THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009
NEWS
STUDENT SENATE ELECTIONS
3A
Envision coalition calls for changes in Senate ethics
Other campaign issues include creating a financial planning center and making campus sustainable with recycling and wind power
BY BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Envision, a new coalition this year, nominated JJ Siler, Overland Park junior, and Alex Porte, Great Falls, Va., junior, as its presidential
and vice presidential candidates.
Siler
Porte
"As we've seen in the past few years, Student Senate is irrelevant to a lot of people here at KU." Siler said. "Our issues are broad enough that anyone can get behind them. They're things that can help KU in concrete ways that we
can achieve within a year."
TAKING ON STUDENT
SENATE: ETHICS REFORM
— The creation of the Student Senate Judicial Branch: Envision said it wanted to create a judiciary branch within Student Senate that would hear appeals. It said appeals were currently sent to a board that was essentially biased, because board members were all political allies of the student body president. Envision said too much power was given to one individual and one
branch of the governing body. It said adding an impartial judiciary system could create a check on power as well as oversee purchases of the Executive staff.
— Separation of powers: Envision said currently there was no separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches of Student Senate. It said it thought the current administration chose to consolidate its power and assume seats in the legislature rather than extending representation to many campus groups.
Anti-bribery legislation: Envision said it wanted to propose new legislation to define gifts. Currently, Student Senate is allowed to accept gifts from the chancellor and the Athletics Department without declaring them. Envision said it planned to enact legislation that would require senators to declare when they received a gift, the value of that gift and who gave it to them.
TAKING ON THE CITY:
GIVING STUDENTS
A VOICE IN LAWRENCE
Changing zoning laws and noise ordinances in the Oread neighborhood: Porte said the city of Lawrence had disenfranchised students by making unreasonable zoning and noise ordinances within the Oread neighborhood. Envision said the coalition planned to attend every city commission meeting to create a more solid student presence. It said it wanted to propose several ideas to the city and the Oread Neighborhood Association, including exemptions for students from such ordinances or reworking the current laws to make them more student-friendly in order to minimize student evictions.
- Increasing off-campus lighting; Envision said most of the crimes that occurred in Lawrence happened on and around campus. In order to combat this, Envision said it wanted to create a lighted pathway from Massachusetts Street to campus. They said increased lighting had continuously been shown as a deterrent to crime, especially robberies and sexual assaults. Porte said the coalition was already working with the School of Engineering to determine where the most effective light placement was.
FISCAL LEADERSHIP:
GIVING STUDENTS THE
TOOLS TO SUCCEED
Envision is seeking to provide students with the tools they need in order to succeed at the University. This means providing affordable financial planning for the students who need it, as well as opportunities to manage money for students interested in careers in finance. Using a model that reflects Envision's research into this project, it hopes to create a self-sustaining center within a matter of years.
- Envision's financial planning center; Envision said it planned to
provide free financial counseling and planning services to students through a financial planning center. Students would receive advice from KU employees about things such as paying bills and creating budgets. The center would also help students apply for scholarships and financial aid.
- Interactive programming: Envision said the financial planning center would provide hands-on advice and host workshops for students regarding issues such as the current recession, how to begin an investment portfolio or how to get involved in the financial sector of business.
The student investment fund: Envision has proposed creating an investment fund in which students could gain experience investing money into the market. Financial planning center faculty would oversee the investments. Student Senate would be responsible for a significant portion of the initial investment into an endowment account, but it said it would also seek private donations. Envision said the ultimate goal of the student investment fund was to provide operational funding for the financial planning center so that it could become self-sustaining.
TAKING ON THE UNIVERSITY: ENVIRONMENTALISM AS AN ECONOMIC SOLUTION
Envision said it was committed to environmentalism for its own sake, but also realized that it was one of the best ways for the University to cut budgets in a time of need. It said it planned to push sustainability to the top of the agenda and planned on spending capital improvement funds from both student fees and Student Senate.
"There's an attitude of sustainability." Porte said. "Last year it was an idea, but this year it's a way of life."
- ReRev Investment in the Ambler Student Recreation Center: Envision said it planned to outfit 15 elliptical machines in the recreation center with generators that would capture energy created by students while they exercised to power the recreation center. Envision said they were the most efficient machines at transferring energy and there would be room on the grid to expand the system by 10 more machines in the future.
- KU Recycling/ Environmental Stewardship Investment: Envision said it planned to expand recycling on campus. It said new equipment had already been purchased, so the only restriction to how much could be recycled on campus was the number of recycling pick-up sites on campus. Porte said Envision planned to start putting recycling bins in all the residence halls, which would require a one-time cost of about $10,000 from the Student
Senate reserve account.
— 'Revolving sustainability fund: Envision said it met with KU Endowment leaders to create an account that would fund campus sustainability initiatives.
"It's essentially a loan from Endowment, and we use this loan to pay for big, cost-sustainable projects on campus," Porte said. "From these projects we save a lot. That saved money we put directly as a down payment on the loan and we get more back. We reinvest the dividends. It's deceptively simple."
He said with money going into campus and money flowing back into the account through smart investment, it would create a revolving endowment fund that wold have the potential to grow immensely in a small time frame. Envision said it had already received support from KU Endowment leaders.
