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MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014
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arts & features
HOROSCOPES Because the stars know things we don't
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today is a 7
For the next few months during
Jupiter's retrograde, reaffirm
your commitment to the game.
Concentrate on the finer details
of an enthusiasm.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Today is a 7
Jupiter stations retrograde in Leo until 4/8/15, for domestic retrospection. Don't dip into savings. Let your imagination flower with ideas for home improvement. Make charts, drawings and plans. It's amazing what a coat of paint will do. Freshen your space.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Today is a 9
Today is a 9
With Jupiter retrograde in Leo until 4/8/15, review and revise communications for greater effect. Study, research and edit what you've written. Publish after Jupiter stations direct.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Today is a 7
Today is a 7 Send in those coupons and rebate requests. Make do with what you have, Save as much as you can. Over the next few months with Jupiter retrograde, review and revise financial matters
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Today is a 6
today is a b Practice to achieve mastery over the next few months, with Jupiter retrograde in your sign. Personal growth and discovery allows new capacities.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Today is a 7
today is a 7
Begin a re-examination of your personal priorities. Take time while Jupiter's retrograde for peaceful contemplation and introspection. Spirituality and ritual comfort. Embrace healthy lifestyle practices.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Today is a 7
Refine your style over the next four months. Now that Jupiter retrograde (until 4/8/15), it's easier to collect old debts. Get nostalgic with friends, and enjoy old photos and memories.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Today is an 8
For about four months with Jupiter retrograde, refine your plans for fame and fortune. Revive an old dream. Quietly and secretly review your action plan, and prepare to launch after 4/8/15. You have what you need.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Today is a 7
Figure a clever way to earn more. You're pushed to grow. Review and refine the itinerary over the next four months. Reconsider your educational plans, especially long-term.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Today is an 8
Make sure you know what's required. Don't make assumptions. Confer with your team. For about four months with Jupiter retrograde, review and revise financial matters. Prepare taxes, and file after Jupiter goes direct 4/8/15). Get your numbers in order
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Today is a 9
today is a 4
For about four months with
Jupiter retrograde, invent new
possibilities in a partnership.
Review and revise your collaboration over the next four months.
Choose someone who believes
you can win.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Today is a 7
You're especially brilliant at your work now. For about four months with Jupiter retrograde, old methods work best to advance your agenda. Secure your holdings and nurture work relationships. Excellent quality and service never go out of style.
Alumna creates successful lifestyle brand
MARISSA KAUFMANN
@Mariss193
Blaine Muhl, a 2011 University graduate from Leawood, was in a car accident that resulted in a concussion and brought her competitive equestrian season to a severe hault. The accident took her away from her normal routine and Muhl turned the experience into something positive by shifting her focus away from the sport onto creating a successful lifestyle brand.
"That accident kind of took me away from horseback riding," Muhl said. "And in the midst of recovering, I just picked up this fun, little habit that is now turned into something I did not expect."
Muhl said while recovering, her thenboyfriend and now-fiance convinced her to do something to get her mind off of everything because she was accustomed to her equestrian riding and show schedule.
She loved art and taking classes, and when her drawings started to become more extensive, her boyfriend suggested she start turning her drawings into actual jewelry pieces and apparel, Muhl said. Soon enough, her family and friends started asking for her designs for various occasions or gifts.
Muhl's creativity and drive has expanded and formed into her own lifestyle brand called Blaine Bowen; Bowen is Muhl's middle name. After two years of officially selling and distributing, the brand currently has a website with production and employees. But Muhl said owning a
company at 26 years old can be overwhelming.
"When you own your own company there are no holidays and there is no really time off," she said. "Getting used to this schedule is pretty crazy. The further I get into it, the more worth it it is and it has definitely evolved 110 percent in the last 10 years to being something I have never expected but we have all worked really hard for it." Her company is now located in Dallas. She moved there two months after starting the company and her family was also moving there at the time.
"Dallas has been pretty great and it has got a really great fashion community," Muhl said. "It is considered the fashion hub in between New York and L.A., so it is a great place to live without having to be on either one of those coasts. We get access to a lot of great stuff here so it has been really beneficial for the brand to make this move."
Her brand has been on the cover of magazines, and her clothing items and jewelry have been spotted on A-list celebrities. The brand has been featured in Seventeen Magazine, on the cover of Fit Pregnancy. The Everygirl and People StyleWatch, said Katie Compton, brand manager & marketing executive of Blaine Bowen.
Muhl is the official jewelry designer for Seattle Seahawks cornerback and Super Bowl 48 champion Richard Sherman, Compton said. Celebrities such as Shay Mitchell, Eva Marie and Kourtney Kardashian have been spotted wearing
SEE BLAINE PAGE 6
"I'm an industrial design student because it lets me use both my logical and creative side to solve a problem and ultimately make a difference. I've always noticed how a product or experience could be improved, and industrial design allows me to explore that."
