10
Wednesday, June 18, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Fish tanks not as simple to care for as they seem
By Crystal Honores Kansan staff writer
Sharon Grieve, Coffeyville senior, looks through her aquarium. Grieve has enjoyed fish for a long time. She has many posters, statues and figurines of fish throughout her house.
Sharon Grieve loves fish. The Coffeyville senior's apartment is filled with fish towels, fish magnets, fish calendars, fish curtains and a dead octopus in a jar.
And, of course, there are live fish in a 42-gallon aquarium.
Like many others, she has learned that there is more to an aquarium than bright, rainbow-colored rocks and glittery decorations. Aquariums require careful planning, maintenance, some basic water chemistry knowledge and patience.
"You're building an entire ecosystem in a small area," said Kate Shaw, collection manager at the Natural History Museum. "You have to have everything in balance — even organisms you can't see."
Shaw said that, contrary to popular belief, smaller aquariums are not easier for beginners to care for because the water chemistry changes too frequently.
She suggested a 35-gallon tank for beginners.
"Anything much more would be too much weight and too much money." Shaw said.
Aquariums also need filters. Filters are essential in providing decent water quality for fish.
"A lot of people think tap water alone is OK for fish after it sits for 24 hours," said Sherry Emerson, co-owner of Pet World, 711 W. 23rd Street.
"When I was younger, you just put in the tap water and dechlorinated it," Grieve said. "Now you have to deal with the pH and nitrate levels."
Now chloramines are added to tap water, and those chemicals don't break down. However, with a little chemical treatment, tap water can be made livable for fish.
Local pet stores sell treated water for those who do not want to treat their own tap water.
Water temperature must also be adjusted before the first fish can be added to the tank. But these fish should be few and hardy.
When Grieve started cycling her 42-gallon hexagon aquarium she was unsure if she should add fish during the startup process.
she was unsure if she should add fish during the start-up process. "We got told several different things from different stores," Grieve said.
That cost her several feeder goldfish, but now Grieve owns gouramies, platies, neon cardinal tetras and angel fish without problem.
Once the aquarium's water is cycled, the next step is fish selection.
A fish can cost anywhere from $1 to $20,000.
"If you're willing to wait and pay, we can usually track down anything legal," Emerson said.
Her store has special ordered sting rays, whale fish and exotic species of eels.
Among the fish that Emerson and Shaw suggested for beginners
were: swordtails, platies, tetras, barbs, guppies and mountain fish.
Most freshwater tropical fish come from fisheries in Florida.
Emerson said that fish sold at independent pet stores come directly from the fisheries, which shortens their travel time. At chain stores, however, fish may change hands several times and travel for five or six days, which can weaken their immune systems.
Despite the time-consuming planning, setting up and cycling of aquariums, many hobbyists develop relationships with their fish.
"It was a pain for a while," Grieve said, "but my fish are clean, pretty, unusual and interesting because I can pet them and they eat out of my hand."
By Una Hart
Kansan staff writer
English proficiency requirements debated
Gerald Harris, director of International Student Services, wants to lower the English proficiency requirements for international students.
Harris said the English proficiency requirements at the University of Kansas exceeded those of other Big 12 universities and were a major factor in the University's declining international student enrollment.
But other KU officials said the University's current policies were appropriate and made it possible for international students to succeed in the classroom.
Elizabeth Soppelsa, director of the Applied English Center, said the University's requirements were determined by the faculty and that the requirements should attract international students.
Chuck Seibel, assistant director of the center, said that if Harris's proposal were implemented, it could result in the average student being one or two courses short of the English proficiency currently defined by the University.
Seibel said that Harris's proposal would affect the center's waiver policy as well. The waiver policy now allows students with a degree from a four-year institution in such English-speaking countries as Canada, Britain, or Australia an exemption from taking English proficiency exams.
Harris said that of the Big 12 universities, four require international students to pass the Test Of English as a Foreign Language examination with a score of 500 to be fully admitted students, and six require a score of 550 or less. Barron's Profile of American Colleges states that the University of Kansas requires a score of 570.
However, Soppelsa said *Barron's TOEFL* listing for the University was not accurate. She said the University did not require international undergraduate students to take the TOEFL exam. Instead, they must pass the center's own battery of English proficiency tests with a score of 57 on each portion.
However, using TOEFL's scoring formula, this would equal a score of 570.
Sopselsa said it was the center's responsibility to see that students had sufficient English to participate in university life and pass their courses.
Most faculty want the center to make sure students are not floundering when their
University of Kansas Enrollment of International Students
Fall Semester
1990 - 1,870
1991 - 1,908
1992 - 1,975
1993 - 1,992
1994 - 1,895
1995 - 1,732
1996 - 1,607
Source: University of Kansas Profiles, March 1997. Prepared by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning Lawrence Campus
classes begin, Soppela said. She said the center was trying to give the students a fighting chance.
Keiko Imamura, Chiba, Japan, sophomore, said that even though she received a 570 on the TOEFL exam, she received less than 57 on the listening portion of the center's exams and has been required to take three non-credit courses.
Imamura said the writing courses administered at the center were useful but that, because of the language structure, the listening courses were not. She said that she learned more by living in an English-speaking country and listening to others speak.
Harris said the University was competing with other schools in the Big 12 for international students who find it easier and cheaper to get admitted elsewhere. The possibility of having to spend one or two additional semesters in non-credit English courses could potentially make the University the most expensive school in the Big 12.
"Competition in the United States is getting much keener, and if we don't do something about it we'll continue to lose international students," Harris said.
James Kitchen, dean of student life, said he supported Harris's proposal. He said he thought that the University's TOEFL requirements should not be so far ahead of other universities that "it blows us out of the water."
Harris said that although an ad hoc committee had met to consider his proposal and clarify the minimum TOEFL requirements of each department, no decisions had been made by the University.
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