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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2007
INTRAMURALSPORTS
Flag football games began Sunday for men's women's and coed teams.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 118 ISSUE9
Coalition pressures restaurant
Lawrence residents, including KU students, joined together Saturday for the "March for Fair Food," an event put on by three local organizations. Protesters carried signs and chanted their demands for fair wages for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida. The march traveled through Lawrence and stopped at each of the three Burger King restaurants.
The CIW has requested Burger King raise its members' wages by one cent per pound of tomatoes. A national Burger King spokesman said the company had no direct influence on the workers' wages.
FULL STORY ON 8A
BATTLING BOOK CROOKS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FRANKLIN GETS A MAKEOVER
FULL STORY ON 5A
The new $100 bill will use new security technology.
index
Classifieds...5B
Crossword...6A
Horoscopes...6A
Opinion...7A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...6A
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2007 The University Daily Kansan
Stores see increase in theft
Bookstores find ways to decrease robberies
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
With students buying textbooks for new classes during the first two weeks of the semester, business at bookstores is at its highest. But the extra business means something besides profit: theft.
The University Book Shop reported two robberies in the past 10 days. At Beat the Bookstore, someone tried to steal books and sell them back to the store, manager Denise Keating said. KU Bookstores has dealt with known thieves, assistant director Steve Rhodes said.
"It's not necessarily isolated to particular times of the year," said Bradley Heim, UBS manager. "But since it's a time when we're really busy, it might be the biggest time for them to do something."
Rhodes said that, although the possibility for crime increased at this time of the semester, theft was low compared to other retail services. Jayhawk Bookstore takes precautions by making customers take off their backpacks at the front of the store. KU Bookstores plan to install more cameras, and they sometimes station Navy ROTC guards at the door.
Heim and Rhodes both said bookstores needed to deal with more suspicious customers and opportunities for stealing at the beginning of the semester, and they had to find ways to protect against them. Rhodes said money lost didn't just affect the stores' bottom line. It can also hurt students by causing bookstores to raise prices or, in the case of KU Bookstores, support fewer student activities.
"Everything we do benefits students," said Steve Rhodes, assistant director of KU Bookstores. "With theft, we can't support student organizations on campus."
Rhodes and Heim said they want their staff to approach all customers, especially ones who look suspicious. Beat the Bookstore can do this
Rhodes said theft had also decreased greatly at KU Bookstores since the stores started placing security tags on books that set off an alarm system. But thieves can correct that problem by tearing off the security tag. The best way to deter theft, Rhodes and Heim said, is customer service.
Heim described what he said was one of the most common methods of textbook theft: A person takes a book off the shelf, rips off the security tag and walks out without the alarm going off. That thief then hands the book to an accomplice who sells the book back to the store.
The people who steal from bookstores are usually professional criminals, Rhodes said. He said some traveled from school to school ripping off bookstores.
SEE BOOKSTORE ON PAGE 4A
Jessie Fetterling/ KANSAN
Boulder, Colo., junior Nick Allen buys school supplies at the Jayhawk Bookstore Sunday afternoon. The bookstores increase security precautions during the first few weeks of school.
'Barack Chalk Jayhawks'
A new Facebook group, the "Barack Chalk Jayhawks," is working to help students become more involved in the 2008 presidential election. The Barack Chalk Jayhawks gathered at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., last Monday to greet Sen. Barack Obama (D-III). Through the Facebook group, members urge fellow students to support the Democractic presidential candidate and plan to update them on any Obama events on campus. A trip to the Iowa caucus and a possible benefit concert are in the works for the group this fall.
FULL STORY ON 3A
Salon promotes cancer awareness
A hair salon on campus is offering students a colorful way to help spread breast cancer awareness.
Salon Hawk, located in the Kansas Union, is selling pink hair extensions and donating all proceeds from the extensions to a breast cancer awareness fund. Salon owner Emily Harris said the $10 Fusion hair extensions were just like the ones that movie stars wore.
The salon is also donating $3 from every color dye purchase to a different, general cancer fund.
Harris said she thought more students should be involved in charitable organizations, especially organizations that benefit cancer awareness, patients and research. She said that working for such a cause can change a person's life.
The pink extensions are available at the salon until the end of October, which is breast cancer awareness month.
FULL STORY ON 8A