Coming back, again and again KU softball pitcher Serena Settlemier will go pro after the season after a career of fighting through injury. Her four wrist and shoulder surgeries have only made her stronger. PAGE 1B
arches
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Self, Jayhawks receive accolades Brandon Rush became the first freshman player in history to be named to the All-Big 12 first team. Bill Self was named the Big 12 coach of the year his sixth in the past eight years. PAGE 2B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.116 ISSUE 109
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Service's return set to fill info void
BY MELINDA RICKETTS
mricketts@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
TUESDAY. MARCH 7. 2006
Callers to KU Info have recently heard only a weekly updated voicemail in response to their quest for KU-related information. Relief is in sight though — a new and improved KU Info is scheduled to launch April 21.
As part of a restructuring effort, the service will reopen at a new location with improved online services and a newly hired group of student employees.
"We're working pretty hard to focus on the needs of the students with this new service," said Curtis Marsh, the new director of KU Info.
KU Info is a service that provides students and the greater KU community with help navigating the University of Kansas system and the Lawrence area. It has been in existence for more than 30 years and operated out of the reference desk in Anschutz Library from 2002 until last winter break. Marsh said that KU Info received a lot of questions about enrollment, commencement and adding and dropping classes. They also answered questions about entertainment and local events.
"If we don't know the answer to a non-KU question, we will find the person or the Web site that does," Marsh said.
When KU Info reopens, it will be across from the elevators on the fourth floor in the Kansas Union where the Jay Tech info booth is located. After the move, Jay Tech will no longer exist, but the KU Info student employees will be able to answer questions related to technology and the Internet. Instant messaging and text messaging services will be added in addition to the existing means of contacting KU Info, by e-mail at kulinfo@ku.edu or by phone at 864-3506.
Marsh expects to hire about 12 student employees.The new hours will be determined based on the exact number of students hired and the hours the Kansas Union is open.
"I don't think it's going to be 24 hours when we bring it back, but I also think it's going to be an 8 to 5 thing." Marsh said.
Marsh said they have also been working to increase the content on the Web site, www.kuinfo.lib.ku.edu, so that it can serve as the primary reference for the student employees when they answer calls and e-mails. It will be a resource that students can access 24 hours a day without having to contact KU Info.
Marissa Rosenblum, Kansas City, Mo., senior, used the service once when her car was broken into and she needed the number for the police station. She said she thought she might have used the service more as an underclassman when she was less familiar with the workings of the University. She also said that the temporary lack of a physical location was likely to impact the number of users.
"I know when I used to go to Anschutz a lot, I would look at all the stuff they had out." Rosenblum said. "It was convenient."
- Edited by Vanessa Pearson
SAFETY
A fire in a chemical hood on West Campus gave one woman minor burns Monday night.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical responded to an alarm at Smissman Research Laboratories, 2099 Constant Ave., about 6 p.m.
Division Chief Jerry Karr said the fire was contained in the laboratory's chemical hoods. The woman, who was in the building when the fire started, was treated for minor burns and released from Watkins Memorial Health Center, Karr said.
Karr said that by the time crews arrived on the scene, the fire was mostly put out by occupants in the building.
The charred remains of a broom were found lying on the sidewalk near the main entrance to the Smissman Research Laboratories.
Karr said he did not know if the broom was used to put out the fire.
Karr said investigators from the county and the KU Public Safety Office were investigating to determine the cause of the fire.
Mike Mostaffa
Megan True/KANSAN
The Lawrence Fire Department responds to a fire at Swissman Research Laboratories on West Campus. The fire, in a laboratory chemical hood, was contained and one woman was treated for minor burns and released.
Kansan file phot
SUPREME COURT
ROTC Air Force student Nick Mallare, Leawood sophomore, left, talks with Kansas Mutual Aid member Dave Strano, right, about the choices involved with military recruitment as Sara Camisiioni, West Palm Beach, Fla., sophomore, looks for students to sign a petition to remove military recruiters from campus at a rally held by the Lawrence Counter Recruitment group Oct. 25 in front of Wescoe. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously voted that all federal funded universities must allow military recruitment on campus.
