NEWS
MONDAY, MAY 8, 2006
Bipolar
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4A
Unfortunately, the mood stabilizer and the two anti-psychotics she's taking aren't bringing her out of her depressive episodes, she said. Electroconvulsive therapy is very effective for reducing both symptoms of bipolar, especially for a patient who isn't improved by medication, Holmes said.
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, like other support groups, focuses on helping patients and families learn about and cope with the illness together. It has more than 1,000 support groups nationwide.
Charlie Ross, facilitator for the Douglas County chapter, said the support group in Lawrence met twice every month to be educated and engage in camaraderie.
"By large, I don't think KU students know about it," he said.
Keeler stressed the importance of encouragement and support by those around an individual with bipolar disorder. She said having a regulated and supportive environment free of drugs and alcohol and with stress management skills could make a big difference.
Coping
Holmes said it was important to note that bipolar disorder is most commonly diagnosed in the same age range as most college students. It isn't clear why the onset of symptoms hits individuals in late adolescence and early to mid-twenties, he said. Men and women have the same risk to develop the disorder.
Hanke fights every day for a smooth ride into normalcy. She continues her daily routine with the hope that she will find medication to influence her moods. Unlike medication users who don't suffer from bipolar disorder, she isn't looking for a high — just a calm middle.
— Edited by Vanessa Pearson
A funny failure
Joe Crocvetta/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Participants in the Relay For Life fundraiser wears Groucho Marx glasses gather outside the Martinsburg Mall Sunday in Martinsburg, W.Va., in an attempt to break the current world record of 1,437 people at one time wearing the famed glasses. The group fell short of the record, but will try again later this summer.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5A
OBITUARY
Titanic survivor dies
BY ANDREW RYAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died, a funeral home said Sunday. She was 99.
Asplund, who was just 5 years old, lost her father and three brothers — including a fraternal twin — when the "practically unsinkable" ship went down in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.
She died Saturday at her home in Shrewsbury, said Ronald E. Johnson, vice president of the Nordgren Memorial Chapel in Worcester, Mass.
"She went to sleep peacefully" he said.
Asplund's mother, Selma, and another brother, Felix, who was 3, also survived the Titanic sinking in the early morning of April 15. 1912.
Asplund was the last Titanic survivor with actual memories of the sinking, but she shunned publicity and rarely spoke about the events.
At least two other survivors are living, but they were too young to have memories of the disaster. Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, was 10 months old and Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, was 2 months old.
The Asplund family had
boarded the ship in Southampton, England, as third-class passengers on their way back to Worcester from their ancestral homeland, Sweden, where they had spent several years.
Asplun's mother described the sinking in an interview with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper shortly after she and her two children arrived in the city.
Selma Asplund said the family went to the Titanic's upper deck after the ship struck the iceberg.
"I could see the icebergs for a great distance around ... It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people ... My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said 'Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.' He smiled as he said it."
Because they lost all of their possessions and money, the city of Worcester held a fundraiser and a benefit concert that together brought in about $2,000 for the surviving Aspounds.
Lillian Asplund never married and worked at secretarial jobs in the Worcester area most of her life. She retired early to care for her mother, who was described as having never gotten over the tragedy.
Selma Asplund died on the 52nd anniversary of the sinking in 1964 at age 91. Felix Asplund died on March 1, 1983, at age 73.
NATION
Authorities in search of polygamist
BY DOUG ALDEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY — Polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs has been placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in hopes that the additional exposure and reward money will lead to his arrest.
Jeffs, 50, is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. He is wanted in Arizona on criminal charges of sexual conduct with a minor. He also was charged in Utah with rape as an accomplice.
"We are doing everything we can to track him down," Fuhrman, special agent in charge of the FB's Salt Lake City field office, said Saturday.
Jeffs is the leader of the polyg.
amous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in the neighboring communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
The sect split from mainstream Mormonism after the broader church renounced polygamy in 1890. The mainstream LDS church excommunicates members found to be practicing polygamy.
Jeffs has not been seen by anyone outside of the FLDS community for nearly two years. He also faces a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
By putting him on the Top 10 list, the FBI's reward increases from $50,000 to $100,000. The list is also distributed worldwide.
"We think that the inclusion of a $100,000 reward is going to
mean that people are going to be much more aware of Warren Jeffs, they're going to be much more aware of what he looks like, and they're going to be much more willing to come forward to assist us in our efforts to locate him," U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said at a news conference in Phoenix.
Jeffs' case appeared on "America's Most Wanted."
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