4A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
STUDENT SENATE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
Finance committee takes closer look at proposals
BY JESSE RANGEL jrangel@kansan.com
Student senators are taking a closer look at funding proposals from groups this year. The student activity fee decreased from $17.50 to $15.50 per person, causing student senators to put funding proposals from groups under the microscope this year.
Mark Pacey, Manhattan graduate student and finance committee chair, said the committees overlooking funding bills are asking groups to provide more information such as a more complete estimate of how many people would be in attendance at events. He said he encouraged groups to submit proposals early.
"We pass more funding in the fall, but that's in large part due to events in the spring often come through in the fall. We run out of money," Pacey said.
The cuts this year to student activities total 11.4 percent. The biggest cuts were to block allocation funds, which included groups such as the Marching Jayhawks, University Theatre and the Student Senate administration budget. These funds were cut from $621,042 in fiscal year 2009 to $535,584 for fiscal year 2010. Line item funds, the initial funding a registered group receives and unallocated funds, which is money left over and groups also get
funding from, have also decreased.
SEE THE KANSAN'S EDITORIAL ABOUT STUDENT SENATE SPENDING ON PAGE 5B
Erin Pishny, Lenexa junior and assistant treasurer, said student groups should explore all their options for funding this year, including grants and sponsorships. She said this should be something groups do every year.
"They're really trying to drill us on being specific," Unrein said. "We are expected to have them drill us with questions. Just to make sure that it's going to a good cause. You just have to be clear about it."
"Last year we were running out of money, when we had more money." Pishny said.
Pacey said groups seeking funding should have contracts for senators to review, and be in communication with their student
Maruel Unrein, Aiea, Hawaii senior and president of the Asian-American Student Union, said he received suggestions from Student Senate representatives in the Multicultural Education Fund to make sure they have better preparation in their proposals.
senator writing the funding bill. He said he encouraged groups and senators to let him review legislation for biweekly finance meetings early by e-mail.
"I don't mind having bills running by me first." Pacev said.
Ryan Callihan, Lenexa senior and president of KU Environs, said his group had received the standard $200 in line item funding, but it has also received a cut in funding because of the cut in the renewable energy and sustainability fee, which has gone down from $1.25 to 25 cents per student. He said the group hasn't come up with substantial plans for funding programs this year.
"But when we do, we're definitely going to make sure it's a good plan, and also try to get as much funding from other places as possible, because we know that this year's a little tight for Student Senate," Calliah said.
Pacey said student groups should still try to ask for funding.
"I don't see any reason why something that has campus impact and follows all our rules won't get funded," Pacey said. "We're going to run out of money at the end of the year because we always run out of money at the end of the year."
Edited by Alicia Banister
NATIONAL
Clifton Hart, right, takes items nipped by floodwaters from Swetwater Creek to a dumper as family members sort through other items taken out of their basement after the water entered of the house, Wednesday in Astell, Ga. Residents may also need to worry about sewer plant.
Floods cause bacteria growth
BY DIONNE WALKER
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Georgia residents returning Wednesday to homes soaked by days of torrential rains were warned of a hidden danger — disease-causing bacteria and jagged debris harbored by stagnant,
murky water.
Standing water up to several feet deep was still pooled in some neighborhoods, including parts of Cobb County in the Atlanta area. Anyone venturing into a flooded yard or basement should wear rubber waders and surgical gloves, and items that were submerged should be cleaned with disinfectant, state emergency officials said.
Bacteria in water left behind after flooding can infect open wounds, and the soup could also contain harmful chemicals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"Clorox is going to be your best friend," state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said Wednesday.
Flooding at sewage plants in at least four Atlanta-area counties along the Chattahoochee River could add human waste and plant debris to the standing water in some neighborhoods, Oxendine said.
ENVIRONMENT
A DC-10 drops fire retardant over a hillside in Grimes Canyon in Fillmore, Calif., on Sunday, May 10, 2009. A new fire burns in Moorpark, Calif.
