6A
NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009
Marc Kingston, Leawood senior, searches for deer in fields north of K-10 Wednesday as part of an environmental studies class. The class assisted the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in the annual deer census, which gives researchers data to estimate the region's deer population.
Students apply learning in the field
ECOLOGY
BY ABIGAIL BOLIN abolin@kansan.com
Spotlights dance across the fields and woods on the outskirts of Lawrence, coming from a truck that has slowed to a stop. The brake lights shine through the gravel dust as the spotlights reach an agreement. In the camouflage of high grass, the illuminated space seems to have no secrets until the glow of two eyes acknowledges its visitors. The white-tailed doe stands to present herself. A moment passes before she cocks her head and prances away. Then the high beams return to the dance floor as deer spotting resumes.
The students in Bob Hagen's field ecology course have teamed up with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Lloyd Fox, big game coordinator, to perform the annual deer census. Over three days, these environmental studies
students get hands-on experience in order to better understand what goes on in the field.
"The basic essence of education is doing it instead of just me lecturing the facts," Hagen said. "It's combining those facts with the knowledge gained through active learning. Let's find out what really happening"
A towering metal structure in the bed of Fox's pickup looks out of place until two students hike themselves on the platform. Armed with spotlights, they are able to spot more deer from a higher perspective before recording information such as gender, age, location and number of deer, as well as the physical characteristics of the environment.
"Now we're in the game, like, Where are they, those little, creepy, glowing green eyes?" Marc Kingston, Leawood senior, said. "I could sit up there all night. It's a great opportunity to apply the field ecology learning methods of scientific experiments. You get a better
understanding of it with a hands-on approach"
During the early 20th century, the abundant deer population was completely eliminated from Kansas, Hagen said, which led to a new conservation ethic for preserving wildlife in the 21st century. The idea was to have hunters replace the predators in order to manage and sustain the deer population. The census provides the information to make this possible.
"We follow the trend on deer population and use that to decide the length of the season and number of (hunting) permits to issue," Fox said. "We try to balance the number of deer with the public's desire for them."
Hagen prepared his students for deer spotting with a milk jug challenge — milk jugs were placed at random in a grassy field for his students to spot.
"There were some intentionally hidden really well," Lydia Gibson,
Prairie Village senior, said. "It taught us that we're not going to see every single deer and that's okay. You don't need to know the real number of the population."
Since the census was created in 2002, deer spotting has not become any easier. Blinking eyes could turn out to be grass waving in front of a reflector. A deer imitating the fence could actually be the fence. And accepting the fact that deer aren't willing to stand there and be counted is another lesson learned from this particularly enjoyable experience.
For the past two years, University students have worked on the census with Fox. He said he enjoys having them around.
"It's good for me to get back with these types of humans," Fox joked. "They keep me young and entertained."
— Edited by Samantha Foster
CRIME
Lawrence Police arrest student outside the Hawk
The Lawrence Police Department said a University student was arrested early Thursday on charges of aggravated assault, battery, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing after a
disagreement with employees at The Hawk.
Sgt. Michael Monroe said the 21-year-old student was vomiting outside the establishment, located at 1340 Ohio St., shortly after 1 a.m., when employees asked him to leave. The student responded aggressively and displayed a pocket sized fold-out
knife with the blade extended.
A group of friends escorted the student off the property and into a nearby alley. However, employees of the bar soon noticed that the student had returned and they asked him to leave once again. The student responded aggressively again and battered one of the employees, although
no serious injuries were reported Employees of the bar restrained the student while they dialed police.
Lawrence police arrested the student and booked him into Douglas County Jail at 1:39 a.m. The student had not yet been released as of Thursday evening.
Brandon Sayers
SPEAKER
Sweat lodge deaths lead speaker to cancel seminars
he led in Arizona.
Ray announced on his Web site Thursday that he needs to dedicate all his "physical and emotional energies" to bringing closure to the sweat lodge matter.
PHOENIX — Motivational speaker and author James Arthur Ray is canceling his remaining 2009 seminars in the wake of three deaths that occurred after a sweat lodge ceremony
Associated Press