4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2006
Noise
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
The ACLU chapter agrees with this option, but the group wants to add a warning provision, which means that people would receive a warning before obtaining a noise violation citation.
The second option is to set a decibel level for noise. The city has not specified a set decibel level. This option is the one that Justin La Mort, president of the KU ACLU chapter and Cherryvale senior, thinks has a better chance. Delta Force member Ashley Stubblefile agrees.
"It gives objective standards and gives self-regulation." Stubblefield, Liberty, Mo., senior, said. "It's something tangible."
But the city staff is not in favor of this standard because "the added precision comes at great price for the city, both financially and operationally. There is a substantial risk that a decibel-based standard would be much less effective than the competing standards when it comes to enforceability and comprehensibility by the public," according to a memorandum by staff attorney Scott Miller.
The third option is the "plainly
audible" standard, also known as the "clearly audible" standard. According to Miller's memorandum, the time of day and distance from a sound source or property line would determine whether the noise ordinance was violated. Unlike the decibel option, the human ear would measure the noise.
Regardless of what the city commission decides, the University Place Neighborhood Association wants the city to actively enforce noise violations. "I feel it is critical that the city work to preserve our neighborhood's way of life," said Kim Kreicker, former president of the association.
Commissioner David Schauner said he would like to see the University take an active role in keeping students from violating the noise ordinance.
"The University is in a unique position because they have influence over students," he said. "I don't know how the students would feel about this, but I know this is done at other universities."
The ACLU chapter and Delta Force have been researching the ordinance since the beginning of the fall. They looked at ordinances from other cities, like Tuscaloosa, Ala., to see what options would
work in a city like Lawrence. Tuscaloosa uses the decibel level option. La Mort said he talked with Tuscaloosa's city attorney, Robert Ennis, to see if the option worked there. Ennis said that it worked well and kept party noise down.
The group's most recent action was during student elections. Delta Force wrote petitions in favor of the ordinance's changes.
Stubblefield said that they weren't just getting signatures but also raising awareness. "A lot of people were surprised about what was going on," she said. "The petitions were definitely effective."
The march will begin at 6 p.m. at 1236 Louisiana St., weather permitting. La Mort said it was hard to tell how many people were going to attend, but he said they expected somewhere between 20 and 40 people.
At the meeting, the City Commission might make changes to one of the nine exceptions of the noise ordinance under construction noise. The commission may modify this particular exception in regard to construction operation and nighttime hours.
— Edited by Gabriella Souza
Recalled
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
All of the patients in the CDC investigation who remembered their contact solutions reported using one from Bausch and Lomb.
How it happens
In order for the fungus to affect the eye, it must penetrate the upper-most layer, said Beauty Suiter, ophthalmologist at Lawrence Eye Care Associates, 112 W. 6th St. Contact lenses can make scratches on the cornea that allow the fungus to enter.
Contacts also deprive the cornea of oxygen, Suiter said. Oxygen helps keep the layer around the cornea thick. Contacts weakens the skin of the cornea, making it more susceptible to abrasions.
Wearing contacts overnight continues that process. The eyelid and contact, paired together, restrict the eye's access to oxygen during the night hours, keeping the eye from returning to its normal, oxygenated state.
What to expect and what to do
Symptoms are similar to pinkeye and include a red coloring of the eye, tearing, pain, discharge and sensitivity to light, said Patri-
cu Denning, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
After penetration, the fungus can grow and distort vision, she said.
Anti-fungal medication can be used to treat keratitis. But if medication doesn't work, surgery is required. Eight patients have had to have cornea transplants, according to the press release.
Denning said no cases had been reported from Watkins and the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department had not received any reports as of Monday afternoon.
- Edited by John Jordan
"If they're going to do it, they have to be careful." Skoda said. "Use it only as a means of interacting with friends. None of your personal information like your address or phone number, don't put that up there."
Profiles
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Skoda and other players said their coaches have advised them to put limited descriptions on facebook.com.
"We've been starting to get off of it." Skoda said.
Skoda said there have been some incidents across the country that have led to concern for athletes' safety and actions. One
instance occurred at Louisiana State University. Two swimmers were kicked off the team after administrators found they belonged to a facebook.com group that had negative comments toward the swim coach, according a USA Today article.
Edited by Gabriella Souza
Biloxi Sun Herald City Editor Kate Magandy, left, Executive Editor Stan Tiner, center, and Assistant City Editor Blake Kaplan celebrate Monday in Gulport, Miss., after the newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
HURRICANE KATRINA
Pulitzer Prize awards evoke tears, memories
BY DEEPTI HAJELA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The staffs of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The Sun Herald of south Mississippi captured Pulitzer Prizes for public service on Monday for chronicling the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina despite life-changing damage to their own homes and workplaces.
Tears flowed rather than champagne in the Times-Picayune newsroom, which the staff had to evacuate just eight months earlier for about six weeks.
At The Sun Herald, staff members cheered and fought back tears.
The Times-Picayune for its "heroic, multi-faceted coverage" to "serve an inundated city even after evacuation of the newspaper plant," the Pulitzer citation said.
The Sun Herald won for its "valorous and comprehensive coverage ... providing a lifeline for devastated readers" and
The Washington Post won four Pulitzers, The New York Times three and The Times-Picayune and the Rocky Mountain News each won two.
The Times-Picayune staff was awarded a second Pulitzer, for breaking news, for Katrina, and The Dallas Morning News was honored "for its vivid photographs depicting the chaos and pain" of the disaster.
Like their communities, The Sun Herald and The Times-Picayune took a beating from Katrina. Their buildings were damaged, advertisers and subscribers were displaced, and circulation dropped.
The Times-Picayune evacuated about 240 employees in the back of newspaper delivery trucks as water from a levee breach rose around its plant. Many staffers saw the disaster unfold in their own neighborhoods.
The newsroom erupted in applause at the news of the Pulitzers, but there was no champagne.
"It it was a national tragedy," said Peter Kovacs, the Times-Picayune's managing editor for news. "It would not be appropriate to have champagne because of the nature of the event."
Executive Editor Stan Tiner dedicated the Pulitzer to the residents "whose magnificent hearts and spirit moved us every day that we have been privileged to tell the story of their struggle and triumphs."
---