Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansar
Wednesday, June 17, 1998
City rezones east Lawrence Journal-World buys property
City Commission Briefs
Last night the Lawrence City Commission voted to initiate the rezoning of a four-block area in far east Lawrence.
Michael Almond, representing Brookcreek Neighborhood, presented the commission with a request letter and a petition signed by the majority of the property owners wishing to change from multi-family zoning to single-family zoning. This could halt apartment complex construction. The motion was passed four to zero.
All area residents in the fourblock zone will have the opportunity to express
their concerns at a planning commission public hearing in August before rezoning begins.
The commission also sold the city property at West Sixth St. and Wakarusa Drive to the World Company.
Notice of the receipt of bids for the sale were published in The Lawrence Journal-World on June 2, 1998. Two bids were received and opened at 2 p.m. on June 11. The property had been appraised at $285,000.
Dolph C. Simmons, Jr., editor and publisher of The Lawrence Journal-World, won the bid on behalf of the World Company with the highest offer of $450.000.
Simmons has announced the World Company's intentions to acquire the adjoining Skankard and the Rock Chalk Ranch properties. Along with office and sales operations of the JournalWorld, the World Company plans to house Sunflower Cablevision and a commercial community facility for telecommunications and teleconferencing.
GSP-Corbin open for women and men
By Joyce Newman Konson staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Spending the summer in Lawrence causes some students to adjust to more than an intense homework load and emptier bars.
The traditionally all-female residence hall, Gertrude Sellars Pearson Hall, has turned over a new leaf by opening its doors to male residents for the summer.
Fred McElhenie, director of residence life, said with Lewis Hall closed for renovation, GSP was the only residence hall open to KU students. About 110 students are living in the hall this summer.
Along with Ekdahi Dining Commons on Daisy Hill, the GSP-Corbin cafeteria also has remained open to serve the needs of students.
Jeff Halloran, Topeka senior and GSP resident assistant, said the hall was divided by placing female residents in the east wing and male residents in the west wing.
All rules that applied to residence hall life during the regular school year are in effect, Halloran said. Security monitors and desk assistants are working in the hall to ensure safety and provide assistance.
Whether students are taking summer school for one session or two, GSP-Corbin is open to all students.
"I expect people to live in apartments, but it's less of a hassle to live with us," he said.
Halloran said one advantage of summer hall living was the atmosphere, which tends to be quieter than in the fall or spring semesters.
"There is a different variety of people and age groups living in the hall during the summer," he said. "The quietness can be attributed to students who are typically more serious about their education and studying when compared to the students during the year."
Another hall open during the summer is Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall. This is the first summer that the hall has been open to students. Accommodating both female and male students, Grace Pearson is housing 34 students.
"The residence halls provide the opportunities and advantages of residential life including meals, people to socialize with, along with access to computers and the Internet," McEhenie said. "It just seems unnatural to me to live anywhere else."
Jennifer Duan, Topeka freshman, finishes dinner at GSP-Corbin residence hall. This summer, GSP-Corbin is open to both men and women. Photo by Joseph Griffin/KANSAN
Students win research grants
Undergraduates each receive $1,000 to work on projects
By Julie Sachs
Kansan staff writer
Fifty-six undergraduate students are $1,000 wealthier this summer because they were curious.
They were curious about finding the answers to their deepest questions.
This year more than 100 people applied for the research awards.
But there is a catch.
The students won Undergraduate Research Awards. The students, who are all enrolled in the Honors Program, are encouraged to use their winnings for research.
Josh Stewart Campbell, Lakin junior, was one of the winners. Campbell is researching playas, which are little lakes that fill up after rainstorms. He is investigating how and when playas are
formed.
"I am trying to create a prediction model for finding archaeological remains in the playas," he said.
Campbell said that the majority of his money would be spent on renting a backhoe. Some of the money will go toward lodging, gas and other items.
Todd Hershberger, Lawrence junior, received his award for
done and a clearly stated objective, said Barbara Schowen, director of the Honors Program.
research in the fine arts.
Applicants also must include a letters of recommendation, which usually comes from sponsors who will oversee their research, Schowen said.
"I am composing a chamber orchestral piece," Herschberger said. "My goal is to basically get this thing done by February. All my
When the proposals are received, they are considered by a committee that Schowen chairs. This committee includes representatives from various disciplines.
