Recently by Vicky Lu

        The city code enforcement office found only a slight increase in sign violations compared with the past election year, as political campaign groups were adapting their online campaign strategies. However, the city code enforcement office still urges residents to follow sign ordinance regulations  because of environmental and safety concerns.

       City Building Inspector Mark Mills is on the frontier of battling code violations including sign, building and construction, and fire code violations. His daily inspection routes are Sixth, Iowa, Wakarusa, 23rd and Massachusetts streets. Part of Mills' job is to remove signs violating city sign ordinances--in short, no signs are allowed on city property or in the city's right-of-way. On private property, campaign workers should place signs behind sidewalks and utility poles. If none exist, place a sign within 25 feet of a structure.

The biggest problems with sign violations were placing signs in the city's right-of-way and placing temporary banners without permission. The 16" by 26" yard signs that are usually seen on the lawns are within the city's sign code restriction. The owners of those yard signs would often place them on their own property, which wouldn't pose a violation.Typically, the real political sign violation is placing signs in the city's right-of-way. Mills said he would spot one to two sign violations every day. In addition to daily inspections, he would receive on average, one sign violation report every other day. However, the number of sign violations was still relatively minor compared with the number of fire code violations, which went up to 10 reports a day.

All violating signs are removed  immediately, and kept for a 10-day-custody in city storage space. After that duration, signs are discarded as waste. However, if the signs show any recyclable value, then they go through the city's recycling department.

City Code Enforcement Manager Brian Jimenez said that the signs rarely had any recyclable value; however, some signs were very elaborately made. He would usually contact the owner if the violations were numerous.

"We are not cold-hearted people," Jimenez said," Some of them are really nice signs, so we give owners the opportunity to get them back."

       [CITY CODE] The city code enforcement office is always tolerant towards sign violations. Typically, no penalty is assesed. In fact, Jimenez said he had never caught any violators on sight. Residents have been complying with regulations. He is happy to see that Lawrence remained a quiet town during this political season.

       With a low rate of sign violations, Mills gave Lawrence residents an "A" on helping the city maintain a neat and tidy environment. He believed that the code enforcement office had done a good job getting the word out. He has been working closely with political party affiliations that were well informed of the sign ordinance. Mills also believed that campaign workers had found more effective ways to promote their favored candidates than just placing signs and posters.

       KU Students for Barack Obama is one of those many political campaign groups that have adopted technology in this battle. This student group has been established for almost two years and is working closely with KU Young Democrats to campaign for Sen. Barack Obama. In the primary stage, the group focused on educating the general public about Sen. Obama's policies. Recently, the group's priority is to get people to register to vote.

       Lauren Patti, president of KU Students for Barack Obama, said group members had tried every ways to campaign for Sen. Obama, including chalking on Wescoe Beach, tabling in the Union, giving out handouts, setting up a web site and online forums, calling people and even campaigning at tailgates. So far, the most effective way was tabling and using the internet.

       "Using the internet is absolutely huge!" Patti said.

       Ninety percent of Patti's campaign activities happened through the internet. Creating a Facebook group and inviting people to join have really helped the group gain popularity. With those online campaign strategies, Patti could easily get hold of her group members' contact information, which would put her next message to her group members just one click away.

"I automatically have the email address of those people who joined my forum and group." Patti said, "It's just so much easier and faster to get my message out."

Besides, online campaigning doesn't cost a thing, which is ideal for student groups with a limited budget.

      The feedback to online campaigning is very satisfying. The Facebook group gets about 50 new posts and the email list keeps growing at a rate of about 20 people every day. Giving out signs is on the bottom of Patti's list. But she still plans to hand out some signs, buttons and bumper stickers, as the group tries to make every effort during the countdown to the election.

       So far, as local political groups shift the battle from front yard to online, they are able to escape the burden of city code enforcement inspection staffs. However, the city will still be on full alert in response to the possible strike of sign violations.

