Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Crawford)

K2: The Legal High

    Tighe Dalsing fights back a cough as he inhales smoke from his pipe.  His pipe isn't filled with tobacco or even marijuana, but it instead contains a legal herb known as K2.  But he knows that this is unlike any legal herb he has ever tried.
    "This isn't what I was expecting," said Dalsing, "It's not like the rest of that stuff you can find on Mass Street, this stuff actually works."
    K2 looks much like potpourri, and contains a synthetic form of THC that packs the punch of marijuana, if not more so.  The herb is sold at a local shop, Herbs, 1103 Massachusetts St. and prices can range from $15-30 per gram, depending on the potency.  
K2 remains relatively unknown as to its health effects, which has some people in the scientific field worried.
"As far as I know it's completely unexplored in terms of its health factors," said Dr. Thomas Prisinzano, Associate Professor for the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at KU, "But much like anything that you smoke, it creates a lot of health risks."
Dr. Prisinzano has done multiple studies on how certain hallucinogenic drugs interact with molecular targets, including a current study he is doing on the effects of the drug Salvia on certain parts of the brain.  Prisinzano says that although no studies have been done on how K2 affects the brain, it is known that it works much in the same way as marijuana.
"The place that these types of compounds work in the brain are called cannabinoid receptors," said Prisinzano, "THC interacts with these receptors and that's what makes you hallucinate as a result of smoking marijuana."
K2 has much of the same affect on the brain as marijuana and affects body control and gives the same relaxing feel that pot smokers are so accustomed to.
"You really can't tell that much of a difference, it has that same type of laidback relaxing body high that weed gives you," said Dalsing, "But weed is definitely a lot more potent."
A synthetic form of THC was discovered during research of marijuana's affect on cannabinoid receptors, by Dr. John Huffman, a research professor of chemistry at Clemson University in South Carolina.  Huffman, however, does not believe that the compound discovered in his classroom is the one found in K2.
 "I really have found no evidence that our compound is being used in K2," said Huffman, "The compound we found had a much longer and intense high."
Huffman said that the original compound he and his researchers found back in 1995 wasn't around anymore so he doesn't know how anyone could have used it in the K2 blends.
The legality and availability of this new herb makes it very alluring for people looking for a legal high.  Avid pot smokers, however feel that nothing beats the real thing.
"K2 is great for how easy it is to get and how cheap it is," said Dalsing, "I really don't see me making a habit of it though."

Story by: Alison Cumbow

Video/web elements by: Alison Cumbow, Stephen Gray

      He works out every day. He wants to build muscle. More muscle. Just a few more reps. Mark Lyon, student at the University of Kansas is in the gym every morning lifting weights. He started last March after his brother introduced him to the sport on a cruise over spring break. "I really liked how I felt afterward," Lyon said. "I just kept on doing it after that."

      The amino acid composition of a protein shake is what makes one different from the other. Milk and eggs generally have the best proteins for a good amino acid composition, but Lyon said it would be too costly for him to try to get his protein in a natural way. "Eggs have six or seven grams of protein each, whereas my shakes have 40 grams," he said. "Chicken is something else that has a lot of protein, but I would have to eat two breasts a day, and at three dollars a pound, it's too expensive." 

      Protein supplements, while popular among athletes and gym rats, do have side effects that are becoming more and more known, however. Lyon's enthusiasm for his daily -sometimes twice daily - supplement usage may have him embarrassed as his intestinal track starts to feel funny because of excessive gas. 

      Dr. Judith Lukaszuk, assistant professor in nutrition and DPD director at Northern Illinois University, has studied the phenomenon of using protein supplements extensively. "We have found that athletes had many misconceptions about protein use and its effect on performance," she said. Her study concluded that while athletes require a higher amount of protein than non-athletes do to support protein synthesis, they do not necessarily need to consume protein from supplemental sources. 

      Lyon doesn't know if the protein supplements have been helping him in the gym or not because he said there was never a period in which he didn't take them daily while weight training. "I have a trigger point in my back, so working out helps it feel better," he said. "I spend $35 for five pounds, so $70 a month isn't too bad to help me do that."  

