THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008
PAGE 8B
STUDENT GOES 'GLADIATOR'
》 TECHNOLOGY
PAGE 6A
Major studio supports Blu-ray
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Blu-ray has yet another supporter under its belt. This could mean the beginning of the end for the HD format.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 6A
FULL STORY ON PAGE 1B
BASEBALL
As a high school senior, not one Big 12 Conference school offered Mike Zagurski a scholarship to play college baseball. But last summer, the former Kansas baseball player made his Major League debut with the Philadelphia Phillies.
VOLUME 118 ISSUE 87
Former pitcher works way to Major Leagues
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HEALTH
TRAVEL MADE MORE DIFFICULT
U. S. tightens border security, but little delay results on first day FULL AP STORY PAGE 3A
weather
37 24 Partly cloudy
4021 Partly cloud
45 33 Snow/rain shower
index
Classifieds...3B
Crossword...4A
Horoscopes...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2008 The University Daily Kansan
University receives Bird Flu grant
$100,000 helps research spread of disease in North America
A brief history of Bird Flu
Bird Flu originated in southeast Asia
Bird Flu has spread to the Middle East, Europe and Africa during the past decade.
Human infections of Bird Flu usually occur in southeast Asia, the Middle East and northern Africa, where people regularly handle poultry on farms or in markets.
The World Health Organization has recorded a 68 percent mortality rate in human cases of Bird Flu infection. Source:World Health Organization
BY MARY SORRICK msorrick@kansan.com
A University of Kansas researcher warned that a Bird Flu pandemic could be on its way to North America.
Townsend Peterson, senior curator at University's Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the possible spread of the Bird Flu virus to America.
Peterson will use the grant to assemble a team of researchers to map areas of the continent that are at a potentially high risk from Bird Flu.
"If you look back at the last century, flu in general is of concern," Peterson said. "Flu
The USDA offered Peterson the grant based on his conclusion that the government had not properly monitored the possible spread and evolution of Bird Flu on this continent.
viruses are continually evolving and every so often you get one on the nasty side"
The strain of Bird Flu Peterson will study, called H5N1, is not very transmissible among humans, but it is highly pathogenic.
According to the World Health Organization, of the nearly 348 known human cases of H5N1 infection, 62 percent were fatal.
Although the probability of a human catching Bird Flu is currently low, Peterson said it was not worth the risk to neglect fully researching the virus.
"We're more likely to develop a highly pathogenic, highly transmissible variant if there's more of the virus out there," Peterson said. "This is certainly an important moment in flu history."
To determine how common H5N1 is in different bird populations, a team of University researchers and graduate students traveled to countries such as the Philippines, Solomon Islands, China and Ghana.
Mark Robbins, collections manager at the Natural History Museum, completed the fieldwork in Ghana in November.
Robbins said one focus of the trip was to establish which method of testing birds for H5N1, swabbing or testing brain, heart or liver tissues, was most effective.
Peterson said work like this helped determine the prevalence of the virus, which is an important aspect of the USDA grant research.
Peterson invited about 20 experts, including virologists, epidemiologists and ornithologists, to join the USDA-funded Bird Flu research.
"The emphasis will be on thinking outside of the box." Peterson said.
Peterson said one example of that creative thinking would be to measure the prevalence of H5N1 in land birds. He said land birds were largely ignored by researchers who stuck to the traditional idea that H5N1 migrated almost exclusively with water birds such as
ducks and gulls.
Asian land birds provide a possible avenue for Bird Flu to spread to North America when they migrate for the summer. Peterson said.
"Southeast Asian birds fly north to Siberia," he said. "But they could easily mistake western Alaska for eastern Siberia."
He said the Bering Strait would not be a barrier for the Asian land birds, which KU fieldworkers in China showed to carry H5N1 at a rate of 3 percent.
If introduced to North American bird populations, Peterson said the virus could spread and possibly mutate to create a worst-case scenario Bird Flu pandemic.
"Pandemics in history have taken millions of lives," Peterson said. "The best time to learn about them is when we're not in an emergency situation."
Peterson said he would begin work with the USDA-funded research team this spring.
Edited by Jared Duncan
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Volunteers take environmental initiative
Marla Keown/KANSAN
Oliver Meade, Chicago graduate student, pumps excess oil from Mrs. E's into a heating-seperation barrel. "It cleans the oil and gets the food chunks out," Meade said. The three-day process turns 40 gallons of used oil into biodiesel that buses can run off of.
Institute welcomes interested students
BY MARY SORRICK msorrick@kansan.com
msorrick@kansan.com
Susan Williams, associate professor of chemical engineering, recruited student volunteers to the Biodiesel Initiative since its foundation last year. The project, developed with Ilya Tabakh, a doctoral student in environmental engineering, converts used
Students looking to get involved in the environmental movement found an opportunity at the Biodiesel Initiative.
cooking oil from Mrs. E's into a fuel that can power almost any diesel vehicle.
Students working on the project run 40 gallons of cooking oil per week through a reactor in Burt Hall to make the biodiesel.
Williams said student involvement was an important aspect of the project.
"We're always looking for volunteers. If you've got a block of time to come in, we can train you."
"We're always looking for volunteers," she said. "If you've got a block of time to come in, we can train you."
SUSAN WILLIAMS Associate professor of chemical engineering
Neil Steiner, Tulsa, Okla. junior, was one of the project's first trained volunteers last semester. He said an interest in sustainable living based on minimizing negative environmental impacts drove his decision to volunteer.
Biodiesel's potential as an alternative source of energy attracted Oliver Meade, a graduate student in architectural engineering, to the project.
Owens said the project interested him partly because he wanted to understand the process of converting vegetable oil into biodiesel.
"I not only learn the chemistry behind making biodiesel, but I am also a part of something that will ultimately benefit the environment." Owens said.
Steiner's responsibilities in the lab involved heating the used cooking oil to remove any particulates or impurities. He then converted the cooking oil into biodiesel in the labs reactor by mixing it with methanol and potassium hydroxide.
Steiner said the resulting biodiesel ran clearer and produced fewer harmful emissions than petroleum-based diesel fuels.
Kyle Owens, Wichita senior, is another Biodiesel Initiative's student volunteers.
Williams said the project produced over 400 gallons of biodiesel, much of which was used to fuel the snow removal and landscaping tractors on campus.
"The big advantage is that you can get the vegetable oil from home," Meade said. "You aren't involving yourself in foreign politics and foreign oil."
"We've shown there's an outlet for it," Williams said. "And wed like to scale the operation up."
Ultimately, Williams and Tabakh said they would like to see every diesel vehicle on campus, including buses, run at least partially on biodiesel.
To reach this goal, the project needs a steady stream of motivated student volunteers.
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"It doesn't matter where you're from," Williams said. "If you have time to help, we're happy to have you."
Students can apply for a volunteer position by contacting Susan Williams or Ilya Tabakh at swilliams@ku.edu and ilya@ku.edu.
Edited by Samuel Lamb