SPORTS: Kansas baseball team defeats Benedictine 18-3, Page 13.
VOL.102,NO.151
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1993
10
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
Meningitis diagnosed in student
Residence hall takes precaution with vaccinations
By Vicki Bode
Kansan staff writer
A KU student was in critical but stable condition yesterday after he was rushed to the University of Kansas Medical Center because of a suspected case of bacterial meningitis.
Christopher Henley, Morgan Hill Calif., freshman, was flown to the Med Center Sunday night after physicians diagnosed the contagious and sometimes fatal disease.
Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that students living on the third floor of McCollum, where Henley resided, were inoculated yesterday. The students were not unquarantined.
He said about 200 students were given an oral antibiotic, which Watkins received from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. No other students will be inoculated unless a second student contracts the disease.
"If someone had contracted it from the student, the antibiotic would prevent them from actually getting the illness," Yockey said. "There are only 10 to 15 people who truly need it. Our biggest concern has been hysteria."
Many concerned KU students' parents called Watkins yesterday,he said.
It has not been determined whether Henley has viral or bacterial meningitis, but it is suspected to be a bacterial form. Yockey said.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. A bacterial form of the disease is life threatening. Viral meningitis is relatively mild. Symptoms of meningitis include a fever, severe headache, vomiting and a stiff neck. Yockey said that the infection was dangerous but that it could be treated.
It can be transmitted when an infected person sneezes or coughs or by other contact such as kissing or sharing food. Being in the same room with an infected person does not necessarily put a person at risk.
Henley is the third student at KU to get meningitis in the past six years. Yockey said.
Peggy Graham, media coordinator at the Med Center, said about two people each year were treated for the disease at the Med Center.
Yockey said that 20 percent of the nation's population carried the meningitis bacteria in its throats but that it was not a threat unless immune systems were down.
A meningitis vaccination is available, but it is not usually administered by physicians, he said.
"It is a rare disease." Yockey said. "Only people with health problems, like those missing a spleen, need to be vaccinated."
Jody Woods, director of nurses at Watkins Memorial Health Center, explains a drug she gave to a McCollium Hall resident to help prevent the meningitis infection. Students went to Watkins yesterday to receive the drug after another McCollium resident, who was suffering from meningitis symptoms, was flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center.
By Mark Kiefer
Kansan staff writer
As the semester draws to a close studies are the focus of many students on campus. But studying was not on the minds of students yesterday on the third floor of McCollum Hall. It was something far more important: the life of a fellow student and friend.
Christopher Hendley, a freshman from Morgan Hill Calif. who was suffering from the symptoms of meningitis, was flown into the University of Kansas Medical Center Sunday night.
He spent the day yesterday in critical condition in the intensive-care unit.
Yesterday morning, all the residents on the third floor were sent to Watkins Memorial Health Center for preventive treatment of the contagious disease.
They were each given eight pills of Rifadin, an antibiotic they were directed to take twice daily, two at a time. Watkins' staff informed them about the disease and told them that the possibility of any of the students being infected was minimal.
Yesterday was a trying day for some of the students.
"My initial reaction was fear
because it takes 50 percent of the people it affects," said Andre Esposita. Leavenworth freshman, "1 was relieved to hear the actual risk is pretty low."
But yesterday's concern focused on Henley
"We're not worried about ourselves," said Chris Colby, Leavenworth freshman. "We all feel really bad for the guy and his family. We're pretty calm about it. We just hope he's going to turn out all right."
The students said that Henley's roommate had gone to the Med Center to be with Henley.
They said they heard from resident assistants, who had been keeping in contact with the hospital, that Henley would survive.
The day was especially tough for Grace Lee, Santa Anna, Calif., freshman. She said that she and Henley were friends.
"It was kind of scary," she said. "I just talked to him a few days ago, and he seemed fine."
Espinosa said that the hardest part of the ordeal had ended and that the students were trying to continue their lives as best as they could.
"We're all getting together and kind of hoping and praying that he turns out all right," he said.
What is Meningitis?
Symptoms
Meningitis is an infection or inflammation of the membranes covering the brain or spinal cord. It is carried in a bacterial, viral or fungal form. In 1993, there were 794 cases of meningitis reported in the United States. Thirteen of the cases occurred in Kansas.
Source: Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Cure and Treatment
Bacterial meningitis is treated with antibiotics that are administered intravenously or through the spinal cord. Bacterial meningitis can be fatal, bacterial meningitis can be fatal.
Viral meningitis has no specific treatment. A person still can survive without treatment.
