Volume 126 Issue 55
kansan.com
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRENT BURFORD/KANSAN
Jayhawk Motorsports is an example of a senior capstone project at the University. Capstone projects or courses demonstrate skills that students have developed during their academic careers.
CAREER BUILDERS
Capstone projects garner real-world experience for students
ASHLEY BOOKER
abooker@kansan.com
After countless late nights and early mornings and being able to juggle different ideas from group members, seniors in capstone courses are preparing their projects to present in the next couple of weeks.
According to a 2012 senior survey by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP), 64 percent of participants said their academic experience at KU included a culminating senior project, capstone course or comprehensive exam, which is up from 53 percent in 2009.
Many schools at the university require capstone courses, which demonstrate skills that students have honed during their academic careers and show their work to future employers
Campaigns, the capstone course for the journalism school's Strategic Communications program, is based around doing advertising and communications work for actual clients — a different client for each class. Each client is usually in or around the Lawrence community, and designates a certain budget for the class to work with.
For campaigns classes, students conduct primary and secondary research on their company, and also research other companies with similar problems to see how they fixed the problem. They also design ads, retool websites and create social media content and promotional materials — basically anything that will help the clients meet their needs.
Yvonne Chen, an assistant professor at the journalism school, has a class that's working with the
historic community of Lecompton, located less than 15 miles away from Lawrence. The three main goals for Chen's campaigns class to meet are to increase tourism, attendance at festivals and volunteerism in the community, which has just over 600 residents.
Just like in the real world, students are given set deadlines but are able to freely take charge of their product and the time spent on their work based on the client's needs.
because they are great people," senior Alex Schultz from Overland Park said.
"I hope that students can see they can serve the public, they can serve the community," Chen said. Chen also hopes students are able to communicate effectively with each other during the project.
The real-world aspect makes some students put more effort into this capstone course than other courses that they've taken in the school.
But that in no way means students can slack off. Students in Hannah Stitz's class have to log every hour when working for their client, KU IT. Individually, she has logged 147 hours, but her group has logged a total of 639 hours as of two days ago.
"Ive been able to learn from hands-on experience with focus groups, professional client interaction and working in cross-functional and collaborative
SEE PROJECT PAGE 3
"We are dealing with an actual client with actual needs that needs actual help, and knowing what we are doing could potentially turn their organization around makes me want to work 20 times harder"
Rock Chalk Recycle promotes awareness
CAMPUS
EMMA LEGAULT
elegault@kansan.com
Henry Foster had a disgusting surprise staring him in the face at Allen Fieldhouse. Sitting in his assigned trash can was a dirty diaper. After a brief freak-out, he put on his gloves, mustered a smile and transferred it to the appropriate compost bin for biodegradable material.
Foster, a junior from Kansas City, Mo., was volunteering as a waste ambassador for Rock Chalk Recycle, a four-month-old initiative from KU Recycling to reduce waste at athletic events and increase awareness about proper recycling habits.
Waste ambassadors
Despite the incident, Foster said his experience wasn't that bad. At each home athletic event at Memorial Stadium and Allen Fieldhouse, a team of about 20 volunteer waste ambassadors stand at a station with a trash can, a recycling bin and compost bin. Their goal is to direct the flow of trash into appropriate containers and to educate passersby on how to throw things away. Accordingly, after the game, they help clean up the venue.
The ultimate goal of Rock Chalk Recycle is to create a recycling culture on campus, said Manny Abarca, director of KU Recycling.
the only way to get you to do that is to get you to buy in, and the only way to get you to buy in is to teach you at the place you covet most: Allen Fieldhouse," Abarca
said.
Abarca added that the first step is to get in people's heads and change their mindset. If one person asks a question and learns something, that person tells his or her friends, who go on to tell others.
Students are getting the hang of it, said Katherine Friedel, a senior from Overland Park and a KU Recycling staff member — it's their parents who didn't grow up with recycling who are tougher to educate.
"To them, it's like another silly fad, is the way the older generation seems to be," she said. "They're like 'oh, youre the garbage police?' I get those little comments all the time." It's frustrating, but, like Foster, Friedel is patient.
Lawg to Jay-
"They just laugh at me. I just smile, whatever," Friedel said. "They see us do it, they see us immediately go grab what they contaminated. They know they're doing it wrong."
know that they're ambassadors have had an unexpected effect: People aren't throwing things away at all. They leave their trash in the venue.
"That's fine, because we go through the stadium and pick that stuff up anyway," Abarca said. "Ultimately, it's much easier to collect the stuff that you all have left than to talk to every single person and get that through."
