KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY MARCH 25. 2010 / NEWS
3A
WORKERS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
instead of 45
When contacted,Kroger representatives were unavailable for comment.
The SEA and CIW will participate in a freedom march from Tampa, Fla., to Lakeland, Fla., in April. Members of Lawrence Fair Food will be attending the march.
To raise the funds to participate, Lawrence Fair Food and KU Latin American Solidarity will be hosting a Latin American Food Festival tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. at the ECM. All of the proceeds from the event will go toward sending members of Lawrence Fair Food to the march.
"The work we're doing is significant and necessary," said Ashley Depenbusch, a 2008 graduate and KU alumna who will be attending the march in April. "The role we play is powerful. It seems remote, but it really is immediate. It's on our tables. It's in our stores. This is
something that makes them visible human beings."
A large portion of the tomatoes we eat come from the Immokalee
area, said Sloane Clarkson, a member of the CIW.
The CIW has won the agreement of several corporations to start enforcing codes of conduct against abuses in their tomato supply chains. Clarkson said that organizing locally, had
played a big role in the large strides the CIW has made.
"In order to get real change, you can't just get to the growers. You've got to talk to the people buying the tomatoes."
Burger King, Taco Bell,
McDonald's, Subway and Whole
the growers. You have to talk to the people buying the tomatoes."
"It's really strategic to get students involved," said Clarkson, a junior from St. Louis. "In order to get real change, you can't just get to
SHONA CLARKSON CIW member
Gerardo Reyes,
a founding member of the CIW,
will be presenting
at the Food Festival
t tonight. Reyes will
also speak at a rally
on Friday afternoon
at the Burge
Foods are among corporations that have already agreed to call for improved working conditions and wages for farmworkers.
Union. Afterwards, the group will march to Dillons, 1015 W. 23rd Street.
Teacher arrested for drunken instruction
— Edited by Katie Blankenau
CRIME
THERMAL, Calif. — A Southern California school teacher has been arrested for allegedly teaching while drunk.
Administrators told sheriffs that the teacher was intoxicated on campus.
Toro Canyon Middle School teacher Tonya Neff was taken to jail Tuesday afternoon and booked for investigation of felony child endangerment.
Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Tapp said that Neff had taken prescription drugs and alcohol and that an alcoholic beverage was found.
Superintendent Ricardo Medina says there was never a threat to Neff's seventh-grade students. Neff has been placed on leave.
Associated Press
Jenny Terrell/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
After bumming a ride from a friend, waiting for a tow truck, going to the repair shop and waiting for the repair. Byrd's "Oh shit" moment ended up taking $80 out of her pocket.
REPAIRS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Byrd's experience represents a familiar scene to the thousands of drivers who dodge potholes each day in Lawrence.
In January and February alone, the city patched 10,256 potholes. That's just 2,642 shy of the total number of potholes repaired in all of 2009.
Mark Thiel, assistant director of Public Works, attributed the increase primarily to the extreme winter, saying that Lawrence has had almost 36 inches of snow blanket its roads, not including
the most recent snowfall.
To help with this added workload, the city moved some funds Tuesday to help patch more streets.
Now the city will shift $400,000 from the $850,000 planned to repair Kasold Drive to projects on Iowa.
that at least one crew worked year-round.
Louisiana, Sixth and 31st streets. The city will also move $581,616 from the pavement maintenance program — which is $4.7 million annually — toward repairs on a number of residential streets.
He said that in the winter, the city might have as many as four or five crews out patching and
Thiel said that through January and February of this year the department had spent $115,000 on pothole repairs, an increase from previous years. The city doesn't budget specifically for potholes, but it does have a pavement program budget and $4 million street operation budget that funds salaries and materials such as salt, sand and asphalt. Thiel said the repairs from the past winter took away money the department could have used for permanent repairs in the summer.
Thiel said a little more than 500 potholes had been reported to the city's pothole report form online at lawrenceks.org/public_works/pothole_report_form, which is a pretty good indicator of how many are reported from the public. He also said people could report potholes by phone and e-mail. Thiel said these methods meant that the majority of potholes were found.
The city is now adding a fresh layer of asphalt on certain road ways instead of patching potholes thanks to a new hot mix asphalt.
"With the number of potholes out there, it will take us a little time to catch up."
MIKE THIEL
Assistant director
Lawrence Public Works
of patching pot
Thiel said this mix would allow more permanent and substantial repairs instead of the cold mix that was used during the winter.
"In the winter, you can't make permanent repair, Thiel said.
"We just try to keep up with it as best as we can."
Students pack into a business class in Summerfield Hall in September 2009. Fewer classes and larger class enrollment are results of continuing budget cuts.
But it will take longer to lay new asphalt than it would simply to repair the potholes.
"With the number of potholes that are out there, it will take us a little time to catch up." Thiel said.
In the meantime, Byrd said she would be driving slower and keeping her eye out for potholes.
"I've gotten used to them on the streets that I commonly drive on, so I know when and where to dodge them," she said.
Edited by Jesse Rangel
BUDGET (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
who instruct Math 121, more students can be a problem.
"Many of us have families and can't spend 12 hours a day teaching, grading, researching and studying for the classes we are enrolled in," said William Espenschied, a Math 121 instructor.
To cope with fewer resources, the department added a Math 121 help room, said Jin Feng, an associate professor in mathematics. In addition to regular office hours, instructors staff the help room and provide individual instruction.
CLAS has had $3.46 million cut from its budget this year. To meet the budget, Weaver said, 18 faculty positions and 25 graduate teaching assistant positions were cut, along with instructional technology and faculty travel money. Next year's cut will be an additional $1.9 million, and Weaver said he expected the College to eliminate 35 graduate teaching assistant positions, five more faculty positions, five staff positions and some other operating expense funding.
"With the impending budget cut for next fiscal year, it's really going
to hurt," he said.
could cause win-
ning lists and larger
class sizes.
Although most students are required to take English 101, having seven fewer sections did not result in overcrowding last fall, Weaver said. This was because of a slight overall decrease in CLAS enrollment, Weaver said. But he said he expected that further cuts
Josh Hart,
an English 101 instructor,
said that his classes
were usually
about 20 students
but that last fall he
had 24.
"One of the strengths of smaller class sizes is that it's easier
"With impending budget cuts for next fiscal year, it's really going to hurt."
Chicago, took English 101 last fall and said the personal atmosphere helped her transition to the University.
"That was the class I did my best in," she said. "It was my only A. In big lectures, the professor obviously won't know your name, but in the smaller classes, they get to
for students to relate," he said. "Incoming freshmen need that smaller environment to keep their heads above water, and I always felt as an English 101 teacher that I could be that personal face."
ROB WEAVER
Associate dean of CLAS
know you better."
Although some students face overcrowded classrooms and wait lists in spring semesters, the problem is most apparent during fall semesters when enrollment is higher.
Lynn Bretz, director of university communications, said the University will have a better idea of how to
Colleen Young, a freshman from
address these issues once its budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year is decided in July and after enrollment for the 2010 fall semester.
Edited by Michael Holtz
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu (keyword: testprep) • 785-864-5823