University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, October 2, 1991
5
New food club allows students to sharpen their culinary skills
By Dan Janousek Special to the Kansan
Dieters beware — there is a new club in town.
In the age of calorie counting, tummy tucking and oat bran, a new club on campus has assembled for reasons of good taste.
Upon hearing the club's name, Gourmet Food Club, most health nuts would call membership a declaration of suicide.
Organized this fall by Melanie Dill, Atwood junior, and Deborah Briggs, Topeka sophomore, the new group's faculty, in advance of culinary knowledge.
The club is a learning experience in quality, not quantity. Dill said.
"I'm not talking about giant plates of food," Dill said. "I see it as an art form. I like to see more good cooks. I would rather eat a caviar than a bunch of french fries."
Anyone on campus can be a member of the club, and the founders are eager to gain a new and diverse group. But they may also be reluctant to some people may be reluctant to join.
"Iwould rather eat a little caviar than a bunch of french fries."
"It's just the name of it," Briggs
Melanie Dill
Atwoodjunior
said. "We are looking for culinary talent, and we want representatives from all the different balls to win."
With only a few meals under their belts, Dill and Briggs have embarked on a culinary roller coaster that they hope will give their members an international experience in foreign and native cuisine.
The two women said they started the club to learn from others. They encourage members to get together
during the week in small groups in which different ideas for cooking, recipes and methods can be discussed and preparingegg meals in the kitchen.
But they do not want to discourage students who do not have access to a kitchen from joining the club.
"There is a kitchen in almost every dorm that students can have access to." *bill said.* "Anything you cook for yourself is healthier than you bought it."
At their first meeting earlier this month, Dill prepared a yeast bread from scratch while Briggs prepared lasagna. They said they were proud of their new club and thought others could benefit from the experience.
"We're culinary wannabes. Right now we are in the lasagna stage. The club is in its beginning right now and we've grown. We've given you a sense of accomplishment."
The club's first potluck dinner was a p!
c Christmas. Friday at the Ecumenical
a 1 pm.
The group meets the third Thursday of each month to serve a gourmet meal and to give a cooking demonstration. A $2 donation fee is requested.
Educators plan for the future of science
Program offers students opportunities to research
By Jennifer Bach
Kansan staff writer
The thought of who will become future scientific leaders, considering the small number of current prospects, worries some KU professors.
In response to this problem, educators developed the Science and Engineering Research Semester Program, which offers juniors and seniors the opportunity to learn mathematics fields a chance to experience what a career in science might be like.
"We want to give them a taste of what it's like to be a research scientist," said Caryl Mitchell, assistant to the program manager in Washington.
The program, which has been offered since 1987, gives 350 students nationwide a chance to conduct research with some of the nation's top scientists at national research laboratories.
The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the program and gives students a $200 stipend per week, housing and travel reimbursements.
Students in the program earn three credit hours and can enroll in one additional course at a nearby university.
To plan for the future of scientific research, focus must be placed on the research process.
The science-related problems facing the world call for a greater number of scientifically experienced people, she said.
"We need people who are well-educated and prepared," Mitchell said. "We need people to help us."
Help is what the program is trying to provide.
*One of the missions of the program is to prepare students for the scientific enterprise.
Bill Bulgren, chairperson of computer science, said he would encourage students to join the program.
"Who are going to be our future leaders and teachers in the field of science?" he said. "What we can do attract students to advanced education would be great."
Francis Prosser, associate chairperson of physics and astronomy, agreed that there was a need for student interest in science but said he would not encourage his students to take a semester off to participate.
But the experience of working at a important research laboratory would be valuable.
"The labs involved are very good," he said. "But for a student in physics, missing a semester here would be like missing a year of school."
Charles Himmelberg, chairperson of the mathematics department, said not enough students went on to obtain a doctoral degree in science.
"I think the program might give students contact with a little more mathematics and science than they might their undergraduate classes," he said.
The laboratory choices include,
Argonne, outside of Chicago;
Brookhaven in Long Island, N.Y.;
Lawrence Berkeley, near San Francisco;
Los Alamos, N.M.; Oak Ridge,
Tenn.; and Pacific Northwest, Wash.
Prices Good Through 10-8-91