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VOLUME 121 ISSUE 93
MARCH ON MASS
Parents and children shout, "Save our schools" as they march down Massachusetts Street Saturday to protest budget cuts that could force some elementary schools to close. More than 1,200 people attended the event Saturday.
Sparing local schools
Budget deficits threaten to close area elementary schools
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
About 1,200 Lawrence residents marched through downtown Saturday afternoon as part of the Save Our Neighborhood Schools movement. Participants marched from Liberty Hall to South Park in an effort to urge the Lawrence school board not to close local Lawrence elementary schools.
Because of low state revenues, the school board is looking to make cuts for a $4 million budget deficit. According to the Save Our Neighborhood Schools organization, the board
is considering closing neighborhood elementary schools, including Hillcrest, Cordley and New York Elementary Schools.
Megan Greene, director of the Center for East Asian Studies, worried that potential school closings would deter students, faculty and staff with children from coming to the University.
Greene, said one of the University's biggest recruitment tools for faculty and staff is the community and downtown, both unique to Lawrence.
"That's what draws people here," she said.
"If the schools disappear, it will be a much less appealing place."
If the schools are closed, Greene said.
Watch more coverage of the event this afternoon on KUJHTV
families will be forced to move to different neighborhoods or areas of town, changing the dynamic of the community and its appeal to potential residents.
Hillcrest is known for its diverse student body. With more than 35 different countries represented within the school, it has been designated "where the world goes to school." Hillcrest also offers English as a second
SEE SCHOOLSON PAGE 4A
students carried signs to show their feelings about shutting down their schools at the Save Our Schools march down Massachusetts Street Saturday.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Waves of changes for navigation of Facebook
BY BRENNA LONG blong@kansan.com
More than 55 million Facebook statuses change every day, and late many students are using them to vent frustrations about new changes to the familiar site.
"I haven't seen a single status praising it," said Amir Jhuremalani, a sophomore on Roslyn, N.Y. "I hate it based on the fact that I'm happy with the way it is. But as always, we'll get use to it, and then they'll change it again."
Facebook started rolling out its new navigation bar starting Thursday, but the changes haven't reached all 400 million users.
According to a blog Friday on www.techcrunch.com, Facebook will be changing its messaging to a webmail service, a change referred to as Project Titan. It would allow users to have an account through Facebook and would be linked to other e-mail providers.
Old version:
Home, profile, friends, and inbox are on the left side of the bar
New Version:
- Drop-down menus for friends, messages and notifications appear on the bar.
- The search box moves to the center
- A news counter helps users keep tabs on their interactive applications
- Users won't miss their turn in games
Edited by Ashley Montgomery
Student response:
"The way most of my friends get a hold of me anyway is through Facebook, so if it adds modifications that make e-mail communication easier, that would be great," Cortney Graham, a sophomore from McPherson said.
COMMUNITY
New rules proposed for Oread housing
BY ALEESE KOPF akopf@kansan.com
Potential regulations range from parking spaces and the number of residents allowed in these types of houses to tenant behavior and building expansion.
Students living in large multiperson houses in the Oread Neighborhood might be facing stricter regulations in the near future.
Currently, boarding houses, which the city officially calls congregated living spaces, are permitted for dwellings with up to 12 sleeping rooms and 24 occupants if parking and other standards are upheld. Current parking regulations call for 1.5 spaces per two lawful occupants. This means eight occupants would require six parking spaces.
The plan proposed at Tuesday's City Commission meeting was to have no limit to the number of bedrooms or occupants and a requirement of one parking space per resident for new boarding houses. For existing boarding houses, the plan would require four parking spaces for six bedrooms and an additional half a space for houses with more than six bedrooms. There were also recommendations on limiting the
SEE OREADON PAGE 4A
CAMPUS
The Board of Regents discussed the possibility of banning tobacco sales at all six Regents schools in January, but the issue was tabled and referred to the Council of Presidents for discussion this month. Chancellor Gray-Little, who has final say in KU policy, decided to implement the ban before the meeting.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little announced Friday that the University would stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products on all KU campuses starting July 1.
Tobacco sales to end on campus July 1
Lynn Bretz, director of university communications, said the chancellor wanted to support the University's initiatives of health research and the sale of tobacco products didn't support that mission.
"While some will point out that students and employees can buy these products elsewhere, I think it is important to make it clear that the University does not encourage the use of tobacco and will not sell it on campus." Gray-Little said in a prepared statement.
Bretz said cigarette and tobacco product sales had already ended at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
index
Annie Vangsnes
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All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
Drunken thief hides out inside police station
Culprit stole a bottle of liquor and a package of cough drops. ODD NEWS | 3A
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