KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010 / NEWS
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ELECTION
Voters to decide fate of Lawrence library expansion
If approved, multimillion dollar bond would fund larger parking lot, more space in library and more publicly accessible computers.
BY SAMANTHA COLLINS
scollins@kansan.com
Growing up in Lawrence, Kim Ferguson, a senior, always used the Lawrence Public Library to research projects and to study for exams. Now a college student, she said she still uses the public library rather than the University libraries to check out books because of its friendly atmosphere.
Today, Lawrence residents will have the chance to approve an $18 million bond that would be used to completely renovate the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. Kathleen Morgan, development director for the Lawrence Public Library, said about $17 million will
come from an increase in property tax and the last $1 million will be from private funding through the Lawrence Public Library Foundation.
If approved, the bond will allow the library to be expanded by about 20,000 square feet, the amount of parking spaces to almost double and triple the amount of public access computers, plus many more updates.
"I think it says a lot when the community is willing to invest in something as important at the library, especially in the aspects of art and education," Morgan said.
Morgan said a renovated library will help the downtown area of Lawrence. She said if the library were to be renovated then it would improve the atmosphere of the area, especially for students.
Agreeing with Ferguson, Morgan said students use the public library for a unique study area rather than the average academic library students often visit. She said a public library offers a different environment for students.
"It's just an alternative, it's not better or worse," Morgan said. "Sometimes I think people are just looking for something different."
Morgan said Lawrence has an obligation to take care of its buildings.She said the library is almost 40 years old.
"No one has left their home not being improved for 40 years," she said. "So we should treat the library just the same."
YES for the Library' steering committee, said when the library was built in 1972, it was serving only 38,000 people and now it serves almost 90,000.
"The library is over-crowded, over-stressed," Johnston said. "It has served us well, but it needs expansion."
However, not all Lawrence residents agree with the expansion proposal. Dan Schriner, a Lawrence resident, said there was no reason to change the building. He said he believes that $18 mil.
sound like its pennies a day but it's not. Schriner said.
lion is too much for such a small change.
Edited by Michael Bednar
"My property taxes are high enough," he said.
He said he also believes that there has not been enough input from the public for the amount money the expansion proposal is asking for.
"They try to make it
The Breakdown for the Library Expansion:
Cost: $18 million
The money will come from an increase in property tax and private funding.
Changes and Additions to the Library, if approved:
Expand the library by 20,000 square feet
- Increase parking from 126 to 250 by b
- Add 100 public access computers
- Increase parking from 126 to 250 by building a parking garage
Add two public access computers
Provide more public meeting spaces
Provide more public meeting spaces
- Add a drive-up book drop and service window
- Create a plaza area for outdoor public events
- Technology update
- Make the library more energy efficient
If approved, the ground-breaking for the project would occur in fall 2011
Source: Lawrence Public Library
POLITICS
Voting Information
mholtz@kansan.com
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ
Caitrin Doherty-Powell will do what most college students do on Election Day: She'll go about her daily routine without stepping foot inside a ballot box.
- Where you live determines whether you'll vote for the 2nd or 3rd District Representative. East of Iowa Street is 3rd District. West of Iowa Street is 2nd District.
Doberty-Powell, a freshman from Eagan, said she decided not
- There are more than 65 voting precinct site locations in Lawrence. For sample ballots or to find out which precinct's polling station you should go to:
to vote because she felt unable to make an informed decision.
"I haven't really been paying attention to it," she said about the election. "If you're not informed, I don't really think you should vote."
Doherty's political apathy is reflective of a much larger trend in this year's election. Although young voters historically pay less attention to midterm elections than voters 30 and older, the gap between younger and older voters this year is double what it was in 2006. Political pundits and pollsters have dubbed it the enthusiasm gap.
www.douglas-county.com/depts/cl/ve/ve home.aspx.
Fifty-three percent of voters 30 and older said they were giving a lot of thought to the election, compared with just 31 percent of voters
dents to lifestyle differ-
Many researchers attribute low voter turnout among college stu-
younger than 30.
When it comes to voter turnout, 45 percent of younger voters said they definitely would vote in this year's elections, compared with 76 percent of older voters — a 31-point gap. In 2006, the gap was 23 points.
according to a recent Pew Research survey.
ences. The transient lifestyle of most students makes it difficult for them to settle down into a community, said Mark Joslyn, a political science professor and an expert on voting behavior. Students are typically less politically active than their parents and grandparents as a result.
Another factor contributing to the widening enthusiasm gap is the media environment surrounding college students, Joslyn said. Although the Internet provides an endless stream of political news, it also provides an infinite number of ways to ignore it.
"You guys are growing up in an entirely different media environment than I did," he said. "That should have some consequences. We're just not sure as you get older if you'll grow more interested in politics, or you'll just completely ignore it."
Joslyn predicted the former out.
come. As individuals grow older, he said, they become more involved in their communities and find it increasingly difficult to ignore political issues, such as taxes and health care.
But the constant bombardment of TV ads, rows of yard signs and the 24-hour news cycle made it difficult for college students to entirely ignore the election, said Alex Earles, a senior from Salina and Student Legislative Awareness Board president. He said he remained positive
about voter turnout among college students.
Joslyn said that a lack of information shouldn't keep students such as Doherty-Powell from voting booths.
"Most people have an idea of what party they like to vote," Josyln said. "You should feel free to go in and vote even if you don't know all the things. None of us know all the things."
- Edited by Emily McCoy
NATIONAL
Finding a jury is next step in trying 2002 kidnapping case
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly every Utah juror questioned on the first day of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping trial said they knew about the case and believed the man charged was likely responsible.
Jury selection began Monday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City for the trial of Brian David Mitchell on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. If convicted, the 57-year-old Mitchell could spend the rest of his life in jail.
The court is trying to winnow a pool of 220 potential jurors to 30 before impaneling a jury of 12, plus alternates.
The trial begins more than eight years after Smart was taken from her home at age 14. It is expected to last at least five weeks.
Of the 17 potential jurors questioned Monday, all said they had seen media coverage of the case and could recite its various details — from Smart's 2002 knifepoint abduction, to alleged sexual abuses she suffered during nine months of captivity, to her recovery after being found with Mitchell in 2003.
Asked by defense attorneys what they believed was "true" about the case, jurors described Smart as being "taken" or "stolen" from her parents. One woman said she thought Mitchell "believed he was doing God's will" when he took Smart and made her his polygamous wife.
Defense attorneys argued the answers were proof jurors had predetermined Mitchell's guilt and asked that each of the 17 be dismissed.
By day's end, Judge Dale Kimball had retained nine potential jurors
— five men and four women — and dismissed eight. The selection process will resume Tuesday.
Kimball decided earlier this year that Mitchell was competent to face trial. Mitchell had been diagnosed with a delusional disorder and was twice deemed incompetent for trial in state court.
Mitchell watched the proceedings on video from a holding cell in the Salt Lake City federal courthouse after Kimball ordered him removed from the court for singing hymns.
Defense attorneys maintain
Mitchell is unable to participate in his defense.
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