Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Noland)

The leftover grease used at University dining halls could be more useful than you think.

Researchers at the University of Kansas hope to discover a way to implement the waste product to produce biodiesel, a fuel that is safe for the environment but expensive to purchase.

As of now, the University throws away 7,000 gallons of waste oils from the dining services per year. According to Ilya Tabakh, graduate research assistant and member of the Student Senate, the amount of waste product would be enough to produce fuel for all the campus buses, lawnmowers and other campus vehicles.

Traditionally, biodiesel is made from new or used soybean oils or animal fats. Once the fat is filtered, it is heated and mixed with an acid and base. Once let to sit, it is combined with petroleum so that it can be used as fuel.

Because refined oil or new/filtered oil is expensive, the cost of biodiesel is too costly for University use. Instead, KU uses a cheaper, non-environmentally friendly diesel fuel.

The associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, Susan Williams, believes it is more economical to look at the used grease from places such as Mrs. E’s or the Underground, which is free, to produce biodiesel. This would ultimately create a fuel that is less expensive and good for the ecosystem.

“Currently the University pays to have the grease hauled off,” Williams said. “It makes sense to put the cheaper feedstock to good use instead of using the expensive refined oil.”

In order to transport grease off-campus, the University must pay thousands of dollars per year. If the cost of transporting grease was taken away, that money could be used to convert on campus grease to biodiesel instead, costing the University a similar cost while being more friendly to the environment.

Williams and her research team began discussing a student-run manufacturing plant three years ago after receiving funding for on-campus work. Before implementing their plan, they knew there needed to be a student interest in the project. Once student senate member Ilya Tabaka approached them with the same idea, they knew they were ready to begin thought processes for the plant.

“When Ilya approached us with his idea, it was the perfect time,” Williams said. “It was the merging of research and student interest.”

Still in what they call “Stage 1,” Williams and her researchers are trying to decide on a budget for a small, on campus building in addition to materials and machines they would need.

The cost of this project is still being calculated, but an estimate is said to be released by the middle of next spring, when they submit a proposal.

For now, Williams and her team receive funding from theCEBC or Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis who provides money for the use of Carbon Dioxide, which increases the reaction, yielding more biodiesel.

“Once we get the proposal out, the rest will come pretty quickly,” Williams said. “It’s the first step to making our dream a reality.”

Tabakh, who is also a member of the Transportation Research Institute, an institute that addresses “contemporary transportation issues and their social and environmental consequences” has talked to the Environmental Advisory Board of Student Senate and has received a gauge of what they could do financially.

“The project has been really well-received so far by the student senate,” Tabakh said. “As far as funding goes, we’re planning to look into sources on campus.”

Tabakh couldn’t release an exact amount of money they would receive for funding, but this year, the Transportation Research Institute received $14.5 million for research in transportation related issues. Williams and Tabakh said they would also turn to student senate for their project funding.

Only two Universities, Clemson (located in South Carolina, approximately 128 miles from Atlanta) and Iowa State, are conducting similar research. As of yet, no one has strived to put a manufacturing on campus.

“There aren’t a lot of people who are doing a full fledged research facility,” Williams said. “This center will be a place to implement new technologies on a smaller scale.”

William’s research group plans to use the new facility to uncover cheaper, more efficient ways to produce biodiesel. With a center on campus, the group could experiment with waste oil to find out if it is as effective as refined oil.

Campus buses currently use B5 fuel or 5 percent biodiesel because it runs about $2.97 per gallon while B100 or 100 percent biodiesel runs about $3.76 per gallon. Although buying B100 in bulk is cheaper, it is not cheap enough. Williams hopes her research will produce less expensive fuel that doesn’t harm the environment.

“We have three goals for this project,” Williams said. “To make the processes more efficient, make the product more economical and make it easier to produce.”

In William’s current research, converting waste oil to biodiesel is a slower process because of the use of a solid acid such as Amberlyst instead of a typical liquid acid, which is toxic such as sulfuric acid. To make the process more efficient, her researchers would experiment ways to make the reaction faster.

Williams did not say how much money their product could save the University, but said the absence of cost of refined oil would be a significant savings.

To create biodiesel, the researcher must take animal fats or soybean oil and mix them with an alcohol (methanol) and a base (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). From there, the substance is heated and stirred at 50 C. Once it is left to sit, it creates a three layer liquid substance with biodiesel at the top. Un-reacted oil, or oil that did not become biodiesel, lies below the biodiesel with water at the bottom. (see picture)

In order to separate the biodiesel from leftover oil and water, the researcher must extract it using a pipette.

“The problem with the separation process is it is easy to pull out some of the un-reacted oil in the pipette when removing the bio diesel,” Williams said. “If un-reacted oil gets in your gas tank, it will turn into a Crisco-type substance.”

