THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

MONDAY, JAN. 24, 2016 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE XX

inside
this
issue

OMA sees an
uptick in diversity
training requests
LARA KORTE
@lara_korte

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

VICE CHANCELLOR.
Education and
research drew new
Vice Chancellor to the
position.
News PAGE 2

FRANKWEIRICH/KANSAN

MBB PREVIEW.
Before Kansas faces
off against Kentucky,
the team must head to
one of the most hostile
environments in the
Big 12. Check out the
preview:
Sports PAGE 8

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BRADSHAW.
blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah
blah blah
Arts & Culture
PAGE 5

Faculty from the School of

Social Welfare spent Friday
morning in a classroom at
the Office of Multicultural
Affairs to help their students
by learning about themselves.
The group discussed privilege and oppression in society for three hours as well
as how to handle difficult
dialogues on different topics.
The faculty were at a microaggression training hosted
by the educators at the OMA.
The School of Social Welfare is one of many groups
on campus who have sought
diversity training at the OMA
recently.
Director of the OMA Precious Porras said the office
has seen an uptick in training requests the past few
months. Last fall the office
trained 7,400 people, compared to 6,100 in Fall 2014.
Paul Smokowski, Dean of
the School of Social Welfare, said the training was
divided into two parts a
facilitated conversation and
a lecture-oriented session on
microaggressions.
What was really helpful
for me was hearing my faculty members perspectives,
what they had experienced
in trying to facilitate difficult issues in class and then
working out some potential
strategies for how we might
be able to handle those difficult dialogues in the future,
Smokowski said.
The idea of introspection is

at the center of OMA trainings. Porras said the trainings, which are designed to
educate people on issues of
social justice, are geared towards trying to get individuals to acknowledge their
identities and the privileges
or oppressions that go along
with them. This way, Porras said, people are able to
explore how their previous
dispositions affect how they
interact with others.
Porras said people are generally used to identifying
themselves by profession
or hometown, but when it
comes to training, Porras
said the OMA tries to go further.
Lets go a little bit deeper
and talk about what is your
story, what does that mean to
you and how does that show
up and impact your Jayhawk
experience, Porras said.
Porras also said once someone is aware of their privileges, it can create a more inclusive environment.
Diversity and inclusion
training has been on the
minds of many at the University over the past few
months. In November, the
student group Rock Chalk
Invisible Hawk listed mandatory, intense "inclusion
and belonging" training for
all levels of students, staff,
faculty and administration in
its 15 demands.
Right now, there is no mandatory training at the University. Director of the Office
of Diversity and Equity Nate
Thomas said the office will
be focusing on ways to bring

training to more people at

the University, particularly
instructors and educators.
Were going to continue
to enhance how we look at
providing training to the
campus, because thats one
of our priorities this year,
working with CTE, the Center for Teaching Excellence,
working with HR, Thomas
said. Were already having
discussions around that.
Porras said having educators who are aware of their
identities is important for
creating an inclusive and accepting classroom.
If you werent aware before that youre micro-aggressing students with the
language you use in the
classroom or youre forcing
trans students to out themselves when you call their
names on the roster even
though they go by a different
name, those are things you
dont know if youre blind to
that privilege that you have,
Porras said.
Although training can offer many useful tips for educators, Porras said they do
train a large amount of students as well to help develop
inclusive leadership skills.
One of the other focuses of
the training, Porras said, is
making sure to establish a
common language when it
comes to issues of diversity,
such as introducing yourself with your personal pronouns.

Its
introducing
c o m mon language so that were all sharing this common vernacular
on inclusion on campus education, Porras said.
The OMA has been doing
diversity training for many
years but Porras said over
the past five years the focus has shifted from issues
revolving around race to a
broader spectrum of issues.
That focus has moved to
a social justice focus, really
looking at diversity issues on
campus and how we can try
and address them, Porras
said.
The OMA has been working with the Emily Taylor
Center for Women and
Gender Equality as well as
the Center for Sexuality and
Gender Diversity to look at
areas where different identities and privileges intersect.
Porras said that, although
race is important and it is
discussed in training, it is no
longer the sole focus.
Were also talking about
other identities, how they
intersect and what they look
like, Porras said.
Training can last anywhere
from one to five hours, depending on the groups preference. Porras said she likes
to do at least a two-hour session to cover all the bases.
While the conversation

usually starts out from a

common place of recognizing privilege and identities,
the training can be finetuned to meet the specific
needs of the unit undergoing
the process. Porras said the
School of Social Welfare focused on microaggressions,
but other groups might work
with different aspects of social justice.
The pieces that make it
specific to the unit are centered around whats going
around their unit and what
things they want to work
on, Porras said.
Porras said she hopes the
training can help participants approach uncomfortable issues that might have
seemed ominous or foreboding in the past. Porras
said that, although it might
not be easy, conversation
centered around privilege,
identity and oppression is
important to an overall better campus.
We need to be uncomfortable and have that dialogue so were having some
conversation, saying these
are ways you can have that
conversation in a safer experience, Porras said. These
are ways that we can try and
broach the topic so that everyones voice is heard.
Edited by Sam Davis

KU students discuss complaints at diversity and inclusion meeting Thursday

KANSAN.COM
FOLLOW NEWS
ONLINE

TWITTER ROUNDUP.
Check out our new
weekly KU sports
social media roundup.
Kansan.com/
Sports

AP PHOTO

ANOMALISA
Exploring the human
experience through
slow-motion puppets:
Read Alex Lambs
review of the film
Anomalia
Section #
ENGAGE
WITH US
@KANSANNEWS
/THEKANSAN
KANSAN.NEWS
@UNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN

LARA KORTE
@lara_korte

At a meeting on diversity
and inclusion on Thursday,
Jeffery Durbin, a fifth-year
senior from Fort Scott,
Kan., said he has been
hearing complaints from
students for over two years.
The complaints were that
the admissions process was
vague and inconsistent.
A number of students,
both present and former,
had expressed a lack of
understanding as to why
their application process
had been rejected, Durbin
said. It was unclear what
[the students'] voice was in
that application.
To apply, the program requires a student to submit
their GPA, ACT score, two
essays, and a resume detailing extracurricular involvement. Although there
is no minimum GPA or
ACT requirement, several
students said they were
discouraged from even
applying upon seeing the
average scores of honors
students, which are listed
at the top of the application

page.
Durbin
said he had
spoken with
students who were
confused and frustrated
with the requirements for
the program. During his
time on student senate
as a junior, Durbin said
he drafted a resolution
for structural change to
the admissions process.
The resolution ultimately
failed.
Durbin said students who
did not have outstanding
test scores should be able
to advocate for themselves
and have a voice in the application process.
A lot more than your academic metrics factor into
how successful you are,
Durbin said.
Durbin and many others voiced their concerns
during a think tank meet-

ing,
asking
faculty members to take a
critical look at the structure and environment of
the University Honors Program.
Bryan Young, director of
the program and a professor of civil and environmental engineering, said
the purpose of the meeting
was to provide the faculty with input, feedback,
comments and concerns
that we can work with to
work on a continued and
sustained effort to improve
the honors program and
services that we provide to
the students at the University of Kansas.
Many students in the
room expressed their con-

cerns that
the application process
focused too
heavily on a
students curricular success,
that is, their test
scores and advanced-placement
classes they took in high
school.
Durbin said this kind of
metric standard could be
discouraging to students
who come from marginalized backgrounds where
opportunities for test prep
and advanced courses were
not available.
How does a student, who
is coming to KU without
any kind of resources, or
coming from a high school
that didnt have AP or IB
curriculum, how do they
get access and preparation
for college and how do we
expect them to walk into
KU and get a 3.8 GPA and
still receive a message from
the University that says we
value you, we want you to
succeed, we don't just want
to retain you, we want you
to succeed," Durbin said.