Fungal meningitis can be treated with antifungal medication administered intravenously or through the spinal column. If treatment is continued, death may be prevented, but serious neurological problems may occur.
Freshmen legislators positive about first session
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Topeka received a bumper crop of freshman lawmakers this year, a few of whom took time to evaluate the Kansas Legislature as the session wound to a close.
What they said about the process and their colleagues was mostly positive. They had high praise for their fellow legislators and the Statehouse staff, contrary to what they thought about politicians before arriving in Toneka.
"Id heard they were thieves," said Rep. Ted Powers, R-Mulvane. "I find they are sincere people trying to do a real job. They are also dedicated and made a sacrifice to be here."
Powers, was one of 40 new members in the 125-person House. In the Senate, 21 of the 40 members were new, but 10 of the Senate
freshmen had served in the House.
He said the people of Kansas were well-represented because of the diversity of occupations and educational levels in the Legislature.
"I've just enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life," Powers said. "Although, there are not as many lawyers as I thought."
Jene Vickrey, R-Louisburg, who beat former Democratic House Speaker Marvin Barkis in a close race last fall, was pleased with what he
found in Topeka.
Vickrey said that contrary to popular belief the lobbyists did not have undue influence on the legislators but are a valuable informationa resource.
"I'm highly impressed with the overall integrity of the people here." Vickrey said. "I was very happy to see how pure the system is."
Many freshmen were shocked at the amount of information they were expected to consume.
Powers said he was amazed at how much he learned in four months about topics ranging from finance and natural resources to goat's milk and rattlesnakes.
Vickrey said being a legislator was a continuous learning process and many of the same issues kept coming back.
"Nothing is ever really dead," he said.
Vickrey also was surprised at the breadth of issues he learned about.
"You read any chance you get," he said. "It's pretty awesome."
pretty awesome.
Sen. Christine Downey, D-Newton, developed a three-pronged attack for gathering information.
She used the committee hearing process, lobbyists and phone calls to her constituents to help her decide how to vote.
"That's probably the most overwhelming thing. how in the world am I going to make a decision?" she said.
Downey said legislators must be organized people, but also must be prepared to lead an unhealthy lifestyle. For her that meant putting "basic physical fitness on hold for three
months."
She said legislators are strange foods at weird times, slept too little, got no exercise and saw little sunshine.
Sen. Tim Emert, R-Independence, said serving in the Senate was more work than his usual profession —practicing law.
When you practice law you have some control over your time and energies; here you don't," he said.
Emert had served as chairperson of the state Board of Education, so he wasn't surprised by much his first year here. But he said he learned two things.
The first is that it's a lot of hard work. The second is the system works.
"It's frustrating and tiring, but it eventually works," he said.
Moonlight Arabians
Corky Kearney and her husband, Jim, raise Arabian horses at their farm in Western Lawrence and own 10 of their own. Moonlight Arabians breed and train horses for competitions as well as sell them.
See related story. Page 11.
Perseverance pays off for tennis player
By Brett Riggs
Carlos Fleming throws a yellow tennis ball high over his head. He raises himself on the balls of his Kapeas. His racket along with every bit of his 200-pound frame collides with the ball.
Kansan staff writer
The projectile, moving at 125 miles per hour across the net, blisters the corner of the service box. All his opponent can do is watch it go by. Boom!
The ball explodes into the tarp behind the court.
It is not the sound of cannon fire, it is the sound of Fleming's serve blowing away opponents on the tennis court.
Fleming, Shaker Heights, Ohio, senior and the top player on the Kansas men's tennis team, combines that serve with persistence and a tireless work ethic to reach his goals. Those goals? To break into the professional tour and, eventually, to attend law school.
"No doubt about it, his serve is the biggest part
of his game, "says Kansas coach Michael Center. But there is an extra ingredient.
"When times get tough he really believes in himself, and you can't put a price tag on that," Center explains.
Manny Ortiz, Candado, Puerto Rico, sophomore and Fleming's doubles partner, said that he had never met a more intense player or person than Fleming, and that he respected him both on and off the court.
"His work ethic is contagious," Ortiz said.
"When there is an obstacle in his way, he'll go over it. He is like a running back in football. He'll get that extra yard."
Fleming, who finished the season with a 14-9 singles record and led the Jayhawks to a second place regular-season finish in the Big Eight Conference, will not qualify for the NCAA Championships as one of the top four players in the Midwest region, but he still has a remote chance to receive an at-large bid. The top four players in
Story continues, Page 12.
Carlo Fleming, starts studying for his three finals this semester. Fleming will
graduate in December with a degree in political science.