PAGE 6
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
DAN FROM PAGE 1
"He made my days better," McDuffie said, adding that he was personally affected by Morelan's kindness. "So I thought we should try to get him back."
McDuffie originally heard about Morelan's firing through a Facebook fan page called "We Love Dan - The KU Bus Driver", where any students have expressed their support for Morelan. After the fan page's creation in 2009, Morelan said his supervisors became increasingly critical of his driving because of his popularity with students.
"As soon as the Facebook fan page went up, my life went into the craner." Morelan said.
Morelan said he has witnessed his supervisor filming him and other bus drivers on her iPhone conspicuously on campus. Skyler Richardson, a senior from Salina and founder of the Facebook fan page, said he has also seen an MV Transportation employee hiding in the buses around campus watching bus drivers.
Jeremy Stacy, the operations manager for MV Transportation, said the company can't confirm the details of Morelan's violations because it does not comment on confidential information related to personnel decisions.
"MV's mission is to be the standard of excellence in the provision of passenger transportation services". Stacy said. "We accomplish this by maintaining a high standard
of safety and professionalism. Although I'm not at liberty to discuss the details surrounding individual changes in personnel, I can assure you that any changes that have been made were done so in the name of maintaining safety and professionalism in service to our clients, the public, our passengers, and our employees."
University spokesman lack Martin said the University can't comment on the situation.
"We contract with MV to deliver transportation services and are not involved in the decisions they make regarding their employees," Martin said. "We also don't have anything to add to what's already been said."
Morelan said he would drive a KU bus again if a grievance succeeds or if MV Transportation decides to rehire him.
Morelan said he is planning to consult with an attorney and file a grievance with MV Transportation within the next couple of days. He said union representatives will not support him with his grievance.
"Yes, for the kids," Morelan said. "You spend a couple years with them, and they become more than just passersby. They're your friends, your families."
According to the union contract of MV Transportation employees, a grievance can be filed to appeal the discharge of an employee within seven days of the firing.
—Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
Morelan teaches supporter Qing Leu how to roast a hot dog over the fire during his babcock restaurant evening. Leu is a first-year exchange student from China.
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
Morelan prepares a hot dog at his barbecue on Saturday evening, as his friends and family share food, company and stories. Supporters of Dan came to his barbecue after hearing that Dan got fired as a bus driver from the University of Kansas.
University to test e-books
ACADEMICS
JOE DAUGHERTY
jdaugherty@kansan.com
University textbooks are getting a 21st century facelift.
The University's new e-book pilot program, sponsored by the Information Technology department and the KU Bookstore, will allow students to their opinions on whether professors should require digital or traditional materials for the classroom.
"The goal of this pilot is to be able to provide faculty with information that will help them make informed decisions about what materials to use in their class," said Paul Farran, chief of staff for The University of Kansas Chief Information Officer.
This program will conduct a study with four pilot classes this semester, including PHIL 160, HSES 330, HESS 260 and BIO 246. The pilot only uses one section in each class and includes about 700 students.
This month, a survey will be available on Blackboard asking students about the acquisition process of the materials and how accessible they were online. During finals week, a second survey will be posted about the satisfaction with the use of digital materials compared to the use of traditional materials.
Instead of buying a physical textbook, Farran said students can buy an access code for the textbook at the KU Bookstore or go online and purchase one. Another goal of the program Farran said is to see how University officials can better support students' use of digital materials.
The prices of traditional and e-books differ, but both can be cheaper depending on the circumstances.
"E-books are not always cheaper, especially when you factor in that you can buy used copies of the traditional books," said Estella McCollum, Director of KU Bookstores. "E-books with additional access codes to homework a lot of times are cheaper than buying a used copy of the book and having to buy a new workbook."
KU Nutrition Professor Marty
Glenn's HSES 330 class is one of the four classes in the pilot. Glenn volunteered after the KU Bookstore sent out a mass email asking faculty for their participation in the program.
"I knew the e-books are a new thing and the way of the future, so I just wanted to see what it was like for myself more than anything," Glenn said. "I had never really required a textbook before, and I wanted to find a way to include a book, so I thought this would be a good way to do that."
Glenn said the convenience of an e-book and the ability to access it anywhere would be what students would like most about the digital materials. Another feature that Glenn said he believes will be a benefit to the students is the study guides built into the e-books. These study guides show the answer and then take you directly to the page in the book where the material was covered.
