THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 37
DEAD MAN WALKING
Bryant Mudd, a junior from Salina, dressed up for the city's fourth annual Zombie Walk. Lawrence locals and KU students made the walk on Massachusetts Street from South Park at 12th Street to 6th Street downtown.
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
LOCAL
Lighted pathways still on Lawrence agenda
Organizers to apply for additional grants
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com
mholtz@kansan.com
Community organizers have redoubled their efforts to install lighted pathways near downtown Lawrence after a recent funding setback.
The project was delayed when the Kansas Department of Transportation rejected an application from the City of Lawrence for a $174,345 transportation enhancement grant. Community organizers said the project would cost $531,000 to complete.
The unapproved grant money was an unexpected — and significant — setback to the project. Elise Higgins, former community affairs director for Student Senate, told The Kansan last October that she hoped lighting would be installed this fall. Now she hopes the project will be completed by the end of next year.
"I have not given up hope on the project," said Higgins, a KU alumna from Topeka and one of the project's founders. "As long as there's still the need for the project, there's still hope for it being completed."
The city's grant application could be strengthened if "the steep slopes, path width and bicycle access issues are addressed," according to a letter from the Bureau of Transportation Planning. The letter also said the number of applicants far exceeded the amount of funding available.
Despite the unapproved transportation grant, the lighting project did receive a $60,000 community development block grant from the
city, Student Senate approved an additional $20,000 in funding.
Organizers will most likely request more money from Senate, said Brad Rector, community affairs director and a junior from Overland Park. Other funding options include reapplying for the community development grant and requesting donations from KU alumni. Rector said he wasn't expecting the city to reapply for the transportation enhancement grant.
Rector said he plans to work closely with City Manager Dave Corliss to explore alternative funding opportunities during the next several weeks.
The proposed lighted pathways would run down the sidewalks on the north side of 12th Street between Vermont to Louisiana streets. A similar path would run down 14th Street between Louisiana and Ohio streets. The project would also add pedestrian-controlled crosswalks on Kentucky and Tennessee streets.
HEALTH
The approved LED lights stand about 15-feet tall, have the same design as the lights located on Massachusetts Street, and will be equipped with motion sensors.
Community organizers said the lighted pathways would improve safety in the student ghetto, the densely student-populated \neighborhood between the KU campus and downtown.
"I think it'd be way better to have a safe, lighted pathway where students could feel safe walking home," Rector said.
"They don't deserve to live in fear of being assaulted or robbed," Higgins said. "That's still a very real problem."
— Edited by Abby Davenport
College women need to take control of breast health
BY JUSTINE PATTON jpatton@kansan.com
Many college students think they are too young to worry about breast cancer. But Jenny McKee, a health educator at the Wellness Resource Center in Watkins Memorial Health Center, said breast cancer doesn't only affect moms, aunts and grandmas — college students are at risk too.
"One in four women are affected by breast cancer at some point in their lives," McKee said. "When we look at that depiction and how many females are on campus, it's quite alarming how many students are going to be affected by breast cancer."
But there is good news as well. According to the American Cancer Society, death rates from breast cancer have declined significantly among women younger than 50 since 1990.
In order to continue this trend, Patty Quinlan, the nursing supervisor at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said women needed to
continue to take control of their breast health.
Quinlan said one of the main steps young women can take is to pencil a breast self-exam into their schedules once a month. Quinlan said women should have started doing monthly breast self-exams when their breasts started to develop, which is about age 13. Exams need to be done on a regular basis to be effective.
Heather Steinle, a senior from Olathe, said although she knows how to do a breast self-exam, she has never done them on a regular basis.
"Things get busy, and it just doesn't happen." Steinle said.
Breast self-exams are easy to learn how to do, and only take about five minutes to complete.
"It's so easy to do preventative measures that you would have to ask yourself, 'Why not?' Quinlan said.
These lumps will not be visibly noticeable, which is why it's important to do monthly breast exams so women know what their normal tissue feels like, Quinlan said.
Quinlan said while women are doing breast self-exams, there are a few red flags they should be on the lookout for, such as lumps.
Discharge from the nipple or any discolorations on the breast are two other signs that something could be wrong. While these symptoms do not always mean breast cancer, Quinlan said students should still check in with their doctors to make sure everything is OK.
"If anything has appeared that wasn't there before, it needs to be checked out by your physician right away," Quinlan said. "Then, if the physicians tell them that it's normal, then they've learned something."
— Edited by Lisa Curran
Quinian said the rest of the steps college-aged women could take to protect themselves from breast cancer included the basics: a good night's sleep, less stress, regular exercise and good nutrition.
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
A sign marking the annual fundraising event "Greek in pink" hangs on a tree outside Wescoe Hall. The event is organized by all 45 chapters in all four greek councils. They participate by donating a ribbon. This ribbon represents Sigma Kappa sorority. Proceeds from the event benefit Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
VOLLEYBALL | 10A
Saturday's game about more than volleyball
Proceeds from the match against Iowa State will go to breast cancer research. The match is part of Jayhawks for a Cure, a series of Kansas sporting events that aims to raise money and awareness.
ARTS | 3A
Listening to the bells toll on campus
Elizabeth Berghout, resident carillonneur, has decided to play at the Campanile twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of once on Sundays, as she did last year.
PARKING | 3A
Parking permit rules frustrate some faculty
Switching near-campus lots from yellow to blue leaves students with fewer options. But it also closes parking lots to certain faculty and staff.
Classifieds...8B
Crossword...4A
Cryptcquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...10A
Sudoku...4A
WEATHER
INDEX
TODAY
89 50
Sunny
86 51
SATURDAY
Sunny
SUNDAY
82 51
Thunderstorms
weather.com
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan