12A
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
Student experiences preparations for Olympics
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing has undergone construction and pollution crackdowns in the time leading up to the Summer Olympic Games. The Chinese government spent at least 540 billion on the city in preparation. Cheenyang Zhao, 18, experienced the changes firsthand.
BY BETSY KUTCLIFF bcutcliff@kansan.com
Litter-free streets, shiny new glass buildings and a crackdown on pollution categorize the changes made during the past few years in Beijing, and international student Chenyang Zhao, 18, experienced this transformation first hand.
Zhao, who comes from China's Sichuan province, is studying English at the University of Kansas. He spent 2006 to 2007 living and studying at Beijing Technology and Business University.
"It is a very beautiful city now"
Zhao said.
The Chinese government spent at least $40 billion tearing down and rebuilding the capital city in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games, according to the Associated Press. Beijing impressed the world with its transformation, and its coming-out party at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games sealed its debut as a global power.
The Olympic Games and the city's transformation speak for the economic revolution and modernization in China, and the country's emergence as a world power, Zhao said.
"I'm very proud to be Chinese because China is developing fast. We have a higher rank in the world," he said, "Now we are respected."
The Olympic games are playing a large part in the Chinese desire to prove themselves to be a contesting world power. The Chinese men and women's gymnastic teams' earning gold medals last week solidified China's position. According to the Chinese team's spokesperson, Zhang Peiwen, this win carried extra importance for the country because of the prestige placed upon gymnasts.
"We all want to succeed and ... show ourselves that we can," Zhao said.
Peiwen told the China Daily that the Chinese were taught to compete against themselves, which, according to Zhao, is the mindset of the entire country.
As of Thursday, the Chinese had won 22 gold medals, eight silver and five bronze. Though the Olympics have shown the pride and determination of the Chinese,
Airport security was also tightened. Chinese exiting the country used to be allowed to bring liquids on the plane, but Zhao said that they were no longer allowed. Before boarding the plane to come to America last week, Zhao was patted down, checked and rechecked at least four times, he said.
To reduce pollution for the Olympics, a schedule was implemented for driving cars in the city, regulated by the last number on the license plate. Though Zhao rode the bus and wasn't affected personally, he said the streets were a lot less congested.
they have also brought out the strict nature of the country.
Karen Schneider of San Diego, and Linda Quinn of Wrightwood, Calif., pose with the scooters they rode across the country in support of breast cancer awareness. The group "Scootin for a Cure" raises money to participate in an uncoming cancer walk.
"The foreigners had their own special line to get through security, and the ones who had passes for the Olympics had another line," he said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
While he said the Olympics were very important for his people, Zhao said he wouldn't be watching most of the games because of new student orientation and the scramble to get ready for school.
- Edited by Jennifer Torline
Women travel country on scooters for cancer awareness
ACTIVISM
BY JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
Linda Quinn of Wrightwood, Calif., and Karen Schneider of San Diego, arrived home after their 7,000 mile trek across the country on scooters just last week. The two started, "Scootin' for a Cure," a fundraiser focusing on breast cancer awareness by driving across the country on Vespa scooters. Quinn and Schneider began traveling at the beginning of July from Wrightwood, Calif., to Middletown, Va., and back. Using only back routes and small highways, it took the pair 25 days to complete the journey.
According to Erica Brown communications manager for the University of Kansas Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society releases a facts and figures report every year determining approximately how many people will die and be diagnosed from different types of cancers.
"For the year 2008" Brown says, "the American Cancer Society has predicted 370 deaths from breast cancer alone in the state of Kansas, while it predicts up to 1,700 will be diagnosed."
Breast cancer is the third leading cause of death relating to cancer in the state of Kansas, and in the United States as a whole. Lung cancer tops the list for both the nation and the state. Throughout the United States, 40,000 deaths relating to breast cancer will occur in this year alone and approximately 182,000 will be diagnosed.
"Ive had cancer in my family," Quinn said, "and then a couple of my co-workers were diagnosed with breast cancer. In January I found a lamp, and even though it was a
benign tumor and I had it removed in March, I felt compelled to raise awareness for something that affects so many people."
The journey started as a way for Quinn to raise money to enter the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Three-Day Walk in October, which costs $2,200. Overall, the riders made $3,210 in donations, but Quinn's personal goal is $5,000.
"I want to challenge myself to raise this money," Quinn said. "The foundation is putting the money in the right place, not just for medical and research purposes, but also for educational purposes. I think that's extremely important."
Quinn said that she wouldn't do that long of a trip again if given the option.
During the three-day cancer walk, participants will walk 20 miles a day, a total of 60 miles. Quinn is walking daily in preparation for the event.
"It reached 122 degrees at one point," Quinn said. "That was by far the worst part of the trip."
She also said that by driving 300 miles or more a day, she didn't get time to stop and smell the flowers. If given the opportunity, she'll make the next trip shorter in order to enjoy the scenery more.
**Worms vermicompost** food into organic fertilizer. Businesses such as the Waste Reduction and Recycling Division use the fertilizer and profit from the organic compost.
