Many families still depend on drilled or dug wells for water with pumping systems above ground or the frost line.
“For these systems, it’s important to keep the well safe and operating through the winter,” reminded Ben Frech.
Buried deep underground well systems provide protection from the cold. “But above ground well pump systems should be insulated and warm,” according to the National Ground Water Association official.
A small, insulated enclosure covering the pump will help reduce the risk of freezing and other damage.
“This ‘well house’ helps ensure the well operates during freezing weather and saves thousands of dollars in repairs,” Frech said.
As water freezes, it expands and can burst pipes, leading to significant damage to homes and wells. While frozen pipes are a common winter issue, they can be avoided with certain precautions.
“Turn off exterior water and blow out the pipes, “Frech said. Many homes
have shut-off valves for its exterior water supply which should be turned off to outside systems and faucets.”
For houses with piping that runs through non-heated spaces like basements, insulating pipes is recommended. “Wrapping pipes with rubber casings or fiberglass insulation can keep their temperature above freezing and the water flowing,” Frech said.
“This is a great time to do a general inspection of your water system and piping,” the water official continued. “Spotting a problem in the water system now prevents a costly problem this winter.”
Fall is an excellent time to test well water quality. “The best practice for all water well owners is to have the water tested once per year,” Frech encouraged.
Little can be done to prevent winter power outages, but it is possible to still have a water supply.
“Always have a portable gas generator and plenty of gas to connect to the pumping system,” Frech suggested.
Families are encouraged to stock up on bottled water before the winter so there’s drinking water during a power outage.
Water Well Systems Need Attention Now For Cold Winter Protection
KU News: Flint water crisis affected timing of pediatric lead testing but not quantity, study finds
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]
Flint water crisis affected timing of pediatric lead testing but not quantity, study finds
LAWRENCE – The word “plumber” comes from the Latin word for the metal “lead.”
But lead coupled with pipes that transport drinking water makes a terrible combination … and one which resulted in the Flint water crisis, among other similar public health hazards.
“Lead is a neurotoxicant that builds up in the body over long-term exposure, with children especially vulnerable to its negative effects,” said David Slusky, a professor of economics at the University of Kansas.
“Too often, parents and care providers do not learn of such an exposure until a child receives a lead test showing elevated levels of lead in blood. Early-in-life lead testing together with remediation of potential lead contaminations allows early detection of exposure and prevents further harm.”
Slusky’s new article titled “Blood Lead Testing in Flint Before and After Water Contamination” reveals how, despite a highly publicized lead advisory, children in Flint, Michigan, who were enrolled in Medicaid received lead tests earlier but the proportion of Medicaid-eligible children who were tested did not change. His research advocates focusing on primary prevention to reduce lead exposure. It appears in Pediatrics.
Such exposure can introduce cardiovascular problems, high blood pressure and developmental impairment affecting sexual maturity and the nervous system. Evidence suggests eliminating lead pipes would yield benefits for generations.
Co-written by Derek Jenkins of Rice University, Daniel Grossman of West Virginia University and Shooshan Danagoulian of Wayne State University, Slusky’s study uses the complete set of Medicaid claims data for individuals born in Michigan between 2013 and 2015, linked to their birth record data containing maternal census block of residence during pregnancy. The data allowed the researchers to identify children who did not have any lead test claims. The resulting data set tracked 206,001 children.
“While the particular circumstances of this study are specific to Michigan, lead is present in homes across the nation, especially in older homes and cities with older infrastructure,” said Slusky, who also has an appointment in the Department of Population Health in the KU School of Medicine.
He explained that at the time of the Flint water crisis, an investigation found approximately 3,000 localities across the U.S. with lead poisoning rates more than double those in Flint. Although the benefits of lead testing are universal (and required for those enrolled in most Medicaid programs at ages 12 and 24 months), compliance is low. Nearly half of children on Medicaid have not received a test by age 13 months.
However, once news of the crisis broke, parents in Flint were galvanized into action. The percentage of children on Medicaid receiving a lead test in the months after September 2015 jumped from a baseline of about 3% to about 5% after the announcement by Flint officials, and to a high of about 13% when former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency in January 2016.
“What surprised us most was that these higher rates of testing did not persist after these announcements,” Slusky said. “It’s really hard to make long-term changes in behavior. All the changes we measure came from kids getting their first lead test earlier, and not kids getting a test who wouldn’t have otherwise received it.”
