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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014
PAGE 3A
Student Senate continues sexual assault conversation
MIRANDA DAVIS
@MirandaDavisUDK
While National Campus Conversation Week, part of the "It's On Us" initiative, takes place on college campuses across the nation. Student Senate is continuing semester-long efforts to reform sexual assault on campus.
"It was encouraging to see the way our peer institutions have championed these conversations..."
MORGAN SAID Student body president
Morgan Said, student body president and a senior from Kansas City, Mo., said the University is not formally affiliated with the "It's On Us" campaign. She said those at the
University are working with the campus' specialized needs and concerns, which may not fit into the broad scope of the "It's On Us" campaign.
"I think this campaign is a great idea, and it's really raised a lot of awareness about the issue and surrounding issues, but KU has begun to handle this in the way that we best know how," Said said.
Said described the week as a way to get students talking about sexual assault at their universities — something that has been happening at the University all semester.
All of those committees and task forces will meet this week to discuss current climate and ongoing work to change the sexual assault culture at the University.
"It's a conversation highlighting sexual assault and preventative methods surrounding sexual assault on college campuses," Said said. "Universities across the nation are participating in this week in different capacities, dependent upon where their institution currently is in terms of climate and education about sexual
assault."
"We have all of these different people coming into the senate offices bouncing ideas, sharing their knowledge, providing input to each other, to make
Said said Student Senate has become a "central hub" for a lot of the groups and committees working to change policy and climate. Said is a part of the Greek Task Force; Miranda Wagner, student body vice president, is involved in the Title IX committee; and Angela Murphy, Senate's graduate affairs director, is the co-chair of the sexual assault task force. Senate also has a student safety advisory board every year, which has contributed to funding and the sexual assault conversation.
sure all of these different fragments of the conversation can align themselves with each other," Said said.
Said also said sexual assault was a huge part of last weekend's Big 12 senate conference in Ames, Iowa, which gave the student governments of each school the chance to share what its campuses are doing.
"It was encouraging to see the way our peer institutions have championed these conversations, just as our student body has begun to," Said said.
While the University isn't affiliated with the "It's On Us" campaign, students can go to the website, itsonus.org, and sign a pledge to create a safer environment on their campus.
The website includes videos and tips for what students can do to prevent sexual assaults on campus.
- Edited by Alyssa Scott
Men & Masculinities event looks at violence prevention
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LANE COFAS
@OttoVeatch
The Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity is organizing the Men & Masculinities symposium, a dialogue about healthy masculinity, on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held in the Alderson Room in the Kansas Union. The event is open to anyone who is interested.
Kathy Rose-Mockry,
executive director at the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, said the event discusses issues related to violence prevention.
There will be conversations about the present issues the University faces and possible solutions. Rose-Mockry said the importance of masculinity will also be a topic of discussion, as well as what it means in the lives of men on campus and how it affects their success as students.
"There are issues we all face as an institution of higher learning, and we are charged with finding solutions to present problems and certainly men looking at ways to reduce the problems of violence in their communities," Rose-Mockry said. "Their voices are particularly important in not just how we prevent it, but stop it from beginning."
Rose-Mockry said in the past, men have found it really
helpful to discuss common concerns and get the opinions of others and to also grow in their understanding of some of the issues that were discussed.
Sign up will go until 9:30 a.m. on the morning of the event, but participants are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible.
Edited by Emily Brown
Cracks have started forming in Rock Chalk Park, the new recreational compound in east Lawrence. The cracks have most prominently been found on concrete platforms overlooking the gymnasiums in the sports pavilion.
Rock Chalk Park cracks not an issue
Mark Hecker, assistant director of parks and recreation for the City of Lawrence, said lack of moisture caused the cracks.
"Any cracks that are in the floor are basically moisture cracks, where the concrete will actually crack when moisture is sucked out of it," Hecker said.
"Concrete cracks. That's the nature of it, but you want to make sure it's not a structural issue," Hecker said. "In most cases, you'll saw cut the concrete to try to control the cracks, but often times that doesn't work."
According to Hecker, the cracks are a cosmetic issue and not a structural issue.
Hecker also said saw cuts, which create joints in the concrete to prevent cracking, were not made in Rock Chalk
KU unveiled construction plans for Wescoe Hall 46 years ago today. It was to be a 25-story skyscraper. Thankfully, funding was cut short, giving us the four-story building we have.
Park.
"The cracks aren't even an inconvenience, it's just a crack in a concrete floor." Hecker said.
Hecker said he believes the cracks are not an issue and does not affect visitors.
According to Hecker, Rock Chalk Park averages about 1.300 visitors a day. Due to a sports tournament this past weekend, the park averaged around 6,000 visitors per day. Rock Chalk Park is open to the public, including students, and is located on George Williams Way.
The facility opened on Oct. 5 this year. It cost approximately $24 million in city and donated funds to construct, according to lawrenceks.org.
- By Derek Skillett
KENNEDY BURGESS/KANSAN
According to Mark Hecker, assistant director of parks and recreation, the cracks at Rock Chalk Park are caused by lack of moisture.
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