Recently by Kayla Regan

For Mandy Shriwise, Overland Park senior and co-director of Center for Community Outreach, an infinite amount of issues need to be addressed and even more problems need to be solved. Violence against women is just one of those issues in Lawrence, and the continual effort against it requires the cooperation of the entire community,Shriwise said. So when 1,100 Torches, a charity organization in honor of Jana Mackey, asked her to become involved with their effort to end violence against women, as well as engage more students in community service, she jumped on the chance.


"A lot of things you raise awareness about you cant tangibly do anything for in our life," Shriwise said. "This is raising awareness of a way of thinking of how you can give back to the world around you. They're very open to that happening in any way."


1,100 Torches kicked off its campaign in November, and plans to be a strong presence on the KU campus and Lawrence area by next semester. Curt Brungardt, Jana's stepfather and cofounder of the group, said the name and mission of 1,100 Torches came from Jana's funeral. All of the speakers urged the 1,100 people in attendance to continue Jana's life mission and turn her single torch, Brungardt said, into 1,100 torches. The organization's goal then, is to inspire 1,100 people to perform at least one act of public service in honor of Jana, he said. In order to reach that goal, Brungardt said he needed the support of Jana's community
"My belief is over half of 1,100 people will come from the Lawrence area, because that's where Jana's friends were," Brungardt said. "If we get people that have never volunteered before, or haven't in a long time, think about literally the thousands of people that are impacted. "


Shriwise said she planned to incorporate 1,100 Torches with "Into the Streets" week, held in February. The event showcases ways for students to become more active in the community and is CCO's biggest event. She said she would also talk to the program coordinators of the 14 groups CCO managed to try and get more people involved. CCO would make 1,100 Torches as accessible as possible to students through a referral process, although, Shriwise said the job is basically already done for her.


"We're doing this because she was a part of KU. She was a part of our community," Shriwise said. "I think that's a huge thing about the attraction of helping with this project. It's a perfect example of a community."


With 2,293 registered CCO volunteers, the belief in an all inclusive community involvement, that everyone can do something to better the world, is not new to KU. The tragedy of Jana's life and death is though, and Brungardt said that by late July, only weeks after her death, he knew that by following her example, he could at least keep her mission alive.
"Jana volunteered for years, was a counselor for victims against women, and she died that way," he said. "It helps all of her family and friends make this horrible thing into something positive."


Sarah Jane Russell, executive director of the Ga Du Gi Safe Center, worked with Jana at the center. Russell is in the process of organizing Wisdom for the Ages, a group in honor of Jana and the formal torch she picked up. She said that with Jana's story, 1,100 Torches could very well motivate real change in Lawrence.


"Jana and I had this conversation," Russell said. "The authentic effort to walk as equals; there has to be action behind the intent in order for it to happen."


1,100 Torches keeps track of Jana's "torches" with a numbered list on its website. The list features the name of the person who picked up her torch, along with their description of how they will honor her. This list is presently 116 names long, (Brungardt estimated the actual number to be 150) including a childhood friend of Jana's mother, who Brungardt said, was organizing a women's clothing drive. Paige Blair of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, which is helping 1,100 Torches recruit volunteers in the greater Lawrence area, said that the group would be especially effective in motivating community volunteers.


"I think that Jana's story is really inspiring and sometimes people need a push to get involved," Blair said.


Women's Transitional Care Services, a resource center for victims of crimes against women, is among the 116 names on the list. Sarah Terwelp, executive director of the center, said WTCS had several plans in the works with 1,100 Torches that funding was presently being sorted out for. Whatever WTCS works out with the group, Terwelp said 1,100 Torches would definitely accomplish their goal in the Lawrence community.


"As 1,100 Torches becomes more established in this community and in the state, someone who thought about doing volunteer work, after hearing her story and being touched by it, will be motivated to get out there and get something done," Terwelp said.


With a feature in National Jurist Magazine, coverage from network news stations and a part in the national theater production "Words of Choice," 1,100 Torches and its story are only getting bigger. While Brungardt said he was excited about the attention the foundation was getting, it would not distract him from the mission.


"Our goal is to ever so slowly alter the course of history," Brungardt said. " It's important to honor someone's life, but that's not enough for Jana. We need to carry her work forward."

