Multimedia Reporting (Reinardy-Utsler)

An Uncertain Future for our Newspapers

2008-12-10T01:52:48Z

Dolph Simons Jr., World Company chairman and Journal World editor, remains transfixed in thought as he plucks away intensely on the old typewriter in the corner of his office. A collection of the day's various news prints blanket his large desk.

"Nearly impossible to find one of these nowadays," Simons said of the old machine, polished to a fine black.

This year has, perhaps, been equally as colorless for the Journal World.

As part of the growing trend among newspapers across the country striving to adapt to new technologies amidst an ailing economy, the Journal World had to cut several part-time and full-time positions this year, according to Simons.

Metropolis newspapers, however, may be taking the hardest hits.

The Kansas City Star, owned by the McClatchy Co., the third-largest newspaper company in the U.S., cut 120 jobs from its workforce in June and another 60 in Sept. of this year.

"The two biggest costs are newsprint and personnel," said Malcolm Gibson, general manager of the University Daily Kansan (UDK). "You can't cut newsprint often times, so you have to cut personnel."

Costs involved with the delivery of the newspaper also play a significant role.

"People forget that the single biggest cost of the newspaper is taking it door to door--the labor costs, the energy costs and so on," said David Winter, a journalism graduate student, who has worked with such newspapers as the Denver Post and the Detroit Free Press.

According to an Audit Bureau of Circulation report, the Kansas City Star's weekday circulation dropped 2.3 percent to 239,358 newspapers per day as of Sept. 2008. In comparison, the Lawrence Journal World reported circulating 18,635 during the same period for its daily publication.

Richard Musser, a retired KU journalism professor of 32 years, attributes part of the recurring layoffs to what many call "the death spiral"--a trend of rapidly declining ad revenues that began in the third quarter of 2007. There has been an overall decrease in ad revenues for 10 straight quarters.

According to the Newspaper Association of America, representing over 2,000 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, ad revenues from third quarter '07 declined 7.4 percent, compared to -18.11 percent the same quarter of this year. This decline equates to about $2 billion in losses.

However, across the nation, smaller niche publications--publications targeted at a specific audience--are faring much better, Gibson said.

The UDK, a niche publication targeted toward students, had its most lucrative year last year, generating $1.4 million in ad revenue.

Of the $1.4 million generated by the UDK, only about $30,000 was generated by the online sector.

Gibson pointed to the current dilemma for nearly all newspapers, including the UDK, in trying to bring that revenue across to the web, but solutions have not been forthcoming.

To help relieve some of this tension, it may be time to revive the days of privatizing newspaper companies.

"Public ownership was good for newspapers for a while because it allowed them to do certain things that you couldn't do under private companies," Gibson said. "We need to relieve the pressures of the stock market."

Whatever the case may be, the online community has remained vocal in its frustration over the waning industry.

"There's a lot of whining out there," Musser said.

David Winter

"Well, I'm sorry--it's too bad. It comes to a point when this just doesn't help."

Musser stressed the need for the journalistic community to look at the newspaper business in a different light in order to make progress.

"Newspapers as a mass communication device; something for everybody--these are going to shrink," Musser said.

"You need to stop relying on an industry that will hire you for 30 years. That's what I preached for five years before I left KU."

For students entering the tenuous newspaper industry, Musser gives this succinct advice:

"You need to stop relying on an industry that will hire you for 30 years," Musser said. "That's what I preached for five years before I left KU."

Musser added that students should be fluent in digital, HTML, video, and blogging skills before entering the job market.

Gibson said that while there may be a few out there who can "do it all," being an expert in all these areas needn't be a prerequisite.

"There's never going to be one-man bands. Collaboration is key," Gibson said. "We can't teach you everything, but what we can do is teach you an appreciation for it all."

While disagreement among experienced journalists persists on how to best remedy the weakening industry, agreement remains ubiquitous in the fact that change is leading it to an uncertain future.

Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department seeking national accreditation

2008-12-08T20:19:07Z

The United States ranks 44^th in the world in life expectancy and 41^st in the world in infant morality, the U.S Census Bureau reports.

Disappointed by the rankings the U.S. present, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is one of the organizations seeking the means to improve health in the U.S. One of NACCHO's goals, partnered with other organizations and governed by the Public Health Accreditation Board, wants to strengthen the infrastructure of public health and is looking to do so by awarding accreditation to local health departments.

Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department
Photo taken by Jesse Brown

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is one of these local health departments seeking to achieve national accreditation, which essentially is a seal of approval from the government that will instill confidence in the community's ability to assess health problems with expertise to educate and prevent health risks.

With a recent salmonella outbreak, a recalling of candy from China because of chemicals or a parent's concern over lead-based toys, the concern for health is greater than ever.

However, the economy is making the health department jump through hurdles.

Economic Hardships and Alternate Routes

In addition to more than a $70,000 shortfall in their operating budget from the city of Lawrence and Douglas County, which was originally approved back in April, the health department has had to make cuts to even accommodate this reduction of eight percent the city and county could offer.

This reduction of eight percent includes not hiring a new staff member to assist with accreditation, deciding not to replace two positions by retiring staff members, decreasing planned cost of living adjustment from 2 to .1 percent, reducing capital equipment purchases and increasing fees. The reduction comes to an estimated $200,600 the health department managed to cut.

Charlotte Marthaler, director of policy and planning, assures that achieving accreditation is not going to be an easy task.

"We are trying to achieve more with less," says Marthaler. "In some cases that means simply doing more and working harder in order to achieve our goals."

Despite the difficulties the economy is making it to achieve national accreditation, there are alternatives to find more money. Announcing plans to achieve national accreditation in 2011, the health department received a $15,000 grant from NACCHO.

With NACCHO's grant, the opportunities to receive more grants become possible. The health department recently submitted a proposal to the Sunflower Foundation for $14,600 for additional training in quality improvement methods and they are in the process of submitting a proposal to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for quality improvement implementation and evaluation of these efforts.

Background to Accreditation and the Process to Accreditation

In 1988, the Institute of Medicine's "The Future of Public Health" was a manifesto as to how efficiently run health programs to deal with the health issues not only of today but tomorrow as well. In the book, the authors called for an organization to examine the benefits of accrediting governmental health departments. Accreditation became a key strategy to strengthen the public health system.

The Public Health Accreditation Board governs each health department through accreditation working with other organizations such as NACCHO.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is measuring itself by NACCHO's Operational Definition of a Functional Health Department to determine its strengths and the improvements that need to be made. They self-assessed themselves back in April with 225 different indicators and got a look at what needed improving.

The health department assessed themselves back in April with NACCHO's Operational Definition of a Functional Health Department and their overall scores are above.
Graphic: courtesy of Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department

"We're working very hard on being focused," says Marthaler. "We're trying to get ahead of the game."

Some of the things needed improving is: monitoring health status and understand health issues facing the community, engaging the community to identify and solve health problems, and evaluating and improving programs.

The top two things they scored best at were: protecting people from health problems and health hazards and enforcing public health laws and regulations.

"In order to find the resources to achieve accreditation, we are assessing what we are doing day-to-day and setting new priorities," Marthaler said.

National accreditation can bring recognition from policy makers, confidence in the health department's ability to inform and help the community, and the expertise to carry out these goals to the city of Lawrence.

In a press release, Director Dan Partridge of Lawrence-Douglas County Health department said "We believe accreditation is an important vehicle for meeting the needs of the public and is a visible demonstration of our commitment to public health."

