Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Getting to campus and other destinations may become easier and cheaper for KU faculty and students. The University of Kansas Parking Department plans to offer a carpooling system at the start of the 2006 fall semester.

Margretta de Vries, Administrative Specialist at KU, said, “We have had a few inquiries from non-traditional and commuter students regarding the possible implementation of a carpool or ridesharing program over the past several years.”

The service will be run by the parking department and will be directly tied to the sale of parking permits. The department will issue a designated carpool permit to the vehicles involved.

Carpoolers will have to fill out a form to sign up for the permit at the beginning of the semester. The department may require vehicle information as well. Designated carpool vehicles may be assigned some sort of tag or sticker, but de Vries said it is still too early to announce anything.

Specific details about the system are not completely determined yet, but they will be posted on the Parking Department website as soon as they are available.

“We are currently in the preliminary stages of determining what the guidelines are for how a carpool program would be conducted, and do not know the exact details yet,” de Vries said.

The department does know they will not be responsible for placing people into the same carpool group. People must know the other members of their group.

“We’re not in the business of putting people together,” de Vries said.

The parking department website currently uses a link to AlterNetRides.com, an online registry used to bring people with the same destinations and transportation needs together. The department pays a nominal fee to AlterNetRides, but the service is free for faculty and students.

“While investigating carpool or rideshare programs at other universities,” de Vries said, “we were referred to the AlterNetRides web site by another Big 12 school.” That school is the University of Texas. AlterNetRides is a program that the parking department will use in conjunction with their new carpooling system. By registering with AlterNetRides, faculty and students can locate people with the same destinations.

One concern the department has is the issue of privacy and safety when dealing with strangers over the internet. The AlterNetRides service does not require personal information like street addresses and student identification.

The goal of the carpooling system will be to alleviate traffic and overall vehicle presence on campus. Donna Hultine, Director of Parking at KU, said, “I’m interested in giving people a whole lot of options.” Hultine said that the new Park and Ride lot and carpooling system will help the problem of “congestion” on campus.

The department said they will begin construction of the new Park and Ride parking lot on west campus sometime in February. They expect the lot to be completed and functioning before classes begin in August of 2006.

The new carpooling system in correlation with AlterNetRides could prove to be an ideal solution to people who need to get to campus and home everyday.

De Vries said, “It will be a way for them [students and faculty] to reduce their cost of traveling to and from the university, especially through sharing the cost of gasoline, reduced car maintenance requirements and the shared cost

www.parking.ku.eduhttp://www.alternetrides.com http://www.ku.edu

Posted by Matthew Doubrava at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Despite security cameras and floodlights, two of the three fiberglass Jayhawks surrounding Jayhawk Bookstore on 1420 Crescent Road have been struck by vandals.

Merhawk on the Kaw and Bit O' Hawk have both been targets of vandalism.

Sharon Dewey, creator of Merhawk on the Kaw, has had to repair the Merhawk twice already.

“It’s just the risk you take with public art in a college town,” Dewey said.

The first vandalism occurred within June 2003, just months after the Merhawk first went on display. The vandals pushed the Merhawk over. The second incident occurred within the last year and a half. This time the tail was broken off the Merhawk.

The second incident could possibly be vandalism or a case of a person too heavy for the tail sitting or standing on it for a picture, Dewey said.

On Jan. 17, 2006, Bit O’ Hawk, the Jayhawk near the entrance of Jayhawk Bookstore was found pushed over. The Jayhawk suffered extensive damage.

Depending on the damage, repairs can become costly. However, the creators of the Jayhawks are not responsible for paying for the repairs. Instead, the owners of the Jayhawks cover the cost of the repairs.

The original artist who created the Jayhawk is usually hired to make the repairs, Dewey said.

Bill and Janet Muggy are owners of the Jayhawk Bookstore as well as the three Jayhawks surrounding the store.

They have made the Jayhawks as secure as they can.

“There’s really no way to increase security,” Muggy said.

Muggy said that the campus police drive by the store; there are security cameras on the birds, and floodlights as well.

There is not a clear reason as to why the vandals are striking the Jayhawks.

“I think its bored or undisciplined kids,” Dewey said.

Whatever the reason, the vandals keep on striking.

If anyone has any information regarding the recent vandalism of Bit O’ Hawk, please click on this link and call the number listed.

Posted by Kimberly Lynch at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Expect a new Academic Standing Policy for Fall 2006 that will affect College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students on academic probation.

“The new policy is meant to give students a clear idea of how to be successful,” said Kim McNeley, assistant dean of liberal arts and sciences. “If in good academic standing this tells us you can successfully complete a degree. If not, we owe that feedback to you early on.”

Let’s say you are a freshman whose beer bong ate homework during your first semester away from home. Under the current policy, with two D’s and three F’s you would automatically be dismissed from KU. The new policy will require freshmen and sophomores on probation to earn a 2.0 grade point average until his or her cumulative GPA reaches 2.0. If the term GPA is below a 2.0 the student will be dismissed. Juniors and seniors will be held to a higher standard.

