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The students’ voice since 1901 • Vol. 111 No. 8 • Thursday, October 6, 2011 • Check us out online.
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Enrollment drops again but ‘sky not falling’ K enzie T empleton editor@esubulletin.com
Infographic by Ellen Weiss
‘Cuddly’ animals may pose threat to health R ocky R obinson robinsonr@esubulletin.com Watch out for furry critters this fall. A disease that can be transferred to humans from animals like squirrels and rabbits is on the loose after officials at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks confirmed a case of tularemia in a squirrel collected from an Emporia resident’s yard. Shane Hestings, Wildlife Disease coordinator at KDWP said the squirrel showed symptoms consistent with tularemia, a disease caused by the bacterium francisella tularensis and found mainly rodents, rabbits and hares. This was confirmed after being shipped to a lab in Georgia, where it was tested again. “We think it was a localized event,” Hestings said. “Sometimes it shows up in urban areas.” Cases of tularemia have been recorded in every state in the United States, with the exception of Hawaii. There have been four documented cases in Kansas, none of which where in Lyon County. “It is kept active and alive and transmitted among the animal population,” said professor of biology John Shrock. “That is what keeps it going and only once in awhile do (humans) get in on it. Those types of disease are called zoonosis.” Tularemia can infect humans if they are bitten by an infected insect, handle an infected carcass or eat drink contaminated food or water. But the disease is not spread from person to person.
Emporia State’s enrollment rate has dropped again. Following a two-year trend, figures released by the Kansas Board of Regents last Tuesday showed that ESU took a 4.6 percent hit in fall enrollment. Last fall, enrollment figures had decreased eight-tenths of a percent, and in fall 2009, they were down by about 1 percent. Of the seven regents schools, ESU currently has the lowest enrollment rate, 5,976 students, a 286 student decrease from last year’s 6,262.
This most recent decrease has the administration on alert. “ We’re concerned,” said Jim Williams, associate provost for enrollment management and vice president of strategic partnerships. “We had a sense, based on three very large graduation classes and not as large recruitment classes the last three years, that we were going to at some point hit this point.” Williams said that this knowledge coupled with the recession and other factors like scholarship resources for students, the administration knew an enrollment decline was on the way.
As a result of the decrease, a tuition loss of $500,000 will have fiscal implications, according to memo released by President H. Edward Flentje last Tuesday. The administration is working to make small cuts in the operating budget to make up for lost tuition revenue, but Williams said budget allocations for student wages will be protected from the reductions. Still, Williams said “the sky is not falling” for ESU. As an institution, he said there is nothing “wrong” with the university. But one of the main factors
See DROPS...Page 2
Out of the Ashes Fire takes everything but hope
K haili S carbrough
scarbrough@esubulletin.com
“It is highly infectious,” Schrock said. “There is a potential for it to be used as a bio weapon. It only takes 10 to 15 bacteria to become infected, usually it takes a much higher dose…but the bacteria is not airborne.” But Hestings said there is nothing to be alarmed about. “People don’t need to be alarmed they just need to be aware that it is here to stay,” Hestings said. Fever, headaches, dry cough and progressive weakness are a few symptoms that appear, usually after three to five days after exposure. “I don’t plan on going around and catching rodents,” said freshman biology major Dalton Whaley. “It doesn’t seem to be that common so I don’t think I would change my daily routine to try to protect myself.” Tularemia can be prevented by wearing insect repellent,
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When his apartment was destroyed two weeks ago by a fire, Tyler Zappia, senior math education major lost everything he owned. But Tuesday night at Flint Hills Lanes, 80 friends and supporters showed up to help Zappia begin to put his life back together. Around $350 was collected to help Zappia cover the expenses incurred by the fire. “I’m shocked – I did not expect this,” Zappia said. “It is amazing what a community can do. It’s been an awful week but it’s just shown me how great helping others is.” The Order of Omega, the group who organized the fundraiser, sponsored the event to show their support for a fellow Greek, said Jack Sampel, senior secondary education social sciences major and president of Order of Omega. “We saw that one of our fellow Greek members needed help,” Sampel said. Sampel said half of the proceeds from the event went directly to Zappia. “Being a part of Greek life has helped a lot,” Zappia said. “Everyone’s been there for me and told me that if I need anything I can come to them. It’s been eye opening to see how many people are there for me. I am so grateful for everyone.” Friends of Zappia filled up the lanes and chairs at the bowling alley as they gathered in support of
Senior math education student Tyler Zappia celebrates with supporters Tuesday night at Flint Hills Lanes. Over $350 was raised for his relief fund. John Henningsen/The Bulletin
the relief effort. “I am here because this is a serious situation and if I were in his shoes, I would expect him to do the same for me and it’s a good cause,” said Mike Vaughn, junior athletic training major. “It kind of shows that in times of need people come together to help out when someone needs it. It definitely reflects well on our community.” Josiah D’Alvini, junior secondary education major, and one of Zappia’s fraternity brothers said that the fraternity has also been working on collecting clothes for Zappia .
But the support Zappia has received has not only been from the Greek community. Kirsten Ford, senior biochemistry and molecular biology major, said that she was there to support him and support the cause. “It was a sad day when he lost all of his stuff so anything that we can do or I can do to help out, I will,” Ford said. Donations may be sent to Emporia State University, c/o Order of Omega, 1200 Commercial Street, Box 4065, Emporia, KS 66801.
Drugs and booze not a problem despite crime report L uke B ohannon bohannon@esubulletin.com
Photo illustration by John Henningsen and Jon Coffey
Drugand liquor related infractions and arrests on campus were greater last year than in previous years, according to the annual fire and safety report released last week. There were 43 accounts of liquor law violations in 2010, 11 more than the previous year’s 32 accounts, and there were 10 drug law arrests, twice the amount of drug arrests in 2009. Burglary and sex crimes were down from previous years. But Chris Hoover, chief of ESU police, said that these numbers do no indicate an actual rise in drug and alcohol problems on campus. “Statistics sometimes don’t really tell the whole story…it’s kind of an ebb and flow with drugs and alcohol,” Hoover said. Hoover said the comparison of the 2010 figures with the 2009 figures could be skewed due to the fact that there were officers injured last year, resulting in fewer traffic stops and “self-initiated activities,” which would lead to fewer arrests being made during that
year. Hoover also discussed the procedure that the Emporia State police follow when dealing with a drug related call in the residence halls. “(The call) sometimes will come from a roommate who’s concerned,” Hoover said. “It may also come from a residence life staff individual. However it comes, we will go over and attempt to contact the person who reported it, gather the information (and) based on our training and experience, we’ll determine, do they have a valid point,” Hoover said. Nathaniel Terrell, chair of sociology, anthropology and crime and delinquency studies, agreed with Hoover in that the statistics in the report do not necessarily indicate a problem at ESU. “(The report) shows that we actually improved,” Terrell said. “We’re a safer campus than we were in 2009.” After examining the statistic which showed that drug related arrests had risen, Terrell said that while the numbers had increased, it was still a very small number when compared to the total population of the university.
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