Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, June 10.1998
Minority Affairs teaches youths
Melanie More, Dong Bell and Jerminia Lyles work on a math puzzle during a summer outreach program sponsored by the Office of Minority Affairs. The program's coordinator, Gloria Flores, said the goal of the program was to prepare students for college. Photo by Bora Nomer/KANSAN
Junior high students interested in college discover fun learning
By Beth Janes
Kansan staff writer
While most of his classmates sleep late during summer vacation, Jerimiah Lyles is up at 8:30 a.m. and makes his way to the Multicultural Resource Center. There he completes math problems and studies grammar. But Lyles isn't taking summer school. He is one of 17 students participating in the Minority Affairs Project Outreach Program Summer Enrichment that began Monday.
The half-day program, sponsored by the Office of Minority Affairs, serves ethnic minority junior high school students in the Lawrence area who exhibit strong academic potential and interest in attending college. The program runs for two and a half weeks and focuses on enriching math, communication and study skills.
"We get the typical 'this is just like school' kind of thing, but that is a compliment to us. It means that we are doing everything right," said Gloria Flores, associate director of the Multicultural Resource Center and the program's coordinator.
Flores emphasizes that the program is not remedial. Students must be interested in further developing their skills and want to continue their education after high school to participate. Flores and her assistants try to prepare students for college.
"At this age group, their minds are open to so much, and through these programs, they can grasp on to anything," said Leonard Huerta, graduate assistant for the program. "We try to make sure there's a balance between them knowing there's a time to be serious, like when we're learning particular subjects, but we also want them to enjoy themselves. We want them to know that what's it like when they get to college And I think we do a good job of making that clear."
Flores and her assistants accomplish this balance by providing students not only with math and grammar/writing lessons but with other activities such as cultural bingo and field trips. Both the faculty and the
students said they were looking forward to a trip to University of Kansas Medical Center.
A shadow day also has been planned in which students will follow faculty from the University throughout the day. Tashia Bradley, graduate assistant and certified eighth grade teacher, said that it exposes students
to college campuses.
"I'm continually blown away at how bright they are. We'll ask if anyone read a book, and they'll go on and on," Huerta said. "I think we even learn from them sometimes."
Lyles said the program was cool and that he liked the program's faculty.
"I'm just glad they are not like my teachers last year," he said. "They are more fair, and we can actually relate to them."
Huerta said the students, who were from all four Lawrence junior highs, seemed energetic about learning.
After the first day of the program,
Exhibit displays periodical, noisy insect
Kansan Staff Writer
By Elissa Harris
The buzzing of a mass emergence of the periodical cicada has hit the Midwest. The insect and its unusual 17-year journey is the focus of an exhibit at the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas.
After 17 years of eating and growing, hundreds of thousands of the beetle-sized bugs have emerged across the Midwest, from as much as two feet underground, with a plan to mate in the trees.
The exhibit of cicada pictures, specimens and facts is a journey through the insect's mysterious life cycle.
An exhibit at the Natural History Museum describes the life cycle of cicadas. Photo by Roger Nomer/KANSAN
Scientists have never fully understood why these cicadas only appear once every 17 years.
"The emergence is a very unique thing. It only happens a few times in a person's lifetime, and there are a lot of mysteries about it," said Tom Swearingen, exhibits director for the Natural History Museum
The male cicadas emerge first and form choruses of courtship in the trees. The mute females then emerge and begin a mating flight. One tree may hold hundreds
of male cicadas.
The red-eyed, black-and-yellow-bodied cicadas have orange wings, are smaller, and have a different song than the familiar green
"dog day" cicadas that appear yearly in late summer.
but cicadas are more closely related to the aphids found on rosebushes.
Cicadas are often incorrectly referred to as locusts. Locusts are similar to grasshoppers.
Confusion results from the two insects' similar sound, said George Byers, professor emeritus of entomology and exhibit adviser.
"They're not even remotely alike, though," he said.
cicadas emerged in the middle of May. They are evident across the Midwest, from southwest Iowa through northwest Missouri, Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, and eastern Nebraska.
