MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2017 | VOLUME 134 ISSUE 02
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
MORE SIGNS, MORE COPS
Campus carry to bring small logistical adjustments, not big changes, to KU CHANDLER BOESE @Chandler_Boese
Editor’s Note: This story is the first in a series of stories looking at the way concealed carry on campus will look once it goes into effect July 1.
W
ith mere weeks until the University’s campus becomes gun-friendly, administrators around the University are making their final decisions on what must be changed to make campus carry work. The answer? Not much. Anyone over the age of 21 will be able to carry a weapon on campus beginning July 1 as a result of a 2013 state
law that allows concealed carry in all public buildings unless security measures are installed. The University has been under an exemption for the past four years. The preparations for this change began in the offices of Strong Hall years ago and are finally wrapping up this summer. Surveys were taken, town halls were held, a committee was convened and a report created. The final result of these efforts was a revised policy on weapons that mandates any concealed weapon be kept within its owner’s control at all times on campus. The original version of the policy, which was passed by the Board of Regents in
Police and security changes
Photo illustration/KANSAN
December, said the weapon, if stored in a backpack or purse, had to be kept on one’s person at all times. The Regents voted in May to eliminate this clause from
the policy in favor of more general wording. Now, administration is looking at other aspects of campus life that will have to be shifted as a result of this
change. Largely, though, administrators say there won’t be major changes to the way the campus operates.
Campus Police Chief Chris Keary said the law basically brings the University in line with the rest of Kansas, as concealed carry is already allowed in many public places. But he said the Public Safety Office (which oversees all police and security operations on campus) is making preparations to ensure University community members stay safe. “We want our officers out of the cars, walking around in the buildings, interacting with people, so that it gives people a sense that there are SEE GUNS PAGE 2
Programs for low-income students fight proposed budget cuts ANGIE BALDELOMAR @AngieBaldelomar
Since 1964, federally-funded TRIO programs have allowed thousands of low-income students access to higher education. Now, two programs within TRIO might get eliminated under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget. Efforts to avoid this have started at the University’s programs. Mulubrhan Ne-
gash, director of TRIO McNair Scholars Program at the University, said her office’s response is to spread actual data and stories about the work the program does. “Our response is geared to raising awareness, and most importantly, give specific, tangible data to our congressmen, senators, [and] representatives,” she said. The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achieve-
ment Program assists low-income, first-generation and underrepresented minority undergraduate students in pursuing a doctoral program by providing faculty mentors, paid research opportunities and help in the process of applying to graduate programs. For Negash, a big issue is the way Mick Mulvaney, director of the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget, presented the data to justify the cuts.
Mulvaney said McNair was only six percent effective. Negash said Mulvaney was reducing the impact by presenting data without the needed context. “In order to slash a budget, you have to show that it doesn’t work, in order to show it, you have to tell the data in a way that shows the story that you want to tell,” she said. “If context was proSEE TRIO PAGE 3
Associated Press President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington.