REVIEW: “Wrath of the Titans” offers great visuals but fails to impress

March 30, 2012

By Ben Markley

(WARNING: The following review contains spoilers.)

We all know someone just like “Wrath of the Titans” – gorgeous face, flawless figure, graceful poise and absolutely nothing going on upstairs.

Let me say right off the bat that I didn’t see “Clash of the Titans,” so I have no way of comparing the two, though several people at the theater said “Wrath” was better than its predecessor. As one gentleman eloquently put it, “It sucked differently than the last movie.”

Visually, “Wrath of the Titans” is by far one of the best films I’ve seen in 3D. There are shots in the film that would make James Cameron wet himself. The 3D gives the whole film, from the action to the landscape, beautiful texture and depth.

Unfortunately, the kind of depth missing from this movie can’t be remedied with 3D glasses.

“Wrath” centers on Perseus (Sam Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), who has given up the life of a god to raise his son. However, Perseus is forced back into the life of a warrior when Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Édgar Ramírez) betray and capture Zeus to awaken Kronos, the wrathful titan to which the title refers.

Besides the fact that Ovid and Homer are rolling in their graves right now, “Wrath” blatantly puts action before story, characters and themes.

For instance, Perseus (who’s about as dimensioned as a stick figure) spends a combined total of about an hour of the film fighting the Chimera, Cyclopes, Minotaur, Ares and Kronos in different scenes.

At the end of the film, Perseus kisses his ally Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) in what might be the single-most underdeveloped romantic subplot I’ve ever seen. There’s no sexual tension, no heart-to-heart, nothing leading up to this kiss. The only reason I can imagine is that Andromeda is one of three women that speaks in the whole movie, and she’s the most attractive.

Maybe if the writers had cut the completely unnecessary battles with the Cyclopes and Minotaur, we’d have more time to actually develop this relationship, but “Wrath” makes its priorities clear.

The acting problems with the film don’t really come from poor acting. The “Titans” series is Neeson and Fiennes’ second pair-up on the silver screen, the first being “Schindler’s List,” the American Film Institute’s eighth greatest American movie. This is not a case of poor actors, just a bad screenplay.

Granted, it has its moments. Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), who guides Perseus to the underworld, is a major point of redemption for the screenplay; he’s perplexing, charming and surprisingly dimensioned given the little time he has on screen. Agenor (Toby Kebbell), a demigod trickster that joins Perseus on his journey, also provides some genuine comedy, though he’s suspiciously reminiscent of a sobered-up, Greek Jack Sparrow. Maybe the writers should have written an action comedy and left “Wrath” to someone else.

When the credits roll, “Wrath’s” biggest failure is that I walk away totally indifferent to everything that just happened. It left me with a ton of action and nothing to contemplate. If I’d wanted that viewing experience, I could’ve watched SportsCenter highlights.

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

“Wrath of the Titans” is now in theaters. For showtimes in Overland Park, click here.

Do you disagree with this review? Let us know – post a comment with your opinion of the film.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: “Uber-prepared:” Model U.N. team attends national conference in New York City

March 30, 2012

By Julius Williams

Brian Wright, professor of political science, and the college’s Model United Nations team recently hosted students from China’s Northwestern Polytechnic University in preparation for the national conference beginning today in New York City.

Eleven students from Xian, China joined our students to participate in a mock debate and training session. Chen Jiexiu and Yu Huah were two of the students involved and were excited about the conference.

“We are here to make the most out of the experience,” said Jiexiu. “We get to practice our communication skills and learn diplomacy.”

Joseph Gideon, former president of the team and current member, said that the purpose of the training was to re-familiarize the delegates with the rules of formal debate. Gideon hails originally from Aledo, Texas, a town with a population of 250 people.

“My graduating class was eight,” Gideon said. “It was an extremely conservative place. Growing up there you don’t learn a lot about international affairs or diplomacy. Working with the Model U.N. team has expanded my worldview.”

Gideon credits the Model U.N. with making him a better leader and better manager at his job.It’s this kind of experience and exposure that Linda Makau, an exchange student from Kenya hopes to gain from participating in the program.

“I’ve always been interested in the program,” Makau said. “Getting the exposure, building my confidence and getting used to speaking in front of people.”

The team will be representing the Republic of Kenya at the national conference. They will debate economic and political issues as well as some of the social and environmental problems facing the African nation. One such issue will be how climate change and the resulting desertification of Kenya’s natural habitats is affecting its wildlife and tourism business.

The team has earned numerous awards over the years and national recognition, which according to Gideon is because of Wright’s excellent leadership.

“We are competing against universities like Yale,” Gideon said. “And we always win awards because we spend a lot of time learning our countries but also the rules of debate. Some other schools may know the right information about their country, but they don’t know the rules of procedure.”

Gideon said that the team wins awards because they are well informed and well prepared. The team is, as he likes to call them, “uber-prepared.”

The national Model U. N. conference will be held at the United Nations building in New York City, today through April 6.

Contact Julius Williams, staff reporter, at jwilli78@stumail.jccc.edu.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Kony 2012’s goals not invisible: future programs aim to aid children

March 29, 2012

Invisible Children sold merchandise at the screening of "Kony 2012." Proceeds benefited the organization directly. Photos by Mackenzie Clark

By Adam Lignell

Invisible Children members arrived on campus Monday to make a relatively unseen war criminal famous, although some students have mixed feelings about the results.

Their film “Kony 2012” featured Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (L.R.A.) who kidnap and force children to kill.

Thiago Viamna, a student who related the Invisible Children’s events to that of the blood diamonds in Sierra Leone knew he had to act.

“I really got shocked and I really wanted to do something – at least something to help them.” Viamna said. “It’s a really complicated situation.”

Regardless of its complexity, the film has put a spotlight on Kony’s actions.

“I got really surprised about how such a person can do such terrible things with other people,” Viamna said.

Student Nima Amirshahpar thinks that people should keep a worldview approach.

“There are so many other things like this going on,” Amirshahpar said. “Just taking out this Kony guy – you’ve gotta go further than that.”

Former L.R.A. soldier known as Lawrence now dons Invisible Children gear and shares his story in hopes of stopping Joseph Kony.

Invisible Children members Andrew Whitmer and former Ugandan L.R.A. member Lawrence spoke against the criticisms of their group and gave new supporters advice.

In 2006, Whitmer said he became involved in Invisible Children after seeing the film himself.

“Kony is the one that we’re going after, but even if we do get him it’s not guaranteed that it’ll end immediately,” Whitmer said. “So we are going to continue to pressure for the arrest of the L.R.A. commanders.”

According to Whitmer, the real work begins after Kony is captured.

“That’s when a lot of the development, education and economic programs that we did in Uganda, we’re going to spread those into the other countries affected by the L.R.A.,” Whitmer said.

Lawrence joined Invisible Children in 2008, and focuses on future plans while hunting for Kony.

“The rehabilitation center, which is targeting [L.R.A. members] who are actually defecting – they will regroup,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence and Whitmer confirmed that the L.R.A. effected families can be rehabilitated.

Lawrence explained that a radio network is being built along L.R.A. effected villages.

“The radio tower’s network is quite a unique one because we have several of them in this community that have been affected by the L.R.A.,” Lawrence said. “We send [the rebel army] peace messages.”

Interested students have quite a few ways to become involved as well.

“Engage representatives with Congress and Senate because they are the people who can make a really big impact,” Whitmer said.

Two bills supporting the US to stop the L.R.A. passed last week due to these actions.

Jason Russell, one of Invisible Children’s co-founders who has created many of the programs to rebuild African communities, was recently detained by San Diego police after undergoing a public outburst involving possible vandalism and blocking traffic.

Susie Sympson, the faculty adviser to Invisible Children for five years, provided insight for Russell’s recent stress-induced behavior.

“As soon as they met these kids that night, it impacted them so much that he actually quit college,” Sympson said. “It just moved him so much.”

Sympson said that reactive psychosis is what Russell went through after his work on the film.

“It’s like schizophrenia that’s caused by your circumstances, rather than a pre-existing condition,” she said.

Recent attacks on Invisible Children’s funding may or may not have been factually based.

“There are people out there with their own political agendas going on and it was really to their advantage to downplay this,” Sympson said.

Events such as Multicultural Night tomorrow will help raise funds for the college’s sister school in Uganda.

“It’s a fundraiser for our sister school in Gulu, Uganda,” Sympson said. “This year it just works that the Center for Student Involvement and Invisible Children remain the people who do it.”

Sympson shared her own advice for students recently getting involved with Invisible Children and Kony 2012.

“I would advise them to spread the word, do what they can to support it, tell people, to make Joseph Kony a household name in the worst way possible,” she said.

Students can support Invisible Children at http://www.invisiblechildren.com and http://www.kony2012.com.

Contact Adam Lignell, reporting correspondent, at alignell@jccc.edu.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Get to know your Student Senate candidates: Q&A

March 29, 2012

Editor’s note: Candidates’ responses have only been edited for minor grammatical fixes. Details about when and where to vote can be found here: Reminder: Student Senate elections coming up

Awista Sherzad, candidate for president

How long have you been at the college?

This is my second year at the college.

Tell me a bit more about your background?

I am a pre-med student currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Neurobiology. I am really nerdy and think learning is fun! I have an extremely curious mind, and a deep appreciation for many different areas of study. Besides my school life, I am also a server at Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant in Leawood. I am definitely a people person. Whether I am at school, work, home, etc., I am always interacting with others. Furthermore, I enjoy exploring new places—such as restaurants or museums I haven’t been to. Spending time outdoors is a must for me; there’s so much beauty in nature. In sum, I like to lead by example by living a fit, active and balanced lifestyle.

Why are you running for Student Senate president?

I am currently the treasurer of the Student Senate and I thoroughly enjoy how analytical and resourceful the Senate allows me to be. I want to take the skills and knowledge I have attained and continue to grow and build on them.

[The college] is a phenomenal establishment for higher education. I really want to give back to the college and help students maximize their experience at [the college] by raising awareness of the resources, events and activities.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body if you get elected?

I would like to promote more student networking to establish a strong sense of unity within the student body. Strong bonds create lasting relationships, which are substantial in the success of present and future endeavors. I think the new Facebook App for [the college] is a great start of that.

Ultimately, my goal is to ensure the efficient operation of the Student Senate in order for students, faculty and members of the community to reap its maximum benefits.

Why should students vote for you to represent them in Student Senate?

My broad perspective and multicultural background help me relate to all walks of life. I genuinely care about people and look forward to working with them on both a personal and professional level. I am always looking for ways to inspire others and be inspired. I know that

I will make an exceptional president because I have the necessary analytical mind power, the proficiency of time management, and the element of leadership.

I am easily approachable and wide open to the ideas and opinions of others!

Lara Blomberg, candidate for president

How long have you been at the college?

This is my second semester at [the college], I came here last August from Germany. I moved here to live with my boyfriend (in Lawrence) whom I’ve met in my junior year in high school, which I spent in Solomon, Kan. in 2007/2008. I was here with an exchange program.

Tell me a bit more about your background?

I am currently getting my [prerequisites] done to transfer to KU Business School in 2013. I am planning on studying Business Management and going into fashion retailing. Hopefully, to, at one point, work internationally. I have spent a lot of time abroad in different countries and learned their languages. I somewhat consider that my hobby. Otherwise I am really caught up in schoolwork and extra-curricular activities. I am enrolled in the honors program, I just joined Phi Theta Kappa, I work at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art on campus, and of course I am a Student Senator. I do love taking a bike ride or just going for a walk though, if I find time!

Why are you running for Student Senate president?

I am running for Student Senate because I want to give back. This college has given me the change to come to America, reach my educational goal, and be with my boyfriend. I am extremely grateful! I am able to broaden my horizon and challenge myself here.

Student Senate gave me the chance to be part of something bigger than myself. It gave my voice a place to be heard. I have been part of Student Senate since late last semester, when Student Senate Vice President Erick Mbembati insisted I joined. I want to make sure that more students use the opportunity to be part of Student Senate. I feel like there are many more students out there like me, who just need someone to reach out to them, who might not know all the opportunities [the college] offers to get involved.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body, if you get elected?

I want to get more students to get involved, which will enhance the quality of their college experiences, and broaden Student Senate’s influence. We will have to find new ways to make the senator position more attractive and most importantly educate more about the natural benefits the involvement offers. The greater awareness I want to create for student senate is also part of the next project: Student Senate has great projects, like ‘JCCC Gives’ and ‘Dollars for Scholars,’ which need a lot of attention to attract more donators. We do great things for the Johnson County community and I want to make sure we can continue to do good and do more good. Lastly, I want to win students’ trust for Student Senate. I want to make sure that our students know that the Senate exists, and that our job and our interest are to stand up for them and their interests. One thing in particular I noticed is that many students feel treated wrongly by their professors. I think most of these negative experiences are based on misunderstandings between the two parties. It would be great if we could find a way to mediate, in case misunderstandings occurred repeatedly with the same professors, simply to make for a learning environment, which is the main purpose of Student Senate!

Why should students vote for you to represent them in Student Senate?

Students should vote for me, because I truly care about the college and want to make a difference here. I can ensure that if I am elected president, students will have someone who will listen to their suggestions and problems and stand up for their interests. I can relate to a very wide range of students. Being a foreign student, I can easily relate to international students on campus. I know what it’s like to transition from taking a break after high school to going back to college, as I am 21 now and traveled before I enrolled at [the college]. Yet, I’m still young enough to relate to the 18-year-olds who just graduated last year. I’m open minded to any kind of view of the world, and I have learned to diplomatically assess every side of a problem, which is crucial for being a good mediator between students and faculty, which is exactly what the Student Senate president is. My nature is never to get myself into something without being well prepared, that’s why I have been antagonizing our current president Gina Galanou and vice president Erick Mbembati with questions about the duties of the president and impact we can actually have and I now feel well equipped to be the voice of the students!

Bruna Iacuzzi, candidate for vice president

How long have you been at the college?

This is my fourth semester.

Tell me a bit more about your background?
My major is Food and Beverage management. I work at Lidia’s Kansas City. During my free time I really enjoy playing basketball and go for a walk to some park.

Why are you running for Student Senate vice president?
I have been involved in campus since my first semester. I know many people, I know most of the regulations and I know the students most common problems. I know I can do a great job.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body, if you get elected?
I want to make students aware of all the services and scholarship that [the college] offers.

I want to make sure that the Student Senate body gets benefits for its hard work.

Why should students vote for you to represent them in Student Senate?
Because I am incredibly qualified for the job. Other than being a member of Student Senate, I am involved with the academic excellence team, the hospitality management club and the international club. I am also vice president of leadership for Phi Theta Kappa. During my first year I was part of the [college] soccer team. I am in contact with students all the time, so I am aware of their thoughts about the college and I can help them to make their voice be heard.

Ibrahim Gul, candidate for secretary

How long have you been at the college?

It’s just been a couple of weeks since this is my first semester at [the college].

Tell me a bit more about your background?

My grandparents are from Afghanistan but I was born and raised in Pakistan. My family moved from Pakistan to here last October and this is our first time in the U.S. We came to Kansas instead of a bigger city because we have several relatives living here who used to tell us all the good things about Kansas before we came here, like it is peaceful, it has children-friendly neighborhoods and it has one of the best community colleges in the entire country. So my dad decided to move here and we really like this place.

I’m pursuing a degree in Petroleum Engineering and so right now I’m doing a double major in Mathematics and Chemistry. I plan to transfer to KU but I’m not sure as to when I would transfer. I’m pursuing this field because I feel confident and enjoy studying math.

My only hobbies are playing soccer and hanging out with friends. I’m especially passionate about soccer. I watch soccer, I play soccer and this year I will be trying for the [college] soccer team.

Why are you running for Student Senate secretary?

When I first came to [the college] I was looking for clubs and activities in which I could participate so that I would be more involved in college. Then I met Awista [Sherzada] in my math class. She told me all about Senate, about its purpose, its basic functions and the benefit of being a senator. I then started attending the Senate meetings and eventually gained enough confidence to stand up for the elections.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body, if you get elected?

As the president of the public relations committee, if elected, I would take measures to increase the importance of joining the Student Senate among the students. I will make sure that all the senators are given incentives and sufficient publicity so that they are well known among their peers. I would make flyers, posters and pamphlets to encourage students to come to the Student Senate and express their ideas and opinions about the college.

Benjamin Brown, candidate for treasurer

How long have you been at the college?

I enrolled as a full time student in the fall semester 2010.

Tell me a bit more about your background?

I am nontraditional student. My hobbies include fishing and gardening.

After reaching the maximum number of credits that will carry over to KU, I will continue classes aimed at a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Why are you running for Student Senate treasurer?

As a student at [the college], I have taken many opportunities to better myself and the community. As a student senator, I actively engage myself in leadership roles at [the college]. Furthermore, I am committed to serving the student body objectively with core values that promote equality and diversity with a focus, of course, on education. With the support of other students, I look forward to stepping up to the role of treasure on the Student Senate Executive Board.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body, if you get elected?

I believe it is my duty to [the college] and its students to consider all decisions objectively without the influence [of] my personal bias. This is the primary reason that I completed the Safespace training. Too many students are continuously subjected to discrimination because of other people’s ignorance. Sadly, the voices of these students are often overlooked. In efforts to eliminate these hardships, I seek out students who may represent the minority and encourage them to step up their role on campus. This effort will have a positive impact on our [college] and the community as well as further encouraging diversity and equality by combating ignorance.

Neeraj Bang, candidate for parliamentarian

How long have you been at the college?

I started in summer 2010.

Tell me a bit more about your background?

I am studying in the paralegal program right now and also completing undergraduate requirements so I can finish my bachelor’s in English Literature at KU. I plan on attending law school after that and hopefully work in fields that interest me, such as human rights or international law.

Why are you running for Student Senate parliamentarian?

I have learned a lot in this last year and I think I will be an even more effective representative of the student body as I continue to build on my experience and challenge myself in a more demanding role.

What is your vision for the Senate and the student body, if you get elected?

