2A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
TUESDAY. OCTOBER 11. 2005
TUESDAY top10
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORPORATION
Top 10 Most Frequent Crimes
In Lawrence
10. Domestic Battery
9. Forgery
8. Criminal damage to property,
misdemeanors
7.Theft more than $500, less than
$25,000
6. Disorderly Conduct
5. Battery
4. Burglary, motor vehicle
3. Criminal damage to property
2.Theft, misdemeanor
1.Theft, loss of <$500
Group hosts coming out celebration
LGBT
BY MALINDA OSBORNE
mosborne@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Coming out in support of a group has taken on a whole new meaning today thanks to Queers & Allies celebration of National Coming Out Day today.
Queers & Allies has planned multiple events in celebration. There will be a special "Coming Out Day" social event at 7:30 tonight in the International Room of the Kansas Union and a party Wednesday night at Liquid.
Queers & Allies also will have a table from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on Wescoe Beach. The group will provide informational fliers about coming out. The fliers will discuss what should be done before someone comes out publicly and how to deal with negative responses.
"It's hard to find a good time to come out, and lots of people make the mistake of doing it at the wrong time, like on holidays, when people are already stressed. Today gives them a better opportunity," said Maureen Warren, Garden City first-year graduate student and director of Queers & Allies.
Warren first came out publicly during her freshman year. She said although it was a difficult thing to do in the beginning, she felt relieved
that she had finally come to terms with herself.
"It was painful because I lost some friends, but in another way it was liberating because I didn't have to watch what I said and worry about revealing who I really was," she said.
Warren stressed that coming out is not something only queer persons do, but allies as well. She defined an ally as someone who not only believes LGBT people deserve the same legal protection as others but also that they make sure their voice is heard.
Justin La Mort, Cherryvale senior, declares himself as an ally to the LGBT community and said he worked to protect its rights.
"Some people say because I'm not gay, why should I do anything, it's pointless," he said. "But if you don't help prevent their liberties from being taken away now, who knows when it will be you?"
La Mort is president of the American Civil Liberties Union at the University of Kansas. ACLU and Queens & Allies will co-sponsor a letter-writing campaign on Wesco Beach to oppose proposed measures in the Kansas legislature towards same-sex parent couples wanting to adopt.
ACLU is also representing Lisa Johnston, a KU alumna and lesbian, who was denied adoption in Missouri on the basis of her sexual orientation and has taken her case to court.
"Being gay is not against the law. This legislation institutionalizes prejudice and ignorance. There is not a single reason why homosexuals can't raise children and yet here we are having the same debate." La Mort said.
Warren said being gay wasn't simply an issue about sexuality, but about respecting different points of view.
"I don't expect everyone to approve of my sexual orientation, but I do expect the same legal protection from hate crimes and prejudice," Warren said.
— Edited by Erick R. Schmidt
It was a snowy day in October ...
Mark Leffinnow/ROBILDER DAILY CAMERA
Joe Francis scrapes the snow off the windshield of his Jeep Monday in Nederland, Colo. Although it only rained in Boulder and other parts of Colorado, Nederland received several inches of snow.
STATE
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Governor lauds cooperation between agencies
"Emergency management systems really worked the way they were supposed to work," Sebelius told the League of Kansas Municipalities meeting in Wichita.
WICHITA — Gov Kathleen Sebelius said Monday she was pleased at the response of local and state emergency agencies to the recent floods in northeast Kansas, pointing to it as an example of the working relationship between local and state officials.
storm dumped up to a foot of rain over parts of northeast Kansas, stranding people in their homes and cars in the flash flooding that ensued in Jefferson, Jackson, Leavenworth and Shawnee counties.
The governor credited the partnership between local and state officials for the fact that the flooding caused no deaths or serious injuries.
On Oct. 2, an unexpected
Local responders who knew the people and needs of the community reacted quickly, and state agencies served as a backup to them. Sebelius told city leaders attending
a convention in Wichita.
The National Guard helped get people out of nursing homes and the Kansas Highway Patrol did door-to-door notification for voluntary evacuations.
"If there is any lesson we learned from Katrina, I hope it is the lesson of not putting ourselves in a position we are not able to respond adequately to events we cannot necessarily predict," she said.
The governor also listed other partnerships between state and local governments that have lowered costs by using the state's
buying power.
One of those allows local jails and the Department of Corrections to buy medications for prisoners at reduced prices.
In Wichita, for example, that has resulted in savings of 42 percent in drug costs.
The state health insurance plan — which now covers not only state employees but employees of 45 local government units — has lowered health care costs so much that employees will likely see a decrease in health care costs in the next two years, she said.
▼ SALARIES
Teaching assistants want salaries that provide living wage
BY ALY BARLAND
abarland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The Graduate Teaching Assistant Coalition has been in negotiations with University administrators to increase wages for graduate teaching assistants, who say the wages are not sufficient for the cost of living in Lawrence.
There have been five meetings between the negotiating teams to rework the contract. The contract formally ended on Oct. 1. The University will continue to operate under current guidelines until a new contract is finalized, said Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the provost.
The minimum salary for a GTA with a half-time position for the academic year at the University was $10,000 for the fiscal year 2005, but most GTAs have higher salaries than that, Johnson said.
Katy Martin, spokeswoman for the GTA negotiation team, said the University provided her with an estimation that the cost of living in Lawrence would be about $13,000 annually after the GTA tuition waiver.
Martin said from her experience and what she has heard from her peers, that number was incorrect.
The exact number compiled by the University for cost of GTA living expenses was $13,100, said Stephanie Covington, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Aid.
She said the majority of GTAs have had to take out loans in order to work for the University.
Covington said the $13,100 included estimated room and board, transportation, books and personal expenses.
"I suspect if you started looking at actual students' expenses, you would probably find that their figure is a little low," Martin said.
She said that cost of living would vary among individuals, and some would exceed the University's estimate.
"We just want them to have a good idea of what the costs are to live in Lawrence," Covington said.
The average salary for a GTA at the University as of the fiscal year 2005 was $12,647, according to Lynn Bretz, University Relations director.
Bretz said GTAs have had a 30 percent increase in salary over the past three years and that an extra $1 million yearly goes to GTAs. Bretz said the increase was made possible by the tuition increase before the fall semester.
The Kansan Association of Public Employees, or KAPE, represents the GTAC and has been negotiating with the University administrative team that does all negotiations with public employees.
Edited by Erick R. Schmidt
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