Hit the gym, beat the stress; finals week exercise

December 14, 2016

benefitsofexerciseedit1 — Exercise is an effective way for people to reduce stress levels and improve memory retention. Photo Illustration by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Ellen Terhune

Reporting correspondent

eterhun1@jccc.edu

With the holidays quickly approaching, Christmas music is beginning to fill the crisp winter air. The Plaza is suddenly glowing from a dazzling light display and Crown Center is now illuminated by the mayor’s 100-foot Christmas tree. Families all over the metro area are beginning to feel the joyous spirit of the season.

Meanwhile, many college students are feeling complete and utter anxiety. From the endless amounts of papers and projects due, to the sleepless nights spent cramming for final exams, feelings of joy are decimated by stress.

However, there is actually a simple solution to successfully surviving finals: exercise.

According to Professor Deborah Bowers, who is also a monitor in the fitness center, exercise reduces stress because it allows people to set aside time in which they focus solely on themselves and not the chaos happening around them.

Not only does exercise reduce stress but it also improves memory retention and concentration.

“Anytime you break up your studying, it’s proven you have a much better ability to retain information,” Bowers said. “When you go back to the things you just learned, you’re going to recall them much easier. Because exercise increases circulation and oxygen intake, your ability to concentrate increases.”

Joe Weis, Director of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Wellness, said the concept behind exercising in order to increase concentration is similar to methods people use to stay alert and focused while driving.

“If you’re sitting at your computer reading for two hours and you’re getting drained from it, it’s exactly like when you’re driving your car and you start to get sleepy,” Weis said. “You’re supposed to pull over and walk around the car a few times to get the oxygen and blood flowing … Any type of movement is going to get you refocused.”

Students often feel overwhelmed with the tasks at hand that they think they don’t have time to incorporate exercise in their busy schedule. It is important to remember that exercise does not have to be extreme in order to be beneficial.

“A lot of people equate exercise to an hour of working out, and that’s completely unnecessary,” Bowers said. “Just 20 minutes is ideal, but five minutes is better than nothing.”

Likewise, keep in mind that movement is key. Anything can be effective, whether it’s just getting up to stretch or a trip to the mailbox. A quick walk around the block will almost always do the trick.

Student Ashley Ross believes it is important that students pick exercises that work best for them.

“I recommend learning what you like about working out. Whether it’s riding a bike, running or getting in the gym and doing a recreational sport,” Ross said. “Just find what you enjoy so you don’t dread doing it.”

Another alternative workout students could try is yoga. Yoga instructor Sumya Anani encourages students take just a few minutes every hour while studying to do a simple pose, such as cat and cow. Cat and cow is performed on the hands and knees by inhaling while dropping the belly towards the ground and exhaling while rounding the back to the ceiling.

“Yoga retrains the nervous system to be calm and relax in the midst of stress,” Anani said. “This helps students to remain more focused and concentrated.”

No matter what exercise students chose, Anani reminds them that exercise will make them feel better and when they feel better, they will think better.

“So walk fast around your neighborhood, find some stairs on campus and run up and down them … do it until you’re a little out of breath and be thankful for the breath of life this holiday season,” Anani said.

Book rental returns begin

December 14, 2016

Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Carina Smith

Features editor

csmit367@jccc.edu

As the semester comes to a close, the bookstore is getting ready for rentals to be returned and preparing to start buying back textbooks. Some books, however, won’t make it back on the shelf for the spring semester.

A damaged textbook is usually characterized by certain things. If the binding is falling apart, the book has been waterlogged, or the pages are missing, the book is considered damaged. If there is excessive marking with pen or highlighter, it could be considered damaged depending on how many marks there are in the book.

Students who have a damaged rented textbook will have to take their books back to the bookstore and pay for a replacement. Bookstore manager Jennifer Keffer advises students to bring their damaged textbooks back to the bookstore as soon as they can so the bookstore can help them get an undamaged textbook.

“If you have any inkling that there is a problem with the book you bought from us, bring it back as soon as you get it because we can do something then,” Keffer said. “If you don’t and you wait, you’re going to be stuck with the book and you’re not going to be happy with me, especially when you have to pay the replacement value on the book.”

Students don’t bring back their rented textbooks more often than they bring back damaged books. This causes problems with the bookstore, which has to order new textbooks, and with the students who have to pay for a whole new textbook. Students who don’t take the textbooks back will either be charged to the account that they had bought the books with or there will be a hold on their accounts.

Textbooks that students have bought and can’t be sold back can be donated to the bookstore, where they will sell them to students for a wholesale price.

“Take care of your books, get them back to me on time, and we don’t have these problems,” Keffer said. “If you have a damaged book, bring it into me as soon as you get it so I can do something about it. There are a lot of different things we can do, but the earlier you come to me the better off you’re going to be.”

Two women’s soccer players sign to Columbia College

December 13, 2016

copy-of-edit-2 — The women’s soccer team gathers before a match against Kansas City Kansas Community College on September 6, 2016. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

Sarah Taylor and Joanna Taylor will be continuing their soccer careers at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. They have been on the soccer team at the college for two years.

Sarah Taylor decided to sign with Columbia College because she wanted to continue to play soccer with her sister. The tuition cost played a large factor as well.

“It checked off all of the things that I wanted. I wanted a great coaching staff and big college feel. Columbia College is small but it is right down the street from Mizzou,” Sarah Taylor said. “They had a really good biology program. Ultimately, it covered the cost for Joanna and I to go and they were the only college that had room for both of us.”

In addition to tuition cost, the athletic and academic programs were a major deciding factor for Joanna Taylor.

“They have a really good soccer program so that’s something we were looking at,” Joanna Taylor said. “Sarah is studying Biology and [Columbia] has a new science department. I’m studying nursing and they have a really great nursing program as well. It was a perfect package deal.”

Joanna Taylor is looking forward to improving her skills at Columbia and continuing to share the field with her sister.

“[I look forward to] learning about myself as a player, improving in different areas and skill I didn’t have coming in and learning how to play with others and different aspects,” Joanna Taylor said. “I’ve never played with my sister before [playing at the college] so getting to do that for two more years at Columbia is really great.”

Sarah Taylor has learned a lot from playing for the college. The importance of embracing the moment and having a positive attitude were a few of the lessons she has learned.

“One of the biggest things I’ve taken away is every moment counts. There are times on the field where I want to get mad at somebody but everybody is watching,” Sarah Taylor said.“It’s a really big thing for me to just have a positive attitude so when people see me they say ‘Why is she so happy?’ I love that. Learning that has been the biggest thing for me.”

Joanna Taylor offered her advice to her younger teammates who are planning to continue to play for the college or anyone who is new to the team. Hard work and building relationships are crucial for becoming a successful athlete.

“Have fun but also work hard.You can have fun but you have to take [the sport] seriously. You won’t beat the teams if you are not being serious,” Joanna Taylor said. “Listen to your coaches and build a relationship with them. Take it all in and enjoy the experience because it goes by fast.”

The women’s soccer roster and schedule can be found at www.jccc.edu/cavs/women-sports/soccer. The stats for their 2016 season can be found at www.stats.njcaa.org.

Resource centers to combine, relocate

December 12, 2016

resourcecenter_edit1 — Ian Nteere, a JCCC men’s soccer player, does his homework at the math resource center. According to plans at hand, all resource centers including but not limited to the writing center and the math resource centers will be placed in one location. This is intended to improve service delivery to students. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

A final decision has been made to approve the new facilities master plan that would effectively combine the college’s five main academic resource centers and relocate them to the first floor of the library. This decision was made at the October Board of Trustees meeting.

Currently, the college’s resource centers are located throughout campus near where their respective classes are taught. The language and writing resource centers are located in the library, the science and math centers are both in CLB and the Academic Achievement Center (AAC) is located in OCB.

“The major benefit will be for students who will no longer have to pack up and move across campus to get help in various classes,” said Mickey McCloud, Vice President of Academic Affairs.

The combining of the resource centers will allow for students to get the help they need from each resource center in one stop. The centers will be able to collaborate to help students and share their strengths with one another.

“You have the Academic Achievement Center, and they have the study skills and we have science students who is struggle with study skills,” said Suneetha Menon, director of the Science Resource Center. “So we can probably work together to help the student which in the current center is not possible.

The procedures of the centers are not set to change. However, the introduction of an intake area will have to occur as a way to track have students sign in and be directed to what they need. Each center will be gaining more space to work in, and will be able to request computers, open tutoring areas and quiet rooms as needed.

“The ultimate goal is not to lose the efficiency and effectiveness of what they do, but to deploy it in a new space to make it more convenient for students, to not only get that help but all of their help” McCloud said.

The process of relocating will begin around February when the college will begin searching for an architect and construction company. Construction is expected to take place during the summer of 2018, with the project being done in September.

“Since it’s something new we do not know how it’s going to change, from what we are anticipating, it could have its pros and cons … because any change comes with it’s own challenges,” Menon said.

Closing the Global Gap series concludes with Uganda presentation

December 8, 2016

_mg_0062b — Johnmary Kirangwa spoke about the country of Uganda's diversity in his Closing the Global Gap presentation. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Ellen Terhune

Reporting correspondent

eterhun1@jccc.edu

The college concluded its Closing the Global Gap series with a presentation on Uganda Wednesday afternoon in the new Collaboration Center located in the OCB.

The college partnered with the International Relations Council to provide a free opportunity for the public to learn about life in Uganda from those with personal experiences. The goal of the presentation was to address perceptions about the country and provide a different, knowledgeable perspective for the audience.

“I hope in attending the presentation, people can gain a broader perspective of the world we live in and that there really isn’t much that separates us,” said Mary Smith, director of community based learning. “By learning about each other’s cultures and challenges we can work together more efficiently to make our world a better place.”

Johnmary Kirangwa, native and English teacher at Oceir Campion Jesuit College in Northern Uganda, was the first speaker at the event. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Educational Studies at Rockhurst University. After completing his studies, he plans to return to Uganda to continue working with students at the college.

“I want people in America to get the big picture about Uganda,” Kirangwa said. “Growing up, I lived in different parts of the country, so I have been to the very poor areas and the upscale areas, so I have a balanced view of what life is really like in Uganda.”

Kirangwa explained the lifestyle of a typical Ugandan family, and provided insight on the culture, education and politics as well as the medical care available in the country. He also emphasized that while Uganda is a peaceful place, it is still in the process of rebuilding and establishing itself after 30 years of civil war. Kirangwa believes education is key.

“In third world countries, the level of education is not as good because people have other things to worry about in order to survive,” Kirangwa said. “But the vast amount of knowledge gained through education prepares individual to solve problems, function at a higher level and implement transformational ideas.”

Lacy Gordon, program director for the HALO Foundation, concluded the presentation. The HALO Foundation has seven youth homes in Uganda as well as a learning center aimed at providing housing, healing and education to children who need it the most.

Gordon hoped that the audience would gain more of an interest in Uganda and international relations in general.

“Working together with people that are different from us, in countries that are far away, will benefit everyone,” Gordon said. “We must be more connected to one another.”

Professor Sheryl Hadley said the presentation was a great opportunity for students to learn about the lack of opportunities in third world countries so they could compare it to their lives.

“This gives students a way to look at the rest of the world in a small, intimate learning atmosphere with really unique people,” Hadley said.

For student Nick Urban, Closing the Global Gap served its intended purpose.

“I originally just came for extra credit, but I walked away with information I never knew about Uganda,” Urban said. “When I think of Africa I think of conflict and disease, but now I know Uganda is a beautiful, peaceful place that I would want to visit someday.”

Thoughtful gifts don’t mean empty wallets

December 8, 2016

annieportrait2 — Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

You’re standing in a store at the mall, staring at the absolute perfect gift for someone you love, but the price is insane. You look into your wallet to find very little money and you still have to buy gifts for the rest of your family. How can you possibly get gifts for everyone with an almost empty wallet? Sometimes when it comes to gifts all you need is creativity and that little bit of money can go even farther than you think.

Chances are you have a lot of great memories with your loved ones, which means you have a lot of pictures. You can always create a photo album for someone; a reasonably priced photo album would be around ten dollars, but if you feel like getting creative, there are a lot of other options. You can copy the pictures and make a photo collage or, if the pictures are on your computer, you can make your own calendar using Microsoft. With pictures there’s almost nothing you can’t create.

For the loved one who enjoys a warm drink, a great gift to make is a homemade hot chocolate mix. All you need is cocoa mix, marshmallows and some sort of container to put it in like a bag or a jar. To give the kit a special flare, decorate the jar or bag in a way that represents the holidays or things your friend enjoys. Also make sure to include other things in the mix like candy canes or chocolate chips.

If you’re a person who likes to cook, you can’t go wrong with making a delicious Christmas treat. Some may not think food is the best gift, but you’d be surprised at how successful it can be. You can always go with a classic treat like homemade cookies or brownies, but since it’s the holidays, a more festive treat might be in order. Ask your family members if they have any special recipes, but if they don’t you can always find something online. Some great treats that only require a few ingredients are Oreo balls, fudge and cake mix cookies. As a bonus, give your treats some pizzazz by giving them a fancy wrapping, like a tin or a festive box to put them in.

These are just some of the possibilities for homemade gifts. There’s almost no limit to what you can make for your loved ones, but make sure they always come from the heart.

Former student excels in unusual music

December 7, 2016

useianteepleedit2 — Ian Teeple strums at his guitar, sitting at his desk where he records. Photo by Aaron Rhodes, The Campus Ledger.

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

“The backwards way.”

The phrase came as a bit of an afterthought as Ian Teeple explained his guitar technique. It’s a simple way of describing his upside-down, left-handed grip on the instrument, but paints a picture of how he operates as an artist.

Teeple took several semesters of audio recording classes at the college after leaving high school early and earning a GED. His time in the classroom was beneficial in the development of his audio skills, but far from the beginning of them. A four-track recording system was gifted to him for Christmas when he was 12.

“I have like 80 tapes in my closet that are just like hourlong four-track tapes. Just me, basically, making weird noises.”

Not all of Teeple’s early recordings closely resemble what most people consider music but his constant tinkering with the equipment slowly led to an understanding of the medium’s fundamentals. When he finally began taking formal classes at the college, Teeple was able to gain more experience with digital recording. One of his earliest bands, Yuck Ratz, once recorded a song for a class assignment.

“I kinda dropped out of high school and college to do music and I just do it full time just ‘cause it feels good, basically, I don’t have anything else to do,” Teeple said with a laugh. “I’m always working on something, even if it never gets put out.”

Now, at 23 years old, Teeple is living in a Midtown neighborhood that sits snugly on the perimeter of the Kansas City Art Institute — or as he refers to it, “the ‘tute.” Although he holds an interest in visual art and is well acquainted with a fair amount of students attending the school, he doesn’t foresee himself attending.

“I think it’s funny every time I do something with art school people because I consider myself to be an artist, but I will never go to school for it. I feel like it’s a resources thing. You kinda just go to art school to have access to all the nice equipment and stuff.”

A large amount of his free time is currently consumed with writing, recording and performing music, but those endeavors often open the door for him to create visual work. He often experiments with computer art and has created album art for a few music releases. An unusual job he stumbled upon has also given him an opportunity to be visually creative.

“I got a job selling comic books online on eBay for this estate sale person, so for the past year I’ve just been liquidating old comics. So all the time I’m scanning that stuff in and cutting it up and making fliers and stuff out of it.”

Teeple later revealed just how bizarre the circumstances of the job really are.

“They started taking stuff out of this hoarder’s house and cataloging it. Basically, this guy had a double duplex full of magazines and comic books and books and trash and sand and his own pee in jars. I started excavating all that and now I sell [some of] that stuff online … It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, but it’s super inspiring.”

The state uses the money from selling the possessions to pay for the man’s hospice care and Teeple gets paid to help them sell it off.

A zine compiling collages of images from his favorite comic book finds is one project he anticipates putting together. He’s not particularly attached to much self-publishing he’s worked on in recent years — he wishes he had more time to devote to it. Teeple does, however, cite comic book writing as one of his earliest creative passions.

“I made one that was about a teddy bear who was shocked into existence and becomes a samurai in grade school,” Teeple said. “That was like my magnum opus. And it was 100 pages, hand-drawn, front and back with pencil, so the more I would work on it, the more smudged it would all get.”

He also never made the front page of it.

Several years ago, Teeple left the college before completing a degree to move to Kansas City and spend more time working on music. One of his biggest mentors and collaborators during that time was J. Ashley Miller, a multi-instrumentalist and producer who has been active in Kansas City’s music scene for over a decade. Since meeting, the two have played in two bands together and worked together in Miller’s studio recording other bands. One project the duo worked on together was Quadrigarum. The group featured Miller and Teeple performing with instruments custom-made by Miller with materials sourced from his family’s farm.

“That was my favorite thing me and Ashley did together,” Teeple said. “We had these instruments that he built called chariots … It’s basically this rod-iron wheel that you spin and it has picks attached to it so it strikes the guitar, but basically sounds like super-shredder black metal.”

One of Teeple’s more recent collaborators has been Olivia Gibb. Teeple and Gibb began playing together in their band Warm Bodies near the beginning of 2016. Despite existing for less than a year so far, the band has become highly regarded nationally among hardcore punk fans and has already embarked on multiple regional tours.

Gibb, who handles vocals for the band, only began working with Teeple regularly after the band began but already holds him in high regards.

“I think he’s one of the more different songwriters out there and he’s really open to lots of different things and really is interested in lots of different types of music, which I think is really important,” Gibb said. “He doesn’t care about punk that much. I mean, we all care about punk, but the music that he writes just comes from a place that is more organic and not very concerned with any type of label.”

Warm Bodies drummer Gabe Coppage has known him since high school, but it took him time to adjust to writing music with Teeple due to his unorthodox style.

“Ian’s riffs and his brain are super crazy and I just wasn’t used to playing along to music like that, but after a while I found my groove with Ian and know what to expect now and how to make his riffs sound good,” Coppage said.

It may not be possible to zero in on exactly what makes Teeple’s art and music so unusual, but he did offer an anecdote on the subject.

“I love that freak vibe. My first favorite song ever was “In The Hall Of The Mountain King” because it was on an advertisement for Jim Carrey’s “The Grinch” and that song is still one of the scariest, most compelling — I don’t even like classical music — but that’s a weird-ass song. It’s super dark and scary, but also has a goofy vibe. That’s what I strive to hit — “In The Hall Of The Mountain King.” I feel like I’ve never not been into weird stuff.”

Whether you’re viewing his goofy doodle work or watching him fire off zig-zagging guitar solos on stage, that’s what you’re guaranteed to get: “that freak vibe,” the backwards way.

Meet the college’s newest trustee

December 7, 2016

sandate_henry_portrait — In May 2016, Henry Sandate was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Board of Trustees. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Henry Sandate is the newest member of the college’s Board of Trustees. Appointed after the resignation of Bob Drummond earlier this year, Sandate brings with him a positive attitude and a prolific level of public service experience.

Sandate had been considering running for a school board position when he heard that the Board of Trustee position became available. After a presentation and interview with the existing board members, Sandate was given the position. Sandate says he was offered the position very shortly after his meeting with the board and was very excited about the opportunity.

“It was amazing … it’s a very important position,” Sandate said. “Johnson County Community College is … an important institution and I’m very honored to be the trustee that was appointed.”

Some of Sandate’s most notable public service work has been with the Argentine Neighborhood Development Association. As chairman of their board Sandate has worked to help revitalize the blighted community that was once classified as a food desert.

“It’s a primarily Hispanic community and I’m Hispanic,” Sandate said. “I grew up in Topeka and a lot of my relatives live in a community like that, so when I was asked to be a part of that board ten or 12 years ago it appealed to me because I just believe there’s a need to help folks in that situation…”

Sandate has worked with a number of different organizations, including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council of Johnson County, Menorah Medical Center, SafeHome, the Housing Authority of Johnson County and El Centro Wyandotte. Sandate says part of what draws him to public service is the example that his father set for him. His father came from a large family and was a migrant worker who traveled across the Midwest before settling in Kansas and becoming a barber. Sandate remembers times growing up that his father would help migrant workers passing through town.

“You’d have migrant workers come through town and all of a sudden they have their bus broke down and my dad took it upon himself to find out what the issue was and recruit people; a mechanic to fix their truck, we’d put up beds in the school and get people to come together to cook meals, feed them for about three or four days and send them on their way,” Sandate said.

Sandate’s appointment to the Board of Trustees makes him the first Hispanic trustee in the college’s history. He made a point of this in his presentation to the Board before his appointment, highlighting the point that he understands what it’s like for students who didn’t have family before them that had a college education.

“Everybody wants to be able to be at the table, be able to be a leader in this community, be able to contribute,” Sandate said. “It comes down to a lot of times they don’t know how or it’s just kind of awkward. It’s not a familiar feeling with them, so they’re a little bit intimidated. I think I can bring some of that expertise and some of that personal experience that I had going through those challenges — being the first.”

On becoming acclimated to college and the Board of Trustees, Sandate says everyone he’s encountered so far has been helpful.

“Everybody has been just receptive and also eager just to get me up to speed and understand what the challenges are or concerns are or opportunities are to move the college forward,” Sandate said. “President Joe Sopcich and his staff have been unbelievable in how they’ve been continually communicating with me and just making everything easy and getting me up and running.”

On witnessing Trump’s election as an international student

December 2, 2016

900px-flag_of_uganda-svg — The flag of Uganda

Henry Lubega

Staff photojournalist

hlubega@jccc.edu

The First Amendment of the United States grants freedom of speech and freedom of expression without fear of being detained for commenting on politically sensitive issues. This is not always the case in my motherland of Uganda. I have been living in the U.S. for almost a year, having flown in on December 17, 2015 (I have been counting the days to mark my anniversary). I am an international student on an F1 visa (for non-immigrant students) who came to participate in the American education system.

During my stay I have come to appreciate the fact that of all places I landed in Kansas — Lawrence to be exact. I have had the greatest experiences with the college and The Campus Ledger. Everything has been considerably great except for the political developments which greatly affected me both emotionally and psychologically, with the latest being the announcement of Trump winning the presidential election. If I was one of the people who voted for Hillary, I am pretty sure I would be part of the hundreds chanting “not my president” in the streets.

I know you are wondering how this affects me as an international student, an alien in this land who’s far away from home and ineligible to vote. Seeing how the “silent majority” turned out to vote in huge numbers, allowing Trump to win Kansas and other states makes me feel uncomfortable with the people surrounding me (apart from people I know who are grieving for Hillary Clinton’s loss). Trump won Kansas with 57%, followed by Clinton with 36% of the vote. The fact that voters knew exactly what it would mean to put Donald Trump in the Oval Office, that he was endorsed by the KKK, that he doesn’t respect women and above all, failed to speak out against violence and acts of racism.

I would love to learn and finish my academic pursuit, earn a Master’s degree and then head back home to do my country a service. However, my hope is shrinking. I am worried and feel insecure. In Uganda, we had a dictator named Idi Amin. He had similar points of view just like the president-elect and I can tell you, people like that are unpredictable. It took only one day for Idi Amin to go to bed and wake up with a vision of closing Uganda’s borders to Asians, issuing an ultimatum of 24 hours for all of them to flee the country. Most of the citizens had been born in Uganda during the construction of the Uganda railway, an express line that was built earlier during the colonial era. Their parents and grandparents had been brought to the country as cheap manual labor to construct the rail expressway and later settled in the region. As a result of the ultimatum and forceful exit out of Uganda, many of these innocent citizens lost their lives and faced brutality caused by ignorant Ugandans vandalizing and looting their property. The devastation that came up with the abrupt developments by the Ugandan government on Indians resulted in numerous cases of suicides as many lost hope.

I was born black and I am proud of that. I love people regardless of color and to my luck, have never been treated poorly. That, however, does not comfort me anymore. I worry for the future. As safe as I might be, given the fact that I am a legal alien in the U.S., I worry for all undocumented immigrants, for their future and families that may be torn apart. Nor am I sure I will be able to survive the hatred that comes from white nationalists. I was glad to come to the U.S., the land of opportunity where anything can happen (like Trump becoming president) but I am loathing the feeling in the air, the disunity in America and the preaching of hatred. Where is the love? When are we ever going to wake up from the nightmares of hate?

Informal club gives students chance to practice French

November 30, 2016

Ellen Terhune

Reporting correspondent

eterhun1@jccc.edu

La Table Française (or The French Table) is an informal club open to students, faculty and community members who are interested in and speak the French language.

Hélène Perriguey-Keene, founder of the group and foreign language professor at the college, was inspired to create the club in 2008 after organizing one at the University of Nebraska. She wants students at the college to receive the same opportunities to practice their language as those who attend a university.

Although the club hopes to let attendees speak fluent French, Perriguey-Keene invites beginner level students and community members to attend.

“Even if you have a very low level of French, you can come listen … anyone from the community is welcome to come practice their French. The club is a way to expose people to the language because unlike Spanish, we don’t hear French a lot,” Perriguey-Keene said.

Albane Ruiz-Campagne, an eight-year member member of the club, welcomes anyone who wants to speak or listen to French.

“We try to speak only French, but there is no level required, you just have to want to come and not get bored. We correct mistakes and give insight about French culture,” Ruiz-Campagne said.

