Thursday
October 3, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 31
Today's weather
68°
Tonight: 56°
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or Kyle Ramsey at 864-4810
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
Barber shops are a downtown mainstay Read about it in this week's Jayplay
Meteorologist on cloud nine
Lindsev Gold/Kansan
Ross Jensen, Ellsworth junior, started at Channel 6 News as an intern reporting the morning news in July 2001. He was made chief meteorologist in May and receives two hours of KU credit plus a full time pay-check.
By Vonna Keomanyvong
vkewomanyvong@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Nothing gets Ross Janssen more excited than a severe thunderstorm. Janssen, a meteorologist has to get excited. It's part of his job.
The twenty-one-year-old Ellsworth, Kan. junior forecasts the weather at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., Monday through Friday for Channel 6 News.
"How the storms behave is interesting," Janssen said. "The weather always seems to change. It's so much fun to watch and see what happens."
Janssen said he spent about an hour every day forecasting the weather.
At 2 p.m. he sits down and logs on to the National Weather Service Web site and downloads its weather charts, which say what is happening in the atmosphere.
Once he assesses the current weather situation, he compares the charts with computer models on the National Center for Environmental Prediction site.
"I compare the charts to see which model is doing the best job predicting the weather," Janssen said. "Once I figure that out, I use that model to develop my forecast."
Cody Howard, news director for Channel 6 News, said Janssen had a strong work ethic. He said when the chief meteorologist left in May, Janssen worked extra hours until they hired another meteorologist. For two weeks, Janssen arrived at the station at 4 a.m. and worked until 12
p. m. He also worked from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"He was our May employee of the month," Howard said. "Most people would not have worked as much as him. But he did it and never complained. He had a smile on his face the whole time."
Janssen first fell in love with weather in seventh grade. He said he used to make sure he watched a weather broadcast every day.
In high school, Janssen turned his dream into reality. He started out as a trained storm spotter for the National Weather Service. He interned at KWCH TV 12 in Wichita, a CBS affiliated station and he also helped install a weather station in his high school.
His mother, Roxie Janssen, said her son had always been fascinated with clouds.
"He eats, breathes and lives weather," Roxie Janssen said. "This is something that he truly loves. I don't think he'll ever get tired of it."
Janssen said it drove him crazy not knowing what tomorrow's weather would be.
"I can't see how anyone can go throughout the day not knowing what the weather is going to do," Janssen said. "To me, it doesn't seem right."
Janssen said he hoped to someday go back to KWCH TV 12 or at least stay somewhere in the Midwest.
"The weather here is perfect for a meteorologist," Janssen said.
—Edited by Sarah Hill
ECM offers students housing,fellowship
By Matt Stumpff
mstumpff@kansan.com
Kansan staff worker
Kansan staff writer
Community dedication can lead to inexpensive living at one of the closest locations to campus.
In the basement of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building, six University of Kansas students found a place to live and radical fellowship, what the ECM calls "Koinonia."
The basic requirement for residents is to participate in ministry activities at ECM, 1204 Oread Ave., at least three hours a week. Sarah Trowbridge-Alford, Lawrence senior and Koinonia resident, said ECM presented great opportunities for residents.
"Meeting new people is so easy," she said.
Trowbridge-Alford said she enjoyed
participating in ECM events such as Veggie Lunch, which ECM puts on at 11:30 a.m. every Thursday.
Residents are also required to meet two hours every week to have dinner together.
Thad Holcombe, campus pastor for ECM, said the different groups in Koinonia each year became so close that it was difficult to understand some conversations. He said sometimes residents began talking in code.
"Each community develops its own personality." Holcombe said.
This year presented a unique situation for Koinonia. Five of the previous residents moved out, an unusually high number according to Holcombe.
"It's a pretty radical shift when you have five new people," he said.
Zach Straus/Kansan
Students applying to join the commu
Michael Graham, Topeka sophomore, does homework in his room in the basement of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building. The ECM has provided students with a place to live since 1961.
nity have to be interviewed by previous residents.
