Volume 126 Issue 9
kansan.com
Monday, September 9; 2013
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
MICHAFI STRICKLAND/KANSAN
University student Taylor Monsees constructs a handicap ramp for this mobile home in east Lawrence. He and student Matt Reilley are building the ramp for Lawrence resident Henry Perkins, who is wheelchair bound, and his wife Mary, who has multiple sclerosis.
LENDING A HAND
Students construct and design wheelchair ramp for Lawrence family
CONY KUIPER
ckuper@kansan.com
Two University students are volunteering their weekends to construct a wheelchair ramp for one Lawrence family, but they're getting back just as much as they're putting in.
Taylor Monsees, a fourth year architecture student from Overland
Park, and Matt Reilley, a third year Aerospace Engineering major from Overland Park, have spent every Saturday for the last month volunteering at Henry and Mary Perkins' mobile home in east Lawrence.
"I would rather be doing this than building big foil buildings. There's just a better sense of giving back with this."
Monsees was given the project by Freedom by Design, a program in the American Institute of Architecture for Students that focuses on providing better living conditions for low-income and disabled individuals.
up to Monsees to win the bid for the job from the city and secure more funding for construction, which he says provided him with a more fulfilling experience than his architecture classes.
"We're actually getting real world experience here," Monses said. "With studio, you're in a classroom setting and you don't really gain experience working
TAYLOR MONSEES Architecture student
After receiving the project, it was
with a client. I would rather be doing this than building big foil buildings. There's just a better sense of giving back with this"
Prior to the construction of the ramp, the Perkins' mobile home was not
handicap accessible
Mary suffers from multiple sclerosis and Henry is diabetic and will soon be wheelchair bound, and their home also houses their son and daughter as well as their seven year-old granddaughter.
"I feel bad that they're living in the situation that they are," he said. "He's helping raise his grandkid and he's doing a lot for his family, so it's nice to be able to do something for him too."
Monsees says one of the most rewarding aspects of the project is being able to help out a good family in need.
Monsees and Reilley have not been completely on their own in building the ramp, however.
continuing the work Curtis Calkins, a recent architecture graduate, has assisted with the project. The city of Lawrence awarded a grant for the construction and Independence Inc., a local organization that provides assistance for the disabled, provided resources as well.
Monsees and Reilley have gotten help from surrounding residents in the mobile home community too. A neighbor who is a concrete finisher has offered to help finish the sidewalk of the ramp, the Perkins' have made their tool shed available for the boys to use and the young neighborhood girls who Reilley calls their "cheer-leaders" even come dance to their
music while they work.
Reilly says this kind of encouragement and response from the community has made the construction much more enjoyable
Everyone has been so friendly and so nice, it's just great to work around positive energy. "he said. "Watching [Henry] come out and you see his face light up, and he's always telling us we're doing a good job and offering help, that's great."
The boys plan to have construction completed by next weekend, and Mary Perkins says the hours they've spent volunteering to help her family has reaffirmed her optimism in the community.
I always believe there's more good people than bad in the world, and this is proof of it." Perkins said. "I know they're working hard out there in the heat, but when it's done they can have a really good feeling about what they've done for our family, and when you do something good for others you will never regret it."
—Edited by James Ogden
Topeka City Council to hear gay rights proposal
STATEHOUSE
ckuper@kansan.com
ICODY KUIPER
Between the Westboro Baptist Church, the conservative lawmakers and the ban against same-sex marriage, the fight for gay rights is nearly nonexistent in Kansas. However, a city councilperson in Topeka has emerged with determination to make Kansas an inclusive state.
Topeka City Councilperson Chad Manspeaker has proposed an expansion in the scope of the city's Human Relations Commission that would include protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The main goal of the HRC is to educate the public on issues of
Manspeaker hopes to see the city of Topeka and the state of Kansas move toward becoming all-inclusive. Though he admits that the change won't happen overnight, Manspeaker hopes this proposal might serve as a stepping stone. He ultimately hopes that Kansas will recognize samesex couples and that those couples can
discrimination and eliminate prejudice within the city of Topeka. By adding these two items to their agenda, the HRC would be able to further educate the public on the issues of prejudice against the gay community and take steps to prevent further discrimination.
