Monday
September 16, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 18
Today's weather
81°
Tonight: 56*
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KANSAN
Check out the special section Sex on the Hill, p. 1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SEX
on the
Hill
Inside:
● Sexuality has more power than
it once did in the past 100 years.
● Sexual health is important for
mental health and overall well-being.
● Sexual health can be a
great gift.
● Sexual health is as important as
mental health.
Rock Chalk partnerships announced
By Erin Beatty
Kansan staff writer
The teams are set for the 54th annual Rock Chalk Revue, a variety show put on by University of Kansas students to raise money for United Way of Douglas County.
Thirteen groups will brainstorm sets, scripts, songs and dances for this year's theme "Wanted," which was announced last Wednesday. But only five teams, chosen by 15 Rock Chalk judges, will perform in the show at the Lied Center March 6,7 and 8.
The groups are made up of students from KU living organizations, many of them fraternity and sorority chapters, although residence and scholarship halls have participated in past years. Usually, a group of males participates with a group
"Neither of our groups had been in Rock Chalk for a while, so I thought it'd be cool if we could make it all the way to the Lied Center
together.
Kellen Cruden Basehor junior and Phi Kappa Theta member
of females, although last year Rock Chalk had its first all-female team with the members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi sororities.
This year 250 women from the five female scholarship halls will participate along with members of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Mike Rodriguez, executive producer for Rock Chalk,
said this was the first time in recent memory a fraternity paired with women from a scholarship hall.
Andrea Jennings, Olathe junior and Rock Chalk director for the scholarship halls, said the women of the scholarship halls were excited to be participating in Rock Chalk this year because a scholarship hall had not performed in the show for about 10 years. The last time a scholarship hall performed in Rock Chalk Revue was in 1990, when students from Battenfeld and Watkins made it to the final show.
"The feelings are of excitement, but also of uncharted territory," she said.
Kellen Cruden, Basehor junior and Phi Kappa Theta member, is a Rock Chalk director and requested the partnership with the women of the scholarship halls.
"Neither of our groups had been in Rock Chalk for a while, so I thought it'd be cool if we could make it all the way to the Lied Center together," Cruden said. "They wanted to do it too, so it was an easy decision."
Every year members from one living organization choose the group they want to perform with and serenade them to propose the idea. Rodriguez said men and women switch off serenading every year and this year the men serenaded the women of their choice.
women of their culture. Kappa Sigma fraternity decided to work with Zeta Tau Alpha this year, a new sorority at KU, Curt Elsbury, Topeka senior and a Rock Chalk director, said his fraternity had already semened two other sororities but they didn't work out.
other sororities but they don't. "We just kind of took a chance with Zeta Tau Alpha,but so far it's working out pretty well," Elsbury said."We think it'll be a good way to get the new sorority involved at KU."
Contact Beatty at ebatty@kansan.com. This story was edited by Lauren Beatty.
Elsbury said 180 women would be chosen to join Zeta Tau Alpha and they would start working on Rock Chalk with Kappa Sigma members next week.
Students win scholarships
By Jenna Goepfert
Kansan staff writer
Jonathan Evans wore his KU First T-shirt to Saturday's football game not knowing it could earn him $1,000.
"I didn't know about it," the Overland Park freshman said of the KU First scholarships campaign. "My friend Parul just told me to get a T-shirt because they were handing them out for free."
they were handling all of the awards. Evans was one of 25 scholarship winners from the Kansas University Endowment Association, a nonprofit organization in charge of all private donations to the University.
KU First, the largest fund-raising effort in University history, wants to raise $500 million in private donations for the University by fall 2004.
John Scarffe, director of communications for the association, said one of the goals of the T-shirt campaign was to increase awareness that one of the primary functions of KU First was awarding scholarships.
"My friend Parul just told me to get a T-shirt because they were handing them out for free."
Jonathan Evans Overland Park freshman and scholarship winner
The scholarships presented Saturday were a gift from longtime KU supporters Dick and Jeanne Tinberg of Leawood. This was the second year the Tinbergs made such a donation.
The association distributed a total of 19,000 blue T-shirts on campus last week. With shirts and valid KUIDs, students got free admission to Memorial Stadium for Kansas' home opener against Southwest Missouri State and chances at a scholarship.
Winners were selected by predetermined seat number and by a random head count of those entering the stadium.
SEE SCHOLARSHIPS ON PAGE 5A
Dressed in familiar KU First T-shirts, a line of $1,000 scholarship recipients walked past Chancellor Robert Hemenway and onto the field at Memorial Stadium to receive their awards. Based on randomly drawn numbers,the winners were selected at the gate or in their seats at Saturday night's game.
