Martial Arts class uses Japanese to connect body and mind
Seventeen students take off their shoes and walk onto the green mats in the Robinson gym. Bowing to their sensei Andrew Tsubaki, they repeat in Japanese, “Let’s have a good class.”
Adorned in white martial arts uniforms and others in street clothes, the students gather into groups of two ready for the first class of Aikido taught in Japanese.
These groups aren’t kicking, punching or yelling the traditional “hi-yah” known in judo or tae-kwon-do, but rather, they are relaxing their bodies and mind showing self-discipline.
“Aikido isn’t emphasizing the physical part of kicking and punching, but rather it looks at what’s going on inside the man, the mind and the body,” Andrew said. “It’s about recognizing that mind always leads the body and to unify them together makes any action over any person stronger and meaningful.”
According to Aikido Today Magazine, Aikido is considered an art of self-transformation and sometimes isn’t mentioned as a martial art.
First time participant Thomas Cox, Shawnee junior, said he enrolled in Aikido because of Tsubaki’s knowledge and skill and the useful principles that it provides.
“It isn’t something you learn in everyday life,” Thomas said. “You learn such simple things like relaxing the body and controlling your ki (energy).”
Funded by the Center of East Asian Studies, this Aikido class is held every Wednesday until Feb. 21 and is taught in advanced Japanese. However, students don’t need to know the Japanese language to take the class.
“These are very beginning type sessions,” Andrew said. “We’re trying to apply the (Japanese) language outside of typical educational study.”
At the end of class, the group gathers and kneels on the mats. They bow towards the ground to a picture of “ki” written in Japanese and bow once more to their sensei. They repeat in Japanese, “Thank you for your help on having a good class.”
As more people move to Lawrence it means more waste and sewage for the city to take care of. Because of this, city officials are moving ahead on the next steps for the development of a second sewage treatment plant.
The city commission will vote on Tuesday to approve the rest of the acreage for the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility site. The commission has already approved 50 percent of the 530 acres for the property.
“We received approval from the City Commission (Tuesday night) to proceed with a Request for Qualifications process to select a design/build team for the design and construction,” Assistant City Manager Debbie Van Saun said.
The sewage treatment plant will be built in South Lawrence a long the Wakarusa River. City officials say the new plant will be designed to handle the sewage of a growing city. They estimate Lawrence will grow to 150,000 in about 15 years.
This is a map of where the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility will be located. Click for a larger image. Map: City of Lawrence
Even though sewer treatment plant officials are confident about the direction the facility is headed, there are some concerns including the estimate and who will pay for it.
Debbie said that the estimated price will continue to fluctuate as details of the project become clearer. As for who will pay for this $70 million facility, she said every user of the plant will get billed each month on their water bill.
“This is the largest capital improvement project the city of Lawrence has ever undertaken and is a multi-faceted project,” Debbie said. “Many things can affect prices: labor market, availability of contractors, price of commodities, and design. The list goes on.”
Dave said he anticipates crews to be moving dirt in fall of this year and construction beginning as early as next spring. He said he hopes everything will be finished by 2010 or 2011.
However, before construction can begin, sewage treatment plant officials have to wait on a federal permit from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
The NPDES (pdf) (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit is required by all facilities who wish to discharge into the waterways.
“We applied for the permit in December and it can take months before we receive it,” Dave said. “It’s a federal requirement to meet all requirements of the Cleanwater Act. This will determine the cost and design of the facility.”
Karl Mueldener, director bureau of water for KDHE, said that they are currently still working out permit details with consultants and city officials.
“This is one of the bigger projects I’ve worked on,” Karl said. “Lawrence has always had more than steady growth. That’s good because it’s growing, but the challenge is how to manage the utilities as people arrive.”
Dave said one of his main concerns is making sure they won’t have to build another facility in the near future. He said sewer treatment plants are a lot like a car, you have to maintain and operate it.
Karl said one of the many problems he sees with a big project isn’t in the construction phase, but what happens after it’s finished.
“One challenge is when you don’t build something big enough,” he said. “You put in a lot to a project and the growth is more than expected. I don’t anticipate this happening to this project.”