      Rhynn Malloy, student at the University and a member of the KU swim team, said athletes were not required to take protein supplements, but that they received many vitamins from the teams' nutritionists. She said she hadn't had any negative effects from anything given to her from the nutritionists. "The rules in the athletic department are really strict so that any supplement given to an athlete will only have a positive effect," she said. 

      Another student at the University, Justin Berry, said he only took protein supplements on the days that he knew he was going to work out. He said he also took creatine supplements to help build his muscles faster, and that those kinds of supplements made him really dizzy and gave him frequent headaches. "The one that I take, NoXplode, gives a boost in training energy, improved strength and endurance to offset fatigue," he said. 

      Lyons, Malloy and Berry are all young athletes looking to improve their physiques, either through protein supplements, creatine supplements, or by working out the natural way ith natural supplements. While Lyons swears by his chocolate-y drink after every work out, Malloy swims for the University with no protein supplement whatsoever. 

      Dr. Lukaszuk's study concluded that no studies have shown an advantage of ingesting protein supplements over natural, protein-containing foods. Lyons, however, believes otherwise, which is why he continues to take a scoop, sometimes two, of his whey protein bucket each day. "I weigh 205 pounds, and I have an 11% body fat," he said. Although Dr. Lukaszuk and Malloy's opinions probably won't change his mind, Lyons is happy with his routine. "The shakes taste good," he said. He's hoping they make him look good, too.

    Jennifer Clark goes about her business on a warm, summer day in Kansas.  The skies are blue from horizon to horizon, not a cloud in sight.  The conditions are perfect for a relaxing summer afternoon.  A few hours later clouds arrive and the skies open up.  The thunder shakes her house on its foundation.  The lightning illuminates every inch of the residence.  The torrential rain limits visibility to only inches outside the window.

            Some fear these typical thunderstorms that characterize the plain states.  Clark, however, enjoys these types of storms.  She observes them roll in across the horizon, creeping ever closer.  The constant rumbling of thunder doesn't faze Clark; she carries on with her business.


      "I like to go outside or stand at the window and watch storms," Clark, Kansas City, Kan., junior, said. "The lightning in some can be crazy. It's also nice to just sit inside and listen to them and go about my activities." 

      Thunderstorms are a common occurrence in Kansas and around the world.  Jon Van de Grift, Earth scientist, said it is estimated that 40,000 thunderstorms take place every day across the world and the U. S. sees 100,000 thunderstorms per year. "Thunderstorms are usually small, organized parcels of warm and moist air that produce lightning and thunder," Van de Grift said.  Characteristics of any thunderstorm may include torrential rain, lightning, hail, and tornadoes.

        In the U. S., thunderstorms occur most often along the East Coast with Florida having more than 90 days of thunderstorms per year.  The Plain states have the second most number of days with thunderstorms at 50-70 days and the Rocky Mountain region  follow the Plains with 30-50 days of thunderstorms per year, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.

            However, the size of thunderstorms is not equal in two different regions of the U. S.  Dr. Donna Tucker researches this topic of varying thunderstorm sizes across different geographical regions.  Tucker, Atmospheric Science associate professor, said the Rocky Mountain region has many thunderstorms, but they are smaller than the thunderstorms found in Kansas.

            "Thunderstorms may generate new storms or grow from their outflow," Tucker said.  "In the mountains the outflow is interrupted by terrain variations so it is harder for thunderstorms to grow large.  On the Plains without the terrain variations to interrupt the outflow, thunderstorm complexes can grow large enough to cover an entire state."

            A thunderstorm's outflow is responsible for maintaining its strength.  "When precipitation starts falling some of it evaporates and cools the air around it," Tucker said.  "The cooler air is more dense than the air around it and sinks.  When this cooler air reaches the ground, it spreads out in outflow."

