---
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009
NEWS
3A
ECO-ENGINEERING
Crossing the equator to build better lives
Jodi Gentry, left, doctoral student in environmental engineering, levels materials while building latrines in Bolivia. Mary Adams, right, assisted in constructing the eco-friendly building. KU students have visited the community three times since May 2008. Contributed phot
BY ALY VAN DYKE avandyke.kansan.com
This time, Robbins and Gentry will be gone for six days. Three of those days will be spent sleeping on the tile floor of the only schoolhouse with the only light bulb in the village while they survey the progress and success of the latrines. They won't shower while they're in the village.
This morning, graduate students Emily Robbins, of Overbrook, and Jodi Gentry, of Topeka, packed knapsacks with rain gear, sleeping bags and photographs — tools and gifts to accompany them on their long journey ahead.
"I've started to realize that they're just like everyone else," she said. "Their families are the most important things to them. Their culture is different, but still the same."
During the next few years, members of the KU chapter of Engineers Without Borders will work to install 27 latrines, one for each Aymaran family. The students also plan to help drill a well to provide more access to clean water. KU students have visited the community three times and helped install seven latrines since May 2008. They plan to visit again next spring and summer.
Gentry has been on every trip to the Aymaran community so far.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how things are going," Robbins said.
The two graduate students and two advisers are returning to Bolivia to check in on some old friends in Azacilo, an Aymaran village of 200 with little to no access to clean water or sanitation. At least that's the case for the time being.
Azacilo is located in the Andes Mountains, 90 miles northwest of La Paz, an area once inhabited by the Incas. The other is Haiti.
Before the KU chapter arrived, the Aymaran used the ground for a toilet, exposing children and other members of the community
Follow Kansan
writer Aly Van
Dyke at twitter.
com/alyvandkye
The KU chapter of Engineers Without Borders relies solely on fundraising to finance trips to Azacillo. The next fundraiser involves pledges for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Members of EWB will collect pledges over the next two weeks to participate in a 30-hour hunger strike, lasting from 1 p.m. Oct. 21 to 7 p.m. Oct. 22. Those interested in donating can visit www.EWB-KU.org for more information.
KU ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS
"Here, you can use your skills to help other people who don't have the basic necessities."
to human waste that mixed with the mud and soil throughout the village. Many of the families don't have access to safe water and there are no shower facilities.
"This has showed me that you don't just have to design huge bridges and really complex systems for people," Robbins said.
Craig Adams, chair of the civil, environmentaland architectural engineering department with the University, said a
"Where most sanitation efforts fail worldwide is in their implementation," he said. "Very often technologies are built and then not used properly."
"Here, you can use your skills to help other people who don't have the basic necessities."
follow-up visit to the community is one of the more crucial aspects to the success of their efforts.
The latrines EWB-KU built are also more complicated than a hole
He said improper use and
EMILY ROBBINS Graduate student
neglect came from lack of education, lack of understanding and lack of maintenance.
in the ground. Known as compostable latrines, these systems are designed to capture human waste and turn it into high-quality compost.
is up, the family removes the cell and stores it for another year, while using a second cell. Once the first cell has stored for a year, the family can remove the contents and use it as compost to grow turnips, carrotse potatoes and maize. Composting for a second year creates a much better and safer compost for use on
food crops, Adams said.
Adams, along with Pracht, Gentry, Robbins and nine other KU students, spent the month of June installing six latrines and connecting with the community. Community members built the seventh latrine after the group had left.
"We don't want to just give something to this community," Lara Pracht, Garden City senior, said. "We want to empower them to be able to do a project like this in the future so that at some point, when we do leave, the projects don't just fail."
For one year, a family fills up one cell with human waste, grass and leaves. After the year
"We've spent a lot of time with these people and sort of feel connected to these people and feel obligated to help," Pracht, EWB-KU president, said. "We promised them these things and want to follow up on that."
Pracht said participating in the EWB confirmed her desire to use
her engineering degree to help people in need.
J. P. Bornholdt, St. Louis senior and vice president of EWB-KU, also went to help in Azacillo in December and June. He said he received as much from the Aymaran as they got from him.
"I don't want to be stuck in an office working on a little piece of some project when I can hopefully be part of something bigger and be part of something that actually affects people's lives more so than just designing another building," she said.
"They have a really good grasp on what's important to value and are very grateful for every day of life," he said. "I think that it's equally important that we bring them clean water as to bring back that sort of mentality to the United States."
Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
POLICY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
consistency and overall fairness," Roney said.
The system's private nature has raised questions for some about the accountability of such hearings.
However, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, student education records, including disciplinary documentation, are protected from public disclosure.
Josh Bender, third year law student and former chairman of the Student Senate's student rights committee, said the secrecy of the prosecutions made it hard to say whether students received equal hearings and appropriate sanctions.
"There really no outside accountability of the process," Bender said. "It's hard for them to demonstrate that they are giving everyone a fair shake when they won't let us have access to the information."
Many students insist the athletes be held to the same standards and consequences as all students.
Brent Blazek, Lenexa senior, said although he thought student athletes deserved special treatment in several areas, codes of personal conduct needed to be equally enforced for all students.
"They should take the fact that they are student-athletes out of the equation." Blazek said.
Cox agreed, but added that the magnitude of the incidents called for heavy sanctions to be considered.
"We're talking about multiple fights involving the same students," Cox said. "This isn't something that should be brushed aside by the University."
Roney said her office tried to always look first toward educational sanctions.
"We're not out to be a punitive operation," Roney said. "It's really about educating and working hard to make sure our students understand why the code is in place."
- Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
peace love jayhawk KU
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOMECOMING 2009
Today's Homecoming Events Wednesday, Oct. 7
- Information Relaxation Celebration, Homecoming
Information Fair, 10 a.m. -2 p.m., Strong Hall Lawn
- Jayhawk Jingle Dress Rehearsal, 8 p.m., Woodruff Auditorium
Tomorrow's Events
- Chalk n' Rock, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Wescoe Beach
- Homecoming Cookout, 6-8 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
- Jayhawk Jingles, 7 p.m., Adams Alumni Center
I Spy Clue
I Spy... a white Indiana limestone building opened in 1977 and is one of five. *This building is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Good luck!
*This building is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Good luck!
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The University of Kansas
www.homecoming.ku.edu
Keep the experience or KU americana alive with every swipe when you choose the only card trusted by your school, available exclusively at INTRUST Bank. Brought to you by and benefiting student and alumni programs of the KU Alumni Association.
Member FDIC
I trust INTRUST. INTRUST Bank.
intrustbank.com