Club member Laura Provance is not a student at the college, but lives nearby and once live in France for nine months. She joined the club in order to reimmerse herself in the language and culture. Provance emphasizes the importance of students joining language clubs to improve their skills.

“It’s hard to really learn in a class, you don’t have enough hours. You can’t get good at a foreign language if you don’t practice an unbelievable amount,” Provance said.

Two-year member Robert Starcke says the discussions aren’t just limited to academics but include food, travel and politics.

“There’s no tests, no homework, just fun,” Starcke said.

The club meets for an hour every other Wednesday at Java Jazz in the Commons at 11:30 a.m. For more information visit www.latablefrancaise.weebly.com/.

Police Department adopts RAVE Guardian application

November 29, 2016

guardian-app-photo-1 — Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Andrew Hartnett

Photo editor

ahartne1@jccc.edu

The JCCC Guardian is a free smartphone application intended to help improve campus security. Developed by RAVE Mobile Safety, the application made its debut at the college in January 2016 for both Apple and Android users.

The JCCC Guardian is the first smartphone application to have been adopted and implemented by the college for safety purposes. Some of its key features include a panic button, which creates a direct immediate connection from your smartphone to Campus Safety with GPS location and personal profile information; tip texting, which allows users to report crime tips through text and images; and a safety timer, which alerts pre-selected contacts if the user fails to disarm the timer before the set time expires.

According to the JCCC website, “Johnson County Community College researched personal-safety apps for two years before deciding on Guardian to help protect the campus community.”

Alisa Pacer, emergency preparedness manager, talked about how the selection process transpired before making a final decision about choosing the Guardian application for use on campus.

“Multiple applications were researched along with vendor discussions,” Pacer said. “With our current positive relationship with RAVE Mobile Safety, Guardian was the right fit. It also integrates with the mass notification system that allows one more way for us to reach out to the campus in the event of an emergency.”

The process for introducing a campus safety app can take over a year. The process involves organizing meetings, carving out time for companies to visit the college and demonstrate their products, field testing those products and budgeting for hardware required to use them according to Dan Robles, crime prevention officer at the college.

“It takes a long time,” Robles said. “We do have a relationship with [RAVE Mobile Safety] and if the sales people say, ‘Hey, this is compatible with the other systems you have here and it will save our college some money, we’ll go ahead and go with it.’ We’re not favoring anybody, they just won out. When we do stuff like this, we have to put bids out. If it’s over a certain amount of money, it has to be put out on a bid.”

Robles says that it is difficult to pinpoint whether or not the application has statistically lowered the rate of crime, but says it has given people another tool at their disposal.

“They need to follow the guidelines we taught them from way back even when you were a kid and I was a little kid; stranger danger, going places with buddies, staying out of poorly lit areas, areas that have blight, etc,” Robles said. “Anything you can build on top of that like this app is a good thing to have.”

Anyone can download the RAVE Guardian application for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play for their mobile devices. After signing up using a JCCC email address, users can access campus features of the application. For more information, visit the JCCC website, go to the “Student Resources” tab, look for “Police & Safety,” and the link to a webpage for the JCCC Guardian.

JCAV-TV Weekly Roundup: Veterans Week, Student Musician

November 29, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

JCAV-TV put together a recap of the college’s Veterans Week. An honor tree was resurrected in the Student Center, “Taps” was performed and a guest speaker from the Air Force visited the college among several other activities.

Student David “Toby” Sandford performed at a recent edition of the Student Concert Series that takes place in the COM building food court area. Sandford’s performance included several original songs and a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”

The quest for barbecue in Prague

November 28, 2016

badjeffs — An offering from Bad Jeff's Barbecue in Prague. Photo by Sean Hull.

Sean Hull

Special to the Ledger

[Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of study abroad column entries from student Sean Hull.]

Prague is an increasingly international city, which means there’s plenty of options when you’re craving something other than the traditional Czech food. Duck confit and potato dumplings are amazing, but I quickly found myself longing for Kansas City’s best export: real barbecue.

Barbecue in one form or another isn’t really hard to find. Many fast food exports from America like Burger King and KFC offer a barbecue sandwich, but I wasn’t willing to settle for mediocrity. After a bit of digging over a stretch of two months, I found some more promising options.

Old Prague Ham

Going the traditional route, Czech cuisine didn’t have much to offer. Assorted grilled meats are a common staple, but I was craving something with a bit more smoke. Luckily at the Autumn market that populated St. Wenceslas Square, I found a beautiful and welcome sight. A large hunk of glistening pork roasting on a spit over an open flame, aromatic smoke enveloping the meat. This was it I thought, as close as I am getting to home. I ordered a slab, which they cut right off the spit over the fire. The ham is served with two slices of bread, and mustard if you wish. Paired with the legendary Pilsner Urquell beer, it was satisfying in its own right, but not quite what I was looking for. The meat was juicy and salty as ham should be and the bread was perfect to soak up the juices, however it was missing the distinctive smoke I needed. And so the search continued.

Bad Jeff’s Barbecue

“It takes a bad man to make great barbecue” is the slogan at Bad Jeff’s. A chef from Chicago named Jeffrey Cohen opened up shop in Prague, hoping to bring some classic American style barbecue to the Czechs. I was insanely excited when I heard about Bad Jeff’s, even more so when I found out it’s just a block away from my dorm, located ironically on Americke (America) Street. I went with a roommate from Memphis, with whom impassioned and slightly inebriated discussions about barbecue have nearly led to catastrophically uncoordinated brawls in our apartment. One simple fact united us though — we love barbecue, and we needed some.

We both ordered the tasting menu. It came with a starter of chicken wings and the main course featured brisket, a half slab of ribs, cornbread, beans and truffle mac and cheese. Immediately I was taken aback by the beauty of the restaurant. Not that it was particularly gorgeous, but because it was lacking that rugged homestyle feel I’ve come to expect from barbecue. However, when our food came out, it was ultimately disappointing. Overall, the sides were underwhelming. The jalapeno cornbread was bland, the mac and cheese was good but unnecessarily pompous and the beans would be moore appropriately titled Santa Fe style instead of baked beans. All that was forgiven though, we were there for the meat. The ribs were fairly standard. They were tender and coated in a pleasantly sweet sauce, but nothing stood out. The brisket was the highlight of the meal, it was tender and fatty just as it should be, but we were only given two meager slices each. If you’re in desperate need of barbecue in Prague, Bad Jeff’s is the place to go, but temper your expectations.

The Tavern

The Tavern is another American-owned restaurant located in a trendy neighborhood called Zizkov. While it advertises itself as an American-style burger joint, they offer a pulled pork sandwich they are very proud of, and rightfully so. The pulled pork is some of the best I’ve ever had. It’s offered three ways, as a standalone sandwich, atop a hamburger or on cheesy fries. They also make their own barbecue sauce using slivovice, a traditional Czech brandy made from plums. I had it on top of a patty in a burger they call the “big smokehouse barbecue cheddar.” The pulled pork really cut through the burger with a strong blast of salty and sweet and a bit of smokiness. The slivo barbecue sauce is delicious but lacking any distinguishable slivo flavor. Though not a barbecue restaurant, this is the best place in Prague for a quick barbecue fix for your money.

Obviously, Prague isn’t going to be rivaling any American city in barbecue any time soon, but it’s refreshing to have the occasional comforts of home in a foreign land.

Peer mentoring program assists veteran students

November 28, 2016

pave_program_2016_andrewhartnett — Donny Whitton, PAVE team leader at Veteran and Military Services, talked about some of the challenges and rewards of being involved in the PAVE program as well as his personal duties. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Veterans at the college had to quickly learn the ropes of peer mentoring with the addition of the Peer Advisers for Veterans Education (PAVE) program. The college was selected after applying to host the program at the beginning of the fall semester. It is now one of 42 schools throughout the country that has the program.

Developed by the University of Michigan, PAVE aims to connect incoming veterans with veterans who are already enrolled, providing a way to help veterans transition out of military life and back into the routine of being in school. Its main goal is to help create a support system and a safe place where veterans are not afraid to ask for help.

“We feel like in addition to being a contact point for students that need something and a regular touchpoint … that we’re building the feeling of being able to achieve success in the education field,” Veterans Services Coordinator Kena Zumalt said.

Leaving the military means leaving strict routines. By pairing a student with a mentor, that student will have somebody to keep them up to date on events going on at the school, refer them to resources and answer any questions they have. The goal of this outreach is to open up a line of communication where the mentee can reach out to their mentor at any time, whether it’s for something academic related or not.

“That’s a big transition point for veterans, especially if they’re coming straight in from active duty, they’ve lived a very structured life,” Zumalt said. “They come into school and that can be chaotic and unstructured. So having that touchpoint we think is going to help the students additionally be successful at the college and hopefully attain their goals.”

The PAVE program here at the college is slightly different than those elsewhere because of the addition of peer mentoring. This allows students to help other students, rather than it being a professor or a counselor.

“Our goal is to really show them the ropes and how to be successful, show them the resources on campus and really just be a phone call away,” peer mentor Vinnie Pastella said.

Veterans interested in joining the program fill out an application and are matched with a mentor. This mentor could possibly have similar interests, the same major or have come from the same branch of the military. Since many veterans returning to school are older than many other students, this provides a way to meet people who are experiencing the same situation.

“The program works to benefit both sides. Helping former service members develop confidence in a new environment while giving the peer adviser a purpose and a way to give back,” PAVE team leader Donny Whitton said.

With the first semester out of the way, the PAVE team hopes to continue to improve and learn from their mistakes. Now focusing on planning things ahead and creating more dialogue with the students involved.

“I see it being a lot more effective as each semester goes on,” Whitton said. “Learning from our mistakes … being able to plan ahead better. You can only prepare so much when you’ve never done it before.”

Men’s basketball team begins season with national championship in mind

November 24, 2016

basketball_practice_1122016_edit1 — Mike Jeffers, head coach of the men’s basketball team at the college, rehearses a technique with players. He has been head coach of the men’s basketball program for 25 seasons. His dedication and energy helps young players improve their skills and work together more efficiently as a unit. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

The men’s basketball team has begun its journey to the national championship. The players and coaches alike have set up their goals, strategies and their predictions for the outcome of the season.

Nick Larkin is one of the new players on the team. He wants to have a voice this season as well as a role model.

“I want to be a better leader and be more vocal,” Larkin said. “As a team, work hard in practice, listen to coaches, and just grow and get better each day.”

Anthony Lupardus ultimately wants his team to play in the national championship. He believed that practice makes perfect and if the team works hard, it will pay off.

“My goal for the team is to make it to the national championship,” Lupardus said. “We just have to come together as a team. It starts off in practice, we gotta work hard every day and be perfect. We need to translate what we do in practice into the game. We have a good opportunity to do something great, we just need to come together.”

Assistant coach Brandon Burgette is preparing the players for the challenges they could be facing on the court. One of the biggest trials they face occurs within the team.

“The biggest challenge is playing against competition since we’re [a younger team] and most teams have more sophomores and transfers. Understanding how to play together [is another challenge],” Burgette said. “I think another one of the biggest challenges is building brotherhood, trusting each other, learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and getting used to each other.”

Burgette wanted his players to be prepared for the problems they would be facing off the court as well. He explained that he planned to be a role model for his players and what they could gain from his leadership.

“I want them to be learning basketball not just on the court but off the court as well,” Burgette said. “[I want them to be] learning how to be professionals, learning how to grow and learning the aspect of life itself,” “[They need to be] a role model, a leader and do things the right way whether it’s in the community or its in the classroom. I think those are the big key things outside of basketball that I want these guys to understand. I want to be a father figure and a brother they never had, I want them to be able to gain that.”

Head coach Mike Jeffers explained that the ultimate goal for the team is to win the national title. Improvement was another goal Jeffers has for his team.

“I think your ultimate goal every year is to get to the national tournament,” Jeffers said. “As far as our players, is get them to improve everyday as individual players and as a team. You’re either improving or getting worse every time you step on the floor.”

Always putting in effort was a lesson Jeffers wanted his players to learn from him. Jeffers felt confident that his players could overcome any obstacles that may come their way.

“They’ve got to come and do their best everyday,” Jeffers said. “Regardless of where you are in life, what job you’re in … You’ve got to grind every day whether you want to or not. That’s the way the world is, that’s life after college. I think we’ve got some good guys and they’re gonna grind it out and they’re gonna battle and we aren’t gonna give up, we’re gonna keep battling.”

The men’s basketball roster, schedule and game results for the 2016-2017 season are online at www.jccc.edu/cavs.

Embracing the American holidays

November 24, 2016

Mekebib Tefferra, one of many international students at the college talked about how he spends his holidays far away from his home country of Ethiopia. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

Many students make sure to celebrate days like Thanksgiving and Christmas with family, food and holiday traditions. For students who were born in different countries, the American traditions don’t always come so easily.

Student Mekebib Teferra, who was born in Ethiopia, came to America three years ago. While he didn’t begin celebrating Thanksgiving until he came to America, the way Christmas is celebrated in his home country is very similar to the way it’s celebrated in the United States.

“[Ethiopians] have been Christians for the past 2000 years,” Teferra said. “We decorate trees like the Americans and we give each other gifts. There’s a family get-together and a lot of food and sharing love with your loved ones, your parents, your children and everything.”

Teferra has enjoyed several of the American holidays ever since he came to the United States, one of his favorites being Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“As far as the American culture is concerned, every holiday is very exciting and there is a lot of celebrations and some of the holidays are really nice … it’s really good to have that experience,” Teferra said.

For student Ana Lim, who moved to America from South Korea when she was fourteen, discovering that Christmas is such a big deal in the United States was wonderful. While her family stuck more to making Korean food around the holidays, Lim introduced them to the tradition of putting presents under the tree.

One of the bigger holidays in Korea is New Year’s Eve, which they call Lunar New Year.

“We love making this rice cake soup,” Lim said. “In Korea, traditionally you believe that you have to have this soup every New Year to get a year older. It’s interesting because age, in Korea they count it differently … You’re one year the moment you’re born so your age is a year or two older than you are here. Every New Year you gain one more year.”

Though her parents are Brazilian, student Rebekah Lodos grew up in the United Kingdom until almost five years ago. When it comes to Christmas, Lodos and her family have always celebrated it according to Brazilian tradition.

“We do Christmas Eve celebrations so we have all of my family come over to my house … everyone gets dressed up … [we] do our makeup, cook dinner and we eat dinner … a little before midnight and at midnight everyone gets to open their presents,” Lodos said.

Though she has lived in America for a few years, Lodos doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving even though she has before.

“I had an American friend cook me a Thanksgiving dinner once before I moved here,” Lodos said. “I discovered casseroles and weird stuff like sweet potatoes with marshmallows and stuff like that I didn’t know about, so that was interesting.”

Dietitian describes healthy holiday meal

November 23, 2016

dietitian-story-final-edit5 — Photo illustration by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

The holiday season is approaching and as families begin to plan their Thanksgiving meals, people who are dieting are planning what they won’t be able to eat. Those who are dieting have to search for substitutions for the dishes that do not fit into their meal plan.

Claudia Martin-Ayoade, the college’s registered dietitian, explained which Thanksgiving dishes to be looking out for if you are on a diet. She explained that side dishes are one of the main things you need to keep your eye on and talked about the side dishes she typically uses for her Thanksgiving dinner.

“When I make green beans I always sauté them with almonds instead of sauce. Sauce tends to have lots of sodium,” Martin-Ayoade said. “I do all of my vegetables separate. I don’t use anything cream-based. I don’t use any bacon in anything. I use a lot of vegetable dishes. I’ll typically have some kind of rice dish.”

Martin-Ayoade spoke about the main entree at a Thanksgiving dinner — the turkey. She said the turkey is usually safe for those who are dieting, however, she does offer an alternative.

“We always have a turkey and one turkey will typically last [my family] a week or more because we only eat a little bit at a time,” Martin-Ayoade said. “I do have friends who come over to my house who are vegetarian and they will have fish. I’ll usually have salmon or some other fish for them.”

Pumpkin pie is the final touch for a Thanksgiving dinner and is loaded with sugar and extra calories. Martin-Ayoade listed a few alternatives for the dessert that will satisfy your sweet tooth and won’t spoil your diet.

“You could do a pumpkin mousse, gluten-free ice cream and fresh fruits,” Martin-Ayoade said. “You could do baked pears with a chocolate sauce. Just try to stick to fruits and other natural foods. I make mini cheesecakes for my vegetarian friends so you could do those too.”

If you are on a restricted diet such as gluten-free or vegetarian, you can still enjoy a traditional meal. Martin-Ayoade explained what you can’t have if you’re on a restrictive diet and what your other options are.

“You could do a whole vegetarian Thanksgiving with some of the traditional ingredients modified,” Martin-Ayoade said. “[If you’re on a gluten free diet] you have to watch out for almost everything. You have gluten hidden in spaces like gravy. Anything that is flour based. You can have a pumpkin mousse or a pumpkin pie with gluten free crust. Anything that has any additional sauce, even things such as soy sauce can have gluten.”

Planning for your Thanksgiving dinner starts now as the holiday is only weeks away. Martin-Ayoade listed why you need to plan your meal weeks in advance, even if you are not the one who is preparing the dinner.

“Planning ahead is always important. You need to plan what you’re going to eat, how you’re going to eat, who’s going to prepare it and get recipes in place if you are the one who is going to prepare it,” Martin-Ayoade said. “Bring something that you know you like. Don’t be afraid to speak and ask for what you prefer because people are more accommodating than you think.”

College students wanting to learn more about eating healthier both on and off campus can contact Claudia Martin-Ayoade at cmarti59@jccc.edu or at 913-469-8500 ext. 3271.

Students learn best from passionate teaching

November 18, 2016

Peter Loganbill

Special to the Ledger

At 7 a.m. I walked into my high school to meet my math teacher. I didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to be there. However, he had shown me his class was important and since I was willing to be there, he was too. Mr. Miller knew I wanted to do my best and he had my interests as an individual in mind.

I needed help before I took my next calculus test and he told me he could meet an hour before school started to go over my questions. Calculus was a class I never cared for. I’ve never enjoyed working out a math problem. Despite my distaste for the subject, I will always think of Mr. Miller as one of my favorite teachers. He cared about me as a person, and was so passionate about his subject that he did his best to attempt to pass it on.

My high school was much smaller than the college so it was easy to form a bond with teachers since I would have them for different classes over a few years. Here at the college, a student may have a teacher for one semester and then never speak with them again. However, I still believe the qualities of an effective teacher remain the same, despite the differences of the schools.

Teachers cannot view class as something which they need to get done. When a teacher opens a class with, “Okay guys, sit down, we have a lot to do today,” it will instantly turn off the students. They will then think of the class as busy work they just need to get through, as opposed to a learning experience about an interesting aspect of the world.

Rather, class must be something that the teacher absolutely loves doing. The subject they teach needs to be their passion. It has to be “their thing.” They must be so interested in what they teach that they can’t help but pass it on to others.

Also, a teacher must not assume that their class is the student’s main priority. However, it has to be a priority. This is where the responsibility of the student comes in. If a teacher has set aside an hour for their class, the students have to give that time to the teacher. This mutual respect helps the class function as it should.

When I signed up for Macroeconomics at the college, I thought it would be a bore. If the teacher was no good, I imagined it being a regrettable experience. However, when Dan Owens ended the first class, he said that he would be speaking with a student one-on-one after each class period. In that moment, I realized he would be a great teacher. That’s all it took to show me he would truly care about his students as people, not just another Macroeconomics class.

My appointment came around a couple of weeks ago and it went exactly as I thought it would. Mr. Owens just wanted to get to know me. I was an individual to him, not a person in a seat.

He also loves his subject. At one point he told us he likes to draw supply and demand graphs on the beach. This is the type of passion teachers need to have. His position at the college is not just a job he has to do; he enjoys sharing his subject with us as an investment in our lives.

I’m not sure if I’ll have him for another class, but I will always remember that I had a really good Econ teacher my freshman year of college. Likewise, I will always remember Mr. Miller. I doubt I will study either of these fields long-term or use them in my career, but I will always remember the teachers who not only surprised me by showing me the value of the subject they loved, but helped me do my very best in the studies I did not expect to enjoy. They cared about me and did not see me as simply another face.

“Mary O'” thrills audiences with haunted sea travels

November 18, 2016

Carina Smith

Features editor

csmit367@jccc.edu

To the delight of students, faculty and family of the cast and crew, the student production of “Mary O’” made its world premiere last weekend. The play, which was written by Adjunct Professor Matthew Schmidli, focuses on a crew that sets sail in the hopes of finding the captain’s brother who disappeared 10 years earlier while trying to navigate the Northwest Passage. However, the trip is anything but smooth and suddenly the crew has to face the possibility that they aren’t alone on the ship.

The play was no easy feat to overcome. Since it was a world premiere, the cast, crew and director had no prior productions to look back on and get ideas from. This didn’t stop them from putting on a production that looked like it came straight off the professional stages.

Stage combat is a tricky thing for most actors to get the hang of and make look authentic. The cast of “Mary O’,” however, managed to make the fist fights and showdowns feel so realistic that audiences swear each slap was real. This didn’t come to them naturally, of course. The cast’s dedication and hard work truly shows throughout the performance, making the play even more enjoyable.

The set design, lights and sound are a large part of what made the play such a hit. The boat used on stage looked like it had been taken straight from Captain Hook himself. The set design was something to be reckoned with. The production employed the use of a screen to project a star-filled sky and a map of the crew’s voyage so far.

Horror is a difficult genre to put on the stage, however the cast was able to convince audiences it was real and create a haunting atmosphere. The play overall was thrilling, capable of captivating audiences, breaking their hearts and scaring them out of their boots. Between the writing, the directing, the acting and the set, many factors went into making this play a success. Audiences in search of a thrill should certainly join the crew of the Mary O’ on their voyage.

“Mary O’” will be performed at the Polsky Theatre in the Carlson Center from Nov. 18 through Nov. 20. The Friday and Saturday night performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Saturday and Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m. Admission is free and seating is given out on a first come, first serve basis.

“Catching Kelce” ends with humiliation

November 17, 2016

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

Travis Kelce is tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and grand prize of the dating show “Catching Kelce.” As the series began, Kelce appeared to be a compassionate young man who had realized that time is passing him by and he wants to be ready to settle down.

Within the first 30 minutes of the premiere episode, it was clear which contestants were likeable. Most seemed nice enough besides one, Maya Benberry, who represented Kentucky. In each episode Benberry would pick at least one girl to throw under the bus in hopes that they would be eliminated and 95 percent of the time her plans didn’t work out. On her social media accounts she blames the producers for portraying her as manipulative, but that’s up to viewers to decide.

The weeks flew by, more episodes aired and the show really began to develop. Kelce was really appearing to fall in love with the girls. Lauren Schwab, a contestant from Missouri, had a very natural connection with Kelce. Avery Schlereth, from Colorado, was just one step away from giving her heart to Kelce when he decided to eliminate her one day early. Veronica Harwood of New Jersey had the most strong, explosive and undeniable connection with Kelce. The chemistry was so powerful and deep that Kelce said in his confessional that he could see himself settling down with Harwood and that she could be his potential wife. Last night, loyal viewers had their fingers crossed, hoping that one of these girls would be the one.

Ultimately, Benberry caught Kelce. It was a frustrating conclusion, not only because of her demeanor, but because of Kelce’s delivery of his message at the final elimination. He started out by explaining to Benberry that she possesses the same personality traits as his past girlfriends and that he needs a change in his life. He said that Harwood would be a change and viewers were briefly led to believe that Harwood had one. He then quickly said that he had to go with his heart and sent Harwood home. Another frustrating point was that Kelce spent a vast majority of the past few episodes building up Harwood’s confidence by allowing to stay at his house and calling her the type of girl he can bring home to his mother. He made it very clear that Harwood could be the one and he expressed that Harwood was definitely on the show for him and not for the exposure.

It’s understandable what he did was great for ratings, but it’s hard to watch a person build up someone who is falling in love with him only to embarrass them on international television. He humiliated Harwood in front of not just her family and friends, but strangers as well. This girl saw the whole world in this football player and was willing to give up her life on the East Coast to move to Kansas City and now she is not just heartbroken, but humiliated as well. Some have compared what Kelce did to the incident to when Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner for the Miss Universe pageant.

After a promising beginning and a cast full of affable ladies, Kelce’s decision making ran the show into the ground and ended with the equivalent of an endzone interception from the opposing team.

Headcount up, credit hour enrollment down

November 17, 2016

Ellen Terhune

Reporting correspondent

eterhun1@jccc.edu

The college experienced an increase in headcount enrollment this year, while credit hour enrollment decreased, according to the fall census released Sept. 20.

While the 0.03 percent increase between fall 2015 and fall 2016 may seem minor, it’s actually a turnaround for the college, according to Paul Kyle, dean of student services.

“Across the nation, most colleges are lucky if [enrollment is] up at all,” Kyle said.

One of the biggest factors in enrollment is the economy. When the economy is bad, enrollment rises because fewer jobs being available tends to bring more adults back to school.

In order to achieve the college’s goal of a two percent increase in headcount enrollment each year, the college implements strategies such as the new metro rate for students who reside in the 640 and 641 area codes in Missouri. This caused an increase in over 200 students from the metro area.

Johnson County residents account for 76 percent of students attending the college this fall. Rebecca Reynolds, a sophomore at the college and resident of Johnson County, chose the college over other institutions because it was easier, more affordable and close to home.