The oil used from university fryers would have to be stripped of all solids before going through the conversion process. Once bio diesel is made, it is combined with petroleum diesel before it is put into cars.

“Eventually we hope to use B100, but as of yet many engines are not warranted for this,” Williams said. “This process is so new; we’re not sure how cars react to this new kind of fuel.”

Not all vehicles can use biodiesel fuel. Any vehicle that is older than mid-90s should have an upgrade on fuel lines in order to use the fuel.

Tabakh believes that if the research facility opens, researchers will work to make biodiesel into a better product with a more effective process. For now, they continue to work with new methods make their methods safer for the environment.

“To accelerate a chemical reaction, a catalyst must be used,” said Jonathan Allison, a senior in Chemical Engineering and research assistant to Williams.

The use of a catalyst ultimately yields more biodiesel, creating fewer waste materials. By making small changes such as these, research assistants can produce a more environmentally safe product.

“It’s really exciting to think we could have a full functioning facility that’s producing,” Williams said. “A center like this on campus would give students a chance to have first hand experience and be able to work with some of their peers who may not be part of the research departments.”

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The University of Kansas Aerospace Engineering Department is developing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be flown in Greenland and Antarctica. The Meridian will have a wingspan of 26.4 feet, and will be used for global warming-related research in coordination with the department’s Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets.

The Meridian will carry a 100-pound ground penetrating radar system that tests the thickness of the polar ice sheets in the area. The UAV’s longest missions in Antarctica would be eight hours, covering about 1,000 miles. During flight, the radar system continually sends signals down through the ice, and records its depth along the way.

"Researchers are trying to study the flow of the ice sheets with global warming and see why some ice sheets seem to be flowing faster than others,” said Kai Siegele, graduate research assistant. By doing this aerial remote sensing, they're able to tell how fast the ice sheets are moving and hopefully discover why."

Current research for the center has been done by heavier radar systems in cold-weather ground vehicles and larger, piloted airplanes. Dr. David Downing, KU aerospace engineering professor said that a great advantage of an unmanned aircraft is that it can fly the exact pattern twice with much better accuracy than a person could.

“As a pilot, you’ve got to know where you are, one advantage of the autopilot system is that it can use GPS points to fly from coordinate to coordinate,” Downing said.

Dr. Richard Hale, KU aerospace engineering professor and co-head of the Meridian project explained that this is imperative because the radar system can only cover a strip of land at a time. Once it covers a strip, the plane will then turn and pass along another parallel track, much like a lawnmower would.

“We can overlay these images to get full, high-resolution imagery of the under surface of the ice,” Hale said.

Hale said that there are other advantages in using an unmanned air vehicle to do the job. The smaller plane means weight is drastically decreased, and fuel cost will go down.

“The bigger, piloted planes currently used in the project use over 10 times more fuel than our model,” Hale said.

Another big concern for the researchers is pilot and crew safety. Hale said the Meridian’s planned eight-hour radar missions; 1,000 feet above the ground, in dangerously cold weather can be too much for even an experienced pilot.

"An engine could fail, you could have bad weather all of the sudden and the plane could go down," Siegele said. "The risks could be injury, death and being stranded out on the ice."

The Meridian project started in 2004 with a $19 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant ends in 2009, but Hale and his team remain hopeful that they will be granted the possible five-year extension.

“We’ve planned this as a 10 year project,” Hale said. “We’re only a year and a half in, so hopefully, we’ve still got about eight and a half years to work on the project.”

If the team gets the grant extension, they will continue to refine their UAV, and set up for large-scale production of the aircraft. Siegele said that the center would eventually want to have more than one Meridian in the air, so they can do research in many places at once. He added that with the grant extension, the Meridian might also find a home in other workshops.

"If it's successful, there are possibilities of building the Meridian for other science
payloads," Siegele said. "Scientists in other communities have expressed interest in purchasing one to conduct their experiments."

Aerospace engineering students in 12 different classes worked on the project this semester. Hale’s Aerospace Materials and Processes class fabricated one of the Meridian’s wings. Other classes are examining engine efficiency and testing to find the optimal thickness of the airplane’s skin.

“By integrating this project into so many classes, our students can have some great hands-on experience with the research,” Hale said.

The latest project test was to fly a Piper Cub model airplane, affixed with the V-tail proposed for the Meridian. Bill Donovan, graduate research assistant said that the two surfaces of the V-tail make it more efficient and cost effective than the standard tail affixed to most aircraft, which have a vertical fin with a horizontal surface on either side.

“The V-tail creates less drag, it’s lighter, and has fewer actuators,” Donovan said.

The actuators are the movable parts on each tailfin that steer the aircraft. Hale said that a small motor called a “servo” is positioned inside the tail to move each actuator. He added that because there are only two actuators on a V-tail, the cost would drop significantly.