            The outflow is a crucial part of the size of a thunderstorm.  A disruption in the outflow will not allow the storm to grow large, but remain a small thunderstorm.  This is the cause of small thunderstorms in Colorado.  The outflow is constantly disrupted by terrain variations such as mountains and ridges.  Since the outflow of the storm is limited, the storm remains small.

            The opposite is true for a region like Kansas.  Kansas consists of no terrain variations, but flat land across the state.  Since the state is flat the storm's outflow is not disrupted, but constantly fuels the thunderstorm.  Since there is a constant outflow, the storms are able to grow to large a size; sizes that may encompass the entire state.

            Richard McNulty, Atmospheric Science professor, said he agrees with Tucker's observations about thunderstorms and the effects geographical regions have on their size.

            "Based on my observation of the atmosphere, Dr. Tucker is on target with her research," McNulty said. "Moisture is needed to feed and grow these thunderstorm clusters. As she states, over the mountains, higher moisture levels are typically confined to the lower elevations, interrupted by the higher mountains. This limit on available moisture impacts the size of thunderstorms."

            McNulty said there is a constant stream of moisture from Kansas to Texas that is not interrupted.  The moisture is then used to "feed the mesoscale beast" or the thunderstorms increase in size.

            All of Tucker's research is computer-based.  She observes the data on the size of thunderstorms through radar and writes down the results.  The University of Kansas has supplied some grant money to finance her research, but the majority of it comes from the National Science Foundation.  The foundation gives grants that range from $100,000-300,000. Tucker said it's a hard process.

            "Since this is a lot of money, many people want it so the process is very competitive," Tucker said.

            Tucker's interest in precipitation started this research. Tucker said precipitation is so variable.  One part of Lawrence may get a lot of rain, but another portion will get none.  She is interested in the reasons behind thunderstorm formation and their growth.

            "When I started looking for the roots of the large thunderstorm complexes that form on the High Plains, I saw that their origin really was in the mountains," Tucker said.  "Then comes the question of why the mountain thunderstorms form.  My research has applications dealing with why thunderstorms form, where they do and why they will form in some locations on one day and other locations on another day."

            It goes back to his first year of residency. Dr. Sunil David's very first patient-traffic accident- entered the emergency room in bad shape. Multiple surgeries later, complications arose.

            "In the course of treatment he developed sepsis and died," David said.

Now David devotes nearly 12 hours a day to researching the number one cause of death in the intensive care unit. Every year 250,000 Americans die from sepsis and most students haven't even heard of it.

"Who is sepsis?" senior Jessica Melhuse said.

She could give lectures on AIDS and Breast Cancer.  Sepsis kills more people than the two diseases combined. David doesn't blame Melhuse for being uninformed. He says cancer is very politicized.  The phrase "war against cancer" was coined by former President Richard Nixon after all.

"Cancer is so prominent in our consciousness," David said. "Sepsis is something that happens all the time but we don't hear about it.  It just hasn't been brought to the attention of the public."

Sepsis is not a disease.  It is a type of blood poisoning caused when bacteria finds its way into the bloodstream.

"Many bacteria carry a molecule called endotoxin which is like a cell membrane but its read by the body as the very worst of bad news," David said. "It turns on all kinds of different mechanisms to a point that it actually becomes really dangerous to the body."

Fifteen total undergraduates, graduates, research associates and post doctorate fellows filter through KU's Multidisciplinary Research lab throughout the day.  They may be in different stages in their medical careers but they all have one goal: to stop sepsis from starting.

They're close. The National Institute of Health, the most important funding agency for biomedical research in the country, has been supporting their research for the past five years.  The funding won't stop unless the progress does.  

"The task of a researcher is to find something that could potentially become a drug and once we do that we then turn over the project to the big pharmaceutical companies," David said. "Some of the compounds we have are beginning to show promise as potential drugs."

The problem is that once the patient has bacteria in his blood he needs antibiotics.  David says this is when things get tricky.

"On one hand you're killing bacteria but in the process of killing the bacteria you're releasing toxins into the blood stream," David said. "So frequently the administration of an antibiotic actually worsens the situation and can be fatal in sick patients."