Cicadas are lucky to live two weeks because they are preyed upon by birds, dogs, cats and snakes.
The music of the cicadas may have been silenced before its time this summer because of recent cold and wet weather. Byers said. The cicada exhibit is targeted to adults.
"We feel like there is an interest among adults. An awful lot of people have been calling about them," said Brad Kemp, assistant director for public affairs for the Natural History Museum.
The exhibit is on the fifth floor of the Natural History Museum. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Grant funds health centers AIDS studies
By Leslie Potter
Kansan staff writer
When it was first discovered, it caused a contagion of fear. Those who had it felt hopeless and were often shummed. Many thought that the world would see a repeat of the "black plague."
The Health Promotion and Education Center at Watkins Memorial Health Center wants to educate University of Kansas students about HIV/AIDS.
"AIDS is becoming reality," said Deb Howes, health educator at Watkins. "Before, it was a scare, and now it's something we live with. It is still a scare today since there is no cure, and someone is diagnosed with HIV everyday. And that is why we need to teach students how to protect themselves."
According to the American College Health Association, HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is a set of diseases that follows an infection that attacks the body's immune system.
The Kansas Department of Health and Education contacted all of the universities in the state of Kansas last November because the Center for Disease Control was offering a grant for AIDS training for women of child-bearing age. Howes said. Howes and Candyece Waittley, coordinator of the Health Promotion and Education Center, wrote a proposal for the grant, Howes said. In January, the Health Promotion and Education Center found out that they had received a grant for $25,000. Howes said.
Katy Ferrarin, health educator at Watkins, set up five programs last spring semester to educate KU women on HIV/AIDS.
"We had programs on HIV related topics," Ferrarinsi said. "We had one on relationships and communications, sex and alcohol, and we also had peer educators and speaker Dan Renzi from Kansas City who was on MTV's Real World."
The programs were held at Hashinger Hall and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall. About 100 students attended each program, Howes said.
The Health Promotion and Education Center will continue more programs in the fall semester which it will plan out this summer, said Ferrarini.
The programs is directed at KU women, but men are welcome.
"They are finding out that women are contracting HIV
HIV/AIDS
What
"1998 Basic HIV/AIDS training; Fundamentals for Educators" offered by the Kansas Department of health and education, the American Red Cross HIV/AIDS Network and Kansas State University.
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
daily, June 16-18
When
Where
Who
The United Way Center for Human Services in Lawrence.
educators, nurses,
social workers, health
care workers, counselors
and anyone interested in
HIV/AIDS may attend.
Contact
Call 1-800-432-8222 to register or for more information. Registration is $55. Advanced registration and payment are required.
M. D. Bradshaw/KANSAN
Ferrariin said the programs were open to anyone that wanted to learn about HIV/AIDS
at a faster rate that men are, and that's why KDHE wanted us to focus on women." Howes said. "But if there are any males who want to attend the programs, we are not going to turn them away."
"College students know about HIV and most of them know how it is transmitted," Howes said. "But we are seeing an increase in the number of college students who have contracted HIV because students are not protecting themselves. We developed the programs to try an prevent this increase."
Even though the number of women who have contracted HIV is increasing, the overall number of people who have contracted the virus is declining, and the number of people dying from AIDS is also declining, said Howes.
For people interested in taking an AIDS training course this summer, KDHE, the American Red Cross HIV/AIDS Network, and Kansas State University are offering "1998 Basic HIV/AIDS Training: Fundamentals for Educators." The course is from June 16 to 18 at the United Way Center for Human Services in Lawrence, said Barbara VanCortlandt, KDHE HIV/AIDS Training Specialist.
"This course is for educators, nurses, social workers, health care workers, counselors, and anyone else interested in HIV/AIDS." said VanCortlandt.
The course is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with a one hour lunch, said VanCortlandt. The registration fee is $55 for materials and snacks. Advanced registration and payment are required, said VanCortlandt. Interested students should call Kansas State University at 1-800-432-8222 to register.