A KU faculty member since 2015, Slusky specializes in health economics and labor economics. He has written extensively on this current subject, including the pieces “Impacts of Lead Exposure on Health, Fertility and Education” and “The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on Fertility.”
Is it inevitable that we will witness another lead-related crisis like the one in Flint?
“We already have,” Slusky said, citing Newark, New Jersey, in 2016 and Jackson, Mississippi, this year.
“While the $15 billion in the 2021 infrastructure bill to replace lead service lines will help, it is probably not enough to replace all the lines in the country. Nor will it address other sources of lead in the home such as traces of old lead paint,” he said. “Focusing on prevention and mitigation of lead outbreaks can therefore make a big difference in reducing both the scale of future crises and the level of harm to exposed children.”
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KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
KU News: Law Review Symposium to explore the evolving laws of parenting
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
Law Review Symposium to explore the evolving laws of parenting
LAWRENCE – On Nov. 15, the 2022 Kansas Law Review Symposium will host a panel of scholars from across the country to examine legal reforms that could improve outcomes for the children of America’s modern families. “Parents and the ‘Modern’ Family: What Do the Evolving Laws of Parenting Mean for Children and the Rest of Us?” will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Kansas School of Law in Green Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
University Dance Company announces performances for fall concert
LAWRENCE — The University Dance Company Fall Concert will explore love, community and self-discovery through professionally choreographed works in ballet, hip hop and contemporary dance at the University of Kansas later this month. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-12 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre at Murphy Hall, with livestream options available for the Nov. 11 and Nov. 13 performances. Kansas students participating in the fall concerts are from Argonia, Hesston, Kingman, Lawrence, Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park, Shawnee, Topeka and Wichita.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Margaret Hair, School of Law, 785-864-9205, [email protected], @kulawschool
Law Review Symposium to explore the evolving laws of parenting
LAWRENCE – How do laws that protect, regulate, or otherwise imagine parenting affect the rights of children and childhood outcomes?
On Nov. 15, the 2022 Kansas Law Review Symposium will host a panel of scholars from across the country to respond to that question and propose legal reforms to improve outcomes for the children of America’s modern families.
“Parents and the ‘Modern’ Family: What Do the Evolving Laws of Parenting Mean for Children and the Rest of Us?” will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Kansas School of Law in Green Hall. Check-in and breakfast will open at 8:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Register and preview the complete symposium schedule on the KU Law website.
Speakers include:
1. Keynote Speaker: Catherine Smith, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver
2. Gillian Chadwick, Washburn University School of Law
3. Sacha Coupet, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
4. Melanie Daily, University of Kansas School of Law
5. Neoshia Roemer, University of Idaho College of Law
6. Charisa Kiyô Smith, CUNY School of Law
Speakers will discuss topics including the role of parents in preserving democracy, parenting and the Ninth Amendment, and “the noncitizen parent trap.”
Scholarship associated with the symposium will be published in a spring 2023 issue of the Kansas Law Review. For more information, contact Doug Bartel, symposium editor, at [email protected].
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Contact: Lisa Coble-Krings, Department of Theatre & Dance, 785-864-5685, [email protected], @KUTheatre, @KUDanceDept
University Dance Company announces performances for fall concert
LAWRENCE — The University Dance Company Fall Concert will explore love, community and self-discovery through professionally choreographed works in ballet, hip hop and contemporary dance at the University of Kansas later this month.
“The students and choreographers are thrilled to be working in person again and are excited to present our newest dances,” said James Moreno, associate professor of dance and UDC Fall Concert producer.
Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-12 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre at Murphy Hall. Tickets can be reserved at dance.ku.edu, by calling 785-864-3982, or in person noon-5 p.m. weekdays at the box office in Murphy Hall. Additionally, the Nov. 11 and 13 performances will be livestreamed; online tickets required and are available at dance.ku.edu/streaming.
The concert’s finale is choreographed by Kristopher Estes-Brown, an award-winning creator who was in residency at KU earlier this fall. He’s debuting his modern/contemporary work “Shade of a Shadow,” which was inspired by a line in the Mary Elizabeth Coleridge poem “The Other Side of a Mirror” and set to cinematic music he composed specifically for this production.
Department of Theatre & Dance faculty choreographers are Ashley Brittingham, James Moreno and Maya Tillman-Rayton. Brittingham has provided original choreography for her student performers as they enact scenes from “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky. Moreno’s work, “Five Pieces about a Future,” features spoken word and choreography contributions by his cast and assistant director Mio Yoshizaki, doctoral student in women, gender & sexuality studies. Tillman-Rayton’s hip hop ensemble turns it up with moves that speak to love of community and community building. The Jayhawk Tap Co. debuts several quick and impressive pieces interspersed between those works.
