THURSDAY.MAY9.2002
ENTERTAINMENT
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7B
Student departs University early for Nashville city limits
By CJ Jackson
Special to the Kansan
Not everyone who leaves Lawrence after graduation on May 19 will be doing so because they have graduated — or even because they are done pursuing their education.
Evan Levine, Leawood sophomore, is leaving Lawrence without a degree and plans to transfer to Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
He has spent his life in and around the Kansas City area. Although he said he would always see the University of Kansas as a part of him, as he approaches his 21st birthday, Levine said he thought it was time to get serious about what he really wanted to do.
Levine has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old. His dream is to become a successful
professional musician and he said KU was not the best place for him to pursue his goal.
"Simply put, the opportunities for success in the field of music are not great in Lawrence and — more generally — the Midwest," Levine said. "Although I'm not a country artist, Nashville is fast becoming a diverse music market where I think I can succeed."
Levine's mother, Nancy Levine, said she had mixed feelings about her son's decision to leave KU, but she was happy for him.
"I think going to Belmont is better for what he wants to pursue," Nancy Levine said. "I wish he wasn't this far away, but I feel KU gave him a good foundation."
Despite deciding to continue his academic future elsewhere, Evan Levine said he felt he was graduating in a sense.
"It's my time to go," he said. "I don't have a diploma, but I've learned a lot about people, and I've gotten what I wanted to get out of my experiences at KU."
Levine said he would miss the friends he had made at KU and his family. But he said KU may be a stepping stone toward a bigger future.
"My time at KU helped me mature to the point where I was able to move away from home, and the time I've spent here will always have a place in my heart," he said. "But I feel like I've hit the ceiling here at KU, as far as my career goes. I've gone as far as I can go in this environment, and now it's time to see what happens."
Contact Jackson at jayplay@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jeremy Clarkson.
Board game depicts inner-city life
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Picture yourself as an 18-year-old black male, trying to make it out of the ghetto.
You try to stay out of trouble, hoping not to become another statistic. You want to do the right thing. But there are so many pitfalls — drugs, crime, teen pregnancy.
This is real life — and the theme of a controversial new board game.
It's called Life as a Black Man, and in recent weeks, the game's creator, Chuck Sawyer, has found himself defending the premise to African-Americans who think it trivializes the plight of inner-city blacks.
"Literally, all the controversy comes from people prejudging the game," says the 33-year-old Sawyer, himself an African-American. "Black or white, they have preconceived notions about what the game is. But once they see it and play it, they change their perception."
At first glance, the game appears to be no different than Monopoly or Life. There's a multicolored board, dice, game pieces and playing cards. Then it becomes more than your ordinary game. Each player assumes the role of an 18-year-old black male trying to make it from four starting points: the ghetto, the military, the entertainment industry and a black university. Each is trying to make it to "freedom." or success.
The road is littered with real life obstacles African-Americans face each day, including racial profiling and discrimination.
Land on a "Racism" space, and you might pull a card that says you will miss your next two turns because you were "stopped and harassed by racist cops."
Land ona "Ghetto" space and you might pull a card that Sawyer says truly illustrates the point of the game: You get shot in a drive-by shooting - game over.
The game has picked up a lot of publicity this month, particularly with Sawyer's public television appearances.
Controlling liquor costs
A new electronic device enables bar owners to keep close track of how much liquor bartenders are pouring. Bar owners typically lose up to 25 percent of their liquor from overpouring, theft and spillage.
Fifth year might make sense
Some students find taking their time is not a bad idea
By Donovan Atkinson Jayplay writer
In the recent movie National Lampoon's Van Wilder, the title character is a source of jokes and gags because he has been in college for seven years. However, for some University of Kansas students, taking more than four years to graduate is a reality not to be taken lightly.
"People ask things like, 'So you're graduating?' and it's like, 'Nope,' said David Green, Salina senior.
Green, a biochemistry and psychology major, is currently in his fifth year at the University and has no regrets about prolonging graduation.
"I wanted to double major," he said. "And that really takes an extra year."
Green said that there was a social pressure to graduate in four years, but if a student is not sure what he or she wanted to do, an
extra year can provide time to make decisions.
Barbara Schwen, professor of chemistry, said many students use an extra year or two to gain more experience or take advantage of academic opportunities.
"We have one student getting two degrees from the College [of Liberal Arts and Sciences], a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in Spanish." Schowen said.
She said that the student had recently returned from a year in England on scholarship.
"She wouldn't have been able to get two degrees and have that experience in four years," she said.
Often, students apply for graduate school in the fall of their senior year, meaning that they need to be sure of what they want to do by their junior year.
Schowen said that she had seen students who had stayed in school for an extra year who seemed more sure of their long-term plans.
Green shared a similar view. He was not sure what he wanted to do when he first started college, but he knew that he wanted to make the most of the experience.
"College is a fun place with lots
"Students should expect to be here for four years, and if it turns out that they're here for more, that's fine." Barbara Schowen
Barbara Schowen professor of chemistry
of opportunities," Green said. "It's a unique time in life. You have the opportunity to interact with people that you wouldn't have the chance to after you graduate."
Though Schowen can see the advantages that an extra year in college can offer, she does not think that students should come to the University with five years in mind.
"I don't necessarily advocate for that to be the original plan," she said. "Students should expect to be here for four years, and if it turns out that they're here for more, that's fine."
Contact Atkinson at datkinson@kansan.com. This story was edited by Brandon Stinnett.
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
Red Lyon Tavern
944 Mass. 832-8228