WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2006
VOL.116 ISSUE 105
CITY COMMISSION
Ordinance approved
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Student loans no longer at risk
BY KRISTEN JARBOE
kjarboe@kanas.com
KANAS STAFF WRITER
The municipal court will now carry cases involving possession of marijuana, instead of the district court. The Lawrence City Commission passed the ordinance Tuesday night by a 3-2 vote. The consequences of the ordinance are effective immediately.
Mayor
The student loans of people caught with marijuana will no longer be affected. Because of the Higher Education Act Drug Provision, individuals convicted in state court of drug use typically lose their current financial aid.
The version that was passed set the fine at $200. There were two proposed versions originally: one involving a fine of $100 and a mandatory evaluation of the offended and the other involving a $300 fine with no mandatory evaluation. The new version with the changed fine to $200 includes the mandatory evaluation. The mandatory evaluation of the ordinance was supported by all five commissioners.
Before the ordinance was passed, the city followed Kansas law, in which first-time marijuana prosecutions were punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and one year in jail.
court, then
Commissioner Mike Amyx, who has in the past supported the $300 fine, was the first to propose the $200 compromise. Commissioners David Schauner and Sue Hack agreed.
May 4, 2013
Dennis "Boog" Highberger, who supported the $100 version, was curious about their reasoning.
"It seems like a separate issue in regards to the fine," he said. "I'm not hearing any justification for a suffer fine."
Hack said, "There's a line that I think I have to draw. It's not enough to discourage people from doing this."
Amiya thought this was enough to discourage people, "If this is the way to get offenders to our municipal
concern
this is the way to do it. What's it worth to save the student loans?"
The issue of the second conviction of possession of marijuana being a felony was brought up by Schauer to Scott J. Miller, who wrote the two-version memorandum. Schauer wanted to make sure that offenders knew of this before they committed a second offense. Miller said it was possible for the judge to issue a warning for first-time offenders.
Highberger agreed with Schauner's
and said, "It's outrageous that the second offense is a felony. I would strongly encourage judges to inform the public of this."
Kim Richter, a KU Medical Center employee and concerned parent, has been working with the commissioners with this ordinance since August. She made a statement at the 6:35 p.m. meeting held at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., and continues to strongly favor an evaluation of the offender.
SEE MARIJUANA ON PAGE 4A
STUDENT SENATE
Transportation would benefit from fee increase
BY NICOLE KELLEY
nkelley@kansan.com
KANKSAN STAFF WRITER
It's 1:30 a.m. at a house party on the edge of town, and the time has come to find a safe way home after a night of drinking. Numerous calls have been made to SafeRide, but after 20 minutes of busy signals a decision is made to risk it and drive home.
KU on Wheels is trying to reduce the frequency of situations like this.
The transportation board has asked Student Senate to consider increasing the campus transportation fee to help cover the rising cost of fuel and increase the number of SafeRide dispatchers.
"No one likes to see fees increase," said Jessica Mortinger, Hays junior and KU on Wheels transportation coordinator. She said fee increases were inevitable in order to maintain service over an extended period of time.
The bills have been approved by the finance committee and will be voted on by the full Student Senate tonight. They will either approve the bills or put them on the ballot as a referendum in the Student Senate election.
The last time KU on Wheels asked for a fee increase was in 1999. Mortinger said the $2 increase went to SafeRide. She said people couldn't expect to have the same level of service without increasing funds.
STUDENT
SENATE
MEETING
Members of Senate will be voting on the bills to increase the campus transportation fee tonight.
Wednesday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m.
Kansas Room in the Kansas Union
Source: Student Senate
KU on Wheels requested to split the fee and separate SafeRide from other transportation expenses. Students would pay $4 to SafeRide and $14 to transportation. At the end of the year, any money SafeRide had left would carry over, rather than transferred extra funds to transportation funds.
KU on Wheels has written two additional bills that would increase the SafeRide fee to $6 and the transportation fee to $16. If both bills pass, students would see a $4 increase to their campus fees.
"I think it's a fair thing to do," Nate Johnson, Manhattan sophomore, said. "It's a small increase compared to other things."
SEE FEES ON PAGE 4A
CRIME
Delivery drivers face pizza perils
BY MIKE MOSTAFFA
mmostaffa@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The Lawrence Police Department is investigating the armed robberies of a Domino's pizza-delivery driver and a Gumby's delivery driver that occurred almost within 24 hours of each other.
Both drivers were robbed at gunpoint. The Domino's driver was robbed of $20 in cash, and the
Gumby's driver was robbed of his cell phone and $150 in cash.
Both robberies occurred at GraystoneApartments, 2500 W. Sixth St. The Domino's driver was robbed
ment door and the suspect surprised them from behind. Ward said the apartment was believed to be vacant.
The two incidents were only two months removed from the December 2005 robbery of a Pizza Shuttle delivery driver in the 2500 block of Redbud Lane. In that incident the delivery driver was struck over the head with a metal object, beaten and robbed of his pizza and $27.50.
"A s a pizza community we try to retain ways to communicate during situations like these."
Dan Ward, Lawrence Police Department spokesman, said the suspect's description in both robberies was of a 5-foot-6 African-American male in his mid-20s with a slender-to-average build. The suspect was wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and was carrying a hand gun.
Monday about 12:30 a.m. and the
Gumby's driver was robbed Tuesday
between 12:35 and 12:56 a.m.
A spokesman, who wished to
"We are investigating the possibility the two are connected," Ward said.
-Domino's spokesman
remain anonymous for Domino's Pizza, 832 Iowa St., didn't say whether the pizza chain would suspend deliveries in the area of 2500 W. Sixth St. He said the two pizza
Ward said that in both incidents the drivers knocked on the apart-
"As a pizza community, we try to retain ways to communicate during situations like these," a Domino's sookesman said.
Lawrence Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 785-832-7503, or the Crime Stoppers hot line at 785-843-TIPS.
chains had been in contact since the incidents in an effort to increase driver safety.
Gumbys' Pizza could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
- Edited by Matt Wilson
Jayhawk Boulevard, or Bourbon Street?
Nicoletta Niosi/KANSAN
Hayet Serradji, Algiers, Algeria, graduate student, takes beads from Eva Reed, Kansas City, Kan., junior, on Wescoe Beach Tuesday. Reed was handing out beads to promote a Mardi Gras party at Abe & Jake's Landing.
WEATHER
TODAY
75 Partly cloudy
41 —weather.com
THURSDAY
65 31 MOSTLY SUNNY
FRIDAY
58 39 PARTLY CLOUDY
Comics...9B Crossword...9B Opinion...11A Classifieds...10B Horoscopes...9B Sports...1B
All contents unless stated otherwise.
© 2006 The University Dr. Kansan