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Student spins for release, cash
Chicago junior Thornton Cherry, A.K.A. DJ Speedy, spins records at the Jazzhaus on Sunday nights. In addition to helping pay his bills, his turntable artistry serves as an outlet for some of the stress in his life. "I consider spinning music as part of my therapy," he said.
By Vonna Keomanyvong
Kansan staff writer
Thornton Cherry is no fancy-free DJ. In his case, spinning music pays the bills.
In his case, spelling mistake. But the Chicago junior is used to dealing with an extra load of responsibility.
Along with being a full-time student, Cherry works 40 hours a week at NCS Pearson, an education and government agency, helps to raise his 14-month-old daughter and works as a DJ at a variety of local bars.
Cherry said he had to take care of himself at an early age. When he was 16, his mother was diagnosed with multichemical and environmental sensitivity after a freon accident at her school.
Cherry said because his mother was sensitive to strong smells, she could not work. Cherry got a job at Home Depot to help take care of his mother and his half brother.
"At that time I was the husband and the caretaker," Cherry said. "It made me grow up really fast. Instead of worrying how well I'm going to do at a track meet, I'm worried about paying the phone bill."
To get his mind off of such troubles, he started spinning music. Cherry and his high school friend would mix to records together to create a beat on his friend's turntable.
"I consider spinning music as part of my therapy," Cherry said. "It's a way for me to escape all of my stresses."
His mother Sharman Goods said music was Cherry's life.
"When Thornton was five, I used to pay him a dollar to operate my music when I taught aerobics," Goods said "We didn't have CDs back then so
would tell him to press the play button on the tape player."
In the beginning, Cherry spun music only as a hobby. But last year, he turned it into a paying gig when the owner of Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St., offered him a job.
"When I DJ, I don't know what I'm going to play when I work," Cherry said. "Once I know the beat of the song, I'll match it with another song that has the same beat."
Badazz Yellaboy, host of "Hip hop Hype" on KJHK, said Cherry spun records more than five times at the radio station. He said the station allowed area DIs to showcase their skills on the air.
"He's a nice blender," he said. "He'll bring in another song and you can't tell that there is another song playing because the beats match perfectly."
Maya Tillman. Hutchinson senior, has known Cherry for three years.
She said one of the things that she liked about his music was his unique style.
style:
Tillman said DJs at some bars in town "have a habit of playing music that's good but every now and then, they'll play something that's just blah," Tillman said. "But Thornton is different because he feels the crowd and he can make people want to dance all night."
"In the realm, you have to study beats a lot and memorize them and then you just really have to practice it," Cherry said. "Music is like potato chips, you just can't eat just one."
Contact Koomanyvong at vkoomanyvong@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jessica Hood.
KU drops two spots in 'U.S. News' rankings
By Justin Henning
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas ten two spots further from its goal of becoming a top-25 university.
last year his 140.95 university As gratifying as this ranking is, the University of Kansas has the potential to do even better," said Chancellor Robert Hemenway. "With the right partnership of state funding and private tuition support,
U. S.News and World Report magazine released its annual list of college rankings Friday. The magazine placed Kansas at No.41, two spots lower than last year's No.39 ranking.
KU can be a top 25 public university."
The magazine ranked 249 national universities that had doctoral, master's and undergraduate degrees. Kansas School of Business placed 28th as a top business school at a public national university. The School of Engineering also came in at 36th in its category of top engineering schools.
"It makes sense to always want to improve ourselves," said student body president Jonathan Ng. "But while U.S. News and other rankings are usually what we look at, it's not always about trying to go after a magazine ranking. It's about trying to improve the quality of education."
The University dropped from 39th to 41st place in U.S. News and World Reports annual list of college rankings.
She thought most of the quality of the
"It's nice to know, but it didn't help me determine what college to go to," Josie Conley, Olathe freshman, said of the overall ranking.
To determine a school's rank, the magazine uses 16 factors, which range from retention rates to financial resources. In one of the factors, academic ranking, Kansas climbed from 34th to 30th.
class.
"Some classes are going to be taught like a top-50 class an others are not," she said.
school was based on each individual class.
Regardless of the drop in rank, Lynn Bretz, director of University Relations, said the rank was still just one of many college rankings.
"Many universities would be very pleased to be a top-50 school," she said. "It's amazing how well KU ranks considering its funding."
Contact Henning at jhenning@kansan.com. This story was edited by Ryan Malasbock
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