“Sometimes it’s a little tough to jump up to the college rigor as a freshman,” McNeley said. “For freshmen it’s definitely a little more forgiving. Juniors and seniors have less time and hopefully more skills so the expectations are higher.” “The whole idea is to benefit the students.”

Juniors and seniors on probation will be required to earn a 2.5 until reaching a cumulative GPA of 2.0. If the 2.5 term GPA is not met, the student will be dismissed.

“The fact that it’s a 2.5 requirement for juniors and seniors will make it easier for them to graduate,” said George McCleary, chairman of the Academic Standards subcommittee. “They have been here for four semesters. There is no reason in the world why they can’t meet these requirements.”

KU students don’t wish to be placed on academic probation but out of the 15,500 undergraduate CLAS students 2,500 are. Under the current policy, written in Fall 2003, students with a cumulative KU GPA below a 2.0 are placed on academic probation. With a 2.0 GPA required for graduation and good academic standing, the Academic Standards subcommittee feels that the policy needs to clearly communicate what students need to do.

The subcommittee and students agree that the current policy is too confusing. After about a year of considering changes, a new policy was made from a group effort responding to student’s comments. The new policy was approved by the Committee for Undergraduate Services and Advising in December 2005 and will now go through the College Academic Council.

The new policy will change a three tiered structure into two because it will exclude the current subject to dismissal standing. The new policy will be more straightforward because students will either be in good academic standing, on probation or dismissed.

“If a student isn’t ready to commit to academic work, it asks them to leave,” McNeley said.

McNeley also said that the new plan is about giving feedback to students about meeting the goal of graduation down the road. McCleary said that some students are so far behind that they can’t catch up in one semester. With the new policy they hope to catch students up in the beginning.

“Once the new program gets understood it will be easier for students to relate to,” said McCleary. “Students won’t have the confusion of ‘gee, what am I supposed to do this semester.’”

McCleary recommends students to talk with an advisor and develop an academic plan. He also said to work with a balanced set of courses to earn A’s and B’s to offset the occasional D or F.

“Recognize that there are 168 hours in a week and that’s a lot of time,” said McCleary. “Let’s take a little less party time Monday through Friday and a little more on the weekends.”

NCAA academic standards

Posted by Katherine Loeck at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Kansas Union was unusually packed this week as students enjoyed a familiar beginning-of-the-semester tradition: the poster sale.

As most students delight in buying posters to adorn their dorm rooms and apartments, others have begun to realize that they can easily save their time and money by stealing, with virtually no chance of repercussions.

“The posters are overpriced as it is and in my opinion they can afford some lost posters,” Kyle Headrick, Dodge City sophomore, said. Headrick stole three posters from the sale this year in order to decorate his apartment’s living room. His theft, save for the use of a friend as a lookout, was alarmingly easy and uncomplicated.

“I picked some posters that I liked, rolled them up, and walked out with them,” Headrick said. He said that rolling up the poster was enough to make it look like it had already been purchased. One of the posters, in a coincidence that Headrick called “karmic”, was later torn down and stolen from him at a party.

The sale, which concludes Friday, is operated by Beyond the Wall, a national chain of poster stores. The company seasonally hires representatives to make a tour of college campuses every semester. The sponsoring group, in this case Student Union Activities, then gets a percentage of the profits.

“We sort of assume that there’s some stealing going on,” Adam Parks, a Beyond the Wall employee working at this semester’s sale, said. He said that other than the two cashiers working at any given time, there is no security in place to prevent theft.

“We try to keep an eye out, but we haven’t really seen anything,” Parks said. He noted that the poster sale is always extremely profitable, especially in the fall when new students move in. He said that this semester’s sale has, through four days, outperformed the projected figures from previous sales.

While the cashiers do their best to prevent theft, the fact that they are often occupied with customers combines with the open atmosphere of the Union to create an ideal situation for poster thieves.

“The main reason that I did it is because it’s so open and there’s no security,” Headrick said. He added that he has never stolen from a store and the only thing that made this different was the increased chance of getting away cleanly.

“I wasn’t worried about being caught at all,” Headrick said.

Headrick is not the only student to have this idea, and with Beyond the Wall and SUA remaining satisfied with the performance of the poster sale on the KU campus, the opportunity for theft remains.

“I would definitely do it again,” Headrick said. “I’m a poor college student being taken advantage of by expensive posters. I feel like Robin Hood.”

Posted by Daniel Luppino at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A non-credit human sexuality course at the ECM, taught by retired KU professor Dennis Dailey, accepts both students and non-students but struggles to gain enrollment.

Only 44 people enrolled in the 10-week course by the deadline. The room capacity accommodates up to 100 people and was full the last time Dailey taught the course last spring.

This semester marks the first spring that Dailey has not taught at KU. He retired from the university in June 2004 but continues to teach the course as a non-credit option in order to benefit students.

