University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, September 30. 1986
3
News Briefs
Drug trial begins for Lawrence man
The trial of a Lawrence man who was indicted in July on drug-related charges will continue today in Federal District Court in Topeka.
Christopher Clark, 24, 2516 Morningside Court, was indicted, along with 20 others, on July 22 by federal agents. He was charged with distribution of cocaine and distribution of methylenedioxy methamphetamine, a non-narcotic drug commonly known as "Festasy."
Clark's lawyer, James Vano, is scheduled to present his client's case this afternoon.
Yesterday, jury selection began at 9:30 a.m. Kurt Sherwin, U.S. attorney, presented the prosecution and jury before the trial recessed at about 4 p.m.
Clark also has been charged in state court with one count of selling cocaine. He is scheduled for trial on Oct. 15 in Douglas County District Court.
Six freshmen chosen as award recipients
Six KU freshmen have been chosen to receive Chancellor's Club scholarships, the most prestigious award given to freshmen, for the 1986-87 school year.
Each year, the Kansas University Endowment Association awards five in-state freshmen with $1,500 and one out-of-state freshman with $2,000, according to Fred Conboy, director of the Chancellor's Club. The scholarships are renewable for another three years at KU.
The scholarship recipients are:
Danny Lutz, Great Bend; Dawn Slade, Lawrence; Elizabeth Young, Dodge City; Travis Butler, Lenexa; Mitchell Allen, Wichita; and Joe Johnston, Columbia, Mo
Fraternities honored
Several KU fraternities have received national recognition recently for being top chapters in the nation.
The Sigma Nu fraternity, 1501 Sigma Nu Place, received the Rock Chapter Award this year for chapter excellence. The Sigma Nu chapters are judged biennially on academic performance, campus involvement, community service and overall chapter organization.
Beta Theta Pi fraternity, 1425 Tennessee St., received the Francis H. Sisson Award, which recognizes the top Beta chapter in the nation. Beta Theta Pi also received the V-Tech Award, as the Beta chapter with the highest grade point average.
Sigma Phi Epsilon, 1645 Tennessee St, received the biennially awarded Buchanan Cup for ranking in the top 10 percent of the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapters in the nation.
Sigma Chi, 1439 Tennessee St., received the Peterson Award for the fifth year in a row. The Peterson Award recognizes Sigma Chi chapters for overall excellence.
Pi Kappa Alpha, 2000 Stewart Ave., received the Chapter Excellence Award for the 1985-86 school year. The award goes to Pi Kappa Alpha chapters that rank in the top 30 chapters nationally.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms and a high temperature in the mid-60s. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms and a low temperature in the mid-50s.
From staff and wire reports
Whooping cough confirmed in county
By COLLEEN SIEBES
The first case of whooping cough in many years has been confirmed in Douglas County. An outbreak in Topeka already has killed one child and afflicted 121 people.
Staff writer
Barbara Mikkelson, head nurse at the Douglas County Department of Health, said county health officials hoped an outbreak here would be prevented because 97 percent of school-age children in Douglas County have been immunized.
been immunized.
She said that in the case reported in Douglas County, the affected person had not been immunized.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection that begins with symptoms similar to those of the common cold but can lead to fatal diseases such as pneumonia and encephalitis.
A victim will first experience a runny nose and a minor irritating cough, but within one or two weeks, the cough will develop into severe spasms.
Mikkelson said whooping cough was more serious in infants and young children, who are highly susceptible to the disease. But whooping cough also occurs in older children, adolescents and adults.
The whooping cough vaccine, DTP, is given to infants in conjunction with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. Mikkelson said children should receive four DTP shots — at two months, four months, six months and 18 months after birth.
The vaccine is 80 percent effective, and those who contract wheezing cough after immunization will usually have only a mild case of the disease. Mikkelson said.
She said children who contracted the disease usually could returned to school after five days of antibiotic therapy.
Mikkelson said all physicians, nurses and day-care workers in Douglas County have been notified to watch for symptoms of whooping cough in children and to alert parents about the disease.
Since July, the Kansas Department of Health
"The situation is not under control," said Bob Moody, spokesman for the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, a division of the KDHE.
and Environment has confirmed 121 cases of whooping cough in Shawnee County and has reported another 25 suspected cases.
Statewide, 135 cases have been confirmed and 45 suspected cases have been reported since July.
moody said some parents didn't have their children immunized because they were afraid of the risks involved with vaccination.
Moody said the KDHE recommended that county health departments increased awareness about the importance of immunization. A high level of community immunization is the best defense against whooping cough, he said.
A report from the KDHE showed that for two days after being vaccinated with DTP, a small number of children were feverish and irritable
One in 20 will have a fever higher than 102 degrees, one in 1.750 will have convulsions and
episodes of limpness and paleness, and one in 310,000 will have permanent brain damage, the report said.
But the risks of not being immunized far outweigh the risks of being immunized, Moody said.