Students, economy leave pets with no home for the holidays

2008-12-08T19:21:23Z

A woman stands in the entrance of the Lawrence Humane Society sobbing. She's not upset about her empty pockets. Her tears aren't because of the fact that she lost her home to foreclosure. She's in shambles because she's losing her best friend.

"I don't want to give up my dog but I have no options," she says amid sobs.

In the economy's current free-fall, pet owners across the country are feeling the same pain.

And for Lawrence's only shelter, the spike in pet abortions couldn't come at a worse time.

The facility, which is in serious need of funding and becoming increasingly crowded, saw a 19 percent increase in owner drop-offs last month when compared to 2007. Pair that with an annual influx of around 150 student pet abortions every December and it makes for an extremely cold and crammed winter.

"It's like a double hit," said Lawrence Humane Society executive director Midge Grinstead.

Grinstead can understand the increase in economy-related drop-offs, but she can't understand the chronic neglect of KU students year after year.

Not only are students dumping their animals at the shelter, but also on the streets.

"They throw them in dumpsters. They kick them out the door and leave them on their own," said Grinstead.

As a result the shelter has seen some grotesque animal rights offenses, especially in the winter months.

Frostbite is more prevalent than anything else. It's not uncommon for animals to arrive at the shelter missing the pads of their feet, their noses, or their ears.

One memory of a dog frozen to the sidewalk after an ice storm still resonates with Grinstead and her staff.

"When he got up, part of him didn't. It was traumatic to even be there to help the animal," she said.

With finals rapidly approaching, the humane society doesn't see any signs of the trend reversing itself this winter break.

And with pet owners everywhere lining up to say goodbye to their four-legged-friends, things are looking increasingly grim.

After the cost of medications, veterinary visits, and increasingly expensive food, Grinstead estimates that the yearly cost of owning a dog is now somewhere between $900-1000 a year. And that's assuming that the animal doesn't run into any major health problems resulting in additional expenses.

Because of stricter admission procedures, Wayside Waifs in Kansas City doesn't have the same problems as Lawrence concerning space, but they've noticed a lot more traffic in and out of their doors amid the economic turmoil.

"We definitely have had more phone calls about people wanting to surrender their pets for what we believe to be financial and economic issues," said Jenny Brown, communications manager at Kansas City's largest shelter.

Even though space hasn't proved to be a problem, Wayside Waifs is experiencing financial issues of their own during a time when a spike in shelter demand has resulted in a need for more resources.

According to Brown, donations have dropped 40 percent and food prices have jumped 40 percent. Even the petroleum-based surgical gloves the shelter employees use have seen a 26 percent price increase.

"As donations stop coming in, animals keep coming in, and we have to live with our services," said Brown

Tom Godsey, Kansas City senior, just got a puppy at a time when it seems like everyone is doing the opposite.

Godsey got the Golden-Retriever from his aunt, who didn't feel she needed the additional financial burden.

Learning to cope with the responsibility of the five-month-old dog named Lexi has resulted in some difficult moments. But Godsey tries his best to be a responsible pet owner.

"She peed in my bed on Saturday, and she poops in the house still," said Godsey. "But I love her."

As for his peers who haven't been fulfilling their obligations as pet owners, "You need to make sure that you take on the responsibility well and don't give your dog up just because it's the end of the semester."

Stores Cutting Back on Seasonal Hires

2008-12-08T18:55:11Z

For many students, the holiday season means folding shirts, building displays, emptying dressing rooms and ringing up customers. Faced with four weeks off school, a seasonal retail job can be an enticing way to make money and stave off winter break boredom.

This year, those jobs may be harder to come by. Stores around the country expect to hire about 33 percent fewer seasonal employees than they did last year, according to a survey by SnagAJob.com. Local stores show the same trend, and they say the culprit is the economy.

Earl Reineman, vice president of Weavers department store, 901 Mass. St., said he hired 10 seasonal employees this year. That's slightly fewer than usual. He said the store didn't need as much help because shoppers were spending less money.

Shoppers still made it to Weavers on Black Friday, a traditionally busy day in retail. Unlike many stores, Weavers does not stay open for extended hours on Black Friday or throughout the holiday season. It wasn't worth it to pay employees for the extra hours.

"We figured the crowds would be there, but they may not spend as much," Reineman said.

The store has survived tough economic times--including the Great Depression--with increased advertising and a focus on customer service. The relatively small business competes with larger, corporate stores using amenities like free gift wrapping and local delivery.

Weavers also relies on name recognition after doing business in Lawrence for 151 years.

"Pretty much any challenge that comes our way, we've weathered it before," Reineman said.

The Gap, 643 Mass. St., hired eight seasonal employees this year--a few more than last year. Manager Annie Merrifield said Gap stores in the area were doing very well. She attributed the success to a new designer and more appealing products.

Nationally, Gap is doing relatively well. Its net income rose $246 million in its third quarter, which ended Nov. 1. But business in general is bad for retailers right now as shoppers cut back on nonessential items and buy more modest holiday gifts.

One Gap employee, who asked that her name not be used, said she noticed the economy's effect on business in Lawrence. After two years at The Gap, she had come to expect to work a long shift on Black Friday to accommodate the store's extended hours. Instead, she was surprised to see that she hadn't been scheduled at all.

"I think we just aren't fearing the crowds anymore," she said. "When the economy's this bad, you're not going to spend $80 on a sweater."

The employee said that fewer customers were coming in during her shifts. She thinks the store needed fewer employees on duty because of reduced sales. Last month she began looking for a second job to make up for the hours she's losing at Gap.

Many smaller retailers, like Maurice's and Shark's Surf Shop, said they rarely hired seasonal employees. They'd prefer to hire people who could work year-round, particularly during Lawrence's Sidewalk Sale in July. Larger chains, like Bath & Body Works and Best Buy, said they hired seasonal workers but could not discuss hiring practices.

Salvation Army: what is done with red kettle donations?

2008-12-08T17:55:28Z

Wherever one goes this season there is bound to be bells ringing. And it's not tinnitus, a ringing of the ears. It's Salvation Army bell-ringers.

But where does the money go from the red kettles?

83 cents out of every dollar goes directly towards programming.

"Sometimes I think people just think that when they give money to us it goes into this big pot," Aaron Smith, Salvation Army community relations director said. "And it doesn't. We use exactly what we get."

All of the funding for Salvation Army services comes from Lawrence and Douglas County. Though they do send out 10 percent of their earnings to the Kansas City division for support with training and insurance.

The Salvation Army offers numerous programs including emergency assistance, lunches and shelter. They've been active in Lawrence for 120 years, and have changed with the needs of community.

"We've seen great depressions, wars, you know all of this stuff that is a big concern right now," Smith said. "But we know how to adapt. If it's having a temporary shelter, if it's starting up a food program: wherever we see that need we work hard to fill that gap."

Lawrence has been affected by a shortage of volunteers, though the Salvation Army estimates they have 175 volunteers that cover multiple slots.

"There are 20 locations but we've never filled every slot. If we did it with separate volunteers that'd take 3,700 volunteers," Smith said.

With its ability to adapt to the needs of the community it monitors what other organizations in Lawrence are doing in order make the most services possible. If another group is focusing more on a program that the Salvation Army has done in the past they may very well direct those in need there.

"We work close with other organizations in town. We work hard to not duplicate services," Smith Said. "We all want to help people. I suppose some people could see it as a competition kind of thing but really it's not about that."

