THE UNIVERSITY OF HARRY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2009
NEWS|3A
CAMPUS
Champion debaters take sides on Collins' NBA decision
BY KAYLA REGAN
kregan@kansan.com
Nate Johnson and Brett Bricker won first place at the National Debate Tournament last Tuesday. The Manhattan and Wichita seniors, respectively, won for their argument in favor of eliminating grain subsidies. The University Daily Kansan wanted to hear their thoughts on another matter: Will Sherron Collins stay or go? Here's what they came up with.
BRETT
Sherron Collins is the most valuable player in the Big 12 and one of the most fun players to watch for the fayhawks in the past decade. If he were to return, of course, the jayhawks would be a national championship contender, and be the favorite to repeat as Big 12 champs. Despite this, I believe Sherron should declare for the NBA draft for three reasons:
First, money. A college diploma is good for your parents, but for someone that has a family to support and has been doubt-
edly dreaming about the NBA for well over a decade, it won't have much utility for Sherron. If he needs it, he can get one on the road, but finishing in four years is overrated anyway.
Second, draft predictions While leading the Jayhawks for another year might help his draft stock, it is questionable whether it will help it enough to move him into lottery-pick territory. This year's draft is one of the weakest in recent memory and next year he will most likely have to compete with some amazing guard talent: Xavier Henry, Dominic Cheek and John Wall.
Third, he's not getting any taller. An injury in his senior season, combined with the ever-looming (exaggerated) 5"11" height deficit and he might be out of the draft totally. Get the cash while you can.
There is no doubt that Sherron Collins is the best the Big 12 has to offer. But that does not mean now is the best time to leave. Currently, Sherron is projected to go near the end for the first
NATE
round or the beginning of the second round of the NBA Draft. Sherron's draft status is looking a lot like Super Mario Chalmers' status after last year's national championship. Mario was drafted 34th overall by the Miami Heat and is scheduled to make $2.5 million between this year and the next two years. Certainly, that is an awesome amount of money, especially considering the world's economic woes. But if Sherron could even marginally improve his draft status, he might make money more comparable to Brandon Rush. Rush was selected as the 13th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and is scheduled to make $3.7 million over the next 2 years, and make $2 million a year if the Indiana Pacers pick up his option. With the difficulty of this year's draft at the guard position, including higher-rated prospects such as Johnny Flynn or Willie Warren, one more year might become a shrewd economic move. It certainly wouldn't hurt to be drafted in the 2010 economy rather than in the 2009 one. I think that Sherron definitely has potential to improve
Nate Johnson, Manhattan senior, and Brett Bricker, Wichita senior, far right, are recognized by Chancellor Hemenway and more than 16,000 KU basketball fans during the first half of Saturday's WNIT Championship game in Allen Fieldhouse. Johnson and Bricker captured the National Debt Tournament championship, held at the University of Texas-Austin in March.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
his game, with such additions as a consistent mid-range jumper and a more traditional point guard passing skill set. Next year's team
will allow Sherron to shine on a team of potential superstars, possibly ending in his second national championship. One more year
and Sherron might become one of the greatest Jayhawks in history.
NATIONAL
- Edited by Sonya English
Salamanders cross the road and get to the other side
LISA RATHKE Associated Press
NEW HAVEN, Vt. — The black salamander with yellow spots sat on the roadside in the dark, ready to make a go of it.
On rainy nights in early spring, roads between forests and vernal pools are hopping and crawling with activity. Hundreds of amphibians cross small stretches of asphalt to mate. But many don't make it.
But it was not on its own. It got help from an escort — one of 45 people who volunteered on a recent night to carry salamanders, frogs and newts across the road during their annual migration to mate.
From rural Vermont to urban centers like Philadelphia, human escorts, called bucket brigades in some places, help amphibians make it to their mating areas without getting squashed by cars. It's part education, part conservation, and part science.
"It's an extraordinary thing and people deserve to know about it," said Warren King, a member of the Otter Creek Audubon Society, who organizes a crossing in Salisbury. "And it needs to be protected. There are sites where many of the critters that are crossing never make it."
On a recent night, University of Vermont student Kaitlin Friedman walked with other volunteers along
"It's pretty much the one time of year where you get to see a lot of salamanders and it is just really cool," said Friedman, 20, of Long Island, New York. "Plus, you know you help them across the road, you feel like maybe you're making a small reduction in their mortality rates, maybe, just for that
hour or so."
But some wonder why anyone would go to such lengths.
They also kept count of vehicles, and the amphibians that didn't make it, trying to identify the flattened carcasses.
the asphalt with flashlights and clipboards, moving wood frogs, peeers, blue-spotted, red-backed and four-toed salamanders across the road, while they jotted down how many they saw.
"Even if we don't know what would happen if they all died out at once,we could imagine some kind of ripple effect on the rest of the ecosystem because they serve as both predator and prey and are probably very important in terms of nutrient cycling in the forest floor," he said.
The red-backed salamanders are the most abundant backboned animal in the forest, said Jackson.
For Parren, it's preservation.
"For me it's more we're losing the national heritage that belongs there," he said.
Martin Lee, left, and Tori Cieland check the roadway in New Haven, Vt., March 22. They volunteered on a recent night to carry salamanders, frogs and nevets across the road during their annual migration to mate. On rainy nights in early spring, roads between forests and vernal pools are hopping and crawling with activity. On some nights, hundreds of amphibians cross small stretches of roads to mate. But many don't make it, getting squashed by cars.
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