6A NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2008
TRACK & FIELD
Team captain reaches top spot
Baysinger appointed chairman of national association
BY LUKE MORRIS
Imorris@kansan.com
During his freshman year, Matt Baysinger, Overland Park parker, hands a baton to Brandon Hodges during a relay. Baysinger is now the captain of the track team.
As captain of the Kansas track team, Matt Baysinger is no stranger to leading. But now he has the
opportunity to lead the nation's student athletes off the track.
Kansan File Photo
Baysinger
E ar l i e r
this month,
Baysinger.
Stillwell senior,
was appointed
vice chairman
of the National Division 1 Student athlete Advisory Committee, or SAAC, for the year.
"It's going to be a lot of work. I'm very excited," Baysinger said. "I ran for it and I prepared for it."
In January 2009, Baysinger will assume the chairman position in SAAC, and retain it for a year. Baysinger has also served on the executive board for the University's SAAC chapter and was the Big 12 Conference's SAAC chairman for a year.
SAAC is a committee of student athletes who observe the NCAA's regulations regarding the welfare of student athletes. The committee members give input from the student athlete standpoint.
"The magnitude of what I'll be doing hits me more everyday. I'm basically the voice of 180,000 student athletes, and it's nothing to take lightly," Baysinger said. "It's going to be a lot of responsibility but I think I'll enjoy it."
Mike Harry, director of student athlete development, said the opportunity added to Baysinger's development as a leader.
"He's expelled a lot of time and energy," Harrity said. "He can talk about NCAA legislation and hotbutton topics and bring them back to KU."
One of the major issues that Baysinger is concerned about is the
possible future of marketing student athletes. He's concerned that student athletes could be used to market certain products and never get any revenue from the sponsorship. If legislation allowing this is passed, Baysinger would also want to make sure that the student athletes had control over what products their names would be attached to.
These concerns might not only affect Baysinger as a student athlete, but could also affect him in his future career.
"I want to be in college athletics as a career, so there's no better way to get prepared for a career in athletics than to get involved now," Bavsinger said.
Baysinger hasn't ruled out working for Kansas Athletics at some point, but said he'd prefer a job near a beach.
Jim Marchiony, associate athlete director, said Baysinger's new position was positive for the Athletics Department and the University.
"I think that for us it shines a national spotlight on one of our student athletes, and that helps shine a light on Kansas Athletics," Marchionn said.
Baysinger said that his position would not interfere with his track season. He said the first SAAC convention of the year that he would be in charge of would be held in July. Track season ends in June.
"I promised coach I won't miss any practices or meets, but I'll be fully committed to SAAC after season's over", Baysinger said.
Outside of SAAC and track, Baysinger has even more commitments lined up. He is the media director for his church and plans to marry his fiancé in July.
Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
CONTRIRITED PHOTO
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awiebe@kansan.com
'Life is calling' at the Kansas Union
CAMPUS
Zachary Cooper set foot in 19 different countries during the four and a half years he spent in the Peace Corps. This afternoon at the Kansas Union, the 33-year-old graduate student from Pittsburg, will share those experiences with students interested in following in his footsteps.
"I think actually talking to someone who has made that commitment makes it a lot more personal." Sutter said. "You see the pictures of the places they have been and you hear their stories. Those are the kind of thing you don't necessarily put in recruitment materials."
Zac Cooper, back middle, with John, Lea and children pose in Arak, Kazakhstan, by the Arial Sea in May 2003. Cooper completed two Peace Corps assignments, one in Kazakhstan and one in Georgia. The Peace Corps motto is "Life is Calling."
Former Peace Corps volunteer shares experience
Peace Corps volunteers can serve in more than 74 countries around the world doing anything from teaching university and primary school classes, to working in agriculture or educating locals about HIV prevention. The program lasts for 27 months; the first three are spent in training and are followed by two years of service.