Knox McClendon, a senior in theatre design, is serving as costume designer. Dave Wanner, a longtime staff member and the department’s scene shop manager, is the scenic designer. Ann Sitzman, technical coordinator and lecturer in the department, is the lighting designer.
Student performers (Kansas):
Student dancers performing in the UDC Fall Concert include McKenna Bizal, a sophomore in psychology and dance from Overland Park; Morgan Blanton, a sophomore in dance from Wichita; Hope Casner, a junior in exercise science and dance from Argonia; Johnny Dinh Phan, a senior in biochemistry and dance from Overland Park; Sydney Ebner, a junior in dance from Shawnee; Allay Freeman, a senior in philosophy from Overland Park; Sophia Harrison, a freshman in dance from Topeka; Anna Hastings, a senior in dance from Olathe; Lucie Lane, a sophomore in elementary education from Overland Park; Megan Londeen, a senior in strategic communications and East Asian studies from Kingman; Sadie Lucier, a senior in anthropology from Shawnee, Braedyn McBroom, a senior in atmospheric science from Wichita; Mahika Meesa, a freshman in political science from Overland Park; Audrey Merckling, a sophomore in film & media studies from Lenexa; Olly Mitchell, a sophomore in theatre from Wichita; Katherine Noll, a freshman in information systems from Overland Park; Hayley Robinson, a junior in dance from Overland Park; Madison Seelye, a freshman in dance and business from Lawrence; Anna Shelton, a sophomore in dance from Hesston; and Olivia Taylor, a senior in exercise science from Lenexa.
See a complete list of student performers online.
Choreographers and behind the scenes:
A composer, choreographer, director and teacher, Kristopher Estes-Brown is the founder and artistic director of Concept Zero, a contemporary music and dance company that serves as the ground floor for his multimedia productions, which blend original music, dance, video and stagecraft. He danced professionally for companies across the United States including Milwaukee Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet and Eugene Ballet. From there, he developed his own choreography style that is the intersection of movement, music and storytelling. His stage works have been performed across the nation by numerous dance companies. The Kansas City-based choreographer won the Monticello Award from Regional Dance America in 2005, and his choreography can be found in the Sundance Short Film “Crude Oil.” As a composer, Estes-Brown has composed scores for new theatre and dance productions nationwide.
Ashley Brittingham, a professional ballerina, choreographer and educator, has performed throughout the United States and Europe in nearly every full-length classical ballet and many neoclassical and contemporary works by the world’s leading choreographers. She has trained with and been coached by the world’s premier experts in classical ballet instruction. At the University of Oklahoma, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet and toured with the Oklahoma Festival Ballet. Brittingham later joined Tulsa Ballet under the direction of Marcello Angelini. She has received numerous awards, including the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awardee in dance and musical theatre and was a semifinalist in the 2002 International Ballet Competition, one of the world’s largest ballet competitions. Her choreographic work has been performed by numerous dance and theatre companies. She is a full-time lecturer in the department and associate producer of the University Dance Company Fall Concert.
James Moreno is a choreographer and dance studies/performance studies scholar. His current research examines how we use everyday movement techniques to perform our cultural identities and how we position our identities within continuums of authenticity. His ethnographic fieldwork for this research is being conducted in Mexican American communities in Chicago. Interviews from this fieldwork will form the basis of the dance-theatre piece on Mexican American cultural identity scheduled for winter 2023/24. Moreno holds a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University and is the author of “Dances of José Limon and Erick Hawkins” (Routledge, 2020).
Maya Tillman-Rayton is in her sixth year as a lecturer of the Hip Hop Fundamentals class and first year as a full-time lecturer. She will be debuting a new work at the 2023 KC Fringe Festival titled “Stingy Lulu’s Jumping Juke Joint.” Her works have previously been shown at KC Fringe Festival and at National Dance Week KC. Her dance teaching career spans 15 years in Lawrence and Kansas City communities, earning several choreography and entertainment awards. She is also a two-time scholarship recipient from Monsters of Hip Hop dance conventions and a co-founding member of the House of Dragons. The KU alumna served as Unity Dance Crew president from 2001-2003 when she was a student.
