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THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013
REGIONAL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Although Kansas lacks the mountains and forests of Colorado, geography graduate student Emily Fekete believes people's perceptions of beautiful scenery are subjective and often affected by media portrayals.
KAITLYN KLEIN
kklein@kansan.com
It may not be the rudest or have the ugliest residents, but Kansas has the worst scenery, according to 1,603 Americans polled by Business Insider.
The poll asked questions such as: Which state has the weirdest accent? Which state has the smartest and dumbest people? In the survey, Kansas was
named the least beautiful in terms of scenery of all 50 states.
terms of scenery of all 50 states. Emily Fekete, a geography graduate student from Rochester, N.Y., said she had a lot of problems with the poll, not unlike some of her colleagues and fellow geographers she follows on Twitter. From her background in human geography, Fekete said that many of the people surveyed may not have even been to Kansas, but rather answered
based on their own perceptions. "States in terms of scenery are very much influenced by the way
"States in terms of scen very much influenced by tl the media treats them" Fekete said.
them," Fekete said. Colorado was voted to have the most beautiful scenery, most likely because people often picture the mountains and forests instead of the eastern side
of the state, which has geography similar to Kansas, Fekete said. "I think it's the way Kansas is
"I think it's the way Kansas is
"States in terms of scenery are very much influenced by the way the media treats them."
EMILY FKEETE
Rochester, N.Y., graduate student
portrayed ever since the Wizard of Oz," Fekete said. Scenery is a personal thing, Fekete said, so the poll
became problemat-
became problematic from the very questions.
“In Geography we often talk about how people's ideas of places can potentially be more of a factor in what that place is like or how it is understood than the actual place itself,” she said.
Like many prospective out-of-state students, Thomas Clayton, a freshman from Plano, Texas, was surprised to find that Kansas wasn't just full of corn and flat.
barren land like he had imagined. Clayton said he encountered these perceptions when he told his friends from home that he was going to Kansas for college. "Go visit." Clayton said. "It'll change your mind and you'll probably fall in love with campus like I did."
— Edited by Jessica Mitchell
SILC offices complete summer renovations
the plans, says Kring. Making the changes was a joint effort of representatives from student organizations and staff from both the Memorial Unions and the University. "Compromises had to be made, but hopefully the final product is able to meet everyone's needs," Kring said.
"There used to be these big, blocky type of walls, and you couldn't really see anyone from any of the other organizations," Farris said. "Now, you don't have to go through a maze of cubicles just to see if anyone's there. If you're just in the Union stopping by, you could find someone to talk to pretty easily."
Through focus groups, surveys, and other forms of feedback, the needs and requests for the area were determined before making
Farris added that doing away with the cubicles is a major advantage of the renovations.
CAMPUS
- Edited by Sarah Kramer
KATIE MCBRIDE
kmcbride@kansan.com
The Student Involvement and Leadership Center completed its makeover in time for the start of the fall semester. As part of its new look, the office now has desk areas and offices for student organizations instead of partitioned cubicles. It also has newly painted walls, new furniture, and more storage options.
The total cost of the renovations ended up at around $85,000, half of which was funded by Student Senate, and the other half by the KU Memorial Unions.
"The new space lends itself to more collaboration," Kring said. "Before, everybody was partitioned, and you didn't even know if anybody was in your area. We wanted an environment that was conducive for involvement, in the hope that people can see each
Lisa Kring, the event services director for KU Memorial Unions, said that the office has a much fresh-
"The old space was cramped and it was a little stressful just to be in there," Farris said. "The new space is a lot more open, which makes for a more collaborative environment, and I feel like that sort of environment will make it easier to get stuff done."
other, connect, and collaborate. Ashley Farris is a junior from Wichita who, as the vice president of the Society of Open Minded Atheists and Agnostics, works in the SILC. She said the changes to the office support a more modern, open feel.
er look. She added that the cubicles must have been at least 25 years old and were in need of an update.
other, connect, and collaborate."
ECONOMY
Fast-food employees stage walkouts, demand super-size paychecks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Fast food customers in search of burgers and
fries on Thursday might run into striking workers instead. Organizers say thousands of fast-food workers are set to stage walkouts in dozens of cities around the country, part of a push to get chains such as McDonald's, the Taco Bell and Wendy's to pay workers higher wages. It's expected be the largest nationwide strike by fast-food workers, according to organizers. The biggest effort so far was over the summer when about 2,200 of the nation's millions of fast-food workers staged
a one-day strike in seven cities.
a one-day strike in seven cities. Thursday's planned walkouts follow a series of strikes that began last November in New York City, then spread to cities including Chicago, Detroit and Seattle. Workers say they want $15 an hour, which would be about $31,000 a year for full-time employees. That's more than double the federal minimum wage, which many fast food workers make, of $7.25 an hour, or $15,000 a year. The move comes amid calls from the White House, some members of Congress and economists to hike the federal minimum wage, which was last raised in 2009. But most proposals seek a far more modest increase than the ones workers are asking for.
the push has brought considerable media attention to a staple of the fast-food industry — the so-called "McJobs" that are known for their low pay and limited prospects. But the workers taking part in the strikes still represent a tiny fraction of the broader industry. And it's not clear if the strikes on Thursday will shut down any restaurants because organizers made their plans public earlier in a call for workers around the country to participate, which gave managers time to adjust their staffing levels. More broadly, it's not clear how many customers are aware of the movement, with turnout for past strikes relatively low in some cities.
with President Barack Obama wanting to boost it to $9 an hour.