6A
Tuesday, April 22, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Dining halls trash leftovers
New law allows donation of food
Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
Michiko Sato, Yokohama City, Japan, senior, empties waste and food into a dumpster outside of Ekdahl Dining Commons. At times, the amount of food thrown away fills the dumpster before the cafeteria's 7:30 p.m. closing time.
By Harumi Kogarimal
Kansan staff writer
The KU dining halls do not donate leftover food to charity, despite state and federal laws that allow them to do so.
The housing department does not donate the food to charitable feeding programs, Quintero said.
Barbara Quintero, assistant director of student housing, said that the department had a policy to throw away cooked food on the serving line every day after dinner. She said that they froze and reused the food they didn't cook.
"Our mission is to serve students, and our funds have come to us for the purpose of housing and feeding them," Quintero said. "It is not our mission or charge to be a charitable organization."
Quintero said that food safety, labor involved in repackaging, recordkeeping, transportation, and state regulation are among the reasons for not donating food.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City donates leftover food.
Tom Rucker, food service director for the Sedexho dining hall at UMKC, said that his university donated frozen leftover food, including meat and poultry, every Wednesday to Harvesters, a community food service organization in Kansas City.
"We can really donate any food as long as they aren't spoiled," Rucker said.
Harvesters provides free disposable pans in which food service employees can put leftover food as long as it is frozen. Rucker said.
UMKC has started donating food
since the new federal law that protects donors from liabilities was enacted in October 1996.
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act encourages donations of food to charitable feeding programs by protecting food donors from liability.
The law says that if food meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by law and regulations, donation is protected even though the food or product may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus or other conditions. Food for donation may include any raw, cooked, processed or prepared edible substance, ice, beverage or ingredient used or intended for use by humans, according to the bill.
Steve Paige, director of the Kansas Department of Environment and Health, said that in line with the Kansas State Act 65-687, if food suits human consumption, anyone can give away food to charity without being held liable.
The law says that the donor shall not be held accountable for donation unless injury or death is a direct result of the negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct of the donor.
Paige said that he was not aware of any school in the state of Kansas
donating food to charity.
The Kansas Union cafeterias, which are not governed by the University, have donated some leftover food to the Salvation Army in the past.
Jay Glatz, manager of the Kansas Union food service, said that the cafeterias donated food to the Salvation Army sporadically.
Kenneth Stoner, director of the department of student housing, said that he was aware of the laws, but because the laws involved many complications and also because the primary mission of the dining halls was to serve students, the University dining halls do not donate food.
Lack of sleep can wear down mono resistance
By Emily Vrabac and Gwen Olson Kansas staff writers
The semester is nearing an end and students may be sleeping less to finish end-of-the-semester work. Lack of sleep decreases the body's resistance to viruses, which can lead to the contraction of mononucleosis.
"Mono is a constant here," said Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center. "We often see it during times when students' immune systems are run down, around midterms or closing in on final."
Rock said that students were affected differently by mono, so it was hard to determine how much class time each student would miss.
Students sick enough to miss many classes have several options. The first is to contact the Student Assistance Center at Strong Hall.
"Some students may not be affected enough to go to the doctor, and others will be wiped out for a few months," he said.
"In order for the students' teachers to be notified, they should call us," said Marshall Jackson, administrative associate for the center. "We'll take the call, and what we will do is send a letter to each of their teachers and explain the situation."
Jackson said the letter was the first step sick students should
take.
"If they're going to be away for a week or two, they will still need to make contact with each teacher," Jackson said. "Our letter is just a notification."
Robert Turvey, assistant registrar, said each instructor decided what students' options would be for each class.
"The instructor is the person who can make decisions or exceptions," Turvey said. "If the student can verify the illness, generally what I've found is faculty are very quick to make some kind of arrangement."
Turvey said that an instructor may give a grade based on what course work had been completed.
Students also may be advised to take an incomplete or withdraw from the course.
"If it gets to the point where a student has been gone for a long time, it may be best to drop the course," Jackson said. "It should be handled on a course-by-course basis."
Jackson said that in some cases, students might want to withdraw from the University.
Rock said the virus was transmitted by sharing bodily secretions, such as saliva, when kissing or sharing food or drink.
"On this campus, on the average given day, you have a potential of coming into contact with someone who has mono who is active," Rock said. "You should take precautions to limit that contact."
Fieldwork features hugs
Students embrace social work program
By Sarah McWilliams Special to the Kansan
Ochsenhirt, Topeka graduate student, spends much of her time working with three- and four-year olds.
As Kristina Ochsenhirt works toward her master's degree, she receives hugs along with her grades. She and fellow social work students spend hours working in social agencies to fulfill their degrees.
"I try to give some of that back and let them know how special and individual they are," she said. "I think I've managed to stay a stable presence for them."
Ochsenhirt said that the children she worked with needed stability. These children, from lower income families and often with divorced parents, are enrolled in the Community Children's Center Head Start program in Lawrence.
Oschenhirt teaches and counsels 20 children and helps with everything from housing to stress management for the children's parents.
