Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

Page 17 text:

OPENW BUSINESS With more than 30 places to dine, drink, or dance, Aggieville was flourishing with businesses. However, it had noticeably been struggling to keep all of their bars open. This might have seemed impossible because of all the Aggieville attractions that bring students, families, and Manhattan residents to the popular six block strip. According to the Aggieville Business Association, Aggieville had been around since 1889 providing a wide variety of businesses. Aggieville was named after the original college in Manhattan-the Kansas State Agricultural College Aggies. Even though Aggieville was one of the most well-known places in Manhattan, especially by the students, owners often struggled to keep their bars open. According to Seth Stone, manager at one of the newest bars in Aggieville, Taco Lucha, people always want something new and fresh. There becomes a saturation point. Unless the bar has something really good to offer, people just get tired of the same thing night after nightf' A number of bars had opened and closed over a five- month period. Included in this list were PI's, Ale House, and The Purple Pig. Rumors of other bars closing and being bought out circulated throughout Aggieville. Bars that had opened in the last few months include Taco Lucha, The Goose, Aggie Station, and Mojo's. Shannon Collins, part owner of Aggie Station, a bar that opened in the Spring 2012 semester, noticed the openings and closings of so many bars. I think the economy has had some effect on this happening, but in this area, we are fortunate enough with the college and Fort Riley to keep people coming inf' he said. Collins said some bars closed due to the lack of originality and the stress and time involved with operating a bar. Aggieville's employees had other opinions as to why many of the bars were failing. Bartender Keri Rausch, senior in kinesiology, said that the reason for so many closings is because of poor management. Rausch worked at several bars in Aggieville, and was a bartender at Iohnny Kaw's. She believed poor management and poor business decisions were the reason bars closed. The amount of people in the bars is consistent, it's the management and how people are treated that become the reason for the businesses to closef' Clay Schilling, senior in animal science, said. When I go to the bars, it's usually packed. l don't really miss the ones that closed, thoughf' Collins and Stone both said they hadn't seen a decrease in the amount of customers. Collins and Stone both agreed that when K-State students were on break, the local community started making more of an appearance. The community is scared to come once the school is in session, but once it isn't, they are here right awayf' Stone said. Collins reiterated that by saying during the summer, business was never slow because of the permanent Manhattan residents. Whether it was because business was bad, poor management decisions were made or the competition in Aggieville was too tough, as soon as one bar closed, another one opened. aggieville stability E ,

Page 16 text:

i JF x 555 f :ff K' . ,Yi .N M323 X31-n il Q 1, f W., E, F' r f- .--...W - af X -I W x. Q WSH. 5 2 -L l we g s, .QI 3 'Q 5 , ' . gi ,

Page 18 text:

s cars drove through Kansas this year, the drivers may have found themselves going faster. This was because of a five mile per hour increase in speed along 807 miles of Interstate 70. According to ksdot.org, the change came into effect Iuly 1 and the decision to change was passed by the 2011 Legislature, authorizing the Secretary of Transportation, a task force made up of Kansas Department of Transportation representatives, Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Turnpike Authority, to choose where the speed increase would occur. Ksdot.org re- ported there were five factors considered when deciding where to increase the speed: traffic volumes, crash history, roadway geometrics and rural versus urban areas. In short, this means the selected portions of highway are newer in rural areas and have nice flat curves with unlimited sight distance, therefore a driver can successfully bring a car to a stop in case of an emergencyf' Robert Stokes, professor of civil engineering and director of the University Transportation Center, said. Stokes said with neighboring states including Oklahoma, Colo- rado and Texas increasing their speed limits, many may choose not to travel through Kansasg therefore the increase in speed has a positive economic impact on the state. 'te-. up TTXN X- X p X wx .xx XX The 75 mph affected these portions of highway: U.S. 81 from I-70 near Salina north to K-106, I-70 from Colorado state line just west of Topeka, I-35 from 85 ' street interchange in Harvey County to I-70 near Salina, U.S. 69 from north junction of U.S. 54 in Bour- bon County to Iohnson County, Kansas Turnpike from Oklahoma state line to K-7 in Wyandotte County. lt makes the drive quicker, but I do think it makes people drive even fasterf' Kylee Luckeroth, senior in fine arts, said. Some feared the increase of speed would only reverse the de- clining trend in highway deaths, however, highway fatalities were at their lowest rate nationwide in 60 years. V Valerie Dysart, a graduate student in public health, enjoyed the speed increase and liked how it made traveling faster, even though she did not use it on a regular basis. If she had to, she would chose the highways with the speed increase over other alternate routes. It is a long stretch with nothing interesting to look at, but the speed increase made a boring drive go faster, Dysart said of her trip to Wichita. Stokes said the most important thing to remember when driving through Kansas was not all sections of interstate had the raised speed limit and drivers must remain observant and obey the speed limit laws. EEU . QR PE, ., .,.f1 ' . I . A