Omara Rana, a senior

from Tulsa, Okla., said the
honors program should
take everything into consideration when looking at
admissions.
One thing the Honors
school needs to think about
is what students are facing, Rana said, like what
happened in high school
that maybe either caused
their GPA to not be as high
as you want or the ACT or
SAT scores not as high as
you want.
Rana said he wants to
know if the honors program has considered taking
a more holistic approach
to admission by looking at
community service and engagement.
I feel like what makes an
honors student or makes a
great student at KU goes a
lot beyond how academically successful you are,
Rana said.
Aside from the admissions process, many students voiced concerns that
the honors program fostered an exclusive environSEE BLAH PAGE 3

news
Kansan
staff

KANSAN.COM/NEWS | MONDAY, JAN. 25, 2016

Tom Markus of Iowa City named new Lawrence city manager

TANNER HASSELL
@thassell17

NEWS MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief
Vicky Diaz-Camacho
Managing editor
Kate Miller
Brand & creativity
manager
Hallie Wilson
Digital operations
editor
Anissa Fritz
ADVERTISING
MANAGEMENT
Business manager
Gage Brock
Sales manager
Katie Bell
SECTION EDITORS
News editor
Kelly Cordingley
Associate news editor
Cassidy Ritter
Sports editor
Scott Chasen
Associate sports editor
Shane Jackson
Arts & culture editor
Ryan Wright
Associate
arts & culture editor
Christian Hardy
Opinion editor
Maddy Mikinski
Visuals editor &
design chief
Roxy Townsend
Chief photographer
Caroline Fiss
Investigations editor
Miranda Davis
ADVISER
Sales and marketing
adviser
Jon Schlitt

The University Daily Kansan is the

student newspaper of the University of
Kansas. The first copy is paid through the
student activity fee. Additional copies of
The Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions
can be purchased at the Kansan business
office, 2051A Dole Human Development
Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue,
Lawrence, KS., 66045.
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN
0746-4967) is published on Mondays and
Fridays during the academic year except
fall break, spring break and exams. It is
published weekly during the summer
session excluding holidays. Annual
subscriptions by mail are $250 plus tax.
Send address changes to The University
Daily Kansan, 2051A Dole Human
Development Center, 1000
Sunnyside Avenue.

Broadening
relations
between the City of Lawrence and its universities
and improving affordable
housing are on the top of
Tom Markus list when he
begins his new position as
Lawrences City Manager
March 21. Markus, who is
currently the city manager
for Iowa City, said he looks
forward to working in another university town.
Markus said he has been
involved in city government for over 40 years,
recently in a city similar
to Lawrence. I really enjoy university towns because the communities as
a whole are a lot more involved than other types of
cities Ive seen," Markus
said.
Lawrence Mayor Mike
Amyx said the time Markus
spent in Iowa City set him
apart from other candidates.
The years that hes been

2000 Dole Human Development Center

1000 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, Kan., 66045
editor@kansan.com
www.kansan.com
Newsroom: (785) 766-1491
Advertising: (785) 864-4358

ENGAGE WITH US
@KANSANNEWS
/THEKANSAN
KANSAN.NEWS
@UNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN

sue across the country, and

has shifted to local government.

Understanding the
relationship between
administration of the
University and the city is
very important when you
consider the services that
the city is responsible
for, like maintaining the
streets, water and other
basic services the city
provides.

TOM MARKUS
Lawrence City Manager
There is a strong connection between economic
development and public
policy trying to create more
affordable housing and better paying jobs, Markus
said. Places like Lawrence
and Iowa City are very
interested in issues like
these. I recognized this in
Iowa City and I know that

this is an issue I will likely

face in Lawrence.
Markus said he wants to
increase relationships between the city and the universities, as well as getting
students more involved in
local politics.
Relationships like this
obviously already exist, but
they are constantly evolving and changing so we
need to keep looking for
ways to collaborate more
efficiently. Markus said.
The students, faculty and
staff having their views and
concerns recognized by the
city is a crucial part of the
relationships that need to
exist.
When Markus was in
Iowa City, two members
of the Iowa University Student Senate sat on the city
council, something he said
hed like to see in Lawrence.
One of the things that
I think he can help with
is maintaining town and
gown relationships, Amyx
said, Understanding the

relationship between administration of the University and the city is very important when you consider
the services that the city is
responsible for, like maintaining the streets, water
and other basic services the
city provides.
While he said he is looking
forward to getting started
as the new city manager,
he said hes also excited to
watch KU basketball.
Ive always liked the
Kansas teams, I dont know
that theyre Americas team
exactly, but theyve always been a hard working
group that is fun to watch.
Markus said.My family
and I are really looking forward to being in Lawrence
and Kansas.

Edited by Deanna
Ambrose

Kansas Humanities Council gives $3,500 grant to Kickapoo tribe photo project
TANNER HASSELL
@thassell17

KU Endowment received
a $3,500 grant from the
Kansas Humanities Council to support a photography project directed by a
doctoral candidate in the
University's School of Social Welfare.
Felicia Mitchell, the doctoral candidate, will direct
Water is Life: The Significance of Water Among the
Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, which highlights the
struggle for drinking water
on the Kickapoo of Kansas reservation in Brown
County in Northeast Kansas. It will explore the water shortages the Kickapoo
are facing through a photo
exhibition, according to a
University news release.
The project was done
in collaboration with the
Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas
in an effort to show how
members of the Tribe handle the water shortages on

the Tribe's reservation.

The project is expected to
be on exhibition sometime
in 2016, according to the
news release.
Residents are unable to
access ground water, because of a rock formation
under the reservation,
according to the Tribes
website. The website also
reports that the Tribes
four-decade-old
water
plant is no longer able to
keep up with the water
needs of reservation residents.
We were excited to see
something that both discusses the issue of water
in Kansas, and the specific
issue that this tribe faces,
said Murl Riedel, director
of grants for the Kansas
Humanities Council. Felicia Mitchell, the project
director, had a very specific
project that she wanted to
explore and she had an interesting way to go about
it, using a photo documentary format.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The project will feature

photos taken on the reservation, as well as stories
from tribe members discussing the water issues
theyve faced for over 40
years.
Im hopeful that this
project will offer a tribal
perspective on what its like
to live on the reservation
and have these concerns

about water, and be able to

share this with a broader
community who might be
able to come together with
resources and support to
help address these issues,
Mitchell said.
The project, which Mitchell is conducting as her dissertation, is one of a few
instances in which she has
worked with Native Amer-

ican groups. She's worked

in reservation communities before, helping with
issues like water security.
Ive always been very interested in issues connected to health and well-being
in tribal communities,
Mitchell said.
Edited by Vicky DiazCamacho

Vice Chancellor looks forward to building relationships and learning about KU

CONNER MITCHELL
@ConnerMitchell0

KANSAN MEDIA
PARTNERS

Check out KUJH-TV on Wow! of Kansas

Channel 31 in Lawrence for more on
what youve read in todays Kansan and
other news. Also see KUJHs website at
tv.ku.edu.
KJHK is the student voice in radio.
Whether its rock n roll or reggae,
sports or special events,
KJHK 90.7 is for you.

a city manager in the Midwest, most recently Iowa

City with the University of
Iowa, made him the best
choice for the job. He has a
pretty good understanding
of how issues that affect
university towns work,
Amyx said.
Markus time in Iowa City
provided an opportunity
to explore and understand
issues a university town
faces.
Theres a sort of nexus
between the issues, and
you have to focus on lifting everything, not just one
part," Markus said. "Recognizing that students, faculty and staff are part of a
major economic engine for
the city is key to finding a
balance between city issues
and university issues and
concerns.
One of the issues that
Markus intends to explore
upon arrival is affordable
housing, an issue of importance to both students and
the community. He said
housing has become an is-