With the rise in headcount enrollment, the student population is noticeably more diverse. Minority enrollment has increased by 165 students since fall 2015, and accounts for 25 percent of total enrollment this fall.

According to Kyle, the only effect the rise in headcount enrollment has on students is parking.

Kyle said it can be difficult to find qualified faculty members as well.

“It’s more of a challenge on us than on students. Across the nation, finding qualified math and science teachers in order to maximize classrooms is a challenge,” Kyle said.

While headcount enrollment is up, credit hour enrollment is down. That means there are more students enrolled at the college but they are taking fewer hours. This has more of an impact than the increased headcount because the college is funded by the number of credit hours in which students are enrolled.

“Headcount quite honestly is just for bragging right[s] to say we have ‘X’ amount of students here,” according to Pete Belk, program director of admissions. “If all those students are only enrolled in one credit hour, we’d have to shut our doors.”

In an attempt to increase credit hour enrollment, the college plans on offering more online classes. The number of students enrolled in online classes is increasing at a rate of 20 percent per year.

“Students are trying to figure out, okay, is there any way I can get some time in my life?” Kyle said.

Student Arthur Newby found that it was difficult to get a convenient schedule that fit in with his daily life. A majority of the classes he needed to take were scheduled at the same time. He hopes that the college will offer a wider variety of class times throughout the day.

The college also intends to take further steps to make education more convenient for students in the future by offering more classes at off-campus locations and shortening 16-week courses so they can be completed in a more time efficient manner.

“Historically, education has been really slow to make these kinds of changes and our biggest priority is making sure the quality of instruction is not compromised in any way,” Belk said.

Click here to read the full report from the college: 2016 Fall Enrollment Tracking

Seasonal Affective Disorder can take toll on students

November 16, 2016

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, four to six percent of people may have "winter depression." 10 to 20 percent of people may have mild Seasonal Affective Disorder. The disorder often becomes clear at the age of 20 and is more common in women than men. Photo illustration by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

As the weather gets colder and the days grow shorter, some may begin to experience a change in attitude. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that is most prevalent in the winter months and is caused by a lack of sunlight.

“The daylight is decreasing and the sun goes away as wintertime approaches,” counselor Jill Konen said. “It’s caused from lack of sunlight because sunlight actually helps with serotonin levels and serotonin is a chemical in the brain that can affect depression.”

SAD symptoms have a lot in common with those that are commonly associated with depression. These include changes in sleeping and appetite, lack of motivation and the inability to concentrate. The symptoms typically start in October and can last until May.

“Just feeling down, feeling blue and being really not sure why,” Konen said. “A lot of times there’s an increase in appetite like with sugar and carbs because you’re trying to get your energy back up.”

The severity of these symptoms can vary. SAD can lead to a mild depression for some and a severe depressive episode for others. For those who already have depression, it can add on to their current symptoms.

There are many different treatment options for students who are feeling the symptoms of SAD. Starting out, those suspecting they have SAD should see their physician. From there, they can determine what type of treatment will work best. Light therapy is a popular method that involves using a lamp to increase serotonin levels. Other methods of treatment are taking antidepressants during the months the symptoms are at their worst and attending talk therapy.

“Light therapy is full spectrum light, and new research has shown that when it’s set up on a time to come on around six o’clock in the morning to shine on the face, particularly the eye area, that that is probably the most effective treatment for it,” adjunct psychology professor Susie Sympson said.

Sympson said it’s best to make a plan to get ahead of the issues before they start. Precautions can be taken to prevent SAD from becoming too severe. Going outside to exercise or just being out in the sun can help. Taking vitamin D3 in combination with melatonin is a way to help raise serotonin levels.

Students who suspect they may have SAD, or have any questions can contact the JCCC counseling center. Appointments can be made by calling 913-469-3809 or students can be taken on a walk-in basis.

Twins play key role in soccer team’s success

November 16, 2016

Twin brothers Chace (left) and Chance Beckham have been playing together since childhood and just completed their first season together on the college's mens team. Photo by Aaron Rhodes, The Campus Ledger.

Ellen Terhune

Reporting correspondent

eterhun1@jccc.edu

The men’s soccer team’s successful season was driven by an unusual pair of players: identical twins.

First year students Chance and Chace Beckham played a major role in bringing home the team’s first conference title since 2009, each contributing numerous goals and assists. Their successful debut season was no surprise.

The brothers won back to back state championships at Rose Hill High School and received first team all-state honors as well as multiple MVP and player of the year awards.

The brothers began playing soccer together in second grade and have been on the same team ever since. They believe this has played a key role in their success.

“Not everyone has someone constantly by their side to practice with for their entire lives,” Chace said. “Since we’ve played together for so long we always know exactly where to find each other on the field and we work well together, it makes it so much easier to play.”

According to Chance, playing soccer with his brother has made him a better player in every way imaginable because their competitiveness and desire to outdo one another is one of their biggest sources of motivation.

Head coach Fatai Ayoade believes the twins’ drive brought a special contribution to the team: hard work.

“The Beckhams have been phenomenal; I wish I could clone them,” Ayoade said. “They’re hard workers, dedicated to their sport and their studies and that’s why they started almost every game as freshmen.”

While it was nearly impossible for their teammates and coaches to tell them apart at the beginning of the season, their play quickly allowed them to identify themselves as two unique, individual players.

“They don’t even act as if they’re twins on the field,” Ayoade said. They do their own thing and they play their own role.”

Chance, the eldest by two minutes, played in the midfield and finished the year with three goals and three assists, while Chace played forward and finished the season with six goals and two assists. Chace was also awarded the KJCCC Player of the Week Award.

According to teammate Jordan Evans, while they are two individual players, they both share the ability to put the ball in the back of the net.

“They always seem to be in sync when playing together,” Evans said. “They’re both skillful, tactically sound and competitive. Their confidence and level of play throughout their youth has shown that they have the ability to play at any level … Their experience and willingness to get better makes them standout.”

The brothers set high expectations for their final season at the college. Their coach’s expectations are even higher.

“I expect them to be leaders,” Ayoade said. “I know they are going to increase the level of expectation for themselves without me pushing it for them because I know they love the game.”

As for their future after Johnson County, Chance and Chace are hopeful to further their athletic careers at a university — together of course.

But no matter where they may end up, they will always share an inseparable bond.

“At the end of the day you always know you have one person there for you wherever you go and you also always have someone to blame things on,” Chance said.

All aboard the “Mary O'”

November 15, 2016

mart-o-play-edit2 — Actors fight in a scene soon after a gunshot is fired. "Mary O’" rotates around a crew searching for a ship that disappeared a decade ago while the crew learns some of the dark secrets the Arctic holds. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Carina Smith

Features editor

csmit367@jccc.edu

Grab your boots and sailing maps, the production of “Mary O’” will be coming to the college for its world premiere. Join the crew of the Mary O’ as they cut through the waves of the Arctic Sea in search of ship that disappeared a decade earlier. As the expedition continues, the crew learns some of the dark and ghastly secrets the waters hold. “Mary O’” is written by a professor at the college, Matthew Schmidli, and will be directed by Trevor Belt.

Schmidli is a local actor, playwright and director who teaches multiple classes at the college as an adjunct assistant professor of theatre. His classes cover acting, playwriting and stage movements. Schmidli has directed around town at different venues, including the Coterie Theatre. Schmidli is also currently starring in the two-person play “The Way We Get By” at the The Unicorn Theatre from Oct. 19 through Nov. 13.

Schmidli has written a few short plays for UMKC Playwright’s Showcase and had a story published in a literary magazine. Most of Schmidli’s written work is done when he isn’t acting or directing, however. Schmidli says he has always had a fascination with ghost stories, especially ones that included ghost ships. With his fascination in ghost ships and sea shanties (songs that sailors sang while working), Schmidli started piecing together the idea of a ghost ship play.

“I’ve been ruminating on the idea for the play for about two years and when I pitched the idea to the faculty, they loved it,” Schmidli said. “So, I set forth in finally putting it on paper. I’m beyond thrilled and truly humbled to have this world premiere at such an outstanding college and theatre program.”

Belt, who has been professionally directing for around nine years, has had to handle the challenges of working with a cast and crew he’s never worked with before and taking a play that’s never been performed and put it on the stage. A world premiere of a play can be nerve-wracking for some. Most plays that take place at the college have past productions to look at and see what can work and what can’t, so not having anything to base their production off of has been a challenge but also an exciting experience for everyone involved. For most, this is their first time doing a world premiere of a play.

“What’s unique about this play is it’s the first time it’s been done anywhere, so the unique challenge has been for young student actors to have the opportunity to completely build something from the ground up,” Belt said. “So as rehearsals have been going we have discovered lots of things that don’t work and lots of things that really do work. The idea of not only doing a play but figuring out if it works and creating something that no one has ever seen before makes it a little more difficult than normal but also exciting.”

Besides the fact that this is a world premiere, the play also falls into a horror genre, which is difficult to perform on stage. The cast and crew have been figuring out how to take such a tricky genre, put it on stage and make it seem realistic to audiences. Belt had to figure out how to convince audiences of an unseen presence during the production and stage combat between actors.

Belt talked about how rare it is to see a supernatural play happen and that it requires a lot of effort from everyone to make it convincing to the audience. It’s not a genre that is played out live too often, so the cast and crew have been putting in extra time to make this play as frightening and realistic as possible. Overall, the story takes the audience in a completely different direction than assumed.

“You get a few hints towards the beginning of what’s to come but really everything just takes off really quick and all of a sudden there’s really dark stuff going on and I think what happens next will be a shock to everyone,” said student Hannah Oldham, who plays Maggie in the production.

“Mary O’” will be performed at the Polsky Theatre in the Carlson Center from Nov. 11 through Nov. 13 and Nov. 18 through Nov. 20. The Friday and Saturday night performances will start at 7:30 p.m. and the Saturday and Sunday matinees will begin at 2 p.m. Admission is free and seating is given out on a first come, first serve basis.

JCAV-TV Weekly Roundup: Humans vs Zombies, Election Day

November 14, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

The college’s annual Humans vs Zombies tournament took place during the week of Halloween. Over 150 students participated this year, with the winning zombie receiving a $25 Visa gift card.

JCAV-TV talked to staff members here at The Campus Ledger about how we lay out the newspaper every month, assign articles and operate each day. Photo Editor Andrew Hartnett gave some insight into his role on staff along with some of his favorite images he’s taken for us.

Video students interviewed several students on Election Day about their experience voting and what they thought the outcome would be as the results came in.

People in Promotion panel to be held Tuesday

November 14, 2016

xred-hamburger-16x9-960x540-jpg-pagespeed-ic-xcrlnrh5ct — Tuesday's People in Promotion panel will focus on VML's international Wendy's ad campaign.

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

For a student studying journalism or advertising, one of the best resources for learning about their future career comes from hearing from professionals in their field. On November 15, the college will be hosting People in Promotion — a panel for students interested in the field of advertising.

Assistant Professor of Journalism Gretchen Thum has organized the event every year for the past five years.

“I had started having the strategic communication people and advertising professionals just come out and talk to my classes, and then I realized there was more interest beyond just my journalism classes and my advertising students,” Thum said. “The idea is that anybody who is interested in a possible career in advertising, which is not just advertising students… they can come and hear about what a career in advertising is like and that might assist them as they plot out their own academic career path.”

The company sending panelists to speak is different each year. Past presentations have included companies like ROCK Creative and Morningstar Communications. This year Thum asked the advertising company VML to help with the event after doing a faculty internship with them over the summer.

“VML is one of the top ten ad agencies in the world so these are really global advertising people and there will be people from all different areas of advertising,” Thum said.

VML has many different clients, including Tic Tac, Gatorade, MasterCard and even the state of Tennessee. When they come to the college on Tuesday, they will be discussing their partnership with Wendy’s.

“It will be sort of a case of the Wendy’s account, these people all work on Wendy’s,” Thum said. “Since they’re a global ad agency, they advertise Wendy’s all over the world so they’ll be able to talk about some of the differences in advertising in other countries too.”

Thum claims students don’t need to be interested in advertising to come to the event. While it will help students in areas such as business, marketing and graphic design, she believes anyone who comes will enjoy it.

“I think it’s very helpful to students to make what they learn in the classroom relevant by hearing from professionals,” Thum said. “Even if they’re not thinking about a major or a definite career, advertising is so much a part of our lives.”

The event will take place on Tuesday, November 15th at 11:00 A.M. in GEB 233.

Document Services sees drop in business

November 11, 2016

document-services-edit — Due to the college's sustainability efforts, Document Services has seen a substantial decline in business in recent years. Demand for paper has decreased from six truckloads per year to only two and a half. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Rebekah Lodos

Special to the Ledger

Document Services has seen a steady decline in business over the past few years due to the college’s sustainability efforts and transition to online communication.

Printing for classroom materials has dropped 30 percent in the past five years according to Bruce Hines, director of Document Services. Marketing Communications has cut the quantity of printed brochures by putting the information online and demand for paper has decreased from six truckloads per year to only two and a half.

“The sustainability initiative and the digital work has really helped with that a lot,” Hines said. “[With] the initiatives to be more sustainable, there was a lot more discussion about ways to do that. We started seeing an impact … a big trend of reduction in run lengths for production of documents for marketing pieces … with all the new online marketing and ways to communicate through email and social media.”

The Document Services team has operators in offset printing who have made a wide range of material from business cards to posters for the college.

The college began focusing on initiatives to go green in 2008 when former President Terry Calaway signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The college’s Center of Sustainability launched shortly after in 2009.

“Our signing the ACUPCC in 2008 … is an important step that many campuses don’t achieve until later in conversations about sustainability,” said Kristy Howell, Sustainability Education and Engagement coordinator in the Center for Sustainability.

The college has been a leading force in the movement to make higher education environmentally friendly and is the 2016 Climate Leadership Award winner for two-year institutions in the United States.

Still, some departments have suffered loss during the process that began in 2009. Document Services has downsized as a result of less business. It was previously two separate departments with around 12 full-time and four part-time employees. Now, Document Services has only five full-time and four part-time employees.

“We’ve been adjusting over the years,” Hines said. “As people leave we just resize ourselves. It’s been gradual, we’ve kind of been moving with the reductions in the work orders. We work with our team to adjust that way and it’s worked out pretty good.”

Despite less business, the department has eagerly joined in the effort to go green.

“We recycle everything,” said Duane Quillen, production manager at Document Services. “Aluminum plates that come in press, any cutting that we do, any scrap material and stuff is collected. We put all of our paper back in.”

Quillen said the department has used recycled paper for many years and will switch to even more eco-friendly paper in the future.

Athletic Director Carl Heinrich to retire in June 2017

November 10, 2016

retirement-story-henry-lubega — Carl Heinrich retires after serving 16 years as the college’s fifth Director of Athletics. Under Heinrich’s leadership, the Cavaliers have claimed nine of the school’s 11 NJCAA National Championships, 71 Region VI titles and 73 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference titles. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Morgan Lamb

Staff reporter

Mlamb9@jccc.edu

After holding the position for 16 years and accumulating numerous awards and successes, athletic director Carl Heinrich decided it was time for a new arena. From leading the college to 11 national championships to academic, athletic and administrative success, Heinrich has left a sizeable impact.

Heinrich has served as athletic director since August 2000, overseeing a department of 15 varsity teams. He will retire in June from the position and become the assistant commissioner of the Jayhawk Conference.

From being a high school standout to baseball star at KU to a minor league baseball player, Heinrich has always been around sports and managed to turn his passion into a career.

“And here we are talking after years,” Heinrich said. “I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve gotten a few awards and the coaches have done an incredible job of running our programs here.”

During Heinrich’s tenure, he was named Athletic Director of the Year and received the George E. Killian Award that he described as his “highest award.”

“It’s not about me, it’s about being a part of national championships and seeing student athletes come in and grow and achieve the epitome of what they are trying to do,” Heinrich said. “The greatest reward is the opportunity to meet the students and learn what they want to do. You try to make your parents proud and they put a lot of heart and soul into raising you.”

Kent Shelley, head baseball coach, grew up watching Heinrich play sports throughout high school and college. The two have been friends for years with Heinrich being a pitching coach under Shelley.

“I think the first thing that’s important to know about Carl is that he’s a lot older than I am,” Shelley said. “He was gone from KU when I got there, but I watched him coach and when I got the job here I had the opportunity to bring Carl down from coaching at Highland Community College and he spent six years on my coaching staff as my pitching coach. It was six of my best years.”

After Shelley and Heinrich coached together, Heinrich had the opportunity to go a different route into administration and has worked his way up from student athlete to coach to athletic director.

“I think his legacy is that he has truly tried to make a difference in coaches lives, he’s tried to make a difference in the student athletes lives, he’s really cared about the people associated with the athletic department, the people on campus and out in the community,” Shelley said. “I think just touching people’s lives in a positive fashion will be his legacy.”

“Someone like Carl is very difficult to replace,” President Joseph Sopcich said. “Everyone kind of looks to Carl for insight and direction because he has a lot of credibility. Everyone trusts him and he’s a very easy guy to work with.”

Sopcich confirmed that a replacement has not yet been found and Randy Weber in student services will be heading that search.

During Heinrich’s tenure, the college has seen nine national championships and the highest academic success for student athletes in program history. Of the 298 National Junior College Athletic Association Academic Award winners, 213 have been under Heinrich’s watch.

“I think that is one of the things Carl has done. He’s created a culture of academic success,” Ben Conrad, head coach of women’s basketball, said.

Conrad has seen great success and most recently led the women’s basketball team to win the 2015 NJCAA National Championship.

“As far as helping our program, he helps all of the programs,” Conrad said. “He doesn’t play favorites. He’s very much into making sure that all of the programs have what they need.”

Tyler Cundith, sports information director, spoke about Heinrich’s leadership and attitude.

“He has a winning attitude and I think that carries over to all the coaches,” Cundith said. “You want to be your best, put out your best, do your best, and if you do that you have the chance to be the best.”

Next up for Heinrich is becoming the assistant commissioner of the Jayhawk Conference for one year and if all goes well, becoming the head commissioner. He is also looking forward to spending more time his wife of 38 years, three sons and seven grandchildren.

Students, faculty respond to Trump victory

November 9, 2016

election-day_edit4 — Johnson County residents were able to vote on campus at the Police Academy on Tuesday. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

By Carina Smith and Morgan Lamb

The Campus Ledger staff

[Editor’s note: The final electoral college vote numbers: Hillary Clinton – 232, Donald Trump – 306]

Ballots were tallied into the early morning Wednesday and Donald Trump was declared to be the next president of the United States. Students and faculty at the college have reacted to results with mixed emotions.

Trump won the race with 279 electoral votes, while his opponent Hillary Clinton had only 228 electoral votes according to the Associated Press. The race had been neck-and-neck for months, with both candidates polling in the mid-40s throughout the campaign season.

Sam Stueve, a member of the College Republicans, described the election season with a colorful analogy.

“I’ve had to summarize each debate into five words that I thought summarized each debate and each time it involves something to the effect of two toddlers throwing mashed potatoes at one another,” Stueve said.

This news has excited people nationwide who have supported the Republican Party, including College Republican President, Daniel Stilley. Though Stilley never fully backed Trump, he has always been a strong Republican supporter and said he is excited by the outcome.

“I’m not going to claim that I was enthused for Trump, but a lot of Republicans have been and the voices of millions of Americans saying we are tired of elites, tired of the rule of law not being upheld have been heard tonight,” Stilley said. “It is also absolutely exhilarating to see the GOP retain its strong majority in the House and its majority in the Senate.”

Stilley conveyed his euphoria as it became increasingly clear Tuesday night that Trump would win.

“My overall feeling was one of excitement and exhilaration,” Stilley said. “When I first heard about 7 o’clock that several Republicans won key races in the House and Senate, electricity ran through my veins and it never left.”

Clinton, along with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, lost the race to the dismay of many supporters. Student Vincent Duncan, who didn’t vote for Trump, expressed his opinions on the outcome of the election.

“I don’t like the events that have transpired so far during 2016 and having Trump elected only makes me more worried toward social reform in America,” Duncan said. “It would seem that from my standpoint there won’t be much from here on out.”

Trump has to wait to officially earn the title of President. He will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017. However, the election results are a huge win for the Republican Party, who secured not only the White House but the Senate and House also.

Chair for the Department of History and Political Science, James Leiker, said he is surprised by the outcome of the election.

“I think what’s going on here is that this is part of a pattern of people choosing presidents based on charisma,” Leiker said. “It worked in Obama’s favor in the last two elections and I think it dates back to Reagan and Kennedy where we pay more attention to the superficial parts of a candidate rather than their policy recommendations.”

Students Gaylin Nicholson and Nick Holmes were first time voters and supporters of Hillary Clinton.

Nicholson said he is disappointed with the outcome of the election, and that his biggest issue with Trump is immigration and the closing of borders.

“I respect America as an open country and the closing of borders is really my biggest issue with Trump,” Nicholson said.

Holmes, meanwhile, said he is nervous of what the new president’s foreign policies will be.

“I woke up and thought was that a nightmare I had and then it wasn’t,” Holmes said.

Editor’s note: At the state level, college employee and former Board of Trustees member Molly Baumgardner won re-election as state senator for the 37th District. Baumgardner, a Republican, earned 66 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic challenger Kevin King. Baumgardner serves as the faculty adviser for ECAV Radio and JCAV-TV.

Staff Editorial: Americans must now stand up for their neighbors

November 9, 2016

trump_rally_edit1 — Donald Trump addressing attendees at a rally at The Midland in Kansas City back in March. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

[Editor’s note: The original version of this article mentioned a case of church arson in Mississippi that was originally reported as being carried out by a Trump supporter. A member of the congregation has been arrested for the crime and the article has been edited retracting that mention.]

Early on Wednesday morning, the American public was informed that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. The news came as a shock to many and is being touted as one of the largest upsets in American political history. Despite the amount of horrors that every president is accountable for, Barack Obama had been steadily driving our country in a positive social direction. American voters have now allowed Donald Trump to grab the wheel and set our path for the edge of a cliff.

After a campaign fueled by unabashed racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and ableism, a Trump presidency looks to be a nightmarish one for anyone living in America who is not a straight white person.

His long-running call for a border wall between the United States and Mexico has done nothing to help our relations with the country. Early on he called people crossing the border “rapists” and more recently “bad hombres.” A report published by the Southern Poverty Law Center has stated that Trump’s campaign had been “producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom. Many students worry about being deported.”

As recently as the first week of November, a black church in Mississippi was set on fire with “Vote Trump” written on the side. David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, has stated that Trump winning made for “one of the most exciting nights of [his] life.” If these things are taking place now, imagine what will happen as Trump takes office and begins to approve legislation.

Considering that many did not take to the polls on Election Day, Americans — especially those with the privilege of not being Trump’s targets — must now take direct action in combatting the poisonous side effects of his presidency.

The responsibility now falls on you. If a friend of yours is scared to wear a hijab out of their house, stand by them. If they are afraid of walking down the street with their partner, stand by them. If they fear that could be deported, stand by them. Now more than ever, Americans must have each others’ backs and fend off white supremacy, sexual assault apologism and the onslaught of other issues that Trump and his supporters have shown they do not care about.

Prague proves to have an exceptional transit system

November 9, 2016

15007651_1468261839867768_638531568_o — Sean's use of European public transportation has given him the opportunity to view architecture like this. Photo by Sean Hull.

Sean Hull

Special to the Ledger

[Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of study abroad column entries from student Sean Hull.]

Prague is known for a few things: the grand architecture of the Old Town and Prague Castle, the ubiquitous red roofs, the majesty of the Vltava and the beauty of the Charles Bridge. However, the true marvel in my eye has been the city’s incredible public transit system.

Comprised of three underground metro lines that extend in all cardinal directions from the center of Prague and countless streetcars to fill in the blanks, you can get anywhere you need to in the city cheaply and quickly. The convenience and simplicity of the system starkly contrasts with Kansas City’s meager and confusing attempt at offering public transport, an issue the city should remedy to improve public life and accelerate the city’s growth.

The most amazing thing about Prague’s public transport system is that it’s not unique. Nearly every European capital has an efficient public transport system and most mid-sized cities do as well. The Prague metro is only unique in that it’s not covered in antifascist graffiti like Munich and Rome.

The obvious advantage a public transport system has for a European capital is that it makes it easier for tourists to travel around the city. On the metro map of Prague, all the major spots like the Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, Old Town Square and the Castle are clearly marked with a caricature. An expanded streetcar system in Kansas City would achieve much of the same effect, connecting the city’s sites and entertainment districts.

Currently the singular downtown line connects two major hubs of entertainment and commerce in the city, Union Station and the River Market. Expanding the streetcar further down Main Street, towards the Plaza and the UMKC campus would connect the majority of the entertainment districts of the city, creating a more walkable and enjoyable city. But there are concrete examples of improvements to public safety as well.

Though not a direct comparison for Kansas City, which is going from relatively nonexistent public transportation to a full system, Washington D.C. proved that expansion of public transportation options lower rates of alcohol related crimes. In 2007, D.C. expanded the hours of operation of their underground rail system from midnight to 3 a.m. and saw a reduction in both DUI arrests and alcohol related fatal driving incidents by as much as 40 percent, according to a study in 2009 by Cornell University.