The Salvation Army has applied for a Home and Urban Development (HUD) grant that would allow them to change its strategy in coming years.

"I think all agencies have to get to the point where they specialize in something," Captain Wesley Dalberg, Salvation Army corps officer said. "Rather than trying the shotgun approach where we try to hit everything, we try to be everything to everybody. I don't think any agency can do that."

The plan is called five areas over five years. It includes a transitional housing program, a community food bank, youth and children programming, a focused emergency assistance program and a recovery and reintegration program for those who were in jail or prison.

If the HUD grant is approved the Lawrence Salvation Army plans on closing its shelter that started 20 years ago. The Lawrence community shelter would become the shelter in Lawrence, which will allow the Salvation Army to change for the community's needs.

"We want to make good decisions because they don't just affect us. They affect the people we serve," Dalberg said.

Community leaders hope for new homeless shelter

2008-12-08T17:47:19Z

The two homeless shelters in Lawrence are joining forces to more adequately serve the city's homeless.

The Lawrence Community Shelter and the Lawrence Salvation Army are the only two emergency shelters in Lawrence. As they prepare for the holiday season, shelter officials are working together in hope of building a single, adequate facility in years to come.

"We believe working together, we can serve the community and homeless population more effectively than we are currently able to do," said Wesley Dahlberg, Salvation Army lieutenant. "No one can do this alone."

Community members assembled at 7 p.m. Tuesday to give a voice to the homeless in Lawrence. Among the leaders of the meeting were Dahlberg and Loring Henderson, LCS executive director. The main item on the agenda was discussion of the plan to make LCS the only shelter in Lawrence and re-directing the Salvation Army's efforts to transitional housing. Also in attendance was Jeanette Collier, EKCAN director, who noted the progress the city has made in raising homeless awareness.

"Four years ago, this community didn't recognize that there were homeless families," Collier said.

Margene Swarts, city liaison for the Community Commission on Homelessness, agrees. In 2006, the City of Lawrence sent outreach case workers into the community. This increased the appreciation for the number of homeless families, Swarts said.

"Most people think of homeless and they think of single males between 18 and 45 who are just homeless. They're hanging out," Swarts said. "We also have a component of families, either single-parent and sometimes two-parent families."

On Jan. 30 of this year, the CCH conducted a Homeless Point-In-Time Count, surveying all the homeless in Lawrence during a 24-hour period. The survey found 75 homeless families in Lawrence and 103 homeless children. The total count of individuals was 318. Increased awareness of homeless families has prompted the need for a more adequate shelter.

"We have two emergency shelters, neither one adequate to meet our need for
emergency sheltering in this community," Swarts said.

The CCH defines emergency shelter as "a short-term (90-120 days) facility designed to assist people to move off the street in order to stabilize for movement to better housing options." Together, the Salvation Army and LCS provide sleeping accommodation for 85 people each night. Henderson, along with other community leaders, envisions a facility that will sleep more than 100 people in 15,000 square feet, which is twice the size of the current building. Plans are in the works for a capital campaign to fund the project.

"We get some city money and we get some federal money," Henderson said. "But 80 percent comes from the general public."

The Lawrence Community Shelter hopes to relocate to a building twice the size of the current one.
Photo: Alyssa Rainbolt

If all goes as planned, a capital campaign will pay for the building. Henderson said the shelter is in the process of looking for an empty lot or a building to renovate. Plans include separate facilities for single adults and families.

"We need to have a space for families," Henderson said. "We are an open shelter, which means people will be drunk. We can't have them mixed."

Representing homeless families at Tuesday's meeting was Stacy Raffner and her three children. Stacy described her difficulties raising a family in a shelter.

"The biggest aspect of homelessness for me is trying to keep a family structure in the structure of the shelter, which is nearly impossible," Raffner said. "You can be seen as uncompliant if the kids don't follow the same rules, and usually in homelessness the kids don't want to follow the same rules because they're in crisis."

Raffner is not the only one struggling with this problem. Swarts said that homeless families do not do well in homeless shelters because it's a "totally different culture."

"Emergency shelter is good and is necessary, but not everyone fits into that neat little package," Swarts said.

The Lawrence Salvation Army has applied for a grant to build transitional housing units.
Photo: Alyssa Rainbolt

The Salvation Army hopes to narrow its focus to transitional housing, which is more appropriate for families. Transitional housing serves as a bridging program between the shelters and permanent housing. While it will serve fewer people, it will be more effective than giving people a meal and a place to sleep, Dahlberg said. The Salvation Army has applied for a grant to start the project, which will include a facility with eight family units and seven individual units. Dahlberg said that each tenant would have "intense case management" and someone checking in with them regularly to ensure progress. Dahlberg is waiting for the new shelter to be constructed to move ahead with the project.

"We feel like we work together hand in glove, and that's really what we want," Dahlberg said. "We want to provide the community with a seamless service to the homeless population."

Jewelry Stores Prepare for Holidays Despite Slow Economy

2008-12-08T17:21:49Z

Beads, strings and brightly colored stones are spread out across a table as the smells of incense fill the air in the basement of a downtown Lawrence building. Alia Sachedina is making jewelry in the back of , the newly renovated store she has owned for a little more than two years.

Sachedina is selling more of her low-priced jewelry to customers this holiday season because of the slow economy. She said customers were being more conservative and typically buying only the jewelry priced below $20.

"I'm not an economist, but I have a suspicion that this year will not be as good as last year," Sachedina said.

Alia Sachedina makes jewelry at African Adorned
Video by Grant Treaster

Since October, the price of jewelry materials has increased and jewelry sales across the country have decreased. Lawrence jewelry stores have also seen reduced profits. The Lawrence stores are employing different strategies this holiday season to offset the effects of the national economic recession.

National Trends

The price of gold, silver and platinum has led to reduced profits for jewelry companies. According to Kitco.com, the price of gold has risen from below $275 per ounce in 2001 to more than $525 per ounce today. The price per ounce of silver doubled during the same period.

The rising costs have led to reduced profits for national jewelers. According to a Reuters article, Tiffany & Co. cut 13 percent of its U.S. staff last month. Shares of Tiffany & Co. stock fell 4.1 percent in the last quarter.

According to a Businesswire.com article, Zale Corp. sales decreased by 3.7 percent during the last quarter. Zale's stocks decreased by $1.43 per share.

Signet Jewelers Ltd., the world's largest jewelry retailer, also lost sales last quarter. According to an Associated Press article, the company's sales dropped 7 percent, and company shares dropped 6.1 percent.

Effects on Lawrence Stores

Julie Kingsbury, owner of Jewelry by Julie in downtown Lawrence, began to see the effects of the slowing economy in October. Kingsbury said sales in October and November were 25 percent lower than last year .

She also had to raise prices during the last two months. Kingsbury, who makes about 85 percent of the jewelry in her store, said pieces that cost $20 a few months ago now cost $25 or more.

Rich Yeakel, owner of Marks Jewelers in downtown Lawrence, said profits in October and November had dramatically decreased from the year before. Profits in October were 25 percent lower and in November were 40 percent lower than the year before.

"Things were going great, and then all of a sudden it stopped," Yeakel said

African Adorned also saw decreases in sales during the last three months. Sachedina said sales dropped by 8 percent in September, 2 percent in October and another 2 percent in November.

Michael Hurst, owner of Hurst Fine Diamonds, said sales at his store dropped to below-normal levels in October, but returned to normal in November. Hurst declined to say by how much his sales had decreased.

