Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Noland)

Matt Argubright stands out in the School of Education. In his Children’s Literature in Elementary Education class at the University of Kansas, Argubright is one of only two male students in the 24-person class. Beth Cigler, a retired elementary school teacher and associate professor, has been teaching in the KU School of Education for eight years. She said has never had more than three male students at a time in her class. Some semesters she has no men at all. Though Cigler finds it unfortunate more males aren’t enrolled in her class, she feels the classroom atmosphere gives the male students a realistic view of the elementary teaching profession.

“It prepares them (male students) to live in this female world of elementary teaching,” said Cigler.

According to the National Education Association, the number of male teachers in the public school system is the lowest it has been in 40 years. The small number of male educators is reflected in the enrollment numbers of male students in the KU School of Education. According to the school’s program assistant, Paula Naughtin, there are 308 students earning a bachelor’s degree in the School of Education. Of those students, 237 of them are female and 71 are male.

“I first wanted to be a teacher when I was in seventh or eighth grade, I never had a male teacher growing up and at one point it hit me. It seemed like a shame that there weren't more male teachers and almost became a chip on my shoulder,” said Argubright, a first year student in the School of Education from Overland Park. “It frustrated me and kind of became a rallying cause.”

An NEA survey said men make up 21 percent of the nation’s 3 million teachers. The most drastic decline of male teachers is in elementary education with only 9 percent of elementary teachers being male. At KU the ratio of male to female students studying elementary education is 6-to-119.

The graph shows the current numbers of students enrolled in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. The number of famle and male students enrolled in each program is shown. Source: KU School of Education

The NEA attributes the decline of male teachers to low wages offered in teaching positions. Surveys of graduated college students illustrate the salary gap between teaching and more lucrative professions. Whereas a recent college graduate entering the engineering profession, which is a male dominated field, may earn $45, 000, a new teacher may earn only $30,000. According to the NEA, Kansas was among the states with an average teaching salary declining 5 percent or more in the 2004-2005 school year. However, Kansas, at 33.4 percent, has the highest number of male teachers in public schools in the United States.

Dale Koerner is a fifth grade teacher at Langston Hughes Elementary, 1101 George Williams Way, in Lawrence. Koerner has been working in education for 34 years. This is his first year at Langston Hughes Elementary. He is one of three male teachers on staff. Koerner advises male students not to go into the teaching profession for money, but rather with the motivation and passion for teaching children.

“The most important aspect of my job is doing the best I possibly can each and everyday for each one of my students,” said Koerner. “I firmly believe we (teachers) are here to make a difference in each student’s life. I really believe that and I hope to continue teaching.”

Another factor in the lack of male teachers in the elementary school system is the age-old stereotype that elementary teaching is a women’s profession. Neal said the shortage is because of the little exposure young men have in caring for children.

“There is a lack of opportunities for men to nurture young children for obvious reasons. There are experiences men generally have not had, like babysitting,” Neal said. “The number of males given child care and leadership positions to adolescents has greatly declined.”

Secondary education is a more popular field for male teachers, but the number of male teachers in secondary education is still low. The NEA survey said only 35 percent of teachers in secondary education are male. More males are attracted to this level of education because of the ability to teach subject matters they are more interested in and the opportunity to coach students in sports.

“Students in secondary education can more easily identify with the male and female students because they have recently been at the secondary level,” Neal said. “They think, ‘I can identify more with 16 year olds than with 4 or 5 years olds.'”

But there is still a small number of male teachers in secondary education. Neal attributes this to the No Child Left Behind Act, which eliminated male dominated classes like shop and auto-repair with basic classes to help students excel in standardize tests, and Rule 10. Rule 10 allows outside people to coach school sports. Neal said many male teachers are attracted to secondary education because of the extra curricular activities, but because of Rule 10 male teachers no longer have guaranteed involvement in them. Neal estimates only a 50 percent carryover of teaching staff to coaching staff in secondary schools.

The importance to integrate males into the teaching profession is significant. The earlier the students have exposure to male teachers, the more they will benefit. It is especially beneficial to students who have divorced parents or parents that both work.

“Imagine how many young males have no adult male role models entering kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade,” Neal said. “The only stable male they identify with is the first male teacher they run across.”

Neal believes early field experience, like visiting elementary schools and shadowing elementary teachers, will encourage males to enter elementary education. But because there aren’t many images of male teachers in elementary education now, a male student might have trouble picturing himself in the education field in the future. Eventually, the KU School of Education may create scholarships and incentive programs to recruit male students into the education program. Neal said the scholarships would be similiar to those the School of Education offers to minority students and special education majors, but these scholarships would be for males who wish to enter the elementary teaching profession.

