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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13,2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 61
CRIME
Safety Office investigates fraudulent advertising
BY RYAN MCGEENEY
rmcgeeney@kansan.com
The KU Public Safety Office is investigating a fraudulent classified advertisement that could leave job seekers responsible for bad checks and onerous debt.
The ad, which appeared in The University Daily Kansan, encourages readers to respond to an e-mail address.
"We need a cashier and receptionist urgently," the ad reads. Similar ads can also be found on several employment Web sites.
When a Kansan reporter responded to the advertisement to investigate it, he received a response from an individual identified as "Debbie Mann, Recruitment Manager for Owo Trading Store"
The e-mail describes Owo Trading Store as "a diversified equipment project services company." The e-mail claims that the company introduced itself to the U.S. market in 2007, and has "Had Hiccups receiving Check Payments made by our Customers."
MEDICAL RECORDS
The e-mail asks for personal information including name, address and telephone numbers.
Although the reporter stopped at this point in the process, the next step described in the e-mail involved receiving checks or money orders from the Owo Trading Company. The e-mail instructs the victim to cash the checks using a personal bank account, and remit 90 percent of the amount to the organizer of the scam, while keeping 10 percent.
The problem is that the checks used in such arrangements are typically bad checks. When the bank notifies the victim that the check has bounced, he or she is then liable for the full amount of the deposit — including the 90 percent that has been sent to the organizer of the scam.
Danielle Rittenhouse, Philadelphia senior and classified manager for The Kansan, said that her staff tried to be thorough about preventing fraudulent ads from appearing in the paper in the first place. However, with new students joining the staff each semester, some lessons have to be learned the hard way.
"It's the kind of thing that comes with experience," said Rittenhouse, who noted that some scams appeared perfectly legitimate, creating an area that could be difficult for new staff to navigate.
Rittenhouse said that her staff used a series of precautionary measures that helped to screen out the majority of fraudulent ads. Individuals wishing to place an ad must speak with a member of Rittenhouse's staff over the phone or in person. The staff must have a full name and address on file with the staff, and credit card numbers are never accepted via e-mail or fax.
Rittenhouse said that ads placed by e-mail were generally avoided and were "a big red flag."
"We do our best to keep a wary eye toward fraud," Rittenhouse said. "But it's the customer's responsibility to protect themselves. We do our best to protect the students, but things fall through the cracks."
— Edited by Jennifer Torline
Anna Gerken, a nurse at the Mid America Cardiology Center at the University of Kansas Hospital, demonstrates the hospital's new electronic records system. In October of 2007, the hospital began the process of converting all of its paper files into digital files, making it one of the first hospitals in the Kansas City area to switch to electronic records.
Ryan Waggoner/XANSAN
KU hospital goes all-electronic
BY COURTNEY CONDRON
editor@kansan.com
When a patient called Steve Owens, University of Kansas Hospital cardiologist, a few years ago with a question, it sometimes took Owens two days to request and obtain the patient's chart.
Now, all Owens has to do is log on to the hospital's electronic medical record (EMR) system, and he can pull up past treatments, allergies and illnesses. He can access medical records not just from his office, but from offices throughout the hospital.
"When I'm on call, I can access the record and review the patient's history, even if I'm not personally familiar with the patient," Owens said. "It allows me to be a lot more
accurate in answering the patient's questions or concerns"
The KU Hospital is in the second stage of a five-year, $51 million transition to all electronic records.
This system allows doctors to automatically pull up any information about past visits the patient had at different departments and offices within the hospital. For some
"Trying to operate a hospital on paper is very difficult, if not impossible these
patients, there is some anxiety about whether their records are safe and private, but for doctors this system has increased efficiency.
For the video element of this story, watch KUJH TV News tonight on channel 31 at 5:30 or visit tv.ku.edu.
days," Doug Erich, who directed the EMR switch, said. "With a paper chart, if a patient went to another department in the Hospital, we do the best we could to get that paper chart along with them, but at times it would get lost or delayed."
Erich said that having the information in the electronic system allowed information to go where it needed to go, so that care
providers at the patient's next stop would have access to that information.
For nurses, using computers reduces the chance for errors. They are no longer scribbling down a patient's information on a chart, but rather inputting it into the computer.
Even cardiac devices that monitor heart rate and breathing are directly connected to the electronic system, so a nurse no longer has to log that information on a spreadsheet. Information that has been gathered on paper is now being scanned into the computers, so that electronic records will include as much of a patient's history as possible.
Erich said that each nurse had to go through 16 hours of training to learn how to correctly use the software. The KU Hospital
SEE HOSPITAL ON PAGE 4A
ATHLETICS
New facility stays on schedule to open next fall
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF KANSAS ATHLETICS
A $38 million project that includes a new basketball practice facility and locker rooms for other sports is underway. This graphic rendering shows what the athletics facility will look like when it is completed.
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF KANSAS ATHLETICS
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said construction was on pace to finish in time for the start of next year's basketball season in October.
Construction continues on schedule for the $38 million project that will provide a 11,600 square-foot basketball practice facility near Allen Fieldhouse. The project also includes renovations and new locker rooms and offices for several other sports.
The practice facility will have similar lighting and flooring to that of the Fieldhouse and will feature a court-and-a-half setup with seven basketball goals. Center court from the 2008 Final Four floor will hang on the wall, and banners celebrating championships and all-American players will hang from the ceiling.
"This will be a whole different place come next October," coach Bill Self said. "You won't even recognize it. It's going to be the coolest place in the country, I really
believe, from a facilities standpoint."
In addition to the basketball facility, the project includes renovations to Allen Fieldhouse that will begin in March. It will also provide new locker rooms for sports that currently share with other teams. Baseball, soccer, volleyball, track and field and cross country are among the other sports that will benefit from the project. A donor atrium will also be built in the space between the Fieldhouse and Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
"It helps the other sports because it provides more space for them," Marchiony said. "Space that they really need."
In addition, a new academic center will be built with computer labs and areas for student-athletes to study with tutors and work on homework.
Construction also includes an academic center in the front section of the second level of the Anschutz Football pavilion. Self said. The center will measure between
SEE FACILITY ON PAGE 4A
index
Classifieds...3B Opinion...7A
Crossword...6A Sports...1B
Horoscopes...6A Sudoku...6A
All contents, unless stated otherwise; © 2008 The University Daily Kansan
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