Monday, March 6, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
KU geologists search state for diamonds
By Jennifer Knopp Special to the Kansan
Mining companies are not the only ones looking for diamonds these days.
Pieter Berendsen, senior scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey and Kevin Dobbs, Lawrence graduate student, are studying three rare kimberlite rock formations — the sources of diamonds — they discovered in Marshall and Riley counties in Kansas.
There are thousands of kimberlites throughout the world, but only about 80
contain enough diamonds to make mining profitable, Berendsen said.
Kimberlites are pipes of volcanic material, or magma, that explode to the surface and produce greenish-gray rocks. If the magma rises fast enough, it releases pure carbon to form a diamond.
Geologists and mining companies locate kimberlite craters using aeromagnetic detection. Dobbs said that was the only way to locate the formations because erosion and weathering had made them indistinguishable.
"The thing is, in Kansas we only have one kimberlite where we can see part of the crater," Berendsen said.
Cominco American, a mining company, looked for kimberlites aerially in northeastern Kansas during the early 1980s and discovered some of these unusual magnetic signatures, Berendsen said. The company then gave the data to the geological survey, and Dobbs and Berendsen discovered the kimberlites last fall in Riley and Marshall counties.
Aside from the lure of finding diamonds, Berendsen said the rocks produced other benefits, such as accurate geological maps of Kansas.
"They can tell you something about events of the past and things going on much deeper in the crust." Dobbs said.
The chances of finding diamonds are slim to none anyway, and the profits almost never offset the expenses of the process. Berendsen said.
Former workers accuse Coke of 'ethnic cleansing'
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Hundreds of African American former Coca-Cola employees rallied Saturday, calling the company's massive job cuts "ethnic cleansing" and accusing the soft-drink giant of severely mistreating workers.
"Blacks in the company are humiliated, intimidated, yelled at, called the N-word, treated with disrespect," said Larry Jones, a former Coke
manager who organized a meeting of about 500 laid-off African-American workers Saturday at a church outside Atlanta.
"This is the real thing," he said, mocking a company slogan. "This is the real Coca-Cola."
Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch called the allegations of racial discrimination in the job cuts outrageous.
"The decisions we're making are being done for business
purposes only," he said. "We are trying to do everything we can during this extremely difficult time to do the right thing for our current and former employees at every turn."
Protesters applauded Coca-Cola's decision not to require laid-off workers to sign a waiver forcing them to choose between participating in a discrimination lawsuit pending against the company or enjoying better severance benefits. But the workers said a future
boycot of Coca-Cola by African-American leaders remained an option.
The waiver had left African-American workers with a difficult decision because of a racial discrimination suit filed last year by current and former African-American employees.
Coke is reducing its worldwide work force by 6,000, with 2,500 of the eliminated jobs coming from its Atlanta headquarters.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend that Jones, an African-American human resources manager, was laid off Feb. 15 after meeting with Coke President Jack Stahl to express African-American employees' concerns about job cuts.
"What happened on Feb. 15 was essentially ethnic cleansing," Jones said.
Football coach Allen helps to raise roofs
Continued from page 1A
The HomeBuilders campaign is a program with a goal to raise enough money to build six houses this year. The houses cost about $48,000 each, and the funds are raised through donations from the HomeBuilders, people who pledge money per month, per house or by the year, Klinker said.
Klinker said that this year Habitat hoped to raise about $300,000.
As honorary chairman, Allen has agreed to lend his name and support to the cause.
“It's one of those things that you feel honored to be asked to do,” said Allen. “I've followed Habitat since I got here, and I think it's a great thing for our community.”
Klinker said she asked Allen to be the chairman because he had always been a strong supporter of the program.
"When I asked him if he would do this, he didn't hesitate." Klinker said.
Plans for the next three houses, which are to be built in the same area, already are underway, and Klinker said the next three families already had been selected.
Klinker also said that to be eligible, families must show a need for adequate housing, an ability to make payments of nearly $400 per month and readiness to partner with Habitat. They must be residents of the Douglas or Johnson county areas in order to be eligible for a Habitat house.
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