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KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPT. 3, 2015
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Lawrence, KS. 66045
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscrip tions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051A Dole Human Development
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4967) is published on Mondays and Thursdays except fall break, spring break and exams, and weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Annual subscriptions by mail are $250 plus tax. Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 2015A Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyvale Avenue
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Student Body President Jessie Pringle asks a question in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday night, Sept. 2.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
What you should know about Student Senate and first committee meetings
ALANA FLINN
@alana_finn
Student Senate kicked off its first legislative cycle of the school year on Sept. 2 by passing 19 bills. Committees heard bills that ranged from financial requests to a change in Student Senate ethics codes.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THE FIRST COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Both the Multicultural Affairs and University Affairs committees passed a resolution of support for a grant to develop an academic program for students with intellectual disabilities. Omar Rana, director of diversity and inclusion, authored the bill.
"We need to show the Department of Education that KU is different because we want to give everyone who wants to be a Jayhawk the opportunity to become a Jayhawk, and these are the people we have cut out of the Jayhawk equation," Rana said.
The nine new fee review representatives were elected. The new members are Zach George, Shegufta Huma, Flammy Huo, Isaac Bahney, Tho Nguyen, Sarah Elliott, Taylor Zabel, Chance Maginness and Britney Oleniacz. The fee review committee will set
to show the of Education different because we want to give every one who wants to be a Jayhawk the opportunity.
OMAR RANA
Director of Diversity
and Inclusion
and allocate funds collected through student fees for the following year.
The finance committee passed 17 bills requesting funding for various organizations on campus. If these bills pass in full Senate, $12,090 will be allocated to these groups, including $5,000 to graduate student printing services. Other groups requesting funding include:
KU Willow Branch — $140
UNICEF at KU — $100
Asian American Student
Union — $100
Spectrum — $100
Career Scholar Society —
$100
The Dialog Student Association — $5,000
KU Polyglot Language Exchange — $100
KU Model United Nations — $100
Natural Science Community Organization - $650
Relay For Life of KU — $100
Fit and Fierce Club — $100
oSTEM — $100
Sanders for Students — $100
Pre-Occupational Therapy
Club — $100
KU Biomedical Engineering Society - $100
Committees passed 19 of 19 total bills that were on the agenda for the evening. They will be heard at the first full senate meeting next week.
Open World Cause Club — $100
About 50 non-senators attended the committee meetings. These non-senator students are allowed to vote in meetings to include more student voices. Isaac Bahney, communications director, said this number was a significant increase from past years.
HOW STUDENT
SENATE WORKS
Each spring, coalitions run in Student Senate elections with established president and vice president candidates and several senators associated with the coalition. This spring, seniors Jessie Pringle and Zach George were elected as student body president and student body vice president, respectively. Their coalition, Advance KU won with 68.3 percent of the vote.
Once in office, the Executive Board was selected. The executive board includes 12 different positions. These are chosen through an application process, and Pringle and George select them. They are then approved by the full Senate.
During the summer, the newly elected officials work
on their platforms and other issues that arise by writing legislation and working with administrators to. propose ideas, like a free shuttle from Lawrence to the Kansas City airport.
The legislative cycle begins with the start of the school year. The four committees meet to hear bills and legislation that elected student senators and executive board members have written. If two of four committees approve the bill, it will move on to full Senate, which meets during the weeks that committees don't meet, according to Bahney.
There are two legislative bodies. One is the Student Senate, which is comprised of elected members. The standing committees are open to all students. Non-elected students only have voting rights in their committee.
At full Senate, senators hear all of the bills and legislation that passed the committees. Every student senator and ex-
SEE SENATE PAGE 3
City Commission approves some fire code changes for animal housing spaces
PAIGE STINGLEY
@paigestingley
The City Commission spent a majority of Tuesday's meeting deliberating a proposal of new fire codes.
The proposal has three requirements: 1. Animal facilities have smoke detectors and a fire alarm system; 2. A facility that is 3,000 square feet or less must have a fire monitoring system, and anything more must have automatic sprinklers; and 3. The facilities must have fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, and emergency training and plans in place for staff members.
The commission passed parts one and three, which will be considered in a larger fire code revision in January. In the meantime, the commission will continue to consider the sprinklers required in part two.
The new codes were proposed after Cristal K9 caught fire in December 2014 and Pet World caught fire in May.
Representatives from Pet World argued that all animal housing facilities, no matter
the size, should be required to have sprinkler systems if there are ever unattended animals in the building or if there are more than two animals per person in the building.
Sherry Emerson, co-owner of Pet World, proposed an amendment that would require all animal housing facilities, including veterinary hospitals, to conduct a risk assessment to determine their needs for additional fire safety equipment. The risk assessment would override the size exemption that would require all facilities larger than 3,000 square feet implement a sprinkler system.
Those opposed to the bill argued that the cost to require all pet businesses to implement a sprinkler system would be unhealthy to the community and that many businesses would not be able to afford the expense.
Gary Olson, a veterinarian at Clinton Parkway Animal Hospital, argued that the clinic's money would better spent on equipment that would save animals' lives every day than on a sprinkler system, which may only save an animal in a fire.
Kristi Rowland, owner of Wakarua Veterinary Clinic, argued that a sprinkler system might actually cause more damage to the clinic if the alarms were to be set off because the medical equipment would cost more to repair after water damage.
Emerson emphasized that animals were at greater risk for smoke damage because of their small lung capacity, and argued that a sprinkler system could save their lives.
"We as an animal housing
facility, as a business, and as a member of the community, failed the Lawrence community," Emerson said. "And we are ashamed. And we are sorry. We don't want anyone else to ever make the same mistake we did."
Emerson argued that the size exemption be removed from the codes, and there be a risk assessment in place to determine if an animal facility requires additional preventative measures.
"No matter what we decide
on these sprinklers, we have to have centralized monitors," said Matthew Herbert, a city commissioner. "Both of these places with fires didn't have monitors. And that can never happen again."
340 Fraser | 864-4121
www.psych.ku.edu/
psychological_clinic/
Edited by Jackson Vickery
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Come join local Zumba instructors and students by participating in a special class on Saturday September 5th at 9:00 am on the KU Football practice field! Admission is only $10 and includes a ticket to the KU football game against South Dakota State at 11:00 am. To purchase tickets go to KUathletics.com/promo and use promo code "ZUMBA"
For more information contact Kiara Slabach at
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