Friday
August 23, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 3
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KANSAN
Cross country course still among the best. p.1B
Triplets start college life together
Freshmen triplets adapt to living together in Oliver Hall
By Matt Stumpff
Kansan staff writer
Walk into Oliver Hall, and you may find yourself doing a triple-take.
Erin, Katie and Stacy Keairnes, Overland Park freshmen, have resided in each other's company their entire lives. They aren't ready to separate yet.
Katie had the opportunity to play collegiate softball at several other schools, but wanted to stay with her sisters.
"I thought about going to a different school, but we've lived together for 18 years, so it would have been a hard adjustment," Katie said.
The Keairnes women are fraternal triplets, which means they came from three separate fertilized eggs.
Identical triplets come from one fertilized egg that splits into three.
The triplets live in separate rooms on the same floor at Oliver, but originally requested to live on different floors to meet more people.
Some students regard the triplets as a novelty, said Kelly Hipp, Barrington, Ill., freshman.
"We went to a frat, and everyone just followed us around asking if they were the triplets," Hipp said.
The girls don't mind some of the stereotypes of being triplets, but dismiss the notion of having telepathic abilities with each other.
"You know how people think we can tell if one of the others is sick? We can't do that." Erin said.
Lyndsay Canada, Barrington, Ill., freshman, quickly became friends with the triplets after their arrival at Oliver Hall on Sunday.
SEE TRIPLETS ON PAGE 6A
Triplets Stacy, Katie and Erin Keairnes, Overland Park freshmen, are getting ready for the school year
Jared Soares/Kansa
Faculty shortage hurts atmospheric science
By Justin Henning Kansan staff writer
This is no act of mother nature, but it has still created quite a brouhaha.
Ralf Bennartz, former professor, left the program at the end of the Spring 2002 semester with little warning, said Ray Ammar, chair of the physics and astronomy department.
Budget cuts may cause the American Meteorological Society not to renew accreditation for the University of Kansas' Atmospheric Science program.
Ammar said this lack of notice, coupled with the University's tight budget, has left the program short one full-time professor for at least the next year. The AMS requires the department to have a minimum of three tenure-track professors to keep the accreditation, and currently the department has two.
"It is regrettable that we lost Dr. Bennartz," Ammar said. "But the University has allowed us to seek a temporary replacement, and all courses will still be taught this fall."
Tanya Brown, Fayetteville, N.C. junior, thought the loss of accreditation could cause potential employers to not look at a KU degree with a high regard.
"I feel like maybe I should transfer." Brown said. "It doesn't seem worth my time to wait around for maybe someday getting another full-time professor."
However, Amnar insists another professor is on the way, although not any sooner than Fall 2003. He said talks were already in place with Kim Wilcox, dean of liberal arts and sciences, to begin the search as soon as possible. In the meantime, he said all classes would be taught as though Bennartz had never left.
"It doesn't seem worth my time to wait around for maybe someday getting another full-time professor.
Tanya Brown
Fayetteville, N.C., junior
Promises of a new professor have done little to quiet the concerns of students still in the program. Eric Levy, Overland Park senior, said a loss in accreditation would hurt any student still involved in the program.
"What worries me is that we had the money last year to keep a professor on hand, and now we can't even hire one," Levy said.
The process of hiring a full-time professor takes several months, said Lynn Bretz, director of University Relations. Bretz said the tight budget did nothing to help the situation. Instead, the department is getting by with what it can.
Curtis Hall, instructor in physics and astronomy, has been at the University since 1981. Because he is not on a tenure track, he can teach for only three years as a full-time instructor, which he has already done. Regardless, he said he had worked as a full-time professor for a fourth time last year because of the shortage of faculty in the department.
"This is not catastrophic," Hall said. "We still have a good program."
Contact Henning at jhenning@kansan.com. This story was edited by Chris Wintering.
Chris Burket/Kansan
Lightning struck this tree yesterday near Potter Lake and injured Traci Pillard, Salina senior.
Storm leaves student injured
By Michelle Burhenn
Kansan staff writer
A KU student may have been struck by lightning near Potter Lake shortly after noon yesterday.
Traci Pillard, Salina senior, was walking on a sidewalk east of the lake when lightning struck a nearby sycamore tree, said Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office.
Because of her proximity to the tree, she may have been hit by the lightning too. he said.
"The lightning just struck right in front of me," said Nicole Howard, St. Francis sophomore. "The bark was just flying everywhere."
Howard said Pillard landed face down on the ground and was alert after being hit. She said the Pillard's shoes, jeans and shirt were shredded. She said witnesses near the scene immediately called 911.
Pillard was transported to the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan., by LifeNet helicopter. She was listed in fair condition.
Contact Burhenn at mburhenn@kansan.com. This story was edited by Ryan Malashock.
Park and Ride passes sell out
By Justin Henning Kansan staff writer
The wheels on the bus may go round and round, but they can only hold so many commuters.
The University of Kansas campus bus system, KU on Wheels, sold out of its Park and Ride passes Wednesday, the first time that has happened in the program's history.
"This is a really cool thing, in my opinion," Mike Appleby, transportation coordinator for KU on Wheels, said. "It speaks highly of the program and makes a great case if we ever wanted to expand."
The Park and Ride program offers 1.000
SEE PARKING ON PAGE 6A
Student gored by bull would do it all over again
Lindsey Saint, Overland sophomore, has a bandage and 7-inch scar to remind her of the bulb that gored her in Pamplona, Spain, this summer.
Jessica Havlicek/Kansan
By Vonna Keomanyvong Kansan staff writer
Lindsey Saint never saw the bull charging.
Before she knew it, the 1,200-pound bull dove its horn straight through her left calf. The impact of the charge knocked the Overland Park sophomore into a wooden fence before she landed on the ground.
The 19-year-old looked up and saw the bull still stamping its feet, so she ran. Finding a small crack under a fence, Saint scooted under it. She then looked down at her leg, and all she saw was bone.
"The horn missed every tendon, bone and muscle," Saint said. "The doctors said that another half inch and it would have hit the femoral artery on the back of my knee. So I could have bled to death right in the street."
Saint was on a six-week study abroad
program in Spain. She was one of three people gored July 7 while participating in the annual "Running of the Bulls." The run is part of Sanfermin, a seven-day festival that takes place every year from July 7 through July 14 in Pamplona.
Bryan Rodick, a Wichita senior who ran with Saint, said he was proud of her.
Saint spent five days in the hospital and underwent surgery to take a layer of skin from her leg to replace the skin missing from her calf.
"We called her when we got back to Barcelona, and I just told her that she's the bravest girl that I ever met." Rodick said. "She didn't act scared or anything. If I was in her shoes, I would have been scared to be in a different country with my leg hurt."
"I tried to put myself in her position."
Saint's mom, Ruth Saint, did not even know that her daughter was going to run with the bulls. However, she said she was not upset at her daughter
she said. "However, a lot of kids in their teens walk around with the thought that nothing can happen to them. But once they experience life and know people who have been in accidents and have died, then they'll actually realize that life is real."
By the end of the festival, 12 people were gored by bulls, and 23 people suffered concussions and slight wounds.
The only sign of Lindsey Saint's injury is the permanent 7-inch, horseshoe-shaped scar on the back of her knee and calf, which are still bandaged. Despite her injury, Saint said she would do it again.
"It's a good feeling to say that I did the famous thing." Saint said. "When you hear people talking about it on TV, I can say that I did it."
- Contact Keomanyvong at vkeomanyvong@kansan.com. This story was edited by Amy Schmitz.
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