Volume 124 Issue 37
kansan.com
Thursday, October 13, 2011
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Some people change when they come to college. At least that is what Jane (name withheld at source's request), a junior from Kansas was told by her high school best friend and freshman-year dorm mate. Before coming to college, Jane told her friend and future dorm mate that she would be rushing for a sorority. She believed it would not affect their relationship. Soon into the semester, Jane joined a chapter and started spending time with her new sorority sisters. Jane invited her dorm mate to come along with the group whenever they went out. Jane's roommate always declined the offer and began getting angry. She started leaving Jane rude notes like, "Pick up your shoes," around the room instead of talking to her personally. The tension became too much for Jane and after a semester she moved out of the room. The two, both juniors, have not talked since freshman year.
Cohen encourages all new roommates to set boundaries at the start of moving in with each other. He refers to this as the 24-hour agreement. This entails sitting down within the first 24 hours of moving in together and share everything that you dislike and what makes you uncomfortable, like dirty dishes, loud music or constant guests. Getting this information out while first meeting each other can make it easier to discuss issues later on. Kristen, a sophomore from Abilene, never made a 24-hour agreement with her roommate causing tension when Kristen wanted a cleaner room. "I never asked her if she could periodically clean her side of the room," says Kristen. "I wasn't her mother so I didn't feel the need to do so, even though her mess always bothered me."
Dorm relationships like this aren't uncommon for strangers moving in together, says Harlan Cohen, author of The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College. Cohen has complied research on this topic from more than 400 college campuses in the last 17 years. He says the four major issues that come about from this are not setting boundaries, avoiding confrontation, not being respectful and having unrealistic expectations. Cohen has accumulated many ideas through this research to better a roommate situation, including the 24-hour agreement.
The 24-hour rule is vital for new roommates but another common issue roommates have is being afraid of confrontation. Dorm mates need to be able to share when they are upset about something. Telling a friend instead of the roommate causes more harm than good. The worst thing a roommate can do is not share when something is bothering them. Everybody keeps secrets when they get pissed off and they tell everybody but their roommate because they don't want the conflict in the room, Cohen says.
a stand-up guy and a successful football coach don't always go hand in hand.
From what I witnessed first-hand last year and have heard this season, players love playing for Gill; they just haven't been able to win for him. Barring any monumental upsets, Gill will have six wins or fewer after two years on the job.
Sophomore cornerback Tyler Patmon pulls an Oklahoma State ball carrier to the ground near midfield during the first quarter of Saturday night's game at Boone Pickens Stadium. Patton had four tackles against OSU along with a defensive pass interference while in the end zone during the second quarter.
The one thing working in Gill's favor right now is his contract, which doesn't include a buyout. If he was fired, he would receive the remaining salary left on his five-year deal. At $2 million per year, he is set to receive $6 million more after this season.
It's common knowledge that most college football coaches need at least three seasons to get their affairs in order, and besides that, it's highly unlikely KU Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger has the resources to shell out around $10 million to dismiss Gill and his assistants as well as hire a completely new staff. But if enough angry, big-money donors bang on Zenger's door and open up their checkbooks and that's a big 'if' — things
— and that's a big 'if' — things could change quickly.
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Edited by Jonathan Shorman
stayed for the final act of the Jayhawks' blowout loss to the Cowboys watched their team get out-scored in the fourth quarter to Kansas.
Yes, it was against a mix of first, second and third string defenders that the Kansas offense faced in the fourth quarter, but the 14 points Kansas scored at the end of the game Saturday showed that the offense is resilient. The 28 total points Kansas scored helps put in perspective just how poorly this Kansas defense has been playing.
Scoring 28 points against the No. 6 team in the nation, is no small accomplishment. Scoring 28 points would've been good enough to win 11 FBS games last week and tie two of them. Instead of being the 12th winning team in college football with 28-points or fewer, the Jayhawks lost by 42.
Kansas actually scored one more point than Oklahoma State has allowed on average all season. The biggest margin of victory the Cowboys had before
Following the Oklahoma State game, coach Turner Gill broke down the defensive woes into two simple categories: "Our guys did not tackle quite as well, as far as early on," Gill said. "And the second thing is the guys were not doing what they were told to do in some cases."
It's a combination of a lack of athleticism, play-making and tackling that have led to the team's struggles, Gill said.
By admitting that some players are not following their coaches' instructions on the field, Gill helps shed some light on the defense, which ranks 34 yards worse than any other FBS team.
have put Kansas on track to win 20 games that week. Of every team that scored more than 34 points and lost in week five of the college football season, Kansas had the largest deficit, falling by 11 points.
Sophomore cornerback Tyler Patmon suggested Wednesday that there is only one way to fix the defenses' problem: practice.
"When it comes down to it, it's
It appears that the Jayhawks got the message. Freshman linebacker Ben Heeney said a few of the players asked their teammates to pick up their performance on the practice field.
consistency," Patmon said. "We have to go hard in practice no matter what."
"The past two days, our
defensive practices have been 100-fold better than what it's been," Heeney said. "I just think we look a lot better even from last week to this week."
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Gill said the team has practiced with more focus and energy the past two days. He said there is urgency with the team in practice, because they know
they have to be on all cylinders against No. 3 Oklahoma this Saturday.
If the play in practice has improved, the Jayhawks' defensive performance this season has served as a wake up call.
Edited by Alexandra Esposito
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