I really want to make the Senate meetings and format more accessible to the student body. I hope we can keep informing the students of all the responsibilities of a senator and how they themselves can actively participate and learn more about their student government. For example, the ‘JCCC Gives’ initiative we started last year helped many families in the community and it would not have been as successful as it was without the help and goodwill of our student body.

Why should students vote for you to represent them in student senate?

I have been involved with Senate for a year and observed much from our current executives on how to manage meetings, successfully communicate with administration, and gain insight from fellow students. I hope anyone who has met me during my time here at [the college] can attest to the fact that I am very easy to talk to and always open to new ideas. Lastly, I think I am uniquely suited to be a parliamentarian from my experience and knowledge with the law classes I have had and can effectively transition into the new responsibilities which would be expected of me.

Compiled by Rachel Luchmun

Reminder: Student Senate elections coming up

March 29, 2012

If you’re against the smoking ban, remember that it was passed by Student Senate. The next issue of The Campus Ledger will contain a staff editorial explaining the importance of paying attention to who and what you are voting for.

Keep an eye on our website later today and tomorrow for profiles on the candidates.

Polls will be open online from 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, April 3 until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, April 5. Voting booths are open from 10 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on those dates at tables three and four in COM 2.0.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Cavaliers return from Illinois

March 26, 2012

By Jessica Mitchell

Last week, both the college’s men and women’s basketball teams made their way to Illinois for the national championship tournament.

The men’s basketball team, winning one out of three games, finished tied for ninth. On Tuesday, March 20, the men played against Moraine Valley Community College and finished victoriously 70-63. On Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 the men lost to South Suburban College 65-60 and Baltimore City Community College 74-65.

“It’s like every team; they are not satisfied with the way it ended,” said Mike Jeffers, men’s basketball coach. “I think down the road they will be happy. In two or three weeks they will look back and look at their t-shirt and see the national tournament trophy and the region championship and district championship and they’ll be pretty happy and satisfied with what they did.”

The men’s team overcame obstacles of injuries and suspensions to reach their goal of making it to the national tournament in hopes of winning a championship.

“We just ran out of gas,” Jeffers said. “We weren’t deep enough. The injuries and things that happened during the year really depleted our depth. We weren’t deep enough to make a run in the tournament but I thought we did as well as we were capable of doing.”

The women’s basketball team also won one out of three games played in Peoria, Ill. The ladies started off strong winning 96-23 against Erie Community College on Tuesday, March 20. They lost the next two games on Thursday, March 22 against Monroe College, 64-50, and a consolation game Friday, March 23 against Mesa Community College, 44-42, ending the season in sixth place.

“Had a great [season],” said Benjamin Conrad, women’s basketball coach. “Unfortunately we did not shoot the ball well in Peoria, but we played hard and gave great effort.”

The ladies, while not finishing as well as planned, had the best season in school history, Conrad said.

“They have had tremendous growth throughout the year,” Conrad said. “They became a cohesive unit of players that cared about each other.”

Even though this past week did not end as well as hoped, the teams successfully played a fit enough season to land them both spots in the national tournament. The overview is better than focusing on specific games, Jeffers said.

“Overall was it a season of success? Yes,” Jeffers said. “We were where we wanted to be. The only goal that this team accomplished was getting to the national tournament. We didn’t accomplish other things but if you’re going to accomplish one, that’s the one you want – to get to the national tournament and have a chance at winning a national championship. That’s what this team did.”

Contact Jessica Mitchell, features editor, at jmitch54@jccc.edu.

>>>Keep checking this article for photos from the tournament and radio broadcasts live from the games.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Multicultural Night: Friday, March 30

March 26, 2012

By Rachel Luchmun

Invisible Children and the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) are co-sponsoring the Multicultural Night, which will take place on Friday, March 30, in the Polsky Theater. The main event will start at 7 p.m. A silent auction and international tasting will take place at 6 p.m.

Susie Sympson, adviser to Invisible Children, said that the event aimed at raising funds for their sister school, Gulu Senior Secondary School.

“We guarantee that 100 percent of funds goes to our sister school,” Sympson said. “A lot of people have heard a lot of different things about Invisible Children and I think it’s important to stress that.”

Multicultural Night also aims to bring awareness to the different cultures present on campus.

“[Multicultural Night is an] attempt to bring together cultural clubs and removing the ethnocentric view present around here,” Sympson said.

The silent auction consists of donations from the bookstore and the floriculture program, among others.

The main event will feature a fashion show, dances, original poetry, bands and musicians.

Tickets are on sale at the box office. Donations are still appreciated. If you are interested in donating, contact Susie Sympson or Mindy Kinnaman .

Invisible Children will also host a free screening of their Kony 2012 video on Monday, March 26 in the Craig Auditorium (GEB 233).

Contact Rachel Luchmun, managing editor, at rluchmun@jccc.edu.

InFocus: Chick-fil-A: anti-gay?

March 22, 2012

Center - Hunsinger — Photo illustration by Hannah Hunsinger

By Mackenzie Clark

Accusations of Chick-fil-A’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) being “anti-gay” have led many people to boycott the restaurant.

The perception of the COO of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy, being “anti-gay” stems from donations the company has made to charitable organizations through their own charitable arm, Winshape Foundation. Winshape was created by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy in 1984.

One of these organizations is Focus on the Family.

“We are convinced that the Bible leaves no room whatsoever for confusion or ambiguity where homosexual behavior is concerned,” Focus on the Family’s website reads. “The Scripture both explicitly and implicitly regards it as falling outside of God’s intention in creating man and woman as sexual beings who bear His image as male and female.”

Whether this means the organization is anti-gay is open to interpretation, but many people believe it to be true. Representatives from Chick-fil-A and Focus on the Family could not be reached for comment.

In response to these accusations, Cathy issued a press release in 2011 attempting to clarify his views.

“In recent weeks, we have been accused of being anti-gay,” he said in the release. “We have no agenda against anyone. […] While my family and I believe in the Biblical definition of marriage, we love and respect anyone who disagrees.”

This does not change the opinions of some, though, who choose to boycott the restaurant.

Tom O’Tey, president of Queers and Allies, was never a fan of Chick-fil-A to begin with, but now avoids them on principle.

“I just know what I’ve read online, which is they said that they do not approve of homosexuality, and I’m not sure if they fire you because of it, which shouldn’t be allowed because it is under discrimination, but I don’t particularly know because I’m not personally a patron of Chick-fil-A so it’s never really affected me personally,” he said. “But I do try to at least stay aware of these things.”

Other organizations that have received donations from Winshape include the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Eagle Forum and Exodus International.

“I want people to be aware that they [Chick-fil-A/Winshape] do this, and that if they don’t want to spend their money there because of that, it’s fine,” O’Tey said. “But if they still will give their money then, you know, I really can’t stop them. I would rather they be informed so that they can make their own decision about how they spend that money, but it’s not my money to spend.”

Student Arianna Poland does not feel the need to boycott Chick-fil-A.

“I don’t eat [at Chick-fil-A] because I don’t like the food, but that aside, if I did like the food I wouldn’t stop eating there because of [the anti-gay perception] because whatever their stance is, they employ people,” she said. “They’re helping people put food on their own tables, clothe their children, provide shelter for their employees, so they help people, too. My fight I can take to the polls. I can fight that with my vote. I don’t need to fight it with my dollars.”

Julie Haas, associate vice president of marketing communications, said she cannot comment on Chick-fil-A directly but explained how companies can deal with public relations fiascoes.

“The first thing you want to do is get out in front of the story, which is increasingly difficult in an age with social media,” she said. “It’s hard to move quickly. But you do need your voice and your side of the story.”

She cited Johnson & Johnson’s handling of the Tylenol crisis in 1982 as a good example of how to handle crisis communication, and Exxon Valdez’s handling of their oil spill in 1989 as a bad example.

“You need to show people that you’re taking the situation seriously, taking responsibility for it, not making excuses, and it depends on what the situation is,” Haas said. “It could be safety, it could be environmental, all of that is a concern, and that you’re doing something, that you’re taking the best steps you can to remedy the situation, and that you are concerned for the people affected.”

So, to eat more chicken, or to boycott Chick-fil-A? The choice lies in the taste buds and personal convictions of the consumer.

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

Sources cited in this article:

Dan Cathy’s press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dan-cathy-president-and-coo-of-chick-fil-a-clarifies-recent-news-coverage-114872034.html

Focus on the Family on Homosexuality: http://family.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26078/kw/homosexuality

Other resources:

Winshape Foundation: http://winshape.com/

Winshape IRS form 990: http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/581/581595471/581595471_200912_990PF.pdf

Equality Matters fact check: http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201111010001

InFocus: One step closer to “I do”

March 22, 2012

Cake - HunsingerONLINE — Photo illustration by Hannah Hunsinger

By Rachel Luchmun

With last month’s ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, advocates of same-sex marriage on campus hope the future will bring more positive developments.

Proposition 8, or Prop 8, stated that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” A ruling on Feb. 7 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the law unconstitutional. Both opponents and proponents of gay marriage are prepared to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, according to the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk).

At the college, the club Queers and Allies is devoted to bringing awareness and support to people from all sexual orientations and gender identity. President Tom O’Tey said the club was pleased with the ruling against Prop 8.

“We were all very happy,” O’Tey said. “What this means is that we are not being denied our basic human rights.”

O’Tey said the next step was to bring the matter before the Supreme Court. He said he hopes that eventually gay marriage is accepted throughout the nation, not just in individual states.

“I’m kind of offended that [individual states have to make that decision],” he said. “What is really the difference between a straight couple and a gay couple?”

Among the more vocal groups against gay marriage are some religious groups, who claim that same-sex marriage goes against prescriptions in holy texts. For example, the website “No Same-Sex Marriage” (http://www.nosamesexmarriage.com) refers to the Bible as evidence that same-sex marriage should not be allowed.

O’Tey said he was not concerned with the religious view of the matter, but rather about the everyday implications of legal recognition.

“There are government benefits,” O’Tey said. “You can be kicked out of a hospital room if your partner is sick or dying because you are not officially family.”

O’Tey said this happened to a woman who was a member of Queers and Allies last year.

“She had proposed the night before, and the next day [her fiancée] started having seizures,” O’Tey said. “When they went to the hospital, this member was denied the right to be there and hold her hand as her fiancée died. And that’s just not right.”

Timothy Lin, Kansas area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, said InterVarsity Kansas does not have a stance on gay marriage.

“We do not take a stance on this ethical issue,” Lin said. “We deal mainly with things of a spiritual nature, and some would argue that this issue is also political. So, we have not talked about it yet.”

Lin said, however, that all were welcome to the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, whether they are gay or straight.

Christian groups Young Life and Cru (formally Campus Crusade for Christ) did not respond to questions about their opinions.

O’Tey said the college community is very much accepting of alternative lifestyles, even though there is always room for improvement.

“If there are any groups that are against gay marriage on campus, I haven’t heard anything about it,” he said.

Student Jacob Burghart said he believes gay marriage is a touchy subject.

“I shouldn’t be forced to have an opinion,” Burghart said. “I don’t really think [gay marriage is] as degrading to the institution as Kim Kardashian’s wedding. At the same time there are lots of religious implications. It doesn’t bother me one way or another.”

Contact Rachel Luchmun, managing editor, at rluchmun@jccc.edu.

Want free movie tickets?

March 22, 2012

The first 30 people to come by the Student News Center in COM 260 will receive a pass for two to attend a “Wrath of the Titans” advance screening at the Cinemark Merriam at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28.

No changes coming to Brown & Gold Club… yet

March 22, 2012

By Mackenzie Clark

Panic ensued last month at the unintentional announcement that members of the Brown & Gold Club would no longer receive free tuition, but plans have since changed.

Membership to the Brown & Gold Club is offered exclusively to Johnson County residents ages 55 and up. Benefits include free credit class enrollment and reduced fees for continuing education classes, trips and tours, discounted tickets to the Performing Arts Series and more for a $10 annual fee.

On Feb. 15, however, a letter signed by Dennis Day, vice president, Student Success and Engagement, stated a new policy: “Beginning with the fall 2012 semester, free credit classes will no longer be an option for members of the college’s Brown & Gold Club.” Instead, the letter stated that members would receive a 25 percent discount on cost-per-credit-hour for credit classes to Johnson County residents ages 65 and up.

Day said that this letter was not meant to be released.

“It was never really released to anybody at any time, on purpose or in general,” Day said. “When we would have communicated with the Brown & Gold Club it would’ve been at one time in a mass mailing or some type of communication and that never did happen.”

How exactly the letter got released is still being investigated.

“There were some folks that got a hold of some things, we’re a large campus and some information does get shared, and that just initiated more conversations,” Day said.

Instead of making a sudden change to the policy, Day said that he will be meeting with the advisory board over the next academic year to decide what changes do need to take place. Tax revenues are down and instead of raising tuition for students again, he wants to find another way to cut the budget.

“It was probably a little too soon to make a major change in that program, and we wanted to work with their advisory group to find some options that maybe they could come up with to help out,” he said. “So we’re going to take the next few months and visit with the advisory group of Brown & Gold and help them help us find some options to relieve some of the stress on the budget and not have to continue to increase tuition for students at the rate that we’re doing right now.”

College president Terry Calaway echoed his sentiments.

“The costs of the program are pretty expensive for the institution, and I think we’re at a place where we need to find some options,” he said. “But I think we’ve got, now, the right folks involved in the conversation to help guide us through to a good solution at the back end.”

At this point in time, the final solution is not clear.

“I don’t know what the solutions are going to be, or even what the options might be, but we clearly are spending a good chunk of money for those programs and scholarships for the Brown & Gold members, and it’s a solution that we need to kind of work on,” Calaway said.

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

Correction

March 22, 2012

On March 1, we ran a story about Maxwell Matite, an alumnus of the college who is currently enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C. We reported that Matite turned down a fellowship in public policy and international affairs at Princeton University to study at American University. Actually, the fellowship is a summer program, not a baccalaureate. Matite did accept the fellowship and will study at Princeton in summer 2012. We also reported that Matite won an outstanding delegate award at the National Model UN conference in New York City. He actually won an outstanding delegate’s choice award at the Midwest Model UN conference in St. Louis.

Affirmative Action in higher education: What Fisher v. University of Texas is all about

March 22, 2012

By Ben Markley

The Supreme Court is currently trying to decide whether Affirmative Action is a constitutional policy for college admissions.

The case, Fisher v. University of Texas, began in 2008 after two white students felt they were passed over for admission to UT on account of their non-minority status and sued the college. The case has since reached the Supreme Court, where the justices must decide whether to uphold their 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.

“The old ruling was that it was unconstitutional to look solely at race in college admissions, but it could be one of several factors that you could look at,” said Brian Zirkle, assistant professor of sociology.

Zirkle said the goal of Affirmative Action in higher education was to admit students solely on their individual merit while eliminating factors of privilege.

“If you’re going to a poorly funded school, and you end up testing out in the 80th percentile, but the other student who goes to the other school tests out in the 90th percentile, you’re left with the question: How much of that is left with the individual achievement of the student, and how much of it is that one student went to a good school or a bad school?” Zirkle said.

One argument of opponents of Affirmative Action is that the policy encourages reverse discrimination against non-minority students, such as the accusation in Fisher v. University of Texas.

“If you are a minority and let’s say you have qualifications that are the same as mine or maybe not as good as mine, but you get preferential treatment, then I would claim that’s reverse discrimination,” said Lynn Richards, associate professor of business. “Those reverse discrimination claims have largely not been recognized, and courts have not in general gone along with that.”

Zirkle said reverse discrimination is not a valid argument against the policy.

“I’d say it’s a myth and a misunderstanding because white people like myself, we typically don’t recognize our own whiteness and the privileges that we get because we›re white,” Zirkle said. “What happens is that my loss of privilege starts to feel like it’s discrimination. Ultimately it’s not, but it’s trying to not include those privileges that we tend to take for granted, so it feels like discrimination.”

Others question the relevance of Affirmative Action nowadays.

“There are people who would claim today that Affirmative Action may have been a necessary thing in the past but that women and minorities can compete on their own merit today,” Richards said.

Zirkle cited California’s Proposition 209 as an example of Affirmative Action’s relevance. Prop 209 was a state law prohibiting employers and schools from considering race, ethnicity or sex in admissions, in 1996.

By 2000, admission rates for Latinos at Berkeley University of California had dropped 64 percent, with African American admissions dropping 88 percent.

“When they took away the policy, then we saw this massive explosion in inequality again,” Zirkle said. “So Affirmative Action has proven to be successful. Maybe not as successful as we would like, but it has been successful.”

Richards said he was unsure about what to do with Affirmative Action.

“It depends upon the situation,” Richards said. “I think you need to look at the composition of a school and the reason for that composition. Do you have a proportionate representation at that point? I guess you could make the point that if you do, then Affirmative Action is no longer needed in that situation, and that›s kind of where the controversy is.”

Zirkle was not so torn.

“If the Supreme Court rules that Affirmative Action policies in education are unconstitutional, it’s going to have a very negative impact on the rates of college attendance by minorities,” he said.

As for students, the question may be a hard one.

“I don’t feel like there’s an easy answer,” said Taylor Givens, student. “Just because someone’s white doesn’t make it less bad to discriminate against them, but I guess, are they really being discriminated against?”

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

Forgetting to say thank you to those forsaken by their government

March 22, 2012

By Mackenzie Clark

Some people believe we may be leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in a dangerous state if we bring our troops home now. Some people believe we’re doing the right thing by bringing the troops home. Frankly, that’s not my concern. Regardless of our personal opinions on war, we need to remember to thank those who have fought for our country.

The men and women serving overseas in the United States Armed Forces didn’t ask to go to war. They didn’t want to leave their families and friends behind to go to the other side of the world and live in a desert wasteland for months or years at a time… but they did, for you and for me.

Many of these veterans dealt with conditions most of us would consider unlivable. They saw their friends die. They saw the unthinkable; the unimaginable. They are returning home completely different individuals from the people they were when they left.