Knox McClendon is a senior majoring in theatre design. They also designed costumes for the University Dance Company Spring 2022 Concert. In addition to honing their skills as a designer, McClendon works as a costume assistant in the department’s costume studio. They are the Glenn Bickle Award and Stephanie Ann Smith Memorial Scholarship recipient for the 2022-23 year.
Ann Sitzman is the technical coordinator and lecturer for the department. Her lighting design credits include “Head Over Heels,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Spring Awakening,” “Company” and “Picnic.” She was also lighting co-designer for the Kansas Repertory Theatre productions of “La Cage aux Folles” and “The Legend of Georgia McBride.” She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at KU and master’s degree in lighting design from SUNY Purchase College in New York. She spent a few years working off-Broadway on shows including Woody Harrelson’s “Bullet for Adolf” with Jen Schriever and “On the Head of a Pin” with Zach Pizza at 59E59. Since returning to Kansas in 2013, she has worked as assistant lighting designer for David Grill and Kirk Bookman at the Kansas City Ballet and lighting designer/production electrician for Harvest Productions.
Dave Wanner has been the University Theatre scene shop manager since 1996 after earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Emporia State University. He was the lighting designer for the University Theatre productions of “The Ugly Duckling,” “Temptation” and “Pastiche” and scenic designer for “The Devils Between Us,” “Electra,” “Metamorphoses” “Pooter McGraw Is Not Dead Party,” “Tomato Plant Girl” and “Wonderful Time/The Brides.”
The University Dance Company’s Spring 2022 Concert is supported in part by KU Student Senate. The University Dance Company is a production wing of KU’s Department of Theatre & Dance. For more information about the University Dance Company, visit dance.ku.edu.
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KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
KU News: Notable Ukrainian poet will give talk Nov. 6 in Lawrence
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk will give talk for KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies will welcome an esteemed Ukrainian poet for the 2022 annual Palij Lecture on Nov. 6. Lyuba Yakimchuk will present “Ball and Chain: Russian Culture Invasion of Ukraine” from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania St. The event is free and open to the public.
New book shares struggles, successes of transnational students training as English teachers
LAWRENCE — Making it through higher education and graduate school can feel like navigating a foreign country. Thousands of students from around the world are making that journey in the United States, pursuing a degree while learning in an additional language. A new book from University of Kansas authors documents the stories of these students studying in the United States to be English teachers and suggests how their stories can improve education for others.
Kansas Geological Survey map of Miami County wins award
LAWRENCE — A new geologic map of Miami County published by the Kansas Geological Survey received an Excellence in Cartography award at the world’s largest conference dedicated to geographic information system (GIS) technology. Judges from the International Cartographic Association and the International Map Industry Association chose the winners from more than 600 maps displayed in the conference’s map gallery. “Surficial Geology of Miami County, Kansas” is available online.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Megan Luttrell, KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, [email protected], @KUCREES
Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk will give talk for KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies will welcome an esteemed Ukrainian poet for the 2022 annual Palij Lecture on Nov. 6. Lyuba Yakimchuk will present “Ball and Chain: Russian Culture Invasion of Ukraine” from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania St. The event is free and open to the public.
In her talk, Yakimchuk will explain how what is currently happening in Ukraine is not just a war, but the spread of archaic Russian culture all over Ukraine. She will examine how Russian cultural tradition affects Ukrainian culture during the ongoing war, how the Ukrainian and Russian languages are changing in Ukraine, why profanity is no longer taboo and the ways that language changes affect poetry. Her talk is about culture as a part of war and politics.
Yakimchuk recently performed with John Legend at the 2022 Grammy Awards. She is the author of several full-length poetry collections, including “Like FASHION” and “Apricots of Donbas,” as well as the film script for “The Building of the Word.”
Yakimchuk’s awards include the International Slavic Poetic Award and the international “Coronation of the Word” literary contest. Her writing has appeared in magazines around the world and has been translated into 11 languages.
She performs in a musical and poetic duet with the Ukrainian double-bass player Mark Tokar; their projects include “Apricots of Donbas” and “Women, Smoke, and Dangerous Things.” Her poetry has been performed by Mariana Sadovska (Cologne) and improvised by vocalist Olesya Zdorovetska (Dublin).
Yakimchuk also works as a cultural manager. In 2012 she organized the “Semenko Year” project dedicated to the Ukrainian futurists, and she curated the 2015 literary program Cultural Forum “Donkult” (2015). She was a scholar in the “Gaude Polonia” program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Poland). In 2015, Kiev’s New Time magazine listed Yakimchuk among the 100 most influential people of culture in Ukraine.
