L A W R E N C E
JOURNAL-WORLD
®
75 CENTS
MONDAY • MAY 23 • 2011
Storm chance
High: 84
Low: 64
KU COMMENCEMENT
Tradition, bumped up
Today’s forecast, page 12A
INSIDE KU drops pair to Kansas State Back-to-back losses on the diamond Sunday squashed KU’s hopes of qualifying for next week’s Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City. Page 1B
1 man killed in hardest-hit town: Reading, pop. 250
700 students cap college careers
WORLD
Iceland volcano less disruptive to air travel A volcanic eruption is more forceful but likely far less impactful than the one that grounded planes across Europe last year. Page 7A
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QUOTABLE
It’s this mindset of ‘fix me at any cost, turn back the clock.’” — Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a suburban Philadelphia surgeon, on the proliferation of joint replacement surgeries among aging baby boomers, who expect that bad joints can be swapped out like old tires on a car. Page 7A
COMING TUESDAY
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
SPECTATORS WATCH KATHRYN CRUMB, Blair, Neb., back, and Kirin Arnold, Lawrence, go airborne for a chest bump in the end zone of Kivisto Field — in the fashion of KU football players — during the 2011 commencement Sunday at Memorial Stadium. The event was earlier in the day than it has been in recent years. See more photos on pages 8A and 9A, and a video report at LJWorld.com.
Grads embrace future prospects, memories of time in college By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
Kansas University graduates carried balloons, let the champagne flow and took lots of pictures as they walked through the Campanile and down the hill during Sunday morning’s commencement ceremonies. Carrying a giant green arrow so her parents could easily find her, mechanical engineering student Kayla Dill was still processing the day’s emotions.
By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
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“It hasn’t their college It was the best four hit me yet at days behind all,” Dill said. years of my life. I can’t them. “I’m sure imagine not having met “It was when I’m four years driving out the people that I have.” I’d do of town again,” said — April Bell, a marketing major tomorrow, Betsy Miller, I’m going to an accountcry. But I ing student haven’t thought about that who will go on to the Uniyet. I’m just having fun.” versity of Texas for graduHolding pink balloons ate school. and drinking sparkling Friend April Bell, a marwine, a group of Gamma Phi keting major who is taking a Beta sorority sisters didn’t full-time job in Denver, seem all that ready to put agreed.
“It was the best four years of my life. I can’t imagine not having met the people that I have,” Bell said. “Cue tears.” Britt Beasley had other reasons to celebrate. Instead of a mortarboard, Beasley was adorned in a Boston Red Sox hat, mainly because he’s a die-hard fan and wore a Red Sox hat to most of his classes. “It’s been a long trip,” said Beasley, whose six years of Please see KU, page 8A
It’s never too late: 1969 graduates walk down hill
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran will be in Lawrence today, and we catch up with him and constituents who want to chat with him.
5B-10B 11A 12A, 2B 11B 5A 10A 11B 1B-4B, 12B 5A, 2B, 11B 40 pages
When Gary McClelland was asked to be the keynote speaker for Saturday’s University Honors Program, he agreed to do so under one condition: that he and his wife, Lou, walk down the hill during Kansas University’s commencement ceremonies. It was a memory-mak-
ing experience the two had missed 42 years ago. “We finished finals, got married and left immediately for a research trip,” Lou said of the circumstances that prevented the couple from taking part in graduation ceremonies in 1969. Both psychology majors, the two were headed to Micronesia to study the rapid cultivation and social change of the region as their classmates officially graduated.
R E A D I N G ( A P ) — A tornado swept through a small eastern Kansas town, killing one person and destroying at least 20 homes, as severe thunderstorms pelted the region with hail that some residents described as the size of baseballs, authorities said Sunday. Kansas Division of Emergency Management spokeswoman Sharon Watson identified the victim as Don Chesmore, 53, of Reading. He was in a mobile home that flipped over Saturday Joplin, Mo., night. He was suffered taken to a hospital severe in Emporia, where damage he was pro- from a tornado on nounced dead. Five others were Sunday. injured but none of More than those injuries 20 people were considered were killed. Page 2A life-threatening, Watson said. She did not have details on their injuries or know whether they all were hospitalized. About 200 homes and buildings were damaged in and around the town of about 250 people, Watson said. The local post office and volunteer fire department were damaged, and all roads in and out of the town have been closed off. Reading is about 50 miles south of Topeka. The tornado was reported about 9:15 p.m. Saturday, Watson said. It was classified Sunday as an EF3, with winds ranging up to 165 mph, said National Weather Service meteorologist George Phillips. Fields around the town of Reading were littered with sections of aluminum, insulation and papers. A tractor stood alone in a field, the building that surrounded it demolished. A large board pierced the wall of a home that was missing its roof and windows. A pile of stones was all that was left of another building. Outside, some people were starting to clean up the debris, utility crews were fixing downed lines and law enforcement officers were taking pictures to document the damage. One family sat on their front porch looking at what the storm had done. Next door, their neighbor’s mature cedar tree had been toppled. The sheriff told residents to leave the community at 6 p.m. Sunday because most of the town lacked power. Residents working on their homes were later allowed to stay overnight, but were given a 9 p.m. curfew.
“Really, we were too cool,” Gary said. It’s an attitude that has changed since Gary became involved in the graduation traditions at Colorado University, where he is a psychology professor and Lou is the director of institutional analysis. The two also have established an endowment for honors students Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo working with faculty at Please see READING, page 2A KU. During the honors GRADUATING IN 1969 but missing program, they were made commencement that year, Lou and Gary McClelland finally got to walk ● Debris from Reading found Please see '69 GRADS, page 9A down the hill Sunday. in Lawrence. Page 3A
Clinical trial gives cancer patient personal stake in research By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org
State assesses tornado damage ——
BAKER UNIVERSITY
Baker University conducted its commencement ceremonies on Sunday, with degrees conferred on more than 700 graduates. Page 3A
LJWorld.com
On Labor Day weekend, 39year-old Tammie Riccardo received a devastating phone call from her doctor. She had breast cancer — the same disease her mother died from at age 50. “Cancer. The word is so little, but it’s a scary word,” Riccardo said. She was found to have a BRCA mutation that helped explain the multiple breast and ovarian cancers in her mother’s side of the family. Her aunts, uncles and cousins also have fought the disease. That’s why Riccardo — a wife and mother of three young chil-
dren — agreed to participate in a nationwide clinical trial at Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Oncology Center. “It might help somebody else,” she said. As part of the trial, Riccardo had intense chemotherapy treatments every Tuesday from October to March to reduce the size of her 2-inch tumor. The medications weren’t new, but the combinations were. She is one of 215 people enrolled in the study. “She had an outstanding response,” said Jodi Carlson, research coordinator at LMH
Oncology Center. The goal was to shrink the tumor and then remove it during surgery. When she had surgery, there were no residual tumors left. Riccardo opted for a double mastectomy, hysterectomy and having her ovaries removed during a four-hour surgery this spring because of her high risk for cancer. Once healed from the surgery, she had 15-minute radiation treatments every weekday for six weeks. Her last one was May 17. She continues to go to Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo physical therapy and plans to TAMMIE RICCARDO, 39, Lawrence, exercises during a have breast reconstruction. therapy session with occupational therapist Dana White “It’s been a long road for me,” at Kreider Rehabilitation Services South, 3510 Clinton she said. Place. Riccardo was recently a participant in a breast cancer clinical trial at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Please see CLINICAL, page 4A