Monday, August 24,1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
New University police officer ready for duty
By Kelli Rayborn
Kanson staff writer
One of the University's newest police officers can't wait to get onto the streets.
But for now, she'll have to spend a few more weeks behind a desk.
Dusty Wilson is one of four new police officers training to serve with the KU Public Safety Office.
"I'm not an office-type person." Wilson said. "I am very much looking forward to getting out on the street. The next eight weeks will probably seem like a year."
During their first two weeks, they were trained to operate firearms, file reports and follow office procedures. Wilson's three colleagues left to spend eight weeks at the police academy. Wilson, who has been a police officer for more than three years, did not need to go to academy again.
Wilson and three rookie officers have been with the department since July 27. They were hired to replace officers that left the department or retired during the last four years.
Until the trainees return, Wilson is working in the community education and media unit at the Public
Safety Office. When the other new officers return, they and Wilson will undergo another month of training before they begin to patrol campus with other officers, Wilson said.
Wilson's interest in being a police officer is longstanding.
"I have always wanted to be in law enforcement," she said.
She began her career in law enforcement as a dispatcher in Ottawa. At the time, Wilson was 17 and still a student at Ottawa High School.
"It was exciting being a dispatcher." Wilson said.
Wilson said that she enjoyed her time in Baldwin but that she was looking forward to a little more action at the University.
However, not all of Wilson's dealings with people as a police officer have been pleasant or easy.
"It was really quiet in Baldwin. It was too slow-paced for me," she said.
"There are more people to work with and more to be involved with here. I love to deal with people."
As soon as she was 21, the minimum age for a police officer, Wilson applied for a position with the police department in Baldwin.
"Domestic violence is hard to deal with," Wilson said. "You have to try to understand everybody's sides of the story."
Her job in responding to domestic violence calls also was complicated by the presence of children, Wilson said.
"There were a lot of cases in Baldwin with kids present," she said. "They say 'Why are mommy and daddy fighting?' or 'Don't take my mom to jail.' That's one of the hardest things."
Wilson may not face as many of those situations with the KU police department, at which she will serve as a campus patrol officer when her training is complete. In the meantime, Wilson is becoming familiar with the campus she'll help keep safe.
Like a freshman, Wilson is ready to get into the swing of things at the University.
"I know the basics and I can find my way around," Wilson said, "but I don't really know campus yet. I'm like a freshman."
"I'm looking forward to when the other officers get back," Wilson said. "Street patrol is what I'm really waiting on."
After serving three years on the Baldwin police force, Officer Dusty Wilson is ready for life at KU, Wilson, a 1995 graduate of the police academy in Hutchison, is one of four new University officers.
Photo by Jay Shepard/
KANSAN
Professors learn to tickle the ivories
By Pallavi Agarwal Kansan staff writer
When professors teach students, it's called imparting education.
When a student teaches professors, it's called making music. At least, that's what Pam Haynes hopes she is achieving.
Haynes, a graduate assistant with the department of music and dance at the University of Kansas, gives piano lessons to University professors as part of a campus-community piano program sponsored by the piano division of the department.
Haynes was offered the opportunity as part of the department's efforts to expose its graduate students to pupils of all ages and levels, said Chris Hepp, associate professor of music and dance.
Classes are open to University faculty members and staff only. Newcomers and returning stu
dents are taught separately. Classes, which begin Aug. 31, are held twice a week for 10 weeks.
Victor Wallace, professor of computer science, has been taking the piano lessons for two and a half years.
"I have been interested in playing the piano for a long time, so when I happened to find my mother's piano after her death, I decided to do it." he said.
Wallace, who had no piano-playing experience before enrolling in the course, said he found the relaxation of playing music and the slow pace of the class very comforting.
"A lot of piano teachers are geared to little kids," he said. "This is low pressure. Nobody is after me except for myself."
The class teaches students how to read music and basic keyboard skills.
"We also sing folk tunes and learn how to handle scales and
chords." Haynes said.
Haynes has been teaching piano since she was 15. She said that teaching a class of adults who also happen to be professors can be a little daunting.
"Well, it is (intimidating) at the start of the class," she said. "But then we are aware of where each one is in life and respect that."
Wallace said that learning to play the piano reminded him of the rigors of learning and taught him something about himself.
"I noticed that computer scientists and mathematicians tend to be musicians," he said. "There are common patterns in part of what they both enjoy."
To others, it has reinforced learning.
"There is an interrelation of the arts and if you know one medium you can understand another medium," said Priscilla McKinney, an English lecturer with a degree in fine arts.
White's mementos found
By Julie M. Sachs
Kansan staff writer
While rewiring the workroom in Stauffer-Flint Hall this summer, electricians stumbled onto a piece of history.
A box found in the back room contained mementos of the late Emporia Gazette editor, William Allen White, for whom the School of Journalism is named.
The mementos discovered include several pictures and newspaper clippings.
A pamphlet of White's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial, "What's the Matter With Kansas" also was found.
After sorting through the items, Yvonne Martinez, library assistant at the Stauffer-Flint reading room, said she thought that the items needed to be relocated.
"I started getting really nervous having it here," she said. "I was really leery about having people put their fingers on it."
One of the items that Martinez said she decided to keep at Stauffer-Flint was a Christmas picture of White with his family and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The remaining items were relocated to the Kansas Collection in the Spencer Research library.
Keeping the items permanently in Stauffer-Flint was not an option.
"We don't have the room here," Martinez said. "We're not environmentally safe. The Kansas Collection is temperature-controlled. We are not temperature-controlled."
Legal complications also were an issue when deciding who should get White's mementos. Because no one knows who donated the items, no one knows who can legally keep them.
The items cannot be exhibited or displayed until the donor is found. They will remain at the Kansas Collection until the issue is resolved.
The items are being reviewed at
the Kansas Collection and eventually will be cataloged, librarian Sheryl Williams said.
Many of the items discovered revealed characteristics of White.
revealed characteristics of White:
One discovery among White's things was a letter to his employees at the Gazette, Martinez said.
The letter said, "Good morning. Why don't you people get down to work sometime during the day. I was here from 5 till six and no one showed up."
The items also illustrated how respected William Allen White was by his peers.
A newsletter discovered contained the remarks of several newspaper editors about what their friend meant to them.
"There was only one William Allen White," wrote Donald J. Sterling, editor of the Portland Journal at the time of White's death."His very humility inspired respect and generated a power which he chose to invest in the social good."
Henry T'S Bar&Grill
2 FOR 1
GOURMET BURGER BASKETS ON MONDAY NIGHTS. THIS IS THE BEST DEAL IN TOWN!!! $2.50 GUSTOS OF BUD, BUD LIGHT AND COORS LIGHT
VOTED LAWRENCE'S #1 SPORTS BAR 6TH & KASOLD 749-2999
NAILS by Keri Isaacs
Full Set $30
Fills $20
Call today for an appointment!
843-1465 or 832-6441
$5 off
1st service
with Keri Isaacs
(expires Sept. 30, 1998)
DANCE GALLERY 841-0215 or 838-9100
Classes forming for our new fall semester:
- Ballet·Jazz·Tap·Lyrical Jazz·Pointe·Cheerleading
- Cheerdance·Tumbling·Acrobatics·Pre Ballet
- Aerobics·For Boys Only·Competitive Teams
Dance Gallery Jazz Troupes
New Offerings:Parent/Tot Tumbling Dance/Stunts and Tumbling Classes for ages 2-Adult
Tapping with the Tap Dogs at Dance Gallery
North Location: 3320 Mesa Way South Location: 2500 West 31st
Karen Fender, Director