Drunk driving is a major problem in the metro and police departments here have responded by increasing checkpoints, ironically often on Main Street, where an expanded system would run. The correct way to address drunk driving is by providing safer alternatives, not by increasing the threat of punishment.

Prague’s metro system runs 24/7 in some capacity, ensuring that citizens always have a safe way to get to work, have fun, and to get home. Expanding in Kansas City would also make the city more socially and economically equitable, allowing people without cars to expand the areas they can seek jobs and entertainment.

I’ll miss many things about Prague, but it’s hard to beat the beautiful practicality of the metro system. Hopefully Kansas City will lead American cities in the quest for more functional transportation.

Photo Gallery: Election Day on campus

November 8, 2016

The Police Academy at Johnson County Community College served as a place to vote on Election Day. While most people chose to vote early, some Johnson County residents still showed up to vote the traditional way. Volunteers arrived as early as 4:30 AM to set up the machines and tables. Most of the results will be announced within the next day.

Words by Katie Mazos

Photos by Andrew Hartnett

JCAV-TV Weekly Roundup: Sports Report, behind the scenes at ECAV

November 4, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

A new episode of the Cavalier Sports Report was completed by JCAV-TV this week. Host Jonah Snider sat down with women’s basketball coach Ben Conrad. The two discussed last season’s loss to KCKCC and their hopes for the upcoming season.

ECAV Radio station manager Rebecca Crockett took JCAV-TV behind the scenes. Crockett discussed their lineup for the semester and how their shows are put together. Students interested in getting involved with the station are given information on how to do so.

NBA YoungBoy steps toward Dirty South stardom on “38 Baby”

November 3, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

American rap fans have their eyes trained on cities such as Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. New stars in the genre rise through the ranks in those cities, often with the help of already established superstars. Rappers like Gucci Mane and Kanye West routinely help give emerging artists the final push needed to achieve mainstream success.

NBA YoungBoy is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While the state has given birth to household names such as Lil Wayne, Baton Rouge doesn’t have the same type of support system its larger counterparts benefit from. YoungBoy, who is only 17 years old, is slowly proving — like many other rap stars of the 2010’s — that the only thing necessary for success is a dynamic internet presence and the support of a tight-knit group of friends.

On “38 Baby” — his fifth mixtape in the past two years — Youngboy opens by declaring that this one is for the fans. The first track “How I Live” is a fiercely autobiographical cut. YoungBoy unloads the realities of his daily life; seeing murders in broad daylight and — more recently — flying to California and shopping at the Supreme store. He hasn’t signed to a major label yet, but he has been making the most of what his growing online popularity has afforded him.

The song “38 Baby” shows YoungBoy fully embracing his Southern roots. The influence of Boosie Badazz shines through over the course of the mixtape in their shared drawl and occasionally sing-songy delivery. He also lays out the themes he sticks to throughout the release: self-reliance, determination and a deep appreciation for the second amendment. YoungBoy and his friends can be spotted in every one of their many music videos — several of which are hosted by the infamous WorldStarHipHop — waving handguns and assault rifles. Additionally, his NBA (Never Broke Again) crew logo is the Jordan logo cleverly edited to be holding a handgun instead of a basketball.

One of the mixtape’s singles “What I Was Taught” was released in late August. Featuring twinkling pianos, drums made to rattle your car and a simple-enough hook about what it takes to be a boss, the song could have been the Dirty South’s summer-defining hit if had dropped any earlier.

Following thirteen songs that chronicle YoungBoy’s trials and achievements — including appearances from Boosie Badazz and one of his contemporaries Kevin Gates — the tape is wrapped up with “They Ain’t With Me.” The song is a passionate oath of loyalty to his friends and supporters and doubles as a warning to those who still wish to see him fail.

YoungBoy may not be the most technically skilled new rapper of the year, but he would certainly be capable of holding his own if placed among many of today’s chart-topping rappers. YoungBoy’s true appeal stems from his youthful resilience, rugged authenticity and stylistic choices. These factors and others are what makes “38 Baby” a key release in YoungBoy’s progression and a major step towards lasting success in mainstream hip-hop. Louisiana’s capital just created a new star all by itself.

Upcoming fare reduction for K-10 Connector expected to benefit college students

November 2, 2016

copy-of-bus-follow-up-edit-3 — Students wait to board a bus outside of the Carlsen Center. On several occasions, students have had to wait for a bus that ends up arriving late or not showing up whatsoever. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

Johnson County and Kansas City’s bus systems have been making several changes in recent months. Johnson County reduced the K-10 Connector fare by 50 cents, added new bus routes and detailed a future regional bus system.

Josh Powers is the Business Liaison for Johnson County. Powers announced an upcoming 50 cent decrease for the K-10 Connector that takes students from the college to Lawrence.

“The K-10 Connector is a really important route in Johnson County,” Powers said. ”What [Johnson County] is trying to do here is get as many people interested in riding the K-10 Connector as much as possible. In 2015, Johnson County contracted with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to provide all of Johnson County’s transportation. The goal here, in a big picture sense, is a truly regional transportation system.”

Powers went on to explain why KCATA decided to reduce fares for the K-10 Connector.

“We want the fares for the K-10 Connector to match the fares that KCATA is charging for express routes that are similar to the K-10 Connector,” Powers said. “That was the goal is even across the board as far as fares are concerned and that way we can offer a single pass that isn’t specific to K-10 or any other route. You’ll buy the one suburban commuter express pass and it will work across the system.”

Students Eric Wheatman and Jomain Rouser ride the K-10 Connector a few times a week. They shared their thoughts on the new reduced fare as well as voicing their current concern with the bus.

“I think [the reduced fares] are good, but it depends on if [the buses] are still gonna be on time or not,” Wheatman said. “It’s always worse on the way home with all the traffic.”

Rouser offered up a solution for the buses that are facing heavy traffic like the K-10 Connector.

“I think they need more buses and more strict schedules that the drivers need to keep,” Rouser said.

Powers explained how to contact KCATA with concerns or suggestions along with the process of fixing the concern after it has been reported.

“As far as any complaints a rider might have, there is a couple different ways to interact with [KCATA,]” Powers said. “First and foremost, they can contact me. Part of my responsibility is overseeing the service provided within the county by KCATA, then we immediately address that situation. It’s very helpful when people also provide their contact information so that we can follow up and make sure that we understand what has happened and respond to it appropriately. [KCATA] tries to be as responsive as possible.”

Riders with any concerns or suggestions may contact Josh Powers by e-mail at Joshua.Powers@jocogov.org or by phone at 913-715-8921. Any immediate concerns can be addressed with your bus driver.

Army veteran hosts talk on terrorism

November 1, 2016

terrorism_talk_edit1 — Lt. Col. Nicholas Ayers, a 20-year army veteran and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and Stanford University, talked about terrorism in the modern era and the various strategies and tactics used by terrorist groups to achieve their goals. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Students and faculty gathered in the CoLab on Thursday afternoon for a talk called “Understanding Terrorism” presented by Lt. Col. Nicholas Ayers.

A 20-year Army veteran, Ayers graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and attended graduate school at Stanford. While attending graduate school after returning from Iraq, Ayers became interested in the subject of terrorism and began learning more about it. He has taught at both Stanford and West Point and is currently teaching at Fort. Leavenworth.

The lecture covered the difference between terrorist strategies versus terrorist tactics along with the reasons that terrorist groups form. Ayers explained the different structures that are found within terrorist organizations and the different reasons that people are motivated to join them. With his front line experience, Ayers was able to provide real life examples and personal stories to help break down the complex subjects.

A major focus of the discussion was on ISIS and its structure and motivations compared to other terrorist organizations. Taking advantage of the provided white boards, Ayers illustrated different concepts as a way to help the audience visualize them.

Ending with a Q&A session, Ayers answered questions from the audience about different aspects of terrorism, terminology and the state of terrorism today. Attendees asked about the different conspiracy theories surrounding terrorism and Ayers provided the audience with his individual views on the matters.

“I learned perspectives I had not heard before, particularly … in regards to tribal regions and who controls them in Iraq,” student Kaitlin Abbelrachman said. “I was interested in seeing what kind of information he was giving people who don’t know other ways to access to information on the subject…”

To stay informed on the subject of terrorism, Ayers suggests students read from all types of literature then reach out to those in the field and have a conversation about it.

“There are a lot of preconceived notions about things like terrorism and you hear either what’s in the media or what you hear from family,” Ayers said. “What I want to try and do is open up some perspectives to consider.“

Professors, students weigh in on clown sightings

October 31, 2016

Sam Stueve

Special to the Ledger

After a recent wave of mysterious clown sightings across the country, coulrophobia — the fear of clowns — has rushed to the surface for many people. Despite their initial purpose of bringing happiness and relieving stress, clowns often do the opposite of that..

During infant development, the human brain begins to recognize faces and common aspects including everything from complexion to mouth shape. The fear of clowns begins to take shape in early childhood, according to developmental psychologists. Infants notice the differences in the faces of clowns and become confused and scared.

Barbara Ladd, Professor of Psychology, has been studying child development for nearly 40 years. Ladd said that these fears are classically conditioned. When emotions are felt in the early stages of life, those same emotions will arise later when presented in a similar situation.

“With the clown thing, this is a face with exaggerated features that are really unusual, especially to a small child,” Ladd said. “If you think about something as an infant and you have seen these kind faces … and associate them with comfort … then you see this crazy thing that is almost remarkable to you, it’s just kind of frightening.”

Jon Johnson, student, weighed in on things that create our fear towards clowns.

“It kind of develops into this uncanny valley where the person is covering up their face,” Johnson said. “There is something sinister about the painted on smile.”

Johnson said he does not personally fear clowns, but feels there is a correlation between their ambiguity and our fears.

Patti Ward, Professor of Psychology, has been studying the brain for 26 years and also discussed the matter.

“If we are looking at a crowd of people and every person out there is smiling except for one, humans are instinctively able to identify the one not smiling,” Ward said. “We by nature are going jump back from that perverted human, which is what clowns are.”

People’s brains view these differences as a threat and from an evolutionary standpoint are automatically going to jump back and feel fear towards these differences, according to Ladd. When people take into account these two ideas of classical fear conditioned towards these exaggerated features along with the use of clowns for scary movies throughout history, things make much more sense.

Gender and Sexuality Alliance holds first drag show

October 28, 2016

drag_show_edit_3 — Ms. Amanda Love, a performer based in Lawrence, Kansas, lip syncs a song during Thursday's show. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Sounds of laughter and pop music echoed through Craig Auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 27 as the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) held their first ever drag show.

In honor of October being LGBT History Month, the organization held an event each week in celebration. The first week’s activities included an “Ask Me Anything” and bake sale. The second week an LGBT art show and silent auction was held. The third week the club hosted Rain Dove, a non-binary model who gave a keynote speech to students. To close out the month of activities with a bang, the drag show was the last event of the month.

Featured performers included Nathan Stitt as Ms. Amanda Love and Jacob Liles as Raven Jade DeClair Whitney. The show included lip sync and comedy performances from both queens, an impromptu lip sync competition and a Q&A session.

“What I hope people took from this is that it’s an art form,” Jared Mnich, Co-President of the GSA said. “It’s a way of self expression and it allows you to have fun with life and yourself, and to not make things so serious.”

Performances ranged from upbeat pop music and ballads about self expression and identity to a spoken word piece done by Ms. Amanda Love. The performers running up and down the stairs and energetic dance moves kept the audience entertained and clapping along.

Student Niko Horton said he saw the show as self expression in the form of dancing, costumes and makeup and will be attending more drag shows in the future after seeing this one.

Throughout the show, attendees received a brief lesson on the history of drag and its significance in the LGBT community. During the Q&A, questions were answered about the drag, gender and sexuality, the process of becoming a drag queen and the different types of drag performances.

“It’s a great feeling to come here and perform for you guys and show a different and younger crowd and let them experience drag for either the first time or see a different side of drag,” Liles said. “I think it’s a brilliant thing to have these types of shows at campuses because it’s showing diversity.”

During the lip sync competition, members of the audience were encouraged to participate and try out drag for themselves, putting on wigs and strutting around the auditorium. Stitt said they like to have open shows such as this one because it allows people to express their identity and try drag while in a safe space.

“It’s definitely one of the last taboos when it comes to gender,” Stitt said. “It shows that you can be who you want, when you want, where you want, how you want. Whether you want to do it sometimes, all the time or just at Halloween. It’s a very powerful tool, especially in the LGBT community.”

College purchases new security cameras with network upgrade

October 27, 2016

Students and faculty spoke to the Ledger about their thoughts on campus security and the new cameras purchased. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

The college is currently in the process of installing new security cameras all over campus to help ensure the safety of students and staff. The new security cameras will have a higher storage capacity thanks to an updated fiber network, replace outdated hardware and feature new vantage points.

The opportunity for new cameras came with the upgrades being installed to the college’s fiber network. Officer Ryan Futrell said the new cameras will be located all over campus.

“All of the cameras themselves are being replaced,” Futrell said. “Some of the positions [the old cameras are] in right now aren’t the greatest so we’re using this opportunity to be able to move them, put the newer camera in the same general location but we can tweak it to get more coverage in certain areas.”

The cameras are monitored in the college’s Police Department lobby in the Carlson Center by at least two dispatchers at a time. Their job is to monitor the recordings as well as the activity on campus. If something happens on campus, they alert the Campus Police of the situation, whether it’s a small fight or a person with a gun. They continue to monitor the cameras while the officers respond to the situation.

“[The dispatchers] can tell us whether they see something on camera so we’re not just going in blind,” Futrell said. “We don’t know what we’re getting into, so they’ll be able to monitor it on that end if we have a more major incident like the lockdown that happened [in 2014], we can have multiple eyes.”

When the cameras are finished being installed, the fiber network will not only grant them more storage than previously, but will enable the campus to install more storage if necessary.

Student Tiffany Rodriguez feels safe on campus, but she still has her own advantages just in case.

“I’ve got a little bit of martial arts training,” Rodriguez said. “Fourteen years in the service; that’s actually helped with some self-defense. I’m constantly aware of my surroundings.”

Another student, Kayla Cline, believes the college already does a lot to ensure the safety of students and staff.

“We [have] all those [exterior emergency phones] all over the campus, like if you need a cop or something, you can just hit a button,” Cline said.

The Director of Insurance and Risk Management, Tom Clayton, believes the new security cameras are going to be an improvement for the campus.

“The cameras will simply allow the college to keep a closer eye on the campus,” Clayton said.

“Amanda Knox” documentary asks: “Who did it?”

October 26, 2016

amanda-knox-documentary-interview — Image courtesy of Netflix.

Morgan Lamb

Staff reporter

Mlamb9@jccc.edu

Studying abroad is an experience many college students speak fondly of — from the culture to the food — but for University of Washington student Amanda Knox, traveling abroad for school was far from the normal experience. Amanda Knox chose Italy to study abroad in, but her Italian education turned to almost four years in prison after twice being convicted for the murder of her roommate.

In 2007 the body of Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student, was found brutally murdered in the flat she shared with Knox. Netflix released the documentary “Amanda Knox” at the end of September, asking viewers to ponder whether or not Knox is the true killer.

Three arrests were made in relation to the murder. Rudy Guede was found guilty of Kercher’s murder but still maintains his innocence and swears that Knox was present the night of the murder. Guede was not available for the documentary because he is serving his sentence in Italian prison.

Knox and her Italian boyfriend were both found guilty of the murder. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was sentenced to 25 years. Both served four years after being convicted twice, but were cleared of their charges in 2015.

While the documentary is lengthy, clocking in at over two hours, it includes in-depth interviews, reflections and commentary by Knox and Sollecito. Guiliano Mignini, the lead prosecutor on the case, gives a chilling account of the day he saw Kercher’s body near a bloody handprint and speaks about why he still believes Knox was involved with the murder.

“She started hitting the palms of her hands on her ears as if there was the memory of a noise, a sound, a scream … Meredith’s scream. Undoubtedly, I started to suspect Amanda,” Mignini said in one of the documentary’s interviews.

The release of the documentary comes amid several recent television show specials that reexamine high-profile murder cases. A series revisiting the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen in her family’s home recently aired on CBS. The O.J. Simpson case has also been the subject of the recent “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” series. Nearly any viewer of these crime speculation series should find themselves enjoying “Amanda Knox.”

Why studying abroad is worthwhile

October 25, 2016

14795898_1451996501494302_1683890643_o — Sean's view from his pedal boat in Prague's Vltava River. Photo by Sean Hull.

Sean Hull

Special to the Ledger

[Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of study abroad column entries from student Sean Hull.]

Seeing Prague from the sky was an experience I wasn’t prepared for. Sixteen hours and four different planes brought me here. Amidst intensely green and perfectly plotted fields of hay arose the chaotic mass of red roofs and intricately intertwining alleyways that constitute Prague. I did not know at the time, but my experience here would be just as chaotic and beautiful as the city itself.

For months before I left Kansas City I didn’t think I’d be able to come here, but with some help from the Gilman Scholarship, a congressionally funded scholarship meant to encourage poorer students to study abroad, I made it. For a communications student, this opportunity is immensely beneficial. The scholarship can be applied for at the Gilman Scholarship website, and usually more than one student from the college receives it every semester.

I severely under-packed for this trip I would find out, when my study abroad advisor at University of New York Prague (UNYP) heckled me for my small midcentury suitcase. Others brought wardrobes that would rival the most audacious celebrities. I should’ve expected it honestly, I packed the night before I left. I forgot almost all necessities. I only brought one pair of socks, the ones that I was wearing. This meant that the next day I had to go into the city and buy all the things any responsible person would have brought with them on a three month trip.

Luckily for me, there is a small store located just down the street from the student accommodations. They have a little bit of everything a person needs. The store is called Linda’s Marketplace, and it’s owned by a Vietnamese family. Students quickly took to calling it “the Vietnamese store.” I’ve found myself in the store two or three times a day now. I go so often the store owner lets a massive grin grow over his face every time he sees me. Many times a week he asks me to switch places with him; I’ll work in the store, and he’ll play me in class. Sadly, I decline every time. He came to Prague thirty years ago to study himself, while the city was still under Soviet control. I wish I could allow him to relive the youth he longs for. I’d give him youth if I could, but we’re stuck in the roles we’ve chosen.

I’ve done many things I never thought I’d do in my life during the short time I’ve been in Prague. I’ve walked along the majestic Charles Bridge at night, marveling at the statues that adorn the cobblestoned walkway. I’ve captained a pedal boat down the Vltava River (the main waterway that cuts through Prague), while drinking the famous Czech beer. This city and the people I’ve met here have torn me from a place of comfort I’ve been cultivating for years. I’ve shared a table with old and wise German men at Oktoberfest. I’ve met people from France, Germany, India, The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine; anywhere I can imagine, and many place I never have before.

Study abroad for the stories you can tell one day. Study abroad for the people you’ll meet, and the lives you’ll change. Don’t go abroad for the grand moments. Don’t go abroad for the prospect of partying like you can’t in the states. Go for the small moments. Those are the ones you’ll remember. Study abroad for the shop owner who makes you smile every day, and the roommates who make you laugh. Study abroad for yourself and the memories you can take home with you. Explore the world, it’s smaller than it’s ever been.

Phi Theta Kappa and Honors program offer pumpkin carving

October 24, 2016

jopumpkin1 — Student Jo Holland smiles with her pumpkin she decorated at Monday's carving. Photo by Kim Harms, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Sports editor

kharms3@jccc.edu

The college’s Honors program and Phi Theta Kappa hosted a pumpkin carving event this afternoon in preparation for Student Senate’s Trick-or-Treat for Kids. The Trick-or-Treat will provide games, food and the pumpkins that were carved today.

Jo Holland, a student involved with setting up the pumpkin carving event, discussed how the Honors program and Phi Theta Kappa received the pumpkins.

“This is our very first [pumpkin carving] and hopefully we will be doing it again next year,” Holland said. “KC Pumpkin Patch in Olathe donated all of the pumpkins for our event.”

Every carved pumpkin will be used for either decoration or donation. Holland summarized the three different ways the pumpkins will be used.

“We’re allowing students to take their carved pumpkins home if they want to,” Holland said. “Some of them will be used as decoration for Student Senate’s Trick-or-Treat. We’ve donated the guts from the pumpkins to sustainability so they can turn it into compost.”

With Halloween approaching next week, Holland offered up her advice for carving a pumpkin.

“I think you need to make a personal relationship with your pumpkin. Let it tell you what it wants to be. Don’t be afraid to give it a scary mouth,” Holland said.

William Soriano, student, described in detail the pumpkin he had just finished carving.

“My pumpkin’s name is Jack, but not how you normally spell Jack,” Soriano said. “It’s with an ‘at’ sign in place of the ‘a’ because he wanted to be hip even though he’s a pumpkin. He’s my little brother’s best friend so I have to be nice to him.”

Soriano’s pumpkin had a gruesome appearance at one point, featuring pumpkin guts and seed spilling out its carved mouth. Soriano explained the unique detail.

“His arteries are clogged because of his cholesterol, I think,” Soriano said. “I’m a pumpkin doctor by the way so I’m trying to bring him back to health.”

Student Senate’s Trick-or-Treat for Kids will take place Friday, Oct. 28th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in COM 318 and 322. Free food and games will be provided.

Black Student Union recognized by college

October 21, 2016

bsuedit1 — Members of the new Black Student Union at the college met with KU's BSU sponsor Leticia Gradington. Photo courtesy of the BSU.

Bryan Ponce

Special to the Ledger

At the beginning of the semester a group of students emerged with a goal of breaking common racial stereotypes, bringing people together and starting a conversation. On Oct. 10 the college officially recognized the new Black Student Union (BSU).

The BSU is a place where people of any ethnicity and background can come together explained student Marc Holmes.

“It’s a unique place that allows students to share personal stories about growing up and what it’s like to be a different ethnicity without feeling judged or made fun of,” Holmes said.

Jesse Black, BSU Vice President, thinks one of the most important aspects of the BSU is education.

“I think more than anything it’s education, not only for yourself, but for other people,” Black said. “Even black people talking to other people about black problems, about stuff they faced and knowing you’re not alone.”

Black discussed what life has been like for him growing up mixed and some of the issues he’s faced.

“I thought I was the only kid in high school who had identity problems so it turns out that everyone at the table also did and I thought it was a mixed thing, but it wasn’t,” Black said.

Arriq Singleton, BSU President, does not take all the credit for starting the BSU. According to Singleton the idea came when he and student Jalen Greene were doing homework. Greene casually mentioned the idea of starting a BSU on campus and the idea came together the more they talked.

“Jalen was adamant about mobilizing and moving on with the idea and really bringing it to existence,” Singleton said.

Singleton talked about some of the difficulties with recruitment. He said in the beginning it was all word of mouth and that it was hard going up to strangers and talking to them about the BSU.

“I had to change the way I thought about it because the whole point of BSU is so that we wouldn’t be strangers to each other,” Singleton said.

Student Jacob Casselman described his experience attending the the BSU as a positive one.

“I think what was most interesting about the group is something that I don’t see in a lot of clubs [which] is that everyone who is there really wants to be there. When the meeting concludes people want to stick around,” Casselman said.

Since the beginning of the semester the BSU has been met with a positivity by many students at their weekly meetings. Singleton has made an impact not only on the students but on professors as well. Cathy Schrag, an adjunct speech professor, helps advise the BSU along with English professor Danny Alexander and international education coordinator Farrel Jenab.

“I think Arriq Singleton is just amazing and I think his energy and his passion towards just black history and the struggle of African Americans is contagious,” Schrag said.

Schrag said one thing she has been learning more about of in the BSU is acknowledging the black struggle.

“There is an ignorance for people within the United States about what the struggle is truly like. The struggle is real and you can’t just dismiss it,” Schrag said.

According to Schrag, Singleton presents these issues in such a way that everyone can feel welcome and encouraged to give their opinion.

“He’s an incredible spokesperson and representative of the Black Student Union and really I think he’s giving black students a voice and giving them a safe space to really share their struggles and their experiences to really feel validated,” Schrag said.

The BSU currently meets every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the COM building’s Down Under area. Students interested in joining can contact any current member.

-Helen Hernandez contributed to this report

College hosts Campus Safety Town Hall

October 20, 2016

town_hall_edit1 — The college hosted a campus safety town hall on October 19, 2016. Members of the KOPS Advisory Committee spoke to students, faculty members and others concerned with the new law regarding concealed carry on campus. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

The Campus Safety Town Hall meeting took place Wednesday afternoon to discuss future plans for the updated Concealed Carry law that will go into effect next year.

The KOPS Advisory Committee explained the updated law to college students and how the law will affect them. Janelle Vogler, Executive Director for Audit and Advisory Services, summarized the meeting.

“[This meeting was] a chance to give students an update on what the college is doing in regards to the Concealed Carry law,” Vogler said.

The Concealed Carry law allows anyone to carry a gun in public places as long as they have a Concealed Carry license. Higher education institutions in Kansas are exempted from this law, however, this exemption will expire on July 1, 2017.

This year Fort Hays University prepared a survey for the college about the law. Out of 2,178 responses, 52 percent wanting the law to be amended so that guns are never allowed on campus, 13 percent wanted the exemption deadline to be extended and 35 percent wanted the law to be amended so that guns will be always be allowed on campus.

