4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY RAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006
CENSUS
Growth changes nation Increasing population causes sprawl, loss of middle class
BY MARK VIERTHALER
For the past 40 years, virtually every time Deborah Peterson returned home to Michigan, another stretch of forest was missing.
"You come around a curve and where there used to be a forest, there's nothing," she said. "It just rips your guts out."
The United States is becoming a sub-urban country, meaning many people gravitate to single-family
said her biggest concern with the increase in population was the environment.
"You come around a curve and where there used to be a forest, there's nothing. It just rips your guts out."
DEBORAH PETERSON Eastern Asian Languages and Cultures lecturer
on how things have changed since the 200 million milestone in 1967. The problem with the increase isn't so much the concentration in one area or another as much as it is the tendency to sprawl, Peterson said.
Peterson, Eastern Asian Languages and Cultures lecturer,
dwellings outside large cities.
Peterson said she has also seen an increase in automobile congestion since she was a little girl.
Ronald Ash, business professor, said he noticed changes in a more social way.
During 1967 the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. At that time, Ash said the American public was beginning to raise concerns with the increasingly unpopular war.
He said more people are now raising the same concerns on the
War on Terror.
The most profound difference from almost four decades ago, he said, was the shifting of economics.
Between an increased population and a more competitive world market, Ash said it's harder for blue-collar workers to make ends meet. While in 1967 there was a strong middle class, he said present indicators show the U.S. heading to a larger gap between the upper and lower classes.
"I don't want to call them haves and have-nots," Ash said. "It would be more fitting to call them have-mores and have-lesses."
The population landmark hasn't been met with concern from the city.
Mayor Mike Amyx said although the number was significant, the commission hadn't considered marking the occasion in any way.
Denise Martinek, director of maternity and pediatrics at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said there were no babies born within the predicted time frame for the 300 million people. Although it would have been exciting to potentially have the 300 millionth person, it was impossible to determine who it was.
Meredith Kleycamp, assistant professor and social demographer, said Kansas won't be largely affected by the population increase until the United States begins pushing the 400 million mark.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the next 100 million milestone will be reached around 2043.
Kansan staff writer Mark Vierthaler can be contacted at mvierthaler@kansan.com.
Edited by Brett Bolton
Campaigning, classes in store for candidates
Two students prepare to run against incumbents
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
Election candidates' job titles are often professional positions, but for Rick Davis and Marcus Kirby, that title is full-time student.
Both candidates aren't worried about their age affecting their chances of winning. What they are worried about is that
Kirbv
names won't be as recognizable as their opponents during the election Nov.7.
Political science professor Burdette Loomis said it's not uncommon for college students to run for office. Getting a nomination to run against an incumbent isn't hard he said, but a challenger's chances of winning aren't good because the opposing candidates are better-known. He's known several students who ran for office and won, but only after they had graduated from college.
The National Conference of Stage Legislatures, based in Denver, doesn't keep track of candidates' names and ages. Karl Kurtz, director of trust, recalled a couple cases where college students won elections, including Congressman Martin Sabo. In 1960, Sabo ran for congress in Minnesota while he was still in college. He won, and is now getting ready to retire.
Davis, a 23-year-old Phoenix junior, decided to run as a Republican candidate to represent the 44th District after he discovered that Barbara Ballard (D-Lawrence) had no opponent. The 44th District
covers west c ent r al Lawrence.
Davis said Ballard has faced opponents three times in her eight terms as He
Davis
representative. He
decided this was reason enough to run even though his experience pales in comparison to Ballard's.
He has been involved in politics since he was 18. At the University of Nebraska at Kearney, he founded a chapter of College Republicans. He intermed with Nebraska Congressman Tom Osborne and was a 3rd District representative of the Nebraska Federation of College Republicans.
He said he spends 50 hours a week campaigning, 30 to 40 hours going door to door and 10 to 20 hours on the Internet researching and sending e-mails. When he's not knocking on Lawrence doors, he's studying political science, spending five to 10 hours doing homework. He squeezes in about three to four hours of sleep a night.
"I cut sleeping a lot." he said.
