CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, October 31. 1995
3A
City issues often affect students
By Tara Trenary
Kansan staff writer
Keeping abreast of what is going on in Lawrence government may be the last thing on KU students' minds. But one thing is certain: City government decisions can affect every resident, including students.
"I think students ought to get involved to the extent that their political interests are affected by the city government," said Russell Getter, associate professor of political science and government.
He said that city government made decisions about fire protection, street services, buses and trash pick-up, which affect all Lawrence residents, including KU students.
Melissa Miller, Sioux Falls, S.D., senior and political science major, said that students should begin to get involved in city issues so that they could learn from experienced people about how the system works.
She said she was involved with the Democratic headquarters in
Lawrence where she calls Lawrence residents and encourages them to vote and participate in government.
"I think why people should get involved, and why I should get involved is because we are the future," she said.
David Corliss, director of legal services in Lawrence, defined city government as the government that was closest to the people and provided services to its citizens. He said students should provide input to the city on issues that concerned them.
"KU operates independently of the city government but is still part of the city," Corliss said. "KU is a large institution and obviously the largest employer in Lawrence. It is concerned about the community."
He said that KU and the city were involved together in such issues as police and fire protection, water and sewer issues, and maintaining the road system, which includes more than 250 miles of roads. The two also cooperate on social issues such as planning for pedestrian and bike trails on West Campus and
Meet the
city commission
Bob Moody—Mayor
advertising salesman, Trading Post
Bonnie Augustine - commissioner
executive vice president, University National Bank of Lawrence Allen Levine—commissioner vice president. Blue Iron Co. Inc.
Jolene Anderson—commissioner kitchen specialist, Payless Cash waves
a vice president, but not the
metal marketing firm John Nal-
bandian—commissioner
financing an alcohol risk education effort.
KU professor of public administration
So, why don't students feel they should get involved in city matters that affect them?
Students often do not participate because they think other people will look after them, Getter said. Their
parents tend to take care of them, and they have not learned that they have to take care of their own political interests.
But that does not mean that students should not get involved in city matters when they arise.
The Lawrence City Commission meeting, a form of public city government held on Tuesday evenings at 6:35, will not be held tomorrow night. It has been canceled because it is the fifth Tuesday of the month.
Commissioner Allen Levine said that Lawrence was a transition city for many students but that it was important that they involve themselves in city government because many of them end up living here after college.
He said that there were many issues that were important to students, such as liquor licenses, the sales tax and permit parking in the Oread neighborhood, but the problem was that very few students voted.
"I was hoping there would be a larger trend of students voting," he said.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
Heavy metal
Susan Halalay, Colorado Springs, Colo., senior, casts small airplanes together to produce a cocktail-party bracelet, which she is making for her Metals 21.2 metalsmithing class.
Two freshmen charged in theft of sorority items
Kansan staff report
Two 18-year-old KU students were arrested early Sunday morning in connection with an alleged theft of items valued at more than $1,500 from the Delta Delta Delta sorority, 1630 Oxford Road, Lawrence police reported.
Ben L. Brown, Leawood freshman, and John M. Kilroy, Prairie Village freshman, would not comment about the incident.
The two men allegedly entered the sorority between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 4:22 a.m.
Sunday and removed a 1996 composite picture valued at $1,500, a 1964 homecoming trophy valued at $20 and a 1985 softball trophy valued at $20, police said.
The items were returned to the sorority unharmed. The men were arrested on charges of aggravated burglary and theft. They were ordered to appear in Douglas County District Court on Nov. 8.
The men were arrested about 5 a.m. when a KU police officer noticed the composite sticking out of their trunk, said Rick Nickell of the Lawrence police.
Protesters hope students will join PepsiCo boycott
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
Student protesters who have called for a University-wide boycott of Pepsi products hope that phone calls and letters can achieve what their chants and banners could not.
About 40 students from KU Environs, the Feminist Collective Force, the Rain Forest Awareness Organization and the Student Environmental Action Coalition joined together Friday to protest PepsiCo. The demonstration was part of an international effort, called Free Burma Action Day, to stop multinational corporations from investing in Burma, a nation in Southeast Asia ruled by a military regime.
PepsiCo, whose subsidiaries include Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has had a bottling plant in Rangoon, Burma since 1991.
Shawntel Stapleton, Shawnee sophomore, said students should write or call PepsiCo subsidiaries or boycott Pepsi products.
"There are major human rights violations going on in Burma through the support of major corporations like Pepsi," she said.
In a news release, PepsiCo International said it was not in business with the Burmese government and did not support the military regime in that country.
"It's not that we're indifferent to important social issues, it's that as a corporation doing business throughout the world, it is neither prudent nor appropriate for us to establish our own country-by-country foreign policy," the news release stated.
The company also denies charges that it engages in slave labor, stating that it pays more than twice the government's minimum wage.
The protesters gathered in front of Wescoe Hall carrying signs reading, "Cruelty is NOT the choice of a new generation," and "Pepsi destroys rain forests."
Without impeding business, the group then crowded outside the Pizza Hut in the Union chanting "boycott Pizza Hut, boycott Pizza Hut."
"This may seem pretty unwinnable, but by boycoting PepsiCo we can let the University know its students don't agree with human rights violations," he said.
Terry Huarter, Lake Quivera sophomore and co-coordinator of KU Environs, told the crowd that this local effort could make a difference.
Huerter said other corporations, such as Levi-Strauss, Amoco and Eddie Bauer have pulled out of Burma in recent years because of the military regime.
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