Multimedia Reporting (Noland-Volek)

Lawrence, Kan. – Business students graduating this fall and next spring will have new opportunities this year when searching for their career path for future jobs, and graduating senior Kim Rosen is banking on it.

Rosen, Lawrence senior in marketing, is one of approximately 1,200 KU students who will be attending the business career fair on Sept. 20. She and the other students will look at mare than 120 different companies from across the United States to help define their career paths.

“I went to the fair last year, which helped direct me to what jobs were out there,” Rosen said. “Now, since I’m graduating in December, I’m going to the fair with a good idea of who I want pursue for a job.”

Jennifer Jordan, director of business career services, said the companies are looking at more than just a good looking resume, dress and a degree when considering employment. She said companies that attend the fair look at factors such as compelling experience and internships. Other new opportunities, such as the business school’s new major, supply chain management (which will see its first graduates in spring 2009), will help some students with have more options when looking for the right employer.

“We take input from business students every year to determine a target list of employers,” Jordan said. “We want to represent a good cross-section of employers for almost all of our business graduates.”

Westar Energy is a company that sees a degree as the first foot in the door. Ruth Marstall, recruiter for Westar Energy, said that some of the first aspects she looks for are the student’s major, internships and programs they have participated in.

One program in particular that Marstall said is a good indicator for future employment is the Jayhawks on Wall Street Program. A group of selected business students visit Wall Street in New York City during the course of the program. The students have a high interest in investment banking and have the opportunity to meet contacts on Wall Street.

“That program incorporates exactly what we are looking for in employees here at the company,” Marstall said.

Marstall said Westar Energy is in growth mode, which is caused by more and more baby boomers retiring and causing more positions in almost all departments of the company to open up.

Westar Energy is planning the construction of a new power plant in Emporia, Marstall said. A new demand for a wider range of jobs is now present in the company.

“At the moment, with the new plant, engineering majors are going to be in high demand for Westar this year,” Marstall said.

Mimi Yang, field human resources manager for the Panda Restaurant Group, said that attending university career fairs is vital to seeking out qualified employees for the company. Yang’s company will open 150 to 170 new restaurants in the next year, including two more in the Kansas City, Mo., area.

More employees are needed to fill the jobs being created as the company grows, Yang said. Jobs in real estate, legal services and especially the position of restaurant general manager are becoming vital for her company. She said it is difficult to find individuals qualified for the general manager position even if he or she has a degree.

“As important as a degree is, it is more important to possess skills and characteristics such as being highly proactive, responsible, able to multi-task and stress management,” Yang said. “I mean, we are talking about a million-dollar business.”

Some fields in business, Yang said, are not as needed but very popular to encounter for the Panda Restaurant Group.

“We get a lot of interest from marketing-related students,” Yang said. “We feel, though, that the company can market itself if the product is good enough to have customers talking.”

Graduating business students are still not giving enough attention to some career paths, Jordan said, even though the companies offer employment opportunities on par, if not better, than the other companies at the career fair. Most of these companies are government and not-for-profit related.

Jordan said that these companies are very selective and their benefits and compensation packages sometimes rival most other companies.

“There seems to be preconceived notions about these kinds of jobs,” Jordan said. “They may not be as attractive as some other employers, but many students are missing out on one solid career path.”