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George Wilson, associate vice provost for research at the University of Kansas, is recieving an award for 30 years of work in electrochemistry. Wilson will receive the award in February at The Pittsburgh Conference Awards Symposium in Chicago. One of the projects he has been working on for the last 15 years is an implatantable glucose sensor for diabetes patients. Though the sensor works, Wilson is not putting it on the market because it isn’t perfect just yet.

“The developed device has to be acceptable to patients. New and different technology has no value if the patient doesn’t see the benefit from it,” Wilson said. He is also a Higuchi distinguished professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry at KU.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 7percent of Americans have diabetes. Wilson’s sensor helps type one diabetes patients, whose bodies don’t produce insulin. Type one patients give themselves insulin shots at least twice a day and check their glucose levels by pricking their fingers up to four times a day. They monitor their food intake carefully and exercise regularly to stay healthy. Easing up on their routine could result in blindness, ligament amputation, kidney failure or cardiovascular disease.

“Diabetes patients just don’t get a vacation, especially type one patients,” said Nancy Donahey, a certified diabetes educator at Lawrence Memorial Hospital Diabetes Education Center. Donahey estimates 7,160 people in the Douglas County community have diabetes.

Wilson’s sensor could ultimately make diabetes patients' lives easier. Instead having to prick their finger and guessing when glucose levels are getting too high or too low, patients inject the sensor, which is twice the size of a strand of human hair, into their skin where it remains for seven days. The sensor monitors the amount of glucose in the body and warns the patients when it begins to drop or raise to dangerous levels.

“If a sensor (like Wilson’s) existed, it would be a lot easier for patients, not having to poke themselves multiple times a day with a needle,” said Ann Chapman, coordinator of nutrition services at Watkins Memorial Health Center.

The sensor still has its flaws. One problem the sensor faces is its incompatibility with the human body. The immune system tries to destroy the implanted sensor and push it out of the skin after a week, like it would react to a splinter. In recent years, Wilson and his team have been working to make a “biosensor that is biocompatible,” so the sensor can remain in the skin without being rejected or affected by the immune system.

“If the sensor can’t be used for patients to live normal lives, than it is no good,” Wilson said.

Wilson is not ready to stop his research and teaching at KU to commercialize his implantable sensor. The Federal Drug Administration would require Wilson to make a manufactured prototype to sell it. Because so many people suffer from diabetes and the market is so large, Wilson doesn’t feel compelled to put his findings on the market too quickly.

Wilson said his ultimate dream would be to create an artificial pancreas, containing a sensor to monitor glucose. The sensor would be connected to a pump that would automatically deliver insulin when needed. The development of such a device is not expected anytime soon. However, this year there are many new devices on the market aimed at easing and improving diabetic’s lives.

“These new products make the lives of diabetics easier,” said Pat Hohman, an advanced registered nurse practitioner and a certified diabetes educator at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. “There is easier delivery, no shots and they let patients know what is going on all the time.”

According to Hohman, Medtronic, Inc., introduced the Paradigm Real-Time pump to the public last April. It is an insulin pump that measures glucose by interstitial fluids and gives readings every five minutes. At the beginning of January, Pfizer Inc. will release Exubra to the market. Exubra is the first inhaled insulin treatment that gives patients mealtime control. The new products, compared with older ones, help where the problems are and prevent higher complications, said Hohman.

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Rachel Sanner laid patiently on a reclined chair at Big Daddy’s Cadillac tattoo studio, 16 E. 8th St., while Lance Tuck cleaned and sanitized the skin around her swimsuit-tan-line across her waist. Sanner, a sophomore at the University of Kansas, dances with the University Dance Company and wanted a custom tattoo of a dancer on her hip bone.

“I’ve been dancing my entire life and like dance, this is a way to express myself,” said Sanner who got a dance scholarship to KU. “It (the tattoo) will be apart of me and grow with me.”

Tuck put an outline of the golf ball sized design on Sanner’s skin, like the fake press-on tattoos from a grocery store nickel machine.

“Try not to squirm or get away,” said Tuck, 34, as he started up the tattoo gun, buzzing like a bug zapper, and leaned in to begin his work. “If it gets bad, let me know.”

Tuck has been tattooing for 12 years and clients not only enjoy his detailed designs but the tales he tells as he tattoos. While hard at work, Tuck shares governmental, scientific and religious conspiracies, misconceptions and stories with clients. He also discusses the details of the book he is hoping to complete and publish by the end of the month. The book, called “Paladin: Cabal,” is a fiction work about police exorcists and the first in a series of four books he wants to publish. Tuck’s stories and thought-provoking discussions attracts customers and popularity.

“Customers are definitely drawn to him because of his stories. Lance throws out such a persona that people are awed or overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge and ideas he has,” said Sarah Schiremer, a front desk attendant and advertising assistant for Big Daddy’s Cadillac’s.

Tuck grew up in Scott City, Ks., 30 minutes away from the Colorado boarder, and began writing science fiction when he was 10 years old. In high school he received a perfect score on the AP English Exam and was a National Merit Scholar Finalist. He got a full ride scholarship to Kansas State University where he pursued degrees in neuroscience, criminal justice and architecture.

“If I could be paid to go back to college and be an academic, I would do it in a minute,” said Tuck, who received enough credits to obtain two independent graduate degrees.

While in college, Tuck received his first tattoo gun from his grandma who had offered to buy him a car for his birthday. A tattoo gun was cheaper. He graduated in 1995 and made little money as a bill collector in Kansas City before leaving to work at Skin Illustrations in Overland Park. In 2002 he was recruited by Stacy Daugherty, former owner of Big Daddy’s Cadillac’s, a tattoo and piercing parlor in Lawrence.

“If another artist says a tattoo is too detailed to be done in a small area, see Lance,” said Big Daddy’s Cadillac’s website.

Tuck recalls painting micro-details on miniature, metal figures when he was a child, including detailing the figures’ eyes, which where the size of pen tips. He shows the same precision in sculpting, painting, tattooing and telling stories.

“I don’t like big pieces, I like tight details,” said Tuck.

Tuck works three to four days a week, sometimes 12 to 16 hours a day building needles and working on designs at home. Most of his clients are 18 to 26 years old. At Big Daddy’s Cadillac’s, the artists are paid on commission about $100 an hour. If they don’t do a tattoo, they don’t get paid.

Within an hour, Tuck completed Sanner’s tattoo. Sanner’s dancer, with arms over her head, is forever imprinted on her skin. Sanner’s looked in the mirror and is happy with the outcome. Tuck applied vitamin A and D ointment on it before bandaging it up. He gives Sanner care instructions and before she leaves, he promises not to give out the custom design, “because how original would that be?”

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The Student Legislative Awareness Board at the University of Kansas is creating a proposed legislation for tax-free textbooks for all students in the state of Kansas. The proposal is hoped to be finished near January 8, 2007, the next time the Kansas Legislature will reconvene. Before then, SLAB works hard on deciding the specifics of the proposal.

“We want to keep the dialogue (about tax-free textbooks) open as long as we can, so we have a good bill to present to the legislature,” said Student Senate legislative director Ian Staples, Lawrence senior. Staples will ultimately write the bill which will be passed on to Kansas Legislature for consideration.

According to Staples, though the proposal is relatively short, it encompasses the buying of textbooks and their supplementary materials tax-free. These materials include electronic and print instructions, workbooks and manuals, including things like CD-ROMs. Things like notebooks, binders and writing utensils will not be included as tax-exempt materials in the proposal.

Fifteen states in the United States currently offer textbooks completely tax-free to students. Also, many states have tax-free weekends before school starts for students to buy needed supplies. Missouri, for example, has a three-day period at the beginning of August for consumers to purchase school necessity items, such as clothing, tools, computers and other state determined items, without paying tax on them. Kansas has nothing like that now, said Staples.

“It’s frustrating that we have to spend so much on textbooks,” said Shawnee, Kan., junior Katie Janke, who spent $380 on textbooks this semester. “College kids have lots of things to pay for, something l like that (tax-free textbooks) would really ease the burden.”

According to the National Affordable Textbook Campaign website, students spend $900 each year on textbooks, which is 20 percent of tuition at an average university and half the coast of tuition at a community college. Textbooks have increased four times the rate of inflation since 1994.

“Textbooks are the final blow to students,” said Dodge City, Kan., junior and junior-senior CLAS senator Hannah Love. “Students pay tuition, housing and other fees and then books. Books cost $398 (every semester) on average and most students don’t budget that in and aren’t substantially ready for the inflation.”

Last fall KU joined the national campaign to lower texts’ costs by passing a resolution through student senate stating a committment to fighting for affordable textbooks. After joining the campaign, Love created the affordable textbook team and textbook task force, which both strive to reduce the price of texts for KU students. So far, Love and her teams have successfully created an online KU book exchange, promoted the use of e-reserves and encouraged professors to order texts earlier so bookstores can find used copies more easily.

Love attributes the rising expense of textbooks to the primary publishing companies who constantly put our new editions and package books with extra, costly materials.

“The biggest publishing companies are bundling the books,” said Love. “They are putting out software and extra materials and printing high definition pictures- it’s all nice, but not for a college students’ budget.”

Staples and Love are working hard with their teams to make textbooks affordable to students. Staples and SLAB have some time before they find out the results of their efforts for tax-free textbooks. After their proposal is complete, they will have to find a sponsor to present it to the Kansas legislature, who will then decide what to do with the proposed legislation. This can be a very timely process.

“All we can do is cross our fingers, once the bill is in the process it is out of our hands,” said Staples.

And until Staples and SLAB uncross their fingers, students will continue to pinch their pennies.

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“Fashion trends tend to come from watching people, usually people who tend to be risk takers with regard to fashion. The best places to find them are New York, London, L.A. and college campuses,” said Laurel Wilson Curator and professor at the University of Missouri department of Textiles and Apparel Management.

Skinny jeans have hit the University of Kansas campus and Lawrence downtown retail stores. The Gap, Urban Outfitters and Abercrombie and Fitch are selling the trend to a large number of college students. Skinny jeans hug the hips and have a straight, narrow fit to the ankle.

“There have been a lot of college students trying on grey skinny jeans and lots of our employees, mostly sophomores and seniors in college, own the black or grey pair as well,” said Kristy Lacombe, Bloomington, Minn. senior and women’s associate at Urban Outfitters in Lawrence.

“There have been a lot of college students trying on gray skinny jeans and many of our employees, mostly college students, own the black or gray pair as well,” said Kristy Lacombe, Bloomington, Minn., senior and women’s associate at Urban Outfitters, 1013 Massachusetts St.

Last week, Lacombe folded the “jean wall” at Urban Outfitters, a task that took “all day.” Among the jeans, Lacombe folded six different styles of skinny jeans in four different colors. Urban Outfitters carry LUX and BDG brand skinny jeans that sell from $49 to $68.

Gap also carries the skinny jean. In its latest promotion, Audrey Hepburn, wearing skinny pants, dances to ACDC’s 1980s rock hit “Back in Black.” Gap bought the legal rights to the clip and offer the “Audrey pant” for $48 at stores nationwide. Along with the Audrey pant, Gap carries two other skinny jeans, the most popular being their original straight leg. The cost is between $49.50 and $58.

Magazines such as In-Style and Redbook have also been encouraging the new trend. And celebrities such as Nicole Richie and Kate Moss have been pictured donning skinny jeans in fashion and tabloid magazines all season.

“I saw the trend in magazines and on celebrities,” said Callie Knoll Omaha, Neb. senior and skinny jean owner. “They are form fitting and different then the style of jeans that I have ever worn in the past.”

Urban Outfitters manager Jill Cavender says the skinny jeans are influenced by the 1980s, which recently has been a renewed source of fashion inspiration in the last couple of years. Young celebrities sporting the trend all summer made the look popular. In contrast, Gap’s marketing muse and original trend inspiration is Hepburn from the late 1950s.

“You can trace the trend of thin, cropped pants back to Audrey Hepburn,” said Candice Rhodes, assistant manager for Gap, 647 Massachusetts St. “She has been a style icon for years.”

Rhodes says Gap chose Hepburn as its model for the fall trend because, like the actress, the pants have a casual elegance.

Whichever era the trend can be attributed to, the overall look is generally the same. Skinny jeans are marketed with ballet flats, big belts and long sweaters. Marketers chose bigger tops to balance the smaller bottoms.

Along with how to wear skinny jeans, is the question of who can wear skinny jeans. As the name of the trend suggests, skinny jeans may currently be most popular and best fitting for slender consumers.

“Skinny jeans are not flattering for all body types. They are exclusive,” said Cavender. “They are best for people who are not very curvy.”

But, the popularity of skinny jeans is still in high demand.

“I have been going to the gym and working out every day, so I can buy a pair and look good in them,” said Ashley Ballweg, Leawood senior.

According to Leah Melvin, Illinois Institute of Art junior and Mark Shale sales consultant in Chicago, people of all sizes are trying on skinny jeans and designers are working hard to make the trend more wearable.

“Designers are coming out with new styles, so women will feel more comfortable in them. They are making skinny jeans more flattering by adding texture and playing with their length,” said Melvin.

As for skinny jeans going out of style any time soon? Slim chance.

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