8A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY LANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
CAMPUS
Professor says treatment was embarrassing, unfair
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambers@kansan.com
A KU professor who was recently placed on administrative leave and banned from his office said the University of Kansas was unjustly punished him.
Tom Schreiber, an associate psychology professor, received a paid leave of absence notice on Aug. 29 that banned him from his office in Fraser Hall until further notice.
According to Schreiber, the letter said he was being placed on leave because he had been keeping his cat, Persephone, and a sleeping bag in his office, which led University officials to believe he was living there. The letter also said he was being reprimanded because his office was disorganized.
But Schreiber said he had relocated Persephone two days prior to the note. He also said officials were mistaken about the sleeping bag as well, which was really a dog bed a student had left in his office.
He said the disorganization of his office was not justification for their actions because his office has been messy since he came to the University 14 years ago, and he had never been reprimanded before.
Schreiber said that he had been working in his office until late at night in the days leading up to his temporary dismissal, but that he was by no means living in his office. He said even if he was, the psychology department should have asked him if he needed help.
Schreiber said he thought there might be a connection between his present situation and his attempts to publicize scientific treatments for several diseases, including Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's Disease.
He was scheduled to give talks last week at Spooner Hall on his
research, but the talks were canceled because Schreiber was also arrested at the time he was banished.
According to Schreiber, he was arrested after the three KU Public Safety officers who served him his notice realized there were two Lawrence Police Department warrants out for his arrest. Schreiber had failed to appear in court for two traffic tickets the week before, resulting in the warrants.
Schreiber said that the officers purposely took a long time searching and handcuffing him, and that he was publicly embarrassed.
"You see a professor, me, getting carried away in handcuffs and you think, 'Oh my God!' What did he do? Rape someone?" he said.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey, spokesman for the KU Public Safety Office, said he couldn't comment on the specific situation because he wasn't there. Bailey, however, said it was their policy and the jail's policy to restrain arrestees for the safety of the officers.
Schreiber then served 10 days in jail because he could not pay his bail. He was released Monday.
Schreiber said he still does not have access to the personal items
that were in his office.
Todd Cohen, director of University Relations, declined to comment about anything involving Schreiber.
Schreiber said he was not angry nor did he want the University to apologize for its actions. His only request is that the University helps him fulfill what he believes is his social responsibility — getting his treatment into people's hands.
"This is not about personal glory. This about people's lives," he said.
CAMPUS
— Edited by Arthur Hur
Research booms despite financially strapped times
A wide variety of projects depend on sparsely given federal funding
BY HALEY JONES hjones@kansan.com
Sara Gould arrives at work on the second floor of the El Centro building in Kansas City, Kan., to review data from her research on
early childhood language development. Gould, a fifth-year graduate student, is a graduate research assistant at the Juniper Gardens Children's Project. The project is one of the 13 research
gram would not exist, and an estimated 1,200 infants and toddlers might not receive help.
There are 23 total projects at the children's center and they are all funded externally from the University. The grants that sup-
Spending from all grants and contracts totaled more than $195 million for the 2007 fiscal year, an increase of about $5 million from 2005.
centers associated with the Institute for Life Span Studies. And it isn't costing the University a dime. The Juniper Gardens Children's Project is 100 percent externally funded, with the majority of its funds coming from the federal government.
Without federal funds, this pro
port them
range from
$10,000 to
$10 million.
Hundreds of research projects like this are being conducted every day at the University.
By the numbers
They are all made possible
by grants from sources like institutions, corporations and the U.S. government, which contributes about 60 percent of all research funds at the University.
Gould is working on a federally funded project to promote language and literacy in infants
Total University research spending:
2002: $172,131 million
2003:$173,024 million
2004: $181,192 million
2005: $190,105 million
2006: $195,947 million
University research spending from federal funds 2006: $115,522 million 2005: $110,768 million National federal funding dropped from 64% in 2005 to 62% in 2007
and toddlers with disabilities. She is planning to visit the homes of families who have children with disabilities. During the visit, Gould will consult and coach parents on how to implement helpful strategies that will help their children develop normal language abilities.
Projects like the one Gould worked on helped the University move from 45th to 44th place in a ranking of science and engineering research spending, according to new data from the National Science Foundation. The ranking measures spending at universities, with first place awarded to the highest spender.
Kevin Boatright, director of communications for the office of research and graduate studies, said the increase showed that KU researchers had secured more funding than last year from government and institutional sources.
The leading sources of funding for the University were the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Departments of Education, Energy and Health and Human Services.
Last year, state funds accounted for 24 percent of the University's research budget, and grants or contracts accounted for 20 percent. For every dollar of state funding the University received, it created three dollars of other revenue, such as grants and contracts supporting KU research.
Spending from all grants and contracts totaled more than $195 million for the 2007 fiscal year, an
increase of about $5 million from 2005.
The federal government is the largest source of funding for academic research and development. It has accounted at least 60 percent of all research spending most years since 1972.
Provost Richard Lartiviere said it was remarkable for the University to have moved up in spite of the nation's economic downturn.
Lariviere said the competitiveness of the research programs at the University accounted for its resilience during a time when federal support was down. Research related to cancer, bio-materials, education, disabilities, climate change and drug discovery contributed to the University's success.
Lariviere said he was confident that the future of the research programs at the University was safe because the research met the needs of society, even though the government had fewer grant dollars to award and more applications for those dollars.
1,600 funded projects at any given time. He said the projects varied in size and scope but were equally important. He also said the overall number of projects demonstrated a strong public interest in the work the University was doing.
Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies, said the University averaged
Warren said the effect of the research on the major challenges facing the world was more important than the number of research dollars granted to the University.
He said research like that being done by KU faculty and students was key to the future international economic competitiveness of the U.S.
John Columbo, interim director of the Institute for Life Span Studies, said the decrease in federal funding had created a backlog of research proposals that could not be financially supported. He said KU researchers had often moved themselves to the front of that line by persevering and continually revising and resubmitting proposals.
Edited by Kelsey Hayes
WEATHER Authorities recommend evacuations in Ike's wake
HOUSTON — Authorities in the Houston area and along the Southeast Texas Gulf Coast ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate Thursday as Hurricane Ike lumbered toward the coast and threatened to grow even stronger.
Traffic was building on roadways leading away from low-lying areas in Galveston County, and officials urged residents to finish storm preparations quickly. Some gas stations were running out of fuel as residents scurried to leave.
"It's a big storm. I cannot overemphasize the danger that is facing us," Gov. Rick Perry said at a news conference. "It's going to do some substantial damage. It's
Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the Texas Gulf Coast from the Louisiana state line to near Corpus Christi. The warning, which also extended east along much of the Louisiana coast to Morgan City, means hurricane conditions could reach the coast by late Friday with the front edge of the storm before its powerful center hits land over the weekend.
In Houston, gleaming skyscrapers, the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center lie in areas that could be vulnerable to wind and floodwaters if Ike crashes ashore as a major hurricane.
going to knock out power. It's going to cause massive flooding."
Ike is expected to become at least a Category 3 storm, with winds upward of 111 mph, before it comes ashore, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.