Police investigating robbery at Merc co-op

Lawrence Police swarmed the Community Mercantile Co-op Sunday evening looking for clues in the wake of a robbery.

Police responded shortly before 8 p.m. to the grocery store at 901 Iowa. The suspect was still at large late Sunday, and authorities would not comment on whether he was armed or how much money was taken. They described the suspect as a thin black male, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, about 20 years old and wearing a white bandanna. Police said he left the store on foot and was last seen walking south on Iowa Street.

The co-op closed its doors early Sunday, and the shift supervisor declined to comment.

University sets exams

Kansas University has announced the following final examinations:

• LaRoy Brandt, ecology and evolutionary biology, “Evolutionary Origin and Consequences of Female Mate Choice in an Ultrasonic Moth, Achroia qrisella,” 3:30 p.m. today, 2046 Haworth.
• Kerry Morgan, history of art, “From the Courtroom to the Gallows: Picturing Justice in American Visual Culture, 1850-1880,” 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2, 209 B Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art.
• Georges A. Pearson, anthropology, “Pan-Continental Paleoindian Expansions and Interactions as Viewed from the Earliest Lithic Industries of Lower Central America,” 3 p.m. Dec. 4, Pine Room, Kansas Union.

Free State students rank in math contest

Alan Sheu, a junior at Free State High School, earned first-place honors and his brother, Ivan, also a junior, received third place in the nonsenior individual awards category at the Math Day competition Nov. 5 at Washburn University.

The Free State team of senior Nathan Markham, Alan Sheu and senior Nathan Twarog placed second in the class 5A and 6A category.

Teams from 28 Kansas and Missouri schools participated. Each participant took an exam with questions about algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus and problem-solving skills. The top three scores from each team were combined to make the team score.

Blood drive planned today at high school

Perry – Community Blood Center will collect blood donations from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. today in the Perry-Lecompton High School library, U.S. Highway 24. The drive is in honor of Breanna Sawyer, a 4-year-old Grantville girl who has leukemia and is at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., for two weeks.

The center needs to collect 550 units of blood a day to supply 73 hospitals in 70 counties in Kansas and Missouri. One donation can help as many as three patients. High school students make up 22 percent of blood donors.

Lecture series kicks off at Ottawa University

Ottawa – An author and commentator will be the first speaker in Ottawa University’s Faith, Learning and Life Presidential Lecture Series next month.

Dinesh D’Souza of Stanford University will speak on “What’s So Great About America?” at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 3 at the Marriott in Overland Park. Reservations are required by calling (913) 451-0120, Ext. 26, and the cost is $35.

That night, D’Souza will speak at Ottawa’s main campus at 7:30 p.m. in the University Chapel. That speech will center on “Race, Mascots and a Liberal Education.” He recently was featured on MSNBC and CNBC with Ottawa President John Neal discussing Ottawa’s mascot, the Braves.

Groups meet to discuss Kansas conservation

Wichita – More than 500 county conservation district representatives and people interested in conserving natural resources will meet today and Tuesday for the 58th annual Convention of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts. The meeting will be at the Airport Hilton in Wichita.

Representatives from Douglas County are Don Palmateer, chairman; Charles Fawl, vice chairman; Lee Whaley, treasurer; Don and Jane Schwartz, secretary; Michael and Cheryl Flory, member; Vernis Flottman, district manager; Patty Ogle, district technician, and Clyde and Marybeth Mermis.

The meeting will focus on how to conserve natural resources with provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill.