KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2010 / NEWS
3A
Kelly Stroda/KANSAN
A group of privates wait in line last Wednesday to shoot M240Bs — belt-fed machine guns — at U.S. Weapons, Range 18 at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Each private had 50 rounds of ammunition to shoot.
ARMY (CONTINUED FROM 3A)
TAKING AIM
Lying on wooden platforms, the privates sprawl out behind the machine guns, which are propped up by a bipod. Vivid orange human silhouettes perch on dirt piles 500 to 1000 meters away.
As the privates shoot at their targets, the belt of ammunition gradually zips through the left side of their weapons. Shell cases fly from the right. Small clouds
of smoke emerge from the barrels and drift away. Each fifth round has a bit of phosphorous on the end that burns after the ammunition leaves the gun
As private shoot the M240Bs, red dots blast from the barrels and whiz down the range. Some of the dots hit the ground several hundred meters away and ricochet into the air.
Woerth said these dots were tracers — a way for soldiers to
see if their aiming and shooting matched up.
Pfc. Brittany Longhenry said that even though she had used guns while hunting, shooting the machine guns was "a shock" at first.
"You have so much power in front of you," she said. "It's honorable, but it's intense."
— Edited by Dana Meredith
K3 (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
the law, he said they didn't "touched the legal aspects of it" yet.
"Until something comes up, we haven't reached that hurdle," he said.
Coffee Wonk, 3535 Broadway Blvd., in Kansas City, Mo., has sold a version of "Heaven Scent" for a while, but changed the chemical compounds after the August ban to ensure it was still legal. Coffee Wonk was robbed around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 29. The robber took cash and packets of "Heaven
Scent." During the investigation, Coffee Wonk also had its supply of "Heaven Scent" confiscated by Kansas City police.
Police told Micha Riggs, the owner of the coffee shop, that if his supply didn't contain any of the illegal compounds he previously sold, he would get his stock back soon. He still hasn't gotten it back.
Coffee Wonk will still sell "Heaven Scent," once they get it back anyway.
The laws against K2 prove that
police both locally and across Missouri take it seriously. But the question of how well they can enforce these laws remains.
Kinsey Berger, a sophomore from Overland Park, said she smoked K2 when it was legal. She said police were fighting a losing battle.
"If they want to make it illegal, whatever," she said. "They're just going to come out with K3, K4, K5."
CAMPUS
KU releases safety report
MCNAUGH TON
BY ANGELIQUE MCNAUGH
amcnaughton@kansan.com
Ashlee Burleson often finds herself leaving campus alone late at night. But she isn't worried for her safety.
"I will walk to my car at two in the morning and I won't care," said Burleson, a first-year graduate student in architecture from Round Rock, Texas.
Burleson said she didn't know the University released its annual security report — which includes safety policies and crime statistics last week.
Marlesa Roney, vice provost for Student Success, said she thought this was not unusual among students because they felt safe on campus. She said she wished they would pay more attention to the report and cautioned students not to become too lax about safety.
"It is important to raise awareness and to let people know that we are not a crime free community." Roney said. "But we are very low crime."
Forcible sex offenses, including rape, increased from six cases in 2008 to eight cases in 2009. Despite the increase, Roney said that sexual violence was still not reported often enough.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey said the number of reported crimes at the University had decreased 34 percent since 1999. Bailey, an officer with the Public Safety Office, credited the decline to police patrol, camera surveillance and educational efforts for students and staff.
"If I look across categories, that would be one area that sadly I am confident is under-reported," Roney said.
Crime rates at the University of Missouri are close to those in Lawrence. In 2009, Missouri had six aggravated assaults, compared with the University's four. However, Missouri's burglarly rate is lower — 18 in 2009 to 38 at the University.
Bailey said although the overall numbers for the University were down, the Public Safety Office still reminded students to use common sense when it came to personal safety.
Roney agreed with Bailey. She said people could get very comfortable and forget about common sense and each other.
PERSONAL SAFETY TIPS
AT HOME
- Install quality locks on doors, windows and sliding glass doors.
- Don't leave keys hidden under mats, above the door or near the door.
- Leave lights or a radio on a timer to give the appearance that someone is home.
- Keep doors locked, even while at home
- Install and use neon signs
ON CAMPUS
- Know where the emergency (blue) phones are on cellphone calls for help.
- For a safe ride home, call Safe Ride at (785) 864-SAFE.
- If living on campus, don't leave rooms unlocked even if occupied or when nearby.
- Do not attach anything to key rings that indicate place of residence.
- If your instincts tell you something is wrong, trust them and get away.
- If drinking, be mindful of how alcohol can impair decision making.
IN RELATIONSHIPS
- When going out with someone new, go on a group date or meet in a public place
ON THE STREETS
- Carry your car keys when approaching your vehicle so you can enter quickly.