David and the Department of Medicinal Chemistry are developing drugs that will neutralize the toxin.  Their new drug would be administered to the patient along with the antibiotic that way the antibiotic could kill the bacteria and the new drug could soak up the circulating toxin.  This would prevent the blood from being poisoned.

"Once sepsis sets in it's a very difficult problem to control and so what we trying to do is develop a drug that would be sufficiently safe that could be used prophylactically before sepsis sets in," David said.

Research associate Matt Kimbrell explains how they test compounds in primary screenings. They use a format that allows them to test several compounds at once.

"If we find a good compound in that first level of experiments then we move to a second tier and that's when we'll look at blood," Kimbrell said. "It's a little more expensive which is why we want to make sure it looks good in the first set of experiments."

Kimbrell says that sepsis generally affects the very young and the very old.  He believes his grandfather ultimately died of sepsis.

"He had a lot of underlying problems but I think that's the case with a lot of elderly people. You hear that they died from complications with surgery... that usually means sepsis," Kimbrell said.

When he's researching in the lab he likes to think of the big picture. 

"No matter what I do it has to be something that is toward the progress of helping someone living a better life, a longer life, a healthier life," Kimbrell said. 

 Human blood isn't the only thing they use to test compounds. Microbiology senior Tim Day has been injecting mice for the past three days. 

"We've been injecting them at 24 hour increments. We injected them with LPS to kind of simulate the sepsis and we're going to see if the compound will protect them," Day said.

If what they inject shows promise then the compound will be tested on rats as well. However, if it turns out toxic, it wouldn't be a first.

"A drug, a potential molecule, that we developed two years worked very well in vitro but didn't work very well in other models," David said. "So then we had to tinker with the structure of the molecule so it would work as effectively in our other models too."

Then last year they discovered one of the structures was more prone to being toxic to animals.  They had to then go back to the lab and reduce the toxicity.

"Roadblocks and problems are something we encounter everyday," David said. "We just have to sand out them out and keep going."

As David continues to work on the project, his expectations rise.

"Now what we're doing is trying to make the drug more long lived so you can just give one or two doses and have the drug be affective instead of having to give multiple doses four times or six times a day," David said.

Day has been injecting the mice with the compound before they get sick.  Based on the results, he's been adjusting how soon he administers the drug.

"They survive best at negative 72 hours so we extended it farther back," Day said. "Tomorrow morning we will see if they survive the night."

 

 

 

 

 

Brianne Baker's boyfriend barricades the apartment door. He won't let her leave, but more so he won't let her run from reality.

"If you keep doing this to yourself you're going to kill yourself," he says.

At first glance Brianne might look anorexic; she's lost three pants sizes in the past few months. She's a only 20-year-old sophomore at KU, but she has bags under her eyes and her normally vivid red hair is dull and sickly looking. Brianne doesn't eat or sleep anymore. She doesn't socialize with her friends and her grades are slipping more and more each day. She's even contemplated suicide.

Finally her boyfriend's words hit. Brianne sinks to the floor sobbing.

"I need help."

Brianne was experiencing a severe episode of major depressive disorder, the number one cause of disability in the United States. After realizing she needed to get help, Brianne went to her doctor who prescribed her an anti-depressant.

"I didn't like how the meds made me feel," said Brianne. "I was emotionally dead. I stopped caring about people."

Dr. Steve Ilardi, an associate professor of psychology at KU, has developed his own treatment for depression called Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC). The medication-free program is based on an evolutionary perspective and focuses on reclaiming protective lifestyle features that have become neglected in modern industrialized society.

"Our bodies were never designed for a twenty-first century way of life," said Ilardi. "Depression, much like diabetes, heart disease, or even tooth decay, is almost non-existent in groups unaffected by modern ways of living, such as the Amish or aboriginal groups. In essence, depression is a disease of modernity."  

TLC focuses on changing brain chemistry by implementing a specific set of lifestyle changes, including aerobic exercise, sunlight, omega-3, social connection, sleep and engaging behavior.

