6
Wednesday, February 24. 1993
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Seeking influence in city government
Continued from Page 1.
Scott is working toward a master's degree in educational policy.
Of the 13 who have filed to run in the primary election, 12 remain. The top six vote-getters will run for three available seats in the April 6 general election. Commissioners are elected on an at-large system. That means that the student precinct is not directly represented by a commissioner. Vote totals are not separated by precints, but instead are counted together.
"If we could get one-fifth of the students to vote, a student could be mayor," Garlinghouse said. "That isn't such an unrealistic thing. If students chose to, we could take over the city commission."
Ernest Angino, a city commissioner from 1983 to 1987, said he did not think student interest would rise if he were having three student candidates.
"I don't think it will stir more interest," Angino, a professor of civil engineering, said. "I can't predict the future, but based on my experience of running for the commission and having lived in Lawrence for 30 years, I don't think the student candidates will cause more interest."
Scott said he was run
alton and Jayaraman say they want to give students a voice in local government.
ning for the commission because he thought the community was ready for a change.
"I think that many of the issues in this community need to be looked at from a fresh, more diverse perspective," Scott said. "I'm eager to present some new ideas on the commission and I am eager to have the opportunity to hear the concerns that other citizens in Lawrence have on the issues."
them."
Dalton said that while students do not show interest in local government, the local government also does not show interest in the students. He said one example of the city's lack of concern was the single polling place on campus, in the field house.
"If I get elected, I'm going to push for more voting boots on campus," Dalton said. "I'd like to see voting boots in front of Wescoe Hall or in the Kansas Union, not in some dark corner where it's hard to find. I think that would help boost interest immediately."
Dalton said he was running for the commission because he thought he could fill a void in city government.
Patty Jaimes, Douglas County clerk, said that the polling location for the precinct could be moved but that adding polling places within the precinct was impossible because it would require changing state law.
Matthew All, president of KU Democrats, said more than just the location of voting booths affected students' interest in local government.
Population density of 18-24 year-olds
This map shows areas where 1824 year-olds are most densely populated in Lawrence, using dark, medium gray and light gray boxes.
"For one thing, I don't think the city commission is really visible here in Lawrence." All said. "A lot of
"In the community, I think there is a gap between students and city government, as well as other citizens of our country. "I don't think it has to be that way."
"Three or four years of a person's life is a long time," he said. "Since students spend at least nine months out of each year here, they should be interested in local government. The commission' decisions affect
Dalton met with Garlinghouse so he could focus on issues pertinent to students while planning his campaign.
There are several reasons that students should be interested in local government. Dalton said.
Voter turnout: a breakdown
the graphic below is a map of the same areas shown here, but it shows different information. Find out voter turnout for all age groups in the 1991 local and 1992 national elections as it relates to the areas in this population map.
All said some students view Lawrence as a temporary home, so they either are not registered to vote or are registered in their home towns.
the students don't even know who the officials are. I don't think students' interests are the commission's primary focus."
"Students also show little interest because they are unaware of what the city government does," he said. "Students are definitely less informed about the city commission than they should be. I don't think that's necessarily their fault. They just need to get more information about it."
Student Senate registered about 2,600 people to vote prior to the November election. They did not attempt to register any more students for the upcoming city election. The registration deadline for the March 2 election was Feb. 16. The deadline for the April 6 general election is March 15. Students registered for the November general election do not need to reregister.
man said if he were elected, he would help keep students informed by acting as a link between the commission and the KU student government.
"I think that when there are 27,000 or so students that are part of the community, they need someone to voice their concerns," Jayaraman said.
ohn Nalbandian, vice-mayor of Lawrence, said the commission did not
know what issues students were concerned with.
"We don't have a good idea of what their needs are," he said. "The issues they are interested in aren't articulated for us."
Mike Wildgen, city manager, said students could make the commission aware of their concerns by writing letters, calling the city manager's office or by addressing the commission during its weekly Tuesday night meetings, which are the same procedures that other citizens follow.
"The commission would probably value their input," Wildgen said. "They would have that much more information to base their decisions
A student representative also could take part in the weekly meetings. Wildgen said. The representative could sit at the commissioners' table, discuss issues and vote on them. Their vote, however, would have no direct effect on the commission's decisions.
Lawrence High School currently has two representatives performing those duties. Haskell Indian Junior College also has a representative. KU has none.
aimes said that students might be starting to show more interest than usual in local government. She said the emergence of
student candidates for the city commission might increase voter turnout among the student population. In anticipation of a high turnout, she chose to open the field house for a city election for the first time in six years.