“Another advantage is that there will only need to be two servo’s as opposed to three,” Hale said. “This is important when you realize that the servo’s cost about $10,000 a piece.”

The next step for the “V-Cub” is to install and test the $20,000 Piccolo autopilot system that will be used in the Meridian. The system would sit inside the cockpit of the Cub, and replace its current radio control system.

“This is the same system used by NASA, industry and hobby-grade UAV’s,” Hale said.

The Meridian and its radar system are designed with mission frequency in mind. The 110-pound radar system will store its data on two replaceable hard drives, which will be situated for easy access.

“We’ll be able to bring the plane in, pull the hard drives out, put new ones in, and go right back out,” Hale said.

The fully loaded Meridian UAV will have a 26.4-foot wingspan and weigh just over 1000 pounds, with almost 300 pounds of jet fuel. A full fuel tank gives the Meridian a range of 1,116 miles, or 13 hours. Dr. Hale said the Meridian’s longest missions in Antarctica, would be about eight hours, and would cover about 1,000 miles.

“This isn’t me standing in a field somewhere watching my little remote control airplane; this thing is going to be out in some very extreme conditions,” said Dennis Lane, Environmental Engineering professor. “This plane is going to travel great distances on its own, with just a monitor and an operator at the controls, far away.”

CReSIS researchers will use a hand-held controller for take-off and landing, but will use satellites and GPS to communicate with, and track the Meridian after it gets over the horizon.

Hale said that because there aren’t many satellites over Antarctica, the plane could lose contact with the operator for up to a few minutes at a time. The team is developing a flight management system, so the plane wouldn’t lose control in case of a communication blackout.

“The airplane has to know if it should continue the current flight plan, circle the area until it regains contact, or just turn around and head home,” Hale said.

Another obstacle the design team faces is the possibility of ice building up on the wing.

"It doesn't take a whole lot of ice to change the shape of a wing this size," Hale said. "When the wing changes shape, it loses lift, and just does a nosedive."

The team is exploring some different options to rectify the problem. Siegele said that most commercial planes spray a de-icing chemical onto the wings, but because of environmental restrictions in Antarctica, engineers are leaning towards an internal heater on the wing's leading edge.

This week, Hale and Donovan will take a three-week trip to Antarctica to talk to current CReSIS pilots and test a small, radio-controlled airplane to test takeoff and landing in the extreme cold conditions.

The team plans to have a finished prototype in late 2007, and be flight testing in the U.S. by early 2008. The prototype will then venture to colder weather conditions for testing in Greenland later that year.

KU is the leading researcher in the CReSIS project. Other partner universities include Elizabeth City State University, Haskell Indian Nations University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and The University of Maine.

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Imagine if you had to think like a pancreas.

For Rachel Gifford, founder of the Diabetes Freedom Foundation, her daily routine revolves around knowing how her pancreas is working.

Gifford said, “Diabetes is a gift. It requires me to continuously think about my health. I have to know how my pancreas is going to react to certain foods, to certain amounts of exercise. Depending on what I know, that is how I adjust my life and treat my disease.”

For diabetics in the Kansas City area, this better life may be just around the corner. The University of Kansas Medical Center has committed to creating a Diabetes Institute on the KU Medical Center campus

After being hospitalized at the age of 12, Gifford found out that she had type 1 diabetes. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), Type 1 diabetes, previously called insulin dependent diabetes, develops when the body’s immune system begins to destroy the beta cell produced by the pancreas. For people like Gifford, surviving this disease means taking insulin to control the body’s regulation of blood glucose.

Even at 12-years-old, Gifford said she knew she had a choice: she could either die from this disease or learn how to live with it. She decided to live.With her company DM Strategies, Gifford hopes to change the world of diabetic care. Gifford wants to make sure that diabetics after her have a better life then she did

For diabetics in the Kansas City area, the University of Kansas Medical Center (www.kumc.edu) has committed to creating a Diabetes Institute on the KU Medical Center campus.

The Institute will be a freestanding structure that will become home to both diabetes care, and diabetes research. The new institute will bring state of the art care to the people suffering with diabetes in the surrounding area.

According to Lisa Stehno-Bittle, the head of research for the institute, the creation of the institute will attempt to bring all of the diabetes health professional in the area together for bettering the future of diabetes. During a retreat on December 2, many of these professional came together to brainstorm a plan to create a mission statement, and begin their fundraising.

According to Stehno-Bittle, the building of the institute will require somewhere between 20 and 30 million dollars.

Stehno-Bittle is pairing with Endocrinologist and newcomer to the KU Medical Center Dr. David Robbins. The dream of a new diabetes institute started with Robbin’s thought to begin a fellowship for diabetes care.

After the two discussed the idea of a fellowship for diabetic care, they realized that they could do so much more for the Kansas City area.