 Brianne is one of many for whom anti-depressants generate negative side effects. A federally funded study conducted a year and a half ago called Star*D, which had a sample of more than 4,000 participants at 41 different testing sites in the U.S., found that after being treating with medication less than 7 percent of participants were "well" after one year. On average, most studies show that anti-depressants help approximately only 30 percent patients.

Ilardi began recruitment for the TLC program more than four years ago, targeting patients who were previously resistant to other forms of treatment.

            "Someone who hasn't responded well to treatment in the past doesn't have a good prognosis for wellness," Ilardi said. 

            More than 100 patients were randomly assigned to either participate in the TLC protocol or placed on a waitlist for 14 weeks. Those on the waitlist were asked to maintain "treatment as usual," or to treat their depression as they normally would. The waitlist served as a control group for the study. Brianne initiated the steps of the program on her own with guidance from Professor Ilardi.

            "After I started the program I was a different person. Everyone noticed the change and asked me what I was doing. It was the first time in a year that I didn't cry myself to sleep every night," Brianne said. 

           Those who participated in the TLC protocol had an approximate success rate of 74 percent, while the control group had less than a 20 percent wellness rate.

            "We base wellness on whether or not the patient meets criteria for clinical depression," said Ilardi. "Patients who are considered successfully treated may still show some symptoms, but they are functional."

            After a six-month follow-up, the patients had maintained the same level of wellness and at 12 months the rate had only a negligible decrease. Ilardi suspects this slight decline was due to lack of adherence to the exercise component of the program, which requires 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day.

            "Exercise is probably the most important part of the treatment," said Christina Williams, a clinical psychology graduate student who works on the TLC program. "This is a huge lifestyle change for these patients though and finding the motivation to go work out can be hard for them."

            IIardi and his team of graduate students are currently revamping the TLC protocol for future studies. They are focusing on improving adherence to the aerobic exercise regimen, as well as trying to maintain the wellness rate over the long-term. They are also trying to make the program more user-friendly and accessible.

            IIardi is close to finishing writing the data analysis, which he hopes to have completed in the next two weeks. He will likely seek publication in "Professional Psychology Research and Practice," a scientific journal geared toward practicing clinicians.

            TLC is not without its skeptics, however. David Holmes, professor of psychology at KU, said he doesn't believe there is one cure-all for depression. Holmes said heralding the study as a success was "premature" and he was still waiting to see the published evidence.

            "I'm open to being proven wrong, but at this point, I'm just not convinced its as effective as Steve says its going to be," Holmes said.

            Brianne had to undergo major surgery a year ago and stopped using Ilardi's treatment method. Exercising wasn't feasible after her surgery and she simply got out of the habit.

            "There was an obvious difference after I stopped doing TLC. Without it I feel like I'm fighting a day-to-day battle, Brianne said.

            It should be mentioned that Brianne is still taking an anti-depressant. Her once regular panic attacks have recently started again and she's experiencing other symptoms of relapse. She plans on restarting the TLC techniques.

            "It's so much more effective than popping a pill. I stopped caring about the ones I loved because of a pill. There aren't side effects to this," Brianne said.

Dyan Vespestad has been trying for more than eight weeks, but has been unable to get seasonal flu shots for her three children. There are doses available, just not to low-income families.

 

As a single mom, Vespestad relies on state assistance to provide for her family while she finishes nursing school. This assistance includes health care covered by the Healthwave medical card.

 

Shelly, who asked that her last name not be used, works at Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, where Vespestad takes her children. Shelly says that medical card patients are only allowed to receive vaccines from their primary care physicians. These vaccines come from a separate supplier, under contract with Medicaid, from those supplied for patients with their own health insurance. She says they have flu shots available for paying customers, but ran out of the Medicaid supply weeks ago.

 

"We were told that Medicaid patients could not have the available vaccine, even if they offered to pay for it," Shelly said.

 

Shelly says they were promised more doses, but have not received them yet. She says there is no system in place to inform medical card patients when doses arrive; they just have to keep calling. Patients are given shots on a first-come-first-served basis. Even when the clinic receives a shipment, it can be gone the next day.

