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Susan Klug, a Para for West junior high school, spent this summer unlike her previous two. Instead of working with students through summer school she stays busy taking care of her sick father.
    Even though she knows that she needed to take the summer off to care for her father, a summer away from her students reminds her of what could happen. Being without a job.
    "It makes me really nervous because I know that they've had to cut hours," Klug said.



    This past year a tight state budget has caused cuts in education funding. The Lawrence Public School system is feeling the effects and recently job layoffs due to budget cuts has become a reality to district officials. However there has been good news on the horizon.
    The Lawrence Public School system received $1.6 million in extra funding because they were able to include students from the virtual school in the district enrollment count. The extra students mean they can count them in the district budget, which means more money from the state.
    In a recent school board meeting district officials said that the extra money meant no more budget cuts for this year. Frank Harwood, chief operations officer said that although things look good for the year, future cuts are still a possibility.
    Although cuts won't be happening this year, the future still worries Klug because her Para job is a classified job and those are the first to go when the cuts happen. 
    According to Klug, classified employees make up the support staff of a school. These employees include secretaries, janitors and library aids.  Klug feels that even though they are the first jobs to be cut, they are still important.
    "The school could not function without the classifieds, they need us," Klug said.
    Nikki Freeman, a fellow Para at West junior high school said that even though she and Klug are classified employee's Para's tend to be the last cut jobs because schools are required to employee Para's in order to help special needs students.
    "They have to keep us to please the state but there still aren't enough of us to help all the students but we do our best," Freeman said.
    According to Klug, when classified jobs are cut, other staff members have to take on extra responsibilities in order to keep the school running. Klug agreed with Freeman that they often have to help each other just to get to all the students that they have.
    "Para's don't just help their own students, they often have to help fellow students because there aren't enough of us," Klug said.
    Klug said that she became a Para five years ago because she liked the idea of working with kids and the schedule worked for her family. She doesn't want to leave her school but said that if she were to lose her job she would try to get a job at another school because it is what she loves.
    Freeman and Klug both agreed that even though classified and even certified jobs are at stake, they are not the people most affected by the loss of crucial staff members.
    "Our kids are most affected because there are student that need the extra help and aren't going to be able to get it," Klug said.
    "It's a great disservice to our students that need that one on one time in order to learn better," Freeman said.
    With the extra money in place, the school board hopes that when the time comes in the future they won't have to make any cuts but realize it's always a possibility. Klug said that while she feels safe this year, her concerns would always stay with the kids.
    When we start cutting back, we just hurt the kids because they don't get what they need," Klug said.

Malcolm Miller is a busy guy. On this evening he sits and relaxes for the first time in days but it won't last for long. He is moving into his new house on 11th and Delaware. Surrounded by unpacked boxes and unarranged furniture he looks like a typical 22-year-old but unlike most this new house is important because it is the first house he has ever bought himself.
    As a lifetime Lawrence resident, Miller is able to afford his new house with the money he earns from his four jobs. He works as a barber, a doughnut maker and even earns free coffee by taking out the trash at Henry's every night.
    "I've always found ways to make money, even when I was little just selling Kool-Aid," Miller said.
    Although he loves all of his jobs, Miller says there is one in particular that he combines his ability to make money with his favorite hobby, watching movies.
    Miller says that when he was younger he remembers going to Liberty Hall to see special midnight showings of old cult classic movies. This didn't last long and the absence of the activity left him wondering what happened. So Miller contacted his friend Jeremiah Hansen at Liberty Hall. Hansen told him that a lack of interest caused the promoters to stop having the showings. That's when Miller asked Hansen to join up and bring Midnight Movie Madness back to Lawrence.
    Since their first showing in November 2007, Miller and Hansen spent the weeks leading up to the event doing the same thing. They start by agreeing on a movie and then contact their distributor to see if it is available. If it is, Hansen obtains the rights and rents out Liberty Hall. Once that is done Miller says his work begins.
He is in charge of promotion and getting the word out about Midnight Movie Madness. Millers says he uses social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to inform people, along with flyers and good old fashioned word of mouth.
    In his latest venture Miller came up with the idea of making shirts that people could buy that would count as admission to the film. The first time he tried out his idea was for the June 2009 showing of the Cohen brother's film, "The Big Lebowski." Miller had only two dozen shirts made and found that he underestimated the popularity of the film.
    "We made 24 shirts for 'The Big Lebowski' thinking they would sell out in two weeks but they sold out it 2 days, now we are making 48 for the next movie," Miller said.
    That showing turned out to be the best to-date selling out Liberty Hall with just fewer than 600 tickets sold, according to Miller. Abby Woody, an attendee of the showing and friend of Miller said it was very exciting to see such a great response from the community.
    "There were so many people there, it was so fun. Everyone was clapping and making jokes, it was awesome," Woody said.
 Although "The Big Lebowski" was a success, Miller says every showing isn't always that successful. Last year he and Hansen showed Stanley Kubrick's, "A Clockwork Orange," thinking it would be a success. They just forgot one simple rule of business: know what you're up against.
    ""Only about 100 people showed up, which was a little disappointing but I think anyone who was at the movies was at "The Dark Knight" because it was the opening weekend for that film," Miller said.
    Even though it isn't always as successful as he wants it to be Miller says that he continues to forge forward. For each of the 25 movies they have shown so far, Miller says he and Hansen either broke even or made less then $40 from their original investment. Although he has a love for movies Miller likes to think of himself as an entrepreneur and wants to make money.
    "For years we were lucky if we got $40 every month, it's truly a labor of love and we have always said we don't necessarily do it for the money but we wouldn't necessarily do it if we didn't get any money," Miller said.
    Miller says he doesn't see much in his future using his skills as an events promoter but says he is content putting on Midnight Movie Madness every month despite having little time for much else in his life.
    "What little time I have I don't mind putting towards this because it's movies that I love and want to see on the big screen," Miller said.
    His love of film began in high school, when he took a film studies class and fell in love with making movies. Miller considers making and watching films his biggest hobbies, along with photography. Woody says this has been the defining factor of Miller since they met.
    "I have known Malcolm for four years and he has always been the friend to want to go to the movies every weekend. It didn't surprise me that he wanted to do Midnight Movie Madness, he just loves movies," Woody said.


