THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25. 2008
NEWS
3A
SCIENCE
KU institute receives grant
Microsoft donates to University's cloud forest effort
Members of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute work to preserve diversity in Mexico's cloud forests after receiving a grant from Microsoft Research.
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
BY MARY SORRICK
msorrick@kansan.com
msorrick@kansan.com
Mexico's tropical cloud forests are known for their diverse plant and animal species.
But, as with many complex ecosystems, environmental change has threatened the survival of those life forms and their habitats.
Because of this, researchers at the University of Kansas's Biodiversity Institute have taken innovative steps toward conserving Mexico's species-rich cloud forests with the help of an $850,000 research grant from Microsoft Research.
Jorge Soberon, senior scientist at the Biodiversity Institute, has led the team of scientists working to protect the fragile tropical forests, which grow on the slopes of mountains and often are steeped in low cloud cover.
"Cloud forests are amazing places," Soberon said. "Many of the species there are endangered. If the forest disappears, they will disappear as well."
Soberon and Townsend Peterson, curator of the Biodiversity Institute, have been compiling data such as species distribution and climate patterns in the cloud forests. They will use the money from the Microsoft Research grant, the first corporate grant ever awarded to the Biodiversity Institute, to forecast the future of the cloud forests' unique life forms in the wake of global warming.
"The forests are normally bathed in moisture because of the clouds," he said. "But there is some indication that the cloud layer is becoming unlinked from the forest because of increased temperatures."
Environmental change is one
focus of the project, which is comprised of three parts. First, Soberon said, the researchers want to develop a conservation strategy to help protect species living in the cloud forest. They will also use the grant money to create a computer program, that can analyze the environmental data at the push of a button. The third part of the project, Soberon said, will involve hiring programmers to develop a virtual world that will predict the future of the forests.
Despite the project's benefits, Microsoft's involvement has raised a few eyebrows.
Once developed, the virtual world will be reprogrammable to fit the needs of other scientists, Soberon said. It could even be used to predict the spread of disease, he said.
"Some people are wondering if we are selling our souls to the dark side," Soberon said. "But they're concerned, like everybody is, about the future of the world's ecosystems."
Leonard Kristitalka, director of the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, said corporate funding would benefit KU researchers.
"Corporations often get slammed for not being environmentally conscious," Kristalka said. "But this is a win-win because it allows scientists and students to receive more funding and allows corporations to contribute to research."
Peterson said the research team would continue gathering data for a year before computer modeling would begin.
Until then, he said, the cloud forests will be protected almost solely by Mexico's system of natural land reserves.
Edited by Samuel Lamb
》DOLE INSTITUTE
Campaign manager plans to return
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambersanspan.com
The former Thompson for
Bill Lacy feels sorry, not for himself, but for the nation.
The former Thomps President campaign manager has no regrets about how he ran Fred Thompson's campaign. In fact, he thinks he ran a very strong campaign. Thompson's loss was simply a case of right person, wrong time.
"His platform received widespread acclaim from conservative publications,"
Lacy said. "His policies were absolutely on the mark. It was more a function of not having enough time to do the job."
Lacy
any one program, but that he planned on asking Dole his opinion on how to use the money. Earl hopes to use the money to bring in an international speaker.
Monica Crane, Wichita senior and
a member of the student advisory board at the Dole Institute, said she thought Thompson ran a good race, but it did not surprise her when he dropped out. She is excited to have Lacy back at the University because his experience with Thompson's campaign will be a valuable asset to the Dole Institute.
"We're so proud he went out there and did it." Crane said. "It's really inspiring to see someone who done it all his lily and is still doing it."
returning to Lawrence. Lacy said he looks forward to riding his bike while on vacation, something he has not done since Thanksgiving. He usually rides his bike 150 miles a week during the spring, summer and fall. Lacy said he is going to California so he can ride his bike in warm weather and recuperate from the campaign.
"I don't expect he'll seek office again unless someone wants him to be their vice president nominee," Lacy said. "I don't think it's likely, but it's a possibility."
As for Thompson, Lacy said he would start looking into his other options, but that Thompson currently has no other political aspirations.
"I'm exhausted," Lacy said. "You can't do that to yourself forever, especially at my age."
LAW ENFORCEMENT
City votes to purchase Tasers
BY ANDY GREENHAW agreenhaw.kansan.com
Lawrence city commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to allow the Lawrence Police Department to buy 10 Tasers.
