/ GRADUATION GUIDE / THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Wide range of options available for new graduates
BY CLAIRE MCINERNY editor@kansan.com
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As some seniors are preparing for jobs and planning their lives after school, some students are experiencing a different scenario the end of college panic.
er. One opportunity that enables students to make that happen is through Teach for America. Teach For America is a program that allows recent college graduates to teach in public schools in low-income communities. The assignment lasts for two years.
a way to prolong having to find a job,but rather look at it as a way to find new opportunities and new ways for students to use their passions.She said a lot of politicians who now work in Congress were in the program and are now fighting for education rights.
Wiechman spent his two years in Saint Lucia doing community development. He helped a farmers' cooperative develop a grant proposal to get funding for a composting project from the United Nations and also taught reading and music at a school.
The Peace Corps was an attrac-
tion to Meiji Manhwa because
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011
PAGE 18
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
LOCAL
Police ask for funding, but support unclear
BY KYLIE NUTT knutt@kansan.com
The Lawrence Police Department is asking for an additional $1.2 million to add to the 2012 budget to add resources in order to reduce crime rates.
In recent budget meetings the 2010 Benchmark City Survey was used as evidence to support the request. The survey is used as a measurement tool for police departments around the country who choose to be a part of the survey to evaluate their communities. Lawrence was ranked 27th out of 28 cities in aggravated assault/battery, arson, auto theft, burglary, homicide, rape, robbery and theft, according to the 2010 Benchmark City Survey. The Overland Park Police Department compiles the data and makes it available for police departments to set goals and objectives.
Lawrence Police Chief Tarki
Khatib requested $1.2 million to add one detective, 10 officers, three sergeants and $102,008 in equipment according to a May 9 memorandum to City Manager David Corliss. The department held a budget hearing meeting last Tuesday, June 14, to discuss what resources the department would like to add, Sgt. Matt Sarna, a spokesman for the Lawrence police, said.
"We're asking for more resources to try to get those numbers down," Sarna said. "We can only do so much with what we have on the street right now. If the city approves the department's funding request, the money will be generated through an increase in property taxes.
The survey shows Lawrence's violent crime has decreased to 3.6 per 1,000 people and property crime has also decreased to 47.4 per 1,000 people, according to the 2010
Benchmark City Survey. 2009's statistics were 4.8 per 1,000 people and 48.3 per 1,000 people respectively, according to a Mar. 29 memoran-
we've got a level of crime in Lawrence and it's a little higher than it should be per capita."
ARON CROMWELL Mayor of Lawrence
dum to Corliss.
"We've got a level of crime in Lawrence and it's a little higher than it should be per capita," Mayor Cromwell said. "We have challenges
in Lawrence with a lot of different types of crime. Property crime rates are high and in some cases, are unsolved."
Cromwell says the most important resource to add is more officers, along with equipment upgrades and a new facility. The new facility is not in the proposed 2012 budget, but the department is considering their options because of extensive upgrades the Law Enforcement Center and the Investigations and Training Center would need. The department would prefer all three law enforcements to be in one central location near Fire Station No.5, on the corner of 19th and Iowa streets. This means the University's Office of Public Safety and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office could possibly join the department.
Even so, the true relationship between crime rates and feelings of safety can be difficult to gage in a
community.
"We feel safer than I think maybe we are," Cromwell said.
The community rated police services at 83 percent in the 2011 Citizen Survey, which is higher than the 2007 survey. They indicated a significant increase in customer satisfaction from 2007 to 2011 of feeling safe downtown after dark.
City Commissioner Mike Amyx said that, as the city begins the budget process, they will look at each city department when deciding whether to allocate the $1.2 million to the Lawrence Police Department. The city commissioners will consider the responses of the community and the people in various city departments. They will also make sure the highest of priorities are met, Amyx said.
The 2012 budget will be finalized by the city commissioners later this year.