8
Tuesday, September 28, 1993
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Haskell, city to study relations
By Traci Cari
Kansan staff writer
Many Haskell Indian Nations University students say they do not feel welcome in Lawrence, and a new city task force is being formed as a response.
Commissioner Jo Andersen said the task force would consist of about 10 people, including herself, Haskell students, Lawrence police patrol officers and American Indians who are residents of Lawrence.
"Haskell students still have some feeling that people in Lawrence don't like Indians and there is some fear
about going downtown and into this community." Andersen said.
A recent boycott by Haskell students of two Lawrence businesses, Gumby's Pizza, 1445 W. 23rd St., and Checkers Foods, 2300 Louisiana St., are examples of what the task force hopes to prevent, Andersen said.
"It's that kind of thing that I want to get before it reaches a boycott," she said. "It's bad for the whole community, and a lot of it has to do with misunderstanding and people not talking to each other."
Mayor John Nabandian requested that patrol officers serve on the task force to increase communication
"It will give officers a chance to see that there is a variety of opinions among the students and that some are pro-law enforcement," he said.
between the police and Haskell students.
The task force is being formed with the help of the Lawrence Alliance, a community coalition whose mission has been to eliminate discrimination in Lawrence. Sleepy Eye LaFromboise, president of the Haskell student body, also will serve on the task force.
Lisa Blair, program coordinator for the coalition and administrator for the Downtown Lawrence Association, said the coalition had received letters from Haskell students that said they did not feel comfortable shopping downtown.
"They feel as if they are being scrutinized more closely," said Blair, who will serve on the task force.
But downtown merchants have promised to watch closely for discrimination, she said, and as a result, the letters have declined.
"I think that the downtown is receptive," Blair said. "Part of the issue was just bringing it to their attention and showing them ways of dealing with it."
Yearbook photos free to boost sales
Bv Denise Noll
Special to the Kansan
Jayhawker yearbooks will cost $30 this year, but students won't have to pay to get their pictures in it.
Eliminating the charge for being photographed is just one of the changes the Jayhawker staff made in this year's book, which is due out in April. Pictures are being taken in Strong Hall until 5 p.m. tomorrow.
The low number of students who had their pictures taken was a problem that plagued past staffs, said Jennifer Derryberry, Oklahoma City sophomore and Jayhawker editor.
In the past, seniors were charged $4 and underclassmen were charged $2. The staff dropped the charge, Derryberry said, to entice more students to be photographed.
"We felt that it might make it more of an option for more people if they don't have to worry about how much it costs," she said. "Maybe it will encourage more people to come out and have it done."
Last year, only about 1,800 students got their pictures taken, said Jennifer Hughes, Dodge City sophomore and associate editor.
Another reason the charge was dropped was to increase book sales, Hughes said.
"We didn't have a very high percentage of students getting their pictures taken," she said. "People don't buy books if they aren't in them, and yearbook sales have been very low."
Hughes said sales had been slightly higher this year than last year, when only about 2,800 students purchased the yearbook. She said low sales indicated that college yearbooks were dying out.
Hughes also said that the content of the book would differ from past editions. One of the changes will be the way student portraits are arranged.
In previous years, students were pictured in the yearbook by living groups. This year, the portraits will be divided into only two sections: seniors and underclassmen.
"It's really a lot easier from a production point of view," she said. "You'd always have half of a page of nothing because six people from Hashinger would get their pictures taken."
New sections covering local bands and campus events and fraternities and sororities also will be added, Derryberry said. Since members will no longer be pictured with their organizations, group pictures and stories about Greek activities will appear in their own section.
The theme of the book will be "A Different Perspective." Derryberry said the theme was chosen to reflect the student population.
"Last year's theme was 'Diversity,' she said. "That's still a prominent theme on campus. We wanted a theme that included diversity but obviously we can't do that again. 'A Different Perspective' implies that lots of people see things in different ways."
Hughes said the staff's goal was to make all types of students more aware of the presence of the Jayhawk on campus.
"We're trying to make a success out of it," she said, "but it's more of a long-term project than a one-year thing."
Susan McSpadden / KANSAN
Hackey-sack ballet
Mitch LaPoint, Lawrence freshman, concentrates on keeping his hackey sack moving while Chris Hatton, Lawrence freshman, waits his turn in the background. They said they were enjoying the cool weather on Campanile Hill yesterday.
Private funds fuel skepticism about Biosphere 2
By Chesley Dohl
Kansan staff writer
Professors and students at KU have joined the ranks of the nation's many skeptics questioning the scientific validity of the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2, which ended Sunday.
For two years, eight people, four men and four women, lived in a specially designed dome, created to serve as a self-producing, natural living environment.
