THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20. 2014
PAGE 23A
SCIENCE
21
Students participate in Mayo research program
REID EGGLESTON
@ReidEggleston
Sifting through the countless test tubes and petri dishes that define a typical summer research experience did not sit well with two budding undergraduate research students. Instead, Kelly McGurren and Jordan Hildenbrand ventured beyond traditional lab expectations this summer as part of the Mayo Clinic's 10-week medical research program.
Originally, neither McGurren, a junior from Leawood, nor Hildenbrand, a junior from Blue Springs, Mo., had any idea of what specifically they would be studying and what passion those studies would cultivate. In fact, Hildenbrand approached the summer with a unique mindset altogether.
"I was actually expecting the summer program to turn me off of research and narrow my future plans." Hildenbrand
said. "But now I'm thinking seriously about pursuing a dual M.D./Ph.D."
McGurren cultivated a fondness for stem cells and the power of regenerative medicine in the unlikely field of porcine biology, using pig models to determine the effect diet had on kidney stem cells
McGurren was aware from the start of the moral implications involved in her research having studied stem cells in both a scientific and religious context, but she quickly debunked some of the myths that stood as barriers to her summertime pursuits.
"People assume stem cells are always embryonic," McGurren said, referring to the cells that many claim still hold the potential for creating life. "But it's important to understand there are other forms, and they still have reparative properties."
One of the other forms of cells that McGurren worked closely with was mesenchymal
stem cells, which behave similarly as embryonic cells but are less shrouded in controversy.
"Why would we not want to utilize something that could help us so much?" she said.
"Research is viewed as a solitary thing, but research done well is really about others."
JORDAN HILDENBRAND Junior from Blue Springs
"Most people don't understand how important research is," McGurren said.
McGurren also gained a galvanized appreciation for funding of the sciences at academic institutions. She recalls many of her experiments were reliant on access to MRI and CT technology in order to record data and support discoveries.
"Often there are more failures than successes, but everything leads to something more, something greater, down the line."
Aside from the well-funded research background McGurren came from at the University, she also feels that the academic preparation she received for this program was tantamount to her success.
Particularly of use to her was her experience in the University Honors program.
"I hadn't taken anatomy, but even with basic biology and basic chemistry, I was well prepared," she said. "There was still a lot I didn't know, but labs are specific, and there are things no class itself could teach you."
"My honors courses were extremely helpful in showing me how to approach problems in a different way," McGurren said. "KU has pretty high standards, and these expectations paid off for me." As a chemical engineering
As a chemical engineering
major, Hildenbrand brought a different set of skills to her bioengineering lab, but was equally satisfied with the academic background previous classes provided.
"One thing about research: no one really knows what they're doing when they first walk in," Hildenbrand said. "But KU prepared me to think critically with the basic science knowledge that I had."
Hildenbrand dedicated her time to studying diseases ranging from glaucoma to metabolic acidosis, a kidney disorder that causes the blood to become too acidic.
Ten weeks later, her outlook would be broader than she had imagined. She attributes this change of heart to the students and principal investigator she was able to work with and to the unique research relationship at Mayo that the University lacks.
"The Mayo Hospital and graduate school are right next to each other,
and that allows for a lot of collaboration between the two." Hildenbrand said. "To me, it seems like this puts more emphasis on patient-centered research."
Both students return to the University with a reinvigorated urge to contribute to its research community.
"Research is viewed as a solitary thing, but research done well is really about others." Hildenbrand said.
McGurren's message for those looking to get involved with research over the school year is one of perseverance, a quality she knows she developed after her experience at the Mayo Clinic.
"You could try 100 times, and it could not work, but after critical reevaluation, the 101st time could be the success you're looking for," McGurren said.
Edited by Kate Miller
SEVERE WEATHER
Arizona governor: Floods in Phoenix 'devastating'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX — Workers at a farm saw hundreds of cactuses sweep away in a flood. Drivers on Arizona's main north-south freeway watched in shock as muddy waters submerged the road. Rescuers across the state rushed to save people trapped in cars and homes.
The Phoenix area was battered by torrential rain storms Tuesday that caused severe flooding across the desert region. The National Weather Service said some areas received more rain Tuesday than they had all last summer.
"It looked absolutely devastating," said Gov. Jan Brewer, who was glued to the TV all day watching the rescues. "For the last 10, 15 years, we've never seen anything the likes of this."
A helicopter crew rescued two women and three dogs from a home surrounded by swift-moving waters in a town about 30 miles north of Phoenix, while elsewhere a small trailer park was evacuated, a school was flooded and first-responders pulled motorists from partially submerged vehicles.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for much of the metro area and north of the city, where up to 8 inches of rain fell by midday in some of the mountainous regions along Interstate 17, the main north-south freeway in Arizona.
A river of muddy water rushed down 1-17 about 25 miles north of Phoenix as motorists changed lanes to avoid the deluge. A stretch of freeway was shut down and reopened later in the day.
