Friday
January 31, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No.87
Today's weather
49°
Tonight: 32°
NSAN
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor kansan.com
Victory over Cornhuskers crucial for Big 12 title p.1B
Eric Braem/Kansan
Cows get little more than a mouthful of dirt as they attempt to graze on a farm outside of Eudora. A drought since last summer has plagued Midwest farmers' crops.Farmers may be forced out of the business if a lack of rain continues.
Farming dry ground
Kansans hope spring rain ends drought
By Amy Potter apotter@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A typical corn harvest in the Kaw Valley averages about 108 bushels in a normal year. For John Pendleton, Douglas County farmer, corn yields last year were at 50 bushels.
An average yield for soybeans might be 33 bushels to the acre. Most farmers in the county, including Pendleton, brought in on average 15 bushels to the acre last year.
"Certainly the lack of yields meant that our income was down quite a bit," Pendleton said. "In fact, it affects us pretty severely when, at the end of a year, when you put all your efforts into growing a crop and you don't produce enough yield to pay for expenses."
Low yields for farmers in Douglas County and across the state of Kansas are the result of a drought that plagued the Midwest last summer and fall.
With Kansas coming off of its 32nd driest December, according to the National Climatic Data Center, and a January that will miss the mark in moisture average, some farmers are waiting in anticipation for the spring planting season.
"While it's definitely bad we're not getting our moisture right now, the really critical period is March and April."
Mary Knapp
State climatologist
Mary Knapp, state climatologist, said Douglas County received 21.1 inches of moisture last year..The average for the county is 39.78 inches.
2003 already behind
Most of the state was below normal in moisture for the year with the exception of some areas in south central Kansas. Knapp said.
"While it's definitely bad we're not getting our moisture right now, the really critical period is March and April," Knapp said. "If we don't get any moisture, then it's really difficult to get the situation in shape for the summer."
Douglas County is already behind 1.25 inches for the month of January, Knapp said.
Donna Tucker, associate professor in
physics and astronomy, said the direct cause of the drought was a high pressure system centered to the west. She said even though this was an El Niño year, its effects on Kansas had been inconsistent.
Snowfall during the middle part of January was not useful to the drought condition, Tucker said.
"The snow that fell didn't have a very high moisture content. What we need is some very wet snow." Tucker said.
The drought not only affected farmers but was also felt by local businesses. Chuck Magerl, owner of Free State Brewery, 636 Massachusetts St., purchases many of his fruits and vegetables for the restaurant from local farms. He has relied more on produce from Arizona, California and Florida because of the drought, he said.
Local producers suffer
"It's what most people typically find in the supermarket," Magerl said. "I prefer to have the local product with the freshness factor."
The Kansas Water Office is the state's water planning agency. The agency is
SEE DROUGHT ON PAGE 6A
Students touched by black history
By Henry C. Jackson
cjjackson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Black History Month is as much a wake-up call as it is a celebration for Charee Fitts.
"Some people want to settle for 2.0s and almost get kicked out of school," said Fitts, vice-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's University of Kansas chapter."But those people don't think back to when people were getting 4.0s and not being able to go school because of the color of their skin."
February's Black History Month is the perfect opportunity to remind people why African-American students shouldn't tolerate complacency, she said.
"Black History Month reminds us where we came from," said Fitts, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore. "When you hear about people that were spit on—or worse—just to go to school, it makes you want to work harder, to know more."
On campus, Black History Month will be celebrated in a variety of ways, ranging from basketball tournaments to lectures on African-American leadership. Among the highlights are Kevin Powell, former Real World cast member and Vibe senior writer, who will speak Feb. 3 in the Kansas Union, and Gordon Parks, an author, photographer and composer who will speak Feb. 22 in the Lied Center.
Mark Dupree, president of the Black Student Union, said students would benefit from Black History Month activities because they highlighted parts of history students were not normally aware of.