      Jimenez said, "By complying with the ordinances, campaigners help Lawrence remain attractive and safe by minimizing driving hazards that may be created with improperly placed signs."

   A boy, holding a handful of elaborately printed university brochures with one arm, while receiving another blue and red colored booklet asked, "Why is KU good for me?" He was lining up with many other high school seniors in a ballroom full of university representatives, searching for information that would help him decide the next stage of his life.

This was nothing more than a typical university fair; expect that it took place thousands of miles away across the Pacific Ocean, in Shanghai China, at a Linden U.S. university fair. The boy's name is Shao Chen. Six months later, after shouting and cheering in Saturday's football game against Louisiana Tech, Shao Chen considered himself officially a Jawhawk.

Chen is one of 1,771 international students at KU.  They have brought their unique traditions and culture, as well as a significant amount of economic contribution and potential business opportunity to the University and local communities.

       International students, scholars, visitors and their dependents have brought $14.5 billion to the U.S. economy every academic year according to a 2007 study done by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. On a local scale, the study showed that the 6,139 international students enrolled in the Kansas educational system in 2007 made a net contribution of $111.6 million to the state economy. The figure increased 15 percent compared to 2006. That included tuition and fees and living expenses with dependents.

International students enrolled full time at KU have contributed $20 million each academic year to the University in the form of tuition. Daphne Johnston, associated director of International Undergraduate Admission Office said that besides the tuition, they've brought the University more than just financial gain. Through her interacting with students during the Linden university fair, she felt that KU was more recognized throughout the world.

$24 million flowed into the local communities in the form of living expenses. Chen said the first thing he worried about when he landed in Lawrence was where to deposit his money. "I was scared. I had all this cash with me and I had to carry it with me even when I went to the bathroom."  Luckily for Chen and other international students, a local bank took care of this common problem, providing an easier transition for students, while strengthening business for themselves.

Commerce Bank realized that nearly every international student needed support setting up a bank account in America. To some of them, it was their first time using a credit card or writing a check. Since then, Commerce Bank has been working closely with international student orientation, sponsoring events and educating students on banking, gaining a large group of loyal international customers.

  Jennifer Cook, Commerce Bank branch manger officer said that the number keeps increasing each year. She said she enjoys doing business with international students. "They are loyal customers, once they decide, they will keep doing business with you." she said.

    Chen said there were few things on his list besides banking: housing, furniture and a cell phone. Yet he hasn't seen any local businesses target international students, or at least not at the beginning of each semester.  He looked forward to seeing specialized services in this growing market. In California--the most popular destination for international students, where their net economic contribution was $2.1 billion in 2007--there are already several immigration and education agencies working with international students' home countries to establish services providing everything from fully furnished apartments to  TV channels with home programs upon arrival.

Jeny Teng, general manager of North America from Shinyway International Education described it as "an incredible market". She concluded that it was almost like an Asian culture that parents were willing to spend extra money on pre-arrival arrangement to make their child's transition easier. She said," They try their best to make their only child comfortable as a substitute for their absence. It's a culture thing." Teng's company, which was primarily targeted at oversea study consult, is switching gear to help students establish pre-arrival arrangement such as finding apartment, roommates and automobiles.

 Here's a map showing economic impact brought by international students according to state.

While those businesses are rarely insight in Lawrence, some local students have been inspired and have discovered the possibility of cross-cultural opportunities. They said seeing the presence of international students at KU has helped them think internationally and identify potential business opportunities.

"A quarter of my classmates are international. That really helps me see the changes in the U.S. and abroad as opportunities." Corrine Depperschmit, a second-year business major said. With so many international students, "you can't help but get an international perspective." Corrine also said that the purchasing habits and power of international students' have helped her realize there is a greater economy outside the U.S. "I don't want to only be aware of it; I want to go there and do business."

The question Chen asked in the university fair could finally be answered as he believed with more international students coming to the University, Lawrence, like anywhere else in U.S., would offer more than what they've contributed.