THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS THE UNIVERSITY OF PAULA RANSOM THURSDAY, EVERY MAY 25, 2020 NEWS 3A GRADUATION Grad Finale will provide caps, gowns, announcements BY RACHEL BURCHFIELD rburchfield@kansan.com Seniors, mark your calendars and grab your checkbooks — in less than two weeks. Grad Finale will be here. For six months, KU Bookstores and lostes, a company that sells grad gear graduation regalia, have planned what KU Bookstores marketing coordinator Kelly Stazyk called a one-stop graduation shop for graduating students. Grad Finale will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 17, 18 and 19 at the Ballroom on the fifth level of the Kansas Union. - Cap: $5 - Gown: $20 - Tassel: $5 - Hood (for those earning a Master's degree): $20 - Graduation Announcements: $65-$80 - Diploma Frame: $165-$323 (for Doctoral diplomas) - Men's class rings: $375-$690 - Women's class rings: $305-$485. Alumni Association Membership: First year is free as a graduation gift from the Alumni Association and Endowment, and for the next four years graduates are considered "recent grads" and pay $25 per year. Senior Class T-Shirt: $10 suggested donation Source: KU Bookstores, Alumni Association "Graduation can be overwhelming because you can't show up at the ceremony without previous planning," Stazyk said. "The KU Bookstores can help students walk through the process at Grad Finale or anytime." senior class T-shirts and to pick up her cap, gown and graduation announcements. Courtney Brax, Hutchinson senior, said she was a little overwhelmed about her May graduation. Brax said she would attend Gradle Final to help pass out "I just want to be a little more prepared for graduation and get everything ready ahead of time," Brax said. Todd Wiedenmeyer, territory sales manager for lostens, said he hoped to see 70 percent of graduating seniors attend the Grad Finaire. He said University offices such as who will be there Alumni Association Balfour Rings Classic Photography, Inc. the University Career Center, the Office of the University Registrar and the Office of Student Financial Aid would attend the graduation fair, as well as retailers including Balfour Rings and Classic Photography, Inc. Endowment Association Commerce Bank Graduate Studies - Jostens Cap and Gown Kansas University Jostens Graduation - Jostens Graduation Announcements Office of Student Financial Aid KU Bookstores Registrar's Office jennifer Alderdice, assistant vice president of student programs for the Alumni Association, said she would attend Grad Finale on behalf of the Alumni Association. Alderdice said the event's setup was beneficial for students. University Career Center Source: Todd Wiedenmeyer, Jostens Terri- tory Sales Manager es available to them in a one-stop shop atmosphere," Alderdice said. "Students really can benefit from having everything they might need for graduation in one room. Plus, it's a lot of fun and an exciting time to plan for their big walk down the hill." Stazyk said even if students couldn't attend Grad Finale, they could still log on to the KU Bookstores' Web site, kubookstore. com, for information and links to some of the vendors. "I think that the grad fair is so important for students to attend because there are so many resourc- Edited by Heather Melanson @KANSAN.COM View this story online to see a Flash presentation with more information about the Grad Finale and prices for caps, gowns and other graduation materials. The Grad Finale will take place in the Kansas Union on Feb. 17, 18 and 19. NATIONAL Tents for illegal immigrants Separate housing supposedly cuts cost ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX — The self-pra claimed "toughest sheriff in America" has announced plans to keep illegal immigrants separate from the rest of the inmate population at tents in Phoenix that house prisoners. ASSOCIATED PRESS A few of the nearly 200 convicted illegal immigrants handcuffed together Wednesday in Phoenix, are moved into a separate area of Tent City, by orders from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Paiao, for incarceration until their sentences are served and they are deported to their home countries. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio accompanied about 200 inmates — along with members of the media — from an area jail to Tent City on Wednesday. "This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape," Arpaio said in a news release. "But this is a fence they won't want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock, literally," he said, referring to the electric fence. Arpaio said housing the illegal immigrants separately would save money, although he did not explain how other than to say it's cheaper to house inmates in tents than at traditional jails. He said his office has received $1.6 million funding from the state that will go toward tackling illegal immigration. "I expect more arrests," Arpaio said. "I expect to put more tents up." Arpaio said the move would be more convenient for consulate officials visiting foreign inmates and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents charged with deporting the inmates after they have served sentences in county jails. Aside from their residency status, he said the inmates would be treated just like everyone else housed in the tents. Arpatio's announcement has appalled some officials in the area. Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said she thinks Arpaio could potentially be violating the immigrants' rights by keeping them separated, and that shed like to talk to the Justice Department. "Any time you treat people differently for no reason, you stand to violate rights," she said. "We treat people equally in America. I think it's wrong." She said the move is a publicity stunt and that Arpaio has done nothing to show the supervisors how it would save money. Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said although Wednesday's move wasn't unconstitutional, it was degrading and unnecessary to shepherd prisoners in front of media. "You're sort of giving the message that it's OK to treat these inmates differently. It's OK to treat them like circ animals." Soler Meetze said. "He didn't have to make a spectacle. He could've moved them on buses." The Tent City is part of a tough atmosphere that made Arpaio nationally famous. His jails also feature chain gangs and pink underwear for male inmates. Arpaio was recently featured in a Fox Reality Channel show called "Smile ... You're Under Arrest!" POLITICS Released detainees: most-wanted Pentagon calls terrorist rehabilitation programs highly effective ASSOCIATED PRESS CAIRO — Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that 11 men released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay are now on the kingdom's most-wanted list despite having attended its touted extremist rehabilitation program. President Barack Obama has signed an executive order closing the detention center at the naval base in Cuba, leaving countries scrambling over what to do with released detainees. Saudi Arabia and terror experts defended the program for terror suspects, saying it is largely effective. The 11 were on a list of 83 Saudis and two Yemenis wanted for their connections to al-Qaida issued Monday by the Saudi government. The government knows where the rest of the 106 former detainees are. Among the 11 were two Saudis who have emerged as the new leaders of Yemen's branch of al-Qaida. The two appeared in a militant video last month calling "I think it would be a mistake to view the program as a failure." BROCE HOFFMAN Terror expert The Pentagon has said it'sunlikely to change its policy on prisoner transfers to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and home to 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers, has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants but also sought to rehabilitate those it believes can abandon their violent extremist beliefs and reintegrate into society. "Besides the 11 people (on the wanted list) who came from Guantanamo, there are still 106 people who have gone through this rehabilitation program and are doing OK," al-Turki told the Associated Press by phone. Three others committed suicide in Guantanamo. These rehab programs — and the kingdom's assurances that they are effective — have been a major reason why most of the Saudis have been released from Guantanamo. Only 13 of the 133 Saudis detained there remain, said Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mansour al-Turki. for attacks against Arab governments and Western interests. "Imprisonment only increased our persistence in our principles for which we went out, did jihad for, and were imprisoned," said Ali Al-Shhrii said during the video. Al-Shhrii was jailed for six years in Guantanamo after his capture in Pakistan, and said he resurfaces as the branch's leader after completing the Saudi rehab program. The Saudi rehab program placed former Guantanamo detainees insecure compounds with facilities such as gyms and swimming pools. Imams gave them lessons on moderate Islam, and they met with psychologists and sociologists. Georgetown University terror expert Bruce Hoffman stressed that the vast majority of those going through the program have not rejoined extremist groups. not gone back to terror. ... I think the success has been remarkable," he said. "I think it would be a mistake to view the program as a failure. Instead of looking at the 11, concentrate on the (others) who have The Pentagon also has said it is unlikely to stop prisoner transfers to Saudi Arabia. After the video of al-Shihri was released on extremist Web sites in January, Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon said the U.S. sees the Saudi rehab program as admirable. "If you turn'em loose and they go kill more Americans, who's responsible for that?" "The best you can do is work with partner nations in the international community to ensure that they take the steps to mitigate the threat ex-detainees pose," Gordon said. But Obama's Jan. 21 decision to close Guantanamo within a year has unleashed a debate in the U.S. about what to do with the remaining 245 inmates, some of whom are considered very dangerous. On Wednesday, the European Parliament said EU countries should help the administration accept Guantanamo inmates. DICK CHENEY Former Vice President Obama's announcement came about a week after the Pentagon issued a report saying that increasing numbers of those released have rejoined militant organizations and carried out attacks. Figures from December indicated that 61 of the former detainees have rejoined militant movements, up from 37 in March, it Former Vice President Dick Cheney has cautioned against closing Guantanamo, claiming the remaining inmates are "hard-core". said, without detailing the nationalities of the 61. "If you turn 'em loose and they go kill more Americans, who's responsible for that?" he told Politico in an interview. The University of Kansas Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press, will speak at 1:30 p.m., Friday, Feb.6, 2009, in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union. Please join us at this free, public event. WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS Curley is the recipient of the 2009 William Allen White Foundation's national citation. Among recognition during his tenure at the AP are the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, awarded to AP for its work in Iraq, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, awarded to AP for a West Bank photo. Curley has received numerous national awards for his dedication to the freedom of the press, the public's right to know and his work to push for more openness in government. Visit www.journalism.ku.edu for more information.