According to Win Over PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), an organization devoted to helping combat veterans and their families, one in five combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from PTSD. That’s over 300,000 veterans in the past six years.

A study by the Center for a New American Security in October 2011 stated that although only one percent of Americans have served in the military, former service members account for 20 percent of the suicides in this country. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that a veteran commits suicide every 80 minutes.

Despite these shocking statistics, Congress is discussing making cuts to veterans’ benefits. With all the imprudent spending, including billions of dollars in aid to foreign countries, this is where they have decided to try to make cuts.

Let’s compare. In this economy, over a third of American households receive government assistance of some kind, according to a report by CNN Money on Feb. 7. This is up $2 trillion, or 75 percent, since 10 years ago.

A report from the US Census Bureau says that in 1980, the U.S. provided almost $9.7 billion total in aid to foreign countries. In 2009, this was up to nearly $45 billion.

So, instead of attempting to cut down on welfare fraud, or reassessing what countries really need aid from us, our representatives and senators in Congress choose to attack the one percent of those who have actually served the country and need the help of the government more than anyone?

Words can’t begin to express how far off our government is when it comes to handling just about anything, but this is an extreme example. What they are telling us is that they are willing to sacrifice those men and women who sacrificed for us.

Next time you see a veteran, stop and say thank you. Your government certainly isn’t.

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

Archaeological students step outside classroom

March 22, 2012

Dr. William McFarlane, chair of the Anthropology department and co-director of Proyecto Arqueologico de Otoro (PADO), holds a handmade wooden memento from his research excavations in Honduras. PADO is a three-week archaeological field school in Honduras which offers students hands-on archaeological experience. Photo by Michael House

By Ben Markley

Of all the college’s off-campus locations, probably the least well-known is Proyecto Arqueologico de Otoro (PADO), a three-week archaeological field school in Honduras.

William McFarlane, chair of Anthropology and co-director of PADO, said his purpose for the project is practical.

“My goal is to offer an opportunity for students to have research experiences as early as possible in their academic career so they have that experience to build on in the classroom,” he said. “If you’re going to go on in anthropology or any social science, the sooner you have research experiences, the more valuable the classroom will become.”

Sandra Moran, field director for the 2011 PADO season, said no amount of books or classes could replace the experience.

“There is absolutely no substitution for getting out into the field and getting your hands dirty,” she said. “When you’re there, you are doing archaeology.”

McFarlane said he and his co-director Miranda Stockett were aware of the value of an archaeological field school before they started taking students in 2008.

“We both started through a field school,” he said. “We knew the value of a field school as far as getting research accomplished, but also as an educational tool.”

He said he enjoyed how the field school created a different kind of student-professor understanding.

“I think it’s one of the first times that students get to see their professors from behind the podium, as real people actually doing their work,” McFarlane said.

McFarlane has done research in Honduras through various field schools since 1998.

“[Honduras] is kind of an inventory of the entire cultural history of the country,” he said. “We’ve got stuff in our valley that’s very, very early on, probably pre-farming, all the way through the colonial period. What we have is this cross-section of the entire country that reflects dynamics of Latin American political development.”

In 2004, he began doing research projects in the valley Jesús de Otoro, where the college’s field school currently excavates.

Moran said the cultures researched there are not nearly as widely studied as other cultures.

“When [McFarlane and Stockett] were aware of this valley, they recognized that this was an area that no one was really working at,” she said. “The Maya are kind of the superstars, but there’s this rich tapestry of people who lived outside of the Maya heartland that have their own stories to tell.”

McFarlane said students applying for the field school should expect a genuine archaeological experience.

“[Students] should expect to be engaged in ongoing archaeological research,” he said. “It’s not a case study; it’s not fake. It’s real, ongoing research that [students] are going to be contributing to the cultural heritage of Honduras.”

The three weeks at the field school costs approximately $2,648, which covers airfare, tuition, housing, food and field trips, including a trip to the ancient Mayan city of Copán.

“For $2600, [students] get to spend three weeks abroad, all expenses covered, and they get eight credit hours’ worth of transfer courses,” McFarlane said. “It’s a good bargain.”

Janette Jasperson, coordinator of International Education, said that students planning to take the trip should expect culture shock.

“We have all these ways that we understand how we behave and how life works, and you go into another culture, and they have a whole different set,” she said. “That can be upsetting, and it can make you stop and evaluate yourself and your own views.”

McFarlane said the knowledge of the anthropology staff helps to ease the transition.

“We make it pretty comfortable as far as that adjustment period goes,” he said.

McFarlane, Moran and Jasperson all emphasized that students interested in going to Honduras should take time to learn about anthropology, archaeology and especially Spanish.

“Language and culture get wrapped up in each other,” Jasperson said. “If you don’t care about learning [the culture’s] language then you should probably go to a different part of the world.”

The field school is not currently looking for applicants for the June 2012 study. However, students interested in learning more about the school can contact William McFarlane at mcfarlane@jccc.edu or visit http://www.jccc.edu/anthropology/field-school/.

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

Trustees pass second tuition increase

March 22, 2012

By Ben Markley

The Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition for the next academic year, $1 for in-state students and $3 for out-of-state students, at their Feb. 16 meeting. Coupled with the tuition increase approved at the Nov. 17 meeting, tuition will be $3 more for in-state students and $8 more for out-of-state students.

The increase will go toward classroom furniture and equipment. Prior to the Board’s vote, President Terry Calaway clarified that these funds would ultimately be allocated with or without a tuition increase.

“Whatever the Board decides to do, it will be our intention to direct one dollar of our tuition to classroom furniture and equipment,” he said. “We are going to make those improvements, but we’d just have to find that money somewhere else.”

All commenting trustees who voted for the motion expressed reluctance over their decision.

“I always find this to be one of the most troubling recommendations that comes before us every year,” said Don Weiss, Trustee Chair. “I believe that the mission and the charter of a community college demands that we keep tuition as low as possible in order to keep the door open to as many students as possible.”

Trustee Bob Drummond ultimately voted for the increase due to tangible benefits he had seen in past tuition increases.

“We’ve done this before, and this is another attempt on our part to improve the quality on our campus,” Drummond said. “There’s a limit to this, and we want to take a close look at that in the future.”

Trustee Greg Musil also voted for the increase but expressed concern over the college’s consistent increases in tuition over the past few years.

“I will look with more skepticism toward those future increases based on this one,” Musil said. “Every time we do this and add it to the student’s burden, we add it to the Foundation’s burden to raise more money for scholarships. We end up with students further in debt.”

Trustee Melody Rayl, who also approved the motion, suggested that future costs might fall on taxpayers rather than students.

“At some point we have to decide how much of the load we’re going to ask our students to carry and how much the citizens are willing to carry given the acknowledgement that the role that we play in the county-wide recovery is so important,” Rayl said.

Some trustees showed more than just reluctance.

“I think it’s very important for us to have the latest technology, and we did increase tuition in 2010 for that purpose…I do believe we should have excellent classroom environment,” said Trustee Jerry Cook. “I just frankly believe that we can find this $400- to $450,000 in our capital budget, or other sources in the budget and not at the expense of student tuition, so that’s why I will continue to vote ‘no’ on this issue.”

Cook and Trustee Stephanie Sharp both opposed the motion, but it ultimately passed.

Student Jeb Flynn does not object to the tuition increase.

“It’s alright with me,” Flynn said. “I’m only taking one class right now, so three dollars isn’t that bad. It’s already so cheap, and so I feel like a little bit here, it’s not too much.”

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

Rachel Kimbrough, special to the Ledger, contributed to this article

Police briefs

March 22, 2012

Suspicious person in the Carlsen Center

Campus police were dispatched to the second floor of the Carlsen Center at 1:30 a.m. on March 7 when someone found a student sleeping on the floor. The subject was asked where he lived and he stated, “At the college.” The subject was escorted off campus and warned that if he attempted to spend the night again he would be arrested for trespassing.

Theft from lockers outside of Testing Center

The theft of an iPhone was reported on the third floor of the Student Center on March 8. The victim stated that she put her wallet and cell phone into a locker outside of the Testing Center and forgot to take the key from the locker. After review of surveillance images, police observed a white female standing behind the victim while she put her items in the locker, the female was later seen taking some items from the locker after the victim had left the area. The investigation is ongoing.

Wallet stolen from vehicle in parking lot

A theft from a vehicle was reported on March 9 in the Carlsen Center East parking lot. The victim stated that he parked his green four door vehicle at approximately 9:30 a.m. and accidentally left his wallet in the center console of his vehicle. He returned to his vehicle around 2:50 p.m. and noticed that the wallet was missing. The victim stated his wallet was black leather in appearance and contained $200 and his driver’s license.

Compiled by Erica Aldridge

Letter to the editor

March 22, 2012

“Tim Owens: A RINO and a Coward.”

I have known Senator Owens for the better part of the past four years. I have had many-a-conversation with him; most which sent red flags straight up into the sky. Senator Owens may be registered as a Republican but he votes to the left of most Kansas Democrats in the state legislature. He’s voted, repeatedly, against Conceal and Carry; he’s voted against, on numerous occasions, capital punishment stating that it seems hypocritical for Republicans to want the death penalty for murderers, but to be against the unethical killing of the innocent unborn through abortions. Last year he voted against Secretary of State Kobach’s resolution which would require all voters to present valid ID at the voting polls, which would help to cut down on voter fraud. He’s voted in favor of raising personal income taxes on ALL Kansans, and he’s refused to allow conservative legislation that would limit his powers in the committees he runs.

Last month he presented and sponsored at least two proposals for the Senate Redistricting Maps (Bison 12c and Buffalo 1) which gerrymander his opponent, Representative Greg Smith (R-22), out of Senate District 8, both Smith’s and Owens’ current district, by no more than 8 houses and no less than 3. Bison 12c puts Smith inside the district belonging to Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook, a strong fiscal conservative. During the hearings for the Senate Redistricting Committee, in which Senator Owens is in charge of, Representative Smith was allowed to testify against Owens’ proposals; Owens’ would not hear what Representative Smith had to say stating, “…this is not a political debate…” Owens has also tried to downplay his proposals as “starting points for discussion,” but they are clear attempts to remove a vital threat to his “God-like” powers he possesses.

Besides fearing the strong opposition of a true conservative, Senator Owens fears his constituency, and on several accounts. In March 2011, Owens’ held a town hall meeting, which he packed with members of the local teacher’s union and other individuals which would help him prevent any conservative from bringing forth ideas and concerns that he didn’t want to hear. At that town hall he went on a two-hour rant of his leftist ideas on the US Constitution and anti-conservative agenda, using his career in the Army as validation. It wasn’t until concerned citizen Nancy Hanrahan, along with Representative Smith and wife Missey Smith, backed by several others, took over the town hall to talk about an issue, which Mrs. Hanrahan had talked about in an email with Senator Owens a few days prior–the town hall was also guarded by police who had been tipped off about a possible violent outbreak, which never happened.

Another case where Senator Owens has shown fear of his constituency is during the 2011 Overland Park Parade where he spent $200 to put an entry in the parade. In the Dodge Challenger which carried his wife sat the cardboard cutout that sits in his JCCC office wearing his green and gold vest. What kind of ego problems does one have to have to make a life-sized cardboard cutout of one’s self? He didn’t even show up himself! Is he ashamed? NO! Senator Owens is a coward: a Republican In Name Only, a Gerrymanderer, and a self-proclaimed “Happy little RINO.”

Alex Abramovitz

Editor and chief, The Final Revolution: Shawnee Mission’s Conservative Editorial

The Ledger‘s article about Sen. Tim Owens:

http://blogs.jccc.edu/campusledger/2012/03/01/adjunct-professor-runs-to-defend-his-8th-district-senate-seat/

Track team brings the heat at Nationals

March 22, 2012

Maisha Mitchell (right front), Chelsey Borders (left front), Molly Plummer (back right) and Jodi Young (back left) work on conditioning. Photo by Michael House

By Julius Williams

The college men’s and women’s track teams performed well at the recent NJCAA Indoor Championships at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. with the women placing seventh overall and the men placing 12th.

“Overall it was pretty good,” said Mike Bloemker, head coach. “We have four to six athletes in every event that contribute to the team’s success.”

Stand out performances came from a variety of team members. Six members earned NJCAA and Coaches’ All-American honors, including sophomore Ashley Reid (high jump/triple jump), sophomore Kaylee Eklund (pole vault), sophomore Justin Podvin (600 meters), sophomore Alex Sanders (60 meter dash), sophomore Javier Segura (3,000 meters) and sophomore Garrett Smith (pole vault).

The relay teams also had a strong showing with the women’s 4×800 placing fifth nationally, and the men’s placing fourth nationally in both the 4×400 and 4×800. The women sprinters were Danielle Houltberg, Kirstie Sanders, Michelle Smith and Kayla Peterson. Alex Sanders, Mark Sitek, Kenny Lightner and Jordan Dodd made up the men’s sprint relay team.

“Guys and girls have been comparable all year,” said Tom Lester, assistant coach. “We were really pleased that the [men’s] 4×800 placed fourth in a slow heat, which is nearly impossible to do.”

Joe Turner (right) pulls against Mark Sample during track practice and general con¬ditioning on Tuesday March 20 to get built back up after ending the first half of the season strong at NJCAA Indoor Championships. Photo by Michael House

The season is not over though. The NJCAA Indoor Championships are held midseason, so the teams still have a lot of hard work ahead.

Assistant coach Brian Batliner, who trains the jumpers, vaulters and heptathletes, is already preparing his athletes for the next meet.

“We are done with indoors,” Batliner said. “We will keep it light this week and relax. Then we’ll start ramping it back up next week. The first [outdoor] meet will be in Fayetteville, Arkansas in four weeks.”

Batliner said that moving from indoors to outdoors will not change their training methods. For him, it is simply getting back to basics.

“The next couple of weeks we will go back to basics and do general conditioning the way we started back in the fall and build them back up,” he said.

Bloemker, while looking forward to giving his players some much needed time off, echoed the same sentiment.

“We are halfway through the season, and we are adding personnel,” he said. “We are stronger in the throws than we’ve been in years and that’s gonna help because we can spread out to the javelin and the discus.”

Lester agreed.

“The 4×100 is an event that we will be strong in, and in the 4×800, Mr. Segura will be able to step in and help our team that finished 4th indoors and hopefully make that even higher,” he said.

Bloemker and the rest of the coaching staff are proud of their team’s performance and have high hopes for the rest of the season.

“Once again, it’s a team effort,” Bloemker said. “We are a really well-balanced team. That’s good because everybody gets to know each other. Everybody contributes.”

Contact Julius Williams, staff reporter, at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

Kansas lawmakers decline proposed immigration laws

March 22, 2012

By Jon Parton

Kansas lawmakers recently declined to pass Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposed immigration bills. The proposed measures called for tougher illegal immigration laws similar to the one passed last year in Arizona.

The Department of Homeland Security estimated 10.8 million unauthorized immigrants to be living in the United States as of 2010. Although the issue of illegal immigration is politically charged, many people on campus look to the human side of the issue.

Carolyn Kadel, director, International Education, believes that politicization of illegal immigration has not helped Americans understand the issue.

“It’s a complicated issue that, really, I think demands a rational conversation which it doesn’t seem to be getting at the moment,” Kadel said.

One of the proposed laws would require law enforcement officials to verify citizenship of detained individuals if there were reasonable cause to suspect them of being in the country illegally. Although Kadel sees no problem in checking a person’s identification, she anticipates other difficulties.

“You have a lot of citizens who may be perceived as immigrants,” Kadel said. “We have a lot of very recent legal immigrants. We have a lot of native born people whose first language is Spanish or Chinese. It’s unfortunate if they end up getting negative treatment as a result of a perceived problem.”

Jerry Magliano, professor, Personal Computer Applications, believes the issue must be addressed from a humanitarian point of view.

“Any laws that are put on the books need to deal as humanely as possible with the people who are already here, because we were basically culpable in allowing them to come here,” Magliano said.

Magliano said the United States needs to focus its attention on corruption within the Mexican government. He believes that Mexico’s current leadership does not address the needs of its poorest citizens. Although Magliano sympathizes with their situation, he said it is important to maintain a legal procedure of immigration.

“If you came here illegally, I don’t think you have some sort of entitlement to become a citizen,” Magliano said. “I think you should be given the opportunity to come out of the shadows, identify yourself, be put in some sort of legal status short of citizenship.”

Patrick Dobson, adjunct professor, History, said he believes that unauthorized immigrants play a central role in the American economy. He points out that they are subject to taxes anytime they make a purchase, buy gas or pay highway tolls.

“They’re still creating economic worth,” Dobson said. “They’re also paying taxes over and over and over again. The IRS gives tax numbers to undocumented immigrants. Not everyone, obviously, but many people get a number, and that number is where they file their taxes.”

Dobson believes that a lot of these laws give rise to people who are not only against illegal immigration, but legal immigration as well. He said a number of English-only language laws target both legal and illegal immigrants.

“The thing I have about anti-immigration, being a historian, is that the rhetoric hasn’t changed in 200 years,” Dobson said. “It’s the same stuff, and I wish someone would come up with a new argument.”

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

Letter to the editor

March 22, 2012

On page 14 of volume 34 issue 10 of the Campus Ledger there is a small blurb by Ann Williams in the bottom left corner about rebranding. My first problem with it was, as a journalist, why are there exclamation marks? Why? There were two in a small blurb. I’m amazed the writer could even fit two in the story. This is the problem with journalism today. The writer couldn’t make the distinction between a professional setting and social media. I realize journalism is falling off, but please hold your staff to some sort of standard.

The second problem I have with the story was the story itself. The writer griped about rebranding the school during the tough economic times. I don’t think the writer did an ounce of research to come to her misguided conclusions. If she had, she would have found out that rebranding is a common occurrence, even when money is tight, because a rebranding, done correctly, will create revenue and pay for itself. The article was half-baked. It was merely a writer trying to fill space. If you’re going to publish someone, hold them to a professional standard of some sort.

