April 26, 2010 WWW.UNEWS.COM Vol. 77, Issue 30 Unite to take the night “We are women, we are men. Together we fight “2, 4, 6, 8! to take back the night.” No more date rape!” “All together, we unite, we will not be victimized.” Photos ALEXIA STOUT-LANG Alexia Stout-Lang up to march. tan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault), News Editor Holding signs with phrases like “Men can shared a story about how she overcame being ogether, we can break the cycle stop rage,” “Use your voice” and “Take back raped many years ago. of sexual violence. the night,” attendees marched as a united She was told by the prosecuting at- In an effort to do just that, group down to the J.C. Nichols Memorial torney that her case would not go men, women and children gath- Fountain on the Country Club Plaza. to court. But she persisted and ered on the UMKC Volker cam- Along the way, as the sun set lower in the the man who assaulted her was pus for UMKC’s sixth annual Take Back the sky, the crowd chanted and encouraged driv- taken to trial. T ers passing to honk their horns. Myer encouraged others Night March and Rally last Tuesday. The event began with a pre-march rally in “All together, we unite, we will not be vic- who have been faced with the the Quad that included food, sign making, mu- timized,” they yelled. “We are women, we are same situation. sic, guest speakers who talked about violence men. Together we fight to take back the night.” “When you have them tell you prevention and a performance by the dance By the time the marchers reached the your case is no good, don’t let them!” she group Mixed Blood Woman. Plaza, night was starting to set in. A group of said. “That just reinforces the feelings of Jessica Farmer, UMKC graduate and rep- drummers was waiting to greet them. guilt.” resentative from Kansas City Anti-Violence But the crowd wasn’t quite ready to grab Take Back the Night coincides Project (KCAVP), spoke soon before the seats and finish with the rally. They lined with Sexual Assault Awareness march kicked off. She stressed there are many Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard, showing pass- Month, which provides an annual organizations out there like KCAVP to help ing cars their signs and encouraging drivers to opportunity to promote aware- victims of violence. honk their horns. ness of sexual violence and its “Some people don’t speak out because of After a while, the attendees gathered prevention. Information on the fear of re-victimization,” Farmer said. “… But around the fountain to hear from a few more national campaign and events can we can stop rape.” speakers and to hold a moment of silence for be found at www.nsvrc.org/saam. She encouraged all those in attendance to all men and women who have been victims of Co-sponsors of Take Back the be vocal about prevention by attending events violence. Night include the UMKC Wom- like Take Back the Night. Everyone in attendance held glow sticks en’s Center, Office of Multicul- “Use your voice, make it loud, and take high to symbolize hope, a light shining in the tural Student Affairs, Fraternity back the night!” Farmer yelled as the group darkness. made up of several dozen people began lining Diana Myer, from MOCSA (Metropoli- See NIGHT I page 8 2 News April 26, 2010 www.unews.com UMKC rental property maintenance in focus Jamie Walsh Contributing Writer Seventeen maintenance-related ci- tations from the Kansas City, Mo. De- partment of Neighborhood Preservation were issued to some of UMKC’s rental properties last fall. Dennis Cesari, assistant vice chan- cellor for Business Services, said the exterior issues were primarily related to painting and soffit and gutter repairs. The Curators of the University of Missouri and the UMKC Trustees own 124 rental properties that contain a total of 152 rental units in the surrounding UMKC neighborhood known as Rock- hill Crest. “The rental units are rented to UMKC students, employees and the general public,” Cesari said. “I felt like it was handled more rapidly, efficiently and personably in the earlier years of my residence prior to the outsourcing of UMKC real estate management” TENANT Though UMKC owns the properties cited, the university does not manage the properties directly. In July 2007, UMKC hired Cohen-Esrey to oversee the prop- erties and handle the leasing and main- tenance. Cesari manages the contract be- tween UMKC and the company. Photo courtesy COHEN-ESREY “Cohen-Esrey is a professional Cohen-Esrey addressed 17 maintenance-related citations late last fall. property manger and they were hired because managing properties is their tions, but said it was not surprising. the