DOUBLE TROUBLE The Morris twins share the secret to telling them apart. SPORTS 1B
WATKINS READIES ITSELF FOR WAR AGAINST FALL FLU
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
As flu season begins to take effect, health services will hold anti-flu clinics.
HEALTH 6A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY,OCTOBER 21,2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FOOTBALL
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 42
Vote on a new chant for kickoff
Go to Kansan.com by 5 p.m.
Wednesday to help choose a better
kickoff chant
for KU football
games.
Poll standings, as of 10 p.m. Monday:
1. "Go... Jayhawk!" - 44 percent
2. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!" - 27 percent
3. "Make 'em wee!" - 10 percent
4. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" - 8 percent
5. "Right between the eyes!" 8 percent
Total votes: 393
BUSINESS
University renegotiates Coke contract
The University is negotiating the renewal of its contract with the Coca-Cola Company, and it should be completed in a couple weeks. The previous 10-year contract expired June 30.2007, and generated about $5 million in scholarships, student and program funding and products for the University.
FULL STORY PAGE 6A
LAWRENCE
City officials: Students can vote in local elections
Mike Amyx, city commissioner spoke to a business class recently on campus concerning local voting issues. The commissioner expressed interest in the number of students who are unaware that they are eligible to vote as long as they are registered within the city of Lawrence.
FULL STORY PAGE 3A
TRENDS
A student by any other name...
University releases top undergraduate names
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambers@kansan.com
Lauren Hendrick, Salina junior, didn't realize she had a popular first name until she met five other Laurens in her sorority pledge class on her first day at the University.
"Many of my friends call me by my last name to avoid confusion," she said.
The names Lauren, Jessica, Sarah, Emily and Elizabeth are the most common for undergraduates at the University, according to Michael Harry, IT consultant for the registrar. Matthew, Michael, Andrew, Christopher and John were the five most registered undergraduate male names for this semester.
The popular boys names here are similar to national trends in the 1980s. Four of the five top names at the University rank in the Social Security Administration's top five as well, according to its Web site. KU girls' names are ahead of their time, however. Jessica was the top name on both KU's and the SSA's lists, but Emily was not even in the top 10 nationally from 1987 to 1990, the years that the majority of undergraduate students were born. Emily would not reach No. 1 on the national list until 1996.
Jeffrey Moran, associate professor of history, said he thought the popularity of certain names was random and that people named their children the same without knowing it. However, he said were three observable changes in name trends during the late 1980s.
He said there had been a revival of pioneer names among women, which may explain the popularity of the name Sarah.
Some male students followed Moran's hypothesis.
Moran said that religion reappeared as a dominant influence and that names reflected renewed interest in religion. Historians refer to the 1980s as the "rise of the religious right" because Protestants became a powerful force in the Republican party and in the nation.
However, Moran said popular boys' names in the United States had always been Bible-based.
"They usually rotate around the 12 apostles," he said. "No one is naming their kid Judas — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
Jessica Lauren Emily Sarah Elizabeth
PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING names:
Christopher Willdermood, Paola junior, said his parents chose his name because it was a derivation of "Christ," Michael Gillaspie, Ashland junior, said he was named after the Archangel Michael. Matthew Bertino, Ossining, N.Y., junior,
PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING names:
Matthew Michael Andrew Christopher John
What do you think? WHAT DO YOU THINK THE MOST COMMON BOYS' AND GIRLS' NAMES ARE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS?
AARON ELSTON Mulvane freshman "I've met a lot of Johns — that's the most generic name. Girls' name would maybe be Ashley."
JARED MARTIN
Wichita
sophomore
"I've heard a lot of
Sarahs on campus.
On guys, I don't
know, Blair?"
said his mother picked his name because it meant "God's gift."
MARY ADAMS Rolland, Mo., freshman "I think John is very common, and I have also met a lot of Collins."
Several women also said their names were based on religion.
Moran said movie stars and politicians influenced popular names, even if parents didn't want to admit it.
"I don't think anyone sits down and down and says, 'I love Sarah Jessica Parker'
Elizabeth Collison, Shawnee senior, said her parents selected her name because it meant "God's promise."
SARAH
ELIZABETH
MCCANDLESS
and names their child Sarah or Jessica," he said. But then he added, "If a celebrity has it, it becomes much more in the realm of possibility, so it rings normally."
