Volume 124 Issue 54
kansan.com
Friday, November 4, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN UDK
the student voice since 1904
Wilson also said workers aren't the only ones harmed by these cost-cutting practices.
"We've interviewed dozens and dozens of workers for DSI; they're afraid to come forward publicly because they're
afraid for their jobs," said Dave Wilson, assistant director of the carpenters union.
It's hard to miss the newly constructed building at Ninth and New Hampshire streets, but passersby may also notice a large sign that says "Shame on First Management, Inc."
LAWRENCE
give its workers adequate wages and benefits.
"Contractors who play by the rules and take care of their employees, they either have to adopt those same fraudulent practices or watch their business opportunities evaporate;" he said.
The Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity is currently in a dispute with Drywall Systems, Inc. (DSI), the drywall supplier for First Management, because the council said DSI fails to
Carpenters union protests local business
AUTUMN MORNINGSKY
amorningsky@kansan.com
According to fair labor laws, employees are entitled to receive
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO PARK
"We've interviewed dozens and dozens of workers for DSI; they're afraid to come forward publicly because they're afraid for their jobs."
This issue isn't limited to Lawrence. Congress is currently debating a bill called the Employee
certain benefits and protections that independent contractors aren't. However, Wilson said it's the misclassification of employees as independent contractors that's allowed these companies to get around this issue.
"The contractors like DSI and others that turn to labor brokers and misclassify their employees as independent contractors really affect the construction industry," he said.
DAVE WILSON AD of carpenters' union
Misclassification Prevention Act.
- Edited by Sarah Champ
According to the act, 10 million U.S. workers are identified as independen
dent contractors, and 30 percent of those are misidentified as such. If the bill passes, employers would be forced to make sure employees receive proper wages and benefits.
Calls to First Management, Inc., were not answered. Although the carpenters union has been protesting since June, Wilson said he sees no end in sight.
Edited by Ben Chipman
FAILED BILLS:
2012-099 to exempt Engineers Without Boarders from travel expenses
GOVERNMENT
Student senate passes five bills
LUKE RANKER
editor@kansan.com
Student Senate Finance Committee considered six bills Wednesday night.
PASSED BILLS:
Bill 2012-091 to fund the International students Association's Event "Flavors of the World"
Total: $155
Bill 2012-094 to fund Spencer Museum or Art Student Advisory Board's World Aids Day
Total: $450
Bill 2012-098 to fund Into the Streets
Total: $3,989
Bill 2012-096 to fund the Dance Marathon
Total: $2,563
Bill 2012-102 to fund Environs showing Ingredients, a documentary about the local food movement Total: $285
ISAAC GWIN/KANSAN
Judges (from left to right) Bruno Simões, second-year law student from Lawrence, Brianna Harris, second-year law student from Roseville, Minn., and Jeff Coppeak, second-year law student from Overland Park, deliberate during an appeals trial. The appeals traffic court is run by University law students.
Law students oversee proceedings in ticket appeals
ISAAC GWIN editor@kansan.com
"All rise."
A voice echoes through the chamber.
Everyone in the room stands as the three judges, each cloaked in a black robe, take their seats at the top of the elevated platform. The scene plays out like an episode of "Law & Order," albeit a little less dramatic, complete with prosecutors, defenders and defendants.
This is the University's ticket appeals court, where people who
have been cited for illegal parking on campus have the opportunity to present their cases in hopes of having their tickets overturned by the presiding judges, all of whom are students in the University law school.
Rebekah Gates, a freshman from Gardner, decided to appeal the three parking tickets she had received at the beginning of the semester.
"It was my first time parking at KU, and it was dark outside and I was really excited about starting school the next day," Gates
said. "I didn't notice that the spot was marked as invalid, and when I came back to my car the next Friday to go to work I discovered the tickets. I felt bad, but it was an honest mistake and I didn't want to have to pay three citations or have it on my record."
After contacting the parking department about appealing the tickets, Gates was assigned Amanda Eastman, a first-year law student from Kansas City, Kan., as her defense attorney. Eastman learned about the opportunity to volunteer for the appellate court this semester
during her orientation.
"I'm only two months into law school," Eastman said. "I have already prepared oral arguments for two different clients. I have found all the shreds of evidence that will be useful to my case and put it together coh esively and present it while three judges are asking me questions. It's an invaluable experience."
The appellate court, held on Mondays and Tuesdays in the Frank L. Snell Court Room of Green Hall,
TRANSPORTATION
SEE COURT ON PAGE 3
BOBBY BURCH
bburch@kansan.com
Demand met for K-10 safety
Students driving on Kansas Highway 10 may soon be a little safer thanks to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
KDOT INSTALLS TWO CABLE MEDIAN BARRIERS ON KANSAS HIGHWAY 10
KDOT plans to install cable median barriers at two 2-mile sections of K-10 where crossover median collisions have claimed several lives, including a double-fatality accident that killed 24-year-old Ryan Pittman and five-year-old Cainan Shutt, of Eudora, last April.
Since 2000, crossover median accidents on K-10 have killed 11 people, according to statistics from KDOT. Of the 11 fatalities, eight occurred at locations where KDOT plans to put in the cable barriers, said Kimberly Qualls, the Northeast Kansas public affairs manager for KDOT.
"The installation of the cable median barriers at these two sections is to alleviate vehicles — hopefully from crossing over the median," she said.
Qualls said that the $800,000 project will install cable barriers two miles east of Eudora, and two miles along the Kansas Highway 7 interchange in Johnson County. KDOT will finance the project, which is expected to begin next summer.
Following the double-fatality accident last April, Scott Hopson, the Mayor of Eudora, wrote Gov. Sam
Brownback asking for improved safety measures on the highway.
Hopson said that he and other citizens of Douglas and Johnson Counties initially asked the state to install cable barriers along the entire stretch of K-10. However, the group scaled backed their request after KDOT recommended a more economically feasible plan.
Hopson said that he was pleased with the state's choice to provide the
cable barriers along the highway.
"It couldn't have worked out any better. We had a lot of smart people, a lot of folks who were pas-
Index
SEE K-10 ON PAGE 3
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 4
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Saturday night is the end of daylight saving time. Set your clocks back an hour.
Today's Weather
Forecasts done by
University students.
For a more detailed forecast,
see page 74.
HI: 57
LO: 37
C
Warning up for the weekend.