Multiculturalism lecture scheduled at KU

A Columbia University professor will speak about multiculturalism March 26 at Kansas University.

Brian Barry, a professor of political science and philosophy, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Alderson Auditorium at the Kansas Union.

Barry has served as editor of the philosophy journal Ethics and has taught at the University of Chicago, California Institute of Technology, European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and at the London School of Economics.

The lecture is part of the “Justice, Human Rights and the International Order” series sponsored by the department of philosophy and the Hall Center for the Humanities.

KU Med heart researchers receive $1.125 million grant

The National Institutes of Health awarded researchers in the division of cardiovascular diseases at Kansas University Medical Center a $1.125 million, five-year grant.

The grant will enable the recipients to research the effects of high blood pressure on blood vessels around the heart. Funding for the project, which is called “Insulin-like Growth Factor 1, Its Receptor and Vascular Remodeling,” will begin July 1. The principal investigator is Jie Du, associate professor of internal medicine. The co-principal investigator is Dr. Patrice Delafontaine, director of the division of cardiovascular diseases.

Researchers are attempting to understand how hypertension alters blood vessels, which could help in the diagnostic and therapeutic fields.

Hunter education courses to be offered this month

A hunter education course will be offered later this month for those who want to get a hunting license this year.

Anyone born after July 1, 1957, must pass a hunter education course to hunt in Kansas.

Classes will be from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. March 25 at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds, Buildings One and Two; and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 30, at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, 768 E. 661 Diagonal Road. Participants must attend both classes.

The course is sponsored by the Lawrence Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and other local organizations and businesses.

The free class is limited to 60 students. Preregistration is required.

To register, call Police Lt. Dan Affalter, 832-3288; the Sheriff’s Office, 841-0007; Skip Montgomery, Plaza Barber Shop, 842-8800, or Lunker’s Bait and Tackle, 842-6338. Information about other courses can be found at www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

Softball tournament aids scholarship fund

A slow-pitch softball tournament in May will honor a boy who died in 2001 of a rare genetic disorder.

Trevor Leeker, son of Bill and Michelle Leeker, Wellsville, died of Krabbisease, a nervous system disorder that affects the growth of the fatty covering that insulates the nerve fibers in the brain. He was 3 months shy of his 2nd birthday.

Proceeds from the second annual Trevor’s Tournament will fund a scholarship for an area college student who’s entering the medical field.

The tournament will be May 18 and 19 in Baldwin. Teams, which should consist of 10 to 12 players at least five male and five female are guaranteed at least two games in the double-elimination tournament. Team registration fee is $125; registration deadline is April 20. Contact Bill and Michelle Leeker at (785) 594-2744.

More information about the scholarship, which will go to the winner of a Krabbisease essay contest, will be available after the tournament.

Geographical society elects KU professor president

A Kansas University research professor has been elected president of the American Geographical Society.

Jerry Dobson, a researcher in the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program, will lead a council of 27 scholars and executives from business, government and academia. The AGS has more than 1,000 fellows.

The society publishes the Geographical Review, a scholarly journal, and Focus on Geography, a magazine for educators and the public.

Dobson, who has been at KU since last year, previously worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

He helped develop geographic information systems, which combines computer mapping, satellite remote sensing and the Global Positioning System, and led a team of researchers that created the LandSan Global Population Database, which estimates populations that could be affected during natural disasters, wars and terrorist threats.

FEMA sending out exemption letters

Revalidation letters that let some property owners avoid paying flood insurance are coming, later than expected, by the end of the month.

The letters were expected when the new Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain map for Douglas County went into effect in November. The letters certify to mortgage companies that despite the map’s showing the properties in the floodplains the properties were actually higher than the floodplain in those areas.

But the letters were never issued, and some property owners became concerned their mortgage companies would require them to buy flood insurance as a result.

FEMA officials said last week that the letters would be sent Friday. More than a dozen properties will receive the exemption.

KU Web site has commencement news

Information about Kansas University’s 2002 commencement events is now available on KU’s Web site.

The site, www.commencement.ku.edu, includes a schedule of events and information for graduates and their guests.

This year’s graduation will be at 2:30 p.m. May 19 at Memorial Stadium.

Academic units will have receptions for graduates on May 17, 18 and 19.