THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
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"If we were a big draggy tugy thing on the airplane they wouldn't have had the endurance or range necessary to do the science mission," said Rick Hale, associate professor of aerospace engineering. "This is going to go up to 30,000 feet. It's going to be minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit."
"Conceivably this would be an ongoing project where we would make repeat visits to Antarctica in the winter, and there's talk about a different system that would go to Greenland in our summer on an annual basis for several years," said Allen. "We would like to participate in the future."
Edited by Anna Kathagnarath
Endowment sees record high donations in 2009
Ben Panzer spent his summer thinking about these conditions and how it would affect his radar array.
Christopher Allen is a professor of electrical engineering and principal investigator of the project at the University. He said he hoped the University's participation in Operation ICE Bridge could continue for the five-year duration of the project.
"For the months of May and June I would try and simulate what the aerospace guys would come up with," Panzer said. "Then towards the end of July we actually set up the array itself."
Now that the instruments have been completed, they are undergoing test flights this month in preparation of the mission next month.
The CReISS researchers designed three instruments for ICE Bridge, the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS) to measure the thickness of ice sheets, a radar to measure the snow on top of the ice, and a radar altimeter to measure the Antarctic terrain.
Private donations to the Kansas University Endowment hit a record high in the 2009 fiscal year despite the economic downtown, according to information released by the Endowment Association Tuesday.
CAMPUS
According to the media release, donors contributed $106.4 million to the University's fundraising arm in the fiscal year that ended June 30, a 13 percent increase over the previous year's $94 million in contributions, which was the previous one-year record.
The record contribution also came from a record number of donors 45,186, according to the release.
"in a year of economic uncertainty, donors sent a message that their belief in KU is unshakable," Kurt Watson, chairman of the KU Endowment Board of Trustees, said in the release.
Chancellor Benadette Gray-Little expressed her gratitude for the high level of donation.
Alex Garrison
September 11&12,2009 Liberty Hall
646 Massachusetts St.
MUSEUMS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
always a struggle, but, in this case, it was also a chance to look at other resources.
"It's always difficult to figure out how to continue at a level of quality and to set higher standards for the museum while you're in economic tension," Hardy said. "The kind of wonderful aspect of this particular moment is that we have taken the opportunity to mine our own collections."
Hardy said the museum owned more than 36,000 pieces of art. She referred to two exhibitions currently on display — the Andy Warhol collection, called "Big Shots," and "XY," an exhibition about masculinity. Every item in these collections belongs to the museum.
"What we have done is take the opportunity to use the resources that are close to home and to share with the community — especially the KU community — the kinds of rich collections the Spencer has," Hardy said.
Looking inward toward resources isn't always enough, however. Hardy said the cost of exhibits ranged from $1,000 to $100,000 even when the museum used its own archives. To curb costs, the Spencer Museum of Art started closing one hour earlier each day. Last January, the Natural History Museum started closing on Mondays to save money, as well. Humphrey said the change was extremely effective and would ultimately save the museum $10,000 a year.
RAGHIN BABI/KANSAN Los Angeles PhD student Heather Putnam closely examines the Asian art exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art in this file photo. The museum has had to change hours and other operation practices because of the economy.
"As an institution that has a budget, which all museums do, we are always keeping an eye out for how we can be more efficient and how to do more with less," she said.
KU museums are not the only ones feeling the pinch. Thomas Campbell, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, announced last Wednesday that the museum would be cutting 20 to 25 percent of its larger loan exhibitions, according to artforum.com.
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Humphrey said she thought museums on campus had done relatively well during the recession, considering its severity. She said the museums have still been able to accommodate their most excitable patrons, area school children. Each year, the museum has about 50,000 visitors. About 5,000 of these are school children.
Lawrence's Schwegler Elementary School, with almost 400 students, will visit both the Natural History Museum and Spencer Museum of Art this year. Jared Comfort, Schwegler principal, said the museums were important and worthwhile activities for the school, especially because they were more affordable during tight economic times. Except for asking for small donations from the public, museum entry is free.
"It doesn't really cost us anything, and it has something to offer to everyone, adults included." Comfort said.
Saira Khan, Lawrence senior
and front desk employee at the Natural History Museum, said she hadn't noticed anything about the museum that was reflective of an economic crisis. She said foot traffic often fluctuated depending on the season.
"We get a lot more elementary school classes in the spring," Khan said. "It seems to slow down in the fall semester."
Hardy said the Spencer Museum of Art considered KU students and faculty as its "first audience" and
wanted the goals of the museum to be centered on this group.
Both Hardy and Humphrey contend that KU students provide a crucial role in the success and operation of the museums as both visitors, participants and researchers. Of the Natural History Museum's 9 million animals, plants and tissues, only a small fraction of these are ever used for exhibition. The other items are dedicated to research by graduate students and scientists.
Beyond the museums' contribu
"I think, for some people, museums are a way of centering yourself," she said. "When you come to a museum, it tends to be a place of reflection."
tions to scholarship and research, Humphrey said she thought the role of museums was essential to an individual, especially in the midst of a stressful economy.
Edited by Tim Burgess
SENATE (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
in certain aspects of the university, they forfeit certain rights that are constitutionally allowed," Cox said.
Currently at the University, housing officials have to go to the KU Public Safety Office to get a Douglas County judge to sign and approve a search warrant to enter a student's dorm room for any reason, including suspected alcohol use.
Some members of Student Senate are concerned and skeptical that this change was an attempt to infringe on the rights of students.
Adam Wood, Lawrence senior and student rights committee member, voted against appointing a subcommittee.
"I think forming a subcommittee is ridiculous because we
don't need to get a group of people together to decide whether certain people need Fourth Amendment rights or not," Wood said. "That's not up for discussion."
The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Wood said he also felt it was "disingenuous and naive" to believe Senate could change a culture of binge drinking by simply changing the code.
The subcommittee will hold open meetings and will allow any student to participate and vote after attending at least one meeting. The subcommittee has not yet announced its first meeting time.
Edited by Sarah Kelly
THE FOURTH AMENDMENT:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
— http://www.law.cornell.edu/
anncon.html/amdt4tfrag1_user.
html#amdt4h_ld4
ENVIRONMENT UN plans YouTube videos about climate change
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. is turning to YouTube to join the world's ploadding climate diplomacy into higher gear.
Instead of relying solely on live television, organizers' of the U.N. chief's Sept. 22 climate summit said Tuesday they've asked some world leaders to make pre-recorded video statements for release on a summit Web site and on YouTube.
Progress toward a new global climate treaty in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been moving way too slow and there are only about 15 days left for negotiators to meet, Janos Pasztor, director of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's climate change support
team said Tuesday.
"If things were wonderful, we wouldn't need a summit," he said.
In his debut appearance at the U.N., where he is promising a new U.S. era of global cooperation, President Barack Obama will participate in closed talks with other leaders on how to reach a climate deal. Obama is one of a handful of heads of states whose speeches will be carried on live TV, according to the White House.
Obama also will attend a luncheon and dinner hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who hopes to spark climate-related discussions about food, water, energy, financing and disaster preparedness with 10 people seated at each table.
Associated Press
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