MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18,2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
City can help tenants get repairs Womyn debate male participation
By Matt Stumpff
mstumpff@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Fertilizer poisoned Josh Farrar's relationship with his landlord.
A basement floor covered in fertilizer, windows without locks and puddles of mud awaited the Sterling. Mass., graduate student when he moved in this fall.
"Our washer and dryer were sitting in a pile of mud and water," Farrar said.
After repeated requests to his landlord to fix the problems, Farrar and his roommates took it a
"We said, 'If you don't get this fixed, we will take legal action,'" Farrar said.
When the landlord didn't respond, the residents turned to city inspectors for help. After inspectors finished evaluating the home, they delivered a two-page list of problems to the landlord, Farrarsaid. Thelistincluded Farrar's complaints as well as other minor violations.
Farrar's landlord didn't waste time correcting the violations after the city stepped in, he said.
City landlords usually fix problems once the city gets involved.
said Barry Walthall, Lawrence code enforcement manager.
The code enforcement division gives landlords a set period of time to make repairs before the city declares the dwelling uninhabitable. The time period varies based on the difficulty of the repair, Walthall said. Farrar's landlord was given 10 days.
Walthall said landlords could be taken to court if they did not cooperate with the city.
He said he thought the problem of landlords not making repairs until the city had stepped in was typical of other cities. The code enforcement division
reported 43 complaints from tenants from May through October
City inspectors' duties involve checking buildings whenever the city issues a building permit, Walthall said. But another duty of the code enforcement division is to help tenants get landlords to make repairs.
The city gets called to make landlords correct things such as sewage backup, water leaks, lack of heat and even holes in the floor, Walthall said.
"That's a routine part of our operations," Walthall said.
Edited by Amanda Sears
Author touts history education
By Caleb Mothwehr
cnothwehr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Ournation is raising a generation of historically illiterate Americans, two-time Pulitzer prize-winning author David McCullough told an audience at the Lied Center yesterday.
A strategy for solving this problem is rethinking the way we train our teachers and talking about history with our children, McCullough said.
"Too many teachers come out of college with a degree in education knowing no subject," he said. McCullough was the last of three speakers in the Dole Institute of Politics' Presidential Lecture series.
The decorated historian offered detailed anecdotes about past American presidents — specifically John Adams and Harry
Truman, about whom he wrote his award-winning biographies.
"Lyndon Johnson ate soup louder than any man who ever lived," he said.
Referring to our nation as the "greatest experiment of all time," McCullough told a crowd of about 1,850 people that our nation had been through harder times before Sept. 11.
"The American Revolution was a far more difficult time," he said. "Anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence was putting his head in a noose."
To demonstrate crisis management throughout history, McCullough read excerpts of his latest biography. John Adams. He also paid tribute to George Washington, whom he said he considered the greatest American who had ever lived.
"George Washington held this country together like no
other person could have," he said.
In an earlier interview yesterday, McCullough stressed the importance of a liberal arts education by giving examples of corporations, such as General Motors, that are hiring college graduates with degrees in English.
"They want a fully educated person, someone who knows how to write a letter or give a speech. I am an ardent believer in the humanities," he said.
McCullough said Adams' writings revealed him to be in some ways similar to President George W. Bush.
"He calls things as he sees them in a way that's very in tune with our own president's temperament and outlook," he said.
KU students who attended the speech were appreciative of McCullough's message and
Jared Soares/Kansan
Pulitzer prize-winning historian David McCullough spoke to a packed Lied Center last night as part of the Dole Institute Lecture series. McColough has written biographies on former presidents John Adams and Harry S. Truman.
speaking style.
"It was very insightful," said Adam Steele, Roswell, Ga., senior. "Besides his knowledge of past presidents, he raised concerns about historical education in the U.S."
— Edited by Matt Norton
By George Schulz gschulz@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
About 20 people gathered Saturday at the Lawrence Public Library to debate which portions of April's 'Womyn Take Back the Night' should include men. Participants at the meeting said answering such questions in advance would help make the event effective for the women who planned to attend.
Lea Carland, Lawrence senior said women survivors of violence and rape did not traditionally have a social space in which to discuss their experiences.
Carland said men should show their support during the 'Womyn Take Back the Night' march through downtown Lawrence in April. But, she said, the Survivor's Circle that night—which offers women the opportunity to safely discuss traumatizing experiences with rape and violence—should only include people who identify themselves as women.
"At some point, you have to say this is our time," Carland said. "I would not feel safe speaking about my experiences with men."
Last year, about 200 women attended 'Womyn Take Back the Night,' which included the Survivor's Circle and the march through downtown.
"We want to be as inclusive as possible," said Beth Peterson, Kansas City, Mo., senior. "But we also don't want to compromise our principles."
Organizers for Saturday's meeting also read from a stack of letters expressing opinions about
the inclusion of men that poured into the 'Womyn's Empowerment Action Coalition,' a campus-based student group sponsoring the April event.
"It's a women's-only sacred space that should stay that way," said one letter referring to the Survivor's Circle.
"I'm personally interested in a feminism that includes all genders." said another.
Opinions expressed by attendees of the meeting varied as widely as those expressed in the letters, particularly regarding the Survivor's Circle.
Some said they would prefer that men attend to hear the experiences and to show that men care about the issues. Others said the event was one of the few opportunities women had to meet and discuss experiences.
"The reason why it's been divided is because of notions of safe space," said Sally Puleo, a 2001 graduate. "There are very few spaces in our culture for women."
Carland said while the march would target the community, the Survivor's Circle was more of a forum for victims.
"Education is not the focus of the Circle," she said. "It's for women to tell their stories."
The meeting was held for organizers to hear feedback from the community. A final decision for the format of 'Womyn Take Back the Night' was not established Saturday. A decision will be posted soon on WEAC's list serve which can be reached at KU_WEAC@hotmail.com.
— Edited by Melissa Shuman
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