fact that it’s a college town keeps things interesting.” “Places like ours and others in Aggieville keep this town unique,” Ben said. “You can go to a Starbucks anywhere, but there aren’t very many stores like ours around.” Phyllis said the store offers a mix of local and national vendors and also displays the work of local artists. The owners find products on trips to New York and Chicago, too. “This is the only place around you can get a candle and a pizza,” Phyllis said. “There are stores like us in bigger cities, but nothing around here.” The Peases said some of their most popular products are their bar products
See PALACE, Page 8
Fraternity camps out for homeless awareness A group of people, both fraternity members and non-fraternity members, dance Wednesday night at Bosco Student Plaza, where Phi Beta Sigma held their annual homeless awareness event.
By Danny Davis Kansas State Collegian
Members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity danced to music to stay warm Wednesday night into Thursday morning. While most K-Staters slept comfortably in their beds, these fraternity members slept outside in a cardboard shelter. For 11 years, the fraternity has been participating in a program designed to raise awareness about the homeless. Members arrived at Bosco Student Plaza at 9 p.m. and stayed the night until sunrise this morning. “Homeless people don’t have the music and stuff like that,” said DeMarkus Coleman, president of Phi Beta Sigma and senior in finance and marketing. “That was just to draw the crowd in.” He said weather was not an issue for them, but for homeless people who cannot choose where they sleep, it can be. Coleman also said he and his fellow members would have been out promoting awareness even if the weather was bad. Courtney Bimper, sophomore in open option, saw the event and decided to stop by. She said
Danny Davis Collegian
last year the fraternity held the event in the rain. “It shows that community is important and if you stick together, you can make it through,” Bimper said. The fraternity accepted donations of canned food and clothing for the Manhattan Emergency Shelter. Anything the members could collect to help people realize
there are homeless people in Manhattan is important, Coleman said. James Millsap, vice president of the fraternity and senior in agribusiness, said the members had a good response from students passing by. “When they heard what we were doing, they were like ‘That’s noble, let me help you guys out,’” Millsap said.
Fortunately, he said, there was a rave Wednesday night at the K-State Student Union. People going to the rave decided to hang out with the fraternity after the rave ended. Phi Beta Sigma is historically an African-American fraternity, Millsap said. However, he said the fraternity welcomes all members and recently inducted Bill Clinton as an honorary member.