KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2010 / NEWS STUDENT SENATE 7A SAC seeks support from state and U.S. senators BY STEPHEN GRAY sgray@kansan.com WHAT WILL THE KANSAS COMMITMENT INCLUDE? INCLUDE? Student leaders from the six Kansas universities are seeking support on a $50 million higher education initiative. The Students' Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents, which consists of student body presidents from each Regent's institution, sent a letter last week to Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and Democratic state Sen. Tom Holland. In it, they asked each candidate to publicly endorse the Kansas Commitment, a Regents plan aimed at boosting the state's economy. "In an environment where tuition and fees are going up, we need to make sure that we're extending a hand to students," Smith said. - $20.5 million to cover higher education inflation - $ 15.75 million to restore funding that was cut from building maintenance If funded, the Commitment would allocate $20.5 million to cover higher education inflation over the past three years, $15.75 million to restore funding that had been cut from building Michael Wade Smith, KU student body president and chairman of the SAC, said that the plan is much-needed after sustaining $100 million in budget cuts to higher education over the past two years. maintenance - $14.15 million to increase graduates in high-demand fields - $14.15 million to increase graduates in high-demand fields - $10 million need-based financial aid for middle and low-income state university students maintenance by the Legislature, and $14.15 million to increase graduates in high-demand fields such as engineering and nursing. The plan also includes a $10 million need-based financial aid program for middle and low-income state university students that would be partially funded by recouping sales taxes collected on university campuses. Tyler Thompson, student body president at Fort Hays State and member of the SAC, said the key to Kansas' economic development is to increase educational opportunities for all citizens and reward them for staying in Kansas after they graduate. "While $50 million seems like a high price tag, the return on investment for the state will be exponentially higher," Thompson said. Brownback and Holland are both 2010 candidates for Kansas governor. So far, only Holland has responded in support of the Commitment and greater higher education funding, Smith said. Both Smith and Thompson believe that the political support of the future governor is significant in getting the Commitment funded and through the Legislature. "It is our hope that the candidates would use our vision as a cornerstone to their first legislative session if they are elected in November," Thompson said. The decision for the Kansas Commitment will be voted on in January in the Legislature. Edited by Anna Nordling NATIONAL NYC hate-crime suspects arrested ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Eight suspects arrested in connection with the brutal torture of two teenage boys and a man in an anti-gay attack last week were expected in court Sunday to face charges including robbery, assault and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes. blocks awav, investigators said. Police said members of a gang that called the Latin King Goonies heard a rumor that one of their new recruits, a 17-year-old, was gay. They found the teen on Oct. 3 and then stripped, beat and sodomized him with a plunger handle until he confessed to having had sex with a 30-year-old man who lives a few The group found a second teen they suspected was gay and tortured him, too, police said. Finally, they invited the 30-year-old to the house, telling him they were having a party. When he arrived, they burned, beat and tortured him for hours. The attack included sodomizing him with a miniature baseball bat, police said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was sickened by the accusations of violence "and saddened by the anti-gay bias." The attacks followed a string of teen suicides around the country last month that were attributed to anti-gav bullying. A ninth suspect was still at large. A lawyer representing him Gay men and women live openly in the largely Hispanic neighborhood, Morris Heights, and while residents were disturbed by some past violent behavior by the suspects, some said they hadn't previously targeted homosexuals. had arranged for his client to turn himself in, but the suspect never showed. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. The suspects arrested Thursday and Friday were identified as Ildefonzo Mendez, 23; David Rivera, 21; four 17-year-olds, Steven Caraballo, Denis Peitars, Nelson Falu and Bryan Almonte; and Brian Cepeda, 16. All face charges including robbery, assault and unlawful imprisonment. CAUSES (CONTINUED FROM 1A) at the head-shaving event turned a serious issue into a supportive conversation, packed full of laughs. Jewell said he lost his mother to cancer, and one of his favorite elementary school teachers recently lost her battle with breast cancer. He said a few thoughts about his losses came up Saturday, but that's not what the buzzing was about - it was about bonding. "I hope people had an educational moment from having the survivors there to talk to," lewell said. That was Saturday's theme — turning a