The experiment was funded by a Texas billionaire, without any government assistance for the project. Ross McKinney, professor emeritus of environmental health engineering, said he thought the experiment was criticized largely because of the way the project was funded.
"There's still confusion whether the biosphere was constructed for its commerciality or for its validity to the scientific world," McKinney said.
Biosphere 2 was a $150 million project, and
McKinney said that when that much money was invested in something there usually was a gimmick to get people to come out and see it.
The "planet within a dome" was designed outside of Tucson, Ariz., and nested in a desert valley. The biosphere is 3.15 acres of enclosed environments that range from a desert setting to a rain forest, with farmland and living quarters.
Biosphere is second only to the Grand Canyon as Arizona's top tourist attraction.
"They made a show out of it," McKinney said. "How else are you going to justify spending that much money?"
But McKinney also said he thought the biosphere could prove to be very resourceful to the scientific world in the future. Someday, it could even be used in space, he said.
"If it's handed in the right fashion it could serve as an invaluable learning tool," he said.
In its two-year stint, the biosphere experiment had some problems. Researchers ran into shortages in supplies and resources.
Val Smith, assistant professor of environment studies, said the biosphere experiment served its purpose well, but only as a learning facility that answered scientific questions.
"How exactly does one go about creating a closed living environment to use for the future?" Smith said. "Problems that arose only underscore our limited understanding of the way our own biosphere (Earth) currently functions."
Paul Rich, assistant professor of environmental studies, said the biosphere research project could not be categorized as a scientific study because a rigorous set of controls were not used in the experiment.
"It did not fulfill the requirements for strictest scientific research," Rich said. "Experiments require a detailed process of hypothesis, treatments and controls. This experiment was lacking in many areas."
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
"There's still
confusion whether the biosphere was constructed for its commerciality or for its validity to the scientific world."
Rosa McKinney professor emeritus of environmental health engineering
Biosphere2
Researchers claim to have set a record for living in an essentially closed system, breaking a Soviet record of six months.
Crew produced 80 percent of its food. The rest consisted of seeds intended for planting and crops grown inside the dome and stored before closure Sept. 26, 1991.
Air was pumped in once to replace seepage. Oxygen was pumped in twice to counter losses that left air as "thin" as that atop a loss of 1,340-foot mountain. Carbon dioxide levels settled at five times the normal amount but were within federal standards.
Crew member Jane Poynier left the dome for five hours for surgery after losing the tip of her finger in a thresher accident, Oct. 11, 1991.
Airlock doors were opened more than two dozen times to import equipment, predatory insects to battle farm pests, and such items as vitamins and sleeping pills.
Source: The Associated Press
KANSAN
$$$ COLLEGE FUNDING $$$
SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS
COMPUTER SEARCH OF OVER 300,000 SOURCES IDENTIFIES SCHOLARSHIPS YOU ALREADY QUALIFY FOR
$ MONEY BACK
GUARANTEE $
NO PROOF OF NEED REQUIRED
NO G.P.A. REQUIREMENT
NO AGE REQUIREMENT
LOW COST
FOR FREE INFORMATION AND APPLICATION WRITE TO
BRIDGESTONE End of Season Clearance
NATIONWIDE SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH
P.O. BOX 7239
HAMILTON OH 45013
MB-6 ... $409.95 ... save $40.
Every Bridgestone bike is a "Real McCoy" trail bike. No nonsense. Good stuff.
promotion ends October 9,1993
RICK'S BIKE SHOP Inc. 916 Mass., Lawrence, KS (913)841-6642
THE WAR RAGES ON!
KU VS K-STATI
MANHATTAN, KS
TICKETS AVAILABLE
AT SUA OFFICE 864-3477
OCTOBER 9,1993
$28 INCLUDES TICKET CARD
TICKET € BUS RIDE
The University of Kansas
HOMECOMING 1993
Recycle the Cyclones!
Parade applications available in the SUA office.
Entry Categories:
- Marching Bands
- Marching
- Banner Signs
Entry Applications & Deadlines:
- Float. Deadline for entry applications is Friday, Oct. 1 at 5:00pm.
- Marching Bands and Banners- Deadline for entry applications is Friday, Oct. 8 at 5:00pm.
- Marching Bands and Banners- Deadline for entry applications is Friday, Oct. 8 at 5:00pm
- All entry applications should be submitted to the SUA Office, Level 4, Kansas Union.
For more information call 864-3477.
Required Parade Meetings
- Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 5:00pm in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union, Level 5. All FLOAT entries must have a representative present for rules and safety review by the KU Police. An absence from this meeting could result in disqualifications from the parade or loss of points.
---