Out of 1,866 responses from the same survey, 69.56 percent said they felt very safe on campus during daylight hours, 6.81 percent were neutral and 1.39 percent said they felt very unsafe. This brought up the topic of how students would feel about their safety on campus after this law goes into effect.

Alisa Pacer, Emergency Preparedness Manager, explained how the college will abide by the law as well as continue to maintain a safe environment on campus.

“[The college’s] policy will include the restrictions within the law. Concealed Carry is only for those who are 21 years old,” Pacer said. “You can go on our webpage and read about [the law]. I feel really good about the different ways we have for reporting [crimes].”

“Westworld” lassos in viewers with themes of morality

October 19, 2016

160819-westworld-s1-blast-07-1280 — Image courtesy of HBO

Carina Smith

Features editor

csmit367@jccc.edu

Imagine an amusement park where you can live like a cowboy in the middle of the Wild West. You get to shoot a gun, ride horses, capture bandits and no one cares if you kill the man next to you. Why? Because they’re a creepily lifelike robot whose sole purpose is to help you live out your wildest fantasies.

“Westworld,” which started its first season on HBO at the beginning of the month, is a show that explores this very idea. The robots, which are referred to as hosts, were invented to look just like real people to make the theme park seem like the guests have travelled back in time to the days when cowboys ruled the streets and the saloons. While guests are at the park they are allowed to do whatever and be whoever they want to be without any consequences. The park was purely designed for guests to leave ethics at the door and live a lawless life.

Running an amusement park with machines that can easily break and ruin the entire experience is no easy task, so “Westworld” also shows what goes on behind the scenes of the park, where the engineers and designers work to make the hosts even more humanlike and get rid of any possible viruses that may arise in their programming.

The biggest draw to “Westworld” isn’t the beautiful scenery or the elaborate backstories of the hosts but instead the ideas that it delves into about what normal, everyday people are able to do when they are given a world where their actions don’t have consequences. It’s easy for audiences to forget that a host isn’t a real person when they have just been shot and are bleeding out while guests are laugh at their pain. The hosts are programmed with heart-wrenchingly real emotion — they cry, laugh, scream and hurt just like real people.

The guests don’t see how hurting the hosts is like hurting a real human; they see the park as their time to kill the hosts and pillage towns and do what they can’t do in society because it goes against regular human morals. “Westworld” leaves viewers with some complicated questions after each scene: If you were told you had no rules, how far would you be willing to go? What are you capable of? Who could you hurt?

However, a show where everything runs according to plan is no fun. While guests are having fun running rampant throughout the park, the engineers are trying to figure out how to not allow the artificial intelligent hosts run out of control. While the show is still in its early stages, it’s opening up questions about what happens when you give too much power to a machine and too much power to a human and what will be left in the aftermath.

“Westworld” is the sci-fi show that can appeal to everyone. It has romance between hosts and guests, mystery, realistic technology, corruption and a possible host revolution in the making. Despite the fact that there’s only been three episodes so far, “Westworld” holds much promise in the following months as it answers questions to thoughts we didn’t even realize we had about ourselves and our dependency on technology. “Westworld” is only beginning to reveal its secrets.
Tune in at 8 p.m. on Sundays on HBO.

Letter to the Editor: Clinton not fit for presidency

October 19, 2016

Of the candidates for president, Hillary Clinton is the worst choice due to her lack of judgement, compassion, experience and her character.

Since Hillary stepped on the public stage 30 years ago in Arkansas she has been awash in scandal and controversy. According to former campaign manager Dick Morris, Hillary’s aloof and disrespectful attitude for the regular people cost Bill Clinton a second term as governor in 1980. Since then, every move, every word, her hair, her clothes and even when she laughs have all been carefully choreographed by focus groups.

Candidate Hillary says that she is a champion of women and children. As a lawyer Hillary destroyed a 12 year old rape victim on the witness stand. That child, Kathy Shelton, ended up in a coma, required serious medical treatment and will never be able to have children. Hillary cast the young girl as a crazed, lying, sexual predator for older men. Roy Reed interviewed Hillary in the 1980s and she laughed about how she knew her client was guilty. This echoes with how Monica was cast as a crazed, lying stalker obsessed with Bill Clinton, Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey were given the same treatment. Hillary is no friend of women or children who get in the way of her quest for power.

Since leaving the White House, the Clinton’s have amassed a fortune of over $100 million and have control of over $2 billion. They have produced nothing. She says she cares about student debt but demanded UMKC pay her $375,000 for an appearance. Canadian businessman Frank Giustra donated $140 million to the Clintons and received lucrative mining rights in Columbia and Kazakhstan through the State Department. Giustra also acted as the middleman in a deal approved by Secretary of State Clinton to sell 20% of U.S. uranium reserves to Russia. In Haiti, only 6% of the money collected went to the people of Haiti.

In foreign policy, Hillary failed to secure the Status of Forced agreement in Iraq which lead to the formation of ISIS. She failed to heed the warnings about overthrowing Khadaffi in Libya. It has since become another ISIS stronghold. She failed to deter Putin in the Crimea. During the attack on the consulate in Benghazi she failed to act and allowed four Americans to die at the hands of terrorists and then she lied to the grieving families. Later she accused the mothers and fathers of acting crazy and lying her conduct.

Recent WikiLeaks emails (that have not been denied) demonstrate that Hillary has contempt for “average” Americans, religious Americans (especially Catholics) and she shows intent to change how we think of constitutional freedoms enshrined in the first, second and fifth amendments.

–Calvin Oyler, JCCC student

Sexual assault reported on campus

October 18, 2016

policesign1 — A man reported that he was sexually assaulted in a third floor men's restroom in the Carlsen Center on Tuesday afternoon. He walked into the Campus Police office on the building's first floor after it happened. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Update (4:37 p.m.): Officer Dan Robles says that Campus Police searched for the suspect for two hours after the incident was reported and are still investigating. The victim is a student at the college and reported it after it took place; no information on their condition is available.

Update (2:36 p.m.): Campus Police say the suspect was between 18 and 25 years old. Their investigation is ongoing.

–

A text message was sent out to students and faculty at 1:04 p.m. alerting them of a sexual assault that was reported at 12:15 p.m. in a Carlsen Center’s third floor men’s restroom. The assault was carried out by a suspect described as a white male, approximately 5′ 7″ to 5′ 8″ wearing a green baseball cap.

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact Campus Police at (913) 466-2500.

Updates will be posted on this page as they come in.

Correcting modern myths about tornadoes

October 18, 2016

jay_antle_lecture_edit-1 — Professor Jay Antle, pictured, graduated with a PhD in environmental history from the University of Kansas. He is the executive director for the Center for Sustainability at JCCC. “I’ve always had a fascination for weather, particularly supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes,” Antle said. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Rebekah Lodos

Special to the Ledger

Severe weather is a part of life in the Midwest. Tornado watches, warnings and basement lockdowns are familiar to most of the region’s residents. However, modern myths shape most people’s understanding of tornadoes.

Jay Antle, Executive Director of the college’s Center for Sustainability, is an avid storm chaser with a fascination with tornadoes that dates back to his years as a student. His office is filled with his photographs of gathering storms and grey columns of wind. He gave a talk at the Hudson Auditorium on September 28 titled Tornadoes,Topography and Tall Tales.

“Tornadoes are bizarre,” Antle said. “They are a violent phenomenon, they do terrible devastation, but they are also, in their way, starkly beautiful and in some ways alien.”

Antle addressed the common myths that people hold onto in his lecture, like the idea that opening the windows of a house will keep it safer. Although tornadoes do cause air pressure to go down, it is not enough to make a house explode. Antle also talked about the fact that topography doesn’t mean someone is more or less likely to be safe, despite what people tend to say. Antle pointed out the fact that geography doesn’t necessarily mean some people will never see a tornado since every state in the USA has been hit by a tornado.

Laci Adams, a college alumna and Iraq veteran, feels strongly about educating Midwesterners in tornado safety. A storm chaser in her free time, Adams was present at the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado that caused 158 fatalities. She described the destruction as worse than anything she saw in Iraq.

“In the Midwest when the sirens go off, people don’t pay attention to them,” Adams said. “They would rather go outside, with their phones, video tape it. And that’s exactly what I saw… not realizing that this tornado is right there in front of them.”

Both Antle and Adams emphasized that people should not take shelter under overpasses or try to outrun a tornado. If someone is in the car, Adams advises to look at where the tornado is going. If someone can’t see it moving, that means it’s coming towards them. In this scenario, the safest thing to do is buckle up and put your head down.

Adams advises to keep a safety kit in a place that is easily accessible in a time of need, like a basement. Adams also suggests keeping canned foods, water, medicine, whistles and a bicycle helmet in the safety kit. The bicycle helmet is best for children, who can be fatally injured from head trauma in a storm.

Spreading education halfway across the world

October 14, 2016

pakistani-partnership-program_1 — The Pakistani partnership program brings Imran Kahn and Sheri Barrett together to learn about how Johnson County Community College works. The Pakistani professors hope to learn about the practices used here to help better their own community colleges back home. Photo by Torrie Cross, The Campus Ledger.

Carina Smith

Features editor

csmit367@jccc.edu

Higher education can come in many different forms, one of them being community colleges. Many countries however, don’t offer community college educations or the ones they do have are incredibly small and don’t have much room for students to grow. That’s why this semester there are five professors visiting from Pakistan and one professor at UMKC as part of the mentoring program to develop different departments at their own college.

Pakistan is just now starting to build up some of their community colleges, but since the colleges are still in their infancy it can be a struggle to figure out how to grow certain departments. The Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (Sukkur IBA) was in need of a sister community college to help grow their school so the organization Community Colleges for International Development reached out to JCCC to help Sukkur IBA. The college has since been helping Sukkur IBA with any issues they had as they built the community college in Pakistan. Then came the idea to create a grant project that would allow professors from Sukkur IBA to come to JCCC for a semester and learn hands-on in different departments.

“Education is a big tool for peace-building in Pakistan,” Jannette Jasperson, Coordinator of International Education, said. “We are indirectly trying to contribute to that, to helping build peace in Pakistan. And for ourselves, there’s so much rhetoric right now in our national election about immigrants and people from other cultures and other religions and we too need to be confronted with human faces and not stereotypes.”

The visiting professors are getting hands-on experience with their mentors in each department. The professors visit other colleges as well and go to lectures that focus on their department, learn from the professors at the college and work directly with students to get a better idea of how community colleges in America work. For visiting professor Surhan Fatima, working as a tutor has been one of the best experiences she’s had while on campus.

“Since I am a teacher, the shift from an all-powerful and authoritative teacher to a facilitating and helpful tutor was an exciting experience,” Fatima said. “I love tutoring. Seeing a student do his work with a little help, leading and motivation is one of the best feelings one can have. I am thrilled to meet different students every day with different things to work on.”

While they are here, the professors have been keeping themselves busy by enjoying Royals games, local cuisine and conferences that focus on their specialities in their career fields. The professors will also be speaking at the Peacebuilding conference at the college on November 5 and travelling to Washington D.C. to attend a national peacebuilding conference. The professors want to show how education has made a difference for them and how it can bring peace to Pakistan when they go back.

“We had some perceptions about American culture and people, and those are gone,” visiting professor Dr. Zarqa Bano said. “We have seen them from a different perspective from being here and that is a positive thing.”

The thing that has taken everyone involved in the program by surprise is the ability to connect to the others, no matter their culture. The visiting professors and their mentors have been able to connect on the similarities in their country, their way of educating and who they are as people. The one-on-one work has created stronger bonds and a better understanding of each other.

“Everyone comes into these situations with ideas about the people they’re going to meet or about the countries,” director of the assessment center, Dr. Sherri Barrett said. “And really countries don’t represent anything. Countries are made of individuals and so getting to spend one-on-one time with an individual and learn about their country, along with the academic side to all of this, has been probably one of the best experiences.”

The following Pakistani professors are learning about each department and how they operate with their mentors at the college:

Imran Khan in the Assessment Center with Dr. Sheri Barrett
Surhan Fatima in the Writing Center with Dr. Kathryn Byrne
Dr. Zarqa Bano in the Math Resource Center with Brett Cooper
Dr. Fida Chang in the Distance Learning with Ed Lovitt
Ishfaque Abbasi in the English Department with Dr. Keith Geekie
Shairoz at UMKC in the Early Childhood Education Department

Staff Editorial: Informed voting vital in 2016 election

October 14, 2016

After over a year of campaigning, the 2016 presidential race is finally coming to an end. Driving through the streets you can still see the remnants of the messy primary season — the occasional Bernie Sanders bumper sticker, a forgotten lawn sign from a long gone candidate. All are reminders of what the country as a whole has been through since the first campaigns were announced early last year as well as what is yet to come.

This highly controversial and inescapable election has left voters with a bad taste in their mouths. Many people are considering casting their vote for a third party candidate or not even casting their vote at all. For many of us, this is the first election we’re able to vote in. Although we aren’t being provided with ideal choices, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to wait another four years to utilize one of the principle foundations of American democracy.

When you make the choice on November 8 to not go to your designated polling place, you’re not only making the decision to not cast your vote for president, but also for local and state lawmakers. These officials make the legislation that immediately affects us and are often forgotten about. Many people often vote for whoever is within their own political party without doing any prior research on the candidate’s policies and voting records. If you’re considering voting for one of the third party candidates, be aware of what you’re doing and what the consequences that it holds.

Do your research. Don’t step into the polling booth and blindly choose your local candidates. These are things that will not only affect us for the next four years, but have the potential to affect us long term depending on who is elected president. Don’t take your right to political representation for granted.

When President Obama said, “Don’t boo, vote,” at the Democratic National Convention he was telling the truth. If you were extremely outspoken about politics during the primary process and at the start of the general election races and consciously make the decision not to vote, you’re contradicting your previous efforts.

Regardless of if you vote or not, if you vote third party or if you choose between one of the two major candidates, on election day either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is going to be declared the next president. Don’t miss out on your chance to make your decision, because you might end up regretting it when you’re watching the results pour in on the news.

College hosts intergenerational Model U.N. session

October 13, 2016

un_edit1_katie_mazos — Wednesday's Model U.N. session took place in the new CoLab center in GEB. Eighty participants took part in the session. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Rebekah Lodos

Special to the Ledger

The college hosted an intergenerational Model United Nations session on Wednesday evening in the CoLab. The session focused on discussing global reproductive rights and health.

The college’s Model U.N. club partnered with the CoLab and the United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City to host a simulation of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. Eighty students and community members participated in the evening’s session.

This was the first intergenerational Model U.N. organized by the college. Dr. Brian Wright, Professor of Political Science and advisor to the club, said the event served to train students for future events and to help the community understand what the United Nations does from a global perspective.

“Everything is international today,” Wright said. “You can’t be provincial. Understanding the international means understanding inter-relations between countries and the U.N. provides that platform.”

Each attendee acted as a delegate for a U.N. member nation. Participants caucused and voted on amendments to a resolution paper on the topics of Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health. The delegates interacted and negotiated with one another to reach agreements on the issues.

The United States is one of the principal members of the United Nations, and one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Nicki-Joy Karstens said, president of the Model U.N. club said that as an American, being informed about global issues can have significant global impact.

“We’re such a large country with such a large influence on the world,” Karstens said.

Willem F. van Klinken, president of the United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City, represented his home country of the Netherlands at the simulation. He actively promotes international education and involvement in the metro Kansas City area.

“Kansas City is a very international community, there are a lot of people who are immigrants here,” van Klinken said. “They bring their cultures, their belief systems and understanding that is very important. The U.S. impacts other nations [and] in their welfare resides our welfare. What happens somewhere else, sooner or later will impact what happens here. We cannot be blind to what happens … in other countries.”

Reproductive rights can be a sensitive subject to discuss, especially across age groups, but van Klinken stressed the value of learning new perspectives on the issue.

“We need to understand … where people come from, instead of just accusing them of archaic thoughts,” van Klinken said.

Carly Ridnor, a high school student from Summit Technology Academy who participated in the session, said she learned a lot about the state of reproductive rights in her adopted country.

“It’s fun to be interacting with different opinions,” Ridnor said. “The country that I [represented] was Gabon and they were open to family planning and everything, but they had problems with rape and it wasn’t being prosecuted as much as it should’ve been. So, that made me understand how lucky we are in America to have our judicial system.”

Jared Pemberton was also a visitor from the community. He expressed his desire to move past right-and-wrong thinking to gain new perspectives on the issue.

“We need to be awakened by looking at other countries and other viewpoints,” Pemberton said.

The event ended with six amendments being passed.

For more information about how to get involved with the college’s international communities, visit the Clubs and Organizations web page.

College welcomes new CAO to campus

October 13, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

It was announced over the summer that Dr. L. Michael McCloud would be the new Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer at the college, filling the position left by Andy Anderson after his retirement in June 2016.

McCloud began his career in education as a teacher at North Kansas City High School before moving to Park Hill High School. McCloud then made his way into higher education at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley as a professor. In his final five years at MCC, McCloud worked as an assistant dean and then main dean of instruction.

McCloud has since earned his master’s degree from Baker University and his Ph.D. from UMKC, but his own college experience started with Iowa State University. McCloud looks back upon his times at ISU fondly.

“I really enjoyed the professors [and] being connected to other people on campus,” McCloud said. “I had an opportunity to really kind of branch out and change the way I viewed my life because you got to see a lot of new and different people and live among them. It was a great time for me.”

One of McCloud’s specialties in his studies was medieval history. His choice to study the subject stemmed from his longtime interest in science-fiction and fantasy. McCloud’s fascination with knighthood led to studying the church and other related subjects.

“Really throughout the years, what real knighthood was [and] what that looked liked continued to be more and more interesting to me so as I evolved specialties in mythology through religious studies and the church, the idea of what a knight was [and] how we perceive them versus what the real history was continued to interested me and it slowly morphed into a specialty.”

McCloud said his main goals in his time as an administrator here will be building a sense of stability, building trust and helping make the college’s academics the best they can be. McCloud noted however that he believes the college is lacking one firm direction.

“I think community colleges often try to be everything to everyone and I think that is in some ways a failing because you never really polish up the things you do best and academics is one of the things that Johnson County is known for. I want to make sure that we put a fine point on that and that we become a beacon for academics in the Midwest.”

Panelists to discuss photojournalism careers

October 12, 2016

cuimuaawaaa0nhd — A photo taken by Susan McSpadden, college photographer, who will be participating in Thursday's People in the Media Panel.

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

On Thursday the college will be hosting its annual People in the Media Panel. Four professional photojournalists will be discussing their experience in the field. The event is sponsored by the Journalism and Media Communications Department.

Every fall for at least two decades, People in the Media has been a regular event at the college for professionals to showcase their work. The event consists of journalists and media personalities explaining their careers as well as holding an audience question and answer segment.

The group of four photojournalists presenting this year will consist of Brian Davidson, David Eulitt, Reed Hoffmann and Susan McSpadden.

Professor of Journalism and Media Communications Mark Raduziner is one of the coordinators for the event.

“Like journalism, photojournalism is storytelling in visual form,” Raduziner said. “Photography is more general, photojournalism is really more journalism in pictures and video.”

This year’s panel will be the first to consist entirely of photojournalists. Raduziner discussed several of the professions of previous panelists at the event.

“We’ve never done photojournalism before,” Raduziner said. “Last year we did radio disc jockeys … Every year the topic is different, the guests are different too … We try to cover various aspects of the mass media and introduce people to professionals in the journalism and mass media field.”

One of the photojournalists who will be speaking at the event is college photographer Susan McSpadden, who started her career at age 18.

“There are a lot of great things going on here at all times,” McSpadden said. “I cover assignments in all four corners of the college and everywhere in between from events to classroom activities to sports action. My images get used on the website, in program brochures, social media, marketing materials and even on the side of The Jo bus.”

In addition to working at the college, McSpadden was a photographer and photo editor for the Kansas City Star for almost nine years.

“We are visual people by nature,” McSpadden said. “A good photo has the power to draw the reader in first and get them interested in the story.”

The panel is free to attend and will take place on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 11:00 a.m. in the Craig Community Auditorium (GEB 233).

Staff Editorial: It’s time to talk about sexual assault

October 12, 2016

On September 14, a female student was allegedly held in a bathroom at Shawnee Mission East High School and sexually assaulted by a 15 year-old boy. Later that day, the same boy allegedly assaulted another girl at the school. The previous year he allegedly exposed himself to a girl while they were students at Indian Hills Middle School. This boy has shown that he is quite possibly a threat to the girls that he is around, yet some people still defend his actions.

The boy’s attorney, Lindsey Erickson, released a statement asking for the community to hold any judgements against the boy and the situation, claiming that social media has exaggerated the truth. However, maybe it’s time we start talking about sexual assault – as a school, as a community and as a nation. Whether we like it or not, sexual assault is happening around us and it’s not slowing down. Now is the best time for us to talk about it.

There is plenty of stigma that follows sexual assault, with people saying hurtful things like that victims should have protected themselves or even placing blame on victims for “inviting” their attackers to harm them. These are harmful ways of thinking that blame the victims for their attacker’s actions. Making excuses for those convicted of assault takes away the blame and makes us not see them as they are — predators.

Many of us don’t want to admit that these things are happening in our communities, but the more we ignore them, the bigger a problem they will become. Yes, it’s easier to hand these cases over to police and send someone out to talk to media outlets and smooth things over, but pretending they don’t exist isn’t doing anyone any good. We need to open up a discussion to help victims find their voice, to let bystanders know what’s wrong and to bring justice to the attackers.

Title IX was created to protect students from discrimination, sexual violence and sexual assault. Title IX is an important part of student safety and is a topic that needs to be talked about with the same seriousness. In September, the college held a trivia game called ThinkFast that they used to meet a part of their Title IX requirements. Many questions during the game had to do with pop culture and other portions of the event were filled with laughter and dance breaks. The game didn’t show the severity of the cases that Title IX covers, including those like the Shawnee Mission East attacks and what the school has to do legally to protect victims of sexual assault.

After the Shawnee Mission East allegations came out, students in the Shawnee Mission School District showed their support to the victims by wearing black. They didn’t hide what happened in their district – they opened the floor for the discussions about what happened and what they could do to stop these attacks from happening. They gave a platform for people to voice their opinions on the issue and to get rid of the harmful ideas many people hold on the topic.

It’s hard to think about these things happening to people in our communities, but the harsh truth is that they do. They happen in high schools, colleges, at home, in public and everywhere else. Unless we start the conversations that are needed to start making a difference nothing will change, abusers will run free and justice won’t be served.

Campus Ledger election survey results

October 11, 2016

coverphoto1 — Illustration by Brent Burford, The Campus Ledger.

Staff Reports

Campus Ledger employees polled face-to-face classes on students’ interest in voting and the upcoming presidential election in late September 2016.

A total of 106 surveys were returned, with a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

Sixty-six respondents (62 percent) of the 106 surveyed indicated that they were registered to vote, while 40 respondents (38 percent) indicated they were unregistered. Of those 40 students, roughly half (19 respondents, or 48 percent) indicated that they plan to register before the deadline of Oct. 18.

Out of the 85 students who responded that they either are currently registered to vote or plan to register, 78 (93 percent) indicated that they plan to vote in the Nov. 8 general election, while six (7 percent) indicated that they do not plan to vote on Nov. 8.

Of those 20 students who indicated they will not register to vote or vote in the election, three (15 percent) said politics does not interest them, 10 (50 percent) do not support any of the candidates for president, while six students (30 percent) indicated that they were either an international student or under the age of 18, rendering them ineligible to vote.

Of the students who responded that they are registered or will register, 33 (or 39 percent) indicated that they would vote for Hillary Clinton (D) on Nov. 8. Of those same students, 13 (or 15 percent) indicated that they would vote for Donald Trump (R). Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received stated support from eight respondents (9 percent), while 27 students (32 percent) indicated they were still undecided about which candidate they would vote for in the general election.

Finally, students were asked about the issues that matter the most to them during this election year; those surveyed were allowed to choose multiple answers from the list given to them. The issue of economic stability received a majority of votes, with 61 respondents (58 percent) indicating it was an important issue to them. The issue of education came in second, with 55 respondents (52 percent) indicating its importance to them.

On a wider scale, according to a 2016 survey of JCCC voters conducted by the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, of 20,018 students enrolled at the college in 2012, there were 11,375 students (or 59 percent) registered to vote. Of those who were registered to vote, 7,830 students (or 69 percent) voted in the 2012 presidential election. These numbers were slightly higher than at other peer institutions in that same year.

The deadline to register to vote in this year’s general election is Oct. 18. Voter registration forms are available at the Student Welcome Desk on the first floor of the Student Center, or visit the Johnson County Election Office’s website at www.jocoelection.org for more information about registration and polling places.

Nursing program inks partnership with KU

October 11, 2016

nursing_story_edit1 — Karen LaMartina, Director of Nursing at the college, speaks with The Campus Ledger about the new partnership with KU. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

The college’s nursing program has created a partnership with the University of Kansas Nursing School to offer a Bachelor’s of Science and Nursing degree. The partnership officially launched at the beginning of the fall semester.

Karen LaMartina is the Director of Nursing at the college. She explained how the partnership started, the process in setting up the partnership and what is involved in the partnership.