Kevin Quinn, Linda's husband, said during the month the two women were on the road, they met and spoke with many people and heard all kinds of stories of people who have personally dealt with cancer.
Aside from Scootin' for a Cure, the Quinnins belong to the group "Royal Bastards Scooter Club," which is a fundraising group that the two use to help out with different causes.
"Linda's a really caring person," Kevin said. "She's a fourth grade school teacher, but this trip was really just about her giving back to other people."
Quinn's Web site, www.scootinforacure.com, includes photos and a daily blog of her travels.
NATURE
Edited by Ramsey Cox
Bug waste doesn't go to waste Worms, lady bugs, bees keep Lawrence green with their organic fertilizer
BY LAUREN KEITH lkeith@kansan.com
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Twas the night before Christmas and as Cassandra Ford would soon see, creatures were stirring, especially the pound of worms packaged under her Christmas tree.
For Ford, who is in charge of composting for the city, getting worms for Christmas was like bringing her work home. Ford maintains the city of Lawrence Waste Reduction and Recycling Division's set of worms that it uses for vermicomposting — a process in which worms break down food scraps into organic fertilizer — in addition to keeping her own vermi-composting worms at home.
"People thought I was crazy," Ford said. "But now when my parents call, they always ask me how my worms are."
Although people benefiting from bugs seems unusual, places such as the Waste Reduction and Recycling Division exploit the bugs' natural processes for the businesses' gain. Different bugs work different jobs, but all bug "employers" profit from the creepy-crawlies.
The vermicomposting worms at the department eat their body weight in food scraps each week, which reduces the department's waste. The worms produce an organic fertilizer, called worm castings, after three months.
"Sometimes we don't have enough at the office to feed them, so some people will bring their food scraps from home," Ford said.
The worms produce something else useful too: more worms. Ford said the department started with one pound of worms (about 1,000) a year ago, but worms produce offspring in just seven weeks.
About a mile down the street from the department's worm bin, other city employees are working in the old Union Pacific Depot's flower beds. The city purchased these ladybugs to fight off the growing aphid infestation.
"From a natural standpoint, lady beetles are great for feeding on aphids," Jeff Whitworth, an extension entomologist with Kansas State University, said. "When you have a large aphid population, they are like cows feeding on grass."
"The worms will die eventually, but you'll rarely have to buy worms again," she said. "You'll have to take some worms out, if anything."
"I've seen too many people put ladybugs in their garden and then they are gone," Greg McDonald, owner of Sunrise Garden Center in Lawrence, said. "But they leave because they didn't have anything to eat."
That clean little Tattoo shop that you've always been looking for + couldn't find
Ladybugs are a natural predator of aphids, but they are the most transient of the bug employees.
Still, the bugs are popular gardening partners. McDonald said he has already sold out of ladybugs for the year.
Unlike ladybugs that leave when the food is gone, other bugs bring the food with them and rely on the keeper to give them a house.
"Every year, we never have any left over," he said.
Richard Bean, owner of Blossom Trail Bee Ranch, who has owned bees for more than 30 years, said he had seen an increased interest in beekeeping.
Although no organization tracks the number of beekeepers in the United States, the number and size of beginner beekeeping classes has increased, confirming the trend.
Bean said he hoped to create a basic beekeeping class.
A national beekeeping conference that took place in California in January registered 1,200 participants, up from about 600 the previous year, according to the American Beekeeping Federation.
"I like to see more people get started," he said. "There are getting to be a lot of beekeepers in Douglas County."
A mysterious disease termed
Colony Collapse Disorder may have sparked some of the recent interest in beekeeping. The number of honey-producing bee colonies has fallen from 5 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million now, according to the Department of Agriculture, causing some people to keep bees in an attempt to be saviors of the food supply.
Whitworth said bees pollinate 80 percent of the crops in the United States.
The cause of CCD is unknown, but some attribute it to climate change, mites or even electromagnetic radiation from cell phone towers.
Bean said so far his 100,000 bees have not been affected by CCD. He said he expected about 100 pounds of honey this season, a larger-than-usual supply that he attributed to the tremendous amount of moisture and the cool spring.
Bean said a freeze last April was the worst climatic disaster he had ever seen.
Like all bug employers, Bean's business and some of his income is largely based on the temperature.
"I had a big bee population and then nothing," he said. "There was nothing for them to work with."
"The bees are such overachievers that someone has to be there to take care of them," he said.
Still, that didn't make Bean nervous.
Although people have relied on bugs to do work for them for centuries, people today have mostly swatted bugs away.
"We receive a lot of benefits that we don't realize, like the breaking down of dead organic matter," Whitworth said. "Willfully or not, we have used insects or been the recipient of beneficial aspects of insects. We have been able to use them where we need to."
Some bugs are little more than a click away.
"Now you can buy worms on eBay," Ford said. "A few years ago, you would think, 'Who would do that?' Now you can find them on the Internet and have them shipped to you overnight."
Edited by Scott Toland