Friday, September 18. 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 9
FBI teaches strategy to KU police
Law enforcement agents learn new tactics at meeting
By Kelli Raybern
Kansan staff writer
All week long, police officers from the KU Public Safety Office have been learning from the FBI.
The Public Safety Office and the Lawrence Police Department have been holding a conference put on by the FBI for law-enforcement executives in the region.
The eighth annual Central States Law Enforcement Executives Development Seminar is aimed primarily at police chiefs and high-
ranking officers and has attracted police from as far as Wyoming, said Lt. Dave Cobb of the Lawrence Police Department.
The conference gives heads of smaller police departments the chance to receive quality training that might not be accessible to them otherwise.
"We try to cater to departments with 25 people and under," Cobb said. "We try to make it affordable and provide the best training possible."
The conference in Lawrence is a point of pride for both the KU Public Safety Office and the Lawrence Police Department.
"We take some pride in the fact that Lawrence has been dubbed one of the best programs in the past eight years," said Sgt. Troy
Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office. "We're continually building on that reputation."
Cobb said Lawrence's regional event was the best out of the 16 held around the country.
"We think it's really important for all departments to have a strong base in that," Cobb said.
Many people leading courses at the seminar are active or retired instructors from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. The first course in the seminar teaches ethics in law enforcement.
The program also includes courses about management principles, organizational excellence, labor relations, legal issues and media relations for law-enforcement executives.
Mailen attended the media-relations seminar and said it was interesting and educational.
Cobb said that the program had gone well so far and that it would wrap up with a graduation ceremony for participants tomorrow.
Major Chris Keary of the KU Public Safety Office will graduate from the program. Other KU officers have attended selected courses.
"It's been about how to respond and how to close the gap and the stereotyping between media and law enforcement," he said. "It gives us some good information on how to try to have a better working relationship with the media."
The program is holding a banquet tonight with guest speaker Terry Allen, Kansas football coach.
"He's going to come and pump them all up." Cobb said.
New Pap smear test detects accurately
By Sue Franke
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas Medical Center exclusively began using a new Pap smear test in May that is more accurate but also more expensive.
The Med Center is the only hospital in the Kansas City area to use the Thinprep Pap. So far, it has conducted about 700 tests.
The Thinprep Pap significantly reduces the possibility of an inaccurate test result, said Patricia Thomas, pathologist at the Med Center. She said it also detected lesions, defined as precancerous cells and changes on the cervix, that otherwise would not be picked up.
The Med Center charges $23 for the test — almost twice the amount of a standard Pap smear at the Med Center. As a result, many managed-care providers will not cover the cost. The labs associated with the Med Center, however, are covering the cost, said Joseph Hume, clinical associate professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology for the Med Center.
"We send specimens to other labs too, so only managed care programs that use KU labs cover the cost," he said. "Enough of the labs we use were going to pay for it, so we decided that it was worthwhile to shift to the Thinprep Pap smear."
Henry Buck, head of gynecology for Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that he did not use the test because of its cost. For patients at Watkins, he said it costs $15 to $20 more than a traditional Pap smear test,
which is $16.
He said he thought that this type of test eventually would be available from a number of different companies, which would bring the cost down.
The test uses a stick or spatula to obtain the cells and the entire spatula is put in a vial with a solution. A laboratory process separates the cells and places them in a single layer on a slide, Buck said.
"The end product is that it puts 50,000 cells on a slide in a monolayer, which is plenty to find abnormalities," he said. "In a traditional Pap smear, all the cells, including the ones you don't want to see, are smeared onto a slide. It obscures the cells you are looking for."
Another advantage of the Thinprep test is that physicians can retest the specimen so patients do not have to be recalled. Thomas said if a test was unsatisfactory, another slide could be made from the same specimen.
"In cases where results of the Thinprep show only atypical or inflammatory cells, we don't need to follow up those people," Hume said. "Those patients are spared the cost of additional office visits and tests."
The ultimate benefit of the Thinprep Pap test for women is greater peace of mind.
Abnormal Paps today usually are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a family of viruses that causes genital warts and cell changes, Hume said.
Senate bill may make credit cards hard to get for students under 21
By Keith Burner
Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas students applying for credit cards on campus can get free T-shirts and candy but they also can rack up major debt.
But students under 21 may not have the freedom to get a credit card or to go into debt because of a credit card if a proposed Senate bill passes.
The bill, proposed by Sen Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, would restrict credit card marketing to people under 21.
The bill would require that the applicant either provide the signature of a parent or guardian willing to take financial responsibility or show proof of other financial means.
"I think that is absolutely ridiculous," said Julie Roger, Chicago junior. "Most people over 18 don't even see their parents very often."
According to a survey by U.S. Public Interest Research Group, college students who get cards from campus booths often end up with bigger unpaid balances and pay off their debts later than those who do not.
Credit-card companies such as Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International have said that most students use credit
responsibly and appreciate getting the cards as a way to establish credit history.
Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said students needed to be cautious about filling out applications at campus tables.
"Students, especially those who fill out credit card applications at campus tables in return for trinkets and candy, run the risk of falling into the campus credit-card trap," he said.
Students said they recognized the dangers of credit cards but that they did not consider the dangers a justification for taking a right away from them.
"Driving's dangerous, too, but I don't want them taking my license," said Alan Potter, Iola sophomore.
Roger said it was essential to to have a credit card to purchase airline tickets and other expensive items.
To David Bray, Lawrence senior, the bill presents more of a rights issue than a money issue.
"It's just another right that the bureaucracy is trying to force people to give up by living here," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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