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Monday, February 1. 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Poster aimed at teens
By Joel Zeff
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA - A Topeka human rights group hopes to discourage teen pregnancies by appealing to teenage males through posters featuring the Topeka Sizzlers basketball team.
The poster features five of the Sizzlers, including an action photo of former KU basketball player Cedric Hunter, with a caption that says, "Become a teen father and you'll wonder what you could've been."
Kansas Action for Children Inc., a nonprofit organization, will begin delivering 1,500 posters this week to Kansas high schools, junior high schools and church groups.
"It's targeting males," said Elsa Sabatini, teen pregnancy project coordinator for Kansas Action for Children. "The concept that pregnancy is a women's issue is wrong. They're everybody's issue. The trend is for teen fathers to hit the road. Hopefully, this poster will tan into some sense of responsibility."
Sabatiani said that there were 4,490 births and about 1,200 abortions to teenagers in Kansas during 1896.
Mike Brown, a Topeka graduate student in nursing who came up with the idea to use the Sizzlers, said that he borrowed the idea from a federal government campaign using athletes.
Sabati니 said that the posters cost about $700 to produce. The Kansas Department of Agriculture financed the project.
"Put the male athlete on the poster, and you hope that the teen notices the poster and the message," Brown said.
Brown said that the first poster would have featured Danny Manning, but that the idea fell through because of NCAA regulations. He said that the next idea would have featured Sizzlers' players and former Jayhawks JoWhite, Ron Kellogg, Calvin Thompson and Cedric Hunter. However, after White's retirement, Kellogg's release from the Sizzlers and Thompson's injury, Hunter was the only one available.
Cedric Hunter
"Teenagers can relate better to role models such as athletes. It's an important issue. Hopefully, people will look at it and think about what they're doing and take precautions so it won't happen." Hunter said
KU policy turned up the heat
All over campus, fewer students and staff are asking maintenance to turn up the heat.
Robert Porter, an associate director at facilities operations, attributed this response to the University of Kansas having discarded its policy of keeping thermostats set at 68 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer.
By Regan Brown
Porter said the most important gain was in overall efficiency, because KU's climate control systems work better when they run continuously, not intermittently.
Last spring, facilities operations crews set thousands of thermostats in KU's 153 buildings to a year-round level of 74 degrees. The new standard eliminates the manhours previously required to reset the thermostats twice a year. The changeover took 10 to 12 people about three weeks to complete.
With a thermostat setting of 68 degrees, Porter said, it was not uncommon for building temperatures to dip below 60, especially on Monday mornings.
Kansan staff writer
"We weed to receive plenty of hostile calls about being too cold," he said.
Porter said the number of angry calls have decreased with the
conversion to 74 degrees, but adjustments still need to be made in rooms with a great deal of sunlight or with windows that can't be opened.
Teen-age moms find support
Porter said at least 50 percent of energy loss is through single-pane windows and that older buildings on campus were particularly hard to heat evenly because many lack forced-air heat or automated climate systems. Energy loss increases when convectors (sheet-metal heat vents) or castiron radiators are placed beneath windows, a common arrangement in older buildings.
By Kathleen Faddis
"My whole family encouraged me to keep him," she said.
Patricia Wahwasuck is 18, unmarried and the mother of an 11-month-old son.
But Wahwasuck soon found out that being a teen mother wasn't easy. It became tough dealing with her parents, and she became isolated from her high school friends and had to work full time to support her son.
A year ago, when she was pregnant, she decided to put her baby up for adoption because she did not think she was ready to be a mother. The day after he was born, she decided to keep him.
Kansan staff writer
The group meets every other week at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont St. Kathleen McCluskey-Faweett, chairman of the psychology department, and Ellen Unrhul, Lawrence senior, organized the group after they attended a conference in May on teen pregnancy.
"It certainly counteracts all the heat you're pumping in," Porter said.
Now, Wahwasuck leads a new self-help group for teenage mothers. The group was created by a KU psychology professor and a KU honor student to help mothers like Wahwasuck deal with their problems.
"Hopefully, they can learn to help each other solve problems." Unruh said.
six young mothers attended the first meeting Jan. 27, Unruh said. She said they would like to limit the group to about 10 to 12 girls in an age range of 14 to 18 years. The group will meet regularly and new members are welcome, she said. Free child care is available.
The group is run entirely by the teen mothers.
Every year, about 10 percent of teen-age girls in Douglas County become mothers, which is similar to national statistics. McCluskey-Fawcett said.
Teen-age mothers tend to become isolated socially. They have a lot of information about coping strategies and sources of help they can share with one another, she said.
Wahwasuck expressed interest in participating in a
teen mothers group after attending the conference on the topic in May.
wanwasuck seems mature for an 18-year-old. She finished high school after giving birth and now works full time. She said she wanted to attend Haskell Indian Junior College in the fall.
Wahwasuck said the first group meeting went well.
Like any teen-ager, she likes to go out with her friends for an evening, but she cannot because she has to care for
She works from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day at Harde's on turnpike and says she often feels guilty because she thinks she doesn't spend enough time with her son, Caleb. Like any teen-ager, she likes to go out with her friends for an evening, but she cannot because she has to care for
Wahwansh said the first group meeting went well. "It was good to talk with other girls my age who also have kids," she said. It helps to be able to talk to other people, and some kinds of problems and know how I'm feeling, she said.
The problem was not helped when state funds were cut off for Home Bound, a service that sent teachers to a teen's home after the baby was born. The local school district has picked up some of the funds, but it is unable to meet all the needs. Jorn said.
Joan Reiber, director of the KU Hilltop Child Development Center, heads the subcommittee of the task force on child care. She said the subcommittee was currently looking at models of child care facilities for high school students.