"I think it's an important service to students," Dailey said.

The ECM Sexuality Education Committee advertised the course in hopes of gaining interest.

"We're trying to be really active in advertising," Jane Segebrecht, committee coordinator, said.

In the past, controversy surround Dailey provided free publicity for the non-credit course. After accusations in 2003 of showing pornography in class, local and national media coverage attracted attention. At the time, both the ECM course and KU course were full or even had waiting lists.

Now, Dailey draws students with his name, but fewer students left at KU remember the controversy.

"I think a lot of people enroll just because of who Dennis Dailey is," Segebrecht said. "He's such a powerful speaker."

Segebrecht said that people enrolled in the course at the first class meeting last spring. She anticipates that some people will show up at the last minute again this semester. A small class size would take something away from the class experience, she said.

"We're hoping there will be a rush at the end," Segebrecht said.

The class aims to help people to better understand their own sexuality.

"Students will be able to use this experience to sort out their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about human sexual function and dysfunction," Dailey wrote in his course objectives.

Organizers in the Sexuality Education Committee brought Dailey to the ECM for students and non-students alike to have a place to talk about sexuality.

"I think it's important to question attitudes and beliefs about sexuality," Segebrecht said.

The ECM course provides a rare opportunity to openly discuss sexuality in an informal academic setting. "There aren't a lot of places to learn about sexuality," Segebrecht said.

Thad Holcombe, campus pastor at the ECM, believes that the church has a responsibility to aid in understanding of human sexuality. Discontinuing the course would eliminate the only such sexuality class in Lawrence.

"We think it's so important to have a place to talk about sexuality and sex," Holcombe said.

Dailey said he does not know why enrollment dropped. He considered not teaching the course in the future of enrollment remains low.

"Maybe it's time to not do it," Dailey said.

Anyone can enroll in the course up through the first class period on Thursday. Classes run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Enrollment is $40 for students and $50 for non-students for the non-credit course.

KU ECM Journal-World's coverage of Dailey conflict Reports of Dailey conflict

Posted by Kelly Lanigan at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On-campus jobs with KU Dining Services are some of the most easily obtainable and overlooked at the University of Kansas. Many students overlook these employment opportunities due to the social stigma attached with working in food service, a stigma Dining Services is trying to change.

In an effort to attract new employees and retain current employees, KU Dining Services has instituted a new compensation plan to reward workers with a food credit for each shift worked.

The idea is nothing new, but the plans aims to simplify compensation for a variety of employees on campus. In the past, the employees received a 50% discount on food, with the remaining balance being deducted from their paycheck.

The new system came as a result of a merger between KU Dining Services and Residential Dining Services in order to equivocate compensation for employees between the two merging departments.

Under the new plan, which went into effect on December 22, all employees employed in campus eateries, catering, and residential dining centers are entitled to an equal food credit of $5.50 for each three-hour shift worked.

According to Karen Lewis, manager of The Market at the Kansas Union, employees can only use the food credit either when on break or 30 minutes before or after their shift. This is designed to help “promote the success of the student,” says Lewis, and to provide a hospitable work environment for students.

The most significant change in policy is a lack of accountability on the part of the employee. The new food credits are entirely funded by Dining Services, an independently operating organization. Dining Services relies solely on the money generated from food stations such as The Market, The Underground, and The Crimson Café and The Hawk Stop.

Michael Myers, Cash Operations Manager for Dining Services describes the credits “as a selling point of why people should work for Dining Services,” and hopes it will cut down on the high turnover rate of employees.

Myers says that because Dining Services is self sufficient, the new food credit system will initially have a negative effect on the financial status of Dining Services. However Myers feels the overall benefit provided to the employees outweighs the economic cost of implementing such a program.

If the program works as intended in retaining employees, Myers says the amount of money saved from continuously retraining new employees will balance out the cost of the credits.

Posted by Nathan McGinnis at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

KU students might notice a change of scenery on campus. A miniature pine forest has taken root in front of Spencer Museum of Art. These pine trees are part of the art museum’s new exhibition, “Flowers, Dragons, & Pine Trees”.

While the pine trees are newly planted, the exhibition is nothing less than years of history and hard work. In 1917 Sallie Casey Thayer donated seventy-five hundred objects of Western and Asian Art. This gift not only founded the art museum, but gave guest-curator Mary Dusenbury something worth studying.

In 1990 then-director Andrea Norris asked Dusenbury to research one or two of the objects hidden away in boxes. “I immediately asked for lots of filing cabinets” said Dusenbury. After 15 years, Dusenbury’s filing cabinets full of research has been turned into Spencer Museum of Art’s new Asian textile collection.

“Flowers, Dragons, & Pine Trees” opens on Saturday and will take over the museum until May 28. Close to 300 pieces were available for the exhibit. Bill Woodard, director of communication for Spencer Museum of Art said the exhibition focuses on 90 textiles from India, Iran, China and Japan. Throughout the exhibit, each country has its own uniquely painted room to help visitors attribute the fabrics to their country of origin.

