THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2008
NEWS
3A
POLITICS
Students contribute to Obama presidential campaign
BY BRENNA HAWLEY
bhawley@kansan.com
Marc Langston walked up to the door, past the staring donkey. He knocked, but no one answered.
As Langston opened the door to stick a flier in, the donkey decided an unknown person should not be trying to enter his owners' house. When Langston realized the donkey was upset, he ran back to the car, with the
obama event
Langston helped organize a concert to promote Barack Obama in Lawrence before the Feb. 5 Kansas caucus. Here are the details:
What: Barack N' Roll
concert
When: Thursday, January
31, at 8 p.m.
Where: Abe & Jake's
Cost: Free
Ages: 18+
donkey chasing him.
Contributed by Amanda Applegate
Langton endured being followed by a donkey and three dog bites on his winter break trip to New Hampshire where he campaigned for presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Langston was one of four members of KU Young Democrats who traveled to New Hampshire along with another student who went to Nevada to help with Obama's campaign.
Obama is the only presidential candidate who has an official student branch where students can get internships to help with campaigns. These internships and a newfound belief in a political campaign led these students to far-away states during break.
Once the group reached New Hampshire, Langston and Applegate
Langton, Wichita senior, flew north on Jan. 2 with fellow students Amanda Applegate, Wichita junior, Clarissa Unger, Colby junior, and Michael Gray, Buhl sophomore, all of whom paid for the week-long trip with their own money.
were stationed together in a rural area near Exeter, N.H., while Unger and Gray were placed in two other towns.
"I wasn't sure what to expect," Applegate said. "I've done a lot of campaigns and door-to-door work, but the rural area was different."
She and Langston phoned residents of the area and also went door-to-door. They encountered many college students, some of whom were new to politics.
"Students who usually campaign are politically-oriented," Langston said. "They're coming out of the woodwork to help us."
Unger was stationed in Derry, N.H., and worked with students from California, Washington, Mississippi, New York and many New England states. She said she was amazed with the number of students from all over the country, but credits it to Obama's appeal to young people.
"He listens to college students," Unger said. "He encourages them to get out and vote."
Gray was stationed in Londonderry, N.H., for most of the trip. Although Gray is passionate about politics, his future in medicine
"My future career is going to be dictated by the next president," Gray said.
was another reason he decided to help the campaign.
Meghan Daniels, Long Beach. Calif., sophomore, wanted to campaign in Iowa but couldn't because she was going home to California. Instead, she drove five hours to Las Vegas to intern with Obama's campaign.
Marc Langston, Wichita senior, and Amanda Applegate, Wichita junior, do visibility for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire. The pair was placed in internships exeter, N.H., for the week of Jan. 2 to Jan. 9.
Daniels, who wants to help with campaigns as her profession, saw helping with the campaign as a precursor for her future career.
"I got a feel for how a campaign works," Daniels said. "Idn't ever worked longer than a 12-hour day before this."
College students such as these are changing the tides of this election, said Mary Christine Banwart, a professor of communications studies who specializes in political campaign communication.
"The interest college students have in this election is exciting and unprecedented for at least the past two decades," Banwart said.
Langton said that college students are disrupting normal politics
and are the focus of this campaign.
"College students are making candidates who would normally win, lose," Langston said.
Unger said she feels Obama has the ability to unite and engage people who have never before been interested in politics, particularly college
students.
"I never expected to get this involved in this campaign," Unger said. "I feel like I owe it to Senator Obama. He seems very real to me, not like a normal politician."
—Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
CAMPUS
Home page redesign focuses on interactive features for students
BY CALEB SOMMERVILLE
csommerville@kansan.com
The University of Kansas unveiled a new home page on Jan. 16, just in time for the new semester.
The redesigned home page has some of the same features as the old site, such as e-mail, Blackboard and "A-Z" links. However, it now features a new design and a scrolling slide show called a "billboard", which features large pictures and links about various news stories.
Todd Cohen, director of University Relations, said that the new home page was six months in
the making. He said the old home page was unique, but not dynamic or interactive enough.
"The web evolves very quickly." Cohen said.
Although Cohen would not comment on the cost of the new home page, he said that a group designed it internally at University Relations. The group began with a calendar that eventually evolved into the billboard feature.
Cohen said that they were trying to give every feature story video and audio components, but that aspect of the home page is still evolving. He hopes that eventually every story
will have several multimedia parts, and that the main page will have built-in video and audio.
A story about student volunteer work in New Orleans' 7th Ward is the most multimedia-heavy story up right now. It can be accessed by clicking on the "Archive" link on the bottom-right of the page.
According to the University's Web site, the billboard will feature eight multimedia news stories that visitors can navigate through. The stories will follow general themes such as campus beauty, outreach, diversity, research and major events on campus.
Cohen said the new home page was designed to help prospective students be able to see themselves at the University.
The visual identity Web site also states that the new home page is designed to give a better idea of what happens at the University day to day.
According to the Web site, "the goal is to create a sense of place—a place current students, staff and faculty can be proud of and a place that prospective students, staff and faculty will want to be."
The redesign only affects the home page. All lower-level pages.
like departmental pages and news releases, will still follow the old KU template.
The home page was released on the same day the KU e-mail servers went down, but Cohen said the two events were not related.
"It was just a weird coincidence; an unfortunate coincidence," Cohen said.
Two KU students said they liked the new home page.
"I was only on there for like 10 seconds, but it's fine by my standards," said Jeff Close, Prairie Village senior.
things from other students.
Jill Asleap, Overland Park sophomore, said the new homepage was different, but still had all the same links.
He also said he's heard good
She said she also liked the new billboard feature.
"I like the pictures. They have some pretty ones on there," Aspleaf said.
Cohen said a digital media group within University Relations puts the feature stories together, but that they are also open to ideas.
— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS January 23, 2008 SENATE
ABWA Meeting
Welcome Back!
Tuesday, January 29th @ 7pm
Alderson Auditorium
(4th floor Kansas union)
Casual Dress
New & returning members-- come hear about what ABWA has in store for the Spring semester!
Food & Prizes!!!
Association's General Meeting Tuesday, January 22 @ Burge Union (Courtyard Room), 7:00pm
Vietnamese Student
Adam McGonigle - 785-864-3710 amcgonigle87@yahoo.com
- We will discuss about our Big Vietnamese New Year's Celebration (TET), which will be on February16,2008
· Come join us in need of preparation for different acts, performances, skits, and fashion
· Food and drinks will be served
· Hope to see you all there
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us by joining our Facebook organization:
KU VSA 2007-2008
Contact Adam McGonigle for information regarding the many great opportunities available.
Check out Student Senate for a great way to be a leader on campus.
Looking for a way to get involved this semester? Not sure where to start?
The Board of Class Officers Calls for nominations for the
C. L.A.S.S. Award Citation for Leadership and Achievement in Student Services
The CLASS Award was established by the Class of 1987 as a gift to the University of Kansas. It is awarded annually to an unclassified staff member in Student Success for distinguished achievements in student services, commitment to the needs of KU students, and contributions to the welfare of students at the University. Nomination forms are being emailed out and can be found in the Student Involvement and Leadership Center as well. They should be dropped off for the Board of Class Officers (BOCO) at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, 400 Kansas Union, or can be emailed to boco@ku.edu.
They are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, January 25, 2008.
The recipient of the 2008 CLASS Award will be announced Saturday, February 16, 2008 at the Men's basketball game between KU and Colorado.
If you have any questions please contact:
Ryan Northup - BOCO President - kuryan85@ku.edu or
Katie Goron - BOCO VP of Awards - ktldy15@ku.edu