4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF HARRY KANSAN
MONDAY MARCH 9, 2009
HEDGEHOG
(CONTINUED FROM 1A)
King said, "but there was another priority."
Bethony Blackmon, 2008 graduate, has owned three pet hedgehogs since she was 10 years old.
Blackmon lived with her hedgehog, Sunshine, in GSP-Corbin Hall and Jayhawker Towers during her time at the University even though they were illegal in Lawrence.
"She's so quiet; she's just in a glass aquarium." Blackman said. "It's not like she's going to wake anyone up or do anything bad. No one ever noticed."
Blackmon said she was glad King took the time to legalize hedgehogs.
Blackmon said hedgehogs were easy to care for and cheap to feed, but can cost more than $100 to purchase.
"She's quiet and she doesn't like make a mess or anything." Blackmon said. "I buy a big bag of kitten chow and it lasts forever. I have to buy her food like once a year."
Both Blackmon and King feed their hedgehogs cat food as well as some of their own food.
"Lots of kids are very impatient and I'll say I'm one of those kids," King said. "One of the things I learned is it's not going to be very fast. You have to wait for them. They're running a big city."
"She loves Cheetos," Blackmon said.
King said he had learned from his experience channege the law.
"I think it's really great." Blackmon said. "I bet it took him a lot of work."
King said he also learned that by presenting the commission with well-researched information in favor of a cause, the laws are changeable.
Edited by Sonya English
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COAL
to jump-start the western Kansas economy and creating jobs as primary reasons for wanting to build.
"I suspect that supporters of the plants would say they want to make Kansas self-sufficient in electronic energy and to sell energy and use the revenue in Kansas," Brooks said.
Overly said he didn't think the economy was a good reason to pursue the coal plants.
"Ivestigating and pursuing alternative forms of energy will also create jobs and help the economy," Overly said. "You can create new jobs with a prison, but that doesn't mean it will improve the community's well-being."
Brooks said although the ball was now in Sebelius's court, it could be a while before a final decision was reached.
"It's pretty early in the legislative process," Brooks said. "There are still a lot of cards to play in this game."
Edited by Grant Treaster
ST. PATTY'S (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
charities its main focus.
"Since startling, we've donated $479,000 to various charities in Douglas county," Brown said.
As a queen candidate, King spent the last two months going to committee meetings, getting ready for an auction and collecting donations from about 50 local businesses. King said she estimated she had spent about 20 hours a week working with the committee,
preparing for and attending differ ent events.
"I've never raised money for children before," King said. "It's really rewarding to have that experience."
The auction, a 5k run and dart tournament have raised thousands of dollars for the Parade Committee so far.
"With the economy like it is now, I'm pretty surprised with how many people were still willing to donate," King said.
The charities chosen this year were the Lawrence High School Positive Support, GaDuGi.
GaDuGi is a 24-hour safe center for adult and child sexual violence victims to receive support services.
Lawrence Parents as Teachers and the New York Elementary Boys and Girls Club. The charities will receive $1,000; $5,500; $20,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Sara Russell, executive director of the organization, said the money the center would receive would go toward purchasing equipment for a child-friendly interview room in the Douglas County Sheriff's Department.
for them to draw pictures if they need to show what happened and some anatomically correct dolls to show what happened." Russell said.
"There will be toys and an easel
GaDuGi, a Student Senate funded organization, was one of about 30 charities that applied to receive money from the St. Patrick's Day funds, and one of the four that was chosen.
"It was a complete delight because this is a needed service for our children," Russell said. "To be able to have a group of people that say, 'We believe in the work you
do and that kids are important,
that's always profound for us"
The last event before the parade is the Luck of the Irish Poker Run on Saturday March 14. Participants will ride motorcycles to designated locations in Lawrence, Topeka, Oskaloosa, Toganoxie and back to Lawrence. At each stop, riders will collect one playing card and whoever has the best poker hand at the end of the ride wins half of the money donated from entry fees.
— Edited by Sam Speer
POLITICS
NY mayor campaigning in Spanish
BY SARA KUGLER
Associated Press
NEW YORK — For a long time, it was hard to get Mayor Michael Bloomberg to say more than a few words in Spanish. Today, as his bid for a third term as mayor gets off the ground, he can't seem to stop.
The billionaire businessman has been studying Spanish since his first run for mayor, and he had mostly limited his public utterances to a few phrases and greetings here and there.
But now, with more and more Latino voters in New York City, along with higher-rated Spanish-language news broadcasts, Bloomberg is looking for more ways to be heard despite his inelegant accent and clumsy verb conjugations.