-Connor Cape

Student

Editor’s note: The piece to which Cape is referring is a letter to the editor from adjunct professor Ann Williams. As stated in the masthead and in accordance with journalistic standards, the Ledger does not alter letters to the editor before they are printed.

Review: The Shins release fourth album, return with serious modifications

March 22, 2012

By Jessica Mitchell

After nearly half a decade, The Shins are back with new members, a new album and a completely new sound. “Port of Morrow,” released Tuesday, is a surprisingly upbeat, poppy variation of the quiet and melodic band that has plagued our music libraries since the early 2000’s.

James Mercer, founder and front man, placed The Shins on hold for five years while he dabbled in side projects and with different sounds. With the completion of the Sub Pop three record contract in 2008, Mercer decided to create and release the next Shins album via his own label, Aural Apothecary. Having complete musical freedom and craving something new, Mercer let go of band mates Marty Crandall, Dave Hernandez and Jesse Sandoval. In their place, Mercer has been touring and recording with the likes of singer/songwriter Richard Swift, Yuuki Matthews of Crystal Skulls, Ron Lewis of Grand Archives and Fruit Bats, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse and Jessica Dobson.

The new sound and new faces may throw stable fans into somewhat of a culture shock but Mercer’s talent has not diminished and everything we loved about his style is still very prevalent. Lest we forget Mercer is more than a founder and front man. He is The Shins.

With the assistance of producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin, Mercer drew forth an element of maturity and constructed a completely new version of The Shins to display in “Port of Morrow.” Even though the band has gone through rounds of serious changes, the raw talent and genius of Mercer still shines through the poppy and disappointing songs that make up the album.

The corny “No Way Down” literally sent shivers of disgust down my spine and my undying respect for Mercer urged me to stop and never replay the song again. Mercer’s talent and legacy is still noticeable in “Port of Morrow,” it is just masked with cliché background music.

For the few horribly un-Shins-like songs that make up the album, there are some diamonds in the rough. “September” and “Port of Morrow” take on the likenesses of songs on “Wincing the Night Away” and “Oh, Inverted World.” “September” is a classic acoustic-style Shins’ love song, while “Port of Morrow” ends the album on a positive note with Mercer’s genius lyrics and intoxicating falsetto. As much as Mercer wanted to stray away from The Shins’ vibes and music styles, he could not push away his natural talent for haunting and melodious music making.

It is true that “Port of Morrow” displays an enhanced version of the band that, as Natalie Portman claimed in “Garden State,” could “change your life.” However, if Mercer was desperately trying to rid of The Shins and alter the style, maybe he should have never resurrected them in the first place. This album, even though well written and catchy, is night and day to the previous three. This could either be the album to save The Shins or the album to ruin The Shins.

Contact Jessica Mitchell, features editor, at jmitch54@jccc.edu.

Quivira Road and nearby highways to continue repairs

March 22, 2012

By Elizabeth Grys

Current construction is slowing down traffic to the college, while seeking to repair and widen Quivira Road and nearby interstate highways as work continues into next year.

“Quivira Road will be pretty much under construction from 99th Street all the way down to 119th Street,” said Justin Nickel, civil engineer of Public Works at Overland Park City Hall.

The three projects include work from 99th Street to 105th Street, 105th Street to 109th Street, and College Boulevard (111th Street) to 119th Street.

The project from 99th to 105th Street is already underway as is the section of construction from 105th to 109th Street, which passes through the interchange of Interstate 435 and Interstate 50. The College Boulevard to 119th Street construction is currently out for bids for a contractor, construction is expected to begin in April or May, Nickel said. All of these projects are aiming for a completion date of Nov. 2012.

The two city projects from 99th to 105th Street and College Boulevard to 119th Street are being expanded from two lanes to three lanes, and simultaneously the older asphalt is being replaced by fresher, more stable asphalt.

“So really when we get done, Quivira Road should be three lanes all the way from 99th Street to 119th Street,” Nickel said. “It should add capacity.”

The city intends to keep Quivira Road open throughout all of the construction. The city plans to construct Quivira Road to shift drivers into the inside lane while the outside lane is being built. When the new outside lane is finished, drivers will be routed to the new lane so workers can reconstruct the middle lane, Nickel said.

While the city works to try to keep at least one lane of Quivira Road clear at all times, there will be three separate one-week time frames where the east entrance to the college turning into campus from Quivira Road will be closed to traffic and inaccessible to exits or entrances.

“The two entrances on College Boulevard will always be open and we set up detour signs to send people over there,” Nickel said.

While Quivira Road may be blocked off, work is finishing on Interstate 69 north of I-435.

“Hopefully if you can, you can switch over and use that new pavement and the new lanes on Highway 69,” Nickel said. “I know part of it is under construction as well, but the city is just asking that everybody bear with us.”

The Quivira Road interchange and the bulk of the roadwork on the highway stretches all the way across I-435 East over to I-69, and then along I-69 South from I-435 to 119th Street. However this project is controlled and largely funded by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

“[Construction on I-435 and I-69] is working towards modernization and expansion projects which mitigate congestion,” said Burt Morey, metro engineer for KDOT. “So what we’re gonna do is build what’s called collector-distributor roads that are offset from the mainline and we take that weaving motion and take it away from the mainline traffic.”

Collector-distributor roads hold the main goal of easing the transition of entering and exiting the mainline traffic roads by using a separate lane running alongside the mainline roads. Collector-distributor roads are able to weave lanes into the main traffic ways for both incoming and outgoing cars with less conflict from lane changes.

KDOT’s goal is to eventually have collector-distributor lanes all over the place, Morey said. Now the current project is to have collector-distributor roads west of I-69 and south of I-435 to ease traffic.

Overland Park’s Public Works office and construction teams working on Quivira Road are aiming for completion in November of 2012. KDOT anticipates that their highway work on I-435 and I-69 should be complete by November of 2013.

Contact Elizabeth Grys, reporting correspondent, at egrys@jccc.edu.

Gray areas: emergencies and attendance policy

March 22, 2012

By Jon Parton

Student Theresa Campbell believes the school needs to revise its attendance policy in order to better serve students with extenuating circumstances.

Earlier during the semester, Campbell was forced to have her gall bladder removed. Although the surgery was originally going to be scheduled, she said her health rapidly deteriorated.

“I got to the point where I couldn’t even keep water down,” Campbell said. “And then one morning I called my doctor and said I couldn’t do it anymore.”

She went to the emergency room that morning in order to have emergency surgery. Campbell said that she was worried about missing so much school. At the beginning of her Reading class, Campbell signed a contract that stated she would regularly attend class and complete assigned homework.

“I had tried speaking to my reading teacher before the scheduled surgery they were going to do,” Campbell said. “She told me that I needed to make a decision.”

The surgery and recovery process caused her to miss six of her Reading classes. Campbell said her instructor, Suzanne Franklin, professor, Reading Department, had decided to drop her from the course.

“Supposedly she did not know what was going on,” Campbell said. “She had no contact with me, so she initiated a withdrawal.”

Although Franklin is legally unable to comment on any particular student, she did state that her classes use the attendance policy mandated by the Reading Department.

Campbell said that she had to talk to numerous administrators before being allowed to take the course as pass/fail.

“If I got dropped from my reading class, I would have to drop all my other classes too,” Campbell said.

Laurie Enneking-Conner, student, agrees with Campbell that something must be done to help address students with emergency situations.

“There needs to be a student liaison person that is in-between the students and the faculty,” she said.

Lynn Richards, professor, Business Administration, said that the new policy that allows professors to drop students is voluntary.

“Now I don’t know whether there are departments around the college that have a policy that say ‘all of us are going to do that’ or ‘none of us are going to do that,’” Richards said. “I know that in our division, we have individual discretion.”

Richards said that he does not use the policy because he believes the natural consequences of missing classes are enough of a deterrent.

“I believe that by the time people get to college, they’re adult human beings,” he said. “If you choose to go to class, that’s your business.”

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

Tennis season kicks off

March 22, 2012

Maksim Fil competes in a match against Baker Uni¬versity March 6. Photo by Tasha Cook

By Ben Markley

With winter sports wrapping up, the tennis season is just beginning. Glen Moser, tennis coach, said he was “extremely optimistic” about this year’s season.

“My only concern is health, especially for the females,” he said. “If we get healthy, we’re kind of right where I’d like to be.”

Members of the women’s team have faced injury issues, with some of them sitting games out and others being only recently released by their doctors for past injuries. However, Moser was confident the women’s team would heal up for a good season.

As for the men’s team, he said this year’s team should surpass last year’s success.

“The men have pretty good depth,” Moser said. “We’re pretty deep, deeper than we were last year as far as the team goes, and I think we finished 10th in the nation last year.”

Overall, Moser said the team members were functioning well as a team.

“I like the chemistry of the players,” he said. “They’ve been working hard.”

That hard work will be crucial against the unique competition the tennis team faces throughout the season.

“We’re about the only program here at the college, who competes against four-year colleges,” he said. “At least half of our schedule is against four-year colleges. Generally speaking, we hold our own. We’ve got some pretty talented kids.”

Despite tough competition, Moser has goals set high for his teams.

“Our first goal is always to make it to the national tournament,” he said. “[Women] have been going 28 out of 29 years, men 26 out of 29 years; that’s the big thing.”

Whether the team reaches that goal or not, Moser said the ultimate pay-off comes from watching his players grow.

“I think all coaches are competitive, and it’s just fun preparing for your opponent and watching your individual players and your team improving their game,” he said.

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

Staff Editorial: The pursuit of happiness – for one or for all?

March 22, 2012

Gay marriage isn’t that big of a deal. Same-sex marriage goes back as far as pre-Christian ancient Rome. It’s not that big of a shock. In this country, the real threat to our nation is not LGBT people getting married; it is, oddly enough, reality. Reality: the state of the world as it actually exists as opposed to an idealistic, fantastical one.

Opponents of gay marriage seem to feel that it’s time to go back to a “simpler America.” They want to unwind the clock and turn the dial, back to a time when gay people didn’t exist. The problem with that kind of thinking is that there was no time when gay people didn’t exist.

The old-timey America that some wax nostalgically about only existed on Hollywood sets of shows like “The Brady Bunch.” In real life, once the director called cut, Mr. Brady slunk back to his home and made love to his boyfriend in the dark. (Yes, for those of you who didn’t know, Robert Reed, the actor who played Mike Brady, was gay.)

The same groups, who advocate family values and marriage, speak in awe and horror of the divorce rate in this country and the number of births out of wedlock; hypocritically want to ban gay marriage with legislation such as Proposition 8. So families are important, and marriage is “a good thing,” as long as it’s not between two people of the same sex.

This is the real fear of gay marriage: the fear that LGBT people who were once ashamed, outcast or in hiding have stepped out of the shadows and stated firmly, “I am an American too, and I deserve the same chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Isn’t that what we learned America was about when we recited the pledge of allegiance in grade school? That we were one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? Those words are lost on many of us today because the idea of justice for all started with a very limited definition in our nation’s history. It meant everyone, as long everyone was a white male landowner. Over the years, the true meaning of this idea has grown and expanded to include African-Americans, women, people with disabilities and LGBT citizens.

The persecution of gays is comparable to racism: it is hatred for a group of people for no reason other than the fact that their values and beliefs differ from your own. The idea is antiquated, unfair and sanctimonious.

Once again, we’ve come to a crossroads, a time in history where we need to set a few more place settings at the table. It is a time for us to acknowledge the real America and the strength that resides in our diversity.

We, the staff of the Campus Ledger, hold these truths to be self-evident: that all of us are created equal, that each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are living to the fullest, defending liberty as journalists, and the pursuit of whoever is nutty enough to want to marry one of us, without government restriction.

News briefs

March 22, 2012

New transfer agreement with Kansas State University

Students can expect an easier process when transferring credits to Kansas State University, thanks to a new agreement that will go into effect this semester. Students who have completed at least 45 credit hours at the college will be able to finish their final 19 credit hours at K-State. The credits will count toward the undergraduate degree and the associate degree. This arrangement aims to make the transfer process easier for students at the college.

Professor at the college teaches real life forensic nursing

Norma Fordham, professor of law at the college, will be discussing topics on forensic nursing in a presentation titled “It’s Not Dexter: Issues in Forensic Nursing.” The presentation will take place in the Craig Community Auditorium (GEB 233) from 7:30 – 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4. Fordham will be sharing her knowledge on topics such as career opportunities, the role of the forensic nurse and more. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Grammy-winning artist will perform at the college

Grammy winner and former Billboard chart-topping artist Debbie Boone will be performing at Yardley Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 25. Boone’s first hit single titled “You Light Up My Life” was released in 1977 and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts for 10 weeks straight. Boone will be performing songs from her latest album titled “Swing This.” Tickets are on sale at the college box office.

Students are rewarded for school purchases

The bookstore at the college has a new rewards program that allows students to earn points with every purchase they make at the bookstore, convenience store or the online store. Students earn one point for every $5 spent and one point for every $10 of a buyback transaction. The points can be redeemed on the online rewards catalog and do not have an expiration date. See http://www.bookstore.jccc.edu for more information.

Compiled by Erica Aldridge

BREAKING: Students of the college will be able to finish associate degree at K-State

The quest for the GPA

March 22, 2012

By Rachel Luchmun

A recent survey showed that the college has a 93 percent approval rating in the community. A majority of people believe education to be an important tool to improve their lives. After all, knowledge is power.

And yet, it seems to me that the quest for knowledge has been replaced by something different: the quest for the GPA.

At first glance, it seems that the two are one and the same – and why should they not be? The GPA is supposed to be a reflection of how well a student did in a class, and how well that student did in a class is proportional to the amount of knowledge obtained.

Right?

Like so many great concepts, reality is different from theory. Students care more about the GPA than their actual knowledge. Not all of them, thankfully, but a big enough number that it is definitely a problem.

You only have to look at http://www.ratemyprofessors.com, where students converge to learn about professors. How many comments talk about the “easy A?” The phrases “take this class if you want an easy A” or “don’t take this class if you expect an easy A” litter the website as if it was the professor’s responsibility to ensure everyone gets the perfect grade.

It’s not. Students go to college to learn, not to achieve a high GPA. In a class I took last semester, discussions often centered on current events and their relation to the class material. The professor wanted to push students to express their views and be exposed to different viewpoints. I never heard half of my classmates speak up – they sat there not paying attention. Most of them eventually dropped. Their rationale? Material from those discussions was not graded and therefore not important.

There is a widespread stereotype abroad that Americans are stupid. This is obviously not true… yet. Because if students are only preoccupied with the “easy A” to get the highest GPA, without caring about what they learn, how they develop their critical thinking skills, then what’s the point of an education? Is a degree a mere piece of paper to be shown around?

Yes, the GPA is important. It is what potential transfer universities look at. It can make the difference for applying to an internship. Many scholarships are based off a GPA. However, they all assume that the GPA stands for something: knowledge acquired, skills developed. Not just doing the bare minimum to pass with an A and show no more academic curiosity beyond that.

A counter argument that I often hear is that this is “just” a community college; the classes are “just” general education classes that are boring anyway. Or that students are just not smart, that they just don’t have time to learn things that are beyond what they need to know. They don’t want the annoyance of learning a lot of things, they just want the grade.

And I get that, obviously, you cannot learn everything, know everything. I get that some students perform better in one subject over another. But it does not mean they have to go through classes with a closed mind, only keeping the GPA as a goal. Education is more than just regurgitating things on a piece of paper. It won’t hurt to join into discussions, to listen, to ask questions, even if nothing covered is eventually going to be on a test.

Education is a privilege, not a right. Students would do well to remember that and grasp the opportunity to learn new things.

Contact Rachel Luchmun, managing editor, at rluchmun@jccc.edu.

Economics of energy: Oil independence in America

March 22, 2012

By Jon Parton

The rising price of crude oil is a growing concern for students. With local gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, increased domestic drilling and alternative fuel sources are once again gaining interest.

America currently imports about 50 percent of the oil it consumes. Jerry Magliano, professor, Personal Computer Applications, said that more domestic drilling should be done in order to lessen our reliance on foreign sources.

“It’s the old supply and demand equation,” Magliano said. “The more supply to meet demand or exceed demand, then prices go down.”

Although oil is a commodity bought and sold on an open global market, Magliano said he believes America can decrease the amount of foreign oil needed by increasing domestic oil production.

“There’s nothing we can do to really control the price of oil except increase our own independence in regard to the acquisition of oil,” Magliano said.

Domestic drilling has increased within the past few years, overshooting expected numbers of oil production. Magliano said that this was due to the efforts of private companies rather than the government. He said he believes this is partly due to the political activism of environmental groups.

“Environmental activism has been a very good thing for the country,” Magliano said. “Environmental radicalism has been a very bad thing. And environmental radicalism is what’s standing in the way of us becoming more energy independent.”

Not everyone shares the same opinion regarding the matter. Kim Criner, Sustainability Student Affairs coordinator, said she believes that independence from foreign sources of energy is an important goal. However, she is less sure of whether more domestic drilling is the answer.

“We’re continuing the dependence on a finite resource which is eventually going to become so hard to get to,” Criner said.

Although Criner said an increase in domestic oil production can lessen our dependence on foreign sources, she is concerned about its effects on the environment and people.

“How are we really serving our citizens when we’re not taking into account those externalities from the extraction of those fossil fuels?” she said.

Criner said that Americans should look to alternative sources of energy rather than increase domestic drilling. She points out the increased use of wind farms and hydropower help produce energy that is not detrimental to the environment.

“That’s not only going to bring us energy independence, but it’s going to bring us a cleaner environment,” Criner said.

Michael Humphreys, student, said he likes the idea of more domestic drilling but also has concerns over environmental issues such as the BP oil spill two years ago.

“It’s got to be safe and not destroy the environment,” Humphreys said. “I’m for it, but it has to be safe.”