The self-help group was suggested by the Douglas County Task Force on Teen-Age Pregnancy.
Nancy Jorn works at the Douglas County Health Department and heads a subcommittee of the task force on services for pregnant teens and teen-age parents. The committee will focus on keeping teens in school, she said. Jorn said the main problems that school-age mothers face lack of child care and transportation.
She said they were interested in the possibility of a child-care program at Lawrence High School, but have taken no action toward it. The idea has not been brought before the Lawrence School Board, Reiber said.
"Our mission is to determine what is needed and how best to meet those needs," she said.
Watkins care level the same
By Kathleen Faddis
Kansan staff writer
The level of patient care available at Watkins Hospital has not changed, said Charles Yockey, chief of staff, even though the hospital cannot keep students for more than 24 hours.
Since August, a student needing hospitalization beyond a 24-hour observation period has been transferred from Watkins to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, or another hospital providing a higher level of care than Watkins.
The inpatient policy was changed because not enough students were hospitalized to justify the expense of keeping the hospital open.
"We can still take care of 99 percent of everything that walks in the door." Yockey said.
it is eligible to become accredited by the American Ambulatory Health Care Association. The first on-site inspection is scheduled for Feb. 19 and the final inspection should be in May.
Accreditation would mean that Watkins met a minimum standard of care and a higher professional level, James Strobl, director of student health services, said.
Now that Watkins no longer provides inpatient care beyond 24 hours.
Yockey said that based on the number of students who needed the service last year, Watkins staff had anticipated that only about 15 students this year would require hospitalization beyond 24 hours.
Since August 24, when Watkins closed its inpatient facility, Watkins has had to transfer only four students to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Yockey said. He said that no one had complained, and that the four stud
dents who were transferred understood and were appreciative of the care they received.
"It looks like this will impact less than 10 students per year," Yockey said.
The hospital still has six beds available for 24-hour observation.
available for 24-hour observation.
Watkins has used the extra rooms to increase services in his sports medicine, a diabetes clinic, treatment for inactive tuberculosis and health education. Strobl said.
Yockey said, "The reality is we actually have more things to care for patients than a year ago."
Hospital coverage for students with the student health insurance plan did not change because of the inpatient program, said Michelle Muiller, the student insurance representative.
Juniors, Seniors & Grads.. GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT! APPLY NOW FOR YOUR VERY OWN...
- Bring a photocopy of your School I.D.
- No cosigner required APPLY NOW ON CAMPUS!
Date: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; February 1, 3, and 5
Time: 12:00-5:00 p.m.
Place: Jayhawk Bookstore
Citicorp, 1986
CITIBANK
1988 BLACK HISTORY MONTH CALENDAR "CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF AFRO-AMERICANS INTO THE 21st CENTURY" "PIECES OF A DREAM" WEEKEND ACTIVITIES
FEBRUARY 5 SPEAKER-CARL BOYD. 7 p.m. Alderson Auditorium,
Kansas Park, $1,00 Admission.
FEBRUARY 5 SPEAKER-CARL BUYD. 7 p.m. Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union. $1.00 Admission.
FEBRUARY 6 MR. EBONY/MS. ESSENCE PAGEANT. 7:30 p.m. Ballroom, Kansas Union. $4.00 Admission.
FEBRUARY 7 GOSPEL EXTRAVAGANZA. 3-6 p.m. Ballroom, Kansas Union. $2.00 Admission.
"PIECES OF A DREAM" weekend activities are sponsored by the Black Student Union. $5.00 tickets for all three activities also available. Tickets are available at the Office of Minority Affairs or through BSU members.
FEBRUARY 7 SPEAKER-To Be Announced. 8 p.m. McColum Hall Lobby. Sponsored by The McCollum Hall Black Caucus.
FEBRUARY 9 WORKSHOP-"BLACK WOMEN: DO THEY COPE BETTER?" 7-9 p.m. Pine Room, Kansas Union. Facilitator-Barbara Ballard Sponsored by the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center.
FEBRUARY 10 CELEBRATION OF BLACK MUSIC. 7-10 p.m. Swarthout Auditorium, Murphy Hall. Featuring Ron McCurdy's Jazz Band, 2nd University Jazz Band and the Kansas City Rap Group. Sponsored by the McCollum Hall Black Caucus.
FEBRUARY 18-21 11th ANNUAL BIG 8 CONFERENCE OF BLACK STUDENT GOVERNMENT. Kansas State University. Manhattan, Kansas.
FEBRUARY 19 CENTER FOR BLACK LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH PROGRAM 5 p.m. Opening for exhibit featuring papers of African-American practitioners of law in Kansas. Spencer Research Library.
6 p.m. Reception and Dinner program. Keynote address,
"The Contributions of the Black Law Profession during the 200 Year History of America," by the Honorable Eugene Pincham, Justice of the Appellate Court of Illinois. Adams Alumni Center. For more information contact the Center for Black Leadership Development at 864-3702.
FEBRUARY 25 SPEAKER-BOB LAW, HOST OF WWRL NIGHT TALK SHOW, New York. 7:30 p.m. Jayhawk Room, Kansas Union.
FEBRUARY 26 PLAY-"ROSALEE PRITCHETT" 7-9 p.m. Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union. Sponsored by the McCollum Hall Black Caucus.
FEBRUARY 27 SOUL FOOD DINNER. 5:30 p.m. Ellsworth Hall. Non-residence hall members' dinner requires payment.
FEBRUARY 27 SEMI-FORMAL DANCE. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Ballroom, Kansas Union. Sponsored by the McCollum Hall Black Caucus.
ACTIVITIES SPONSORED BY THE OFFICE OF MINORITY AFFAIRS UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. OFFICE OF MINORITY AFFAIRS, 340 STRONG HALL.