Sedrick Baskin-Ward, a junior from Kansas City, Mo. enrolled in HSES 330, that he likes some of the benefits from using e-books,
but he also likes what traditional materials have to offer as well.
Edited by Christy Khamphilay
"It has its ups and downs," Baskin-Ward said. "As far as having online homework and a book online it is great, but when you need help it is a struggle to get your question answered by the teacher especially when the assignments are timed."
PRICE COMPARISON PHIL 160: Introduction to Ethics — "Ethics: The Essential Writings" by Gordon Marino
KU Bookstore new:
$18.00
KU Bookstore used:
$13.50
Amazon new: $12.24
Kindle and iBookstore:
$14.99
NATURE
Source: Amazon.com,
iBookstore, KUbookstore.
com
'Friends of the Kaw' raise awareness
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DE SOTO — A bald eagle swoops over the Kansas River. Its fledglings have already hatched, but its large nest is hard to miss, nestled in a tree along the water.
Until recently, few visitors were able to paddle the river — also known as the Kaw — to see the eagles and herons that fish here and perch in the cottonwoods, sycamores and willows along its banks.
A bald eagle misses on a strike in the shallow waters next to a Kansas River sandbar near Lawrence. Until recently, few visitors were able to paddle the river (also known as the Kaw) to see the eagles and herons that fish here and perch in the cottonwoods, scyamores and willows. Friends of the Kaw has been working with communities over the past decade to add boat-launch areas and to take groups out on the river to see the wildlife that calls it home
But an environmental advocacy group called Friends of the Kaw has been working with communities over the past decade to add boat-launch areas and take groups out on the river to see the wildlife that calls it home.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In part because of this work, the river was designated in July as the newest addition to the National Water Trails system. The designation encourages state, local and federal governments to work together to increase water recreation, promote tourism and help local economies.
"The Kansas River I think is fairly unique," said Laura Calwell, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Kaw. "It's a big, wide, prairie-based river and because of all the sandbars, it's like having an ocean beach in the middle of Kansas. And many of the rivers that I've paddled on in the United States, while they are beautiful, they don't have any sandbars. I'm like,' Oh, I miss my sandbars on the Kansas River'"
Up on those driftwood-strewn sandbars, paddlers look for frogs and the tracks of raccoons and deer that drink from the waters. The sandbars are public property, so paddlers are free to picnic and camp there, often with nobody else around.
"Right now as it stands on the Kansas River, if you are on a float
trip you are probably not going to see another group," Calwell. "You might, but probably not. You really have the whole river and the sandbars to yourself."
The river is appropriate for novice canoers and kayakers when the water level is low, as it is now with this year's drought. Many sections are no more than knee-deep, which may surprise newcomers because the river is as wide as two football fields in some spots. But it's so shallow paddlers occasionally have to push their boats over sandbars.
And because the state is so flat, the river doesn't move fast, with water dropping only about 2 feet in elevation per mile (about a half-meter per 1.6 kilometers). That makes it safe and easy for family outings, but Calwell recommends passengers be at least 5 years old and paddlers at least 14, accompanied by an adult.
The river gets the most recreational use from spring through mid-October, though canoers and kayakers continue to paddle on warm days in late October and November.
The Kansas River is named after the Kanza or Kaw Indians who once lived along its banks. The waterway begins where the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers join at Junction City near the Fort Riley Army base. It then flows about 170 miles (273 kilometers) eastward taking paddlers through the scenic Flint Hills, two college towns and the state's capital before it dumps into the Missouri River at Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kan.
It was at the confluence of the
Kansas and Missouri rivers that the Lewis and Clark expedition camped more than 200 years ago as they journeyed westward to explore the Louisiana Purchase. But prior to a decade ago, the Kansas River had only three public boat-launch areas, with another four or five on tributaries, Calwell said.
With 11 public access areas added since then, the Friends of the Kaw is coming close to its goal of a public boat launch every 10 miles (17 kilometers). Eventually the group hopes to add more at five-mile (8.5 kilometer) intervals. Five-mile stretches are popular among novice paddlers because they take about two hours to complete, not including breaks, compared to three to four hours for 10-mile stretches.
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