Hurst and Sachedina said increases in the price of platinum, gold and rhodium helped to decrease the amount of sales at their stores. A piece of gold jewelry at Hurst's store that was $300 might now cost $700.

Graph showing the price per ounce of gold from Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2008
Source: Kitco.com

Sachedina usually buys jewelry from several American companies, but had to stop doing business with some of them because their prices doubled.

"Due to inflation, and whatever weird economic stimuli to the market, the price of silver has gone through the roof," Sachedina said.

Holiday Sales Strategies

Jewelry stores around Lawrence are using more sales, selling different items and looking for new customers to combat the decline in profits.

Kingsbury and Sachedina said they were using more sales to attract holiday shoppers, and hoped to see more customers during the two weeks before Christmas.

"I get a lot of guys, because a lot of them wait until the last minute to do their shopping," Kingsbury said.

African Adorned has a sale every year after Thanksgiving. But this year Sachedina extended it by three days to attract holiday shoppers with smaller budgets.

Hurst said his store's biggest month was December and that it had to have high sales to be successful throughout the rest of the year.

His store is relying more on couples getting engaged than people buying holiday gifts.

"One thing that's consistent is that people are going to get married," Hurst said.

Hurst's store is now trading customers for jewelry to combat its low sales. Customers can bring in scrap gold and trade it for jewelry, or the store will pay customers to bring in scrap metal, which they reuse.

Sachedina said she hoped women would come in to buy her smaller items. She is selling more pieces for $25 and less, and hopes customers will buy one or two items in that price range to compensate for not being able to afford more expensive items.

"It's a strange phenomenon, but jewelry makes women feel good," Sachedina said. "It makes them feel beautiful."

Marks Jewelers is also advertising its lower priced items. Yeakel is overhauling his website and spending 20 percent more on advertising in December. He said he hoped the advertising would help attract holiday shoppers.

"Yesterday was a good day so hopefully it will continue," Yeakel said.

Anxiety and depression, an epidemic amongst college students

2008-12-08T15:08:33Z

Heart pounding, palms sweating, out of control, failure, scared, shaking. Amanda Batter, Omaha senior, recalls these feelings she experienced before she was put on her medication. At first she didn't understand what was happening to her and why these feelings were so frequent.

"Does everyone feel this way?" she thought.

After finally realizing she was suffering from frequent panic attacks, Batter went to a doctor and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and severe depression disorder. Batter had joined an increasing number of college students who suffer from depression and anxiety. According to the American College Health Association (ACHA), the percentage of college students diagnosed with depression has increased 56 percent in the last six years.

Batter explaining the difference between a panic attack and anxiety

The average age for many mental health conditions to surface is the typical college age range of 18 to 24 years old, according to the Mental Health foundation, a Web site that aims to inform people of all types of mental health issues. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 75 percent of all individuals with an anxiety disorder will experience symptoms before age 22.

Batter, like millions of other students, went through a series of drugs until she found some that worked well with her body.

"Since I was 15 I have been prescribed to Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, and Welbutrin," said Batter. The first three drugs listed left Batter in a dream-state, feeling like she wasn't fully here. The last drug, Welbutrin, made Batter's body become resistant to the drug, which makes people feel even more depressed. After many bad side effects she was then prescribed to Lexapro and Lorazepam, both she has been taking for about a year now.

"Lexapro is an antidepressant and anxiety agent. I take this on a daily basis for severe depression disorder and generalized anxiety disorder," Batter said.

This medication makes her mood more stable everyday rather than up and down, which is typically seen with depression and anxiety. It makes her a generally happier person, more active, more focused, and improves her well-being, she said.

Lorazepam is a medication that is taken as needed, or when she starts to feel anxious. Batter will take it before tests or if she feels like a panic attack is coming on. The medication calms and relaxes her body to help reduce her heart pounding and shaking.

Stephen Ilardi, associate professor of psychology at the University of Kansas said, "There's a bizarre irony for antidepressants." He said that the use of such drugs" has increased exponentially over the last couple of decades and despite this, the rate of depression just keeps going up and up and up. It's not like we have a widely effective treatment."

"I think I initially starting experiencing anxiety in high school, but it worsened when I got to college," Batter said.

That depression and anxiety is often triggered by leaving a structured home life, high school friends and relationships for a college life where students have to make their own decisions.

There was pressure and stress on her when she first came to college because she was an out-of-state student. She didn't know anyone at first and was away from everyone and everything familiar.

"Not having anyone physically here to talk to and be supportive of you is something that can trigger my anxiety, and it did to an extent when I first came to school as an out-of-state student," Batter said.

Although depression and anxiety more strongly effect out-of-state students, it also effects the in-state as well. Kate Lynn, Overland Park junior, fell into a state of depression last semester.

"School just seemed overwhelming, my boyfriend and I were in a rocky stage and I found out my dad was moving to Iowa for work," Lynn said.

Lynn began secluding herself from her sorority and was only spending time with her boyfriend. In the middle of the semester she broke down and decided it would be healthier for her to drop out of her sorority and live at home and commute to campus each day.

"It seems dumb, but I just really needed to be around my family," Lynn said.

Lynn decided she didn't want to go on prescription drugs but thought that talk therapy would help. She began seeing a therapist and sure enough her depression subsided after a few months.

What do you do to relieve yourself of stress? ( surveys)

PollDaddy.com

"It's an epidemic," Ilardi said. He estimated that around one in five of the 600 students in his classes were currently depressed or had taken antidepressants. "It's an epidemic," he said. Because Ilardi teaches psychology classes, the percentage of depressed students in his classes may be higher than the total number at the University because students who suffered from psychological problems were more interested in the subject.

Other than drugs and therapy, treatments for depression and anxiety include exercise, having a healthy diet, positive thinking, structuring your day by setting small achievable goals and trying to do things which make you relaxed.

"Expressing yourself through art, journals or simple conversation with others could also ease the pain of depression and anxiety," Ilardi said.

Along with talk therapy Batter tries to read books about anxiety and depression and do anything to distract herself when she is starting to feel anxious. If it is really bad then she will call the doctor, otherwise she tries to do something crafty to help get her mind off of whatever is bothering her.

Watkins Health Center is a good resource for students suffering from anxiety and depression to turn to. It offers several programs to students and teach methods to help relieve stress.

Batter explaining the services she uses at Watkins Health Center

Batter goes to a psychiatrist once every month at Watkins and also went to a few therapy programs that Watkins provides.

"You basically just sit down with someone who has a psychology degree and talk," Batter said.

Stephanie Webster, a Watkins Health Center employee said, Watkins has a Wellness Resource Center that aims to reach out to students with any type of mental illness from eating disorders to depression. Another organization that students can reach out to is the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which is appointment based and offers counseling, group therapy, self help materials and testing services.

So if you are feeling stressed around finals time, Watkins offers additional help to those in need.

Wellness Resource Center plans to give more attention to prescription drugs

2008-12-08T14:05:57Z

It's December and college students around the country have final exams. For several grueling days students spend countless hours in libraries and dorm rooms brooding over notes and books, trying to cram every significant detail they can to memory.

Video by Nick Peterson

Ryan, Austin, Texas, junior, needs to focus.

He takes some Adderall, a prescription drug used primarily for people diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Getting the drug from friends with prescriptions, Ryan is able to achieve what he calls complete mental focus. Gaining energy and ignoring distractions, Ryan studies for his final. Almost all his friends take the drug before tests and he is not worried about becoming addicted.

