MONDAY,OCT.1,2001
NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Tourney raises $300 for charity
JAKE TEITELBAUM/KANSAN
Dane Norwood, Paris, Texas, junior, plays Street Fighter, a Playstation game, during a tournament held by The Wheel to raise money for the Ballard Community Center. The competition was on Saturday and raised $300 for the charity.
By Paul Smith Kansan staff writer
Ethan Fincham took three "sonic-booms" to the chest and was thrown across the room twice, but he didn't get a scratch on him.
The Topeka West high school student battled another participant Saturday in the Street Fighter video game tournament, a charity event held at The Wheel Pizza Co. 507 W. 14th St.
Fincham met his electronic demise as M. Bison against classmate Weston Hogan, who played the American military man Guile.
"I'm not very good," Hogan said, "so I choose Guile so I can see Army people get beat up."
Nathan Loukedes, Manchester, N.H., freshman, organized the charity
tournament, which benefited the Ballard Community Center in Lawrence, which offers early childhood programming, emergency food and a medical prescription program.
With more than 40 registered participants, who each paid the $5 admissions fee. Loukedes said the tournament raised $300 for the center.
"Ballard and other local organizations could use this money," Loukedes said. "We kept costs down to $50, and the rest goes to charity."
Fifteen local businesses contributed promotions and prizes for the charity event, including Loukedes' two employers The Wheel and Gameco.
Loukedes organized the benefit in order to do something for kids.
"Kids like games, and
they also like feeling wanted," he said. "The hobby of gaming has spread to a larger community, and it's not as unhealthy as people think."
Kelly McCoy, Pittsburgh senior, helped coordinate the charity tournament and is a collector of vintage video game systems.
"You name it, I got it," McCoy said. "I collect hardware, not software. I'll buy one or two games and then get bored with them. It's a lot of money down the tubes."
Andrew Israel, St. Louis sophomore, was one of many observers at the tournament.
"I've never owned a game system," Israel said. "It's as fun to watch as it is to play."
Contact Smith at 864-4810
Improved Pap smear offered at Watkins
By Matt Norton Kansan staff writer
Beginning today, gynecologists at Watkins Memorial Health Center will offer an improved technique for conducting and analyzing Pap smears. The procedure will better detect abnormalities, produce fewer false negatives and fewer unreadable samples, Watkins officials said.
Henry Buck Jr., coordinator of gynecology at Watkins, said the Pap smear was designed to identify abnormal cells around the cervix, which might be pre-malignant or malignant. He said that while few tests for college-age
women found malignant cells, around 10 to 15 percent of abnormal findings included pre-malignant cells. These cells can turn into cancer, usually in 15 to 20 years, Buck said.
He said that, if they were identified early, the treatment was simple and effective.
Buck said the keys to the new procedure were the use of a brush that fit the anatomy of the cervix opening better than old wooden instruments, and the fact that the brush was placed directly in solution after the sample had been taken. The lab can obtain much clearer results from the new procedure, often eliminating the
need for women to come back in for repeat tests, he said.
About 50 percent of clinics nationwide are using the new procedure, Buck said.
Myra L. Strother, assistant director at Watkins, said Watkins officials had been looking at applying the new procedure for about a year and a half. They wanted to make sure the procedure was well-received in medical circles, and that the cost increase would be benefit KU students.
Strother said the new test would cost $40, an increase of $20 over the old test, but still much less than it cost at other clinics.
The costs for a visit to a gynecologist outside Watkins, including testing and lab costs, could exceed $100, she said.
Melissa Buren, Emporia sophomore, said that she thought it was unfortunate that a "weird and awkward" procedure would have a price increase.
But, she said, if the new procedure produced better results, it might be worth the higher price.
Strother said she wanted to stress that women over the age of 18 or who were sexually active should get an annual Pap smear.
Contact Norton at 864-4810
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