These textiles have caused more than a paint job to the art museum. Dating from the fifteenth to late twentieth centuries, the textiles require lots of care. With the help of Richard Klocke, a conservator from Los Angeles, each piece of fabric has been delicately displayed.

Student’s helpful hands followed Klocke’s carefully constructed individual maps of each piece of fabric. Every mounted textile has its own personal photocopy. The photographs were then mapped out, showing little red dots for where the pins should go. Every piece of fabric has its own personal map along with a count of how many pins are mounting the delicate textiles without applying unwarranted stress on the cloth.

Student involvement strings even further. As visitors enter the art museum, they will be welcomed with banners of indigo in the Central Court. KU students designed these banners specifically for “Flowers, Dragons, & Pine Trees” exhibit. Dusenbury was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. “I was expecting four or five students to design something during winter break,” said Dusenbury. Instead over 15 students helped transform the museum’s Central Court into their own dedication to Asian Textiles.

The museum’s Asian textiles theme will continue throughout the spring semester. Other student work includes written verse. Poetry inspired by the textile collection will be displayed in the entry hall. Other programs will also be available as the spring semester continues. Spencer Musuem of Art Auditorium will showcase films based on the countries represented in the exhibition. Children programs and family activities including making Chinese lanterns are also part of the museum’s transformation.

For more information on Spencer Museum of Art’s Asian textiles thematic programs, go to programs and events.

Posted by Marla Keown at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mo Rocca, political satirist and former correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", may come back to the University of Kansas this semester. Andy MacIntyre, GMR Marketing LLC entertainment director, contacted Student Union Activities linktext to see if the University would be interested in hosting an interactive comedy show by Rocca. AXE plans to sponsor the show, making it a free event for the University. linktext

"Mo Rocca's talent fee is usually $25,000 so this is a great opportunity for KU," Susan Hoffman, SUA adviser, said.

When Rocca spoke at the University in 2003 he sold out the Kansas Union Ballroom, which has a seating capacity of 700 people. After the event Rocca created a buzz around campus when he wore a "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" shirt on VH1's "I Love the 90's". linktext

"We're just so excited that he wants to come back. This is an amazing opportunity that happens when you're at a large university like KU," Katie Smith, SUA Comedy and Concerts coordinator, said.

In Mo Rocca's upcoming AXE tour, Feb. 20 to March 12, he plans to interview students and faculty during the day and then show humorous clips from the interviews at the event.

"Last time I spoke with the agent he said that they are building the tour around KU's March 4th date," Hoffman said.

The SUA board passed the Mo Rocca proposal to reserve an auditorium in Budig and the necessary technology for the March 4 event. SUA also earmarked money for KU paraphernalia to give Mo Rocca at the event, with the hopes that he will sport more crimson and blue on national television.

Posted by Michelle Tran at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The University of Kansas, is considering charging residence hall students that download too much onto their computers. The new system was purposed after students complained about slow internet connections on surveys that the Networking and Telecommunication Service had administered three years ago. A final decision should be made by summer according to John Louis, Director of Networking and Telecommunication Services at KU.

Currently the university charges $19 a month for internet access a flat fee where everyone shares the bandwidth, the connection through which computer data travels. As a short-term solution, ResNet, a division of NTS, limits the available bandwidth, the room that is available through which video and audio travel, during the peak hours of 7am to 2am daily. Considering that the university spends over a million dollars a year to connect to the Internet it can be a very expensive venture according to Louis. Because of the high price tag, John Louis, Director of NTS, wants to find a solution that will be a more fair method for the students and a way to weed out some of the bandwidth abusers.

“There has been strong support from the students in the residence halls that we do something like this,” said John Louis, Director of NTS. “I think the students are asking about this because some students feel they are being mistreated.”

Allison Lopez, Public Relations Manager for Information Systems, feels that there seems to be a phenomenon as opposed to a problem with bandwidth overage.

“Twenty percent of the population is using 80 percent of the bandwidth,” said Allison Lopez, PR Manager for Information Systems.

Ken Stoner, Director of Student Housing agreed that the topic is worth discussion, no matter the outcome. He said whatever is decided the students will accept.

Another solution besides paying for excess Internet use that NTS is looking into involves a quota system, according to John Louis, Director of NTS. With this process the user would be allowed so many bits of bandwidth per day or week and if you go over your amount you will be shut out from Internet access on your computer. This solution would cost less money to implement at the university and it could possibly be combined with a charging system as an additional option for additional bandwidth, according to Louis.

One university that currently uses an overage-based charging system for bandwidth is Cornell University. The university allocates a certain amount of bandwidth, much like KU, to each computer and if the user goes over that amount they will be charged more much like a cell phone plan that costs extra for every minute users exceed their limit. The university that is getting the most attention from KU is North Dakota State, which currently uses a quota system according to John Louis, Director of NTS.