"I just take it for tests," Ryan said. "I don't take it on a daily basis where I become bad."

KU students have shown an increase in the use of prescription drugs, and the Wellness Resource Center at the University of Kansas plans to devote more time and effort next semester toward the topic.

Jenny McKee, a health educator and the grant coordinator for the center, said when it comes to drug use, the staff's main focus is alcohol and marijuana, but the staff members have seen such a strong trend in the increase of prescription drug use among students that the center needs to give the topic more attention.

Funded by student fees and housed within Watkins Memorial Health Center as part of its Student Health Services, the Resource Center will use the National College Health Assessment to help refocus the center's messaging, McKee said.

The National College Health Assessment is a data set collected every three years by universities around the country. The assessment uses student surveys to provide statistics about drug and alcohol use. McKee said the assessment, which next occurs in 2009, would be vital in comparing prescription drug use at the University with that at other colleges around the nation.

The Wellness Resource Center is going to devote more time next semester to educate students on the use of prescription drugs

Photo by www.whitehouse.gov

"It's very difficult to stay ahead of the learning curve," McKee said. "We have excellent providers here and we will try to help students discontinue that drug use."

Ken Sarber, a health educator for the Resource Center, said it was important for the Resource Center to understand why students were turning to prescription drugs.

Sarber said students could be using prescription drugs for a variety of reasons. He said some might take drugs to help them study and focus while others might use them as an appetite suppressant. Sarber said because this trend was so new, it was hard to determine exactly why students were using the drugs.

"A national statistic says that about one out of five college students has at least tried prescription drugs," Sarber said. "Whether they take it on a continued basis or just to study is unknown."

Sarber said for now the Resource Center will just have to monitor the situation and continue to research the topic. He said the Resource Center will turn to the Centers for Disease Control, drug companies and pharmacists to gather more information.

As of now, Sarber said, he had done only one lecture devoted to prescription drug use but that he had seen a considerable increase in the requests for lectures about the topic.

"This is a topic that more and more students are becoming concerned with," Sarber said. "This is something that we usually don't get a lot of requests on."

The Watkins Memorial Health Center houses the Wellness Resource Center

Photo by Nick Peterson

Sarber expects to have more lectures on the topic next semester. Like the other topics covered by the Resource Center, Sarber said he would offer as many talks as the students needed.

Sarber said the Resource Center would rely on the Peer Health Educators at the center, resident assistants at residence halls, health chairs at scholarship halls and fraternity and sorority leaders to help educate students on the matter.

Bridgette Heine, St. Louis junior, is a Peer Health Educator for the Resource Center. Heine said because prescription drug use was hard to monitor and there wasn't a lot of information on the subject, the next best thing would be to provide information on addiction.

Heine said lectures were good but it was important to get students involved. She said the best way to accomplish this would be to provide students with examples of other students with prescription drug problems.

"People think that they are young and that nothing will happen to them," Heine said. "Well, something can happen to anybody."

Gun sales rise after Obama elected

2008-12-08T13:52:20Z

by Adam Schoof

Jeff Neumann said he has Obama's presidential win to thank for doubling sales at his shooting range and firearms store, The Bullet Hole.

He said he is nearly sold out of AK-47s, SKS and AR-15s; guns that have faced regulation in the past when the Democratic Party has had power. Neumann said most of the buyers had never owned a gun before.

Since Obama won the presidency, background checks for gun sales have increased nationwide.

"It's not a phenomenon that's just here," Neumann said.

The rush for guns is in large part due to the election of Obama. The last Democratic administration enacted many gun regulations, including the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Gun buyers, Neumann said, are fearful that despite Obama's claims, he will enact gun regulation like his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton.

"The paranoia is that the last time the Democrats were in power, the Brady Bunch took over," Corey Pederson, an employee at The Bullet Hole, said.

What Will the Democrats Do?

"I come from a family of gun owners. They're all fearful of what might happen," said Jesse Vaughn, presdient of College Republicans.

"Even if [Obama] truly does feel that way, I think [the Democrats] are going to do all they can to restrict gun rights," Jesse Vaughn, president of College Republicans, said. Vaughn said the left-wing groups that helped fund Obama's election will want to see results.

However, some Democrats feel this fear is unjustified.

"I don't think [the Democrats] will let the regulations get out of hand," Andrew Toth, president of Young Democrats, said.

"Anything that goes on, it's not going to be outlawing guns altogether," Bill Staples, professor of sociology, said. He said Obama has said he supports the Second Amendment and is unlikely to make any major changes.

"I think the center of it is mistrust of Democrats," Staples said.

Obama could affect the outcome of gun regulation by appointing a Supreme Court Justice. The last Supreme Court case to deal with gun control was District of Columbia vs. Heller that in a 5-4 decision made it legal to purchase and license a handgun for self-defense. Since the case was held in D. C., the outcome was a federal mandate. The case was the first time the Second Amendment was used in federal court to negate a law.

Should a Justice retire and should a case involving gun regulation come to the Supreme Court, Obama could have a major affect gun control. This is Republicans', and gun owners', fear, Neumann said.

However, change seems unlikely. According to a Gallup poll, gun regulations would be unpopular for more than two out of three Americans. Furthermore, Obama has many more important concerns on his agenda than gun control, Burdett Loomis, political science professor, said.

"With two wars plus terrorism to fight and the worst economy in 70 years, should we really care at all about gun policies, which will be changed, at most, at the margins?" Loomis said.

Defining the Second Amendment

People often debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment, especially over the definition of "militia."

"People do have the right to bear arms on a personal level. This has been established since our country was founded," Vaughn said. "Everyday people are the militia."

Others believe the Constitution should be retrofitted to deal with modern issues, such as gun violence and suicide.

"I would interpret the Constitution in general as something written in the 1700s," Toth said. "When the Constitution was written, we didn't have AK-47s."

Toth cited a New York Times article about an 8-year-old who shot himself with a Micro Uzi submachine gun as an example of the need for stricter gun regulations.

However, the District of Columbia vs. Heller decision still stands and remains the precedent for the interpretation of the Second Amendment.

"Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem," Justice Scalia said in his decision.
"That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct."

Bar Promotion Brings Students Together

2008-12-08T13:18:07Z

Graphic By: Paige Hendrick
Logo Courtesy: Yacht Club

"Get your pencils ready!" DJ Jared, a man dressed in a referee's costume says, as the clock approaches nine p.m.. He begins to slow down his speech. He speaks in a sports announcer like tone, " It is now time for Xtreme... Team... Trivia! Are you ready?" The lights dim, the TV's are all changed to channel 101, paper ballots are passed out.

John O'Neal and his team, Team Boob Job, have been gathering at the Yacht club off of sixth and Wisconsin since about 8 p.m. to guarantee a large enough table for his group, and an ice-cold beer tower.

"My team started coming about 5 weeks ago and we have been every week since", O'Neal said. "It not only gives us an excuse to go out on a Wednesday, but it also makes my group of friends a little bit closer".

Video by: Paige Hendrick
John O'Neal explaining his trivia experience

The Yacht Club started trivia with the intention of boosting revenue, but soon realized this game could do more for them than make money. With team names like Just the tip, Fuzzy Blumpkins, and Boom goes the dynamite it's easy to see how the game became so popular among young adults here in Lawrence.

