THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.116 ISSUE 96
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16.2006
CITY COMMISSION
Lawrence revising noise law
BY KRISTEN JARBOE
kjarboe@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Joe Delaney said his social life was killed by a nuisance ordinance.
Delaune, Des Moines, Iowa, senior threw a party in his apartment at 17th and Kentucky streets in October. "It was a big party in a tiny apartment," he said. The Lawrence police department showed up at Delaney's apartment because of a noise complaint. He has not had a party since then.
The Lawrence City Commission began revising the Disorderly House Nuisance in January. Currently, the Commission is looking at the types of offenses that are considered nuisances. The ordinance will not just include convictions, but diversions as well.
The ordinance says "a dwelling is a 'Disorderly House Nuisance' when it is associated with: two or more triggering events arising out of separate and distinct facts and circumstances, or three or more triggering events by separate individuals arising from the same general facts and circumstances" within a 365-day period.
The ordinance still states that, upon conviction for a violation, the offender can be fined up to $1,000, serve jail time not exceeding 180 days or both.
When the police arrived at Delaney's apartment, the officers informed him of the violation's consequences. Living near the University of Kansas, Delaney was surprised police showed up. He said noise complaints should depend on where the noise occurred.
"Here on Kentucky or Tennessee Street, it's a student ghetto, and
if you don't like noise, then don't live here," Delaney said. "I understand there are people who have to get up early, but if you're living in the student ghetto, you should expect noise next door."
For misconduct on property, the ordinance also stated that the City of Lawrence would send a written notice to the property owner. Residents would then be cited for a violation, and their utilities would be disconnected.
"I don't think that's fair," said Shelly Axell, Lawrence senior. "Fining is one thing, but turning off your power is another. That's your personal property."
Axcell lives in a house at 17th and Indiana streets. She said there were a lot more families that lived near her than there were students. She said parties didn't really occur in that area and she had never thrown one either but might think twice if she did.
"The consequences seem pretty steep to me," she said. "It's a little harsh after only two occurrences."
City Commissioner David Schauer said there were a lot of complaints from the Oread Neighborhood residents, which was one of the reasons the commission started to look at the ordinance. He said that, under old ordinance, the process of filing a complaint took so long that it practically wouldn't happen.
HEALTH
For Commissioner Mike Amyx, deciding whether to approve the new ordinance modifications came down to neighbors getting along with each other.
"People should have the enjoyment of their homes on both sides," he said, "whether you're studying or sleeping."
- Edited by Timon Veach
STI awareness the rise
--said the shorter treatment usually had better results because people were less likely to finish the longer therapies. Treatment for gonorrhea involves a chlamydia antibiotic plus a single-dose gonorrhea-specific medication, she said.
BY CATHERINE ODSON ♦ codson@kansan.com
The number of KU students being tested for sexually transmitted infections has increased dramatically in the past two years.
Gonorrhea testing rates at Watkins Memorial Health Center have increased by 90 percent. More than 2,000 students were tested between December 2004 and November 2005.
Since the inception of campaigns such as Ban Ping-Pong and Clean-N-Safe, the number of students tested for gonorrhea has increased from 1,203 during December 2003 to November 2004 to the current 2,301, Bill Smith, Watkins health educator, said.
Ban Ping-Pong and Clean-N-Safe are campaigns to raise awareness of prevention and testing of STIs.
Fifteen people, less than 1 percent, tested positive for gonorrhea last year. Chlamydia tests increased to 2,265 tests. Less than 5 percent of tests were positive.
Chlamydia has two treatment options: a seven-day therapy involving two doses per day, and a single-dose treatment. Thrasher
Seventy percent of women and 50 percent of men infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms. Those who do have symptoms experience abnormal discharge, tower abdominal and testicular pain and a burning sensation during urination.
The nationwide Clean-N-Safe campaign targeted chlamydia and gonorrhea because, as bacterial infections, both can be cured with antibiotics. Cathy Thrasher, chief pharmacist at Watkins, said the pharmacy offered multiple treatments for both.
HPV, human papilloma virus, causes warts, both flat and raised, that are painless but can itch. HPV is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, and can be transmitted even when symptoms are not present. Fifty-seven of 2,436 women tested positive at Watkins. Like herpes, the disease is not curable, but a new line of clinical trials is working to make it preventable.
Merk & Co. Inc. proposed Gardasil, an HPV vaccine, to the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month. The drug was designed to protect against four types of HPV that cause both genital warts and cervical cancer, a company press release said. The FDA is scheduled to review the drug within the next four months.
