KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2010 / NEWS
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HEALTH
Campus club offers benefits of medicinal marijuana with film screening
BY ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON
amcnaughton@kansan.com
We all have a little cannabis in us.
At least that's what narrator Peter Coyote said during Monday night's screening of the Len Richmond film, "What if cannabis cured cancer."
The film was shown during a meeting for the University's chapter of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. According to their website, since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice for Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition, favoring an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers. NORML continues to lead the fight to reform state and federal marijuana laws.
Established in the spring of 2010, the university's chapter of NORML is the first organization of its kind to hit campus.
Jacob Fox, a sophomore from Philadelphia, Penn, and the clubs president, used the film as a capstone for the final meeting of the semester.
"It's just a great film and there is just so much medical information about the benefits of marjuana that I can't even fully understand," Fox said. "Maybe that's why I've seen it a few times."
About 30 students showed up in
Stauffer-Flint for the film, which explored the medical aspects of marijuana and discussed how its chemical components make it less harmful than alcohol and other illegal substances.
According to the film, China began using marijuana as a medicine in 2727 BC and even Queen Victoria was called "kind of a pothead." The film stated that she used marijuana to alleviate her painful menstrual cramps.
Emily Page, a senior from Liberty, Mo., and secretary of the club, said a lot of people don't bother to go out and find actual facts regarding the illegal substance, relying on preconceived notions instead.
"When I started researching the
medical effects on cancer, I was floored." Page said.
Out of the many chemical compounds found in marijuana, some have been found to essentially treat cancer.
Marijuana has four major cannabinoids, a type of compound found in marijuana.
The cannabinoid cannabidiol can relieve a number of ailments such as nausea and anxiety.
An article in Science Daily in 2007 reported that researchers at Harvard University found that the cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.
But marijuana doesn't just fight cancer once its introduced to our bodies. According to the film, similar compounds are already in us.
"Each and everyone of us is fundamentally made to respond to marijuana."
According to the cannabis medical dictionary, endocannabinoids are natural compounds within the human body that are essentially identical to medicinal compounds found in cannabis. The endocannabinoid system regulates many aspects of health.
Despite the reported health benefits of medicinal marijuana, prescribing it is only legal in 15 states.
Page said the resistance to legalization boils down to money and
certain industries like tobacco and alcohol.
"Because of the existing infrastructures, it's just not possible," Page said.
While marijuana remains at the forefront of political discussions across the country, at the local level NORML club members seek to destroy stereotypes and convey what they consider to be "the truth" behind cannabis.
The film concluded with a Raph Waldo Emerson quote pondering that very truth.
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Edited by Leslie Kinsman
LOCAL
Lawrence Police searching for chief
Lawrence is set to hire a police chief by the end of the year, the first time the city will hire a new chief of police in the lifetime of most University students. Former police chief Ron Olin vacated the job he had held since December 1987 to work for Kansas Athletics Inc. on Sept. 1 to fill its new position of director of security/internal controls.
The deadline to apply for police chief is Dec. 6. Applications must
be submitted online and can be found on the City of Lawrence website.
Applicants must have a four-year degree in law enforcement, political science or a related field, nine years of "increasingly responsible experience" with municipal police, four years in a management role and a master's degree is preferred, according to the online job description.
Capt. Tarik Khatib has served as interim police chief since Olin came to the University.
Garth Sears
ODD NEWS
Colorado graduates offer hangover fix
BOULDER, Colo. — Two University of Colorado graduates are marketing a new business called Hangover Helpers in Boulder, home of CU's main campus. They'll bring in breakfast burritos and Gatorade the morning after a party — and clean up the mess.
The Daily Camera in Boulder reports that Marc Simons started cleaning party houses
about a year ago for extra cash and realized he'd found a niche, despite the bad economy.
He teamed up with high school friend Alex Vere-Nicoll and started Hangover Help
They charge $15 per roommate.
Ropes, ladders save stranded woman
truck after it ran off a road and landed in tree tops about 30 feet above ground in a ravine.
EVANS CITY, Pa. — Rescue crews had to use ropes and ladders to retrieve a western Pennsylvania woman from her pickup
Police say they'll be citing 33-year-old Dana Bowser for driving too fast for conditions on Route 68 near Evans City. That's about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh.
State police say Bowser lost control near a culvert that carries the highway over Connoquenessing (kaw-nuh-kwah-NESSing) Creek. Police say Bowser told them the road was icy.
NATIONAL
Rescue workers say Bowser was conscious and able to communicate with workers. Most importantly, they say she didn't panic as they worked to reach her in the precarious position.
She was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
Associated Press
Small house market blossoms after real estate industry busts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GRATON, Calif.—As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving.
To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.
Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.
"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, cofounder of the Small House Society,
sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."
Shafer, author of "The Small House Book," built the 89-square-foot house himself a decade ago and lived in it full-time until his son was born last year. Inside a space the size of an ice cream truck, he has a kitchen with gas stove and sink, bathroom with shower, two-water porch, bedroom loft and a "great room" where he can work and entertain — as long as he doesn't invite more than a couple guests.
He and his family now live in relatively sprawling 500-square foot home next to the tiny one.
Shafer, co-owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, designs and builds miniature homes with a minimalist style that prizes quality over quantity and makes sure no cubic inch goes to waste. Most can be hooked up to public
utilities. The houses, which pack a range of amenities in spaces smaller than some people's closets, are sold for $40,000 to $50,000 ready-made, but cost half as much if you build it yourself.