The Kansas City area is behind in its treatment of diabetes. The pair will be traveling to other Diabetes Institutes to build a model for the research and care that will be provided in Kansas City.

The care at the new Diabetes Institute will provide service to many people in the area, including University of Kansas Students.

Diabetic Students on the University of Kansas campus can go to Watkins Student Health Center for their medical care. However, the Watkins may not be able to provide them with the extensive care that they need. According to Ann Chapman, Watkins coordinator for nutrition services and registered dietician, students with diabetes are dealt with on a one-on-one basis.

Students can come in a see a physician. The Physician will prescribe them the correct medicine, encourage them to eat correctly, and exercise regularly. The students will then be referred to Chapman to work on their dietary needs.

Chapman said that the new Diabetes Institute might become a new source of referrals for Watkins.

Chapman said, “The percentage of students with diabetes at KU is so mall we may not have the most comprehensive program. But, we have to look at the health risk that are effecting a large part of the community.”

No date has been set for the construction of the institute. Stehno-Bittle said that the main focus right now will be getting funding for the project.

Gifford can not help but express her excitement for the prospect of the new Diabetes Institute. She feels that a cure for diabetes is around the corner. But until the cure is found, Gifford will continue to battle her diabetes one day at a time.

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A snowball fight… something normally reserved for winter days after school, but for Rosedale Middle School students it’s become a learning event. Snowball fight is an educational game invented by University of Kansas students for their Excellence in Journalism Camp.

Thanks to the efforts of both the KU and Rosedale students the program was a huge success and plans have been made to continue the camp next semester.

“The original plan was to do the camp for one semester, and be done with it.” said Carl Perico, a language arts teacher at Rosedale and a huge help in starting the journalism camp. “They made it such a success that the Dean of the KU School of Journalism decided to offer it again, in the spring of ’07.”

KU journalism students spent the fall semester working with sixth-, seventh- and eighth- graders from Rosedale Middle School in Kansas City, Kan. As part of their Journalism 500 class: “Citizen Journalism and Community Work”, KU students split into two groups, one that worked with sixth graders and another that worked with seventh- and eighth- graders. The sixth graders met every Tuesday and the other group met every Thursday.

13 journalism students participated in the program, which met from 3-4:45p.m. each session. The college students lead and planned each camp lesson, teaching students how to post on the web, interview sources, take pictures and write news stories.

Teachers and KU participants alike have seen a vast improvement in the Rosedale students’ skills as reporters and critics of media. Although, Perico said he hasn’t seen any overnight miracles in his English class, he did say his Spanish speaking students have a lot more confidence in their writing capabilities. He said it’s been a long time since he’s heard “I can’t do it!”

“I have seen these kids mature this semester, and be more analytical and critical,”Perico said. “Overall, these kids are not afraid to ask questions, and they are not intimidated by the writing process.”

“The students at Rosedale, I’m told, have more ability now to talk to adults,” said Peggy Kuhr, Professor of Journalism at KU. “They’re more self-assured, the teachers tell me, and what they’re saying is they have learned to ask better questions.”

Educational progress was not the only change, but many of the students formed new relationships and bonds. The program actually made learning fun for many of them and exceeded their expectations. What started as a chance for extra credit in Mr. Perico’s English class, turned into a life changing experience.

“At first, I just thought it was gonna be about just writing. Then, I think it means a lot to me because we had a lot of fun, spent time together,” Jesus Gutierrez, Rosedale eighth grader said. “We had good times. It’s like part of my family.”

Even the KU students, many of whom are graduating this spring, felt a strong connection with the students.

“I bonded a lot. There’s several kids I’ll miss a lot,” Heather Brummitt, KU graduate student said. Brummitt joined the class in order to create a documentary for her grad project.

The success of this program cannot be chalked up to education and friendships alone. It is the brainchild of a lot of peoples’ time and effort. Donna Devine, from Rosedale Development Association, and Peggy Kuhr approached Perico and another teacher, Janet Leigh, about doing this program in April of 2006. Each person had a significant part in putting together and executing the camp.

“One of the most important factors, I think, was the school itself. We had a couple of great Language Arts teachers, who really wanted to support this project and help me out at the start.”Kuhr said.

Kuhr’s partners had an equal amount of praise for her efforts to bring these two diverse groups together.

“Peggy is the wheel that makes all of this turn. She has done an outstanding job despite all the roadblocks that came her way,”Perico said. “I am so honored to be working with her, and that she chose our school to pilot this program.”

Through the ups and downs of this program these middle school students have learned what journalism means. Perico said his students have all shown interest in the possibility of pursuing journalism as a career, adding that originally they might have asked you “what’s that?”

“It’s about experiencing the ways of bringing news to someone,” Carlos Ortiz, Rosedale eighth grader said.

“They’re teaching us something that we might like to do when we grow up,”Zamara Cardona said, also an eighth grader.