Changing the psychology
At halftime, two girls walk out of the chaos inside Allen Fieldhouse. Without skipping a beat, one chucks an empty Diet Coke can
SEE RECYCLE PAGE 3
dariz
Jewish students embrace traditions while in college
KU Hillel, Chabad Center, kosher options generate opportunities
ASHLEIGH TIDWELI
atidwell@kansan.com
This story is the second in a weeklong Kansan series on religion. Check tomorrow's Kansan for a story on Islam.
When you grow up going to a Jewish day school with 500 other Jewish kids, Judaism is the only thing you know. You go to the synagogue, you say prayers and you attend bar mitzvahs, lots and lots of bar mitzvahs. This was the life of Elliot Schwartz.
jewish students like Elliot Schwartz face many obstacles when trying to keep their faith in college.
Every day from preschool through eighth grade, Schwartz, a sophomore from Chicago, would start the day with a prayer, attend synagogue and go to religion class. All of his friends were Jewish.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
"I had a different connection with Judaism than a lot of other kids had." Schwartz said. "It was all that I knew and it was a huge part of who I was."
However, Schwartz didn't let this new world affect his Jewish roots. He stayed active in the synagogue throughout high school and kept his faith close to his heart.
After 10 years at his small school, Schwartz was thrown into a Chicago public high school with 4,500 students. It was a drastic change. The 500 Jewish kids he used to go to school with were replaced with a mere six Jewish students in a sea of diversity.
"In grade school it was kind of second nature, but in high school I felt like I needed to make up for that so I became really active," Schwartz said.
He became president of United Synagogue Youth for his synagogue and used that as a way to connect with other Jewish students that he no longer saw on a daily basis.
But upon coming to college, Schwartz found it much more difficult to stay active.
He joined Zeta Beta Tau, a predominately Jewish fraternity, and attempted to get involved with KU Hillel but didn't feel the connection with it that he had hoped for.
In general, Schwartz said, he feels as though he is at a coasting point. He still observes the high holy days and religious holidays, but is unable to find his true niche. He knows the importance of his faith but doesn't stay as involved as he used to.
Schwartz also found that he didn't feel particularly connected with a synagogue at the University. Having spent 18 years at the same synagogue in Chicago, he couldn't see himself anywhere else.
"Some people find it in college and want to be more a part of it and some people lose it in college," Schwartz said. "And then there are those who know it's still there but don't really follow it."
"It kind of just didn't have the same feeling." Schwartz told. "I just didn't feel anymore that I needed to show everyone that I'm religious like I did in high school."
Schwartz said he sees this as a common problem among college students.
When religious students come to college they all have a
The Chabad Center is a Jewish community center that aims to keep students involved in all aspects of Judaism. Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, director of the Chabad Center, said it is a great transition point for students who wish to maintain their religion in college.
"We try very hard to encourage students and show them that it is much easier to celebrate their religion in college than they think," Tiechtel said.
Tiechtel has worked hard to provide Jewish students with the services they need to practice their faith in college. This includes weekly services, religious celebrations and offering kosher meals.
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
unique experience in terms of their religion. For Schwartz it's at a standstill, but for others the University offers a better way to stay involved.
Molly Rissien, a fifth-year senior from Overland Park, found her niche in the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Life, which has become her surrogate family.
"Its been everything to me," Rissian said. "I've met my main friend group through Chabad and I get to help other students stay involved."
Index
The Chabad center has worked with KU Dining to offer kosher meals to students, one thing that Tiechtel believes students struggle with.
"We want to make it realistic for students to practice kosher diets." Tiechtel said. "It's one less thing that students have to worry
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
about because we make it readily available to them."
Another thing Tiechtel believes Jewish students struggle with in college is celebrating the holidays. The University's holiday breaks occasionally fall on the major Jewish holidays, but there are a handful of other holidays that students are unable to celebrate with their families because of their class schedules.
"Most holiday lies on school days so you have to plan ahead with your teachers and miss a lot of school," Rissien said, "That's been the hardest part for me because
However, being able to celebrate with her second family at the Chabad Center has helped Rissien stay connected and has been a home alternative since she is unable to be with her own family.
For Rissien, these events are the only opportunities to celebrate the holidays, which has been the biggest struggle for her at the University.
scale events for the Jewish New Year, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Passover and other holy days.
Rissien is grateful that the
The Chabad center offers large-
not all of the teachers are that understanding"
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
SEE RELIGION PAGE 3
Don't forget
Today's Weather
Pay your parking tickets.
Partly cloudy. 10 percent chance of rain. Wind S at 16 mph.
HI: 65
LO: 28
Is it really December?