Matt Greeno, Hoyt, Kan. Freshman, disagreed with the idea that there is a problem with Internet in the dorms.

“The Internet is often a bit slow, but it has never prevented me from getting my homework done,” said Greeno. “On the whole, I am pretty satisfied with the way the Internet is now.”

According to John Louis, Director of NTS, you will see less universities charging students for excess Internet use, but he agrees that way is more like realistic than the quota system.

“It (usage-based charging) does not sound like fun to me, but that is how they do it in the real world,” said John Louis, Director of NTS. “They bill you for your minutes used.”

Posted by James Pinick at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Textbook prices have some students emptying their wallets, but in the
textbook market, who wins? Not the student, and maybe, surprisingly, not KU
Bookstores either.

KU Bookstores are non-profit. All proceeds from textbook and merchandise
sales support SUA events and are returned through student services, but
costs have some students wondering why they are paying so much.

According to the Government Accountability Office, GAO textbooks are
increasing at an average of 6 percent per year. This accounts for increasing
prices at twice the rate of inflation in the last two decades.

GAO attributes prices to accompanying factors such as CD-ROMs and other
instructional supplements.

Tim Norris, KU Bookstores director, said, “Publishers are urged to change
their marketing and, in effect, charge higher prices. We don’t set those
prices. We aren’t hiding anything. If students know how this market works
they may realize we aren’t trying to gouge anyone.”

The average profit bookstores earn is 22.5 percent according to the National
Association of College Stores, NACS. Personnel costs, freight and store
operating costs are subtracted from this figure.

In a handout distributed last semester by KU Bookstores, students were told
about textbook costs and that textbooks are a market controlled ultimately
by faculty. While faculty do not choose the prices of textbooks, they do
choose the textbook. When professors require new editions or learning
supplements, the price of materials goes up.

“Help support our partnership with KU faculty in ensuring timely adoptions.
An accurate adoption list allows us to determine what books we can actually
buy back from you. The upcoming market is determined by the choices that
faculty make,” the handout said.

KU Bookstores sell used books 25 percent lower than new books. If a new book
costs $100, a student could buy back the same book for $25, which is 25
percent of the price of the new book. The student could sell the book back
for 50 percent the cost of the new textbook rate or $50. Thus the student
could spend $25 for a $100 textbook, 75 percent of the price of the new
book.

David Watts, KU Bookstores textbook manager, recently shopped their
competition. He compared the prices of 28 textbooks with the other two
textbook stores in Lawrence. The results were consistently complimentary to
KU Bookstores. Prices were lowered on some texts after the comparison to
remain competitive.

“Our prices were very comparable to Jayhawk Bookstore, usually within a
couple dollars,” Watts said, “and our prices were usually lower than The
University Book Store.”

On-line textbook buying is an option that 16 percent of students choose,
according to NACS. On-line businesses such as Amazon.com are sometimes able
to sell used books for less because individuals set the prices rather than a
publisher.

KU Bookstores are not in competition with on-line stores. “It is true that
you will see lower prices on-line,” Norris said, “but students get burned by
on-line business because it is not completely reliable.”

Hannah Miller, Grove, Okla., freshman, chose to split textbook buying
between the Internet and the KU Bookstore. “Some prices were the same and
some were cheaper on-line,” Miller said. “Others I could only get in the
bookstore.”

Posted by Bethany Bunch at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Most students who have the option of purchasing an online version of their textbook this semester choose not to.

Textbooks for select introductory economic and geology classes are available in an online version which can be accessed by subscribers, but bookstores are learning the hard way that most students do not want a digital textbook.

“Students seem to want a print copy in hand,” Bill Madl, textbook manager at Jayhawk Bookstore said.

Jayhawk Bookstore sold individual access codes for the online texts through a company called Aplia last semester. Because sales of the product were low, this semester it only carries the supplementary online kit that accompanies new text books.

KU Bookstore at the Kansas Union does sell the online edition separately, but David Walts, a textbook manager said that this version is unpopular.

“The vast majority, if not everybody likes the printed version, even when they see the price,” Walts said.

Cheaper pricing is a major appeal for the online edition. The online version of a $130 macroeconomic book can be purchased for $60, less than half of the book price.

“It’s certainly the less expensive way to go, especially if you print it off someone else’s computer,” Neal Becker, professor of economics joked.

This is not necessarily true. The online text can be purchased cheaper than a book, but unlike a book, it cannot be resold. Madl said that by the end of the semester when the book has been re-sold, costs of the two versions almost equal out.

There are some benefits to owning a digital copy of the textbook. It makes one less weight that students must carry around campus with them. Also, the text does not occupy space in cramped dorm rooms or apartments. Yet these benefits are not enough to motivate students to purchase the computer version.

When given a choice between an online version or the actual book, students overwhelmingly opt for the latter.

“It’s not worth it,” Keane Crowder, Lawrence junior, said of the online textbook. For him, this version is very inaccessible because he has a slow computer at home. Brian Wendt, Lawrence sophomore, also prefers the actual book.

