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Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, August 29, 1990
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Students battle season of sneezes
Allergy-producing spores send miserable to Watkins
By Courtney Eblen
Kansan staff writer
Soaring ragweed counts have been sending allergic students by the thousands into sneezing fits, leading them to opt for different types of treatment, depending on the severity of their allergies.
Most patients only have allergy problems in the spring and fall, when pollen, rageweed and mold spores are most abundant, Voyckey
E. Smith gives Wichita sophomore Jeremy Haas a shot.
"We see patients here for two reasons," he said. "Either for their allergy symptoms, or because they're taking over the job." A lot of them do work, but a lot of them just aren't worth it."
The effectiveness of non-prescription antihistamine varies with each patient, Yockey said.
"It if works for one person, it may not do anything for another but put him to sleep." he said.
The non-drowsiness prescription formulas available at Watkins include Terfenadine. But both it and the other medication available at Watkins, Astemizole, are somewhat expensive, Yockey said. Doses of each medication cost $1 a day.
allergy medications, he said students should not use non-prescription nasal sprays.
"Over-the-counter nasal sprays are extremely dangerous because they're addictive," he said.
Although Yockey does not object to students using over-the-counter
The sprays offer quick relief by reducing swollen breathing passages, but then they cause the user's nasal passages to swell after the drug loses its effectiveness a few hours later.
"It says on the bottle not to use it for more than three days, but then it's too late," he said. "You're addicted."
Vockey said that it took up to six months to overcome an addiction to an over-the-counter nasal spray dosage directions were decrying.
However, recent prescription drugs are designed to prevent drowsiness, and two of them are available at Watkins.
Watkins also offers prescription nose sprays. Beclomethasone and Flumisolide, that are not addictive, Yockey said.
For students whose allergy problems persist all year, Yockey recommended they visit an allergist to help them determine the intensity of and the best treatment for their allergies.
Some patients with intense allergies require extensive treatments like allergy shots, Yokeey sandworms, and topical antihistamines to induce allergens designed to
help patients build immunities to substances that trouble them.
But allergy shots are not a quick fix, Yockey said. They usually take at least one year to begin taking effect.
Haa斯 said he was used to being jabbed in the arm once a week because he had been taking the shots for more than a year.
Haas, Wichita sophomore,
received a shot at the Watkins
Allergy Clinic with the ho-hum
most allergy shot patients
exhibit.
Last year, 275 KU students received regular allergy injections at Watkins. One of them, Jeremy
Ragweed season approaches its peak
Kansan staff writer
By Courtney Eblen
It happens worse fall, but somehow it seems worse this year: the sneezing, the drippy noses, the sneezing, frantically searching for anyone in class who might have a cold. It doesn't happen often, knockout doses of antihistamine.
Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said it was expected to last until the first frost.
Ragweed season, the red-nose syndrome of late summer, began its onslaught two weeks ago and will peak this weekend
from taking to the air, Yockey said.
Last year, early morning rains reduced the airborne ragweed particle population. But this year, no raccoons were seen spores, so nothing keeps them
Although no pollen count is officially taken in Lawrence, it is recorded daily in Kansas City, Mo., and Topeka. The Kansas City Star lists the daily count on its weather page, and network television stations sporadically report the pollen count.
In Kansas City, Mo., the count is taken from Menorah Hospital, which is in the middle of the city. It is based on how many parts of air per million are occupied by ragweed seeds and particles. Yester- day was 1.006. Any number from 500 to 1,000 is considered serious.
The count in Topeka is taken differently, based instead on how many pollen or ragged grains
occupy a cubic meter of air. The average yesterday was 835, but it peaked at noon at 1,990.
The Topeka and Kansas City figures are not comparable because they are not based on the same measuring system. But both register a staggering amount of ragged weed in the air.
And it is going to get worse, Yockev said.
"Typically, ragged peaks around Labor Day, so people should be advised," he said.
Frank Stewart, a physician with the Kansas City Allergy and Asthma Associates, said most symptoms were worse during the morning, when ragged spores were at their worst.
Frankel said he and his colleagues treated manv KU stu
dents, most of whom were from the Kansas City area. He said that adjusting to college while dealing with a rayged allergy problem was something many of his patients had to face.
"In many cases, the parents' home is air-conditioned, and a lot of that pollen and ragged is filtered out of the house." Frankel says. "Most commonly, all the kid moves into a dorm, conditions are very different."
“A lot of kids leave their windows open all night to cool the room off.” Frankel said. “But if you’re running late, be the morning, you're a dead duck.”
For an allergy-afflicted college student, an open window can mean a whole day of suffering.
Panel asks for ethical reform
By David Roach and Carol Krekeler Kansan staff writers
The public aired its views on campaign financing and political contributions yesterday and Monday in connection with the Commission on Ethical Conduct.
Michael Woolf, executive director of Common Cause of Kansas, told the commission that recent scandals in Washington, like the savings-and-loan scandal, have put the nation in a mood for reform.
"Not since Watergate have the political conditions been better for real ethical reform in our government," Woolf said.
Woolf said that an apparent lack of problems in Kansas didn't mean reform legislation was not needed.
"We have problems in Kansas. They are identifiable and correctable, and regardless of how we communicate they should be corrected." Wolff said.
Woolf said that the legislature should place a limit on the amount of money that could be spent on political campaigns and that a system of partial public funding should be instituted.