 

"We assume that the company who makes the vaccine promised more than they had," Shelly said.

 

While the common flu has been overshadowed by fear surrounding the H1N1 flu, its danger cannot be ignored. According to the Center for Disease Control, seasonal flu and influenza-A accounted for 26 percent of influenza-related pediatric deaths in the first week of November, 2009.

 

 

 

Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department Communications Coordinator, Lisa Horn, says production of seasonal flu vaccines has been inhibited by the demand for H1N1 vaccines. While seasonal flu vaccines are available at the LDCHD, they cost about $20 each.

 

"With three kids, it would cost me sixty bucks to get their flu shots," Vespestad said. "That may not be a lot to most people, but it is to someone in my situation."

 

Vespestad plans to continue calling the clinic, hoping to catch them on a day when she has the time, and they have some doses available. In the meantime, she can only hope her children are not exposed to the flu virus.

 

 

 

Sources:

 

Dyan Vespestad, 764-9598

 

Shelly, Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 842-4477

 

Lisa Horn, Communications Coordinator, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, 843-3060

The blooming season of plants comes to a halt as the cold weather makes it way into Kansas, but the study of  natural plants in the Great Plains region is just sprouting up at the University of Kansas.

 

On Nov. 11, two faculty members at the University of Kansas were granted $5 million from Heartland Plant Innovations to study the medicinal uses of plants in the Kansas area. Barbara Timmerman, a University Distinguished Professor in the Medical Chemistry Department, and Kelly Kindscher, Associate Scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey, will lead the research.

 

"The money just came in on Wednesday, so I have been scurrying around in a good way," Kindscher said.

 

The project ahead of them will be a long process of identifying, collecting, and studying the plants for their medicinal uses and effectiveness. They are looking at hiring up to 12 new employees to handle maps, data and research. The prospects could be undergraduate, graduate and other professionals from through out the nation.

 

The increased help will allow them to look at their list of target plants more efficiently. Echinacea, an herb historically known to help stimulate the immune system, will be one of those. 

 

"You would think Echinacea would be popular now with it being flu season," Kindscher said. He thinks this would be in high use right now since November is the height of flu season. 

 

One of the reasons not everyone is taking the herbal stimulants comes from a lack of creditable studies.

"Since Echinacea can be used in a crude form, you can't patent it," Lester Mitscher, Distinguish Professor of Chemistry, said. "You can't protect your research."

 

Despite the lack of research by companies, across the nation many researchers at universities are still looking into the uses of natural plants. At the University of Missouri in Colombia, Mo., Dennis Lubahn is studying herbal medicine use in cancer treatment. In the other direction, Susan Paulsen at Regis University in Denver, Co., has been studying herbal supplements for many years. The possibilities of using plants from around the world has found Ronette Gehring at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Manhattan researching plants from South Africa.

 

Not all studies from around the country have turned up good news for natural remedies. Ronald Turner at the University of Virginia School of Medicine did a study with Echinacea and the common cold. The study revealed that a lack of standardization led to a lot of variability in the product and little effectiveness.

 

The lack of potential profit limits the amount of research done on plants like Echinacea. Respectable and informative studies take a lot of time and money.

 

"It would be great if we found the next best cure," Kindscher said. "But we are not directly focusing on that or the money."

 

Receiving grants in a university setting allows many different areas of campus to work together for the cause of research, not profit.

 

The Kansas Biological Survey and Medical Chemistry Department lead the research, but areas like the High Throughput Screening Lab at the Structural Biology Center and the Birdwell Botanical Research Lab will also play a role in the project.

 

"Native Americans didn't have modern technology equipment to test things like potency," Mitscher said.

 

The high tech instruments found at the Structural Biology Center will allow the specimens collected by the bagful to be tested with precision and speed that the human hand can't accomplish. Each plant will have been identified, dried and bagged before it makes its way onto a small plate with other samples to be examined.

 

"We go out in teams and gather all our plant material," Kindscher said. "I love the field work."