Dave said although they will have 530 acres, there will be some of the property left over after construction. He said that the additional land could be used for potential parks and trails or returning it to its natural habitat.
“We have a lot of opportunity to make additional use of the property,” Dave said. “We’ll look at all the options through the community and the commission on what to do with the additional property.”
Warmer weather brings less business for car wash stations
Sitting at a wooden bench outside Auto Plaza Car Wash, Linda Neutel peered up from her book. As the sun reflected off her dark-rimmed sunglasses, two men yelled “You’re ready.”
Lawrence has 10 car wash service stations. Seven of the stations offer both self-serve and automatic car washes and one is a full-service. The other two are automatics attached to gas stations.
Here's a map and directions to surrounding car wash service stations in Lawrence. Click for larger image. Map courtesty of Yellowpages.com
“I don’t really choose one specific car wash station in Lawrence,” Neutel said. “It’s a random choice based on whatever I’m closest to and whichever has the shortest line.”
Neutel, 46, doesn’t wash her silver Hyundai SUV often. She said the weather usually determines when she washes it.
“I generally wash my car once a month during the winter and once every two months during the summer,” Neutel said. “I wash more during the winter because of salt and snow. I don’t like it to stay on my car.”
According to 2006 Conveyor Survey.(pdf), Midwest car wash stations receive 36% of their business during the winter. December was voted as the busiest month.
On a national level, December through March provides 68% of business for car wash stations compared to 31% the rest of the year, Professional Car Washing magazine said.
This is a chart shows the national percentages of business car wash service stations received monthly in 2005. Click for a larger image. Statistics provided by 2006 Conveyor Survey
Daryl Messer said he sees a difference in business between the seasons at his station at 2828 Iowa St.
“This business is definitely weather related,” Messer, owner of Raco Car Wash, said. “There isn’t anyone in here in the pouring rain or the bitter cold. The only time we know it will get busy is when it snows and all the salt and sand trucks are out.”
Auto Plaza Car Wash owner Bill Stewart said car washing has always been a seasonal business. He said that people want to stay active during the summer months so they wash their vehicles themselves.
To make up for business, car wash stations can offer specials or coupons to help attract customers when it isn’t so busy, Stewart said.
“We offer detailing to help business,” Stewart said. “Detailing is usually down in the fall and winter when car washing is usually up. But in the spring and summer it rises.”
“I detail for a lot of commercial business as well such as Jim Clark and Laird Noller car dealerships. They always have something for me to detail when customers don’t want to wash their cars.”
Stewart said he estimates more than 40,000 vehicles come through his car wash at 28th Terrace and Iowa Street in a year. The national average in 2005 was a little over 51,000.
With the amount of cars that come through the stations, expenses add up with maintenance, water and utility bills.
Messer says the business isn’t as profitable as it was years ago. He said heating the water at a constant temperature of 130 degrees and heating the floors adds up.
“For natural gas we are paying three to four times more than what we were paying 10 or 15 years ago,” Messer said.” It’s a high income, high expense type of business.”
Over 1.4 million gallons of water is pumped through the Auto Plaza Car Wash a year. Stewart said it also uses 150 gallons of concentrated soap a year. But water and soap aren’t his biggest expenses.
Ivan Hollins, manager of Auto Plaza Car Wash, comments on the amount of business his car wash has received over the years.
“The biggest expense is always labor,” Stewart said. “Thirty-eight percent of every dollar earned goes toward labor.”
Paying the monthly $1,100 water bill and advertising on Lawrence media adds up, Stewart said. His biggest challenge, though, is trying to adjust his station to the new models of vehicles.
“When the Ford Explorer first came out, the back wiper blade was always breaking. So we had to put bags that newspapers come in over the blades to keep them from breaking,” Stewart said. “There is always a challenge on how certain cars are designed as to how you can wash them.”
The affects of global warming have drawn many concerns across the globe. Three species of frogs in the Andes Mountains are feeling these affects. KUJH-TV's Camden Deringer explains how these concerns might have an affect close to home.