Almost all of the 28 children in Hilltop Child Development Center's Jayhawk room voted for Barack Obama in their class' mock election. Each of the children, ranging from ages 6 to 12 years old, seemed to be aware that Obama was black, and that his election would make him the first minority president in U.S. history.
"It means a lot to us and it's good for African-Americans because they haven't had a chance. This is a very big celebration," 9-year-old Nora said while sewing a brightly colored felt pillow.
7-year-old Landon disagreed.
"Americans don't want an African-American to be president," Landon said. "It's going to change a lot."

KU's Meagan Patterson has been studying the psychology behind children's attitudes on race. Now, she is involved with a new study that hopes to discover whether Obama's election could change children's perceptions of race.

Patterson, who holds a doctorate in developmental psychology, conducted research in 2006 with the University of Texas at Austin that looked at children's explanations for the succession of white-male presidents in American history. She said that new data would be collected until December to see if the recent election changed any of these beliefs. Researchers in 2006 interviewed 205 children between the ages of 5 and 10 from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. They found that most children were aware that women and minorities had been excluded from the U.S. presidency, but still believed all races and genders should be able to become president. One-third of the children cited voter racial and gender bias as to why only white-males had been elected. Another third of the participants believed members of the excluded groups were unfit to hold the position of president. The remaining third of the children believed it was illegal for minorities or women to be president.
"It was a really dramatic case in that way," Patterson said. "We wanted to look at the big societal exclusion, and with the presidency, we all get to decide who gets the job, so it really has the opportunity to tell kids about gender and racial attitudes in America."

Patterson said Obama's victory indicated racial attitudes have improved since 2006. Researchers will collect new data for the study, which is also being conducted by the University of Texas, in hopes to determine how these attitudes have changed according to a child's age and racial group. Psychology indicates that a child seeing someone in the same ethnic group as them achieve success increases their confidence that they can do the same, Patterson said.

Because of this widely held belief, she said the study would also see how, or if, the election impacted minority children's career aspirations. Obama's example, she explained, set a standard for minority children who not only wanted to be president when they grow up, but also for children who would even consider it.
"What kids want to do when they grow up is going to influence what they do even if they ultimately don't do it," Patterson said. "So if you want to be president that's going to influence you to go to college or law school even if they don't get to be president."

Yolanda Jackson, an associate professor in KU's Department of Psychology, is one of the seven members of the American Psychological Association's Task Force on Resilience and Strength in Black Children and Adolescence. The task force, in 2006, looked at 450 studies of black individuals between the ages of 5 to 21 from various socioeconomic conditions and geographical areas. Jackson, who holds a doctorate in clinical child psychology, said that the task force tried to find solutions to the risk factors traditionally associated with black society that would propel young black people to become successful.
"Being poor is a risk for everybody. But there are plenty of people who were poor who are successful," Jackson said. "Instead we need to think about how poor kids become successful."

The point of the task force was to describe what set up black children for success, and to compile that information in a report that policy makers could easily refer to, Jackson said. The report took two years to write but the task force will continue researching the issue, she said. The task force report called for future research to consider the complexities of black society as potentially beneficial characteristics of black culture.
Four themes; active engagement, flexibility, communalism, and critical-mindedness, the report concluded, characterized successful young black Americans. The report outlined how these themes influenced young black people's self-identity, as well as physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.

Jackson said that even with a clear outline of what measures should be taken to help young black people be psychologically prepared for success, the country would have to wait to see any substantial change in race relations. The findings, along with Obama's election, are reason enough to be optimistic for a positive psychological shift in racial attitudes though, Jackson said. Such a shift, she explained, would make the country more comfortable looking at and solving race related issues.
"As Americans we expect things to be instant. We want things automatically. But change always happens slowly," Jackson said. "But I think this is the start of it, and we can be excited about it."

Koga Moffor, Overland Park senior and Black Student Union president, agreed with Jackson. She said that although Obama's victory would probably have little impact on older generations' attitudes of black people, it would likely change how younger children view racial stereotypes. Moffor said the psychological implications of young generations growing up when black people could be and have been president indicated a positive change in how Americans would identify themselves in the future.
"I think it changes the country's identity completely," Moffor said. "If Americans can take such a step in having a black president, it just shows that were taking a positive step."

