Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Noland)

Environmental-consciousness may bring revenue to the University of Kansas.

A new baler will potentially triple the amount of material KU can recycle and sell for profit. Jeff Severin, former director of the Environmental Stewardship Program, said the baler would allow the KU Recycling Club to recycle materials more efficiently.

“The increase in revenue will come from the fact that we can bale more materials and different materials,” said Severin. The new baler was purchased in the fall of 2006 and will be operational this spring.

Previously, KU used a vertical baler that required the material to be loaded by hand into the machine. The new baler is horizontal and has a conveyer belt, allowing it to bale larger amounts of materials at a faster rate.

According to Dave Lane, regional sales representative for Glen Dehart and Son Inc., the company that sold the baler to KU, a horizontal baler can process nearly three loads of material in an hour, whereas vertical balers take nearly one hour to process a load. “You’re almost tripling the amount of material you can handle, plus you’re cutting labor costs,” said Lane.

How much revenue the University can bring in by baling more material is dependent on several factors. According to Joe Jordan, president of Cook Paper Recycling Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., demand for the material, international markets and currency translations all affect the amount of money given for recycled materials. “Pricing is subject to change based on multiple influences,” said Jordan.

The baler was purchased for about $64,000. Funding for the baler came from a grant given by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).

According to Kris Hicks, environmental scientist in the Bureau of Waste Management at KDHE, the grant is valid for five years and requires the Environmental Stewardship Program to educate faculty, staff, and outside contractors about recycling. “The public education piece is important to us,” said Hicks.

According to Severin, in the July 2005 – June 2006 fiscal year the Environmental Stewardship Program made a profit of about $25,000 from recycling. The ability to triple the amount of materials baled could drastically increase the revenue coming into the program.

Severin said that he expects the baler to cause a significant increase in revenue, but due to fluctuating market prices, he does not know how much revenue to expect. He said that the revenue would help fund the Environmental Stewardship Program. “All the revenue goes back into operational costs of the program.”

The machine is in place at KU’s recycling warehouse, but is not running yet due to a lack of power. Tom Boxberger, warehouse manager, said that electricians are working on supplying power to the new baler. “They are working on getting power to it,” said Boxberger. “It should be running in the not too distant future.”

Severin, who now directs the KU Center for Sustainability, said that the revenue brought in by the new baler will allow the Environmental Stewardship Program to provide better recycling services on campus. “Probably the biggest impact is that it will make our operations more efficient.”

Jonathan Pryor practices safe sex. He and his partner are monogamous. He is routinely tested for HIV. He is careful about his health and lives a lifestyle reflective of his concerns. He wants to contribute to other people’s health by donating blood. One factor stops him.

“Because I am gay I cannot help the Blood Drive’s cause,” Pryor said.

Pryor, Columbus senior and director of Queers and Allies, recently spoke out against the University of Kansas Blood Drive because of a policy that does not allow gay men to donate blood.

The controversy regarding the policy began on campus recently when a mass e-mail promoting KU’s Blood Drive was sent out over an organizational list serve. Two people, neither associated with Queers and Allies, replied to the e-mail; saying it should not have been distributed because of its discriminatory content. The KU Blood Drive Committee responded by hosting a forum to educate students about blood donation. Pryor was among members of Queers and Allies who attended the forum to voice concern regarding the policy.

Jeff Klinkhardt, St. Louis senior and president of the KU Blood Drive Committee, said the Blood Drive Committee held the forum because it wanted students to understand why the KU Blood Drive cannot allow gay men to donate blood.

“We’re not discriminating,” said Klinkhardt. “If we don’t follow the FDA guidelines, the FDA can’t use the pints we collect.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates the nation’s blood supply and determines the policies that decide who is eligible to donate blood, has faced controversy regarding their policy that defers gay men from being potential donors since the policy was enacted in 1983.

According to the FDA Web site, gay and bisexual men are considered to be high-risk for transmitting and contracting HIV and AIDS. Other high-risk groups include women who have had sex with gay men, people who have accepted money for sex and intravenous drug users. All high-risk groups are deferred from donating blood.

FDA spokesperson Pat Harley said that although tests can determine if a person is HIV positive, they are not always accurate.

“There’s a window period where an HIV test will not show up positive, even if the person is infected,” Harley said. “We’re taking the safer than sorry approach.”

Pryor said the policy is outdated and openly discriminates against gay men and those who have had a relationship with a gay man.

“This policy is reflective of the 1980s, when people were not educated and when people labeled HIV the gay disease,” Pryor said. “The FDA needs to reevaluate their policy because things have changed significantly in the past couple decades.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agrees with Pryor.

“I can understand the concern, but there have been so many advances in screening for HIV,” said Brett Shirk, executive director of the ACLU for Kansas and western Missouri. “(The FDA) is discriminating against an entire group of people because of the actions of a percentage of them.”

