Section A·Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Students find pets at Lawrence animal shelter
By Ann Premer
Kansan staff writer
Kallie has a large fenced in back yard to romp in, six owners to keep her company and all of the puppy biscuits she can eat.
Like many other dogs in Lawrence, Kallie is owned by college students.
Kimberly Roberts, Lawrence Humane Society public relations coordinator, said that in addition to the basic necessities of food and shelter, animals need exposure to people and lots of attention.
"A college student is an ideal owner for an animal," Roberts said.
College students are able to provide these necessities for pets because their schedules allow them to spend more time with their pets than a working person, she said.
Jeff McDaniel, Independence sophomore, said taking care of Kallie, a 14-week-old yellow Labrador Retriever, was a group effort. He said either he or one of his five roommates always cared for Kallie.
McDaniel's lease agreement allows him to have pets, but not all students are so responsible. Roberts said many animals were brought to the shelter by students who lived in housing that had a no-net policy.
Kathy Groves, leasing agent of Meadowbrook apartment complex, said it has a no-pet policy.
"We used to allow pets but the damages were too costly," Groves said.
In most rental agreements, residents who keep pets at complexes with no-pet policies are in violation of their contracts and must either remedy the problem or lose their leases.
animal facts
"When they get caught they
Last year, the Lawrence Humane Society harbored 5,500 animals. Sixty-three percent were adopted. The remaining 37 percent — more than 2,000 animals — were authorized.
The Lawrence Humane Society's adoption rate is 41 percent higher than the national average.
Annually, it costs at least $350 to care for a cat; $500 for a small dog, and $1,200 for a large dog.
bring them in to us," said Emily Charley, Lawrence junior and Humane Society volunteer.
Roberts said the Humane Society tries to screen applicants thoroughly to ensure that animals from the shelter are placed
But not every place has such an application process, and often salespeople will not take an animal back if there is a problem. Roberts said the Humane Society would accept returned animals.
in homes that allow pets.
Last year, the Lawrence Humane Society harbored 5,500 animals. Of those animals, 63 percent were adopted. The humane society euthanized the remaining 37 percent, more than 2,000 animals.
Despite the number of animals the Lawrence Humane Society must euthanize, its adoption rate is 41 percent higher than the national average.
"We are very fortunate," Roberts said. "We are able to accommodate a lot of animals in our facility."
Roberts said there were many things to consider before adopting or buying a pet. She said the
most important thing to think about was a lifetime commitment to the animal.
"The animal is not going to live one or two semesters but 13 to 20 years." Roberts said.
She also said pets were a major financial responsibility. She estimated that for one year, the minimum care cost for a small dog is $500 to $700. The expense for a large dog is $1,200 to $1,500 and a cat costs about $350 to $500.
"They are a permanent part of every economic decision that I make," Charley said of the three cats and one dog that she has adopted.
It costs $25 to adopt a cat or dog from the Humane Society. In addition, there is a $40 charge to spay or neuter a cat and a $60 charge to spay or neuter a dog. All animals adopted from the Humane Society must be spayed or neutered, Roberts said.
Teamsters wary of UPS strike end
Workers unhappy with strike resolution
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — United Parcel Service drivers put away their picket signs, put on their brown shirts and shorts, and called on customers again yesterday as the delivery giant began to recover sluggishly from its costly strike.
But thousands of former strikers were told to stay home, out of jobs at least temporarily.
For many drivers, apprehensions about bitterness from regular customers whose businesses were hurt by the strike were quickly eased by warm reunions.
work. It's been tough on everybody."
"People have been saying 'Welcome back' and 'Congratulations,'" said driver Michael Reppucci as he made deliveries in Boston's financial district. "Everyone's glad to be back to
UPS has estimated the strike cost at least 5 percent of its business, but said it probably won't be until next week before it can better measure the impact.
"We're going to have very uneven patterns at first," UPS spokesman Norman Black said.
UPS' daily volume fell during the strike to 10 percent of its normal 12 million parcels and packages. The company expected a quick, large surge as customers shipped packages that had piled up during the strike, followed by a leveling-off next week.
UPS has said more than 15,000 jobs may be cut because of lost business. The company didn't immediately release any figures Wednesday on the number of workers back on the job or business volume.
But some 35 percent of 4,671 workers in United Parcel Service's
mid-South offices were laid off yesterday, said Doug Ashcraft, a UPS manager in Little Rock, Ark.
The contract still must be ratified by the 185,000 UPS Teamsters, and some were reluctant to embrace it.
"I've been here a year and I only get a $1 raise," said Chereta Stephenson, a part-time loader in Cayce, S.C.
She was disappointed that the company's profit-sharing offer, which would have given part-timers $1,530 and full-timers $3,060 this year with another future payment tied to profit margins, was folded into overall wage-and-benefit increases in final bargaining.
"I guess we're glad that it looks like an agreement has been reached," said Jim Kabell, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 245 in Springfield, Mo. "We want to see the details. It's kind of like a 'show me the money' type of thing."
Florida latest state to ban mail-order alcohol sales
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Glen Parker waited three years on a winery mailing list before he got a rare bottle of Napa Valley Chardonnay shipped to his Florida home. His wait for the next bottle could be longer.
Florida is the latest state to make the direct shipment of alcohol — a $1 billion business nationwide — a felony.
"It's rather silly for a state that is the principal conduit through which cocaine and other drugs are imported into our country. You'd think they have better things to do with their law enforcement," said Parker, a Boca Raton magazine publisher.
of-the-month clubs argue the felony laws do nothing but protect powerful wholesalers worried about losing profits and their monopoly on alcohol distribution.
Vintage wineries and beer-
But supporters of the laws say mail-order alcohol encourages underage drinking and cheats states out of millions in sales and excise taxes.
Following their lead, more than a dozen other states have considered making it a felony.
The new laws have their greatest impact on small companies that depend on mail and Internet orders to pad business. But the biggest losers are consumers, who end up paying more for pricey rare wines and obscure brews.
Vague federal policies keep HIV-positive doctors out
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — It's been more than six years since Paul Scoles was diagnosed as HIV positive. It's been almost as long since he's picked up a scalpel.
The orthopedic surgeon blames vague federal guidelines and patient fears for keeping him and other health care workers with the AIDS virus from doing their jobs, despite studies that say the risk to patients is minimal.
"Good people, talented people are being kept from working," said Scoles.
At the heart of the issue are guidelines set up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1991, formulated after a Florida dentist infected patients with the AIDS virus. Since then, there has been only one other documented case of doctor-to-patient transmission - in France in 1996 - according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends that health care workers with HIV or hepatitis not perform "exposure-prone procedures," despite the admission that defining the phrase is all but impossible. As a result, state policies, which Congress said must either match or be comparable to the CDC guidelines, vary.
Still, most agree that the chance of a health care worker transmitting the AIDS virus to a patient is extremely low. In fact, CDC statistics show that health care officials are much more likely to be infected by patients than vice versa.
Scoles, 47, learned he was HIV positive in 1991. The hospital found out and gave him a choice of telling his patients, or they would intervene. He refused, and found himself without a job.
Scoles now works for an AIDS foundation and teaches part-time at Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland.
"Would I like to go back to practice? Sure, I'd go back tomorrow," Scoles said. "Is that likely? No."
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