thursday, march 18, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
7A
Litter remains a problem for Oread Neighborhood
By Laura Pate
late@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Candy Davis does not intend to talk trash on KU students, she said. But some of them keep trashing her neighborhood.
Every time Davis takes a walk in the Oread Neighborhood, she comes equipped with a large trash bag. She stoops down to pick up fast food trash, cigarette cartons, newspapers, soda cans, beer cans and beer bottles.
The Oread Neighborhood, also known as the "student ghetto," curves around campus in a u-shape and includes Louisiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee streets.
The neighborhood has the worst litter problem in Lawrence, said Davis, president of the Oread Neighborhood Association. On March 3, Davis and the other members of the Oread Neighborhood Association met to voice their concerns on the trash problem with city environmental officials.
Julie Wyatt, city environmental inspector, explained city codes that control litter, and encouraged residents to call in complaints to the city about litter. Besides calling in complaints, she had no solutions in mind for the litter problem, she said.
City garbage trucks started picking up litter in the Oread Neighborhood after the meeting on March 3. The garbage trucks
had not done this in the past, said Charles Goff III, coordinator of the Oread Neighborhood Association.
Beer bottles, newspapers, cups, aluminum cans and other trash litter the area at 11th and Mississippi streets. Landlords and homeowners in the Oread neighborhood don't like the amount of trash left on the ground by students.
Every block in the Oread Neighborhood has a dumpster, but trash piles up in the streets and yards. People throw trash out of their cars as they drive through the neighborhood, too. But the neighborhood residents bear the responsibility of cleaning up their yard. If they do not clean up after the city has sent them a notice, they may have to pay a fine, go to the Municipal Court or spend time in jail.
Amanda Kim Stairrott/Kansan
"I don't get this attitude that I'll just drop it." Davis said.
Students do not show the same amount of respect for the neighborhood that older residents do, said James Dunn, president of Landlords of Lawrence and district five director for the Oread Neighborhood Association. He rents houses out in the Oread Neighborhood and often has to tell his tenants to clean up.
Under a city environmental code, anyone who allows litter to accumulate in his or her yard could receive a written notice from the city. If the person does not clean the yard within 15 days of when the notice was postmarked, he or she could be prosecuted.
LITTER LAWS
"I keep after them for broken glass, so people don't see a railing full of beer bottles and broken glass," Dunn said.
Students treat the neighborhood like a styrofoam cup, he said. They do not live there very long, so they have little respect for the property and think they can just throw it away like a cup, he said.
"A lot of people don't consider something to be protected and cherished," Dunn said.
If a person receives a notice twice within a 24-month period, the Neighborhood Resources department or the City Prosecutor's office may issue a notice for the person to appear in municipal court.
If the person is found guilty of a misdemeanor in municipal court, he or she will have to pay a fine between $50 and $100 and could go to jail for as many as 30 days.
Clay Westerlund, Lawrence sophomore, has lived at an apartment complex at 17th and Ohio streets for three years. He said he did not see what the big issue was with the neighborhood association.
Every once in a while, he will notice cups in the yards, but people usually clean up at least three days after a party, he said. Cleaning within a few days is reasonable, because people are still recovering the first day after a party, he said.
party we're not going to be like Martha Stewart and pick up trash as soon as it hits the ground," he said.
"That's the problem — after a
The neighborhood is fine because students living in the neighborhood do not have a problem, he said. The students self-police one another so that they do not end up with an out-of-control litter problem, he said.
Bars in the neighborhood fend off complains, too.
The Hawk, 1340 Ohio St., said The Hawk and The Wheel, 14th and Ohio streets, unfairly bear the blame for the trash problem. Student housing creates more problems, he said. His part of the neighborhood is not as bad as the 11th and 12th blocks of Tennessee or Ohio streets because more students live around there, he said.
John Heleniak, co-owner of
Heleniak tries to combat litter in the neighborhood. At 2 a.m., when The Hawk closes, Heleniak
Lawrence and the Oread Neighborhood Association have not yet implemented any concrete solutions to end the litter problem. But Davis said she welcomes any student environmental groups to conduct a study on how to end the neighborhood litter problem.
and his employees walk down Ohio Street to pick up trash. But trash still accumulates in the area.
—Edited by Ashley Arnold
MISSED: Emery loved by many for zany character; supported friends, school, community
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
a cowboy hat on his head and one boot on his uninjured foot.
him that didn't like him."
And Emery talked to everyone at the show.
"He was an excellent guy, a real bright spirit." Ludwick said. "I never knew anyone who met
Ludwick said Emery was preparing to leave for boot camp to join the U.S. Army and serve his country.
He attended Butler County Community College and Cowley County Community College, trying to get some school experience before he left.
Emery's father worked at the high school Devin would eventually attend.
He was always around the Wichita Heights High School before he was old enough to go, meeting people and making friends.During high school,
Emery was a soccer player, hunter,
wrestler, musician and sports fan.
In fact, he who would dress outrageously in mismatched clothes and wigs to support his school, said Mark Christian, Emery's old principal.
Christian said Emery was a super fan.
He became the kind of guy who had a big impact on his community, his friend and classmate Selena Ramirez, Wichita senior, said.
Emery was the kind of guy that will be missed by friends who discuss the kind of man he would have become.
"In our high school, we were all so close," Ramirez said. "It's affecting everyone, even if someone didn't know him very well."
Funeral services for Emery will be held tomorrow afternoon in Wichita.
Edited by Guillaume Doane
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