Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, February 17, 2000
KU tries for scarce science grant
By Jim O'Malley
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas has entered the competition for a $15 million National Science Foundation grant for a science education center.
According to the NSF's call for proposals, more than 50,000 inadequately prepared teachers enter the teaching profession each year, and many science teachers lack training in science. In an effort to remedy that, the NSF will award two or three grants for centers for teaching and learning to improve the professional development of teachers and the capacity of colleges and universities to educate future generations of science teachers.
The NSF will award two or three $2 million to $3 million grants in fiscal year 2000. The grants could continue for up to five years. Successful applicants must provide 10 percent matching funds.
Joe Heppert, associate professor of chemistry and chairman of the Chancellor's Science Education Task Force, said that the University hoped to capitalize on its strengths in special education by proposing programs aimed at students with special needs.
"It's one of the strongest programs in the country." Heppert said.
He said the University also proposed programs aimed at minorities who were underrepresented in the sciences.
Professional development programs would aim to improve training of new teachers and to develop connections between scientists and educators, he said.
Steve Case is the director of the Kansas Collaborative Research Network, which encourages teaching science by doing science. He said that science education needed systemic reform. Science teachers need more scientific substance in their training, Case said.
Jim Ellis, associate professor of teaching and leadership, used to work for the NSF. He said the NSF reviewed applications intensively and
that there would be a lot of good applications.
that there would be a lot of good applications. Heppert said the grant proposal was a product of the Chancellor's Science Education Task Force, which was formed in response to the State Board of Education's controversial science standards. The controversy may show a need for improved science education in Kansas. Heppert said.
advantage:
Case said he couldn't estimate how the evolution controversy might affect the University's chances.
chances.
"There's a real obvious need, but they may perceive us as idiots who can't handle it," he said.
Ellis said that realistically, the Kansas evolution controversy wouldn't hurt the University's chances at a grant.
"The State Board controversy provides the state with an opportunity to make a case," Heppert said. "But it isn't a real competitive advantage."
“It’s such a long-shot — one in 50,” he said.
“You generally don’t get funded the first time around in this sort of thing, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Scandal forces German party chairman to resign
The Associated Press
BERLIN — Helmut Kohl's handpicked heir as chief of Germany's Christian Democratic Union fell victim yesterday to the financial scandal that has devastated the party since the former chancellor admitted hiding illegal donations while in office.
Wolfgang Schaeuble, the party chairman and parliamentary faction leader, was forced out by fellow conservatives convinced that only a dramatic break with the old leadership would save the party from self-destructing — especially with two important state elections coming soon.
"The CDU's crisis must not be allowed to become a crisis for democracy," Schaeubel said. "This goal overrides all others."
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called Schaeuble's departure a necessary step to keep the opposition party alive.
"It's important to recognize that the parties guarantee the necessary stability of the democratic system in
Germany," said Schroeder, the leader of Germany's other main party, the Social Democrats.
The parliament faction is to select new leaders Tuesday, and a new chairman will be chosen at a con-
While Schaeuble said he wanted to make a new beginning possible for his party, it was unlikely his departure alone would end the scandal concerning illegal donations, secret Swiss bank accounts and shady bookkeeping that stretches through Kohl's quarter-century as party chairman.
Kohl has admitted to illegally keeping up to $1 million off the books from 1993 to 1998, and he has refused to name the donors has fueled speculation about possible kickbacks or bribes. Parliament is investigating and prosecutors still are considering criminal charges.
"The crisis will only be overcome when all the answers are given about the slush funds, suitcases filled with donations and that which Schaeuble himself has called money-laundering," said Social Democratic faction
The Christian Democrats found out Tuesday that the party would have to repay $20.6 million in matching government funds for falsifying its financial reports in 1988 — the biggest fine ever levied against a party in Germany.
It plans to challenge the penalty.
It plans to challenge the penalty.
