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Town hall: Chancellor hears students' views on campus issues. Page 3A
Softball: Freshman first-baseman shows promise in debut season. Page 3B
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KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 3
PD BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 66601-3585
HE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
SECTION A VOL.103,NO.121
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1997
ADVERTISING 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Quick LOOK
Trafficway hearing set for last day of March
The date of the South Lawrence Trafficway lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Kansas has been set.
The case is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. March 31 at the courthouse in Kansas City, Kan. Judge Tom Van贝ber will preside.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs want to stop Douglas County from buying land or beginning construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway until the completion of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement by the state. The trafficway is to pass through the Haskell Indian Nations University wetlands.
The plaintiffs said that the National Environmental Policy Act process has been illegally circumvented by county, state and federal officials and organizations.
Kansan staff report
Weather service warns of worst floods in decade
WASHINGTON The National Weather Service issued an alert yesterday warning that heavy snow in the upper Midwest and Rocky Mountains and rain-saturated soil elsewhere were likely to lead to the most widespread flooding in a decade.
Lethal flash floods also are expected in many areas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A representative of the administration pointed to heavy rains in the West and the East and said that the country's midsection had been saturated since February.
The administration predicted record-breaking floods on the Red River in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota and the James River in South Dakota.
The Great Lakes region.
Other areas at risk:
Western Nevada and the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems of California because of the melting of deep snow in the central and southern Sierra. Six weeks of mostly dry weather has significantly reduced the risk of flooding in much of the far West.
The Great Lakes region.
The southeastern United States from eastern Texas through South Carolina with the exception of Florida and southern Alabama and Georgia.
The CIA now believes that demolition of about 1,400 Iraqi rockets containing chemical agents in a shallow sand pit south of Khamisiyah took place on two days, March 10 and 12, 1991, rather than on March 10 only.
CIA representative Carolyn Osborn said that this raised the possibility that the cloud of gases created by the explosions was smaller and covered a narrower area than if all 1,400 rockets had been demolished at once, as previously believed.
WASHINGTON — Fallout from U.S. Army demolition of an open-air Iraqi chemical weapons storage site after the 1991 Gulf War may have been less widespread than previously believed, CIA officials said yesterday.
The CIA is seeking veterans who only now may realize they were at the Iraqi rocket pit before or after the demolition. They could help investigators piece together a fuller picture of what happened there and how large an area may have been exposed to fallout from the demolition.
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Chemical weapons fallout less widespread
The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time in 1996 that the demolition work could have led to inadvertent exposure of U.S. troops to poison gases. Although there is no proof, some veterans believe these exposures may explain the mysterious Gulf War illnesses suffered by thousands.
—The Associated Press
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UV or not UV?
Despite continued warnings on the dangers of ultraviolet rays, students flock to the tanning parlors in search of the perfect tan — especially before spring break.
THE DANGERS OF TANNING
Ultraviolet light from the tanning bed lamps stimulates the production of melanin in the skin.
Skin cells secrete melanin to protect the skin against the UV rays.
The UV light not blocked by the melanin penetrates the skin, damaging DNA and fostering cancer development.
Story by Emily Wrabac · Illustration by Andy Rohrback
R regina Bruntmeyer stands at the front counter of the Sun Deck tanning salon and skims the paper on the clipboard in front of her.
She signs her name at the bottom of the page and hands the clipboard to the attendant behind the counter.
Not to worry. The Lawrence graduate student isn't signing her life away.
Orisshe?
Right above her signature are the words: "Tanning has been proven to cause skin cancer and premature aging of the skin."
The attendant ushers Bruntmeyer to a tiny room with plum-colored carpet and a fake fern on the wall. Bruntmeyer sizes up the beige metal SonnenBraune tanning bed, which consumes most of the room. She's ready to shut herself in between the long, narrow ultraviolet bulbs for the sake of looking healthy.
The UVA rays in Bruntmeyer's taming bed can cause cancer and skin leathering, effects she won't see for 20 years, says Julie Francis, public health educator at Watkins Memorial Health Center. But, she adds, "College students don't care about what happens in 20 years."
Melanoma, the most severe form of skin cancer, is the fastest-growing type of cancer in the United States, increasing at a rate of 4 percent per year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Because of tanning risks, the Kansas Board of Cosmetology requires salons to post warning signs and display state tanning-bed regulations. New tanning
Thev should.
salon customers must sign a waiver, as Bruntmeyer has, to ensure that they know the possibilities of burning and adverse health effects.
Of course, not every person who tans will get skin cancer. But there is one guarantee that comes with tanning: Premature aging of the skin, or skin leathering, occurs when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays. It's a look that will last a lifetime.
You can take that to the bank, many health care sources say, along with the $360 million that the industry of massage parlors, tanning salons and saunas pulls in each year. The industry has more than 4,300 establishments nationwide, according to 1992 statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Census.
"A big problem in our society is trying to equate fitness and health with appearance," says Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins. "Tanning, unfortunately, is given importance."
Despite FDA and individual state warnings, most people view tanned skin as healthy. That irony exists partly because tanning beds are located in athletic clubs, Francis says.
