FRIDAY,MAY2,2003
NEWS
THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN 5A
Professormolds University through art
Nicole Roche/Kansan
Since his graduation in 1950, Elden Tefft has left his mark across campus. He is the artist responsible for campus landmarks such as the bronze Jayhawk in front of Strong Hall, the 1965 redesigned centennial seal and the kneeling Moses in front of Smith Hall.
Alum continues to design, build campus sculptures
By Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students may not know Elden Teftt, but they are familiar with his work.
A 1950 graduate and professor emeritus of art, Tefft has long left his imprint at the University of Kansas. In 1958 he completed the bronze Jayawk that is outside of Strong Hall. For the University's centennial in 1965, he redesigned the school seal that features Moses kneeling before the burning bush. In 1982, after 15 years of hard work, he completed the kneeling Moses statue in front of Smith Hall, the religious studies building.
"I'm figuring out how to get a wheelchair in here so I can keep going." Tefft said.
Now, at 83, Tefft is as busy as ever. Well beyond his retirement in 1990, he still works every day in his studio, which is attached to the home of his son, Kim Tefft. He said he didn't plan to give up his work anytime soon.
Behind large glasses he peers at miniature models from past projects. One area of the studio, called the chasing bench, looks like a bronze Jayhawk cemetery. This is where Tefft details pieces that have already been cast.
"This one came out with fins," he said of a Jayhawk figurine that had overheated in the casting process.
Teft is working on a James Naismith memorial that will be
located off of Interstate 70 between Kansas City and Topeka. The memorial will feature waterwalls, bronze basketball players and a flower arrangement that will make the memorial look like a giant basketball from the aerial view.
Tefft said he wasn't sure when this memorial would be completed. After all, it took him 15 years to complete the kneeling Moses statue.
The statue took a decade and a half to finish, he said, because he was teaching full time and heading up the International Sculpture Center, which he began in 1960 and is now located
in Hamilton, N.J.
Redesigning the school seal required less physical effort for Tefft. The most difficult part was transferring his early model of the seal to a drawing — one skill he has never excelled at. He said one problem with the original 1866 seal was that it made Moses look like he had a bald head.
"I decided he shouldn't have a bald head at that time in his life," Teft said. "So I put a turban on him."
Because he spends so much time in his studio, Tefft has added a homey touch. A rotating stand, used for models posing for his life sculpting class, is covered
with a yellow floral table cloth and doubles as a dining table during the day. The screw system that was placed inside Moses' head during the bronzing process now serves as a makeshift Christmas tree — former students began adorning it with ornaments years ago and Tefft left it up.
His son, Kim, a 1980 graduate, said having Elden for a father made him a "sculptor by birth." Kim said he was used to working alongside his father, and having him close by meant that Kim's four children could watch the two at work.
One time, when his daughter,
Janell, was a toddler, she watched her grandfather working on a wall relief for the Lawrence Visitor's Center.
"The next day she marched out, picked up a chunk of clay, and stepped right up to the piece like she knew what she was doing." Kim said.
While a student at the University, Kim said myths about the bronze Jayhawk statue weren't prevalent. But Elden Tefft said he had heard about the legend that when a female virgin walked by the Jayhawk would get up and fly away.
Tefft said it was unlikely the bird would get up anytime soon
I would get up anytime soon — the statue weighs 600 pounds. It did fall off its base in 1996, however, and Tefft said he wondered if this were an instance where the legend had come true.
The bronze Jayhawk has been moved from the Kansas Union to Memorial Stadium and finally, in 1975, to its current position in front of Strong Hall. This is fitting, considering Teft once cast bronze on the third floor of Strong, the former location of the art department. Teft said he was pleased with the Jayhawk's final landing place.
A student and professor at the University for nearly 50 years, Elden Teft has watched the Jayhawk transform over the years into the "cuddly" 'Hawk that is now the school mascot. But the bronze version that sits in front of Strong will always be his favorite.
"I took what I liked out of all the Jayhawks of the past," he said. "I call this one the academic 'Hawk."
Edited by Christy Dendurent
O'Reilly CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
"What good does it do you?" O'Reilly said.
"young woman" how she benefited from watching videos of "X-rated films" in the class.
Hein said she didn't consider the films to be X-rated and that she wasn't offended by the class's content. Showing sex films breaks down barriers of the stigmas associated with sex. Hein said.
And after talking more about the sex films, which O'Reilly suggested were pornographic, Sullivan said, "I would call it sex, Bill. There it is. Okay, now what do you want me to know about it?"
After the show, Sullivan said O'Reilly tried to "spoon" them and said the students danced around issues. Sullivan said he thought he and Hein portrayed the truth of the class and its
"Pedophilia Day" and "Wheelchair Sex Day" discussions, while clearing misconceptions to a national audience.
Hein said she was glad she was able to mention to the audience that a majority of people at the University of Kansas supported Dailey.
Sullivan said he hadn't found one Wagle supporter in the sex class besides Wagle's intern, Zahn. All of the Wagle supporters he has spoken to weren't enrolled in the class.
