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STUDENT SENATE
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Joint Senate concludes with vote approval
Incoming Student Body President Morgan Said speaks at the opening session of the 2014-2015 Student Senate on Wednesday.
AMELIA ARVESEN
news@kansan.com
Voting was the primary order of business during the Student Senate meeting on Wednesday evening, including the approval of the new executive staff.
The 2014-2015 executive staff takes office tomorrow and will work throughout the summer to implement initiatives. It is the first time in Student Senate history at the University that a dual female ticket has taken office.
"Senate can be very intimidating at first but I think come August, we'll hit the ground running," Wagner said. Before the new staff was approved, the outgoing members elected Madeline Dickerson, Emma Halling and Marquise Paige as the holdover senators, members who are Student Senate veterans and hold institutional knowledge.
"We have one of the strongest executives staffs that I've seen during my time here at KU," said Morgan Said, student body president. "Everything we do will stem from this core." The old and new Student Senate staffs sat beside one another as Marcus Tetwiler and Emma Halling handed
During his officer report, Tetwiler led everyone in the room in a sigh of relief as the year concluded. The joint
Said said the staff has already begun working on the creation of a non-traditional student resource center, nondenominational prayer center, fall concert and charges for the student body equity coordinator.
over responsibilities to Said and Miranda Wagner, student body vice president.
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senate meeting ended in a brief and smooth turnover.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
APPROVED EXECUTIVE STAFF
Chief of Staff: Mitchell Cota
Development Director: Zach George
Government Relations Director:
Will Admussen
Outreach Director: Patrick Jacquinot
Graduate Affairs Director: Angela Murphy
Secretary: Katie Meister
Treasurer: Drew Harger
Assistant Treasurer: Madeline Sniezek
COMMENTARY
VISIT KANSAN.COM FOR AN EXCLUSIVE VIDEO ON THE NEW PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
What I'll miss most is already gone
It's been gone since freshman year. It's staying up at 4 in the morning with
people you met months ago sharing the moments you'll always look back to.
Here's the scene: A packed dorm room of kids staying up as long as possible simply because they could. The TVs are turned off. There are no videos games or computers out. It's a group of people staying up late after nights of debauchery or studying to have conversation. Wed talk and talk and talk and get to know each other like wed been lifelong friends. This was the first year of the rest of our lives, and we were damn sure going to take advantage of every second.
College.
That first year when you're dipped into something new and exciting and crazy. So many firsts. So many laughs. A few tears, but nothing those late nights at Naismith Hall couldn't fix.
★★★★
For me, it started rolling in the grass on Mt. Oread when I was a middle schooler. My brother's commencement
That was college.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
SEE SENIOR PAGE 13
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Sophomore Jake Bruce plans to ride his bicycle across the United States to bring awareness to Bike and Build, an organization that raises funds for sustainable housing.
Cross-country bike ride benefits housing
KATE MILLER
news@kansan.com
For many students, this summer will include lounging by the pool and hanging out with friends, avoiding anything too strenuous. Sophomore Jake Bruce is taking the opposite track: his summer will include a 4,250-mile bike ride across the United States, all in the name of promoting sustainable housing.
Bruce, a mechanical engineering major from Shawnee, is completing the trek through the U.S., with the organization Bike and Build, a national nonprofit that raises awareness and
funds for sustainable housing. Along with 30 other members of his team, Bruce will spend 10 weeks pedaling across the country and building sustainable housing along the way.
A serious bike rider for the past three years, Bruce found out about the Bike and Build program from a family friend during his junior year of high school.
"I forgot about it for like a year, but then I looked it up and found out it was something that I could actually do if I fundraised enough money and if I trained enough," Bruce said. "It just seemed like a really awesome thing."
Inspired by a Habitat for Humanity biking challenge, Bike and Build was founded in 2003 by Mike Bush. The program started at Yale University and quickly became a national program. The organization's goal is twofold: to benefit and address the affordable housing crisis and to engage young adults who are looking to participate in community service.
"The idea is to engage young adults in service, because they have so much idealism and passion for giving back," said Justin Villere, director of operations and outreach at Bike and Build. "They also have the energy to do it. There's nothing quite
like seeing the country and meeting so many different people who are affected by the same problem."
Bruce's journey begins on May 22, when he will set out from Charleston, South Carolina, on his cross-country ride. The trip includes 11 stops in various cities, such as Oklahoma City and Colorado Springs, where the team will work with programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together and local nonprofits. The team will arrive in Santa Cruz, California, on Aug. 11.
Bruce was required to fundraise $4,500 for his cross-country trip. These funds help to cover the purchase of a
"There's been people that I've sent letters to who are literally family of my friends from grade school," he said. "I typed up a letter, sent it to them, and a week later, a large amount of money was donated to Bike and Build. And it's not just one family in particular either; a bunch of people have done that."
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CROSSWORD 5
brand-new bike, as well as any additional food and housing costs during the trip.
Index
Don't Forget
He said he was surprised at the amount of generosity people displayed toward his project.
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OPINION 4
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 5
"It it blows my mind how little of a personal connection
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
The NFL Draft is today.
Today's Weather
T-Storms. A 80 percent chance of rain. Wind S at 22 mph.
SEE BIKE PAGE 8
Maybe sun tomorrow?