KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY MAY 3, 2011 / NEWS
3A
Hansel and Gretel
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
The Witch, portrayed by Scott Michael (left), controls the movements of Gretel, portrayed by Etta Fung (right), during KU Theatre's production of Iansel and Gretel, the play is performed opera-style in German, the original language of Engelbert Humpferdinck the world-known fairy tale and is accompanied by a 47-piece orchestra from KU Symphony Orchestra. Performances are on May 3, 5, 7, and 8 at Cashion-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall.
Chief justice graduates, leaving two seats vacant
ADMINISTRATION
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
Brandon Smith served as both chief justice and one of the four judges in the Student Senate Court of Appeals. Smith graduates in May and says the inability to fill the empty positions has hurt the student body.
For more than two years, Brandon Smith occupied the role of acting chief justice for the student Senate Court of Appeals. But with Smith's graduation this month comes a void that, according to Senate rules and regulations, must be filled.
Asper his departure, Smith wrote a letter to The Kansan outlining his experiences incurred while serving as acting chief justice. In his letter, he said the inability to appoint the court to full membership "hinders our abilities and ultimately hurts the student body".
After Smith graduates from the University, only three judges will remain on the Senate Court of Appeals. According to the rules and regulations, the judicial branch of Senate is to consist of one chief justice and four judges. Since its birth in 2009 though, the court has existed with only four members. As the oldest student member of the court, Smith chose to serve as the acting chief justice.
Smith, a third year law student from Olathe, said the inability to appoint a fifth member has undermined the authority of the court.
In March, former student body president Michael Wade Smith co-authored legislation with Senator Mark Pacey to disband the court of appeals and restore the judicial authority back to the Student Executive committee. The Senate rights committee voted against the legislation.
Michael Wade Smith, a senior from Goodland, doesn't hide his feelings about the court. He said the court of appeals was put "together over a weekend and in a very rash way."
"Not having an official head of our branch makes it difficult to really be invested in the infrastructure of Senate," Smith said. "And obviously five is better than four for voting decisions and getting stuff done."
The student body president is responsible for appointing the chief justice but during the two different administrations the court
has existed within, no committee has been established to elect a fifth member. With Smith's departure, two seats will now be vacant.
According to Smith, Michael Wade Smith deliberately avoided appointing a fifth member this year because "he never wanted the court to exist in the first place."
Michael Wade Smith said he did not see a point in appointing that fifth member.
"Why would I appoint a member to a branch that I was working on legislation to disband?" Michael Wade Smith said.
With both men departing, the future of the court is unknown as it now lies within the hands of the current student body president Libby Johnson. Johnson was a member of the rights committee that voted against ridding Senate of the court but was unavailable for comment.
Eric Sader, a member of the Court of Appeals and a second year graduate student in law and social welfare from Salina, said the court has functioned "remarkably well" with what's been given.
"But we're hopeful with the new officers, they recognize the existence of the court and will go forward with appointing two new members," Sader said.
The Senate Court of Appeals handles situations where conflicts of action, interest, or policy arise within the student government. The court typically deals with financial issues, elections rules, or bills that could affect the infrastructure of Senate.
- Edited by Danielle Packer
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In an effort to make campus lighting as energy efficient as possible, KU Environs is proposing the installation of LED lights throughout campus. Currently, the group has installed a set of LED lights as a demonstration on West Campus, in an area known as the bioswale.
"It was amazing," Benson said. "There were actually no shadows there because it was so evenly lit. Then we looked at another parking lot, and there were dark spots everywhere."
"I think if there was at least one per building that would be a major improvement," he said.
Wescoe, Watson and Anschutz libraries have no gender-neutral restrooms, the survey revealed. Budig Hall has one restroom, but it is only accessible through an individual office. The Kansas Union has one unmarked employee restroom in the Student Involvement & Leadership Center on the fourth floor.
Letchworth noticed the lack of facilities every time he had to pee outside.
KU Design & Construction Management director Jim Modig said the 16 to 18 building codes KU DCM has to follow determine the type and number of campus restrooms. These codes do not distinguish between gender-neutral and gender-specific restrooms.
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
or family restrooms exist on campus. Although finding one of these restrooms is as easy as knocking on the chancellor's door or visiting the KU airplane hanger, which both have unixsec bathrooms, many high-traffic areas lack these facilities.
Benson said the group hopes to speak with Chancellor GrayLittle and other campus administrators to determine if the change is plausible. Right now, the group is working with the Student Environmental Advisory Board and Design & Construction Management to determine the effectiveness of the new lighting.
The KU Environs group is proposing the installation of LED lights, such as the one seen in the photo, throughout campus in an effort to increase the efficiency of lighting on campus. Six demonstration lights were installed at the bioswale in West Campus in the beginning of Anil.
KU Environs asks for LED lighting throughout campus
The demonstration lights were installed at the beginning of April, said Nick Benson, vice president of KU Environs. Benson said the group plans to survey University students and faculty, in an effort to determine if installing the LED
lights on the main Lawrence campus would be effective.
ENVIRONMENT
Benson, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., said the lights were donated to the group by Cooper Lighting for 90 days. He said the group chose to work with Cooper Lighting because of the visual aesthetics and historic feel the lights have.
"We want to preserve the value of campus." Benson said. "But we're hoping to move forward to the future, too."
KU Environs travelled to Leavenworth earlier in the semester, Benson said. There, the group had the opportunity to view a store parking lot with LED lights.
-Edited by Jacque Weber
RESTROOMS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
To resolve the problem, Genther helped form a gender-neutral task force in January. The task force is working to map and increase the number of gender-neutral bathrooms on
campus.
And for Letchworth, who prefers not to urinate next to dumpsters, anything that will help him use the restroom comfortably needs to happen as soon as possible.
Johnson said speaking to members of the gender-neutral restrooms task force and hearing students talk about the issue for the last two years prompted KUnited to make an effort to increase gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
"The last thing that needs to stress a student out is urinating." Letchworth said.
"There are restrooms that can be easily altered with changing the sign on the door," Genther said. Genther and the task force initially hope to change single-stalled gendered bathrooms into nongendered bathrooms.
Johnson said these efforts could include raising awareness of the issue, trying to get existing bathrooms renovated, or even pressuring the University to include gender-neutral restrooms when constructing new buildings or remodeling.
But these changes do carry certain expenses.
Modig said he did not recall seeing the request but would look into it. 'He also said he would be receptive to providing building blueprints to help the task force track and map gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
Genther said conflicting schedules and communication issues with other University entities slowed the process. Genther said she had hoped to receive University blueprints to assist with the survey, but KU DCM had eventually denied her request.
Genther said that creating gender-neutral restrooms is often a simple process.
Progress for changing these restrooms has been slower than some on the task force had hoped. The task force had planned to have all the gender-neutral restrooms on campus surveyed by March 4, but the survey has yet to be completed.
Modig said that the cost or changing a sign is between $50 and $100 and includes the cost of the sign, man-hours to hang it and door repair. If the restroom door is a swinging door, it must be replaced with a locking door to comply with unisex or family restroom code. Modig said the change would cost about $500.
Although the task force has faced difficulties, its members have started the ball rolling. KUnited added the issue to the its platform earlier this year.
"We want to do whatever we can to support this process," said Libby Johnson, student body president.
Edited by Helen Mubarak
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