KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 / NEWS
3A
PARENTS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
different.
"It's individual for every family," she said. "One size does not fit all."
Tuttle said they update parents with useful information in their monthly newsletter. The information can range from important school dates to suggestions for keeping a good relationship with children.
Tuttle said that, for example, making plans for the holiday vacation can be stressful.
"We tell parents to share their expectations. Don't expect your student to want to spend all their time with family," she said. "So if Aunt Ethel's 90th birthday party is a command performance — do not miss — then you need to tell your student up front: 'I really expect you there, we need you there, but if you need to be doing other things the other time you're here, I understand.'"
"You are no longer able to protect them and be there and do all the things you used to. But they should know if they need anything - forget if you're going to punish them - you're going to lend them an ear," Gillath said. "The huge difference we see in our studies between kids that are adjusting and those that are dropping out of college is whether or
Tuttle said they have a phone line for parents, 864-5872, and an e-mail address, parents@ku.edu. She said parents will even call when they haven't heard from their child, asking for help finding them.
not they know that there is someone out there for them"
Parents, just like newly independent students, have a hard time making the adjustment.
Gillath said it's important to find a healthy balance between autonomy and independence. Students need to be able to make their own decisions, but also to know that their parents support them.
Sometimes, only time can ease the difficulty.
"One mother was really very concerned this summer about who's going to make sure that her son got to class," Tuttle said. "The fact of the matter is that you've had him for 18 years, maam. If you don't trust him to get to class, then perhaps he needs to go to a school where he lives at home and you can get him up. Really, only he's responsible for his choices."
DeWitte said her relationship with her parents is good. She said she talks with her parents every day, but that they're not overbearing.
Still, even with supportive parents, making the move to live independently for the first time
- particularly in a new town - is challenging.
"I knew the transition was going to be hard, but I don't know — I want to go home all the time," DeWitte said. "Once I meet more people, it'll get better."
Edited by Sean Tokarz
GOVERNMENT
Events to promote disaster awareness
BY TAYLOR WITT
twitt@kansan.com
The Department of Homeland Security begins the seventh annual National Preparedness Month this September, and Lawrence will once again be taking part in the cause.
The goal of National Preparedness Month, which is sponsored by the Ready Campaign, is to prepare Americans for disasters and emergencies in their communities, businesses and homes. Throughout September, organizations that have joined the NPM Coalition share information about preparation for disasters, such as floods, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and terrorist attacks.
Ready Campaign director Darryl J. Madden is starting his first year of leading the campaign this month, and hopes to increase membership in the campaign's activities and awareness of safety preparations.
"We set out to have a really successful year for a variety of reasons," Madden said. "We're looking at this year as a foundation year, which is going to be really important because next year is the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the whole campaign is built after that."
The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon caused the Department of Homeland Security to realize the need for a nationwide public service campaign for information about disasters. After the inception of National Preparedness Month in 2003, coalition membership has grown steadily. 2009 had approximately 3200 different members and organizations across the country, and
that number has grown to at least 200 members so far in 2010.
"The response has really just been overwhelming," Madden said. "We're really pleased with the measure of success we've had so far."
2010 marks the fourth year Lawrence has participated in National Preparedness Month. Douglas County Emergency Management is partnering with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, and Roger Hill Volunteer Center to host several events to prepare the community.
"9/11 Drill Down for Safety" encourages Douglas County to practice its emergency plans during the weekend of Sept. 11.
Douglas County Preparedness Fair is from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. There will be games, a kids table, booths on emergency preparedness, and door prizes. There will also be presentations on fire safety and first aid, and a severe weather presentation from Matt Elwell of Channel 6 News.
Preparedness Month asks all citizens to take small steps, such as preparing an emergency supply kit, recording vital contact information, and having a solid plan for the entire family in the event of a disaster, to help keep everyone prepared for a variety of emergencies.
"We're trying to build a safe nation, first by educating, then by driving people to action," Madden said.
Edited by Michael Bednar
You Have an Option Exercise it!
Go the Extra Mile
Discover the Difference
It's Worth it!
NOT your ordinary bicycle store
More Bang for Your Buck - Everyday!
The Friendly Shin in Town
842-6363
2121 Kasold · North of Ny-Vee on Clinton Parkway
2121 Kasold • North of Hy-Vee on Clinton Parkway
Watkins makes doctor visits easier
HEALTH
Website allows students to cancel appointments
BY KELLY STRODA kstroda@kansan.com
These features include a "Patient Portal" that can be accessed through the Kyou portal and appointment reminders to students via e-mail.
Student Health Services started a few services over the summer to improve its availability to students.
HOW TO ACCESS
THE KU STUDENT
HEALTH PATIENT
PORTAL
Gillespie said Student Health Services began e-mailing students appointment reminders about a month ago. Before, individual departments were responsible for choosing whether to remind students of appointments. Now students who have an appointment will receive an e-mail the night before.