With state elections looming in two states, younger party leaders — many of whom had chafed for years under Kohl's thumb — were openly revolting against Schaeuble, whom they saw as a symbol of that era.
Schaebule, 57, spent years as Kohl's faithful servant before emerging from his shadow to take control of the party in November 1988 after Kohl's humiliating electoral defeat.
Schaeuble engineered a quick recovery in opposition, scoring a series of victories in state elections last year by attacking Schroeder's unpopular austerity budget and citizenship reforms.
Those successes were overshadowed when the scandal broke late
last year, sending his and the party's poll ratings plummeting.
Schaeuble sought to distance himself from Kohl, even forcing his former mentor to give up his title of honorary party chairman. But Schaeuble's authority had been dwindling since he admitted lying to parliament about his 1994 meeting with a German-Canadian lobbyist. Only later did he reveal that he also accepted $50,000 in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber that was improperly recorded.
Schaeule said after the 1988 defeat that he devoted his energy to restoring the Christian Democrats' role as the great people's party of the middle and hoped his departure would make it easier for the party to reassert itself as the opposition.
"I have become convinced that the Union cannot free itself from the clutch of this crisis without a visible new beginning among the leadership," he said.
Friedrich Merz, 44, the Christian Democrat's budget expert, is considered the front-runner to head the parliamentary faction.
Faculty members given NASA grant for Yellowstone job
By Kondwa Kankondo writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
At the end of next year, two University of Kansas faculty members will have an inventory of every tree and shrub in Yellowstone National Park thanks to funding from NASA.
Mark Jakubauskaus, research assistant professor, and Clayton Blodgett, research associate, are working with NASA to come up with software to help Yellowstone monitor their natural resources.
For example, the project could help officials monitor areas of the national forests that could easily catch fire.
The du already has received $560,000 from NASA to finance their project that they have worked on for two years. The project marks the 34th time the University has received money from NASA.
Robert Collins, manager of the KU Center for Research, said NASA gave the University $2,181,824 for 18 science projects during the 1996 fiscal year and $2,463,380 for 15 projects the following year.
Previously, NASA only gave money to projects on pure sciences, but expanded its scope of activities this year.
"People have been asking what good is NASA to me," Jakubauskas said. "This is probably NASA's way of responding to that. Of the 180 projects that were submitted to NASA, only 13 were approved."
Jakubauska and Blodgett have three years to finish their work. Every summer, the duo travels to Yellowstone for field work.
Bloodgett said they trekked about 75 kilometers a week for
"We have to cope with the contrast in elevation from 1,00 feet in Kansas to Yellowstone's 8,000 feet."
Clayton Blodgett research associate
14 weeks last year. On this trip they had to map out 331 points of forest.
"You crawl up and down and over dead trees," he said. "We have to cope with the contrast in elevation from 1,00 feet in Kansas to Yellowstone's 8,000 feet."
Once finished, Blodgegill said the project will provide a detailed and accurate map of the forest condition and structure for the management of the natural resources in Yellowstone.
Yellowstone is the world's largest temperate ecosystem, which includes Yellowstone and Teton National Parks, six national forests, the Beartooths and Wind River Range. It is home to grizzly bears, moose and bisons.
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SUA OFFICER SELECTIONS 00 - 01
Applications are available in the SLIA office, level 4, Kansas Union, deadline is Tuesday. February 22, 5 p.m.
nomecoming Beach n' Blvd Lied Center events
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ITALIAN BEEF...$4.75
BIG BEEF...$5.50
ITALIAN SAUSAGE...$4.50
BEEF & SAUSAGE COMBO...$5.50
BEEF & CHEDDAR CROISSANT $4.75
THE VEGGIE...$3.75
CARL'S BLUE BOMBER...$5.50
CHAR-BROILED CHICKEN...$5.50
CHICKEN CLUB...$5.75
SOUTHSIDE CHICKEN PHILLY.$5.75
ITALIAN MEATBALL...$5.50
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BACON CHEDDAR BURGER ..$4.75
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