Audio-Reader adds animal care program

Subscribers to Audio-Reader, a Kansas University service that broadcasts audio versions of newspapers, magazines and books for people with impairments that limit reading, will have access to a new animal care show starting Dec. 27.

The new show, hosted by Dr. Bill Bayouth, a Lawrence veterinarian, will feature readings of animal-related articles, and answers to questions sent in by listeners. The show will air at 8 p.m. on the final Monday of each month.

People interested in submitting questions to the show, or who want more information on the Audio-Reader service, should contact Susan Tabor at (800) 772-8898 or stabor@ku.edu.

KU history Web site adds to its archives

A Web site dedicated to Kansas University history has added 25 articles to its content.

The site, www.kuhistory.com, has added 10 articles about student housing history, underwritten by the KU department of student housing; 10 articles about KU architecture and landscaping, underwritten by the Historic Mount Oread Fund; and five articles about KU firsts, underwritten by the KU Endowment Association.

Next year, site administrators plan to add another 40 articles covering the history of the KU Medical Center. Other new content planned for 2005 includes an image gallery, to be created in conjunction with the KU Natural History Museum; articles about the history of the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park; and the Great War Memory Project, which will be a tribute to the 129 KU men and women who died during World War I.

Ten new panels also will be added to the KU History Galleries at the Kansas Union.

Firefighters collecting toys for foster children

Lawrence firefighters want to brighten Christmas for foster children by collecting toys for them.

Lawrence International Assn. of Firefighters Local 1596 is collecting new toys for children ranging in age from infant to 17. The toy drive is for the benefit of the state’s foster children through Kaw Valley Center, 1202 E. 23rd St.

Toys can be dropped off at any of four Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical stations: 746 Ky., 2128 Harper, 3708 W. Sixth St. and 2819 Stonebarn Terrace. Toys will be taken up to Christmas Eve.

KU official to speak on MLK Day in Emporia

Robert Page, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Kansas University, has been selected to give the keynote speech at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Emporia.

Page will speak on “Where is Your Legacy? The Dream Lives On,” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 in the Memorial Union Colonial Ballroom at Emporia State University. Call (620) 341-5481 for more information.

County administers all of flu vaccine

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department has used up all its flu vaccine that was left over from Sunday’s flu-shot clinic at Kansas University’s Allen Fieldhouse.

The health department will maintain a clearinghouse phone number regarding flu vaccine availability in town. The number is 843-0721.

Health department officials expect more flu vaccine in January.

Health

More whooping cough cases are confirmed

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department has announced that there are now five confirmed cases of whooping cough.

Lawrence school district officials said the five cases involved students at West Junior High School. The cases include two that were confirmed last week and three confirmed this week. There also is another student who likely has the highly contagious respiratory infection.

A letter will be sent to parents today, which is the last day of school before winter break, updating them on the situation and reminding them of symptoms associated with whooping cough.

Whooping cough — or pertussis — is spread by coughing or sneezing. Common symptoms include extended coughing spells followed by a “whooping” sound when a person breathes in. Vomiting also may occur after a coughing episode.

While young children can be vaccinated against whooping cough, there is no vaccine past the age of 7.

Crime

Suspects identified in pharmacy break-ins

Lawrence Police have identified two Lawrence men as suspects in a series of burglaries at pharmacies in Lawrence, Baldwin and De Soto.

The men, ages 23 and 24, had not been arrested as of Thursday, said Sgt. Dan Ward, a Lawrence Police spokesman. But Ward said police served a search warrant last week at one of the men’s homes in the 1600 block of West Fourth Street and recovered pills and other evidence.

Police suspect the men of two late-night burglaries Nov. 15 and Nov. 23 at Orchards Drug, 1410 Kasold Drive, in which thieves broke in and stole more than 1,000 pills of pain killers including Oxycontin, Oxycodone, and Percoset.

They’re also suspected in the Nov. 15 attempted burglary at Baldwin City Truecare Pharmacy, 410 Ames St., Baldwin; and a Nov. 23 burglary at Cedar Creek Pharmacy, 33490 Lexington Ave., De Soto.