Police Chief W. Ronald Olin said the Tasers would only be used by police for self-defense.
"The purpose for these Tasers is to stop an attack," Olin said. "We're very conservative with our baton and I can promise you it will be no different with these new Tasers."
Olin said there will be three officers armed with Tasers on patrol at all times, but not until the officers have received Taser training, which shouldn't be for several weeks. No officer will be authorized to handle a Taser before receiving proper training, which includes taking a Taser hit themselves, he said.
Captain Steve Zarnowiec said the Tasers also record the date, time and officer on duty whenever one is deployed.
"These Tasers can be traced back to each and every time they're used," he said. "The record can't be tampered with by officers in the field."
David Strano, member of East Lawrence Neighborhood Safety Network, was the only person at
the meeting to speak out against the proposal.
"Who determines when a reasonable time is to use these things?" Strano asked. "I really think the homeless population will be targeted with these Tasers and there will be no group to reinforce regulations."
Strano's comments sparked debate among commissioners over the need for a citizen review board to provide police oversight.
Mike McAtee, chairman of the Lawrence Police Officers Association, said he thought a new oversight board was unnecessary.
"We have plenty of oversight and overview," McAtee said. "I think we have a citizen review board and it's sitting right here."
All five commissioners agreed that transparency was an important issue, but only two supported the idea of creating a new review board that would concentrate specifically on Taser use by police officers. Commissioners Mike Amyk, Sue Hack and Michael Dever recommended simply expanding the responsibilities of the existing board. No official decision was reached on the issue.
The use of Tasers has become a controversial issue in the United States since an incident in 2007 at the University of Florida in which a student was Tasered for heckling
John Kerry at a public forum.
City commissioners will convene again in six months to listen to the department's evaluation on the success of the new technology.
Edited by Samuel Lamb
how Tasers work
- **Deployment:** Gas propelled hooks lodge themselves into the skin and initiate several electric shocks, which override an individual's coordinated neuromuscular control.
- **Range:** The range of the devices proposed by the department reach up to 15, 21 or 35 feet, depending on the cartridge used.
- **Benefits:** The benefits of allowing the use of tasers include avoiding the use of lethal force, reducing suspect injury and decreasing police officer injuries in hostile situations.
- Risks: The criticisms of taser use include injury as a result of falling, hook penetration to sensitive areas and contact burns from drive stuns.
ACADEMICS
Student-athletes set GPA records
BY LUKE MORRIS
imorris@kansan.com
ment staff.
Many University of Kansas sports records were broken in fall 2007. But the latest were broken off the field.
According to a press release from the Athletics Department, a record 48 student-athletes earned a 4.0 grade point average. The Jayhawks also set the record for highest average GPA in a fall semester with a 2.93 GPA. In fall 2006, Jayhawk student-athletes averaged a 2.88 GPA.
Roughly 229, half of student-athletes earned the minimum 3.0 GPA required to be on the athletic director's honor roll this past fall.
Thirty-two Jayhawk athletes made their respective All-Academic Big 12 teams in the fall, including 14 football players, seven soccer players, seven women's cross country runners, six volleyball players and five men's cross country runners.
Kansas associate athletics director Jim Marchiony passed some of the credit for the grades to teachers and athletics depart-
"We have a faculty willing to work with us and help us when athletes have to travel. They're very understanding." Marchiony said. "And our academic support staff in athletics is a tremendous, hard-working staff"
while none of the six men's teams reached that mark.
The women's golf team boasted the highest average GPA for a team with 3.37. The women's basketball team set a record for its sport with a 3.11 GPA. Football had
Marchiony said that academics were a high priority in his department, but that no teams earning lower grades received less or more attention than others.
"We have a faculty willing to work with us and help us when athletes have to travel. They're very understanding."
JIM MARCHIONY Associate athletics director
the lowest GPA at 2.39, falling from a team-high 2.69 in spring 2007.
Women fared better in the classroom last semester. Ten of Kansas' 11 women's athletic teams averaged better than a 3.0 GPA,
The spirit squad added another 35 scholars to the athletic director's honor roll, two of whom earned 4.0 GPAs.
Marchiony said that student-athletes GPAs at the
University have raised little by little in the past few years. In spring 2007, a record 61 percent of student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or better.
Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird