Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, October 2, 1997
Flower beds around campus
The flower bed north of Fraser Hall is worth checking out.
The flowers at 15th and Iowa streets are nice, but they won't last long. They will wilt from the exhaust of automobiles.
Stop and smell the flowers east of the Dole Center.
This year, flowers at the traffic stations are there to brighten up those lonely
photos by Geoff Krieger
top and smell the flowers
And last, but not least, the prairie acre—where it all began. This area south of Blake Hall is home to natural Kansas wildflowers and grasses is and is part of the original campus.
By Jennifer A. Yeoman
jyeoman@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
If flowers had a language of their own, what would the ornamental peppers in front of Budig Hall say? We're hot, of course.
Flower beds at the University of Kansas draw the attention of students and teachers. They also make a statement about the University - they show the University's need to stand out.
"I wanted to do something different so I added the ornamental peppers," said William Reusch, a physical plant supervisor who did much of the landscaping in front of Budig. "I also wanted to see how people would react."
People have noticed.
"When I first saw them I wondered why they were there," said Bill Swoyer, Nebraska City, Neb., freshman. "I like how they look, though. They're cool. I haven't seen them growling anyplace else."
But. he asked, are they edible?
"They are edible," Reusch said. "But my book says that they are too hot to eat."
The ornamental peppers are not sprayed with pesticides, but they have been fertilized. Reusch said.
Reusch and his supervisors, along with University architects, come up with the designs for flower beds across campus. A lot of the designs come from his 34 years of experience working with flowers.
"You don't put orange with red or with any gummy colors like that," he said.
Many of the flower beds on campus incorporate crimson and blue. However, Reusch said, the blue flowers often look more purple because of the way the flowers bloom.
"The flowers make the campus look nicer, except right now when they all look trampled and dead," said Tiffine Fernandez, Olathe sophomore. "They show that the campus is taken care of and that we have pride in our school. Without them the campus wouldn't look nice. But if it means that the bees would go away, then take
them away."
There are a lot of attractive flower beds this year, Reusch said. The best develop from plenty of sunshine and rain, he said.
"We've had a lot of good spring rains, and that's what they really like," he said.
The flower beds that have the most problems are those by the entrance to campus at 15th and Iowa streets. Those beds absorb exhaust from automobiles and must be replanted twice a year.
Most flowers are planted the week before graduation and a few are planted in the fall. Some flowers on campus are allowed to grow wild.
"We have some wonderful flowers on campus," said Theodore Johnson, professor of French, who often takes his students to study the flower beds on campus. "The prairie acre is a wonderful place to go to remind us about how things were. And the insects love it."
The prairie acre, located south of Blake Hall, is one of the oldest parts of campus. The plants in the field are allowed to grow
freely and often grow from 5 to 7 feet, Johnson said.
"It is important to remember that we grow ideas," he said. "Teachers are like gardeners, and the students must be cultivated. It is important to remember how important the flowers on campus are and what they say about our history."
"Teachers are like gardeners, and the students must be cultivated. It's important to remember how important the flowers on campus are and what they say about our history."
Theodore Johnson professor of French
Teen-ager kills mother, two others
Gunfire sprays school during shooting spree
The Associated Press
Luke Woodham, 16, was distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, police chief Bill Slade said, choking back tears as he talked about the rampage in this town of 22,000 people just outside Jackson.
PEARL, Miss. — A teen-ager stabbed his mother to death, then went to school yesterday with a rifle under his trench coat and opened fire, killing his former girlfriend, another student and wounded six others, police said.
"He gave us a statement, and his manifesto was that he felt he had been wronged," the chief said.
Woodham was arrested as he drove away in his dead mother's car and was charged with murder and aggravated assault.
The shootings at Pearl High School began about 8:10 a.m., as buses arrived.
An expressionless Woodham, a sophomore, entered the large commons area just inside the front door of the imposing school and immediately walked up to his
former girlfriend, witnesses said. Police said she was the first to fall, followed by three young men and four young women apparently shot at random.
"He was shooting anybody he could find. He shot at me and hit the staircase," said Mark Wilkerson, a freshman. "I saw fragments going everywhere."
Students ran screaming into classrooms and dived for cover.
"People were laying everywhere bleeding," said freshman Nathan Henry. "I didn't hear cries. Everybody looked dead."
Freshman Casey King said Woodham talked to at least one of the wounded. "He apologized, said he was sorry and was not shooting anybody in particular," King said.
Police later found the body of Mary T. Woodham, 50, at her home, about a mile from the school.
The slain students were identified as Lydia Kaye Dew, 17, and Christina Menee, 16. It was unclear which girl had dated Woodham.
Three of the wounded students were hospitalized. One, an 18-year-old, was in serious condition.
Slade said Mary Woodham, a receptionist who apparently had divorced her husband about a year ago, was believed to
have died about three hours before the shootings. Neighbors said the teen-ager's mother usually took him to school. Yesterday, however, he got into the car by himself, hitting a tree and crossing a neighbor's yard as he drove away.
In his yearbook photo, a serious-looking Woodham has shoulder-length brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses.
"He always seemed polite, like a nice guy," said Courtni Thomas, a senior. "It doesn't seem real that anyone like him would do this."
The school has no armed guards or weapons searches.
"We had no idea that anything like this would ever take place at any of our schools," said school board attorney Arthur Jerrigan Jr.
Weeping students gathered in small groups outside the school, where the flag was lowered to half-mast. Others held hands and prayed.
"He keeps hearing the shots go through his head," Robin Rhodes said of her son, 16-year-old Michael, who was in the commons at the time of the shooting. "I thought my kids were safe here."
Classes were canceled until Monday, but students were told to report on Friday for counseling.
The Associated Press
Forecasters, White House discuss global warming
WASHINGTON — "Hey, All You couldn't forecast a shower in your own bathroom," CBS weatherman Craig Allen shouted on camera to NBC's Al Roker. Roker was just happy at being able to stand on the White House grass without being taken to task.
"Growing up, my father always made us stay off the lawn, so it's kind of weird to be standing on the lawn," said the "Today" show promosticator.
In what may have been the oldest day at the White House since the Easter egg roll, 100 TV weather forecasters from around the country converged to hear the administration's line on global warming and take the message to viewers back home.
"A lot of the anecdotal comment we're getting today is that they appreciated being treated as something other than airheads," said White House spokesman Mike McCurry. "Maybe they can make the subject of global warming a little more lively for their audiences."
He was responding to questions from the
White House press corps about whether the day was just a public relations exercise engaging people who were not likely to criticize the administration's position.
President Clinton invited the forecasters in for a meeting, and federal environmental officials briefed them about greenhouse gases and climate patterns.
"We're going to talk about global warming and the social and economic impacts it might have on you," Allen, a meteorologist, told his viewers on CBS"This Morning."
He talked about the tremendous impact of warming and said temperatures have risen 1.5 degrees in the last couple of years. He also noted that other weather factors, such as volcanic eruptions, can help lower temperatures.
He went on to take his shot at Roker's skills. Laughing, Roker yelled back that "This Morning" host Mark McEwan "couldn't make it as a weather forecaster, so now he's become a host."
The weather? There were a few raindrops in the morning, but the sun was out brightly by afternoon.
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