Hendrick said she knew she was named after celebrities but did not mind.
"My parents named me after model Lauren Hutton and actress Lauren Bacall, both women who they considered to be very talented and beautiful," she said.
Graphic by Brenna Hawley/KANSAN
Fairway freshman "I was going to say Sarah, but that's my name, so I don't want to be egotical ... Emily?"
Multiple KU students with common names said they were not surprised their
top KU names
Male
Matthew 341
Michael 336
Andrew 294
Christopher 254
John 225
Female
Female
Jessica 235
Lauren 212
Emily 206
Sarah 204
Elizabeth 178
——Source: Michael Harry.
IT consultant for the registrar
name was at the top of the list, but they were still excited to find out.
"I think that's awesome that my name is in the top five," Willdermood said. "I wouldn't have picked a better name for myself."
But not all students with common names said they enjoyed sharing their name with hundreds of people.
"It can sometimes be really obnoxious having a really popular name," Emily Hane, Topeka junior, said. "I will sometimes get phone calls from my friends intended for another Emily that they know, but because they have so many Emils in their phone, things can get confusing. It is nice that everyone can spell it and pronounce it correctly, just sometimes inconvenient."
Edited by Lauren Keith
ATHLETICS
ESPN's schedule conflicts with parade organizers Organizers forced to schedule 'Hail to the Hawk' parade one hour earlier than planned
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Organizers of Saturday's homecoming parade had planned weeks in advance to start the parade at 10 a.m. They had the parade's route, participants and schedule set up and confirmed. Then, ESPN made things a little bit more difficult.
The network announced Oct. 13, that it would be televising Saturday's Kansas-Texas Tech football game from Lawrence and that it would begin at 11 a.m. Whoops.
That meant the organizers had to change the parade's start time to 9 a.m. to avoid time conflicts. They had less than two weeks to contact each of the parade's 45 groups to make sure the new schedule
"We had to make sure everybody could still make it that early," said Tizzi Noblot, St. Louis senior and parade co-chairwoman. "We have some groups coming from Kansas City, Mo., and now we have to start signing people in about 7:30. Getting people there that early is just a hassle."
With the game starting just two hours after the parade, organizers are worried that early-morning tailgaters could crowd the streets and make it difficult to get both the parade's participants and spectators in the right places on time.
"We have to somehow get everyone onto Jayhawk Boulevard at the Union before the traffic gets into town," Noblot said. "Otherwise, we won't be able to get all 45 groups lined up on time."
would work.
"That's another problem because we're having issues getting everyone to the Union without using Indiana Street," Noblot said. "We're concerned with getting the floats up the steep hill because normally we just take them up Indiana Street, but this year we have to take them up 12th, which is obviously way steeper."
The parade's staging area is near the construction zone for the Oread Inn. In years past, organizers have used Indiana Street to line up the groups, but it is closed this semester, causing even more difficulties.
The parade's route will run from the Kansas Union down Jayhawk Boulevard to the Chi Omega fountain. The close proximity of the game and parade gives students and spectators the opportunity
to stop and see the parade before walking down the hill for the game.
"It's right on the way," said Jade May, Osage City sophomore. "I didn't go last year, but we might stop by since the timing works out."
While organizers can't spill the beans on some of the parade's surprises, Noblot said it could be one of the best homecoming parades ever, despite all of the problems.
"There's a big ending. I can tell you that," Noblot said. "Our theme is 'Hail to the Hawk' so everything is based around that. Everybody should wake up a little bit earlier and come watch the parade on their way down to the game. It's going to be a good time."
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Alumni Band performs in the homecoming parade last year. This year's parade on Saturday has been moved from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. because ESPN will begin televising the Kansas-Texas Tech football game at 11 a.m.
index
Classifieds. . . . . . . 4B
Crossword. . . . . . 4A
Horoscopes. . . . . . 4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2008 The University Daily Kansan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TIM MCGRAW RELEASES BOOK
weather
"My Little Girl," children's book by country singer, released today. CELEBRITY | 4A
TODAY
59 49
P.M. T.Showers
WEDNESDAY
52 38
Rain / Thunder
---
Rain / Thunder
9.
THURSDAY
50 36
Showers