KU receives grant for health care services

Kansas University has received a $2 million grant to improve health care services for high-risk residents and help them stay employed.

The five-year grant is from the state’s Division of Health Care Policy, a part of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The grant will provide preventive health care and support services for 200 employed individuals listed as uninsurable because of severe and often multiple health conditions such as congestive heart failure, cancer, diabetes and depression.

At KU, the program is being administered by the Center for Research on Learning’s division of adult services.

Regents to respond to faculty audit

The state’s university system is planning a formal response to an audit released this week that said, among other things, faculty are working fewer hours than they did in 1985 and their salaries have increased at a rate greater than inflation.

The Kansas Board of Regents directed each of the six state universities to prepare a response regarding the data and context for the legislative post-audit report.

Regents said Thursday they had concerns with the report using incorrect data and not including an increase in university enrollments in explaining an increase in the number of faculty members. They also have said the state has made an effort to increase salaries beyond inflation to make them more competitive with universities nationwide.

Regent Frank Gaines said it was important for regents to respond because the report could be used by legislators who are opposed to increased university funding. “They’re going to go to the microphone and pull this out,” he said. “They’re going to say, ‘What do you mean you want more money? You’ve been loafing.'”

Housing fees set for universities

Kansas University students planning to live in on-campus housing next year now know how much they will pay.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday approved housing rates for each of the six state universities.

The average room rate at KU will increase 5.5 percent, to $5,502. Average increases statewide ranged from 3.5 percent at Wichita State to 7 percent at Emporia State University.

Tuition waivers advance

A proposal that would allow state universities to provide tuition assistance to spouses and dependents of faculty and staff members is one step closer to being approved.

The Council of Presidents, comprised of the five state university presidents and Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway, approved the proposal this week. The plan would simply allow universities to provide tuition reductions or waivers, and the Kansas Board of Regents would have oversight of the program.

Regents will consider the issue at their January meeting.

KU officials and a faculty leader have said they didn’t expect the university to proceed with the plan anytime soon.

Insurance plan won’t be pursued

Regents universities won’t pursue a new insurance plan that officials said could save the state money.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday was set to consider whether to lobby for a legislative initiative allowing universities to purchase property insurance provided by the Midwest Higher Education Compact, of which Kansas is a member.

But Ed Hammond, president of Fort Hays State University and president of the Council of Presidents, which includes leaders of the six state universities, said MHEC’s insurance carrier, Lexington AIG, hasn’t applied for standing to provide insurance in the state.

Reggie Robinson, president of the Board of Regents, said regents staff had requested Lexington AIG to pursue applying for standing and is awaiting a response from the company.

Suspect bites officer

An intoxicated suspect bit a Lawrence Police officer’s arm Wednesday night after a disturbance at the Haskell Indian Nations University campus.

Police went to Roe Cloud Hall about 11 p.m. after getting a call that an intoxicated 18-year-old man had been kicked out of the building but had returned and refused to leave. As officers were arresting him on suspicion of disorderly conduct and putting him in a patrol car, the man bit an officer’s arm and broke the skin.

The officer received treatment at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Drawing selected for holiday card

A Veritas Christian School fourth-grader and his school received $300 Thursday for a holiday picture selected for a corporate greeting card.

John Easton will get $50 for drawing the winning holiday picture. The school’s art department gets $250.

The money comes from McDaniel And McDaniel Financial Services, 2500 W. 31st St.

Company employees voted on pictures and selected John’s. The winning picture is printed on the Christmas cards that McDaniel and McDaniel sends out.

The school is at 256 N. Mich.

KU students place in Hearst program

Two Kansas University students finished in the top 20 in the 45th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.

Zach Hemenway and Erik Johnson tied for 11th in the feature-writing competition.

KU finished third in the intercollegiate writing competition, behind the University of Nebraska and Florida A&M University.

The competition involved 105 students from 58 schools.