 
     Miller says he plans to do Midnight Movie Madness for as long as he is able to and wouldn't mind making it his career even if it meant having to hand over the reigns over to someone else in the future.
    "I don't mind letting it live on, especially if I know that whoever continues it has the same passion for films and putting this on as much as I do, especially if I could still make some money off it somehow," Miller said.
    Now Miller has more to do than ever, aside from promoting the next movie, he still has to move into his house. He will get a break next week though, Miller said he is taking a week long vacation to New York City. The success of Midnight Movie Madness is helping provide the money for the trip. Miller is looking forward to relaxing but knows when he gets back he has more work to do.
    "Another month means another and I don't have as much time to prepare but I'll get it done, just like I always do," Miller said.

Recent KU graduate England Porter has spent the last two years of her college career caring about the environment. Aside from graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies, she worked with many campus groups including the Potter lake project, student environment advisory board and green builders.

 

However it wasn't just her love of the environment that got her so involved during her junior year, it was the passion of a friend.

 

"I was involved with a rain garden project with my friend and he really encouraged me and everyone else to become involved in environmental programs and taught us why they are so important," Porter said.

 

The University has several programs through the center for sustainability that helps provide education and outreach for students to get involved. Now Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability, is reaching out to the city government to apply for a grant that would provide funding for a sustainability outreach partnership between the city of Lawrence and KU.

 

The grant is an E.P.A. sponsored grant called Climate Showcase Communities, which totals $10 million to fund the implementation of projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while achieving other community and education benefits. Each program can apply for up to $100,000.

 

Cynthia Boecker, assistant city manager, has been working on applying for energy grants for the city following the final report of the mayor's climate protection task force, which was created at the end of last year, in order to come up with plans for future sustainability in Lawrence. Boecker said Severin approached her while working on applications.

 

"Jeff and I are working to put together a program to apply for the grant which would be ran by student volunteers that would consist of providing education to students about energy conservation," Boecker said.

 

The announcement of the grant by the E.P.A. comes only months following the final report of the climate task protection force, which was released in March. The final report detailed the main goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Lawrence 80 percent by 2050. Other goals included educational outreach through funding of Federal grants.

 

Porter says she thinks it is important for KU to work with the city of Lawrence because not all students live on campus but are part of the Lawrence community.

 

"KU is a large part of what defines Lawrence so it would be beneficial for them to work together," Porter said.

 

Although Boecker says she and Severin met for the first time last Wednesday, she is optimistic about the potential program. The deadline for application of the grant is July 22, 2009 and while only 20 to 30 grants will be awarded Boecker feels strongly about their chances.

 

"It's going to be competitive but I think we have a strong program," Boecker said.

   
    It's a Saturday afternoon and Jenny Frye wheezes as she spends her day off moving her belongings into her parent's house. Since the recession she's cut back on her expenses and moved back in with her parents. Now on this hot day, the recession has caused her to be without what will stop her wheezing.

    Her inhaler.

    "I stopped using it about a month ago because it was too expensive, sometimes I use my mom's but only in emergencies," Frye said.


    This month the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation released survey results that revealed that of those polled, 55 percent were ignoring medical needs because of cost. Another 26 percent, like Jenny Frye, failed to fill their prescriptions for the same reason.
    "Sometimes you just have to pick and choose what you can afford," Frye said.
    Despite having insurance through her job, Jenny said after three months she would have to pay $110 out of pocket for her three prescriptions. Her insurance takes a total of $300 from her paychecks in a year through a reimbursement program and with her prescription costing as much as they do she can only afford them for a short time and that's if she doesn't get sick.
    Although some people are cutting back on costly prescriptions some local pharmacies haven't yet seen a decline in sales.
    Matt Lewis, Target Pharmacy Team Leader says he's seen the same about of business than last year.
    "There have been days where the only reason the store has made its sales goal for the day was because of us but I would say it's been the same," Lewis said.
    Lewis said that Target offers several incentives to keep their guests refilling their prescriptions and that is what attributes to the stability in sales. Some of these incentives include the pharmacy rewards program, auto-refill system and generic medications, which are four dollars for a 30-day supply and $10 for a 90-day supply.
    "In most cases we will refill with generics without asking, they cost less and there is no added fee to get them," Lewis said.


    Several other local pharmacies offer reduced priced generics for the same price including Wal-mart and Dillons. CVS offers a 90-day supply for $9.99 and Walgreens offers a 90-day supply for $12 with a membership in its prescription savings club. Enrollment also includes a $20 yearly fee for individuals and $35 for familes.
Aside from the generics programs several pharmacies offer free shipping on deliveries, coupons and auto refills in order to keep people buying their prescriptions. Although there are incentives, Lewis said it all came down to price.
    "In the past month I've seen more people ask for the price before filling," Lewis said.