Volume 124 Issue 77
kansan.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
the student voice since 1904
New student housing, lost mobile homes
Long-time residents risk displacement with proposal
PAGE 3
INTERNET
A protest in cyberspace works to fight SOPA legislation
Major Supporters
U. S. Chamber of Commerce Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. American Federation of Musicians NBC Universal, Inc. Major League Baseball National Football League News Corporation
VIKAAS SHANKER
vshanker@kansan.com
Black screens fill the Internet today as website owners and companies protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) that are being discussed in Congress. The legislation is being presented as necessary online piracy deterrents, but it may lead to limitations on Internet freedoms.
Websites including Reddit.com, Wikipedia.org, WordPress.com and Google.com are among thousands of sites that are participating in the protest, according to the House Judiciary Committee website and Sopastrike.com. The protest began at midnight and will last throughout the day.
Reddit.com, Wikipedia.org and WordPress.com have blacked out, and Google.com posted a link on its homepage stating its opposition to the two acts. Facebook.com hasn't joined the protest as of last night, but it has denounced the legislation. If the SOPA passes in Congress, it will allow original content producers in
the United States to file court orders against websites that illegally distribute or enable privacy of their content. It builds on the PIPA, which would give legal authorities the right to ask Internet service providers to prevent access to specific websites.
["SOPA] could create an obstacle to free use of the Internet," said Mike Kautsch, a professor of media and First Amendment law at the University. "Under this bill, the government would be empowered to basically prevent people from using websites or maintaining and operating websites if infringing on copyright materials."
To recruit websites to participate in today's protest, organizers from Fight for the Future, a non-profit group advocating for online freedom, set up Sopastrike.com. The site is advocating for the blackout and gives website owners a place to sign up for the protest. The site is less than a week old but has gathered more than 1,500 individual websites for the blackout.
"We launched it last Thursday, but we've been working on this issue and working on American
censorship since November," said Tiffany Cheng, co-founder of Fight for the Future.
The website is just one of many spreading awareness about the protest.
"We have been working with other groups," Cheng said, "but this is really a part of a grassroots movement."
Conversely, the list of organizations supporting the two bills includes music, film and professional sports associations, cable networks, television stations and pharmaceutical organizations, according to statements and letters of support on the U.S. House of Representatives' website.
"The ideal is to have a law that would prohibit [piracy]," Kautsch said. "The U.S. government would be in a position to bring an action or stop a website that would pirate works."
Opponents say the bill's language is too broad and can be applied to censor-critical, whistle-blowing websites as well as provide restrictions on site-linking.
"I think the objection is broad,"
Kautsch said, "SOPA is seen as an effort to change the way that the U.S. citizens use the Internet and essentially put the free use under the watchful eye of the government."
The two bills are currently losing support from legislators after SOPA was delayed pending "outstanding concerns" within the House of Representative's judiciary committee. Additionally, President Barack Obama's technology staff blogged that "...We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."
IF SOPA passes and Obama doesn't veto it, along with combating online piracy it could also challenge tenets of the First Amendment, Kautsch said
"It could create an opportunity for members of the executive or judicial branch to make arbitrary decisions on what websites can be censored based on personal views," he said.
—Edited by Taylor Lewis
Major Opponents
Facebook, Inc.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
reddit inc.
Wordpress
Minecraft
MoveOn.org
Mozilla Foundation
LOCAL
Boarding houses decision deferred
RACHEL SALYER
rsalyer@kansan.com
The Lawrence City Commission deferred a decision to limit the number of boarding houses allowed in the Oread neighborhood in its weekly meeting at City Hall Tuesday night.
City commissioners are in favor of changing the current regulation to 4,500 gross square feet, with a half parking space for each bedroom.
This measure would limit the amount of eligible houses in the Oread neighborhood to 20 homes, which is 4.5 percent of the neighborhood.
Commissioners agreed to defer the decision because the planning commission's research did not clarify whether the 4,500 square-foot number, which yielded the 20 homes, included only basements, or both basements and attics.
Currently, a boarding house must be 3,500 square feet, including unfinished attic and basement areas, with the understanding that those areas could be habitable eventually. Houses must also provide a half parking space per bedroom.
The idea to change the square-footage requirement came after the city planning commission's research showed that 83 homes, or 20 percent of the Oread neighborhood, would be eligible to become boarding houses under the current 3,500 square-feet rule.
As long as those requirements are met, each boarding house is able to have more than four unrelated occupants.
The discussion at the meeting
was tabled, meaning the opinions of the public in attendance' will be taken into consideration, but the floor will not be open for further discussion when the decision is made next week.
The commission heard from several citizens, most being from either the Oread Neighborhood Association, which consists largely of landlords and tenants, and the Oread Residents Association, consisting mostly of homeowners.
The Oread Residents Association was concerned that having so many students in the neighborhood could affect parking, partying and trash. Residents said they would like to avoid an unpleasant living environment.
The neighborhood association said most Oread homes are historical and deserve to be restored. It also said Oread homes are too costly for most single families to afford, and renovations are difficult enough without additional regulations.
The commission thanked the residents for their input and said its goal is to improve the quality of living in the Oread neighborhood.
If the new regulations pass, it is uncertain how long they will last, because the upcoming Oread Neighborhood Plan and overlying districts may call for changes to boarding houses.
The next city commission meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 6:35 p.m.
at Lawrence City Hall.
Edited by Caroline Kraft and Corinne Westeman
WEATHER
La Niña brings dry Kansas winter
Kansas weather has always been irregular, as many who live in Kansas have experienced, and this year is no exception. La Nina — "the little girl" — a weather pattern characterized by drier, warmer climate, has been prevalent during this winter season.
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
"We've been in a fairly persistent La Niña since mid-2010," said Shawn Millrad, an assistant meteorology professor at the University.
Although the possibility of freezing temperatures and blizzards exist, cold days and snow are less frequent during this type of dry winter season. La Niña occurs every three to seven years and is caused by the eastern Pacific Ocean being colder than the western Pacific, Millrad said. The opposite is true for El Niño, which is a weather pattern of unusually hot temperatures that alternates with La Niña. La Niña's effects on North American jet streams have ultimately made this Kansas winter dry and warm.
Although last winter was also a La Niña season, Kansas saw lower temperatures and more snow because of the weather pattern called the North Atlantic Oscillation.
"The oscillation aligns with La Niña this year, whereas last year it was competing," said Prescott Bishop, a meteorology graduate student from San Jose, Calif.
These competing weather trends point to the great complexity of factors that affect weather. To forecast as accurately as possible, researchers developed weather models, which depend on many factors.
"We don't have it completely pinpointed as to what all actions necesarily cause reactions," said Garrett
Black, a senior and meteorology
Index
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 4
Today's Weather
Don't forget
II contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
Catch your favorite Nickelodeon heartthrob, Drake Bell, at the Bottleneck tonight! He's play ing with his band at 8 p.m.
Forecasts done by University students. For a more detailed forecast see page 2A.
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