THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
STUDENT SENATE
》 CONSTRUCTION
Lawrence to repave damaged streets
The 2008 Street Maintenance Project kicked off yesterday afternoon. Dena Mezger, Lawrence assistant public works director, said that students would be affected by construction in three major areas.
Taylor Miller/KANSAN
Pothole at 19th and Louisiana streets.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 10A
》 ENVIRONMENT
Sustainability starts with carpet
A world leader in sustainability will speak at the University of Kansas tonight.
Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, a commercial carpet company, has appeared in documentaries such as "The Corporation" and "The 11th Hour" explaining his commitment to sustainable business practices.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 10A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
17 DEATHS LINKED TO FLOODING
Rising water torments Midwest towns
FULL AP STORY PAGE 9A
weather
61 45 P.M. showers
57 36 Scattered t-storm
index
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2008 The University Daily Kansan
Classifieds...8B
Crossword...6A
Horoscopes...6A
Opinion...7A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...6A
Rachel Anne Sevmour/KANSAN
CANDIDATES SPEAK OUT
KU Student Senate coalitions, from left, Connect KU, Students of Liberty and United Students debated in the Kansas Union Tuesday. The presidential and vice president candidates answered questions from students via YouTube. e-mail and the audience.
Coalitions address issues such as student fees, environment
BY BRENNA HAWLEY
bhawley@kansan.com
Windmills, eliminating doors and the lifespan on swimming pools were discussed at Tuesday night's University Daily Kansan Student Senate Debate at Woodruff
Auditorium in the Kansas Union
Student Senate presidential and vice presidential candidates from coalitions United Students, Connect KU and Students of Liberty participated in the debate. Candidates answered students' questions submitted via YouTube, e-mail and from the audience.
One of the major issues of the debate was creating a more sustainable campus.
Eric Hyde, Lawrence sophomore and vice presidential candidate for Students of Liberty, said Pratt Community College built three wind-mills on its campus to help with a $200,000 deficit. He said the deficit was resolved in one year. He said the University of Kansas could be a more
Gillaspie
Hyde
eco-friendly university but sometimes politics slowed the process down.
Kelly
"One of the worst things you can have for 'greening' is politics mixed in with it," Hyde said.
Adam McGonigle, Wichita sophomore and presidential candidate for United Students, said one of United Students' platforms would focus on making campus more energy-efficient and said the platform would be released in the next week.
KU, said the lake was a staple of the University. He said years ago, Potter Lake was a gathering place for students, much like Wescoe Beach. He said there used to be entertainment shows at the lake, as well.
Connect KU said it focused on a more sustainable campus by cleaning up Potter Lake. Jason Oruch, Plano, Texas, junior, and vice presidential candidate for Connect
Austin Kelly, Lawrence Junior and presidential candidate for Connect KU, said there were many problems at the University, and Connect KU was
"We want to make it more sustainable but also more of a hangout," Oruch said.
McGonigle
way his coalition would solve problems would be to get input from all students. If elected, he would take all the doors off their hinges so everyone would be welcome all the time.
Oruch
working right now to fix those. He said one
One of the YouTube
Wood
questions asked United Students why students should pay for a pool that would not be finished until current students had graduated. Building a pool at the Student Recreation Fitness Center to replace the one at Robinson Gymnasium was the first platform of United Students.
McGonigle said that the average lifetime
of a swimming pool was 25 years, according to the director of the Recreation Center. He said that by the time his proposed pool would be completed, the pool in Robinson Gymnasium would be twice that age.
McGonigle said that student athletes should be able to swim in a better pool and students working out shouldn't have to work their schedule around the few hours that the current pool is open.
"If students want to run and swim they can do it at the same place," McGonigle said.
"One of worst things you can have for greening'is politics mixed in with it."
ERIC HYDE
Vice presidential candidate
Students of Liberty
The problem of higher student fees was another issue candidates discussed.
semester in student fees. Now students pay almost $378.
McGonigle said United Students was committed to keeping fees down. Kelly said that his freshman year, he paid $287 per
Adam Wood, Lawrence junior and Students of Liberty presidential candidate, said fees were already too high and that he didn't support increases.
a man or a woman was irrelevant, but what mattered was what their ideas were.
Kelly said Connect KU was running with senators from China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Austria, so the coalition was not
"The word that comes to mind is 'no,'" he said.
Wood said that if he was elected, there would be no fee increases ever, and that fee increases were actually tuition increases.
all one kind of person All three coalitions said they supported the Multicultural Education Fund, which gave money to increase multicultural events at the University.
Another question was why students should think they were fairly represented by these candidates. All six candidates are white males.
"Does it really matter who the president and vice president are if it's Student Senate who is spending our
Candidates responded that the president and vice president hold leadership positions and also have more specific duties. The president has veto power and can say
Wood said that whether a candidate was
"If students want to run and swim they can do it at the same place."
money?" asked a student on YouTube.
ADAM MCGONIGLE Presidential candidate United Students
no to any legislation that passes through full Senate. Senate can overturn a veto with two-thirds support. The vice president runs Senate meetings and can make decisions on how legislation is heard. Both elected people also hire an executive staff that is paid with student fees
and also appoint chairs for committees.
Look for future articles about the platforms mentioned in Tuesday's debate and other platforms of each coalition. More profiles of students running for Student Senate will also be featured in the coming weeks.
Edited by Matt Hirschfeld