David Cantrell, Coffeyville junior, is one of those students. He isn't in the class but said he didn't agree with its content. However, he doesn't support Wagle, either. He lobbed at the Capitol in opposition to the amendment Wagle proposed to cut $3.1 million to KU's School of Social Welfare, where Dailey teaches his class.
"Deal with it in an adult manner instead of cutting the school's
whole budget," Cantrell said
Cantrell wasn't aware his fellow students would be appearing on the show, but about 15 students gathered in the Union heard O'Reilly say that Dailey didn't deserve to be at the University.
"This professor has a sexual problem of his own that he's imposing on you under the guise of all of this highfalutin discussion," O'Reilly said.
Dailey declined comment.
"We'll keep the nation informed in what he's going to do," he said.
In closing, O'Reilly said he'd keep watching the developments of the University's sex class dispute and the governor's actions.
"It's a girl!" someone shouted at O'Reilly on the television, talking about Kansas' female Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Edited by Christy Dendurent
Bush announces fall of Iraq in an emotion-filled speech
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN — President Bush, aboard an aircraft carrier homebound from war, said yesterday "the United States and our allies have prevailed" against Saddam Hussein's Iraq and will confront any other threatening nation suspected of terrorist ties.
"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on."
Bush flew to the carrier on a Navy jet and made a screeching stop as his plane was snagged by a cable stretched across the deck. He changed out of his
flight suit to address thousands of cheering Navy personnel gathered beneath a banner that read, "Mission Accomplished."
He sought to give the nation a closure to the fighting while avoiding a sweeping claim of overall victory.
Strugglings with his emotions. Bush's voice broke as he called the liberation of Iraq a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. "We have removed an ally of al-Qaeda and cut off a source of terrorist funding," he said. "And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because that regime is no more."
The Associated Press
CAMPUS
Queers and Allies elects officials
Queers and Allies elected next year's leaders yesterday at its final meeting of the semester.
Ross said he was disappointed by the low turnout of 12 voters.
Any person who had attended a previous Queers and Allies voting was eligible to vote.
Patrick Ross, Topeka freshman, was re-elected as director of the student organization. Jimmie Manning, Lawrence graduate student, was elected as social chairman and Sarah Burris, Lawrence junior, was voted outreach chairwoman. Chantelle Cross, Omaha freshman, was elected secretary. No one ran for treasurer, but the position will be temporarily filled by Jeremy Wolff, Derby senior.
— Nicole Roché
NATION
N.Y. fraternity brothers charged with homicide
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Eleven fraternity brothers have been charged in the death of a pledge who police say was forced to drink pitchers of water through a funnel until he vomited.
The Psi Epsilon Chi members are accused of criminally negligent homicide and hazing for the March 12 death of Plattsburgh State University of New York student Walter Dean Jennings, 18.
Police said the freshman died of water intoxication because of the forced drinking, which fraternity members allegedly called the "water torture." An autopsy determined that the water in Jennings' body caused his brain to swell.
The fraternity members also are accused of other hazing activities and collectively face more than 150 charges.
Plattsburgh State, near Lake Champlain and about 20 miles south of the Canadian border, revoked the fraternity's charter in 1998 after alcohol was served to underage students.
Alumni of Psi Epsilon Chi, which was founded as a local fraternity in 1968, have agreed to put the fraternity house up for sale, said Kevin E. Jones, chairman of the board that owns Psi Epsilon Chi. Inc.
"We work for all queers and their allies," he said, "so it's best for them to come out and have their voice heard."
"We're done," Jones told The Press-Republican of Plattsburgh. "We feel a civic obligation to pull the plug on this."
All the fraternity members had turned themselves in to police and were released on bail by Wednesday evening, Plattsburgh Police Chief Desmond Racicot said.
The Associated Press
Featuring:
- choose paper, typeface, print color, and special messages
· 24-48 hr turnaround, Low minimum order
- Custom Embossed Announcements from 99¢
- Complete Regalia from $19.95
- Diploma Frames from $99.95
- Masters Regalia w/hood $42.90, Doctoral Regalia w/hood $49.90
- Free '03 graduation tshirt [with $50.00 order]
Congratulations on your Achievement and thanks for shopping with us over the years!
Online ordering @ www.jayhawkbookstore.com
www.jayhawkbookstore.com·1420 Crescent Rd·843-3826
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY
Living Water &
Living Water &
St John the Baptist Chapel
invite you to our
End of the Year Barbeque
Saturday May 3
Noon - 2pm ECM Building $ _{12}^{\text{th}} $ & Oread
Cost: $5.00
Email: stjohn@lar.edu
STUDENT SENATE
SUMMER STORAGE
PICK-UP
FREE
DELIVERY
FREE
BOXES
FREE
TAPE
SAVE $25 when you reserve your store space by May 2nd Store Anything: Furniture, Futons, Bikes, computers, etc. Basic Package is $135 for the entire summer!
WE CAN PACK AND SHIP ANYTHING RIGHT FROM YOUR DORM OR RESIDENCE AT UPS COUNTER RATES!
The UPS Store
865-0004
Formerly Mail Boxes Etc.