Volume 126 Issue 27
kansan.com
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
GIVE ME THE MONEY
CAPITAL HALT
Government shutdown temporarily puts funding for graduate research on hold
EMMA LEGAULT elegault@kansan.com
Graduate students' applications for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship or Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant have been temporarily put on hold by the government shutdown.
The online application process is unavailable, but students are encouraged to continue preparation materials for the deadlines falling between Nov. 4.
and 8. Roberta Pokphanh, assistant dean of graduate studies, said they are expecting applications to be accepted and awards made for the upcoming year, despite the shutdown. Students with a current fellowship will not be affected.
The fellowship provides a $32,000 annual stipend for three years to a student pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to
their institution.
The grant provides approximately $10,000 to students who may not have adequate funding through their institution to assist in the quality of their dissertation research. Unlike the fellowship, it doesn't provide a salary or stipend.
Austin Charron, a Ph.D. student in the geography department from Corvallis, Ore., is set to submit a grant application on Thursday to aid with his Ph.D. dissertation focusing on regional identity in Siberia and Russia. The NSF grant
would allow him to travel to the area for five months to complete surveys.
If the shutdown is still in effect when he submits the application, there will be no one to review his proposal at that time.
He said he's fairly confident that once the situation has improved, the accepting process will get back on track; however, the long-term effects of the shutdown on grant funding are unknown.
"The uncertainty of it all is a little alarming," Charron said.
The frozen state of the application process won't delay Charron's research, but others applying for the grant may not be as fortunate. Nancy Myers, grant development officer at the Institute for Policy and Social Research, described the situation as a "holding pattern."
"We're just crossing our fingers that [the shutdown] will lift and we can get our students' proposals through and know one way or another if they need to find other funding." Myers said.
delay research progress and career advancement. Coupled with the recent sequestration legislation, which estimated a $12 billion reduction in federal research spending this year, the support of these projects is suffering.
The shutdown could potentially
"In the big picture, the more you cut these funding sources, the farther behind the U.S. could get in scientific research," Myers said.
— Edited by Duncan McHenry
COMMUNITY
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Mauricio Gomez Montova addresses a crowd at the symposium aimed to challenge social norms. Gomez Montoya now works at the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Students aim to change cultural norms
mgarrett@kansan.com
MICHAEL GARRETT
It was the kind of divorce that didn't end on bad terms, but it didn't end on good terms either. Mauricio Gomez Montoya's parents split up when he was 13 years old. After that point he never really saw his dad.
Gomez Montoya was raised by his mother in Mexico City. His brother, only two years older, was the first real male role model he had. Gomez Montoya and his older brother had to figure things out on their own — there are some things that mothers can't provide to teenage boys that fathers can.
"We had to learn how to tie ties from our neighbor," Gomez Montoya said.
Learning how to tie a tie, change a tire and catch a baseball weren't the only things Gomez Montoya missed out on by not having a father present. He also missed out on having the awkward, but necessary, conversations fathers have with their sons.
These father-son conversations about how to treat women, to set goals, to lead by example, to be humble and even how to carry yourself as a man are difficult for mothers to emulate. Many of these lessons Gomez Montoya learned on his own.
GOMEZ MONTOYA AS A HOLE MOUSEI
Gomez Montoya currently works as a retention specialist
GOMEZ MONTOYA AS A ROLE MODEL
One of Gomez Montoya's newest projects includes tackling problems facing masculinity on the University's campus. He
for the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University. He's had his hand in a multitude of student aid and enrichment programs, including the Hawk Link Program, PRE 101, Student Union Activities, Hispanic American Leadership Organization and more. All of these organizations aim to improve student life at the University.
wants to be a role model for students as well as create an environment at the University where men can express issues they're having with school, work, family and any other areas of life.
six years.
MALE GUIDANCE NEEDED
"If I needed it 10 years ago, chances are students need it now," Gomez Montoya said.
Male students are in need of direction especially at the college level. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 57.7 percent of male students at the University are graduating within six years, compared to the 64.2 percent of female students at the University that are graduating in
Gomez Montoya said a reason for this could be lack of focus and guidance among college-aged men.
"There are not a lot of role models and men are trying to figure it out on their own." Gomez Montoya said. "Sometimes I think group behaviors take over."
These group behaviors can come in many forms: fraternity houses, locker rooms, pop culture, social media or even friends.
"There are not a lot of role models and men are trying to figure it out on their own."