He also said the legislature should limit the amount of money that candidates accepted from political action committees, prohibit personal use of campaign funds, prohibit direct corporation and union contributions to political candidates and recognize political committees.
Recognized political committees are partisan legislative political action committees controlled by the leaderships in the House and Senate.
Woolf said the leadership could use the financial influence of the committees to coerce junior legislators into according to leadership wishes.
He said lobbying reporting requirements also should be increased, and the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission, which is an independent agency that enforces reporting laws, should be strengthened.
Woolf said he attributed a lack of voter participation in elections to voter alienation.
"They do not feel that they are a part of the system any longer," he said.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, voiced a similar concern. He told the commission that Kansans think they have lost control of the government.
"We're talking about perceptions here, and it looks bad," he said.
He said cynicism among Kansas voters caused three out of four Kansas not to vote in the Aug. 7 primaries.
Phelps said judges should be prevented by criminal sanctions from lobbying legislators for pay increases. He said the lobbying had an intimidating effect on legislators who were also lawyers.
"When somebody that's a chief justice can talk to you, and you're a lawyer legislator, about giving them power to elect powerful, almost extortion," he said.
Phelps also called for legislation that would require lobbyists to make public the names of judges and politicians they entertain.
"The people are entitled to know some of this — who threw the party, how much did you spend on it, what was served and who was there, and the 30 daily newspapers in this state can publish it," he said.
Phelps told the commission that if the legislature did not pass meaningful reforms, the people of Kansas would be forced to reform laws through referendums.
James Maag of the Kansas Bankers Association told the commission yesterday that campaign financing is gaining rather than a major overhaul.
"I truly believe that state government in Kansas is very open and honest," he said.
Myrna Stringer, lobby coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said one reason campaign finance reforms were needed was to promote higher voter participation in the political process.
"Democracy is advancing all over the world, but in this country, voter participation is at an all-time low," Stringer said.
Rep. Rochelle Chronister, state chairperson of the Republican Party, asked the commission yesterday to establish an easier process for candidates.
The Rev. Richard Taylor, president of Kansans for Life at Its Best, a Kansas public interest group, said the commission should suggest a top-dollar limit on campaign financing.
"This would force all candidates to go to the people and present their message." Taylor said.
Pat Mah, administrative assistant to the commission, said the commission was scheduled to make its report in time and would not likely would request an extension.
Office targets minority teen-agers
Kansan staff writer
By Holly M. Neuman
Representatives of the Office of Minority Affairs will begin visiting Kansas City, Kan., middle schools in the state to see students prepare early for college life.
Norma Norman, director of the Minority Affairs Program Outreach Program, said she would be working with 80-100 sixth-, seventh- and eighth graders in three or four Kansas City Kan., middle schools.
"We're looking for students who express both the interest and the potential to attend college," Norman said.
The students will be involved in hands-on activities to make them more interested in the possibility of attending and completing college, she said. Students will be c Counseled in what high school courses to take to
help prepare them tor specific majors and careers.
The major components of the program include academic tutori-
sations on how to improve study skills with help pre-college preparation.
"We're looking at the possibility of using our time together to write to faculty with specific careers in the student's field of interest," Norman said. "We might even ask faculty to us to talk to the students."
University of Kansas students also will be involved in the program. Students will work as college counselors who will help the students identify with college life and its possibilities.
tember.
Norman said students who were interested in counseling the students should contact the office in mid-Sep.
Johnnie Young, of Minority Affairs, said she would be involved in the clerical aspects of the program and would welcome parents to the program and communicate with students.
Norman said the program to work with minority high school students started 11 years ago. Last year there was no program, but Minority Affairs used the year to evaluate and redesign.
The program agenda has to be approved by the middle schools but probably will begin in early October, she said.
"We think that this new twist, dealing with middle school students, will be extremely helpful in reaching more students," Norman said.
Radio-TV abandons old studios
The KU radio and television department has moved from a building with crumbling bricks, chipped plaster and worn carpet to
The department has abandoned studios in Jolliffe Hall and moved into the Dole Human Development Center.
Kansan staff writer
The faculty offices were situated behind Blake Hall in Blake Annex.
Mitchell Gage, journalism program assistant, said the studios, classrooms and faculty offices now on the second floor of the Dale Copen
"We probably ended up with less square feet than we had before with the combination of both
By Amy Zamierowski
Gage said that since the move, the department had purchased eight video cameras to replace old equipment.
The department plans to broadcast programming from the Dole Center in the future, he said. Paths to accommodate the walls to accommodate wiring.
Radio-television classes now broadcast from KJHK, the KU student radio station, at Sudler Annex.
Max Utsler, chairman of the radio-television department, said money to build department facili-
halls," he said. "But now it is actually a gain because the space is laid out properly."
The department started moving June 18.
Gage said one problem with Jolliffe Hall, which is situated behind Sellards Scholarship Hall, was that because the fire escape was in disrepair, only nine people could occupy the top floor.
Jollife is being used now by the theater and film department, Gage said.
Marci Francisco, assistant director of facilities planning, said Jolliffe a gift to the University during World War II.
Gage said that Jolliffe's air conditioning was inadequate and that the building was designed poorly.
ties in the Dole Center came from a gift from Ralph Wier and his wife, Barbara Wier. Both graduated from KU in 1944.
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