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The University Daily Kansan's Winter Break guide continues with possible downtown gift ideas and the merits of a real Christmas tree. 10A It took nearly all 40 minutes Monday night, but the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team eventually buried USC, 72-62. 1B
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117 ISSUE 74
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 1A
ACCIDENT
Bike hits car while crossing major street
Man enters road after light turns red
BY DARLA SLIPKE
The man was riding a bike behind his friend, who safely crossed the intersection. The light at the intersection turned red, but the student kept going,
An 18-year-old Free State High School student traveling north on Iowa Street hit the side hood of a gold Lexus while crossing 15th Street at the intersection of 15th and Iowa streets.
He put his brakes on as hard as he could and flipped over. He hit his head pretty hard."
LYNN PRICE Vehicle passenger
failing to yield to the traffic signal.
ture at Haworth Hall. Price said the light turned green and the vehicle moved forward about four feet and braked. She said the vehicle stopped before the biker hit it.
The student was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital in an ambulance. He was conscious.
"He put on his brakes as hard as he could and flipped over," she said. "He hit his head pretty hard."
Lynn Price
of D er b y
was riding in the car that
the bike-
rider hit.
She and a 47-year-
old man were on their way to a lec
Kansan staff writer Darla Slipke can be contacted at dslipke@ kansan.com.
Sgt. Dan Ward said he had minor head injuries.
Edited by Nicole Kelley
POLITICS
School shows off for Moran
BY JACK WEINSTEIN
Congressman Jerry Moran was pleased with research at the University of Kansas when he visited campus on Monday.
Moran was instrumental in ensuring the University received $14.5 million in 2005 for transportation-related research.
Moran, the Kansas representative from the 1st district and a graduate of the University of Kansas, met with officials from the School of Engineering and saw demonstrations conducted for the University's Transportation Research Institute, or TRL.
Keith Ycleh, director of government relations for the University, said Moran's visit had been in the works, but it took a while before he could come.
"We always appreciate the time our Congressmen and state leaders can visit campus to show them what the University can provide and give back to the state," he said.
Moran met with Stuart Bell, dean of engineering; Bob Honea, director of TRI; George S. Wilson, associate vice provost for research, and Keith Yehle, director of government relations, to discuss specific funding from Congress and how that seed money would help TRI grow and become self-sufficient. Moran then toured three labs to see how the research was conducted.
Ron Barrett Gonzalez, associate professor of aerospace engineering, demonstrated how to make an airplane disappear using electroluminescent material. The material matches the color of the background it's against to create the illusion of invisibility. He said this material could camouflage eyeses such as power plants and wind turbines. Barrett Gonzalez said anything on the ground that was covered by the material would be visible to airplanes.
"You're not an engineer, you're a magician." Moran joked.
Sara Wilson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, demonstrated her research on vibrations experienced with isolation seating, used by truck and bus drivers.
SEE MORAN ON PAGE 6A
》 PROFILE
Soldier returns, reflects on experience
Classifieds ... 7A
Crossword ... 8A
Horoscopes ... 8A
Opinion ... 9A
Sports ... 1B
Sudoku ... 8A
BY DAVID LINHARDT
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2006 The University Daily Kansan
For six years, John Carlson served in the Kansas Army National Guard. He was deployed to Iraq in November 2005 and returned to the United States last month. He'll begin taking classes at the University of Kansas next fall and also plans to get married sometime in 2007.
The University Daily Kansan asked Carlson, of Lawrence, to describe his experience in Iraq. Here he talks about why he enlisted, how politics don't affect his job or dedication and what it's like to be shot at while on patrol.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN:
"How long were you in Iraq, and how did you decide to join the Guard in the first place?"
CARLSON: "I was in Iraq almost a full year. It was my first time deployed into a combat zone and it's just a whole different world over there. The main reason I enlisted
back in 2000 was that I needed money for college. I wanted to give back to the community and feel like I'd earned my right to freedom of speech and everything.
"My dad was in the Navy for 26 years so he wasn't too surprised when I joined the military. He was worried, but he had to keep my mom in check because she worried constantly. My grandfather was also in the Navy for
30 years. Most of my friends were either supportive or worried about me, and a couple of them were actually deployed with me.
"Really it didn't hit me until right before I got there. I thought, 'I might not make it back home.' My nation called me up to do something and I volunteered to do it."
4
KANSAN: "How is the day-to-day life of a full-time soldier?"
CARLSON: "I was deployed with an infantry battalion. We guarded towers and compounds and patrolled outside in the non-coalition-controlled areas. We provided security to local Iraqis; we find out what problems were and do the best for the victims, like taking supplies to schools and helping with the
farming.
KANSAN: "What's it like to be
KANSAN: "As a soldier, what do you think about this year's elections and all the politicking and ads about the Iraq war?"
"For the most part we didn't deal with Iraqis all the time. It was mostly coalition forces and mainly dealing with people in your company day in and day out for a full year. You get tired of seeing the same faces."
CARLSON: "It's inevitable. Politicians will use any big issue for political gain. When you're actually in Iraq, though, for the most part you don't hear about it. You just think, 'well, things haven't really changed back home.'"
CARLSON: "When you're in a Hum-vee, it's hard to know when you're getting shot because it just sounds like a little 'tink'. It's like a little rock got thrown at the vehicle. For the most part, when the insurgents shoot at you, they bightail it out of there after they stop because they know they're in trouble when they get caught.
"I used to be a little punk and took a lot of things for granted, like not having people try to shoot me when I go outside because I have a different religion. Not having IEDs, the bombs they set, is nice, too."
SEE IRAQ ON PAGE 6A