CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, July 3, 1996
3A
Fossil museum enjoys world-wide acclaim
By Susan Hartington
Special to the Kansan
Geologist Alice Hart walks up to a counter with a dark green rock on it, points out a fossil imprint shaped like a flattened stairwell and identifies it as an ancestor of the modern nautilus shell.
The fossil sits in a collection of a quarter-million fossils at the Paleontological Research Museum on the bottom floor of Lindley Hall. The museum's collection has been ranked in the top 10 in the world in terms of size and quality of specimens.
Many students don't know much about the museum because it is not open to the public. As a research museum, only people who want to scientifically study the fossils are allowed to see them.
Xiashui Zhang, Kuancheng, China, graduate student, studies a Neodesmoceras Catarine Maistriction, a fossil at the Paleontological Research Museum in the basement of Lindley Hall. The fossil is one of a quarter of a million in the world-class museum's collection.
The museum, a division of the Natural History Museum in Dyche Hall, houses fossils of invertebrate animals. The fossils are paleontological if their bodies fossilized during a certain time period in history. Most are marine animals, such as sponges and clams, and range in age from 10.000 to 1 million years old.
Scientists and graduate students from around the world ask to study the fossils. Sometimes the fossils are sent to them. If the fossils are fragile, they must be studied in the museum.
The museum has a card catalog and a computer database that organizes the fossils. Like a library with separate card catalogs for authors and titles, the museum has one catalog for the places where the fossils come from and another for specimen numbers.
Erdmée Rodriguez/KANSAN
Al Kamb, the collection manager, and part-time student employees help maintain the files. The museum workers organize the fossils in a database, identify the species and preserve them. The research is left to other scientists and geology students.
Hart said, "It's kind of like the librarians in a library. The librarians don't necessarily use the books for their own purposes. They help other people use them."
The museum uses a numbering system to help scientists find fossils. Each fossil is assigned a number, Hart said.
"We make a little, tiny number and glue it to all of our specimens," she said. "We make a card up that has the number on it and the name. The number will be published in magazines."
When scientists read an article in a professional journal about a certain fossil they want to study, they look for the number in the article and check to see where it is located. Then they contact the museum and request the fossil either by description or number.
Scientists also look for fossils based on where they were found. Since the museum is in Kansas, its collection is made up of fossils found in the middle of the continent. If scientists wanted to study a fossil that originated in the Midwest, they would look at the museum located here.
Sometimes the museum performs a procedure called destructive sampling, where the museum purposely sends a fossil or fossils to be destroyed. Scientists sometimes want only a thin section of the fossil so they can see the internal structures under a microscope. By getting a slice, the rest of the fossil is destroyed. The museum has to decide if it wants to sacrifice a fossil to gain knowledge.
"Sometimes you have to destroy something in order to make it more available for study," Hart said.
Staff members at the University have used the museum for their research. A retired curator for the museum, A.J. Rowell, looked at trilobite fossils from Antarctica for a research project. He used the fossils to help figure out where Antarctica was on the planet and what land masses were close to Antarctica during the Cambrian period, which occurred 545 to 500 million years ago.
However, the pieces of the destroyed fossil are sent back to the museum.
Rowell said it was important to have fossil museums because they were more accessible than some place such as Antarctica.
Hart explained that a fossil is formed from a mold.
"An organism will die, and it will fall onto a surface of mud, and it will sink into it. Then it gets covered by other sediment," Hart said. Minerals in the water and in the sediment will replace the tissue of the organism and form a mold that
Then the fossil becomes a slice of time frozen for today's scientists to view. That history is stored in the University's Paleontological Research Museum.
preserves the structure of the organism's body.
Community attacks gang problems
By Paul Eakins Kansan staff reporter
After four drive-by shootings in Lawrence in the past three months, the community is becoming increasingly aware of a gang presence.
Community organizations such as City Commission, the police department, the court system and the school district are taking steps not only to prevent gang activity, but also to involve all community members.
