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FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ELECTIONS FROM PAGE 1
tional experience to have so much support from all of the people in the room and the student body," said Bolton, next year's student body president. "Everyone's been on Wescoe Beach this whole time, everyone's sun burnt and exhausted. The watch party is a celebration for all of the hard work we have put in for active tabling."
Bolton and Woodard said they are excited to express students' wishes as the University implements new policies, such as the Changing for Excellence and Bold Aspirations initiatives.
"I want to walk away from this having accomplished every single platform that we promised the students and to make the student experience better," said the next vice president, Woodard.
Bolton wants the University to make the grading system more consistent by choosing the plus or minus grading system or the pass/fail system.
Woodward said he will ask the University to add a Spanish minor. A minor is available in just about every language but Spanish, he said, because the department doesn't have enough graduate teaching assistants.
Since KUnited has won the election 17 times in the past 18 years, the coalition will be able to build on the work of previous senators. Student Body Vice President Gabe Bliss said he and president Libby Johnson are leaving the office in good hands.
"It's kind of bittersweet for us because we had a year to work on everything for the student body." Bliss said. "Seeing our work flourish throughout the year, and seeing our new leaders emerging, is rewarding."
SPQR FOCUSES ON FUTURE
SPQR coalition members were at Henry's on Eighth, 11 E. Eighth St., when the election results were announced.
Their collective reaction was "congratulations to all."
Campaign manager Brian Sultana said that, despite the loss to KUnited, he thought SPQR accomplished it's goal: to provoke discussion about student government.
"This next year, I hope to not allow pointless wastes of students' money to be used on useless things, such as cell phone chatting kiosks," Briscoe said. "I would rather see sidewalk repair and better meal plans that are not $9.50 a meal."
The coalition will have two senators in Student Senate next year. Wade Briscoe, one of the coalition's CLAS senators, said SPQR plans to be active.
Elise Reuter contributed reporting to this story.
Edited by Ian Cummings
CAMPUS
Next year, incoming University students will participate in the Common Book Program, one of several initiatives that have sprung out of the Bold Aspirations Strategic Plan.
Book of essays picked for Common Book
First-year students will be provided with the book "Notes from No Man's Land", a collection of essays addressing diversity in American communities by Eula Bliss.
The book will be discussed at orientation, as well as Hawk Week and convoiation on August 19.
"The goal of the program is to encourage students to think critically. It invites analysis of a common theme and opens up dialogues and discussions," said Provost Communications Coordinator Gavin Young. "It is important for first year students to learn the expectations at a four-year university."
Other book-centered events include book discussion groups and bringing in Bliss as a guest speaker. Some classes will incorporate material from the book, including COMS 130 and PRE 101.
While the program is directed at incoming students, all members of the University community are able to participate.
Elise Reuter
Social media expert from NPR discusses tweeting Arab Spring
SPEAKER
HANNAH BARLING
hbarling@kansan.com
Andy Carvin has become known as "the man who tweets revolutions."
Famous in the Twitter world as @acarvin, he has reported on Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protest in the Arab world, since it began in late 2010.
"They began assembling in public places. Getting a group of people
Carvin leads NPR's social media efforts and was interviewed by Bill Lacy, director of Dole Institute of Politics, Wednesday night at the Dole Institute.
"It was always hovering in the background as something I was interested in," Carvin said. "I don't consider myself an activist, the sheer act of covering a revolution sheds light on it."
"I knew that social media played a part in Arab Spring, but I had no clue exactly how big a role," Lacy said. "Carvin was extraordinarily insightful."
Describing the current situation of daily public protests in Egypt, Carvin said the tipping point of the revolution was the day the Egyptian government shut off all media.
to share openly can be more powerful than people trying to do so behind the scenes," Carvin said.
Once the people were able to use social media again, Twitter allowed the them to spread the word to other countries, including Tunisia, Syria and North Africa.
"They fought back as fiercely in social media as they did in the streets. The digital natives don't see a difference between online and offline life," Carvin said.
Andy Carvin, Senior Strategist for NPR, is interviewed on the Arab Spring demonstrations and the use of social media as a form of revolutionary activism Tuesday evening at the Dole Institute of Politics
Carvin called social media one of the most popular forms of journalism. For people in many Arab nations, Twitter is the quickest way to send information to the rest of the world.
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
"Especially in journalism, you have to drop the artifact of coverage and audience because on Twitter and Facebook, there is no difference," Carvin said.
Carvin was covering Arab Spring from America until last June, when visited the Middle East.
"We were a few blocks away from a protest but were unable to see anything. It wasn't until we got out of there and I pulled out my phone to check my Timeline and then I knew how intense the protest was," Carvin said.
background in journalism, his coverage of Arab Spring was revealing to many.
Even though Carvin lacks a
"Being a journalist is a profession, but journalism is an act," Carvin said.
Edited by Ian Cummings
RELAY FROM PAGE 1
diagnosed with cancer, and we enter the darkness of night like they would enter darkness when we hear those words," Kirkhart said. Cancer survivors take the first lap around the track, followed by a second lap for those who have been caregivers to cancer patients. At 11 p.m., participants will light candles to celebrate the memory of those who died from cancer as well as survivors. Students make resolutions that they feel will help in the fight against cancer during the Fight Back ceremony at 2
a. m., when morning is approaching. By the closing ceremony around 5 a.m., Kirkhart said, participants are exhausted, like a patient would be, but hopeful and starting a new day.
Jacob Peterson, a sophomore from Osage City, participated in the relay several times as a child but it wasn't until his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer at the end of his senior year that he decided to become more actively involved.
Peterson is now on the event's planning committee and has raised over $500 this year. He hopes to raise more, and said
the cause is significant to many students.
"Chances are that you or someone you know and love will be diagnosed during your lifetime," Peterson said. "We each have a story of how cancer has impacted our lives."
— Edited by Ian Cummings
WREN FROM PAGE 1
this year. One person missing from the audience was his father Jay, who told The Kansan he was not invited to the event.
Ali Meeks, who helped plan the event for Delta Gamma, said the initiative's purpose was to continue the memory of Jason among Greek houses.
"It's our own special way to remember Jason," Meeks said. "His family, I'm sure, has their way to remember him, but this is for his brothers and the Greek memory of him."
— Edited by Max Rothman