Envision's pledge to accountability:
"Have a say before you pay"
"This is something that has been tossed around Senate for a long time," Porte said. "Any fee increase would have to be voted on by students. Every student should know exactly what fee increases are going on and more importantly why. That will foster a culture of accountability."
More information about Envision and its platform issues is available on its Web site at envisionku.org.
AWARDS
Edited by Carly Halvorson
AWARDS Students honored for work on campus media
Students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication have been honored for their contributions to campus media.
John Hudnall, director of Kansas Scholastic Press Association, said KU campus media was one of the major successes of the University.
"I think student media is a reflection upon the school," Hudnall said. "Any time we see success in the media that generally reflects positively on the School of Journalism and the curriculum we're trying to provide."
The Kansas Association of Broadcasters gave the following 14 awards to students involved with KJHK.
Mike Williams, News and Information Chair, said the awards were a result of hard work from the students and the school's standard of excellence.
1ST PLACE
"Regardless of what's happening in the profession people still want info and our students are doing a great job of giving it to them."
Best Public Affairs Program:
The KJHK News Staff
Best Complete News Feature:
Danny Spence and Derek Zarda
Best Station Website: Zach Gardner
Best 30 Second PSA, Graduate: Peter Adany
Best Station Promotion Announcement, Graduate: Peter Adany
Best Station Promotion Announcement, Undergraduate: Annie Harrigan
2ND PLACE
Enterprise News Package:
Connor Donevan
Complete News Feature:
Justin Leverett
Complete Sports Feature:
Sean Levine, Taylor Witt and Alex Beecher
Sports Play-by-Play: Michael Spero and Kyle Larson
Promotional Event/Activity:
Rachael Gray
HONORABLE MENTION
Enterprise News Package:
Abby Olcese
Sports Play-by-Play: Kyle West and Kyle Larson
Complete News Feature:
Justin Leverett
Station Promotion Announcement:
Sean Wilson and Taylor Ford
The University Daily Kansan, Kansan.com and KUJH received the following regional Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards.
General News Reporting:
Haley Jones, Alex Parker
Feature Writing: Thor Nystrom
In-Depth Reporting: Brenna Hawlev. Rvan McGeenev
Sports Writing: Thor Nystrom
Online In-Depth Reporting:
Alex Parker
Television In-Depth Reporting:
Wendy McCart
Best All-Around Daily Newspaper (published at least four times a week): The University Daily Kansan staff
Television Feature: Wendy McCartt
The Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker Award: Kelsey Hayes
Huerta is the first most-wanted trafficker to be captured since the government on Monday published a list of top suspects. The list identified him as a top Beltran-Leyva cartel lieutenant, with a $1 million reward offered for information leading to his capture. It was not clear if a
Huerta was arrested on an out standing homicide warrant; the other four suspects were being held pending charges.
The SPJ regional awards will be presented to students April 25 and the recipients will advance to the national competition. Winners of the national awards will be announced Oct.8 to Nov.1.
—Kayla Regan
INTERNATIONAL 'Most-wanted'trafficker four suspects captured
The announcement came hours before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Mexico promising to do more to help Mexico crack down on drug violence that is spilling over into the U.S.
MEXICO CITY — Soldiers captured one of Mexico's most-wanted smugglers, a man accused of controlling the flow of drugs through the northern city of Monterrey for the powerful Beltran-Leyva cartel, the Mexican army said Wednesday.
Gen. Luis Arturo Oliver said Hector Huerta was detained Tuesday in a Monterrey suburb, along with four men identified as his bodyguards. Soldiers also seized assault rifles and four grenades.
Two men on the list had already been captured by the time it was published.
reward was paid in this case.
The mustached, chubby-
cheeked Huerta is nicknamed "La
Burra" or female donkey.
Associated Press
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and a lineup of sympathetic callers and guests.
Blagojevich rants during time hosting radio show
CHICAGO — Live from Chicago. It is impeached, ousted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich!
In one of the show's weirder moments, Blagojevich even chatted with the comedian who plays him in The Second City's "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a comedic spin on the politician's downfall that's a takeoff on the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Program director Bob Shomper, who said the former governor did a "wonderful job" for his first time, added that he might consider Blagojevich for future fill-in duty.
"He's definitely not afraid of the microphone," Shomper said.
The former Illinois governor filled in as a local radio talk show host Wednesday, a morning gig complete with Elvis Presley introductory music, rants against the government
"I feel like Laurence Olivier meeting Hamlet. ... This is big for
me, so it's a little surreal. I wonder how sure I this is for you?" comedian Joy Bland said.
Associated Press
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
PAID FOR BY KU
GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY
Sponsored by the Honors Program and the Honors Program Student Council
Saturday, April 4, 2009.
- 9:30 am MEET on the 4th floor of the Kansas Union (we will carpool to sites)
- 2 - 4pm RELAX! Party for volunteers at Nunemaker with Ice cream, Music, Prizes,and FUN!
- ```markdown
- 10AM - 2pm VOLUNTEER across the Lawrence community
Volunteering Sites Include:
- Habitat for Humanity
- Lawrence City Park Clean-Up
- Lawrence Multiple Sclerosis Walk
- Pioneer Ridge Retirement Home
- Lawrence Humane Shelter
北门大街西侧二单元八楼
To sign-up, you must email hpstuco@gmail.com and let us know which site(s) you prefer!
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