This talk is made possible by the Palij Family Fund, which brings the world’s leading experts in Ukrainian studies to Lawrence.
For more information about CREES or Yakimchuk’s presentation, visit crees.ku.edu.
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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings
New book shares struggles, successes of transnational students training as English teachers
LAWRENCE — Making it through higher education and graduate school can feel like navigating a foreign country. Thousands of students from around the world are making that journey in the United States, pursuing a degree while learning in an additional language. A new book from University of Kansas authors documents the stories of these students studying in the United States to be English teachers and suggests how their stories can improve education for others.
“Transnational Language Teacher Identities in TESOL: Identity Construction Among Female International Students in the U.S.” follows the stories of 13 women studying to be teachers of English to speakers of other languages at universities across the country. Their experiences with sexism, racism and assumptions about their supposed linguistic deficiencies made for challenging times but helped lead to recommendations on appreciating the value such unique students bring to the table.
“All of us are former international students, so we wanted to discuss the unique experience we had in American higher education,” said Hyesun Cho, associate professor of curriculum & teaching at KU and the book’s lead author. “In the book we use the term transnational students instead of international students. It indicates more complex, fluid and ‘in-between’ identities of people who cross borders and are not just foreign sojourners in one other country. We wanted to demonstrate the wide range of experiences and diverse goals of these students.”
The book, published by Routledge, was co-written with Reem Al-Samiri, of the University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Junfu Gao of Nova Southeastern University. Al-Samiri and Gao are former doctoral students of the TESOL program in curriculum & teaching.
The text establishes that transnational students are not a monolith. They come from countries around the world with a wealth of language and life experiences. Some are parents with established professional careers who will continue to work in the United States, while others return to their native countries or work abroad. The enrollment number of these students is expected to increase as pandemic-induced international travel restrictions are lifted. At KU alone, there are roughly 1,700 transnational students from 110 countries, Cho said.
The 13 participants in the book hailed from China, Japan, Korea and Saudi Arabia and learned English as a foreign language in their home country. The Saudi students had completed their graduate studies and returned to careers in their home country, while the others were still in U.S. graduate programs at the time of their interviews. All were studying teaching English to speakers of other languages, or TESOL, and several are now working in the United States. While education was what brought them to American institutions, it was far from their only concern.
“One of the eye-opening experiences for our participants was about their identity shift. They grew up with a majority identity in their home countries. And when they came to the United States, they had a minority identity imposed on them by others,” Cho said. “They felt marginalized because of their language backgrounds. Along with racism and sexism, there were assumptions about their language skills not being sufficient for graduate studies and teaching English. But they challenged those reductionist labels in their stories.”
In addition to sharing their experiences, the book examines how the students navigated intersectional identities and were able to use their experiences to their advantage. Several of the students were mothers, and what they learned from having their children in the American school system provided lessons they could use in their own work as future educators. Also, their experiences with largely Eurocentric curriculum often fed a desire to help diversify educational offerings, both in higher education and in K-12 schools. “Transnational Language Teacher Identities” discusses how the students are making that goal happen as TESOL teachers, higher education faculty, policymakers and administrators, both in the United States and in their home nations.
Several of the book’s participants reported being overlooked for graduate teaching positions because it was assumed their English was not sufficient to work with American students. Those who did get the opportunity uniformly reported how beneficial it was for them. Such opportunities are not only beneficial for the future teachers by providing them with real-life teaching experience but can be good for the students in the classroom as well, who learn from a diverse body of teachers with a wealth of diverse perspectives, Cho said.
That shared experience leads to the book’s recommendation for universities to form more partnerships with K-12 schools to provide student teaching experiences for transnational higher ed students. Cho, Al-Samiri and Gao make several other recommendations as well, for higher education faculty, administrators and policymakers. Among them, faculty should view transnational students as assets with a wealth of diverse experience who can enrich classes at all levels and should not be viewed as deficits or liabilities. University administrations could help by diversifying faculty who share similar life experiences with transnational students and by providing more social support as well, such as affordable child care on campus.
“As faculty, we must resist labeling transnational students just as ‘foreign students’ and assuming they’re all the same, or on similar career paths,” Cho said. “We should also provide opportunities for them to share their experiences with us to strengthen our educational curriculum and instruction. We need to make sure no one is excluded in learning and contest the deficit-oriented rhetoric in higher education. That was something all of our participants were very passionate about.”