For trivia you don't have to be 21 to play, just 21 to drink. Allowing people who are not 21 to be involved is something that makes this successful according to Yacht Club manager Sadie Kursh. That way, trivia has the opportunity to bring together groups of students and doesn't exclude underclassmen. Though an age is not specified, the evening is clearly aimed more toward adults. From it's questions, to it's team names this evening would easily be "R" rated.

"I am a junior, but i think I am the youngest junior I know", Team Boob Job member Daniel Cuevas said. "I don't turn 21 till August of next year so at least I know I can go out with my friends on Wednesdays."

The atmosphere of the Yacht Club allows for dinner, drinks, and conversation. Much different from that of the infamous Hawk or Cadillac Ranch.That fact alone could add to the trivia's appeal.

"People in Lawrence focus a lot of what they do during the night on alcohol." O'Neal said. "Yeah there's alcohol at trivia, but we're there to play and win. Well try to win. At any other bar all we would be thinking is, what shot should we order next?"

The Yacht Club first began hosting Xtreme Team Trivia about three months ago. Since the first round, the Yacht club has seen a slight increase in profits, but it's not the profits that have the manager planning another 10 weeks of trivia for the spring.

"We've always had a large turn out on Wednesday's just because of our drink and wing specials", Kursh said. "We've just seen a huge increase in the number of regulars since the trivia started. When you have regulars, you know you are doing something right."

Xtreme Team Trivia is a company that was started by Mike Shortino and is used to help boost business at bars or restaurants. Xtreme Team Trivia costs around five hundred dollars per ten weeks of trivia. Each ten round game lasts any where from two to three hours. At the end of ten weeks there is a championship round between Xtreme Team Trivia players from all over the Kansas City, Lawrence, and Topeka area.

In the championship, players are given the opportunity to compete for a one thousand dollar cash prize. Kristin Petrick is a member of team Carney Cats, who is going to the championship round in Topeka this upcoming weekend.

Scores and Chart from: Xtremeteamtrivia.com

"To be honest, we do it because it's free" Petrick said. "We're in college and none of us have a lot of money so it's nice for a bar to do something like this for us. Even if they do get us to buy a few extra beer towers. It's worth it."

As Petrick's team heads to the finals, O'Neal and his team, team Boob Job will remain in Lawrence hoping for another chance next time around.

"I said we went every week, I didn't say we ever won" O'Neal said. "We might be out of the championship this time, but in the spring, it's on."

Dufek -- Enterprise Story

2008-12-08T08:00:48Z

Photo Credit: KU Swimming
Title: Alex Dufek

Beautiful scenery, vibrant downtown atmosphere and the nearness to the hustle and bustle of Kansas City are all perks the city of Lawrence can offer visitors but no factor draws as many people to the city as the University of Kansas.

Nancy Longhurst, the general manager of the historic Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence said the city's uniqueness diminished the possibility of a recession severely affecting the hotel industry in Lawrence.

"We're in a little bubble here in Lawrence. I think the University is a major factor for all of the hotels' success. The University is our biggest employer and they bring people into this town everyday," Longhurst said.

Many cities don't have the luxury of housing a major public university in their backyard. According to Smith Travel Research, a leader in benchmarking and researching for the lodging industry, The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements in October. However, many hotels in Lawrence stated they were unaffected by the trend.

STR reported that the primary factors used to determine the industries success - the average daily rate, revenue per available room and occupancy -- all dropped from their October 2007 levels in 2008. One of the most telling statistics was the 0.5 percent decrease in the average daily rate. The decline in the ADR was the first in over five years. Occupancy rates also took a big hit and fell from 66.5 percent in October 2007 to 62.1 percent in October 2008.

Graph: Alex Dufek
Statistics: Smith Travel Research

So far the 'bubble' provided by the University has protected Lawrence from the needles that have punctured the industry on a national level. Hotel managers said Kansas football games, business conferences, alumni loyalty and campus visits by potential KU students made October a successful month.

"Usually the place and the city of Lawrence in October is a really busy month," said Dave Owens, manager of the Holiday Inn Holidome.

Erica Potts, the manager of the Marriott Springhill Suites, said the Springhill has done very well in October. According to Potts, the hotel sold 2,748 rooms in October 2007, but sold 2,831 rooms in October 2008.

An increase in business could be very strongly correlated to the success of Kansas Athletics. Kansas hosted two football games in October and one game on November 1. The October 25 game against Texas Tech was one of five sellouts for Kansas this season in just seven games. The University also set an attendance record this season averaging 50,907 fans per game. This average is 836 people more than Memorial Stadium's 50,071-person capacity level.

The impact large crowds like these can have on a city is tremendous.

"Football can cause city-wide sell outs where you bring in additional 20,000 or 30,000 people to Lawrence. It causes all the hotels to fill up," Owens said.

Judy Billings, Director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, agreed with Owens and said home football game weekends generated some of the greatest revenue for the city.

"We typically have said that football weekends are million dollar weekends for Lawrence," Billings said. "Football is a big impact on our community."

Billings said that it wasn't only Jayhawk fans that brought revenue to the city, but also the opposing team's fans, players and coaches. Television crews and special events also bring in a lot of people. Both the Kansas-Colorado game on October 11 and the Kansas-Texas Tech games were covered by an ESPN channel and were played in association with special events. The Jayhawks game against Colorado was play on K-Club day and the Texas Tech game was Homecoming.

Graph: Alex Dufek
Statistics: Kansas Athletics

"Whether it is team reunions like the K-club or class reunions or homecoming or parents' weekend. Those kinds of things drive people to stay more than one night. Events scheduled along with football games really help," Billings said.

Sometimes when events, athletics and national coverage mix together the city's hotels aren't able to accommodate all of the visitors.

"We have a finite number of hotel rooms and that's 1,100 -- stretching it. So we don't have the ability to hold a lot of people here," Billings said.

The success of football has even crossed into another activity that helps fill up hotel rooms - campus tours. Jenny Hout, Visitor Coordinator in the Office of Admissions and Scholarships, said because of the recent football success many students have paired a tour on Friday with a football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. This usually results in a weekend stay for the visitors.

"It's kind of a normal thing through the basketball games, but now we see it happening for football too," Hout said.

According to Hout 10,000 people have toured the campus so far this semester through Jayhawk tour days and senior days, a slightly larger number than last year. It shouldn't be a surprise hotels did well in October. Hout said October, along with March, is the biggest month of the year for tours. Coincidentally, March is the climax of the college basketball season and also a big sports month in Lawrence.

When prospective students aren't visiting Lawrence, the city is able to rely on a loyal and dedicated base of Kansas graduates to keep hotels booked up. Athletics, reunions and retreats all call KU alumni back to the hill.

"They love Lawrence. They love the University. There is a big draw to the Lawrence community itself. It's very interesting. They want to come back to Lawrence. They might have meetings here because they went to school here. That's a big drawing card for all of us," Longhurst said.

Mike Davis, the Senior Vice President with the KU Alumni Association, said it's his job to get Alumni back to their old stomping grounds.

"Through our chapter, certainly through our athletics program, we're working consistently to get alumnus to come back to Lawrence," He said. "We've put in a lot of effort and resources to get alums to come back to campus."

Part of Davis' job is to help coordinate football tailgates and KU reunions. He said the tailgates have gone from generating 200 to 250 people per tailgate when they started four years ago to attracting well over 350 people per tailgate this year.

Even if special events aren't coordinated Davis said the Alumni come back from wherever they reside to cheer their school to victory.

"We have a really strong contingent of alums who come nationally for every home game as well. They have season tickets," Davis said.