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

New solar classrooms get design upgrade

March 22, 2012

How would you paint this trailer? Show us! Download this photo, paint it yourself and upload it to the Campus Ledger Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/campusledger. Photo by Patti Klinge

By Julius Williams

If you find yourself cruising along the south side of campus you might notice some trailers covered with solar technology. They are part of an experiment by the college’s department of energy performance and resource management, and they are about to get a colorful upgrade.

“[The solar technology modules] were designed with the idea that everything can come down at the end of the semester,” said Dan Eberle, assistant professor of energy performance and resource management.

The modules he is talking about are the two shipping containers that will comprise the new classrooms and laboratories for the solar thermal and solar voltaic certificate programs, once construction is completed. Students enrolled in the program will be able to rebuild the equipment every semester. The photovoltaic equipment used in the project was funded by a grant through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The containers have solar panels on the roofs and solar space heaters on the exterior walls, all built by students in the program. Eberle said that the electricity produced by the panels could run an average-size house.

“We have solar electricity and hot water,” Eberle said. “We are entirely off-grid.”

Eberle said he believes the new classrooms will create more awareness of sustainability and the idea of living within our “energy means.”

“It’s possible,” Eberle said. “Folks have to live with the idea of living within your means. From a money standpoint, we learn that pretty quickly. From an energy standpoint, we haven’t come to that point. But if we live with the idea that there’s a bank account out there that we have to manage then it’s pretty easy.”

He added that it’s not really like a bank, but more like a trust fund since it doesn’t draw interest and just dwindles away.

Although the interior of the modules are still a work in progress with dust and equipment scattered throughout, the exterior will get a colorful facelift by local graffiti artist Eric Johnson.

Johnson is a graphic design student at the college who originally hails from Wichita, Kan. He has been doing graffiti-style artwork for 15 years and when Larry Thomas, chair of the fine arts program, approached him about this opportunity, he said he was excited.

“My goal is to bring attention to Dan’s program,” Johnson said. “Sustainability is important and is even something that artists have to be aware of. What happens to the things we make 20 years from now?”

Although Johnson will not disclose the specifics of his design, he said he wants to create something unique for the buildings.

“Graffiti arts are sometimes not the most common aesthetic,” Johnson said, “but I want to make something that is harmonious with the campus but also stands out enough to bring attention to Dan and his program.”

Timothy Lednicky, chair of the energy performance and resource management department, also praised Eberle’s work with the modules and looks forward to the new designs.

“I salute Dan’s work out there,” Lednicky said. “It has caught public attention. People driving by have been waking up to the program. It’s created great awareness.”

Once Johnson’s designs are approved by the college, he can begin as early as the end of this month. His work can also be seen at the Loft Art Space in Lawrence where he has been a resident artist since last November.

Contact Julius Williams, staff reporter, at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

Drive smart

March 22, 2012

By Jon Parton

That certain someone you were hoping to hear from finally sends you a text. In a rush of excitement, you quickly take a look at what the person wrote. You devote all of your attention to the message, trying quickly to respond to the most important person in your life. At least, I guess. All I really know for certain is that I’m stuck behind you going 20 mph in a 40 mph zone.

Ladies, no amount of makeup will cover up the injuries you might sustain in a crash. Stop applying mascara and drive. Gentlemen, watching Vin Diesel movies makes you neither fast nor furious. You live in Kansas. Accept that fact. Slow it down. Races down most Johnson County roads go 100 feet before you hit another red light anyway.

I mention all of this because of the increased amount of construction that will affect students for the rest of the semester. Road crews are scheduled to work on Quivira until sometime in July. While driving home from school the other day, I witnessed a driver taking some of the turns a little too quickly. He ran over three traffic cones while trying to regain control of his vehicle.

Although he was a lucky driver, he wasn’t a very good one. Driving is one of things that can easily be taken for granted. As a kid, I couldn’t wait for the day I could finally drive. Having a car represented freedom and status. As I got older, having a car represented a metal box that required 30 to 40 bucks a week in gas.

As Americans, we love our cars but we hate traffic. The College Boulevard and Quivira Road intersection is one of the busiest intersections in the Kansas City metro area. Combine that with ongoing construction and bad drivers and you end up with a lot of potentially dangerous situations. Speeding to your destination won’t help you if you rear end someone.

It’s easy to sound like an old person when you complain about driving habits. I’m aware that there are people out there who can multitask while driving. I don’t believe people need to drive under the speed limit and show extreme courtesy to other drivers. I believe people should just display a modicum of intelligence when driving. Don’t let your driving style get in the way of your common sense.

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

Hitting the books

March 22, 2012

By Ben Markley

Textbooks are one of the staples of student routine and expenses, yet the way they are made, sold and used is far from perfect.

Student Jess Ebner said her main pet peeve was paying for an unnecessary textbook.

“I can’t stand when a class requires a textbook but is totally based off lecture,” she said. “To have a book put on the required reading list and not use it just makes me ask why I wasted my money.”

Suzanne Torok-Burge, adjunct professor, said professors have an obligation to incorporate a text.

“If [students] have to pay a lot of money, the instructor ought to use the textbook,” she said.

Student Ben Lauridsen disliked paying for something he could have gotten for free somewhere else.

“Having material that’s accessible online that you paid $100 plus to get in a book is irritating,” he said.

Student Steve Brown was not as concerned about classroom use as he was with the textbook industry itself.

“Publishers force writers to reshuffle the deck to make students buy new books,” he said. “That whole business model stinks.”

Student Sharon Brown, his wife, said the system frustrated not only professors, requiring them to write new lecture notes, but also students trying to save money in a struggling economy.

“My daughter worked at Buyback, and she saw people who couldn’t sell back their books because they had older editions,” she said.

Steve Brown said certain courses simply didn’t require new editions.

“I’ve got texts on classical Latin written back in the 1800’s,” he said. “Well, classical Latin hasn’t changed in 600 years. Some texts need to change, but some just don’t.”

However, Torok-Burge said updating textbooks can help keep the presentation of a subject fresh and relevant for its current generation of readers.

“The basic principles of my particular subject haven’t changed for thirty years or so, but it helps to keep updating so that this generation can understand and relate to it,” she said.

Steve Brown also voiced a common student complaint: high prices.

“The only reasons these books are so expensive is because they’re ‘academic’ books used for education,” he said. “When I can get a thousand-page computer language book for $20, and I have to pay $200 for an inch-thick book because it’s ‘academic’, that’s ridiculous.”

For Steve and Sharon Brown, improvements in textbooks would begin with adopting a new format.

“Based on the current technological environment, I think every student should have a laptop or tablet with PDF texts,” Steve Brown said. “Paper’s too expensive, and the publishing cycle runs faster on PDFs.”

He said the newer format would be more convenient for students as well as the publishing industry.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a tablet instead of a backpack?” he said.

Sharon Brown said the tablets would have more perks than just convenience.

“A tablet or laptop is more environmentally friendly,” she said. “The paper industry is a polluting industry, and when a book gets replaced by a new edition, that’s literally hundreds of worthless pages.”

For Ebner, textbooks should play a real but secondary role in the classroom.

“I always use textbooks as a supplement rather than a primary way of learning,” she said.

Torok-Burge said no professor should hide behind a textbook, good or bad.

“I think textbooks are a great guide for discussion, but in the end, the instructor has to know what they’re doing,” she said.

Contact Ben Markley, sports editor, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

Sports briefs

March 21, 2012

As of press time Tuesday, March 20:

Men, Women’s Tennis defeat Baker

The Cavalier Tennis teams both managed to win matches over Baker on their home courts on March 6. The men’s team kicked off their season with a conclusive 8-1 victory over the Wildcats. The Lady Cavaliers fought a harder struggle but eventually pulled off a 5-4 victory, evening the team’s season record to 1-1. The next home match will be Monday, March 19 against Southwest Baptist University.

Lady Cavaliers crush Erie, set tournament record

The Erie Community College Kats suffered the most crushing defeat in NCJAA Division II Championship Tournament history at the hands of the Lady Cavaliers with a score of 96-23. No team in the tournament has ever been held to such a low score, and the 73-point margin also set a team record. Sophomore forward Kylie Cooper pulled off a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Polly Harrington (24 pts), sophomore guard Mary Pat Specht (16 pts), sophomore forward Brianna Knules (14 pts), and sophomore guard Ameshia Kearney (13 pts) also scored double figures. The Cavaliers held the Kats to just 18.8% field goal percentage. The Lady Cavaliers advanced to play Monroe Thursday, March 22 at 6 p.m. To read more about the team’s record-breaking conference record and timely updates on the tournament, visit http://www.campusledger.com/sports-2/.

Men’s Basketball defeat Moraine Valley

The Cavaliers scored their first victory of the NJCAA Division II Championship Tournament with a 70-63 victory over Moraine Valley on March 20. Three players scored double figures: sophomore guard Quasim Jones (21 pts), sophomore forward Justin Leathers (20 pts) and freshman forward Christian Hildebrandt (11 pts), who also racked up eight rebounds. The team played South Suburban College at 6 p.m., March 21. For timely updates on the tournament, visit http://www.campusledger.com/sports-2/.

Compiled by Ben Markley.

UPDATE: Wednesday, March 21, 8:05 p.m.: Men’s basketball team defeated in second round by South Suburban College; final score JCCC 60, South Suburban 65. Congratulations, Cavaliers, on a great season.

The next game for the Lady Cavaliers is Thursday, March 22 at 6 p.m. vs. Monroe. Keep an eye on CampusLedger.com for coverage.

UPDATE: Thursday, March 22, 7:49 p.m.: Women’s basketball team defeated in second round by defending champions Monroe; JCCC 50, Monroe 64. Congratulations, Lady Cavs, on a record-breaking season, and best of luck in the consolation bracket game tomorrow.

Planet Comicon ticket giveaway

March 19, 2012

Heads up, Cavaliers! We still have 15 Comicon tickets to give away. The first 15 people to come by the Student News Center in COM 260 will get a free weekend pass to Planet Comicon in Kansas City. Here’s the info:

Come on by and ask for your ticket!

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Segel plays stoner in “Jeff, Who Lives At Home,” in theaters today

March 16, 2012

By Jon Parton

In an uncertain economy, Jason Segel has managed to find a lot of work. When the 32-year-old is not working on the Emmy award winning television show “How I Met Your Mother,” he is starring in feature films like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “The Muppets.”

Segel’s latest film, “Jeff, Who Lives At Home,” is the story of a 30-year-old slacker who still lives with his mother and believes the universe is trying to tell him something. The indie film, directed by Mark Duplas, also stars Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.

Segel noted that it was somewhat humbling to work with the veteran actress Sarandon.

“Any time you get to work around somebody that you’ve admired for so long, there’s a little part of you that feels like you’ve made a little bit, like it’s indicative of that you’re coming up in the world,” Segel said.

Segel’s character, Jeff, is unemployed and spends most of his days in his mother’s basement watching TV, smoking marijuana and waiting for a sign – something Segel said he could directly relate to.

“I had a really unpleasant out of work period from like 22 to 25 where I was just waiting around as well,” Segel said. “But I think that kind of – and I was smoking a fair amount of pot during that period as well – I think I related back to this time where you’re kind of bopping around and you have a sense that your destiny is to do something.”

Although the movie itself takes place over the course of one day, actual filming took a little more than a month to finish. Segel said that was not the biggest challenge for him.

“Mine is that we shot as much chronologically as we could and I, like, gained 25 pounds during the shooting of this movie,” Segel said. “So to me, in addition to all the complicated themes, it’s also the very subtle story of a man who gains 25 pounds over one day.”

Having taken on the role of actor, writer and songwriter, Segel dispelled any rumors of adding the title of director to his resume.

“Oh for me my answer is kind of complicated, but I think to do anything creatively you have to have a real sense of confidence and I think, to some extent, arrogance even if it’s false,” Segel said. “And so when I take a part, I really do believe there’s nobody who could do that part better than me. I have yet to feel about directing like no one could direct this better than me. I feel like I know three or four or five people who could direct this way better than me.”

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

>>>To read Ed Helms’ perspective on “Jeff, Who Lives At Home,” see “Comic realism: The Hangover’s “Stu” adds depth with new role.”

“Jeff, Who Lives At Home” premieres nationwide tonight. For showtimes in Overland Park, click here.

What to watch for

March 16, 2012

Spring Break is coming to a close, Cavs, but next week you’ll have a brand new Ledger to check out. On Thursday, look out for:

Tuition increase, and the Board of Trustees’ justification
Quivira construction: how long will it last?
Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional – what does it mean?
Why are there trailers on the south side of campus?

… and much more.

We at the Ledger hope everyone has had a fun, relaxing break, and can’t wait for you to see what we’ve got coming up for you.

Remember, your feedback is always welcome – contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: America the fallen

March 13, 2012

By David Hurtado

Once upon a time in America we were free to speak and express what we believed without fear of persecution. However, after 236 years, our freedom of speech is beginning to be crushed under a dark maelstrom of political correctness.

Kirk Cameron, whom many know as the former star of “Growing Pains,” came under fire for expressing what he thought of homosexuality. In his words, Cameron described homosexuality as “unnatural and destructive” to the foundations of civilization. Almost immediately, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, issued a statement condemning Cameron for exercising his freedom of speech.

I don’t know about you, but did Cameron sound like he was calling gays abominations or that he had a lack of respect for them? No, he did not. Cameron merely shared his beliefs on the subject and why he held them.

The Constitution clearly affirms the right to free speech for all Americans in the First Amendment. It does not matter whether you agree with Cameron or not, he has and always will have the right to say what he wants about homosexuality. There is zero need to apologize to GLAAD just because his opinion is different than theirs.

Like Cameron, I do not support gay marriage either. However, I firmly believe homosexuals should be treated with the same respect I would give any other person. And I can promise you I will never apologize for the beliefs I hold. I would rather die than give up the rights so many brave men and women who came before me gave their lives and blood to protect.

If it wasn’t bad enough that the federal government is actively trying to diminish our rights, now we have special interest groups trampling on the Constitution as well. GLAAD needs to understand that tolerance of others works both ways; it’s not some special privilege you get for being different.

We live in the United States of America, where all men are created equal. Last time I checked, that did not mean that some people are more equal than others. Unless you’re the federal government, of course.

Speaking of the federal government, our wonderful, Constitution-abiding president recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Sections 1021 and 1022 of the bill give the president power to detain any individual for an indefinite amount of time if they are suspected of terrorism. This so-called law is a serious and direct violation of Habeas Corpus and the 6th Amendment.

Even the ACLU is up in arms about this, saying it “violates international law because it is not limited to people captured in the context of an actual armed conflict as required by the laws of war,” according to NextGen Journal. A great American once said, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither, and lose both.”

If we don’t start speaking out against this kind of injustice, the America the Founders envisioned will cease to be. Perhaps the best way to summarize the silence echoing across the nation at these infringements is a poem written by Martin Niemöller when German citizens began to lose their rights just before the darkest years in human history.

“First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Contact David Hurtado, reporting correspondent, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: The controversy around Kony2012: The college’s chapter of Invisible Children responds to critics

March 12, 2012

By Rachel Luchmun

The Invisible Children campaign Kony2012 aims at bringing awareness about Joseph Kony, an African war criminal. As the video is gaining more and more popularity, numerous critics emerged against the effort.

According to the Kony2012 website, Kony abducts children to be soldiers in his army and women to be “wives” to his subordinates. Kony’s group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), originated in northern Uganda but moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

A video documenting Kony’s crimes was available on YouTube on March 5. At the time of writing, the video had over 60 million views. The video has been widely shared over social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

The surge in interest about Invisible Children’s Kony2012 video saw a wave of criticism about Invisible Children and about the initiative. Criticism included allegations that Invisible Children only sent a small proportion of its funds to Africa; that the video exaggerated facts about Kony; and that they were simplifying a complex issue, advocating dangerous solutions.

Invisible Children has put up an official response to all this criticism on their website.

Susie Sympson, adviser of the Invisible Children group on campus, said the criticism stemmed from ignorance of all the facts or a hidden agenda.

“A lot of people want to say that there is no problem, that we are exaggerating,” she said. “But there are no inaccuracies [in the video]. They’re asking everybody to share this, and maybe they stepped on the wrong people’s toes. Sometimes politics are just a smokescreen. There are more atrocities happening in Africa than in the Middle-East, but Africa does not have oil.”

Sympson also said that not doing anything about Kony was not an option.

“To ignore entire civilizations is ethnocentric,” she said. “[The situation in Uganda] is not as horrible as it was, but it is still bad. We are talking about a serious issue that no one talked about for 20 years.”

Contact Rachel Luchmun, managing editor, at rluchmun@jccc.edu.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Kony2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Response to critics of Kony2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQABpjCalJk&feature=youtu.be

Official Invisible Children response: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

List of critics: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18954353409/not-alone

Ron Paul, Kathy Gingrich Lubbers speak at Overland Park caucus site

March 10, 2012

Article and photos by Mackenzie Clark

This morning kicked off the Kansas Republican Caucus. In attendance at Shawnee Mission West High School were Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and daughter of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Kathy Gingrich Lubbers.

Also in attendance were Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and representatives for Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, Kansas State Reps. Amanda Grosserode (R-16) and Greg Smith (R-22), and supporters of Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS).

Paul was the first speaker at 10 a.m.

“I have been in and out of Congress for over 30 years, but I am known for measuring every vote I’ve ever taken by the Constitution,” Paul said. “I believe if we had more people who read the Constitution, who go to Washington and obey the Constitution, we would not be in the trouble that we are today.”

Paul’s speech was well-received by much of the audience.

“He respects liberty, in both from conception to natural death,” said Nicholas Clow, Paul supporter. “I do like that he’s pro-life and I also like that he did talk about economic freedom, which I think is a dwindling topic in today’s society, and I do think it’s an important one. He also talked about the importance of letting people decide what’s moral for themselves. This is important in response to gay marriage because while I’m opposed to it on moral grounds I do believe that people have the right to choose.”

Listen to Paul’s full speech here: http://snd.sc/yw73Tz

Lubbers spoke on her father’s behalf at 11:30 a.m.