Recruiters to stay
Campus must keep service or lose funds
BY KRISTEN JARBOF
kjarboe@kansan.com ☐ KANSA STAFF WRITER
The University of Kansas will continue to allow military recruiters on campus as long as it accepts federal money, after a Supreme Court decision was made Monday.
The court ruled 8-0 that colleges accepting federal money must allow a military presence on campus.
Some college leaders have said they could not afford to lose federal help, which is about $35 billion a year. The University's research expenditures summary from the fiscal year of 2004 shows three-fourths of research expenditures are federal money from grants.
Regardless of some universities' objections to the Pentagon's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays, the law known as the Solomon Amendment, was upheld.
Some college leaders have said they could not afford to lose federal help, which is about $35 billion a year. The University's research expenditures summary from the fiscal year of 2004 shows three-fourths of research expenditures are federal money from grants.
"A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message," he wrote.
SEE RECRUIT ON PAGE 6A
Campus visits are an effective military recruiting tool, said Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court.
ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
NCAA stresses grades
New Academic Progress Rate has teeth
BY ERIC JORGENSEN
ejorgensen@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
In 2003, the NCAA created a landmark rating system that aimed to solidify the meaning of "student athlete," and now, two KU teams are feeling its effects.
The KU football and baseball teams are appealing the NCAA's strict
The KU football team pealing the ACNAS strict Academic Progress Rate requirements, which the teams didn't meet, the Athletics Department announced last week.
The purpose of the Academic Progress Rate is to make programs honor their commitment to student athletes and help them earn college degrees.
The Academic Progress Rate has created headaches for athletic directors, but it is all justified, said Paul Busirk, associate athletics director.
"Every scholarship decision is an APR decision." he said
Before the Academic Progress Rate went into effect, few rules existed on graduation requirements. Many schools abused student athletes by recruiting them, using up their eligibility and then not graduating them.
Buskirk said all the work that goes into academic compliance is worthwhile because it benefits the student athlete.
The Academic Progress Rate measures a team's eligibility and retention. If a team has a poor percentage of eligibility graduation, it can lose scholarships.
By the 2008-09 season, punishment could come in the form of a postseason ban, NCAA President Myles Brand said last week in a media teleconference.
SEE RATE ON PAGE 3A
MEDICINE
Few doctors to attend aging baby boomers
Hanke, Wichita senior, is graduating this semester and is enrolling at New York University's School of Medicine, where
BY MIKE MOSTAFFA
mmostaffa@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
When Justin Hanke spent six months working as a certified nurse assistant at Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community, he found out that caring for elderly patients was difficult work.
he plans to become an emergency room doctor. Hanke said his experience working at a retirement community was rewarding but very taxing.
A lot of elderly people he worked with had multiple ailments and needed multiple medications,he said.
"Every day those people needed one thing after another," Hanke said.
Statistics show that fewer and fewer people are going into geri-
atrics, the field of medicine that specializes in caring for the elderly people. According to The American Geriatrics Society, there are approximately 7,600 certified geriatricians, yet another 14,000 are needed to adequately care for today's elderly population.
With America's rapidly growing elderly population, the problem could grow into a crisis.
SEE DOCTORS ON PAGE 6A
GERIATRIC STATISTICS
A shortage of geriatricians exists in the United States and is projected to worsen during the next 20 years. Currently there are approximately 7,600 certified geriatricians, but another 14,000 are needed to adequately care for the elderly population.
By 2030, the number of adults age 65 and older will nearly
double to 70 million
By 2030, the nation will need 36,000 trained geriatricians.
Adults 85 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the entire population with expected growth from 4 million today to 20 million by 2050.
Source: The American Geriatrics Society
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