"No medicine is free of risk," he said.
Moody said health officials were concerned about the fatality potential of the outbreak, emphasizing that historically whooping cough has been a very serious killer.
Before a vaccine was developed in the 1940s, approximately 265,000 cases of whooping cough were reported annually in the United States, and 7,000 people died from the disease each year.
Today, approximately 3,000 cases are reported annually in the nation, and between five and 20 people die from the disease each year.
Health officials hope the outbreak will be controlled within a few weeks. Moody said
Margie Chambers/KANSAN
Rain or shine
Despite heavy showers yesterday, 10-year-olds Micah Forman, left, son of Tom and Nancy Forman, and Michael Copeland, son of Dan and Caroline Copeland, deliver the Lawrence Daily Journal-World. The rain didn't seem to bother the two boys.
By CRAIG HERRMANN
KU officials teach danger of asbestos
staff writer
Four members of the KU asbestos removal program went to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to spread the word about the dangers of asbestos and how to handle them.
Officials from KU's National Asbestos Training Center conducted a seminar from Sept. 9 to 12 on asbestos removal techniques.
The asbestos program officials travel across the country, instructing contractors and company representatives on handling asbestos.
Lani Himegarner, project coordinator for the Center, said last week that the trip benefitted the participants who attended the seminars, as well as benefitting the program itself.
KU officials drove one of the two mobile training units, a modified 42 foot semi-trailer, to Washington.
The program educates participants on the uses for asbestos, the health effects and the procedures for controlling it. The sessions include lecturing in a classroom and hands-on training in the mobile unit.
The center gained positive attention from the government and officials who supported the initial grant from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1985, she said.
Sen. James Abdnor, R-South Dakota, was one official impressed with KU's program and training unit, Himegarn said.
She said Abdnor had supported the Environmental Protection Agency's grant to begin the five National Asbestos Training Centers nationwide.
"We wanted to show the people in Washington something tangible." Himegarner said.
The trailer made it easier for officials to see government investments, she said.
Although four other universities received EPA funding to begin asbestos training programs, KU is the only university that has mobile training units.
According to the EPA, direct exposure to asbestos has been associated with lung cancer, as well as other chronic lung diseases. In all asbestos-related diseases, many years pass between the exposure to the fire-proofing material and the appearance of the disease.
The other four universities that received EPA funding are Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; Tufts University in Medford, Mass.; University of Illinois-Chicago; and University of California-Berkley.
The University's training trailers seem to exemplify one of the program's slogans: "Participants learn
by doing.
Each trailer contains respirators, vacuumums, decontamination chambers and other equipment necessary to teach seminar participants how to handle asbestos removal.
The trailer helps participants receive training in preparation, removal, clean-up and disposal of asbestos.
Himegarner said she thought contractors were attracted to the University's asbestos training seminars because 16 states required them to be certified in asbestos removal and because of the program's instructors.
"We are able to provide people attending the seminars a complete picture of the asbestos removal process because we have so many different types of instructors," she said.
Speed bill spurs hope for 65 mph
Staff writer
By KIRK KAHLER
The possibility of raising the speed limit 10 mph on certain stretches of highways has raised the hopes of some drivers and drawn fire from some Kansas officials.
The bill to allow states to raise the speed limit to 65 mph passed Sept. 24 in the U.S. Senate and is now before the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. James Howard, D-N.J., chairman of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, on Friday proposed to allow the higher limit if states ban radar detectors, require drivers to wear seat belts and assure compliance with the higher limit.
Howard, who wrote the 1974 law that set the 55 mph speed limit, said the conditions placed on the 65 mph speed limit should save 7,000 lives a year.
But the Kansas Highway Patrol disagrees with Howard's argument
Lt. Bill Jacobs, public information spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol in Topeka, said the department wanted to retain the 55 mph speed limit for safety reasons.
Anytime two cars collide at a greater speed, he said, the possibility of serious injury increases.
"If the highways would be safe at 65 mph, then they would be a lot safer at 55 mph." Jacobs said.
Under the bill's provisions, speed limit increases would be allowed on interstate highways outside communities that have populations of more than 50,000.
Catherine Mayoza, Tulsa, Okla. senior, who drives between Lawrence and Tulsa, said she would like to see the limit increased to 65 mph.
"Fifty-five is way too slow for that long of a trip," she said.
wimam Watts, assistant director of planning and development for the Kansas Department of Transportation, said he recognized the issue's pros and cons.
Howard is asking Congress to accept the following conditions on the speed limit provision before negotiations on the highway bill begin:
Before raising their speed limits, states must achieve and maintain a 65 percent statewide use of seat belts and ban the use of radar detectors
To maintain eligibility for the higher speed limit after the first year, states must have a minimum of 85 percent compliance on all roads posted above 55 mph.
Any state that shows an increase in the fatality rate on the roads posted above 55 mph must reduce the speed limit to 55 mph.
The Associated Press supplied some information for this story.
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