Monday, May 7, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Costly travel keeps students in U.S. for break
By Michelle Ward
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Junta Ikwo debated between taking a summer class and returning home for summer break. The pull of his family and friends finally won out, and he decided to make the journey home — but he may have made the decision too late.
Ikuwo is one of more than a thousand KU international students who must make their summer plans early. The cost and the availability of flights make spur-of-the-moment decisions almost impossible. International students must weigh the pros and cons of both sides and then act on their decision.
To avoid the costs of a hasty decision, ikwo, a sophomore from Kasugai, Japan, will try to fly home at the end of this month. His ticket price is holding steady at $758, including tax, which will leave a dent in his coffers. But it is a sacrifice that ikwo is willing to make to go home.
"I just miss the food so much," he said. "I will eat first and then call my friends. I usually just e-mail them."
But he is worried about the availability of flights. Most people start making plans for international travel more than two months in advance. Ikuwo contacted a Japanese travel agency in Los Angeles, but had no luck. Ikuwo is now trying his luck with a local agency.
He said working through a travel agent was "just easier."
"But," he added, "a ticket might not be available — people start planning really far advanced. I'm hoping I can go home."
Abdul Lawal, Sydney, Australia, sophomore, never doubted he would be going home at the end of this semester.
The exchange student said his experience in the United States was "OK," but he was definitely ready to go home. The weather was much cooler than he expected, and he didn't enjoy Mrs. E's food.
While he got a taste of a different culture and educational system, he couldn't wait to get his souvenirs and get on the plane — but first he has to get through finals.
"It's hard to concentrate. I'm so excited to go home." Lawal said.
orimania Diack, Dakar, Senegal, freshman, wants to go home but decided the smarter decision would be to stay. He said he wanted to ease the financial burden on his family. Instead of them sending him money, he plans to work this summer and save money for the following year.
"It's too expensive for my parents to send money from my country," he said. "I have to stay here and work. But I would like to go home."
He looks forward to next December when he can go home to spend time with his family and not have to worry about working. While he wants to go home, he said he knew this was the best thing for him.
- Edited by Leita Schultes
Moving means throwing stuff out
Students can also sell donate their items
By Brooke Hesler
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When Brett Hronke moved out of his McCollum Hall dorm room last year, he ended up taking more than just his own stuff with him.
Hronek, Olathe senior, said he was amazed at what other students were throwing away.
"There was carpet all over the place," Hronek said. "It was complete madness. People were throwing out lamps, extension cords, just everything."
Hronek said he made off with a new speaker, a night light, some carpet and a television set that needed minor repairs. He said he later sold the television set at a pawn shop for $15.
"I think a lot of people would rather just toss stuff than take it home," he
said. "They think it's too much work. I don't mind making multiple trips though. The people who just throw stuff out are losing a lot of money."
Hronek's experience was not uncommon. Every year students throw away things that could be considered valuable. There are other options though.
This year, Hronek said he posted fliers around residence halls advertising the microwave and exercise bike he was selling. He said he'd received several responses.
"This one kid offered to pay more than what I was asking," he said.
Students can also sell their used clothes and shoes at one of several second-hand stores. Arizona Trading Co., 734 Massachusetts St., Flush, located next to Java Break, 17E. Seventh St., and Sugartown Traders, 918 Massachusetts St. are allbuying summer apparel.
Likewise, the Salvation Army Thrift Store, 1818 Massachusetts St., is accepting donations of furniture and clothing.
Kate Hackett, Overland Park sophomore, said she didn't plan to sell any of
The Salvation Army Thrift Store, 1818 Massachusetts St.
■ Disabled American Veterans Thrift Store,
1,601 W. 23rd St.
DONATION SITES
her belongings when she moves this month. Instead, she said she planned to look for bargains.
"I've heard a lot of people talking about stuff they're going to get rid of," she said.
"I just keep my ears open and try to find good deals."
Hackett last year she had found a green velvet couch. She said her friend was going to throw it away, but she offered him a dollar if she could have it.
