University Daily Kansan / Thursday, March 5, 1992
CAMPUS / AREA
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Herpes testing increases, prevention doesn't
By Katherine Manweiler
Kansan staff writer
Staff members at Watkins Memorial Health Center have tested more than twice the usual number of students for genital herpes in the past two weeks, said Charles Yockey, Watkins chief of staff.
"We don't have an epidemic," Yockey said. "We don't have an outbreak. We just have an unfortunate number of people who have acute herpes. I don't think that the number of students carrying the herpes virus has changed
dramatically. We don't have any evidence for that."
Approximately 50 herpes tests have been performed since Jan. 13. Although the results for tests conducted within the past two weeks are not yet in, Yockey said that usually more than 90 percent of results were positive.
Henry Buck, gynecologist at Watkins, said many students risked getting sexually transmitted diseases during spring break.
*Every year after break we see stu-
Sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes, do not always show up immediately after transmission, Buck said.
uents who have ended up doing things during break that they had no intention of doing," he said.
Buck said that students who were tested the week after spring break for diseases contracted over the vacation usually received negative results.
"They may come in in June with the results of what happened in March," Buck said. "The bottom line is to avoid
The viral infection Herpes can reside in the body indefinitely before symptoms appear, he said. Men may never show symptoms at all.
exposure."
"That's scary for females, because they can ask and their partner will tell them that they don't have herpes," Yockey said. "I don't think people lie about that. Fifty percent of males never know they have it."
Painful, shallow ulcers on the genital area are the most common symptom. Other symptoms can include
fever, swollen lymph glands and nausea
Acyclovir is prescribed both to treat the initial herpes outbreak and to prevent future occurrences. Yocke said.
Herpes outbreaks usually last 10 to 12 days. Some people eventually stop having outbreaks, but the virus affects their bodies for the rest of their lives.
"Sometimes, recurrent outbreaks come for no reason at all," Yockey said. "They are brought on by physical or emotional stress. People are usually contiguous several days before they are go out an outbreak. The question is, are they sensitive enough to know they're going to have an outbreak?
Yockey said AIDS education had had little impact on the rate of transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases.
"Only with long-term education and proper use of condoms is this going to decrease," he said. "You would think that AIDS education would decrease the transmission of all STDs, but we're not seeing that."
Jayhawk pride will stick with students after college
By Brady Prauser Special to the Kansan
Michael Cox wanted to show how proud he was of being a Jayhawk. He did it permanently.
Cox, Hannibal. Mo, sophomore, got a tattoo of a Jayhawk on his right thigh during his freshman year. From the pair of track spikes that his Jayhawk wears, it's not hard to figure out that Cox runs on the men's track team.
Cox is one of several KU athletics who have Javahawk tattoos.
"The tattoo is permanent, and I'm a Javayhak for life," he said.
Dan Waters, Cox's teammate, swore he'd never get one when he saw Cox's. That all changed after he lost a bet.
Waters, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, but his three teammates on last year's two-mile relay team that if the team qualified for the 1991 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Los Angeles, Waters was part of the Team did, and soon Waters was sporting a 3-inch Jayhawk on his right shoulder blade.
Waters said his parents had a much more difficult time adjusting to the new school.
"But they got over it, and my mom makes it a cute and kind of funny now," he said.
Waters said he did not regret getting the job, but doubted he would ever get another.
"I did it to show I had support for the track team and to show it was something I was proud of," he said. "To get another one, it would have to be something of equal magnitude, and not something I would regret down the road."
Waters paid $60 for the tattoo, which took about an hour to apply.
Jayhawk tattos are certainly not limited to the track, however
Chris Maumalala and Keith Loneker, Kansas football players, Jayhawk tattoos while visiting Loneker's home in New Jersey last spring.
"They look a little meaner," he said. "Keith's Jayhawk is carrying a football to symbolize his offensive position, and mine is in a defensive position."
Maumalanga's tattoo is on his right calf, and Longer's it on his left calf.
Maumalanga said he and Lonekere diamently had not ruled out getting an indictment.
"If we make it to the Orange Bowl,
the next one will be an orange near the Jayhawks we already have," he said
Teddie Fischer, an artist at Fine Line Tattoos in Topeka, said tattoos were becoming increasingly popular among college students.
She said the business did two or three Jayahawk tattoos a month for students, alumni and fans. Prices start at $300 for the Jayahaws, depending on the size.
Fischer, who has seven tattoos, said getting one felt like a burning sensa-
She advised people to think carefully before getting a tattoo.
"If you're not sure and have any hesitations at all, don't do," she said. "It's a permanent thing. And make sure where you go is clean."
There are no businesses in Lawrence that apply tattoos.
Lee Bittenbender, Lawrence dermatologist, said he removed five or six skin tags.
Bittenbender said tattoes were either removed through dermabrasion, laser surgery or a knife. He said he preferred dermabrasion, a process removing the pigment by sanding away the skin where the tattoo is located.
