University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 12, 1992
CAMPUS/AREA
3
Skunk boom leading to outbreak of rabies
Warm winter has assisted rise in cases
By Ranjit Arab
Kansan staff writer
Odor aside, there could be something else to add to skunks' offensive rants.
Deborah Briggs, assistant professor of veterinary diagnosis at Kansas State University, said yesterday that an increase in the skunk population in the state had led to more reported cases of rabies in animals.
She said 31 confirmed cases of rabies in animals already had been reported in Kansas since the first of the year while the number of reported cases from all of last year only totaled 63.
Skunks have accounted for 26 of this
winter cases. Three dogs, one cow and
one raccoon were the other cases, she said.
Such high numbers of rabies cases are not common in the winter months. However, unusually warm weather and readily available food have made it easier for skunks to spread the disease, Briggs said.
She said data compiled since 1964 showed that there was a boom in the skunk population about every 10 years, starting in 1971.
Briggs said that even more reported cases could be expected as temperatures increased.
"If the trend continues as it has since 1964, we should expect to see the highest numbers in May and June," she said.
John Ollson, a Lawrence veterinarian, said the large number of skunks with rabies was a result of their high susceptibility to the disease.
However, he said that no animals in Douglas County this year had passed the drug test.
year three animals had been confirmed with rabies, and only one was a skunk.
Olson said that in the county this
If an animal thought to be rabid bites a human, the animal must be confined for 10 days to determine whether the disease is active in the animal, he said. After the 10 days, if the animal does not show signs of rabies, the person is safe.
However, rabies can be in an incubation period in the animal, Olson said. Even though rabies is not passed to the person in this stage, the disease can still develop in the animal within more than a year.
"Once an animal has rabies, it is going to die," he said. "That is why it is important not to mess around with it."
Olson said symptoms of rabies included unusual aggressiveness, strained or paralyzed vocal chords and difficulty in swallowing.
Because there is no cure for rabies, vaccination is the only form of prevention, he said.
Group pledges $23,000 to publish White papers
Project preserves correspondence
By Janet Rorholm
Kansan staff writer
A group committed to promoting the understanding and exercise of the First Amendment gave $23,000 last week to the School of Journalism. The money is to finance the editing and publication of William Allen White's personal papers.
This is the second grant that the group, Freedom Forum, has given to Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs, who has been working on editing and publishing the project for three years. Brinkman also received $26,780 to begin the project in 1990.
Brickman said he has been considering going on a sabbatical to finish the project of publishing the papers in volume sets, which are similar to those made from presidential papers.
He said the most recent grant would be used to pay for copying costs and for some assistance with the project.
Brinkman said the bulk of material was at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. More material is in Spencer Research Library and with White's granddaughter in Emoria.
White's personal papers include letters he wrote and received from presidents, newspaper people, prominent politicians and government officials, Brinkman said.
("White) was very influential on the national scene, writing from his pulpit, as people called it, with the Emporia Gazette. "Brinkman said. "People listened to what he had to say."
He said that White had been good friends with a number of presidents, but especially with Theodore Roosevelt. The two exchanged letters
commenting on and analyzing major issues of the time.
"They were playing off each other getting ideas about things." Brinkman said. "He was a confidant and adviser for the president."
White also was a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of well-known editorials such as: "To An Anxious Friend," "Mary White" and "What's the Matter with Kansas?"
Brinkman said he had been interested in working on the project because he had worked for the Emporia Gazette as a reporter while in high school and for a year and a half after graduation. Brinkman also was dean of the School of Journalism, named in honor of White, for 11 years.
Calder Pickett, professor emeritus of journalism, called White the greatest journalist Kansas ever had.
He said that White was a man of such honor, integrity and decency that he ranked as one of the top 10 editors of all time.
Julie Denesha / KANSAN
D'em bones
Having classified a fossilized bone as that of a small Miocene horse, John Chorn, who has a doctorate in vertebrate paleontology, places it in a box with other horse bones. Chorn was sorting a new collection of bones from the Miocene epoch yesterday at the Natural History Museum. The bones were donated by an amateur collector in Florida.
City approves ammo bid
By Andy Taylor
Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence City Commission approved a $12,786 bid at last night's meeting to buy practice ammunition for the Lawrence police.
The commission approved the ammunition bid during the consent agenda of the meeting, when all bids, bills and payments are passed together in one vote and without discussion from the commission.
Mike Wilden, city manager, said the purchase was necessary for officer training even though Lawrence police discharged their weapons on duty.
"The officers have to be certified marksmans every year," he said. "They practice periodically at the Fraternal Order of Police Training Center. Even though we had one shooting last year, we fired their fire weapons very much on duty."
Wildgen said the city usually spent about $12,000 for the ammunition each
year.
Commissioner Shirley Martin-Smith said the approval came from the recommendation of the city staff.
"We base our acceptance of those bids on what the estimates from the staff are," she said. "They know typically, over a period of years, what to expect."
Martin-Smith said she was surprised when she first became a commissioner at the amount of money the city spent on bullets.
"The amount might sound exorbitant," she said. "I recall when I first sat here, I was thinking, 'My goodness, what a lot of money.' And it is. But what we are talking about is public safety. We are talking about a lot of people in this community who support the police in their training tests."
"Practice ammunition is a less expensive ammunition," he said.
Sgt. Mark Warren, a representative for the Lawrence police, said the practice bullets were designed differently from the duty ammunition.
Biting the bullet
A look at ammunition that Lawrence police uses
Each Lawrence police officer is allotted 50 rounds of duty ammunition a year.
Each round costs between $.40 and $50.
The city will spend about $25 on each officer for duty ammunition.
The city will spend $12,700 for practice ammunition, which will be used for training procedures.
Lawrence police used 107,000 rounds of practice ammunition last year.
SOURCE: Sat. Mark Warren, Lawrence notice.
Jeff Meesey, Daily Kannan
Warren estimated that Lawrence police used 107,000 rounds of practice ammunition and had about 8,000 rounds of duty ammunition available for use last year.
"Practice ammunition and duty ammunition are live. But what we use for training and practice is not built to manufacturer's specifications."
Each commission officer for the Lawrence police carries a 9 mm semi-automatic, Sig-Saur P226 pistol and 5 rounds of duty ammunition. Warren estimated that the duty ammunition carried by each officer cost about $25.
Warren said the police would request bids in the coming months for duty ammunition.
Committee selects interim director
English Department head to fill position
Kansan staff report
Michael Johnson, head of the department of English, also will act as interim director of freshman-sophomore English.
The decision was made yesterday by an advisory committee in the English Department.
Beginning Aug. 1, Johnson will direct freshman-sophomore English for one year, while a formal search for the right candidate will be conducted. Stephen Goldman can be conducted.
Goldman died of colon cancer in December.
Johnson said he thought he would be able to perform both jobs for a year.
He had been director of freshman-
sophomore English from 1981 to 1984,
he said.
Bernard Hirsch, acting director of freshman-sophomore English, said Johnson was chosen as interim directive and coordinator in language and composition theory.
Johnson also was asked to fill the position because of a shortage of faculty, Hirsch said.
The director is responsible for training graduate teaching assistants for freshman and sophomore level courses and for participating in text selection. Directors also oversee the grading of common final exams, Hirsch said.
The committee also named Jack Orruch, associate English professor, as associate director of freshman-sophomore English effective Aug. 15.