Multimedia Reporting (Bradford)

In the fall semester KU On Wheels will have a new program called SafeBus. The bill was tabled on March 7, but students voted it in during the 2007 elections after a petition of signatures got it on the ballot.

“SafeBus provides a regulated safe form of transportation for students,” Thomas Cox, Shawnee Junior and the bill’s author said. “It is useful because it reduces students dependency on cars for transportation on the weekend nights. Students without cars now have a viable means of getting both out and around town.” Students will now pay an extra fee of $4, which will be added to the SafeRide fee.

SafeBus will work with together with SafeRide, KU’s free transportation service providing students with safe transportation home. It is a safe alternative to drunk driving or walking alone. KU on Wheels runs SafeRide, as well as other services including the bus system. As part of a transportation fee included in tuition, KU students pay $6 to pay for SafeRide. SafeRide takes students anywhere with Lawrence city limits and requires a KU student ID. SafeRide will only take students to their residencies.

While during the regular school year SafeRide runs everyday from 10:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., SafeBus will tentatively run from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Routes

Though the routes are being worked on, some are already known.

“The bus will run to all the dorms, down 6th street, down 9th street, to Colony Woods probably, to all the Greek houses, basically any area with a high student population is a potential stop,” May Davis, Transportation Coordinator, said. “There will be three routes and two buses on each route, but eight buses equipped to run.”

“Many streets are not conducive to busses or bus stops, so we are currently working around that,” Davis said. SafeBus will be different from the daytime bus service. While students can wave down those buses to be picked up at corners and get off by using the bell strip, Safebus will be a fixed stop system, for safety and ease, said Davis.

Each bus will have security cameras to further protect students and no student would have to wait more than 15 minutes for a bus. “This will mean a fewer waiting time and a more efficient service,” said Davis.

Uses

“I think that having more ways to get home safely is a nice idea,” Charlie Stern, Topeka Sophomore, said. “At first I thought that it was competing with SafeRide but now that I see they are working together I think it’s a good system. I’m interested in what the routes actually end up being.”

One of the main appeals of SafeBus is the ability to transport passengers to the nighttime destination as well as back home. “A lot of foreign exchange students living in the dorms use SafeRide because they don’t have cars,” Stern said. “With SafeBus they can go out more easily and get home safely.”

“It is vital that the collective population of KU do what it can to protect all KU students,” Sara Shannon, Ottowa Junior said. “SafeBus helps those that need rides home on weekends, keeps drunk drivers off the streets, and can reduce the frequency of violent crime in student neighborhoods,”

Other Schools

KU is not the only university that uses SafeBus. Both the University of Iowa and The University of Texas use a similar program. Texas uses the E-Bus to keep students safe. A Texas ID is required but without an ID the charge is 50 cents. Iowa uses a late night SafeBus Friday and Saturday.

“It is refreshing to see a student senator working for something that helps students directly. I've never successfully used SafeRide in my two years at KU, I've always gotten stranded, so heck yes I will use the SafeBus.” Shannon said.

On Tuesday, June 19, the City Commission will decide what to do about the issue of pesticide in Lawrence’s parks. As of now 34 of Lawrence’s 52 parks are free of pesticide. The Pesticide-Free Parks Project, a community group, has pushed for the removal of the chemical from parks since 2002. The largely volunteer-based group has weeded and helped maintain the parks, with the help of Lawrence Parks and Recreation. The City Commission will decide on a memorandum concerning giving additional funding to the project in the 2008 budget to make and keep the remaining parks pesticide free. The cost: around $60,000 per year.

“We have a demand to do it without the money to do it,” Mark Hecker, parks and maintenance superintendent, said. “Keeping parks pesticide-free takes more manpower, and more manpower equals more money.”

The extra money would pay for a new staff to trim the parks, because the chemical Round Up would no longer be used. According to the memorandum the staff would cost approximately $57,600 per year, and there would also be an annual fuel cost of $1,000. There would be one-time cost of at least one truck, $16,000, as well as weed-eaters, $1,800. Volunteers have done this type of work in the past, but they are decreasing in numbers, said Hecker. “At the start of the project there were a lot of volunteers, but lately there have not been as many.”

