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The University Daily Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday, May 7, 2001
Sports: A senior rower competes in the water and trains in the air. SEF PAGE 4B
SEE PAGE 4B
Inside: A Wichita archaeologist finds local ties to the Oregon Trail.
SEE PAGE 7A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 135
For comments, contact Lori O'Otoole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Doctors say restful nights are essential during finals
By Lvi Regenbau
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The pressure is on as finals time approaches. Many students are cramming for final examinations and trying to find ways to handle stress.
Randall Rock, associate director for health education at Watkins Memorial Health Center, advised students not to spend all night studying and to prioritize their assignments.
"Try to keep your sleep patterns as regular as possible," he said. "If you alter the time you go to bed and the time you get up by two hours or more, it will most likely have a negative impact on your performance."
Rock said students should drink a lot of water and eat nutritional foods while preparing for finals.
He said students should not drink much caffeine because it can often create anxiety that can affect performance at test time.
Jessica Rodriguez, Lawrence freshman.
said it was been easy to juggle work and school, especially during finals. But she said she found it to be less of a problem with a supportive boss.
"Our manager has been pretty flexible around finals time." she said.
Rodriguez said she coped with stress by taking breaks and spending time with her friends.
best."
Francis DeSalvo
director of Counseling and Psychological Services
"I typically make sure that I get some down time with my friends, and that I get to do things that I want to rather than just working all the time," she said.
Francis DeSalvo, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said it was important to get a lot of rest and to eat well before finals.
"Getting plenty of rest is what allows you to perform your best." he said.
DeSalvo said it was helpful to prepare a cram sheet, a list of all the important information from students' notes and readings.
D. J. Hilding, Lawrence freshman, said he dealt with the stress of finals by setting aside time to study for each one. He said finals were important to him but that he didn't get nervous about them.
"I take them seriously, but I don't stress out too much," he said.
Rock advised that students go to Watkins if they have health care needs as a result of stress.
— Edited by Jennifer Valadez
FINALS STRESS RELIEVERS
- Don't spend all night studying.
- Prioritize assignments.
- Keep sleep patterns regular.
- Drink a lot of water.
- Eat nutritional foods.
- Avoid caffeine.
- Take breaks.
- Prepare a cram sheet.
- Set aside time to study.
- Go to Watkins if you need health care because of stress.
- Talk with bosses about scheduling time.
Talk with bosses about scheduling time away from work to study.
Friends unite to remember RA
Court date to decide if suspect will face trial
By Cynthia Melakasis
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Friends of the late Shyra McGee will turn out wearing purple ribbons to show love for her and support for family at a preliminary court hearing tomorrow for the man charged with involuntary manslaughter in her death.
for court
McGee, Wichita senior, died on Feb. 4 in a two-car accident at the intersection of Sixth Street and Monterey Way.
Ann Curry, Lawrence graduate student.
made the purple ribbons and will hand them out from 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow in front of Wescoe Hall. Curry served as a resident assistant along with McGee at Stouffer Place Apartments.
Curry said she wanted to give people the opportunity to express their support in a quiet respectful way.
She said wearing the ribbon would also be a sign of concern for the problem of drunk driving.
McGee: died in a two-car accident Feb. 4 in Lawrence.
"Our support will give a message to the court that we take this hearing and the role of Brandon Gentry in Shyra's death very seriously," Curry said.
Gentry, 30-year-old Lawrence resident, was driving the car that collided with the McGees' car in the accident that resulted in Shyra's death. Gentry has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, two charges of aggravated battery, driving under the influence, failure to obey a traffic control device and speeding.
Curry said she had initially planned to distribute the ribbons outside the court before the hearing, but she changed her mind because Shyra's husband, John McGee, thought that would not be appropriate and would attract unnecessary media attention.
John McGee could not be reached for comment.
Curry also said she wanted to make the ribbons available to friends of Shyra McGee, as well as her former residents at Stouffe Place. She said the complex's residents loved Shyra.