serious and sad topic into a supportive conversation. Carrie Rangel, a Lawrence Memorial Hospital operating room nurse of 11 years, was one "I want young women to know - it can happen." Rangel said. "I was diagnosed when I was 31. It was the furthest thing from my mind." of the two survivors there. She was accompanied by her husband, Patrick, the man who had been married to her for two weeks when she was diagnosed. The Rangel's will be in Tampa Bay, Fla., at the end of October for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. November will mark Rangel's third anniversary of as a survivor. Rangel's mom had cancer, too, but she said she never would have buzzed her head to support her. And when she was sick, she never wanted anyone shaving their heads on account of her. Her She said she admired the si newly buzzed heads explanation is simple: "It sucks." "I thought it was a great way to open our eyes." Farlow said. "What they can relate to is, 'I can't just fix my hair how I normally would,'" Rangel said. Katelyn Farlow,afreshman from Tecumseh, watched Saturday. She said she was surprised by statistics from the pamphlets there and interested by the head-shaving. Paul Sneed, a professor in the department of Spanish and Portuguese, decided to buzz his hair that day too when he found out what was happening. "I'm proud of them for having this program," Sneed said. Edited by Anna Nordling STUDENT SENATE Chancellor can't support plan BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com HOW WAS THE AMERICAN COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS' CLIMATE COMMITMENT FORMED? Chancellor Bernadette Gray Little said Friday she would not sign a comprehensive sustainability action plan pushed forward by the student body president and vice president. The action plan, called the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), was a central component of KUnited's sustainability platform. It calls for the heads of universities and colleges to commit themselves to a list of wide-ranging sustainability goals. Gray-Little said the University would be unable to meet all of the commitment's benchmarks within their respective time frames. She said she didn't want to sign an agreement the University couldn't fully commit to. For purposes of the ACUPCC, climate neutrality is defined as having no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to be achieved by eliminating net GHG emissions, or by minimizing GHG emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions. The ACUPCC requires signatories to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at reaching climate neutrality as quickly as possible. It calls for the development of an institutional action plan for becoming climate neutral within two years of signing. So far 674 universities and colleges have signed onto the ACUPCC, including the three smaller colleges in Kansas. Despite the apparent defeat, Student Body President Michael Wade Smith said he supported the chancellor's decision. He had initially pressured the chancellor to sign the plan as a means to gain broader administrative support for ACUPCC sustainability efforts on campus. "This was one way to get the administrative buy-in," Smith said. "What she has done though is said, 'We can't realistically commit to this, but I buy in.'" What the chancellor has bought into is the University's own campus sustainability plan that University officials, students and environmental consultants will begin work on this month. Though it wasn't their initial plan, Smith and Vice President Megan Ritter said they remained confident in the chancellor's commitment to sustainability. "In effect we're still fulfilling what we had hoped for," Ritter said. "She's definitely committed to what we wanted, which was helping move KU forward towards a more sustainable campus." The University's plan would likely draw from some of the ACUPCC guidelines, said Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability. He said it should include steps to integrate sustainability and climate change education into the curriculum. The University has already established a greenhouse gas inventory. The ACUPCC lists both. Severin said it was important to incorporate sustainability goals into a timeline that fit the structure of the University's plan. In doing so, the University would be better suited to reach those goals. He said many universities and colleges that had signed on to the ACPUCC had a difficult time fulfilling their initial objectives. "Since we're already working towards these steps, I feel like it's a good idea to take our own approach," Severin said. "I have no doubts that we can meet a lot of the requirements of the actual commitment." The chancellor did not specify whether she would reconsider signing the ACPUCC at a later date. — Edited by Clark Goble KANSANCLASSIFIEDS ... announcements for sale HAWKCHALK.COM 785-864-4358 1 KU/KSU Student Ticket $or no debt call or text (316) 670-0539 Hawkchall.com/5292 New 6ft HDMI Cable, Gold Plated, $8 These are individually packaged HDMI bles, as good as the expensive ones at any retail store. mail neogeo.ku@gmail.com hawkchalk.com/5286 TRAFFIC-DUFI'S-MIP'S PERSONAL INJURY Student legal matters/legislature issues or court cases. The law offices of DONALD G. STROLE Donald G. Strole Sally G. 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