Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Noland)

At more than 200 feet in the air, it’s hard not to feel more alive.

Twenty-year-old Alex Schultz feels the butterflies creeping into his stomach when he looks down and sees specks for people, and slightly bigger dots for cars. Alex can’t stop, doesn’t want to stop, climbing toward the top of a radio tower in Manhattan, Kan. Excitement, not worry, pushes Alex higher when he notices an American Airlines plane ascending into the sky just miles to his left, seemingly flying at the same height. Only a few days into his job at Hayden Towers, a radio tower construction and maintenance company, the University of Kansas sophomore cannot help but wonder, just for a split second, how on top of the world the plane’s pilot must feel.

How much he wanted to be there

Alex Schultz was only 4 when he saw his first Blue Angels air show. He remembers watching the famous group of Navy fighter planes blasting in the sky, tumbling and spinning, entertaining the crowd with dangerous mid-air maneuvers near his home in Dallas.

“By the end of the show, I had made up my mind,” Alex said. “I was not just going to be a pilot. I was going to be a Blue Angel.”

And, until last semester, this high-flying dream was his life’s motivation.

Growing up, he lined his walls with drawings, photographs and posters of Navy fighter planes. The military, particularly the Navy, became Alex’s identity, what made him happy. After seven years in Dallas and eight more in Monroe, Mich., his parents moved with him and his younger sister, Cassie, to Topeka. Alex was 16. His family worked their lives around his dream. They moved into the Shawnee Heights High School district, after weeks of searching by his dad, the only area high school that offered Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp, or ROTC. By the time Alex graduated, he was his school’s cadet executive officer, the second-highest rank in the program. College was the next step toward becoming a Navy pilot.

Then his dream started to tumble.

Alex applied to the Naval Academy in the fall of his senior year and to the University of Kansas. He remembers ripping the letter from the Naval Academy open when it arrived: He was wait-listed.

“I got a couple of letters for several months after I applied,” Alex said. “Most of them were just trying to keep my interest. After really believing I would be in the Naval Academy, all such hopes got shot down.”

In June after his senior year, he found out he had not been accepted. He was angry. But he still had another option. The University of Kansas offered Alex a Navy ROTC scholarship.

Alex said his first semester, in the fall of 2005, went well. His grade point average hit 3.5. His pilot dreams remained intact. Then his parents’ relationship deteriorated during his second semester of last year. His grades did, too. He withdrew.

Steven Griswold, Forsyth, Ill., sophomore at KU, and Alex’s best friend, noticed an increasing lack of motivation in Alex.

“He was always really talkative, from the first day I met him,” Griswold said. “I definitely noticed when he started keeping to himself and not leaving his door open like he always used to.”

The military teaches duty, honor and respect. Alex wanted emotional support.

“I lost interest in my classes, but the biggest problem was the lack of support,” Alex said. “I didn’t want to talk to my parents, and I felt like everyone was dragging me down. The Navy ROTC program paid for my education, so they’re supposed to care about how you’re doing, but they just don’t.”

Alex’s grades plummeted to below a 2.0. He had to attend a meeting with the program’s board of review. He got a second chance, but being a pilot became the last thing on his mind. For the first time in his life, Alex pondered whether the Navy was for him or not.

“I thought a lot about the lack of support, the lack of care that everyone with similar dreams showed,” Alex said. “I thought, if I’m dealing with all this now, how much worse is it going to be in the actual Navy?”

“He just never seemed happy for a period of three to four months,” said Will McCullough, another college friend. “He seemed more excited the day he told me he was out of ROTC than he had the entire semester.”

Alex dropped out of KU in the fall of 2006. He owes the University’s Navy ROTC more than $10,000 worth of student loans.

Alex feels the wind around him pick up as he nears the radio tower’s top. By this time, snow falls from clouds that appear touchable.

“Right now, I am just trying to work and pay off my loans,” Alex said. “I don’t know for sure when I’ll come back to KU, or if I will. It’s funny, though, because with my job now, I love being high in the sky.”

Lawrence has moved one step closer to getting its first Church’s Chicken.

Earlier this month, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted a request from Lahu, L.L.C., the company that owns the land, to reduce the parking lot setback of the 1400 W. Sixth St. property. Up to that point, Zarif Haque, the land’s owner, and his agent, Terrence Campbell, had faced opposition to their site plan for the new restaurant. The initial plan failed to meet city-zoning ordinances, and their variance request had to meet five conditions of Lawrence’s land developmental code.

But, with the request granted, Haque solved a problem that had been holding the plan back since they submitted it the last week of February.

“When we proposed the original plan, the city gave us a long list of requirements,” Campbell said. “We could not meet these requirements without first dealing with the 15-foot parking setback. Our variance dealt with the setback, and now that they have approved it, we can move on to smaller issues.”

Paul Patterson, one of the two planners working on the project, represented the city at the March meeting. He explained to the five board members the conditions that the variance needed to meet. After the meeting, Patterson realized the importance of the board’s approval.

“Having their request granted allows Mr. Haque and his company to do something different and more aesthetic with the setback,” Patterson said. “It gives them more space, which is ultimately the biggest issue with their plan.”

Though the variance brought Haque closer to a workable site plan, it did not guarantee a building permit. Through the Metropolitan Planning Office, Lawrence requires all site plan applicants to follow a strict process before any construction can take place. Four weeks after Haque’s Jan. 24 pre-application meeting with Mary Miller, the other city planner for the project, he submitted his plan. Miller saw problems with the plan already.

“They have a sort of pork chop setup for the drive-through, where the customers’ cars exit towards oncoming cars at the Sixth Street entrance,” Miller said. “Even the police said they were worried about potential traffic and safety issues.”

Patterson and Miller sent the site plan to 15 city departments; these agencies are reviewing the plan and have 21 days to respond either with their approval or with more changes Haque must make to the plan. Campbell would not discuss the specific remaining problems with the plan, but he said most of the issues arise from having to deal with surrounding businesses and residences.

One of these residences lies just north of the property, adjacent to the parking setback. Joe Barnes and his wife have lived in the house for more than 30 years. Though the couple is not opposed to the restaurant’s construction, Mr. Barnes doesn’t know how the plan has even made it this far.

“When I found out they were trying to make the property into a restaurant, my first reaction was shock,” Barnes said. “With all the traffic that comes around here, I thought there’d be no chance the city would consider building another restaurant in the area.”

Even though the plan’s review period concludes March 19, Haque realizes he then must revise the plan so that it features all changes the departments require for its approval. Haque hopes to obtain a building permit by this summer so that construction can begin by August or September.

Campbell said that he knows reaching an agreement with the city can be a tedious process, but he thinks that the plan already got through the hardest part.

“It’s all still a work in progress, going back and forth between the city and us,” he said. “But, getting the variance was a big deal, so we don’t have much doubt that our plan will eventually go through. By this fall, there should be a Church’s Chicken in Lawrence.”

Women at KU who feel their voices are never heard may finally find listeners on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the 2007 women’s leadership conference “Redefining the Voice in Every Woman.”

The conference lasts from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will be in the Kansas Room, on the 6th floor of the Kansas Union. The Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center, the group in charge of the event, decided to make this year’s presentation free. Kathy Rose-Mockry, director of the center, said that she hopes more women will attend because of this decision.

“The women’s conference is always a huge success and often a life-changing experience for those that come,” Rose-Mockry said. “Many students in years past have missed out simply because they could not afford it, so we eliminated that barrier this year.”

Called V.I.E.W. for short, the conference will feature keynote speaker Marlesa Roney, vice provost for Student Success. The center puts on the event at KU every year to promote independence and self-perception in college women.

“The ETWRC is here at KU to raise awareness, get women informed and, most importantly, to get women empowered,” Rose-Mockry said. “The V.I.E.W. conference is probably our most successful program in accomplishing these things and more.”

Though the center runs the conference, KU students plan the majority of its setup. Rose-Mockry has attended the event every year since her arrival here in 1997 and says it always reflects what the students want. Rachel Burchfield, Overland Park, Kan., sophomore, voluntarily works at the center and looks forward to attending an event she helped plan.

