FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
3A
NATION
Kansas child found safe after father kills himself
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LARAMIE, Wyo. — A young Kansas girl is safe after her father apparently killed her mother, abducted her and shot himself in the head near here, some 600 miles from the start of her ordeal, police said.
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The search for 5-year-old Stormy Shirk began Wednesday morning after the girl's mother, Melissa Shirk, a 31-year-old librarian, was found slain in her Topeka home around 10:40 a.m.
iated Press
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around 10.46 a.m.
The day ended with the child's father, 29-year-old Justin Shirk, shooting himself in southeast Wyoming.
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The girl was not harmed and was taken to a foster home in Laramie until her grandparents from Kansas could pick her up, said Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend.
contact
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Neighbors of the slain woman were startled to hear of the events.
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"There was nothing unusual, last night," said John Thompson, a next-door neighbor.
The Associated Press
Godzilla goes golden
Monster turns 50; faculty planning film conference
BY AUDY HYLAND
ahyland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The King of Monsters celebrates its golden anniversary this year, and two University of Kansas employees are helping throw the party.
To help commemorate Godzilla's 50th birthday, William Tsutsu, associate professor of history, and Michiko Ito, Japanese studies librarian, are planning a series of events leading up to a Godzilla conference and film festival on Oct. 28-30
The event is the largest of its kind in the United States, Tsutsui said.
"This is going to be really fun," he said. "It's a really fun way to help people understand more about Japanese and American cultures."
series, Larry Martin, paleontologist at the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, and John Simmons, herpetologist presented a
Yesterday, as part of that
GODZILLA
lecture as part of the celebration. A herpetologist studies reptiles and amphibians
Martin said Godzilla was clearly modeled after dinosaurs. He said he was also interested in monsters and the way humans conceived of them.
conceived or the
"I think that Godzilla is a
good way to explain things
about us," he said. "What we're
really doing is a thought experiment with things we're really concerned about."
He said all good monsters have some basis in fact, and that humans tended to embellish what was already there.
what was already there?
Tsutsui said that the first
Godzilla movie was the first
exposure many Americans had to Japanese culture.
"Before, people didn't really know much else other than that they had bombed us in Pearl Harbor," he said.
But today, he said, Japanese culture was more popular with people enjoying anime, a form of Japanese animation, and manga. Japanese comic books.
He also said that the movie was originally meant for more than entertainment.
"A lot of people don't realize that the original movie was a morality play against nuclear weapons," he said.
weapons, he said. He said Godzilla represented the nuclear threat posed by other nations during the Cold War with the potential to destroy Tokyo.
Greyson Twist, Anthony senior, attended the lecture yesterday. He went because he studied abroad in Japan last year, and liked Godzilla movies.
knew it useful as a cultural gobetween," he said. "It shows a lot of East Asian cultural aspects."
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Edited by Neil Mulka
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CAMPUS
Tickets for gay marriage debate go on sale today
Tickets go on sale today for Should the Government Support Same Sex Marriage?, a debate hosted by Student Union Activities. It will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Lied Center.
Thursday at the Library
The debate will feature commentary by Jonathan Rauch,
author of Gay Marriage: Why It is Good for Gays, Good for Straights and Good for America, and Genevieve Wood,
 vice president for Media at the Family Research Council.
CITY
Family Research
Tickets cost $5 with a KUID
and $8 for the general public
and can be purchased at the
SUA Box Office (864-SHOW) or
the Lied Center box office.
ing season was not favorable, Taylor said.
Annual butterfly tagging to take flight tomorrow
Chip Taylor, professor of entomology, said 10,000 monarchs and 365 people attended the tagging in 2001. He said the crowd tagged 2,800 monarchs in less than four hours. The migration this year will be lower than in past years, Taylor said.
Taylor said 70 percent of the Monarch population had died because of winter storms. The weather during Monarch breed
The Baker University Wetlands are located along 31st
Monarch Watch and the Jayhawk Audubon Society will sponsor the monarch butterfly tagging, which will be open to the public from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Baker University Wetlands.
"They're facing serious conservation issues," Taylor said.
Taylor said monarch habitats were being destroyed by deforestation.
When the trees are destroyed, milkweed, the host plant for monarch larvae, is also destroyed.
Taylor said anyone could tag a butterfly. Staff at the event will instruct people on how to tag the monarchs.
tag the Monarch Watch and the Audubon Society provide the tags and nets, which are needed to catch the butterflies for tagging.
sultation. Monarchs migrate to Mexico, where they cluster in Oyamel fir trees.
Street between Haskell Avenue and Louisiana Street.
There is no admission charge and no tagging experience is needed.
Stephanie Farley
Humane Society auction to sell art, sports items
The Lawrence Humane Society will host the 10th Annual Pawsible Dream Benefit Auction at 6 p.m. Friday at the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive.
Proceeds from the live and silent auctions will benefit the abandoned and abused animals of Douglas County, providing food, shelter, medications, vaccinations and money for veterinary bills.
Auction items include collegiate and professional sports
memorabilia from the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Chiefs, pet products, artwork by local artists, sporting event tickets and gift certificates to local restaurants.
Tickets cost $15 per person or two for $25 and can be purchased at the door.
- Austin Caster
INTERNATIONAL
Photo contest to award money for memorables
The International Library of Photography will award more than $60,000 in prizes this year in the International Open Amateur Photography Contest.
"Everyone has at least one memorable photo that captures a special moment in time," said
Christina Baylon, contest director.
The contest costs nothing to enter and is open to everyone. Photographers should send one photo in one of the following categories: people, travel, pets, children, sports, nature, action, humor, portraiture or other.
Photos must include the photographer's name and address as well as the category of the photo.
Photos should be 8 inches by 10 inches or smaller.
Entries must be postmarked by November 30, 2004, and sent to The International Library of Photography, Suite 101-3941, 3600 Crondall Lane, Owings Mills, MD 21117.
Contestants can also submit photos online at www.picture.com.
Austin Caster