THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
NEWS
CAMPUS
3A
Group works hard for the money
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Students and faculty trace their hands and place their signatures inside them as part of a petition against Kansas' minimum wage. The current wage, $2.65 an hour, is the lowest in the country and hasn't changed since 1988.
BY LUKE MORRIS
lmorris@kansan.com
Students from the School of Social Welfare passed out peanuts and information on Wescoe Beach to raise awareness of Kansas' minimum wage Friday.
The project, referred to as "Current-See," is an effort to educate Kansans about the state's minimum wage, which is $2.65 an hour and the lowest in the United States. The federal minimum wage is $1.85 an hour.
The group of students, who took on the task as a project for their "Social Policy and Program Analysis" class, also collected handprints and signatures as part of a petition for Kansas legislators.
"It's more of an impact petition," said Shelly Schloer, Leavenworth senior.
Schloer said that during the semester her group had followed Kansas Senate Bill 466, which attempted to raise the state minimum wage to $7.25 an hour by August 2009.
"We even went to legislature day and watched it get shot down," Schloer said.
Rupaleem Bhuyan, assistant professor of social welfare, said that the class and its projects gave students a good look at how social welfare works.
The purpose of the class is to learn hands-on how social workers can have an influence on social
lowest U.S. minimum wage rates
policy," Bhuyan said.
1. Kansas - $-2.65/hour
2. Wyoming - $-5.15/hour
3. Georgia - $-5.15/hour
*Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina do not have state minimum wages.
Bhuyan said other projects in her class this semester concerned sexual violence, autism and immigration. She also said that a couple years ago, students in a previous section of the class earned national recognition for their influence on state legislature in getting a bill passed.
Federal Minimum Wage
- $5.85/hour
Bhuyan said Current-See's work could help raise more public awareness about the state's minimum wage and pressure state legislators into raising it. She said she felt that a lack of public knowledge on the subject hurt Senate Bill 466.
Wichita senior Elise Seely said the group was working closely with "Raise the Wage, Kansas", a group lobbying to get Kansas' minimum wage raised to the federal minimum wage.
"They're actually going to take our petition and use it as part of their way to raise the minimum
wage in different cities in Kansas and then hopefully in the capital" Soely said.
The information the group passed out with the peanuts included a look at the struggle for a single parent on Kansas minimum wage to provide for her and an infant. The group estimated that the parent would have to work 19 hours per week to afford basic necessities, including food, diapers, baby formula and toilet paper. The parent would still have to find a way to afford rent, transportation and utilities.
Kansas law requires all employers whose businesses produce interstate commerce to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage. The Kansas Department of Labor estimates that at least 17,000 Kansans work for less than the federal minimum wage.
— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
Fake $100 bill used for delivery
CRIME
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambers@kansan.com
Police are investigating the creation of a fake $100 bill that was reportedly used to pay for a Pita Pit delivery by a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity member on April 11.
A member of the fraternity, who asked to remain anonymous, said the fraternity member who used the bill did not know it was fake. He also said no further legal actions were being taken against the member who used the bill.
Nick Bergin, a Pita Pit delivery man and Lawrence resident, said he did not realize the bill was fake until he returned to Pita Pit, 1011 Massachusetts St.
Bergin said he did not check the bill more closely while he was at the fraternity because it was dark outside and the bill was printed on paper similar to the type real money was printed on. He said the
bill looked old, so the man who paid for the delivery may not have been the forger.
"I just assumed it was the real deal," Bergin said. "Now we definitely are not going to be taking hundreds on deliveries for sure."
Phillip Peck, an owner and manager of Pita Pit, said a manager had the bill tested with a forgery-detecting marker at the bank. The bill failed the test, prompting Pita Pit to call the police. Pita Pit has not halted deliveries to the fraternity, though.