Clay Schneider, Topeka freshman, passes a movie theater and a pool every day while walking to class because he lives in Naismith Hall. Schneider said he feels a definite change in his lifestyle.
“A lot of the stuff here is nicer than what I have at home,” Schneider said. “When I came here it was kind of like wow I am on vacation.”
The $30,000 movie theater, which opened this fall, is Naismith Hall’s newest amenity used to attract students. This month Naismith Hall’s Web site will have a link that allows residents to see which washer and dryers are available in the laundry room. A coffee shop is scheduled to open by the end of the semester. Naismith Hall is not the only student housing complex to boost its amenities.
Housing complexes across Lawrence are increasing their amenities to attract students. The Reserve, 2511 W. 31st St., now offers its residents road side assistance anywhere in Lawrence. The Legends Place, 4101 W. 24th St., spent $10,000 to buy and install its first tanning bed that residents will start using as early as next week.
Competition is one of the reasons for the trend in added amenities. All three housing complexes are under capacity. According to Sam Sankovich, general manager at Naismith Hall, capacity is at 94 percent with 480 residents. Kory Wilcoxson, resident services manager at the Reserve, reports capacity at 91 percent with 655 residents. Tony Yadrich, the assistant manager at the Legends Place, said the capacity is at 86 percent with 543 residents. Keane said the amount of apartment complexes in Lawrence keep amenities competitive.
“Amenities are what set you apart from the competition,” Keane said. “To offer residents something that the others don’t have and something that they will actually use is a great advantage.”
But Sankovich also attributes the trend to the rising standards of student living before college.
“They want these things because they are the generation that has grown up with this,” Sankovich said. “They all have computers, cell phones and these things make it different than it used to be.”
Some amenities like a pool, hot tub and tanning bed have become standard in order to compete in this market according to Tony Yadrich, the assistant manager at the Legends Place.
Amenities can equal higher rent. Kirsten Kuwon, Chicago sophomore, said she thinks her rent payment at the Legends Place will be balanced out by the money she hopes to save from using the tanning bed amenity.
“I’m excited that they are getting a tanning bed here because it is included in the price (of rent) and it is so expensive everywhere else,” Kuwon said.
Ashleigh Garcia, Topeka junior said convenience and comfort would be her motives for using the Reserve’s road side assistance amenity.
“I have AAA but I know a lot of people that work at the Reserve so I just think it would be nice to have someone you know help you,” said Garcia.
Sankovich said he sees the trend lasting as long as the students continue to have options on where to live.
“Because they (the students) are willing to pay for it and we can offer it, that (trend) is not going to stop,” Sankovich said.
Next year, Clay Schneider plans move away from Naismith Hall. Although he said he likes living there, he also said he would like a place with fewer amenities so he can feel more prepared for life after college.
“Sure it is nice to have the pool, the cafeteria and all of that,” Schneider said. “It kind of makes it feel more like a hotel. But I think I am going to try to find a place that is homier so I get used to living on my own.”

by Katherine Mulder
Clay Schneider, Topeka freshman, passes a movie theater and a pool every day while walking to class because he lives in Naismith Hall. Schneider said he feels a definite change in his lifestyle.
“A lot of the stuff here is nicer than what I have at home,” Schneider said. “When I came here it was kind of like, wow, I am on vacation.”
The $30,000 movie theater, which opened this fall, is Naismith Hall’s newest amenity used to attract students. This month Naismith Hall’s Web site will have a link that allows residents to see which washer and dryers are available in the laundry room. A coffee shop is scheduled to open by the end of the semester. Naismith Hall is not the only student housing complex to boost its amenities.
Housing complexes across Lawrence are increasing their amenities to attract students. The Reserve, 2511 W. 31st St., now offers its residents road side assistance anywhere in Lawrence. The Legends Place, 4101 W. 24th St., spent $10,000 to buy and install its first tanning bed that residents will start using as early as next week.

Competition is one of the reasons for the trend in added amenities. All three housing complexes are under capacity. According to Sam Sankovich, general manager at Naismith Hall, capacity is at 94 percent with 480 residents. Kory Wilcoxson, resident services manager at the Reserve, reports capacity at 91 percent with 655 residents. Tony Yadrich, the former assistant manager at the Legends Place who took another position within the company, said the capacity there is at 86 percent with 543 residents. Keane said the number of apartment complexes in Lawrence keep amenities competitive.
“Amenities are what set you apart from the competition,” Keane said. “To offer residents something that the others don’t have and something that they will actually use is a great advantage.”
But Sankovich also attributes the trend to higher standards of living students have before college.
“They want these things because they are the generation that has grown up with this,” Sankovich said. “They all have computers, cell phones and these things make it different than it used to be.”
Some amenities like a pool, hot tub and tanning bed have become standard in order to compete in this market, according to Tony Yadrich, the former assistant manager at the Legends Place.
Amenities can mean higher rent. Kirsten Kuwon, Chicago sophomore, said she thinks her rent payment at the Legends Place will be balanced out by the money she hopes to save from using the tanning bed amenity.
“I’m excited that they are getting a tanning bed here because it is included in the price (of rent) and it is so expensive everywhere else,” Kuwon said.
Ashleigh Garcia, Topeka junior said convenience and comfort would be her motives for using the Reserve’s road side assistance amenity.
“I have AAA but I know a lot of people that work at the Reserve so I just think it would be nice to have someone you know help you,” Garcia said.
Sankovich said he sees the trend lasting as long as the students continue to have options on where to live.
“Because they (the students) are willing to pay for it and we can offer it, that (trend) is not going to stop,” Sankovich said.
Next year, Clay Schneider plans to move out of Naismith Hall. Although he said he likes living there, he also said he would like a place with fewer amenities so he can feel more prepared for life after college.
“Sure it is nice to have the pool, the cafeteria and all of that,” Schneider said. “It kind of makes it feel more like a hotel. But I think I am going to try to find a place that is homier so I get used to living on my own.”