Rachael Trader has mixed feelings about the 31 girls trying out for the 25 available spots in the Kansas City Roller Warriors league. Trader is a top player for the Dreadnought Dorothys, one of the four teams that make up the league. She said when she started roller derby in 2006, it was a closer, and more tight knit community. Now, the league is bigger, and with more girls, comes more drama, Trader said. She shows no negativity towards the new girls though, and gives only words of encouragement as they struggle to keep from falling. She understands any nervousness they may be feeling about try-outs, and is thankful she joined the league before it was big enough to hold try-outs.
"I think if I had to try out, it would have scared me away from joining just because of how my personality was back then," Trader said.
Who Rachael was back then is a very different person from who Rachael, in her high socks, short-shorts and every piece of protective gear available, is now. Born Nov. 4, 1986, in Olathe, she enjoyed a happy childhood there with her parents and older sister. She went to KU in 2005 and lived with Overland Park senior, Carly Halvorson, whom she had known since the first grade. Halvorson remembered her reaction to Rachael's announcement that she was going to do roller derby.
"I was pretty surprised because Rachael is a really quite, really sweet person, and not aggressive or angry in any sort of way," Halvorson said.
Anita Trader, Rachael's mother, was equally surprised about her daughter's decision to pursue roller derby.
"Rachael is more of a peer to peer person. This was a sport you have to go down there and knock somebody out of the way. But it turned out to be one of the best things she's ever done," Anita Trader said.

Between 2005 and 2006, Rachael experienced the death of her grandfather, her parents' separation, the end of a four -year relationship with her boyfriend, and the loss of friends that comes with going away to college. And those were just some of the things that went wrong, she said. The series of unfortunate events triggered a period of depression in Trader's life, which she said left her ill equipped to handle college.
"I basically locked myself inside my dorm room and didn't do anything. Or I went out and did other things that were counter-productive. I couldn't focus on any work and it really made me ashamed of myself. And that's where derby came in," Trader said.
Anita Trader remembered the night of Rachael's first game. Most of the names on the back of the girls' shirts were similar in nature to teammate Traci Feuerbach's name, Toto Basketcase. When she found Rachael among the 10 girls on the track though, she read the name Archie Lee and number 59. After seeing the tribute on the back of her daughter's jersey, Anita couldn't help but tear up. Rachael picked the name for her grandfather, Archie Lee Dowdell, and the number for the year her parents were born, 1959.
After joining the Kansas City Roller Warriors, Trader's life began to turn around. She was rookie of the year in 2007, and even placed on the traveling team. The traveling team, which consists of the top 20 players in the league, gave her the opportunity to compete in Chicago, Houston and Austin. While in Austin, she helped her league win the first-ever national championship for roller derby. Feuerbach, who lives in Overland Park, joined the league two months after Trader did. She said Trader's roller derby accomplishments helped put her in a better place.
"It just brought her a lot of happiness, which she needed. It gave her something to be excited to be a part of it," Feuerbach said.
With two jobs, studying for an Organismal Biology degree, and an hour drive to Kansas City four times a week for Dreadnought Dorothy practice, Trader was soon overextended and exhausted. She decided to quit school and move to Overland Park to concentrate on her passion; roller derby. Trader's family and friends supported the decision.
"Roller derby was the thing that she really looked forward to and really enjoyed doing," Halvorson said. "It made sense for me that she didn't go anymore."
Now working at Sprint, Trader still resembles the same sweet, blonde haired, blue-eyed, pre-roller derby Rachael. Pre-roller derby Rachael though, her mother said, needed help from something to realize her full potential. That something just ended up being a little unconventional.
"When she went derby it totally changed her character. She just blossomed," Anita Trader said.
Thankful roller derby is in off-season, Rachael said she wasn't sure how long she would continue playing for the Kansas City Roller Warriors. She has decided to wait one more season though, and then reevaluate. Most careers in the sport last three to four years, and with two seasons under her belt and the prospect of an even bigger team of girls, leaving would make sense. But Trader is not looking for sense.
"I am waiting for a sign," Trader said.
As Rachael watches the 31 new girls awkwardly skating backwards across the rink, she might have found the sign she's looking for. She helps up a player though, and gives them sound advice on proper stopping technique. It appears the sign will have to wait another season.