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The new Vice Chancellor

and Chief Financial Officer
Leisa Julian was drawn to
the University because of
its high standing in education and research.
She said the changing
role of higher education at
colleges and universities
across the country also affected her decision to accept her new position at the
University.
Julian said the University environment is evolving
and that it is multifaceted,
including areas from community service to research
opportunities.
"So KU in particular attracted me because of its
stature as a major teaching
and research institution
and an economic engine in
the state," said Julian.
Julian will replace There-

sa Gordzica, who will retire

after 34 years, according to
a University release.
The CFO position reports
to Chancellor Bernadette
Gray-Little, according to
the release, and provides
leadership for KUs finances and business operations
on the Lawrence and KU
Medical Center campuses.
Julian said her first goal
upon arriving on campus
will be to build relationships and learn about the
KU way."
Learning about how the
institution manages its
financial processes and
budgets is going to be different from what Im familiar with, so there will be a
period of time getting acclimated to the institution
and the folks, she said. I
think key to all of that is
getting to know people and
build relationships.
In addition to her role as
CFO, Julian will serve as
vice chancellor and she will
be a member of the Chancellors cabinet.
I will have a role that is
expanded to a certain degree from what Theresa
had, and I will also be responsible for risk management, internal audit, and
airport operations, as well
as the overall strategic financial and business planning, she said.
Reggie Robinson, director

of the School of Public Affairs & Administration and

head of the search committee, said Julian stood out as
a candidate because of her
vast experiences in finance.
Robinson said he was
specifically impressed with
Julian's broad range of
budget and financial expe-

rience in a variety of different public contexts.

"She presented a portrait
to us of someone who has
competency around the
work [she will be doing],
Robinson said. "She presented to us a personal
style that is accessible as a
person, professional, col-

laborative, and who would

seem to have the range of
attributes to deal with the
variety of stakeholders you
have to deal with in the
CFO role.
Edited by Brendan
Dzwierzynski

KANSAN.COM

NEWS

University researchers revise strengths-based

approach to treat mental health issues in children
SAMANTHA SEXTON
@Sambiscuit

An associate professor of
social welfare at the University found a strengthsbased approach to treat
mental healths issues in
children, according to a
University press release.
The professor, Amy Mendenhall, is also director of
the Center for Children and
Families. Her research was
done in an effort to implement a formal model to
how researchers and case
managers treat children
with mental health illnesses
and said she thinks it may
have a more positive effect
than traditional models.
The
strengths-based
model is one that focuses
on what the individual is
good at and what his or
her unique strengths
are, rather than
focusing on the
illness, Mendenhall
said. We
believe
that

BLAH FROM PAGE 1

ment rather than an inclusive one.
Cornelius Baker, a senior
from Wichita, said he had
negative experiences with
a high school program
that discouraged him from
joining the University hon-

when the focus is put on

what is going wrong and all
the negative in the individuals life, that he or she is
more likely to focus on the
illness rather than the positives.
After surveying different
focus groups, Mendenhall
and her team found that
there was a lack of structure to how the situations
were being handled in case
management. Instead, a
more crisis-management
approach was being used,
putting out fires from weekto-week as they appeared.
We wanted to implement
a formal model, Mendenhall said. And once they
knew about this model that
focused on building goals
and skills and empowering the individual, they
were very exciting to start
focusing on more positive
strengths so they didnt
have to always be in a crisis.
The Strengths Model is
not a wholly new concept,
having been developed in
the mid 1980s and now being used by mental health
professionals across Kansas, according to the press
release. It has only been
used to treat adult patients rather than
children
and
adolescents

as seen in Mendenhalls research, the release said.

Mendenhall and Whitney Grube, the project coordinator and a graduate
student at the Universitys
School of Social Welfare,
were faced with the challenge of adapting the model to best suit the needs of
younger patients.
In the first year of the adaptation, we had to think
about how the youth is cognitively in a very different
place than adults, Mendenhall said. We had to
take into consideration the
individuals developmental
process, where they were
emotionally, and how they
processed their identity.
In both models, goal development is an imperative
part of the process and with
the adults, the focus may be
put on careers or something
specific in the workforce. To
meet the goals of children
and adolescents, the focus
is moved to include sports,
after-school activities or
any constructive focus best
for the individual.
We also had to include a
focus on the family, Mendenhall said. When working with adults you dont
have to include the family
unit but when youre working with kids, thats not an
option; when youre work-

ors program. However,

during the two University honors courses that he
did take, Baker said he felt
tokenized because he is a
black male.
I took [the classes] to get
closer to professors so I
could get I could research
with them in the future,
and I felt like most of that

time, for me, wasnt spent

discussing these topics or
learning more, it was spent
educating other people,
Baker said.
Although Baker said tokenization is something
that is present across all
classes, he said he feels it is
more pronounced in honors classes because, as far

ing with kids, youre working with a family.

She added: Of course we
want to focus on the individual and say that this is
about your life and your
treatment and your goals
but we also need to figure
out how that fits in with

The strengths-based
model is one that focuses
on what the individual is
good at and what his or
her unique strengths are,
rather than focusing on
the illness.

AMY MENDENHALL
University Professor

what parents want out of

the treatment and helping
the parents become apart of
the process as well.
The third change to the
model was how the individual fit into his or her system. School is a large part
of what children have to
go through and is a system
wholly unique to their demographic.
There are a few systems
that are very different between the adult and child
world, Mendenhall said.
We have to account for the
welfare system if the child is

as students of color, he said

its usually just him.
And its not really an environment people want to
be in, Baker added.
The meeting wrapped up
after an hour and a half of
discussion and suggestions.
The group plans to establish core members and continue meeting to develop a

in a family in the Welfare

system and of course even
within the mental health
system there is a wide divide between how adults
and children are treated so
we have to figure out how
the adaptive model works
within each system.
After making the changes,
the team began its research
by measuring the childrens
grades, school attendance,
socialization and overall
health. In a few months,
the team found the students were performing at
higher levels in each field
and more so than if they
had been working within
the parameters of another
model.
We want to focus on what
the child can do to help
their situation rather than
what the situation is, Mendenhall said. What do you
want to get out of this process? How can you be more
fulfilled in your life and
what do you already have
that we can expand upon?

for
a
solution and
more time
spent actually
fixing the problems, Mendenhall
said.
Mendenhall said she
feels the model would
work outside of Kansas and
could eventually be integrated into other youth systems, as the model doesnt
only work for one illness
or a handful of situations.
It is an approach she said
she hopes could be used
within the welfare system
and even child delinquency
programs.
Adolescents who go to
mental health treatments
see a very problem-focused approach by the
professionals, focusing on
negative symptoms and behaviors, Mendenhall said.
We want people to feel
empowered, feel as though
they are going to succeed,
and point them on the way
to recovery.

While the children seem

to be having a positive reaction to the model, the case
workers have also been
benefitted by the change.
When theres a model and
that model works, theres
less time spent being frustrated and brainstorming

Edited by Vicky Diaz-Camacho

plan to address the issues

presented.
Young said he hopes over
time, the group can make
some concrete changes that
make the program more
welcoming to all students.
I want every student to
feel like theyre welcome in
this space and to feel that
they have access to the hon-

ors program, Young said.

For a student who has
demonstrated merit, I want
them to feel very welcome
regardless of background,
race, ethnicity, gender, or
sexual orientation.

