CAMPUS/AREA UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
Tuesday, February 8, 1994
3
FACES
Newspapers delivered with a smile
Mel Smith, Lawrence resident, has been delivering The University Daily Kansan for 12 years. His said his route took two to three hours to complete.
Mel Smith uses colorful green van as delivery cart
"People think I am crazy when they see me in shorts. I wear them because I get hot."
Towards the end of his route, the bundles Mel Smith delivers become smaller. "I can really fly with a small stack," he said. He runs to most places where he drops off papers. Smith wears shorts until the temperature dips below 30 degrees. A time exposure shows him running through the Ellsworth Hall lobby.
By Ashley Schultz Kansan staff writer
Mol Smith Printing Services' deliverer
Photos by Tom Leininger
Fifteen years ago, Mel Smith went cold turkey. After 10 years of classes at the University of Kansas, he achieved academic ineligibility by neither dropping nor attending his classes.
"Instead of dropping my classes, I just quit going because I knew that one of these days, I would try to come back, and if I failed everything, then they wouldn't let me back," Smith said. "That was my plan, which worked, actually."
But Smith still comes to campus faithfully every weekday — for his job.
Smith delivered this paper and about 13,500 others today. He does the same most Thursdays and Fridays and delivers about 15,500 issues Mondays and Wednesdays.
Smith inherited the route 12 years ago from the woman he had been helping to deliver the papers.
He usually wakes up around 7 a.m.
and gets to Printing Services, 2425
W. 15th St., at about 7:50 a.m., Smith said. He tries to leave for campus by 8:10 a.m.
His route involves about 40 stops, Smith said.
About 70 percent of the papers are dropped off along Jayhawk Boulevard before he heads down Sunnyside Avenue. After hitting the residence halls, he crosses over to deliver to West Campus. The process takes about two and one-half hours, including one trip back to Printing Services to reload, Smith said.
If the job isn't interesting enough, his van certainly is.
"It doesn't take long enough to get boring," he said.
One of his most harrowing experiences on the route, Smith said, happened seven years ago when a gas leak in the Ford he was driving caused the engine to catch fire in front of Strong Hall. He put the fire out with an extinguisher from the building and still managed to deliver the papers.
The 1976 Chevy Malibu he uses underwent some cosmetic changes at the hands of a friend about three weeks ago, Smith said. The pea-green exterior was enhanced with colorful designs of classical and modern Greek shadow puppets.
Smith also keeps busy after the route.
He has a stepdaughter, Cary, 21,
and a daughter, Misha, 13.
Every Monday, Smith practices with the other four members of Acme Jazz. He has played drums for 12 years and the tabla, an Indian drum, for 11 years.
About four years ago, Smith spent a year in Japan with his family.
where his ex-wife taught English as a second language. He would like to live overseas again, perhaps by the year 2000.
"What we found in Japan is the world is really a big place, and there are a lot of places to live in the world that are really pretty wonderful," he said.
Smith said he also had practiced the philosophy of alikido, a Japanese form of self-defense, for 12 years.
"Probably the best thing that you can do is to live your life the best way that you can, and that'll change their world enough to make it a better place," Smith said.
Hazardous waste site considered
KU student involvement has helped,member says
By Ashley Schultz Kansan staff writer
If things go its way, the Lawrence/Douglas County Household Hazardous Waste Committee could make the disposal of household products easier and safer by the end of this spring.
The facility received its operating permit about two weeks ago after making a few adjustments to its original proposal, said Patricia Marvin, city recycling coordinator.
The Household Hazardous Waste Task Force is considering opening the facility for about four hours one Saturday a month, with each date being sponsored by a community organization.
The next step is to solicit proposals from the six certified contractors who are candidates for waste disposal, Marvin said.
The Committee has asked that contractors reply to the request within three weeks, Schulte said. He said he expected the county to approve a contractor around the end of February. Then the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be called on to give the facility a final inspection before operations begin.
"Getting the permit taken care of was a big hurdle to overcome, so the rest of it, I hope, is going to fall in place in fairly short order," Schulte said.
Schulte said that KU student involvement with the task force had been invaluable.
Interns have focused on educational projects. Fall interns put out a coloring book for area elementary schools.
Lysa Bridges, Charleston, S.C., senior, is an industrial design major working to enhance a prototype of an interactive display for children originally designed by Hallmark Cards Inc. Children insert cards with pictures of household products into one of three slots: recycle, landfill or hazardous waste collection. When inserted into the correct slot, magnetic sensors set off bells and lights, Bridges said. The backs of the cards describe environmental alternatives to hazardous products.
Alternatives are an important part of the task force's message, Marvin said.
"The purchase, the use of chemicals has gone up tenfold," Marvin said. "We need to be aware of what we're buying."
She said that although household hazardous waste accounts for only about 1 to 2 percent of trash, it represents about 80 percent of the crisis potential for groundwater, air and soil.
Household hazards
Household hazardous wastes are either toxic, corrosive, flammable or explosive. The following products often qualify: Motor oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, house paint, paint thinner, stains, adhesives, pesticides, weed killer, fertilizer, cleaners, degreasers, ammonia, bleaches, cosmetics and hobby and craft supplies.
Source: The Earl Slick HHW Coloring Book created by the City of Lawrence Recycling Office, Lawrence/Douglas County HHW Committee
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