6A
145
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SAFETY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2009
Lighted path in the works
BY ANNA ARCHIBALD aarchibald@kansan.com
Cornelius Aculeus Trade CLANSCAN
A possible route for the lighted path runs from Louisiana Street to Massachusetts Street.
The City of Lawrence is working with Student Senate and five other student organizations to make the possibility of a lighted pathway from campus to downtown Lawrence a reality for students walking late at night.
Since August, these groups have been developing a plan to install lighting along the most commonly used sidewalks in the "student ghetto" the area of houses east of campus. The exact route is still being determined.
Elise Higgins, Topeka senior and Student Senate community affairs director, said the lack of lighting in that area was a safety problem student groups had been looking at for years. She said she hoped it would become a reality next fall.
"I've lived around 13th and Louisiana and often walk in that area now," said Higgins. "We don't want and women or men to have to worry about safety."
Shani Nisman, San Antonio senior, moved into an apartment on Kentucky Street at the beginning of this semester. She said she liked the idea because so many students lived in the area.
Follow Kansan writer Anna Archibald at twitter.com/monarchon.arch
"Sometimes if I'm at the library kind of late and I'm walking down the hill, I look behind me and around the entire time just because I'm a girl late at night alone." Nisman said.
Nisman said that friends had warned her to be careful when she was out late because she could be mugged or attacked.
One lighting option, Higgins said, would be 3-foot, tamper-proof pedestrian lights. She said the groups have considered various options for the light source, but whatever they decide on would meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
While safety is the most prominent concern, it isn't the only issue involved in the decision-making process. Mark Thiel, assistant public works director for the city, said cost was also an issue.
"We will determine the scope of the project based on funds." Thel said.
City and campus groups are still figuring out how they would pay for
the lighted path, Higgins said. She also said funding and the community development grant the groups were hoping for still needed to be applied for. Higgins said the groups would find out the cost of the project in five or six weeks.
The organizations anticipate neighborhood concerns about light pollution, which happens when light reaches nearby homes instead of the intended areas. Both Higgins and Thiel said that issue and the project's cost would be addressed at a meeting in November.
Greg Rudnick, assistant professor in astronomy, said there was scientific evidence that light pollution was detrimental to nature. Beyond that, he said, the project could cost residents a lot more on their energy bills if administered incorrectly.
"The big thing is going to be energy savings." Rudnick said. "I think it will be beneficial to the city to look at long-term price tag instead of what will be cheaper now, because that may not lead to the most energy-efficient solution."
Higgins agreed that the price tag on the new light fixtures was a big
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS WORKING WITH THE CITY OF LAWRENCE
■ Student Senate
■ Campus Safety Advisory Board
■ All Scholarship Hall Council
■ GSP / Corbin representatives
■ Panhellenic Association
■ Inter-fraternity Council
@KANSAN.COM
See an interactive version of the map for the proposed lighted route online!
concern to campus groups and city officials.
"We have to find a balance between good lighting in the area and the best interests of the neighborhood," Higgins said. "But so far the benefits overwhelmingly outweigh the cost."
Edited by Sarah Kelly
FILM
Dog documentary fetches awards at multiple festivals
BY BETH BEAVERS bbeavers@kansan.com
The movie trailer opens with a soaking wet labrador emerging triumphant from a pool of water. Next, we see a panting terrier, then a veritable pack of huskies. A few moments later, the owners of these dogs begin to speak. "Need this dog," one woman says as images of a swimming canine flash before our eyes. Then cold, hard numbers replace the sweet
and Robhre
Kasey
Babbitt, 2008
graduates, and
Grant Babbitt
Follow Kansas
writer Beth
Beavers at
twitter.com/
bethbeavers.
"We put it together and followed through with it because we care."
Lenexa senior, set out to tell the story of these shelter animals in what began as a project in a documentary film class. Now, their documentary, "The Littlest Ones:
A Dogumentary" is winning awards at film festivals across the country. The film looks at the effects of the recession on animal shelters and the work of "no kill" groups in the community.
Siblings Grant and Kasey dedicated the film to two of their childhood dogs, Abby and Scooter, whom they saved just days before they were to be euthanized.
"I have more compassion for dogs than for humans," Kasey said. "We put it together and followed through with it because we care."
Grant said the assignment was to make a five-minute documentary for a broadcast documentary workshop. The students originally planned to follow the story of a dog.
KASEY BABBITT filmmaker 2008 graduate
beginning with it's pick-up by animal control. When they went to the Humane Society, however, the trio discovered that the recession had resulted in a 15 percent increase in the number of animals that were dropped off
at the shelter. Kasey said the focus of the documentary shifted to programs that exist in the area that didn't use euthanasia.
The three students ended up with 13 interviews and got more than 16 hours of footage, which they consolidated
into a 15-minute documentary. The film looks at the Lawrence Humane Society and Safe Harbor Prison Dogs Program based in
Lansing, both of which are no-kill organizations. Safe Harbor rescues dogs from puppy mills and kill shelters. The dogs then go to inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility who
work to train the dogs.
Rohrer interviewed some of the inmates involved with the program. The inmates talked about how the emotional ties to the animals help them not only pass the time, but provide happiness and purpose.
"They are people who are giving a second chance and are getting a second chance," Rohrer said.
@KANSAN.COM
View a clip of the students' award-winning "dogumentary" online!
Grant said that the help and direction provided by their instructor, Madison Davis Lacy, associate professor of film and media studies, was essential in putting the film together.
"I have more compassion for dogs than for humans."
"He doesn't sugar coat anything," Grant said. "If we had footage that was crappy, he told us."
Seven film festivals have broadcasted the film, produced under the Babbitts' label Naked Bunny Productions . The film has won numerous awards. It was the featured film at the REEL Dog Film Festival in Los Angeles, where the film also won the best overall film. It was selected as the best documentary at the Cavalier Film Festival and the Little Apple Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Harvest of
KASEY BABBITT filmmaker 2008 graduate
Arts Film Festival and Griffin international Film Festival. It also won the Judges Choice award at the Kansas-Missouri Short Film Festival.
The film will be shown next at the Tallgrass Film 23.25.16
Festival Oct. 23-25 in Wichita.
Grant said they would submit the film into festivals around the United States for another year. He said he hoped to get enough funding to turn it into a full-length documentary.
"We just want to take it so as many people as possible can see it," he said.
—Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph
Wish this kid a retro chic birthday!
[Happy Birthday Old Balls.]
Love,
Everyone
text: (214) 718-5240
peace love joyhawk. KU
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOMECOMING 2009
Today's Homecoming Events Thursday, Oct. 8
- Chalk n' Rock, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Wescoe Beach
- Homecoming Cookout, 6-8 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
- Tahawk lingles, 7 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
- Homecoming Cookout 6 p.m. - Adams Alumni Center
- Jayhawk Jingles, 7 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
Tomorrow's Events
- Crimson and Blue Day, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Wescoe Beach
- AURH Homecoming Dance, 10 a.m.-1 a.m., Hashinger Hall
I Spy Clue
1 Spy... an office that promotes green along with crimson and blue.
*This building is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Good luck!*
www.homecoming.ku.edu