“[The nursing program] started working with KU probably about four years ago on this whole idea of partnering with them to have an option for students that are wanting to be in our nursing program, to be concurrently enrolled in the upper-level baccalaureate coursework at KU for the BSN,” LaMartina said. “[The partnership] is just an optional track, they don’t have to do it that way. It’s gonna work great for some students and some students it won’t. It’s very rigorous, it’s about 18 hours a semester so it’s a lot of coursework.”

Nelda Godfrey is the Associate Dean for the School of Nursing at KU Medical Center. She explained the partnership from the KU’s viewpoint as well as the benefit of the partnership for incoming nursing students.

“We are just thrilled to be able to work with our community college partners,” Godfrey said. “We’re very pleased to partner with [the college.] We do this so that those students are better able to market themselves. They will be able to graduate from [the college] since they would have already completed their bachelor’s degree.”

The only applicant that qualified for the partnership this semester was Shelli Kramer. This is her first semester as a nursing student. She spoke about when she decided to become a nurse, how she heard about the partnership and what the program has been like so far.

“I’ve always been interested in nursing ever since I was a kid. I grew up with numerous different health issues and I wanted to be the one who helped people feel better so that has always been a passion of mine,” Kramer said. “I was really interested with [the college] being such a wonderful school that it is. When the opportunity came up [to be a part of the partnership], I’m like, ‘Yeah!,’ I can stay here and do all of my classes and get my bachelor’s degree when I’m done. I can study at a great facility with great faculty. The other thing that drew me to [the partnership] was the fact that it would save me a year of school.”

Kramer also mentioned why she recommends applying for the partnership and what made the partnership beneficial.

“Most hospitals now are wanting you to have a BA before they hire you,” Kramer said. “I think it provides greater job opportunities. It would allow the student to choose if they go on to get a BA or even a master’s degree. For me, it’s one less year of school and more time to actually spend with my family. I think it’s actually a little bit less expensive, it’s also less expensive than going for a four year degree so there’s that to consider as well. If you have the ability to manage your time and you’ve got the drive, then you will be successful in the program.”

Students can find out more on the college’s nursing program and their partnership with KU on the college’s website. Those interested in admission requirements for the Nursing School at KU Medical Center can visit their website.

Student art exhibition opens in Crossroads gallery

October 10, 2016

artexhibition1 — Alex Anderson contributed "Shroud Piece" to Friday evening's exhibition at Wallace Engineering. Anderson also currently has his sculpture "Five Mast Viewing Device" installed on campus. Photo by Aaron Rhodes, The Campus Ledger.

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

The college’s Department of Fine Arts and Photography held an exhibition opening Friday evening at the Gallery at Wallace Engineering in Kansas City’s Crossroads district. Work from numerous students in several different media is currently on display.

Mark Cowardin, Professor and Chair of the Fine Arts and Photography Department, explained that a college employee’s spouse works at Wallace Engineering and gave the college the opportunity to take part in their monthly display.

“We tried to get a representation of every area in the Fine Arts and Photography Department,” Cowardin said. “Sculpture, painting, metals and silversmithing, ceramics and photography. Digital imaging for artists as well.”

Friday’s exhibition was the first Crossroads exhibition of exclusively JCCC art since Cowardin began working at the college. Cowardin said he hopes to make it a yearly event.

“As a teacher, for me, it’s really important to connect what we do in the classroom to what happens in the real world,” Cowardin said. “So, for students to be able to make their work and then connect it to a real venue where people can actually get out and see [it], that’s important. It’s great for students to show up and take pride in what they’ve done.”

Alex Anderson, student artist, has his work “Shroud Piece” on display at the Wallace Engineering exhibition. The painting is made up of plaster, rope, singed burlap, myrrh, acrylic and palm ash wax on canvas. Anderson said “Shroud Piece” had previously been displayed at the college, in the Mind’s Eye literary magazine and at SeedCo Studios in Lawrence, Kan.

“It’s just been well-received. People seem to like it,” Anderson said. “I’ve got other canvases, but this one keeps coming up.”

Student artist Wendie Collins contributed three bronze animal statues to the exhibition. Her work is titled “Race To Extinction” and was created with the intention of discussing the treatment of animals. Collins was impressed with the exhibition and was excited about her fellow students creating high-caliber work for display.

“I think it’s great that they’re giving students an opportunity to show their work and it’s just really nice to see these budding young people and what they can do,” Collins said.

The exhibition is on display at Wallace Engineering (1741 McGee St., Kansas City, Mo.) through Nov. 2. Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Photo Gallery: Elvis Costello at Yardley Hall

October 10, 2016

costello_concert_edit-6 — Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

English musician and Grammy Award winner Elvis Costello performed to a large crowd inside of Yardley Hall at the Carlsen Center on Friday evening. Hailed as one of the greatest artists of his generation, Costello and his backing band The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

The concert was opened by Larkin Poe, an American roots rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band is fronted by sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, who have also backed other well-known musicians such as Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes and Kristian Bush of Sugarland.

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Pipeline Protests at Standing Rock continue

October 7, 2016

sacred-stone-camp-marlene-tsosie-bad-warrior — Sacred Stone Camp, located in Canon Ball, North Dakota, is the site of an ongoing protest held by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe along with their supporters, both Native and non-Native against Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Photo by Marlene Tsosie Bad Warrior.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe along with their supporters, both Native and non-Native, have been camping near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers for nearly two months in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

If built, this pipeline would carry nearly half a million gallons of oil a day from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, underneath the Missouri river at Lake Oahe and down to a refinery in Patoka, Illinois. For the Standing Rock tribe, it would run less than half a mile from their reservation – putting cultural sites, the quality of their water and certain sensitive environmental areas in danger.

Director of the Center for American Indian Studies Sean Daley said that although the land is not technically on a reservation, it’s still land that Native people have rights to and the government has obligations to.

Before the company behind the DAPL, Energy Transfers Partners, began work on the pipeline, the Army Corps of Engineers failed to address environmental and cultural concerns with the tribal leaders.This failure violated the National Historical Preservation Act (NHPA), the Clean Water Act and various other statutes. The Standing Rock Tribe filed a request for a preliminary injunction against the company asking to momentarily halt construction of the pipeline while an analysis of cultural and environmental impacts takes place. As a result of this lawsuit, the government has asked all construction within 20 miles of Lake Oahe to be stopped and no further permits to be issued while the current ones are reviewed.

“This is more concerning in the sense of what does this mean for the country as a whole than simple Native or non-Native issues,” Daley said. “That means that if they’re going to do it there, they’re going to do it on another reservation.”

Those who support the pipeline believe that its construction will create jobs and positively impact the economy. The pipeline would also be bringing more domestically acquired energy, helping the country move away from using foreign imported oil.

“For the Lakota and other Indian nations that have had this happen near their land, this is about power, this is about fighting back against yet another attempt to if not directly affect their land, to potentially impact their land in the future with a spill or whatever the case may be,” said Executive Director of the Center for Sustainability, Jay Antle. “It’s kind of a larger resistance to what they see as a desecration of the earth, which one can argue that climate change is doing.”

For those interested in contributing to the Standing Rock tribes and the protestors currently on the front lines, the Center for American Indian Studies is available as a connection. The center has already sent up first aid supplies to those in need. With winter rapidly approaching, they will be in need of cold weather supplies such as firewood and large tents.

There are a variety of ways to stay informed on this issue. By following the tribes that are located here in Kansas, one can receive updates on the current situation in Standing Rock.

“The best thing you can do to help right now is stand for them, get the word out and get the word out properly,” Daley said. “Don’t buy into the political agendas and the misinformation being fed out there. Use your critical thought skills, see what’s out there and be informed.”

Cross Country trip canceled due to hurricane

October 6, 2016

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

The impending landfall of Hurricane Matthew has led to the cancellation of the Disney Cross Country Classic meet at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida this Saturday. The college was set to send its men’s and women’s cross country teams to the meet.

Head coach Mike Bloemker said when it comes to a meet this big, a cancellation has never happened before.

“I feel bad for the athletes,” said Bloemker. “They’re disappointed. When we recruit people we tell them [the list of meets] we’re going to go to and we say we get to go to Disney World and it’s a big deal…We really look forward to it.”

The meet occurs annually for 20 college teams along with high school, middle school and elementary school teams from across the United States. The races were set to take place over the weekend, each one named after a Disney character. When the teams were done competing, they would have been free to enjoy the park.

The trip is an expensive one, meaning the college’s cross country team had to host fundraisers to attend. News of the cancellation was delivered to them on Oct. 5 due to Hurricane Matthew. The meet will not be rescheduled. Even though refunds were given to every team who had signed up, it didn’t rid the team of their disappointment.

The college’s cross country team fortunately found an alternate meet to participate instead. The team will be at the Haskell Invitational in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday, Oct. 8.

Strengths Week activities continue through Friday

October 6, 2016

strengthsedit4 — Students that attended Advice with a Slice received advice from professionals on how to find personal strengths. Everyone was welcome to free slices of pizza as well as entering for door prizes such as t-shirts and gift cards to restaurants. Photo by Katie Mazos, The Campus Ledger.

Strengths Week began Wednesday with a discussion panel along with a workshop to help students find out what their strengths are and how to use those strengths in their future careers. Strengths Week ends Friday with an ice cream social and a buy one, get one free special at Chipotle.

Crystal Stokes is one of the coordinators for Strengths Week. She went into detail about the events that take place during Strengths Week.

“It’s a week to bring awareness to the strengths assessment,” Stokes said. “The strengths assessment. Strengths assessment is a tool to helps students identify what their top strengths are or their top five talents. That was just to give students some ideas, some statistics about strengths.”

Stokes also described the Advice with a Slice panel discussion that took place in the Collaboration Center Wednesday afternoon.

“[At] the panel discussion we had employers, professors at the college,” Stokes said. “We also had students on there and one alum and all of them were giving their perspective on the difference of taking strengths and how it has changed their lives.”

Student Niko Horton is double-majoring in music education and acoustical engineering. He is currently undecided on what career path he wants to go on and he explained on how Strengths Week could benefit him.

“I’m going to a strengths workshop tomorrow,” Horton said. “[I’m hoping to learn] how to use my people skills, music skills and ability to connect with people in everyday life.”

Student Marilyn Jungo is a Graphic Design major and just like Horton, she didn’t know what career path within her major to take. She talked about how one of the strengths workshops could help her with graphic design.

“It would help a lot [with graphic design,]” Jungo said. “[If I attend a workshop] I wouldn’t have to be struggling with illustrating and design.”

Unlike Horton and Jungo, student Alyssa Bruce has chosen both her major and her career. Bruce is majoring in elementary education and wants to be a teacher, however, she still said she would attend a strengths workshop.

“If it helps my future, I would go, just to get some insight,” Bruce said. “It could help me communicate with the parents of my students.”

The final strengths workshop takes place Thursday, Oct. 6th at 1 p.m in the Career Development Career. The ice cream social is at noon on Friday, Oct. 7th in the commons. The buy one, get one free deal will take place at the Chipotle located at 9900 College Blvd. from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Students and employees must show their I.D. in order to receive the discount.

Photo Gallery: Japan Festival returns to the college

October 3, 2016

japan_fest_edit10 — Large crowds gathered outside between the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the Carlsen Center to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

The Greater Kansas City Japan Festival returned to the college on Saturday. The annual event — presented by the Heart Of America – Japan America Society — included music and dance performances, vendors and other cultural demonstrations. The festival was first held in 1997 at UMKC before later moving to JCCC.

-Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report

In the college’s central square, martial arts instructors held a workshop for those interested in honing their self-defense skills. This instructor safely demonstrated how to disarm an attacker. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

American born, half-Japanese hip-hop artist Scott Sk Miller performs inside of Yardley Hall at the Carlsen Center. According to his website, “Hip-hop has always been a passion and driving force for Scott to create new ideas and try to bridge the gap between cultures believing that music is universally understood and enjoyed.” Much of his work is written utilizing a fusion of Japanese and English. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

The Energy Dance Group performs a variation of a hip-hop dance outside of the Carlsen Center. Many of the members are students at the college and are performing collectively at the Japan Festival for the first time. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Inside of a vending room on the second floor of the Carlsen Center, large quantities of Ramune are sold. A popular soft drink, its origins date back to the 19th century in the city of Kobe, Japan. Ramune is widely known for the distinctive design of its bottle, often called Codd-neck bottles after the inventor, Hiram Codd. Alongside of the Ramune, there are various Japanese treats available for purchase. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

An example of candy art; a mouse takes formation after the artist sculpts its features using a wooden stick and scissors. After the sculpting process is complete, the mouse is hand painted, dried, and given to a viewer. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

In CC Room 234, the Heart of America Japan-American Society was located inside of an improvised bazaar. People browsed a selection of traditional handmade goods and other items. All throughout the second floor of the Carlsen Center there were various rooms similar to this where other provisions were being sold. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Center for Sustainability ends Harvest Days with treats

September 30, 2016

center_for_sustainability_event_edit1 — Kelly Smith, a Sustainability Intern at the college, helps Student Engagement Ambassador Mark Ruskikh make a banana smoothie with a “blender bike.” The contraption only requires the use of a human to power the blades within the blender, making it 100 percent electricity free. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

The Center for Sustainability held their annual Harvest Party in the COM Plaza on Thursday. This event is part of a week long event called Harvest Days that the center holds once a semester.

Harvest Days is held during the last week of September in an effort to start a conversation about sustainability on campus and to encourage students to learn more about the Student Sustainability Committee and the Student Environmental Alliance.

“We’re trying to get our name known on campus so people can actually come to our events and want to join our clubs,” Sustainability intern Kelly Smith said. “Not everybody is going to want to completely change their environment, but if we could at least start with our campus that would be a big step.”

The week of activities began with a trip to the campus farm to harvest produce to be used later in the week. On Tuesday the group held a showing of the film “Last Call at the Oasis” which discusses the earth’s relationship with water, followed by a panel with the Sierra Club. The produce harvested by students on Monday was served during the Harvest Lunch on Wednesday. The week ended with the Harvest Party.

The activities during the Harvest Party included making s’mores using a solar cooker and peach cobbler smoothies made by students riding a stationary bike with a blender attached. Since many of the things the groups do aren’t always seen around campus, the goal was to demonstrate the types of things the organizations take part in and to encourage student interaction.

“They’re kind of flamboyant displays of how cool environmental awareness and the things that you can do with what’s around you are,” Sustainability intern Elizabeth Cloud said. “It’s all man and environment-powered snacks.”

Student engages visitors with anti-Clinton sign

September 29, 2016

protest_hillary_edit1 — Blake McNinch, a student at the college, held a one-man demonstration against the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the Commons Plaza. He feels as though Clinton should be arrested and put in prison for a long list of offenses he offered. Photo by Andrew Hartnett, The Campus Ledger.

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Several passersby were accosted by a student on campus Thursday morning holding a sign that read “LOCK HER UP!” in reference to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The student stood in the courtyard in between classes engaging with other students on the subject of the upcoming election.

Blake McNinch, student, was holding the sign. He explained that it was in reference to the crimes that many allege that Clinton has committed throughout her career.

“A lot of people in my generation don’t know the full history of Hillary Clinton, but it goes way back,” McNinch said. “Most recently, the scandal that blows Watergate out of the water is Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information on that server. That’s already got some people killed. Look up the Iranian scientist.”

McNinch also cited several other claims about Clinton including her alleged White House thefts, the death of Vince Foster and her work at the Rose Law Firm among other reasons to oppose her. McNinch said he believes it’s important that he protest on campus due to bias towards Clinton in the media.

“Someone’s got to do it. It’s a grassroots movement. We saw it with Bernie Sanders and we’re seeing it with Trump now,” McNinch said. “Americans are taking this country back … It’s efforts like this, people just doing what they can, talking to who they can … There’s no official Trump table set up on campus. It’s a student out of their own initiative.”

McNinch said several police officers approached him while he was outside speaking to a student this morning. McNinch said the officers informed him that they had received complaints about him and that he was possibly creating a hostile environment. McNinch said they gave him the option to speak with a dean about the issue and took him to his office, but the dean was unavailable at the time.

“[The police] were really on top of it, they handled everything very respectfully. I was really respectful of them,” McNinch said.

Jordan Seiger, student, interacted with McNinch during his time standing in the courtyard Thursday.

“I saw him being escorted by a bunch of officers and I was actually interested in what his sign said,” Seiger said. “Being kind of neutral within the situation of political affiliation, I wanted to know more of what he had to say.”

Campus Police declined to comment on their involvement.

Andrew Hartnett contributed to this report

College hosts annual Healthcare Simulation Conference

September 27, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

The ninth annual Healthcare Simulation Conference concluded Friday evening in the Regnier Center. The two day conference brought educators from several different parts of the field to learn and teach about health care simulation.

All eight speakers at this year’s conference were directors, officers and physicians at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center and MSR (Israel Center for Medical Simulation). Tim Laughlin, who helped out with the event, explained what the conference was and the benefit to those who attended.

“The focus of this conference was debriefing and assessment. We primarily had educators from different health care environments such as nursing, paramedics and simulation. The main benefit would be to improve their overall simulation education and networking,” Laughlin said.

Friday’s activities started out in a main group during the morning and then broke off into two smaller groups in the afternoon. One group learned about debriefing and the other group learned about assessment.

Kathy Carver is a part of the planning committee for the conference and described how simulation is used in the health care programs at the college.

“[MSR] has been able to use simulation for testing. We use simulation in learning at the college. We can do [simulation] in a safe environment and we can talk about what is going on right at that moment,” Carver said.

Carver also explained how simulation learning benefits students who are in the health care programs at the college and why the college hosts the conference.

“Our practitioners are able to deal with the stresses of health care not just on student level, but on the professional level as well. We want them to be well prepared when they’re out looking for jobs. The purpose of [the conference] is train all educators in the health care field,” said Carver.

Health care educators and physicians who are wanting to attend next year’s conference can learn more on the college’s website.

Jazz Series enters 28th year with performance from vibraphone trio

September 27, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

The first of this semester’s Jazz Recital Series performances took place Tuesday afternoon. The Peter Schlamb Vibraphone Trio played a 50 minute set in the Carlsen Center Recital Hall. The performance included several original compositions as well as two jazz standards.

Doreen Maronde used to work at the college as the Assistant Dean of Arts and Humanities. Maronde is currently volunteering her time to work on the Ruel Joyce and Jazz Recital Series, which are both entering their 28th year. Maronde talked about the inception of those two series.

“When I started out 28 years ago, we did what we call the Ruel Joyce Series and it was mostly classical and I bookended the 10 concerts with jazz,” Maronde said. “That was when we built the Carlsen Center. The guy who was in charge of scheduling stuff said, ‘What are we going to do in the Recital Hall?’ and I had worked with musicians here locally before and I said, ‘I know. Let’s have a recital series.’”

Maronde also discussed her connection with the Kansas City jazz scene.

“I know these guys. I’m out all the the time listening to them wherever they’re playing. We have some of the finest musicians in this town of any town, frankly, and they play here for us for free,” Maronde said.

Vibraphonist and band leader Peter Schlamb was joined by DeAndre Manning on bass and Ryan Lee on drums. Schlamb has been performing in the area for several years and discussed some of his musical background.

“I starting playing piano when I was four and then I started playing the vibraphone when I was 10, so I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. I do a lot of different freelancing with jazz, so I do my own groups as well as playing in other people’s’ bands. Typically it’s like a small jazz combo, between three and six people.”

Phil Franklin, Science Professor, has enjoyed stopping in during his lunch breaks over the last 10 years to enjoy the short performances.

“I’m a fan of jazz music in general, so I just like to come out and check out the different groups Doreen has booked for the series,” Franklin said. “She does a wonderful job; a lot of variety and a lot of interesting combinations of people.”

Both the Ruel Joyce classical series and the Jazz Series continue through early November. A complete schedule is available on the college’s website.

Meet the employees behind the plexiglass

September 27, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is home to over a thousand works from international, national and local artists. Students, faculty and visitors stroll through the building and take in the galleries and exhibitions, often unaware of the rigorous efforts that took place to get that art installed.

Exhibition preparator Art Miller is one of the Museum’s unsung heros. Miller has worked for the college in different capacities for over 20 years and is responsible for an extensive list of duties as preparator. Miller talked about how his job is different than that of preparators at other museums.

“There would be a lot of similarities. The one thing that’s unique being here on the college is that we have a campuswide art program in addition to the museum. Most preparators often would just work within the building, within the museum that they work, but we also have art across campus.

Many factors play into how and where art is installed around campus. Pieces from the college’s permanent collection are spread out around campus and are placed in focus areas according to their genre and medium.

“We generally install in sections and we’ll determine what often new acquisitions we think will work well together. Once we’ve determined the pieces that go there I first have to come up with a layout to determine how they’re going to relate to each other and that has a lot to do with available space and a sequence of which goes which to next and then I have to figure out how they’re displayed.”

Miller puts in many of his hours planning out the physical elements of how the pieces should be displayed, from the pedestals they sit on to the cases they’re housed in.

“With three-dimensional pieces that means designing pedestals. That has a lot to do with how big the pedestals should be, how high they should be, how much space a case should have. So first the pedestals … have to be designed, then [they] have to be fabricated and installed. Once that’s done we have to design the plexi-cases … Then we go through the process of installing the art into the pedestals and then the signage and the labels that go up for each piece of art … We also uniquely light everything across the campus which involves installing track light in the ceiling and every work of art will get its own lighting.”

Bruce Hartman has been the Executive Director of the Nerman Museum since its opening in 2007. Hartman believes that having art displayed around campus is an important trait of the college and benefits its students and professors.

“We really wanted to set it up so that faculty or visitors here could go to a destination point,” said Hartman. “So that if you were teaching a ceramics class, you could take your class in its entirety to the Carlsen Center and you could teach for a couple of hours just in that building looking at original contemporary ceramics. That’s true with the painting collection if you went to the dining hall.”

Wherever students roam on campus, they can rest assured that the team at the Nerman Museum has put time and care into the display of the college’s diverse art collection. Museum hours and more information about our college’s collection is available on the Nerman’s website.

College hosts trivia game to teach about sexual misconduct

September 23, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Students gathered in the main gym at noon on Thursday for an interactive trivia game called Thinkfast. The event was sponsored by the Division of Student Life and the Athletics Department to educate students about sexual misconduct in an exciting fashion.

The event was produced by TjohnE Productions, a company based in Grand Rapids, Mich., that provides “live, interactive and awareness programming” for schools around the country on themes ranging from Disney to alcohol awareness.

Carl Heinrich, Director of Athletics, discussed different aspects of the event, including how it was set up and the department’s shift from working with a non-profit for the same type of training.

“It’s an educational event on sexual harassment fulfilling some of the requirements we have to have for Title IX and Keith [Davenport] came up with the idea of this particular group and I thought it was a good idea,” Heinrich said. “We do student orientations with all our athletes at the beginning of the year and we have several different things that we do in an orientation. In the past we’ve worked with MOCSA (the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault) and several organizations, and we just gave it a little different twist this year.”

Heinrich said he believes the event seemed to be a success.

“This is the first time that we’ve done that … It’s evidently successful. This group that put it on is very busy. They’re going to Salt Lake City, Utah next and then they go to Louisiana, so I would think that the message is … a lot of people think it’s very successful.”

Cyrus Muema is on the men’s cross country team at the college and came to see Thinkfast. Muema said that when he walked into the gym people in attendance were screaming and someone was dancing.

“They asked mostly about rape and stuff like that, which I think is important for younger people to understand. Other than that, just a whole bunch of trivia questions like mountains and ranges and stuff like that,” he said.

Muema said he believes the event could be useful in teaching students about the subjects that were covered.

“Once you get everybody involved in a way where it’s fun and competitive, people learn and they apply it. Once they leave they find a way to apply it.”

Student Brandon Parnes won the game’s prize of $200. Parnes said he thought that while the event’s delivery could have been better, the idea of conveying information in this manner was appealing.

“It was a mix of trivia, education and it was like [a] game show,” Parnes said. “Mostly it was pop culture trivia and then facts about sexual harassment were sprinkled throughout … I think the concept of being able to be infotainment, if you will, is a great concept.”

Keith Davenport, Student Activities Manager, was unavailable for comment.

Criminal Justice Day offers perspectives on careers in law enforcement

September 21, 2016

Will Baldwin

Sports Editor

wbaldwi3@jccc.edu

Officers from several agencies in Johnson County and the surrounding area were on campus Wednesday morning for Criminal Justice Day. Officers set up booths outside at the COM plaza and shared the pros and cons of careers in law enforcement.

Jennifer Carlson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department participated in Criminal Justice Day and discussed some of the things that she enjoys about her career.

“You will meet so many people from so many different backgrounds and it will keep you on your toes,” said Officer Jennifer Carlson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department. “Your level of weird gets higher with the more years of law enforcement that you have.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) caught the attention of student Izabella Borowiak-Miller. Borowiak-Miller, who works with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, said she is still trying to figure out her path, but thought the DEA would be interesting based on what she has learned so far on the job.

“The DEA would be really fun,” said Borowiak-Miller. “They mostly stop drugs of 250 pounds or more. It would be really fun to go out and find those people.”

In law enforcement, there are plenty of opportunities for excitement, especially on patrol, but that is only one part of the job. Another part of the job is reporting. Being able to write and communicate effectively in great detail is a vital part of law enforcement.

