friday, march 5, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
5A
Shower curtains accumulate billions of germs
Bv Matt Rodriquez
mrodriguez@kansan.com
Kanan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
New research found that vinyl shower curtains can be prime breeding grounds for disease-causing organisms. When a person turns on the water a bacteria-filled cloud forms that could be harmful to your health. Photo Illustration by Annie Bernethy/Kansas
Austin Fitts is not used to showering alone.
It's not just the Lawrence senior who has become accustomed to this;the same goes for almost anyone.
These pathogens can be found not only in the form of "soap scum" but also in areas all around us, infecting our daily lives
Billions of disease-causing organisms are probably harvesting in your shower right now, according to a study by Norman Pace, professor of molecular biology at the University of Colorado.
"As the water hits the shower curtain, it stirs up all these microbes and you become surrounded in this aerosol effect," Pace said.
Place said.
This bacteria-filled cloud is not an imminent threat to healthy people, but it could be dangerous for those with poor immune systems or exposed wounds.
Fitts could tell he needed a new shower curtain just by looking at it.
it. "It's hard not to think about it when your shower curtain that is supposed to be clear is orange, pink and yellow," Fitts said.
He and his roommates have shared the same shower curtain since they moved into their house two and a half years ago.
At one point there was so much soap scum on their shower curtain that they had to cut off several inches from the bottom.
Pace recommended cleaning your shower curtain and allowing it to dry regularly to avoid a build-up of germs. He also said that a glass shower door is easier to clean and harder for microbes to
stick to.
suck to. Pace stressed how sharing towels can spread these germs even more.
Fitts said that he had never considered sharing a towel because it was too personal.
"It's an intimate moment when you rub down every inch of your body," Fitts said. "Sharing a towel is almost as bad as sharing underwear."
Pace found the bacteria after
testing four shower curtains in his laboratory in Boulder. Colo. He found that just one square inch of the average vinyl shower curtain could house billions of these organisms, some of which are hazardous to your health.
Pace presented his research at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle.
He said that not many people realize how common these
microscopic populations are
Eroscope population Students should not worry about the presence of some of these bacteria, said Bill Picking, associate professor of microbiology at the University of Kansas
"You're exposed to bacteria at all times and most of them really aren't that harmful," Picking said. "In fact some of the bacteria can actually be helpful."
Picking said the media shows the public all the bad types of
bacteria, but no one talks about the type of bacteria that is found in your body that can actually fight off some of these pathogens you might encounter in the bathroom.
Picking said that as long as students stay healthy by eating right, getting enough sleep and just taking care of themselves, they have nothing to worry about.
Edited by Michelle Rodick
Libby Dean, Louisburg junior, and Carol Dias da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, senior, each wrote plays for Playwriting I. Dean wrote A Test of Will and Dias da Silva wrote The Last Cigarette, which she adapted from her own short story. The plays are being produced in a festival in Kansas City, Mo.
Students will showcase playwriting at festival
By Dave Nobles
dnobles@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Two University of Kansas students are scheduled to have their plays performed at a festival starting tonight.
Caroline Dias da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, senior and Libby Dean, Louisburg junior, are the two KU students who had their plays chosen to be in the festival.
The 2004 Women's Playwrighting Festival, presented by Potluck Productions, will begin at 8 tonight and continue through March 14 at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Mo.
plays choose.
The two 10-minute plays are among the 13 that will be performed at each showing. Dias da Silva's play, The Last Cigarette, focuses on a homosexual bartender coming on to a straight man who has fallen on hard times.
Dias da Silva said that the theme of the play was addiction and that it was buried in the story.
"It's like an iceberg." Dias da Silva said, "Seven eighths of it is under the surface."
Dias da Silva said that her play was among the first that she had written. Dean's work is about a young woman in a relationship who takes a pregnancy test. It was Dean's first attempt at playwriting. The play, A Test of Will, is not
"Thankfully, these students just jump right in. All I can do is sit back and help them shape it."
Paul Lim
Professor of English
based on Dean's own experiences, she said.
"I was worried about it because my family's going to see it," Dean said. "I know they're going to think it is."
Both playwrights originally saw themselves as fiction writers, but wrote the plays as part of a playwriting class taught by Paul Lim, professor of English. Lim is the only playwriting professor at the University, as well as the head of the English Alternative Theatre.
Lim submitted the plays to the committee in charge of selection for the festival. More than 100 scripts were submitted for production. Dias da Silva was surprised when she received notification that her play was selected for the festival.
"I got this e-mail that said, 'We're going to produce your play,' Dias da Silva said. "I was like, 'What?!"
he thought were interesting from his 15 years at the University, and, when a festival opportunity arises, he often submits a play that might fit the desired arena.
Lim keeps a file of plays that
Dean said that Lim's influence was important to his students' writing style and exposure.
Lim said that writing a 10 minute play was difficult and that he only offered his assurance to
"He is so good about getting your plays out there." Dean said.
guide his students
"Thankfully, these students just jump right in," Lim said. "All I can do is sit back and help them shape it."
guide his students.
The festival will run for two weeks, with tickets priced at $10. There will be four shows each week in which all the plays will be performed.
Normally, the festival showcases female playwrights from all over the country, but in this year it will only produce plays from writers in
Kansas and Missouri, co-producer Joyce Slater said. The festival is in its tenth year.
A company of eight actors perform the plays and generally do two plays a piece, Slater said.
two plays a play. Slater, who also acts in the plays, said the festival was a celebration of female playwrights.
We promote and support the playwrights and get the plays on their feet, Slater said.
Edited by Henry C. Jackson
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