KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010 / NEWS
7A
HEALTH
Regents consider banning tobacco sales on campus
raltman@kansan.com
BY ROBERT ALTMAN
raltman@kansan.com
Andrew Bermit, a senior from Wichita, restocks cigarettes in the Hawk Shop at the Kansas Union. On Thursday, the Kansas Board of Regents discussed potentially banning tobacco sales on state university campuses.
ForstudentslikeJoeMcDonough, the possibility of banning cigarettes on campus seems like an inconvenience.
McDonough, a junior from Wichita, said he thought the sale of tobacco on campus benefited students, especially those who live on campus.
"It's doing a huge disservice to all the smokers who live in the dorms, don't have cars and don't want to walk a mile every time they want a cigarette," McDonough said.
He said he thought it would be a good idea to use money generated from cigarette sales to fuel University programs to help students quit the habit.
The Kansas Board of Regents met Thursday to discuss the possibility of banning tobacco sales on state university campuses. After no decision was made, the Board passed the matter along to the State University Council of Presidents, who will review and make a recommendation before the Board meets in March.
Daniel Johnson/KANSAN
The Council of Presidents is made up of chief executive officers of each of the six state universities. Only the University and Kansas State University currently sell tobacco on campus.
In August, the Kansas Union Corporation Board met and elected to continue the sale of tobacco products at the Kansas and Burge Unions.
"A lot of that group saw this not as a health issue but as a freedom of choice issue," said David Mucci director of the Kansas and Burge Unions. "I think there is some sentiment that banning sales was purely symbolic."
Mucci said that studies conducted by the Union show that smokers only buy tobacco from the unions as a last resort because of overpricing, and that the average student smoker buys around 2.38 packs per year on campus.
"Our pricing strategy is very much on the high end. We don't make it easy for people to buy from us," Mucci said. "If you cut us off tomorrow the level of smoking on this campus does not change, and our data would tend to support that."
$123,000 in cigarettes annually.
Even though students usually get their tobacco off campus, Mucci said the unions still sell about
"Revenue is important to the board but was not inordinately
weighted in the decision," Mucci said. "However, in a down economy $123,000 in sales is not to be
sneeze at, especially when those proceeds are used to cover union costs and keep student fees low"
— Edited by Kristen Liszewski
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II addresses the crowd at a University banquet. The event honored the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr.
CAMPUS
Banquet honors King's life and legacy
Chance Dibben/KANSAN
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
Martin Luther King Jr.'s message is as important to the current generation of young adults as it has been to past generations, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II said Sunday. Cleaver was the keynote speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Banquet, hosted by the KU Office of Multicultural Affairs.
"He talked about issues that will never vanish from humankind — justice, peace, love, responsibility and nonviolence." Cleaver said.
"I know what the issues are," Cleaver said. "This generation is going to have to say that these are the things we'll fight for."
As a college student, Cleaver actively participated in the civil rights movements. Cleaver urged the group to continue to fight for change in the country, a legacy he said was started by King himself.
said.
Many of the issues King addressed are still prevalent today. Cleaver said, even though the circumstances of those issues are significantly improved. However, Cleaver reminded the group not to forget, or take for granted, the steps taken to advance the civil rights of U.S. citizens.
"I want people to realize that there are a lot of challenges still out here that not only require, but are begging for attention." Cleaver
In past years, KU celebrations in honor of King included an illuminated pathway through campus and small tribute ceremony. But this year the Office of Multicultural Affairs opted to host a banquet dinner in honor of King.
"I hope that we learn what we need to do as a civic duty," said Juan Izaguirre, assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
"Students will get that they should be active on campus and in the community as well."
Honored guests included Chancellor Gray-Little and her husband, Shade Little, as well as Marles Roney, the vice provost for student success.
"Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate and recommit," Roney said. "To me, it's taking each person's interpretation of Dr. King's
- Edited by Becky Howlett
key messages to heart, and realizing there's still work to be done."
Aussies struggle to control rampant toad population
SYDNEY — When the enemy reached Australia's largest state last year, no one expected that officialdmight strip them of their most effective weapon.
This all may sound like a simple matter of bureaucracy and humane pest control, but cane toads are a 75-year-old Australian nightmare, and they amount to a cautionary tale about the difficulties that can crop up when humans try to reverse their environmental blunders.
The toads, native to Central and South America, were deliberately introduced to Queensland, on the other side of the continent from Western Australia, in 1935 in an unsuccessful attempt to control beetles on sugarcane plantations.
The enemy? The cane toad. The weapon? Plastic bags full of carbon dioxide — long considered the animal-friendly alternative to whacking the creatures with golf clubs or cricket bats.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATURE
The toads bred rapidly, and their millions-strong population now threatens many species across Australia. They spread diseases, such as salmonella, and their skin exudes a venom that can kill would-be predators.
Since then, the group's thousands of volunteers have killed more than 500,000 toads, largely with carbon dioxide, which she says is fast and painless.
"We were confronted literally with walls of toads — tens of thousands of them. It was like watching a moving carpet," she said.
But the state Department of Environment and Conservation says it ran tests in 2008 that showed the toads regained consciousness after initially passing out. That, the department says, might violate the state's Animal Welfare Act, which requires all killing of vertebrates to be humane.
The plane was carrying 90 people, including 83 passengers and 7 crew. Aridi identified the passengers as 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.
"We can go on and spend the next 50 years debating on how to dispose the toads — but in reality, they're one of the greatest environmental catastrophes Australia has ever seen," he said.
INTERNATIONAL
"A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information," the statement said. "An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received."
Ethiopian passenger plane crashes
The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) for the Ethiopian plane Addis Ababa, said Ghazi Aridi, the public
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT — An Ethiopian Airlines plane with 90 people on board crashed into the sea early Monday just minutes after takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon's transportation minister said.
Relatives of the passengers began arriving at the airport early Monday, many of them crying and hugging. Officials led them into a VIP area.
"The weather undoubtedly was very bad." Aridi told reporters at the airport. He added that the plane went down about 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) off the Lebanese coast.
Calls to the airline were not immediately returned.
The cause was not immediately known. But police ruled out terrorism and said the crash was likely weather-related. Beirut has seen heavy rain and lightning since Sunday.
Ethiopian Airlines released a statement on its Web site confirming the plane was missing.
works and transportation minister.
Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled to find the plane.
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