Students pay between $255 and $281 per month for rent at ECM.
Isa Kretschmer, Lawrence senior, is the only returning resident this year. He began his third year in Koinonia this fall.
He said the group changed significantly each year regardless of the number of returning residents.
"It's a dynamic community that continues to change." Kretschmer said.
- Edited by Amy Schmitz
Tomorrow final day for credit option
By Molly Gise
mgise@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
To keep that B from lowering her grade point average, she decided to take the class credit/no credit.
Getting a B in Spanish was a devastating possibility to Ann Foltz when she was a freshman.
"Back then, I thought getting a B was really horrible," said Foltz, Abilene senior. "It really made that class easier for me."
Tomorrow is the last day of this semester that students can choose the credit/no credit option for a class.
According to university policy, students can take only one credit/no credit class each semester, and they cannot take classes in their major as credit/no credit.
Students who choose this option will receive "credit" or "no credit" on their transcripts, instead of a letter grade.
Students often mistakenly call this designation "pass/fail," said Pam Houston, director of undergraduate services in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
"We usually correct them." Houston said. "A student can actually pass a class they got a D in and not get credit for it."
To get a credit for a class with this option, a student must earn at least a C in the class. Houston said.
Most students, like Foltz, take a class for credit/no credit to keep less-than- stellar grades from damaging their GPAs, Houston said.
Students must go the dean's office to fill out the credit/no credit form, Houston said. The three copies are distributed to the school, the registrar's office and the student.
Instructors are not notified if any of their students are taking a class for credit/no credit. This policy ensures that instructors treat students fairly, Houston said.
"You don't want to single students out in the course," Houston said. "It just makes for fairer grading and less of a hassle for the instructor."
John Nowak/Kansan
Instructors assign grades to all of their students. A grade is changed to credit or no credit by the registrar's office after it receives the grades from the instructors.
If a student is currently taking a class for credit/no credit, tomorrow is also the last day for them to change back to taking it for a grade.
Edited by Matt Norton
The property at 205 W. Eighth St. stands vacant. It previously housed Lawrence's only abortion clinic.
Clinic closes doors after five years of business
By Lindsey Hodel
lhodel@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The clinic, 205 W. Eighth St., went out of business and vacated its building Sept. 11. Kristin Neuhaus, physician, operated the clinic since 1997. Her clinic offered surgical abortions, RU-486, the "morning after pill," and counseling about non-surgical abortions.
Lawrence's only abortion clinic recently closed, narrowing the options of women women facing unplanned pregnancies.
The clinic closed because of financial problems and personal issues in Neuhaus' family, said Candy Kruger, media representative for the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Rights in Wichita, a group of religious organizations that supports abortion rights. She said pressure from anti-abortion groups did not cause the clinic to close.
Kruger said women with unplanned pregnancies would definitely be affected by the closing of the clinic.
"The options that still exist for women are getting very narrow," she said. "Whenever a clinic closes, it limits men and women's access to their reproductive rights."
378 women received abortions in Douglas County in 2000, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's summary of vital statistics. In Kansas, doctors performed 12,523 abortions in 2000,6,718 of which
involved women younger than 24.
Some students are not happy about the clinic's closing. Beth Peterson, Kansas City, Mo. senior and member of Womyn's Empowerment Action Coalition, said the closing hindered a woman's right to choose.
"Dr. Neuhaus provided a valuable and necessary service in our community,"she said. "She was a strong advocate of women's rights and she fought to stay open."
Peterson also said the closing of the clinic would definitely limit younger women's access to reproductive health care.
"Not all women have access to transportation, especially if they are younger and have issues with their parents," she
said. "Not everybody can rely on somebody to get them to Johnson County or Wichita."
But Luke Scott, KU graduate and president of United Christian Fellowship, said he thought the closing of the clinic was a positive thing for the community.
"I believe abortion is murder and I don't think it should even be legal, except in rare cases where the life of the mother is at risk," he said.
The closing of the clinic would not affect women's choices, Scott said.
"If somebody really wanted to get an abortion, they would find someplace farther," he said.
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