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Kansan staff
NEWS MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief Vicky Diaz-Camacho
Managing editor Kate Miller
Brand & creativity manager Hallie Wilson
Print production manager Candice Tarver
Digital operations editor Anissa Fritz
Business manager Gage Brock
ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT
Sales manager Katie Bell
SECTION EDITORS
News editor Kelly Cordingley
Associate news editor Cassidy Ritter
Sports editor Scott Chasen
Associate sports editor Shane Jackson
Arts & culture editor Ryan Wright
Associate arts & culture editor Christian Hardy
Opinion editor
Maddy Mikinski
Visuals editor & design chief Roxy Townsend
Chief photographer Caroline Fiss
Investigations editor Miranda Davis
ADVISER
Sales and marketing adviser Jon Schliitt
news
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051A Dale Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS.,
66045.
The University Daily Kanson (ISSN 0746.4967) is published on Monday and Thursday during
Monday and Tuesday during the academic year except fall break, spring break and exams. It is published weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Annual subscriptions by mail are $250 plus tax. Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 2051 A Dale Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyvale Avenue
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2000 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence, Kan., 66045
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KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 14,2016
Come rain or shine: The history of the Big Event
ALEAH EILEEN
@KansanNews
The Big Event, open to University students, staff and faculty, provides the opportunity for the University to serve the community. Service projects include washing windows and raking leaves or painting classrooms in local schools. This year, the event will take place at 10 a.m. April 16.
It's like a big hug. People really appreciate the students serving the community."
Michael Smith, a 2011 graduate, brought The Big Event to campus in 2010 as a student wanting to give back to the community. Prior to that, in 2009, Smith developed a more localized Big Event after seeing The Big Event's success at Texas A&M, where it was founded. Smith ran for Student Senate President and used The Big Event as part of his platform.
J. J. O'Toole-Curran director of marketing, media, and programs
"As students, we have to acknowledge that this community does a lot for us,"
Smith said. "We have this diverse and vibrant culture that we get to exist in, and I think we have a responsibility to find ways to say thank you."
The first year, the team advertised in various forms, including with the student newspaper and the radio, in order to raise money and awareness. The event costs roughly $18,000 a year, with that money going toward supplies, t-shirts and food for the volunteers, said Donna Craven, executive director of The Big Event. For the first year, funding came from Student Senate; however, it is now independently owned and accepts donations each year.
After winning the election, Smith developed a team to organize the event.
The morning of the first Big Event in 2010, it rained. The ground was wet and muddy as about 500 people raked leaves or participated in other tasks, Smith said. By the end of the afternoon, the sun had come out and around 400 service projects had been completed, he said.
"When we got done we were like, "This is going to become a tradition," Smith said. "People's emotional response to that first event was just incredible. There was this inter-
generational connection that you don't see a lot of."
O'Toole-Curran said the event continues to be successful at the University due to the eagerness of both the volunteers and the home and business owners. Many volunteers walk away from a jobsite with homemade cookies or sit down for a meal before they leave.
After that year, volunteers jumped from 500 to 2,000, said J.J. O'Toole-Curran, director of marketing, media and programs at the University. O'Toole-Curran advised the 2010 Big Event team after previously working at Texas A&M.
"It's like a big hug," O'Toole-Curran said. "People really appreciate the
students serving the community."
More than 10,000 students, faculty and staff have volunteered during the past six years, Craven said. She said the team expects 4,000 volunteers this year.
Craven said the most rewarding aspect of the event is interacting with homeowners and seeing the impact the event has on their lives. Craven said.
"Last year, I was doing a job site check for a home of an elderly woman who was a widow," Craven said. "We were walking around the yard, and she was telling me the things she would like cleaned up - her flowers beds and the bushes, things her husband would have been able to do last year. She started crying because
she was so grateful."
The event continues to grow in size each year and Smith credits that to the fact that students, faculty and staff recognize the need to say thank you to the community.