Sgt. Paul Fellers of the Lawrence Police Department said he could not comment on the case because the investigation was not yet finished. He also said the use of counterfeit money had been reported in Lawrence before, and a case had likely been reported within the last year.
Peck said he did not understand why a talented forger would use a
fake bill for delivery food.
"I wouldn't think if you were that smart, to make a hundred dollar bill, you would use it like that," Peck said.
According to the U.S. Secret Service's Web site, those convicted of manufacturing or possessing counterfeit money with fraudulent intent could be fined an undisclosed amount and face time in prison.
Bergin said, in retrospect, he should have been more suspicious of the bill. He said Phi Kappa Psi calls in orders to Pita Pit every day, but on that evening, more orders than usual were delivered to the fraternity.
He said about six orders had already been delivered to the fraternity before he received the fake bill.
Bergin also said that when he tried to call the man who placed the order, the number was not his.
—Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
NATIONAL Church members talk to media about polygamy
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Before authorities raided their west Texas retreat, members of a secretive polygamous church spent decades holding as tightly to their intense privacy as the Scriptures guiding their way of life.
Contact with outsiders was limited. Media inquiries were rejected with either stone-faced silence or a polite "no comment"
But after Texas officials removed 416 children belonging to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the sect fired up the public relations machine.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From newspaper stories to appearances on morning network television, "Larry King Live" and "Oprah," FLDS women are speaking publicly about the heartbreak of being separated from their children and sharing
ASSOCIATED PRESS Rod Parker, left, the attorney serving as spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints addresses a group of its female members as they prepare to meet with the media on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas, April 14.
some details of their life.
"This was just such a heinous thing that the normal rules didn't apply," said Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney serving as a spokesman for the church. "What we were trying to do
was inject a human element into what was happening here. Put names to faces and not just think of these people as being so different."
Associated Press
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS April 21, 2008 funded by: SENA STUDENT
Malaysian Students Association at KU {M'SIA KU} proudly presents :
2nd Annual
KARAOKE Nite '08
April 26, 2008 (Saturday)
2. 00 P.M. sharp Jayhawk Room, 5th Floor Kansas Union
FREE Admission!!!
YOU DECIDE -- Pick your top 3 favorites!
Register online at http://www.geocities.com/msiaku
by April 24th (Thursday) 6.00pm
Email queries to msiaku@yahoo.com
Be A Part of Center for Community Outreach!
Refreshments Served
CCO is seeking motivated service-orientated people for the following paid positions: Co-Director . Communications Director·Financial Director Technology Director 27 Volunteer Coordinating Positions are also open for our 14 volunteer programs. Applications are available at www.ku.edu/~cco or outside 405 Kansas Union. Co-director Applications are due april 7th (Recommendations due April 1 All other applications due April 21st
$6/Person $36/Team
Register at: kunothingbutnets@gmail.com
DANCE N'DODGE
MENT!
SPRING FUN!
PRIZES!
SAVE LIVES!
Sat April 26th, 2008
Robinson 12-4pm
Nothing But Nets DODGEBALL TOURN-
ATTENTION STUDENTS!!!!
DON'T FORGET TO PAY YOUR CLASS DUES DURING ENROLLMENT.
CLASS DUES CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE LIST OF OPTIONAL CAMPUS FEES. THESE CLASS DUES HELP TO FUND THE BOARD OF CLASS OFFICERS, WHICH DISTRIBUTES THE H.O.P.E., C.L.A.S.S., AND CAMPANILE AWARDS AT KU AND HELPS TO
FINANCE MAJOR CAMPUS EVENTS.
GRADUATING CLASS OF 2009-YOUR SENIOR DUES HELP TO PAY FOR THE SENIOR CLASS GIFT, SENIOR MOTTO, AND SENIOR
BANNER, SO MAKE SURE TO CHECK THESE DUES OFF UNDER OPTIONAL CAMPUS FEES.
BOCOTHE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS BOARD OF CLASS
BOARD OF CLASS OFFICERS