He now concludes every news conference by summing up the main points and taking some questions in Spanish, and at two recent events — a snowstorm briefing and women's luncheon — he answered reporters' questions in Spanish without any help.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
At the beginning of 2007, about 676,000 of the city's 3.8 million registered voters were Latino.Now, that number has grown to more than 860,000 out of the total of more than 4.2 million, according to Voter Contact Services, which processes voter files.
filled with awkward phrases like "the streets have cleaned" and "it was a lot of windy," but he's willing to try.
However, campaign strategists say there is no such thing as one Latino voting bloc in New York City, with its large numbers of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Ecuadorans, Colombians and Mexicans, along with many smaller communities.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg discusses his initiative to support the city's financial services sector and encourage entrepreneurship at a news conference in lower Manhattan, in New York, on Feb. 18.
The two leading Democratic mayoral hopefuls, Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and Rep. Anthony Weiner, both speak conversational Spanish occasionally at public events and with Spanish-language media, and have taken lessons to keep up their skills.
Bloomberg isn't the only one working on a bilingual campaign.
house, the pioneer cemetery and the Massachusetts Avenue "hanging" bridge.
The tours are held at least once a month, but Bethe Cooper, co-owner of Ghost Tours of Kansas, said this month's tour would be special, as it would be the second Friday the 13th in two months. To commemorate the date, Ghost Tours of Kansas will also give tours in Holton,
Topeka and Kansas City, Kan. on the same night.
on the same night. Cooper said Lawrence hauntings were unique because many of the ghosts in the city were a result of the Civil War.
On Friday, March 13, Ghost Tours of Kansas will guide people 12 years and older through the most haunted sites in Lawrence. The tour will include stops at the Eldridge Hotel, the brothel house on Rhode Island Street, Sigma Nu fraternity
explores haunted sites
"The tour is good entertainment, but students will learn about the history of Lawrence and it will give them a better understanding about the community," Cooper said.
The tour departs at 8 p.m. from The Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St. Tickets are $17.50 and can be purchased online at www.ghosttourkansas.com. Cooper encouraged all those interested to buy their tickets early, as the event would likely sell out in advance. For more information, call 785-383-2925.
CAMPUS Most ancient fossilized brain at KU museum
— Kayla Regan
Researchers in Grenoble, France recently identified the world's most ancient fossilized brain, which came from a collection in the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.
The fossilized brain is from an extinct species of fish.
Larry Martin, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the museum's curator, said the fish were usually about one foot long. The brain was analyzed by researchers in France using a particle accelerator, similar to a high-resolution CAT scan. Researchers determined the fossil was about 300 million years old. The findings of the research were published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Martin said fossilization usually occurred when a large fish would eat a smaller fish, and regurgitated body parts like the brain. Phosphates then surrounded the body part, creating a type of nucleus that preserved the fossil.
The Natural History Museum has several hundred similar fish specimens. Martin said the fossilized specimens were about the size of walnuts, and had to be opened in order to reveal the fossils.
"it's really much like collecting and cracking nuts," Martin said.
The fossilized fish were found around the Vinland and Baldwin City area in the 1920s and 1930s, and had been stored at the museum until being loaned out to the French researchers. Martin said much of the Midwest, including the Lawrence area, was covered by ocean.
"These fossils can give us information about these animals, that no one else can get anywhere else", Martin said.
— Kevin Hardy
CRIME Two men stabbed in Burger King parking lot
Two men were hospitalized for stab wounds after a fight that ended in the parking lot of Burger King, 1301 W. 23rd.
Sgt. Mark Warren said several men in two cars got involved in a "road-rage-like" altercation after the cars both left Club Axis, 821 Iowa St.
One man got out of his car outside Burger King and attacked another in the second car, stabbing him multiple times in the back. That man was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
During the alteration, one man was inadvertently stabbed in the arm, Warren said. That laceration was severe enough that medical officials had him transported by helicopter to a Kansas City-area hospital.
Sgt. Warren said he was doubtful any of the individuals involved were KU students.
Police say victim knew man arrested for rape
Officers arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of rape and aggrivated burglary in the 2300 block of W. 26th Street. The suspect allegedly forced his way into the victim's apartment and then sexually assaulted her.
The suspect fled the scene after officers were called, but was later apprehended. The victim and the suspect knew each other, Warren said.
Lawrence man arrested after'dangerous' chase
Police arrested a Lawrence resident Friday night after leading officers on a high-speed pursuit*
The man, whose name has not yet been released, was first seen driving recklessly in the 700 block of Kentucky Street at 12:42 a.m., Warren said. The man was driving a silver GMC pickup.
The chase continued around the city as the driver committed
multiple traffic violations, including hitting a fence near Seventh and Walnut streets, Warren said.
Officers decided not to continue the chase because the suspect was driving "so fast that it was just too dangerous." Warren said.
The suspect was arrested on charges for numerous traffic violations and for driving under the influence of alcohol, Warren said.
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