Brad Korell, a graduate of the Law School at the University and a member of the KU Alumni Association Board, is an attorney in Austin, Texas but holds season tickets for KU football.

"It's the best way I know to spend a Saturday," Korell said.
Korell, grew up in St. Joseph, Mo., and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri, but has always been a Jayhawk fan. He's been living in Austin but returning to Lawrence for Saturday football games for 11 years now and said he tries to stay at a variety of hotels when visiting Lawrence.

While some alumni have just recently jumped on the KU football bandwagon, others like Korell, have been coming to games for years.

"You know it's funny we've had our tickets even through the bad years. This isn't something that has just started since we started winning. I've been coming back for games ever since I left and now it's paying off," Korell said.

Korell said even if all alumni haven't been dedicated to the football team, they are dedicated to other Kansas alumni and the University.

"The Alumni Association and just KU Alumni in general do a fantastic job of keeping people connected," Korell said. "Anytime you're wearing a KU shirt or sweatshirt and you run into somebody at the airport or the grocery store there is always a rock chalk and I don't think you see that with other schools."

With all of the action hitting Lawrence the city's hotels don't fear for their future. One must only look down a block from the Kansas Student Union and take a gander at the massive Oread Inn structure being established to realize that.

Davis who works in the Adams Alumni Center, located directly between the two buildings, realizes there is no need to fear as long as Kansas Athletics stay around.

"Try to get a hotel room and a game weekend. It's hard to do. They're sold out."

Video: Alex Dufek

2008-12-08T07:24:36Z

By Adam Samson

Within minutes of the KU v. Colorado football game being over, campuscloth.com employee Alex Kane saw a rush of people coming downtown. After a win for the Jayhawks over Colorado, the Jayhawk faithful remained loyal to the downtown businesses. Fans filtered through the bars, restaurants and stores giving business to all that were open.

During the football games, the bars and restaurants with TVs broadcasting the game would receive steady business, but stores like campuscloth.com consider it dead time while the game is underway. As soon as the game is over is when campuscloth.com awaits the stream of customers. The bars and restaurants also anticipated the rush of fans to pile down to Massachusetts Street.

"We have a lot more business on game days because a lot of people are from Kansas City and Topeka," Kane said. "Barring the weather, they usually come here to buy gear after a win. When we beat Colorado was our best weekend for sales."

Students, Lawrence residents and out-of-town visitors poured into Memorial Stadium on Saturdays for home football games and downtown restaurants and stores looked for those fans to pour into their downtown businesses before and after the games. The city government is even pitching in a few dollars to bring more business to downtown on game days. One factor that affects some businesses is the start time of the games.

One of the new additions this year that the city provided was a free bus shuttle to Memorial Stadium from downtown. City Manager David Corliss said the goals for the shuttle system were to bring more people to downtown Lawrence after a game and to reduce neighborhood congestion closer to the stadium by using downtown parking.

"Enhancing our downtown is always a priority policy for City government," Corliss said. "With large football crowds, we want to increase the opportunity for visitors who may not eat or shop in Lawrence to experience our downtown."

In a Channel 6 newscast earlier this year, they stated that the city spent about $13,000 on the shuttle system to try boosting the revenue for downtown. Jo Shmo's restaurant and bar owner Josh Mochel doesn't think that having a shuttle bus affected the businesses one way or another.

Mochel said people come downtown to the restaurants and bars no matter what and if new to Lawrence, chances are the people would find their way downtown anyway.

"I think it's a waste of time and money," Mochel said. "On game days, you need to close off Massachusetts to the bars and have trollies taking people from Free State to the other end of Mass Street."

A trolly system would definitely be unique to downtown Lawrence and create a different downtown atmosphere.

Tim Agnew, general manager at Buffalo Wild Wings, said that it's hard to tell if the bus shuttles brought more people downtown and that it would take a lot of research to tell whether the bus shuttle money could be spent more wisely elsewhere.

The city government is still evaluating the impact of the free bus shuttle to Memorial Stadium. Corliss said they plan to evaluate the shuttle program after all the bills are paid will look for feedback from the users of the shuttle and downtown businesses.

"Our bus shuttles had fewer riders on the early start games and I know some businesses see more traffic and some see less," Corliss said. "We will consider its use in the future and we may recommend that riders pay in the future."

Corliss said it will likely be discussed by the City Commission prior to football season next year whether or not the free bus shuttle to Memorial Stadium is effective and if there need to be changes made to the approach.

Mochel didn't think the bus shuttle brought extra visitors to his establishment, but he still appreciated football Saturdays.

"Football game days are a huge success for us," Mochel said. "Nine times out of 10, it's standing room only on a game day."

Because Mochel knows that football game days are one of his bigger money makers, he invested a lot of money on TV's, audio, and created a huge space so people can hang out comfortably to watch the game. Mochel said on an average game day they fit around 300 people in the downstairs area of Jo Shmo's and then more upstairs where the bocce ball is set up.

photo courtesy Jo Shmo's Web site"

Although the free bus shuttle didn't get much use for the early games at 11 a.m., many downtown restaurant and bar owners saw an increased amount of customers with the early start times.

"First of all, we will have people come in to watch the game at our place," Mochel said. "Then we have the second crowd come in that were at the game or around the stadium tailgating, and the third crowd that comes in on a game day is the regular student crowd that comes through on a weekend to drink."

A few of the sporting goods and apparel stores on Mass. Street disagreed with Mochel and preferred the later starts because they benefited their businesses more.

Jock's Nitch sporting goods store said that more traffic comes in when there is a 6 p.m. game because people meander around downtown before games, but find business pretty slow when it comes to the 11 a.m. games and even after the games.

Eric, the general manager at Lids said that sales definitely go up on football game days and they anticipate the extra business, but wouldn't say that football games necessarily are there best revenue days.

"It varies. Being on Mass. Street, there's always something going on," Eric said. "Football game days are pretty hot and during basketball, it will be just as hot because people flood the bars."

Agnew and Buffalo Wild Wings generally opened around 10 a.m. for the 11 a.m. games but said it wasn't worth opening up so early.

"I've noticed a lot this year since we had a lot of 11 o'clock games and most people wouldn't show up until noon," Agnew said. "Granted we get some people in here, it's not full by any means and we would rather take a 6 o'clock game.

Generally, Buffalo Wild Wings on a game day do between 40 and 60 percent better in sales for the home games compared to the away games. Agnew noted that it was especially the case for when the away games were on ABC network television.

In comparison to a non-football Saturday, Agnew said they do close to three times more business for KU football games.

"Usually we see a rush of people come in about 30 minutes after a home game and have a wait of about 30 minutes to an hour to get seated at a table," Agnew said.

Lending a helping hand to child welfare

2008-12-08T06:50:07Z

Photo illustration: Kelly Gibson

Adam Fiedler wanted to go into social work when he first started college. Growing up in a small town and experiencing foster care, Fiedler wanted to offer a voice in what he called a "flawed system."

But his passion for physics and math overruled his passion for helping foster families, and he changed his path to education, hoping to be a mentor in schools rather than devote his entire career to child welfare.

"I've been there, I've done that," said Fiedler, former president of the Kansas Youth Advisory Council, a board consisting of kids who have been or are currently in the foster care system. "I'd like to end up being a foster parent myself one day and maybe go back and get another degree in that area."

One of the biggest challenges the School of Social Welfare faces is getting students to consider child welfare as a career. According to the fall 2008 registrar headcount, the School of Social Work is one of the smallest schools, with only 525 students enrolled. That is eight less than what was listed in 2007.

