E UNIVERSITY BABY KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2006
NEWS
5A
SURVIVOR (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
January. Now he's working with an expert on geckos at Villanova, using DNA sequences to research how all gecko species are related.
In November, he'll travel to South Africa to conduct research. He also plans on taking an expedition to Congo next summer that will involve a lot of physical activity.
"It will require a lot of walking and physical exertion," he said optimistically. "I'm trying to work out and do all I can to get ready for that."
Greenbaum, however, had renters insurance, as did Brady DeSanti, who also lived in Boardwalk.
Aside from physical injuries,
Greenbaum lost all his belongings.
DeSanti has had renter's insurance since he moved to Kansas in 2003. The Omaha doctoral student lived on the first floor of the building that burnt down. His apartment was destroyed by the fire.
"Luckily I hadn't been asleep very long that night." DesSanti said. "I can be known as a deep sleeper, and in this case there just wasn't much time to get out."
DeSanti awoke to screams and the sound of glass breaking. He thought it might be a break-in or domestic dispute. "The last thing on my mind was a fire," he said. Then he smelled smoke and saw "pulsating red." That's when he fled.
After crossing the street, he realized that he hadn't shut his front door. He said he thought about how much easier that would let the fire spread.
It didn't make a difference.
"You replace stuff, you deal with
the insurance company, but all in all that's miniscule compared to a lot of other people." DeSanti said.
Some things are gone forever, some possessions have been replaced and others are still waiting.
DeSanti lost many family photos he'd kept in his apartment. Those are gone forever.
He's replaced most things that can be replaced, except some martial arts equipment, books and clothes.
Desanti has a new apartment and is working to earn his Ph.D. in history. He credits his colleagues and other students in a religious methodology course for all their help.
"There are always those things you're not going to get back, no matter how much insurance you have," he said.
People from his religious methodology class bought him a gift card to Target for "a substantial amount." His colleagues in the history department had a get together where everyone brought him things like gift cards and new dishes.
"They just went overboard with their hospitality to help me out," he said.
As for Greenbaum, he's gotten back on his feet, literally. He hopes to have a permanent job in a museum or zoological institution and to keep doing more fieldwork. Next summer, he'll take on Congo.
Kansan staff writer Anna Faltermeier can be contacted at afaltermeier@kansan.com.
Edited by Jacky Carter
EDUCATION Atchison superintendent resigns after DUI accident
ATCHISON — The superintendent of Atchison public schools, who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after he was involved in an accident, has resigned.
Richard E. Branstrator, 68, was arrested Sept. 16 after allegedly losing control of his car and hitting two mailboxes and a tree, police said. Branstrator was given a sobriety test and had a blood-alcohol
level of .148, nearly twice the legal limit.
"I feel it is appropriate at this time to offer my resignation as superintendent of USD 409" Branstrator said in his written resignation Monday. "It is important that I focus on and address the issues that led me to this decision."
Assistant Superintendent Corbin Witt will serve as superintendent for the remainder of the school year. School officials plan to begin interviewing candidates in January.
Branstrator is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 19.
Med students go entirely digital
KUMC
KU Medical Center requires first-year students to buy tablet PCs for books
BY KIM LYNCH
Becca Phipps only carries a tablet computer to her Medical Center classes.
Phipps, Lawrence first-year medical center student, likes the fact that she doesn't have to carry books around and all of the features on her tablet computer. Phipps is one of the 182 first-year medical center students who was required to buy a tablet computer for her classes.
Allen Rawitch, vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, said this year, for the first time, all first-year medical students were required to have the same tablet computer, for which they paid a fee that included packets of software and some preloaded textbooks.
The idea is to minimize printed material and paperwork. Class notes and podcasts for a majority of lectures are available online as well, he said.
James Fishback, associate professor of pathology and curriculum director of basic sciences for the first two years, said students paid a technical fee of $2,500 for the Hewlett-Packard tablet PC, which they got to keep. He said about 75 percent of the books were provided electronically.
He said the school paid about $100,000 on electronic texts, but that it was a first-year implementation deal only.
He said he thought the KU Medical Center was one of the first medical schools to go all electronic with textbooks. The student fee did
not include textbooks because the Medical Center promised to pay for books for the 182 first-year students.
Fishback said a few technological glitches had occurred with the computers but that there were several measures in place in case students had issues. There are computers on loan from the library. Also an external hard drive comes with the
Phipps said at first she was upset that she had to pay for another computer because she already had one, but now she loves her computer and the programs on it.
She said getting used to the technology was a challenge when she first started classes. She said she had also taken out insurance on her computer because theft was not covered by the warranty.
tablet, and students have to back up their files every day.
Ali Wait, Seblit second-year medical student, said she didn't envy the first-year students because they were having to experience all the glitches as the new curriculum got worked out.
Wait said it was more difficult to read long documents on the computer rather than in print.
She said that almost all of the second-year students had laptops and that at least half of those were tablets so there wasn't a stark contrast.
Kansan staff writer Kim Lynch can be contacted at klynch@kansan. com.
STUDY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
— Edited by Brett Bolton
the report.
One major factor contributing to price increases is the CDs or supplemental booklets packaged with new textbooks. Publishers told the Government Accountability Office that they invested heavily to develop those supplements in response to instructors' requests.
In addition, publishers told the office that the number of revised editions has increased over the years, but that it currently remained stable. When an instructor requires the newest edition of a textbook for a class, students are forced to buy the new, more expensive book rather than older, used editions.
a letter to the Government Accountability Office to criticize the report.
Patricia Schroeder, president and CEO of the American Association of Publishers, wrote
The report uses "inaccurate and misleading data," Schroeder wrote, and its tone suggests bias against new textbook purchases.
"We believe that this report is being rushed to completion due to deadline pressures," Schroeder wrote. She urged the office to create a "more balanced and representative report" that took into account the AAP's own efforts to get textbooks into students' hands even if they can't afford full prices.
Kansan staff writer David Linhardt can be contacted at dlinhardt@kansan.com.
Edited by Mindy Ricketts
》 CRIME
Shooter molested relatives
BY MARK SCOLFORO ASSOCIATED PRESS
Investigators also said that Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, plotted his takeover of the school for nearly a week and that the items he brought — including flexible plastic ties, eyebolts and lubricating jelly — suggest he may have been planning to sexually assault the Amish girls before police closed in.
QUARRYVILLE, Pa. — The gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolroom confided to his wife during the siege that he molested two relatives 20 years ago when he was boy, and was tormented by dreams of doing it again, authorities said Tuesday.
Roberts shot himself in the head
when police arrived.
The death toll rose to six Tuesday — including the gunman — when two girls died of their wounds.
During the standoff, Roberts told his wife in a cell phone call that he molested two female relatives when they were 3 to 5 years old, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said. Roberts would have been around 11 and 12 at the time.
Police could not immediately confirm Roberts' claim that he molested two relatives.
Roberts had planned the attack for nearly a week, buying plastic ties from a hardware store on Sept. 26 and other items less than an hour before entering the school, Miller said.