Tumbleweed's business has grown significantly since the housing crisis began, Shafer said. He now sells about 50 blueprints, which cost $400 to $1,000 each, a year, up from 10 five years ago. The eight workshops he teaches around the country each year attract 40 participants on average, he said.
"People's reasons for living small vary a lot, but there seems to be a common thread of sustainability," Shafer said. "A lot of people don't want to use many more resources or put out more emissions than they have to."
Compared to trailers, these little houses are built with higher-quality materials, better insulation and eye-catching design. But they still have wheels that make them portable — and allow owners to get around
housing regulations for stationary homes.
Since the housing crisis and recession began, interest in tiny homes has grown dramatically among young people and retiring Baby Boomers, said Kent Griswold, who runs the Tiny House Blog, which attracts 5,000 to 7,000 visitors a day.
"In the last couple years, the idea's really taken off," Griswold said. "There's been a huge interest in people downsizing and there are a lot of young people who don't want to be tied down with a huge mortgage and want to build their own space."
Gregory Johnson, who co-founded the Small House Society with Shafer, said the online community now has about 1,800 subscribers, up from about 300 five years ago. Most of them live in their small houses full-time and swap tips on living simple and small.
Johnson, 46, who works as a computer consultant at the University of
Iowa, said dozens of companies specializing small houses have popped up around the country over the past few years.
Before he got married, Johnson lived for six years in a small cabin he built himself and he wrote a book called "Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet."
"You start to peel away the things that are unnecessary," said Johnson, who now lives in a studio apartment with his wife. "It helps you define your priorities with regard to your material things."
Northern California's Sonoma County has become a mini-mecca for the tiny house industry, with an assortment of new businesses launching over the last few years.
Stephen Marshall, 63, worked as a building contractor for three decades before the real estate market tanked three years ago. That's when he jumped into the tiny house business, starting Petaluma-based Little House On The Trailer.
His company builds and sells small houses that can serve as stand-alone homes equipped with bathrooms and kitchens, and others he calls "A Room of One's Own" that can be used as a home office or extra bedroom. Many of his customers are looking for extra space to accommodate an aging parent or adult children who are returning home, he said.
He said his small houses, which sell for $20,000 to $50,000, are much cheaper than building a home addition and can be resold when the extra space is no longer needed. His company has sold 16 houses this year and aims to sell 20 next year.
"The business is growing as the public becomes aware of this possibility," Marshall said. "A lot of families are moving in with one another. A lot of young people can't afford to move out. There's just a lot of economic pressure to find an alternative way to provide for people's housing needs."
NATIONAL
WikiLeaks site may face criminal charges for online information leak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Striking back, the Obama administration branded the leak of more than a quarter-million sensitive files an attack on the United States Monday and raised the prospect of criminal prosecution against the online site WikiLeaks. The Pentagon detailed new security safeguards, including restraints on small computer flash drives, to make it harder for any one person to copy and reveal so many secrets.
The young Army Pfc. suspected of stealing the diplomatic memos, many of them classified, and feeding them to WikiLeaks may have defeated Pentagon security systems using little more than a Lady Gaga CD and a portable computer memory stick.
The soldier, Bradley Manning has not been charged in the latest release of internal U.S. government documents. But officials said he is the prime suspect partly because of his own description of how he pulled off a staggering heist of classified and restricted material.
"No one suspected a thing," Manning told a confidant afterward, according to a log of his computer chat published by Wired. com. "I didn't even have to hide anything."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asserted Monday that WikLeaks acted illegally in posting the material. She said the administration was taking "aggressive steps to hold responsible those
who stole this information."
Attorney General Eric Holder said the government was mounting a criminal investigation, and the Pentagon was tightening access to information, including restricting the use of computer storage devices such as CDs and flash drives.
Holder said the latest disclosure, involving classified and sensitive State Department documents, jeopardized the security of the nation, its diplomats, intelligence assets and relationships with foreign governments.
"This is not saber-rattling," Holder said. Anyone found to have broken American law "will be held responsible."
"I want you to know that we are taking aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information," Clinton said. She spoke in between calls to foreign capitals to make amends for scathing and gossipy memos never meant for foreign eyes.
A weary-looking Clinton agreed.
Manning is charged in military court with taking other classified material later published by the online clearinghouse WikiLeaks. It is not clear whether others such as WikiLeaks executives might be charged separately in civilian courts.
Clinton said the State Department was adding security protections to prevent another breach. The Pentagon, embarrassed by the apparent ease with which secret documents were passed to
In his Internet chat, Manning described the conditions as lax to the point that he could bring a homemade music CD to work with him, erase the music and replace it with secrets. He told the computer
Wired.com published a partial log of Manning's discussions with hacker R. Adrian Lamo in June.
WikiLeaks, had detailed some of its new precautions Sunday.
His motive, according to the chat logs: "I want people to see the truth ... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."
Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said it was possible that many people could be held accountable if they were found to have ignored security protocols or somehow enabled the download without authorization.
said he was unaware of any firing or other discipline over the security conditions at Manning's post in Iraq.
A senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the criminal case against Manning is pending.
"Weak servers, weak logging,
hacker who would turn him in that lip-synched along with pop singer Lady Gaga's hit "Telephone" while making off with "possibly the largest data spillage in American history."
weak physical security, weak counterintelligence, inattentive signal analysis." Manning wrote. "A perfect storm."
New York City style Kansas practicality.
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