4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
》 FACILITIES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
Temperature policy fails to contain energy costs
BY KIM LYNCH
Heating costs at the University of Kansas have increased, despite measures to bring them down.
Cindy Strecker, energy program manager for Facilities Operations management information, said the University spent $4.2 million on natural gas and $6.2 million on electricity for the 2006 fiscal year.
Strecker said that natural gas, which primarily went toward heating, cost $3.4 million last year. Electricity, which powers air conditioning and much more, cost $5.2 million.
Strecker said part of the increase
in electric costs could be attributed to new buildings. She said the increases in natural gas utilities were mainly due to rising gas prices and fluctuations in weather.
Electricity is so widely used that figuring air conditioning costs specifically is difficult, Strecker said.
Strecker said Facilities Operations initially paid for some places on campus but was later reimbursed.
Former provost David Shulenburger set a temperature policy during the winter of 2000-2001 because of high natural gas prices. The policy dictates that occupied classroom temperatures be kept at 69 degrees when the
weather is cool and at 76 degrees on warm days. Exceptions are made for rooms like laboratories or computer labs, must be set at different temperatures. During winter break, rooms are set at 55 degrees. Turning heat off could cause pipes to freeze.
Jim Long, vice provost for facilities planning and management, said he thought the policy would stay the same.
More than 50 buildings on campus are controlled centrally. Others have thermostats in rooms or window units, Long said.
He said Facilities Operations discouraged changing the thermostat settings because they were set
at certain temperatures to conserve energy. If temperature problems arise, Facilities Operations should be contacted
Long said that Facility Operations was always open to suggestions and that issues with a room being too hot or cold arose should be directed to Facility Operations so a worker could respond to the problem.
Facilities Operations can be contacted at 864-4770.
Kansan staff writer Kim Lynch can be contacted at klynch@ kansan.com.
Edited by Natalie Johnson
HURRICANE KATRINA
Nursing home owners indicted for homicide Aftermath of storm leaves thirty-five patients dead, many others injured
BY MARY FOSTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHALMETTE, La. — The owners of a nursing home where 35 patients died in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were indicted Wednesday on charges of negligent homicide and cruelty to the infirm.
Salvador and Mabel Mangano were initially arrested about two weeks after the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. The Louisiana attorney general booked them on negligent homicide charges, but a grand jury was unable to convene for months because the court system was hobbled by damage to government buildings and the displacement of residents.
The couple remained free on bond Wednesday. They owned St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard
Parish a coastal suburb of New Orleans badly flooded by Katrina.
Attorneys in the case were prevented from commenting by a gag order.
The Manganos were originally arrested on 34 counts of negligent homicide, but the grand jury added a 35th count in its indictment, representing a body that was found later. The grand jury also added the cruelty charges.
The indictment for cruelty alleges the couple "intentionally or through criminal negligence" mistreated or neglected 64 patients.
It is believed to cover both patients who died and those who survived.
The Manganos were to be formally booked on the cruelty charges at an Oct. 4 hearing.
injured at the nursing home and the families of people who died there.
More than 30 lawsuits have been filed against the couple by patients
In a lawsuit filed last month, the couple sued the government, saying federal, state and local officials failed to keep residents safe and evacuate vulnerable citizens as the storm approached.
The Manganese have argued that their hurricane plan — to keep frail residents in place with food, water and generators rather than risk moving them — was a responsible course of action, and if the leves had held, the tragedy would have been avoided.
The Manganos' attorney, James Cobb, has stressed that the nursing home never flooded before Katrina and the Manganos worried that an evacuation would kill some of their elderly patients.
authorities are evaluating evidence to present to a grand jury about a doctor and two nurses accused of killing patients with painkillers in the chaotic days after the hurricane.
In another high-profile case,
Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Cheri Landry and Lori Budo were arrested July 17 and released without bond.
They were booked on suspicion of second-degree murder involving four trapped and desperately ill patients ranging in age from 62 to 90.
Attorneys for the three say they are innocent.
Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and virtually wiped out neighboring St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. The Louisiana death toll was nearly 1,600.
FACEBOOK
Web site makes changes to better serve its users
BY HALLIE C. FALQUET
U-WIRE
WASHINGTON — "I check it, like, 7,000 times a day ... mainly to stalk people," said 17-year-old Brianna Russo.
"Yeah, I check my e-mail, and go on Facebook," added Kristen Warn, 18, who also uses the popular internet site to "stalk people."
The University of Maryland freshmen laughed as they described their obsessive relationship with Facebook.com, a popular Web site used to keep friends connected.
used to keep I but the truth is their comments are part of the normal buzz that surrounds the latest internet fad.
Despite the unexpected protests over two features added to the site on Sept. 5 — News Feed and Mini Feed
Users can now track who is ahead, among Facebook voters, in the gubernatorial and congressional elections state by state. There are even campaign issue groups where members can voice their opinions on all matters relating to the races that interest them.
"If I noticed it, I would use it."
Russo said.
Both students are from out of state, and therefore do not feel well-informed on who was running
"We get thousands of e-mails every day that our customer support team sifts through in determining what the changes will be."
"You would have to do a lot of research [on the candidates], and that's not worth it," said Warn.
MELANIE DEITCH Facebook director of marketing
both were revised to include additional security controls after being described as an invasion of privacy by some users — Facebook developers continue to expand their product.
"We have a pretty vocal user base," Deitch said. "We get thousands of e-mails every day that our customer support team sifts through in determining what the changes will be."
One of the most recent additions is the Election 2006 section, which allows users to voice their support for their favorite political causes.
While Melanie Deitch, the director of marketing, is not permitted to announce the next developments on the site before their official release, she did say that the users are the ones to decide what comes next.
back home to investigate this feature. And, since they're not from Maryland, they don't feel they know enough about local politics to be involved in those races either.
The development team at Facebook
has also recently added the "Development Platform."
Users who are fluent in programming can create programs that work within Facebook, allowing members to do everything from finding a date, to voicing their opinion on campus issues, to sharing playlists and photos.
The Facebook Development Platform Group, an online forum for developers to discuss their programs, already has almost 3000 members, or just over 3 percent of the over nine million total people signed up on the site, just one month after its debut.
Russo and Warn shake their heads, "no," when asked whether they have heard of this feature.
Deitch said that the Facebook company was started as a way to replicate "the individual user's real world."