Edited by Deanna
Ambrose

food, fun & fellow Jayhawks

AT THE KANSAS UNION

KU

IOWA
VS.
STATE
JANUARY 25TH
Level 4, Kansas Union
FUN STARTS AT 7:30 PM
TIP-OFF AT 8 PM

132 SCREEN
FREE
&

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
&

opinion
FREE-FORALL WE

KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, JAN. 25, 2016

Women in the
workplace by
the numbers

HEAR FROM
YOU

Text your #FFA

submissions to
785-289-UDK1
(8351)

Sources: KPMG, Center

for American Progress
(CAP), Gallup

STOP GETTING OUT

OF YOUR FRIENDS
CARS IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE STREET.

If its going to be cold,

could it at least snow
3 feet so we dont have
classes?

110 days until

graduation

JAKE KAUFMANN/KANSAN

Mikinski: We should encourage women to pursue

leadership as much as their male counterparts
MADDY MIKINSKI
@Miss_Maddy

74 Blackboard
notifications is a new
personal best.
Dogs- like people, only
50 times better
Lawrence Chipotle
power rankings: Mass,
23rd, 6th
Leo finally gonna win
that oscar
Chicken parm you taste
so good.
If you use slack are you
a slacker
how am i supposed
to commit to a
relationship i cant even
commit to a full length
feature film
My cat has done
more damage to my
apartment than any frat
party ever could.
Kayne designs a sweater
with holes and people
pay 900 dollars for it.
That is it I quit
If you saw my snap
story and you didnt die
laughing then you need
to see a doctor. And if
you did die, you also
need to see a doctor.
Selena Gomezs face
just refuses to grow up
Ive been without
Chipotle for so long
that Im just going to
take my chances with
E. Coli.
The D.C. panda seeing
snow makes me want a
panda. Can you own a
panda?
You miss 100% of the
shots you dont take
-Wayne Gretzky
Got it. You take 100% of
the shots- Kobe
Its a little early to buy
textbooks, I think Ill
wait until finals week.

Read more at
kansan.com
@KANSANNEWS
/THEKANSAN
KANSAN.NEWS
@UNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN

My stint as opinion
editor almost never happened. Despite people telling me to apply, I would
laugh it off, thinking that
I could never possibly do a
good job. This semester, I
finally took the plunge and
applied. My confidence in
my ability to get the job
was low, so I never told
anyone that I applied. After some research, I found
that I wasnt the only one
who lacked the confidence
to achieve more in the
workplace.
According to a 2015
study by KPMG, almost 70
percent of women feel they
need more support to build
the confidence necessary
to become leaders in their
own workplaces. Additionally, six in 10 women
reported they have a hard
time seeing themselves as
leaders.
Womens lack of confidence in their professional
leadership abilities could
be one of the reasons the
percentage of female executives in this country is so
low. A study done by The
Center for American Progress (CAP) found only 14.6
percent of women in the
workforce are executive
officers, and more than
two-thirds of Fortune 500
companies have no wom-

en of color as board directors. The same research

found that though women
account for 80 percent of
consumer spending, only
3 percent are creative directors in advertising.
These low numbers dont
square with the data from
KMPG that 64 percent of
women want positions as
senior leaders. They especially dont confirm large
companies assertions that
they are working to diversify their upper-levels.
Clearly, there is a disconnect somewhere.
The Harvard Business
Review suggests that companies well-intentioned
attempts to bring women
to executive positions are
actually continuing to hold
them back. According to
the Harvard publication,
these companies accidentally sabotage their diversification work when
they advise women to proactively seek leadership
roles without addressing
policies and practices that
communicate a mismatch
between how women are
seen and the qualities and
experiences people tend
to associate with leaders.
Companies
encourage
their female employees to
climb to the top, yet the
environment is still unfavorable to female leadership. A 2013 Gallup poll
found that 35 percent of

Americans preferred male

bosses while only 23 percent would choose a female boss.
Practices that inhibit
promotion and professional success arent just
the domain of large companies. Even some of our
government representatives take part in such protocol. Last year, National
Journal published an investigation into why some
of our nations representatives and senators didnt
allow solo meetingsor
even car rideswith female
staffers for fear of their
constituents getting the
wrong idea. Sarah Mimms
writes, for these women,
the lack of access meant an
additional hurdle in their
attempts to do their jobs,
much less further their careers. The article names
Kansas representative Tim
Huelskamp as one such
congressman who has altered his offices protocol
to ensure that he gets by
without even a whiff of
scandal.
Further research shows
women are not trained
to take the initiative and
point out unfair practices. KMPG found 76 percent of women wish they
had learned more leadership skills during childhood. Eighty-six percent
of women said that seeing
other women in leadership

roles encourages them to

be leaders themselves. As
women arent prepared for
leadership roles at a young
age and are systematically overlooked for promotions, fewer achieve places
in the top ranks of their
companies. This lack of
promotion leads to lower
confidence in other women workers, which discourages them from aiming
towards higher-level (and
higher-paying) jobs. This
all contributes to a dangerous cycle.
Breaking this cycle will
mean massive changes. We
must encourage women of
all ages to aspire to executive positions within their
companies and we must
also encourage them to
be confident in their leadership abilities. We must
work to break company
and government policy
that prevents women from
ascending to higher levels
of power and success.
It is time we understand that lack of female
leadership in professional
settings is an epidemic, but
not an incurable one.
Maddy Mikinski is a senior from Linwood studying English and journalism.
Edited by Cele Fryer

Issawi: Trumps hate-filled rhetoric only helps ISIS

DANYA ISSAWI
@danyasawi

The Arab Spring catapulted the Middle East

into a cataclysmic state of
turmoil. Countries such as
Egypt, Tunisia and Libya
all fell victim to vehement
protests, riots and political unrest during various
attempts at executing successful coups.
Syria, and the deadly
civil war that has ensued
within its borders, has
made headlines. With an
estimated death toll of
240,381 in a country nearly the size of Maine and an
increase in militant forces
associated with ISIS, all
eyes have turned to the
United States with the
hope that the political superpower would intervene
or lend a helping hand to
Syrian refugees.
Despite
President
Obamas continued support of granting asylum
to refugees and having
called for current Syrian
president Bashar Al-Assad to step down, Obama
has softened his role in
the conflict and taken a
backseat approach. With
no resolution in sight, this

has left Obamas successor

with the responsibility of
handling the conflict and
all of its retributions, making the topic popular in recent presidential debates.
Several Republican candidates, such as Ted Cruz
and Donald Trump, have
already expressed their
dissent in allowing Syrian
refugees onto American
soil. Trump, though, seems
to have made sure to go the
extra mile, as he tends to
do.
At a recent rally, Trump
laid out a plan for how he
would handle the crisis.
His ideas included barring
any and all future asylum-seekers from entering
the United States, kicking
out all Syrian refugees currently located in the U.S.
and creating a database
of all Muslims living in
the country. This plan has
been paralleled to Hitlers
use of the yellow star to
identify Jews during the
Holocaust.
Beyond singlehandedly
promoting intolerance and
Islamaphobia, from a political standpoint, his hateful rhetoric regarding the
Middle East could be more
detrimental to the United

HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

LETTER GUIDELINES: Send

letters to editor@kansan.com. Write
LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the
email subject line.
Length: 300 words

States than granting Syrian refugees asylum could

ever be. In fact, Trumps
words are not only practically perfect ISIS propaganda material, they also
play into the ideals the terrorist group is looking to
promote.
By telling these refugees that they are, in fact,
not welcome in the United
States, he is giving these
people, who are already
desperately looking for a
sense of belonging, confirmation that they do not
belong. He is giving them
confirmation that the incriminating rhetoric that
ISIS spews about the West
is correct, allowing the
terrorist group the perfect
opportunity to provide
anyone who is desperate
enough a place of perceived belonging, or at
least an ideal segue to persuade them to agree with
their radical ideals.
What Trump seems to
forget is that a majority of
these people are refugees
because of the role ISIS
has played in the Syrian
conflict, and that there is
a stark distinction between
those fleeing the violence
and the ones perpetuating

