Volume 124 Issue 78
kansan.com
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Influx of students at the rec keep resolutions post New Year's
PAGE 3
BLACKOUT ALTERS WEB USE
Popular websites shut down Wednesday in protest causing students to surf elsewhere
VIKAAS SHANKER
vshanker@kansan.com
Some students found black screens on some of their favorite websites yesterday, but understood why major online companies like Wikipedia and Reddit shut down in protest of legislation that could open doors to censorship on the web.
and Protect IP Act.
"I figured it would finally be the one thing that could stir the public about this," said Matthew Tougas, a senior from Kansas City, Mo. "It can wake the middle class occupiers," he said.
Tougas first heard about the mass protest through a local news broadcast on NBC — a channel owned by NBC Universal — which supports the Stop Online Piracy Act
associations and companies from these industries such as the Motion Picture Association of
"Ironically, it's getting big corporations fighting each other," Tougas said.
Dave Thomas, a freshman from Overland Park, was alerted to the blackout when he visited Wikipedia yesterday morning to search for information about an NBA player.
"I was a little confused at first and didn't know about the situation," he said, "but I read the linked Wikipedia page about the act and I was surprised it came this far," Thomas said.
If SOPA and PIPA are passed in Congress, the legislation would allow content producers such as music artists, the film industry and brand name companies to seek court orders against websites that host, support or link to illegal content. Many
America and Nike have expressed support for the bills.
legislation by blacking out parts of their homepages and providing links to sites devoted to the opposition of SOPA and PIPA.
But the broad language of SOPA and its ability to grant the government the ability to take legal action against a rogue website launched waves of protest from the online community, which has gathered powerhouse websites to join them in denouncing the legislation.
While Wikipedia and Reddit completely shut down their websites, others such as Google and Craigslist kept their services online while increasing awareness of the
Thomas said he supports the protests against the bills, but would still like to see Congress pass measures to curb Internet piracy. He told friends and family about the acts and asked them to send emails to their congressmen.
Tougas also supports the blackout, but he didn't sign any petitions or spread information about SOPA and PIPA.
Internet, but I don't feel it weighs too much on me," he said. "I would rather volunteer in a soup kitchen to do my part."
"I know I'm a consumer of the
SOPA is delayed until the House Judiciary Committee meets in February to discuss critical details of the bill. PIPA is scheduled to be voted on Jan. 24 while Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) plans to filibuster the item according to protest organizer
Sopastrike.com. The blackout led to many senators and representatives calling out against the two bills. Kansas Congressmen Lynn Jenkins and Kevin Yoder and Senators Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts all took to different media outlets to issue statements saying they are against the bills.
Edited by Katie James
ENTERTAINMENT
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Ensign Nellie Forbush, portrayed by Katie Reid, and Emile de Becque, portrayed by Marcelo Guzzo perform their first song together in Wednesday night's performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein's,"South Pacific" at the Lied Center. This Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is set on a tropical island in the South Pacific during WWII and follows two couples' romance which is threatened by personal prejudices and the realities of the war which surrounds them. Rodgers & Hammerstein's,"South Pacific" protrayal won seven Tony Awards in 2008.
'South Pacific' wows crowd
LELIY GRIMM
egrimm@kansan.com
The traveling Broadway company NETworks performed at the Lied Center where the cast and crew arrived early Wednesday morning for rehearsals. A decision was made to perform at the University last year.
The University of Kansas along with the community of Lawrence had an opportunity to see the Tony award-winning Broadway show "South Pacific" on Wednesday evening, Jan.18.
Cast meber Erik Cheski, who portrayed the character Stewpot in
the show said his favorite part has been telling this absolutely fantastic story.
The company has been together on this production since late August and opened their tour of "South Pacific" on Sept. 26 in Boston, having done significant research into the story's time period of World War II throughout the tour.
"He's not trying to pull one over on anyone. He is in there just trying to get done what needs to get done," Cheski said.
"It's a great revival, and it’s won several Tony awards," Cheski said.
Cheski also discussed his favorite aspects of his character.
"We do want to take this show as many places as possible," said Cheski. "We've had several opportunities, including seeing some WWII memorials, and it's a fascinating piece of history to deal with."
"I thought it was great, very professional," said traveling Iowan Sarah Dreyer. "Bloody Mary always made you laugh."
The University itself was elated with this production coming to the Lied Center.
The audience had an overall positive reaction to the show.
of the 1949 classic in Lawrence," said Michele Berendsen, Communications Coordinator at the Lied Center. "The show is entertaining, timeless and great for everyone in the family. I thought it has some outstanding musical numbers, it isn't just a light-hearted musical. It carries some very serious social weight by addressing racism head on. This provides a great opportunity for dialogue at home and in the community."
"We were thrilled to have the Tony award-winning revival
— Edited by Bre Roach
STUDENT SENATE
LCODY KUIPER
"It's easy to get bogged down with small arguments on a Wednesday night," Johnson said, "but our Senate has done a very good job thinking about what it is that students want and what we should be using our time and resources for. It's different from other years certainly."
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 4
Cooperation leads to campus changes
Student Body President Libby Johnson said this year's senate has done a great job moving past petty issues and making progress for the University.
One area of progress for student government is the lowering of general education requirements. 72 hours are currently required to graduate, which, according to Johnson, is 30 to 50 percent more than most Big 12 schools and more than some Ivy League schools.
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OPINION 5
Last semester, six sub-committees were formed to work on lowering the requirement and create a new curriculum. This year, a new transition committee will form to vet the courses that would potentially fulfill that curriculum. Johnson said the goal is to have the general education hours reduced to fewer than 40.
The University's Student Senate took on many issues important to students, such as clarifying rules to make their own system run more smoothly.
Student Senate also worked last semester to improve the functionality of the University's Court of Appeals. Aaron Harris,
ckuiper@kansan.com
Looking ahead to the new semester, Johnson hopes the student body will show the same commitment when it comes to an issue she thinks is particularly important: higher education.
"Everybody is working a little bit better together," Harris said. "I think people are actually concerned a little bit more about doing what's best instead of what's best for them."
"We all know that funding for higher education has not been raised and it's become much more of a burden on students," she said. "This is the first year in the state of Kansas that students are paying more for their education than the state and I think students should know and should be invested in it."
Johnson hopes to bring students to the Capital building in Topeka to discuss this issue with state officials on Feb. 10.
Harris said it's issues like this that prove members of the Senate are taking their jobs seriously this year.
chairman of the Student Rights Committee, wrote legislation to help get the court fully staffed. One important aspect of the bill was an amendment to allow the court to nominate their own judges if the Student Body President failed to do so. Those nominees would then go to the Student Senate for approval. It also called for more transparency by making it mandatory that all court decisions be posted online.
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 4
Edited by Pat Strathman
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