“A big portion of our job involves writing reports,” said Matt Buelt of the Overland Park Police Department. “They don’t show that stuff on Cops, but at the end of the night and throughout the shift we are writing reports and some of those can be four of five pages long. Most of the officers that excel and move up or move to different departments are the ones that can write really well.”

Due to the shootings that have occurred at the hands of police officers in recent months, some citizens have spoken out about their lack of trust for law enforcement. Nick Shurmanite of the Shawnee Police Department wants people to know that they can put their trust in his department.

“We are not a bad agency,” said Shurmanite. “Some people are under the impression that we go out and shoot people for no reason and that’s not what happens. We are just trying to get out there and engage with our public and our citizens and say, ‘Hey, we are here for you guys.’”

International students adapt to new culture

September 21, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Nearly every student feels some beginning of the semester jitters. Being nervous about new professors, new people and for some a whole new school. The process of becoming an international student is one that many people go through to receive an education in the United States.

“The challenge actually starts before they even go through the application process,” said Director of International and Immigrant Student Services Kim Steinmetz. “They have to demonstrate their english language ability, that they have financial support and that they are able to come to the U.S. They can’t even get the document to get the permission to come until we see all those.”

These students cannot enter the country until 30 days before the start of the semester. This gives them less than a month to adjust to living abroad. Since the college is not a residential college, students must face the challenge of finding a place to stay along with the transition of moving to a new place. For many, this can induce a state called culture shock that causes those subjected to a new way of life to become disoriented.

“I think that’s part of the education process,” Steinmetz said. “To learn and not always succeed. It’s okay to have culture shock, it’s okay to have adjustment issues, it’s okay to not feel like yourself when you live abroad but I also hope that they can reach out to other students, both domestic and international, and make those connections.”

The school provides a variety of resources to international students who seek them out. These include the Conversation Partners program and the Homestay program. The Conversation Partners program gives them a partner to practice their English with. The Homestay program allows students with an F-1 visa to stay in an American home, providing them with a place to stay and a way to become accustomed to the new culture.

“It’s not like a room for rent type program,” said Steinmetz. “It’s more of a meaningful cultural exchange I think when you talk about successful cross cultural engagement there’s no better place than in the home, because that’s where you spend most of your time.”

Another way for international and domestic students alike to become involved is the International Club. The club holds different events such as food nights and movie outings to help its members get to know each other and the different cultures they share.

“We have our international education office that’s currently the host for the International Club,” said Coordinator of Immigrant Student Regulatory Advising and Support Services Patricia Donaldson. “That can be an opportunity for them to use as a resource and to find friends from the same countries, from other countries. To practice their language, to practice English.”

There are different ways for non-international students to help out international students. Inside of the classroom simply starting a conversation with them. Ask questions rather than making assumptions about where they are from.

“Make them engage in a conversation,” said Donaldson. “Most of them are shy at the beginning and it’s not because they’re really shy. It could just be that they cannot communicate well.”

The high number of international students at the college is part of what makes the school diverse. Domestic students that are willing to have open minds and welcome those who are here from another country can make all the difference to a person who is choosing to study in America.

Student Senate president shares his vision for the college

September 19, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

With the August sun beating down onto the track, Student Senate President Donny Whitton throws a frisbee to his classmate while waiting for the rest of the Senate members to arrive at the Fit with Senate activity, which was held to encourage students to interact with the members of the Student Senate.

After serving in the military, Whitton made the decision to go back to school. He chose to attend JCCC to get his Liberal Arts degree and Associates of General Studies before attending UMKC to receive a physics degree and electrical and computer engineering degree. Whitton, who is originally from Kansas City, Kansas attended North Kansas City high school. During his time in the Army, he served as a combat engineer and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician.

Now in his third year at JCCC, Whitton has been involved in a variety of activities during his time here. He served as last year’s president of the Veterans Club, a Peer Advisers for Veterans Education (PAVE) team leader, and a member of the Active Minds club. He is also an employee at the Veterans Services office. In his free time he enjoys reading books as well as being active and doing physical activities such as lifting weights, rock climbing, playing basketball and wrestling.

“With my experience in the military and the other clubs and organizations I’ve learned a lot of different leadership techniques and team building techniques.” Whitton said. “As active as I’ve been on campus I know where to go to ask people to do certain things and the resources needed to solve the problems that we have on campus.”

During his time as Student Senate President, Whitton hopes to make changes to textbooks and help students solve their financial aid issues, along with getting a nap room put on campus. One of his biggest goals is to increase school spirit on campus and at sporting events.

“I really hope to build a lot of school spirit this year.” Whitton said. “Last year we had a lot of great sports teams and if you went to watch the girls basketball team or the boys basketball team the gym would be not very full. Garnering support for our sports teams and I hope that builds momentum for school spirit.”

Whitton encourages all students to becoming involved in Student Senate. Even if a student doesn’t have the time to become a member, the meetings and subcommittees are open to those who are interested.

“I encourage people to participate because you’re giving back to the school and you’re setting up a legacy for those who are going to come after you by helping to make this school a better place,” said Whitton. “You’re promoting self interest for whatever group or activity you’re a part of. We can’t accurately represent your demographic if you don’t bring us your voice.”

Visiting artist Scott Anderson presents at Nerman Museum

September 16, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

The first Third Thursday of the year kicked off at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art this week with a presentation in the Hudson Auditorium from guest artist Scott Anderson. Anderson’s collection entitled “Supper Club” has been on display in the Nerman Museum’s Kansas Focus Gallery since June 23.

Anderson moved to Olathe from Illinois at age 11 and spent 13 years of his life living in the Kansas City area. He received his bachelor’s of fine arts degree from KSU and his master’s of fine arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2015 he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture as a resident artist and is currently working at the University of New Mexico as an associate professor.

“Supper Club” was inspired by the paradox between the “homespun and wholesome” feeling of supper from his childhood and the rowdy supper clubs popular in the 1940s.

During his presentation, Anderson discussed the variety of steps that he goes through before he begins a piece. The preparation includes referencing photos and other paintings before making graphite sketches and collages. Anderson uses his work as shorthand for larger ideas and gathers inspiration from Matisse, old shopping malls and medieval manuscript paintings among other things.

“One of the things I tend to make paintings about is the social architecture of food and what that means in terms of hanging out…” said Anderson. “That seems to be the constant in my art.”

One painting discussed that is currently on display is called “Oligarchy at Olive Garden”. It was created while Anderson was watching the news about the Iowa Caucuses. Inspired by the current state of American politics, he imagined where the “oligarchy” would eat their dinners and discuss their plans.

“It’s always kind of nice to talk about the things that put the work in context and the different things that influences you and things that aren’t necessarily so obvious in the work itself,” said Anderson. “I can build a story around everything.”

The Third Thursday events allow for students and visitors to interact with artists and glimpse into their creative process. The next Third Thursday will be on Oct. 20 and will feature Andy Brayman and Lin Stanionis.

“Supper Club” will be on display until Sept. 25

Carlsen Center, OCB and other areas see renovations

September 16, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Over the course of the summer a variety of renovation projects took place throughout the campus. Many of them are minor, such as the directional signs around campus and the replacement of the skylight in the Carlsen Center. Bigger additions to campus include a new collaboration space for students called the CoLab, the refurbishing of Yardley Hall and the refurbishing of the Polsky Theatre.

Located on the first floor of the OCB, the CoLab will allow for students and faculty to come together and work. This space will include features such as a recording studio, a gaming and animation studio and a motion capture studio. Modular and reconfigurable tables and chairs will allow students to arrange the area to a suitable work environment. Connectivity is available almost everywhere in the CoLab, allowing students to use their technology while engaging and working with one another. Other features include conference rooms, Eno Boards, and monitors for students to project their work onto.

“When we say collaborate we mean experiential learning opportunities,” said Director of the Collaboration Center Christy McWard. “That will be either students collaborating together on special projects they want to do or students and faculty collaborating together, and we have students faculty and industry collaborating together. Different businesses and community organizations all coming together to work on different projects that students can get a bit of extra workplace experience with.”

The purpose of the CoLab is to provide another opportunity for students to become engaged not only in academics but also socially. It will also serve as a venue for events such as panels and movie showings along with its functions as a space for learning.

“The entire space is open to students for coming together in different groups.” McWard said. “It’s not a lounge, it’s not a place for students to come eat or study alone. It’s really meant as a place for people to be together and come together and work.”

Yardley Hall and the Polsky Theater received a facelift as a way to end their 25th anniversary celebration which took place last year. Workers recovered seats in Yardley Hall and both spaces received new carpeting. Renovations included the addition of handrails in the inner aisles of seats to make the theaters more accessible to those with disabilities.

“They look much more contemporary,” said General Manager of the Performing Arts department Emily Behrmann. “What we wanted to try to do was maintain the comfort and warmth of our spaces because most of our patrons like how things are here, they feel comfortable here and they enjoy themselves.”

Backstage, the green room and dressing rooms were remodeled to suit more modern day uses. Installed in the green rooms are new appliances in place of the ones that were smaller and outdated, along with an additional closet for performers to use. The six dressing rooms received a fresh coat of paint, new carpeting and new tile in the bathroom areas.

“When we have artists in this space that’s where they eat their meals and are provided coffee and water and whatever they’ve requested,” said Behrmann. “So we try and make it as professional and nice looking as possible. This will really facilitate and allow us to kind of serve meals buffet style.”

Along with these major projects, there was general maintenance done on the west Carlsen Center parking garage and solar panels installed on the roof of the Hospitality and Culinary Academy to promote the use of green energy on campus. The CoLab will be open to students by the beginning of October and the scheduled completion date for the renovations to the Carlsen Center is Sept. 15.

InFocus: Class allows students to create the sounds of the future

September 16, 2016

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

When it comes to music, the ways people listen or record it has greatly expanded over the years. In the 21st century, the most common form of music is digital. Not only does the college offer a course on the subject; it houses its own recording studio.

Digital music uses a lot more technology than other forms that use acoustic instruments. Professor Thomas Ransom has been working in recording studios since the 1970s. Ransom says digital music is different from other forms due its recording and storage process.

“By definition, digital music would be described as a method of representing sound as numerical values, namely, ones and zeros,” said Ransom. “If you are 25 or younger, digital may be the only way you have ever listened to music. One iPhone, iPod or USB stick can store an individual’s entire music library. To those of older generations, this means you no longer have to carry around libraries of CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl records to enjoy your favorite music.”

Professor Victor Olvera teaches a class called Introduction to Digital Audio, which increases a student’s skills in editing, recording and composition. The class has been offered for the past 15 years.

“Students practice using ProTools digital audio software, combined with a digital audio interface to record, edit and play back music,” Olvera said. “Students learn basic concepts of sound and common audio effects, including reverb, delay and compression. In the class, students create audio recordings of their music.”

One of those students is Adriana Williamson, who has been playing the guitar and writing music for quite some time. She took the class to learn how to record her own songs.

“The department offers students a music scholarship, which I obtained by Dr. Olvera’s recommendation,” Williamson said. “The program fosters a great environment for learning and creativity. The classes are fun if you’re interested in music.”

Digital music itself has progressed over the years, to the point where some can’t tell the difference between digital and acoustic instruments. However, not everyone approves of the method.

“Some born before the digital revolution dislike the quality of sound that digital technology produces,” said Ransom. “The vast majority of music consumers and even many audio professionals either disagree or simply don’t care about the differences. At the end of the day, convenience and cost seems to be what truly matters.”

In mid-September, the recording studio will be transferred to the CoLab, which will contain state of the art technology and an improved facility. The room will be bigger so other genres such as rock, pop, jazz and others can be recorded more easily.

“Because of the affordability and superb quality of modern day digital technology, there has never been a better time to pursue and increase your knowledge and skill in the recording arts,” said Ransom.

Bus riders express concerns with inconsistent procedures

September 16, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

College students are offered several transit options to help them arrive to their classes in a safe and timely manner. However, with every bus system comes a few flaws. Some buses arrive late, some arrive early and some may arrive to the wrong location. Several students expressed their concerns after riding the Johnson County bus system and offered that stops at the college suggestions to help improve it.

Student Ellie Rieber rides the bus from 95th and Antioch. She described the issue she faced riding the bus for the first time.

“It was a little confusing at first because there was a bus stop on the same side of the street as the post office,” said Rieber. “There was a girl waiting there so I assumed that I was supposed to wait there too. I asked her if she was coming to [the college] and she said no you’re supposed to wait on the other side of the street at the completely identical bus stop. So, I think maybe putting a stop listing at the bus stops would be pretty convenient and helpful to people.”

Student Avery Rouser explained his situation when he rode the bus for the first time and how the times listed on the website were incorrect.

“The first day I decided to take the bus, I looked on the website and it said that my bus … would leave at 7:30, so I got there at 7:25. I waited until 7:30 and the bus had not arrived yet so I called and [the bus service] told me that the buses actually leave at 7:20 and 7:50. I had to wait there for another 20 minutes. Other than that, the bus service is pretty nice. A lot of the time, the bus is actually pretty early. I would have them update their bus schedule times and make sure that [the buses] don’t leave before that time is up,” said Rouser.

Student Karyn Brown has had an overall positive experience riding the buses. Brown described her experience adjusting to riding the bus on a regular basis and suggested a way to make the process easier.

“I haven’t really had any issues with the bus times. There’s a routine involved with riding the bus regularly. It can be hard keeping up with scheduling and making sure that you’re [at your bus stop] on time. Especially if you have a job like I do and making sure that you get home in time to go to work. I’d like for there to be more times available in the middle of the day other than just 12:18 midday. It can be inconvenient having to sit and wait an hour for the midday bus so I can get home in the afternoon,” said Brown.

In addition to bus times and stop locations, some students had issues with figuring out which buses were assigned to a certain location and then memorizing those schedules. Student Briana Hollowell expressed the struggles she has faced while riding the buses.

“If I get out of a class early then I have to really ration my time to either stay in the building and study or come outside and wait because the bus comes around I would say 3:00 maybe. There is not an extra bus that goes to the KU Edwards bus stop that will take you there earlier …. The other issues are just how complicated the bus schedules are, especially if you have the KU Edwards bus stop in the morning,” said Hollowell.

Returning bus riders are having issues as well. Student Serigne Seck compared how his experience riding the buses this year has changed from last year.

“It used to be very good. The bus used to come on time for the previous three semesters I’ve [taken the buses],” said Seck. “Since the beginning of this semester, they have never been on time. It’s usually late. The first day of class it was 36 minutes late so I missed my first class of the semester. I usually take [the bus] from 19th and Haskell, and it was supposed to leave at 9:50. I was on my way to the bus stop and the bus left at 9:47, so I missed the bus. I gave them a call and the dispatcher talked to the bus driver and the driver said he left on time … I’m sure [the bus service] is trying to fix that. It’s not something they’re doing on purpose. I just hope it gets better.”

Any students who have noticed incorrect times listed on their bus stop’s website or think their bus has left at the wrong time can report the issue to the Johnson County Transit. Their phone numbers can be found on their website: www.jocogov.org/dept/transit/home

Staff Editorial: Welcome back! It’s time to focus on success

September 15, 2016

The Campus Ledger editorial board would like to formally welcome you to the Fall 2016 semester. As parents and teachers have likely been telling you for much longer than you care to remember, you must apply yourself to be successful and there is no place that exemplifies that statement more than college. Johnson County Community College offers plenty of resources to help you apply yourself, as well as additional opportunities to apply yourself in new settings.

One of the most important contacts you can have at the college is a counselor. The counselors are there to help you pick the best classes for your area of study and future goals with academic advice. They can also help you with any of the emotional issues that college students often face. Students can email or call any counselor to set up appointments through the contact information provided on the college’s website. Walk-in visits are also available and work well for quick questions.

After your path has been laid out with the help of a counselor and your classes are in full swing, the college’s resource centers may just save your life. Spread across the main buildings on campus are the Math Resource Center, Writing Center, Science Resource Center, and Language Resource Center. All of these facilities are free and open every day of the week to students enrolled in related classes. The facilities include tutors, equipment and books related to their respective subjects available for either walk-ins or appointments.

Once you’ve made best pals with a counselor and have gotten in the rhythm of all of your coursework, you can decide whether or not you’d like to participate in a club or organization on campus. A sprawling list is available on the college’s website that includes basic summaries of the each of the dozens of organizations along with contact information for those who are interested. Whether the organization you’re interested in functions to help you network, have fun or provide a supportive community, joining a group on campus can only improve your overall experience at the college.

Other than utilizing the resources provided to you by the college, the most important thing to do here is communicate. That may mean raising your hand in class, teaming up with classmates to study or emailing your professor about why you’re absent — ahead of time. In nearly every aspect of life during and after your enrollment in community college, communication is a key component for success.

From the Ledger, we wish you a successful and exceptional semester.

Cav teams gear up for fall sports

September 15, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Men’s Soccer

Although their first two games have resulted in a loss, the Cavaliers men’s soccer team hopes to come back and work their way into the national tournament.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said head coach Fatai Ayoade. “Hopefully there’s a big light at the end of the tunnel.”

The team has been picked to win the East Jayhawk conference, which they took fifth place in last year.

They have upcoming games in Illinois before they travel to Arkansas City, KS to play Cowley College. The next home game will be on Saturday, Sept. 24 against Allen Community College.

Volleyball

Starting off the 2016 season 3-1, the Cavaliers volleyball team is hoping to continue their already successful year.

Player Bree Schmidt was selected as the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) D-II Volleyball Player of the Week for the first week of the season.

With the goal of reaching the national tournament, the team also hopes to maintain high academic standards.

“Last year we had a high fall GPA of 3.76 that I would like to achieve again this fall and continue to grow as a team both on and off the court,” said head coach Jennifer Ei.

The team has upcoming games in Cedar Rapids, Iowa before they head to Coffeyville on Wednesday, Sept. 14 to play Coffeyville Community College.

Women’s Soccer

After finishing second in their conference last year, the women’s soccer team hopes to continue towards their goal of going to nationals under head coach Jim Schwab. The team recently went 1-1 on their trip to Florida and played Kansas City Community College on Sept. 6.

They have upcoming games in Illinois. Their next home game will be on Sept. 24 and will be against Allen Community College.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team has high hopes as they head into the 2016 fall season. On Sept. 3 they participated in the Maple Leaf Invitational which was hosted by Baker University.

Compared to last year’s team which consisted of predominately freshmen, this years team is far more diverse.

“We’ve just got to see how these next few weeks go,” said head coach Mike Bloemker. “We structured our schedule this year because we think we could make a pretty good run at regionals or nationals.”

The JCCC Cavalier Cup will be held on campus on Sept. 9.

Men’s Cross Country

The men’s cross country team competed in the 5K Maple Leaf Invitation on Sept. 3.

Like the women, the men’s team shares the goal of moving on to regionals and on up to nationals. In preparation for these high stakes meets, the teams will be competing in larger meets. Some of the upcoming meets include the Woody Greeno/Dirksen Invitational which will be hosted by the University of Nebraska on Sept. 17 and the Disney Cross Country Classic that will take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the beginning of October.

“We’ve got a really nice mix of people,” said head coach Katherine Bloemker. “Everyone is here because they want to be here. They want to run fast and they all get along really well which makes it even easier.

They will compete in the JCCC Cavalier Cup on Sept. 9.

Paramedics-in-training tour emergency helicopter

September 15, 2016

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

A paramedic has to be ready for a wide array of emergencies while on the job. On Wednesday, with the help of Med-Act and LifeFlight, the college provided paramedics in training a chance to tour and learn about a Life Flight Eagle helicopter.

Med-Act is an emergency organization that provides all cities in Johnson County with pre-hospital treatments and emergency transportation to the nearest hospital when someone is injured or seriously ill. LifeFlight Eagle delivers transportation for the same situations by helicopter.

In order to teach medical students about the procedures of LifeFlight, as well as the basics of the emergency helicopter, one of the helicopters landed in a field near the Regnier Center shortly after 3:30 p.m. to give students a look inside.

Emergency Medical Science Professor Steve Wnek explained the helicopter comes once each year to teach students about the helicopter and the procedures in place when working with it.

“The paramedics are in their final stage of training,” said Wnek. “There [are] going to be occasions where they’ll be calling helicopters into a scene for patient transport. They need to be familiar with what the helicopter’s capabilities are.”

Student and paramedic intern Mike Legrotte appreciates the experience the LifeFlight pilots provided for his class.

“It’s nice to get eyes on [the helicopter],” said Legrotte. “The school is really good at giving a hands on experience. It helps to see it firsthand rather than having to experience it in the field.”

Megan Heckey is both a student and an intern at Med-Act.

“I think it’s really cool that they were able to bring the helicopter and show us the basics and how the helicopter can be integrated with ground ambulance crews for optimal patient care,” said Heckey.

Organization teaches girls the language of coding

September 15, 2016

Carina Smith

Reporting Correspondent

csmit367@jccc.edu

A sense of pride and accomplishment washed over Angie Sunderland, Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems, back in 2015 when she got the news that the national Girls Who Code organization would now be offered at the college after she worked so hard to bring it here. Before this, only one other club existed in the entire Kansas City metropolitan area.

Now, all of Sunderland’s hard work has finally been paying off. Girls Who Code started being offered at the college during the 2015-2016 academic year. Girls from grades 6-12 are able to join the club and learn from instructors on how to code using programs like Python and Java, all in the hopes of completing Girls Who Code’s mission of teaching one million girls how to code by 2020 to fill new technology industry jobs opening up in the next few years.

Sunderland has wanted to put together a group like Girls Who Code for years, but she wasn’t sure where to start. When she found out about the nonprofit group, she knew she had to find a way to bring it to the college.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this but the idea of developing all the curriculum myself was just too daunting…,” said Sunderland. “But when this opportunity came up and they provide all the infrastructure and the curriculum, I thought that there was no way I couldn’t do that.”

Sunderland still had a lot to figure out when Girls Who Code came to the college, like finding people who were willing to volunteer two hours every week to teach the girls in the club. Sunderland and Sandra Warner, Director Administrative Computing Services at the college, reached out to Lindsay Brechler, a product manager at the firewall company FireMon. When Brechler was asked if she could be an instructor for the club she jumped at the opportunity and asked her coworkers Abbey Trotta, Ariadne Spes and Taylor Milligan to help out. All of them said yes immediately — they wanted to help inspire girls to get involved in the heavily male-dominated field of technology.

“I feel like it’s important for girls to see role models who are coders and software developers and just get exposure to it to decide if they like it or not,” said Brechler. “I don’t think everyone has to like it, because it’s not for everyone. But you never know if you don’t have any exposure to it.”

Last year, the college’s Girls Who Code club could only hold 15 girls because of their limited supplies, but because of the new collaboration center that the college recently added the club is now able to have up to 44 girls join on for the 2016-2017 school year. Being able to triple the number of girls who can join was a proud accomplishment for Sunderland and Warner, who had a waiting list all of last year.

While the number of girls who were able to attend at the college’s club increased, Girls Who Code has added two more clubs in the Kansas City area with more locations on the way. Expanding on this club has had a huge impact for everyone involved, from the creator who wanted to see more girls involved in technology to the women who help the club at the college. For them, they are sharing their love for technology with the next generation.

“This club and giving girls the chance to be confident in technology, it brings us all together and brings out the community in our name,” Warner said.

The most important thing these women want the girls to take out of the class is the confidence to follow their dreams in any career path. They want to give them the courage to follow their dreams and not be stopped because it’s not seen as being feminine enough. For the instructors, they just want to inspire girls to chase after their passions.

“I would like for these girls to have a vision of themselves in the technology field as something normal right now it really isn’t still,” Spes said. “It’s definitely getting better by leaps and bounds but it’s still not normal and we need them to see that it is.”

Student Senators for fall semester announced

September 13, 2016

Nell Gross

News Editor

ngross1@jccc.edu

Student Senate election results were released on Friday. The election took place Sept. 6-8. Students voted through a link sent to their student email inbox. These newly elected senators will join the incumbent Senate Executive Board members who were elected during the spring 2016 semester.

–

Abdulmajeed Baba Ahmed

Hanan Boukhaima

Collin Gustin

Ron Holz

Tonglin Liu

Chuo-chun Lu

Takhmina Mussayeva

Ana Palacio

Vincent Pastella

Thomas Peterson

Jose Rangel

Andres Sainz De Aja Gonzalez Del Rey

James Sang

Erika Silva

Will Soriano

Mariam Wadood

Marcus Wong Ken Ji

Chris Yu

Wenya Zhao

News briefs for Sept. 14-Sept. 20

September 13, 2016

Great Reads

The JCCC Great Books Mini-Lecture series will begin on Wednesday Sept. 14 with Paradise Lost by John Milton being presented by adjunct professor Anthony Funari. This presentation will take place in the new JCCC CoLab and will begin at 12:00 p.m.

ECAV Art Contest

ECAV Radio will be holding an art contest on their website. The contest is open for entry up until Sept. 23. Students interested submit a design to be painted on the window of ECAV reflecting a specific genre of music and must incorporate the ECAV logo. The top four designs will be picked by the ECAV staff and will be painted on the panels outside of the room. The winner of the four designs will be voted on by students using QR codes and will receive a $50 gift card.

