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/ NEWS / THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
RESEARCH
Kansas researcher travels to Sahara
BY SAMANTHA COLLINS
scollins@kansan.com
A Kansas researcher plans to collect specimens over the next few years that can only thrive in lush, green areas — in the Sahara Desert.
David Blackburn, a researcher in the division of herpetology at the KU Biodiversity Institute, recently received a $709,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support his research involving oases in the Sahara Desert.
in the Sahara Desert
Oases, which are small, green areas around a body of water in a desert, are scattered across the Sahara. Large underground pockets of water called aquifers stretch beneath the vast deser and create oase
"It may seem as a surprise then for an amphibian biologist to want to work in the middle of the Sahara."
when the water seeps through large cracks and holes within the desert ground. A variety of species exist in these oases ranging from fish to frogs to snails.
an amphibian biologist to want to work in the middle of the Sahara." Blackburn said he wants to work in the Sahara desert because the land is rich with history, including fossils. He said with this history, he can begin to understand the ancestral past of the organisms living in it.
Blackburn will research the history of Africa as told through the evolutionary history of organisms living in about 40 oases, including man-made wells, in Libya and western Egypt.
Blackburn will start his journey in March in Ghat, Libya. He said the trip would last about five weeks. He also plans to take three more one-month trips to the Sahara during the next three years and said he
"Most of my research focuses on amphibians," Blackburn said, "so it may seem as a surprise then for
DAVID BLACKBURN University of Kansas researcher
David Blackburn recieved a $709,000 fund for a proposal called "Biotic Surveys of Central Saharan Oasis." The research focuses on the history and distributions of plants in Saharan oases.
hoped to bring a team of about 12 researches to assist him.
"The Sahara is about the size of the United States," Blackburn said. "Even restricting ourselves to just two countries, it's
a lot of ground to cover in a very small amount of time."
During each trip, hundreds of specimen samples will be collected and sent to the University during his field research. Then University students can become more involved in the research.
Jesse Grismer, a graduate student from Lawrence, said the funding included money to support both graduate and undergraduate studies in relation to Blackburn's research. He said students would be involved
in the smaller tasks of the research such as curating and identifying specimens obtained from the field work.
Mike Gunnro/KANSAN
"David is a really great guy to work with," Grismer said. "He thinks in a very broad-minded way, which is really cool."
During future trips, Blackburn said he would also include an undergraduate student from KU to join him in Africa to participate in the field work. Leonard Kristalka, director of the Biodiversity Institute, said this research showed the aptitude of the researchers at the University.
"Blackburn is one of the finest examples of the current generation of biodiversity scientist that conduct research and train students across varied disciplines in biodiversity science". Kristalka said.
Krisstalka said this grant also further supported the good reputation and high status of the KU
Biodiversity Institute.
"If biodiversity science is going to inform the wide stewardship of the planet, then this is exactly the kind of work that needs to occur," he said.
Police increase presence to fight drunk driving
POLICE
Edited by Tim Dwyer
BY ANGELIQUE
MCNAUGHTON
amcnaughton@kansan.com
Today, six people will die in Kansas because of alcohol-related car crashes.
As part of a national effort to combat drunk driving, Lawrence police will increase their presence on the streets from now through Labor Day.
Last Thursday, Douglas County joined 140 agencies across the state to participate in the Special Traffic Enforcement Program sponsored and funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The STEP program, which is part of the "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit" initiative, runs from Aug. 19 through Sept. 6.
Robert Eichhorn, a program consultant with KDOT's Bureau of Transportation and Technology, said the initiative draws attention to issues that
traveling Kansans face.
"This mobilization focuses on the importance of not drinking while driving," Eichkorn said.
Kansas law states that it is illegal to drive or attempt to operate a motor vehicle with
a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. Anyone who drives while impaired risk penalties that include losing driving privileges, fines, court costs and possible jail time. The
Kansas cost almost $628 million in medical charges, property damage, lost earnings and household production, emergency services, travel delay, vocational rehabilitation and workplace disruption.
"No one ever thinks they will be the one to cause an alcohol-related incident."
According to Sgt. Matt Sarna with the Lawrence Police Department, alcohol-related crashes last year in
Sgt. Sarna said that the
circumstances of the offense ultimately determine its penalty.
CLAIRE STEWART St. Louis junior
with driving.
aim of the Lawrence police by partaking in the STEP program is to dramatically reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when alcohol is mixed
According to KDOT crash data from 1999 to 2008, released by the Lawrence Police Department, the ratio of death to injury in alcohol-related crashes is almost four times higher than the death
to injury ratio for non-alcohol related crashes. In 2008, alcohol was a contributing factor in a record 34 percent of all fatal crashes in Kansas.
Sgt. Michael Monroe said the department will be adding a couple extra patrol cars, although he is unsure exactly how many.
In addition to extra patrol units, Lawrence sheriffs and police officers will conduct a saturation patrol from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 27 and a checkpoint from 11 p.m. Aug. 27 to 2 a.m. Aug. 28.
NHTSA provides the funding for the overtime mobilizations as well as sponsoring national commercials advertising the initiative. At the state level, public service announcements advertise the same information.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey, the public information officer with the University public safety office, said campus police would not be participating in the initiative
"We regularly conduct unorganized traffic stops as part of our normal patrol but will not be adding any additional stops during this week," Capt. Bailey said.
Claire Stewart, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., said she heard about the program over the radio and felt like she noticed more patrol cars over the weekend.
Stewart said she thought the extra enforcement could prevent unnecessary accidents.
No one ever thinks they will be the one to cause an alcohol-related accident," Stewart said. "But thanks to the Lawrence Police Department being a step ahead, we can avoid that becoming a reality."
Edited by Michael Bednar
ODD NEWS
Man fails to notice bullet in his head
BERLIN — A 35-year-old man who walked around for five years with a bullet lodged in the back of his head says he suspected for a while something was there but only went to doctors after he started getting headaches.
Robert Chojeki was partying on New Years Eve five years ago in the German town of Herne when he was hit with the .22-caliber bullet. Doctors removed it this week from between his skin and skull.
The Polish-born Chojecki told RTL television Wednesday he thought he'd been hit by fireworks, but later forgot about it.
He said at first he had "no pain, but approximately one year ago I started to get a headache."
Police say the bullet may have been fired in celebration. Doctors say he should have no problems now that it has been removed.
Associated Press
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