THE UNIVERSITY OF MIDDLE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2006
NEWS 3A
HEALTH
University tries organic food KU Dining Services considers offering eco-friendly choices
BY KIM LYNCH
Responding to requests and recommendations, KU Dining Services is offering some organic foods at The Market in the Kansas Union. The Market carries a line of organic snacks, a spring mix and fruit.
Ann Chapman, Watkins Memorial Health Center dietitian, said it was sometimes advantageous to purchase organic foods.
For example, Consumer's Union recommends organic beef because it greatly reduces the risk of mad cow disease, she said. But for other foods, such as breads, pastas and oils, there may not be many benefits to buying organic food, she said.
Offering organic and sustainable food options on campus is becoming a trend in the Ivy League and at many other universities, but the University of Kansas is still weighing its options.
Organic refers to food that is produced without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizer. Sustainable food uses practices that emphasize ecology, the seasons and humane treatment of animals and workers, according to the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California-Santa Cruz.
According to the Yale University's Sustainable Food Project's annual 2005 report, Brown University,
Harvard University, Stanford University and Wesleyan University are on their way to implementing some version of sustainable food programs. The University of Nebraska is using information from the report to develop a similar program.
Josh Viertel, director of the Yale project, said the idea to serve organic foods came from a class. He said that students learned about the toxicity of certain foods, then realized they were a "captive audience," having to eat those foods in the dining halls. The students formed an organization and talked with the administration about serving more sustainable and organic foods, he said.
In the last year, there have been more requests or questions about serving organic food, but the University is "just in the infancy" of looking into organic food on campus, said Sheryl Kidwell, assistant director of KU Dining Services.
Three factors are important in evaluating whether organic food would be a good choice for the University: availability, price and, most importantly, quality, Kidwell said. The testing is being done at the Market so dining services can gauge what the entire University population wants rather than just students at the dining halls, she said.
If the University did start an organic food program in the dining halls, Kidwell said the cost of organic
products would reflect in their retail price. Organic foods are often more expensive than regular ones.
Chase Schultz, Goessel sophomore, said he grew up eating organic food and chose it "as a health choice first, but also for the local community."
He said it would a good for the University to serve more organic food.
"I would love that," he said. "It would be great."
The University of Colorado-Boulder established a successful organic food program by opening a small store that sells only organic food. Kidwell said she thought that would be a good idea for the University as well.
Valerie Skubal, Shawne freshman, said she would buy some organic food if it were offered on campus, but only products she was already familiar with.
A good reason to eat organic food is because it was healthier and helps to support the community and social values, she said.
Kansan staff writer Kim Lynch can be contacted at klynch@kansan. com.
Kidwell said dining services was proceeding slowly with organic food to make sure "what we're doing is what customers really want."
Edited by Natalie Johnson
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Earl Schweppe, professor emeritus of computer science, displays an original vacuum tube from the IBM 650 computer salvaged from the base- ment of Learned Hall. The University of Kansas originally purchased the computer in 1957.
COMPUTER (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Much of the credit for getting the machine on campus went to the late mathematics professor G. Bailey Price and former Chancellor Franklin David Murphy.
"It was the point where the University recognized the importance of computers in mathematics," Blanchard said.
He also credited the computer with playing a major role in causing computers to become smaller. The IBM 650, though 6 feet tall and 5 feet deep, was smaller than its predecessors, which Blanchard said occupied entire floors.
The machine's capabilities were limited. Schweppe said the memory was capable only of holding 1,000 tendigit numbers. Despite those limitations, he said the computer was used for more than simple tabulation and helped lead to significant advances in fields like chemical engineering.
"You wouldn't believe what was done," Schweppe said. "It was limited, but it was absolutely amazing."
"To put it another way, we probably have about 100 million times the computing power of the IBM 650 in the department right now," Blanchard said.
Blanchard said his department now had about 500 computers, each with 2-gigahertz processors.
But the 650 started the computer revolution on campus, and that, Schwepep said, made it worthy of being salvaged.
"This machine was a big step for
the University," Schweppe said.
Kansan staff writer Danny Luppino can be contacted at dluppino@ kansan.com.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
RUMSFELD (CONTINUED FROM1A)
Rumsfeld added that it would take the cooperation of all departments — defense, diplomacy and developments — because the military couldn't win the war alone.
He addressed ways in which the government needed to be strengthened and said, "Our grandchildren will look back on this war as defining a moment in American history as World War II was."
He said it would take some time, but eventually Americans would find answers and overcome the "lethal threats that challenge our country"
He concluded by saying that he thought America would persevere in the war if it made the right choices to understand the war.
"The military is equipped for a conventional war, not an asymmetrical one" he said.
"In spite of everything the enemy tries to make the world think otherwise, America is not what's wrong with the world," Rumsfeld said. "Let there be no doubt we are on
A brief Q-and-A session followed his speech. One audience member asked Rumsfeld to grade his performance as secretary of defense.
"I'll let history worry about that," he said.
Paul Mintner, Kansas State freshman, said he was indifferent to the former secretary of defense before his speech but that he thought Rumsfeld seemed more genuine because he was out of the constraints of office.
"I appreciated his optimism for the war on terrorism," he said.
Manuel Corona, a member of one of the military teams attending from Fort Riley, said he thought the former secretary did an "outstanding job" while in office, but he was surprised his resignation didn't come up during the lecture.
"I expected he would talk more about his resignation," he said.
Rumsfeld. Myers served as the principal adviser to the president, Rumsfeld and the National Security Council when he served in the position from 2001 to 2005.
Gen. Richard Myers, the former joint chief of staff, introduced
freedom's side."
Rumsfeld also attended the dedication of the military science building Thursday afternoon at K-State, named in honor of Gen. Myers.
The audience was limited to about 6,000 K-State students, faculty and staff, Landon Lecture patrons and a contingent of military service members from nearby Fort Riley.
The Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues is named in honor of former Kansas Governor Alfred M. Landon, who was the first to give the speech in 1966. Recent speakers include President George W. Bush and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan).
NATION
Kansan staff writer Jack Weinstein can be contacted at jweinstein@kansan.com.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
BP settles lawsuit Oil company closes final case from explosion
BY JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
GALVESTON, Texas BP PLC settled on Thursday the last remaining death-related lawsuit from the 2005 Texas City refinery blast that killed 15, wounded 170 and brought accusations of lax management at the oil company.
Just as jury selection was beginning in what would have been the first civil case from the explosion to go to trial, the woman whose parents had been killed in the blast, and who had refused to settle, relented.
Eya Rowe, 22, walked away with an unknown amount, but the settlement also called for London-
Brent Coon, Eva Rowe's attorney, stressed that efforts to settle the case always included stipulations that BP make the refinery and other facilities safer.
In the weeks leading to the trial, Rowe steadfastly contended that she was suing BP to focus attention on the accident and to prevent others from happening after the deaths of 48-year-old James Rowe and his wife, Linda Rowe, 47, of Hornbeck, La.
"Money did not solve all the
based BP to continue to release documents related to the case and to donate millions to schools and medical facilities, including one where victims were treated after the March 2005 explosion.
The donations, which could total $38 million, include $1 million for the school system in Hornbeck, where Linda Rowe was a teacher's aide. The adult burn unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which treated victims of the blast, will get $12.5 million.
Rowe also sued former Texas City plant manager Don Parus and J.E. Merit Constructors Inc., which employed her parents. Both were released from the lawsuit in the settlement.
"I am very satisfied to be able to help so many people in the community," Eva Rowe said. "I don't want my parents to be forgotten."
problems," Coon said.