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MONDAY, JUNE 26, 2017 | VOLUME 134 ISSUE 04
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Self says Kings 'a great place' for Frank Mason III
▶ WESLEY DOTSON
@WesDotsonUDK
Self said he thinks Mason's mentality will
NEWS
KANSAN.COM
File photo/KANSAN Student Senate executives are planning for a trial of Uber to be used in the fall in conjunction with the current SafeRide service. The trial will allow students to use Uber on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for a discounted rate.
Senate planning fall trial of Uber, not yet eliminating SafeRide
► ANGIE BALDELOMAR
@AngieBaldelomar
With the summer term in full swing, Student Senate executive body members are working to get some of its platforms started. Among other platforms, the campus partnership with Uber platform is starting to get organized, said Mattie Carter, student body vice president.
Carter said her staff is in conversations with Uber representatives to discuss the possibility of a partnership. With regards to funding for this project, Carter said there is some leeway in the budget.
"There's a little bit of surplus in the budget for transportation, and so that money could be used to cover Uber," she said.
Zachary Kelsay,
transportation coordinator,
said, so far, Carter and him
have worked on creating a document of their vision for the program.
"We've listed out what we want the program to look like, and what's needed, what sort of improvements we need in the system and really looking for ways that the system can change moving forward," he said.
Among these requirements, a mobile
interface and a faster pick-up time are two of the main priorities, Kelsay said, both of which Uber offers and could provide, if implemented.
"Students are going to be able to use and download, that's I think our primary need," he said. "And I think our secondary need is a faster pick-up time."
said, even though Uber is the company they have had conversations with,they are open to companies with a better offer.
Both Carter and Kelsay
"We're probably going to have to go into some sort of negotiation," Carter said. "So we're going to extend offers to other companies besides Uber to see if they can give us a lower price and obviously we'll take the lowest price."
The document that Kelsay and Carter have drafted has been passed on to the purchasing services department at the University, the one in charge of opening up for bid to different companies providing the services, Kelsay said.
Carter said Uber or some other service will most likely be used, at least at the beginning, in conjunction with SafeRide, considering that MV Transportation, the company in charge of SafeRide, has a contract with the University until
It'd kind of be a trial run to see if it works just using the surplus of that budget."
Mattie Carter
Student body vice president
December 2018.
"Hopefully by the fall semester, we'll be able to roll out the Uber on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and this wouldn't take SafeRide away yet," she said. "It'd kind of be a trial run to see if it works just using the surplus of that budget."
During this trial, students will be able to use a code and get free Uber rides on weekend nights. The trial is based off Wichita State University's partnership with Uber, in which Thursday through Saturday, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., students use a special University code to get free rides, up to $14.
Kelsay said, ultimately, Student Senate will go for the option that offers the most benefits at a low cost.
"Our number one goal is getting people home safe no matter what the system is," he said.
vided about the data that was shared, then, the story would show that actually the program does wonders for students."
Considering that the target population of McNair students, low-income, first-generation students, have a rate of below one percent of earning their doctorate, and even lower rate of finishing college and graduating, Negah said this six percent is significant.
She said they are trying to show the program is more than just a line in a budget, by showing how it affects people's lives, and, by extension, their communities. For that purpose, Negash said they are asking scholars to contact Congress, as well as helping fill out forms.
"What this program is doing is helping students tap into the talent that they have but didn't know it could go as far as becoming a professor or a scientist," she said. "You're changing the trajectory of individuals who would not have otherwise been able to do; you're changing the culture and the perspective of said target population."
The other program at risk of being cut, Educational Opportunity Centers at the
University, has also started their fight. Director Kimberly Morgan said the process is in the beginning stage.
"We're here to do the work and we're happy to do it,we just need to be funded."
Kimberly Morgan Director, Educational Opportunity Centers
"We've been asked by the Council for Opportunity
in Education in Washington D.C. to connect with our representatives and to invite them to an event with previous participants so they can have a better understanding of what we do and why we need to continue these TRIO programs," she said.
Educational Opportunity Centers program serves low-income, sometimes first-generation students who need help in the process of admissions and financial aid applications to pursue a postsecondary educational program.
Morgan said this program, along with the other
TRIO programs, are important in helping the United States compete globally.
"There's a tremendous gap in the educational attainment between America's highest and lowest income students, and the United States needs to move its academic and economic competitiveness globally," she said.
Negash also highlighted the outcome as an important reason to keep the programs funded. In the case of McNair, she said scholars are giving back to the community.
"You have to think about
McNair scholars are contributing to research that is finding cures to diseases, they're generating innovation in a wide range of industry, including biotech, healthcare agriculture," she said. "Not only are they giving back to the research community, they're giving back to the institution and their own community."
Morgan said the programs help in closing the gap in educational attainment.
"It's not gonna close on its own," she said. "We're here to do the work and we're happy to do it, we just need to be funded."
Robertson said, shows the need for a community like this one.
"We've talked about it over the years but never had a sense that there was a particular interest or need yet. When it began to percolate from the students, before it was mostly our staff wondering if we should do it," Robertson said. "Finally it was our students saying, 'Hello, we want this,' and that's when we're going to act on it."
The work group, spear-
"Having a single room was cool, but it did suck that I missed the opportunity to live with a roommate all because I couldn't find someone who was open-minded," Wantling said. "Especially because once I got to KU I met a lot of open-minded people that said, 'Oh, I would have lived with you had I
year. Wanting's year in Student Housing was a good one spent in a single room at GSP, she said, but getting there wasn't easy.
tance.
The creation of the GIH wing, Robertson said, is one step toward removing hurdles like those faced by students
"I had a lot of people turn me down just because of my sexuality," Wantling said. "I had one girl who said, 'My mom doesn't want me to live with anyone that's gay,' and another one that was like, 'Well, my boyfriend might have a problem with that.'"
SEEDORM PAGE2
Editor's Note: This story is the third in a series of stories looking at the way concealed carry on campus will look once it goes into effect July 1.
MCKENNA HARFORD @McKennaHartford
Each new semester brings a new round of syllabuses,but this semester professors will include a new added section of information that addresses concealed
In response to the arrival of concealed weapons on July 1 as a result of a 2013 state law, professors are taking steps to adjust their teaching style, class content, office hours or even seeking employment elsewhere.
carry on campus. As the University prepares to shift to an environment where students are legally allowed to bring concealed handguns to class, this will be just one of many preparations.
Aerospace engineering professor Ron Barrett Gonzalez, president of the Kansas chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said this is because many faculty members are concerned that concealed carry will have a chilling effect in classrooms.
"I know a nontrivial number of faculty members who are changing their syllabus.
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OPINION...3
ARTS & CULTURE...4
SPORTS...6
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