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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014
PAGE 3
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Camp offers rewarding summer work
DEREK SKILLETT
@DerekSkillett
Students at the University looking for a summer job can apply to work at Kanakuk Kamps and Kids Across America. These camps, based in Branson, Mo., pair children and youths from all across America with college students in an attempt to teach children about God and Jesus.
At an introductory meeting Monday night, representatives from Kanakuk and Kids Across America explained the ultimate purpose of the summer camps.
Collin Sparks, a director of one of the Kanakuk Kamps, said the camps are committed to helping kids learn about the teachings of Jesus, as well as creating fun experiences and changing lives.
The camps hire 2,000 college students to work in 13 camps
over the summer with 16,000 children and youths. At the camps, students have the opportunity to participate in athletic events with the kids and teach them about the Gospel. The hope is deep friendships will begin to build between the college students and the children.
"We have kids from all 50 states. They get to come from all different backgrounds. In Kids Across America, kids come from urban areas. The Kanakuk kids come from all over the place." Sparks said.
Sparks said he wants students to be an example for the kids.
"We get to show the kids the Gospel through the way we live our lives, the way we serve them. Any time you spend time together, you develop a friendship with the kids," Sparks said.
Travis Finley, who has
been a Kids Across America counselor for the past six years,spoke with the group on Monday about his experience. Finley said the relationships he's built with the children who attend the camp are one of the primary reasons why he keeps coming back.
"After my third year, the Kamp experience was normal," Finley said. "I knew what to expect. I knew it was going to be fun and hype, but I didn't know what kind of kids to expect. I didn't know where they were coming from. So when they would come, it would excite me, because now it's something fresh and new every week."
Finley also said his experiences at Kids Across America have influenced his personal life.
"If I didn't go through these obstacles, I wouldn't be prepared for it," Finley
"I keep coming back because we've changed the lives of kids. We get to do 24/7 of life with 7- to 18-year-olds and get to tell them about the Gospel and Jesus and encourage them in their lives," Johnson said. "The relationships I've made with other counselors have been incredible. I've probably made some of my best friends in my life from camp. It's a place where everyone has the
said. "It prepared me for manhood, it prepared me for fatherhood, it just put me in a place where I had to look at myself as a leader. You have to see yourself as a leader. You can't just see yourself as a counselor."
same goal."
Jillian Johnson, a fifth-year senior from Wichita, has been a counselor at Kanakuk for the past three summers. Before becoming a staff member, Johnson was a camper for two years.
Johnson said the camp has impacted her life in that she has a passion to know people. She also said she understands the necessity of knowing the Gospel. Johnson encourages students who love Jesus, people and sports to spend a summer working for Kanakuk and Kids Across America.
The camps run from June 1 to Aug.9. Sparks said students who want to work in the camps should apply as soon as possible by going to apply.kanakuk.com. Sparks said representatives from Kanakuk and Kids Across America will also be coming back through Lawrence in January to interview more applicants.
Edited by Logan Schlossberg
Last year, the youngest person to graduate from KU was 19 and the oldest was 72. The Jayhawk
nation is age diverse!
The washers and dryers inside residence halls on campus only accept Beak 'Em Bucks instead of quarters. Each load of laundry costs $1.50.
MATT DWYFR/KANSAN
Laundry costing students a load
ALICIA GARZA
@AliciaoftheUDK
In the 2013-2014 school year, KU Student Housing made $176,835.59 from students' laundry usage. During this time, students did approximately 90,685 loads of laundry. McCollum, Ellsworth and Oliver had the highest amount of laundry usage, said Jennifer Wamelink, associate director of Resident Life.
The University charges $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry. In an average week on campus, students will do three to four loads of laundry. Wamelink estimates, so students spend at least $9 to $12 on laundry a week. With 32 weeks in a regular school year, not including finals weeks, a student can spend between $288 and $384 a year on laundry.
A few students think the price per load of laundry is expensive.
"I do about four loads of laundry a week, and [the price is] not reasonable at all. They understand that we're college students, so to pay $3 to get one load done is unnecessary to me, honestly," said Zhana
While $3 does seem high for a college student to pay per load of laundry, Wamelink said the students see an investment back into the facilities.
Brown, a freshman from Aurora, Colo.