The submission should include the

authors name, year, major and
hometown. Find our full letter to the
editor policy online at
kansan.com/letters.

it. Rather than lumping

the two together, Obamas
successor needs to clearly label ISIS as a common
enemy of the United States
and embrace the vast majority of Muslims in the
Middle East who have an
unfavorable view of ISIS.
These refugees are an
untapped asset in gaining
insight about the plight of
political unrest currently
overwhelming the Middle
East. And even beyond the
realm of politics, Trumps
tactics essentially extinguish the humanity and
tolerance that is usually
synonymous with American ideals, ultimately
tarnishing our name on a
global scale.
With the world in such
a volatile state, it might be
best to minimize our list of
enemies while maximizing our number of allies,
and Trumps sharp words
and outlandish proposed
policies seem incapable of
doing so.
Danya Issawi is a sophomore from Kansas City
studying journalism.

70%

of women feel as if they

need more support to build
the confidence necessary
to become leaders in their
own workplaces

60%

of women say that they

have a hard time even
seeing themselves as
leaders

76%

of women today wish

they had learned more
leadership opportunities
during childhood

64%

of women want positions as

senior leaders of companies
and organizations

14.6%
of women in the workforce
are executive officers

2/3+

of Fortune 500 companies

have no women of color as
board directors at all

women account for

80%
3%
80%
23%

of consumer spending, but

only

serve as creative directors

at all

of Americans preferred
male bosses while only

would choose a female boss

Edited by Deanna
Ambrose

CONTACT US
Vicky Diaz-Camacho
Editor-in-chief
vickydc@kansan.com

Gage Brock
Business Manager
gbrock@kansan.com

THE KANSAN
EDITORIAL BOARD

Members of the Kansan

Editorial Board are Vicky
Diaz-Camacho, Kate Miller,
Gage Brock and Maddy
Mikinski.

KANSAN.COM

ARTS & CULTURE

KUS AUDIO-READER NETWORK AWARDED $9,324 GRANT

The grant, funded by the Ethel and Raymond Rice Foundation, will allow the Spencer Museum
of Art to provide audio descriptions for people who are blind or visually impaired.
MINSEON KIM
@minseonkim94

The need for information doesnt go away just

because youve lost your
vision or your vision is diminishing.
Lori Kesinger
Audio Readers outreach
coordinator

The University Audio-Reader Network

and the Spencer Museum of Art will enrich the art museum
experience for people
who are blind or visually impaired.
The network received a $9,324 grant
from the Ethel and
Raymond Rice Foundation on Jan. 14.
The grant will help
fund an audio description training by
KU Audio-Reader at
the Spencer Museum
of Art, according to
a news release. The
grant will also help
the
Audio-Reader
Network expand on
its audio description
services.
We want to make
everything available
to people with vision
loss so that they can
continue to participate and be active
members of their
community,
said
Lori Kesinger, Audio
Readers outreach coordinator.
The descriptions
will describe the visual elements of works
of art in the Spencer
Art Museum. The Audio-Reader program

also provides services that include its

free 24-hour FM radio service that reads
newspapers, magazines and books.
Celka
Straughn,
Director of Academic Programs at the
art museum said this
new audio description program would
make things more
visible for other audiences of the museum
as well.
People
quickly
glance at the art, and
sometimes you are
not aware of what
you are taking in,
Straughn said.
Straughn said the
audio description can
provide an alternative way for visitors to
understand each element of the art.
Audio description
will start with the permanent collection at
the museum. Descriptions used in the museum wont be as simple as regurgitating
the description next
to the art on the walls
of the museum. Rather than interpreting the art for guest,
the descriptions will
guide visitors through
what is there and al-

low people with different levels of vision

to interpret art works
for themselves.
It creates a lot
more independence
for people to be able
to enjoy the arts independently, Kesinger
said.
Kesinger said the
descriptions will always be available for
blind and print-disabled people and they
wont have to wait
for somebody to help
them.
Erin Bolton, former
multicultural
coordinator at the
art museum, was
volunteering at Audio-Reader when she
suggested the idea
and initiated the move
to connect staffs from
both the museum and
the Audio Reader network in order to make
the collaboration real.
It is a great opportunity to increase access of art to visually
impaired people and
more diverse audiences, Bolton said. I
love the fact that this
program will increase
the outreach to a new
set of audiences especially for those who
are losing their sight
and yet still want to

access artwork.
The grant will help
staff bring a trainer
from the Audio Description Associates
to Lawrence for description training. Kesigner said this could
be an opportunity to
invite and train people from other museum in the area as well.
Even though the
audio
description
training program is
still in its beginning
stage, staffs at both
organizations
are
confident the program will open up the
museum to a completely different audience who may shy
away from going to
the museum because
of blindness or vision
impairment.
Just because you
are unable to see or
have difficulty seeing, you shouldnt be
kept from doing other things, Kesinger
said. The need for
information doesnt
go away just because
youve lost your vision or your vision is
diminishing.
Edited by Shane
Jackson

illustration by Sam Billman

KU student finds her roots through self-published book, Eliza: A Generational Journey
BRIANNA CHILDERS
@breeanuhh3

Trying to write a book

is never easy, but when
that is paired with research that dates back to
the 1800s, Crystal Bradshaw, a junior at the University from Jetmore,
Kan. only has one word
to describe the process:
Frustrating.
Bradshaw,
majoring in creative-writing,
recently released her
book, Eliza: A Generational Journey through
self-publishing and just
ordered a second printing of the book. The
book, a historical fiction
novel, tells the story of
Bradshaws great grandmother, Eliza.
Meredith Wiggins, a
co-worker and mentor
of Bradshaws, said she
thinks the book will impact readers because it
sheds light on an aspect
of African American history and literature that
isnt the first subject
when talking about such
issues.
Wiggins is an administrative associate at the
KU School of Law Office
of Career Services, but
Bradshaw and Wiggins
met while they were both
working for the Universitys project on the history of black writing.
It talks about the
exoduster
movement,
which is former slaves
moving to the Midwest,
particularly Kansas, and

its amazing to think this

is her [Bradshaw] family, Bradshaw said.
The book follows Elizas life during the 1800s
when she was a slave in
Kentucky. Around 1865,
Eliza and her family were
emancipated and traveled to Jetmore where
the Bradshaw family has
lived for over 134 years.
After Eliza and her
family moved to Jetmore, her husband Louis, died months later and
she was left to take care
of their five children on
her own; her two youngest children died later
on.
Her persistence and
courage to keep going on
no matter what is what
impressed me the most,
Bradshaw said. I think
thats a lesson most
young people can really
take to heart. If she can
push through that then I
can too.
The book, which was
released in early December took about five years
to write, Bradshaw said.
I really started writing not knowing what I
was doing, Bradshaw
said. I wrote the first
pages when I was 16 and
I was experimenting with
the writing style and dialogue, plus I was going to
school and had work.
Bradshaw started researching Eliza because
of a project she in high
school where she had to
research her family history.

