KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011 / NEWS / 3A
HEALTH
Watkins Health Center to host Spring Smokeout
Smokers will be encouraged to kick the habit on Wescoe Beach and on the lawn of the Watkins Health Center from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
According to the American Heart Association,
55. 9 million people in the United States smoke cigarettes. That number does not include smokers under the age of 18.
24. 8 million of those smokers are males, compared with 21.1 million females.
According to the National College Health Assessment survey for the Fall 2010 semester,
440,000 Cigarettes play a role in of 2,400,000 annual deaths.In other words,cigarettes account for around
14. 9 percent
18. 3 percent of all
deaths in the United States each year.
of college students have smoked a cigarette in the last 29 days.
Ken Saber, a health educator at the University, said the Spring Smokeout encouraged students to pledge to be tobacco free. Those who pledge will receive free wristbands promoting a tobacco-free life. Saber says the best advice he can give someone trying to quit smoking is to accept help and use resources that are available at the University and online.
LAWRENCE
KPR raises most money since 1952
Kansas Public Radio is located on 11th Street. KPR started in 1952 and is licensed to the University of Kansas
Megan Singer/KANSAN
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
In a building just off of 11th Street, the Kansas Public Radio station broadcasts to the Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia and Junction City communities.
This month, through the station's spring membership drive, the Kansas Public Radio station raised more that $297,000 in pledges from listeners and members, according to a press release. This is the most money that has been raised for the station since its beginning in 1952.
Fundraising is a crucial part for the maintenance of the radio station, especially with impending budget cuts on the state and national levels, said Phil Wilke, media manager for the radio station.
The station raised about $50,000 more than it raised in the fundraising drive last fall. Wilke said that this money normally goes into the general fund of the station, which includes programming.
"We like to think it's attributed to people seeing value in the radio station." Wilke said.
According to the press release, Gov. Sam Brownback said that the state was unable to fund public broadcasting. Wilke said that because of this, donations are
important to the funding and running of the radio station and for its future success. Wilke said the next fundraising drive is in October.
"I would love to be able to duplicate that success," he said.
— Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
LIBERTY HALL accessibility info
643 Mass St. (785) 749-1927
accessibility info
644 Mass. 749-1912 (785) 749-1912
WIN WIN (R) 4:30 7:00 9:25
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED(PG)
4:40 7:10
St. Louis tornado disproves Midwest disaster notions
CEDAR RAPIDS (R) 9:35 ONLY
"We're still a superstitious people, sometimes," said David Mechem, professor of atmospheric science at the University.
During natural disasters, some officials warn citizens to hide underneath sturdy objects like tables or doorwaves.
Mechem said he had heard most of the myths, misconceptions and old-wives tales that swirl around tornadoes. One says that tornadoes don't strike cities.
Mechem said the reason tornadoes frequently miss cities is that they occupy comparatively small areas compared with the plains of the tornado alley.
"But cities are definitely not safe havens," he said.
MYTH: TORNADOES
DON'T HIT CITIES
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
NATURAL DISASTER
MYTH: HIGHWAY OVERPASSES ARE SAFE
The belief that highway overpasses offer protection from tornados is perhaps the most recent and widespread tornado myth. The idea has gained exposure from a YouTube video depicting several people hiding under an overpass on the Kansas Turnpike and escaping an April 1991 tornado unharmed.
Mechem said the destructive tornadoes that landed on Topeka in 1966 and Fort Worth, Texas, in 2000 demonstrated his point.
The destruction left behind across more than 20 miles of the St. Louis metropolitan area Friday disproved that idea. Myths about tornadoes and earthquake persist, however, and experts try to educate about them.
According to the National Weather Service, overpasses are actually one of the worst places to seek shelter. These confined spaces can act as funnels for extremely high winds and debris, though they may offer protection from the hail that often accompanies tornadoes.
Aaron Harris/KANSAN
MYTH: HOUSES CAN EXPLODE IN A TORNADO
"it's kind of wishful thinking," he said.
An older myth holds that a house can explode in a tornado because of the drop in air pressure created by the storm, and that it is necessary to open the windows to equalize the pressure. Mechem said this was false. Houses leak enough air to equalize themselves and are typically broken apart by high winds.
Burnett's Mound, a large hill overlooking Topeka, did not stop the 1966 tornado that killed 16 and injured 500.
Mechem similarly dismissed the idea that a town might be protected by surrounding hills.
KU emergency procedures for tornado warnings advise seeking shelter in the most interior section of a building and on the lowest level possible, like a basement. The policy advises avoiding glass and exterior walls.
EARTHQUAKES IN THE MIDWEST
MYTH: HILLS PROTECT AGAINST TORNADOES
On Thursday, emergency planning officials in Missouri and 10 other states will lead the biggest earthquake drill in the history of the Midwest to mark the bicentennial of the major earthquake that destroyed New Madrid, Mo. in 1811.
MISSOURI
EARTHQUAKE DRILL
Earthquake Drill www.shakeout.org/centralus/
Tornado Safety Information
www.crhnoa.gov
Earthquakes rarely get much attention in the Midwest, but Don Steeples, McGee distinguished professor of applied geophysics, said Kansas experienced a dozen or more each year. They are also the subject of disputed safety advice.
Southeast Missouri is the most active seismic zone east of the Rocky Mountains, and it experiences hundreds of tremors each year.
The drill teaches people to take cover under surfaces like tables and desks in an earthquake. As more than 2 million people prepare for the drill, many have received chain emails challenging that advice, saying that it is safer to hide beside, not under, such furniture to avoid being crushed.
next one could occur at any time.
"We don't know when the last one occurred," he said. "Or when the next one will be."
Steepsle said there was no one way to survive such a disaster, and that one was just as likely to be crushed under a desk as asphyxiated under piles of rubble.
next one could occur at any time
Most seismic activity in Kansas can only be detected with instruments, Steeple said. But once every few years, residents will feel a tremor. He said Kansas would experience a 6.5 magnitude earthquake once every 2,500 years. He said the
"Statistically, I'll take my chances under a desk," he said.
Edited by Becca Harsch