“I’m here today to say thank you for being here,” she said. “Our job is to consider who is going to be the best person to beat Barack Obama in the fall, and I can tell you from my heart and from personal experience why I think my father, Newt Gingrich, is that individual.”

Listen to Lubbers’ full speech here: http://snd.sc/wYBSGN

As of 6:53 p.m., the Associated Press is declaring Santorum the winner of the caucus.

“He best fits my faith and what I believe, and I think he will get our country back on track,” said Christina Blair, Santorum supporter. “I think fiscally he’ll be strong. I think with Obamacare, he’ll be strong in repealing that. For now and in the primary he is my first choice, but I will get behind any of the candidates after the primary and support them 110%.”

Angelo Miño, former district deputy grand master, District V of Freemasons in Kansas, is also supporting Santorum.

“We are tired to bring these old politicians who have been offering everything to us and accomplishing nothing,” Miño said. “I think it’s time to see a younger candidate with very strong morals, principals and values because that’s what the Republican party is about. It is about values. It is about living the legacy of our founding fathers, and I see that Rick Santorum is bringing that back to us. Being from another country and being proud to be an American citizen, I want my country back, the country that gave me the American dream. Now it is time for all of us to have the dream of America come true.”

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

BREAKING: Students of the college will be able to finish associate degree at K-State

March 8, 2012

By Julius Williams

A new proposed transfer agreement between Kansas State University and the college will give students the option to finish their associate degree while studying at K-State.

Under the new reverse transfer agreement, transfer students with at least 45 credit hours will be able to complete the remaining 19 hours needed to earn an associate degree by taking classes at K-State. The 19 credit hours will count both toward the K-State undergraduate degree and the JCCC associate degree.

The arrangement is expected to provide a better, more streamlined transfer process for students and increase the number of students that earn associate degrees here at the college.

College president Terry Calaway and K-State president Kirk Schulz are expected to sign the formal agreement this afternoon and if finalized, the agreement will go into effect this semester.

“This is a big deal for both the institutions and the students of the state of Kansas,” Calaway said in a press release issued by the college. “It’s a win-win for both.”

Contact Julius Williams at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: “Modern Vision” Fashion Show Photo Slideshow

March 7, 2012

The “Modern Vision” fashion show took place at noon and 7 p.m. Friday, March 2 in the Polsky Theatre. Campus Ledger photographers Jordan Wegele, Michael House and Hannah Hunsinger were on the scene.

Here’s the JCAV video of the rehearsal before the show:

Compiled by Mackenzie Clark

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Lady Cavs make history with perfect record

March 6, 2012

By Julius Williams

The women’s basketball team made history this past weekend winning a perfect 18 – 0 conference record. The Lady Cavs closed the season with a 72 – 51 win over Allen Community College. This is the first time the team has gone undefeated in conference play.

This weekend, the college will host the District B final of the NJCAA Division II Championship. The Lady Cavs’ win qualifies them for the semi-final match on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the GYM building. They will face the winner of tonight’s game between Brown Mackie College and Hesston College.

In a press release issued by the college, head coach Ben Conrad said, “Winning a regular season championship in a good league is the crown jewel in college basketball in my mind. I couldn’t be prouder of our team. Our last two groups had a shot, and to finally get it done this year is very rewarding.”

The final game will occur at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the college.

Thank you, Rachel Kimbrough

March 5, 2012

By Mackenzie Clark

I am saddened to report that the Ledger’s editor-in-chief, Rachel Kimbrough, has recently chosen to resign.

In her time at the Ledger, Kimbrough covered articles with crucial information for the student body. As editor-in-chief, she was extremely helpful to her staff under all circumstances. As our leader, she guided us in our progression as student journalists and taught us how to improve our writing, photography, design, and personal character. She was also instrumental in beginning the convergence process in the Student News Center.

Despite the many challenges she faced, Kimbrough always held to her personal convictions and professional journalistic standards, and helped her staff to do the same. The staff would like to thank her for her support and flexibility while she was with us. She understood the demands and distractions of college life but never wavered from her commitment to uphold a high-quality publication, and encouraged all of us to follow her shining example. She handled the many pressures of her job with elegance and grace.

I have been appointed in her stead and intend to uphold the high standards set by my predecessor. The Ledger will continue to report on the facts and changes that occur on campus in a fair and balanced manner. We will also continue to share our personal opinions in our staff editorials and columns, and welcome all feedback from our readers.

As the new editor-in-chief, I plan to expand our coverage to include a wider spectrum and more variety. I intend to guide the staff toward more convergence with our media affiliates, JCAV and ECAV, in order to produce full news packages. Our readers can expect more online-exclusive pieces and breaking news coverage. I would also appreciate more reader feedback via letters to the editor, comments on our online site (http://campusledger.com) and on the Ledger’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/CampusLedger).

Thank you, Rachel, for everything you’ve done for us. We wish you nothing but the best, and you will be sorely missed. Your legacy will not be forgotten. We are all better journalists after working with you, and I can only hope to live up to your example.

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

America the bold

March 5, 2012

By Jon Parton

NASA was created more than 50 years ago. In just one year, our government has spent the same amount of money on our military as it has over the entire lifetime of our space program. Is it any wonder that our students rank so low in science and math? We are becoming a nation of anti-intellectuals.

We need NASA. The program means more to our country than just science. The space race between the United States and Soviet Russia in the 1960s represented a symbolic measure of American knowledge and drive. It was not enough to say that democracy allowed for the best of humanity; it had to be proven.

The space program is responsible for so many technologies that we take for granted. According to the NASA website, more than 1,500 technologies developed for space travel have been introduced to the world. The artificial heart has given people more years to their lives. It was developed with technology first used in space shuttle fuel pumps.

The lives of countless American soldiers have been saved from the use of land mine removal devices. Leftover fuel donated from NASA is used to help remotely ignite and destroy the mines. Aggressive development of computers and miniaturization within the space program led to the development of the microchip.

The GPS in our cars and smartphones all benefit from NASA technology. Not only did the program expand our knowledge of the universe, it also created jobs. Engineers were needed to create the spacecraft. Scientists were needed to plot flight paths.

Companies like IBM and Boeing hired more workers to develop the products NASA needed for its mission. The space program, rooted in science, has done a lot for the U.S. This year, NASA will receive more than $17 billion in funding.

That amount sounds like a lot until you compare it to how else Americans spend money. Last year, Americans spent more than $50 billion on their pets. The U.S. spent almost $700 billion on military expenditures and more than $725 billion on Social Security during that same time.

I know that our country is trying to stamp out pocket groups of terrorists, but I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s words. During World War II, Churchill’s finance minister said he should cut spending for the arts in order to support the war effort. Churchill replied, “Then what are we fighting for?”

The money we spend on NASA is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our spending. Meanwhile, countries like China, India, and the United Kingdom are spending more on their own space agencies. This is because they recognize the inherent value of a space program and how it can benefit society.

Instead of siding with political parties, we ought to side with the belief that America should be the global leader in science and technology. We need to embrace the great unknown and pick up the mantle of exploration for which our country is known.

Contact Jon Parton, staff reporter, at jparton@jccc.edu.

All-or-nothing enrollment policy: The college’s understanding when it comes to late enrollment is nonexistent

March 5, 2012

By Jessica Mitchell

The college’s no-tolerance when it comes to the enrollment deadline is overly grating and can sometimes be detrimental to a student’s GPA and financial situation.

Students who, for any reason at all, need to enroll in a course following its first meeting do not have the option to do so. There is an excess of valid reasons why students would need to take this enrollment alternative. The college’s rationale for omitting this option is a little unclear to me.

I understand that the college’s main concern for allowing late enrollment is the shocking odds that are against the students. Apparently success is moot to students who join a class after its first day. I know from experience that the first day of class is nothing but listening to instructors rant about their accomplishments, childish “get to know you” games and the annoying yet ever-recurring syllabus review. Missing the first day of class would put a student no further behind than any other student enrolled in the same course. Why not implement a one-day grace period? Allow students to get a feel for a class, let them drop it if they wish, and then let them enroll in a course better suited.

When students drop a course due to personal issues, unawareness, or even reasons outside their choice, it can force them into a lack of credit hours and cause major issues with their financial aid or scholarship(s). Aids like those have strict requirements and if a class is dropped without adding another in its place, it could potentially become a money loss situation. Not only that, but the fear of dropping a course can seriously harm a student’s GPA because they are forced to stay enrolled rather than lose their aid and means to a higher education.

What happens when an entire class is dropped? Many students don’t even become aware of this circumstance until the note is seen on the first day of class. This situation has nothing to do with the student yet directly affects their course load, graduating schedule, and financial situation all due to the college’s no-tolerance to late enrollment.

The college’s approach to late enrollment is overly harsh and has a serious lack of lenience. With the many situations that a student may face at any time, you would think the college would be understanding and have set rules to allow for easy and productive late enrollment. Have a grace period or have a set list of circumstances. The college is already a form-happy institution. So why not create a collection of forms for students to fill out in order to be awarded late enrollment? Do anything at all to exude the tiniest bit of compassion for the situations students face.

Enrollment seems to have taken the likenesses of an all-or-nothing policy and that negatively affects everyone involved. Life can be an unpredictable thing; the college needs to be a little more understanding of that.

Contact Jessica Mitchell, features editor, at jmitch54@jccc.edu.

Staff Editorial: Right to a gun-free education

March 5, 2012

If passed, House Bill 2353 would allow conceal-to-carry inside any public institution. The authorization permitting registered handgun owners to be armed on college grounds. Our question is, why would anybody ever need to have a firearm inside a math class?

Having a gun inside the closed doors of your home is one thing, but carrying it around Johnson County is pushing safety to a whole new level. What kind of city do we live in if people feel the need to be armed while going to talk to Financial Aid? There is no logical reason for concealed guns to be carried on campus. The fear students will gain from this mandate heavily outweigh the profit of the paranoid few toting around a loaded firearm.

Many supporters of this bill use the argument of safety. But here’s the deal; allowing any and every registered gun owner to decorate their belts with a concealed firearm only creates for a more hostile and violent atmosphere. Tolerating guns is tolerating guns. We fail to see the safety and comfort it will somehow bring our students and faculty. Isn’t it common sense that people would prefer to learn in a gun-free zone? It is only going to encourage the instability of the select few who believe their safety rides on packing a gun inside a community college.

A lot of people also like to throw around “right to bear arms” in hopes that it is argument enough to carry a gun wherever they please. At what cost is your “right?” The selfish desire to house a handgun is somehow trumping the thousands of other people who now feel too unsafe to come to school. We cannot think of one solid and intelligent reason why it is anybody’s “right” to have a loaded handgun inside the classroom.

If the ignorance of a few allows for this bill to be passed, what measures is the college going to be forced to take in order for guns to be on campus? Security checkpoints might have to be installed. Extra police officers might have to be hired. What’s to say a gun doesn’t get stolen or somehow makes it into unstable hands (or is already in unstable hands). Allowing for guns on campus is just a set-up for dangerous, drastic, and unnecessary measures.

Bill 2353 isn’t positively aiding to a single person. People have been safely going to class without their firearms for decades, why allocate a dangerous change? The reasoning behind this mandate is twisted and likely to founder.

Allowing conceal-to-carry is only allowing violence inside our school walls.

Letter to the editor

March 5, 2012

Dear Editor:

I would like to address your “Hey, teachers, leave those kids alone” editorial piece and the many problems I found within it. First, I would like to point out that all professors are held to a certain standard by their school and department, and their syllabi are reviewed. Now granted, this does not totally protect students from an “agenda” the professor might have, but I think it’s fair to say that generally, what is covered in class is legitimate, academic material. This leads me to my next point. Perhaps what you took to be a political rant favoring evil, warping socialism, could have been legitimate scholarly thought on the subject. Rather than sticking around and challenging your own beliefs and possibly learning a lot about something different, as well as maybe challenging the professor’s beliefs, you “ran for the hills.”

Second, I think it’s odd that you would bring up some obscure conspiracy theory regarding communism in America to drive your point home. However, I believe this points to your lack of education regarding socio-economic ideologies such as communism or socialism; perhaps you should have stayed in that class a little longer before writing this piece.

I think it is positively immoral of you to encourage students to avoid being taught by someone who views things differently. If you want to cripple your own education, then drop a class every time you disagree with the professor, but don’t tell others to do the same. The problem is not with overly opinionated professors; in fact regardless of beliefs, I prefer a professor who expresses their opinion because that often demonstrates a passion for their field of study. The problem is with students acting as if they were the ones who have been published and spent six or eight years in school, instead of the professors. You said “The truly amazing, life-altering professors on this campus understand that their job is to teach us how to think for ourselves, not what to think, or how to think like them,” and this is true for the most part. But what you left out is that the really, really good professors teach you how to think better than you did before, and often times, that means challenging every aspect of what you think now.

Taylor Dunn

Student

Letter to the editor

March 5, 2012

Dear Rachel Kimbrough and students of JCCC,

I am a proud and returning student of JCCC. I have been attending here on and off for about two years and love the school environment. There is one thing that I believe this school is missing. That is a football team. Football brings positive things to school environments. It would give JCCC students more opportunities to get involved with the school and fellow students. I have talked to several male athletes that feel the same as I do and would enjoying playing on the team.

If we had a football team we could host pep rallies for our team, have JCCC football cheerleaders, and so much more. School spirit would be improved around JCCC, and I believe students would be more interactive with the school. Game days could be days of excitement to be at school and support our team. With all the talk of having a new logo, I think we should bring in a football team as well.

Along with other sports at JCCC we are lacking one of the most interactive sports a college could have. We could possibly see improvement within students and our student body as a whole. I hope in the time I spend at JCCC there will be more talk and effort into having a football team on campus.

Sincerely yours,

Anonymous

Censored classrooms: Staying politically correct in a classroom setting

March 5, 2012

By Jessica Mitchell

With the college housing over 20,000 students, the different political and religious affiliations are immense. Instructors at the college speak in front of many diverse students every day, their language and speech never going unnoticed.

To avoid any offense, some people would suggest stifling language and opinions; other people believe it’s important to stray away from any form of censorship.

“When people try to ban information, it’s the same thing as trying to push your own religious beliefs on somebody, your own political values on somebody, and while I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing for people to hear various points of view, I think the purpose of college in particular is to allow students to open their world up to different views than their own,” said Mark Raduziner, department chair and professor, journalism and media communications.

Staying politically correct and avoiding offensive language may seem like an important aspect in the classroom, but the act of oppressing can hinder learning and growing for the students.

“I think it’s up to the professor to try to keep a balance there and allow everybody to voice their opinion; whether someone may be socially conservative, liberal, religious, or not religious at all,” Raduziner said. “That’s how you learn about life and the world around you.”

While some professors attempt to hide their religious and political affiliations for the sake of a censored classroom, Raduziner argues that having an uncensored classroom allows for a better learning experience.

“Most of the faculty at this college try to stand in the middle and try to have ownership to what their policies are – to having an open class while also having the academic freedom to be able to teach what they want and to express their own opinions,” Raduziner said. “If I would be allowed to express my own political opinions, when another student would say, ‘Okay, now hear my opinion’—well, I’m learning from them as much as they are learning from me.”

Constantly watching what is said while in the classroom seems to be a cumbersome task that some students find unimportant. Students Emily Miller and Connor Pierce both say they don’t take any offense to foul language.

“I don’t care if teachers cuss in class,” Miller said. “I don’t notice it half the time because I am so used to hearing it and doing it myself.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Pierce said. “Cursing in a classroom setting isn’t necessary but I understand it happens. I don’t know why people get so offended by it. It’s only words.”

While the college, some students, and even some faculty may frown upon cursing in a classroom setting, Raduziner said that there is a time and place for it.

“If it’s in context of a lesson then I think it can be used,” Raduziner said. “I realize people may be offended by [cussing], but it’s going to happen in speech. People just make those verbal blunders all the time. I think that they just happen and you just sort of apologize for it and move on.”

While having a censored-style classroom may avoid the chance of offense, it may also suppress discussion and learning on part of the students.

“I just think that students have to hear various points of view,” Raduziner said. “Then they need to draw a conclusion for themselves.”

Contact Jessica Mitchell, features editor, at jmitch54@jccc.edu.

Not impossible, but Improvable: Improv comedy group headed to campus

March 5, 2012

By Jon Parton

An improv comedy tour will be performing at the college this spring. The comedy team of “Mission Improvable” will be performing at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7 in the Craig Community Auditorium.

The group has toured all across the country and has even performed at Lollapalooza. The show originally started more than 10 years ago. Pat Kiely, one of the members of “Mission Improvable,” explained the show’s collegiate roots.

“It started with some guys from the University of Massachusetts and then moved to Chicago and later Los Angeles,” Kiely said.

The show itself is styled upon a special agent theme, with each performer assigned to a specific code name. The performers interact with the audience in a number of improvisational games, Kiely said.

“The whole point of improv is that you can never say no,” Kiely said. “You always use what the audience or another performer gives you.”

Kiely also has local connections. While studying at the Second City Theater in Chicago, he was coached by Jason Sudeikis. Sudeikis, a “Saturday Night Live” alum, grew up in Overland Park where he attended school at Shawnee Mission West.

Improvisational comedy relies heavily on audience participation. The challenge for the performers is to think quickly in order to adapt to the material.

“The best part of it is that no one owns these improv games,” Kiely said. “They belong to everyone.”

Rather than call them “games” onstage, the performers call them “missions.” The comedy team does not rely on scripts, making each show a unique experience.

Student Jakob Weber said he is a big fan of improv, including TV shows like “Whose Line is it Anyway.”

“It’s just taking something out of nothing,” Weber said.

Jacob Marshall, student ambassador of Student Activities, said that audience participation made this the right show to bring to the college.

“It’s interactive fun and the students can get involved with it,” Marshall said.

Marshall serves on the Campus Activities Board, a group responsible for putting together various activities and events for the school, including “Mission Improvable” and Rob Riggle’s performance back in October.