The HRC approved the proposal in June with a 7-0 vote. However, it cannot be adopted as an official city code without the approval of the City Council. The council plans to hear the proposal this week and has set a tentative meeting for Sept.17,to consider acting on the proposal.
"This is the first step toward a larger protection for the LGBT community," Manspeaker said.
"We want people to live freely in our community," Manspeaker said. "And we can't do that without these protections."
If passed, the proposal will make Topeka one of only two cities in Kansas with anti-discrimination
enjoy the same benefits as any other couple.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Delta Lambda Phi vice president Tim Hewitt and his fraternity brother Morgan Morris attend the 2013 convention for Delta Lambda Phi in Minneapolis, Minn.
SEE TOPEKA PAGE 3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLOBAL
Protesters march out of New York's Times Square towards Union Square as they voice their opposition to the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Syria on Saturday.
Tensions rise as Syria vote waits
KAITLYN KLEIN
klaien@kynews.com
kklein@kansan.com
While President Barack Obama awaits Congressional approval
Logan Bayless, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and senior from Great Bend, Kan., said he feels the outcomes and goals for the U.S. in Syria are unclear.
to send a warning signal to Syria for its use of chemical weapons, Bay-less wonders what potential military action in Syria will
Bayless
mean for the rest of the world. Bayless also said he sees parallel between the potential conflict in Syria and the way the U.S. entered war with Iraq.
"Most of us believed our government and we took their word for it (that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction)," Bayless said. "But we found out that was not the best thing to do."
Professor Marie Grace Brown, who teaches Middle Eastern history, disagrees. Brown said
Brown said that in Iraq the evidence
Brown
was based on assumption, whereas in Syria evidence has been recorded. She said the uncertainty in Syria is who is using the weapons.
The struggle that both Iraq and Syria face internally results from history, Brown said.
Both struggle to find a balance between the differing ethnic and religious groups that reside within its borders.
The majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims, however, Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite. Tensions in Syria begin there. The Alawites fear that if Assad loses power that the next leader will persecute them.
When the Arab Spring happened, Assad sought to eliminate opposition through extreme violence, which instead of silencing the opposition, pushed them over the edge, Brown said.
Assad brutally murdered his people, left mutilated bodies on road sides and kidnapped people in the night during the Arab Spring when the Syrian people were protesting peacefully.
"People in the middle East are
stuck with the borders drawn around them," Brown said.
The scale
Though Bayless makes comparisons to Iraq, he said that a war in Syria would be a much worse conflict than the Iraq war. He said he fears that any action in Syria could lead to a ground war involving the U.S. or a broader regional war because of Iran's alliance with Syria and Russia.
The Syrian army is more equipped for a counter attack than the Iraqi army was, which means the U.S. is more likely to get drawn into a ground war in Syria, Bayless less
Being a global citizen
Because of the potential consequences of a U.S. intervention in Syria, Bayless said he would encourage students to do their own research beyond the mainstream news and read about the conflict in Syria before forming an opinion.
"It's more important for everybody to not only rush into this war, but also to question it," Bayless said.
Professor Elif Andac, who teaches Sociology of the Middle East, agreed that KU students should be contemplating this issue and the moral questions it raises.
"These are important, large issue that everyone ought to think about," said Adac.
She said that students are some of the rare few in the world who can vote and have a say in issues like this and it is important that students think about their moral obligations and what it means to be an American.
What the red line means for the U.S.
When asked last year if he expected U.S. military action in Syria, President Barack Obama said the use or movement of chemical weapons would be his red line or game changer.
Zach Beardslee, a National Guard member and junior from Kansas City, said because of the red line the U.S. is in a complicated position and no matter what is done the effects are unpredictable.
"They keep saying we're going to bomb them and walk way," Beardlee said. "You can't just poke
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
SEE SYRIA PAGE 3
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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