Amber Sellers, Wichita junior, who was a passenger in the McGees' car the night of the accident and was also injured, said she was planning on wearing a ribbon and attending the hearing.
"I'm just waiting for the court system to do what that jest is, just," she said.
what they want Curry said she would welcome Shyra's friends and residents to stop by the table at Wescoe and participate in the event.
The South Lawrence Trafficway is back on track but those in opposition continue to fight the
ROADWAY REVIVAL
Story by Danny Phillips Kansan staff writer Photos by Thad Allender Kansan photographer
Michael Contreras walks past a gate south of 31st Street and into the Baker Wetlands. The soggy ground
stretching before him is more than just a habitat for 221 bird species and 330 types of plants.
Beneath the surface, somewhere, are unmarked graves—the eternal resting place of Native American children who died nearly 100 years ago from disease and harsh living conditions.
Only a handful of people, including Contreras, know where some of the graves are located.
Organization, a student and alumni group at Haskell Indian Nations University. "We've located quite a few. I don't want to
give a specific number."
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
Secrecy may not protect the graves from bulldozers. Just west lies a half-completed road that, once thought to be dead, is again poised to cut through the wetlands.
The South Lawrence Trafficway was designed as a bypass around Lawrence to provide a quicker route from Topeka to Johnson County by connecting I-70 to K-10 and to relieve the hellish traffic on Iowa and 23rd streets.
But highway developers weren't prepared for the backlash from those who saw
See TRAFFICWAY'S on page 10A
Three students honored for rescuing man from river
By Amanda Beglin
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
Surprise ceremony recognizes good deed
Still, he chose not to ignore the alarm clock and sauntered into his Introduction to Drawing class 10 minutes late, dressed in a wrinkled T-shirt and hat and into a surprise ceremony in honor of him and two classmates.
Nick Erker was close to not going to his class at 8:30 a.m. Fridav.
David Amber, vice chancellor for student affairs, awarded Erker, Jason Hoffman and Andrew Baumann certificates of commendation for rescuing a Lawrence fisherman from the Kansas River on April 27.
George Weber, 80, was fishing on the Bowersock Dam at 10:22 a.m. Friday, when the dam's flashboards buckled, sending rushing water toward Weber and knocking him into the rushing river.
"The students acted swiftly and bravely to save him," Ambler said. "Your actions speak well of you, and we have great pride."
Erker, Hoffman, Baumann and 15 classmates were drawing landscape scenes near the dam when Weber fell into the river.
Hoffman, Vassar freshman, dove into the water first, followed by Erker, Wellington freshman. Once ashore, Erker and Baumann, Adrian, Mo., sophomore, performed CPR until Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical workers arrived.
Weber died at Lawrence Memorial Hospital at 8:30 p.m. that night.
"They demonstrated courage by leaping into the river," Ambler said. "That he died didn't diminish their courage."
Mark Bradford, deputy chief of fire and medical, followed Amber's complimentary words with some of his own.
works with some of them.
"If it's easy to say it's a common practice, but it's not," Bradford said. "To see citizens jump in for that first chain of survival
"The students acted swiftly and
David Ambler vice chancellor for student affairs
bravely to save him."
But Baumann didn't consider his reaction extraordinary.
impacts tremendously the importance of this incident. It's not something we see that often. They went above and beyond the call of duty."
"I've been doing CPR since I was a kid," Baumann said. "It's second nature."
After the class, Erker and Baumann chided each other about their respective wrinkled and paint-speckled outfits — truly unaware that on their last day of class, they would be standing in front of their peers in honor.
"I don't know if we deserve this," Erker said. "But I'm glad they're thinking of us."
said. "But I'm glad they're thinking of us." Baumann spoke of Weber quietly, and said he was sorry that he couldn't have done more...
"He was out there on a nice day, doing something he loved," Baumann said. "But these were such extreme conditions. It's possible that it was just out of our hands."
— Edited by Doug Pacey