So much money and so many volunteers are not needed according to Marie Stockett, Co-Coordinator of the Pesticide-Free Parks Project. The project needed a lot of volunteers to start, but now the parks can be pesticide-free with less maintenance, she said.

Watson Park

In 2005 Watson Park was used in a pilot program to see if a high profile park could be maintained pesticide-free for one year. Watson Park was chosen because it is one of the hardest parks to maintain. Thirty other smaller parks were also being maintained pesticide-free initially. The program was based on other cities that have pesticide-free parks, including Seattle and Carrboro, North Carolina.

“We started [the project] July 2005 for half the season, then we did the entire weeding season in 2006,” Stockett, said. “ The department even said the pilot project was successful. We showed it could be done.”

“The difference is how we manage the parks,” Stockett said. “The Parks and Recreation Department allows weeds to grow and then sprays them, and we are trying to prevent them altogether. We are switching from a managing system to a prevention system.”

The first year was hard for the group of volunteers, but maintaining the park the second year proved to be easier. “In the second year, Parks and Recreation put down a good layer of mulch. In some beds they even put newspaper down before mulch, which really helps with weeds,” Stockett said.

In two years there were around 60 to 70 volunteers working in the park, with varying ranges of participation. “We had community weeding events to bring people out. Sometimes a person would come out once and weed for a few hours. Some people adopted beds and would tend to them,” Stockett said. After the program was set up in the park, fewer volunteers were needed, Stockett added. Parks and Recreation then took over most of the maintenance. However, the community weeding wasn’t the only program implemented to make Lawrence parks safer.

Notification and Alternatives

“We put signs in the park before we spray, and they are left up for 24 hours after we spray,” Hecker said. The signs include the name and active ingredient of the pesticide product and the date of pesticide use.

This is an issue that Parks and Recreation and The Pesticide-Free Parks Project are still debating.

“We would like the notices to be kept up a little longer, like say 72 hours, but I am glad the city is putting some for sort of notification up,” Stockett said. “Before 2005 there wouldn’t be any signs placed in the parks. The parks would be freshly sprayed and people would be walking through it. I think it was a pretty dangerous situation.” Parks and Recreation also experimented with replacements for pesticide.

“We started tested some alternative products, but they were harder to come by and not very cost effective,” Hecker said. The alternative pesticides used were two of the least toxic pesticides, EPA category III and IV. People can be exposed to pesticides by inhaling them or absorbing them through skin.

The Public

“I’ve been really impressed with Lawrence parks but I had no idea they used pesticide in the parks,” Shannon Graham, Lawrence resident and mother of four, said. “I am going to take my kids to the parks without pesticides.”

“No one wants pesticides in the parks, but this is a budget issue.” Hecker said. With the program set for debate on Tuesday, Stockett is unsure what the outcome will be.

“They will not cut what already exists, I hope. I would be happy with a movement forward. If they make one more park pesticide-free it’s OK. I would be surprised if they funded it all. I would be elated as well.” Stockett said.

The Flint Hills are a beautiful symbol of Kansas. Click the image for an audio slideshow.

The East Central District Horse Show held its annual competition at the Douglas county fairgrounds on Tuesday, July 10- Thursday, July 12. The regional competition included 4-H members from nine different counties, all within east central Kansas. The self-proclaimed “4-Hers” competed in varied events that members choose to be their area of expertise.

Friends and family filled the county arena to watch 40 participants compete in 13 events including showmanship, horsemanship, reining, barrels, flag races, and pole bending among others.

The 4-H program encouraged community involvement, although the show brought added levels of nerves to the arena for some competitors. Each event challenges riders to maintain control of the horse and concentrate on focus while on horse-back.

“The upper level competition is a lot more stressful and serious,” Chelcie Sutherland, an 18-year-old rider from Leroy, Ks, said. “It can last from 6:00pm-midnight.”

Riders varied from ages 10-18 years-old and showcased their talents in front of a judge at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. in hopes of winning ribbons. Riders were evaluated based on certain criteria. Ribbons, based on a color system composed of white, red, blue and purple ribbons, were
awarded during a ceremony at the end of each event. Recipients of blue and purple ribbons are invited to the statewide competition in September.