“I didn’t know what the ETWRC or conference was all about last year, so I didn’t go,” Burchfield said. “This year, now that I’ve actually played a role in its development, I’m way excited for the conference and what it will offer to us KU ladies.”

Despite no cost and a student-friendly environment, V.I.E.W. is not for everyone. Abbey Faris, Fort Collins, Co., junior, attended last year’s conference and came away disappointed.

“I agreed with most of the ideas mentioned and sympathized with the issues addressed,” Faris said. “But, I think too much of it was boring lecture, not encouragement and helpful advice like I expected. I felt like I was just in another class, only with a lot more girls.”

Rose-Mockry says that this year’s conference will provide more interaction time, where attendees break up into small groups and hear what fellow students have to say. She feels that V.I.E.W. will have a lasting impact on those who attend.

“Women at all levels of college will, without a doubt, hear encouragement they’ll remember for a long time and meet people who can expand their horizons as a woman and student,” Rose-Mockry said. “February 3 is the biggest date marked on my calendar this year.”

As the plane landed at the Buenos Aires airport, the runway lights’ blinking couldn’t match Rachel Bock’s fastened heartbeat.

She wondered where the high-rise buildings were and why she couldn’t see a McDonalds or Starbucks nearby. The plane’s tunnel led her into a blur of people speaking only Spanish. Rachel followed the baggage claim signs with difficulty, barely remembering the language she learned the last five years. Spanish isn’t so easy when there’s no teacher to translate or classmate to for help.

English, good grades and small-town Kansas roots would be no help to Rachel in Argentina. Even as her heart raced and she realized this foreign land would be home for months, Rachel felt more excitement than fear. Other cultures had always interested her, and though she was alone this time, Rachel went to Brazil a year before. She was afraid but definitely ready.

A senior this year at KU, Rachel grew up in Wyandotte, a small county outside Kansas City, Kan. She came to KU already exposed to diversity, though. Her high school class at Sumner Academy wasn’t more than 150 students, but Rachel says she probably knew at least one classmate from almost that many countries.

“Growing up near Kansas City, most people think going to a foreign country at the age I am would be incredibly scary,” Bock said. “But I didn’t grow up in the typical Kansas town, either. I went to a high school with kids of just about every race or ethnicity you can think of.”

Rachel began taking Spanish classes in eighth grade, but her contact with other cultures didn’t stop there. She resisted the white, middle-class society that dominates much of Kansas City and embraced everyone she met. Rachel developed friendships that can only work through acceptance, not judgment. One of Rachel’s classmates at Sumner and now KU, senior Julie Vinh, became instant friends with Rachel.

“Rachel is definitely accepting of everyone,” Vinh said. “I think that’s what set her apart from others. I am Vietnamese and have never been ashamed of that, and unlike most kids, Rachel was never ashamed of it, either. She likes people for who they are, not what they are.”

With early cultural exposure and ongoing Spanish education, it didn’t take long for Rachel to start thinking about the world outside of Kansas.

“I always thought about going abroad in high school,” she said. “After my Spanish class went to Spain, after graduation, for three weeks, I knew I wanted to go to other places. I became really interested in gaining different cultural perspectives.”

In the summer of 2005, Rachel studied Portuguese for three months in Vitoria, Brazil. She recently returned from a five-month stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Julie wishes Rachel would try to stay closer to home more often.

“She travels a lot so that can cut into our closeness as friends,” Vinh said. “But, I’m happy for her. She’s experiencing things that most people never get to experience.”

Just like she was ready to get off that plane in Buenos Aires, Rachel feels she’s ready for just about anything by this point.

“I feel like I could move to any city around the world and be just fine,” she said. “Other cultures no longer intimidate me. They fascinate me.”

Sensei Shohhei Maede's hands grip the Shinai as he walks barefoot on the padded floor of the KU Rec. Center. Two competitors stand about three feet apart wearing robes and armor and one of them wears a helmet and mask. One competitor raises the Shinai above his head and moves in on an offensive attack, crashing his sword down onto the defender's helmet.

"Good! Good!" Maede shouts to him as he turns to watch two more students compete against each other in a new KU club sport called Kendo.

Kendo means "way of the sword," and is similar in style to Japanese fencing. Kendo began to rise in popularity during the Kamakura Shogunate period in the 1100s. And over time it has grown into a nationwide sport. The Midwest Kendo Federation formed in 1974 and started with only three clubs. Today, the MWKF has grown to more than 20 clubs and 300 members.

Kendo’s popularity is on the rise not only in the United States, but in Europe and Australia as well. And Kendo is becoming increasingly popular on campuses like K-State, Colorado, HarvardandYale. Kansas City has a Kendo club and practices two times a week.

Two years ago Kendo hit the KU campus and had only a few members. Since then the club has grown to average about 30 students at the start of each semester, but after only a few weeks, that number dwindles to about 15 because of the physical and mental demands of the sports.

Maede became interested in Kendo fighting in first grade. Today, the sensei and Level 3 Don Kendo artist instructs KU students on two main aspects of the sport: patience and discipline.

"It’s more like training your mental skills, not the physical stuff," Maede said. "How I train is whenever I get tired, most people just quit. But Kendo starts from there. Once you get tired, that determines how well you can perform."

Kendo has two different fighting styles: Dojo and Jodan. Dojo is a more balanced and defensive style, having the sword in front to protect the body, and Jodan is an offensive attack where the combatant is in an on-guard position with the Shinai raised above the head.

The scoring of points and the language of the sport is unique. "Men" means a blow to the head, "kote" means a strike to the arm and "do" means a blow to the stomach. During each match, fighters must swing and yell at the same time to indicate where they intend to strike their opponent, and also to instill fear.

During a recent match, Marina Sulastri, a junior from Indonesia, used quick feet to position herself into her opponent’s defense area. She then struck a blow to the defender’s side and received high praise from Maede.

Sulastri said she first became interested in Kendo by reading some Japanese comic books about it. And when she saw that Kendo was available at KU, she joined the club last fall. She said one of the things she likes most about the sport is that having the Shinai in front of her body has helped her improve her posture. But she added that the sport also has some difficulties.

"When you spar, you have sword in front of you and you’re facing your opponent," Sulastri said. "And when you’re wearing the mask you’re pretty much looking in, focusing on your opponent. It’s very intense."

KU students pay $33 a semester in fees if they join the Kendo club. And if they purchase equipment like the robe, armor and mask, they can spend hundreds of dollars. Club members order their equipment mostly through Internet sites and can receive a discount if they buy from e-mudo.com.

"It’s a lot of fun. When you put on the armor and you’re fighting it’s really a good exercise," Sulastri said. "You put all the aggressiveness outside and you have to be on."

Mat Wehner has been in martial arts since he was seven years old. The KU senior said what he liked most about Kendo was the tactical approach.

"I think it’s the strategy," Wehner said. "It’s almost like rock, paper scissors. There’s three main places that you hit, and once you hit one of those areas you’re leaving yourself open in one spot. So it’s kind of like a game of give and take. You have to be able to hit where they’re open and getting back to protect where you’re not."

Wehner is about 6-foot-2 and 200lbs. He said wearing all that gear can present problems.

"The armor is cumbersome, especially being one of the bigger guys," Wehner said. "And most of the other people being very small and very fast, trying to keep up with them is a challenge."

Bigger than the other members of the club, Wehner’s power can be heard throughout the room when he swings.

"You’re not there to hurt anyone," he said. "Safety’s very important, especially when you practice. It’s not that fun hitting other people."

Wehner, who works full-time, said he spent about $700 for the robe, mask and Shinai. The club practices three times a week during the school year.

"Blisters are a very common thing, sometimes you want time to heal," Wehner said. "You can definitely get bruises. A lot of times when they hit for the body, they’ll hit right above where the armor is."

The Kendo club will practice two or three times this summer, and will travel to Kansas City in July to compete in a tournament. Maede said that he will not judge his students on their performances at the tournament, but he hopes the skills they learn from Kendo will be useful later on in their daily lives.