 

It only takes about 30 minutes to collect a bag of 10 to 20 pounds needed to do a study depending on the hike to the location Kindscher said. All the data from plants around the Douglas Country area are carefully documented and are taken back to the Kansas Biological Survey and Birdwell Botanical Research Lab. 

 

"The plants are preserved for a long time because they aren't exposed to the elements," Craig Freeman, curator at Birdwell Botanical Research Lab, said. "This way researchers can look at the history and check to make sure they are studying the same plants."

 

The history of herbal medicine in popular use dates back to the 1800s. It wasn't until the 1950s that regulations and research slowed their use. Recently, research on herbal medicines and the use of them by the public has started to rise. According to a National Health Interview Survey from 2007, Americans spent $33.9 billion on alterative medicine. Local doctors have seen the increase in acceptance of herbal medicines as well.

 

"I have seen a increase in patients by about 10 percent," Farhang Khosh, a doctor at Natural Medicine Care in Lawrence, said. "We need more studies like the one Kindscher is doing. I would like to see more standard local medicines for local customers."

 

The aim of this $5 million dollar project is to research within the Kansas region. The Heartland Plant Innovations branches from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, a center aimed at advancing Kansas' leadership in bioscience. In the next five years, the hope is to have creditable findings and data on the local plants so industry can have confidence in them.

 

"There is a big interest in bringing business to Kansas," Kindscher said. "The findings of this project could bring in herbal product to cosmetics or pet food companies."

            Bells and tassels dangle from a suit stuffed away in the corner of a quaint Lawrence studio. Its ringing and jingling once provided passersby with a grand spectacle.  Anson Stancliffe adorned the suit in 2007 along with a white feather headdress while he chased University of Kansas students out of a circle.

            The display involved students running into a circle with hard hardtack bread and placing it into a bucket of water while Anson chased them.

            "He baked coins into the bread, which was like concrete," said Spencer Lott, a Lawrence senior in theater who helped with the piece.

It might have seemed like a game to students, but it was really Anson's first performance art piece. He based the piece on early Native American games.

            "Basically I was showing the absurdity of bureaucracy by making a game out of it," Anson said, a Lawrence senior who prefers to go by the name "Anson the Ornery".

            In his following piece, set outside the Spencer Art Museum, he used a microwave to portray a character's comical popcorn addiction.    

But his production of performance art pieces dwindled at the beginning of the fall semester because of his desire to pursue a career in animation.

"To me we've always loved that, we spent a lot of time watching cartoons of every kind," said Linda Weeks, Anson's mother, about animation. "So I think that would be a wonderful direction for him to take."

For Anson, the decision to do animation required additional visual art, writing, acting and music education. He felt comfortable with every component except music composition, which he had used only once in a Spanish themed performance art piece, but he wanted to change that.

Anson previously acquired his bachelor of fine arts in expanded media from KU, and he knew he wasn't going to graduate school, so he decided to get an additional degree in music.

 "I was already so close, and had taken all of the requirements for ensembles and music history," Anson said.

He changed his mind once he discovered it would take another year of school and 16 language requirement hours. Anson chuckled while saying he could only take one more semester at KU.

"For me I'm ready to go off, and basically I just need this one class so I can get my portfolio ready to send off," He said, referring to his acoustic electronic music class, "but we don't really get to the programs I need to learn until next semester."

Despite the lack of time to focus on performance art, Anson acted in KU Theater's production's Macbeth. He played the murderer and entertained the audience by killing off a fake baby. "I played Ban quoi and we always had fun killing me off," said Lott.

A lot of performance art is about becoming someone else and how acting has explored that for thousands of years, Anson said.

"You might as well, if you're in performance art, delve in and understand it," He said.

Back in his studio, Anson stares at the lonely drum set and speaks of various famous animators, and how they usually play an instrument. He said it helps with timing animation by knowing how many beats per minute, which correlates to 24 frames per second.

"I mean, if I do go into animation, the more you know about music the better animation director you are," He said.

His minor has required him to learn the computer programs SoundPro, Logic and Reason. These programs are the main reason keeping him from developing performance art.

