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PAGE 11
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
ATHLETICS
New bird lands by stadium
MIKE LAVIERI
mlavieri@kansan.com
Pick, Webb will work together
The Kansas football team will start a new tradition on Saturday after a bronze Jayhawk statue was installed Thursday.
Players will run out of the locker room at the Anderson Family Football Complex and rub the Jayhawk's beak as they run onto Kivisto Field.
This will be similar to Notre Dame's tradition of hitting the sign, "Play Like A Champion Today," inside the locker room or Clemson's rubbing of "Howard's Rock" as the team runs down the hill on the east side of Clemson Memorial Stadium.
The four-foot-high, 700-pound statue sits atop a two-ton, 40-inch-high base that faces north in the southwest corner outside of Memorial Stadium.
A Kansas Athletics release billed the statue as a picturesque location for students, parents and alumni to visit and pose during events like commencement. When viewing the Jayhawk from its west side, campus icons like the Campanile and Fraser Hall serve as a backdrop.
The statue, created by sculptor John Free of Pawhuska, Okla., is accessible to the tailgating areas on the hill, according to Athletics.
Edited by Lindsey Deiter
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
One year ago, Kale Pick started at quarterback in the opening game of Kansas' 2011 football season. On Saturday Kale Pick will be playing, not at quarterback, but at a position that he had never played before late last season — wide receiver.
His good friend Jordan Webb took the starting job in his place. Pick could have sulked; he didn't. He could have held a grudge against Webb; he didn't. Instead he worked hard to switch positions and did so seamlessly.
"Kale has really emerged, and he's hungry for it," offensive coordinator Chuck Long said. "He went from quarterback to receiver and didn't even miss a beat. Some guys sulk for a while and say 'woe is me, I want to be a quarterback,' but he took to it right away and its shown out there." On a team that
has so many young players in such heavy competition for playing time, this relationship provides a template for how to carry oneself as a teammate, and how important it is to have a team-first mentality.
"I think it set an example for this team. I know offensively it has." Long said. "It's not being selfish, it's being hey, I'm going to help this team. Those guys have kept the same relationships as quarterback and now they have the same one as receiver."
The two former competitors remain good friends, and the struggle of last season has only brought them together.
"We're both big time competitors, we both like to compete and I think that brought us even closer," Pick said. "Going through what we all went through last year, we both went through some adversity, so, we've both been through that, were both competitors, and we have similar personalities, so I think that's why we're close."
The Pick-Webb relationship will be key on the field Saturday, as the Jayhawks try to avenge one of the most embarrassing moments in program history, the 6-3 loss to
SEE FOOTBALL | 15
--piece of paper saying the two need to remain attached.
COMMENTARY
No conference bind for Kansas, K-State
The conference realignment story facinates me. It's a big headache, but it's interesting to read the rumors of what schools are going where or what schools are talking to which conference.
When Texas A&M announced its desire to withdraw from the Big 12, it was a nice coincidence because Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little paid a visit to the Kansan newsroom to talk to campus media on Thursday.
I asked her about the rumors surrounding the Kansas Board of Regents requiring Kansas and Kansas State to remain attached if the two were to move conferences, to which, she responded that the rumors aren't true and that Kansas and Kansas State could be in different conferences. The Board of Regents doesn't have a law or a
She did say that it would be in the best interest of Kansas to remain a member of the Big 12 with Kansas State.
I'm over the talk of Texas A&M and the Southeastern Conference. While the SEC hasn't extended an offer, I assume it eventually will add Texas A&M as the 13th team and will add a 14th team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Missouri has also been rumored to be that 14th school.
Finally, there's truth.
Those talks may be nullified if Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech flee to what would be called the Pac-16.
Immediately after the announcement, Brigham Young was said to be in talks with the Big 12 about joining the conference. BYU left the Mountain West to join the West Coast Conference, but is independent for football.
This is not what Kansas wants to hear.
If the Big 12 does indeed fold, and four 16-team superconferences come to life, it would be in Kansas' best interest to ditch Kansas State. This will make Kansas State upset, but Kansas needs to look
That leaves the Big 12 with Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State.
after itself first.
After Gray-Little talked with members of the Kansan, I sent out a tweet that was retested by members of national media outlets.
While Missouri has been rumored to be a possible member for the SEC, I think Kansas is a more attractive school. It isn't a football powerhouse like the rest of the SEC, but it wins in basketball and competes year in and year out.
I've always thought that Kansas State was the reason Kansas wasn't being looked at by the SEC or the Big Ten, and now that Gray-Little debunked the myth, I would think Kansas' phones would start ringing more.
Edited by Josh Kantor
University to institute wireless improvements
BOBBY BURCH
bburch@kansan.com
After meeting with student body President Libby Johnson and Vice President Gabe Bliss, University IT began a project to expand wireless internet to frequently used areas of campus. The wireless expansion, which will continue throughout the fall semester, will eventually reach areas including Jayhawk Boulevard, Wescoe beach and Potter Lake.
As students settle in for the new academic year, the University of Kansas' department of Information and Technology is busy improving services and telecommunication around campus.
However, as IT expands wireless to new areas of campus, some students have expressed concerns about the University's existing WiFi internet access.
Ann Erickson, a senior from Tonganoxie, replied to a University Daily Kansan inquiry on student wireless experience so far this year.
"It's terrible," Erickson wrote. "From experience, it only works in certain areas and even then it's slow and cuts out."
Patrick Henke, a senior from Olathe, expressed similar concerns about KU's wireless reliability.
"We have problems in our room where it cuts in and out," Henke said.
In an effort to provide better service and more efficient technology support, University IT hired the Huron Consulting Group Inc., to review its technology services around campus in the summer of 2010. The group's report outlined that:
Classroom standards have not been set, resulting in variable capabilities.
The University is behind the curve in terms of supporting technology-enhanced teaching in the classroom.
Overall need for more consistent consulting-level support for faculty and students related to technologies.
Following Huron's recommendations, the University's Instructional Development Services (IDS) merged its operations with the IT department, taking effect last spring.
In an email notifying University deans, directors and department chairs of the new changes, Diane Goddard, Vice Provost for Administration and Finance, wrote that: "By fall 2011, we hope that the plan for increased academic technology support will be well on its way to filling the gap at KU."
Julie Loats, director of Enterprise Applications and Services for University IT, said that the merger of University IT and IDS will help
"One of the things we heard last spring loud and clear was that students didn't feel they had a place to go if they needed help with blackboard," Loats said. "With this merger wed like to be able to provide more support for students."
"It brings all of those staff together so it can be a more focused and holistic approach to classroom support." Loats said.
Loats said that University IT hopes to further its service efforts by offering Blackboard technology support to students.
provide comprehensive technology support for students and faculty.
Edited by Jayson Jenks
CHECK OUT THE UPCOMING WIRELESS LOCATIONS
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OPINION 7
CLASSIFIEDS 10
CROSSWORD 6
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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