Lawrence – In March 1968 Bobby Kennedy spoke to a crowd of students at Allen Fieldhouse. Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, said a presidential candidate who appeals to college students the same way Bobby Kennedy did has not come along, until Barack Obama.
Today the two presidential political groups at the University – Students for Ron Paul and University of Kansas Students for Barack Obama – are both trying to garner student interest in their respective candidates. The similarity between the candidates is the perception that they will change politics.
“Before Barack Obama I was cynical about politics,” said Vineeth Hemavathi, Chicago sophomore and president of the University of Kansas Students for Barack Obama. “It’s always the same promises from politicians and nothing gets done. I feel that Barack Obama has the power to change that.”
The Obama campaign was the first to institute a division directly for, and run by, students. The Students for Barack Obama division of Obama for America currently has more than 550 chapters at colleges and universities throughout the country.
But not everyone is as hopeful about Obama’s ability to implement change.
“It doesn’t look like he is carrying through with his promises,” Loomis said. “If he did there would be more happening on campus.”
Both groups are holding meetings and handing out fliers with information about their candidates and trying to encourage students to vote in the primary.
The Obama group is eager to point out the work he has done with tuition and student loans. The first bill Senator Obama introduced in the Senate would have made college more affordable for many students by increasing the maximum dollar amount of Pell Grants from the existing limit of $4,050 to $5,100.
“Obama would eliminate wasteful subsidies to private student lenders and instead support the federal Direct Loan program, invest the savings in additional student aid and add greater transparency to the student financial process,” said Clarissa Unger, Kansas deputy coordinator of Students for Barack Obama.
Last month legislation passed, increasing the maximum dollar amount of Pell Grants and making more Pell Grants available for students over the next five years. The Democratic Party’s top two presidential candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton and Obama, voted for it.
But Loomis disagrees with the importance of tuition and student loans to young voters.
“Pell Grants don’t motivate young people to vote,” Loomis said. “The only thing that could motivate students to vote would be if there was a draft. Most students don’t like the War in Iraq, but most aren’t being affected by it. If they were directly affected, we wouldn’t be in Iraq anymore.”
Eighteen to 24-year-olds made up 9 percent of the votes cast in the 2004 presidential election, a record high according to a CNN poll.
The consistently low voter turnout tends to cause candidates to overlook student issues and concerns.
“Ron Paul isn’t even really trying to get the youth vote because he is running as a Republican,” said Adam Wood, Lawrence junior and president of Students for Ron Paul. “Most registered college students are Democrats.”
Young adults voted for Democratic candidates over Republican candidates in the 2006 congressional elections by a margin of 58 to 38 percent in the House of Representative and 60 to 33 percent in the Senate.
Between 1972 and 2000, the turnout rate among youth voters had declined by 16 percent, but it rebounded by 11 percent in the 2004 elections according to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement based in the University of Maryland.
Bill Tuttle, professor of American studies, was at KU in 1968. His interest in politics stemmed from the Vietnam War and segregation issues.
Lawrence residents and KU students filled Allen Fieldhouse in March 1968 anticipating Bobby Kennedy’s speech.
“There was the amount of people the stadium holds for basketball games, plus three of four thousand more,” Tuttle said. “We [students] were ready for him because he was the best chance to end the war and bring black and white voters together.”
Three months after Kennedy’s speech in Lawrence, he was assassinated in California. The youth vote rapidly declined following his death.