Heather Sutter, the University's Peace Corps representative and Cooper's fiancee, served in the West African nation of Burkina Faso from 2003 to 2005. She said it was difficult for students who are considering entering the Peace Corps to truly understand the experience without speaking to someone who had done it him or herself.
"I'm just kind of curious to see where they want to go and what they want to do" Cooper said.
Cooper isn't short on personal knowledge of the Peace Corps lifestyle. While most Peace Corps volunteers return home after the two- and half-year commitment, Cooper reenlisted a second time. During his first stint, he taught English in Kazakhstan from 2001 to 2003 and followed that by teaching science to primary school students in Ghana from 2003 to 2005.
Event schedule
Application Workshop
Wednesday, Jan. 30
10 a.m.- Noon
Kansas Union, Parlors (A-C)
Around the World with the Peace Corps, featuring Zachary Cooper Wednesday, Jan. 30 Noon-1 p.m. Kansas Union, Parlors (A-C)
Interview Spree
Wednesday, Jan. 30
4-9 p.m.
Burge Union, Career Center
Although there were some difficult moments, Cooper said the positives far outweighed the negatives during his nearly five years volunteering overseas. He said the opportunity to travel and meet new people was an incredible experience. Most of all, he said he valued the relationships he was able to cultivate with his students and contemporaries.
Cooper said he hadn't planned on returning to the Peace Corps for a second time, but he said that he didn't have anything to return home to and he enjoyed interacting with the people and students he lived with so much that he committed to another assignment.
and Ghana.
Cooper, a public school teacher before joining the Peace Corps, said it was rewarding to work with students who were invested in learning. He said there was a drastic difference in the attitudes of the majority of American schoolchildren compared to those he taught in Kazakhstan
"I learned that people are people and it doesn't matter who they are, where they are from, or what their religion is," Cooper said. "I think deep down inside everybody is pretty much the same."
"I literally kicked a kid out of class one time because he said something offensive to another student and the kid got on his hands and knees and begged to stay in class," Cooper said. "You don't see that in America."
Despite the rewards, Cooper said it was hard to be isolated from friends and family who were in the United States. He said it was important to have an open mind to prevent becoming bitter with the process.
"I think definitely coming into it without expectations will serve you well because you are going to experience things that you can't even really fathom being here in the U.S." Sutter said. "As much as you can try to prepare yourself for an experience like this, it's so huge and so different from anything you could experience here that it's really hard to do that."
Sutter said the Peace Corps was such a life altering experience that it was important to remember to keep things in perspective.
Edited by Madeline Hyden
Partisanship slows passing of tax rebate bill Tuesday
U.S. SENATE
WASHINGTON — The House voted Tuesday to rush rebates of $600-$1,200 to most taxpayers, but a partisan battle brewed in the Senate over Democrats' efforts to add jobless aid and help for the
poor to the economic stimulus package.
The House plan, approved 385-35 after little debate, would send rebates to some 111 million families and give tax breaks to businesses, costing $161 billion over two years.
President Bush and House leaders urged the Senate to take the
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bipartisan agreement and pass it quickly. Sen. Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, planned a Wednesday vote in his panel on a $196 billion package that could face a slower path to passage.
"The temptation is going to be for the Senate to load it up," Bush said in the Oval Office. "My concern is that we need to get this bill out of the Senate and on my desk."
Baucus' measure adds $35 billion for senior citizens and the unemployed, and shrinks the rebate to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples. It would deliver
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., said she hoped the Senate
would "take this bill and run with it."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that was unlikely in the freewheeling Senate, where members in both parties have elaborate wishlists for adding to the bill, including food stamps, Medicaid and heating assistance for low-income people and spending on infrastructure projects, among other things.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, signaled he would try to block Baucus' measure and prevent senators from adding items.
"This is a time to show we can rise above partisanship, do something important and do it quickly." McConnell said. "The only way to achieve that would be to take up and pass the House-passed bill."
Associated Press