Several of the Rosedale participants plan on returning next semester, saying they hope to branch out as journalists. They all expressed interest in going out into the community and interviewing strangers, as well as taking more field trips. This semester they took a field trip to the Kansas City Star, which everyone described as their favorite part of the camp.

Along with the field trip, students participated in exercises, like Snowball fight. In this game students write a sentence on a sheet of paper, throw the paper, and then another student adds to it. This interactive learning could be part of the reason why many of the students are coming back next semester.

Along with returning students, Perico and Kuhr, predict that they will have several more participants.

“Most of the Rosedale students stayed with it throughout the semester. That speaks highly of the professor and the KU students’ efforts,” said Perico. “Now that the word has gotten around, more kids are coming out of the wood work.”

ALL ROSEDALE FOOTAGE WAS SHOT BY HEATHER BRUMMITT

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Next year, for the first time in almost a decade, the Department of Student Housing at the University of Kansas won’t be renovating a residence hall. Department of Student Housing is encouraging returning students to live in the residence halls another year by mounting a marketing campaign.

The campaign, which began this fall and will continue through spring semester, has the tagline: “Don’t just attend KU – live KU!”

With the completion of the Hashinger Hall renovations this fall, the Department of Student Housing finished its current renovations project. It has renovated Templin, Lewis, Ellsworth and Hashinger Halls. The University finished renovating Templin Hall in 1998.

Templin Hall was the first residence hall to begin the new round of renovations.

Kip Grosshans, associate director of Student Housing, said that each time Department of Student housing has done renovations, it gave new students priority over returning students in order to guarantee new students on-campus housing. The Department of Student Housing finished renovating the residence halls, so now it wants to encourage returning students to come back to the halls for a second or third year.

“This is a way to remind folks who are already with us that they might want to consider staying with us for the next year,” Grosshans said.

The meaning of the tagline, according to Grosshans, is that student housing offers a diverse and rewarding living environment. One advertisement on the Department of Student Housing Web site reads, “I‘m definitely returning to Student Housing. I’ve made great friends, food’s good, and I got a cool job right where I live.”

One bonus of living in the residence halls, according to Grosshans, is the easy access to food at the dining centers. “Going to the grocery store, schlepping the food into the car, paying for the food, going back to the apartment, unloading the food, fixing the food, cleaning up after the food; it’s a huge amount of time. It doesn’t seem like much when you think about it in general, but it’s time that most students really don’t have.”

Eric Grospitch, interim executive assistant to the director, said, “Our return numbers are up over last year. Having a year offline with Hashinger, that was 375 beds. It’s just a matter of getting those returners to stay on and seeing us beyond a first-year option.”

According to Grosshans, 452 sophomores and 101 juniors live in the residence halls this year out of a total 3,397 students.

Lindsey Eagle, Kansas City, Mo. junior, appears on the posters. She said that she thinks the Department of Student Housing is heading in the right direction by encouraging returning students to come back. She said that at her job as a student office assistant for the Department of Student Housing, she has received substantially more phone calls from prospective returning students than what she remembers from the past two years. She said usually students didn’t call until just a day or two before the “Intent to Return” form deadline.

“Students see the ads, which in turn causes them to contact our office to inquire about the process,” Eagle said.

Patrick Sittenauer, Kansas City, Mo. freshman, said that he will return to McCollum Residence Hall next year because he feels comfortable there. He said he has everything he needs: A bed, closet space, clean bathrooms and a desk. He said that if he lived anywhere else he would have to buy all of those things.

Sittenauer said he likes the residence halls because he’s met so many people. “You can pretty much always find someone to eat at E’s with,” Sittenauer said. “The dorms embody the spirit of a university: a place for any exchange of ideas, a place to learn. With 900 people within a few thousand square feet, I am sure you will find differing opinions.”

Sittenauer said he loves McCollum, but one of his gripes is all the rules. “It’s like living in my parents’ home. I can understand the reason for all the rules, and I would not change them, but living in a place one calls home means I should be able to set the rules.”

Ryan Bruno, Overland Park sophomore, said that the residence halls are a great place to meet new people. He said there’s always something going on there and that the residence halls feel like a home away from home.

“There is a bit of vulnerability that people feel when they come to the dorms, but it makes them more open to meet new people,” Bruno said. “It was a vulnerability that I welcomed when I came to KU.”

Bruno decided to return to the residence halls for a second year because he didn’t have enough money to live on his own. He said that he met new people and strengthened his relationships from last year as well.

Although Bruno said he dislikes the sometimes dirty bathrooms, the occasional fire alarms and late-night noise, he calls all of these complaints silly. “That’s part of the unique life of living in the dorms,” Bruno said.

