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ANNA WENNER/KANSAN
A tape measure dispenser cover from Ten Thousand Villages displays the "Fair Trade" mark. All items marked "Fair Trade" were handcrafted by artisans who were paid a fair wage for their work. Ten Thousand Villages is a found ing member of the World Fair Trade Organization and has been a Fair Trade retailer since 1946.
Local shops participate in Fair Trade Month
MAEGAN BULL
@Maegan Bull
Fair Trade Month is celebrated annually in October by people all over the world. It affects people of all ages, ethnicities and cultures, and has been celebrated locally in Lawrence shops such as Ten Thousand Villages, The Merc, Third Planet and many more.
Fair Trade USA, established in 1998, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable lifestyles for farmers and workers in and outside of the U.S. while protecting the environment. According to its website, the organization's focus is to "help people and the planet work in tandem so both are healthy and sustained. We provide farmers in developing nations the tools to thrive as international business people."
Students who are passionate about fair trade can get involved in the local fair trade nonprofit organization Ten Thousand Villages, where they
can volunteer their services while gaining community service hours.
"In the U.S., we have labor laws that protect certain workers from certain environments and abuse, whereas most countries don't have that," said Desmond Granger, a volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages. "So fair trade is an official certification. They have to meet certain guidelines and environmental sustainability guidelines in order to be considered fair trade."
Hazel Rogers, another volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages, said she loved being part of a group that had a similar belief in supporting fair trade and was as passionate about it as she is.
An item labeled as a fair trade good means it was produced and sold in an ethical manner. For the consumer, it is not only a way to receive unique or handcrafted goods, but it also allows consumers to support the farmers or artisans as
well. It helps diminish poverty among farmers in rural areas by helping them provide better lives for their families while doing what they love.
You're making an effort to know something about what it is that you're consuming, and that's progress in my mind..."
Courtney Crouch, a senior from Wichita, said she has been buying fair trade goods for more than five years and considers them the ideal items to buy because she knows they've been paid for fairly. She also said fair trade goods are hard to find, so she buys fair trade whenever she can.
According to befair.org, when purchasing fair trade goods, you say no to unethical working conditions and child labor, while saying yes to the empowerment of women, environmental sustainability, food safety and education.
If an item truly is a fair trade item, there will be a label on the packaging declaring it is fair trade.
According to Fair Trade USA, fair trade benefits more than 1.2 million farming
families in 70 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Chris Brown, director of environmental studies and professor at the University, said supporting fair trade does no harm because you're helping build a relationship between the consumer and the producer.
"You're making an effort to know something about what it is that you're consuming, and that's progress in my mind, but it shouldn't stop there," Brown said.
- Edited by Alyssa Scott
FAIR TRADE
AWARENESS MONTH
QUICK FACTS
Passionate about fair trade?
Here's where to get involved:
Volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages, located at 835 Massachusetts St.
Join the Fair Trade movement online at befair.org
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Fair Trade goods on campus;
campus:
All Roasterie coffee — also used by KU Dining services
Alta Gracia — fair trade apparel found in the KU Bookstores
Popular Fair Trade Goods:
Popular Fair Trade Goods
Coffee
Chocolate
Beans and grains
Spices
Honey
Police citations spike after end of Fall Break
VICKY DIAZ-CAMACHO
@vickyd_c
The number of written citations issued by Lawrence Police Department has declined by more than 400 so far this month, according to the online Municipal Court LKPD citation map.
The police website logged 948 citations approximately four weeks ago for the second half of September, compared to the reported 516 citations issued so far from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14. However, since Tuesday, citations have already spiked to 737.
The citation list is regenerated daily, with hand-written citations logged within the week and electronic citations within several days, according to the map description on the site.
McKinley said officer activity depends on the amount of activity in the city, such as during
"I don't think that two months of more citations would affect students enough to cause them to stop doing whatever bad stuff they're doing," said Halsten Higgins, a senior from Wichita. "I live down on Kentucky and 14th and since I have been living there, since August, I
events, periods when the University is in session or major investigations. He said the issuance of citations is a reflection of self-initiated officer activity as opposed to dispatch calls.
have noticed a lot of police which made me a little relieved because I'm right by the bars."
McKinley said it is important to conduct enforcement campaigns periodically throughout the year as different types of problems arise.
"I would think the
SEE COP PAGE 8A
Freelance photographer Jon Blumb and University Marketing Communications videographer Andrew Lee shoot photos out of the side of a helicopter above campus on Wednesday. The helicopter, provided by Timberview Helicopters out of Kansas City, circled the Lawrence campus all day to gather photo and video for use in future University marketing efforts.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Study: Hands-free devices prove to be distracting while driving
Today's cars can do it all; change the radio, adjust the temperature, make calls, all through voice commands, which students believe help them stay comfortable and safe during long drives home or short drives across campus.
HALEY HAUCH
@haHaley17
According to AAA, American Automobile Association,
CRYPTOQUIPS 6A
OPINION 4A
three out of four drivers agree that these new hands-free, voice-commanded car features are safer, but most people are completely unaware these new technologies are more distracting. Using a smartphone or the GPS installed in a car may not always be the safest bet.
wrong, which it usually is," said Lizzie Altman, a freshman from St. Louis.
"I find trying to talk to things like iPhones or your car makes it more distracting because you have to keep doing it if it's
AAA released a report on Oct. 7 with information that revealed the misconceptions about these cognitive distractions. Until June of last year, the only research anyone had on distracted driving was focused on visual distractions and manual distrac-
CLASSIFIEDS 3B
CROSSWORD 6A
SEE CAR PAGE 8A
Index
"Last year, we ended up making a pretty significant cut to that fee," Wagner said. "Athletes said they largely didn't have a voice in that conversation. We tried to get them involved a lot of times, and it just didn't work out, largely because of this time issue."
Student Senate allows Student Health Services name change
Miranda Wagner, student body vice president, said she is hopeful it will allow for more student athletes' involvement. Wagner said athletes felt left out of the women's and non-revenue fee conversation last spring.
Don't Forget
SPORTS 1B
SUDOKU 6A
The bill would not change the attendance requirements for these particular senators, but would redefine an excused absence. This would include games, practices, tutoring and other team activities.
MIRANDA DAVIS
@MirandaDavisUDK
"If the Student Senate says it's okay, then that's really the governing body," Dechairo said last week. "If they say yes then I'll talk to my boss and if he says, 'it's a go, then we'll just do it."
—Edited by Amelia Arves
Student Senate committees passed a resolution supporting Student Health Services changing its name to Watkins Health Services. Senate also passed a bill that would allow student athlete senators to count team-related activities as excused absences.
Dechairo said that once they have approval from full Student Senate, they can move forward with the project and implement the change.
Both the resolution and the bill passed through Rights and University Affairs committees and will be voted on next week in full senate.
Discussion about the Student Health Services resolution started after Douglas Dechairo, director and chief of staff of Student Health Services, spoke at full senate last week and explained the reasoning behind the change. He said many students don't understand that the term "Student" refers to those receiving the care, not those administering it.
To cheer on the Royals in the World Series.
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
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