THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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AMBASSADORS FROM 11
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2011
PAGE 3
request tours, ambassadors prepare most for senior and junior days. A total of 13 are held for each, with junior days held during the spring and senior days during the fall. Each day usually sees between 100 and 150 prospective students.
TYLER ROSTE/KANSAN
Skyler Richardson, a junior from Salina, and Ashley Balsbaugh, a freshman from Overland Park, speak to a tour group while walking in front of Lipincott Hall. The Student Ambassadors program is a volunteer program that runs all year and gives tours to kids and parents from all over the country.
These days give prospective students a look at the institution through student interaction, panels and tours.
"It's easy to visualize being a student when they can see the classroom spaces, visit the buildings and walk among other students," DeBoer said.
"It ites to feel right, and a tour gives them the opportunity to feel that," Creaden said.
Ambassadors get to meet students from all over the country, which gives them the chance to share their experiences as a student at the university.
Creaden also said the tour helped prospective students know what it was like to be a student on the KU campus.
"We go to a unique institution with the tradition and sense of community and being able to
share that with people is a rewarding experience," DeBoei said.
As part of being an ambassador, students must be up to date with facts about the University, having to know the material of the 89-page Student Ambassador manual. Before giving tours, new members, of whom there are 36 this year, must pass exams over the book's content. While remembering the information can be difficult, ambassadors also must be able to walk backwards, know the sidewalks and not run into things during a tour.
Despite the work required, ambassadors still do their best to share their experience.
"You have to be energetic and enthusiastic regardless of what you have going on in class or at work and still share that passion for the University," DeBoer said.
In addition to helping out with events on campus, traveling to high schools around Kansas and giving tours, ambassadors also spend time writing postcards. Ambassadors meet once a month as well as for other social events between meetings. These
meetings often include touring a building on campus so that ambassadors can expand their campus knowledge.
In addition to representing the university, ambassadors enjoy the community of the group.
"Because we don't get paid, it's a group of people who really care," said Holly Lafferty, a sophomore from Fairway.
visit days and sees the experience as benefiting her future career as a park ranger. She points to practicing giving tours, making good friends, and developing interpersonal skills as benefits to being an ambassador.
In her second year as an ambassador, Lafferty enjoys dressing up as the Baby Jay mascot during the
"Being an ambassador improves your people skills, and you learn about the school you go to," Lafferty said. "It's a good way to give back to KU."
Edited by Ben Chipman
college.
ADMISSION FROM L1
Admissions also hopes to increase student body diversity, and is doing so with the multi-cultural recruitment team. Much of the work is done by the traveling admissions representatives.
"We spend a lot of time each year traveling to high schools and communities to bring KU to college bound students all across the country," Jessica Walters, senior admissions representative, said.
In addition to traveling and event planning, Walters communicates with students through letters, emails, phone calls and face-to-face interaction.
Dubbed "Road Warriors" for the amount of time spent on the road, representatives have a variety of informational programs at high schools and colleges in Kansas and other states. Each representative is designated a specific region, with many focusing in state.
"I work hard and strategically to make connections and build relationships with students, parents and high school counselors," Walters said. "I am their liaison with the rest of KU and it's my job to
show them KU and how KU can match their college needs."
The office also stays connected with the other academic offices around campus so that students can be put in contact with resources related to their desired plan of study.
"Often times, that's where we really see students go from 'I'm just looking' to 'I'm ready to be a lavhawk.'" Walters said.
Another focus is to personalize the recruitment process. This year, admissions employs 15 student telecounselors to build relationships with potential students to promote the University.
This time of year is especially busy as admission and scholarship deadlines approach. The primary goal is to give future students a sense of community before they even get to campus.
"We want them to feel like they're coming into the school already belonging," Gaylor said. "The staff works really hard to make sure students know what it means to be a lajahawk."
Edited by Laura Nightengale
NATIONAL
Massachussets man charged in terror plot pleads not guilty
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WORCESTER, Mass. — A man accused of plotting to fly explosives-packed remote-controlled model planes into the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol pleaded not guilty Monday.
The bail hearing that had been scheduled for Rezwan Ferdaus, of Ashland, was delayed for several weeks because his lawyer, Catherine Byrne, asked for more time to prepare.
Authorities said Ferdaus, a 26-year-old Muslim American with a physics degree from Northeastern University, was arrested in Framingham last week after federal agents posing as al-Qaida members delivered what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive. They said the public was never in danger from the plot.
Byrne said the case was "orchestrated and facilitated by the government."
"We have asked for a continuance for additional time in order to prepare and to further investigate so that we can present a more complete picture of what happened," she told reporters as she left the federal courthouse Monday.
