THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 200z
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Universities compete for voters
By Caleb Nothwehr
cnothehr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas will compete to see which campus can register more voters during the KU/Colorado and KState/Oklahoma State games this weekend.
KU Student Senate will have voter registration tables in the concourse of Memorial Stadium before and during the game.
"The idea is that it's a captive audience," said Jeff Allmon, Student Senate community affairs director.
Zac Cook, student body president at K-State, came up with the idea of the competition and approached KU's student body president Jonathan Ng.
The cost of losing the contest could be high for student senators. Although no official rules have been set yet, Ng said both schools were considering having the losing executive committee sing the opposing team's alma mater at the KU/K-state football game Nov. 2. Cook suggested that the losers wear the opposing school's colors during the game.
Allmon said the weekend would provide healthy competition, but he made it clear that he wanted to win.
"We want to prove that we're a more politically active campus, and they're a bunch of tractor-driving, politically inactive red-necks."Allmon said.
Edited by Erin Ohm
Couple spends weekends saving lives
By Vonna Keomanyvong
vkeomanyvong@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Meagan Kennedy and Ryan Ostendorf brave risky streets every weekend to save lives. This is just their part-time job.
Kennedy, Burlington sophomore, and Ostendorf, Gothenburg, Neb. sophomore, not only work together for American Medical Response in Topeka but the two are engaged. Ostendorf, 25, is a paramedic and Kennedy, 21, is an emergency medical technician intermediate.
"What sucks about our job is that we don't have a job unless people are injured," Kennedy said.
The couple said they averaged more than 10 calls per day on the weekends. Most of the calls are street calls, where they go to an emergency. They also work stand-bys at high school football games, wrestling matches and events like the Senior Olympics.
"What sucks about our job is that we don't have a job unless people are injured."
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
On one call, the couple was dispatched to a pediatric cold blue where a baby had a cardiac arrest. Ostendorf said that when he stepped out of the ambulance, he knew that the baby had already
According to the couple, the hardest thing about working as paramedics and technicians is watching people die.
Meagan Kennedy, Burlington sophomore, and Ryan Ostendorf, Gothenburg, Neb. sophomore, both work for American Medical Response in Topeka when they are not studying to earn their pre-med degrees. The two met on the job two years ago and plan to marry next year.
Meagan Kennedy
Burlington sophomore
died. But he and Kennedy checked the baby over anyway. He said he did it because it was part of his job.
"I want to be a doctor because I never really had much of a problem dealing with it," Ostendorf said. "I would feel much worse not being able to do anything."
The couple met at work two years ago. When they first met, they worked full-time doing 24-hour shifts together. They would go in to work at 8 a.m., and leave at 8 a.m. the next morning. They did this every other day for three days a week. In order to become a paramedic, Ostendorf went to school for more than a year and a half. To become an EMT-I, Kennedy went to school for a year.
Bob Brautman, field operations supervisor at American Medical Response, has known Kennedy and Ostendorf since they started working there. He said the two worked great together.
Both reduced their hours to part-time when they enrolled at the University of Kansas a year and a half ago. They are majoring in premed. Kennedy wants to become an emergency physician while Ostendorf wants to become a cardiologist.
"They are professionals," Brautman said. "They do not let their social lives get in the way in their work life. They do not cue in
that they are a couple at work."
Kennedy said even though Ostendorf was her superior, it did not put a strain on their relationship.
"It helps a lot that he's in the same profession that I am so we can talk about certain calls," Kennedy said. "When I don't understand something, he's very good about explaining things to me."
The couple plans to get ma*
"We don't want to wait until our thirties to have kids," Kennedy said. "If I get into medical school, I can't take maternity leave because you just can't miss that much school."
ried next year. They would also like to start a family before they go into medical school.
Students attempt to establish Asian-American sorority
Edited by Matt Gehrke
By Katie Nelson
Kansan staff writer
knelson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Thirteen University of Kansas students are attempting to start the first Asian-American sorority in Kansas.
The women plan to put in a bid to Alpha Phi Gamma, a California-based Asian-American interest sorority, in the spring.
Sota Thach, a part-Vietnamese, part-Cambodian Wichita sophomore, is leading
the group in its pursuit. She said she hoped the sorority's establishment would attract more Asians from outside Kansas.
"I thought I wanted to rush when I first started here, but none of the groups really caught my attention" she said, "think if there had been an Asian sorority, with people like me, it would have."
Thach said the women interested in the sorority were from varying backgrounds.
Jazzmin Chun, a half-Filipino,
half-Chinese Kansas City, Mo. junior, said the women were getting to know one another this semester.
"We want to get a solid foundation to work from and keep growing." Chun said.
The women aren't alone in their quest to expand KU's greek system. After forming two years ago, the Asian Brotherhood Association is still pursuing its bid for the Asian-American fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon.
joined, almost half of which aren't Asian.
More than 20 members have
"As culturally-based groups, it makes no sense how much the ones that exist segregate themselves even more," said Eddie Ham, a Seoul, Korea, junior, who is leading the groups pursuit of a bid.
Troy Powell, a Wichita junior who is Caucasian, became interested in learning about Asian culture after taking classes at KU.
else," Powell said.
Ham said the Asian Brotherhood Association wanted its community service, social events and recruitment fundraisers to impress the chapters at the midyear conference this winter.
The association was denied last year as it went up against men from Michigan State University, Duke University and the University of Massachusetts.
— Edited by Nicole Roché
The KU game-day experience includes responsible pre-game tailgating, made possible by "Proud to be a Jayhawk" fundraising. Fans can participate by purchasing football programs; $1 of every program sold this season will go to four beneficiaries: KU's Korean War Memorial Fund, KU Marching Band, KU/K-State Phi Gamma Delta Run for Leukemia, and KU sports clubs.
Please remember when you tailgate:
Alcohol may be consumed only during a three-hour pre-game period in designated parking lots. Alcohol may not be brought into the stadium. Underage drinking or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated.
The Marching Jayhawks have been an important part of the color, pageantry, and tradition of KU for more than 100 years. A KU football game would not be complete without the band's march down the Hill into the stadium or the traditional KU pre-game and half-time shows.
Membership in the band is open to all students, regardless of major. The "Proud to be a Jayhawk" program will help fund new instruments,
So while you cheer on the 'Hawks and even if you don't tailgate -please consider supporting this worthwhile project. If you want to do more than purchase a copy of today's football program, please contact the KU Endowment Association. (888) 653-6111.
uniforms and travel for these volunteers who perform in front of more people each year than any other ensemble on campus.
The University of Kansas
KU Korean War Memorial Fund • KU Marching Band KU/KSU Phi Gamma Delta Run for Leukemia • KU Sports Clubs
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