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Volume 126 Issue 82
kansan.com
Monday, February 24, 2014
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Coalitions choose names, establish platforms
CAMPUS POLITICS
AMELIA ARVESEN
news@kansan.com
Brainstorming has officially begun with the formation of two coalitions, Jayhawkers and GrowKU, in expectation of the spring Student Senate elections. The separate meetings discussed membership positions and established coalition names and platform framework.
"Even if they aren't running, it's a great forum where students can voice ideas about what they want to change and how they want to improve this already wonderful community," said MacKenzie Oatman, a junior from Wichita with Jayhawkers. This election season will include the addition of caucuses and party member meetings where they choose a president and vice president candidate to nominate. Students who
Jayhawkers
attended the meetings on Sunday became voting members of each coalition for future caucuses.
Nearly 70 students were onboard with the name "Jayhawkers" to represent the historical significance and freedom values the coalition aims to embody. Out of four choices, a logo was voted for by a sea of hands based on its versatility for spirit wear and campaign buttons.
"I don't want the group-think mentality, but I just think everyone is really pumped up right now," said Kristina Maude, a sophomore from Clive, Iowa. "I think if there is an issue that somebody may not agree with, I hope they do voice their opinions and come up afterwards if they think of something."
The full room suggested 15 core values to establish a mission statement: Jayhawkers is a diverse group of students dedicated to enhancing the University of Kansas community by providing accountable representation through transparency and inclusivity. Aspirations and bold initiatives will be reached through open-minded dialogue principled determination and collaborative action.
Three platforms were determined at preliminary meetings and presented for discussion at the coalition meeting including conservation, strengthening community and looking beyond years at the University.
Isaac Bahney, a sophomore from Layton, Utah, said he was relieved the issue of unifying the dining experience was included as an initiative under
strengthening dining.
"I found that the hours and choices are limited in Oliver," Bahney said. "I grew up eating with my family at 7:30 p.m., so I'm used to eating late. I've ended up getting there five minutes before they close."
The election of president and vice president will be held at a future caucus and platform initiatives will continually be refined.
GrowKU
Seeds were planted to address basic business, such as a temporarily approved preamble. Core values included making a positive impact, pioneering inclusiveness, representing and serving the student body and challenging the status quo.
The meeting solidified the coalition name and committee positions for future coalition business.
"I really like the name," said Tara Rains, a senior from Oakland, Neb. "It can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean from the individual to the institution itself or anything that falls underneath that."
The caucus to elect the president and vice president will be scheduled for the future in order to move forward with full campaigning.
Garrett Farlow, a freshman from Tecumseh, said the next step for the coalition will be promoting the name so students can begin to grasp that the members really care about growing relationships.
"Let's continue to grow this room," said Morgan Said, a junior from Kansas City, Kan., in alignment with the preamble and name.
Edited by Chelsea Mies
Fast facts about the coalitions:
Jayhawkers
@JayhawkersKU
top three core values are inclusivity, integrity and diversity.
Three platforms to conserve strengthen community and look beyond the University.
President and vice president elections slated for a future caucus.
GrowKU
@GrowKU
Core values represent inclusivity, serving the student body and challenging the status quo.
Platforms are in progress for future discussion.
President and vice president elections slated for a future caucus.
INTERNATIONAL
Government corruption has spared dangerous protests in Ukraine causing major upset in the city of Kiev.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Realizing revolution: Student witnesses protests in Ukraine
Imagine Washington, D.C., engulfed in smoke and fire, with bodies pillowing up on the National Mall and people barricading the White House and the Capitol. Imagine squadrons of riot police opening fire into crowds of protesters, who are throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. That is what the capital of Ukraine looks like right now. I was fortunate enough to visit Kiev three weeks ago, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, during a period of relative stability. Luckily, when I arrived with my colleagues at Boryspil International Airport, the embattled President Viktor Yanukovych had just taken a "sick day," leaving scores of protesters in the main square,
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, waiting for an absolution from a corrupt government that they had been opposing for more than two months.
Walking around Kiev, there was a strange tension in the air between my perception of the city — beautiful, stately, populated with people who were incredibly warm-hearted and hospitable — and the masses of protesters gathered in Maidan, outfitted with armor and pillaged riot gear and busy building barricades out of fallen Christmas trees and razor wire.