Other STIs, such as herpes and HPV, are viral infections and cannot be cured. Medications do exist to help alleviate symptoms, Smith said, but the diseases are still transmittable without any symptoms present.
Herpes causes single or clustered lesions, or blisters, on the skin. The blisters develop for a few weeks, possibly causing severe pain and itching, before bursting. While medications are available to decrease the frequency of outbreaks, active outbreaks cannot be controlled. Nine percent of students tested at Watkins were positive for herpes.
Edited by Cynthia Hernandez
--will succeed David Shulenburger. Shulenburger will be taking a position with the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges after stepping down as provost this summer.
For more information on contraception, see page 4A
ADMINISTRATION
Chancellor welcomes new provost
BY MELINDA RICKETTS
mricketts@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Offered $10 by a broadcast reporter to pronounce his own name correctly twice in a row, Richard Lariviere, the newly named provost, responded that it's very easy, "particularly if you know French."
That set the tone for the rest of his informal presentation to faculty, staff and reporters — serious responses sprinkled with characteristic humor.
"He has a great sense of humor," Chanceller Robert Hemenway said. "He's very serious about public higher education, and he's very accomplished."
At the presentation Wednesday morning at the Adams Alumni Center, located east of the Kansas Union, Hemenway formally announced Lariviere as the selection for provost. Hemenway welcomed Lariviere and his wife to the University of Kansas. Hemenway presented the two with matching KU sweatshirts as tokens of welcome.
Lariviere, currently the dean of liberal arts at the University of Texas at Austin.
Lariviere
agenda right now was to learn the landscape of the University, saying that he is still a rookie. He said it would be a daunting prospect to step into Shulenburger's shoes because of how talented he was and because of his excellent working relationship he cultivated with the University's staff. Lariviere plans to visit Lawrence as frequently as his obligations at the University of Texas allow him.
His wife, Janis Lariviere, who will be joining the Center for Science Education, said she and her husband were "absolutely thrilled" to be moving to Lawrence.
"We fell in love when we visited and we can't wait to live here full time," she said.
Lariviere said the main thing on his
Lariviere said one of his primary
reasons for choosing the University was that it was one of only five schools in the country that had both a National Science Foundation center for research and engineering center for research.
He said he also based his decision to come here on his great passion for public higher education, which he felt he could have a serious impact on at a large, flagship institution like the University.
Although he is uncertain of how he will incorporate student involvement, he said that at the University of Texas he relied heavily on the elected representatives of students and student representatives from each department in the college.
During his five years as dean, he won the Eyes of Texas Excellence Award twice, an award given by an anonymous student service organization to people who have made an outstanding contribution to student life.
"Every day when I get up I think about how to make this place great, every single day," he said.
Change affects students
Edited by Meghan Miller
You may have heard that the University of Kansas has selected a new provost. "Why should I care?" you may be wondering. "How could this possibly affect me?"
At the University of Kansas the provost serves as both the chief operations officer and the chief academic officer. The provost's office Web site states that "the provost is responsible for the formulation and implementation of academic and administrative policies and goals, acting through the vice provests and deans and in cooperation with University Governance."
What this means is that he makes all the final decisions about withdrawal policies, academic policies, parking, safety and other issues that affect students directly.
"Any major changes that take place on campus go through the provost's office," said Nick Sterner, student body president.
Sterner said the most important thing for students was that the provost be someone who was focused on students and not just research or financial issues.
He said that because of this, it's important that the new provost be someone whose mission was similar to the University's and who was willing to maintain the level of student involvement. He said that every committee that reported to the provost had 20 percent student representation.
"That's huge," he said. "They don't have that at other schools."
— Melinda Ricketts
Kansas falls to Nebraska
The Kansas women's basketball team lost 65-57 to Nebraska on Wednesday night. Senior forward Crystal Kemp led Kansas with 19 points. PAGE 12A
KU student awarded fellowship from NASA A University of Kansas doctoral student recieved $72,000 from NASA for his research on glacial movement and global warming. He spent his winter break in Antarctica doing fieldwork. PAGE 2A
Jayplay
Jayplay delves into the world of chrome with a look at the kind of bling every man wants. Also, learn about comfort foods you can't live without, the exquisite pain of tattoo removal and the secret life of baristas.
4.
Index
海
Comics...9A
Classifieds...11A
Crossword...9A
Horoscopes...9A
Opinion...5A
Sports...12A
All contents, unless stated otherwise.
© 2006 The University Daily Kannan