“A lot of people know us because we’re the people who make I.D.’s,” Marshall said. “But something else that not everybody is immediately aware of is how much we bring to the college.”

Marshall said he believed that the show caught their attention during a national collegiate convention attended by student activity boards. He believed their style of comedy was well-suited for the school.

“Comedy’s big and these guys, they’re not quite crude, they’re just improv,” Marshall said.

Contact Jon Parton, staff reporter, at jparton@jccc.edu.

Who, what, wear: Fashion design students prepare for annual fashion show

March 5, 2012

By Erica Aldridge

Editor’s note: This article ran in Issue 11 as a precede to the fashion show which took place March 2. Further coverage of the fashion show will be posted.

The Fashion Merchandising and Design program will be hosting their annual fashion show on Friday, March 2 in the Polsky Theatre. This year the students chose to title the show “Modern Vision.”

Starting out as a small scale show with a runway set up in the Commons building, the fashion show has grown over its 40 years and now holds two separate show times in the Polsky Theatre. Twenty students in the Fashion Design program will be showing an average of five pieces in this year’s show.

“It’s open to any students in the program,” said Britt Benjamin, assistant professor of Fashion Merchandising and Design. “If [the students] feel they have strong sewing skills they’ll do it in their first semester.”

Fashion design students are encouraged to begin thinking about how they will put together a line during their entry level apparel construction classes. In November, designers are asked to sign up, submit illustrations and estimate the number of garments they will make. Designers then immediately get to work by finding inspiration and beginning to create their garments.

“My inspiration was the takeover of machines and the effect that it would have on nature,” said Samantha Dawdy, student designer. “My fabrics are inspired by tree bark, while harsh details, such as industrial zippers and leather signify the parts of the tree that have been transformed into machinery.”

About six weeks before the show, a jury of fashion merchandising and design professors meet with each designer individually and give them feedback about their work.

“We maintain the right to be able to eliminate a look for the show,” said Joan McCrillis, chair of the Fashion Merchandising and Design program. “We are not looking for perfection, but we’re looking something that represents the student’s talent.”

Although the instructors have the ultimate say, the students are still encouraged to use their own originality and creativity in their designs.

“There is always an approval process,” McCrillis said. “But we want the designer to feel the freedom to show their vision.”

As the day of the show moves closer, students begin selecting models and picking what music will play. Students also must decide whether they want their collection to be judged. If they do decide to be judged and their collection scores well, they are rewarded with a scholarship. The student’s work is judged based on the wear-ability and the construction of the garments.

“This is my first time ever being in the fashion show,” Dawdy said. “I am nervous, but so excited to see how my pieces will look walking down the runway.”

Tickets for the noon and 7 p.m. showing are on sale at the box office for anyone who would like to attend. Tickets are $5 for students and employees of the college. For the general public, tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

Contact Erica Aldridge, copy editor, at ealdridg@jccc.edu.

InFocus: Perchance to dream: What dreams are and what they mean

March 5, 2012

By Ben Markley

Any student who has ever dreamed about taking finals in their underwear knows the effect dreams can have, but what are dreams and how do they affect us?

Patti Ward, adjunct professor psychology, said the psychological purpose of dreams is practical survival.

“You feel like you’re just starting the movie, but [dreams are] the brain’s way of staying alive,” she said. “The brain is a thinking machine. If you’re not thinking, you’re brain-dead.”

The brain goes through five stages of sleep in 90-minute cycles. One of the stages is known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, where the eyes move, heart rate changes and brain activity increases. This is when dreaming occurs.

Despite various theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung about dream interpretation, Ward said modern psychology does not recognize symbolic meanings in dreams.

“People are more interested in things that they can’t explain,” she said. “I think people will always be interested in parapsychology—ESP, being able to tell the future, premonitions—but because it cannot be proven scientifically, we do not recognize it in psychology.”

While psychologists do not think dreams have symbolic meanings, Ward said our dreams do tend to manifest things we fear.

“In our culture, you can’t go around saying ‘I’m scared’ all the time, but that fear is in there, so when you’re dreaming you’ll often inadvertently process what you’re not expressing when you’re awake,” she said.

Dream content comes from two places: the hippocampus, where long-term memory is stored, and the imagination.

“You don’t know what you don’t know, so what you have in your brain can pop in your dreams just because your long-term memory is working,” she said. “If you have creative dreams, it’s either coming from your memory of creative or gory things you’ve watched, or you’re just a creative person.”

Chad Sanner, chair of polysomnography/sleep technology, said the brain is far from asleep in the dream state.

“During these REM periods, the brain becomes more activated than while you’re awake, so you experience all these senses,” he said.

Not everyone experiences dreams the same way.

“Most people will experience visual sensations, some will experience auditory,” Sanner said. “It’s fairly rare to experience things like smell, taste and pain in dreaming.”

However, Sanner said the senses are not the only things involved in dreams.

“We think that heart rate and respiratory rate are linked to what a person dreams about,” Sanner said. “They’ve done nightmare studies where they hook up individuals with recurring nightmares, and they find that the heart and respiratory rate will gradually increase with the intensity of the nightmare.”

This engagement of body and mind has been noticed not only by psychologists but also philosophers. René Descartes, a French philosopher of the 17^thcentury, discussed dreams in his famous work Meditations on First Philosophy.

“Descartes’ central question is, ‘What, if anything, can I know with absolute certainty?’” said Dawn Gale, associate professor of philosophy. “He recognizes that most, if not all, of his knowledge comes from or through senses, and he wants to know if there’s any reason to doubt them.”

Descartes’ answer comes through the nature of dreams.

“He saw that some of his dreams were so realistic at the time he was having them that he was convinced he was doing what he was dreaming about,” Gale said. “If we can’t distinguish dream from reality at least some of the time, that calls all of reality into question.”

Sanner said dreams can be so realistic that the brain routinely paralyzes the body to keep the dreamer from acting out the dream and injuring themselves. However, some suffer from REM Behavior Disorder, where this paralysis fails.

“A lot of the time, the reason [people with the disorder] go to their doctor is that their bed partner gets hit at night,” he said. “In some rare cases, people can actually get up and run into things.”

Another phenomenon involving this paralysis is one Sanner said most people will experience at least once in their lifetime.

“You start to wake up out of a dream, but you can’t move, and your body remains paralyzed even after the brain is awake,” he said. “You may even be able to open your eyes and look around the room, but you still can’t move your body.”

Whatever the meaning or manifestation of dreams may be, Ward said everybody has them and needs to have them, from college students to babies in the womb.

“We’re dreaming before we’re even born,” she said.

Contact Ben Markley, staff reporter, at bmarkle2@jccc.edu.

InFocus: No time to unwind

March 5, 2012

By Jon Parton

Their feet shuffle slowly across campus, dragging their sullen bodies to class in a half-dead state. No, the school has not been invaded by zombies—students are losing out on sleep and suffering the consequences for it.

As any student can tell you, it can be difficult to get eight hours of sleep every night while juggling the responsibilities of school, work, and family life. When so many events occur during a day, sleep is usually given less priority.

However, Chad Sanner, chair, Polysomnography/Sleep Technology, said that having bad sleep habits can have serious effects on the body and mind in the long-term.

“The bigger problem is usually when you have a partial sleep deprivation over years of time,” Sanner said. “So you’re only getting six hours of sleep over years of time.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insufficient sleep has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression.

“What they found is that heart attacks increase, the number of strokes increase in people that either have too short of sleep or have fragmented sleep at night,” Sanner said.

He said that memory and performance is also affected when people lose sleep. The most dramatic short-term effects can include changes in mood. The effects can become much more severe the longer a person goes without a healthy sleep pattern.

“Depression in someone with chronic sleep deprivation is very common,” Sanner said.

According to Sanner, the best way to combat bad sleeping habits is to develop a program of sleep hygiene. The body adjusts itself to stimuli like light, food, caffeine, and even the bedroom itself. The trick is to use your bedroom for sleep, rather than a place to watch TV or use your laptop.

“It’s kind of like Pavlov’s dogs,” Sanner said. “You want to associate the bedroom with sleep, so as soon as you enter that environment, your body feels sleepy.

“The half-life of caffeine is 6 hours, but the effects of caffeine can last 8 to 12 hours,” Sanner said.

As some students know, it is not easy to force yourself to change your habits. Student Fannana Haque said she knows her sleep habits are terrible.

“I go to bed at 2:00 a.m. and wake up at 6:00 a.m.,” Haque said.

Haque said that frequent noises as well as caffeine help contribute to her lack of sleep. However, not everyone suffers from sleep deprivation.

Melody Caldwell, student, said that her sleep schedule is pretty regular.

“I usually get about seven hours of sleep every night,” Caldwell said. “I avoid drinking coffee and tea in the afternoon.”

Sanner recommends that students establish a pre-sleep ritual, turning out lights at a certain time, and avoiding caffeine in the afternoon. A consistent approach to sleep and a little common sense can help students avoid becoming one of the walking dead.

Contact Jon Parton, staff reporter, at jparton@jccc.edu.

Sports briefs

March 1, 2012

Track teams bring home gold at Region VI Indoor Championship Meet

The meet took place at Ahearn Fieldhouse at Kansas State University on Sunday, Feb. 19. The women’s team won the overall team title winning five team events and several individual medals including high jump, triple jump, pole vault, 4×800 and the distance medley. The men’s team won one team event and 12 individual events. This is the first win for the women’s team and the third for the men. Coach Mike Bloemker took home honors for Coach of the Meet (Region VI) and for the women’s team. Ashley Reid, track athlete, won Female Athlete of the Meet.

Quasim Jones named KJCCC/Verizon Wireless Player of the Week

Quasim Jones, a starting guard for the Cavalier’s men’s basketball team, won the Player of the Week honor for the second time this season. Jones averaged 30 points in three games and tied the school record for three-pointers with nine buckets against Fort Scott Community College.

Soccer star signs with Emporia State

Thomasenia Bouknight has signed a letter of intent to play for the Emporia State University Hornets. The sophomore forward earned First Team All-Jayhawk Conference honors this year. She has also held the title of NJCAA and KJCCC Verizon Wireless Player of the Week. Bouknight will join the Hornets for the 2012 season.

Compiled by Julius Williams.

Queens of the court: Lady Cavs basketball team continues to dominate conference

March 1, 2012

Ameshia Kearney maneuvers around an Independence Community College defender while going in for a basket during the game on Feb. 22. Photo by Hannah Hunsinger.

By Julius Williams

As the old saying goes, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” And there is absolutely nothing broken on the Lady Cavalier’s basketball team.

The team is firing on all cylinders on their march to a national championship. Their outstanding performance begs the question, what do you focus on now?

“We still play for forty minutes,” said Gerald Ewing, assistant coach. “Whether we are playing the best team in the country or not, we focus on playing our best.”

Ewing said that this is the culture that they’ve built at the college; a culture of always working to improve, to work harder and play smarter.

And from the look of the full bleachers during the Lady Cavs’ Wednesday game against Neosho, the team’s dedication to excellence is drawing a lot of supporters.

Student D.J. Demjanik has attended many of the basketball games on campus.

“I’ve never seen this many people,” he said. “The women’s team is such an inspiration. Coach Conrad has done a phenomenal job with the program.”

Like many fans at the game, Demjanik comes out to support the ladies but also says that he comes out because it’s so much fun.

“I come out to support them no matter what,” he said. “But it’s entertaining. The women have a lot of good players. It’s a lot of fun.”

While the Lady Cavs’ dominant play is the reason most fans come out, they are not the only ladies on the court making a splash. The Golden Girls dance team is also on hand at every game cheering the players and entertaining the fans.

“We like cheering on the team,” said Hilary Chestnut, Golden Girl and student. “We’ve been really impressed with the girl’s team.”

The Golden Girls showed off their skills at an electrifying half time show at the Neosho game that included some spicy dance moves and high flying acrobatics.

Golden Girls coach Amy Sellers said that it’s not hard to get pumped up during the game with the basketball team doing so well.

“They are very energetic and fun to watch,” Sellers said. “It makes our job easier.”

Fans can continue to enjoy the Lady Cavs’ spectacular play as the number one team continues to exert its dominance over the conference and march towards a national title.

The Lady Cavs finish their regular season against Allen Community College on Saturday, March 3 in Iola, Kan.

Contact Julius Williams, sports editor, at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

Correction

March 1, 2012

In Issue 9, we printed that Richard France, vice president of Strategic Initiatives and special assistant to the president, worked previously at Cayuga Community College. France actually spent 33 years at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio.

Smoking ban here to stay: Town hall meeting confirms college to be completely tobacco free

March 1, 2012

Spooner_Smokingagain_RAW — Illustration by Elizabeth Spooner

By Rachel Luchmun

A town hall meeting discussing the campus-wide smoking ban was held Feb. 15. The Student Senate initiative aimed at clarifying the policy and answering questions from members of the community.

Dana Grove, executive vice president of Educational Planning and Development, Pam Vassar, assistant dean of Student Life and Leadership Development and Dennis Day, vice president of Student Success and Engagement, were members of a panel. Students, faculty and staff were invited to ask questions and voice concerns over the smoking ban.

The panel made it clear the college will not move from its position of a tobacco-free campus, despite appeals from students to institute more designated smoking areas.

“I want to make this clear to everybody: what the Board of Trustees voted on last spring was to have a tobacco-free campus,” Grove said. “You cannot have a tobacco-free campus that makes allowances for smokers. That does not make any sense; it’s a contradiction of terms. So no to extra [smoking] huts.”

“Are we fighting a losing battle?” a student asked.

“Yes,” Day said. The student then walked out.

Grove said the campus tobacco ban came about after a poll by the Student Senate showed a majority of students to be in favor of it. The Board of Trustees established the policy in August 2011, with the only exception to the rule being smoking in cars and in huts near the ITC building.

The huts were put in because of the collaboration between the college and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which sends its employees to the college for retraining.

“When we were discussing this smoking ban, they asked if we would allow them to have those smoking huts,” Grove said. “We, I might say reluctantly for myself, agreed to do that. Sometimes I have second thoughts about that but we did it because of the relationship.”

Arguments against the ban were that it violated smokers’ rights to smoke. A student said the college was “just asking for a pneumonia outbreak” by making smokers walk to their cars in wintry weather.

Arguments for the ban were that smokers were forcing their smoke upon all students. Since the ban, many reported it was more enjoyable to walk through campus without smelling smoke.

Other concerns that were brought forward were that the ban was not enforced, with faculty, staff and campus police officers overlooking smokers in non-designated areas.

Gina Galanou, Student Senate president, said the reason for the meeting was because of strong opinions from either side. The aim was to inform students of the reasons behind the policy and allow them to ask questions.

“We are not here to make a decision,” Galanou said. “I think this document is said and done. As students being on this campus, you have the right to know why policies take place, how they start and how does that affect you as an individual.”

Contact Rachel Luchmun, news editor, at rluchmun@jccc.edu.

Lights, camera, action: A look at the upcoming films hosted by Cineclub’s Indian film festival

March 1, 2012

By David Hurtado

Often when people discuss some of the good movies they have seen, titles such as “The Blind Side” or “Inception” come to mind. For Cineclub, however, most of the great films discussed are more culturally diverse.

Cineclub is hosting its Indian Film Festival from Feb. 7 to April 10. The three films being shown, “Pather Panchali,” “Awara” and “Mughhal-e-Azam” are all considered classics of Indian cinema.

“Pather Panchali,” directed by Satyajit Ray, is centered on a young boy named Apu, who is born into an impoverished family in Bengal, India. His father, a priest and poet, struggles to make ends meet and keep his family fed. At the same time, Apu’s sister, Durga, is constantly stealing guavas from the neighbor’s orchids, much to the disdain of their mother.

“’Pather Panchali’ was as fine as any of the films we have shown,” said William Stockton, Cineclub adviser.

“It focuses on the dynamic of the family in a powerful, intimate way.”

“Awara” follows a young man named Raju who survives on the streets as a thief in result of his estranged father kicking Raju’s mother out of the house years ago. Raju hooks up with a Dacoit, or pickpocket, named Jagga as his surrogate father, but eventually learns Jagga was the cause of the misunderstanding between his parents all those years ago. In a fit of rage, Raju kills Jagga and is sent to court before the judge, his father.

“Mughal-e-Azam” is a film inspired by true events that took place in 16th century India. Prince Salim, the only child of his father Emperor Akbar, is sent off to war at a young age to learn discipline and courage. Prince Salim returns 14 years later and falls in love with a court dancer named Anarkali. However, another jealous court dancer named Bahaar will stop at nothing to ensure she wins the prince’s heart and ascends to queen hood.

“It’s a revelation seeing films like these,” Stockton said.

Samira Hussein, business professor, said she believes it is important for students to watch films from other cultures besides their own.

“Absolutely, cinema in this day and age gives quite a clue in terms of culture,” Hussein said. “It’s the best way to see the current issues that are affecting that people.”

Still, Hussein said she believes that while the films are mostly accurate of the average Indian family life, that is not always the case.

“When one sees the hardship in cinema, it’s not necessarily untrue, but it doesn’t portray the accuracy in the average Indian family life,” Hussein said. “There are pockets in India where the films accurately portray life, though, but the hardship has always been there.”

Cineclub began in 2009 when Stockton and a foreign exchange student began planning regular meeting periods to watch classic films. The club is devoted to learning about classic films, both foreign and American.

“It started with a planned meeting between a French student who loved classic cinema and me,” Stockton said, “understanding that there was a group of like-minded students who would attend when we showed the films.”

Not everyone at the college is as excited about the Indian film festival as Stockton is, though.

Justas Baltrusaitis, student, said that the films didn’t interest him that much.

“I don’t really have time to see them,” Baltrusaitis said.

Past films shown at the college by Cineclub include “Wild Strawberries” directed by Ingmar Bergman, “My Life to Live,” directed by Jean-Luc Godard and “La Dolce Vita,” directed by Federico Fellini.

