thursday, october 9, 2003
news
the university daily kansan
3A
University's research programs to benefit from grant
By Amber Bylaray abylaray@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Most University of Kansas students will never know how the $17 million grant the University recently received will affect them. However, students working in Bala Subramaniam's lab are beginning to understand what the money means for them.
The students are finding more effective ways to research with additional, newer equipment.
Researchers are also benefiting from working with scientists from other fields.
The University announced that it received a National Science Foundation grant for $17 million on Sept. 29. The money is going to be used to fund the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis at the University.
Hong Jin, Dalian, China doctorate students, works in the lab and is trying to develop ways to use carbon dioxide in manufacturing. Carbon dioxide
This center, led by Subramaniam, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, is focusing on finding more environmentally friendly ways to manufacture commonly used products such as gasoline.
is found in nature and doesn't create the environmental problems that organic solvents do.
Ph.D. student Hong Jin, Dalian, China, smiled as she and Chad Johnson, Grand Rapids, Mich., masters student, prepared to begin a reaction mixture in Learned Hall yesterday. A $17 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow Jin and her colleagues to better fund experiments and purchase new equipment.
These safer methods will help manufacturers save money because they will not have to spend money to clean the toxic waste that organic solvents create.
Z. Gordon Straus/Kansan
The grant money will help Jin to be more time efficient with her experiments. The money will help the lab buy new equipment and hire technicians who can fix damaged machines.
ment with other labs or go off campus to do experiments. The new space and equipment should help to prevent these difficulties.
Jin said she had not been able to perform as many experiments as she would have liked because others were using equipment or she had to repair damaged machines.
"It's like you have to be a researcher and handle the equipment," Jin said. "You have to be your own technician. It can be stressful."
The money will also fund additional lab space for the research team. The space will be off campus at the University Life Sciences Research laboratories at 15th and Wakarusa streets.
The new lab space should be set up in about six months, Jin said. Until the lab is ready the researchers will continue to work in Learned Hall.
Jin said that she and other lab members had to share their equip-
"Now we have this center and don't have to ask for help," Jin said. "We can get more data and it's more efficient. It's good for us."
Jeff Hodges, Topeka senior, also works in the lab and will benefit from the additional equipment.
However, Hodges said the most rewarding benefit the NSF grant would give was the continuation of the lab's project.
"It's rewarding to know this research will be carried on," Hodges said. "It's not going to stop when I leave."
The new grant also will bring students from various sciences together to work on the same project.
Jin said the new center would have researchers from chemistry, biology, engineering and physics.
Jin said her work in chemical engineering would benefit from working with scientists who had more knowledge in other fields.
"It's all linked together. Everything is combined," Jin said. "I want to do my job better. I can't just stick to chemical engineering."
The grant will benefit students
who don't work in the lab, said Lynn Bretz, University Relations director. She said similar grants have impacted the towns the college was in.
The grant-funded centers have created spin-off businesses and stimulated the
town's economy, Bretz said. Local businesses use the manufacturing technology the researchers have discovered to create products.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said that a grant such as this one would enrich the state by keeping
researchers in Kansas and strengthen Kansas' economy. As the research develops into usable information, Roberts said, businesses will be created to take advantage of the development.
— Edited by Shane Mettlen
Architecture pieces delve into dance
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Architecture students at the University of Kansas are learning how dance movements can inspire their work.
For their assignment this semester, the students constructed concept pieces that have been displayed outside Marvin Hall for the past three weeks.
Their projects explore concepts of dance movement that Rudolf Laban, a dancer and former architect, adopted.
7. Gordon Straus/Kansar
The students attended a one day class session with Janet Hamburg, associate professor of dance, to become familiar with the Laban approach. From there, they came up with their own structural interpretation of the movements, said Jason Newland, Springfield, Mo., senior.
Laban established the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester, England, in 1946.
and aluminum conduit as their primary materials. It is located on the lawn between Marvin and Lindley Halls.
One of his principles at the studio concerns a person's kinesphere, or personal space. Laban devised a method to notate every possible limb movement that can be done while standing on one foot. He called this foot support the stance.
Newland and his partners, Cindy Henrikson and Mike Flynn, St. Louis seniors, constructed a piece that outlines these possibilities of movements. They used steel from a junkyard
"It kind of helps define space that you would carve if you were dancing." Flynn said.
Newland also compared their concept piece to taking a time-exposure picture of a dancer with a light in her hand.
Their piece can rotate around its center. Newland said he encouraged people to play around with it if they're walking by the area.
Students in Paola Sanguinetti's "Architectural Design V" class have projects displayed outside of Marvin Hall that explore the connection between dance and structure. The pieces are based on the the ideas of Rudolf Laban, a dancer and former architect.
"People see the art and they're like, 'Oh, I'm not supposed to touch it. I might break it,'" he said. "And then I come out here and I'll turn it and people are like, 'Oh my God, you're turning it. It moves?'"
Other projects incorporated elements of balance and the concept of stance.
Paola Sanguinetti, associate professor of architecture who assigned the project, said it was an effective way for students to think about space in architecture.
"It's kind of a miniature of what the experience of building a building would be like," Sanguinetti said.
The complex animations show how the structures they built can be transformed into a proposal for a building.
The students had a week to build the projects. After they finished, they each designed computer animations.
Henrikson said she was more frustrated with the computer program than actually building the project.
"That was a vacation," she said.
The projects will continue to be outside until fall break.
"and this was like, 'Back to work.'"
- Edited by Nikki Overfelt
Program shows students' progress
By Danielle Hillix
dhillix@kansan.com
kansas staff writer
The Student Recreation Center offers hundreds of workout options. It also offers a free program so students can figure out what to do with all that equipment.
Recreation Services began the Fit4U Fitness Assessment program last fall. Jill Urkoski, assistant director for fitness and facilities, said that the program simplified the workout process.
"We develop a workout program for you," she said. "So you can be sure you're doing what you should be doing."
The program begins with an interactive fitness assessment, using a computer program and workout equipment.
Fil4U is an interactive fitness assessment program designed to evaluate a student's fitness level and tailor a workout accordingly. It is free for students.
The tests evaluate heart rate, blood pressure, body composition and flexibility. In addition, participants get cardiovascular and strength assessments.
"A lot of people are surprised with the results," Urkoski said. "People will find out they're not as flexible as they thought."
After the fitness assessment, an exercise specialist analyzes the results and designs a workout program.
"What they had me do was working.I actually did test better. We're never too young to worry about our health."
Kelly Hill
Liberal senior
Six months later, participants
return and take the fitness assessment tests again. They are given a comparison printout, which shows any changes from the first to second tests.
Urkoski said that the program was a great motivator.
"We look in the mirror and don't see all the changes," she said. "The program let's you see that the work you're doing is paying off."
One student who has used the program said progress was made.
"What they had me do was working." Kelly Hill, Liberal senior, said. "I actually did test better. We're never too young to worry about our health. I don't think kids coming into school realize that."
Students can sign up for Fit4U by calling Rec Services at 864-3546 or by going to the Rec Services office at the Student Recreation Center. Urkoski said that the program would begin in early November.
- Edited by Shane Mettlen
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