Volume 124 Issue 143
kansan.com
Thursday, April 26, 2012
NEED FOR SPEED
Emily Dellwig, a senior from Overland Park, works on the first electric car constructed by the KU SAE Formula team. The team will enter the veheicle in the hybrid racing competition held in New Hampshire next week. MARSHALL SCHMIDT/KANSAN
MARSHALL SCHMIDT/KANSAN
Engineering students build cars from scratch during semester
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
The KU Formula racing team is driven for success. Having worked since August designing and building a race car from scratch, the team will compete in two weeks and introduce its first electric powered vehicle into competition.
"This is definitely a hands-on way to learn the material we use in class," said Cameron Bryant, a junior from Baldwin. "In class we learn the theoretical equations and concepts, but in this project we actually apply them in real life."
The team will travel to Jackson, Miss., during finals week to compete against 120 other teams from around the world. Last year, the team took first in the autocross competition, and ninth overall.
Bryant serves as the Manufacturing Lead for the team, which means he is in charge of the 50 team members and their efforts to machine and assemble parts of the car. Bryant has been on the team for six years, beginning in high school. In the past he had worked at least 20 hours a week on the car, but now that the competition is two weeks away, Bryant and some of the other team members have been putting in more than 100 hours a week.
Trent Strunk, a junior from Silver Lake, is one of the drivers on the team. Strunk said he enjoys the engineering side, but he also enjoys the thrill that comes with the fast paced driving. The car can
accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, topping out at 65 mph. The car accelerates faster than twice the force of gravity around corners
"Even though 65 miles per hour doesn't seem that fast, when you're scraping by cones it seems like you're doing 150 miles per hour," Strunk said.
Strunk said he knows there is always the potential for danger, mostly from the car catching fire from a fuel leak, but he said he tries not to think about it. The fire-proof gear he wears from the team's sponsor, Sparco, helps to keep him safe while driving the vehicle.
The team is also sending some of its members to New Hampshire to compete in the hybrid competition
with its first ever electric powered vehicle.
Emily Dellwig, a senior from Overland Park, applies her soon to be electrical engineering degree in the designing and construction of the car. Dellwig said she sees the importance of such vehicles because similar alternative energy technology is emerging in the automotive industry.
But more importantly, Dellwig is confident in her team's ability to perform in the competitions.
"We've given up a lot of things in our lives, worked real hard, and it's all going to pay off when we win that trophy," Dellwig said.
Edited by Jeff Karr
TRANSPORTATION
Complaints heard at parking forum
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcipolla@kansan.com
Community members voiced their grievances about campus parking last afternoon during an open forum sponsored by the parking commission.
Parking permits and ticket fees most likely will not be increased next year, although the Mississippi street parking garage hourly rate will increase from $1.25 to $1.50 per hour as part of a two year increase plan that is already in place, said Donna Hultine, director of parking and transit. Hultine answered questions along with Angela Lumpkin, chair of the parking commission and a sports and exercise science professor.
Terese Thonus, director of the University writing center, asked that the department reconsider the parking situation created when sporting events coincide with weeknight classes. Thonus said that thousands of students are enrolled in classes that meet in the evening.
To maintain its membership in the Association of America Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the University must increase undergraduate student retention and degree completion which is hindered by the difficulty of parking on campus during games, Thonus said. She also proposed a solution that would reserve campus lots for students and faculty and require game attendees to the park in Park and Ride lots and be shuttled to Allen Fieldhouse
"The fact that the University permits this preemption sends a strong message to KU constituents that athletics trumps academics during a time when the University is struggling to maintain its position as an AAC&U member," Thonus said.
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN
but currently students and faculty are only allowed to park in a few designated lots on game nights, which makes it harder for students to find available spaces.
John Mullens, a retired public safety director with the police department, speaks during the meeting. Mullens was displeased free parking for KU retirees wasn't available.
"For the 30 years that I've been here, that has been the battle," said
Hultine said she would provide more information on the specific challenges of accommodating game night parking for those attending
games and faculty and students who need access to campus, but that changing the entire parking scheme would be very difficult.
Other attendees raised concerns
INVOLVEMENT
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
KUMUN gathers Sunday evenings to focus on diplomacy, negotiation, international politics and the workings of the UN by attending conferences.
Conference gives Model UN students leadership practice
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcipolla@kansan.com
Students in the University's Model United Nations group spent the better part of a semester studying a country most people have never heard of.
Earlier this month, 15 members of the organization traveled to New York for an international Model UN conference where they had to assume the role of foreign leaders for the African country of Mauritania and work with other representatives to develop resolutions to global problems like clean water supplies and women's health, just as real UN does.
The journey to get to there started at the beginning of the year. Although some money was provided by the Multicultural Education Fund, students also worked at four football games and every home basketball game to raise money for the trip, which costs $900 per person, said Jessica Brooks, a senior from Rich Hill, Mo., and the president of the organization.
Then came the intensive research needed to fully understand and accurately represent the country's policy interests. Brooks estimates she spent 50 hours learning about Mauritania.
All the hard work paid off when the students went to the conference in New York, said Joey Hentzler, a freshman from Topeka and Model UN's vice president. 5,000 students attended the conference, half of whom were from foreign countries.
"It's a cultural experience, an eye opener," Hentzler said.
Learning to assume the role of a diplomat was valuable to Ashton Adams, a sophomore from Kansas City, Kan., who hopes to become a foreign service officer after college. But trying to stay true to her assigned country's values was a challenge while participating in a committee about women for Adams, who said she is very passionate
"Mauritania is a very male dominated society," Adams said. "It was kind of tough when people would ask us questions about our country's personal feelings and they weren't the most positive."
about women's rights.
Next year, the organization is hoping to give back to the Lawrence community more by holding a conference for high school Model UN groups, hosting an international focused event with other student organizations. They also hope to attend another major conference. Until then, they have the memories of their New York trip to enjoy.
"I tried other groups and I'm still getting involved, but this is the one that I really jumped into." Hentzler said.
"When it came time to propose the resolution we had been working on all week, our resolution passed," Adams said. "I felt so proud, almost like I'd actually done something for the world. It was a really great moment."
For Hentzler, the organization was a way to get involved and meet people in his first year at the University.
It was a lesson in translating what she's learned about diplomacy and theory into the real world, Adams said.
- Edited by Pat Strathman
Some of the benefits were closer to home.
about charging retirees for permits and the number of parking places accessible to visitor's riding motorcycles.
"I think we became really close this year with all the hard work we had to do at the concessions," Brooks said.
The conference also provided an opportunity for American students to see how international students approached issues differently. Adams said that Americans tended to look at issues from an emotional perspective, like fostering community discussion, whereas German students emphasized technical approaches, like creating a board to evaluate the medical economy of different regions throughout the world.
CLASSIFIEDS 2B
CROSSWORD 4A
Questions and comments could also be submitted anonymously or via email, and many included complaints about parking issues that have easy solutions.
"One thing that seems to come through is how much we don't know about parking on this campus," said Lumpkin.
CRYPTOQUIPS 4A
OPINION 5A
SPORTS 1B
SUDOKU 4A
Don't forget
nents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Hultine also discussed future changes to campus parking, including a plan to add an additional gate to the Mississippi St. parking garage. She said adding pay by phone hourly parking spaces is also something the department is looking into.
Edited by Katie James
The School of Music presents the Wind Ensemble, the Symphonic Band and the University Band at the Lied Center from 7:30- 9 p.m.
Today's Weather
50 percent chance of storms. Mostly cloudy East winds at 10-15 mph.
Could go either way.