Grosshans said this marketing program was a special project from the director of Student Housing. The campaign started by distributing bookmarks to the residence hall Academic Resource Centers in early October. The posters came out in the middle of October. Recently, Department of Student housing placed table tents in the dining centers. Department of Student Housing also bought advertisement space on a campus bus. Soon, Department of Student Housing will send out two sets of slightly different postcards: one set to students and one set to their parents.

For this campaign, Department of Student Housing is offering returning students the chance to sign their contract early. In years past, during the school year returning students could only fill out an “Intent to Return” form, which only noted their housing preferences and it didn’t guarantee them anything. Because residents can sign their contracts early this year, they can immediately choose their exact room and building assignment instead of waiting for weeks.

Both Grosshans and Grospitch are excited to see more returning students in the residence halls. “We know we’re going to get around 75 percent, perhaps even more, of the entering freshman class each year,” Grosshans said.

He said that returning students are a commodity in a residence hall. “It would be great if the resident assistant wasn’t the only upperclassmen on the floor and that there was someone else to ask, ‘how to we do this camping for tickets thing?’”

Grosshans said that the Department of Student Housing is confident it will get plenty of new student admissions because of its Web site and view book. “The big deal for us is to increase our population of the students we want most, and frankly, that’s the people who’ve lived with us before.”

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At holiday gatherings while other students are celebrating with fudge in one hand and peanut brittle in the other, Ashlen Angelo, Overland Park sophomore, is empty handed. That is, if she is even at the party. She might be laying in bed watching episodes of “Golden Girls” on DVD with a heating pad on her stomach, consuming only crackers. Angelo has Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract that develops ulcers on the inner surface of the colon. The disease affects Angelo’s small and large intestines and causes her severe abdominal pain.

“For me, overeating doesn’t just add on weight, it makes me actually sick. I have to eat slowly so I am satisfied with the amount I can have.”

Ever since being diagnosed in October 2002, Angelo has had to be careful about what foods she consumed. Anything spicy or greasy tends to leave her with intense stomachaches and cramps and can leave her in pain for a full day.

“It can last up to 24 hours after I have eaten,” Angelo said. “Usually if I overeat, the next day I’ll be feeling bad and reduced to eating only crackers because I don’t want to risk feeling even worse.”

While Angelo has to carefully monitor her food intake on a daily basis, doing so is tougher around the holiday season.

“It is harder because there are a lot of holiday foods that I like to eat and look forward to eating when I go home. It’s annoying having to work in eating something I really like. I have to find a time when my Crohn’s is under control before I can eat foods that I like. I get frustrated and I feel like I’m old.”

For healthy students the holidays are a time of temptation. With delectable holiday treats sitting around and a break from the structured routine of school, healthy eating and exercising habits can rapidly vanish. Experts warn against giving into these temptations and advice students to stay physically active. A recent study from the National Institue of Health suggests that the commonly held idea that Americans gain five to 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and the new year is false. While the study more accurately states that Americans only gain about one pound over the holidays, students still need to be mindful of their health.

“Don’t skip meals,” said Ann Chapman Student Health Services dietician. “This is really important. In fact, you should eat every three to four hours. You should also stay physically active, even if it is different activities than usual. If you normally jog, you can go ice skating with your friends or cross country skiing if you live somewhere really cold.”

Chapman also advises to avoid packing on the winter weight by eating limited amounts of holiday sweets. Rather, students should opt for healthier snacks. Some options she suggests are 100-calorie snack packs, fresh fruit or dried fruit, like a package of raisins, low fat granola bars, fat free pudding, string cheese or applesauce.

Snacks aren’t the only place where the intake of food should be limited. At holiday feasts, people should not overeat to the point of feeling uncomfortably full.

“It’s better to not have a huge feast and overload calorie and fat intake in one feeding,” Chapman said.

With limited income, and consequently limited amounts of food year-round, Krysta Beaver, Lawrence freshman, doesn’t follow this concept. Rather, she takes advantage of the abundance of food available.

“I dig in,” Beaver said. “I’m a starving college student; I don’t get the opportunity to pig out on a good, home-cooked meal very often. Eating is followed by a two-hour, tryptophan-induced coma.”

The holiday season also ushers in another health risk for college students: stress that is a result of final exams and projects.

“Stress mostly comes from finals,” Angelo said. “I take little breaks when needed and I tell myself it will be over soon. When I’m working hard during these last few weeks, I remind myself that I’ll get to relax later and that helps me get through it.”

John Wade, Counseling and Psychological Services psychologist, agrees that it is important for students to take breaks from schoolwork.

“Making sure they still do other activities that aren’t all school related is important,” Wade said. “I realize this is difficult. Students should exercise and socialize, but probably not as much as normal. It is important to look at things in perspective. Think about how important this situation will be in five years. It’s still important, but not as urgent.”

