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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14,2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120ISSUE 39
NATURE
Kansas landscape inspires new book
**The Monument Rocks, large ancient chalk formations, stand in the northeast of Kansas. The Nature of Kansas Lands, released today, captures the beauty of Kansas landscapes. So many people have misconceptions about Kansas because of what they have seen in movies," said Jason Fitzell, executive director of the Kansas Land Trust. The book provides photos and facts about the landscapes from local locations.**
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA smivakawa@kansan.com
smiyakawa@kansan.com
Waterways, woodlands and 80-million-year old rock formations aren't usually associated with Kansas, but Elizabeth Schultz hopes to change that.
Schultz, professor emerita of English, is one of the contributors for the book "The Nature of Kansas Lands," which was released today and was sponsored by the Kansas Land Trust.
The book shows Kansas' biodiversity and landscapes, from Buck Creek Valley in the northeast, to the ancient Monument Rocks in the northwest and the Flint Hills in the east.
"I believe wherever people live, they should become familiar with it and know it deeply," Schultz said. "They will then take care of it."
Beverley Worster, editor of the book and president of the Kansas Land Trust Board of Directors, said contrary to stereotypes, Kansas had a variety of landscapes, including cliffs, grasslands and high plains.
She said pictures and ecological information supplemented the essays to show the diversity.
"It is meant to stimulate people to leave the four-lane, eight-lane highways and rediscover the state," Worster said.
Worster said many people, even Kansas natives, didn't learn about Kansas because textbooks in the United States were often geared toward California, New York and Texas.
"You grow up believing that every beautiful place is somewhere else, every famous person lives somewhere else, and every exciting event occurs somewhere else," Worster said. "When you graduate, you kind of want to go to somewhere else."
She said she hoped the book would cause readers to reconsider the values of Kansas' natural landscapes and think about how they could preserve them for future generations.
Profits from the book will support the Kansas Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that protects and preserves lands of ecological and scenic significance in Kansas.
Jason Fitzell, executive director of the Kansas Land Trust, said the Land Trust had protected 7,000 acres of land from development in Kansas. He said the organization wanted to double that number in the next five years.
Worster said preserving Kansas' nature could be beneficial for many reasons. She said some areas were home to endangered species.
She also said preserving native soils could contribute to national security.
"We are making sure that some of the best soils in the United States are going to be there for food production forever," she said. "This is very important concept that many countries overlook."
Kelly Kindscher, associate scientist for the Kansas Biological Survey and courtesy associate professor of environmental
studies, wrote the ecosystem facts for the book
He said he was surprised to learn about the diversity of animals and plants in Kansas as well as the state's different landscapes. He said he encouraged students to take road trips to visit different areas of Kansas during school breaks.
His favorite places in Kansas include Horse Thief Canyon in Hodgeman
County in the southwest, the Cheyenne Bottoms in central Kansas and the Flint Hills in southeast Kansas.
"The Nature of Kansas Lands" is published by the University Press of Kansas, and is available for order at its Web site or at the Oread Bookstore in the Kansas Union.
— Edited by Ramsey Cox
ENVIRONMENT
Program integrates climate change, public policy
BY JOE PREINEk
jpreiner@kansan.com
A new program offered at the University helps graduate students warm to ideas of applying their interests to Earth's changing climate.
Climate Change, Humans and Nature in the Global Environment, or C-CHANGE for short, focuses on interdisciplinary training for Ph.D.-seeking graduate students. The goal of the program is to relate various fields of study to the environment.
Five graduate students in various fields of study are taking the course this semester. They are the first students of the eventual 22 who will complete the training program during the next five years.
Participants listen to a lecture on the changing legal climate presented by Andrew Torrance, associate professor of law, in Spooner Hall Monday afternoon. The part is of a new program that will focus on relating various fields of study to climate change and the environment.
Joane Nagel, University distinguished professor of sociology and project director of the C-CHANGE program, said getting funding for the program was competitive. She said that of the applications the National Science Foundation received, only about 20 percent were awarded funding. Nagel said the program, which is the first of its kind in Kansas, was important for understanding policy processes.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
"The biggest issue here is policy," Nagel said. "Policy decides whether your research findings are used or not. The training will
KU NAVY ROTC
KU Navy ROTC completed tasks at an outdoor challenge course Sunday. They learned basic leadership and communication skills by doing teambuilding activities like crossing a line of hanging tires and climbing over a 20-foot wall.
Training emphasizes teamwork
FULL STORY PAGE 6A
SEE CLIMATE ON PAGE 3A
ARTS
Department of theatre to diversify itself
The Multicultural Theatre Initiative, a new student organization, works to increase diversity in University theatre. The organization is rehearsing for its first production, playwright Joe Penhall's "Blue/Orange."
FULL STORY PAGE 3A
index
Classifieds...3B
Crossword...4A
Horoscopes...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise; © 2008 The University Daily Kansan
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Bond Girl promotes movie in Moscow, visits hometown in the Ukraine. MOVIES | 4A
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