It was embarrassing
for me because I didnt
know any of my family history and I barely
knew anything about my
great-grandparents so
it pushed me to find out
about them, Bradshaw
said.
Bradshaw said the
most interesting part
about Eliza was how
strong and persistent she
was.
She was the daughter
of her mother and her
mothers master, then at
the age of 7 she was sold
to a different plantation,
and again at the age of
17, Bradshaw said.
Wiggins said one of
the parts about the book
that stood out the most
was Bradshaws ability
to write in a childs voice.
I have never read a
book that has gotten the
voice of a child better
and I mean that as the
highest compliment because I think writing as a
child is one of the hardest things to do, Wiggins said.
Bradshaw self-published her book, so the
complete
publishing
process took a little longer. The editing process
took about one year and
then she had to work on
getting it printed, which
took about three to four
months. The publishing
process was difficult because she had to do everything herself, such as
formatting the size of the
book, making the ded-

SUBMITTED BY CRYSTAL BRADSHAW

Junior Crystal Bradshaw started writing her book, Eliza: A Generational Journey, when she was 16.

ication and afterword

page, and designing her
own cover.
I didnt really want
to hire someone to do
that for me plus I figured

those skills would be

very beneficial to me in
the future, she said.
Right now, Bradshaw
is selling her book herself but is working on

getting it put into stores

around Lawrence. She
also plans on putting in a
third order of about 300
copies.

ARTS & CULTURE

KANSAN.COM

What flavor of
smoothie
would Kanye West
be?
ILLUSTRATION BY JAKE KAUFMANN/KANSAN

!"#$"%!&'(&$
)(&*+,*-.!)

REAL FRIENDS
OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez

Okay, okay, let me preface this admitted deep

dive into lunacy by laying
down some knowledge.
"G.O.O.D Fridays," as
West likes to refer them,
is a recent revival of his
weekly drops that in 2010
led up to his album "My
Beautiful Dark Twisted
Fantasy."
With his soon-to-be released album "Swish,"
West has brought them
back into the fray but this
time with a little more panache and a pinch less coherency.
And that pinch, actually,
gets right to the core of my
quandary.
West, throughout his diverse catalogue of music,
has given us an assortment
of
emotionally-charged
"ingredients, and with
that, he has allowed his
listeners to aggregate a
specific palate that in itself
warrants its own flavor at
The Roasterie.
But what exactly is in a
"Kanye West?" Would it
even be good? Would a
mere drop to the tongue
of this concoction necessitate rehabilitation? If you
were to go up tomorrow
and order a large "Ye' with
warm milk and a booster,"
what wild, unimaginable
components to the juice
would be even possible?
"Yeezus" is as out there
as you can possibly get in
hip-hop. Whether he is
truly God's vessel or the
next Picasso is still up for
debate.
Still, he is a maestro, so
picking him apart to tear
him down is not my intention; I don't want to
be dropped senseless like
Kris Humphries with his
little cameo in "Cold,"
a.k.a. "Theraflu."
Instead, just like how
Mr.West shuts himself in
a room and cranks out his
blissful, primal bellowing... .. Im going to shut
myself in this room and
crank out some sweet, rich
nectar from the flowers of
The College Dropout to

time you watched one of

those documentaries that
explained what disgusting
and putrid conditions major food companies make
their meat in.
Real Friends plays out
just like that. It exposes
you to things youve never
wanted to see, made you
want to cry a few times
and maybe even kept you
vegan for a couple days.
But, just like Kanye West
gifs, meat is just too good.
The latest installment of
G.O.O.D Fridays, as was
teased at the end of Real
Friends the week before,
is his duo track with Kendrick Lamar, No More Parties in L.A.
And man, this immediately-enshrined banger in
my Spotify playlist is some
of the rawest cookie dough
I have ever seen.
Starting with a sample of
Johnny Guitar Watsons
1977 ballad Give Me My
Love, this hyper-stimulating journey through
the seemingly-lavish life a
Hollywood persona is excellently splattered across
the wall with honest retellings of drawbacks and inherent fiascos that comes
with the business an
anguish that finally forces
West to plead for no more
parties in L.A. towards the
last hook.
The song in a way invites
you to bake something
delicious with it, to glean
some of its lyrics and to
make what your heart desires.
And there you have it:
three secret ingredients
that go into making a
quenching Kanye West
smoothie.
However, dont let the
absurdity of these components fool you. Just
like Wests music, if you
take time to strip away the
slight bit of insanity, there
is a sweet center that satisfies even the most particular of senses.
Also, there is still a lot
more to uncover more
G.O.O.D Fridays coming
up to try to decipher.
So, Im leaving those duties up to you. I dont know
exactly whats next in store
for Swish or Kanye in
general, but theres a good
possibility this verse from
No Parties in LA will get
you going:

MAKE ME GET
SPIRITUAL / MAKE ME
BELIEVE IN MIRACLES /
BUDDHIST MONKS AND
CAPN CRUNCH CEREAL.

FACTS

NO MORE
PARTIES IN
L.A

DOLE

THE

"If Kanye West

were a smoothie . . ."

his recent seedlings with

his G.O.O.D Fridays
platform all in order
to dissect just how much
of a pumpkin spice latte
potential a Kanye West
really has.
FACTS - Released Jan. 1
Much like the last time we
last heard West with his
album Yeezus, Facts
the first track released
under the 2016 G.O.O.D
Fridays umbrella enjoys a soothing, choir-like
loop sprinkled throughout
Wests bars, something
Bound 2 did with Wests
2013 release. However,
unlike Bound 2, which
used its airtime to proclaim that Wests transition into adult courtship
is more than just a fantasy, Facts uses a seething
vitriol to indict Nike and
the Jordan brand for presumably looking over his
established name-value.
It has a bravado that, at
least for the moment, gives
me a gaudy aftertaste similar to his 2006 album release Late Registration,
which in itself broke away
from the usual inner-reflection in Wests earlier
music. However, hints of
a thematic underpinning
makes it somewhat satisfying as an opening statement to his fans, as the
chorus would explain how
disgusted he is with all
the cheating and stealing
going on in his life, something that he will touch on
in greater detail later.
As such, it is easy to assume that powdered ginger is a crucial element to
constructing the perfect
Kanye West. Not only
will the juice wake you up
with a little spicy kick, but
it also manages to make
you feel like you were just
hit with one of those patented Kanye death glares.
If FACTS is the ginger
to the essential Kanye
West, then the second
track from G.O.O.D Fridays, Real Friends, can
rightfully be the bacon
bits.
Real Friends, for all of
those vegetarian listeners
out there, might be one
you stay away from.
Unapologetically,
it
includes thick, chewy
rhymes about a cousin
that stole his laptop, a digestible beat that comes
and goes with ease, and it
has hip-hop artist Ty Dolla Sign answering seemingly-rhetorical questions
from Kanye during the
hook.
This is a track that has all
of Havoc, BOI-1da, and
Frank Dukes to thank, and
it is the sort of exploration
into Kanye Wests fame
that we havent seen yet
and its kind of scary.
How scary, exactly?
Just imagine the first

INSTITUTE
OF

POLITICS

DOLE

THE

It's been a while since

we've heard you, Mr.
West.
You have successfully
left your fans and many
Spotify playlists dying
for just a little bit of Yeezus.
It has become a thirst,
Mr.West, and that left me
with one conclusion. It's
probably born of delusion
in the current Sahara of a
hip-hip industry, but it is
an epiphany that struck
my mind harder than the
jarring intro to "Black
Skinhead."

INSTITUTE
OF

POLITICS

GET INVOLVED

STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, Jan. 26 - 5:30 p.m.