Amanda Knoll, Quinter senior, has a demanding job to worry about in addition to the typical stress of finals that other students deal with. Knoll is the scholarship hall director of Sellards Scholarship Hall, which is a position typically filled by a graduate student. Knoll’s job requires her to be available to assist her residents whenever they may need her.

“When I have finals the next day, some situation always comes up,” Knoll said. “It requires time to deal with it, time to process the situation after it happened and time to take steps to deal with situation. If an emergency comes up, I have to deal with it immediately, regardless if it is one hour before a final or the day before when I am studying.”

With these extra responsibilities, Knoll has a hard time scheduling sleep. As a result, she relies on the caffeine in coffee to keep her going.

“I have at least three cups of coffee a day, and sometimes they aren’t small cups,” Knoll said. “I go out for espresso at least twice a week and sometimes five time a week.”

Caffeine has become such a staple in Knoll’s life that her means of relaxing even revolve around this stimulant.

“To reduce stress, I drink coffee. Seriously, I’ll meet with my friends at a coffee shop and just relax.”

Wade warns students against replacing sleep with artificial stimulants like caffeine or relying on them for extra energy.

“Anything that gives a short-term boost of energy is followed by a crash of a low mood or a little depression,” Wade said. “Increasing energy artificially also increases anxiety, heart rate and breathing patterns. Sugar and caffeine do increase anxiety symptoms. It may feel good in a way, but also makes you more anxious during a time of stress.”

Wade suggests stepping back from the situation and assessing the importance of the task at hand. This tactic can be used with all holiday events, such as party planning, gift shopping or holiday baking.

“It’s easy to become overly focused and have tunnel vision,” Wade said. “We get really focused on finals or really focused on Christmas shopping that we loose perspective and become overly stressed. It’s really easy for anyone to do.”

This over emphasis on holiday details can lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder, commonly known as the holiday blues. The The American Psychiatric Association describes this type of depression as affecting patients during the fall and winter and is characterized by exhaustion, loss of interest in daily activities, social withdrawal and weight gain. Wade said the onset of this is commonly the result of unrealistic expectations.

“Expectations are so high that unless the experience meets unrealistic expectations, we feel let down. If our expectations are sky-high, it’s easy to miss them. We expect this to be the best day of the year, and it realistically may not be, so we feel let down.”

Living at home for winter break is another stressor during this time of year unique to students.

“Living with my mom for a month is stressful,” Beaver said. “My mom is a fantastic lady and a very good friend of mine, but I’ve moved out and lived on my own. Living with her again will be very stressful.”

Not only a change in atmosphere, but a change in pace can also affect students. After a semester of demanding class requirements and busy schedules, a month of downtime can come as shock.

“If dealing with a lot of free time, look for meaningful activities, spend time with friends or volunteering. Having some structure is important,” Wade said.

After the stress of the holidays is over, some set New Year’s goals for themselves to loose the weight they recently gained. When doing this, Chapman warns to not be too ambitious and take baby steps towards the ultimate goal.

“Set small, achievable goals,” Chapman said. “Look at one aspect of your eating habits you are not happy with. For example, if you drink three sodas a day, just drink two a day for a couple of weeks then go down from there. Or, if you don’t ever exercise, start exercising two times a week for 20 minutes each time.”

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After a car accident in 1995, Jarvis Stirn thought he would never be able to play sports the way he used to. “I liked regular basketball, but I didn’t think wheelchair basketball was going to be the same thing,” Stirn said.

Then one night, it all changed. Stirn, 32, Lawrence resident, got a call from the Kansas Wheelhawks wheelchair basketball team to come check out a practice in Topeka. The Kansas Wheelhawks are comprised of players from eastern Kansas, including the Topeka and Lawrence area.

“I came down here to play and practice and I knew I would keep on coming back. There’s such a heart racing feeling to get out there and be active and compete against other people on wheelchairs.”

The U.S. Surgeon General issued a health warning in 1996 recommending that every person should include at least 30 minutes of physical activity all or most days of the week to maintain or lose weight. However, people with disabilities are more sedentary than the average person, causing them to get less physical activity than the recommended amount.

A new study, Project Workout on Wheels, will assist people who have mobility impairments by helping to increase their weekly physical activity. The researchers are looking to recruit up to 180 participants, ages 18 to 65, from the Kansas City, Mo., area over the next three to five years, starting in 2007. During the study, participants will first receive a manual including the importance of physical activity, and then learn how to integrate an exercise plan into their daily schedule.

“We’d like to have an aerobics class three times a week, but people have different schedules. Our goal is to help people find activities that they like to do, in their own homes and neighborhoods. They can wheel around their neighborhood or go to a local recreation center, because that way they can sustain the activity after the study is done,” said Dot Nary, University of Kansas doctoral student in applied behavioral science and research assistant for the study.