same person for so many years fall they add to the service level agreement, dents of UMKC rental properties can be business,” Cesari said. “They are better On occasion, the tenant has waited into this terrible state of disrepair be- for things that are low-level priority to poor tenants and may impact the way equipped to provide quality manage- three to nine months to get some mainte- cause no one will do anything about it,” move up the scale the longer they are on Cohen-Esrey handles the properties. ment services.” nance issues resolved. the tenant said. the list.” The tenant said one property in the However, one long-time tenant, who “I felt like it was handled more rap- How things are changing Spare also said, since the citations, neighborhood that had been completely asked not to be named because of a tenu- idly, efficiently and personably in the Bob Simmons, assistant vice chan- UMKC has been addressing the issues refinished before a new group of stu- ous relationship with the company, said earlier years of my residence prior to the cellor of Facilities, is the UMKC repre- and working to further improve the dents moved into it stood out as an ex- property management was better prior to outsourcing of UMKC real estate man- sentative on the Volker Neighborhood properties and the standards for main- ample. the contracting of Cohen-Esrey. agement,” the tenant said. Council and is working to improve the tenance. When the students moved out short- “Cohen-Esrey tends to treat all its The tenant also referred to the care maintenance system. “The council under Bob Simmons’ ly thereafter, the apartment had to be renters as though they are destructive col- the previous owner had taken with the “I serve on a Volker Neighborhood leadership has voluntarily made neigh- refinished again because the destruction lege students,” the tenant said. “Despite property and the work of that owner be- Council committee that is looking at borhood property maintenance a stan- caused by those particular individuals. the fact that many of us have invested vast ing destroyed by a maintenance issue parking, landscape and maintenance is- dard rather than a guideline,” Spare said. “I get why they treat people like this amounts of time, money and effort into still unresolved. sues as they relate to UMKC rental prop- Simmons also acknowledged things and don’t spend a lot of money on their improving our homes and yards.” “It just is really sad to watch this erties and offices in the Rockhill Crest are moving in the right direction. properties,” the tenant said. “But, the The tenant was unaware of the cita- property that was owned and loved by Neighborhood,” Simmons said. “This committee has taken the simple fact is, so many of the people that Simmons is not a member of the KCMO Property Maintenance Code live in UMKC rental properties are not Rockhill Crest Neighborhood Associa- and set priorities for the items within the like that.” tion but he often meets with them. code as they relate to our properties,” Despite all of this, the tenant said the “I meet regularly with the mem- Simmons said. “The intent is that we use neighborhood is a nice area to live. bers of this group both officially in these priorities to assist UMKC Real Es- “There are aspects of living on a col- our meetings and unofficially through tate and Cohen-Esrey in how they plan lege campus or near a college campus many community organizations that for annual maintenance and landscape that I do enjoy,” the tenant said. “I like we share involvement with,” Simmons items as budgets allow.” the proximity to UMKC facilities, it’s said. “Such as Southtown Council, Tu- Even with all of these changes, some really centrally located, it’s easy for me lips on Troost, Brush Creek Community questions remain on how the properties to get downtown, it’s easy for me to get Partners and other community related were allowed to get in a state of disrepair to the highway, but, this situation is so projects.” in the first place. frustrating.” Ken Spare, board member of the According to UMKC Student Or- Spare said the neighborhood and Rockhill Crest Neighborhood As- ganization Housing Statement of Un- UMKC properties continue to show im- sociation and president of the Volker derstanding, the university has the right provement and the community is mov- Neighborhood Council, said, since the to conduct periodic inspections of the ing forward. citations, UMKC, with the help of Sim- rental property to ensure that it is “in sat- “If you go through the neighbor- mons, has been creating a service level isfactory living condition and that there hood, you will see that a lot of houses agreement.