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VOLUME 121 ISSUE 52
HALTING THE HIGHWAY
Members of the Eco-Justice, Environs, First Nation Student Advisory Board and Wetlands Preservation Organization held a demonstration in front of Strong Hall on Monday. The protestors chanted "Don't Pave," to derail the proposed South Lawrence Trafficway on the 20-acre Baker Wetlands.
Howard Ting/KANSAN
Groups protest wetlands stance
BY JUSTIN LEVERETT
jleverett@kansan.com
Demonstrators challenged the University's neutral position on the Baker Wetlands debate Monday. Forty students and locals gathered on the Strong Hall Lawn and chanted, marched with signs and gathered petition signatures on both sides of Jayhawk Boulevard.
Jason Hering. Hutchinson senior and president of the student environmental group Eco-Justice, said the goal of the demonstration was to draw attention to the 20 acres of wetlands controlled by the University and to prevent the construction of the proposed South Lawrence Trafficway.
The trafficway was most recently projected to be a six-lane high
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Leverett at twitter.com/schmendric.
way with a 12-foot sound barrier that would cross through the Baker Wetlands, which span 640 total acres south of 31st Street.
Campus environmental groups collaborated with local groups, some based at Haskell Indian Nations University, to stage the demonstration. Hering said the groups wanted the University to appoint one person responsible for the fate of the 20 acres it controls.
"I don't understand why no one person has responsibility over that section," Hering said. "It's just a mystery."
Demonstrators included members of student environmental groups Eco-Justice, KU Enviroms and local interest group Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, as well as the Wetlands Preservation Organization and the First
Nations Student Association, both based at Haskell Indian Nations University.
Mike Caren, director of the local group Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, said the grouns
director for the University, said the proposed highway has been hotly debated for nearly 20 years. The most recent proposal for the trafficway would intersect the University-controlled area and cut
wanted the University to support them in their fight to stop construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway.
"KU has consistently taken the position that it will not give anyone the land for construction of the SLT."
Lynn Bretz, communications
LYNN BRETZ Communications director
through the remainder of the wetlands.
During this time, the University has maintained control of the contested 20 acres but had not made any plans for it. The University's deed dictates that the land must be used "for public benefit".
and demonstrators cite this as an argument for sponsoring research of the wildlife-rich habitat.
Bretz said both the demonstrators and proponents of
the South Lawrence Trafficway had legitimate arguments that their causes would benefit the public. The University has taken a neutral stance through the years and refused to support either side.
"KU has consistently taken the position that it will not give anyone the land for construction of the SLT," she said. "If the state of Kansas decides it needs the land for that purpose then it would have to obtain the land through the power of eminent domain."
Eminent domain is a legal procedure that allows the government to forcefully acquire privately owned land.
At the same time, she said the University could not give the
SEE WETLANDS ON PAGE 3A
CONSTRUCTION
Pharmacy building on track to open for fall
New facilities allow for a 50-percent enrollment increase
The last steel beam is in, and the new School of Pharmacy building is on schedule to open its doors for the fall 2010 semester.
Students, faculty and administration in the school autographed the thirty-foot beam, which was placed yesterday on the northwest corner of the new building on Constant Avenue in West Campus.
BY JESSE RANGEL
jrangel@kansan.com
Ken Audus, dean of pharmacy, said the building should be ready to accept students for the fall 2010 semester. He said the building would offer the school an opportunity to better develop projects such as the standardized client program, in which actors come in to test students on their patient care skills.
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could instantly boost its number of incoming students in Lawrence from 105 to 150 with the new building because of the additional space. He said that 65 percent of pharmacy alumni stayed in the state after graduation and that it would provide more pharmacists for the state.
"For several years we've not had adequate space to expand our program and increase the number of students we're able to take," Hotchkiss said. "There's a significant shortage of pharmacists in Kansas and this allows us to increase our enrollment by 50 percent."
"We do it now, but they're fairly primitive circumstances," Audus said. "This facility has a suite that was designed specifically for that."
Gene Hotchkiss, associate dean of pharmacy, said the pharmacy
Dr. Ron Ragan, associate dean of academic affairs for the School of Pharmacy, signs his name on the final beam before it is hoisted on the new building located on West Campus. Dr. Ragan expressed his enthusiasm for the new building's prospects, "I think we'll not only have more pharmacy students, but better pharmacy students."
SEE PHARMACY ON PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
Organizations raise green standards with projects
BY JESSE BROWN
jbrown@kansan.com
As the University discusses green initiatives, a few student groups are shedding light on the issue.
Kimberly Hernandez, Hutchinson senior and vice president of KU Environs, said her group was working to bring light-emitting diodes (LED) bulbs to campus, starting with streetlights. Though LEDs are more expensive, they last longer and use less energy than other bulbs.
But Environs is not the only group taking steps to advance conservation on campus. The KU Energy Council, a group of researchers for innovative fuel and energy options, has asked advertising students to create a conservation campaign to promote a "culture of sustainability."
Jeremy Viscomi, KU Energy Council project coordinator, is working with Journalism 676 advertising students to fulfill their appointed task of creating the conservation campaign.
"If we can weave sustainability and various forms of renewable energy into the fabric of how we do things on campus, then it creates an environment that promotes energy research, sustainability research and new energy initiatives." Viscomi said.
Bob Basow, associate professor of journalism, said the class had interviewed about 30 people on campus, including students from campus organizations and Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, to discuss new ways to promote conservation on campus.
Nathan Gill, Iola senior and one of Basow's students, said the class was developing ideas for transportation and other ways to conserve energy. He said that encouraging change would take time, but that the process must begin with small steps. Those small steps could include challenging students to think about their energy usage, by simply turning off electronics and being mindful of recycling and conserving water.
Gill said the class's campaign efforts would be directed at freshmen with the goal of influencing subsequent incoming classes for the next few years.
Kansas City Power and Light, an energy provider based in Kansas City, Mo., has donated $7,500 to fund the research for the ad campaign, which includes visits to other universities such as Colorado and Kansas State to learn more about campus sustainability. Viscomi said he hoped that Westar, another energy provider, would match that donation.
Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability, said that various departments had initiated green efforts on campus but that
SEE GREEN ON PAGE 3A
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jessebrownthe1.
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