“It’s a lot more convenient than having to read off the computer,” said Wendt. “You can take it more places.”

Madl predicted that habits will likely change in the next few decades as publishers promote their online products and children are taught with computers in the classroom starting at a very young age. But for now, today’s generation of students is reluctant to embrace the new digital textbooks, preferring instead to keep with traditional, bound books which they are accustomed to having.

Posted by Darla Slipke at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kansas landlords are already lining up to oppose a bill that would change how the apartment rental process works.

The law would secure the tenant's right to get advance notice from landlords on exact repair costs. Renters would be able to fix any problems before the expiring of the lease agreement. The idea of documenting these actual costs of repairs is one landlords don't like. They say it is difficult to agree on what fixing something costs.

This law might be more difficult to implement in towns that aren't service communities, landlords say, because billing for actual costs requires paying someone for service. James Dunn, local landlord and president of Landlords of Lawrence, said landlords don't really like the bill at all. "What you're doing is changing the law to apply only to college towns," Dunn said.

That's the point, according to Josh Bender, Sterling senior and legislative director of SLAB, the Student Legislature Awareness Board. SLAB has been working in conjunction with the KU's Kansas Legal Aid Society since September to write this bill. "Probably about fifty percent of cases they see are either about lease renewal or security deposits," Bender said.

The statute would also require landlords to inform tenants in writing about automatic renewal clauses in contracts and their rights to apartment inspections.

In the 2000 Census 31,388 dwelling units in Lawrence were recorded. 54% of these were rental units, as compared with the statewide average number of 31%, according to a Neighborhood Recourses Department study.

These issues might not affect non-university towns as much, because, landlords say, students are less likely to read their lease before signing. Student renters sometimes don't even understand what a security deposit is for, Dunn said.

Dunn is opposed to all of the communication responsibilities he could soon have as a landlord. However, he doesn't believe tenants would bother to ask for inspections. "It would put a lot of onus on the landlords to send letters, lots of correspondence to the tenants to tell them they're going to do these inspections," he said.

TALK, The Association of Landlords of Kansas, a lobbying group for landlords, wrote in a statement that the Kansas law 'is the purest form of the model Landlord-Tenant Law'. 'Fixing something can sometimes create unpleasant surprises. We have always opposed opening this law for minor problems,' the statement says. TALK's representatives will present the statement to the legislative committee if there is a hearing for the bill.

Ed Jaskinia, president of TALK, agrees that there are unethical landlords just as there are unethical tenants. However, the bill might not truly address fair housing, he said. If the bill goes through, "The good guys are going to get hurt and the bad guys will continue to do business the way they always do," he said. Jaskinia emphasized the importance of educating oneself about landlord-tenant law. He said the number one mistake students make is failing to read their leases.

Currently, Bender believes he could be the only person commenting in favor of the bill if a hearing is granted.

Posted by Carrie Wallace at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Despite the addition of the Booth Family Hall of Athletics, Allen Fieldhouse seems a little emptier than in years previous. Fewer students have opted to camp out for basketball games, and this depletion has left many to wonder why.

There were only three groups at the lottery on Sunday, Jan. 22 for the Texas Tech game on Monday, Jan. 30. Camping was then suspended until Thursday morning at 6 a.m. There were 16 groups signed up by then, but seven of them missed the roll call that morning and were crossed off the list.

Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said that exams and vacations usually result in fewer campers. The next couple weeks, Marchiony said, will be a better indicator of attendance.

Adam Lohoefener, Oberlin graduate student, has been administering the camping lottery, which is held the morning after each home game, for the past four years.

“Christmas break always brings the camping numbers down,” Lohoefener said. There were normally only two groups that would show up to lotteries over break, he said, and sometimes only one.

“The bigger games, like Kentucky, had a good turnout even though it was over break.” He added that it also has a lot to do with how the games are scheduled and the amount of “high profile” teams. The fewer number of days there are in between games, the more groups that tend to show up to lottery because it is easier to hold a spot for a couple days rather than a full week. Not only was Kentucky ranked when the Jayhawks played them, but the camp out period was only two days. Last year there were around 1,250 campers at the lottery for the Missouri game. While the Border Showdown usually packs the Fieldhouse anyway, there was only one day of camping prior to it. Lohoefener expects numbers to increase within the next few weeks becomes of in-conference games.

“It kind of always seems that Big Twelve play draws bigger crowds. Not as many go to games at the beginning of the season when it seems like there is only about one home game a week. When Big Twelve starts games get closer together,” he said.

While the depletion of campers has caught the eye of many, those who are sticking it out have been scrutinized for their lengthy suspensions in camping. Camping is always suspended to accommodate women’s home games and men’s away games, but other times it will be postponed for long periods in between home games. Because the camping system has no written rules, and only an outline of them, students use a majority vote amongst groups present on how long they want to camp for certain games, when they want to suspend, etc. While there are nine days in between the Nebraska and Texas Tech games, the three groups at the Texas Tech lottery voted on camping for five of them, Thursday through Monday.