"I think [The Big Event] gives community members a chance to see students for the positive," he said. "You always hear stories about drinking and a number of other bad things. The Big Event gives the chance to look at the positive and we need those stories."
To participate in The Big Event, register at thebigeventku.com.
- Edited by Samantha Harms
The Big Event volunteers provide a helping hand to Lawrence residents by completing projects in their neighborhoods.
File Photo/KANSAN their neighborhoods
of legislation. Recently, North Carolina passed a similar bill, informally known as the "Bathroom Bill," that has been under fire for discriminating against transgender people. Last week, Bruce Springsteen announced on his website that he was canceling his April 10 concert in Greensboro, N.C. in protest of the law.
PROTEST FROM PAGE 1
"Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry which is happening as I
write — is one of them," Springsteen wrote on his website. "It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards."
Bishop said he hopes the demonstration will draw more attention to discriminations against transgender people.
As an issue that has received national attention, Gaylord said she thinks the bills in the Kansas legislation will send the wrong message to the country.
that we have on campus to gain a better understand," Gaylord said.
that you will be targeted, you will face consequences for not conforming or adhering to standards of the society that the political climate has created," Gaylord said.
"I think it sends the message that if you are nonconforming, if you don't fit into what is considered to be 'normal.' I think it sends the message
"I'm hoping that we can raise awareness, not only for the trans community and visibility, but also help people understand that this is not something we should take lightly," Bishop said. "This is not something we just accept because the legislature says that we have to."
"I would hope that students, if they don't understand who a trans identified person is, or what being non-gender conforming means, that they would use the resources
Although she said she hopes the legislation will not pass, Gaylord wants students to use this opportunity to learn more about the issue.
Tanner Hassell/KANSAN Demolition of the Burge Union began April 11 sometime after 7 a.m., Mark Reiske, associate director of Design and Construction Management, said.
33-year-old Burge Union demolished
The demolition began sometime after 7 a.m. and will last two to three weeks, Mark Reiske, associate director of Design and Construction Management, said.
"[The new union] will not be in that exact same spot." Reiske said.
Reiske said construction on the new union has already begun. It is connected to the Integrative Science Building through a lower level.
The Burge Union was torn down Monday after 33 years on campus.
CASSIDY RITTER
@CassidyRitter
土
The new building will be a large, flexible, flat meeting
space to accommodate large events, but the space could also be configured into multiple meeting rooms, said David Mucci, KU Memorial Unions director. It will also have office spaces for the Emily Taylor Center and Sexual Assault and Education Center. Mucci said.
Students will be able to walk through the Integrative Science Building, across the plaza and into the new union. Reiske said.
He said the construction of the new union and Integrative Science Building will be completed in Fall 2018.
Edited by Matthew Clough
Tea@Three
Stop by for a FREE Food Tasting!
April 14, 3:00pm Kansas Union, Level 4
- Edited by Samantha Harms
try the newly introduced
FRIDAY, APRIL 15
TURBO SUIT
RYAN VISER
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
THE ULTIMATE FAKEBOOK
DEAD GIRLS
GOCHUJANG TURKEY BURGER from impromptu
SATURDAY, APRIL 16
KJHK FARMERS BALL
SUNDAY, APRIL 17
LIBERTY HALL SUPERNOVA
YOUNG BULL
a juicy all white meat patty topped with a tangy, spicy umami gochujang sauce(think BBQ with a Korean twist) and house-made rice wine pickled carrots
UPCOMING
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
FREE SHOW!
EGI
GEKKO
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
DOM CHRONICLES W/ SCOTTY WU
HUEY NUISANCE
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
US AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS
SATURDAY APRIL 23
KJHK FARMERS BALL
MONDAY, APRIL 25
JIMKATA
SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT
TUESDAY, APRIL 26
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
HAUNTED SUMMER
LA GUERRE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27
J BOOG
MAOLI
THEBOTTLENECKLIVE.COM
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