"I don’t care if they lose in the tournament. I don’t care," he said. "I just want to know after they practice certain years, they have more discipline skill in their social life or everyday life."

It happens once in a lifetime for graduating Jayhawks. Black graduation gowns cover the emerald green hill extending from the Campanile. About 5,000 seniors take the traditional walk down the hill to Memorial Stadium each year to celebrate their years of hard work and good memories at the University.

Commencement weekend is just as significant for Lawrence businesses. Every May hotels fill rooms, bakeries decorate cakes and restaurants serve impressive feasts. Businesses have prepared a year in advance for their busiest, most profitable weekend.

“It is no doubt our biggest weekend,” said Nancy Longhurst, general manager of The Eldridge hotel. “We benefit because it covers every aspect; food, drink and lodging.”
Families and friends travel across the nation and the world to attend graduation. Waiting until the last-minute to make reservations can place visitors out of town. Lawrence hotels advise families to reserve a room as early as they can.

“My mom made a reservation last year at this time and we were lucky she did,” said Lexy Sigg, Iola senior. “A friend of mine waited too long, and his family is staying in DeSoto which was the closest.”

The Eldridge has had guests call two years ahead of their graduation, but the hotel takes reservations only one year in advance. Springhill Suites by Marriott also uses a one-year in advance plan. To control the chaos, the hotel designates a specific date for graduation guests to call in on one of six phone lines set up for the day.

“Last year we told people to call on June 30,” said Rosa Perez, associate manager of Springhill Suites. “Within one hour on that day all 105 rooms were sold out.”

During graduation weekend, hotels become stricter on cancellations, payment and how many reservations guests can make. Springhill Suites allows cancellations a few months before graduation, because it can depend on the waiting list or last-minute callers. The Eldridge requires guests to prepay and doesn’t allow any cancellations.

“If you cancel, you’re still going to have to pay,” Longhurst said. “We’re always full on regular weekends, but there is such a high demand for rooms at this time.”

Time and room limits also apply. The Eldridge allows guests to stay a maximum of three days. Springhill Suites doesn’t allow families to reserve more than five rooms.

“We have a special $159 graduation rate for all rooms,” Perez said. “But we can’t just block out the whole hotel for one family.”

Businesses depend on large family gatherings for a profitable weekend. During the weekend, families enjoy dining, going to parties and shopping in downtown Lawrence.

Maceli’s catering is booked solid during April and May. The business caters to large groups and is involved with University events. Maceli’s has served for the Student Alumni Association, scholarship halls, department and school ceremonies, and athletic banquets in the week leading up to commencement.

“This time of year is great for us. Weddings are spaced out, but this is all at once,” said Suzanne Cotrel Doyle of Maceli’s. “It’s the one time the University grants us special permission to cater on campus.”

KU Dining Services has exclusive rights for all University events, but during the busy graduation season Maceli’s helps cater on campus. Maceli’s also caters for family parties of more than 25 people. Because of its diverse customers, Maceli’s is event specific; meaning the customer decides on the food, price and location of the event.

“We serve different types of groups, especially this time of year,” Doyle said. “They pick what’s most important to them, but most importantly what’s in their budget.”

Doyle has five family parties lined up for graduation weekend, all with different price ranges.

“I can tell you each party is unique,” Doyle said. “One customer is spending $42 per guest. Another is spending $17 per guest.”

Doyle believes families are willing to spend the money on a catered party. The expense is worth the time to visit with family and friends and enjoy while someone else cooks.

Vermont Street BBQ, also a catering business, sees an increase by 150 percent during May. A typical week has three catered events, but on graduation weekend the restaurant caters about 18 parties a day.

“Catering is huge for us,” Jordan Shelton, owner of Vermont Street BBQ said. “We bring in a lot of money because of the size of the parties, but they’re easy to do. We just drop off the food and leave.”

Bakeries have a huge increase in orders for graduation. Customers call months in advance at local Dillons and Hy-Vee stores to order a personalized cake.

“Graduation week alone brings in $ 2,000-3,000,” said Kerry Chalmers a cake decorator at Hy-Vee.

To keep the week running smoothly, bakeries follow an organized process. Two weeks in advance, ingredients for graduation are ordered to complete about 150 cakes. On a normal week, one or two cake decorators are in the bakery. Because of the number of cakes and the time frame, Hy-Vee brings in five or six extra workers during graduation week. Most of the customers call months or a few weeks early, but some customers call within a few days or the night before.

“We don’t turn people down even if it is the night before,” said Jacqulyn Padilla, a cake decorator at Dillons. “We did have to come up with a way to deal with late orders though.”

During the week of graduation, cakes are made all day and picked up from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. To guarantee last-minute orders, Dillons started an overnight shift. A cake decorator comes in and works from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. right before graduation.

“You are guaranteed a cake,” Padilla said. “If it is just too close we have about 100 pre-iced cakes ready to go.”

Both hotels and food service employees realize the importance of accommodating their guests at such an exciting time. They profit by making the weekend more enjoyable and less stressful for their customers.

“My whole family is coming into town for my party,” Lexy Sigg said. “We are going to spend as much time as possible together.”

The University of Kansas ranks number eight in the nation for study abroad, and University graduates are taking it to the next level and getting graduate degrees abroad as well.

According to a recent survey by Open Doors, the percent of students studying abroad from the United States has risen more than 7 percent since last year. While over the past decade, the number of students studying abroad has more than doubled.

Mary Klayder, honors lecturer and director of three different study abroad programs, has helped students choose programs for graduate school. She has written letters of recommendation, and she is able to tell her experiences while abroad to interested students.

“It gives people a different experience,” Klayder said, “It is more cultural.”

Klayder said people must have a reason to go abroad. It is a different way of learning, and the students should ask ‘what will I gain’.

“We are a nurturing school, it is not the way most schools are,” Klayder said, “The student must learn on their own and independence is required.”

Klayder said the student should look at the strongest university for their field of study. If the student studied a language in undergraduate then going abroad is beneficial.

“Germany is best for science and research,” Klayder said.

Christina Sell, Girard senior, had one school in mind for graduate school, the University of Leicester, in Leicester, England. Sell is studying European history with an emphasis on British history. She decided Leicester would give her the best program needed for her career goals. The British program can be completed in one year, while an American university could take two years.

“The post-graduate museum studies program at the University of Leicester is known worldwide for its excellence. Much of the theory on the subject and academic journal originated at Leicester,” Sell said.

Sell lives in a scholarship hall and said moving overseas will be different.

“I'm going to be living in a foreign country for a year by myself, and I do not know anyone else in the area,” Sell said, “I'm living in the university's non-catered post graduate housing, so I will live in a building with 10 other people. I will have my own bedroom but share a bathroom and kitchen with the other occupants and have to provide my own food.”

Sell said she would miss her family, car, and cell phone the most.

Klayder said she should get good internships at museums after studying there.

“It is easy for people to go to the U.K. since the classes are taught in English,” Klayder said.

One of Klayder’s past students is studying at the University of Toronto. Peter Buchanan, Stillwater, Okla. graduate, is majoring in medieval studies. Buchanan graduated last year with an English degree, and he received his master’s in Toronto after one year, and hopes to graduate with a doctorate by 2012.

“In medieval studies, Toronto is the best school in North America, so when I was accepted it was just an automatic choice,” Buchanan said.

While studying abroad, Buchanan has encountered multiple cultural differences.

“The biggest thing is that Canadians, especially graduate students, tend to be more liberal than many Americans, especially those from Kansas,” Buchanan said, “Drinking is more casual. There is much more of a pub culture in Toronto than there is in Lawrence.”

He also said the numbers of Canadians and Americans in his program are about equal, but Toronto is more diverse.

“Walking down the street you are far more likely to hear people speaking in a large number of languages, especially
French, Chinese, and Vietnamese,” Buchanan said.

While abroad Buchanan communicates with his family through cell phone use and instant messaging. He said he missed American food.

“I miss good fried food, the idea of chicken fried steak is foreign to most Canadians, and country gravy might as well not exist,” Buchanan said.