The term “teen drivers” could soon have an entirely new meaning. Kansas House Transportation Committee will look at a new bill this coming legislative session that would increase restrictions on teenage drivers under 18.
The bill, SB 294, would increase the age to 15 to get an instruction permit, which requires a passenger 21 years old to be present while driving. After holding the permit for 12 months, a restricted license is attainable. The restricted license would limit teenagers under 18 to drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. to and from school, work or a religious function, limit the number of non-immediate related passengers under 21 to one and prohibit the use of a wireless device while driving.
Maggie Thompson, spokesperson for Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller, said that main reason for Miller trying to push the bill again is the recent statistics showing Kansas having a significantly higher percentage, 48.7 percent, of teens dying in motor vehicle accidents as compared with the national average, 39 percent, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Center for Health and Environmental Statistics.
“It’s not that teens aren’t getting enough driving experience,” Thompson said. “They just do not have enough life experience to handle to responsibility of driving.”
Public response for the bill has been positive, she said. The new bill would not affect getting a farmer’s driving permit, which allows teenagers who are 14 to drive unsupervised while doing farm-related work. Previous attempts to pass a similar bill have failed in the past because of farmers’ negative reactions to attempting to restrict a farmer’s driving permit also. Parents have also been supportive of the bill.
“It gives parents a backbone to enforce the driving rules,” Thompson said.
Cindy Connor said that it is disheartening that it took the death of her son, Cody Gumm, for her to realize that something needed to be done about driving restrictions in Kansas. In February 2003, her son, 16 at the time, was the passenger of a car driven by his 16-year-old classmate, who survived. The driver lost control of the car and hit another car head on.
“The more they wait [to pass the bill], the more kids are getting killed,” Conner said.
She has been involved in attempting to pass a graduated driving license system since the death of her son. Connor worked with Rep. Tom Burroughs, (D-Kansas City, Kan.), in attempting to pass the graduating driving license system. Burroughs sought Connor’s input on what she thought should be in the bill. She supports what is in the current bill, SB 294, but she also said she feels a farmer’s driving permit in unnecessary for anyone under 15.
“I’m not getting the same enthusiasm with this bill as I did last year with Burroughs,” she said. “I still am backing it 100 percent though.”
Julie Zule is a parent whose son, Matthew, 14, is in the process of obtaining his instruction permit.
“He doesn’t seem too excited about it,” Zule said. “In other words, he won’t take the time to study the driving manual so I won’t take my time to drive him to the test.”
She said she is worried that the proposed bill would not give enough time for the teenager to be with the parent. Too many laws try to make up for a lack of parenting skills, she said.
“I really do feel that the bill comes from a good place,” she said. “But the reality is just changing the age does not change the experience.”
When it comes to parental responsibility for teenagers caught driving illegally, she said she felt the teenage driver takes too much of the blame. She said that parents should be ultimately responsible in those situations, but she acknowledges that it would be impossible to punish parents if they really did have no control over their child.
There are too many ambiguous situations to punish fairly, she said. “Of all the teen accidents,” she said. “How much was on the parents?”
Lt. John Eichkorn of the Kansas Highway Patrol said that the younger teens are, the more prone they are to take risks because of a general lack of experience and maturity. The Kansas Highway Patrol is supportive of enhancements of laws that would reduce injuries or fatalities, and it feels SB 294 can accomplish just that.
He said the patrol hopes that when the bill is looked at in January’s legislative session it will pass. The patrol is involved with the Driving Force of Kansas, which researches ways on how to reduce the number of wrecks in Kansas.
“After talking with the Driving Force, one result that they came to was to increase the restrictions on driving,” Eichkorn said.
He said that he felt parents should know that a law does exist that addresses the punishment for a person who knowingly allows his or her vehicle to be driven by an underage driver.
“The situation does not happen too often where we confronting the parents,” Eichkorn said. “But parents should know there are consequences for their actions, too.”