All showings are free and open to the public. However, Cineclub is a continuing education class and students must register in order to attend. To register for the shows, call 913-469-2323 and tell the operator CRN #20358. The shows will be held in The Hudson Auditorium in the Nerman Museum at 5 p.m. “Awara” will be shown on March 7 and “Mughal-e-Azam” will be shown on April 10.

Students unable to attend the showings can rent the films from the college’s library.

Contact David Hurtado, reporting correspondent, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.

News briefs

March 1, 2012

College receives positive feedback

According to the survey results of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, the college has a favorability rating of 93 percent. The survey was conducted with 800 registered voters and 693 business representatives last month in Overland Park. Overall, the survey showed that the quality of education is the most positive feature of Johnson County.

Model United Nations team receives multiple awards

The Model United Nations team received three awards for its portrayal of Canada at the 2012 Midwest Model United Nations Conference in St. Louis on Feb. 15-18. Student Ben Brown was awarded with the Outstanding Delegate Choice Award and the Outstanding Position Paper Award for his work on the Commission of Sustainable Development. Student Aaron Haffey received an Honorable Mention Award for his portrayal of Canada’s position on the Commission on Science and Technology committee. The Model UN team will next attend the National Model United Nations Conference in New York March 30-April 6. They will represent the country of Kenya.

Student talent show entry deadline approaching

Students who are interested in being part of the talent show need to turn in their entry forms by 5 p.m. Friday, March 2. Students can pick up entry forms at the Student Activities and Information Desk located at SC 106.

Compiled by Erica Aldridge.

Police briefs

March 1, 2012

Student Misconduct

A student at the college was smoking a cigarette in her vehicle on Feb. 8 in the Upper East Carlsen Center parking lot when another student approached her, flipped her off and cursed at her. The female student told him she was just smoking. The subject continued to curse at her and told her she needed to leave or go sit on a bench and smoke, although the smoking policy at the college only allows students to smoke in their vehicles. The reporting party described the person as a white male, early to mid-twenties, slightly heavy set wearing a brown jacket. The incident was turned over to the Dean of Student Services for disposition.

Report of battery between two students

Campus police were dispatched to the COM 2nd floor area near the elevator on a report of battery at 2:10 p.m. on Feb. 10. The victim, a student at the college, stated that his ex-girlfriend, also a student at the college, slapped him across the face and cursed at him after an argument. The victim told campus police that he did not want to pursue any charges against the suspect at this time, provided she did not contact him anymore.

Ongoing investigation of theft in Gym

Campus police were dispatched to the lower level of the Gym on Feb. 10 regarding a theft of property. A total of four victims reported that they were missing property. All the victims stated their cell phones, cash and other property had been stolen from their equipment bags while they were weight training. The investigation is ongoing.

Car theft on campus

A student at the college reported that his vehicle was stolen from the Clock West 1 parking lot on Feb. 13. The student stated that he parked his 2001 Dodge Stratus at about 10:15 a.m. and went to class. The victim said he returned to the lot around 2:30 p.m. and realized his vehicle was missing. Officers have no further information at this time.

Missing camcorder from GYM 112

A staff member at the college reported a theft of a camcorder from her office. The camcorder had been returned to the office just before winter break last December after it had been serviced. The camcorder was stored in a box at that time and its loss was not discovered until the morning of Feb. 15. The reporting party said that she and her assistant thoroughly searched her office when the loss was discovered. The staff member also said that her office had been locked at all times when she had not occupied it, and the door lock appeared to be functioning normally. This investigation is continuing.

Compiled by Erica Aldridge.

Comic realism: The Hangover’s “Stu” adds depth with new role

March 1, 2012

By Julius Williams

Television and film star Ed Helms, who is best known for his outlandish performances in the television show “The Office” and “The Hangover” film series, joined student journalists across the country on Feb. 17 for a conference call to promote his new film, “Jeff, Who Lives At Home.”

The Atlanta native plays a starring role as the character Pat, who spends the day with his younger, slacker brother Jeff as they try to track down Pat’s adulterous wife.

It’s a bit of a departure from the characters that Helms is known for playing. For this role, there will be no face tattoos or matrimony to prostitutes; instead, Helms plays a normal, everyday guy trying to deal with a marriage that has spun out of control.

“I’m insanely proud of it,” Helms said. “It’s kind of more dysfunctional…it’s more, sort of an honest look at dysfunctional people than most work I’ve done.”

For Helms, it was the honest portrayal of real-life characters that drew him to the Duplass brothers’ script.

“I loved it right away, watched all of the Duplass movies and said, ‘Sign me up,’” he said.

Although fans may consider Helms’ character on “The Office” as very dysfunctional, he believes that what makes this role special is the fact that you see real the real pain and cost of peoples’ decisions.

“This is a little bit more played for reality, and I hope that resonates,” Helms said. “We all know this guy and sometimes we are this person at various times in our lives… Pat is someone who is very desperate to kind of portray himself as someone who really has his shit together, but who doesn’t…and it’s sort of a chasm between what he wants to be and what he really is that defines this guy.”

The independent movie was filmed on location in New Orleans, with Helms starring alongside Jason Segel and Susan Sarandon.

“The chemistry was fantastic,” Helms said. “We had an amazing time working together. Jason just brought his ‘A’ game all over this movie. But it wasn’t about finding the laughs; it was just kind of a new challenge for me because it was about finding realism and authenticity.”

“Jeff, Who Lives At Home” premieres nationally on March 16.

Contact Julius Williams, sports editor, at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

Don’t forget about women’s history month

March 1, 2012

By Erica Aldridge

Since 1987, March has been the month to celebrate women’s history. Although the college has planned events for women’s history month in the past, nothing is scheduled for this year.

In 2011, the college hosted multiple information sessions and guest speakers to talk about various women’s issues. The topics ranged from issues with women all across the world to personal body image. Student Rebekah Mayer said there are many other topics to discuss.

“I think body issue is a big thing, but it kind of only scratches the surface,” Mayer said. “I think it would be cool to talk about women and our roles in society.”

Professor Toby Klinger said there are several subjects that she would like to see discussed in the future.

“We really should be considering doing something in terms of domestic abuse,” Klinger said. “And do something much more collaboratively with the community.”

This year, the selected theme of Women’s History Month is women’s education. Although Women’s History Month is important to consider every year, this year’s theme is one that has an impact on every female student here at the college.

It was not until 1972 that gender discrimination by federally funded institutions was prohibited, according to the national women’s history project website (www.nwhp. org). The passing of Title IX of the Higher Education Act Amendments made this possible. Before it was enacted, any tools that were offered by colleges and universities could have been made exclusive to one gender and not the other.

Student Jamie Veeder said women should be aware of events like this in history.

“I think it’s important to appreciate where [women] are now, and where we are going,” Veeder said. “It’s important to think about what it means for us to be full members of society, because it wasn’t that long ago that we weren’t.”

The college does not have any specific events planned for this year’s women’s history month. But students can visit the national women’s history project website to learn more about influential women in history and to find events that are going on in other areas of the nation.

Contact Erica Aldridge, copy editor, at ealdridg@jccc.edu.

Kansas House bill would allow guns on campus

March 1, 2012

By Rachel Kimbrough

Whether speaking about safety on campus or the economic impact of college sports teams refusing to come to Kansas, Board of Trustee members are not on board with Kansas House Bill 2353.

The bill, if passed, would implement a state-wide mandate allowing conceal-to-carry on the grounds of any public institution. Institutions’ alternative would be to install manned security checkpoints at every entrance.

“The idea behind the legislation is, you’re not going to let me carry my gun into your building, then you need to make sure that nobody else does either,” said Trustee Melody Rayl.

Rayl, a former police officer, testified on behalf of the college against the bill before a House committee. She said the intention of the bill is to promote public safety, but at an institution like the college, it would actually reduce the effectiveness of the college’s existence safety procedures.

“Let’s say for example, right now if you saw somebody walking around campus with a gun, you’d probably report that,” she said. “Well, if everybody is allowed to carry guns on campus, then when would you report it, and if you did report it, when would the police respond, and if they responded, what would they do? It’s easier to identify a threat when no one on campus is supposed to have a gun than it is if you don’t know who’s supposed to have a gun.”

Rayl said the bill may make sense for a college without a readily-available campus security force, which is why the decision to allow guns on campus should be up to individual institutions. Trustee Greg Musil echoed that idea at the Feb. 16 Board of Trustees meeting.

“Regardless of how you feel on the conceal to carry issue, this ought to be a local government control issue,” Musil said. “We are elected to protect this campus. This board, our 25 certified officers, have a great track record. We don’t have a problem with security on this campus.”

College lobbyist Dick Carter said the implications of such a bill passing go beyond public safety.

“Several of the athletic conferences at varying levels in collegiate athletics have issued letters, not only stating their concern, but expressing their desire not to travel to Kansas and play in those arenas or in those venues should concealed weapons be allowed,” Carter said. “Those are very real issues, and that demonstrates an economic impact that would be very negative.”

Carter said the House will work on this bill later this week, and encouraged anyone associated with the college to contact his or her legislator in regards to the bill.

Contact Rachel Kimbrough, special to the Ledger, at rkimbrou@jccc.edu.

College alumnus excels at American University

March 1, 2012

By Julius Williams

If you need proof that college is more than classes and homework, then meet Maxwell Matite, a 2010 graduate of the college, now enrolled at the prestigious American University in Washington, D.C.

The native Kenyan moved to Kansas City 10 years ago. He specifically chose the college to learn public policy and participate in the college’s Model United Nations program. Matite knew that the college had a nationally recognized program and wanted to participate.

“The college has one the best Model UN programs in the country,” said Matite.

The Model UN is a student-led simulation of the United Nations. Students choose countries to represent and debate international issues. By participating in the debates, student learn to develop their public speaking, negotiation and conflict resolution skills using real-world scenarios.

Professor Brian Wright, political science, is the adviser of the Model UN team and worked with Matite as his mentor.

“Maxwell was an exceptional student in international relations, political science and the Model United Nations courses,” Wright said. “He joined the award-winning Model United Nations team in spring 2010 and quickly demonstrated his intellectual potential, commitment and dedication to the program.”

While at the college, Matite traveled with Wright and the team to Chicago, St. Louis and New York City to compete. He served as president of the Model UN team and received an Outstanding Delegate award at the 2011 National Model UN Conference in New York City.

Matite said that he always knew he wanted to work in public policy. When he first came to the college, Patti Ward, psychology professor, immediately noticed his enthusiasm and work ethic.

“I’ve worked at the college for 13 years, and early on I recognized that we need to pick out students that are outstanding and inform them about the various groups on campus that they can benefit from,” Ward said.

Ward noticed that Matite was interested in public policy and felt that the honors program at the college would be a good place to start.

“I told him it would be a good idea for him,” she said. “He was extremely mature, intelligent and his work was of the highest caliber.”

Matite credits his professors at the college for teaching him to be a well-rounded student.

“Going to class is not enough,” Matite said. “The resources [at the college] are tremendous. Get involved in clubs and organizations. Your professors are the ones that can expose you to resources and give you opportunities.”

Those opportunities, for Matite, included a fellowship in the Public Policy and International Affairs program at Princeton University.

Matite turned down Princeton and instead enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C. It was the university’s reputation as a top-notch public policy school that interested Matite, but it was Washington, D.C. itself that sealed the deal.

“I chose American [University] because I wanted to be in Washington,” he said. “This is the place if you want to do anything in public policy.”

Matite plans to finish his undergraduate studies at American University, and is considering staying at the university for his graduate work. He credits the instructors at the college for providing the foundation upon which his success has been built and advises students to learn as much as they can from their professors and use them as resources.

“[The college] was great,” he said. “The instructors really helped me out. I learned from their vast knowledge. They really work to help you meet your interests.”

Contact Julius Williams, sports editor, at jwilli78@jccc.edu.

Adjunct professor runs to defend his 8th District Senate seat

March 1, 2012

By Mackenzie Clark

Editor’s note: An article about Greg Smith, current representative in the Kansas House who is running against Tim Owens, ran in Issue 9 of the Campus Ledger.

Tim (Thomas) Owens, adjunct associate professor of political science, is currently running to defend his District 8 Kansas Senate seat. A Republican with an extensive background in law and politics, Owens hopes to continue representing his constituents.

“My goal has always been to represent the people that elect me, and I am more interested in the issues than I am in touting some political party program or platform,” he said. “[…] I’ve got a great deal of experience in a number of different issues that relate to Overland Park and the central part of Johnson County, and that’s what’s important to me.”

Owens cites jobs and the economy as the most important issues for this locale and his constituency; secondly, education.

“We cannot ignore education,” he said. “We have to stay very staunchly behind the appropriate support for education; that includes all levels, from K-12, higher education, and that includes community colleges as well as technical schools, because I think sometimes we ignore those.”

Thirdly, he said, “we must watch out for public safety.” He served six years as chair of the Public Safety Committee of Overland Park, and funding is always a concern.

“We need to have the adequate facilities to deal with the levels of wrongdoers that we have,” he said. “[…] I saw the city grow from 82,000 to 160,000 while I was on the City Council, so I saw that need grow for the number of officers. We now have a state-of-the-art police department here.”

Many Republicans consider taxes a big issue, but Owens said the legislature can not just blindly make cuts in order to lower taxes, nor should they raise them unnecessarily.

“I support a small efficient government, and I think that’s critical,” he said. “The thing that the party fails to say often is they leave the ‘efficient’ out – they just say we want small government. Well, what does that mean? If you don’t say ‘efficient’ then you’re missing the boat. […] We have to fund education. We have to fund our prisons. We have to fund our highway patrol and our law enforcement – all of those things are governmental entities.”

Owens is a retired Army Colonel. He served a tour in Vietnam and has received many awards for his service, including three Bronze Stars and two Meritorious Service medals.

Upon his return, Owens began studying law. As a practicing lawyer, his specialties include family, juvenile, and elder and disability law. He has represented over 1,000 juveniles in his career, both offenders and children in need of care, and served as a guardian ad litem when appointed by the courts.

He has also been politically involved for much of his career. He served 24 years on the Overland Park City Council, after which he was appointed to a seat in the Kansas House. After three House terms, he was elected to his current seat in the Kansas Senate in 2008.

Owens currently chairs the Judiciary and Reapportionment Committees, as well as the Joint Committee on Parole Board Oversight. He was appointed to several other committees, including Education.

As a political science professor, he applies his practical experience to the classroom.

“I can go into the classroom and bring a real world perspective to the students,” Owens said.

He also brings in people he knows as guest speakers. In the past he has brought in former Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, Robert E. Davis; Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer; former Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer, and many justices, legislators, and city officials.

College alumna Martha Kidd said that Owens does a great job of challenging his students and getting them interested in politics. At first she was not happy that American Government would be required for her business management major, but then she learned about the political science internship program through the college, of which Owens is a sponsor.

“I thought I could go to Topeka one day a week and learn about our political system,” she said, “and I did that, and discovered that I love our political system.”

Kidd interned for Rep. Bob Bethell (R-113) first, then decided she wanted to experience the Senate side as well, so she interned for Owens.

“It is a wonderful experience,” she said. “You have the opportunity to firsthand see how legislation is made.”

Marilyn Gaar, professor of political science and history, said Owens is one of many fine adjunct professors at the college.

“If a student is interested in state and local government, there’s no one better to teach it,” she said. “Our approach to hiring has been to look for people whose background is not just in the textbook, it’s not just book learning, but they have experience in the field. […] We bring in someone who is truly an expert in the field, and that would be someone such as Senator Thomas Owens.

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

College saying goodbye to ODEI

March 1, 2012

By Mackenzie Clark

This semester, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) will host its final event before closing its doors to make room for new diversity initiatives.

The 2011-2012 academic year has served as a transitory period for ODEI, after which the office will no longer exist. This decision follows the office being disbanded earlier this year. Instead of a central office, new plans aim for more widespread diversity efforts.

Carmaletta Williams, professor of English and head of ODEI, said she is concerned for students who come to her in need of assistance.

“These students know the Student Success Center is over there, they know that,” Williams said. “They know the counselors are there, they know the dean of students is there, but they don’t go there, they come here. If they’re going to disband this office, then those people need to figure out what it’s going to take for them to be the place students go to.”

Judy Korb, executive vice president of human resources, said that is part of the goal of disbanding the office.

“We do have places for people to go,” she said. “We have processes that are already in place and were in place prior to ODEI ever being in existence. Why do people not feel comfortable using the places and processes that are in place? To me that gets to the very essence of what we want to get at with decentralization of diversity efforts.”

Korb said that if we have a Student Success Center, it shouldn’t be a success center “just for some people.”

“We want there to be processes in place so that there are places that people can go that they feel comfortable with, without having to segregate out a specific location,” she said.

Danny Alexander, professor of English, said he has concerns about the college’s plan for diversity efforts.

“I am skeptical that without anyone at the helm of the job, being committed to that aspect of the job, that it will be successful,” he said. “It often felt as if we were in opposition to other people in the college when we weren’t necessarily trying to be, and that tells me that we have a system here that does not want to look at some of the hard questions that need to be looked at in terms of diversity.”

ODEI will sponsor its final event on campus on April 6: a conference to honor organ and tissue donors, their families, and healthcare professionals involved in transplant cases.

“Everybody knows somebody who’s either been there or needs to be there,” Williams said. “That’s what this office does well.”

The Multicultural Center will still exist in some capacity. It will either be moved to the Regnier Center or to the third level of COM. The Honors classroom will take its place in GEB 238 following construction over the summer.

Williams will return to teaching full-time, and administrative assistant Susan McGarvey will be moved to a different part of campus.

“I think until the students let Dr. Calaway and the Board know that they think it’s a shame [that the office is closing], then nothing’s going to happen,” Williams said. “If it’s just us protesting, then they think it’s just us who are affected.”

Alexander agrees.

“Students might find that they’re not met with as much resistance as they might think in trying to change things,” he said. “Many, many teachers and administrators will welcome those efforts if they’re coming from the student population.”

Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.

Monthly Archives: March 2012