Students hoping to study abroad should look into all available option and need to be prepared for what is to come. While some students may get scholarships from the school, Mary Klayder recommended finding scholarships in the United States.

“It is hard to get money in other countries since they want money from the United States,” Klayder said, “It is not cheap, especially in England.”

Heather Leger, Derby graduate, is studying in Rome for a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Studies. She said she chose John Paul II Institute because of the price and because Rome is the heart of the church.

“My tuition for the two year master’s program was 2,000 Euros,” Leger said. According to the current currency rate, that is equivalent to $2,700 here.

“Even with my living expenses airfare, I've spent under 10,000 for the whole year,” Leger said.

She said she had a hard time getting everything finalized before she moved to Italy. Besides having to get a visa, receiving permission to live in Rome, and preparing her move overseas, she had to do other things to be accepted.

“I had to get a letter of recommendation from my bishop and had to speak Italian,” Leger said.

One of the downfalls to studying abroad is the language barrier. Leger’s professors did not speak English, while Peter Buchanan will have to learn Latin, German, and French before he receives his doctorate.

“You must be able to translate different academics,” Klayder said.

Studying abroad might not be for everyone, but graduating from Kansas can connect people worldwide.

“I met my current roommate while jogging in the park with a pair of KU running shorts. She just happened to be from KC, and we now live together,” Leger said.

When 17-year-old Marion Boyd, a high school junior from Overland Park, Kan., visited the University of Kansas, she hoped she wouldn't like KU as much as she had enjoyed her visit to Kansas State University.

"Initially I didn't really know much about KU, but I was so taken with K-State that I was really hoping I'd like one more than the other," Boyd said. "I liked K-State so much I thought 'I don't need to see another college.'"

Marion was only one of the many high school students to visit campus this semester during KU's 10 "Junior Day" events. No one knows for sure when KU began hosting junior and senior days, but the office of Admissions and Scholarships said the programs are at least a decade old. The department has always collected raw data about how many students attended the events each semester, but this summer will start analyzing that data to find correlations between student visits and when – or if – those students chose to attend KU. Lisa Pinamonti Kress, director of admissions and scholarships, said a recent restructuring of Information and Web Specialist Beri Lainjo's position allowed for this new way of analyzing data.

"A student could have come to a Junior Day but then entered KU as a transfer student," Pinamonti Kress said. "There's just so many ways to manipulate the data. That's what we're trying to figure out how to do."

Even though the University hasn't been able to analyze the correlation between junior and senior events and subsequent enrollment in KU, Pinamonti Kress said the demand for the events has increased.

"The way we know they've grown is we keep adding more Junior Days," she said. "We added two this year and they were still full." Pinamonti Cress said 150 – 200 visitors usually attend junior and senior events.

The department does not yet know how many students attended Junior Days this spring, but expects to have data from last fall evaluated by summer. Spring data will be ready some time in October.

"It's hard to get an accurate count," Pinamonti Kress said. She also said that, to her department, knowing the total number of students who visited campus is more important than knowing specifically which students attended a Junior or a Senior day.

"We would not quit having Junior and Senior days even if we weren't happy with the numbers because we just can't handle the number of people who want to visit," she said.

Both KU and K-State have hosted Junior and Senior Days for at least the past 10 years. The two colleges have similar formats for these events – which include a campus tour, lunch at a student cafeteria and free t-shirt – and both charge a $15
fee per visitor. Pinamonti Kress and Tamara Bowles, K-State admissions representative, said that the $15 fee doesn't entirely cover the cost of the events. Neither of them, however, view the extra expenditures negatively.

"I do think it helps recruit students, so it's worthwhile to us," Bowles said. "It is a great way to expose students to all the opportunities K-State has to offer."

Pinamonti Kress agrees.

"If we didn't spend it with campus visits we'd spend it on other recruitment," she said. "We don't want to increase the cost any more to our guests. You're going to have enough costs when you go to college." Pinamonti Kress said the average budget for junior and senior events was about $10,000. This amount is part of Admissions and Scholarships' normal budget and includes rental of the Kansas Union and of buses to transport the students throughout the day.

Pinamonti Kress added that students who have attended a Junior Day in the spring semester often come back for Senior Days in the fall.

"Especially if you come to the major-specific days you are going to get a lot more specific information," she said. "You could come to a Junior Day and a Senior Day and learn different information."

Marion Boyd plans to return to both KU and K-State next semester to attend Senior Days.

"While I enjoyed what I saw on both campuses, and I really loved what I had been exposed to, I think Senior Days is going to be necessary for both colleges so I can get a more in-depth view of my major at both colleges to make the decision," she said. If she decides to attend K-State Marion will major in biochemistry, but at KU her major would be chemistry with a biochemistry option because KU does not offer a separate biochemistry major.

Jakub Lichwa, Ropczyce, Poland, Junior, said he’s tired of paying high prices for textbooks. Before the start of the spring 2007 semester, he decided to do something about it. Lichwa started a group on the Web site facebook.com to give fellow KU students a place to buy, sell, and trade textbooks.

But Jakub isn’t the only one with affordable textbooks ideas. A local business owner recently opened a store designed to give better values for books, and the president of the Students’ Rights coalition is pushing for a program that would change the way students get their books.

After buying costly textbooks for his college-aged son, Dan Keating decided to go into the textbook business. He and his wife, Denise Keating, opened Beat the Bookstore on May 7, just in time for the spring textbook buy-back season. The store is on the outskirts of campus, next door to Yello Sub. Beat the Bookstore will try to live up to its name by lowering its cost of goods sold, and by keeping its books in the store instead of selling to wholesalers. Dan Keating said that bookstores tend to take advantage of students because they know that textbooks are a necessity.

“Rather than treating you as a captured market, you need to be treated with respect,” Dan Keating said.

Textbook rental may be a way to get around going to bookstores altogether. Johnathan Wilson, who recently ran for student body president as the leader of Students’ Rights, included a textbook rental program as one of his key platform issues. Wilson said that the proposed program would run through the Kansas Union and would involve students paying one flat fee and renting textbooks for one semester. He said that he would continue to push the program through the fall and that the issue would be on his platform again when he runs for student body president next spring.

“I feel that it's my duty to take initiative and cause positive change in the way textbooks are purchased at KU, to make them more affordable to students so they can spend the money elsewhere,” Wilson said.

As in Lichwa’s case, the Internet can be a helpful tool in avoiding bookstores. His group, entitled “Buy textbooks over the Facebook :),” now has more than 100 members. Lichwa said that he personally has purchased three books through the group, saving him about $110.

“The original purpose of the group was of course to get a chance to buy textbooks cheaper, without any intermediaries like bookstores or even Amazon or eBay, so we could also avoid huge commissions on sales. I was just sick of paying $150 for a book that could not be resold next semester anyway, because the new edition was just coming up on the market,” Lichwa said.

The bookstore may not be the source of the problem, however. Bill Madl, textbook manager at the Jayhawk Bookstore, said that book publishers are responsible for rising costs. He said that publisher representatives try to convince professors to use newer and more expensive editions of textbooks instead of staying with the previous year’s book. Madl tries to help keep prices low by educating professors on their textbook options. He said professors often think that older books will not be as easy to find as newer editions, which is usually not the case.

“If a publisher had its way, there would be no buy-back. They want to sell new product every year,” Madl said.

But publishers do have ways to lower textbook prices. David Hakensen, the vice president of public relations at Pearson Education, said that Pearson has expanded the number of affordable alternative they offer customers. He said the company makes split editions, loose-leaf editions, and black-and-white editions that are all less expensive than the normal books.

“We empathize with students and parents about the cost of college. College tuition and related costs are a big investment. We believe with some of the low-cost options we offer that we are helping to offer students alternatives for their learning materials,” Hakensen said.

Pearson also offers more than 1,000 different textbooks electronically. Some KU professors have begun to use electronic textbooks for their classes. Students buy the e-books in CD form, and read them on their computers. Madl said that the e-books would become more popular in the future as people become more comfortable with computer technology. E-books generally cost about half as much as their paper counterparts. Jeff Dressel, graduate teaching assistant in psychology, uses e-books in his two psychology 104 classes.