"It sucks, it feels like I'm not doing anything," Anson said, "It's hard to get out there and do that stuff."

Linda Weeks doesn't ultimately know which artistic category will be best for her son. But she remains confident saying that he'll draw on whatever he needs to do for the project he's working on.

"I'm trying to develop a video to show with my work by the end of this semester because I've got the programs and the knowledge," Anson said about his only recent performance art piece.

He said it's easier when you're given a theme for performance art.

"I'm the kind of a guy who likes themes and boundaries, because I like breaking boundaries," Anson said, "When you give me a theme, I can have something to fight against."

With a final dusting of Mary Kay cheek blush, Lisa Manley steps back to scrutinize her work. The man lying before her is almost unrecognizable from when he first arrived at the mortuary. Gaunt from illness and malnutrition, the old man was considered to be 'an exceptional case' by staff at Warren and McElwain Funeral Home in Lawrence.

 

Manley steps forward again to gently rub the old man's eye, reworking the tissue builder that she had injected to fill the hollow gaps. Her technique is similar to an artist reworking a clay model.

 

"The eyes are the most difficult part" she says. "It's really hard to make them look natural".

 

Working as a Funeral Director for eleven years, Manley has developed a sense of professional perfectionism. She is known amongst her mortuary co-workers as being particularly skilled in cosmetic enhancing. Creating a 'natural' look is what she strives toward. Manley is driven by compassion and a desire to help the families left behind to have a lasting impression of their loved one that is as true to life as can be.

 

She looks at the man before her.

"This family didn't want anybody to see the body, hopefully they will now though." she says.

 

With both sets of grandparents still living, Manley feels fortunate not to have experienced a 'loss'. Her first encounter with the funeral industry was at the age of six when she accompanied her mother, a hairdresser, to the local funeral home to style the hair of a deceased. Instantly intrigued by the industry, her fascination continued throughout her adolescence until she was able to study the trade and enter the profession herself.

 

Despite an enthusiasm towards the role, her transition was not without its trials.

 

"Entering a predominantly male profession, you had to prove your strengths and prove that you were able to hold the job as a woman" says Manley.

 

Co-worker and fellow mortician Audrey Bjornstad agreed,

"People don't expect people like us to do a job like this" she says.

 

However for Manley, a strong work ethic was all that she needed to gain success.

 

"I'm a great believer that God will give you as much as you can handle" says Manley. "I just made sure that I was constantly ready for any changes or challenges and that I never felt like I was going to fail."

 

This mentality has served Manley throughout her life. As a mother two, Manley tries to balance family life and a demanding career.

 

"Both of my children have visited the mortuary. I think it's important for them to understand why mommy has to leave." she says of her daughter, Mia, age 7, and son, Kole, age 4. 

           

Her job means that every other night or every other weekend she could be called in to transfer a body to the mortuary. A couple of weeks ago she was forced to miss her son's sports event to transfer a body from the hospital to the Funeral Home.

 

Manley's husband, Colby is also considerate of his wife's demanding career. He has always known her as being a full time funeral director and understands the often inconvenient nature of the profession.

 

When they can, the couple spends time together riding their Harley Davidson motorcycle.

 

Despite a U.S Department of Transport report that revealed Kansas as having had an 89 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities from 1997 to 2007, Manley remains unfazed by the attached dangers. She bares an assuming mentality that she could walk outside at any point and be struck by an oncoming vehicle.

 

"I believe when your time is up, its up."

 

Having already planned out the finer details of her own funeral as part of her training at mortuary school, Manley acknowledges that death can happen at any time or at any age. She savors the time that she spends with her children and relishes in the thought that her children can spend time with their great grandparents and will remember them.

 

This Thanksgiving, Manley will serve an additional guest, an elderly man who she met whilst arranging his wife's funeral.

 

"He has no one" she says. "We speak on the phone and I help him out". "The kids know who he is which is really nice."

 

Emotional distance from her work is important. To Manley, however, compassion is a trait that cannot be easily left behind.