"We can really have a 24/7 presence," said Joe Gillespie, associate director of Student Health Services.
Tyler Pfizenmaier, a graduate student from Manhattan, said appointment reminders would be helpful because he tends to forget things like that. He said he checks his e-mail a lot for school-related reasons, so he would likely see an appointment reminder.
A tool to view and cancel appointments is available on the patient portal. The combination of appointment reminders and the ability to cancel appointments online can be beneficial for students, said Sherry Rhine, the medical records supervisor for Student Health Services. Students
1. Login to Kyou Portal
2. Go to the "Services"Tab
3. Click on the "KU Student Health" option
4. Login to the KU Student Health Center website
5. This provides access to secured messages, immunization records, viewing and cancelling appointments and viewing account balance.
who miss an appointment without canceling at least two hours before will be charged a $20 no-show fee.
Rhine monitors online traffic to the patient portal. She said she's seen an increase of students
Other tools available on the portal include secured messaging, reviewing account balance and viewing immunization records.
going online to view appointment times and cancel appointments.
CONTRIBUTED IMAGE
This method differs from e-mail because conversations that occur through secured messaging are added to a student's electronic medical record.
Secured messaging allows medical providers to communicate with patients online. Students are notified through e-mail if they have a secure message waiting for them on the portal. Students who have secure messages can respond to their provider.
Patty Quinlan, nursing supervisor for Student Health Services
"We can really have a 24/7 presence."
JOE GILLESPIE
Associate Director, Student
Health Services
said secured messaging allows a convenient method for medical providers to share non-urgent information such as normal lab results and patient education material with students.
Another feature of the portal is access to immunization records the health center has on file. Gillespie said this is helpful for
"Each generation is becoming more technologically savvy," Quinlan said. "People are getting used to sending and receiving messages on their own time."
students in the military and students graduating soon who want a record of their immunizations.
If students don't want online notifications, they can opt out when filling out Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act forms.
Watkins Pharmacy is also using an interactive phone system, Gillespie said.
Gillespie said Student Health Services plan to add more tools to the patient portal within the next year. These include making appointments, paying bills, initiating secure messages with medical providers and requesting prescriptions online.
When individuals call the pharmacy, an automated voice asks if they are calling to refill a prescription. The caller is then asked to insert his or her student ID number and prescription number.
NATIONAL
Edited by Sean Tokarz
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Plane wrecks in southern Nevada neighborhood
HENDERSON, Nev. — A small plane crashed and burst into flames on a street in a southern Nevada residential neighborhood Monday, killing one person and badly injuring three others, authorities said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. John Sheahan said two males and two females were aboard the single-engine Piper Cheroke when it crashed in Henderson, just south of Las Vegas. He said it was a miracle no one on the ground was injured.
"I think we can attribute that to the pilot trying to put it down in a safe place," he said. "You're talking the plane crashed maybe 20 or 30 feet (from the nearest home)."
The debris field is a block long, and one of the wings ended up in the backyard of a home, the sergeant said. The main body of the fuselage came to rest on Morning
Mauve Avenue.
Police Lt. Joe Ojeda told the Las Vegas Sun that the plane struck two block walls, a streetlight pole and a tree before landing in the street, and that residents pulled two occupants from the burning wreckage before firefighters arrived. The two were conscious at the time, he said.
"It appeared the way the aircraft was lined up that he did try to land on the road itself," Ojeda told the Sun. "On first blush it looks like he did try to do some kind of maneuver to get down as safely as he could."
The injured, whose identities were not released, were taken University Medical Center with life-threatening burns and trauma. Hospital spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two were listed in serious condition and one in critical condition.
Federal Aviation Administration
spokesman Ian Gregor said the plane took off from Henderson Executive Airport shortly after 8 a.m. and was unable to gain altitude. The pilot tried to return to Henderson but crashed about two miles northwest of the airport.
No flight plan was filed, authorities said, and the destination of the plane was not immediately known. The aircraft was registered to a Louisiana resident.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joshua Cawthra told reporters at the scene late Monday afternoon that he would examine the histories of the aircraft and pilot and sift through the wreckage for clues.
A preliminary report on the crash will be available later this week, he said, and the full investigation will take six months to a year to complete.
"I really want to reinstate some normal life here because I know
it's pretty tragic," Cawthra said. "It's going to be a long few days."
The plane had arrived at the Henderson airport Thursday, he added.
Robert Sutton told KLAS-TV in Las Vegas that he heard the sputtering plane pass over his house at low altitude before there was a loud boom a few seconds later.
He and other residents doused the flames with hoses, then flipped the upside-down plane over and tried to help two victims trapped inside. 'Two other people in the plane were sitting in someone's yard, he said.
Sutton said he saw a woman in the plane who was coherent.
"She was really badly burned. Her face was so badly burned, and she could barely open her eyes, and her hair was all burned," Sutton told KLAS.
osa@ku.edu / 105 Lippincott / 785.864.3742