"This month's filled with things we don't learn about in our classrooms," said Dupree, Kansas City, Kan., junior. "People don't realize black people contributed to America, that America would not be what it was without black people."
Learning more about African-American history is the best part of Black History Month, said Anthony Daniels, associate director of multicultural affairs.
"Students might not know much more than a little Harriet Tubman, some Marcus Garvey." Daniels said. "Black History Month is another
BLACK HISTORY MONTH ACTIVITIES
Feb. 1, black faculty and staff vs.
black students basketball game a
8 o'min in Robinson Center.
Feb. 3, Kevin Powell at 7 p.m. at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union
Feb. 8, "Diversity Dialogue: Players, Pimps and Ball Players; African-American Men Speak about Racism" at 7 p.m. at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union
Feb. 10, Black History Trivia Bowl at 7 p.m. in the Burge Union
Feb. 12, "How African Culture has Impacted Latin America" lecture at 6:30 p.m. at the English Room in the Kansas Union
Feb. 16, NAACP Black Heritage Ball at 6 p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom
Feb. 18, "African-American Leadership: A Historical Perspective" lecture at 7 p.m. in the Burge Union
Feb. 20-23, Big XII Conference on Black Student Government, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
Feb. 22, Gordon Parks at 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center
Feb. 24, "African-American and Latino Relationships" at 8 p.m. at the Gridiron Room in the Burge Union
Feb. 26, "Race vs. Ethnicity: the Struggle of Being Black and Latino" 6:30 p.m. at the English Room in the Kansas Union.
forum to share information about past leaders who have benefited everyone."
Daniels said the month's activities were helpful for future leaders in the African-American community.
"Each generation of leaders assists the next generation in their growth," Daniels said. "Black History Month gives us the opportunity to talk about the past and to educate the next generation."
Daniels said there was a simple reason for stressing education during Black History Month.
"If you don't know your past," Daniels said, "you don't know your future."
Edited by Ryan Wood
Fall break moved for homecoming
By Erin Ouse
postmckansan.com
kinesiologycenter
A vote of the University Council yesterday changed the academic calendar for 2003, moving fall break from Oct. 16 to Oct. 23 because of a conflict with the term-coming week.
The vote was the second decision the council made concerning full break. Last question, the council denied the appeal by the someoning proceeding committee to alter the data.
Traditionally, homecoming at the University of Kansas is in October and coincides with a team football game. The only home football game scheduled after September calls during the typically scheduled fall break.
If the council had refused the proposal, homecoming week would have ended with many students game on fall break or would have concluded with an event other than the traditional football game.
Murgula sold her office piedged to work with other organizations who might face difficulty because of the date change, including an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Concert Series in the Lind Center on Oct.22
Program exchanges first Jayhawk
"I don't think it's fair to assume we can take the football game out of the equation and still have the same presence," said Janet Margula, vice chancellor of University Relations.
ACI CALENDAR ON PAGE 6A
By Kelley Weiss
kanses@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The first University of Kansas student to participate in a triangular exchange program will leave for Finland tomorrow.
The program, called the World Indigenous Graduate Student Exchange, exchanges students among Finland, Australia and the United States.
Australia and the United States. Raven Naramore, Lawrence graduate student, will be the first KU student to go to Finland with this program. She will leave tomorrow to study the Saami indigenous people for three months.
Naramore said her chance to go study an indigenous culture would help her with her studies.
Kelley Weiss/Kansan
Raven Naramore, Lawrence graduate student, leaves tomorrow to study the indigenous population of the Saami people in Finland. Naramore is the first KU student to participate in the exchange program.
Her trip is fully funded by the chancellor's office, which waived her tuition for
"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to experience another culture," Naramore said, "It changes your world view."
the spring semester and the Indigenous Nations Studies Program and the program's graduate school, which will pay for Naramore's room and board and plan
ticket. Naramore was selected to go because of her schedule and because she
SEE PROGRAM ON PAGE 6A