Shirk also said the FDA’s screening procedures are flawed because they defer safe donors while allowing unsafe donors to slip through the system. He said that the African-American community has a higher percentage of people who are HIV-positive when compared to gay men, but it is not considered high-risk for the virus. Shirk also said that few women truly know the sexual history of their partners, and could potentially donate blood without knowing that they have had sex with a gay man, and are therefore high-risk for transferring HIV.

Shirk said that although he disagrees with the FDA’s policy, Queers and Allies does not have legal ground to stand on to argue the policy because they are not a protected class under the U.S. Constitution.

“I think it’s a travesty in American law, but the FDA and the American Red Cross have every right to do it,” Shirk said. “There’s no civil right to give blood.”

The KU Blood Drive Committee responded to the concerns of Queers and Allies by posting a disclaimer on its Web site and at donating stations that reads: “The KU Blood Drive Committee is a non-discriminatory group. We are required to follow FDA regulations.”

Pryor said the disclaimer is a positive step, and he does not feel that the KU Blood Drive discriminates against gay men. But Pryor wishes more could be done to eliminate the FDA policy.

“Allow a student petition at blood donating stations to be sent on to the FDA,” Pryor said. “HIV has sadly been around for almost 30 years and there have been great advancements since then and we know anyone can be affected.”

Klinkhardt said that he was unsure whether Queers and Allies would be allowed to petition at blood donating stations, but he invited the group to be present at future meetings planning blood drives at KU.

Harley said the donor policies are under routine review by the FDA. The policy deferring gay men was last reviewed in March 2006, at which time the FDA felt there was “scientific justification for screening donors who are men who have had sex with another man.”

Pryor said he is concerned that the policy fosters false ideas about the gay community.

“Many people assume that gay or bisexual men are promiscuous and unable to have committed relationships. These are the kinds of ideas and thoughts that further perpetuate policies like that of the FDA,” Pryor said. “Everyone is high risk that does not protect themselves and educate themselves.”

Pryor said HIV awareness and education are key factors to diminishing the virus and the FDA policies. He cited personal reasons for wanting to donate blood in the future.

“It would make me feel equal, rather than an outcast,” Pryor said. “I would get satisfaction of knowing I’ve helped someone.”

An Olympic flag hangs in Scott Russell’s office in Robinson Gymnasium. It carries a simple message.

“That flag will stay there until I make an Olympic team,” Russell said.

The flag hangs above Russell’s desk as a constant reminder of his goal: to throw the javelin in the Olympics. Russell, a graduate student from Windsor, Ontario, is a former track and field athlete at the University of Kansas. Since his graduation from KU in 2002, Russell has been throwing the javelin in international track meets. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), he is currently ranked 1st in Canada and 31st in the world. He hopes to make the Canadian Olympic team in 2008.

Russell’s first chance to make an Olympic qualifying throw will be April 18 - 21 at the Kansas Relays.

This will not be Russell’s first attempt to qualify for the games. In 2000, he tried, but did not make a qualifying throw.

“I wasn’t too worried about it,” Russell said. “I had a lot of years left.”

Russell felt 2004 was his year to go compete in the Olympics. He trained hard. In a journal logging all of his workouts that year, he wrote “I am going to the Olympics” at the top of each page. But a month before the Olympic trials, Russell strained his groin. He threw almost 20 feet below the Canadian qualifying standard of 81.58 meters and did not compete in Athens.

“I remember getting a phone call,” friend and former KU track and field athlete Candace Dunback said. “He was absolutely heartbroken.”

Russell’s biggest low came in 2005. After three years without any major accomplishments, the Canadian government pulled the funding Russell used to train and support himself.

“That got his anger up,” Scott Russell's father, Dan Russell, said.

Scott Russell was out of patience and out of cash. Seeing little possibility for a future in javelin throwing, he considered quitting the sport. It was then that Russell received a check for $2,500 from an anonymous Canadian couple who wanted to see Russell try to qualify for the 2005 World Track and Field Championship. He decided to compete in a few more meets.

“For someone to put that much belief in me, it was mind boggling,” Russell said. “I competed for them for the rest of that season.”

In his first competition after receiving the anonymous donation, Russell set a new Canadian record with a throw of 84.41 meters.

The throw qualified Russell for the 2005 World Track and Field Championship and reinstated his funding for two years.

“That one throw ended three years of frustration,” Dan Russell said.

Scott Russell is putting the past behind him as he begins his quest to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

“Coming into this year, I’m pretty positive,” Russell said. “I’m kind of expecting big things this year.”

When Russell began training for the 2008 Olympic Games, he made several changes. He got a coach and changed the way he trains. He is coached by Andy Kokhanovsky, the throws coach of the KU track and field team. He works out six days a week.