In another dramatic rescue, authorities pulled an elderly woman from a van stuck in rushing floodwaters, scenes repeated across the region throughout the day as motorists became trapped.
+
Officials said nearly 5 inches of rain fell around the town
of New River, where a helicopter dropped two rescuers onto the roof of a home after one had been waving a white piece of fabric from a window to draw attention. The rescuers later walked the women and dogs to safety as the water receded.
"It looks like the heavy rain is pulling out to the east and northeast out of that area," Woodall said Tuesday afternoon. "But with all the rain that fell this morning, we're going to see continued flooding, continued runoff probably into the early evening." Kathy Mascaro said her typical 15-minute commute from home to work in the Phoenix area more than doubled because of the traffic nightmares caused by the
I've never seen it this bad. I've been here over 20 years and it has never flooded this bad."
KATHY MASCARO Phoenix citizen
flooding.
The Cox Cactus Farm in Phoenix was inundated by a nearby creek as rushing waters sent workers scrambling to save their more than 600 varieties of plants, shrubs and cactuses.
“It's crazy. You'd think, how could the desert flood, but it really does.” Mascaro said. “I've never seen it this bad. I've been here over 20 years and it has never flooded this bad."
The desert around Phoenix sees very little rain most of the year, so when storms roll through with such intensity as they did Tuesday, the water has nowhere to go.
"Everything just washed away," employee Mitch Bell said. "There's nothing we can do."
"With so much rain falling so quickly, the water doesn't have a chance to soak into the hard-packed rocky soil,"
Arizona's monsoon season runs roughly from June to September, when powerful storms form with heavy rain and whipping winds. It's a phenomenon that occurs each summer when the winds shift, bringing moisture north from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to produce radical and unpredictable changes in the weather.
meteorologist Gary Woodall of the National Weather Service said.
Sporadic storms were expected to continue across the Phoenix area for the next few days, according to the weather service.
On Tuesday morning, rocks washed down a hillside onto I-17 about 60 miles north of Phoenix, causing several vehicle collisions, but no deaths or major injuries have been reported, said Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Meanwhile, residents of a small trailer park in Black Canyon City along a river about 40 miles north of Phoenix were evacuated late Tuesday morning, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
There was minimal flooding damage to the park, but authorities wanted to get residents to a safe location because water had damaged roads in the vicinity, sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said.
Firefighters from Phoenix and the Daisy Mountain Fire District on Phoenix's northern outskirts rescued at least six motorists in separate incidents, Phoenix Fire Capt. Benjamin Santillan said.
Flights from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were delayed up to two hours while some inbound planes were diverted to other airports until the storms passed.
"We've got units jumping from one car to the next to the next," Santillan said, adding that there were no reports of injuries.
HOUSING
Construction continues for new student housing
While the quad is going up, McCollum is coming down. Although the dorm has been functioning for about 50 years, housing staff decided that it is time for something new.
The changes on Daisy Hill are designed to create more green space on campus. Daisy Hill is being renovated so that Engel Road curves around all the dorms, creating a quad-like space between them, complete with a commons area.
ALICIA GARZA
@AliciaoftheUDK
Over the next year, housing at the University will continue to change in a big way. The changes will not only affect how students live in the years to come, but are currently affecting students today.
"McCollum was at a point where it needed major renovations or needed to be
"The renovations [on Daisy Hill] are going very well. The weather has been cooperating, and we have managed to get a lot done," said Diana Robertson, the director of student housing.
The new common building on the quad between the new dorms will serve all dorms on Daisy Hill, providing a more close-knit campus environment between the students. Downstairs, the common building will have a living room, kitchen and common area, and upstairs, an academic service area will provide services for students seeking help with their academic work.
With the new renovations on Daisy Hill, many people will be affected by the new changes.
replaced — it's been operating for 50 years," Robertson said. "Working with smaller buildings is preferable in creating a closer environment [among students on the hill]. It was also less expensive to build new dorms than to try renovating the old one."
"As an RA, I am really excited about the new opportunities that will come with the two new residence halls on Daisy Hill," said Isaac Bahney, a junior from Terre Haute, Ind. "I've spent time in McCollum and while the hall has a lot
of character,it's very old and needs to be replaced."
Like Bahney, Quentin Aker,a sophomore from Wichita. Kan., is also excited for the new buildings.
Bahney also agrees with Robertson that the quad layout will bring all the halls closer together.
"Future KU students will really enjoy living in the new halls and I can't wait to see the finished products — the plans look exquisite," Aker said.
The new student housing is expected to be functioning by the beginning of the next school year.
Across campus, the Fieldhouse Apartments more commonly known as the basketball housing are also in production. However these apartments will not only provide housing for the basketball team, but also more housing for students returning to the University. The apartments will provide a new and improved alternative to the jayhawk Towers.
Edited by Kate Miller
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