Volume 124 Issue 111
kansan.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012
HOUSING
PAGE 13
Deciding the perfect place for children
Mary Mba and her children making Valentine's Day crafts at Stouffer Place.
DYLAN SNYDER/KANSAN
Daycare proximity key factor in housing decision for next year.
DYLAN SNYDER
dsnyder@kansan.com
Between the dorms, the lofts that overlook Massachusetts Street and the homes on Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, Lawrence offers a wide variety of housing options for students. When signing a lease, most students consider the proximity to campus and the price of rent, but students who have children must weigh their choices more carefully.
Josh Fieleke, a former student who is now a member of Campus Crusade for Christ., had to find a place that would be suitable for his 20-month-old daughter.
"We were looking for a place with clean carpet because our baby was about to be crawling," Fieleke said. "We were looking for a quieter place so our baby could sleep."
After searching around town, Fieleke settled on a townhome. The townhome's setup offered all that he was looking for and a bit of privacy as well.
Mary Mba, a doctorate student from Manhattan, had the same challenge. When she moved to Lawrence in 2007 to begin studies on her doctorate degree, she moved with her three children: ages four, six and nine. She wanted to find a place near playgrounds and families with similar living situations.
"I was particularly interested in living in a peaceful place that would be family friendly," Mba said. "I also wanted a place where it would be possible for me to get to access all of my children's schools and childcare easily, so Hilltop Daycare was a choice.
I needed to be able to get there fast from campus."
Daycare, a daycare operated by the University. According to the Department of Student Housing, about 55 percent of the Stouffer Place resi-
After shopping around, Mba settled on Stouffer Place Association, on-campus student housing tailored for graduate students and students with families. Stouffer Place Association, formerly known as the Stouffer Neighborhood Association, opened in 1957 as a section of student housing open specifically to graduate students and students with families.
"I was particularly interested in living in a peaceful place that would be family friendly."
"Since it is mainly students who live there, it is easy to stay focused on my academic work as I see others doing the same." Mba said. "So it is easy to self-motivate in an environment like the Stouffer Place and keep our children focused as well."
Not only is Stouffer Place located on campus, but it is within walking distance of the Hilltop
MARY MBA doctorate student
of the student Pads
dents are families, and 150
children live there. The
apartments offer lau-
dry services, utilities are
included in the rent and
the Associate Director for
Residence Life, Jennifer
Wamelink, says that there
are plans to reduce the
rent as much as possible.
There are also housing
scholarships available to
students who quality.
There are a limited number of apartments in Stouffer Place, so admittance is granted on a first come, first served basis.
Many students choose to live off campus. Danyel Bell, a masters student from Lawrence , has a 7-year-old daughter, Victoria. Bell was looking for a place near an elementary school and away from traditional students. Bell searched Craigslist and drove around town looking for a place that would be right for her
and her familv.
"It would be nice if information about day care and housing were available or suggested during the admittance process," Bell said. "If I were a freshman just coming from high school, I would probably get information about living on campus, but that is not an option for me, and there is very limited availability for housing for non-traditional students on campus, anyway."
There are few resources dedicated to help students with families find a safe and affordable place to live. However, the Non-Traditional Student Foundation is a group dedicated to providing services and resources to non-traditional students. But because there are no complexes in Lawrence dedicated solely to families with children, students may find themselves living next to students with kids.
"I have had single-student neighbors who partied until late into the night," Mba said. "They too should be considerate in the way that they conduct themselves and know that there are neighbors with children living next door."
Edited by Taylor Lewis
DYLAN SNYDER/KANSAN
Victoria Bell, Danyel's daughter.
Advocates have been optimistic about the trend and the possible reduction of prejudice, but Egan explored several problems with the hypothesis and its conclusion. Data gathered in polls and studies does not fully examine the factors that might make a person more likely to have a relationship with a gay person, which can produce biased data.
mimicking a person to a mother or family member who is gay positively affects a person's views about people who are gay.
But the biggest problem is disclosure. Most research on the contact hypothesis doesn't consider whether or not the gay friend, co-worker or family member actually said they were gay or if it was assumed.
Egan pointed out that straight people can fairly accurately deter-
"My guess is that when students first come to college, it's often the first time they encounter a gay or lesbian person who acknowledges their identity." Egan said. "By every indication, that should be a pretty powerful predictor and changer of attitudes."
Jake Longraker, a graduate student in political science from DeSoto, said Egan's research was very current and showed the dramatic attitude shifts regarding gays and lesbians. It's a topic that he explores in his own research of LGBT communities in Latin America.
Research also shows that in the time between freshman and senior year, students generally become more tolerant of gays and lesbians, Egan said.
"Knowing what the attitudes
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Patrick J. Egan, Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York University, delivers a lecture called, "Frontiers in Research on Attitudes Among and About Gay People," at Watson Library Tuesday afternoon. The lecture was part of the Clifford P. Ketzel Speaker Series for the Expression of Minority Opinions.
are of people, and how you can improve the situation so that you can make those positive changes and you can make changes in laws, is important," Longraker said.
Donald Haider-Markel, chair of the Political Science department, said Egan's presentation was part of a lecture series featuring controversial speakers. Egan's presentation was controversial not only because it discussed gays and lesbians, but also because it challenged the common understanding of how the contact hypothesis applies to the LGBT community. Although the lecture series hasn't been going on in recent years, he hopes to make it an annual event.
Edited by Christine Curtin
public broadcasting network. The Colbert Report also ran a clip about it, according to C. J. Janovy, director of communications at KU Medical Center. "This is obviously a topic of wide interest." Janovy said.
For over a decade, Tash and collaborators developed a compound that blocks sperm production and was originally part of a cancer treatment. The side effects from this included infertility.
The term "infertility" may seem scary, but if men are taking the pill and decide they want to conceive, they just stop taking the pill.
"It's not only 100 percent effective, but 100 percent reversible, which is the holy grail of a contraceptive," Tash said.
The drug has seen effectiveness and safety for testing in mice, rabbits and most recently, primates. The animal testing has also shown the offspring produced by former users
H LEE/KANSAN fley, a computer
al and without
for ted
paring for its FDA to begin will begin in The length of oval is unclear, ion-hormonal
e paving new DA", Tash said. graduate stu Camaroon, is researching on disrupting sperm development as another form of non- hormonal male contraceptive. While Agbor's work is still preparing for animal testing, Agbor sees the importance of increased options for male contraceptives.
"By producing more male birth control, it's going to help males contribute to family planning." Agbor said.
The development of these drugs could potentially impact the world, said Tash. Tash cited that half of all pregnancies are unplanned and in the US, half of those unplanned pregnancies occurred while under supposed use of contraceptives. Tash recently presented to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as an expert in contraception.
"The simpler a contraceptive is to use, the more desirable and easy it is to distribute and use" Tash said.
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 4
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Edited by Bre Roach
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