“The great thing about our system is that the only people who have a say in how long we camp are those doing the actual camping. It doesn’t get more democratic than that,” Lohoefener said. “If people want to camp, come to lottery. If they don’t want as many suspensions then come to lottery and vote on it. It’s funny that every year it seems the people who complain are the people who aren’t camping.”

Posted by Nicholas Nelson at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Make sure to add “Change Facebook profile” to your graduation to-do list—future employers may be checking your resume alongside your Facebook.com profile and using the information they find to reject you for employment.

Campus police at George Washington University have used Facebook to snoop for parties where underage drinking might be happening. Parents use Facebook to check up on sons and daughters. Now employers and even the career centers at the University of Kansas use Facebook to evaluate students who are being considered for KU jobs.

“We hire students to work in our office and professional staff and we do look at their Facebook entries,” said Mary Andrade Carlson, assistant director of University Career Center. “It gives us better insight to how they truly present themselves.”

Carlson uses Facebook regularly to evaluate hiring prospects for a particular job or even just to find contacts in a particular field to invite to sit at alumni panel presentations.

Facebook—an online networking site for college students—is the brainchild of Harvard students who wanted to transpose traditional yearbooks online.

Facebook spokesman Chris Hughes said he was not aware of any employer using Facebook to assess potential workers.

Jolene Byer, assistant director of the Business Career Services Center at the School of Business said that an employer at a recent conference mentioned using Facebook to screen candidates for a job.

“One person had posted a suggestive picture, and another talked about being drunk all the time,” Byer said. “One had a fairly vanilla profile, and that person got it.”

Byer says Facebook is like a big ad in a newspaper—anyone can see it. While Facebook does allow anyone to register as a user, they must have email addresses ending in .edu to be accepted. Employers often access student profiles because one of their employees or interns is a member of Facebook.

“There’s an illusion of privacy, but the information is out there,” Byer said. “It can help you or hurt you at some point.”

Byer said the job of a manager is to make sure an employee fits with his company—so if he sees on Facebook that all a candidate ever does is party and post suggestive photos online, then a manager will likely see that person as a future problem.

After the Kansas Association of Colleges and Employers conference last November, Byer explored KU student profiles on Facebook.

“I found things that could get people fired,” Byer said. “It was something I had never thought of before this conference.”

Carlson and Byer both warned against mentioning the company you work for on Facebook.

“We recently had an employer contact a career services office on campus because a student had mentioned negative information about their company on a Facebook profile,” Andrade Carlson said.

Byer says to use common sense. Can something posted online come back to haunt you? A boss can ask an employee or intern to look you up on Facebook and find anything you’ve written there. The career centers at KU are planning to better inform students of the risks of posting private information online.

“Facebook is a fun tool,” Carlson said, “but there’s no reason to look like an idiot in your profile.”

Facebook
University Career Center
KU jobs application

Posted by David Linhardt at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A KU sculpture club, Ministry of Sculpture, has created about 60 wooden dolls to send to children displaced in Houston by Hurricane Katrina.

Matthew Burke, assistant professor of sculpture and faculty advisor for the club, said he came up with the project idea after seeing images of the hurricane's destruction last August.

"Instantly you say, 'What can I do?' Well, we make things," Burke said. "We wanted to find a way to make people's lives better through sculpture."

The project was a collective effort by the Ministry of Sculpture, various volunteers in the Fine Arts Department at KU, and several area businesses that donated materials. The volunteers have met several times since November to construct the dolls.

Initially the club intended to deliver the dolls by Christmas. They were not complete, so the group extended the project's time line to Mardi Gras.

The dolls are approximately one foot high and contain moveable joints and cowboy style ten-gallon hats. Burke added jester boots to the dolls' design in the spirit of traditional porcelain Mardi Gras dolls. The dolls are set in profile to reflect the human consequences of the hurricane.

"I wanted the dolls to have direction. A major component of this disaster was people in motion, people moving," Burke said.

Cotter Mitchell, coordinator of the common shop in the Art and Design Building, planed the raw lumber into consistent width for use with the project.

"We've talked about how to finish it so it was safe and non-toxic," Mitchell said.

But Mitchell gave credit to the Ministry of Sculpture and Burke for the project's design.

"I feel bad getting any credit. They came up with the idea," Mitchell said.

The finished dolls will be dyed purple with beet juice, Burke said. Purple is one of the festival's official colors; it represents justice.

The club is trying to secure a corporate sponsor to ship the dolls to Houston where a large group of New Orleans refugees remain. The group would like to deliver the dolls in time for Mardi Gras to cheer children displaced during the festival.

Burke coordinated with the Lawrence Arts Center to provide area grade school children the opportunity to decorate the shipment boxes.

"Kids have their own language. They understand each other," Burke said.

Once in Houston, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic organization that has helped displaced families with relocation and support, will distribute the toys to children.