Light Up The Lawn finale

The final date of the Light Up The Lawn concert series will take place on Sept.16 featuring Maria the Mexican. This event will be held on the lawn of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and will begin at 8:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Compiled By Nell Gross, news editor, ngross1@jccc.edu

KC Zine Con brings together regional self-publishers

September 12, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Saturday marked the second year of KC Zine Con. The do-it-yourself publishing convention is the only event of its size in the area. Local writers, artists and printmakers set up tables in Pierson Auditorium at UMKC to sell their wares and connect with one another.

Several current and former students from JCCC participated in Saturday’s convention. Megan Karson graduated from the college with an associate degree in 2010. Karson participated in last year’s convention and was invited back this year as a featured tabler where she sold t-shirts, patches, prints and zines without having to pay a registration fee. Karson said she enjoys the community feel of the convention.

“I think it’s really cool, it brings people from all over the country. For example, [another tabler] flew from Detroit to come down here to participate. It’s just cool to get people coming together and meeting each other and sharing ideas.”

Ashley Ferro graduated from the college with an associate degree in 2007. Ferro runs a shop near the Power & Light District called Upside KC. The shop carries vintage clothing, accessories and furnishings as well as cassette tapes and zines. Ferro brought several of the zines and accessories available at her store to sell at her table on Saturday.

“I got [my store] started mostly with vintage clothes and dishware and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to carry her zine in there,” said Ferro. “I started with Burnt Black out of Chicago and then it just kind of escalated from there because people bought those and I started buying more and putting them in the shop. Art zines, mental health, women empowerment, a lot of punk and hardcore zines. A lot of friends were putting them out, so I wanted them to have an outlet.”

Ferro also talked about what makes self-publishing and conventions about it so appealing.

“I think people are easily inspired here. It’s kind of an addicting thing. You want to go from booth to booth and learn more about each person and buy stuff that will affect your life in a positive way.”

Jakob Streiff is a current student at the college and is studying animation. Streiff began printing his comics and zines two years ago after he received inspiration from independent artists and became aware that a scene existed.

“I was always reading superhero comics, so I didn’t want to do those because I didn’t feel like I could, so then I found independent artists like Brian Chippendale … it just kind of inspired me to do something that I could do all by myself. I decided to take the liberty of doing my own thing after seeing there was a scene for it,” said Steiff.

Streiff also talked about how important the feeling of community is at Zine Con.

“There [are] just so many people that are just trying to share their art and their talents,” said Streiff. “I guess I feel [like I fit] into this community with this creative outlook on life and I really like that.”

Student Concert Series begins this week

September 12, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

Every semester the college hosts an event called the Student Concert Series. The series begins with auditions where students can show off their musical talent in front of a group of judges. Students are then chosen by the judges to be performers in the series and be scheduled to perform each week and entertain students in the Food Court.

Student Activities Ambassador Monica Narvaiza Lewis explained what exactly the Student Concert Series is.

“The Student Concert Series is a way for students to perform in front of people and earn extra money. They can do the series to help further their career or they can just do it as a hobby because they like it,” said Lewis.

The series takes place every semester. Auditions for the Fall semester took place during the first week of Fall classes. Performances will start this month.

“The performances are every Wednesday,” said Lewis. “The first performance begins on September 14 and they will take place throughout the whole semester.”

The next set of auditions will take place at the start of next semester. Lewis shared her advice for anyone who thinking about auditioning for the series, especially if they are trying to pursue a career in music.

“Get out there and practice. See if you can perform in front of people. You have got to get that stage fright under control. The opportunities [the college] is giving you are so that you can get that practice,” said Lewis.

Anyone wanting to watch the performances can go to the first floor of the COM building every Wednesday afternoon. The performances will feature several different types of musical talent and will be an exciting way to liven up any student’s school day.

Diversidad conference offers college guidance to area high schoolers

September 10, 2016

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

The college’s fourth annual Diversidad Hispanic Conference took place Friday morning and afternoon in the Regnier Center. The conference focused on providing an opportunity for local Hispanic high school students to learn about college life and to help them find the right path towards their future careers.

Several different high schools, institutions and organizations were represented at the conference. The event consisted of several sessions that taught high schoolers several things they will need to know when entering college. Several professionals from different universities, organizations and school districts came to speak to students about various subjects, including making career decisions and being effective leaders.

Dr. April Mayes, Professor of History at Pomona College, was the keynote speaker at the event.

“It’s an opportunity to bring together staff here at JCCC plus high school guidance counselors from the local area with high school students and current JCCC students to talk about life at college.”

Kansas State University Academic Services and Diversity Coordinator Madaí Rivera has attended more than one Diversidad Hispanic Conference. Rivera was a speaker on the student panel in an afternoon session called “Let’s Hear that from our Students.”

“We had a very diverse group in the audience, but also a lot of the advocates for these students and families,” said Rivera. “I did see some [familiar] faces, so it’s nice to see that people that have been here before are coming back … but I also saw new faces so that’s neat because maybe other people are … spreading the word.”

One of the students that chose to return was Carolina Barradas, who plans to attend the college to study nursing.

“[The speakers] hit the most important points in every speech that they give,” said Barradas.

High school student Evelyn Chavarria also plans to study nursing and attended Diversidad for the first time this year. She heard about the conference from a teacher.

“Most of us [at the conference] are first in coming to college from our family, so obviously we don’t know anything [about it], so it’s good information,” said Chavarria.

The college works hard to make sure the students who attend the conference know where their resources are and don’t begin their college experience blindly.

“The majority of Latinos who go to college begin their college careers at community colleges. This is the front [line] right here at Johnson County, so we want to make sure that [they’re] doing everything they can to get students through to their two year degrees … or four year degrees and beyond,” said Mayes.

Parking spot designated for wounded veterans

September 8, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

On May 4, 2016 a parking spot at the college was designated for wounded veterans. The space is located in front of the Student Center between the handicap and one hour parking spots.

Veterans Club President Stephanie Alvarez explained the process of getting the space designated.

“[The Veterans Club] worked with the police department last semester and then we got the parking space. We asked the Police Department to give us a space that would be ideal for veterans who can’t walk across parking lots. [The Veteran Club] had a small ceremony between myself, the old president, the co-president, and the police department,” said Alvarez.

Student Devin Conwell expressed his thoughts on the designated space.

“I think it’s a good idea. It’s a thank you gesture you can give to a disabled veteran. [Wounded veterans] have already been through so much, so why not make [getting around campus] easier for them,” said Conwell

Student Thomas Defilippis thinks people often take simple things, like walking, for granted.

“I feel like if [wounded veterans] were able to cross the seas for us, then we should be able to cross the parking lot,” said Defilippis.

The subject hit close to home as both Conwell and Defilippis are familiar with someone who is a wounded veteran.

Students Devonte Brown and Desiré Brown explained why they liked the idea of having a designated spot for wounded veterans.

“I thought [the parking space] was a good idea because we have a lot of veterans [at the college]. There are so many parking spot we can afford to lose such as the 30 minute parking,” said Devonte Brown.

“It’s honoring the fact that they served [our country]. It acknowledges them and all that they have done, so I like the idea of having that for [the veterans],” said Desiré Brown.

Any disabled veterans wishing to use this parking space can obtain a parking permit from the Veterans and Military Services located in COM 205.

Abbey Road lights up the Nerman lawn

September 8, 2016

Last Friday night’s Light Up The Lawn concert featured Abbey Road playing the songs of The Beatles. The concert was free and open to the public. Fans enjoyed over two hours of music and snacks offered from local businesses. Abbey Road is from Kansas City and has been together for over 20 years.

–Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report

Former Trustee Wilbur Billington dead at 94

September 6, 2016

Carina Smith

Reporting Correspondent

csmit367@jccc.edu

Wilbur Billington, a former trustee chairman at the college, died on Aug. 21 at the age of 94. Billington has been a longtime Johnson County leader, from working on the college’s Investment Committee and working as Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Billington was in the Air Force during World War II and the Korean War and had a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Billington enjoyed being engaged with education which led to him serving as a chairman on the Shawnee Mission school board and was a chairman for the feasibility study to create a community college. He worked tirelessly to create the community college and allow for more to be built in the state of Kansas.

Billington stayed involved with the college, working as a trustee from 1967 to 1975 and was the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees before he worked on the Foundation board. Billington won multiple awards during his involvement in Johnson County here. The campus library is named in his honor.

“Dr. Billington remained active on the Foundation’s Investment Committee up until just a few years ago and attended many Foundation events, such as our spring luncheon and annual dinner,” said Kate Allen, Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “It was also a special treat to have him there.”

Billington retired from the Federal Reserve Bank in 1987 and while he officially resigned from being a chairman and trustee at the college, he stayed as active as possible and attended many events to show his support.

Billington’s passing comes follows his fellow chairman and longtime friend, Ben Craig, who passed away on Aug. 5. He is survived by three children, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and his sister.

“Now You See Me 2” provides a complex yet forgettable adventure

Annie Beurman

Reporting correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

Back in 2013, Summit Entertainment released “Now You See Me.” The movie told the story of four professional magicians — Danny Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) — known as the Four Horsemen. The gang performs complicated tricks — including robbing a bank in Paris while performing in Las Vegas — that forces them to go on the run from the FBI. The rest of the movie can be described as a cat and mouse story as FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) keep going after the group, only to find them one step ahead.

While the movie was far from perfect — mostly due to its highly complicated story and less than memorable characters — there were several elements in it that stood out. The actors all gave great performances, the twist at the end was creative and shocking and the magic tricks showed just how much attention the creators paid to detail.

Now three years later, the sequel “Now You See Me 2” has hit theaters. The film brings back the adventures of the Horsemen, this time featuring a mission to steal a device that can access any piece of electronics on Earth. Throughout the movie, the team is constantly on the run, attempting to keep the device from falling into the wrong hands, but whose hands are the wrong ones becomes harder and harder to keep track of.

While the story is still complex, it’s definitely easier to understand than the first film. Part of that is due to the film explaining a good amount of the magic tricks performed by the Horsemen and what they did in order to make it seem like real magic. Some may argue this destroys a bit of the wonder the first movie created, but one thing both movies have always made very clear is that none of the tricks are real magic.

The climax of the movie was also impressive. It can easily be split in two halves, the first being suspenseful and full of tricks and the second raising the stakes to a new level. Without giving too much away, the second half will keep viewers on the edge of their seats, desperately trying to predict what is going to happen to the Horsemen.

However, like the first movie, the sequel is far from perfect. It’s obvious the creators focused more on the magic tricks and how they’re performed than they did writing an original story. The portions of the plot that don’t involve magic tricks have been done many times before and the constant barrage of tricks are the only thing keeping the story from becoming completely stale.

Also similar to the first movie is how the characters are one dimensional, despite the actors trying their best. Sometimes the writers would try to develop them or give them their own character arcs, but most of the time those arcs lead to dead ends.

The biggest problem with the movie though is how forgettable it is. Viewers may find themselves quickly forgetting what happened hours after finishing it. “Now You See Me 2” is by no means a magical experience, but fans of the first movie may walk away feeling charmed.

Student Life launches Diversity Fellowship Program

September 2, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Thursday marked the first meeting of the brand new Diversity Fellowship Program. The program takes place in COM 319 every week through October and involves guest speakers, discussions and activities about diversity and inclusion on campus and in the lives of students and staff.

Student Life Coordinator Leila Jacobs came up with the idea for the program along with Mindy Kinnaman, manager of Student Life & Learning Development, and will be setting up and leading the program each week.

“We started developing the idea in … [the] fall semester of last year. … It came from a meeting that we had attended at … the KU Edwards Campus … They had been talking about … mentorship programs they have there … I was like, ‘We should think of a way to … merge the mentorship/leadership program with the things that we’re doing with multicultural issues. The other part of it was, Student Senate had hosted a series of discussions about inclusion on campus as well, and we had gotten really positive feedback from students about the things that were discussed there … and we thought maybe it was important to have a more formalized program where people could talk about those issues.”

Thursday’s meeting included Jacobs and Kinnaman discussing the topic of identity. Both leaders and those in attendance filled out a chart mapping out the different things they identify as and how they affect their lives. The meeting’s activities also included a “privilege walk” where participants are asked a series of questions about the privileges they have and step forwards or backwards depending on their answer.

Student Brandon Nonprasit attended the first meeting after being invited by a friend.

“The idea of diversity programs sound interesting to me because I’ve always been well into diversity,” said Nonprasit. I love diversity, it’s something I grew up with … I kind of was scared it was going to be like pointing fingers at people like, ‘You’re so privileged…,’ but it was very fun.”

Rhiannon Minster also attended Thursday’s meeting and enjoyed its focus on group discussions.

“I thought it would be like, ‘Here is a Powerpoint, here are our ideas,’ but I like the fact it’s discussion and you actually to talk to people about their experiences,” said Minster.

Students and faculty who would like more information about the program can call or visit the Center for Student Involvement or stop by before the meeting each Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

Students get a chance to “kick it” with Sporting KC player

September 1, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin visited campus to sign autographs and take pictures with students on Wednesday afternoon. Kempin is an Overland Park native and a graduate of Blue Valley North High School. His first appearance on the Sporting KC team was in 2010 and he is currently on loan to the Swope Park Rangers.

Kempin mentioned the impact Sporting KC fans had on him during ECAV Radio’s live broadcast.

“[The fans will] always come up and say hi to you and it’s great to be able to interact with them. You know that they always have your back and … you just feel the love I guess,” said Kempin.

During Kempin’s visit, the college set up bubble soccer — a version of the game featuring large inflatable suits for the players — for students. Several students decided to join the game, while others decided to sit back and watch the antics that unfolded. Bubble soccer was a new experience for some and a returning favorite for others.

Students Chance Johnson and Marcos Hartshorn explained their thoughts on the event and the topic of soccer as they watched the bubble soccer players. Johnson had played bubble soccer before while Hartshorn had not.

“I just walked out of my class and I told [Johnson] to come over,” said Hartshorn.

“I got a text from [Hartshorn] and he said, ‘Hey come over they’re playing bubble soccer,’ and I said ‘Oh, cool.’… I always thought it was fun playing it when I played it with my friends back in high school. It’s fun to watch other people run into each other,” said Johnson.

Students Collins Gatimi and Brian Lenjo talked about how they felt about the event as they tried to catch their breath after playing bubble soccer.

“I saw flyers and [Gatimi] called me up and was like hey there’s bubble soccer going on over here,” said Lenjo.

Although the turnout wasn’t large, Kempin and the students who attended the event were able to turn a gloomy, Wednesday afternoon into a time to socialize, create new experiences and relieve some of the stress that came with the beginning of Fall semester.

Photo Gallery: Student Activties hosts volleyball in Fountain Square

August 30, 2016

Student Senate members joined in a pickup volleyball game set up by Student Activities at Fountain Square on Tuesday morning. Students were able to stop in between classes to get some exercise, make new friends and learn about applying for the Senate. Wednesday morning from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. students can return to Fountain Square for games of Ultimate Frisbee.

Student Senate applications can be found online and are due Aug. 31 by 5 p.m. Student Senate elections take place September 6-8. Students will receive ballots in their school email.

–Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report

Sporting KC player to visit college Wednesday

August 30, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

The college’s Marketing Communications department is bringing Sporting Kansas City defender Chance Myers to the college on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 31. Myers will be available for autographs and photographs. A bubble soccer match will also be taking place.

Judi Reilly is the Account Planning Coordinator for the college. Reilly explained the events planned for that afternoon.

“Anyone wanting to participate in bubble soccer should come out to the south lawn of the Regnier Center beginning at 1 p.m. and continuing until 3 p.m. Chance will arrive by 1:30 p.m. and will be available for autographs and photographs until 3 p.m. … In case of rain, we will cancel bubble soccer and move Chance’s autograph session to the Food Court in the Commons…,” said Reilly.

This year is not the first time the college has had an event involving bubble soccer and a Sporting Kansas City player. The event first took place last school year with an appearance from Seth Sinovic.

“This is the second year Marketing Communications is bringing bubble soccer to JCCC in conjunction with a Sporting KC player appearance,” said Reilly. “Everyone had a fun time with bubble soccer last year so we decided to do it again this year. Chance’s appearance on our campus is part of the partnership JCCC has with Sporting Kansas City. Other elements of that partnership include opportunities this season for our college to showcase several of our programs before matches in the Sprint Plaza outside Children’s Mercy Park. You could say we are sharing experiences –Sporting Kansas City brings a player to experience college life and our campus and we take our college to Sporting Kansas City matches so the community learns about us.”

The events on Wednesday will look similar to last year, but there are some slight changes to the games being held.

“We have added a few more bubbles for five-minute matches featuring five versus five. This should allow more students to participate. It should be a lot of fun … if the weather cooperates. JCCC students, faculty and staff get to meet a professional soccer player and have fun watching soccer played in a little unconventional manner,” said Reilly.

To participate in Wednesday’s activities, be at the south lawn of the Regnier Center between 1p.m. and 3p.m.

Culture Abuse offers up heavy, emotional punk rock anthems on ‘Peach’

August 26, 2016

Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

Out of context, an album called “Peach” may lead an uninitiated listener to imagine songs that are soft and sweet — like the fruit. The ten tracks that are banged out by Culture Abuse on their debut LP are far from soft and are only sweet in the colloquial use of the word.

Culture Abuse is a six-piece rock band that emerged from San Francisco in late 2013. Despite releasing two EPs and making a name for themselves by touring rigorously in small clubs and the DIY circuit, the band seems more prepared than ever to make a significant jump in audience size with the release of “Peach.” These ten songs are heavier — emotionally and sonically — and catchier than anything in their catalog.

Punk rock is something that all of the band’s members seem to have in common. Several of the group’s members have played in punk bands in the past and all of them undoubtedly grew up listening to the genre. “Peach,” however, is not a run-of-the-mill punk album. The band utilizes the three-chord method of songwriting on numerous cuts and the running time is 30 minutes, but the album’s gritty, heavy-handed chugging and wailing guitar licks are reminiscent of early ’90s alternative rock. Singer David Kelling’s impassioned, cavernous vocal style also calls to mind several bands from the grunge movement.

“Peach” also strays from punk stereotypes due to the fact that the album was produced quite professionally. There is still feedback ringing at the beginning and ending of songs, but it never interferes with the clarity of any instrument.

Talented songwriting and quality sound aside, the real thing that makes “Peach” one of the year’s standout rock records is its lyrics and its delivery of those lyrics. The album was written in the wake of the deaths of two prominent members of the Northern California punk scene — Sammy Winston and Tim Butcher. Opening track “Chinatown” directly addresses one of those deaths along with the San Francisco Police Department’s killing of a civilian down the street from where Kelling was living. Kelling belts out every lyric as if it was his last.

Death is also the subject of the song “Peace On Earth.” Kelling reveals that he has been drowning in thoughts of his own mortality along with his parents’, while disregarding topics such as the weather and politics as comparatively trivial. He asks for the listener’s approval when he admits that the battles being fought in his head take up more of his attention than those being fought in foreign countries. If nothing else, Culture Abuse is honest.

Other key moments on “Peach” include the urgently emotive “Jealous” that features snare hits like shotgun blasts, the chilled-out apathy of “Rainy Days,” and the solemn and wistful closing track “Heavy Love.”

Culture Abuse shifts from several characteristics of their base genre on “Peach,” but executes those shifts flawlessly to create half an hour of simplistic and invigorating rock ‘n’ roll anthems that are undeniably punk in spirit. Fans will jam “Peach” while lying in bed after a long day and while pounding their steering wheels in traffic. They will also be dogpiling in front of the microphone at concerts and screaming every word back at the band. It’s hard not to do those things when a set of songs so precisely encapsulates the feelings of frustration and redemption that nearly every person feels while growing up in 21st century America.

Welcome Desk provides help for students

August 26, 2016

JCAV-TV met with employees at the Welcome Desk to learn about the different resources offered to students there. In addition to their student ID services, the Welcome Desk offers discounted tickets to local events and passes for local businesses.

The Welcome Desk is located on the first floor of the Student Center.

–Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report.

Cav Kickoff carries on despite scattered rain showers

August 24, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

Even light rainfall throughout the late morning and early afternoon on Wednesday couldn’t dampen the fun to be had at the college’s annual Cav Kickoff. The event, which included games and free food, was a time for students to learn all about clubs and organizations on campus, as well as area businesses that are hiring and four-year universities to which students can transfer.

Student Senate was one of the many organizations at the Kickoff. Student Senate member Amanda Wang described what Student Senate is and their plan for this semester.

“It’s our school’s student government. We’re in the process of organizing projects. One of them is … collecting gifts for those who can’t afford them. We’re also finding ways to improve student life,” said Wang.

The Golden Girls are not the only dance club on campus. There is also the International Dance Club. President Bailee Donegan explained the focus of the International Dance Club and what students learned when they visited their booth.

“We learn about different styles of dances from around the world,” said Donegan. “We learn a lot of cultural dancing. We support and encourage each other. It’s a learning process that we go through together. We shared with them about the performances that we do. We’ll be performing a lot in downtown Kansas City, hopefully, for First Fridays.”

In addition to clubs that relate to hobbies and activities, the college offers many clubs and organizations relating to religion, nationality and political views. Muslim Student Association advisor Samira Hussein described what students learned about the association at Cav Kickoff.

“The Muslim Student Association is a club where Muslims and non-Muslims can come together, have conversations to understand one another and exchange ideas and thoughts about Islam and how it affects all aspects of a Muslim’s life,” said Hussein. “Students can ask the MSA club members anything about Islam, our activities, our membership, times and dates when we are planning on meeting and what we have accomplished in the past, or for that matter, anything they are interested in at the Cav Kickoff.”

Rain or shine, Cav Kickoff proved to be a successful way for students, both new and returning, to learn about the different ways to get involved at the college. Students can find out more information about clubs and organizations on the college’s website.

Bookstore Buying is better with Music

August 24, 2016

Students are back in class and the bookstore is busy. ECAV Radio decided to help entertain the long lines with music and live broadcasts on Tuesday afternoon.

The Bookstore is located on the first floor of the Student Center with hours listed on its website. Listen to ECAV Radio all semester on their website.

League of Women Voters celebrates Equality Week

August 23, 2016

Multiple women’s rights organizations set up tables in the COM building on Tuesday morning to celebrate Women’s Equality Week. Volunteers helped educate students and staff about voting and some of our country’s history. Groups present included the American Association of University Women, Women’s Equality Greater Kansas City, and the League of Women Voters. Informational handouts and “It’s My Vote” buttons were distributed to all who were interested.

The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming November 8 election is October 18. Find out how to register online.

–Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report

Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear perform at the Fieldhouse

August 23, 2016

Kansas City-based folk duo Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear played at the college’s Light Up The Lawn concert on Friday evening. The concert was originally scheduled to be held outside at its usual spot on the Nerman Museum lawn, but inclement weather forced activities to be moved to the Fieldhouse. Madisen Ward and his mother Ruth toured around America and Europe in 2015. They also released their debut album, Skeleton Crew, and performed several tracks from it for fans at the free show.

–Aaron Rhodes contributed to this report

Classes begin and emotions vary for students

August 23, 2016

Kim Harms

Staff reporter

kharms3@jccc.edu

Students both new and returning seemed to have mixed emotions about their first day of the Fall 2016 semester. First year students were rushing through the halls to get to their first classes on time, while returning students seemed relaxed and unfazed by their new schedules.

Student Olivia Uebelein experienced her first college classes Monday.

“The teachers were all very nice. The college was a good transition from high school to a four year university,” said Uebelein.

Student Amen Kenea also experienced her first college classes on Monday.

“They were a little bit crazy, I couldn’t find one of the buildings,” said Kenea. “I only had one class. I really liked how the college had a bunch of helpers for the new students.”

Two students utilize the outdoor seating to work and relax between classes on the first day back. Photo by Henry Lubega, The Campus Ledger.

Student Jordan Johnson just transferred to the college recently and although she was took classes through the college for her summer semester, this was her first time actually on campus.

“This is my third year and my first Fall semester here. I didn’t really have trouble finding my classes, it was easy going, [I] just followed some signs,” said Johnson.

Second year student Austin Fritz seemed unfazed by the return of the new school year.

“My classes were pretty good; I’ve only had one so far. I didn’t really have trouble finding classes since I’m a second year student,” said Fritz

Throughout the campus, there were several students walking around with buttons on them that said, “Ask Me.” These students were there for any new or returning students who wanted information about class locations and events that were going on around campus.

Student Maria Paramo-Perez spent her first day of classes answering questions for other students and helping out anyone on campus who was in need of guidance.

“It was nice to see people be curious about things on campus,” said Paramo-Perez.

In addition to students returning from last year, there is one student at the college who is returning from 10 years ago. The last time student Chad Ubben took classes at the college was in 2006.

“I graduated high school in 2005 and went to the college in 2005 and 2006,” said Ubben. “Then, I lost interest and worked managing a movie theater, then worked at Target. Now I’ve been working in the toxicology department at Clinical Reference Laboratory for two years. My supervisor retired and no one could take her position because nobody had their Associate’s Degree. That was a big factor in deciding to go back to college and get a degree. Even if I don’t stay with this job, having a degree will eventually get me to a higher position and better pay and more opportunities at any job I choose.”

Students of several age groups seemed to enjoy their first classes of the semester. If any students have any questions about class locations or events and activities going on this week, they can find information at the Welcome Desk located in the Student Center.

Yearly Archives: 2016