6A
---
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2008
ENVIRONMENT
Alex Bonham-Carter/KANSAN
Orley "Chip" Taylor has been working with bees since he was 14 years old and has been studying the genetics of killer bees for the past 22 years. Taylor will present the lecture "What's Happening to Our Honey Bees, Bumble Bees and Other Pollinators?" at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Natural History Museum in Dyce Hall.
Professor to discuss the importance of pollinators
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA
smiyakawa@kansan.com
Imagine a world with fewer apples, strawberries, peaches and almonds.
Orley "Chip" Taylor, professor of ecology, will talk about the possibility of that world in his lecture "What's Happening to Our Honey Bees, Bumble Bees and Other Pollinators?" at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Natural History Museum in Dyche Hall.
"We simply wouldn't have a lot of those crops in good conditions or great abundance if we did not have honeybees," he said. "They are a crucial element to efficient agriculture production."
Although Taylor's research focuses on monarch butterflies, he has studied killer bees of South America for 22 years.
Taylor said the goal of the lecture was to raise awareness of bees' and other pollinators' roles in humans' food system and ecology. He will focus on honeybees and pollinators used in agriculture and native bees and pollinators that maintain biodiversity.
In addition to producing honey, honeybees are used to pollinate crops to produce seeds and fruits. Taylor said the United States was one of the most dependent countries in the world on the use of bees for pollination of crops.
Taylor said he would also discuss the reason for the decline in the population of honeybees. He said several factors caused the decline, including management issues of the honeybees industry. He said the number of honeybee colonies was not enough for the amount of pollination needed in the country. As a result, bees were moved to various locations across the country by trucks, and many of them were lost during the transportation.
Along with agricultural bees, Taylor will discuss other native bees and pollinators, including beetles and flies, which play important roles in the pollination of native vegetation. He said the diversity of plants and pollinators were interdependent on each other, and if some died then others would too.
sity of plants that they pollinate," Taylor said. "In a natural setting, if we don't have that diversity, then the system becomes simplified to the point where, quite frankly, it becomes boring."
He said maintaining and restoring habitats of plants would attract pollinators and vice versa. He said it would be important for humans to realize they were also part of the interdependence and responsible for natural habitats.
"Everything depends ultimately on the pollinators and the diver-
"We have to be aware of all the things we are doing as a species and having impacts on," he said. "The impact on pollinators can be quite significant because if that impact is significantly negative, it comes back to have negative impacts on us."
Jen Humphrey, communication director of the museum, said that the University had a long tradition in studying bees and that the audience should enjoy Taylor's lecture. She also said the live bee bives were one of the most popular exhibitions at the natural museum.
— Edited by Becka Cremer
MEN'S BASKETBALL
How to organize a camping group
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Tonight's men's basketball exhibition game against Washburn at 7 p.m. is the first opportunity for students to camp out in the halls of Allen Fieldhouse for the best seats in the student section.
The camping group "Phog Phanatics" started a Facebook group to help new camping groups understand camping procedures.
"I think it is a fair way for students to get better seats if they are dedicated enough to camp" said Doug Tetreault, Herndon, Va., senior and a member of the camping group "Markieff Morris' Sharpshooters." "I've been camping for a few years now, and there have been some changes here and there, but nothing drastic."
The only change to the camping process will be the door that students use to enter the fieldhouse. Because of construction, students must enter the door that says "Kansas Athletics Receiving" at the northeast corner of the fieldhouse.
Wednesday morning.
The camping process begins the morning after the previous game. Students form groups with up to 30 students. The group is given a draw for each five members present at the fieldhouse for the 6 a.m. lottery. After the group order has been established, group names are posted on the door near where students camp at the north end of the fieldhouse. Groups that miss the lottery can list their name at the bottom of the list and begin camping any time leading up to three hours before tipoff on game day.
the camping system. Updated for upcoming games and ticket distributions will also be posted.
To help with the problems, Walstrom, a member of the longstanding camping group "Phog Phanatics" that has been around since 1996, created a Facebook group to try to help freshmen and those not familiar with the rules. The group "KU Men's Basketball Camping HO" will allow students to post ideas for ways to improve
Each camping group must have one person camping from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. each weeknight and from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. on weekends. If a student "calls roll", groups go down the list and take each group's attendance. Any group not present is crossed off the list and must start from the bottom if they wish to start camping again for that game.
The first lottery happens
"The problem we had last year was people would call roll call at 9:45 and wouldn't say 'final roll call,'" Walstrom said. "But since it was close to the end, people would assume it was the last one of the night and leave. Then they would call another one at 10 and get groups crossed off. We had a big problem with that last year."
"Sometimes they will only call roll at 6 a.m. when we start and at 10 p.m. when we're done," Tetreault said. "Sometimes they will call them like every hour. It just depends. There are usually more roll calls for bigger games because people try to knock off other groups."
Some schools, such as Duke, force campers to camp outside in tents 24 hours a day. The decision was made years ago for KU students to camp inside and to suspend the camping at 10 p.m. for safety reasons and because the building has wireless Internet available for campers.
The random roll call can create problems. Dru Walstrom, Kansas City, Mo., senior, said random time for roll calls could confuse campers and often caused them to leave early and get sent to the end of the line.
"I think the amount of camping groups would decline if camping were outside," Tetrault said. "I'm not saying that the fans here aren't as hardcore, but Duke is in North Carolina, and it's a different climate compared to here. Plus, being inside is good for the students because it allows us to get things done while we are camping."
"Anybody that wants to camp or wants information about camping can go there and get it." Walstrom said. "We can send out messages as far as when the lottery is and just getting the rules out there so everybody knows what they are so we have less problems with groups getting crossed out and stuff."
On average, 25 groups attend the 6 a.m. lottery, but far more groups are signed up by game time, Walstrom said. Regardless of how many groups are signed up, they all enter the fieldhouse before the regular student line is admitted. As many as 15 students per group are allowed to enter through the camping line, and each member is allowed to each save a seat for 15 other members of their group who have to enter through, the regular line.
Edited by Lauren Keith
NATIONAL Steve Fossett's remains identified in California
MADERA. Calif. — Authorities said Monday they have positively identified some of Steve Fossett's remains: two large bones found a half-mile from where the adventurer's plane crashed in California's Sierra Nevada.
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said DNA tests positively identified the bones as the remains of the millionaire aviator who disappeared last year.
Fossett's widow, Peggy Fossett, released a statement thanking authorities for their work.
"I am hopeful that the DNA identification puts a definitive end to all of the speculation surrounding Steve's death. This has been an incredibly difficult time for me, and I am thankful to everyone who helped bring closure to this tragedy," she said.
Anderson has declined to say what bones were found, saying he didn't want to cause the family further anquish.
The bones were discovered
last week, along with Fossett's tennis shoes and driver's license, which had animal bite marks on them.
Fossett disappeared in September 2007 after taking off from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton for what was supposed to be a short pleasure flight. Law enforcement, fellow aviators and others launched a costly search that covered 20,000 square miles but turned up empty.
Associated Press