The arrest was the latest in a string of terror arrests to emerge from similar sting operations. A federal affidavit says Ferdaus began planning jihad, or holy war, against the U.S. in early 2010 after becoming convinced through jihadi websites and videos that America was evil.
A group of nearly a dozen family members and friends attended Ferdaus' court appearance. Several women, including his mother,
wept as the charges against him were read. They shouted "We love you!" as he was led out of the courtroom; he quietly answered, "I love you, too."
Ferdaus faces as much as 100 years in prison on charges including attempting to damage and destroy national defense premises and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. A detention hearing is set for Oct. 20.
Also in attendance were the parents of Tarek Mehanna, another Massachusetts man arrested in a different terror plot. They said they did not know Ferdaus' family but went to show their support. Mehanna is scheduled for trial later this month; authorities say he conspired to provide material support to al-Qaida and kill U.S. troops in Iraq.
Position filled after student resignation
STUDENT SENATE
JESSIE BLAKEBOROUGH jblakeborough@kansan.com
Carlye Yanker, a junior from St. Louis majoring in finance and accounting, became the most recent addition of the student executive officers when senators voted to approve her appointment during yesterday's full senate meeting. Yanker replaced Courtney Sheldon as assistant treasurer after Sheldon resigned Sept. 14.
Balancing her roles as vice president of standards in Kappa Delta sorority and advisor for Mentoring In the Lives of Kids (M.I.L.K.) Yanker applied for the position to apply classroom knowledge in a substantial position.
"The best part is that I am working with a real life budget and can make a difference by helping to fund student organizations," Yanker said.
Vice president Gabe Bliss and treasurer David Cohen assisted in the interview process while president Libby Johnson made the final decision on who was hired.
Johnson said interviews went well within the pool of applicants.
Yanker is working hard to catch up on how the internal processes of student senate interact with the treasurers' office along with the software used by the office and the rules and regulations of student fees.
"I am a little nervous about making sure I do everything correctly since I haven't completed my train-
CAMPUS
University to help at-risk youth in KC
The University received a total of $8.96 million in grants from the Department of Education last month to continue its work with at-risk sixth and seventh graders in Kansas City, Kan.
The seven-year grants will fund the KU GEAR UP program, which helps prepare underprivileged youth for college.
The University's previous grants for the program had expired, forcing it to go through the competitive grant-application process again.
In all, 56 institutions including nine
state governments — received the federal grants this year.
Nigundi Kamataka, the director of the University's Educational Opportunity Programs, said the support of Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools were vital in securing the University's grants.
Kamatuka also said that in light of recent economic instability and growing student-loan defaults, the KU GEAR UP program would be adding financial literacy and discipline to its curriculum.
—Dana Meredith
READ MORE IN THE EDITORIAL ON PAGE 5
FLAGGING FOR AWARENESS
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
Hundreds of flags were placed in the lawn in front of Watson Library Monday in support of the anti-abortion movement. The Students for Life organization tabled throughout the day handing out brochures about Pro-life and Birth Right, a local organization that helps women with unplanned pregnancies. Students for Life will be tabling at Wescoe on Tuesday and Thursday and will have a bake sale Wednesday at St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center and a life walk through campus on Wednesday. President of Students for Life Cara Winkley said, "We felt like the flags would be a good way to start the awareness week off."
"She is picking up everything that she's missed on quickly, though, and will be up to speed and where she would have been, had she been at it all along soon," Johnson said.
Johnson says that learning the ropes of the position is more of a year-long process.
ing yet," Yanker said. "I am in the transition stage and know once I am accumulated with all of the responsibilities I will feel much better."
Edited by Ben Chipman
Wednesday, October 12th
That 1 Guy w/ POGO
Friday, October 14th
Cant
w/Mirror Mirror / Blood Orange
Saturday, October 15th
The Black Angels
w/Dead Meadow / Spindrift
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St • Lawrence Ks
Wednesday, October 5th
Signal Path w/ Kinetic
Friday, October 7th
Cornmeal
w/Dirtfoot / Jon Gamsche
Sunday, October 9th
Portugal, The Man
w/The Only Children
Tuesday, November 8th
Tribal Seeds
w/72 inflows
Wednesday, November 9th The Devil Makes Three w/ Brown Bird
Sunday, October 30th
Mike Doughty &
His Band Fantastic
w/ Moon Hooch
Wednesday, October 26th
Orgone w/ Labriphonic
Saturday, October 29th
Ultimate Fakebook
w/ Podcast / Touchdown
Saturday, November 12th Toubab Krewe
Tuesday, November 1st
Reckless Kelly
w/Sara Bionge
www.thebottlenecklive.com
LIBERTY HALL
642 MASS ST • LAWRENCE KS
FRIDAY OCTOBER 28
QUIXOTIC
MARCH FOURTH
MARCHING BAND
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