Thursday inside
'Rocky Horror' revisited
Students let loose at the Student Union Activities' viewing and activities of The Rocky
Horror Picture Show last night at the Kansas Union Ballroom. PAGE 7A
Teaching about culture
Sherman Alexie uses his experiences and humor to
teach others about stereotypes and cultures. PAGE 8A
Many happy returns
Kansas sophomore kick returner Greg Heag-
gans has set two records and he's not resting on his laurels. PAGE1B
Come back `Cats`
The Kansas volleyball team lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Kansas State last night at Horejsi Family Athletics Center. PAGE 1B
Sibling rivalry
Kansas cross county runner Beson
Chesang will meet his brother Mathew, in the Big 12 Conference championships. PAGE1B
Weather Today
7550 mostly sunny
mostly sunny
Two-day forecast tomorrow 6554 saturday 7550 partly cloudy partly cloudy
Talk to us
Tell us your news. Contact Michelle Burhenn-Rombeck, Lindsay Hanson or Leah Shaffer at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
index
Vol. 114 Issue No. 49
Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 1B
Sports briefs 2B
Horoscopes 6B
Comic 6B
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Studentinjured in Iraq
Armv reservist returning home after bombing incident
Amanda Kim Stairett
astairett@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Despite a critical injury, Charles Bartles' mother said he was already talking about coming back to the University of Kansas.
Bartles, a 25-year-old Yankton, S.D., graduate student in Russian and East European studies and sergeant in the Army Reserves, was injured by shrapnel a week ago in Balad, Iraq. His right arm had to be amputated above the elbow and a rod had to be removed from his leg.
"He is doing really well considering
what happened," Nancy Robbins, Bartles's mother, said. "He's in very good spirits."
University officials learned of the incident from a front-page article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal entitled "In a Tent Hospital, A Close-Up View Of Attacks in Iraq."
In the same statement, Paul D'Anieri, director and associate professor of the Center for Russian and East European Studies, said, "Everyone here is shaken up by the news about Chuck Bartles. We wish him strength in facing the challenges that await him, and we hope to see him back at KU as soon as he's ready."
"I was sorry to learn this morning about the wounds that Chuck Bartles suffered while serving on active military duty in Iraq," Chancellor Robert Hemenway said in a press release. "He was serving his country and putting himself at risk in a hostile situation. He is in the thoughts and prayers of the entire Jayhawk family, and we hope he will resume his studies
Bartles was scheduled to be flown yesterday from an Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The flight was cancelled and Robbins said she didn't know when her son would be coming home.
Robbins was referring to Capt. John Teal, a civil-affairs officer who was riding in a Humvee with Bartles when a roadside bomb went off. Sgt. Jared Myers was also injured in the explosion according to the article in the Journal.
here as soon as his condition permits."
"At least he's alive," Robbins said.
"Another gentleman was killed."
Robbins said she last spoke with her son at 6 a.m. yesterday, and Bartles' stepfather, Ken Robbins, spoke with him at 6 p.m.
Bartles was called for active duty in April.
Kansan photo
Students took a break outside Malott Hall as officials from the KU Public Safety Office and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Department investigated a chemical-like odor on the fourth floor. The building was evacuated at 9:54 a.m. yesterday.
Malott Hall evacuated
Students, faculty detect odor, leave for safety concern
- Edited by Cate Batchelder
By Amber Byartay and Amanda Kim Stairrett abyarlay@kansan.com and airstairlet@kansan.com Kansan staff writers
Students and faculty in Malott Hall had an unexpected break yesterday morning when the building was evacuated after a chemical odor was detected.
The evacuation occurred after a fire alarm was pulled on the fourth floor. Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said the alarm was pulled at 9:54 a.m.
Mike Russell, director of environmental health and safety at the University of Kansas, said the alarm was pulled after an employee smelled a strong odor. "When they hit the smell, it took their
breath away so they turned back," said Susan Teague, business manager for the chemistry department.
To prevent anyone from getting sick or injured, the building was evacuated until the Environmental Health and Safety office could determine if the building was safe.
Russell said that students and faculty described the odor as a dirty-air smell, such as the dusty smell that can occur when a furnace is turned on.
The University Public Safety Office, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical's Hazardous Materials truck and fire engines responded to the alarm.