"We earn a commission on the collections of what the students pay for the laundry service. The University gets 65 percent of those collections. That money is then used for the staffing to keep the laundry rooms clean and for keeping the laundry rooms in good repair," Wamelink said. "It all comes back to Student Housing and the students living within."
The campus laundry provider, ASI Campus Laundry Solutions, and the University have been working together for two years. ASI provides laundry services to many institutions across the country and lets the schools specify their contracts.
"[All the machines] are high efficiency machines, and that's one of the requirements we specified. Looking for the least water usage and good quality machines for our students were also part of it," Wamelink said. "There's an
expectation that they keep those machines in operable conditions and they are pretty prompt with response when they're aware of an issue."
Although some students do their laundry on campus, it is not a requirement, and some students are not bothered by the prices of the on-campus facilities.
Julian Torian, a freshman from Overland Park, said for him the reason isn't prices, it's convenience.
"The prices are not particularly high," Torian said. "It can be kind of stressful, just doing laundry here just because ... everyone is trying to do their laundry. You know it's different when people can't go home, as opposed to someone like me, who can go home quite often."
But students aren't limited to on-campus laundry facilities. They can choose to use one of Lawrence's many laundromats.
Some laundromats, like Flo's Wash & Fold Laundry Service, 2605 Bluestem Drive, will do the work for you, but for a price. Here, one basket of laundry is $3.50.
two baskets is $7.00, and the prices continue to go up based on how much laundry you bring in.
College Corner, 1827 Louisiana St., is a traditional type of laundromat that has varying prices depending on the machines used. A full load in a top load washer is $1.75 and a full load in a front load washer is $2.50. The prices for washers continue to go up as they get larger. It costs 25 cents for eight minutes of drying time, with an average of three to four quarters needed per load.
So, if a student went to College Corner and used the top load washer to do four loads of laundry, plus drying, it would cost them about $11 per week.
Erin Mannion, a freshman from St. Louis, Mo., does laundry at the Alpha Chi Omega house.
Some students who are involved in Greek life choose to do their laundry at their sorority or fraternity houses and avoid the costs of laundromats.
"It's easier [to do laundry] and it's free, too," Mannion said.
— Edited by Kelsie Jennings
Gov. urges defense of gay marriage ban
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1OPEKA, Kan. — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that Kansas should defend the state constitution's ban on gay marriage in court because it was enacted through a statewide vote, while Democrat Paul Davis' campaign described him as focused on other issues.
Brownback is in a tough race for re-election, and his public support for the gay marriage ban in the face of adverse court decisions could energize conservative Catholics and Christian evangelicals who've been a key part of his political base ahead of the Nov. 4 election. Davis, the Kansas House minority leader, opposed the gay-marriage ban as a lawmaker, but he's portraying himself as a bipartisan centrist in wooing disaffected Republicans.
The Kansas GOP's platform supports "traditional" marriage as "the foundation of society," while the Democratic counterpart says, "Kansas Democrats support marriage equality."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected appeals from five states seeking to maintain gay-marriage bans, including Utah, which is in the same federal appeals court circuit as Kansas. Gay couples in several counties seeking marriage licenses were turned away, and the American Civil Liberties Union expects to file a federal lawsuit.
Kansas amended its constitution in 2005 — with nearly 70 percent of voters approving the measure — to ban gay marriage and deny same-sex couples any "rights or incidents" associated with marriage.
brownback issued a statement Monday saying, "activist judges should not overrule the people of Kansas."
Brownback told reporters Tuesday that "the state of Kansas should defend how the people have spoken and how the people have voted."
"I don't know much more you can bolster it than to have a vote of the people to put in the constitution that marriage is the union of a man and a woman." Brownback said.
Davis spokesman Chris Pumpelly said the Democrat's agenda includes improving the economy, boosting funding for public schools and "working across the aisle to solve problems." As for gay marriage, Pumpelly said, "Moving forward, this issue will likely be determined by the courts. As governor, Paul will focus on priorities that unite Kansans."
in the Kansas House, Davis voted against a proposed ban three times in 2004 and 2005.
"It's important for Kansas to portray a welcoming image," Pumpelly said.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Terry Fox, a prominent Southern Baptist minister in Wichita and a leader in the 2004-05 campaign for Kansas' gay marriage ban, said some fellow conservatives are concerned that Brownback hasn't been vocal on social issues to energize the bloc.
"What's happened could be a game-changer in Kansas," Fox said. "Brownback is being given one more opportunity."
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