"Iam trying to create a prediction model for finding archaeological remains in the playas."
Josh Stewart Campbell Lakin junior
money will go for living expenses."
Although the winners are busy spending their prize money now, the road to winning the prize money was long.
Applicants must submit a proposal that includes the significance of their research, its feasibility, a clear description of what will be
taken classes that would help them complete their proposal."
There are 56 prizes awarded. Funding for the prizes is taken out of three special funds made available by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the provost's office and the University's General Research Fund, Schowen said.
Rubella outbreak in packing plants is reported
Health department says widespread threat is unlikely
The Associated Press
LIBERAL — Twenty-seven cases of highly contagious German measles have been confirmed at Kansas meatpacking plants in the past six weeks, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says that number is still rising.
"The possibility of anything widespread or out of control is pretty remote," Brown said. "There are people who aren't protected, and it is passing from person to person, so we will continue following it until it is stopped."
The outbreak started in Dodge City in early May, and cases have since been reported in Ford, Finney, Cowley, Sedgwick and Gray counties, said Don Brown, representative of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Among communicable diseases, the symptoms from German measles are
fairly mild, Brown said. The major concern is the risk the virus poses to pregnant women and its potential for causing birth defects, he said.
Most Americans were immunized as children against the airborne virus, known as rubella, but about 10 percent of the population, particularly older adults and Mexican immigrants, are unprotected and at risk. Brown said.
and southwest Kansas to help prevent the spread, and immunization clinics have been set up at several meat packing plants. Brown said.
Rubella is passed through human contact the way a common cold virus is
"It's definitely controllable," Brown said. "We got a very early jump on it." Eight thousand doses of rubella vaccine have been sent to south central
"There are people who aren't protected, and it is passing from person to person, so we will continue following it until it is stopped."
Don Brown KDHE representative
passed, he said.
It is not spread through food.
The meat packing plants have seen so many cases because the plants have a high number of Hispanic workers, and they often have several members of the family working at one plant. Brown said.
reported cases, those who contracted the virus were members of the same family, worked with one another or carpooled to work, Brown said.
"We in no way want to paint this as
In many of the
specific to those employees in the meat packing industry," he said.
For a period of time in Mexico, the measles vaccination given didn't include rubella as the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine used in the United States does, the state health department said.
The symptoms of German measles include rashes, slight fever and swollen glands. It typically takes 12 to 23 days for the symptoms to appear.
The first cases were reported among six workers and one family member at Dodge City's Excel Corp. plant on May 6. State health officials set up immunization clinics the following day.
Immunization clinics have since been held at three other meat packing plants where the employees were affected by the virus or where employers were concerned about the possible spread.
The latest immunizations are being conducted Thursday and Friday at the National Beef plant in Liberal. Brown said there had been no confirmed cases of German measles at the plant.
Treacherous turns and crowded streets prompt new signals
my Clint Hooker
Kansan staff writer
A pair of Lawrence intersections will receive face-lifts this summer as the Kansas Department of Transportation attempts to alleviate congestion on city streets.
Stan Whitley, information director for
KDOT, said improvements would be made to intersections at 23rd Street and Naismith Drive and 14th and Massachusetts streets.
The improvements will upgrade existing traffic signals to include new
green arrow lights for left-turn-only lanes. The current system requires motorists to yield to oncoming traffic when turning left.
An increase in the volume of traffic at both locations and the difficulty of left turns prompted the improvements.
Mike Effertz, Leawood junior, delivers food for Mojo's and said that traffic conditions in Lawrence were in dire need of improvement.
"Traffic's pretty bad because of all the stoplights and all the one-way streets," Effertz said. "It pretty much makes it confusing for people who aren't familiar with Lawrence."
While these improvements are designed to allow traffic to flow more smoothly, Effertz does not think green arrows are the cure.
"Massachusetts will always be a mess with all those shops," he said. "Twenty-third's ridiculous, too. They shouldn't have that many stoplights."
Wildcat Concrete Services of Topeka will complete the improvements at 23rd Street and Naismith Drive for approximately $104,000.
A contract for the 14th and Massachusetts streets improvements, estimated to cost $87.000, will be awarded later this month.
No start date has been set for either project, but Whitley said both would be completed quickly.
"it's not going to take very long as far as disrupting traffic," he said. "There won't be any detours at all."
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