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Contact: John Dunham, Kansas Geological Survey, [email protected]
Kansas Geological Survey map of Miami County wins award
LAWRENCE — A new geologic map of Miami County published by the Kansas Geological Survey received an Excellence in Cartography award at the world’s largest conference dedicated to geographic information system (GIS) technology.
A panel of judges from two mapping organizations — the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the International Map Industry Association (IMIA) — selected “Surficial Geology of Miami County, Kansas” as one of two recipients of the Excellence in Cartography award at the 2022 Esri International User Conference. The winners were chosen from more than 600 maps displayed in the conference’s map gallery.
In addition, the map has been selected to appear in Esri Map Book, Volume 38, to be released in July at the 2023 Esri International User Conference.
John Dunham, KGS Cartographic Services manager, performed the computer compilation, editing and cartographic work on the Miami County map. Former KGS student employees Emily Bunse, Sarah Child, Hillary Crabb, Dustin Fross, Richard Jarvis and Charity Phillips-Lander assisted in digital data compilation and map layout. KGS geologists Anthony Layzell, K. David Newell, Stephan Oborny and Rolfe Mandel mapped the geology.
GIS is a system in which all types of geographic information is collected, interpreted, managed and displayed using specialized computer software. GIS data is used regularly in cartography, or map making. For example, the Miami County map displays newly acquired geologic data as well as data from several other sources, including surface elevations, contour lines, and the location and dimension of creeks, lakes, towns, roads, airports and quarries. It represents the first detailed geologic mapping of the area since 1966.
About 15,000 professionals from various industries attended the Esri International User Conference in July in San Diego sponsored by Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute), a private company that produces GIS software and GIS-related web applications and data.
The Kansas Geological Survey is a nonregulatory research and service division of the University of Kansas. KGS researchers study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, rocks and minerals, and earthquakes.
“Surficial Geology of Miami County, Kansas” is available online.
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KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
What a Trying Time
What a trying summer and fall it has been. This is a time that is especially important to landscape plants as we move into the winter months. Our soils are dry, so watering now is important to help alleviate moisture stress.
A good, deep watering with moisture reaching at least a foot down into the soil is much better than several light sprinklings that just wet the top portions of the soil. A deep watering will help ensure that the majority of roots have access to water. Regardless of the watering method used, soil should be wet at least 12 inches deep. Use a metal rod, wooden dowel, electric fence post or something similar to check depth. Dry soil is much harder to push through than wet.
Although all perennial plants benefit from moist soils before winter, it is especially important for newly planted trees and shrubs due to limited root systems. Even trees and shrubs planted within the last 2 to 3 years are more sensitive to drought than a well-established plant. Evergreens are also more at risk because moisture is lost from the foliage.
Trees or shrubs planted within the last year can be watered inexpensively with a 5-gallon bucket. Drill a small hole (1/8″) in the side of the bucket near the bottom. Fill the bucket and let the water dribble out slowly next to the tree. Refill the bucket once more, and you have applied 10 gallons. Very large transplanted trees and trees that were transplanted two to three years ago will require more water.
A perforated soaker hose is a good way to water a newly established bed or foundation plantings. However, soaker hoses are notorious for non-uniform watering. In other words, you often receive too much water from one part of the hose and not enough from another. Hooking both the beginning and the end of the soaker hose to a Y-adapter helps equalize the pressure and therefore provide a more uniform watering. The specific parts you need include the soaker hose, Y-adapter and female to female connector. It is also helpful if the Y-adapter has shut off valves so the volume of flow can be controlled. Too high a flow rate can allow water to run off rather than soak in.
On larger trees, the soaker hose can circle the trunk at a distance within the dripline of the tree but at least ½ the distance to the dripline. The dripline of the tree is outermost reach of the branches. On smaller trees, you may circle the tree several times so that only soil which has tree roots will be watered.
If using a soaker hose, note the time watering was started. Check frequently to determine the amount of time it takes for water to reach 12 inches. From then on, you can water “by the clock.” Use a kitchen oven timer so you remember to move the hose or shut off the faucet. If you are seeing surface runoff, reduce the flow, or build a berm with at least a 4-foot diameter around the base of the tree to allow the water to percolate down through the soil, instead of spreading out.
If we have a normal winter, watering once before spring should be adequate. However, if the winter is warm and dry, watering once a month may be needed.
