Researching exotic Utica, Ill.

LJWorld.com weblogs Lawrence in the News

Posted by Terry Rombeck September 18, 2006 at 8:28 a.m.

¢ A Kansas University graduate student in anthropology is studying tourism in Utica, Ill., the [Ottawa (Ill.) Times][1] reports.Chaya Spears is seeking a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Kansas.For her dissertation, the 27-year-old Ottawa native could have trekked to Central America or hacked through African jungles to conduct research.However, Spears instead set up base to study tourism in Utica. That's in La Salle County, where there's little need to don a safari suit or to worry about beriberi.¢ Dr. Rajesh Pahwa, a KU Medical Center professor, is quoted in this [HealthDay][2] story about a pesticide that has been linked to Parkinson's Disease.Dr. Rajesh Pahwa is director of the Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City. He said that while the study isn't "major news, it is interesting in that it shows postmortem Parkinson's disease patients' brains had higher levels of pesticide compared to normal controls. And this study has confirmed other work correlating pesticide exposure with the illness."¢ A Lawrence man, Hal Ettinger, led the effort to create a monument at a North Dakota cemetery honoring early Jewish settlers to the area, the Associated Press reports in the [Bismarck Tribune][3].Hal Ettinger, of Lawrence, Kan., led the effort for the monument. He was traveling in the state on business a couple of years ago and decided to research his great-grandfather's gravesite._"I knew that my great-grandfather was buried somewhere in North Dakota," he said. "He was attempting to homestead in Ramsey County. I did some homework and found that cemetery."_ [1]: http://mywebtimes.com/ottnews/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=267403 [2]: http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/_Banned_Pesticide_May_Be_Linked_to_Parkinson_s_Disease.shtml [3]: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/09/17/news/state/120965.txt