Participants will be a part of the study for 12 months. They will first set goals for daily exercise, for as little as 15 minutes a day, a few days a week. As the participants stabilize their activity after a couple weeks, they can increase their goals, Nary said. In addition to exercise on their own time, participants are also required to take an exercise and fitness test at the KU Med Center.

The exercise test will examine weight and height to determine a participant’s Body Mass Index. Then the participants will lift hand weights increasing in weight as well as a stationary arm cycle with different levels of resistance. These tests measure a participant’s strength. The study will also use equipment that measures the amount of oxygen exerted while exercising, which will measure how the heart is working. The participants will also be required to take a written test that asks questions pertaining to how they feel about their physical activity, depression, and their ability to participate in the community. The test will be administered four times during the study: at the beginning of the study, after 12 weeks, 6 months and 12 months, to measure the improvement of weight, strength, and psycho-physiological effects.

A pilot test group of seven participants started the study in August, but no tangible data is available yet. However, Nary said that the pilot study showed that participants got more physically active. Project Workout on Wheels will launch its official first group of about 30 participants in January 2007.

Nary named health benefits of daily physical activity, such as keeping your heart healthy, relieving depression and preventing diabetes. “It’s important to adopt these health habits, and it’s important that we have programs out there for people to learn that health can exist in the context of disability,” Nary said.

Another purpose of the study is to educate people of their options, although these options are still limited. When asked what sort of exercise a person who uses a wheelchair is able to do, the average person and many physicians don’t know how to respond, Nary said.

“When we think of physical fitness, activity, and exercise, we don’t think of people in wheelchairs and what they can do. But it’s even more important, because people in wheelchairs are not getting the exercise from walking, so we need to make sure we get it some other way to get our heart rate up,” Nary said.

The study will suggest different ways to involve physical activity in a routine, including: wheeling in the neighborhood or indoor mall, seated aerobic videos, using equipment at a local fitness center, lifting light hand weights, swimming or treading water, and stretching. Others might want to participate in more rigorous wheelchair sports, such as basketball, softball or tennis.

Stirn and the Kansas Wheelhawks have found a way to keep their heart rate up and have fun. The Kansas Wheelhawks works with Kansas Accessible Sports, Inc., a non-profit organization to try to get other wheelchairs sports in the Eastern Kansas area. Ray Petty, president of Kansas Accessible Sports, Inc., has been working to raise enough money so that people who don’t have enough disposable income can participate in wheelchair athletics.

“Usually with disability, comes poverty and comes under-employment,” Petty said. But Petty said he believes that participating in sports is imperative for anybody, especially children with disabilities. Petty said that children growing up with disabilities could have a lack of social skills and confidence.

“This is an opportunity to get kids together for competition. The camaraderie and the confidence they develop carries over to their mental state,” Petty said.

No matter what is going on or what work you have, Petty said, if you have a scheduled regiment of exercise with a team, you become dedicated to that. “It’s not just fitness. It’s an opportunity to be regular.”

Petty and Stirn both play wheelchair basketball for exercise and competition. Stirn said that exercise for people in wheelchairs helps keep the weight off as well as increase circulation to legs, feet, and toes.

“Seventy percent of your energy is burned up through your legs. So, when you’re in a wheelchair, you’re not using that energy. You’re eating the same amount that you’re used to, but then you’re not burning those calories up,” Stirn said.

Wheelchair basketball is not the only option for people who use wheelchairs. Bob Mikesic, 55, Lawrence resident, enjoys swimming and wheeling on nature trails.

“I do it for personal enjoyment because it seems to improve my concentration and the ability to get me through the day with enough energy to get myself motivated,” Mikesic said.

Mikesic, Petty, and Nary have been working with Tim Laurent, of Lawrence parks and recreation, to get the City of Lawrence more accessible to wheelchair users, including public buildings, swimming pools and recreation centers. Mikesic said that after examining the city recreation centers, many of the centers have accessible parking and entrance to the building, but not the adequate equipment for people who use wheelchairs.

“It’s not quite the same set-up as what fitness centers purchase for common practice for others in the community. There’s a different approach. Equipment needs to be purchased with a seated user in mind,” Mikesic said.

Laurent said that the city of Lawrence has been working to improve the amount of accessible equipment available. The city purchased two Vita-Glide Promachines, which is a machine that is made especially for seated users. The first machine was delivered to the East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 12th St., on Dec. 6, and the second machine will be installed at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St., in January 2007.

After the purchase of the Vita-Glide Pro machines, Laurent said there are no more plans to purchase new equipment specifically for wheelchair users. However, the city is still examining the removal of benches at certain weight machines so that seated users may have easier access to other equipment.

As local recreation centers become more accessible, Nary said participants in the Workout on Wheels study may use this option for their weekly exercise. The study will use self-monitoring and goal setting for participants to integrate physical activity into their lives, whether it’s in the comfort of their own home or shooting hoops with a wheelchair basketball team.

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