Four years ago, the city formed the Phoenix Task Force on Gang Issues, comprised of representatives from 25 Lawrence entities, including the University of Kansas.
"Phoenix was formed for the intervention and some prevention of gang activities," said Rod Bremby, assistant city manager and task force leader.
The task force was not designed to eliminate gangs in Lawrence but to make sure that community organizations are aware of the situation, said Bremby, who estimated that there were 70 to 90 local gang members.
In June, the City Commission has passed an ordinance designed to prevent gang-related graffiti by heavily penalizing anyone caught vandalizing property, as well as the property's owner if the graffiti is not removed within two weeks. Penalties include up to $1,000 in fines or up to six months in jail.
Brad Tate, Lawrence High School principal, said that even with 30 to 40 gang members at his school, there had not been any major problems. However, out-of-town gang members came to recruit at the high school and were thrown off campus. he said.
Lawrence police have worked to prevent gang activity by identifying gang members and making the police presence known, Sgt. Susan Hadl said.
"We want to prevent offenses, but we also want to catch them in the act," she said.
The police are 4-for-4 in the apprehension of suspects in the drive-by shootings, Hadl said.
Though a majority of gang activity is committed by juveniles, Diehl said she might push for certain offenders to be tried as adults, depending on the crime and the offender's situation.
Since many gang members are juveniles, the responsibility of prosecuting them falls on Shelley Diehl, assistant district attorney and juvenile prosecutor.
"I have to ask myself, 'Is this a kid I'll see again?'" Diehl said.
Once sentenced, a juvenile offender may be sent to the Juvenile Detention Center, where any show of gang affiliation results in punishment.
"We have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to gang-related activity," said Pam Weigand, center director.
Authorities said that kids were involved in gangs because of boredom.
A local gang member, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed. He said that that he had joined a gang because there wasn't much to do in Lawrence. And because the Lawrence Municipal Pool is closed, teen-agers have more time on their hands and one less entertainment option.
"They don't feel like there is much to do in Lawrence," Weigand said.
International students learn to adjust to American society
By Dave Breitenstein Kansan staff writer
Silvia Mata had trouble adjusting to life at the University of Kansas, but it wasn't because of freshman jitters or extra homework.
Mata is one of almost 2,000 international students at the University who experience culture shock soon after arriving in Kansas.
"When I first came here, I had problems with American food," said Mata, San Jose, Costa Rica, freshman. She said it seemed as if the only things Americans ate were hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and french fries.
"People are very friendly, they work more hours, and they are clean and very organized," she said.
The main difficulty with the transition has been the language barrier. Mata said.
Daphne Johnston, associate director of the office of international student affairs, said Mata's experience was common. Once students get past the initial culture shock, they usually like American culture, she said.
Johnston said foreign students liked many aspects of life in the United States, including more freedom and friendly people. Students also like the abundance of goods in stores and the low prices of most products.
The Office of International Student Affairs offers an orientation program for foreign students. The program provides housing for the first week. Leaders help students get accustomed. There are informational meetings about the University and the United States as well as discussions on cultural adjustment and campus safety.
Johnston said foreign students arrived before the semester began to recover from jet lag, take an English proficiency exam and accomplish basic tasks, such as establishing a bank account, and buying clothing and groceries.
Although the office tries to provide a smooth transition, many students still experience problems, Johnston said.
"One of the things we've noticed is there are predictable patterns of culture shock for new students," she said.
Johnston said that almost every international student experienced a low point at mid-term, when exams piled up and the initial excitement of being in a new country had faded.
"Very few international students quit school. Students who come from overseas have made such a big investment that they are going to weather through the difficult times," she said.
In Fall 1995, there were 1,770 international students studying at the University, accounting for 7.1 percent of students. One hundred thirteen countries are represented. Malaysian students make up the largest percentage of international students.
Johnston said she encouraged international students to try new things.
"Don't sit back and wait to be invited somewhere, and don't just identify with people like yourself," she said.
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