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OVERCROWDED UNDERGRADS
Left: Many students, living in multi-family dwellings throughout the Oread neighborhood, particularly the area known as the "student ghetto," are living in violation of a Lawrence city ordinance that limits occupancy to four non-related individuals per house, regardless of its size. Some landlords, faced with city inspections brought on by renters' complaints, are forced to redraft leases or evict tenants to fall in line with the city code.
Above Right: Kacie Brown, Wellington junior, pauses for a brief phone call from her father while packing up her possession on Friday evening. Brown, who had lived in a six-bedroom house with five other students since July, decided to leave the house after the students' lease was voided by the city when inspectors discovered they were in violation of the occupancy ordinance that limits multi-family dwellings to a maximum of four non-related residents.
Lower Right: After a city inspector arrived at Brown's residence after Brown and her roommates had experienced serious sewage backup problems, the city issued a notice determining the house as a "substandard dwelling." Although the blockading of a back door, as seen here, doesn't violate any privacy laws, the house was also found to have windows that had been screwed shut, ungrounded lighting fixtures and a lack of smoke detectors, all violations of city code. The attic, where Brown lived, had no heating ventilation or fire escape.
City ordinance displaces students
Six residents scramble to find new housing after Lawrence officials enforce oft-ignored code
BY RYAN MCGEENEY rmcgeeney@kansan.com
It started with sewage.
Kacie Brown, Wellington junior, was alone in the six-bedroom house she shared with five other female students. She was waiting for out-of-town friends to arrive for fall break weekend when the first-floor toilet began backing up, spilling raw sewage onto the bathroom floor. It spread into the kitchen and under an adjoining wall into one of the bedrooms.
"I went out to breakfast and came back, and just heard this... gurgling." Brown said. "I didn't know what to do. There was shit overflowing out of the bath tub."
After trying to contact her landlord, a plumbing service worker eventually arrived to clear the clogged sewage line. Although the worker was able to clear the line, Brown said, he made it clear that cleaning up the aftermath was not his department.
"He said, 'You should really get this checked out by the city,'" said Brown, recalling the plumber's concern about a number of evident problems in the house. These included the toilet itself, which Brown said seemed on the verge of falling through the floor, and the two-by-four nailed across the breadth of the back door, securing it to the wall.
After discussing with her roommates the possible ramifications if the house wasn't up to code, Brown called the city inspec-
tor's office. She said that within the most moments of her initial phone conversation with the city code inspector, the employee on the other end of the line asked how many people were living at Brown's address.
"When I told them there were six of us," Brown said, "right away, they said. 'We've got a problem.'
Within days, city inspectors arrived and compiled a list of violations. The inspector, Treni Wescott, found windows that were missing screens
ever caught fire — a scenario exacerbated by her use of a space heater because the room lacked a heating vent.
and had been screwed shut, electrically ungrounded lighting fixtures and loose plumbing fixtures. Brown, who was living in the house's attic space, was told that the room would be a deathtrap if the house
Most of the deficiencies could be addressed easily enough, but the over-
"When I told them there were six of us, right away they said, We've got a problem."
KACIE BROWN Wellington junior
deficiencies could be enough, but the overoccupancy issue was non-negotiable. The inspection report said some or all of the women living in the house would have to vacate the premises within 30 days.
Brown and her five roommates were living in a situation identical to that of many students who live in the Oread neighborhood, specifically the stretches of Tennessee and Kentucky streets that run between Sixth and 19th streets, an area informally referred to as the "student ghetto."
According to Lawrence city code, no more than four people not related by blood, marriage or adoption can live in a single, multi-family dwelling. The code applies uniformly throughout the city.
Brown's landlord, Thomas Knutzen. second-year law student, said the inspector's declaration took him by surprise.
"I knew that outside the Oread, there was a three-person limit, but I didn't know there was a limit inside the Oread," said Knutzen, whose family has been renting out the property for five years. "That's why we signed the lease to six people. Wed been renting to more than four people for a number of years."
Brian Iminez, code enforcement manager for the city of Lawrence, said landlords' and tenants' confusion regarding city ordinances was often a mixture of
INTERNATIONAL
Students apply themselves in humanitarian programs
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA smivakawa@kansan.com
SEE HOUSING ON PAGE 8A
smiyakawa@kansan.com
Derin Stewart wants to get an MBA and wants to be a financial investor, but for now he plans to take time off and apply for the Peace Corps. If his application is approved, Stewart, Oak Ridge, Tenn., senior, will work as an adviser for a small business in a developing country.
Stewart is one of several KU seniors who have decided to join the Peace Corps or Teach for America instead of working or going to graduate school. The Peace Corps' salary is determined by the wages in the assigned country, and Teach for America pays the salary of beginning teachers in the area where the person teaches.
Stewart studied business in Italy in Spring 2008 and became interested in working in a foreign country. He said he wanted to help with community development in Eastern Europe or sub-Saharan
Peace Corps workers serve in more than 70 countries around the world helping local agriculture, education, health and business. A September 2008 report shows that about 7,814 workers are currently in the Peace Corps, and 100 of them are from Kansas, according to www.peacecorps.gov. Elizabeth Durkin, Peace Corps campus recruiter, said 43 KU students applied for the Peace Corps last year. For the past three years, the University has been ranked among the top 25 large universities with the most Peace Corps participants, according to the Peace Corps.
Africa and gain work experience in busi-
ness before entering graduate school.
Whitney Walden, recruitment director for Teach America, said that in 2008 the organization hired 3,600 new teachers nationwide. She said that 108 KU students applied for Teach America last year and
Brady Swenson, 2002 graduate, builds a basketball court in Guyana, South America. He said everything was done by hand from mixing cement to welding the goals. Swenson worked for Peace Corps from 2003 to 2005.
SEE INTERNATIONAL ON PAGE 8A
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Sen. Ted Stevens defeated in election
ELECTION 2008
Alaskan congressman loses seat to challenger
Longtime U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) lost his bid for another term in the United States Congress. Stevens was attempting to win the election after he was convicted of federal charges in October. Mark Begich will replace Stevens in January.
FULL STORY PAGE 4A
index
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All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2008 The University Daily Kansan
HORSES TO FIND HOME ON REFUGE
An oil tycoon's wife is creating a refuge for wild horses threatened by euthanasia. NATIONAL | 8A
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