Dr. Tracy Davis, a professor
GOMEZ MONTOYA retention specialist
The University, in fact, is starting to pay attention to these unhealthy behaviors among male students. Each year,
from western Illinois University, is an expert in identity and development as well as men and masculinity issues. He said these group behaviors among men are extremely
negative and can sometimes develop into illegal activity, such as DUI citations or violence.
"The research would suggest that the statistics on 'bad behavior' judicial offenses brought up at college campuses are mostly men," Davis said. "Why we don't pay attention to this is a great question."
the University selects 15 male students, faculty or staff members as Men of Merit. This award goes to men who positively define masculinity through challenging norms, taking action and leading by example, while making contributions to the University or the community. Gomez Montyona was a 2013 Man of Merit winner.
CREATING CHANGE
Kris Velasco, a winner from 2012, decided to take his role as a Man of Merit one step further. Velasco sent out an email to other Man of Merit winners asking if they would like to continue to challenge social norms facing men by creating a masculinity symposium.
The goal of the symposium was to create a space for men to gather and openly discuss problems they were facing as well as help men develop a view on what healthy masculinity looks like.
Velasco graduated in the spring of 2013, but during his time at the University he was involved in a number of organizations. He said his masculinity was challenged at times because of his sexual orientation.
"It was a sense of duty and obligation," Velasco said. "Now that we won, we have a duty to teach people what it means to be a man."
SEE CHANGE PAGE 2
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter influences House shutdown
KAITLYN KLEIN
kklein@kansan.com
When the government shut down last in 1995, it was closed for 21 days and, according to Gallup, it didn't affect public opinion in the long run.
But, now, with the government shutdown in its second week and social media a prevalent form of communication that wasn't available to people in 1995, its effects, frustration and information are being spread more widely than before.
Many of Twitter's trending topics in the U.S. last week revolved around the shutdown.
DearCongress,
ShutdownPickupLines,
NoBudgetNoPants and simply
GovernmentShutdown made the list.
Though social media gives everyone a voice, does social media influence politics?
NATIONAL POLITICS
Hyunjin Seo, an assistant professor at the school of journalism, teaches a social media class and said social media's prevalence has caused most politicians to engage with their constituents through Facebook and Twitter.
"Social media has become an important channel through which citizens gather information, express their opinions on social and political issues and mobilize movements around those issues," Seo said.
"This may help put pressure on politicians to resolve the issue," Seo said. "At the same time, social media has amplified polarized views on issues, as people tend to follow online influencers, communities or media sources that they agree with."
However, Seo said the effect social media has on politics is difficult to measure. He also said trending Twitter hashtags likely have the most influence.
Shelby Webb, junior from Ottawa, Kan., said she was prompted to tweet to the Speaker of the House John Boehner by an email from Barack Obama's Organizing for Action campaign.
TWEET from @shellywebbly: @
SpeakerBoehner I was trying to
think of something funny but also
anti-gov shut down, but then I just
got sad. So try to fix ityo.
"It wasn't a very thoughtful tweet, but I was taking part in a 'tweet at Boehner' campaign I got an email about," Webb said. "I believe in those types of situations it's more the magnitude of unrest among people that counts."
The email encouraged people to create a Twitter account if they weren't already on the social media platform.
LOCAL POLITICS
"It is a place where many members of Congress and their staffers try to drive the narrative of the day," the email said about Twitter.
Kansas State Representative Stephanie Clayton is serving her first term representing parts of Johnson County and actively uses her own Twitter account @ SSCloCoKs.
Clayton uses Twitter to communicate her decisions to constituents and reaches out to them for feedback.
"I use it because I believe that it makes me more transparent and accountable to my constituents," Clayton said.
She said she understands that there's a risk with social media because it is public communication, and the more you put out there, the more vulnerable you are.
"I might as well be standing in the street with those people yelling things at me because everyone can hear," Clayton said.
Though Clayton uses Twitter, she is unsure the influence it has on a broader level. She has never been swayed to a different position based on social media communications and is skeptical that Congress members would be either.
Clayton said it's harder to know if people who give her feedback are her constituents, and though she always asks, it might be harder for senators and congressmen to make the distinction.
She said she thinks social media has a more indirect effect through popular hashtags because politicians always want to know how people feel about a particular issue.
Index
REACHING OUT
CLASSIFIEDS 6
CROSSWORD 5
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
in contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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