MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3A
University to cut energy costs
Conservation plan reduces utilities by $1.7 million
By Kyle Ramsey
kramsey@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas announced last week an energy conservation plan that would cut energy costs by 21 percent.
The University spends about $8 million annually on utilities, said Rodger Oroke, director of
general services. The new plan will save $1.7 million.
Viron estimated the improvements would cost $18.4 million. The improvements should take about 18 months to complete. Oroke said.
At a cost of $396,434, CMS Viron Energy Services developed the plan, which outlines more than 150 cost-cutting measures campuswide. Viron began evaluating the University's energy habits about one year ago.
These improvements include
installing programmable thermostats, replacing cooling towers and installing solar window film.
Some of the upgrades will replace aging components of the University's energy system, such as a 50-year-old power plant boiler, Oroke said.
The University chose Viron from a group of contractors prequalified by the state to work on KU energy projects.
Orok said he did not know when improvements would begin.
"That's once we sign the contract and say we have the financing squared away," he said.
Viron will provide money for the improvements. The annual $1.7 million in savings will be used to repay Viron's 20-year financing plan.
RU presented the plan Thursday to the Board of Regents for approval. Jack Wempe, chairman of the board, said the plan was approved by voice vote.
"It was pretty impressive," he said.
Edited by Amanda Sears
Study examines benefits of blood donation
KU doctor analyzed donors, estimated lower heart risk
By Lindsay Hanson
Ihanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Giving blood can lower the risk of heart disease, according to a recent University of Kansas Medical Center study.
David Meyers, of the division of cardiovascular disease, conducted the study because he wanted to understand why women usually didn't have heart trouble until after menopause. He found that because they're no longer losing blood regularly, they're not flushing out the body's excess iron, which is a catalyst for oxidization. Iron in the body oxidizes low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or the "bad" cholesterol that hardens arteries.
Meyers' study didn't just affect women. He said the study broke ground for men, too, because me weren't as adept at eliminating iron.
"With men, if you donate blood,you become a virtual
woman," Meyers said. "It's a much more aesthetically pleasing way to menstruate, but we can do it easier; we just donate blood."
Meyers studied blood donation records of about 3,000 men older than 39 and 3,000 women older than 50 from the Community Blood Center in Kansas City. Mo. He wanted to assure the women had undergone menopause and the men would be old enough to have the risk of heart disease. Half of his selected group donated one unit of blood between 1988 and 1990, and the other half donated more than one unit of blood.
To check the donors' cardiac status, Meyers contacted them to find out if they had experienced any heart trouble over the study's 10-year period. He found 10.5 percent of one-time donors had experienced heart trouble, such as a heart attack, angioplasty or bypass surgery.
By contrast, heart trouble had plagued 6.3 percent of the more frequent donors. Meyers also found that frequent donors weighed less and had less of a need to take medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Jay Menitove, director of Kansas City's Community Blood Center, helped to design the study from a blood center's point of view. He said Meyers had done this year's study to correct a margin of error in his 1997 study, which showed that regular male donors might see a 30 percent reduction in their risk for heart disease.
That study concluded blood donors had less of a risk for heart trouble than non-blood donors. The project generated peer criticism because blood donors must pass a health screening test to donate, making for a healthier specimen to study, Menitove said.
The most recent project compared blood donors with other blood donors.
Meyers wanted to test the "estrogen hypothesis" — the idea that estrogen supplements in post-menopausal women will bring them back to the low risk of heart disease that they experienced as menstruating women. Menitove said he didn't know what the study's conclusions meant for the millions of women relying on estrogen pills.
"With men, if you donate blood, you become a virtual woman. It's a much more esthetically pleasing way to menstruate, but we can do it easier; we just donate blood."
David Meyers University of Kansas Medical Center
"IIf were to say to you there was something in it for blood donors, I'd get my wrist slapped by the FDA." Menitove said. "But now there may be more than one reason to consider donating blood."
Loren Malone, Senatovia Miss., senior and student body vice president, said that as a campus blood-drive volunteer, anything to recruit donors could benefit the blood supply.
"Maybe that would help lessen the fear if it were helping yourself too," she said.
Memorial Stadium offers stargazing
By Vonna Koemanyvong
vkeomanyvong@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Edited by Ryan Malashock
Students and residents who want to look closely at the stars don't need to buy telescopes. At the top of the skybox of Memorial Stadium, three black-and-blue telescopes will be set up at 8:30 p.m., Sept. 27.
The telescopes are part of the public night for observation, where students and residents can look at the stars through telescopes provided by the physics and astronomy department. The event takes place on the last Friday of every month during the fall and spring semesters.
Bruce Twarog, professor in the physics and astronomy department, said the observations were important because they taught the public about astronomy.
"The more the public understands what we're trying to do, the more they'll support it." Twarog said. "When people do research, all of that is paid for by tax dollars and the government. So the public should have some idea of what they're paying for."
The physics and astronomy department has held the observations for about 40 years at Lindley Hall.
But Twarog said the department moved the observation to Memorial Stadium last August because the lights from area parking lots were making it hard for people to see.
"Just picture trying to see something in a bright room against a black background," Twarog said. "The lights from
the parking lots provided little contrast."
He said that when it was in Lindley there were about 100 visitors a night. However at Memorial Stadium, only 30 to 40 visitors show up. Twarog said that was because not as many people knew about the new location.
Lori Perry, Wray, Colo. graduate student, said she went to the observations because she liked looking at the stars.
She has been to the observations twice.
"The first time that I looked through a telescope, I thought it was neat," Perry said.
She said she saw star clusters and different binary star systems through the 8-inch diameter mirrors of the telescopes.
Twarog said compared to Lindley Hall, Memorial Stadium was a better location because it had a better view of the horizon and because it stayed dark.
"The best time to look at the sky is when it is totally clear and not a single star is twinkling," Twarog said. "Twinkling is bad because it means that the light goes into the atmosphere and spreads out making the focus go in and out."
Because the sky needs to be clear, the event might be canceled if it is cloudy or if it rains, Twarog said.
In case the event is canceled, it will be rescheduled for 8:30 p.m., Sept.29. For more information, call the observatory at (785) 864-3166.
- Edited by Jessica Hood
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