"If's kind of 1970s, but it's actually really cool," she said. "I would have paid at least $100 for it, but I got it practically for free."
This year Hackett said she planned to walk around the residence halls on Daisy Hill and look for more bargains.
"Anything I can use, I'll take," she said.
— Edited by Sydney Wallace
Students, faculty smoked out of building
By Andrew Davies
writer @kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
"You could smell electrical wires burning, and you could see smoke coming out," he said.
Firefighters responded to a report of smoke and possible fire in the Military Science Building on Friday, but found no fire.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical and University Facility Operations crews responded to a report of smoke at about 11:30 a.m. The smoke was caused by a transformer that stopped working, said Sgt. Troy Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office. He said the failure caused the mechanical room and most of the lower level of the building to fill with smoke.
Ryan Evans. Towanda sophomore, said he was playing foosball on the second floor of the building before a class when the lights started to flicker and dim. He said he was told to leave the building, but he didn't think he was in danger.
But some said they didn't know there was smoke in the building.
puce evacuated students and faculty from the building and no injuries were reported.
Capt. Jim Cooper, professor of naval science, said signs of trouble appeared when the power in the building was lost.
"I assumed it wasn't that big of a
"You could smell electrical wires burning, and you could see smoke coming out." Capt. Jim Cooper Professor of naval science
deal since no one came up yelling there was a big fire or anything," he said.
Mailen said the smoke was caused when one leg of the transformer continued to run, despite the shutdown of the rest of the transformer. Once the leg was removed the smoldering stopped.
Classes were canceled for the rest of the afternoon as a precautionary measure because of the amount of smoke still in the building.
Firefighters set up ventilation equipment to clear smoke from the building and made sure the problem wouldn't happen again.
The failure of the transformer was similar to one that caused a fire in Strong Hall last winter, Mailen said. However, since the transformer in the Military Science Building uses a dry base — and not an oil base as the Strong Hall transformer did — a fire did not start.
After a fire Friday in the Military Science Building moved classes outside, Janna Knittel, English 102 teacher, continued a class discussion. The class was talking about a poem by Robert Havden in which a father gets up early every morning to build a fire so his children won't be cold. Photo by Selena Jabara/KANSAN
Edited by Doug Pacey
KU libraries to charge for laser printing
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The KU libraries will begin charging eight cents per page for printouts from the laser printers and will increase the cost of making copies by one cent per page beginning in June, said Julia Rholes, interim dean of libraries.
Currently, students are able to print for free, and copies cost seven cents with a KU card. Rholes said the libraries had had to wait until they had the technology in place for students to use KU cards at the printers. Users will only be able to pay for the printouts with KU cards or library borrower cards. Rholes said most libraries had machines to add value to the cards.
The cost increase — which Rholes said was "inevitable"— was also partly related to the University budget cuts. But she said the libraries were also catching up to other Big 12 Conference schools.
"We have been contemplating it for a while because the majority have started charging." Rholes said. "Most started off as we did just to see how it would work, but Kansas State has been charging for quite some time."
Last year, the libraries spent about $65,000 to maintain the laser printers and buy supplies for them, Rholes said.
Rholes said the decision to change the prices for both copies and printed pages was a reflection of the libraries' actual costs.
Students will still be able to print for free from dot matrix printers stationed in most libraries, Rholes said, but they will be limited to "a reasonable number of pages."
She said most databases also allowed users to e-mail the information to themselves or download it to a disk.
Liz Jackson, Overland Park junior, said she used the library all the time for her research because of the faster Internet access.
"I probably won't print out as much at the libraries because I can probably do it at home," she said. "For students, it's a bad thing. It was a nice resource to be able to go to the library and print things out for free."
- Edited by Laurie Harrison
Jayhawks Advise-Be CREDIT WISE!
Don't let credit card debt control your future.
If you use your credit card over summer vacation, please remember:
- One in five college students carry a monthly balance of $3,000 or more on their credit cards.
- A $1,000 balance on a credit card charging 18% interest will take 7.8 years to pay off, if you make only minimum monthly payments.
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