MEET LEADERS
PIZZA & POLITICS
Understanding the Ups and Downs of Political Polling
with Dr. Mary Banwart
Wednesday, Jan. 27 - Noon - Centennial Room, KS Union

DISCUSSION GROUPS
A View From the Bench: Politics and Public Policy
with Honorable Judge Joyce London Ford
Tuesdays at 4 p.m. - Beginning March 22

LEARN & GROW

PRESIDENTIAL LECTURE SERIES

Edited by Kate Miller

They Also Ran: Americas Would-Be Presidents

with presidential historian Richard Norton Smith
Jan. 31 (4 p.m.) and Feb. 1 (7 p.m.) - Dole Institute

DoleInstitute.org

KANSAN.COM

SPORTS

Jayhawk swimming cruises to a much-needed victory at Robinson

Alex Robinson/Kansan
The Kansas swim team competed against Tabor College, Morningside and William Jewell.

ERIK NELSON
@erikthefan

On Saturday afternoon
the swim team geared up
for a meet against three
opponents: William Jewell
College, Tabor College and
Morningside College. This
season, the Jayhawks have
not lost a complete meet at
Robinson Natatorium, although they did split their
first double dual meet on
October 24.
The bleachers were filled
to capacity thanks to the
support of spectators from

all four schools.

It was a longer meet than
usual, as racing began at 10
a.m. and did not end until
approximately 1:45 p.m.,
with two breaks of a combined 25 minutes. This was
mainly because there were
14 womens events, as well
as 14 mens events that featured William Jewell, Tabor
and Morningside competing against each other.
Right from the start,
Kansas controlled the womens portion of the meet. In
fact, the team won all 14
events.

Junior Pia Pavlic won

the 200-yard backstroke
with a time of 2:03.88.
She won another event as a
member of the A relay team
that won the second heat of
the 400-yard medley relay.
Pavlic, along with freshman
Haley Bishop, junior Yulia
Kuchkarova and senior
Bryce Hinde, recorded a
time of 3:50.08.
I was really surprised
because I dont do a lot of
200 races. I was very relaxed because I knew that
there was no pressure,
Pavlic said.

Bishop also won a pair

of events, the 200-yard
butterfly and the 100-yard
freestyle. Her butterfly time
was 2:04.84. The time for
her freestyle win was 53.68
seconds.
Im really happy how
Im doing. My body hurts,
and were at that point in
the season where were all
hurting. I actually did better than I thought, Bishop
said.
The win was much needed, as Kansas had lost 28
of 32 events in Florida between Jan. 8 and 9.

We didnt perform as
well in Miami as we wanted
to, so we trained really hard
this week and we knew that
we were all dead, Bishop
said. Us winning is confidence, and thats all we
need at this point in the
season.
Kansas defeated Tabor
by a score of 130-55 and
Morningside by a score of
130-92. The team decided
not to have a score against
William Jewell. With the
win, Kansas has now won
three consecutive meets at
home.

Kansas next meet will

be this Saturday at Robinson Natatorium against
Nebraska-Omaha. It will be
the final home meet of the
season for Kansas, as well
as the final home meet in
the careers of seniors Hinde, Laura Bilsborrow, Chelsie Miller, and Haley Molden. It is scheduled to begin
at 10 a.m.

Edited by Matthew
Clough

Beaty and Kansas football net pair of two-star recruits

SHANE JACKSON
@jacksonshane3

There has been little to

cheer about regarding Kansas football as of late. Coming off an 0-12 campaign,
the Jayhawks just missed
out on a local sensation.
On Friday, Amani Bledsoe,
a four-star defensive end
from Lawrence, chose Oklahoma over Kansas.
However, just hours after Bledsoe turned down his
hometown team, the Jayhawks netted a pair of twostar prospects. Running
back Khalil Herbert and
cornerback Julian Chandler
both verbally committed

to Kansas. Both announcements were made by the

prospects via Twitter after
official visits over the weekend.
Running back coach
Reggie Mitchell has heavily
recruited Herbert. He is a
5-foot-10, 190-pound back
from Heritage High in Plantation Florida. Herbert ran
the ball 118 times for 861
yards and nine touchdowns
in his senior campaign.
Herbert is the nations
37th ranked running back
in the 2016 class. He was
ranked as the 75th best
prospect in Florida. He had
offers from programs such
as Florida International

and Mississippi State. One

factor that led to him choosing Kansas over other programs is the fact he trained
with former Kansas standout Tony Sands.
The Jayhawks backfield has a few holes in it
after losing seniors DeAndre Mann and Taylor Cox
to graduation. Kansas still
returns its leading rusher
Keaun Kinner who had 134
carries for 601 yards and
five touchdowns in his first
year with Kansas in his junior campaign.
Kansas other verbal
commit came from Chandler, who was a former Louisiana Tech commit. Chan-

KANSAN
CLASSIFIEDS
785-864-4358

housing

Missy Minear/Kansan
Kansas coach David Beaty looks out over Jack Trice stadium. Over the
weekend, Beaty and the KU football team received verbal commitments
from two two-star recruits.

even when he had committed to Louisiana Tech.

With the two latest additions to the Jayhawks family, the 2016 recruiting class
is coming into form. Kansas will be able to officially
ink its two newest recruits

jobs

hawkchalk.com

JOBS

2nd Shift WEEKEND CLEANING

Fri. &/or Sat., 4pm12:30am
$10/hr, background check. Apply
at 939 Iowa St. 7858426264.
Same bldg as Napa Auto Parts.
Other shifts P/T, F/T. BPI Janitorial
EOE

Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence

is searching for Employees who
are interested in making an impact
on kids in our community. Hrs
would include 36pm daily with
some morning opportunities & NO
WEEKENDS. $8.50/hr. Please
apply at:
bgclk.org/careeropportunities

Hetrick Air Services is seeking self

motivated person for a P/T receptionist at Lawrence Municipal Airport. Must be detailed oriented w/knowledge of MS Word & Excel.
Various weeknights 48pm and
weekend hrs. Appx 1220 hrs per
week. Pick up application at
Lawrence Municipal Airport, 1930
Airport Road.

EVENING CLEANER
Cleaning 35 nights weekly, 2
4hrs. nightly, $9$10/hr. 1020 hrs.
weekly. Locally owned since 1984.
BPI Building Services, 939 Iowa St
(NAPA Auto Parts bldg.) References required, stable work history. 7858426264 Other shifts
P/T, F/T. EOE

CITY OF LAWRENCE
Management Internship
The City Managers Office has an
internship opportunity preferred
for a second yr. Master of Public
Admin student. The internship is a
1 YR F/T position. The intern will
assist w/various projects. Must
have excellent communication &
MS Office skills. One or more yrs
of prior P/T work exp. in Admin. or
office setting is highly desirable.
Must pass bk ground ck, postoffer
physical & drug screening Salary
is $35,257 w/time off benefits. Apply by 2/10/16.