University Relations estimates that 30 to 35-thousand people will be in attendance during commencement weekend on May 19 and 20. KUJH-TV's Camden Deringer explains how KU landscapers are preparing for the ceremonies on campus.
Annie Kiekel and six other landscapers unload the 1,200 white and red begonias from a University truck. Kneeling in the tilled soil in front of the Chi Omega fountain, Kiekel digs a hole.
“These begonias will look good for a long time,” said Kiekel, plant tech for Facilities Operations. “We won’t have to pull them until late fall if they last that long. Sometimes people fall on them or even steal them.”
Placing the white flower into the hole, she forms the top soil around it. Removing her faded orange visor, she wipes her arm against her forehead and grabs another begonia.
“Everything we do is based on commencement and homecoming,” Kiekel said. “We get to beautify the campus and make it perfect.”
About 10,000 flowers will be planted across campus for commencement ceremonies on May 19-20. Flowers like petunias, begonias and marigolds will grace the flowerbeds in front of buildings at KU.
The 33 landscapers began preparations for commencement in March, but they and their supervisors decided last fall about what types of flowers were going to be planted.
“(This event) is important to the crew because it is the time of year when the campus landscape is at the best,” said Mike Lang, Facilities Operations manager. “We have thousands of people coming on that day or on that weekend. We pretty much strive to be as perfect as we can.”
Pruning hedges, mowing and spraying the dandelions are other areas of focus before commencement approaches, Lang said.
“It’s stressful in a way,” Lang said. “Everything is growing so fast it’s hard to keep up."
Budget
KU is spending $1.33 million this year on landscaping. The budget has increased from $1.01 million in 2005 and $1.1 million in 2006.
Steven Green said in an e-mail that the gradual increase is a result of adding more positions and employee benefits such as Social Security, worker’s comp and health insurance.
This is a chart that shows the number of employees and the budget for landscaping from 2003 to 2007. Information provided by Steven Green.
“The differences are due to numbers of staff and changes in salaries and fringe benefit costs,” said Green, associate director of Facilities Operations.
The biggest expenditure under the budget is payroll, Lang said. Facilities Operations spends around $1.2 million a year for its employees. The second biggest expense, Lang said, is supplies.
“The supply budget is around $90,000,” Lang said. “It includes a lot of day-to-day stuff like upkeep and parts to help keep us running.”
Also under the budget are commencement costs. Green said commencement costs Facilities Operations between $50,000 and $60,000 in time and materials.
The budget is still being worked on for next year. Green said he hopes the budget continues to increase like it has been the past several years.
“We don’t know the new budget for next year yet, but I hope it will increase,” Green said. “We’re still waiting on the Kansas legislature and what the Board of Regents does with tuition.”
The Job
The landscapers are responsible for all 1,100 acres on campus. Separated into five crews, they mow, prune trees and bushes or plant flowers five days a week.
“Without landscaping most of the students wouldn’t come here,” said Allen Mitchell, plant crew supervisor. “Not being biased, but the first thing you see when you drive on this campus is landscaping. Landscaping helps sell everything.”
Plant tech Annie Kiekel talks about why landscaping is an important aspect of KU.
Mitchell said their job differs greatly from season to season. The fall and winter months consist of leaf removal, planting mums and snow removal. The spring and summer consist of planting, watering while mowing the campus every week.
Kiekel said one of the downsides to her job is picking up the trash that students toss on campus everyday.
“The least enjoyment is picking up all the newspapers and fliers,” Kiekel said. “They’re just everywhere. The fliers fall out and when it rains, it’s a mess.”
Lang said the work is never ending and can be difficult to handle.
“It’s fairly hard to keep up with everything, but even at that we’re not even getting to the place we want to be,” Lang said. “It might look good driving down the street, but it isn’t where the staff and I would like it to be.”
Landscaper Derek Peterson talks about the difficulties of working on a big campus.
Three hours later, Kiekel kneels in the flower bed of the Chi Omega fountain. Placing the final red begonia into its hole, she pats the soil around it.
“When people look at KU they judge it by its landscaping,” Kiekel said. “This is the face of KU.”
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