“I was trying to keep cost down for students, and the material in the electronic books is the same,” Dressel said.

These alternative ideas could significantly benefit students, whose frustration with buying textbooks is mounting.

“I think it’s pretty ridiculous, honestly, because it’s just a book, and a lot of times you can’t sell them because they get a new edition. That’s crap,” said Charity Lempenau, McCune, Junior.

There’s a woman begging. She wears a flannel shirt. Grime smears her face. Gauze covers her hands. Nearby, a girl in a dirty white shirt sits and plays the maracas, her eyes staring off at nothing. Finally, there’s the man with skin tanned to leather. He plays the guitar and waits for handouts. This is the reality of life for the homeless of Lawrence. Steve Ozark, Founder and Director of Lawrence’s Inter-faith Initiative, wants it to stop. “One thing the homeless are really missing is relationships,” he says. “The city’s case managers are overloaded; they see their clients once a month if they’re lucky. We’d like to see more relationships… We want these people to have a sense of community,” Ozark said. Housing the homeless isn’t the problem in Lawrence, Ozark said. The real problem, he says, is people’s inability to keep up with Lawrence’s cost of living and unwillingness of many citizens to invest in Lawrence’s homeless for the long-term. Ozark said finding these people long-term housing should be the number one priority of the city. The city estimates a homeless population of about 645 people. “Everyone agrees that Lawrence is short on permanent supportive housing. Our focus is to find funding so that we can house 4-7 people in a supportive community-like setting.” Ozark said. That’s why Ozark and the Inter-faith Initiative are now working to get money to start their own supportive housing without the help of the city. Supportive housing is a semi-permanent to permanent house that would keep four to seven tenants for as long as they want to stay. The house would make sure that the tenants were kept safe, help get them necessary medications and work on getting jobs, hoping the tenants would eventually move on to their own home. Shirley Martin Smith, the head of the Community Coalition on homeless, the city’s advisory board composed of homeless advocates said that she loves the idea of a permanent supportive housing project in Lawrence. Smith believes the plan is not only feasible in the near future, but also that it will be important in Lawrence’s future. “From what I know about it, it will be a very important component to fully serving a variety of homeless,” Martin-Smith said. Loring Henderson, head of the Lawrence Community Shelter who also helps head the Community Coalition on Homelessness was similar in his praise, but also believed the city needed to work faster to help the homeless of Lawrence. “This is a stage of growth in the city; dealing with the homeless. The first level was building emergency shelters. We need to realize what the next steps are. We need what Steve is doing, and he’s doing it on his own,” he said. “It’s [permanent supportive housing] is a good thing, and we need more of it through the city, state and local levels.” Currently, Lawrence has several emergency shelters but only one supportive housing center: the Hope Building, a joint housing project to help chronically homeless people with mental impairments find a home. Nathan Ledford, who sits in front of US Bank on Massachusetts St. with a cardboard sign that reads “HOMELESS WALLET STOLEN NEED MONEY TO GET HOME,” doesn’t think the city’s current homeless services are enough. “The shelters here aren’t good for getting people off the streets. It’s good for the night, but not forever,” Ledford said. “They get you clothing and food, but not the kind you’d like. We’re homeless, but we’d still like to provide for ourselves.” He said. Inter-faith has already found plenty of locations that it would rent for their housing project; currently Ozark is working with the religious organizations of Lawrence to raise enough money to get a three-year lease on a house. He’s also looking for volunteers to work at the housing project. Ozark says his presentation to the city commission asking for money didn’t go quite as planned. “The City said ‘go out and get the faith organizations to pay,’ but I think we all need to have a hand in this,” Ozark said. Shirley Martin-Smith and the Community Coalition on Homelessness are still working on a package to present to the city to officially say what the city’s responsibilities are to the homeless. “Our Presentation [to the city] is coming along very well. We’re contacting the faith based community for input. We’re hoping to have study session with city commissioners in late June,” Martin-Smith said. Although Ozark is a little frustrated with the city’s response to the issue of homeless in Lawrence, the presence of City Commissioner Dennis Highberger at Inter-faith’s last meeting was heartening. Inter-faith was Ozark’s idea of starting about 29 months ago after Ozark had ended his tenure with the city’s Community Coalition on Homelessness. He said that he saw that the homeless community needed not only money, but also manpower. Ozark said Inter-faith has had as many as 50 faith organizations working together at any given time, encompassing Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists. Ozark hopes someday to have all religious groups in Lawrence working with Inter-faith towards getting a good groundwork for homeless care in Lawrence. Once the supportive housing gets off the ground, Ozark said he would also be looking for a KU master of social welfare student to live in the shelter and help the occupants in exchange for free room and board. Ozark believes it would be a win-win situation, as the student would receive valuable experience, and the tenants of the housing project would have someone with them all the time.

Naima Omar, a professor of Arabic at the University of Kansas, stands in front of a packed class of 16 students. Every seat is taken. Omar must stand. The students separate into two groups and take turns asking and answering question in Arabic. Crystal Hainstock, a small blonde student, answers a question from the other group. Omar keeps tally of the score.

“I am taking Arabic because I am in the army,” Hainstock said before class started.

Omar has a wide range of students. Most are interested in international studies. Some are in the military, but others see themselves working in the Middle East, as diplomats, journalists or anthropologists.

Interest in Arabic at the University of Kansas is booming, as it is on college campuses nationwide. At KU, enrollment in Arabic has increased 350 percent, from 15 in the spring of 2001 to 68 today. This spring the university offered two sections of beginner’s Arabic for the first time.

“We definitely do not have enough people (teachers) to support the student demand,” said Omar, who is also the language coordinator for the African and African-American Studies department at the University of Kansas. “Last semester I had to close down classes because they were full.”

Georgetown University, with the largest Arabic program in the United States, has also watched its enrollment rise, from 222 in the fall of 2002 to 415 today.

“We used to have three sections of first year Arabic and now we have 10,” said Hanah Zabarah, the undergraduate language coordinator for the Arabic department at Georgetown.

Arabic is the fourth most spoken language in the world, with approximately 422 million speakers worldwide.

The growth in the number of college students taking Arabic is a nationwide trend, beginning in the early 1990’s and accelerating with the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It is pretty obvious. 9-11 and the War on Iraq,” said John Eisele, executive director of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic professor at William and Mary. “People are interested because of the political instabilities and the war in the area.”

According to a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the number of students enrolled in Arabic has quadrupled, from 5,505 in 1998 to an estimated 21,168 in 2006.

“There has been a tremendous increase in student interest, which has led to colleges expanding and opening new programs and hiring more people,” Eisele said.

KU only offers a minor in Arabic, but the increased interest is encouraging an expansion of the program. “We are actually working towards a major right now,” Omar said.

Students are taking Arabic for a variety of reasons. Research released in 2006 by Kirk Belnap, director of the National Middle East Language Resource Center and an Arabic professor at Brigham Young University, showed that the majority of students are taking Arabic so they can talk with people who speak the language, travel to the Arab world, and better understand Arab culture and media.

“The largest number of people are interested in working at NGOs,” Belnap later said.

The government is also searching for Arabic speakers. The America Association of Teachers of Arabic Web site features job advertisements from the Department of State, Air Force, Army, CIA and NSA. The Department of State currently employs over 270 people with professional Arabic skills, but it is still looking for more.

“We are committed to increasing the number of Arabic speakers at the Department of State,” said Brenda Greenberg, a spokesperson for the department. “State department recruiters specifically target schools and organization with language programs to increase the recruitment of Arabic speakers.

There are plenty of other job opportunities available outside of the government.

“There are so many openings not necessarily related to the military,” Omar said. “There are organizations like the U.N., and even businesses in the Arab world.”

According to a ranking compiled by the World Economic Forum, from 2005 to 2007 five Arab nations – Qatar, Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco – have gone up in global competitiveness ranking. In contrast, three Arab nations have gone down in the ranking: Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt.

