KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 2011 / NEWS
3A
CAMPUS
Review team assesses worrisome classroom behavior
BY CLAYTON ASHLEY cashley@kansan.com
In light of reports that the alleged gunman in the Tucson, Ariz., shootings had a history of disciplinary problems at his community college, administrators at the University of Kansas say students can turn to the Student Conduct Review Team if another student's behavior worries them.
Frank DeSalvo, chairman of the review team and associate vice provost for student success, said the SCRT is a multi-disciplinary group of professionals that can be contacted either for consultation or to meet as a group.
"We'll meet with a student that is causing them concern to review the situation and see what's needed," DeSalvo said.
The identities of those who contact the SCRT are kept confi-
dental. According to a brochure available on ku.edu, students should contact the team when another student exhibits disturbing behavior such as making loud outbursts in class, making violent
or threatening statements, or stalking another student.
on and do well," DeSalvo said.
"Part of what the Student Conduct Review Team does, in addition to reviewing the situation, is try to get the student connected to the services they need. Often all that's needed is
Even though the vast majority of people are not mentally ill, Professor Alice Lieberman of the School of Social Welfare said students should be conscious of others' behavior.
"If you pay attention to these tragedies, you realize that there's so often points prior to that where intervention would have really made a difference."
DAVE JOHNSON CEO of Bert Nash Community Health Center
one phone call, one connection and the student gets connected with what they need, they move
"You may not know if this is mental illness or not, but you should be alerting experts who do," Lieberman said.
Health Center, said informing someone about a student's worrisome behavior can make a real
D a v e
Johnson, CEO
of Bert Nash
Community
difference.
"If you pay attention to these tragedies, you realize that there's so often points prior to that where intervention would have really made a difference," Johnson said.
However, Lieberman said the shootings have reinforced the popular yet false notion that mental illness is dangerous. Both she and Johnson said what happened in Tucson shouldn't lead students to make assumptions about mental illness.
"People with mental illnesses are no more prone to violent acts than the general population." Johnson said. "They are interestingly six times more likely to be the victim of a crime than the general population."
—Edited by Helen Mubarak
THE STUDENT
CONDUCT REVIEW
TEAM SHOULD BE
CONTACTED (785-
864-4060) WHEN A
STUDENT:
Exhibits an outburst or disturbing behavior in a classroom or other campus location.
- Submits a "dark" or otherwise disturbing passage in a written work.
- Makes threats involving guns, other weapons, or explosive devices either verbally or in writing (including through social networks).
- Behavior triggers reportes of stalking.
Acts in a manner or makes statements that are interpreted as posing a threat of violence.
Exhibits gestures that appear bizarre, threatening, or dangerous.
- Becomes extremely angry and unleashes a loud and abusive verbal attack (perhaps regarding a misappointing grade).
Habitually demands services beyond the scope and mission of the office or department, or after regular hours of service.
Information provided by SCRT 2010 Brochure
RESEARCH (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
November, Stearns and her team will try to place more of them, higher up on Byrd, where two lakes sit beneath the ice. The team was unable to find a safe place to land there in the first expedition, but will try again this time.
The GPS units record latitude, longitude and altitude every five seconds, which means the data they collect is very high-resolution. Some of the units can remain in place throughout the year, but Stearns said most of them are not rugged enough to survive the Antarctic winter.
Stearns is a member of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, an organization founded by the NSF in 2000 with its headquarters at the University of Kansas. CREIS has brought other glacier researchers to Lawrence, including professor of geography Cornelis Van der Veen.
Van der Veen uses information such as the data Stearns collects to create computer models to help understand how glaciers behave. He said that, while all glaciers are
driven by the same physics, each glacier is unique. They move and change according to their particular circumstances, such as climate and the topography underneath the ice. Most glaciers in Greenland, for example, move at speeds between 10 and 100 miles per year. Some travel up to 14 kilometers per year. Researchers have measured the Byrd Glacier at 800 meters per year.
In addition to GPS units, researchers use a wide variety of high-tech tools to track the movement of the ice sheets and the ground surfaces beneath them. Those include ground-penetrating radar and high-resolution lasers that can map the surface of the ice from an aircraft or a satellite.
Van der Veen said tools that require the use of aircraft are time consuming. For that reason, engineers like aerospace engineering professor Rick Hale are working with CReSIS to develop automated aircraft to do the job.
Whatever the methods employed, the researchers of
CReSIS share the common goal of understanding glaciers and how they behave over time.
Gillette said that this particular research project doesn't address climate change and focuses specifically on the flow dynamics of the Byrd Glacier. But he did stress that it was a topic people should know more about.
"Ice and glaciers are a big part of this planet," Gillette said. "They contain a majority of the planet's freshwater reserves."
Stearns said that she was interested in how the Byrd Glacier flows – whether the whole glacier moves in unison or if it moves in stops and starts. Her goal is to help ice-sheet modelers like Van der Veen produce more realistic projections for ice sheet behavior.
"Sea level rise is obviously a global problem," Stearns said.
Stearns wrote that coming up with better projections for the future has societal ramifications for everyone, including urban planners, policy makers and economists.
"And we have to get it right."
- Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
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