6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DIARY KANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2008
PHOTOGRAPY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
This photo of Chinese citizens entitled "Restaurant Toilets," taken in 2005, is part of Laur's new set of Dipitychs.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A photo taken during Lau's time spent in China documenting Chinese culture, is part of Lau's new set of Diptychs.
Kong to work or find a way to remain in the United States. A friend suggested teaching and after receiving an offer to teach in Illinois, the University gained Lau's services by offering a more lucrative pay package.
That was 1977. More than 30 years later, Lau continues to teach in Lawrence and travel to photograph immigrants and the desitide across the globe. Lau said without the help of the University he never could have compiled the work now on display in China.
"I think KU is extremely supportive of what I do," Lau said.
"Without KU's support, I would never be able to achieve as much as I have."
Greg Thomas, chair of the design department, said the University is just as grateful to have Lau as a member of its faculty. He said Lau's global recognition and ability to put ideas in a global perspective make him a priceless asset to the University, especially after the PhotoMedia major was created
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
last year.
"This is someone who can get a faculty position really anywhere he wanted to." Thomas said. "We are fortunate to keep him here. We aren't making him any richer, but the fact that he likes it here is to our benefit."
Lau enjoys his life in central Kansas as well. His son, Tyler, attends the University and the relationships he shares with his students keeps him motivated after 31 odd years. Lau said he is encouraged by his student's growth as individuals rather than judging them solely by scholarly performance.
Conversely, his students feel honored to have the privilege to learn from a man as accomplished in his field as Lau. Lauren Fulton,
Dallas sophomore, said he teaches on a much more personal level than she has ever encountered with any other teacher.
"He stresses that you have to put yourself out there, push beyond being an introvert and being uncomfortable in a situation then be willing to face the unpleasant and hopefully learn from it in the long run," she said.
Lau certainly understands the unpleasant, but he said he believes that by documenting the unpleasant he and his students can continue to open the people's eyes to important issues.
"The photograph is a vehicle for conversation to carry from one generation to the other," he said.
Edited by Jared Duncan
Students meet to compete
>> SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
BY ANDY GREENHAW agreenhaw@kansan.com
Ten students compete today in the Mark L. Morris, Jr. New Venture Development Competition, where a panel of judges will award $5,000 to the student with the best entrepreneurial idea. The top four finalists will also receive $2,000 and all 10 finalists will receive $200.
Wally Meyer, director of entrepreneurship programs in the School of Business, which sponsored the competition, said the purpose of the competition was to allow undergraduate students at the University of Kansas to realize their dream of starting and running their own business.
response.
The 10 finalists were chosen from 80 different submissions, which Meyer said was an extraordinary
Each submission was a five-page business plan, which presented the product or service, the marketing plan and the final aspects for starting the new venture.
"It really takes a lot of work to not only think up the idea, but to also do the research about the industry and put it together into a very cohesive, five-page plan," Meyer said.
Each team has 20 minutes to present a presentation of its plan to a panel of judges at the competition, which will be held in Alcove J. on the third floor of the Union at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Bob Taylor, a judge in the competition, said the number one thing judges would be looking for was how well an idea could sell.
business idea could be successful in today's market,' Taylor said.
Judges will announce the winner of the Morris Award at the awards banquet in Parlor ABC immediately following the competition.
Josh Schoenfelder, one of the ten finalists, said he would use the prize money to fund his outside mobile advertising idea, which involves the coordination between advertising agencies and independent trucking companies.
"I'm definitely using this contest as an opportunity to explore the industry and if I win, I'll use the funds to research the opportunity of possibly launching the business," Schoenfelder said.
Both the competition and the banquet are closed to the public.
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
NATION
Hope survives after tornadoes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CASTALIAN SPRINGS. Tenn.—The muddy field was littered with debris after a wave of violent storms: Living room couches, strollers, children's toys. So when two rescuers came upon a baby, they thought he was a doll.
Then he moved.
"We grabbed hold of his neck (to take a pulse) and he took a breath of air and started crying," said David Harmon, a firefighter from a nearby county who was combing the field for tornado victims.
Kyson Stowell, 11 months, is held by his grandmother, Kay Stowell, at a hospital in Nashville, Tenn. Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. Kyson was found in a field, about 100 yards away from where his house had been, after a severe storm went through Castalian Springs, Tenn. His mother, Kerri Stowell, was killed.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The boy was found at least 100 yards away from where his family's house had been, possibly lifted by the storm's fierce winds, according to witnesses at the scene on Thursday. There was no trace of exactly where the house stood. His mother, who did not survive, was found in the same field.
In a region devastated by tornadoes that killed at least 57 people as they swept through five states, the infant was a sign of hope. The 11-month old boy, named Kyson, was surrounded by flattened homes, bricks from a blown-apart post office and snapped trees.
The baby's mother, 24-year-old Kerri Stowell, was one of six people killed in the small community, said Sumner County Sheriff Barker B.
President Bush, who said he called the governors of the affected states to offer support, plans to come
to Tennessee on Friday. "Prayers can help and so can the government," Bush said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff joined Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen Thursday on a helicopter tour of storm damage in the jackson area.
The twisters killed 32 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and five in Alabama, emergency officials said. It was one of the 15 worst tornado death tolls since 1950, and the nation's deadliest barrage of tornadoes since 76 people were killed in Pennsylvania and Ohio on May 31, 1985.
"You don't really think it's going to hit you until you realize it on top of you, then it's too late," he said.
weather conditions were ripe for tornadoes and forecasters were ready with warnings and in many hard-hit areas, sirens and TV warnings were credited with helping keep the death toll from being even worse. The National Weather Service put out more than 1,000 tornado warnings covering an 11-state radius from 3 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
In the mostly rural area of Lafayette, there are no tornado sirens. Shelvy Linville, the county mayor, said he didn't think they would have made much difference because of the way the 23,000 residents are spread out.
The three Blackhawk helicopters circled Union University, where 26 students had to be rescued after being trapped in the rubble of dormitories that were shredded around them by a tornado. Several students were injured, but remarkably no one was killed. Debris from the dorms and overturned cars remained strewn across the campus. The helicopters followed the path of of the storm, tracing the wreckage of trees, homes and vehicles.
Charity efforts were beginning for those who lost their homes. A classroom inside the Pleasant Field Full Gospel Church building in Scottsville, Ky., was filled with bags of clothes and a nearby kitchen was
stuffed with donated food.
"I find it astonishing. It is truly a miracle that lives were not lost there," Bredesen said.