“Today, the Arab world is at a critical juncture,” Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, said in a 2007 press release. “Although the region’s economies are currently very dynamic and offer tremendous business opportunities, there is no doubt that improvements to national competitiveness and closer integration with the global economy and within the region are necessary if this growth momentum is to be sustained.”

Even with the economic instabilities in the Arab world, business students are not shying away from Arabic classes.

“I think that there is a big movement towards learning Chinese and Arabic because that is where a lot of business is going to be going, and I am a business major, so I think it will definitely help me,” said Audrey Stucky, a student in Omar’s class.

The increased interest in Arabic, however, is causing trouble to the universities. They are having difficulties hiring professors and teacher assistants, since the demand for Arabic professionals is higher than the supply.

“Many of the spots are being filled by people with degrees that are not necessarily on Arabic speaking,” Eisele said.

In the foreign language edition of the Modern Language Association job information list, the number of advertisements offering Arabic positions in universities has gone from 17 in 2000-01 to 30 in 2003-04.

“There has been a real jump on the number of positions advertised,” Belnap said. “There is certainly a very strong demand for people who are well trained and have credentials to run a strong Arabic program.”

At KU, an increased curiosity towards Muslim and Middle Eastern culture has accompanied the interest in Arabic.

“Throughout the years more and more people have come to the events that we held pertaining to Islam and the Middle East,” said Fadlullah Firman, president of the Muslim Student Association.

In the last week of April, the Islamic Center and the Muslim Student Association held their annual Muslim Awareness Week.

Back at Omar’s class, the bell rings and students shuffle their books into their bags. Omar bids them goodbye. “Ma’assalama,” she says as the students walk by.

In living rooms across the country, kids, teens and adults alike hold plastic guitars with little colored buttons and play some of the greatest tunes of all time. These people are playing the now hugely successful videogame “Guitar Hero,” but several area Lawrence bands were playing the real thing in lawrence.com’s annual Deadwood Derby competition.

The finals for this battle of the bands took place May 4 and the event was founded last year. The semifinals took place in April. Each week, several bands competed in a round of competition, with one moving onto the finale. The judges picked a wildcard, which rounded out the final group. The bands in the finale were Sterilize Stereo, The Old Black, Dead Girls Ruin Everything, Kaw Valley Project and Left on Northwood. Before these groups competed though, there was an online competition. Bands for the semifinal rounds were chosen by a fan vote.

“We wanted it to be as open as possible,” said Phil Cauthon, lawrence.com’s editor. “It’s up to the bands to get their fans on there and vote like crazy for a couple of weeks. There’s no wondering why this band gets in.”

The winner this year was Dead Girls Ruin Everything and the members walked out the door with thousands of dollars in prizes, something that the bands were pining for. The prizes included free studio time, a music video, press kit and merchandise.

“There are ridiculous prizes as far as recording goes,” said Travis Hare, singer and guitarist for Kaw Valley Project. “Last time recording cost us $800 out of pocket, so $1500 for free was just to good of an opportunity to pass up.”

In addition to the monetary prizes, the Deadwood Derby also gave the bands exposure that is often hard to get in a local music scene.

“The grand prize is great, but it’s really the exposure,” said JC Cirese, guitarist for The Old Black.

It is that exposure that Cauthon had in mind when his friend, Jay Brown, came to him with the idea. Brown is a musician and works in entertainment law.

“It’s a rock show organized into a tournament that showcases local music,” Cauthon said. “We can cross-pollinate existing fan bases with others and mix up different types of bands.”

The judges were made up of area musicians and people who work in the industry, but the scoring was set up by Lawrence.com. The judging categories were crowd reaction, musicality, song selection, appearance and stage presence. While each judge comes from a different background, they said they wanted the winning band to have similar qualities and they all expressed how important Lawrence’s local music scene is.

“[I’m looking for] a band that has a good sound, plays well together and has a good stage presence,” said Ryan Pope, former Get-Up Kid and current part owner of Black Lodge Studios. “Local music is part of the history of Lawrence.”

However, judge Steve Wilson, who manages Keifs, writes reviews for the Kansas City Star and is a musician, say a key element is the quality of the actual songs.

“Songs [are an important element.] Without songs, you don’t have anything,” Wilson said. “And, you need the musicianship to execute those songs.”

Ultimately it is the fans who make the Deadwood Derby successful, from their initial votes to their support during the finale.

“We heard about the show because our friend is in The Old Black and we’re here to support the group,” said Cassie Pahcoddy. “Local music builds character to our little town and supporting local music is like supporting family and friends. Maybe someday they’ll be a little bigger.”

Those fans and the music are what keep most of the member of these bands going. A far cry from the superstars on MTV, the member of these bands have extra job and actually pay a lot of money out of their own pocket to get their music to the public.

“We all work two to three jobs and then we play our music,” Hare said. “We work 12 hour days and then come to practice. We take it seriously. The music is what allows us to do the other stuff. We work all day and have relationships and it all builds up every single day. It’s an extremely important outlet and it’s also extremely fun.”

All of the bands received a 30-minute free legal consultation and Lawrence.com will post a compilation CD of all 16 bands that competed, which will become available as a free download.

Photos of the event are available at our flickr site.

The Competitors

The future of smoking in bars and restaurants in Lawrence hangs in the balance as a case challenging the city's smoking ban now lies in the hands of the Kansas Supreme Court.

The court heard a Lawrence bar owner's argument against the city's ban on April 25 and is expected to hand down a decision no sooner than June 8.

The decision is sure to get attention from restaurant and bar owners across the state.

Phil Bradley, executive director of the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, is keeping a close eye on the case, but he said that even if the court overturned the ban, it would not make a huge difference in people's habits.

"The damages from the smoking ban have been done," Bradley said. "People who used to go out for a drink and a smoke after work have changed their habits. It will take a long time to get those habits back."

Mandy Buckwalter, Hutchinson junior, said she had gotten used to the ban and that she enjoyed smoking outside.

"I think it's a respectful law," Buckwalter said.

Bradley said that even before the city instituted the three-year-old ban, 85 percent of bars and restaurants in Kansas were already smoke-free, meaning that an overarching law was unnecessary.

"Businesses that felt they could do better as smoke-free establishments had already done so," Bradley said.

He pointed to what he said was a substantial decrease in revenue from drink taxes as an effect of banning smoking in bars. He said it was the first year in decades that revenue had decreased.

The Kansas Department of Revenue, however, showed a small increase in tax revenue, as opposed to an actual decrease.

Revenue from the liquor excise tax revenue, a 10 percent retail tax on liquor sales at private clubs and drinking establishments open to the public, increased 4.5 percent in 2004. In 2005, the first full year with the ban in effect, the tax revenue rose 4 percent.

Revenue rose again in 2006, up 7.5 percent from 2005.

A pre-ban research effort by a 2004 Lawrence task force on smoking in public places and in places of employment said that the lack of change in overall revenue was common after cities put smoking bans in place.

The task force's March 31, 2004 report said that half of all establishments, usually bars, could show a negative impact on revenue, while the other half, comprised mostly of restaurants, would show an increase in business after a ban, balancing out the bars' losses.

Bradley said that even though he is a non-smoker and does not care for smokers in public, he thought the law was too vague and granted too many exemptions.

The ban is supposed to prohibit smoking in all indoor workplaces, but Bradley said some places were exempt from the rule. Smoke shops, hotel rooms, and private residences that may have employed a nanny or maid all fall under the exemption.

Dennis Steffes, owner of Last Call and Coyote's, argued that the city ordinance which prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces preempted the state law allowing owners to determine whether to allow smoking on private property. He also said the law was unconstitutionally vague, meaning that the average person couldn't discern a clear meaning.

Billy Rork, Steffes' lawyer, said the issue was not that Steffes, a non-smoker, believed smoking should be allowed, but that he did not think the city should be able to make it illegal.

"I think businesses should dictate what goes on inside," Rork said. "This is just government interfering."

Sandy Jacquot is the director of law at the League of Kansas Municipalities, which helped the city of Lawrence defend its position to the Supreme Court.

She said cities have the ability to enact ordinances that do not conflict with state law, and that the Kansas Supreme Court traditionally says that ordinances more restrictive than state laws do not conflict with the state law.

