CSW
NEWS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19.2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
Legal Services for Students provides student relief
BY LAURA FRANCOVIGLIA
francoviglia@kansan.com
KANSAN SVFF WINTER
Legal Services for Students is celebrating its 25th year of providing legal aid to students.
The organization helps students with a wide variety of legal problems, such as alcohol offenses, speeding tickets, minor in possession and driving under the influence violations, and taxes, said Jo Hardesty, director and managing attorney of Legal Services for Students.
"You name it, we have a little bit of everything." Hardies said.
When students don't have legal problems, they can spend their time worrying about their classes instead, said Bill Larzalere, staff attorney at Legal Services for Students.
"What we we're doing is allowing them to focus on why they're here, and that's why they go to school," he said.
Larzalere said the organization's main purpose was to advise students. Though the
organization's attorneys couldn't represent students in small claims court, they could help students make all necessary preparations and complete all documentation.
"We probably give more advice than litigation at this point," Larzalere said.
Larzalere said disputes between landlords and tenants were the most common problems.
These disputes usually came up in the fall, when students received their security deposits back.
Every student pays a $7 per semester activity fee, which funds the program and its four full-time attorneys.
The organization is funded by students and overseen by the Student Senate Legal Services Advisory Board.
"It's like a legal insurance policy that you hope you don't have to use," Hardesty said, "but it's there if you need it."
Services at the organization are free. If students wanted to
Hardesty said the attorneys and eight law school interns acted as advocates for students.
use attorneys in the community.
Hardesty said the lowest price was about $80 per hour.
She said the Legal Services for Students office had 102 appointments available each week during the fall and about 20 more in the spring, partly because of tax season.
Larzalez said tax season, the first five months of the year, was the busiest for Legal Services for Students.
Graduate students were the top users of the services, Hardesty said. Senior students were second, while younger students used legal services the least. She attributed the high usership among older students to the fact that they took out leases on houses and car loans more often.
"The older you get, the more likely you are to get in legal entanglements." Hardesty said.
The organization is under fee review this year, meaning that
the Student Senate Campus Fee Review Subcommittee will look at the organizations budget. If the committee sees the organization needs more funding, a referendum could go through Student Senate elections in the spring, said Angela Raab, member of the Student Senate Legal Service Advisory Board and Shawnee senior.
More funding could mean the organization could do more outside the office for students, Raab said, also a member of the subcommittee.
Larzalere said he wanted students to know Legal Services for Students existed, and they could talk with an attorney or law student regardless of whether they were going to pursue legal action.
"Everything they tell is confidential," he said.
As part of its celebration, the organization has a new logo and a new slogan: Good advice is closer than you think.
Legal Services for Students is the on-campus legal advising organization for students. Students may call 864-5665 or stop by the organization's office in 312 Burge Union to make appointments.
— Edited by Ashley Doyle
LEGAL SERVICES FOR STUDENTS INFORMATION
Legal Services for Students offers the following services:
Advice and consultation on most legal matters.
Preparation, drafting, and review of legal documents.
Negotiation and correspondence with adverse parties or their attorneys in an effort to settle cases without litigation.
Notarization of legal documents.
Incorporation of non-profit, student organizations registered with the University.
Referrals to appropriate resource persons or groups within the community.
Court representation in landlord-tenant and consumer cases in Douglas County.
Advising against the University of Kansas, its officers, agents, or employees.
Income tax assistance
The organization does not offer these services:
University Traffic Court. The School of Law has a program providing representation for KU Parking tickets on campus.
Disputes or legal proceedings between KU students
Any matter that involves any Legal Services for Students attorney in a potential violation of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct, as adopted by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Source: Legal Services for Students
Interactive wildlife educational event offers 'the real thing'
BY MATT FOSTER
editor@kansan.com
SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN
At a time when humans and animals alike are searching for a safe and warm place to hole up for the winter, a few humans, and lots of animals, are coming out for the sake of wildlife education.
winter, Marty Birrell, director of the Nature Center, said.
"Winter on the Prairie" is an interactive wildlife education event organized by University of Kansas graduate students in the museum studies program and is hosted by the Prairie Park Nature Center. 2730 Harper St.
People do not interact with nature as much as they used to, and this situation worsens for Lawrence residents during the
"Historically, people have moved out of situations where they are in contact with nature," Birrell said. "Around here, people stay inside when it's cold. We're not a winter recreation culture here in Kansas."
According to a postcard that students distributed, "Winter on the Prairie" is an opportunity for families to "learn about the 'critters' of Kansas and what happens to them during the coldest part of the year." The 14 graduate students in the museum public education class are organizing the event.
in the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, because the University's collection is well respected around the nation. He said the collection was used by scholars but generally ignored by the public. He emphasized the importance of educating children.
"Museums and events like this play an important role." Berger said. "It's a first chance to peak an interest in a child. If you get kids into nature and science early, it's more likely they will be conscious of it as adults."
Berger said a museum public education class organized only one of these events during the semester and that the whole curriculum was designed around these types of educational events.
John Simmons, museum studies program coordinator, said students in the class were learning how to interpret museum collections and research, and how to translate that information into a medium the public could use. He said public education was an important responsibility of museum workers
"Our goal is to produce citizens that make educated decisions about environmental issues," Simmons said. "Since the public owns the collection, we have a responsibility to share it with the public."
The Center has a display about the impact of humans on the environment which centers around a snapping turtle that was deformed after getting
trapped in a plastic six-pack oring. It also has exotic animals such as a caiman — a small crocodile-like creature, a boa, a macaw, a scorpion and insects from India and Australia.
Burrell said that "Winter on the Prairie" would have live animal demonstrations of the red-tailed hawk, the turkey vulture, the barred owl, the gray tree frog, box turtle and a snake.
Berger said the event, which is scheduled to take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov.21, would also have six other activities for children and adults as well as Prairie snacks and beverages.
The public should not rely just on the Internet or The Discovery Channel for wildlife education, Simmons said. He said that
information from these sources was often misleading or inaccurate.
"In general, the average kid knows more about nature than ever before, but unfortunately not everything he knows is accurate." Simmons said.
He stressed the importance of a hands-on learning experience to those who would rather spend the winter curled up in front of a warm television or computer monitor.
"They don't know what they're missing until they come see it," Simmons said. "Which would you rather see? The real thing or someone's imagined version? We've got the real stuff."
- Edited by Neil Mulka