Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, February 19, 1998
City's police department mirrors minority trends
By Ronnie Wachter
wachter@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence Police Department often has been a reflection of the African-American employment trends in public offices.
Today, five of the the Lawrence police department's 121 commissioned employees are African-American. The five officers include Mike Monroe, Willie Brown, Judy Jenkins, Det. Matilda Born and Lt. Ed Brunt.
"We make a conscious effort to recruit minorities," Monroe said. "I think the problem with Black employment in police departments is that they don't really look at it as a job opportunity. They would rather do other things when they go to college."
Monroe said that although only four percent of the Lawrence Police Department is African American, he did not think it was a serious problem
Monroe said the goal was to create a police department that reflected the different racial
backgrounds in the community.
In the late 1890s, many police departments began hiring African-American officers, and Lawrence was one of those departments. Allen Moore was the first African American on the force.
No records could be found as to when Moore was hired, but Sgt. Susan Hadl said that Moore policed the North Lawrence beat for several years.
Moore's career was cut short when he became the first Lawrence policeman to die on duty. An obituary in the Lawrence Daily Journal reported that Moore's revolver fell out of its holster and discharged when it hit the ground.
"The bullet struck Moore in the stomach, ranged through his body, coming out at the point of the shoulder blade, and lodged in the ceiling," the Lawrence Daily Journal reported. Moore
was at the Union Pacific depot at the time.
After Moore's death, the Lawrence Police Department followed another trend in the hiring of African Americans: it did not hire any African Americans.
David Katzman, professor of American Studies, said that from the early 1900s to the 1950s the employment of African Americans in public institutions suffered a serious drop.
"Racism and separatism went underground in many ways during that period," Katzman said. "When you have segregation in public institutions, such as police departments, you send a signal to that community that whites are in control."
Katzman said that during that time, the number of African Americans involved in local governments, fire departments and athletic teams either fell off or became segregated again.
By the 1950s, that trend had reversed. Katzman attributed the change to African Americans migrating to the North, and to education becoming a point of emphasis in their communities.
University recycling program collects lab animals' waste
Compost program gathers valuable garden fertilizer
By Graham K. Johnson gjohnson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Jayson Wylie loves his job, despite all of the animal excrement involved.
As a recycling technician with the University of Kansas' recycling program, Wylie, Topeka junior, collects bags of animal waste from laboratories for use in the University's pilot compost program. The waste is collected from the bedding of laboratory animal cages in Mallot Hall.
Although the animal waste is not the most pleasant part of his job, the compost aspect has benefits, and the program is promising, Wylie said.
"The smell is offensive. You kind of have to grin and bear it for a while," Wylie said. "But I'd rather smell it for a little while than have it leaking into my water source."
Wylie's employer, the Office of Resource Conservation and Recycling, established the program last year. The program has grown to three compost piles, and the office hopes to eventually turn it into a large-scale program, said Victoria Silva, ORCR director.
The compost piles, located or West Campus, are maintained by Wylie and other technicians. The technicians collect the materials, take the materials to the site and compose and maintain the piles by adding material regularly and watering the piles. The piles contain water, aspen-tree shavings, food waste and animal waste.
The lab animals produce more than enough waste to fuel the program, but the waste is collected only when the compost
Jayson Wylie, Topeka junior and recycling technician for the Office of Resource Conservation and Recycling empties a bucket of collected waste onto one of the program's compost piles. The program was established last year to collect waste from lab animals in Mallot Hall. Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
piles need new material, Silva said.
Al Smith, director of laboratories in the Animal Care division, said that waste usually thrown in the trash was bagged and set aside for Silva's workers when requested. The 1,600 pounds of waste was generated by about 80 rabbits, 650 mice and 700 rats, Smith said.
"They're generating about 1,600 pounds per week," Silva said.
Smith said there was a demand for the animal waste.
"For years, we've had people
Wylie also said that the waste could be valuable to the University. Some universities, such as Washington State, have been able to sell compost. Wylie said.
come pick up stuff for use in their gardens," Smith said, "It is really a valuable product."
Dan Caldwell and Rick Finch, overseers of Washington State's compost program, said that they never intended to market the product but that demand was so great that they would sell more than 1,000 cubic yards of the product on the wholesale market this year.
Whether it is just a nick or a loose bumper, some KU students decide to have every little scratch repaired. Other students think that the cost and time for the body work is not worth the hassle. Photo by Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
Scratches put dents in wallet
Minor bangs and nicks on vehicles don't encourage students to repair
By Jeremy M. Doherty idoherty@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
"I'd say that happens with one out of every 20 cars that comes in," Sledd said. "It all depends on the student's backing. Usually, they're just trying to use the car to get through school."
High repair costs prevent many KU students from fixing their banged-up cars.
Sara Logan, Kansas City, Mo., freshman said her 1992 Honda Accord had a broken headlight and a scratch on the passenger door.
Students ignore their cars' paint scratches and fender benders when they see the repair estimates, said Randy Sledd, owner of Lawrence Body Shop, 501 Michigan St.
"Every time we take it in, they find other things they
want to fix," Logan said. "It seems better to just paint over the damage or just live with it."
Steve Dryden, owner of Steve's Auto Plaza Body Shop,
2300 1/2 W. 29th Terrace, said he rarely followed established fees for small detail work. He said the damage determined the repair cost.
"the collisions take up about 90 percent of our work." Dryden said. "Every dent is going to be a different dent; every scratch is going to be a different scratch. But, there's no way to tell. One may run for $150; another may run for $300."
Larry Werkheiser, owner of Auto Body Plus, 615 Maple, agreed that prices varied depending on the extent and nature of the damage.
"If it's just a paint scratch, it'll cost about $90 to $120." Werkheir said. "But, if they scratched the metal, the price will go up. We can handle the paint scratches on the phone, but the dents really have to be looked at before we can stick a price on them. It'll probably be at least a few hundred dollars."
Katherine Henry, Wichita
"To one person it's a little ding,but to another,it's a big sized ding.Sometimes,they just say,'the heck with it.' Other times, they want it done before dad sees it."
Larry Werkheiser
Owner of Auto Body Plus
senior, said fixing a scratch or dent probably would not be worth the effort.
"I wouldn't bother with it," Henry said. "It'd be too much of a hassle to deal with the insurance company and whoever did the damage. But, if it was pretty bad and I knew who did it, then I would do it."
It is the customer's decision if they want to go along with a shop's estimate, Werkheiser said.
"To one person, it's a little ding, but to another, it's a big-sized ding." Werkheiser said. "Sometimes, they just say, 'the heck with it.' Other times, they want it done before dad sees it."
Looking for a needle in a brick stack
Dana Ferrell, Caney senior, collects bricks next to the power plant on Sunflower Road. Ferrell was a member of an art class collecting bricks yesterday to build an Anagama kiln, a wood-fired Japanese tube kiln. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
Tough test? Call someone for sympathy.
1-800-COLLECT