Richard Levy, J.D. Smith distinguished professor of constitutional law, said that was called home rule, meaning that Lawrence has the right to make the ordinance as long as it does not conflict with the state law.

Levy said the court would have to interpret the language of the law and decide whether it implies that the businesses have the right to create indoor smoking areas, or whether having an outdoor smoking area is sufficient.

Even that decision may not bring an end to the issue, though.

"Another problem is that for some Lawrence bars, there are outdoor areas, but for others there aren't," Levy said. "If not all bars have the ability to designate a smoking section outdoors, is there a conflict?"

Steffes had been cited for violating the city ordinance, and when he appealed the guilty verdict, the court dismissed the case because the city was amending the code. He then took his case to district court, additionally asking for an injunction until the law was clarified, and finally he went to the Kansas Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court picked up the case because of the possible statewide impact.

Toni Wheeler, attorney for the city, said she expected the court to uphold the ordinance, because she thought the language of the law was clear enough to be easily understood.

If the court rules in the city's favor on the other issues, Wheeler said that Steffes' injunction request should be dismissed.

The court may give the city an opportunity to make changes to the ordinance if it finds the ban to be unconstitutional, and Wheeler said they would try to retain as much of the law as possible.

Juan and Leticia, a young, married couple illegal to the United States, have been sleeping well lately.

Their baby boy, born just two weeks ago, rarely cries at night. On this recent day, for the first time since the boy was born, the couple is meeting with a nurse and Spanish translator as part of a Lawrence program that is growing in popularity, as is Lawrence’s Hispanic population.

Nancy Jorn, director of medical health field services at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, heads the program, which is part of their Pregnancy and Parenting Services. The program is a collaboration effort between the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, local physicians and the Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Its goal is to provide free prenatal care and delivery to undocumented and uninsured women.

Since the program began five years ago, the number of families treated each year has increased from four in 2003 to 24 last year. The health department expects as many as 40 families to be treated in 2006, said Jorn. She said she thinks the growth is due to a general growth in the Hispanic population in Lawrence.

“The challenge is, many undocumented immigrant women don’t have access to the care they need because they are not eligible for government programs and don’t have the funds to pay upfront,” Jorn said.

The health department identifies the women who need care and then offers support with nurses and provides “wrap around services,” which include continuing education and counseling with housing, transportation, paperwork and child care.

It then refers the families to Lawrence physicians, who provide free prenatal care to the women on a rotating basis and deliver the baby at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Soon after the birth, the mother begins to file paperwork for emergency Medicaid, which is a federal program that provides reimbursements for child delivery to any mother who falls below a specific income level. Undocumented immigrants aren’t required to provide documentation or sign a declaration of their immigration if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Although emergency Medicaid covers the delivery fee, it does not reimburse prenatal care.
Without insurance, Jorn said, paying the $4,000 package fee, which includes prenatal care and delivery, is difficult for undocumented families. Yet without prenatal care, a baby runs the risk of complications and health problems, which, in the end, can cause life-long consequences.

“Our goal was to avoid having women come without prenatal care because it’s bad for the mom, for the baby and for all of us who pay the long-term cost,” Jorn said.

Jorn said the Health Department advertises their program throughout their building with bilingual posters and literature, and she hopes that through literature and word of mouth, more members of the undocumented community will become aware that the program is available.

Juan, 33, and Leticia, 25, who asked for their first names to be altered, live in a small, dark, second-floor apartment lit by a large window that lets in stripes of sunshine from thin, white blinds. On the wall hangs a portrait of La Virgen de Guadalupe, a symbol of motherhood and Mexican heritage, and next to it hangs a miniature, fringed Mexican flag. The checkered sofa that sits against the wall is adorned with small, white stuffed animals, and in the corner of the room sits a plastic car seat.

Leticia rocks slowly in a blue recliner adjacent to the sofa, where her husband and their English interpreter are seated. Meanwhile, the baby sleeps quietly in his crib in the next room.

Diane Pope, a nurse from the health department, leans forward slightly as she asks the couple how the baby has been sleeping and eating lately. After each phrase, she waits for the interpreter seated across from her to translate.

Juan and Leticia say that they haven’t had any problems yet. The baby wakes up two to three times a night, Leticia said, but as soon as she feeds him he goes right back to sleep.

“He just knows his parents feel comfortable caring for him and that helps him to be a happier, healthier baby,” Pope says.

After the couple light-heartedly shares stories about their baby, Pope helps them to fill out the baby’s insurance applications paperwork for emergency Medicaid. If their application is accepted, their physician will be fully reimbursed for the delivery cost.

Sometimes, Jorn said, there are barriers that keep physicians from getting reimbursed for the delivery. If the family fails to provide sufficient documentation that proves their level of income, for example, they cannot be accepted for emergency Medicaid.

“We always tell patients that if they aren’t approved, they may be required to pay,” Jorn said.

Since they arrived from Mexico two years ago, Juan and Leticia haven’t made a single visit to the doctor’s office, nor have they needed one. But when the couple found out Leticia was pregnant, a friend referred them to the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department for prenatal care.

“If it weren’t for this baby, we would never have gone to a doctor,” Juan says. “We felt we wouldn’t have any support. But knowing she was pregnant, we knew we had to do something to get the care we needed.”

Prenatal care is not the only health care issue for the Hispanic population, however. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the leading causes of death in the Hispanic population are heart disease and cancer. In addition, 20.4% of people diagnosed with AIDS in 2004 were Hispanic, making them the racial group most affected by the virus after blacks and whites.

Despite health problems, immigrants spend significantly less than U.S. citizens on health care. According to a study conducted by Dr. Sarita Mohanty for the American Journal of Public Health in 2006, immigrants spend 55% less per capita on health care than U.S.-born persons.

A possible cause for undocumented immigrants’ relatively low health care expenditures, wrote Peter J. Cunningham in the Health Affairs Medical Journal in 2006, is fear of being asked for documentation.

However, public hospitals generally do not collect information on their patient’s immigration status. At Lawrence Memorial Hospital, for instance, emergency room patients are treated in order of the criticality of their condition. The clerks ask for names, insurance information, addresses and social security numbers, but some patients do not provide all of the information.

“We try to make as complete of a record as possible, but if you don’t have some of the information, it doesn’t mean you won’t be treated or that you’ll have to wait longer,” said community relations worker Belinda Rehmer. “We treat anyone who walks through these doors the best we can.”

For child deliveries, which are generally not treated in the emergency room, the women are also treated regardless of immigration or insurance status. Once the baby is born, hospital and state case managers visit the patients to determine if they are eligible for emergency Medicaid reimbursements.

Unlike his parents, Juan and Leticia’s baby will not have to worry about being un-insured. Like all other babies born in the U.S., he is a citizen regardless of the legal status of his parents, and is thus eligible for government insurance programs.

Any child born in Kansas who is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level qualifies for HealthWave, which is part of a federal and state partnership called State Children Health Insurance Program created for uninsured children. The program covers physical, dental and mental health services for the children until they are 19 years old.

As she left the small apartment, Pope said she felt it was rewarding to see the families get the medical care they need for themselves and their children.

“I think the program gives to this population the type of medical care that is assured to citizens in the United States, so they are more likely to have a lot healthier pregnancy and healthier baby,” Pope said.

Becky Saathoff stood at the pool's edge, swinging her arms to warm up. She looked up at her mom, Sherrie, and the rest of her family and friends.

"Swim hard, Becky!" Sherrie shouted. Becky smiled and waved.

It was swim time.

The gun sounded and the swimmers dove in. Becky kept it close the entire race and never lapsed. Her strokes intensified and her contingent cheered her on.

"Come on, Becky," her mom screamed. "Kick it, kick it, kick it!"

She finished 1.3 seconds behind the first place finisher in the 50-meter freestyle, one of three events that she medaled in. Becky also won the silver medal in the 50-meter backstroke and the bronze medal in the relay race.

That evening, Becky Saathoff and friends celebrated her accomplishments at the first-ever Special Olympics National Games.

