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The winner of KU's Got Talent and competitive yoyoer Patrick Canny.
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THURSDAY, FEB. 18, 2016 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 9
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
African Students Association aims to involve all students in Black History Month this February.
Jake Kaufmann/KANSAN
NASHIA BAKER @KansanNews
When University groups, organizations and administrators initiated a discussion about racial equality on campus last fall. Ebony Onianwa was in the center of it all.
Onianwa, president of African Students Association (ASA), attended the Nov. 11 forum but said she left with emotional emotions.
"I really liked the forum. I thought it brought about issues that Kansas students had had," Onianwa said. "However, I felt really emotionally drained from all of the testimonials that people gave about racism on campus."
Although the heritages of black students on campus are different, the need for black history recognition is still valuable, Onianwa said.
"I think it should be celebrated all-year-round. When I was in high school, I wish I learned more black history besides, literally, your history starts at slavery and ends with Martin Luther King, Jr.," Onianwa said. "That's why I think ASA is really important because we can talk about history before slavery because black history doesn't start with slavery, it starts with the beginnings of the cradle of civilization."
cans," said Dozie Ekweariri, a sophomore from Garden City and treasurer of ASA. "It's a melting pot of information about different cultures."
As an organization, the focus of ASA is to address more than just the black community but the different heritages everyone brings to the table.
"We just want to keep everyone informed about African culture, things that are going on in Africa that don't reach the news — really just bringing together Africans [and] non-Afri-
The ASA hosts Sisimuka in the spring, which highlights various aspects of African culture. The event includes food, dancing, poetry, music and fashion, Onianwa said. Last semester ASA
In terms of bringing the cultural aspects to events at the University, ASA hosts events to recognize culture and also bring awareness to issues at the University.
held an international night with SUA to discuss the African culture and stereotypes.
Although ASA hosts many cultural events, that is not its only initiative, Judith Ikerionwu, a sophomore from Wichita and secretary of ASA, said.
"[It's] also emphasizing how beautiful and deep the African culture is and can be. Also, just creating like, a foundation for African students for African heritage," Ikerionwu said.
The ASA will address Black History Month this
year with meetings within the association and will discuss history and its significance in society.
"I think the origins of Kwanza would be a good idea to talk about because a lot of people think it is African-derived. It has elements, like the language that they use. They use Swahili," Onianwa said.
Onianwa added, "[We want to] talk about important black historic figures that basically paved the way for our parents to come to this country or to help this country succeed."
Pablo Martínez Monsivus/AP PHOTO
had Feb. 12, Two of the candidates for his
nomination.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP PHOTO Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (seated second from left) died Feb. 13. Two of the candidates for his seat went to Lawrence High School.
Two Supreme Court justice nominees have Lawrence roots
► LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Two men with Lawrence roots could be on President Obama's short list for the next Supreme Court Justice seat, following the Saturday death of Justice Antonin Scalia at 79 years old. Sri Srinivasan, 48, and Kannon Shanmugam, 44, are both Lawrence High School grads and notable for their legal experience.
Srinivasan has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since his appointment in May 2013 by President Obama. Shamnugum heads the Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice for Williams and Connolly LLC and has argued 17 cases before the Supreme Court, according to his profile on the firm's website.
After graduating from Lawrence High School, Shanmugam went on to receive his undergraduate degree from Harvard, his master's from Oxford and his law
degree from Harvard Law School but never forgot his Lawrence roots. In a 2013 profile in the National Law Journal, Shanmugam, an "ardent Jayhawks fan," compared his legal practice to the Kansas basketball team.
The potential Supreme Court justice graduated from Lawrence High School and went on to attend Stanford University for his undergraduate, as well as his law degree and a Master's of Business.
Srinivasan and Shanmugam's possible appointments to the Supreme Court are rumored alongside other notables including Paul Watford, another circuit judge appointed by Obama in 2012.
Srinivasan was born in India before immigrating with his family to Lawrence, where his father taught as a math professor at the University. In a recent article in USA Today, friends and family members also described him as a "fanatical University of Kansas basketball fan."
Regardless of who is chosen, the next Supreme Court Justice will have big shoes to fill, said Stephen Mcallister, a distinguished professor in the University School of Law. McAllister has appeared before the Supreme Court multiple times and hosted Scalia at the University twice during his time as a Supreme Court Justice.
"He was a boot with the students, great in a big group, smart, quick and a great sense of humor," McAllister said.
"I think the next person will be a hard press, because he was rare," McAllister said. "Just the strength of the personality was unique and unusual, was the kind of person, if he was in the room, you knew it generally."
The professor said he thinks Scalia's big personality and quick wit will be hard to match in a replacement.
In terms of political legacy, McAllister said Scalia was a prominent conservative
SEE JUSTICES PAGE 2
KU receives NASA aircraft for student study
▶ FOREST LASSMAN
@ForestLassman
Students now have the opportunity to research a NASA unmanned aerial vehicle first-hand. One of the Viking 400 aircrafts arrived at the University Feb.8 and was assembled Feb.11.
The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets and the School of Engineering will use the UAV to help develop new technology and teach students.
"It's not typical for NASA to just send a University a 600-pound aircraft." Emily Arnold, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, said.
Arnold helped the University get the Viking 400 and said the UAV would be mutually helpful to both NASA and the University. Arnold said NASA recently received the Viking 400s from L-3, the manufacturer. The Viking 400 didn't come with "a lot of the engineering technical documentation that usually comes with an
aircraft," so it was beneficial to send the aircraft to the University for additional research, she said.
"Because NASA needs that information and we were curious with the aircraft, we kind of came to this conclusion and agreement that it might be best for them to send us a vehicle here so we can do some of the research work and look into how we might get our sensors on this aircraft, and in the meantime, produce some of the technical documentation that they need," Arnold said.
Fernando Rodriguez-Morales, associate research professor of electrical engineering and computer science, said he's excited for the opportunity the Viking 400 offers.
"We had previous experience with other UAV, but what makes the Viking 400 unique is that there is a fleet of them available," Rodriguez-Morales said. "It has more versatility in terms of the endurance, is larger
[and] we can carry a little bit heavier payload so we're not as limited, and so it certainly opens up a lot of possibilities for us to explore."
The Viking 400 will also offer opportunities for students. Arnold will use the Viking 400 in her computer-aided design class and said other professors will also use it. Arnold estimated around 100 students will work with the Viking 400, and she said students will benefit from working with this as opposed to a fictitious or older aircraft.
"[Students are] going to be working on projects that are actually related to this vehicle, and not only that, the things they are working on actually has an impact. What they are going to do is actually going to be given to NASA in some extent so NASA has that information themselves," Arnold said.
Contributed Photo
University of Kansas research
project on the Viking 400.
**Lexi Brady/KANSAN**
Emily Arnold, leader of the
« Viking 400 Project.
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