Volume 128 Issue 27
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansan.com | The student voice since 1904
DALTON KINGERY
@daltonkingnews
Campus law enforcement is attributing the uptick in on-campus drug offenses to better and increased training of its officers and Student Housing employees. They don't suspect an increase in drug usage.
KENNEDY BURGESS/KANSAN
In 2013, the University's Public Safety Office reported 107 drug and narcotics offenses on the University Campus. This figure is more than triple the number of offences reported in 2008.
Captain James Anguiano of the Public Safety Office attributed the spike in offenses to increased training of campus law enforcement officers, Student Housing employees and changes to police procedure, rather than an increase in drug usage on campus.
"Some of the specifics that we're doing now, we're able to work with our District Attorney's office and get more search warrants when we're not allowed entry into the rooms," Anguiano said. "That makes it a little bit easier for us to enforce the laws."
Additionally, more residence hall patrols and on-campus video monitoring have enabled campus police to catch offenders who are not using drugs in buildings, but in their cars and residence hall parking lots.
Anguiano also said
increased training for housing staff has played a role in the rising number of offenses reported, with a little over half of all on-campus offences occurring in student housing buildings.
"We always try to do a training where we're actually using the smell of marijuana, so [Student Housing] actually get to smell marijuana so they know what the odor is like."
JAMES ANGUIANO Captain of the Public Safety Office
"Every year, when they hire new housing staff, we go over how they can stay safe, when to call the police, and we do a drug recognition piece," Anguiano said.
"We always try to do a training where we're actually using the smell of marijuana, so they actually get to smell
During a drug recognition exercise, housing staff employees get to see and smell different drugs so they can better recognize them.
Jo Hardesty, the director of Legal Services for Students, said 99 percent of the student drug cases her office handles involve marijuana.
marijuana so they know what the odor is like," Anguiano said.
The PSO's changes in training and procedure came after evaluating the methods they were using to enforce drug laws on campus. Modified procedures and increased training for housing staff were two of the ways campus law enforcement thought they could improve, Anguiano said.
to financially support his or her drug habit, suggesting that better drug policy enforcement could make a situation like that less likely.
"We always look for different methods to use to help combat all kinds of different crimes," Anguiano said. "Once we were able to look at this more, with the help of housing, getting their employees trained, that helped out."
"We see increases when law enforcement decides to crack down on a specific type of crime or they have been through enhanced training," said Hardesty, who added that although her office has not noticed an increase in the number of students seeking legal help for on-campus drug-related offenses, not all students come to LSS for help.
Chad Brown, a sophomore from Andover, said he thinks the campus police and student housing employees are just doing their jobs.
Anguiano said he thinks the increase in reported offenses is good for students living on campus in the sense that it discourages illegal activity in on-campus housing. As an example, he mentioned a scenario in which a student who is using drugs may start stealing from roommates
"I don't think people would take housing as seriously if they didn't work with the police," said Brown, who knows students that have been visited by the police in their dorms for suspected marijuana usage.
Anguiano said many people think smoking pot is harmless but don't think about the company they keep.
When you buy marijuana from people, you know they are already involved in illegal activities, and it's hard to know what other illegal activities could be happening.
"If you get caught up with somebody that lets you slide this week to buy a little bit of pot, and you don't have that money next week, you don't know what could happen to you, because obviously they need to make their money," Anguiano said.
Edited by Alyssa Scott
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Ebola isn't immediate threat to US
PAIGE STINGLEY
@PaigeStingley
Even if the United States were to have an outbreak of the Ebola virus, Watkins Student Health Center is equipped with the right preventative supplies and equipment to treat the patient.
"We have the isolation rooms and we have the supplies," said Dr. Douglas Dechairo, director of Watkins Student Health Center. "The only thing we can't do here is process the blood."
The recent outbreak of Ebola has received the attention of people all around the world. The epidemic, which started in West Africa, has now made its first appearance in both the United States and Spain. The U.S. is currently treating two patients in Dallas and Nebraska. Spain confirmed reports on Monday that a Spanish health worker became the first Ebola patient to contract the virus outside of Africa, according to CNN.
According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is an RNA virus that mainly infects wild animals such as fruit bats, monkeys and gorillas, but can also be transmitted to humans. The first human outbreak of Ebola was in 1976 near the Ebola River in which is present day South Sudan.
Dechairo said the biggest misconception that worries people is how Ebola is transmitted. He said since the virus is a bloodborne pathogen, it can only be transmitted through direct contact of bodily fluids. It is
SEE EBOLA PAGE 2
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Alyssa Mitchell, a junior from Overland Park, gets her hair done at the People StyleWatch tent, set up in front of the Union on Tuesday. Her Campus KU sponsored the event, called "Celebrity Stylist on Campus."
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
2 STUDYROOM
Website gives students the ability to share class materials
3 LAUNDRY
4
"Being in a fraternity is about being a gentleman, and rape is not what being a gentleman is about."
Students spend an average of $9 to $12 a week to wash their clothes on campus
ADAM TIMMERMAN
Who will be playing quarterback for the Jayhawks on Saturday is still up in the air
8 QUARTERBACK BATTLE
Senate explores mental health funding
MIRANDA DAVIS
@MirandaDavisUDK
Student Senate is in the early stages of planning and executing its mental health platform. Right now Senate is exploring funding options to help Counseling and Psychological Services hire a new psychologist to meet more students' needs.
After meeting with Michael Maestas, the director of CAPS, the senators working on the mental health platform decided to readjust and work on providing another psychologist for the center because of the expressed need for extra personnel. CAPS is currently unable to book appointments for all students who request them. The current platform began as an initiative during the
"The whole discussion on mental health is something that I think, was really one of the first things that resonated with me, back before I even thought about running for V.P., when I just knew I wanted to stay involved in Senate, and I knew that Morgan [Said] had some ideas, and this is one of the first key conversations I tuned into," Wagner said.
election season with a focus on the current $15 student fee per counseling session but the biggest need, an additional psychologist became apparent as conversations went on.
The platform was something student body Vice President Miranda Wagner knew she wanted to work on before she even thought about running in last year's race.
"The whole discussion on mental health is something that I think, was really one of the first things that resonated with me, back before I even thought about running for V.P. ..."
Wagner and other senators have researched other Big 12 University health centers and if students at those schools have to pay additional fees like students at the University do.
MIRANDA WAGNER Student body vice president
CLASSIFIEDS 7 CRYPTOQUIPS 6 SPORTS 8
CROSSWORD 6 OPINION 4 SUDOKU 6
Wagner has invited students from the campus group Active Minds to speak at full Senate on Oct. 22 to give more information about their work with Senate at CAPS. The student group works to remove the stigma from mental health and mental illnesses.
Wagner was excited about this because it would possibly help veterans, sexual assault survivors and other students who have experienced PTSD.
Wagner also said several senators have said if funding does become available and
if CAPS could hire another psychologist, they would like it to be someone who has a specialization with posttraumatic stress disorder issues.
Rachel Hagan, a senior from Topeka and president of the KU chapter of Active Minds, is excited about the
When she speaks to Senate, Hagan plans to discuss the issues students face when navigating the system to get treatment while at the University.
Don't Forget
"There are so many complications, not just with mental illness itself but with trying to get better and trying to find the resources that you need," Hagan said.
work Senate is doing and the direction the project is moving.
"I like what we've done," Hagan said. "I think the approach we are taking is something that Student Senate can do to help with mental illness and mental health on campus and to increase access to those services that are already available"
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
Go see "Proof" tonight or tomorrow night at Murphy Hall.
Edited by Ashley Perafta
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