The routine for politically active individuals from the 1960s and 1970s included sit-ins, protests, and Bob Dylan.  As Dylan himself predicted though, the times changed.  Americans, responding more to political issues this election year than in 2000 or 2004, still demand that their voices be heard, but are instead letting their dollars do the talking.                                                                                                             

Melissa Padgett, manager of The Third Planet, said she noticed the rising demand for political t-shirts when more and more people began asking for and buying the shirts just a short time after the 2004 election.  Consequently, The Third Planet ordered its first Obama t-shirts after the primaries, and sells five different lines of Obama shirts, with another line on the way.  Padgett said The Third Planet investing so much in election-oriented shirts only makes sense, as the store has a hard time keeping its 36 lines of different political shirts, which sell at an average price of $19.95, on the shelf. 

 "We wouldn't do it if they didn't sell," Padgett said.  "We put our money where our mouth is."   

Besides The Third Planet, other t-shirt distributors are also profiting from this election season.  In 2004, Ryan Redcorn, a graphic designer and University of Kansas graduate, founded Demockratees, a t-shirt designing company.  He said he made $15 a week by selling his shirts to The Third Planet and worked from a 500 square foot apartment in Clearview City, Kan.  Today, he said he makes $6,000 a week from Demockratees alone, sells his t-shirts to national community leaders from organizations like The Native Vote, and works from a 3,000 square foot warehouse.

Another Lawrence t-shirt business also hopes to cater to the demand for political clothing.  Blue Collar Press, one of the first companies to press Redcorn's designs, just came out with 12 original political t-shirts.  Hoping to sell at least 100 shirts before the election, Blue Collar Press plans to have the shirts available to customers in the first week of October.  For Sean Ingram, owner of Blue Collar Press, the recent success of the political t-shirt business is easily explained.

"Two things drive t-shirt sales, when somebody's excited about something and when somebody's pissed off about something," he said.

Despite how trendy political t-shirts may be, Blue Collar Press cannot expect its new t-shirt lines to bring in any substantial profit past Nov. 4, the day of the 2008 presidential election.  This expectation is not unfounded.  A graph tracking weekly product sales of political items on Cafépress.com shows the sales figures for items supporting former presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton fell dramatically since her campaign ended.  Ingram said he would donate any election shirts left over after the Nov. 4 expiration date to Goodwill.  Looking past theelection deadline, The Third Planet is busy planning for Jan. 20, the official end of the Bush presidency.  To say good-bye to all of its anti-Bush apparel, Padgett said the store, which stopped ordering anti-Bush items this year, would hold a "Bush Burning Sale" from October to the inauguration date.               

Unlike The Third Planet or Blue Collar Press, Demockratees is not expecting the demand for its political t-shirts to go down.  In fact, Redcorn said the company, which currently breaks even, is on pace to double its selling rate in the next year, potentially making a $6,000 profit.  He said he separates Demockratees shirts from simple political t-shirts by making sure his products highlight diverse issues that are reflective of his own ideologies.

"A lot of the reason I've stayed in business is that my ethics are congruent with the messages on the shirt, my business plan is congruent with it, and the people who are buying it are congruent with the message," Redcorn said.    

By giving normal individuals exposure to complex issues that may be under the radar, screen-printing, Redcorn said, can act as a billboard that raises awareness for a cause while, at the same time, expressing a personal opinion or belief.  The appeal of the multi-functions of political t-shirts certainly helped contribute to the trendiness of message driven apparel.  After noticing signs of this fad growing on campus, Andrew Toth, KU Young Democrats president, said that wearing a political t-shirt to show genuine solidarity for a cause is only a few steps removed from wearing the same item to jump on a bandwagon.

"We, as Americans and as people, reflect what we believe with what we wear," Toth said.  "So, in order to support your side and identify yourself as being on a certain 'side,' you wear a political t-shirt, and it becomes a fashion statement and eventually enough people do it for it to be trendy."