AMBER HANSCHU Senior, Wichita
"I really wanted a way to dream up a better future, and make it happen. And not just dream it up in a vacuum, but find the people who have studied it, and talk to them. It's a great field for applying creativity and science to the activities we do every day."
BRANDON CLAY Senior, Olathe
"I'm an Industrial design student because I have the freedom to pursue people's problems and create positive experiences in creative, alternative ways."
JAY LIVINGSTON Senior, Independence, Mo.
Industrial design trio wins competition, cash
ALLISON CRIST
@AllisonCristUDK
University seniors Brandon Clay from Olathe, Amber Hanschu from Wichita and Jay Livingston from Independence, Mo., recently won the "Bragging Rights Competition," put on by the Industrial Designers Society of America.
The St. Louis chapter of IDSA hosted this competition and asked students to imagine how a library might look in 2040, brainstorming services that might be offered to the community, while also acknowledging changes in technology.
University professor Huw Thomas teaches the industrial design thesis class the three students prepared for the competition in. He
said the students' projects focused on library cards items that are key for library facilities to loan materials to the public.
"The students saw that it was important to try and hang on to this traditional idea, all the while updating the concept." Thomas said. "They chose to treat the card as a personal navigator, by helping users locate items within the library space."
Thomas said the card would access tools not limited to books, but also services like 3D printing, sound recording, etc.
After weeks of preparing Thomas and the students traveled to St. Louis for the competition on Oct.4.
The students gave a 10-15 minute verbal presentation supported by a few other
visual materials to their competitors and the jury panel.
Thomas said there were only four teams in total, and their team was the smallest by far.
"It made our win a lot more satisfying," Thomas said.
With a glass trophy and a check for $2,000, it was unanimously decided the three students would each get $400. The remaining funds will stay with the Industrial Design department and be subsidized for student events the University runs for IDSA.
"The students who put in major effort received a prize, but so did other industrial design students because they will benefit from the new funds." Thomas said.
Edited by Emily Brown
Student gets backlash from Ferguson post
ALLISON CRIST
@AllisonCristUDK
University student Shelby Lawson, a sophomore from Derby, has experienced backlash after over 1 million people viewed a blog which featured a Facebook status she made about the Ferguson decision. The blog "Kansas Exposed" promoted the status, which described a long list of misconceptions about the case and included citations for each point.
"I posted my status after my family's Thanksgiving because I was very frustrated with a lot of the things that
my relatives were saying," Lawson said. "It seemed like every time I tried to correct them or to tell them something was wrong, they'd say, 'Oh, well, you can't prove that,' so really it was mostly a passive-aggressive post directed at certain family members."
That same day, "Kansas Exposed" posted an article quoting the entire status. By the next day, it had more than 300,000 hits.
"When it reached over 300,000 views, I think that was Tuesday, I actually had a panic attack," Lawson said. "For someone who has only
had my writing read by my professors and my mom before this point, hundreds of thousands of views is really intimidating, and it's scary to have something you worked on vulnerable to criticism from that many people."
Lawson said her other issue with the article going viral was she felt she didn't say anything black activists haven't already said in the past months.
"Black activists have been doing research, citing a lot of the same sources that I did, and coming to the same conclusions that I came
to since Michael Brown's "murder," Lawson said.
As the article continued gaining popularity, Lawson began receiving a large amount of messages from strangers. She set all of her social media accounts to private and even took her email address off the University's online directory.
"I would say about half the negative messages I receive are just name-calling, while the other half are threats," Lawson said. "Of the threats I receive, a few are the actual I want to hurt you' direct type of threat, but one thing that surprised me was that
the majority of the threats are very indirect."
are very indirect.
Lawson said people have said things like, "You will regret talking sh't on cops when a man decides to beat you," and "I hope when your husband hits you that the cops don't come to save you."
Other messages are entirely too explicit and racist to be repeated, Lawson said. She has stopped reading her Facebook "filtered" messages inbox, as those are from people she's not friends with.
Alex Robinson, a
SEE POST PAGE 6
QUICK QUESTION WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE VIDEO GAME YOU'VE PLAYED THIS YEAR?
"I'm liking Destiny a lot right now, and The Crew. Those are up there for sure."
-TY CROTTS
FRESHMAN FROM HAVEN
Don Corcoran and Ty Crotts are freshmen from Haven and met each other in elementary school. The two bonded most over a mutual enjoyment and appreciation of video games, specifically World of Warcraft. Crotts started playing because his friends were, while Corcoran saw the games as a way to stay in touch with friends when his family moved to different places. Video games remain a big part of their lives today, and the Kansan caught up with them this week to talk to them about their friendship and video games.
"Hmm. Probably Mario Kart.
It's not new but it's a classic."
DON CORCORAN
FRESHMAN FROM HAVEN
DALTON KINGERY/KANSAN
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