Becky, who has an intellectual disability, has matured as an athlete since her three-medal performance at nationals in Ames, Iowa in 2006. She started swimming competitively about six years ago, when her parents figured Becky's athletic interest could be tapped in Special Olympics. Training began on March 31 for the 2007 Kansas Special Olympics Summer Games, which will take place June 1-3 in Wichita. Becky's team, the Douglas County Gators, will compete in a total of six events at the games, but Becky's focus is in the pool.

"I want to get first place or second," Becky said. "But overall, I just want to do my best."

Becky's confidence is not entrenched in her desire to win. She wants to excel and always do her personal best, whether she wins gold or gets sixth place. She practices every Sunday for almost two hours and works with other swimmers on the team and the coaches and timers. Every Saturday, she works to beat her best time from the practice before. One of Becky's coaches, John Samuels, likes what he sees in Becky and thinks her attitude towards swimming is reflective of her overall perspective on life.

"She works hard to get better," Samuels said. "She knows that the only way she can achieve her goals is to practice."

Sherrie agrees that Becky has the right attitude to make her dreams happen.

"The great thing about Becky is she has no self-doubt if she works hard and tries her best," Sherrie said. "She is happy with the outcomes as long as she has done her best."

Becky's other coach, Danny Lenz, has seen a strong work ethic in Becky's performance and has noticed that her competitive humility, oxymoron aside, allows her to take swimming seriously and enjoy being with teammates and competitors at the same time.
Lenz has noticed Becky's enduring spirit and desire to achieve personal greatness.

"Becky never gives up," Lenz said. "That's a great quality for not only an athlete, but a person in general."

Becky works part time at the University's Department of Special Education and also works with someone who teaches her independent living skills. Her wish is to move out of home to an apartment with a roommate. Oh, and there's got to be a pool.

"I love to swim and I love to get better," Becky said. "I know swimming is something I can do forever."

To the Saathoffs, especially Becky, Becky's disability has never been an issue. Becky understands that she has special needs and that it takes her longer to learn things, but she associates the word disability with something physical. This mindset, not to be confused with ignorance, has had an extremely beneficial influence on Becky and how she lives her life.

"She doesn't see herself as having a disability," Sherrie said. "Only abilities."

Becky's disability hasn't affected her love for swimming and her drive to get better. When Becky was asked what the toughest thing to deal with in her swimming has been, she replied with the answer of an athlete with a little swagger.

"Nothing."

Jenny Collins, Overland Park senior, has had her share of college crises and triumphs. Despite the rollercoaster ride she endured for the past four years, Collins kept an open mind about the future and her prospects for a career.

"I'm pretty positive about my job security," Collins said. "I'm ready to make an impact in my field and I know that there are a lot of options."

Collins will graduate in May and will leave Lawrence for Tallahassee, Fla., in August, where she will attend Florida State University as a graduate student in religious studies.
Like Collins, thousands of students will graduate in the coming weeks and will venture onto new tracks in their lives and will encounter those all-to-common real world situations. As graduates flock into the corporate world, stress and failure accumulate and alter the physical and mental behavioral patterns of people.

According to an article in last fall's issue the Bureau of Labor Service's publication Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 55 million jobs will be available by 2014, but more people are attending and graduating from college. The influx of graduates signifies a competitive job market and possible downfalls in a graduate's job search.

Heather Rasmussen, an evaluation coordinator at the KU Institute for Educational Research and Public Service, did extensive research in optimism and its effects on people's behavior and health. Her work was based on goal adjustment and flexibility in negative situations. In December 2006, The Journal of Personality published a study co-authored by Rasmussen that observed the physical and mental effects of optimism and goal adjustment. Rasmussen felt it was important and healthful for graduates to have attainable goals and to be able to adjust those goals when they couldn't be reached in full.

"People who are hopeful and optimistic usually have the flexibility to adaptively cope with obstacles and stressors in their lives," Rasmussen said. "This hope and optimism leads to less depression and is even linked to better physical health."

Rasmussen expressed importance in expecting good things to happen, but to also look for the positive aspects of any negative situation. This mindset enabled study participants to learn from negative things so the next time obstacles arose, it was more likely the end would result in a positive outcome.

Shane Lopez, associate professor in the department of psychology and research in education, has done research on hope and positive psychology, character education and psychosocial factors associated with academic achievement and professional training issues.

Lopez said that graduation was an exciting time for the entire KU community and that the ceremonies bring graduates many endings and some new beginnings, as well as positive stress and the typical taxing stress.

"Graduates that have learned to develop clear and specific goals in good times and in bad will navigate this transition well, regardless of what their job or educational future looks like today," Lopez said. "For all, it is time to consider all valued goals; prioritize them through discussions with mentors, family, and friends; and throw your energy behind the goals that matter to you most."

Lopez acknowledged change is never easy and it could be overwhelming. People who are hopeful continue to explore possibilities and ultimately find exactly what they are looking for, he said. Optimistic people were also willing to admit downfalls and be honest with themselves when they needed new tools and skills to make themselves more competitive for positions they desired.

According to Rasmussen, research has shown that people who are optimistic experience greater social support than their pessimistic counterparts.

"This can affect your career," Rasmussen said. "Others are more likely to enjoy being around someone who is realistically optimistic than someone who is pessimistic."

Lopez pointed out the social nature of goal pursuits and people couldn't succeed in getting into graduate school or landing the right job on their own. He said it was important to recognize and utilize all the people that are involved: family and friends who offered support, teachers who provided education and training, mentors and advisors who wrote letters of recommendation, and professionals who interviewed for potential.

"The folks who navigate this transition into advanced education or the job force well are the ones who take advantage of social support," Lopez said. "They monitor their own progress, get feedback from trusted others, and keep creating pathways toward their goals."

Lopez said when recent graduates got frustrated or disappointed, they went back to their support network and reflected on past successes and kept moving forward.

Support systems and communal interaction were healthful ways of dealing with goal achievement or failure. Rasmussen did add that goal setting was personal, but it could be useful to consult others about set goals.

The goals graduates set should be based on their priorities and what they aspire to do with their lives, Rasmussen said.

Juliann Morland, Girard graduate student in international studies, is graduating this summer and will attend law school at Washburn in the fall. She wants to eventually work in the United States diplomatic core or with the United Nations.

"I feel it's very important to come to a place of knowing what blessings and skills you have to offer the world and find the career which allows you to best express these passions," Morland said. "I believe in the concept of what some may refer to as the 'American Dream,' however, more so it is one's ability to make their imaginations their reality."

A national event will take place in Lawrence at the end of June.
Several venues throughout the United States will celebrate Pollinator Week the week of June 24, and the Pendleton Farm in East Lawrence will be one of the hosts.

Kat McGuire, development and communication coordinator of the Coevolution Institute, which sponsors Pollinator Week, said the goal of the week is to educate Americans about the importance of pollinators and to prevent the creatures from going extinct.

“We want it to be a resource for people to go and gather information,” McGuire said.

McGuire said Pollinator Week allows different locations throughout the country to host their own events to promote pollinator awareness in their area. The week will also feature the release of four new postal stamps. The stamps feature four different designs, which are viewed individually or together in two different interlocking designs. According to the U.S. Postal Service’s Web site, the fact that the stamps interlock to create different designs demonstrates the ecological relationship between pollinators and plants and the biodiversity needed to sustain the relationship.

Stan Herd, a crop artist and Lawrence resident, is creating crop art on the Pendleton Farm that will be a replica of one of the stamps. The image will be of a dogface butterfly. Herd said the art is best seen from an aerial view and uses entirely natural resources.

“I’m going to do the piece out of 5,000 flowers,” Herd said.

McGuire said pollinators, which include birds, bats, beetles and bees, are responsible for pollinating 80 percent of flowering plants. She also said $10 billion - $20 billion a year in the nation’s revenue comes from agriculture that relies on pollinators.

“A huge percent of the national income comes from pollinated food,” McGuire said.
Orley “Chip” Taylor, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, helped organize the event happening in Lawrence. He said the goal is to raise money and awareness for local pollinators and beekeepers.