Another reason for the popularity of tanning is that retailers and manufacturers tout the beds as "safe" because they do not emit the ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn.
Several Lawrence health clubs have tanning beds, including Body Boutique, 925 Iowa St., and Total Fitness Athletic Center, 2108 W. 27th St.
"It's like putting a smoking room in a fitness center." she savs.
"There is absolutely no evidence that tanning beds cause cancer — none," says Bill Cook, a Birmingham, Ala., tanning bed retailer who ships orders worldwide. "The best thing you can do to keep from burning is to have a good tan."
But just because skin doesn't burn, it doesn't mean that there is no cancer risk. The UVA rays that the tanning beds emit affect the deeper layers of skin, so their effects don't show up until later, Francis says.
But is it safe?
The industry counts on clients who agree with taming bed retailer Cook's assertions. But cancer statistics show otherwise.
"The real problems are going to come down the road for young people who started tanning early," says Ned Garrigues, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center. "I wish the average American had more foresight to know what we're doing to our bodies."
Recent studies in Sweden further quantify the relationship between using tanning beds and developing melanoma. In that study, people who used tanning lamps one to three times a year had twice the risk of developing melanoma as those who did not use them. People who used tanning lamps four to 10 times a year had quadruple the risk, while those who used them more than 10 times a year had seven times the risk of developing melanoma.
See RAYS, Page 5A
The lifetime risk of melanoma is about
Classes won't be canceled
National basketball title won't bring KU to halt
Stephanie McDuff Kansan staff writer
But, one thing is certain for fans — classes will not be canceled at the University of Kansas if its basketball team brings home the national title. The championship game will be played March 31.
With the NCAA basketball championship game still 12 days away, it is unclear whether the Jayhawks will advance to the final rounds of the tournament.
The last time Kansas won the national basketball title, in 1988, classes were canceled the next day.
"It's not a clear-cut call like in '88," said Elaine Sharp, professor of political science. "In '88 it seemed like the right thing to do."
Now, she said, it is hard to know if the same circumstances should apply. Sharp said that in '88 the team was not expected to fare as well as it did. The same cannot be said for this year's basketball team, which is expected to go far in the tournament.
The day of celebration in 1988 was not the only time in Jayhawk history that school was canceled because of big victories on the basketball court. Classes also let out for half a day in 1991 when the Jayhawks made it to the tournament's Final Four.
"I thought the half day off was great," said Kate Blath-
wick, St. Louis, Mo., graduate student.
Blatherwick, who attended the University as an undergraduate in 1991, said that the time off allowed some students to show support at a welcome-back rally for the team.
The chancellor announced his decision not to cancel class in his weekly administrative group meeting on March 10, said Tom Hutton, director of University Relations.
Hutton said that the chancellor explained his decision by saying that a survey of past tournament winners had been taken and that few universities had canceled classes following a national title.
After last year's championship game, the University of Kentucky did not cancel classes either, said Joe Burch, Kentucky's vice president of university relations. A celebration for the team was held the evening after the Wildcats' victory in New York.
Another reason the chancellor gave for not canceling classes was that he believed nothing should interfere with academics at the University, including a national basketball title.
Hutton said that the chancellor told the group it was the students' responsibility to make the adult decision whether to attend classes following a victory in the finals.
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Two fraternities to be alcohol-free by 2000
By Harumi Kogarimal
Kansan staff writer
Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu fraternities will ban alcoholic beverages from their houses starting in the year 2000.
Just like residence halls on the KU campus, the two international fraternities will not allow members of the two chapters to consume alcoholic beverages in their houses. Guests in those houses will also need to abide by the substance-free policy.
Phi Delta Theta's General Council and Sigma Nu's Governing Board adopted the alcohol-free policy in their meetings this winter.
Robert Biggs, executive vice president of Phi Delta Theta International Headquarters, said executive members of the
international fraternity judged that alcoholic beverages were not an essential component of the fraternity life.
"The objective of this policy is to return to our principles," Biggs said. "We stand for fellowship, academic excellence and leadership development."
Phi Delta Theta already has eleven chapters that have alcohol-free policies, but this time, the international fraternities mandated the policy to all chapters across the country.
If a chapter violates the policy, the international fraternities either will close the chapter or remove members, depending on the degree of violation.
The international fraternities will award grants to chapters who take the lead in removing alcoholic beverages earlier than the year 2000, Biggs said.
The grants would be intended to upgrade educational capabilities in those facilities and to make structural improvements to the houses.
Bill Nelson, associate director of Organizations and Activities Center, and coordinator of Greek Programs, said that people have been increasingly aware of the substance-free policy across the country.
"I believe some groups will follow the two fraternities," Nelson said. "They are leaders of interfraternity world."
Al Boulware, St. Joseph, Mo., junior, said that because his chapter members were used to having alcohol in their houses, it would take a while to remove it.
"It has to be gradual change," Boulware said. "We hope we will take a progressive step because grants will definitely help."
"The objective of this policy is to return to our principles...We stand for fellowship, academic excellence and leadership."
Robert Biggs executive vice president of Phi Delta Theta
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