8A NEWS
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SCIENCE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2008
Student to share stories of research trip in Thailand
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA
smiyakawa@kansan.com
David McLeod grew up playing with frogs, lizards and snakes. But as a doctoral student of ecology and evolutionary biology, he studies mostly frogs.
"Why not snakes and lizards?" McLeod said. "Frogs are fascinating, and I wasn't likely to die studying frogs."
His lifelong interest took him halfway around the world to Thailand, where McLeod conducted research on fanged frogs.
"I'm not likely to discover new frogs in Kansas," he said. "Southeast Asia is very rich biologically."
McLeod will give a lecture, "Tales from Thailand," at 7 tonight at the Natural History Museum in Dyche Hall.
The lecture is open to the public and will highlight his research and his trip to Thailand.
From 2004 to 2005, McLeod stayed in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Thailand and a national park in northeastern Thailand studying Limnonectes kuhlii, a species of fanged frogs.
Kyle Miller Hesed, 2008 alumnus, traveled with McLeod as a research assistant. McLeod said their daily research started with observing tadpoles in artificial ponds in the mornings.
David McLeod, Ph.D. student, will give a speech at 7 p.m. in Dyche Hall. The lecture is titled "Tales From Thailand," and it will detail the amphibian biodiversity of Thailand. His talk will also include his own fieldwork and research, as well as his current work at the Natural History Museum.
Hesed said they went out into a forest five or six nights a week to make observations and collect specimens.
McLeod said he collected 1,500 specimens of fanged frogs during his fieldwork.
His current research analyzes
the DNA sequences and external morphology of the specimen to present a possible new species of fanged frogs.
McLeod said Limmonectes kuhli was widely distributed from Java to southern China and eastern India. He found the size of the frogs varied despite being categorized as the same group, which he said made him wonder if the species could include more diverse groups.
McLeod said his research as important to understanding biodiversity, which could help countries make better decisions about conservation and the use of natural habitats.
McLeod also said he enjoyed living in a different culture as much as he did studying frogs.
He said Thai people weren't confrontational and didn't show when they were upset. That taught him a different personal interaction.
"It's not easy. It's never just like home," he said. "You always have to adapt to something."
He spent a large amount of time in rural northeastern Thailand,
and said he would like to go back to Thailand or other parts of Southeast Asia to do more biodiversity research in the future.
McLeod is the second speaker in a series of lectures sponsored by the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute.
Jen Humphrey, communications director of the museum, said the lecture would allow the audience to learn more about the world and biodiversity in Thailand.
Edited by Scott R. Toland
Left: Students walk past a campus miniature located on the Kansas Union's third floor Monday morning. The gift was from the senior class of 1977.
Below:The bronze Jayhawk statue looks regally to the sky. The sculpture, located in front of Strong Hall, was a gift from the senior class of 1956.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CAMPUS
Board to choose Class of 2009 gift Past gifts include bronze Jayhawk statue and organ overhaul
BY BRANDY ENTSMINGER
BY BRANDY ENTSINGER
bentsminger@kansan.com
Thousands of students walk past the bronze Jayhawk in front of Strong Hall every day, but the statue is more than a symbol of the University — the class of 1956 gave it to the University to represent its class.
The Board of Class Officers (BOCO) senior advisory board helps decide what best represents the senior class. The board is currently working on choosing the 2009 senior gift, motto and banner. Past gifts have included the bronze jayhawk, a bird bath in front of Lippincott Hall and landscaping at Potter Lake.
Todd Crawford, Leawood senior and vice president of BOCO, said visibility and meaningfulness were the most important aspects of choosing a senior gift.
"It's almost like a 'thank you' to the University for all the opportunities it's given our senior class," Crawford said.
Administrators with expertise working in a variety of fields such as landscaping, museums and libraries provide the board with an ideas of campus necessities.
Lori Reesor, associate vice provost for student success, said past
In 2007 seniors chose to restore the organ in Danforth Chapel because the chapel was being renovated at the time. Last year, the graduating class paid for a brick inlay at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center.
Crawford said it was important to make a visible contribution so seniors would know what their class had given. The contribution could be anything from a statue to a scholarship.
Seniors may have the opportunity to vote on the gift after the advisory board narrows down the options. Crawford said the board must decide if enough students would participate for a vote to be worth the time.
The board must also consider financial limitations. Class dues are the first source of funding and are paid for through optional campus fees.
When choosing a potential gift, the students are required to abide by University guidelines. Most of the buildings on Jayhawk Boulevard are on a historical registry, so they are off-limits to modification.
gifts were a mixture of practical and symbolic items.
Jade Martin, Rose Hill senior and BOCO member, said most students chose not to pay the dues. In order
to raise enough money, the board sells senior class T-shirts paid for by the Kansas University Endowment Association, which will be available in early November.
The board also chooses a motto that will be included on banners carried by senior class officers at graduation. In 2007 the motto was "No longer following footsteps, but making our own." In 2008 it was "Let us not only be satisfied with the distance we have traveled but also with what lies ahead."
Crawford said the motto would represent what the class had accomplished while at the University and what it would accomplish in the future.
The senior advisory board will choose a motto and start narrowing down class gift options at a meeting on Oct.12.
"We've done a lot but we're not done yet," Crawford said. "We're just getting started."
The board is made up of 13 students from a variety of backgrounds and majors. The officers established the board after evaluating applications. Crawford said the BOCO was also planning to organize activities such as community service days to encourage unity within each class.
Edited by Brenna Hawlev
past senior gifts
2006 — A bench and landscaping at Potter Lake
2007 Refurbishment of the Danforth Chapel organ
2005 — Landscape renovations outside Danforth Chapel
2004 — A mural for the Multicultural Resource Center (The mural will be done by VanGo Jams, an after school program that employs high school students to create art and learn the responsibilities of holding a job.)
2003 — Paintings by senior art
1998 — A plaque inlaid with a piece of the Allen Fieldhouse floor and a bronze Jayhawk that hangs in the main entry of Budig Hall to commemorate 100 years of KU basketball
1997 — Bronze KU seal at Budig Hall Auditorium
students for the Kansas Union 2002 Baby Jay display case in the Kansas Union
1993 — Jayhawk Walk on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union
1959 — $1,700 to create the HOPE Award for teachers
1956 — the bronze Jayhawk statue in front of Strong Hall
1945 — $1,200 for crabapple trees
1924 — The "Bell of Classes," now part of the WWII Memorial Campanile
1914 — Bench near Lippincott Hall
1903 A bird bath standing near Lippincott Hall
1890 — A fund for rare books
Source: Sarah Phillips, assistant director of the KU Endowment Association
· Is it Time to Rethink the Drinking Age?
· Do you really think State Senate doesn't matter?
www.ScottMorganForSenate.com\KUStudents.htm
Scott supports the Amethyst Initiative, an effort of colleague
presidents to open a thorough discussion on whether the 21 drinking age is appropriate.
Drunk driving is unacceptable but has the drinking age helped or hurt? Scott thinks it's OK to ask.
Paid for by Scott Morgan for Senate Committee, Brad Finkeldel, Treasurer