- Arrange your own transportation to and from dates.
- Alert friends and family about where you'll be going.
- Don't let your cell phone distract you.
- Walk in well-lit areas and be aware of surroundings.
- Call ahead when driving or walking to your hall or apartment late at night and have someone watch you walk from your car to your residence.
FOR MORE TIPS, VISIT:
- Office of Public Safety, 785-864-5900, www
- Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center at 785-864-3552 or www.etwrku.edu
"I do think that we need to continue to help our campus community understand that safety needs to be at the top of everyone's list and that we need to watch out for each other." Ronev said.
Tasia Rayton, a second-year graduate student from Lawrence, said that she was aware of her surroundings and diligent about
locking her doors but still felt comfortable on campus.
"I just feel like the probability of something happening here, compared to other areas like Austin, aren't that high." Rayton said. "I just don't think I'm going to get shanked or anything around here."
CAMPUS
Club calls for less strict punishment in marijuana cases
BY CARLO RAMIREZ cramirez@kansan.com
Thomas Deacon was tired of his friends getting in trouble for smoking marijuana in their dorms. So Deacon and his friend Jacob Fox decided to organize the "Kansas University National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws," a new club on campus advocating for changes to the campus' marijuana rules.
"We just felt the University was punishing students for smoking pot harsher than those caught with alcohol, almost encouraging people to drink instead of smoke," said Fox, a sophomore from Landenburg, Penn.
According to the University Student Handbook, students who violate the drug policy could be subject to various sanctions, including expulsion. If students are caught in dorms, their housing contracts could be terminated.
Fox, president of the club, said he understood that students needed to follow the rules. But, he said, one major problem he sees is that the University could call the police if a student is caught smoking marijuana, even though the police aren't called in cases of underage drinking.
The club's mission is to minimize the punishment for having marijuana on campus, as well as increase student awareness about marijuana, something Fox equates to the battle between David and Goliath.
The club has been running since spring 2010, when it had five members. This fall, the club has 45 members.
The group has tried to spread knowledge about marijuana stigmas through various events on campus. Its main event last semester was called "Project SAFER — Safter Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation." The group pitched a
tent outside of Wescoe Hall and encouraged people to come by and ask questions they had about marijuana and its stigmas.
"It's just a drug but is beneficial in a wide range of both mental and physical health issues," said club member Chay Howard, a sophomore from Wichita.
The club members stress that K2 and K3 are not the same as marijuana. In fact, they said they dislike that the two are associated with one another and that K3 is actually toxic.
"It's too new of a drug to know the long-term effects," Howard said. "If you read the label it says 'not intended for human consumption' and is actually toxic."
The club is planning to have a T-shirt drive in which members and students tie-dye their own shirts with the club logo on the front. Fox said he hoped this drive along with a few other 'in the works' projects would help raise enough money to have a free concert for the student body.
He said he knew the dream of a free concert was a year or two down the road, but the club leaders are focused on the present.
"We want to get rid of the 'gateway' label," said Morgan Albright, a sophomore from Lawrence. "We got it from our baby-boomer parents, that once we try this drug we will start trying everything."
The club members know they are facing an up-hill battle to attempt to get rid of such harsh punishment for smoking marijuana on campus. However, they encourage people to help fight off marijuana stigmas whenever they have the opportunity.
"We want people to not be afraid to speak up for the positives of marijuana and to fight off negative stigmas," Fox said.
Edited By Roshni Oommen
Tiffany Hartley said she and her husband, David, were on Jet Skis on Falcon Lake on Thursday when men on three speedboats chased them, shooting her husband in the head. Authorities have not recovered his body, but Tiffany Hartley said she believes the gun shot was fatal.
INTERNATIONAL
Dennis Hartley of Milliken, Colo., was responding to statements by Mexican police in Tamaulipas State saying that they had not found evidence that the attack last week happened as it was described by Hartley's daughter-in-law, Tiffany Hartley.
Family blames slow-to action Mexican authorities in son's shooting death
DENVER — The father of an American man who was allegedly killed by pirates in a lake on the Texas-Mexico border accused Mexican authorities of being corrupt and said Tuesday they're not doing enough to find his son's body.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The district attorney in charge of the case, Marco Antonio Guerrero Carizales, also told the newspaper that authorities "are not certain that the incident happened the way that they are telling us."
Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, the Tamaulipas State Police commander overseeing the search for David Hartley, told the McAllen (Texas) Monitor on Monday that no one near the lake reported hearing gunshots or the sound of anyone on a Jet Ski.
Dennis Hartley said he doesn't believe the Mexican authorities and that they were being paid off by drug cartels. "I don't think anything right now is being done," he said. "I don't think at this time Mexico is really doing anything."
Mexican authorities have not responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
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