I traveled to Kiev with my colleagues Dr. Marc Greenberg and Dr. Irina Six, from the Slavic Languages and Literatures department, to make contact with foreign firms so that we may develop internships and study abroad programs for students studying Russian or Ukrainian.
We attended a conference for business consultants,
sponsored by the Gabriel Al-Salem Foundation. Gabriel Al-Salem was a KU alumnus who went on to work as a consultant in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. His commitment to integrity, his sense of adventure and his endless perseverance and admirable work-ethic made him a model Jayhawk. At the conference, we listened carefully and watched the situation unfold, revealing the new realities of business in the region.
I took away more than a few lessons in networking; I realized I had come face to face with a revolution. These people aren't simply protesting a corrupt government, they're fighting for their lives and the integrity of their independence. We, as students at the University of Kansas, should be committed to global understanding and communication, and must not remain ignorant about the situation in Ukraine. This
could threaten to upset the balance of the EU as Ukraine appears to disintegrate into civil war.
As we walked around Maidan, casually snapping photos and gaping at the immensity of the small city that had occupied downtown Kiev, a woman approached Dr. Greenberg and offered him a sandwich from a tray. In the midst of all the chaos, there remains kindness and human dignity that we all share at our core.
Comparing the photos of the reality in Ukraine now from my own three weeks ago, I can only feel sadness and confusion. My best wishes go out to the people of Ukraine, and I pray that, someday, they will have peace.
Editor's note: Broadfoot is a guest columnist and a senior majoring in Russian language from Wichita. Please contact news@kansan.com with comments.
— Edited by Tara Bryant
KIEV TIMELINE
Nov. 21: President Viktor Yanukovych's government announces that it is abandoning an agreement that would strengthen ties with the European Union and instead seeks closer cooperation with Moscow. Protesters take to the streets.
Dec. 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Moscow will buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian government bonds and allow for a sharp cut in the price Ukrainians pay for Russian natural gas.
Nov. 30: Police brutally attack a group of protesters, detaining 35.
CLASSIFIEDS 2B CRYPTOQUIPS 7A SPORTS 1B
CROSSWORD 7A OPINION 6A SUDOKU 7A
Jan. 28. The prime minister resigns and parliament repeals the new harsh anti-protest laws that set off the violence of a week earlier. Both are concessions to the opposition aimed at defusing the crisis.
Feb. 16: Opposition activists end their occupation of Kiev City Hall in exchange for the release of all 234 jailed protesters.
Feb. 20: Hours after a truce is announced, fierce clashes erupt between protesters and police, with numerous casualties.
Feb. 22-23: The Ukrainian parliament voted to free opposition leader Yulia Tymshenko from jail and remove Yanuko rych from office. Presidential powers will lie with the Ukrainian Speaker of Parliament Olездан Surchynov.
Associated Press
Don't Forget
The construction on the two story 49,500-square-foot building located near Allen Field-house will tentatively begin March or April 2015 and will be located near Allen Fieldhouse in the parking lot north of Oliver Hall. Caboni said he doesn't believe pulling the bond request will delay the project.
Sixty-six students will reside in the fieldhouse apartment building. The residents will include 32 men's and women's basketball players and 34 non-athlete students who have at least 30 credit hours. Marchiony said in a previous interview that according to NCAA rules student athletes are not to reside in a dorm by themselves and may not account for more than 50 percent of the students that live in the dorm.
LAWRENCE Request pulled for fieldhhouse apartments
"I am pretty confident that the University will find other ways in which we can finance the project." Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Tim Caboni said. Both Caboni and Marchiony did not provide any details on the other options that the University is pursuing in order to fund this project.
"The project is alive and well and we anticipate moving forward with it," Marchiony said.
The University made the decision last Tuesday to pull its legislative request for a bond to build the proposed $17.5 million fieldhouse apartments building.
It's National Tortilla Chip Day.
The University planned on using the $17.5 million bond to fund the project that will mainly serve as a recruitment tool for the men's and women's basketball programs and then using funds from private donations and revenues from residents in the fieldhouse apartments to pay off the bond.
"It was pretty clear that there was opposition to it so we thought that the best course of action was to seek other ways to make the project go forward," said Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony.
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