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            Alex Jorawsky didn't have to pay for his Daisy Hill parking pass second semester of his freshman year. But the free parking that spring ended up costing Jorawsky a lot more walking than he thought it would.

            Jorawsky's roommate at McCollum Hall dropped out over winter break, and gave his friend the rest of the year's worth of his parking. One day, while returning from class, Jorawsky saw a University parking attendant near his car. The attendant was waiting for the vehicle's owner because the parking pass Jorawsky's roommate had given him was stolen off another car.

Students can be charged with non-academic misconduct for misusing parking permits. Photo by Meg Bodem.

"My car had a boot on it and the parking guy was there. Lights were flashing; it was kind of horrifying," Jorawsky said.

            The attendant took Jorawsky's parking pass and his information. He later received a phone call from his mother, who had gotten a letter from the University regarding the parking pass.

"They sent her a misconduct notice, and for the next year, I couldn't park on campus," Jorawsky said.

            Situations like this are not uncommon on campus. Students usually think only of misbehavior in college as cheating on quizzes and plagiarizing papers, but the University also has issues with a range of actions that formulate non-academic misconduct.

            "Oh, there's any number of things," Assistant Vice Provost Jane Tuttle said. "We get everything from hazing, one student in a fight with another student, students taking a parking permit from another student, students using services of the University without paying for them, giving false information to the University, using University documents falsely... the list goes on."

            Students that fail to follow the rules that are set in place by the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities are sometimes given other opportunities to fix their mistakes. Stipulations within the Code allow the University to place sanctions on guilty students that require visits with professors, community service, or fines.

            "She [Tuttle] can go as far as to bring them before a Student Conduct Review Board," University Police Captain Schuyler Bailey said. "Sometimes, when the instance requires it, there are expulsions."

            Students can offend the misconduct rules in three different ways. The University considers "offenses against persons" as the first type of non-academic misconduct. This can range from threatening a person, to sexual assaulting another person, to pulling a fire alarm.

            "The most significant issue we have with offenses against persons violations are typically harassing e-mails," Tuttle said. "These are pretty common."

            "Offenses against property" are another issue that University Police regularly see. This broad category includes identity theft on campus, misuse of fire prevention equipment, and most prominently, personal theft.

            "Theft accounts for over 1/3 of the reported crime on the KU campus," Bailey said. But the University isn't alone in this statistic. "I would probably say that most college campuses line up or fall out the same way we do as far as theft of unattended property being the primary crime."

            The final non-academic misconduct category relates to "offenses against the orderly process of the University." Under this stipulation, students are not allowed to provide false information to the University about themselves and may not forge use University documents for anything other than their intended use.

Students can be charged with academic misconduct for misusing University paperwork. Photo by Meg Bodem.

            But the biggest issue that offends the orderly process of the University relates to classroom etiquette.

            "If you're constantly disrupting your classes, we're going to have an issue because you're violating policy," Tuttle said. "We're here to learn, and that's what most of us want to do in the classroom."

            Luckily for Jorawsky, his roommate's stolen parking pass didn't cause him much grief other than having to walk to class. "I freaked out when it happened, but later, it was no big deal," Jorawsky said.

            Although expulsions are rare, Tuttle said they are a big deal, and often occur when students have had problems on campus before and don't stick to their assigned sanctions.

            "When students come see me, the most important thing I have to tell them is that the rules here at KU are exactly the same as they are in kindergarten," Tuttle said. "You have to be nice to people, you can't take other people's stuff, and you have to let people do their jobs."

            When Jessica King adopted her bulldog Izzy, she knew it wouldn't be the last time she helped an animal.

            King is a volunteer at the Lawrence Humane Society, and when she needed leadership experience for a job, she used her time to help create an event that would benefit the animal shelter.

            "I wanted to do something that meant something to me," King, Houston alumna said. "I knew how much money they need and how much support they don't get, so I started the Dog Jog."

            King, who graduated in December, grew up on a ranch with lots of animals, so donating her time to the Lawrence Humane Society came naturally.

            "We always had animals around," said King. "We had dogs, cats, horses, pigs, cows and peacocks. I even had a pot bellied pig as a pet."

            The transition from volunteer to event organizer for the animal shelter hit King harder than she thought it would.

