Section A • Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday. January 29. 1998
Senate flushes slide down drain
By Melissa Ngo
and Marc Sheforgen
mngo@kansan.com
mshferegon@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
The ride has come to an end for student senators John Colbert and Sam Pierron's proposal to build a waterslide complex on West Campus.
A bill to finance the complex failed to pass the University Affairs Committee last night. The speech presented by Colbert, engineering senator, and Pierron, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, failed to convince the committee that this issue was more than a joke.
Pierron said that he was not surprised by the committee's decision and that he was disappointed.
"This is the one time that students really asked for something and Student Senate didn't do it," he said. "You'll hear from us again, I assure you."
The University committees and boards attendance bill passed at both University Affairs and Student Rights committees with little debate. The only questions raised were whether the proposed changes were too lenient
The bill proposed that student members of University committees and boards, such as Academic Policies and Procedures Committee and the Parking Board, explain their absences to the Student Senate Executive Committee after missing two meetings.
"Some committees only have one or two meetings a semester," said Matt Bachand, Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, "so if you have to miss two meetings, you've missed them all."
During the Student Rights meet
LEGISLATION
Student Rights:
University Affairs:
PASSED, a bill to change punishment procedure for missing University committee and board meetings
- PASSED, a bill to change punishment procedure for missing University committee and board meetings
KILLED, a bill to fund the KU Waterslide Complex
PASSED, a bill to co-sponsor and fund the Spring 1998 American Red Cross Blood Drive.
PASSED, a bill to fund the Spiritual Human Yogd Shy
Finance:
PASSED, a bill to co-sponsor and fund the Spring 1998 American Red Cross Blood Drive
PASSED, a bill to fund the
Spiritual Human Yoga Sity
PASSED, a bill to fund the
PASSED, a gift to the
Malaysian Student Association
PASSED, a gift to the
PASSED a brief introduction to Asian American Student Union Festival and High School Leadership Conference
ing, the committee decided to form a subcommittee to discuss Student Senate committee attendance.
The Finance Committee allocated more than $5,300 to the Asian American Student Union. The Union requested the funds for the Asian American Festival and AASU High School Leadership Conference. The bill passed after debate about whether to cut funding for the Feb. 20 high school conference.
College Bowl questions students' wits
Winning team will compete at next level
By Marcelo Vilela
mvlela@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Which school won the College Bowl trivia contest in 1997?
A student who can answer that question should consider entering a team in the annual College Bowl, a national trivia competition sponsored by Student Union Activities. This will be the 17th College Bowl trivia contest on campus.
The double-elimination tournament will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Kansas Union. Room nores are reserved to hold
the brain-frying marathon.
Each team will play until it loses twice. Depending on the number of registered teams, the competition format may change to single elimination.
The winning team will go to the regional competition Feb.21 and 22 at Kansas State University. The team that wins at regional competition then will compete in the national competition in Dallas. The University of Virginia won the competition last year.
Five teams are registered for the KU installation of the national tournament. Michael Weiss, Champaign, Ill., junior and SUA recreation and travel coordinator, said there were six or seven more teams verbally committed.
Ryan Toubia, Wichita junior,
registered his team last week.
Touba competed last year as well.
"It was kind of intimidating. This year, we're more confident in ourselves." Toubia said.
To prepare for the tournament,
Toubia and his team watch Jeo-
ardy and play Trivial Pursuit.
"I just like to display my knowledge if I have the chance," he said.
The teams usually represent student organizations or living groups, such as greek organizations and scholarship halls. However, it is not necessary to be in a specific group to create a team.
SUA is offering a plaque to the winning team. Weiss said.
SUA also will pay for the winning team's trip to the regional tournament at Kansas State University.
Weiss said SUA spent about $650 for the College Bowl Campus Program package.
Kelly Huffman, Bellevue, Neb. senior, and a member of the winning team two years ago, will be
Form a team of four members, plus one substitute.
HOW TO ENTER
- Register at the SUA box office.
Pay the entry fee of $25. The deadline is Tuesday.
■ Start reading The World Almanac, watching Jeopardy and playing Trivial Pursuit
competing again this year
"It was fun, and I've always enjoyed it," Huffman said. "I've always been really competitive in academics and athletics. It's something different for me to do in the weekend."
Almost 300 schools are registered in the College Bowl Campus Program. The program has been managed by the Association of College Unions International since 1976.
Graduate student returns from black-hole study after 13 days of energy research in Antarctic
By Graham K. Johnson
gjohnson@kansan
Kansas staff writer
A University of Kansas graduate student says he is glad to get back to the warmer weather of Kansas' winters.
Illya Kravchenko, Ithaca, N.Y., graduate student in astronomy and physics, returned from the South Pole Saturday after helping set up an experiment to measure high-energy particles emitted from distant black holes.
it can get pretty cold."
Kravchenko endured temperatures as low as 30 degrees below zero during his 13-day stay.
Kravchenko: Back from Antarctica to collect data about black holes
Kravchenko, equipped with 30 pounds of clothing, braved the bone-chilling climate as part of Radio Ice Cerenkov, a University of Kansas-led project aimed at learning more about deep-space black holes.
Kravchenko set up most of the electronic equipment necessary to measure the high-energy particles, called neutrinos, that black
holes emit
"I brought all of the hardware we needed and installed it, connected it to the network and made sure all of it worked," Kravchenko said. Dave Besson, professor of physics and astronomy and leader of the study funded by the National Science Foundation, said it was a unique project.
"No one has ever tried to measure nuetrinos from outside our galaxy," Besson said.
The project measures the particles using enhanced FM radio receivers buried in the ice. The receivers record the activity of nuetrinos as the nuetrinos hit the ice and transform into clear radio-wave energy
The radio-wave information is then processed by electronic dataacquisition equipment, Besson said.
Kravchenko said the project went well, despite a couple of computer crashes.
He said one of the most unpleasant things about the trip was going to the bathroom.
"To go to the bathroom, you had to walk 200 meters in the cold," Kravchenko said. "If it is during the night, by the time you come back, you don't want to sleep anymore."
Kravchenko said he was optimistic about the project's success.
Besson said the project could yield information about the black holes later this year.
"It is a new idea, and we may actually get some good stuff just in terms of physics, hopefully."