Oschenhirt is one of 350 graduate students in the social work program at the School of Social Welfare who are required to work in a social work agency several hours a week.
The fieldwork, or practicum as it is called by the school, includes 75 undergraduates, said Jan Jess, the practicum's assistant director. Jess said that graduate students must work 1,320 hours in a field agency during the two-year social work master's degree program and that undergraduates must complete 480 hours of field work during their senior year.
"The goal of the practicum program is to allow students to take the academic content of their courses and apply it to the real world." Jess said.
Jess said that students and their instructors at the agencies could exchange ideas and ask questions.
Ochsenhirt said she had learned from the director how difficult it was to run the Head Start program and how to prepare the children she teaches for school.
Cathy Accurso, Lawrence senior,
works at the Cross Bridge Recovery
Center about 16 hours a week.
Accurso said she worked with
adults and teen-agers with drug or
alcohol abuse problems, and she counsels and educates them in group therapy with their families.
"It feels good to see a client come into the agency kicking and screaming and to see them begin to understand that the consequences of their drinking are affecting their life in a negative way," Accurso said.
She also said she had learned to challenge her colleagues, to ask questions and to give input.
"I think no matter what profession you're getting into, until you actually do the work, you don't really learn the profession," Accurso said.
Pat Greene, director of Cross Bridge and Accurus's field instructor<sub>r</sub>, said that students brought energy and ideas into an agency.
"I think it's positive that students challenge the agency to really look at why they do what they do, and the students improve the caliber of the agency by doing that," Greene said.
"We do not put students into a lab," Jess said, "We put students into the real world, and they have to learn to adjust to human behavior, which isn't always predictable."
Jess said that going into an agency for the first time could be difficult.
Group unites Hispanic engineers
By Aaron Marvin Special to the Kansan
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers may not be the largest student club on campus, but it does have national connections. Just ask Bill Gates.
Gates, CEO of Microsoft, was a host at the annual convention for the national chapter of the society last year in Seattle. Luis Yamamoto, Lima, Peru, junior, and local chapter member, was among the group of students that gathered to see Microsoft's creator.
The society's goals reach farther than meeting famous personalities. The 30-member club, which meets in 3018 Learned Hall every other Monday, serves an important role in some Hispanic engineering students' lives.
"It if wasn't for SHPE, Hispanic students in engineering might never meet each other," said Irene Aga, Overland Park senior. "A lot of students are far from home, and they have a common foundation in SHPE."
Yamamoto said that nearly half of the club's active members were international Hispanic students. Hector Cuevas, Pachuca, Mexico, senior, and president of the club, said there weren't strict membership rules for the club.
"We have a couple of architecture members and non-Hispanic members," he said.
Jessica Aga, Overland Park senior, said SHPE focused on students' futures. Both SHPE and the Minority Engineering Program, of which SHPE is a part, hold annual career fairs to help students make professional contacts.
"It's a nice opportunity to find out about internships and jobs." Yamamoto said. "Many companies are represented. You learn a lot just being there."
Yamamoto holds SHPE in high regard for its commitment to educating Hispanic students.
"SHPE's main goal is to help students of Hispanic background, to help in engineering careers," Yamamoto said. "Companies are looking for leadership and communications skills. You can get those in SHPE."
Leadership is also a focus of the club. A team of three members placed second in February at the Academic Olympiad, a part of the SHPE National Technical and Career Conference, in Philadelphia.
"The questions were basic engineering questions," she said. "Either you know it or you don't."
The national chapter awarded the team $2,010, which will be divided among the team members and local SHPE chapter, Cuevas said. The prize money came from a $6,000 pot, which was divided among the teams based on point totals.
"It was weird," Cuevas said. "The winner only got $20 more than we did."
Cuevas said that SHPE was busy preparing for chapter elections April 4 and the next regional meeting April 17 in Colorado.
"We were beating schools like MIT," Cuevas said. Irene Aga, one of the team members, said that the other schools didn't affect her during the Jeopardy-format competition.
He said SHPE held two regional meetings a year one for the olympiad and leadership workshops, and the other only for workshops.
Cuevas said that the club is planning to apply to play host for the regional competition in October.
The KU chapter was the host for the SHPE regional competition last April. The national chapter gave the club the National President's Award for its organization.
SHPE brings Hispanic students together and helps prepare them for the future, but the bottom line for Jessica Aga is friendship.
"I've met a lot of good friends in SHPE," she said
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
WORKSTATION OFFICE SPACES
in the Kansas Union OAC Office for 1997-98 are available
Registered Student Organizations
may pick up an application in the Kansas Union at the OAC Office or the
Return Applications to Union Administrative Office by 5:00 pm on Monday, April 28.
DEADLINE
Mary Duncan
to provide info on how to get into medical school.
will be in Rm. 2023 Haworth @ 6:30 p.m. on April 23rd
Call Jose Miranda @ 838-4529 if you have any questions.
e-mail: bioclub@raven.co.ukkans.edu
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