CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 28, 1994
3
Devoted professors go extra mile
William Alix / KANSAN
Marylee Southard, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, center, studies a drug's rate of release with graduate students Rav Venkatramana, of India, and LiRong, of China.
Students value advice, support
By Susan White Kansan staff writer
In the rush-rush world of KU life, some women professors still find time to stop their clocks and spend a little extra time with their students.
Marylee Southard, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, said she acted as one of the advisers and mentors for the Society of Women Engineers. She mainly counsels female students about preparing for a career in the engineering field, she said.
"I help them sort through each interval of engineering when they are deciding on which area to focus on for their degrees and future jobs," she said.
Some students considered their professors unofficial mentors for just going that extra mile outside the classroom.
Kris McCusker, Belmont, Calif, graduate teaching assistant, said Angel Kwolek-Folland, assistant professor of history, was not just a teacher but her friend and mentor.
"The she is a role model of what a professional history teacher should be like," she said. "I turn to her for help when I need open and honest advice. When I first started as a teaching assistant in the department, she sat down and told me what I was doing right and wrong. But she told me in a constructive manner, not an attacking one."
Kwolek-Folland also helped her make professional contacts in the history field, McCusker said.
Steve Drain, Tampa, Fla., graduate student, said that a lot of graduate students in the philosophy department asked to work with Cynthia Willett, professor of philosophy, because she worked with her students as a friend.
"When you do graduate work, you have
to do more than just classroom work," he said. "You have to develop a relationship with your professors. When there is a stuffy relationship, it is an uncomfortable situation."
Willett said she tried to keep a relaxed atmosphere in her classroom.
"Itry to make my classes a workshop for learning," she said. "I encourage my students to develop new ways of thinking about problems by brainstorming. I encourage them to think about the most abstract issues in terms of more concrete issues so they can eventually contribute
philosophical ideas to society."
Chris Boucher, St. Nazaire, France, graduate student, said Rita Napier, associate professor of history, helped him a lot when he was working on his history thesis paper.
"She gave me tips to find the sources I needed for my research at other locations across the U.S., "Boucher said. "I told her I did not have the money to travel to these places, so she helped me look for scholarships to pay for them. She also helped me when I wrote the thesis by asking me questions about it to help me draw out my
own conclusions from the research."
Napier said she just made sure she was available to her students as much as she could be, especially those with special needs such as single mothers or foreign students.
"Many of us feel lost in large classes and need extra help away from the classroom," she said. "I make myself available to spend time looking at students' written work so they can learn to conceptualize history. I feel teaching should be a major issue on campus to keep people asking questions about important issues."
New hormone causing some to have a 'cow'
By Ashley Schultz Kansan staffwriter
Technology has made it easier for dairies to milk their cows for all they are worth.
Community Mercantile Co-op, 001 Mississippi, has collected more than 600 signatures to send to the FDA and other organizations protesting use of the synthetic hormone. About 70 more signatures have been collected at Wild Oats Community Market. 1040 Vermont.
Synthetic bovine somatotropin, BST, pioneered by Monsanto Co. of St. Louis, Mo., is reported to increase a cow's milk production 15 to 20 percent. But its use has been met with resistance from consumers, including some in Lawrence, who do not want dairy products from cows that have been injected.
"There was a lot of outrage and a lot of fear," said Cheryl Powers, buryer at Community Mercantile.
Some sellers are trying to get affidavits from producers promising they do not use the synthetic BST, said Rodney Bridge, a southwest regional milk specialist for the Food and Drug Administration. But it is not possible to tell the difference between milk from a BST-treated cow and milk from a cow that was not injected, he said.
Organic milk continues to sell out at the store almost as soon as it is on the shelves, Powers said, even though it costs a dollar more for a half gallon than other milk. Sales for other organic dairy products also have increased, she said.
"BST is a natural-occurring hormone in the cow. So you're going to find it in there, and you're not going to find it in any higher level or lower levels than you would if it wasn't injected," Bridge said. "You wouldn't know if it was put in there even if I told you that it wasn't."
The FDA considered BST for nine years before its Nov. 5 approval. It projected that 10 to 15 percent of the nation's dairy cows will be injected with BST in its first year.
Local dairy producers are reluctant to use it, said Gary Keeler. Douglass County extension agricultural agent.
"I've visited with dairy producers around here, and I went to a meeting that Monsanto presented this to them." Keeler said. "Most of them are not going to mess with this. The main reason is because in this area, we have people that will boycott something for very little reason a lot of times. And to them, it's not worth losing their business."
But Tom McDermott, director of biotechnology communications at Monsanto Co. in St. Louis, Mo., said synthetic BST hit the market Feb. 4 to an overwhelming response.
Questions have been raised about an increased risk of antibiotic residues making it into milk. Any time there is an increase in the cow's productivity, there is an increased risk of the infection mastitis, which is treated with antibiotics.
McDermott said that the screening process for antibiotics in milk involves a waiting period, state testing and random product testing by the FDA.
"Every single tanker in every state is tested for antibiotics," McDermott said.
Massages relieve stress, focus attention
Kansan hiring forsummer,fall
Summer and fall editor and business manager applications should be submitted by 10 a.m. April 4 to 200 Stauffer-Flint. Interviews for both positions will be April 5 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Applicants should sign up for an interview at 200 Stauffer-Flint when submitting their applications.
The University Daily Kansan is accepting applications for its Summer and Fall 1994 editor and business manager positions. Applications are available at the Kansan business office, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, and at room 200.
· 'Hands on' experience will help burn toxins
By Angelina Lopez Kansan staff writer
Take three finals, go through fall enrollment, find a new apartment and get rid of old roommates.
Students have so much to do in the last five weeks after Spring Break that the stress can be overwhelming. A massage, however, can relieve that stress and can focus a student's attentions so that they are not stuck with the same irritating roommates that they swore they would stop living with last year.
Brenda Sampson, massage therapist at South
wind Health Collective, 941 Kentucky St., said to understand the use of massage on relieving stress, it was necessary to understand what stress does to the body.
"The effect of stress on the body is like the effect of stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time on a car." Sampson said. "Pretty soon, you'll burn out."
Sampson said stress was responsible for the build-up of toxins in the muscles. That build-up is responsible for muscle aches, she said.
When people are under stress they stop breathing as deeply as they should, so the body does not receive as much oxygen as it needs, Sampson said. Oxygen is needed in the muscles to burn toxins. When the muscles do not receive oxygen, toxins build up.
Sampson said she used several different massage techniques to release stress in a client.
The most common is the Swedish massage, she said, which uses long strokes and kneading to promote overall relaxation and invigorate circulation. Another popular massage, she said, was the deep muscle massage, which concentrates on specific muscles.
Janeine Cardin, massage therapist at Mass Street Massage Therapy,927 Massachusetts St., said she practiced a variety of massage techniques, but most of them were focused on energy work.
Southwind Health Collective offers massages for an average of $35 an hour, said Sampson. Appointments are available Monday through
Cardin described energy work as massages that removed the blockages in a person's energy field. She said that stress was a cause of these blocks.
Laura Pace-Bethel, independent massage therapist and a client of Southwind Health Collective, said that overall, massages not only relaxed her but also helped her stay focused on all the things she needed to accomplish during the day.
Mass Street Massage Therapy did not want to exclude students and others who could not afford the price of a massage, Cardin said. She said she and the other massage therapist operated on a sliding fee scale, which allowed low-income people to pay $25 an hour for a massage, and unemployed people to pay $20 an hour. The regular price is $30 an hour, she said, and appointments are available seven days a week.
"It's cheaper than a vacation," she said, "but it has all the benefits."
Friday.