WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2007 | NEWS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 11
ENVIRONMENT
Cross country tour celebrates bio-diversity
First of its kind'green certified' bus stops in Lawrence on national tour
By Maggie VanBuskirk mvanbuskirk@kansan.com
The Morris K. Udall Foundation is celebrating its 10th anniversary through a year-long celebration. The culmination of the celebration is a cross-country bus tour, which stopped in Lawrence on July 9.
The Udall Foundation was established by Congress in 1996 in honor of Morris K. Udall for his service in the U.S. House of Representatives. The foundation awards scholarships, fellowships and internships for studies related to the environment and Native American issues.
"We have a 'cooking oil to bio-diesel' plant that is just getting up and running, a Center for Sustainability that is only a semester old and a renewable energy and sustainability fund that just got passed in the Student Senate elections," Red Corn said.
Thirteen Udall alumni are traveling on the tour, which began in Washington, D.C. in June and ends in Tuscon, Ariz., in August. They are traveling in the first ever "green certified" bus. Eli Zigas, communications manager for the Udall Legacy Bus Tour said the tour is a way to highlight the work of Udall alumni and the initiatives of their communities. He said there are a number of University Udall alumni, which made Lawrence a destination on the tour.
In terms of Native American issues, Red Corn said, Lawrence
bus tour stops
University's biofuels labs
The following were scheduled stops for the Udall Bus Tour.
KU Center for Sustainability 301 Carruth-O'Leary
Ad Astra House 1033 Kentucky St
Haskell Indian Nations University
Studie Red Corn, Shawnee senior, is a 2007 Udall scholar. He said Lawrence and the University will stand out in the tour because the communities are on the verge of having many exciting things happen in terms of sustainability.
— 155 Indian Ave.
Wakarusa Wetlands — 31st & Louisiana streets
Local Burger
741 Vermont St.
Community Mercantile
901 Mississippi St.
has the Haskell-Baker wetlands and Haskell University itself.
All of these efforts were highlighted during the Lawrence visit. Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability, was scheduled to lead the group on a "green tour" around campus on Tuesday.
The Lawrence visit was the group's 16th stop on the tour, with visits to 15 more cities planned, including Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. Severin said considering the number of communities on the tour, it is a privilege Lawrence was chosen.
"Its really an honor to be included among the other cities the tour bus is visiting and it's an opportunity to show what we are doing in Lawrence," said Severin.
The Udall bus will head to Colorado next.
—Edited by Ben Smith
By Sam Carlson
scarlson@kansan.com
Music program quality and test scores linked
Although music might not necessarily make someone smarter, there is a link between students in good music programs and standardized test performance, according to a report by a University of Kansas professor.
Christopher Johnson, professor of music and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts, completed a report, recently published in the Journal of Research in Music Education which said that the quality of music programs relates to participating students' test scores.
Although there have been other studies that have looked at how students involved in music programs have scored on their standardized tests, Johnson said his was the first to study how the quality of the music program related to test scores.
Johnson studied 4,739 elementary and junior high school students from across the country. He found that the students who participated in good music programs scored higher on standardized tests than students who participated in weaker programs or no programs at all.
EDUCATION
Johnson said the publication of the report
The National Association for Music Education determined the quality of each program studied. The report, which Johnson worked
Do you think music makes you smarter? Vote in our online poll.
on for about two years, gained attention even before its publication. In February, Johnson was invited to present his findings to members of Congress.
"There is a high level of contingency on being focused and concentrating and doing it right," he said. "There's also a need for making it perfect."
Johnson compared music with other subjects to illustrate his point.
PATRICK KELLY Lawrence Public Schools
comes at a crucial time, as people are speculating that some music programs around the country are being cut.
As for Johnson's thoughts on the possible explanations for his research findings, he said that music demands discipline and intensity, skills that can transfer over to other aspects of students' lives.
"If you're in math, nobody around you cares if you get the right answer. If you don't get it right it
"We know that music education makes a real difference in students' learning."
forth between the creative and logical sides of their brains.
"We know that music education makes a real difference in students' learning," Kelly said. "It's great to see some research done on how much of a difference it makes."
does not impact their lives at all. If you're in band, it does impact their lives," he said.
Edited by Ben Smith
Patrick Kelly, fine arts specialist for Lawrence Public Schools, said that music requires students to go "back-and-
---