"They seem to think that their candidacies will get the students motivated to vote." Jaimes said.
The field house will be open for the March 2 primary election. Students recently have had to vote in Schweinger School, 2201 Ousdahl, a ward south of the field house. James also has ordered more ballots, 600, for the field house's precinct than for any other precinct in the city. She ordered an average of 300 ballots per precinct.
Jaimes said that there was no way of knowing whether the student candidates would spark interest in the local election.
"We don't know what to expect," she said. "We ordered more ballots as a precaution in case there was a large turnout."
Dalton said that students needed to respond to the field house's opening.
"If they don't show up, they'll close the field house again," Dalton said. "All the students need to do now is show up."
Drug use can limit job possibilities
Many employers test applicants
By Ezra Wolfe
Kansan staff writer
For some college students, illici drum use is a fact of life.
But after graduation, that drug use can keep otherwise qualified job applicants unemployed.
Many employers are requiring potential employees to pass a drug test.
Lawrence Memorial Hospital, the city of Lawrence and Packer Plastics. 2330 Packer Road, all test potential employees. All three are among Lawrence's 10 largest employers.
The University of Kansas
Lawrence's largest employer with 4,600 employees, only tests its law enforcement officers.
Lawrence Memorial uses a urine test, Skinner said. A test of the hair can also be used, but Lawrence Memorial does not use it. Skinner said the hair test was extremely reliable and would show drug use until the hair present at the time of the use was cut.
"All positive results are double checked," he said.
Although conventional wisdom says there are ways to purge the body
The positive tests are sent to another laboratory for confirmation.
Ann, an Oklahoma City resident who asked that her last name not be used, is a distributor for Byrd Labs, a Topanga, Calif., company that produces UrinAid. She said that the substance, if added to urine at the time of the test, would remove traces of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical in marijuana.
of drugs, Skimmer said there was no substance a person could take to purify the urine sample that would not kill the person being tested.
"If you don't want to stand a chance of falling a drug test, don't do drugs," he said.
Byrd Labs also produces a 100 percent drug-free powdered urine.
But according to drug users, there are many ways to circumvent the test.
"You just add warm water," Ann said.
Lawrence Memorial does not allow anyone to bring anything into the testing room. However, Ann said that she is in a lot of ways to speak radiums into the room.
Chauney House and a barn owned by the University on West Campus may be revived after being vacant since May 1902, when the glass forming program closed down because of safety violations.
David Cook, Columbia, Mo., senior,
said drinking lots of water was a good way
to beat the test for marijuana.
Ann said she had advised thousands of people worried about drug testing
Cook, a member of the KU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana laws, said the team would stay clean before taking the test.
it's an invasion of privacy to be forced to take a drug test," he said. "But unfortunately, it's very common."
KU may open design research center
The department of design has proposed that the buildings house a design research center that would allow design faculty to better teach industrial and interior design.
"I've been advising people since 1986," she said. "There's no telling how many people I've helped."
Kansan staff writer
By Terrilyn McCormick
The center would focus on the human factors of design, including
The recent Americans with Disabilities Act has forced upon the nation the need for accessibility, a need that will affect aspects of design, said Joe Zeller, chairperson of the department of design.
"This is going to mean every product in the country has to take into account how accessible it is to a broad range of people." Zeller said.
accessibility for disabled people
The goals of the center are to enhance a graduate program in the aspects of industrial and interior design, and to be a service to the state of Kansas, he said.
The center would fulfill Kansas companies' need to evaluate or redesign their products, because products that do not meet ADA requirements will not be marketable, Zeller said.
If the Office of Academic Affairs approves the proposal, the barn and house will be renovated and a state-of-the art computer system will be purchased by Fall 1904. The buildings would house two working spaces for approximately 16 honors undergraduate and graduate students.
Philip Hofta, assistant professor of design, said the center would provide a facility to cultivate a graduate degree program.
"Currently, we can't accurately support graduate research," he said. "Once we have the graduate students in place, it will have a multiple effect on the program."
zetter said that Chamney House would be better used as a research center than as the home of the costly glass forming program. The program would require a large amount of money to reach an acceptable safety level and to continue operation. The funds necessary would exceed the benefits gained, he said.
Reading and rinsing
Andrew Amane / KANSAI
Matt Caldwell, Lawrence freshman, catches up on homework while he waits for his laundry to dry at Independent Coin-Op, 900 Mississippi St. It was his first trip to the laundromat this semester.