Posted by Derek Korte at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

KU Athletics officials hope that recent changes in the ticket transfer system will help fill some empty seats at Allen Fieldhouse.

Jim Marchiony, KU associate athletics director, hopes the changes will make things much easier for students. He said that while the student section naturally dwindles during winter break, some of the population decline may be due to the fact that some students were simply not aware of the ticket transfer system and the changes that were made to better accommodate an easier transaction. He hopes that the word will get out that the system has changed.

In early December, due to the inconveniences for many students, the transfer system was updated. Currently, only one student must go to the ticket office and present both KUIDs to complete the transfer transaction. The previous policy required both the student giving and receiving the ticket to go to the ticket office with KUIDs. They also had to pay a $2.50 transaction fee and fill out paperwork.

For some students this old system was difficult and confusing. “I was going to give my tickets to my friend from Kansas City since I live in Chicago, but I did not understand that both people had to be present to complete the process,” said junior Jessica Levin. Students like Levin are still skeptical about the new electronic system. “I wish I could simply hand a ticket over to my friend like last year,” said Levin.

Marchiony said that these issues, along with others, are still being fine tuned. “We'll continue to monitor this situation; we have been talking to the student-government president, and we will continue to do so,” he said.

Natalie Maciel, a junior, says she likes the new electronic ticket program and transfer system. “The transfer system was hard to get used to for a while, but I would much rather have it this way rather than going to Allen Fieldhouse and waiting in line to pick up my tickets every week,” said Maciel.

While the new system will take some getting used to, Marchiony said it is in the best interest of the University to use this program. He said that it is important to remember that the new ticket policy is meant to ensure that only KU students use KU student tickets. “This is to help guarantee that the department does everything they can to ensure that as many students as possible have seats to games,” he said. He also commented on the student lottery system for tickets. “We want to avoid a student lottery, especially for the most popular games,” said Marchiony.

Marchiony said that he encourages students to put their tickets to use and attend any games they can. He said he will do his part in making sure this is as easy as possible.

KU Athletics Website

Kansan Story

University of Kansas Website

Posted by Beth Breitenstein at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When not working in a garage building in Brooklyn, NY, 47-year-old Steve Keene is moving in to universities across the nation to paint on site. Most recently, the professional painter has moved into the Gallery at the Kansas Memorial Union.

The artist has been at KU since Jan. 17 and will continue to work and display his paintings through Feb. 14. Keene’s visit is sponsored by Student Union Activities, who also hosted a reception for him on Jan. 26.

“I like the bright colors the artist uses. It’s nice to put things on my wall, but not just posters. It’s cool to have an actual painting,” Megan Sextro, Everest, Kan., freshman, said.

Keene’s company, SK Art, developed around 1993 and his friendships with musicians helped grow the business. Though Keene has worked with music groups like the Dave Matthews Band to create album art, video sets, stage sets and posters, the artist insists on selling his one-of-a-kind works for cheap. All of his pieces created during his time at the university will be sold for fewer than 10 dollars each. To date, Keene has sold more than 170,000 paintings.

Keene has painted at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, Rice University in Houston, the Santa Monica Museum of Art in Los Angeles, the Gulf Coast Museum in Florida, plus many international sites. He has recently opened a small shop in New York City to sell his art, in addition to offering it on ebay.com or on his personal website.

Surprisingly, many art critics have disapproved of the Yale-educated painter’s mass production of art work. Keene typically lines an entire wall with plywood canvases and turns into a one-man assembly line. Working this way, he can produce 50 to 100 paintings a day using about a gallon of paint.

Michelle Rissky, the director of public relations at SUA, said the idea to bring the painter to KU emerged when a group of students admired Keene’s paintings hanging in friend’s room. Although SUA has attracted artists in the past, having an artist-in-residence is a new concept for the organization.

“I think a lot of people are just like, ‘Wow! I could buy this painting!’” Rissky said.

Students are encouraged to view the artist working during his visit to campus. The gallery is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Keene has told reporters, “Painting should be part of people's lives and not separate from the world like a precious object. I feel like a baker making cakes, making a good quality object that's affordable to everyone from college professors to high school kids.”

Before leaving KU, Keene will be doing a workshop at the Spencer Museum of Art at 6 p.m. on Feb. 2.

Steve Keene's personal wesbite
Photos of Keene's art
SUA Events

Posted by Jennifer Denny at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Lawrence police department holds a briefing for the media each morning (usually starting around 10 a.m.) in room 237 at the police department (111 E. 11th Street). This is our opportunity to catch up on overnight crime and get updates on previous stories.

Reporters enrolled in multimedia reporting sign up at the beginning of the semester to cover these briefings on one or more occasions during the semester (the number of times depends on enrollment).

Before you go to the briefing, call the multimedia newsroom at 864-0651 to see if there is anything we are looking for or specific questions you need to ask.

There is additional information about the police beat posted on input/output.

Posted by Staci Wolfe at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)