“Trainings been going awesome,” Russell said. “This year has been more streamlined to javelin throwing.”

Russell also changed his attitude about the sport.

“I compete because it’s fun now,” Russell said. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. You train for the emotional highs.”

Russell is an outgoing person but a focused athlete.

“He’s very focused and extremely dedicated,” Dunback said. “If anyone deserves it, it’s absolutely him.”

In addition to the Kansas Relays, Russell will compete in several international meets and the Canadian national competitions this year. Regardless of whether he makes an Olympic qualifying throw this year, he must also make a qualifying throw in 2008 in order to compete in the 2008 games in Beijing.

“I probably won’t know until July of 2008 if I’m on the team,” Russell said.

He is excited to begin his Olympic journey at the Kansas Relays.

“The atmosphere of having the crowd right on top of you is great,” Russell said. “To compete in front of your home crowd is awesome.”

Jayhawk Motorsports is adding a rotary damper to its car design. The part, which is also called a rotary dashpot, is not commonly used on cars, and the team expects to be the only team at the competition to use it.

“It’s a pretty complex design and something that’s taken a lot of thought and testing to validate,” Tanner Rinke, captain of Jayhawk Motorsports, said. “No other team will have it at the competition.”

According to the Web site of Efdyn, Inc., a company that sells them, rotary dampers are devices used to give control to a machine working at high speeds. For Jayhawk Motorsports, that means the driver of its racecar can accelerate the car and still maintain control of it.

Rinke said the rotary damper is something the team has been pursuing for several years.

“This year we finally got the gumption to go out and do it,” Rinke said.

Carrie Wilkinson, secretary treasurer of Efdyn, said it is unusual to use a rotary damper on a car.

“They are really not used on vehicles, but I can see how that would be effective,” Wilkinson said. “You could better control the speed of the car.”

Wilkinson said that rotary dampers are commonly used in military equipment and copying machines. She also said Efdyn frequently sells the part to moviemakers in Hollywood looking to control speed and motion on a camera.

Rinke says that Jayhawk Motorsports chose to design and build its own rotary damper, rather than buying one.

“They are very expensive,” Rinke said. “That’s why we developed one on our own.”

Wilkinson said that the rotary dampers sold by Efdyn can cost as much as $4,000.

Jayhawk Motorsports will race with the new part May 16 - 20 at the SAE Collegiate Formula Car Competition.

Steve Daum, collegiate programs manager of SAE, said he is expecting130 teams from all over the world to participate in the competition.

“The purpose of the competition is to give students a forum to improve engineering project management skills in an engineering environment,” Daum said.

Daum said that KU is expected to be one of the top teams at the competition.

“They finished 4th last year,” Daum said. “That is really a challenge.”

Rinke said this year Jayhawk Motorsports hopes to win.

“We have everything set up to win the championship and we’re certainly pushing for that,” Rinke said.

Robert Sorem, associate dean for undergrad programs in the school of engineering and the faculty advisor to Jayhawk Motorsports, said the team has grown he began overseeing it in 1995.

“The team started as a glorified go-cart and moved to a full scale race car,” Sorem said. “We’ve been at this for 12 years as a good, solid race team developing more expertise and better performance goals.”

A national event will take place in Lawrence at the end of June.
Several venues throughout the United States will celebrate Pollinator Week the week of June 24, and the Pendleton Farm in East Lawrence will be one of the hosts.

Kat McGuire, development and communication coordinator of the Coevolution Institute, which sponsors Pollinator Week, said the goal of the week is to educate Americans about the importance of pollinators and to prevent the creatures from going extinct.

“We want it to be a resource for people to go and gather information,” McGuire said.

McGuire said Pollinator Week allows different locations throughout the country to host their own events to promote pollinator awareness in their area. The week will also feature the release of four new postal stamps. The stamps feature four different designs, which are viewed individually or together in two different interlocking designs. According to the U.S. Postal Service’s Web site, the fact that the stamps interlock to create different designs demonstrates the ecological relationship between pollinators and plants and the biodiversity needed to sustain the relationship.

Stan Herd, a crop artist and Lawrence resident, is creating crop art on the Pendleton Farm that will be a replica of one of the stamps. The image will be of a dogface butterfly. Herd said the art is best seen from an aerial view and uses entirely natural resources.

“I’m going to do the piece out of 5,000 flowers,” Herd said.

McGuire said pollinators, which include birds, bats, beetles and bees, are responsible for pollinating 80 percent of flowering plants. She also said $10 billion - $20 billion a year in the nation’s revenue comes from agriculture that relies on pollinators.

“A huge percent of the national income comes from pollinated food,” McGuire said.
Orley “Chip” Taylor, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, helped organize the event happening in Lawrence. He said the goal is to raise money and awareness for local pollinators and beekeepers.