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new digs and what stereotypes come with it. PLUS: Where to go to get your eat and drink on in the "New Lawrence." JAYPLAY
A new theater company, Rough Draft Theatre, has released its first play. It will be playing at the Ad Astra Art Gallery today, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $4. PAGE 3A
Recruiting prospects The Kansas men's basketball team will have to replace key players after next season. Ryan Green takes a look at possible recruits. PAGE 1B
Basketball coaches Norm Roberts' hiring as basketball coach at St. John is no great milestone for African Americans, who have increasingly joined the NCAA's ranks as coaches. PAGE 1B
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KANSAN
IN ITS 100TH YEAR AS THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Vol.114 Issue No.146
May 6, 2004
Meningitis rare but treatable
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
Annie Berniehy/Kansas Emily Robb, 4th year resident at the University of Kansas Hospital, showed the scars left from when she had bacterial meningitis. The scars are from infected skin that has died.
Paying attention to symptoms, receiving early treatment can lessen disease's effects
By Matt Rodriguez and Ron Knox
editor@kansan.com
Kansas staff writers
Two days into her summer vacation in 1994, Emily Robb didn't feel well.
1994, Emily Robb did this feel she felt tired. She thought she might have been running a fever. In the middle of her shift as a receptionist at a local hospital, the 20-year-old asked to go home.
home.
Back at her parents' house in Stanley, Robb suddenly felt much worse than she had just hours before.
had just hours before.
Lying in bed, she knew she had a fever. She was burning up. Then the vomiting started. And the diarrhea.
voulthing sad.He said, "I knew I was sick," Robb said. "But even then I thought it was just a stomach flu."
The next morning, Robb's mother knew it was more than that when she walked into her daughter's room and saw the purple rash all over her body.
Robb's capillaries burst during the night. Blood leaked into her skin. After some debate, Robb's parents decided to take her to the hospital.
take her to the hospital. "No one wants to worry," Robb said, now 30 and an internal medicine resident at the University of Kansas Hospital. "But I think they realized it was pretty severe."
was pretty severe.
Robb didn't know what was going on around her. She didn't want to go to the hospital because her feet and legs hurt so badly that she couldn't walk.
After her mother carried Robb down
stairs and drove her to the hospital, the doctors gave her a spinal tap.
doctors gave her a spinal tap. The results of the test showed that Robb had contracted bacterial meningitis, a disease that affects 1.2 million people every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
There have been 25 cases of bacterial meningitis reported in Kansas since 2000, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. This year, two students at Wichita State University contracted the disease. One of the students died, contributing to the two meningitis-related deaths in Kansas in the past five years, according to the Health Department.
Two KU students have been infected since the spring semester began. The first was in February when a Douglas County working adult enrolled at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park contracted the disease. The second was last week when Andy Marso, St. Cloud, Minn., senior, contracted bacterial meningitis. Marso is still In the intensive care unit at the University's Hospital.
Ten years after her battle with meningitis, Robb's body still shows the physical effects of the disease such as the burn-like scarring on her elbows and knees. Now, the KU doctor knows how difficult surviving meningitis can be. But, she said it can be just as difficult detecting it before it's too late.
SEE MENINGITIS ON PAGE 6A
Yo quiero la dulce
David Interiano, Wichita junior, instructed Andy Kim, Shawnee junior, on where the piñata was during yesterday's Cinco de Mayo celebration in the Jayhawk Towers courtyard. The Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity and Sigma Lambda Gamma, Delta Gamma and Delta Chi sororites sponsored the celebration, which featured Mexican food and music.
Lawmakers consider mandatory service
By Neeley J. Spellmeier
Kansan staff writer
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) laid out reasons for reinstating the draft in an editorial published April 25 in the Omaha World-Harold. He said that if the all-volunteer military force cannot meet national security needs, serious alternatives would need to be considered.
The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, but some lawmakers are fighting to bring it back.
Last year, Rep. Charles Rangel (D.N.Y.) and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D.S.C.) introduced legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to reinstate the draft. It has not been acted upon in either chamber.
The United State Selective Service has kept the country prepared to bring back the draft since 1980. It requires males to register for the draft within 60 days of turning 18 or risk facing a fine of $250,000 and/or be put in jail for up to five years.
SEE DRAFT ON PAGE 6A
On the Hill What do you think about the possibility of reinstating the draft?
It's a really bad idea, especially with how controversial the war is right now. It would be a really bad idea to make people who don't want to fight, fight." Claire Scharenberg, Shawnie freshman
"I think it's a really bad idea because I don't think anyone should have to fight for something they don't believe in." James Hoy.
"Im against the war I'd rather be in jail than work for Bush." Raggie McKnelton. Kansas City, Mo., freshman
Learned sophosore
"We have a selective service for a reason, but, I don't think we have a need for a strict right now. I don't know why we keep wanting more people over there to be looked after."
Royal Bromley Trust
Bromley Park, London 1042
Bike ride helps teach kids about disabilities
By Azita Tafreshi
atafreshi@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
ior. "It's something that is so out there," Albers said. "You tell people that you're riding your bike across the country, and they're like, 'No, honestly, what are you really doing?"
Four members of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity at the University of Kansas are set to embark on a 3,900-mile road trip this summer. The catch: Two of them will make the journey on bikes.
really doing?
The group will start in San Francisco where soon after it will split into north and south teams, Albers said.
Meanwhile, the six crew members for each team will be a step ahead of the cyclists, transporting their equipment, planning their meals and activities for each destination and preparing to care for any potential injuries, said Zimmerman, crew chief and Wichita sophomore.
and south teams. Each day the cyclists will hit the road around 6:45 a.m. and bike through mid afternoon at an average of 75 miles per day.
will make the journey to On June 13, Jake Albers, Jared Thurston, Zack Zimmerman and Brian Relph will join 70 other members of the fraternity from universities across the country to embark on a "journey of Hope." The Journey of Hope is Pi Kappa Phi's annual 64-day cross-country cycling expedition to raise money and awareness on behalf of people with disabilities, said Albers, Lawrence senior.
In the evening, Albers said the teams would visit local camps or organizations that serve people with disabilities and spend time with the people there. These "friendship visits" will vary from hanging out and having dinner, to trips to local water parks, Albers said.
"The biking is kind of what's known and is more visible to the public because it's quite a feat." Albers said. "But the relationships that we build on our trip — I think that's what I'm going to remember the most."
After traveling through its respective portions of the country, the two teams will reconvene in Washington, D.C.
SEE BIKE RIDE ON PAGE 6A