            The work involved in organizing the April 26 Dog Jog 5K on the University's campus was a lot more than King thought it would be.

            "There's tons of stuff to get done," said King. "Everything from t-shirts to police permits to fundraising. It's a lot of work."

            Fundraising for the event was a difficult task because the cause can never have enough money.

            King went to as many local businesses as possible to put up flyers and ask for donations.

            "She really worked her butt off," said Jennifer Hayes, King's friend and Dog Jog participant. "Literally every day, she was at a different restaurant or store, asking for their help."

King's Dog Jog flyer.

            King hopes the fundraising and publicity will pay off on the day of the jog.

            Businesses like Lazer 105.9 and Salon Lucca have donated commercial space and money to help fund the event and get the news out so Lawrence citizens could participate.

            "We've set a goal of $3,000 to raise, but it's actually looking like it might be more because we're pretty close already," said King.

            Dog Jog participants will receive t-shirts, but other than that, all income generated from the $10 and $15 entry fees will be donated to the humane society.

            The money King and the volunteers raise will help the animal shelter buy blankets, food, and other pet supplies to keep the animals more comfortable.

            King's friend and Parkville, Mo. senior, Chris Sobba knows how much the animal shelter needs the money. "I've gone with Jess a couple times to volunteer, and it's a nice facility, but it's sad when a dog or cat just has a wire cage. They should get blankets too," Sobba said.

            King said that if this year's Dog Jog is successful in helping the animals, she hopes to organize it in years to come.

            In May, King will move back to Houston and begin working for her parents' company, Palletized Trucking, Inc.

            "The best thing that could come from this is that people really donate a lot of time and money so that we can do it again next year," King said. "I'm also going to try to make it happen in other places, like when I go back to Texas."

            Marilyn King, Jessica's grandmother, is excited for Jessica to return to Houston so they can prepare for the Dog Jog there.

            "Jessica's plan is to get this going all around the country, to benefit humane societies and animal shelters everywhere," Marilyn said. "I think it's great what she's doing."

            When King returns to Houston, she'll be using the leadership experience she has gained while organizing the Dog Jog to run the accounting department of her family's company.

            "We know she's going to do a great job," said Marilyn. "I'm just hoping she'll be able to focus on work with all these animals around her again."       

            Lawrence citizens may be missing out on opportunities to participate in their local government.

            Several municipal committees have position vacancies or soon-to-expire offices.

            According to the March 24^th Lawrence city commission agenda, a total of 18 vacancies exist in eight city advisory boards, such as the Traffic Safety Commission, the Library Board and the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals, which handles building code restrictions.

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            Advisory Boards exist in the Lawrence as part of the city's Citizen Participation Plan.

            Goals of the plan include encouraging citizen participation in local government by providing timely access to meetings and technical assistance, if necessary. 

            "The biggest reason for vacancies is lack of interest in participation," said Curtis Harris, a representative for the Community Development Advisory Committee, which is responsible for allocating grant money to city organizations. "But there are also people that just don't know about the involvement possibilities," he said.

 

            "Two of our eleven seats are vacant right now. We never have more money than we have ideas and applications for, and it's challenging to determine who gets the funds and who doesn't," said Harris.

            There are restrictions on some committee members, such as requirements that an applicant live in a certain neighborhood or have certain expertise.

            "Some boards require architects, landlords, or engineers. Every board has a different requirement," said Gary Mohr, whose term on the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals expires at the end of March.

Volunteers that hold committee offices are eligible, in most cases, for two, three-year terms.

            The restriction on the number of terms a person can take is likely another causes of the position vacancies.

            "People's terms expire, and you can only be appointed to so many terms, so you just can't serve after that," said Harris. "Then we're left with an empty spot until it is filled."

            A committee member who is eligible for another term can sometimes fill open positions, but sometimes the mayor must appoint a new member.

            "If we have a vacancy, the mayors will sometimes talk to the applicants about what they've applied for. They'll look at everybody who has applied, and make a decision about who fits best from there," said Bobbie Walthall, a representative from the City Manager's office.

            Lawrence residents who are interested in filling a vacancy in any of the city advisory boards can apply online at the City of Lawrence website or send a letter of interest to Mayor Mike Dever.