Edited by Matthew
Clough

SUBJECT
of
IMPOrTANCE

for sale

JOBS

come National Signing Day

on Wednesday, February 3.

textbooks

announcements

SALE

JOBS

NIGHT SUPERVISOR/FILL IN
$12/hr. F/T, Sun Thurs, 4:30 or
5:00pm 1:00am1:30am. Looking
for a new opportunity as a Janitor?
Do you enjoy physical work? Do
you get along well with people?
Fast paced, productive, valued
work. Supervisory exp. required.
BPI has become a leader in facility
cleaning since 1984. 939 Iowa St.
(North side of the Napa Auto Parts
bldg) 7858426264. Other shifts
P/T, F/T. EOE

dler, a 6-foot, 170-pound

defensive back from Hightower High in Texas, announced Saturday night on
Twitter he was attending
Kansas in the fall.
Earlier in the week,
Chandler
decommitted
from Louisiana Tech. He
chose Kansas over offers
from Nevada and New
Mexico. He was a two-time
all-district selection at
Hightower High.
Though he is a defensive
back, his relationship with
defensive line coach Calvin
Thibodeaux led to his decision to become a Jayhawk.
Thibodeaux had been on the
recruiting trail for Chandler

classifieds@kansan.com

JOBS
Internship
The City Managers Office has an
internship opportunity for a student currently enrolled at KU or
Haskell University. Must be a degree seeking student. The internship is a one yr P/T position. The
intern will be a liaison between KU,
Haskell & the City of Lawrence.
Must maintain a 3.0 minimum
GPA. Must pass bk ground ck,
postoffer physical & drug screening. Salary is $10/$12 per hr. Apply by 2/5/16.
To Apply to Either Position Go To
www.LawrenceKS.org/Jobs
EOE M/F/D

sports
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, JAN. 25, 2016

KU basketball must focus on task at hand to defeat Georges Niang and Iowa State
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU

With perhaps the

most anticipated game in
years around the corner,
the Jayhawks have the
test of not only taking on
a very good Iowa State
team in Ames, Iowa, but
also blocking out the
noise of the upcoming
Kentucky game as well.
In league play, theres
always the possibility of
players looking ahead to
other games, as ranked
opponents are seemingly around every corner.
But this year, all of that
is amplified.
This makes the challenge very clear: Focus.
Prepare. Execute.
You
cant
look
ahead, sophomore point
guard Devonte Graham
said. Weve just got to
get mentally prepared.
Right now, the Jayhawks sit in first in the
Big 12, though theyre
tied with Oklahoma,
Baylor and West Virginia
at 5-2. With a four-way
tie at the top, it seems as
though the league is as
competitive as its ever
been, which makes every
game difficult, let alone a
road contest against the
No. 19 Cyclones.
They score as easy
as anyone in our league
[] They can run bad
offense and come away
with three points, Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Theyre a great team,
and of course its a huge
game every time we go to
Hilton [Coliseum]. Itll
be a jacked atmosphere.
As of late, the Jayhawks havent done all
that well entering a hostile environment. The
team has lost its last two
road games and really
hasnt played that well in
a road test since the start
of conference play.
However, Self has said
the road struggles arent

FRANK WEIRICH/KANSAN
Point guard Frank Mason III drives on Iowa State forward Georges Niang. The Jayhawks will face off against the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, Iowa, Monday night at 8 p.m.

just a function of how KU

has dealt with the pressure; they also speak to
the quality of the league
and how the other teams
have really closed the
proverbial gap.
The thing I wish the
media would really grasp
is how good our league
is, Self said. I think the
[Big 12] teams are better
the last two years.
However, the other
teams arent the only
ones improving. After
KU hit a midseason snag,
senior forward Perry Ellis said he felt the team
has its confidence back,
agreeing with Self that
the win over Texas was
the biggest of the year.
Definitely. We were
just trying to get our feel
back, Ellis said. It was

definitely a big win.

For Kansas, it would
be an even bigger win
if the team could steal
a game from the Cyclones, who came into
the season ranked in the
top 10. However, it isnt
completely a must-win
game. After all, Self noted that going 5-4 or
even 4-5 on the road
in conference play could
be enough for a team to
win the Big 12, especially if it wins all its home
games in conference like
its supposed to do.
For that, the game
is even bigger for Iowa
State.
Already with three
losses, Iowa State cant
afford to lose at home.
Additionally, a home
game against Kansas is

pretty much a perfect

opportunity to make up
ground in the race for
the Big 12, and its something they cant afford to
waste.
However, before getting a shot against the
Jayhawks, the Cyclones
still had to face the TCU
Horned Frogs. Some expected the Cyclones to be
looking ahead, and even
saw the game as a potential trap game, with the
Cyclones being on the
road, but that was not
the case. The team won
by double-digits, and, after the game, Iowa State
coach Steve Prohm confirmed that none of his
players had anything on
their mind other than
the task at hand.
I havent heard the

players talk about Kansas all week, Prohm told

Randy Peterson of the
Des Moines Register.
Looking ahead to the
game, the Cyclones are
led by senior Georges
Niang, who has a history of big performances
against the Jayhawks.
Niang is averaging
21.5 points per game
in his last two outings
against Kansas, and hes
posted a combined 48
points in his last two Allen Fieldhouse appearances.
And this year, the importance of his performances has only been
amplified, as the team
lacks any real depth, in
part due to injury. That
means if Kansas can tee
off on the Cyclones big

man, in addition to junior point guard Monte

Morris, play with energy and keep Iowa State
from getting down the
floor in transition, a win
should be in the cards.
But Self knows its
never as easy as it
sounds.
Were
not
as
equipped to recover from
certain things [as years
past], Self said. You
can play pretty good and
get your butt beat. Our
league is that good. And
the separation between
us and whoever else is
minimal. Its less than
its ever been.
Edited by Matthew
Clough

Kansas freshmen taking advantage of playing time during down season

BAXTER SCHANZE/KANSAN
Kansas freshman Kylee Kopatich goes strong to the basket in a game against Oklahoma State.

DYLAN SHERWOOD
@dmantheman2011

Everyone has a superhero they like. Whether

its a classic like Wonder Woman, Batman or
Spiderman, or one of
the lesser known heroes,

people want someone to

look up to.
On Kansas womens
basketballs annual Superhero Day, two KU
freshmen were looking
to play the role of the
hero, or at the very least
tried to vanquish their
nemeses the Oklaho-

ma State Cowgirls.
Freshman
guard
Kylee Kopatich and
freshman forward Tyler
Johnson led the charge
for the team, although
their
performances
would not be enough,
as Kansas lost its tenth
game in a row.

However,
Kansas
coach Brandon Schneider continued to see the
positives in his teams
performance. Those positives came in the form
of getting experience for
the freshmen, something
the Kansas mens basketball team has struggled
to find with its freshmen:
Cheick Diallo, Carlton
Bragg Jr. and, to some
extent, though certainly
not as much as the others, Lagerald Vick.
I think Tylers been
finishing
plays
and
shooting the ball well,
Schneider said. We just
need to get that six number (Johnsons number
of field goal attempts)
up more. I thought there
were more times in the
game where we couldve
played to her, but we
didnt, especially right
after her making a basket.
Johnson, who started her third game of the
season, had nine points
and four rebounds, while
Kopatich had 14 points,
three rebounds and two
steals. Both freshmen
said they understand
their respective roles are

going to continue to increase, even as both are,

at least at the moment,
in a starting role.
While starting has
been a more recent development for Johnson,
its been that way for
Kopatich for all-but one
game this year, which
came against Texas a few
weeks back.
Even though shes
been a regular in the
lineup, she said she still
realizes each start is an
opportunity to put her
mark on the games.
I say Im trying to
take more of an advantage, Johnson said. I
just want to do anything
I can do to make my
team successful.
With both Kopatich
and Johnson earning big
minutes for a very young
Kansas team, success is
soon to be around the
corner when both players are upperclassmen.
That isnt just apparent
to the Kansas coaches.
Oklahoma State coach
Jim Littell said he knows
what this young Kansas
team is going through
right now. In the postgame press conference,

Littell spoke about his

first games at Oklahoma
State, back in 2011.
Hes going to get it
done here and going to
do some special things
here, Littell said. My
first year at Oklahoma State, we were 0-16
[conference play]. And it
takes time to turn around
a program, but theres no
doubt in my mind that
guy will do it. Kansas is
going to see good things
in the future.
With both Kopatich
and Johnson learning
early, the results this
season may not be what
the team wants, but with
a long-term perspective,
it will only make the Jayhawks better. As freshmen, the two will work
out the kinks in their
games, and will learn
what its like to battle
back from adversity.
From there, who
knows what the future
holds.
Edited by Brendan
Dzwierzynski