Marcus Kirby, Olathe junior, also decided to run because his opponent Paul Davis (D-Lawrence) was unopposed in the last two elections.
He is running as a Libertarian to represent the 46th District, which covers north-central Lawrence.
"I used to be a Democrat and lately I haven't noticed a difference between the two parties," he said. "I came to the realization that for any change to happen, the third party needs to have a voice."
Kirby admits that being a fulltime student and campaigning is going to be tough, but he doesn't foresee a problem.
"If I do win, I could start taking night classes," he said. "It would be a full-time job and a paying job so why not do it at the same time?"
Kirby is taking 15 credit hours, nine of which are courses for his political science major. About 12 hours a week he's working at Haye's Hamburger and Chill, 1410 Kasold St. He also devotes time to his "independent, math-rock" band called Parastrika and the KU Libertarians.
He campaigns in downtown Lawrence every weekend, handing out literature.
He said he knows he has to look and act professional to encourage a better response because of his age.
"My challenger has lived here all of his life," he said. "He has his work cut out for him and has an established name to where I have no real tie to the community. So it's more about name recognition now."
Kansan staff writer Erin Castanea can be contacted at ecastanea@kansan.com.
Edited by Jacky Carter
STATE
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
TV station sued for defamation Man wrongly suspected in BTK killings brings lawsuit
WICHITA — A Wichita man who wrongly came under suspicion in the BTK serial killings had
his reputation destroyed when a local television station identified him, his attorney told jurors Tuesday.
the door at his home and went in with guns drawn. They took a DNA sample from his mouth, and 20 officers with the task force searched his home for evidence that might link him to the killings. Several
But the attorney for Wichita station KSNW argued that its coverage of his Dec. 1, 2004,
"Not a single day goes by Roger Valadez doesn't feel the pain inflicted on him by KSN."
CRAIG SHULTZ
Attorney for Roger Valadez
rate and the station was just doing its job.
Roger Valadez sued Emmis Communications, then owner of KSNW, and its news director Todd Spessard, claiming the station defamed him in its coverage of his arrest on minor, unrelated warrants for trespassing and housing violations.
Valadez came to the attention of the task force investigating the BTK killings after they got a tip fingering him as a possible suspect. Police used a battering ram to knock down
10 BTK killings.
boxes possible evidence were removed from the house.
Valadez was never charged in connection with the slayings. He was cleared long before the arrest of Dennis Rader, who confessed to all
"Not a single day goes by Roger Valadez doesn't feel the pain inflicted on him by KSN," his attorney, Craig Shultz, said in opening arguments.
But defense attorney Bernard Rhodes told jurors that Valadez did not even see the media coverage until his lawyer showed it to him, and noted the only professional from which he sought help was a lawyer — not a psychologist or counselor.
The station also distanced itself
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He said his client was in bed and did not hear police knocking on his door, prompting them to put the house under surveillance. At some point during the surveillance, somebody tipped a reporter from The Wichita Eagle that BTK investigators were at the Valadez house.
In opening arguments, Shultz said he was not going to criticize the conduct of police. He noted investigators had taken some 1,400 DNA samples in addition to that of his client.
from the coverage: "This wasn't a KSN story — this story was everywhere," Rhodes said.
Spessard, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, took the stand Tuesday. Emmis Communication sold KSNW in January.
Spessard, who remained as news director after the sale, said he went into the station after getting a call sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. after KAKE-TV reported a possible break in the BTK investigation.
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"We were just reporting what was happening." Spessard testified.
Valadez is seeking in excess of $75,000 and a public apology, according to lawsuit.
"Now you have police watching Roger Valadez's house and you have a reporter watching the police," he suid.
KSNW was the only station to name Valadez on the air. "Every other station respected the rights of Mr. Valadez." Shultz said.
Shultz downplayed the connection to the BTK investigation, saying the police tip fingering his client was deliberately erroneous.
But Rhodes painted a far different scenario showing police took the tip seriously — staking out the Valadez home, getting a search warrant from the judge overseeing the BTK case, and assembling a swat team. He said police were convinced at the time that Valadez was a true BTK suspect and were awaiting DNA results.
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