Michelle Levy, director of the Workforce Initiative, cites low wages, long hours, and tough work as some of the reasons why students don't consider a job in the field.

Enrollment in the school isn't the only disparity the social work field faces. There are constant vacancies in agencies across the state and the nation. With long hours, tough work and little pay, the turnover rate in the field is very high.

"Most social workers have upwards of 30 cases," Fiedler, KU junior, said. "Because of paperwork and everything, they can't treat the cases with as much care as they should. The turnover rate is huge."

The average length of time a social worker stays in the field is two years, according to Bruce Linhos, executive director of the Children's Alliance of Kansas, a privatized, non-profit organization working to facilitate foster and adoptive care. It's three years for a supervisor.

"It's not just a Kansas problem; it's a problem everywhere," Linhos said.

In order to boost enrollment in the school and encourage people to pursue careers in the field of child welfare, the University of Kansas recently received funding from the Workforce Grant.

The Workforce Grant, one of five nationwide grants, will help fund program changes in the child welfare field at nine universities around the state of Kansas, including KU. Approximately $2.5 million will be disbursed over the course of five years. The grant was given by the Department of Health and Human Services.

"We are doing this grant because social work education at the undergrad level has always been a generalist degree," said Alice Lieberman, co-principal investigator of the work force grant. "With this grant, we hope to provide some specialization in child welfare for undergraduates, and some additional training in child welfare for graduate students."

The funding will help institute specialized courses for child welfare undergrads and offer an opportunity to experience real-world situations through field work. They are also working on a traineeship program, where students will be offered a scholarship in exchange for them working in Kansas after graduation.

On top of boosting enrollment for traditional students, the grant will also help with a distance learning program for people already associated with the field who live in smaller towns.

"We're trying to find somebody already living in that community and giving them the tools they need to further their education," said Michelle Levy, project director and co-principal investigator for the grant. "It's harder for folks out there to get to school and complete their degree. It's a great way to further their education and a great way for us to get good workers in the field."

Other agencies have implemented traineeship programs and have been successful. Linhos said nine out of 10 students stick around when they receive a stipend while in school in exchange for working in the field.

"What is interesting is that each grant has a different component," Linhos said. "We hope to create a quality improvement center to act as a repository for all of the information gathered. That way the other places can benefit."

While it is still unclear whether the changes will boost enrollment or stabilize turnover rates in the field, Lieberman has high hopes that the grant will help prepare students for the field.

"Research shows that when people feel good about their work, though, and have good supervision, they are likely to stay longer. And of course, the longer one stays, the better one gets," Lieberman said.

Santa's Elves

2008-12-08T02:32:57Z

The best part about Christmas is opening presents. On Christmas morning, children all over the world rush to find gifts under their trees. But not all children are fortunate enough to have presents to open. With the economy in a rut and wallets tightening, many families struggle to give their children something to make their eyes sparkle.

To help those needy children local woodworkers, artists and students in the Wichita area come together for what is known as the Toy Project. The Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild heads the Toy Project by collecting spare wood from local businesses to make handcrafted toys.

A member of the Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild and an original participant in the Toy Project, John Belt makes over 100 toys each year for the project in his backyard workshop.

photo by Michael Bontrager

"One of the things we discovered was that there are an awful lot of poor people in the community," said Belt. "It's an enormous undertaking."

The project started in 1996 as a side project of the Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild partnered with a Boeing employee club, who provided the wood and helped in making some of the toys. During the first couple years, the project produced around 100 toys.

It was a small scale operation and just a fun thing to do said Belt.

It was in 2002 that the project really gained momentum. The 9/11 attacks hit the aviation industry hard and left 18,000 unemployed. The city fathers called for help to save those left unemployed from a bleak Christmas.

"We made a goal to make 1,000 toys that year. High quality toys, heirloom quality, something that you could pass down from generation to generation," said Belt.

The toys would go to the families of those who had lost their jobs.

To accomplish such a task the project would need a lot of wood. Belt and others went around to all the millworks in town to beg for spare scraps.

The main contributor of the wood for the project comes from Holtzen Woodwork Inc.

photo by Michael Bontrager

One of the bosses at Holtzen Woodwork, Peggy Buck said that she is happy to provide the wood because her father used to make his own wooden toys when he was young.

"He made tractors similar to the ones that they (the Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild) make," said Buck.

Most of the wood is scraps with knots and other imperfections that the company can't use and would normally be used for firewood.

Bill DeGarmo, president of the Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild, believes this brings a green aspect to the project.

"Wood that would normally be burnt up as firewood can be used to make something that brings joy to people's lives," said DeGarmo. "We find ways around those knots to make a unique, one of a kind gift that lasts a lifetime."

With the wood supply, the woodworkers form an assembly line and piece the toys together, each doing the same task over and over to manufacture the toys.

"There really is no other way to do it if you're trying to make 1,000 toys," said Belt.

Once the toys were assembled, the woodworkers felt that the toys were still missing something. The toys needed some flavor, an element of originality, some paint.

video by Michael Bontrager

"We started painting them ourselves, which was a total disaster," said Belt. "We needed someone who knew what they were doing."

The woodworkers asked local artists to turn their work into a one of a kind toy. Belt emphasizes that the painters are just as important as the woodworkers and their job is just as difficult.

When the 1,000 toys were complete, the woodworkers gave the toys to the Union to distribute, but this caused problems. The toys were only distributed to those who were in the Union.

The following year the Sunflower Woodworkers' Guild made the same goal, to produce 1,000 toys for Christmas. They work year round to achieve their goal said DeGarmo.

The project has grown to include local high schools with art programs around the area to help paint the toys. Wichita State University and Friends University both help paint as well. This year Larksfield Place, a retirement community, also contributed by painting a large amount of toys.

The toys are now donated to the Salvation Army instead of the Union, as many of the unemployed workers returned to their jobs. The Angel Tree program distributes the toys to needy children 14 and younger.

To find out which toys kids liked most, Belt and others took the toys to a local elementary school to see which toys the kids played with the most. Some of the toys that are most popular are the cradle, locomotive, airplane, and ducks that waddle when you pull them on a string.

"There's something about a wooden toy that captures the imagination for these young kids," said Belt.

photo by Michael Bontrager

After the program started, Belt worried that the toys would start turning up in garage sales, but this is not the case.

"It's so interesting to watch people play with the toys. Kids don't want to leave," said Belt. "We are making these toys as nice as we know how. They really are something special."

Belt said that he has been offered hundreds of dollars for certain toys before, but has never accepted an offer.

"That's not the point. I mean we could make these toys for a lot of money, but that just isn't the point," said Belt. "But kids get that to; the toy that someone wanted to buy."

Christmas has become very materialistic. Holidays such as Black Friday appear to showcase deals, which demoralizes Christmas down to a matter of how much someone spent on a gift, rather than the importance of giving one.

"This year we are expecting a lot of needy children," said DeGarmo.

Even in harsh economic times, the Toy Project finds a way to spread the joy of Christmas through the donations of others. From the mills who provide the materials, to the woodworkers and artists who dedicate their time to the project, everyone involved contributes something to make someone's Christmas brighter.

Belt finds the project extremely gratifying and takes great pride in his work, "What sustains people to keep doing this is the idea that on Christmas morning, those who probably wouldn't get anything, they get a really special toy. This is a child that never had anything anyone envied, now has a one-of-a-kind toy that most people would die for."