Teague said that there were concerns that a chemical had been spilled in a biomedical laboratory. But Environmental Health and Safety officials didn't find
any toxic fumes after searching the building with chemical detectors. Russell said that by the time he went into Malott to check for toxic fumes the smell had dissipated and he did not notice it.
"What is there, airborne, isn't an immediate hazard," Russell said. "There are odors there, but they are mostly normal chemistry odors."
When no health threat was found, faculty and students were allowed back into the building at 10:50 a.m. Russell said he did not think the incidents, in which two students passed out and the one student was ill in Malott on Oct. 14, were related to this evacuation. Russell said no students or faculty became sick from yesterday's incident.
— Edited by Abby Sidesinger
New pill prevents pregnancy, reduces periods
By Danielle Hillix
dhilix@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Women have a new choice for birth control.
Seasonale is a birth control pill that prevents pregnancy while reducing the number of periods a woman has to four per year. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved Seasonale on Sept 5.
"Isn't that convenient?" said Tracey Allen, educational director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
"It's basically the pill repackaged." Allen said.
Seasonale and the traditional pill have also been found to be similarly effective. When either pill is used perfectly, fewer than one-in-100 women will become pregnant.
Convenience is what separates Seasonale from the traditional birth control pill. The two pills work in the same manner, but are taken in different dosages.
The active ingredients in Seasonale, levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol, are the same as the ingredients found in traditional pills. The risks associated with Seasonale, blood clots, stroke and heart attacks are the same as with the traditional pill. Clinical studies found that the occurrence of these side effects were the same with Seasonale and the traditional pill.
Traditional oral contraceptives follow a 28-day regiment. With the traditional pill, 21 active tablets are taken daily, followed by seven placebo pills. A woman's period happens while taking the placebo pills.
"The pills are basically the same. The difference is in the dosage," Allen said.
SEE NEWPILL ON PAGE 7A
Manan True/Kanan
Watkins Memorial Health Center recently received FluMist, a nasal mist flu vaccine. In the amount of time it takes the doctor to take the FluMist out of the frezer and walk over to the client its ready to inject into the nose.
Flu vaccine gets nose job
By Stacey Archambault editor@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
A healthy winter could be a sniff away. Students now have an alternative to the traditional flu shot. This flu season, the first nasal flu vaccine, called FluMist, will be available to children and adults.
"It's a nasal spray that works very well and is probably more effective, if not at least as effective as the injectable," said Terrance Riordan, chief of pediatrics at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine St.
Riordan has been following FluMist, a product manufactured by MedImmune Vaccines, Inc., for more than a year. The spray is a nasal vaccine that is the same as traditional flu shots, except that FluMist contains a live, weakened virus, while a flu shot is an inactive version of the flu.
FluMist will not be as widely available in Lawrence as a traditional flu shot but
can be found in the pharmacies at local Dillons stores, Wal-Marts and Watkins Memorial Health Center, as well as various doctors' offices in town.
FluMist is not for everybody, Riordan said. The product is only licensed for use for people age 5 to 49.
"We need to be targeting kids under 15 years of age and people over 65," Riordan said. "Those are the highest risk groups."
"It would be a lot better than the whole shot aspect." Sims said.
Riordan is confident that if the drug works well in the 5 to 49 group, it will quickly become available to others.
Lindsey Sims, Topeka junior, said she thought more people would prefer a nasal vaccine.
Sims said the price of the vaccine was a drawback. FluMist costs between $50 and $85 per dose, while a traditional flu shot usually costs anywhere from $10 to $30. Watkins will be providing the nasal vaccine to students at $51 per dose along
Cathy Thrasher, chief pharmacist at Watkins, said she didn't think the nasal vaccine was necessarily superior to the flu shot, but instead, was an alternative.
FluMist is designed to reach out to people who are afraid of needles, Thrasher said. She said the spray could lead to a better vaccination rate.
with traditional shots for $14 each
"In general, I think if we vaccinate everyone, everyone would be healthier with less flu and less illness in the winter," Riordan said. "We would be a remarkably healthier country."
FluMist may seem like the answer to the flu for those who are afraid of needles, but the medical world still has obstacles on the way to a country free of the flu.
"Some people are really touchy about anything nasal, just like some people really have a fear of shots." Thrasher said.