Tuesday, September 12, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A • Page 2
Campus thefts, burglaries common
Despite decline students urged to be cautious
By Rob Pazell
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Ike Ezefili woke up his roommate, Galen Spong, in the early morning hours of Labor Day.
Spong, Overland Park sophomore had been sleeping and didn't hear the burglar who opened his unlocked door and stole many items from his ninth floor room in Ellsworth Hall. Ezeffli, Dallas freshman, had been at a party and returned to find the property missing.
"I knew I put my phone on my desk," Ezefili said. "I got back, looked at my desk, and it was gone." Theft and burglary are the most
reported crimes on campus, said Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office. The theft involves stealing something from a public area, whereas burglary is unauthorized entry into a private area with the intent to commit a theft or felony.
Thefts and burglaries
According to the public safety office, there were 386 thefts reported on
campus in 1999, down from 525 in 1998. The number of burglaries dropped from 248 in 1998 to 188 in 1999. Twenty-eight of the 1999 burglaries took place in residence halls, compared with 33 in 1998.
Although numbers have been going down, the public safety office urges KU students and staff members to keep a watchful eye on their
property on campus and to keep their unattended property locked up.
Ezefil and Spong said they had been more cautious since the burglary.
The burglar stole
"I pretty much trust everyone on the floor," Spong said. "But we've been locking the door a whole lot more now."
Spong's flip-flap sandals and his contacts. Eezfill's cell phone, pager, bus pass, and matching watch and bracelet also were taken.
Ezefill said he was surprised that other items of value weren't taken.
"They didn't take any electronic stuff — no mini-discs, no DVDs." Ezefili said. "They didn't even take the ring that sat right next to my bracelet and watch."
Bailey said electronics, compact discs, computer equipment and books usually were the most common items stolen.
The public safety office offered these prevention tips;
"People will get up in the library and go look at the stacks," Bailey said. "People will get up at the end of class and leave their books. You have to keep track of your property."
- Lock your residence hall doors at all times, even while occupying the room.
- Engrave your valuables, and record all serial numbers.
Engraving tools may be checked out free of charge at the public safety office.
- Leave heirloom jewelry at home or secure it in a lockable drawer or footlocker.
- Report to the police anything or anyone who seems suspicious or out of place.
- Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Senate to begin process of selecting justices
By Kursten Phelps
writer@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
Student organizations that want to bring grievances to the revamped Student Senate Judicial Board will have to
longer.
A selection committee consisting of one representative from each
of Senate's four standing committees will meet sometime this week to plan the process of selecting the board's justices, said Aaron Profitt, selection committee member. He said the entire selection process should be completed in a few weeks.
Senate voted in the spring to
reorganize the board, which had been inactive for several years. Student Body Vice President Marlon Marshall said the new board would provide faster mediation for conflicts between student organizations than the University Judicial Board, which handles conflicts throughout the University.
"It's hard to get a meeting time with the University Judicial Board," Marshall said. "There's lots of delays because they have so much to do. Hopefully, the Student Senate Judicial Board will speed up the time it takes for student groups that have conflicts."
The board will mediate conflicts among student organizations, as well as conflicts among Student Senate and possibly among students. For
"There's lots of delays because they have so much to do. Hopefully, the Student Senate Judicial Board will speed up the time it takes for student groups that have conflicts."
Marlon Marshall Student Body Vice President
example, if an organization was denied funding by Student Senate, that group could file a grievance with the judicial board.
The board also will serve as an arena for appeals of decisions made by the elections
commission.
Because the updated board will be coming to life this year, the initial selection process differs from future nominations. Profitf said soon after the selection committee met, it would make applications for associate justice positions available to the student body.
Four associate justices — one law student, one graduate student and two undergraduate students — will be nominated by the selection committee. A chief justice will be nominated by Student Body President Ben Walker.
Walker said that he had not yet made his final decision on a chief justice nominee, but that he would decide before tomorrow night's Senate meeting. Senate will vote to approve or reject the nomination at the meeting.
All nominees for the board
must be approved by three-fourths of the Student Executive Committee and two-thirds of Senate. Associate justices will serve a four-year term, and the chief justice will serve on the board for one year.
After this academic year, the student body president will nominate all justices and the chief justice. Marshall said that the procedure of nominations and approvals was modeled after other governments.
"I didn't see any problem with the student body president nominating the justices," he said. "It's a pretty hard process to get to be a justice, and that's to make sure that the person would be a good justice and not biased or partisan. I thought there were enough checks and balances in the system."
- Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Recent problems discourage trips to Westport area
By Meghan Bainum
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Crowded streets and increasing violence have discouraged some University of Kansas students from traveling to the popular Westport area of Kansas City, Mo.
As many as 3,000 people visit Westport on an average weekend night. But recently, police have seen the typical trends of drinking and dancing descend into rock- and bottle-throwing.
the recent problems have caused some KU students to think twice about making the 45-minute drive to Kansas City's party district.
The raucous environment in Westport can be dangerous for visitors as well. Several women have been physically attacked in the area in the past few weeks. And this summer, nine people were found carrying guns in the Westport area.
Jeff McCoy, Overland Park senior, said he used to go to Westport all the time, but now he only goes once a month — at the most.
McCoy said the crowds, safety and lack of parking all were reasons he limited his trips to Westport.
"It wasn't as much fun as it used to be because there were too many people that were loitering around, and it didn't feel as safe as it used to," he said.
McCoy said that streets were shut down to limit the number of people hanging out in Westport. He said that while he did see police officers in the area, law enforcement officers were there primarily to break up fights and that they didn't seem to help with the crowds.
"Any time you see a fight or any trouble in the street, they (the police) are there pretty quickly, but I don't know if they're going out of their way to help people," he said.
Some students such as Cassie Holman, Liberal senior, said there were ways around the crowds and problems.
Holman said that she still visited Westport about twice a month, but that she usually went in the middle of the week because there were fewer people and it was easier to park.
"Drinks are only 25 cents, and on Wednesday it isn't as crowded and the music is better," Holman said.
McCoy said going out on weeknights was not an appealing option for him. He longs for the less-hectic Westport that he remembers.
Based on his recent visits, McCoy said he thought Westport had taken a turn for the worse.
"It was a younger crowd, and it seemed like they weren't there for a good time," he said. "It just seemed like there was trouble everywhere."
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
A classic discussion
- Edited by Sara Nutt
Joel Reed, professor of English at Syracuse University, center, speaks to an audience including, from left to right, Katie Conrad, assistant professor of English; Victor Bailey, director of the Hall Center for Humanities; and Byron Caminaro-Santangelo and Dorice Elliott, assistant professors of English. The purpose of the yesterday's speech was
to examine how a number of proposals by Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, contributed to the growth of a British national identity. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
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