18 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS IN BRIEF
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2003
STATE
Proposed ice cap trip may have saved professor's life
LAWRENCE — A planned trip to the polar ice cap may have saved one University of Kansas professor's life. But after a bypass surgery, Prasad Gogineni, electrical engineering and computer science professor, will have his students take the trip without him.
A blockage was found in one of Gogineni's arteries during a physical exam the National Science Foundation required him to take before a planned trip to Greenland. He had bypass surgery last month and will miss the trip to test a set of icemeasuring radar he pioneered.
Gogineni's group is studying whether the melting of polar ice caps is part of long-term global warming or part of natural fluctuations in climate over time.
About 30 students and staff members and seven faculty members will take the trip without Gogineni.
The trip, which runs from June 23 to July 19, will be the first of several planned in Greenland and Antarctica over the next three years.
School librarian receives approval to purchase comics
STERLING — Spider-Man and Star Wars aren't the usual titles schools try to get kids to read.
But after deciding that she would do anything to get more kids to read, school district librarian Amy Brownlee decided to pursue the books.
Brownlee's unique application to the Kansas Library Network Board was approved, granting her $825 to buy about 50 "graphic novels" - in essence, thick comic books with lots of narration - in an attempt to appease students who are visual learners.
Eric Hansen, executive director of the Kansas Library Network Board, said he thought the graphic novels would draw more young readers into libraries.
There's some precedent to suggest the plan will work. Massachusetts librarian Stephen Weiner saw a 42 percent increase in circulation after placing graphic novels on his shelves.
Westar asks former executives to return salaries and bonuses
TOPEKA—Westar Energy Inc. wants two former top executives to repay their salaries and bonuses since 1998, and is seeking a freeze on their assets.
Total money involved in the dispute between Westar and former executives David Wittig and Douglas Lake is about
$100 million.
In documents filed Friday, the Topekabased energy company also wants payment for actual and punitive damages, personal use of corporate aircraft and the cost of an internal investigation.
"Throughout their employment, Wittig and Lake engaged in self-dealing, schemes and transactions focused on their personal enrichment over the best interests of the company, engaged in and permitted waste of corporate assets and defrauded the company and the board," the company said in papers filed with the American Arbitration Association.
Westar is trying to prove that contracts with the former executives that grant them severance pay and other benefits should not be honored. Wittig and Lake, Westar said, breached their fiduciary responsibilities as documented in an internal investigation released in May.
Marion County a disaster area due to dangerous algae
TOPEKA — The state has declared Marion County a disaster area after potentially dangerous algae prompted officials to stop pumping from Marion County Lake Reservoir.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first discovered the fairly aggressive strain of the Anabeana algae in the reservoir on June 5. The algae, which occurs naturally in the proper conditions, could be harmful to humans.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued the declaration Thursday to allow emergency response assistance to communities in Marion County that need help getting water, the Adjutant General's Department said.
The reservoir provides water for the cities of Marion, Hillsboro and Peabody.
The bloom had disappeared, but was again visible, this time closer to the intake used by the water treatment plants of
Hillsboro, which supplied water to Peabody, the Adjutant General's Department said.
Defense Department investigates non-combat death of marine
DERBY—A 19-year-old Marine from Derby has died of non-combat wounds in Iraq, the Department of Defense said.
Pfc. Ryan R. Cox, who was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division out of the California-based Air-Ground Combat Center, died Sunday near Najaf, Iraq.
Cox's family told a Wichita television station they learned about Cox's death Monday morning, but received few details from the military.
The Defense Department said it was investigating what it called a "non-combat weapon discharge."
Derby residents told the station Cox had been a hurdler on the high-school track team and signed up for the Marines wanting to go to Iraq.
Hospital worker pleads guilty to tampering with painkillers
WICHITA - A Derby man has pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with the drug Demerol at a medical center, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said yesterday.
Dennis M. Pray, 33, admitted in his plea that while employed as a licensed practical nurse at the Derby Family Medical Center he obtained Demerol for his personal use.
Pray, manager of the center's Ambulatory Surgical Center, told District Judge Monti L. Belot he siphoned the drug from containers in the center's drug safe and replaced it with saline solution. He also said he submitted fraudulent orders on behalf of his employer to obtain the drug.
Pray admitted he knew the drug was
intended for use as an anesthetic for surgical procedures at the center's ambulatory surgical unit, Melgren said.
The theft was first reported to police in February. The center installed a surveillance camera and recorded numerous instances where Pray got into the center's drug safe at irregular hours.
Pray faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison without parole.
NATION
American Medical Association endorses cloning for research
CHICAGO — The American Medical Association yesterday endorsed cloning for research purposes, saying it is medically ethical but allowing doctors who oppose the practice to refuse to perform it.
Policymaking delegates adopted the measure without debate after discussing the issue Sunday.
Scientists believe stem cells could potentially be used to treat a wide range of human diseases.
The AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs submitted the proposal with hopes that it would become official AMA policy.
The proposal received wide support from doctors and medical groups including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Some adamantly opposed it with arguments reminiscent of the nationwide abortion debate.
The U.S. House earlier this year passed a Bush administration-backed measure that would ban both types of cloning. The measure hasn't been acted on in the Senate.
Federal lawsuit alleges racism by retailer Abercrombie & Fitch
SAN FRANCISCO-Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch hires a disproportionately white sales force, puts minorities in less-visible jobs and cultivates a virtually all-white image in its catalogs and elsewhere,a lawsuit charges.
The federal lawsuit, filed Monday by nine Hispanic and Asian plaintiffs, alleged that Abercrombie discriminates against blacks, Hispanics and Asians by enforcing a nationwide corporate policy of preferring white employees for sales positions desirable job assignments and favorable work schedules.
According to the lawsuit, which is seeking class certification, the company, which targets college students with its upscale casual clothing, has a policy that requires all sales people to exhibit an all-white "A&F look." Posters and a television pro-
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