/ NEWS / WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
I
CAMPUS
Frequent fire alarms draw ire from dorm's residents
Shower steam has caused alarms to go off four times since the start of the semester
BY ALLYSON SHAW ashaw@kansan.com
Fire alarms have sent hundreds of residents of Hashinger Hall, 1632 Engel Rd, out into the parking lot five times this semester. According to a Lawrence Fire Department report, the alarm was pulled "maliciously" only once.
The other four alarms were set off by steam in the bathrooms. Hashinger resident Christian Sparrow, a freshman from Leawood, said the RAs have told them to keep the bathroom windows open to allow the steam to escape. Sparrow said it would be helpful if the RAs put up signs to remind residents to keep the windows open. Students often close the windows because it becomes cold in the bathrooms, he said.
Jennifer Wamelink, associate director of student housing, confirmed that the alarms were caused by steam. She said the situation was "under control."
Hashinger Hall was built in 1962 and renovated in 2006. During the renovation the dorm was outfitted
with a new mechanical, electrical and plumbing system. The dorm holds 358 students.
The report said the fire alarm in Hashinger Hall has been unintentionally set off nine times since last October.
"It's really annoying," said Jessica Doane, a freshman from Olathe. "It's always at the most awkward times. But it's because of the showers. We're not all smoking in here."
Doane said residents also get written up whenever an alarm goes off. She said their rooms are searched while they wait in the parking lot, and students who have alcohol, drugs or other prohibited items in their rooms are penalized.
Doane said one of her friends had covered their smoke alarm so he could smoke in his room. The cover was found and removed and the student was written up.
"Everybody gets in trouble when it happens." Doane said.
A firefighter, responding to a false alarm call, walks through a cloud of steam near Lewis Hall on Daisy Hill on January 31. False alarm calls have continued to be a problem this semester, especially for Hashinger Hall.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Edited by Michael Bednar
System to research students' learning process
BY ERIN BROWN
ebrown@kansan.com
The U.S. Department of Education has given the largest grant in KU history — $22 million
to researchers at the University of Kansas. The grant will fund the development of a new assessment system for special education students.
The system, called the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment System, is led by Neal Kingston, director of KU's
Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation.
By using the new system, teachers can determine how each student is learning by using a "learning map." The "learning map" details the thousands of skills students develop throughout their education in order to discover how students learn best.
"It's long been realized that when accountability is based on test scores, teachers will teach to the test," Kingston said in a press release. "The new system will turn
around that process and design tests to model good instruction — to be driven by and be part of instruction instead of a stand-alone activity."
"The Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation has been a
Departments of education in 11 other states will use the program beginning in the 2014-15 school year. These states include: Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
leader in the development of assessments for K-12 students for nearly 30 years," said Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education, in the release. "This new grant is yet another example of CETE's leadership nationally in developing assessments to assist educators with innovative approaches for supporting teachers in working with all students regardless of their academic abilities."
In addition to the 11 participating states and the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation,
the dynamic Learning Maps consortium includes faculty from the Beach Center on Disability, Center for Research on Learning, Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis and Department
of Special Education.
Key external partners include AbleLink Technologies, the Arc, the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Edvantia.
Kingston said the new assessment model eventually could be used for all students.
"With this grant, the University of Kansas has an opportunity to improve the quality of education received by countless children," said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little in the release. "By shaping the future of educational accountability, Neal Kingston and his team will help teachers better connect with students."
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ODD NEWS
Lost wedding ring found in garden
SHELBY, Mont. — A Montana woman received a big surprise for her 80th birthday — the wedding ring she lost eight years ago. Norma Welker of Shelby told the Great Falls Tribune she took the ring off while she was arranging flowers cut from her garden.
A phone call distracted her while she cleaned up and she didn't realize the ring was missing until after her trash had been hauled away. She searched the compost pile with no luck and figured the ring was gone forever.
As a senior at Shelby High School in 2004, a shiny object caught his eye in the school parking lot. It was a $15,000 wedding ring that belonged to a teacher.
Nick Welker was tilling the area when he spotted what he thought was a pop top. He bent down to pick it up and found what looked like his grandmother's lost wedding ring.
Associated Press
This spring, she asked her grandson to till her garden so she could plant grass.
His parents confirmed his suspicion. They decided to surprise Norma Welker with the cleaned up ring for her 80th birthday.
It wasn't the first time Nick Welker recovered a lost wedding ring.