6
Tuesday, November 12, 1996
U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Kansans to receive money for cleaning up
By Dave Breitenstein
Kansan staff writer
A few years ago, the state of Kansas had little money allocated for recycling and waste reduction. Now, $4 million is waiting to be claimed by some Kansans.
Kansas has implemented a program that provides money to public and private organizations that begin recycling and waste-reduction programs, provided these organizations devise a plan for their program. An education program will kick off soon in the state.
Bill Bider, director of the Kansas
Bureau of Waste Management, said the effects of this education program, once it is completely implemented, would be visible soon.
The money, in the form of grants for various parties including schools, businesses and cities, comes from a tipping fee of $1 a ton of landfill waste. The revenues generated from the tipping fee are to be used for recycling and waste reduction.
The first grants were distributed this spring, and new grants will be approved every six months until the money runs out.
Bider said universities in Kansas
were eligible for these grants, but they did not receive any special preference from the state.
Victoria Silva, KU environmental specialist and former Kansas Bureau of Waste Management environmental scientist, said the University of Kansas had not received any money from the program because Douglas County must first submit a county-wide plan for waste reduction and recycling.
"Until this plan has been approved, we couldn't receive any money anyway," she said.
Silva said that Douglas and Jefferson counties had combined forces
to propose a plan, which was revealed last week at the Douglas County Courthouse.
Statewide, $1.8 million has been given to 40 different parties. Bider said that the grants served as a motivation for Kansas counties to implement recycling and waste-reduction programs.
"There are no quantitative recycling goals in Kansas, but we offer incentives to groups to initiate programs," he said. "We require local counties to plan ways to reduce waste and establish schedules for waste reduction."
The tipping fee, which used to be $1.50 a ton but was reduced to $1 last year, may be cut to 50 cents a ton soon, which will generate less grant money, Silva said.
"The tipping fee that is used to fund recycling and waste reduction needs to be raised instead of lowered," she said.
In addition to issuing grants and planning requirements, Bider said the state was launching its public education and awareness program. The theme is: "Kansas. Don't Spoil It." This slogan will appear on
posters and billboards across the state.
"Kansas' approaches to recycling are voluntary, not mandatory like many states," Bider said. "Recycling has just gone wild in Kansas. People seem to want to do it more if the state is not beating them over the head."
Recent trends show that Kansans are recycling more, he said.
"I think Kansas citizens have voluntarily made a great difference," Bider said. "They are choosing to implement these improvements."
They're still standing
KANSAN Determined Kansas fans guard the north goal post at Memorial Stadium after the Jayhawks' loss to K-State on Saturday. Hundreds of K-State fans rushed on the field after the game and attempted to tear the post down, but were met by a rush of Kansas fans and KU police officers. After both sides exchanged threats and chants, the fans eventually left the stadium with the goal posts still standing.
Tyler Wirken/
KANSAN
Grandparents still involved in students' lives
Relationships cross barriers between ages
By Megan Jordan Kansan staff writer
Despite the generation gap, students often form a close relationship with grandparents.
every day and to the pool in the summer. Now, Bowman makes a special effort to keep in touch with these people who continue to play a large role in her life.
When Melissa Bowman, Olathe junior, was younger, her grandparents helped her single mom by taking Bowman to school
"They are in their mid-70s, but they are healthy and happy. They don't act their age at all," she said.
For many students, growing close to grandparents is a natural relationship.
It is often easier to form a relationship with an older people such as grandparents, said Richard Nelson, assistant director of Counseling and Psychological Services. Because grandparents do not have the same
stresses as parents, they have more time and patience to devote to grandchildren.
He said that by the time people became grandparents, they had had time to mature, build economic stability, and they were no longer establishing a career.
"We tend to do things with them that we never had time to do with our own kids," he said of his own family. "Plus, we spoil them to death."
Nelson also said that students were more likely to confide in grandparents because they seldom assumed the role of disciplinarian and would be less judgmental.
Bowman said that her grandparents often took her side in disputes with her mother.
"They are always supportive," she said. "They don't always understand my goals, but they are always proud when I accomplish them."
Bowman said she thought that despite all that grandparents contribute to family life, they do not receive the appreciation they deserve. Society looks at the things that older people cannot do, not all the things they can do, Bowman said.
of sociology, agreed that the elderly were sometimes ignored.
Shirley Hill, assistant professor
"I think our culture is a very youth-oriented society, and in ways we work to push the elderly aside and make them invisible." she said.
Hill said, however, that older people had consistently grown more assertive and were gaining a more powerful voice in society.
Elderly make up between 12 and 13 percent of the population, which gives them considerable political clout, she said. Also, they are leading more active lives which allow them to stand up for their rights.
Students seek education and marriage
By Megan Jordan Kansan staff writer
While many students would never include the words wedding and college in the same sentence, some KU students are already making plans to walk down the aisle.
Pam Frieling, Smith Center junior, and her fiance have been dating since high school, and they plan to marry next summer.
"We'd talked about it. I was just surprised he asked me so early," Frieling said.
The engagement didn't alter her social or academic life. Frieling said. Most of her friends have serious boyfriends or girlfriends, so they understand the importance of the commitment.
She said she spent most of her time with her fiance, but because this has been the case since she started college, it does not upset her friends or interfere with school work.
"Since the engagement, I've tried to spend more time with my friends because I know I'll spend the rest of my life with him." Frieling said.
"They don't get as involved in campus activities and they don't feel as much a part of campus life," she said.
Rev. Vince Krische, director of Saint Lawrence Catholic Center, did not see any problem with college-aged students planning to marry. But he did say there were issues that needed to be carefully discussed before tying the knot.
The Catholic center sponsors marriage preparation sessions, and Krische said 90 percent of the couples were junior and senior undergraduates.
The two issues least discussed among engaged students are finances and parenting, Krische said. The issues couples seem to struggle with the most are conflicting religious beliefs and extended family issues.
"Today people are getting married to people they know, but the families don't know each other," he said. "When you get married you are not just marrying one person."
Krische said that one drawback to being engaged while in school was the stress of juggling wedding plans and academic demands.
Frieling has not had to deal with this problem yet, but she does have to handle the surprised reactions to the news of her engagement.
"People in my classes, they see the ring and they're like, 'You're engaged? Wow, I can't believe it,' she said. "I usually smile and say, 'Neither can I.'"
TIN PAN ALLEY
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NOVEMBER 14TH,7:00PM ELLSWORTH HALL LOBBY
STUDENT SENATE TOWN HALL MEETING
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Booksigning with Richard W. Clement
Librarian at Spencer Research Library and Courtesy Associate Professor of English
Author of
Wednesday, November 13 12 noon-1:30 pm
The Mt. Oread Bookshop KU Bookstore Kansas Union, Level Two 864-4431