Friday
April 4,2003
Vol.113,Issue No.127
Today's weather
62°
Tonight: 33*
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Complete Final Four coverage for Lawrence and New Orleans p.1B
Game may shuffle night classes
By Jessica Hood
jhood@kansan.com
jhodd staff writer
Knock on wood — students with night classes Monday could be making adjustments.
If the University of Kansas men's basketball team plays in the NCAA Tournament championship game Monday, night classes held in buildings that face Jayhawk Boulevard must be moved or dismissed by 7:30. No one would be able to enter the buildings after the University locked the buildings' doors at 7:15.
The Jayhawks play the Marquette
Golden Eagles at 5 p.m. tomorrow. If they win, the Jayhawks advance to the championship game Monday.
Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the Provost, said she contacted all of the faculty listed as Monday night class instructors. Instructors were offered the opportunity to find alternate locations for the classes, Johnson said.
Those streets also will be closed to traffic before the game's end.
"I haven't had anyone who complained," Johnson said. "The big concern is that Jayhawk Boulevard and Memorial Drive will be closed to parking."
Johnson said this plan would have
also been followed if the Jayhawks had made it into the final game last year. The Jayhawks lost to the Maryland Terrapins in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
Kathryn Conrad, assistant professor of English, teaches a class that focuses on writer James Joyce on Monday nights from 7 to 9:50 in Wescoe Hall.
Conrad said she talked with her class and decided to have class online. Students in Conrad's class will participate in an online discussion through Blackboard.
"I dealt with it like a ice storm that might happen." Conrad said. "But since we only have class once a week, we
couldn't afford to not have class at all."
Johnson said she was asking faculty to let her know if they were canceling class or making alternate arrangements because of security concerns.
Jennifer Huang, Wichita senior, is enrolled in the History of Silent Film on Monday nights. Huang was unsure of her professor's plans for Monday but said it would be a worthy occasion to cancel class.
"I have missed tons of big Monday games for this class," Huang said. "It would make up for having to miss those games."
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
LOCKING UP CAMPUS
The following buildings will be locked at 7:30 p.m. Monday if the Jayhawks play in the NCAA Championship.
■ Wescoe Hall
■ Budig Hall
■ Marvin Hall
■ Art and Design Building
■ Lindley Hall
■ Snow Hall
■ Strong Hall
■ Bailey Hall
West Nilevirus and the KU connection
Twins' similarities lead to joint research
By Amy Potter apotter@kansan.com kansan staff writer
Twenty years later, the brothers have found their paths crossing yet again. Both work on West Nile virus research.
From an early age, twin brothers Oliver and Nicholas Komar shared a love for birds.
in Colorado.
Oliver is now a graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas and Nicholas is a microbiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
"I would say we discovered when we were teenagers that we really enjoyed studying birds. Both of us looked for ways to make that a part of our careers," Oliver said. "Surprisingly, we both found it."
The twins designed an ecological study of screech owls as high school students in Massachusetts. The results of their study were published in the regional journal Bird Observer in 1982
They hope to publish an article in the
SEE TWINS ON PAGE 6A
Twin brothers Oliver and Nicholas Komar have joined together to research the West Nile virus in birds. The two have always had an interest in birds, dating back to their high school days, when their study of screech owls was published in a regional journal.
Contributed art
KU scientists find virus in Caribbean
By Amy Potter apotter@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Researchers at the University of Kansas discovered cases of the West Nile virus in bird populations in the Dominican Republic in November. Five blood samples that were collected contained antibodies for the virus.
"It's important to understand the ecology of West Nile virus in birds in tropical areas because it may help explain reemergence of the virus each year in the U.S." said Oliver Komar, graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas.
SEE SCIENTISTS ON PAGE 6A
Donovan Atkinson/Kansan
West Nile exists in Kansas but threat isn't serious
By JJ Hensley
jhensley@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
The West Nile virus arrived in Kansas for the first time last year, and scientists say it's not going anywhere.
But despite all the hype West Nile gets in the media, the mosquito-borne virus doesn't pose that much of a threat to people with normal immune systems, said KU graduate research assistant Oliver Komar.
"The flu causes far more deaths each year than West Nile does," Komar said,
"The flu causes far more deaths each year than West Nile does. There's probably more worry out there about this than there needs to be."
Oliver Komar KU graduate research assistant
estimating flu fatalities at 20,000 annually. versus about 200 cases of fatal West Nile. "There's probably more
SEE WEST NILE ON PAGE 6A
Writing centers place wager on their teams
By Erin Ohm
eohm@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
If the Jayhawks lose to Marquette tomorrow, the memory of Kansas' loss will hang in Wescoe Hall next week.
A T-shirt from the writing center at Marquette University is in the mail, and students will see it displayed in the window of the KU Writing Center next week if Marquette defeats Kansas.
The KU Writing Center made a bet with the Marquette's Ott Memorial Writing Center about the outcome of the NCAA semifinal game.
Michele Eodice, director of the KU Writing Center, said the idea for the bet came after she attended a conference with Paula Gillespie, director of the Marquette writing center, and the two talked about the teams' progress to the Final Four.
Eodice said she mentioned the idea jokingly to writing consultants at the center and they were excited and encouraged her to challenge Marquette.
"We feel pretty confident that the University of Kansas is going to have to hang our shirt," Gillespie said.
"I notice the campus is so pumped, and it's very exciting for everyone," she said.
The staff at Marquette has covered the writing center's bulletin boards with headlines and photos of the team, Gillespie said. She said the staff at Marquette was also excited about the bet.
Kim Robertson, Lenexa senior and KU Writing Center consultant, said she
would e-mail her friend at Marquette if Kansas won to ask her to go by the writing center to make sure the staff was honoring the bet.
Robertson didn't want to say too much about the outcome of the game.
"I don't want to jinx it," she said.
Eodice said the KU Writing Center would not send its shirt to Marquette until after the game for the same superstitious reasons. She said the KU staff would autograph the shirt before sending it to Marquette if, or when, Kansas wins.
Eodice said Marquette wanted a picture of the shirt hanging in the window of the KU Writing Center if Marquette won.
"We will honor the bet, but I don't think we're going to lose," she said.
— Edited by Christy Dendurent
Contributed art
Marquette University's writing center staff is waiting on the outcome of tomorrow's Final Four game to settle a bat with the KU Writing Center. The winning group will have its school's T-shirt hung in the opposing center's window.
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