Libby Lugar, second-year judge and member of the University of Nebraska Equine Judging team, said that the competition was good, and the environment was relaxed.

“I look at quality of riding, horse-control and polish overall,” Lugar said.

Although riders completed for placement, the event focused on more than just ribbons. The show was designed to increase summer activity within the age group and promote responsibility and leadership.

“People have to work with horses everyday. Only a few 4-H things are like that,” Robin Billen, Osage county 4-H group leader, said. “Horses take a lot of dedication. It gives kids a sense of pride.”

Competitors are required for their own horse maintenance, equipment and other equine needs during the horse show. Members are also responsible for the commitment outside the show arena, which can take up a lot of time.

“The kids ride everyday,” Billen said. “They take total care of the horse. They clean it, feed it and clean up after it.”

Many competitors have been riding since they were young. Sutherland, who qualified for every event she competed in, has been riding since she was 4-years-old and dedicates her time as a year-round commitment.

“I enjoy riding everyday,” Sutherland said. “I have trainers during the winter so I can still ride inside. It’s just something fun to do.”

Several riders used bright colors and designs in horse accessories such as stockings and different styles of western wear to display their individual style and equine flare.

The event was strictly volunteer-based. Volunteering adults are asked to be team leaders and help anywhere from concession stands to judging. Each adult helped organize participants during the event.

The 4-H program centers around the four ways youth can grow and develop in 4-H: head, heart, hands and health. Darby Zaremba, 4-H Club horse leader, said that the 4-H community also teaches kids life skills that will benefit the future.

“With 4-H, we have better communities,” Zaremba said. “We are creating better leaders.”

While the discussions might have started with robots and aliens, they eventually evolved to what kind of mindset an author was in when they wrote a particular story. This was clearly not an ordinary class. This was the Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction.

Science fiction writing is an interest to people both inside and outside the classroom. The Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction was held in Nunemaker Center from July 9 to July 20.

Students read stories then discussed them in class, which was held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. everyday. James Gunn, Professor emeritus of English, organized the discussions of the class.

The class was part of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which included simultaneous workshops in science fiction writing in short fiction, science fiction writing workshop in the novel. These workshops happened June 25 to July 5.

The reading list consisted of four books, volumes 1-4 of The Road to Science Fiction, which are anthologies by James Gunn. The books covered the start of science fiction, the beginning of the golden age, the golden age and modern science fiction. The students were to read the books, then re-read them for the class, where they were discussed.

It’s a very rigorous class, you can have so many interpretations of the same piece of work.” Said Gunn.

“I enjoyed the class because it gave me an academic perspective of science fiction,” said Jarrod Morgenstern, Overland Park senior. Morgenstern, a self-professed “si-fi dork” said he had read a lot of the stories before but the class helped him get a better idea of what the author was thinking.

There were eight undergraduate students and five graduate students. Grades in the class were based on participation, attendance and a paper due four weeks after the class ends. The paper can be on several novels by the same author, novels with similar themes, a short story or a lesson plan. The class is three hours of credit for “Science Fiction” or “Studies in a Genre”.

James Gunn, who has been named grand master of science fiction for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc., has written or edited over 40 science fiction books. Gunn has also won the Pilgrim, Hugo and Eaton awards.

The learning continued outside the classroom. Six of the students lived in the dorms during the class. Most of the class, including Gunn would have lunch at Ekdahl Dining Commons during the hour before class. They would discuss science fiction and teaching strategies.

“It’s pretty much every waking hour we’re talking science fiction,” said Chris McKitterick, associate professor in English, also helped with class discussions. McKitterick has been working with Gun on the institute since 1992. McKitterick is a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award juror and a science fiction author. There are a lot of lively conversations because a lot of the people in the class are very serious about teaching science fiction and teaching in general, said McKitterick.

The camp started right after the annual Campbell Conference, which was held July 6 to July 9. Awards are given to science fiction and students had to opportunity to meet and talk with well-known science fiction authors.

Nathaniel Williams, Kansas City graduate student, said an institute just on the teaching of science fiction is important because it can be helpful with other subjects.

“It can be used as a tool for teaching biology or teaching philosophy or any of these big concepts that are out there,” said Williams.

It’s not a class you just leave and not think about again,” said Gunn.

Click here for a slideshow