WEDNESDAY.MAY1.2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Prairie upkeep worries scientist
By Lindsey Hodel Special to the Kansan
A piece of virgin prairie on campus underwent restoration, prompting concern that the area might have been poorly managed.
The half-acre of protected prairie, officially called the Prairie Acre, is behind Blake Hall and south of the Hall Center for the Humanities.
In the first week of April, the prairie was burned, then seeded with native grasses by using a no-till drill, said Mike Lang, landscape manager for Facilities Operations.
"When I started at the University last April, the area was overgrown and it looked like nobody was taking care of it," Lang said.
Facilities Operations and the Biological Survey are responsible for maintaining the area. Kelly Kindscher, associate scientist at the Biological Survey, monitors the site and said the area was not being preserved and Facilities Operations shouldn't alter the area without a plan.
"It would have been nice to know where the seeds they recently planted came from, because using local genetics is important for preserving the area," he said. "Most commercial seeds are not local."
Kindscher developed and proposed a plan
to Facilities Operations in 1992 that outlined necessary maintenance, such as timely burning and mowing, removal of trees shading the grass, and planting of local species of grasses and wildflowers.
After proposing his plan to Facilities Operations, the department removed some of the trees and treated non-native species with herbicide. However, the allocation of resources to purchase local grass and wildflower seeds was never agreed upon.
Doug Riat, director of Facilities Operations, said he had not seen a maintenance plan for the Prairie Acre since he became director two years ago.
"I wasn't aware such a plan existed — I don't have a copy of the maintenance plan in my files," he said. "We have attempted to improve the area with burning, mowing, and planting native grasses every year in early spring."
Kindscher said recent changes to the area were not well-informed. The area once sustained 80 to 100 species of plants, but now about 30 species inhabit the Prairie Acre.
"If indeed this is a restoration project, we should be bringing in native seeds and trying to bring back plant life," he said. "I am very hopeful that the restoration plan I have pro
The native prairie grass site south of the Hall Center for Humanities is burned and mowed early each spring to sustain growth, posed can still be followed."
The University granted protection to the Prairie Acre in 1952 after a committee in the Friends of the University raised concerns of extensive construction near the site.
Contact Hodel at editor@kansan.com. This story was edited by Joanna Miller.
Committee to restyle vice chancellor's job
By Sarah Hill Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas is using David Ambler's retirement this summer as a catalyst for change.
Ambler has been vice chancellor for student affairs for 25 years, and after he leaves, the University is taking the opportunity to change the ways students learn and use services on campus.
Provost David Shulenburger has organized a committee that will reevaluate the structure through which student services are administered.
"The committee is going to look at all student services at KU and come back with a recommendation on how to best organize student services," he said.
Ambler said he was not involved in the restructuring but spoke to the committee when they started their discussion.
Kevin Yoder, Hutchinson third-year law student and member of the committee, said the committee would change the job description for new applicants who would replace Ambler.
"The job description is from the 1970s, when Dr. Ambler came to KU," he said. "We will review what we had the vice-chancellor doing, and change or revise the duties before hiring a new person."
Ambler said the organization of the University had changed significantly in the last 25 years.
Other than the changes in the KU administrative structure, Ambler said parts of the job description remained the same as they did in the 1970s.
"When I started this job, we had a dean of women and a dean of men." he said. "There were about 12 people who answered to me. We eliminated some positions and restructured so now there are about four or five people reporting to me."
"So much of what you do is not in the job description," he said. "The kind of relationships you build with your staff and students, and how you respond to crises isn't anything you can plan for."
Michele Eodice, chair of the committee and director of the KU Writers Roost, said the eight-person committee of students, faculty and staff had a deadline of the end of May.
Yoder said there would be a meeting at 6 tonight at the Curry Room in the Kansas Union for students who would like to participate in a focus group to study the situation.
Jay Krall contributed to this story.
Contact hilt at shill@kansan.com. This story was edited by Anne Mengmenge.
JOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
Winchester representative Boyd Metz fires a crowd disperser shot from a 37mm weapon at a demonstration in Lone Star Monday afternoon.
Cops confer on campus safety
Rv Rachel Keeseee
Kansan staff writer
Terrorism, bio-terrorism and school violence were some of the issues addressed in the Mid-America region meeting of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators this week.
The conference, held at the University of Kansas for the first time, brought together law enforcement officials from private and public universities and colleges who were trying to deal with increasing campus safety. The officers discussed protecting their campuses not only against terrorists, but from the campus populations themselves, said Ralph Oliver, director of the KU Public Safety Office.
"It's based on the premise of most campus law enforcement agencies depending heavily on municipal police," Oliver said. "The reality is that it can take half an hour or an hour to have the manpower to help. This is a genuine attempt to prepare for anything and to maximize our options so we can best react to it."
The conference theme was preparing the "first response."
Officers learned about "less lethal"
weapons — including tasers, bean bags and weapons that fire rubber bullets — that would enable them to subdue violence without resorting to handguns. Oliver said.
A weapons demonstration showed the difference between less lethal weapons and high-powered weapons, and between shotguns and rifles.
Officers had the opportunity to test each type of weapon.
Guest speakers discussed situations they had been in, what had worked and what had not.
Kevin Willett, a public safety training consultant from Redwood City, Calif., spoke about school violence. He said educators at all levels had to be prepared to handle it.
Oliver said he was pleased with the preparations the safety office staff made for the conference. He said 125 people had registered for the conference.
"There is no 100 percent guarantee to prevent an event from happening," he said. "We're about how to pre-plan, how to handle an event if it does happen."
Contact Keeeset at rkeese@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Kristi Henderson.
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