New fire 40 miles from LA
MOORPARK, Calif. — Firefighters guarded rural homes. ranches and orchards Wednesday as a wind-driven wildfire apparently caused by spontaneous combustion in manure marched through rugged land between small Southern California communities Wednesday
BY JEFF WILSON
Fire officials said it began Tuesday in the area of an agricultural mulch pile, but the cause remained under investigation. The Sheriff's Department earlier said it was apparently caused by spontaneous combustion in manure.
The blaze, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, was only 20 percent contained. Firefighters cut and burned away brush along a canyon road to try to corral part of the fire's western flank.
The hot, dry and gusty Santa Ana winds that spread the flames across 15 square miles returned for a second day, and incident commander Robert Lewin said the fire had potential for significant growth.
Winds and fuels such as grasses and light brush made the fire dangerous, Lewin said.
"Our firefighters need to be on guard, make sure they're out of harm's way when they're engaged in this fire, and so do the citizens." he said.
About 1,000 homes were considered threatened as the fire burned east and west just north of Moorpark, a city of 37,000. The 15,000-student Moorpark College was closed because of its proximity to the fire.
Reverse 911 calls recommending evacuations were made to 2,200 phones in unincorporated areas, but officials couldn't say how many people actually left.
One of those calls went to the home of school bus driver Maria
Radowaki in Somis, west of Moorark
"I wasn't too frightened but my husband freaked out," she said. "He ran outside and started watering the garage in the dark."
"There are very, very valuable avocado groves and other agricultural values out there and we are doing everything we can to protect those," Lewin said.
Firefighters were also concerned about five major electrical transmission lines, a 36-inch natural gas pipeline and oil production fields within the fire perimeter, he said.
Firefighting costs surpassed $1 million as nearly 900 firefighters, 18 air tankers and 12 helicopters worked the blaze. Four injuries
"I wasn't too frightened but my husband freaked out. He ran outside and started watering the garage."
Two outbuildings were destroyed but no homes had been damaged.
They chose not to leave their home, and Wednesday afternoon she and another driver were out checking which roads would be open or closed when they took children home after school.
The fire was also threatening agricultural properties, a major concern in a county where the industry was valued at $1.6 billion last year.
were reported but all were minor.
air.
The blaze was the largest of several fires that erupted in Southern California on Tuesday as the Santa Anas blew in from the northeast, pushing back the normal flow of cool and moist ocean
"We have the cars packed and we are ready to go. When it comes this close, you don't care. You take your passport and papers and animals and go," Lexmond said.
Meanwhile, the hot, dry and windy weather increased fire activity northeast of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains, where remnants of a month-old, 251-square-mile wildfire are still smoldering.
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Illinois Chancellor resigns
CHAMPAIGN.ILL — University of Illinois President B. Joseph White resigned Wednesday following reports that the school admitted politically connected applicants over more qualified ones at its Urbana-Champaign campus.
University of Illinois President B. Joseph White testifies at a meeting of an independent commission. Gov Pat Quinn appointed it to investigate driven admissions.
White said he sent a resignation letter to Christopher Kennedy, the chairman of the university's board of trustees.
"I take this action to enable you as a newly constituted Board to select University leadership going forward." White wrote in the letter. "It has been a privilege for my wife, Mary, and me to serve the University community. We remain highly committed to the University of Illinois."
According to a university news release, White will remain with the central Illinois school to teach and raise funds. His resignation is effective Dec. 31.
News reports first surfaced in May that politically connected applicants for spots at the
university's flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign were given special attention and tracked through a list known as Category I. Those reports and documents later released by the university showed that some of those connected applicants were admitted over more qualified ones.
Richard Herman. That applicant, initially denied admission but later accepted, turned out to be a relative of Tony Rezko, the convicted political influence peddler who is a key figure in the federal government's investigation of Blagoievich.
Among the e-mails was one from ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich backing an applicant. White forwarded the e-mail to Urbana-Champaign Chancellor
White has said he didn't know at the time who Rezko was when he sent along the e-mail in 2005. Six members of the university's board of trustees were also replaced this summer over the scandal.
THU
THU
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