TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Proposed shelter raises concerns
By JJ Hensley jhensley@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A group of Oread neighborhood residents asked representatives from the Lawrence Open Shelter to reconsider plans to operate a homeless shelter at 944 Kentucky St.
Lawrence Open Shelter Inc. petitioned the city commission in January to allow the group of local homeless advocates to begin operating the open shelter. Until last night the group had heard little opposition to its plan to operate a shelter that accepts homeless clients if they have been drinking.
But during a meeting of Lawrence Open Shelter Inc., where members of the Oread neighborhood were invited to
voice their concerns, that opposition became clear.
"My concern is that with an open shelter you're opening the community to some pretty dangerous problems," said Jim Schneider, a social worker who owns and rents properties in the Oread neighborhood.
"Once you operate this shelter for a year the homeless population will go up, and I have a concern for the community once these people leave in the morning," Schneider said.
Board president Tom Wright opened the meeting by stating the board's intention to fit the shelter in the Oread neighborhood comfortably, without any problems.
"We want to work together to make sure it's a smooth operation that doesn't detract from the neighborhood around the shet-
ter." Wright said.
Other agencies in the Oread neighborhood offer services to Lawrence's homeless population. It's the reputation of the people who use those services that has Oread residents worried about an increasing homeless population. The residents said loitering and leaving trash were some of the problems in the neighborhood.
Representatives from Lawrence Open Shelter shared those concerns for the neighborhood around the shelter, said vice-president Liz Smith, a graduate student in social welfare.
Last summer three clients had privileges revoked at the open shelter at St. John's Catholic School for their actions in the neighborhood around the shelter.
Those punishments did little to quell the anxiety of the proposed shelter's Oread neighbors, whose goals were simple, said neighborhood association member and former mayor, Marci Francisco.
"We want to figure out how we can offer services to the people who need them and still maintain the strength of the neighborhood." Francisco said.
Residents and homeless advocates can voice their concerns tomorrow when Lawrence Open Shelter Inc. presents its site plan to the City-County Planning Commission. The planning commission proposals should be ready for the city commission's approval in a couple of weeks.
Edited by Erin Chapman
Workshop discusses ID theft prevention
By Erin Ohm eohm@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
To prevent identity theft, individuals must take responsibility for protecting their personal information.
Lauren Reinhold, staff attorney at Legal Services for Students, recommended that students make a copy of the contents of their wallets to have a record of everything in their wallet if it were ever stolen.
Legal services advised about 25 students and community members last night on how to prevent identity theft and what to do if they found suspicious activity in their accounts.
"We don't want to scare everyone into thinking that every time your information is put into a computer, it might be hacked," said Michele Kessler, associate
director of Legal Services for Students. "But it could happen."
Kessler said identity theft was increasing in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission received about 380,000 reports of identity theft in 2002, compared to 220,000 reports in 2001.
Reinhold said people whose driver's licenses listed their social security number should get a new license without the number. She said it was one less avenue for someone to access personal identification information.
Presenters also addressed what steps should be taken by international students whose information was taken from a University of Kansas database in January.
Jo Hardesty, director of Legal Services for Students, said her office had received a number of calls and e-mails from concerned students since a hacker broke
into the University database and took information on more than 1,500 international students.
Kessler said legal services decided to sponsor the workshop to provide information from a student organization that students would trust. She said the University's identity theft Web site did not make it clear to international students that they did not have to pay to get a credit report.
Anyone could receive a free credit report when he put a fraud alert on his account, Kessler said. She and the other attorneys from legal services advised international students to send letters to the three credit reporting agencies in the United States to report the theft of their information.
Requesting a credit report without putting a fraud alert on an account or without having been denied credit can cost anywhere
from $9 to $35 from the three agency Web sites listed at www.ku.edu/identity.
Kessler said despite the cost of ordering a credit report, an annual or biannual credit history check was essential to insure the information was accurate.
Masako Sato, a graduate student from Japan, attended the session because she accidentally deleted the e-mail sent by the University alerting international students of the database hacking. Sato said she had not taken action because she lost the e-mail but wanted to do something to protect her information before she graduated.
Legal services staff handed out detailed packets of information outlining step-by-step instructions for international students as well as general guidelines to guard against identity theft.
—Edited by Andrew Ward
By Nicole Roche
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Center offers survey on rental properties
Renters now have the opportunity to offer fellow students recommendations or warnings about potential landlords.
The off-campus living resource center is surveying students today and tomorrow to get feedback about local landlords and rental agencies. Students can fill out surveys at the Kansas Union, Wescoe Beach and the center's Web site, www.ku.edu/ -ocrcr.
"He was just a great guy and a great landlord," Pierron said. "I want other students to be able to have a good experience like that."
The resource center, which officially opened in November, is a place where students can find information about apartments and landlords and search for roommates.
Sam Pierron, director of the center, said the survey's results would help point students toward the ideal living arrangement. He said his relationship with a former landlord was one reason he became involved with the center.
Pierron said he would post the survey's preliminary results on the Web site Monday.
The center was part of the Kansas Union's recent renovations and is located on the fourth floor in the Organizations and Leadership Office.
Student Senate provided funding for the center from the Senate Reserve Account, including the initial construction cost of $17,000, said Aaron Jacobs, off-campus senator.
Jacobs said the reserve account contained leftover money from previously allocated funds.
Student Senate provided the center with $13,000 this year and $10,000 next year for operation costs, Jacobs said.
Pierron said the center hadn't seen much traffic in previous months, but he expected more students to be apartment hunting in the near future.
Travis Workman, Lecompton freshman, said he was thinking about renting his first apartment, but he hadn't begun the search.
Workman said the resource center sounded like a good idea for students who were new to the off-campus experience.
"I know a lot of people who have had horror stories," he said, "so I'd definitely use the resource center."
Pierron said his job gave him the opportunity to work with students on a personal level.
One afternoon, International Student Services called him with a problem. An international student had just flown in from Iran with his two children, and they needed a place to live—that day.
Pierron said the student came in and they were able to find him an apartment at Eddingham Place, 1501 Eddingham Drive.
"The University doesn't have the time and resources to find housing for everyone," Pierron said. "That's one of the reasons we exist."
Edited by Jason Elliott
B's Glass
Tobacco Smoking Accessories
Glass Blowing Classes Starting Now
701 East 22nd Street Just off 22nd and Haskell www.glassthis.com
Call (785) 840-9444 for more information