front» news-art- opinion-sports-edition » 120401

AIDS at home;
World AIDS Day recognized in Friendship Square

by Annie Gannon
argonaut staff

Despite the blistering cold and wind, about 40 people gathered in Friendship Square Saturday in honor of World AIDS Day.
Speakers at the candlelight vigil, sponsored by the Health and Welfare AIDS Regional Planning Council, told the crowd about prevention and understanding.
Father Mark Schumacher from St. Augustine's Catholic Center opened with a prayer followed by Rebecca Rod and Terri Grzebieliski's a cappella singing. The audience sang along while warming themselves with coffee donated by Starbucks.
The event ended in prayer led by the Rev. Joan Montagnes of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of the Palouse.
continue...

by Leah Andrews
assistant news editor

All University of Idaho students must have health insurance starting Fall 2002, UI announced last week.
For the nearly 25 percent of students who do not have insurance already, that could mean a fee increase of nearly $300 a semester to buy insurance from the university. If students already have health insurance, through their parents or otherwise, the changes will not affect their pocketbooks.
"We're changing the way we conduct business in the health arena," said Hal Godwin, UI vice president for Student Affairs.
This requirement is the result of a two-year process that included a hired consultant, surveys and various committees that looked at changing health care on campus.
Health care at the University of Idaho has gotten a bad reputation in the past, but according to ASUI president Leah Clark-Thomas, requiring all students to have health insurance by Fall 2002 might give Student Health a facelift.
continue...

by Wyatt Buchanan
managing editor

Employees of the University of Idaho Student Health Center have filed a $10 million tort claim against UI officials and the university.
The claim makes charges against center Director Stephen Beckley, Vice President for Student Affairs Hal Godwin and the university for conflict of interest with financial gain, misrepresentation and misleading health center staff, emotional abuse and harassment.
The university has not received a copy of the tort claim, according to spokesperson Kathy Barnard.
A tort claim is not a lawsuit, but is a notice that one intends to sue a state agency or political subdivision.
continue...

New York firm to publish UI professor's novel

University of Idaho English Professor Kim Barnes received an early holiday surprise of sorts; her latest literary novel has been accepted by Penguin Putnam Publishing Inc. and is expected to debut on the shelves in late 2002.
The novel, "Goodnight Irene," documents the life of Buddy and his brother Lee, an up-and-coming country western singer, as they move from Oklahoma to Idaho during the 1950s. It's not long before Buddy falls in love with a beautiful and mysterious older woman named Irene.
Barnes received a $100,000 advance for her novel to be edited by Marian Wood, vice president of G.P. Putnam and publisher of Marian Wood Books. The veteran publisher has worked with numerous writers, including Sue Grafton, Hilary Mantel, John Lanchester, Linda Bierds and Daniel Woodrell. Penguin Putnam is one of the largest English-speaking book publishers worldwide.
Barnes is known most notably for her memoirs "Hungry for the World" and "In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country," a runner-up for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize and the Pen/Martha Albrand Award.
continue...

by Lindsay Redifer
argonaut staff

Two prominent religious organizations on the University of Idaho campus share little more than initials.
The Campus Christian Center, also known as the CCC, and Campus Crusade for Christ, known commonly as Crusade, often are confused with one another or seen as the same organization.
Sharon Kehoe, center director, and Ralph Cooley, the minister who leads the UI branch of Crusade, both said they feel their campus presence makes a difference in students' lives. Yet they agree their groups are drastically different.
Kehoe describes the center as a student service, offering resources on many different faiths. Representatives of those faiths are available and willing to discuss the "spiritual journey" with any interested.
continue...

by Bergen d. Torske
argonaut staff

She suddenly felt her body tighten and her throat close. Her muscles felt rigid and pain shot down her chest every time she swallowed. Her heart pounded hard and fast and Sandy Anderson*, a University of Idaho senior, felt a shortness of breath as she struggled to keep her hands and body from trembling.
These sensations had been building for hours, but suddenly were out of her control. She felt like she was having a heart attack, that she was going to die at 21 years old.
"I couldn't breathe or calm down," she said, "and I felt like I was going to die."
Symptoms such as these are typical of anxiety attacks, also known as panic attacks. Sufferers experience an intense feeling throughout their bodies and often go to the emergency room for treatment of a heart attack, said Charles R. Morrison, a licensed psychologist and University of Idaho professor.
"Most people who come to me who describe an anxiety attack say that it has some characteristics of a heart attack and went on for hours," Morrison said. "But it usually lasts anywhere from five to 20 minutes."
continue...

by Amanda Grooms
argonaut staff

Some of the oldest and rarest trees on the University of Idaho campus are getting some deserved attention.
The UI Arboretum Associates have installed a $500 plaque commemorating the nine Camperdown elm trees on the west end of Niccolls Hall on Campus drive. The trees have been on campus for 84 years and are among few of their kind in the Northwest.
The Camperdown elm stands out because of its unusual shape. These trees are often described as "upside down trees" because their weeping branches and knotty trunk are formed by being grafted upwards. Normally, the Camperdown elm grows along the ground like a bush.
Richard Naskali, UI arboretum director, researched the trees back to their early origins in Scotland.
"I'm a hardcore botanist and was once a botany teacher, so I used many different [resources] to research the Camperdown elms. I went to the library and used photo collections, literature searches and the Gem and Argonaut, as well as other newspapers, to establish when they came to the university."
Naskali even traveled to England and Scotland to trace the trees.
continue...