8A the university daily kansan
news
wednesday, november 5, 2003
Experience theatre at its finest The Aquila Theatre Company in
Experience theatre at its finest!
Othello November 7 - 7:30 p.m.
(6:30 p.m.-Pre-Performance Lecture & Artists Talk-Back following performance)
"The EXCELLENT Aquila, an extraordinary, inventive and disciplined outfit"
The SallieMac Fund
A superb contemporary [chamber] sextet "— The New York Times
eighth blackbird
November 9 - 2:00 p.m.
Featuring works by today's composers, Chen Yi,
Steven Mackey, David Gordon and Dennis DeSants.
Music and celebration, characterized by pulsating rhythm and exuberant spirit!
La Bottine Souriante November 14 - 7:30 p.m.
The name means "smiling boot," referencing the worn-out shoes of the working man.
"One of the best live acts of this universe!" -Folk World, Germany
"Gleaming! Fantastic! This is one joyous ride you won't want to miss!"
BEST BUY
Time Out New York
SON'S
THE MUSIC MAN
Saturdav
Featuring classic songs:
"Seventy Six Trombones,
"Trouble" and "Garv. Indiana"
November 15 - 7:30 p.m.
HyVee
For Tickets Call: 785.864.ARTS
Buy Online
TDD: 785.864.7777
Tickets.com
telefonnummer
Conservation lab preserves books
By Robert Perkins
rperkins@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
University department repairs old books damaged by mold, dropped in toilets
On-campus jobs aren't designed to be exciting, they're meant to pay tuition bills.
While some students employees at the University of Kansas wash dishes or sit around for hours on end working desk jobs, a select few brave a lab full of sharp tools every day to repair the University's extensive and constantly-deteriorating library.
Amy Miller, a non-traditional student from Lawrence, works as a conservator on the secluded first floor of Watson Library.
"I've probably hurt myself on everything I have in here at least once," she said. "It's dangerous and exciting."
cals she needs to refurbish worm and damaged books.
All around Miller sit the scalpel, awls, presses and chemi-
Adonia David, a conservation specialist for the libraries, laughed when she heard Miller describe the job.
"Yeah, it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark every day," she said.
Though exactly how adventurous book repair really was could be debated, the student conservators said they enjoyed the important work that they do.
"I really really enjoy it. It's satisfying to fix things," Miller said. "It can be tedious sometimes, but it's better than raking leaves or loading pop machines."
There are 3.5 million volumes in the University's libraries, 90 percent of which are no longer in print.
Each year 1.5 million books are borrowed, which means that tens of thousands of books must pass through the conservators' hands.
"It's hard to walk through a shelf without seeing a couple of examples of what we've done," said Brian Baird, the University's first preservation librarian. "We're starting to have an impact."
Some volumes that come in have mold on them, others have been dropped in toilets and still others are just old and worn out.
Martha Goldman, Overland Park senior painting major, repaired a book yesterday on the first floor of Watson Library. "I like my job here because I get to use my creative side," she said.
Kit Leffler/Kansan
Others, which need more extensive work, are meticulously cared for by student conservators.
In the case of rare old documents that require an even higher level of skill, conservator Whitney Baker steps in and does the work personally.
"I like that there's a hands-on component to my job," Baker said. "I'm not just sitting at a computer all day, which would drive me insane."
The process of repairing old books can involve anything from washing acidic paper to stripping and rebinding spines to sewing pages back together.
Conservators got their start at the University in 1994, when the libraries recruited Baird to help
start and run a preservation department.
Four years later, the department found a home on the windowless first floor of Watson. The floor had originally been a poorly-lit lounge with soda machines.
It had been excavated after Watson's construction, the floor uneven because of the varying depths of bedrock below the building.
Baird and his team cleaned up the area and fixed the lighting, turning it into the only conservation lab in the area.
The lab doesn't make a fortune doing outside work, but it does make enough to put a dent in its $500,000 yearly operating cost.
Baird said that the main reason the lab does the work wasn't really the money. It is its responsibility as the only lab in the area to help preserve the region's books for the future.
This sense of responsibility is also why the lab recently cut several student positions in favor of hiring a full-time apprentice, Soline d'Haussy.
With few places around to train the next generation of conservators, Baird said it was important for the University of Kansas to offer an apprenticeship program for those interested.
"It's not something people think of as a career when they're a child," Baker said. "It just makes people feel very connected to history."
— Edited by Scott Christie
KitLeffler/Kansan
Many books at Watson Library are repaired and rebound by students. Kirstina Prahl, Baldwin City sophomore, enjoys the job. "Every once in a while I get to make an artistic decision about what a book will look like and that's really cool," she said.
MARTIN: 21 witnesses still left to testify in delayed murder trial
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
The trial originally had been set to begin Oct. 27. But when the three-judge tribunal its first look at the case — judges in Costa Rica cannot review case files before trials begin — they responded to a motion from the prosecution that accused one of the defense lawyers of a conflict of interest with his client.
The three suspects, locals Kattia Cruz, 28, Luis Alberto Castro, 32, and Rafael Zumbado, 52, have sought public defense for
first-degree murder charges against them. Recent shifts in their defense caused the initial delay after Judges ruled that Zumbado's chosen defender, private attorney Luis Eduardo Venegas, had a conflict of interest. Zumbado was given until last Friday to find a new lawyer.
The prosecution opened the proceedings with testimony from Jeanette Stauffer, Martin's mother. She spoke for nearly two hours, coloring her testimony with childhood photos of Martin and a reading from one of Martin's high school papers that
touted her desire to make a difference. The prosecution presented additional witnesses — one who testified that Castro had four scratches on his neck the morning after Shannon's death and another, a local taxi washer, said he watched Castro and Cruz exit a taxi speckled with fresh blood stains at 3:30 a.m. the morning of Martin's death.
Once the trial reconvenes, it is scheduled to last three more days. But 21 witnesses have yet to testify, Juan Carlos Arce, Stauffer's lawyer in Costa Rica told the English-language Tico Times this week.
During this latest trial delay Stauffer, Martin's mother, remains alone in Costa Rica's capital, San Jose.
"All I can say is that nothing surprises me anymore," Stauffer said.
Those who had traveled with her to Golifto two weeks ago — her husband, an American translator, a Kansas Bureau of Investigations investigator and two of Martin's study abroad friends — couldn't afford to wait any longer and returned to the United States.
Edited by Katie Nelson
2003
Date
Time Tues., November 4 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Wed., November 5 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Thurs., November 6 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Mon., November 10 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Wed., November 12 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Thurs., November 13 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Tues., November 18 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Tues., November 18 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Wed., November 19 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Thurs., November 20 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
Strong Hall, Rotunda
WMHC*', 1st floor conference room
Burge Union, Level 2 Mall
Mrs. E's, Banquet Room
WMHC*', 1st floor conference room
Kansas Union, Traditions Area
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
Delta Chi Fraternity
WMHC*', 1st floor conference room
WMHC*', 1st floor conference room
WMHC* = Watkins Memorial Health Center
Student Health Services at Watkins Memorial Health Center
Flu Immunization Clinics
Main: 864.9500
Dislike shots? A nasal mist vaccine will be offered at the Watkins clinics and by appointment. Cost is $51.
Flu immunization clinics are open to all students, faculty and staff. Cost for the flu shot is $14 and is payable by cash, check or credit card.
Can't make it to a clinic? Call 864-9507 and schedule an appointment to get your flu immunization at a time convenient for you.
A