Some Kansas athletes, students and alumni have tattoos that permanently show off their Jayhawk pride.
Weather service announces beginning of severe season
Record number of tornadoes touched down in Kansas in '91
By Jenny Martin Kansan staff writer
After a record number of tornadoes touched down in Kansas last spring, meteorologists are keeping a watchful eye as the severe weather season begins once again.
The 116 tornadoes that hit Kansas last spring were three times the average number and accounted for about half of all tornadoes reported nationwide.
The number of deaths reported in Kansas resulting from tinnatoides was 19, which ties 1978 for the second deadliest fatality. The total number of fatalities was 82 in 1955.
Mike Akulow, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Topeka, said that April through June was the season when most storms that in the last two years the season had been starting in mid-March.
Akulaw said he thought that this season would again be more active than normal, but that the number of injuries he was not exceeded last year is record high.
"It's really hard to tell though what the year holds," he said. "In no
time at all, patterns change."
Akulow said that torndopes grew out of thunderstorms caused by warm humid air, among other factors that typically accompany the spring.
Although Kansas has had a particularly warm winter, Akulaw said research indicated that extremely warm or cold winters had no direct correlation to the development of tornadoes.
Last year was the second consecutive year that there was an above average number of tornadoes in the United States and does touched down across the state.
Five to six years prior, the number of tornadoes was below average, with the last highly active pattern of tornadoes being in the 1950s.
This week was designated as Severe Weather Awareness Week in Kansas. The National Weather Service kicked off the 16th annual Kansas tornado safety drill Tuesday with a simulated tornado watch
"The high tornado seasons run in peaks and valleys," he said. "We don't know if we are getting back into an active pattern like the 1950s or if we've just had a couple of high spikes the last two years."
and warning throughout the state.
Akulow said that the first week in March had been used annually to remind people that the severe weather season had started and that they needed to plan for and think about the possible disasters that could occur during the spring months.
"It it just takes one tornado to go through a major area, and it's a tragedy." Akulowsaid.
Lt. John Mullens, KU police representative, said that the University did not have any tornado shelters on campus and buildings on campus had basements.
He said that the safest place to be during a tornado was on the lowest floor of a building, preferably the interior hallway, restroom or office.
He said that the majority of toma-
do-related fatalities as well as
injuries were caused by flying
debris.
"You have to do what a soldier would do when in combat on the ground," Mullens said. "You have to get underground if possible, or put as much between yourself and the outside."
Kansas Tornadoes
Some 1991 statistics:
Number of tornadoes: 116
Average number: 44
Number of deaths: 19
Average number: 4
Number of injuries: 350
Estimated dollar cost statewide: $330 million
Peak months:
April, May and June
Peak times:
3.0 n.m
What to do if caught in a tornado:
- DO NOT remain in your vehicle.
- Lie flat in a ditch or low place.
If inside, stay away from windows and doors. Get under something sturdy.
If in a mobile home, seek shelter elsewhere. If none is available, lie flat in a ditch or low place.
SOURCE: National Weather Service
Michael Gier, Daily Kansan
House kills bill lowering illegal blood-alcohol level
By Gayle Osterberg Kansan staff writer
House members yesterday rejected an amended version of a bill that would lower the illegal level of intoxication for drivers from 10 to 80 percent.
The bill would establish 08 percent as the blood alcohol level at which a driver could be arrested for driving under the influence. Drivers could protest the decision in court by presenting evidence that they were not impaired.
The 10 percent level would remain uncontestable.
The bill originated in the House last session and then was amended by the Senate. The House yesterday voted against the amended version 88-35, so a conference committee composed of three members from the Senate and the House will now work on a compromise.
State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence, will help represent the House on the conference committee. He said the Senate version of the bill was unacceptable for two reasons.
"First, it would be a law enforcement nightmare to arrest people on. 08 but then allow them to present evidence defending themselves," Solbach said. "It would cause many, many cases to go to trial and might result in law enforcement not arresting people. That is a waste of state and
countyresources."
He also said that the bill would not meet federal requirements for a $25 million fund that would be divided among states that enacted strict drunk-driving policies.
The funds from the Alcohol Improvement-Driving Countermeasures Program will be awarded to states meeting four of five requirements related to drunken driving, said Rosaleia Thornburgh, traffic safety officer for the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Some of the requirements are that the state have roadside sobriety checkpoints, a self-sustaining, drunk-driving prevention program and a .08 percent intoxication level by July 1, 1994.
But the federal rule requires that the 08 percent level be uncontestable.
Thornburgh said she knew of only two states, New Mexico and Indiana, that met the requirements.
"Kansas could potentially get a lot of money if only a few states qualified," shesaid.
The effort to tighten drunk-driving laws began last session in the House, which passed a bill that would create a new category called driving while impaired, or DWI, for drivers registering between .05 and .10 percent.
The bill then went to the Senate, which amended the bill to its current form.
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