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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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MONDAY, OCT. 5, 2015 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 13
NEWS ROUNDUP >
YOU NEED TO KNOW
MISSY MINFAR/KANSAN
DOWN FOR THE COUNT. The 38-13 loss to Iowa State was bad, but the photos are good. Read the game recap and see the photo gallery.
Sports >> 10 & 12
"DETROIT '67"
"DETROIT '67" touches on current issues about race in the United States by highlighting past stories of the Civil Rights Movement in Detroit 1967. Arts & Culture >> 7
ALEX ROBINSON/KANSAN
PLASTIC BAGS AS ART. Art professor and artist Yoonmi Nam's exhibit is inspired by takeout boxes and bags. Arts & Culture >> 5
KANSAN.COM >>
FOLLOW NEWS ONLINE
UNITY DANCE.
CAROLINE FISS/KANSAN
a student organization with dancers who want to represent hiphop culture, met to rehearse their latest routine. Gallery on >> Kansan.com
KELCIE MATOUSEK/KANSAN
CROSSING THE FINISH LINE. Kansas men's and women's cross country posted top two finishes over the weekend. Check out The Kansan's photo gallery at >> Kansan.com/ sports
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From the time she was in fifth grade, Jenny Stern, a senior from Lawrence, knew she was interested in whales. As someone from the Midwest, she was "captivated" from the first time she saw whales in an aquarium.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Students get scholarships for pursuing STEM research
CONNER MITCHELL
@connermitchell0
As she grew older, that fascination became an interest in the effect climate change has on whales — the cornerstone of her undergraduate research at the University.
University students Jenny Stern and Jessica van Loben Sels are two recipients of the $10,000 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's Astronaut Scholarship.
Stern has focused her research on the arctic regions of the world. She said the arctic is one of the first areas that would be affected by climate
change, and she wants to know how arctic whales will adapt to the changing climate.
"When I joined Dr. Joy Ward's lab, I really learned to have an environmental perspective," Stern said. "Through that I saw the impact that research can make, but also the impact that outreach can make."
"This just enhances my opinion that we have top students here nationally at the University of Kansas."
JOY WARD Biology Professor who nominated Stern
Stern and Jessica van Loben Sels, a senior from Albuquerque, N.M., were announced last week as the first-ever University recipients of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's Astronaut Scholarship. The $10,000 recognition was founded in 1984 by the six surviving members of the Mercury 7 mission with the goal of encouraging students
to pursue scientific endeavors according to the website.
To be considered for the scholarship, applicants had to be nominated from multiple professors in their STEM fields and have extensive research experience.
Stern and van Loben Sels were selected as recipients from a field of four University students after KU was added to
the program this year. According to a news release, the ASF board of directors selected the University because of success in STEM fields. A University committee selected the four nominees, and the ASF board chose Stern and van Loben Sels.
"It is a huge honor, and shar-
SEE SCHOLARSHIP 2
KU's goal: Retain 90 percent of first-year students
ALLISON KITE + BEN ALLEN
@KansanNews
Freshman year was the best year of Andy Larson's life. He said he double-majored in music education and vocal performance, had a strong group of friends and maintained good
grades in the two semesters of classes he completed.
Larson, however, was unable to return this fall for his sophomore year after a missing signature on his FAFSA disqualified him for the aid he needed to continue at the University. Larson said he was never contacted by the financial aid of office about the mistake.
Larson was part of the nearly 20 percent of the 2014 freshman class who won't return for their sophomore year, and his case illustrates one of the biggest challenges the University faces as it tries to retain more
students: finances. The retention rate rose slightly last year, to 80.4 percent, and the University aspires to raise that to 90 percent by 2022.
That won't be easy, some current and former University officials say. Programs like First-Year Experience, freshman seminars and an effort to get freshmen into small classes have worked to provide a better initial experience for students, but making it to 90 percent retention will still be a challenge.
SEE RETENTION PAGE 2
International experience and youth bolster a little-known rugby club
BY CLAUDIA CLOSE | @CLAUDIAHEALY
Matt Harmon straps on his ankle braces, laces up his cleats and puts on his crimson and blue jersey — except it's not the typical process of most athletes. It's not in a locker room, and it's not in a gym. Instead, he's getting ready in a grass field behind a barn, out of the trunk of an SUV.
Harmon steps out of the trunk — which doubles as the team's locker room — and into the huddle, prepared for the match ahead. He's the captain for one of Kansas' lesser known teams: rugby.
The Kansas Jayhawks Rugby Football Club was established in 1964 by George Bunting, a law student at the University. The first season began after he published an advertisement in The University Daily Kansan searching for anyone interested in joining the first rugby club in the state.
Thirteen years later, following the beginning of the 1977 season, rugby at the University started to progress. In addition to traveling to, competing in and hosting international tours, three graduating club members decided to establish a "home" for the club. They purchased Johnny's Tavern and converted the upstairs into an official clubhouse.
Today, Johnny's Tavern is still the club's home. Because of the work and dedication from that team 51 years ago, today's team comprises 36 players who have a true love for the sport. The passion remains the same; only the names are different.
One of those names is Harmon, a sophomore captain from Lake Forest, Ill. He's leading the team, which is currently 3-0, in this season with high hopes.
And those similar interests are what Harmon believes really brings the whole team together.
Lately, the team has gained the experience and knowledge from three international students. Junior exchange students Marty Brown and Thomas Wakim, who came to the University from Australia, as well as junior Englishman Lewis Owen, have made an impact on the team.
"I think we all have similar personalities, and we all get along very well," Harmon said. "Everyone is pretty committed and all have similar interests when it comes to rugby."
"Every single one of these guys is a hard worker and willing to try new things, which is why rugby works so well," he said. "Everyone is always on the same page and has the same goal."
Harmon said the team has been lucky to have these three because they have been playing rugby for almost their entire lives and have consistently been around the game.
"Playing rugby here is very different, especially when it comes to the skill level of the team, just because we have been playing a lot longer," Owens said. "But with that said, the attitude of the guys [at KU] is amazing. Some of them have never played before but they just throw themselves at it and really want to learn."
"The main difference is that just about everyone has grown up playing American football and converted over to rugby." Wikimodded "It's great land it shows the"
Rugby >> PAGE 9
KD