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NEWS MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief Lara Korte
managing editor Christian Hardy
Digital operations editor Matt Clough
Social media editor Emily Johanek
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, JAN. 19, 2017
Associate sports editor Skylar Rolstad
Associate social media editor Emily Juszczyk
Business manager Tucker Paine
ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT
Sports editor Amie Just
SECTION EDITORS
Associate news editor McKenna Harford
Opinion editor Vince Munoz
Arts & culture editor Omar Sanchez
Associate arts & culture editor Samantha Sexton
Visuals editor & design chief Roxy Townsend
Photo editor Missy Minear
Copy chiefs
Candice Tarver
Brendan Dzwierzynski
Ashley Hocking
ADVISERS
Chief financial officer Jon Schlitt
Editorial adviser Gerri Berendzen
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Student drinking rate decreases at University
▶ ELLE CLOUSE
@elle_clouse
W while national trends are showing an
increase in the amount of alcohol that women are consuming, the University has different findings reflecting campus habits.
According to a recent PEW report, the amount of women in the United States who drink alcohol has increased by 22 percent over the past 15 years, which lends itself to a growing amount of related detrimental health concerns. However, according to Heidi Garcia, assistant director of Watkins Health Services, drinking rates on campus have decreased. Garcia is pleased with the progress the University has seen, and the change in behavior.
"Overtime, from 2009 to 2015, which is our last data set that we collected for NCHA, we have seen a decrease in females drinking," Garcia said.
The University compiles data on the state of alcohol use among students every other year through the National College Health Assessment, according to Garcia. She said that it's not uncommon for universities to have unique findings per school, which Garcia thinks is the result of University efforts.
"In the past we have seen that some of our drinking rates have been higher than that national reference group,but our drinking rates overall,males and females on this campus,have come down significantly," Garcia said.
Photo illustration by Miranda Anaya
educator at Watkins Health Services, thinks that alcohol education plays a vital role in the habits of University students. She said the services the University provides can ensure students have the knowledge to make
Karen Grajczyk, a health
educated choices.
"I think it's really important to learn about alcohol education, because some students don't have any exposure to it," Grajczyk said. "Having a base of alcohol education can really
help students lower the risk of potentially bad things happening to them."
- Edited by Missy Minear
After Donald Trump's inauguration, women's marches to focus on marginalized identities
▶ CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boeese
More than 600 marches across the country, including two in the Lawrence area, will make a statement for the rights of people with marginalized identities the Saturday after Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th president.
The original Women's March on Washington was planned soon after the November election to take place in Washington, D.C., and since then, cities around the country have put together marches in solidarity with the main march. Two such marches are slated to take place in Topeka and Kansas City, Missouri.
Women's March in Topeka:
The Women's March on Topeka will begin at the steps of the Capitol building at 1 p.m Saturday and go until
3 p.m. Guest speakers will talk to the crowd about the issues that they care about, said Stephanie Meehan, the event's organizer.
Meehan said the march is to support people of all marginalized identities, not just women, as the name might suggest.
"I expect there to be people participating who have never done anything like this before," she said. "I expect there to be people who have never felt on the outside of the mainstream, common-place, decision-making that at this time they do."
"[Trump's presidency] is not the focus of the march,
The march is also not a protest of President-elect Trump, Meehan said. She said people of marginalized identities have felt isolated and oppressed in recent months, and not just by the presidential race and transition.
but that's certainly the call to arms in a sense for these groups to come together and say that their issues are being ignored and it's time to hear our voices, too," Meehan said.
The march on Topeka obviously has parallels to the D.C. march, with the State Capitol acting as the equivalent to the nation's Capitol Building. Meehan said the parallels are largely to show solidarity with the national march, but there's a Kansas connection as well.
"I think, particularly here in Kansas, we are familiar with living under a government that doesn't necessarily represent all the people that live in the state that it's speaking for." Meehan said. "So I think, in particular, in Kansas, we can really empathize with the nation and understand because we've been dealing with this for years."
The event will also
include a drive for menstrual supplies and will be followed by training on activism at the Historic Fire Station No. 2. More information is on the event's Facebook page.
Women's March in Kansas City:
Another women's march, also in solidarity with the D.C. event, will be held in Kansas City, also Saturday 1-3 p.m. The march will be held in Washington Square Park.
One of the dozens of speakers at the event will be Zoya Khan, president of the University's Muslim Student Association. Khan said she is looking forward to talk about her experience as a Muslim-American at the march.
"This event is an apolitical event, it's more for people to recognize the diversity we have in our community," said Khan, who grew up in the Kansas City area. "I hope I can share my narrative
and hopefully that will allow some people to understand a little bit of what other [Muslims] go through."
Like Meehan, Khan said the event is separate, but not indivisible from Trump's inauguration and presidency. Rather, she said, it's more about a celebration of different identities and a discussion of their experiences.
"I think, again, that this is an opportunity for the community to come together and heal. I think these past few months have been difficult for a lot of marginalized identities," Khan said. "Even though it's called the 'Women's March,' it's for all peoples to come together."
After the event, there will be a meet-and-greet at Union Station for participants. More information can be found at the event's Facebook or Eventbrite page.
KU-TPE expanding after successful semester
Contributed photo Megan Heidrich, academic advisor for KU-TPE, helps Kirstin Slane set up her KU email account and weekly schedule.
▶ TANNER HASSELL @thassell17
Contributed photoount and weekly
KU Transition to Postsecondary Education, a two-year certificate program designed for students with intellectual disabilities, is expanding operations after a successful first semester last fall.
The program received a $1.5 million grant in 2015 from the U.S. Department of Education, allowing the University to offer to the certificate program, according to a news release.
KU-TPE Coordinator Mary Morningstar said the program, which started out with three students last fall, aims to offer students with intellectual disabilities access to postsecondary education, while integrating them into the University.
"The goal of the certificate program is to help individuals with intellectual disabilities succeed in their adult life," she said. "In addition to the coursework, we encourage the students to be social and interact with other students on campus."
Morningstar said students in the program, like incoming freshmen, are enrolled in UNIV 101 and a fitness course. She said much of the coursework is centered around each student's individual interests.
"In addition to the traditional coursework, the students take classes and learn about industries that they are interested in," she said. "One of the students from last fall is interested in becoming a sign language interpreter. This spring she will be enrolled in the American Sign Language class."
"When we initially received the grant to go forward with the program, a colleague and friend pointed out that many existing models effectively segregated the students. One of our big pushes was to integrate these students, which we hope will lead to better employment outcomes," she said.
Morningstar said programs like KU-TPE have existed at other institutions for over a decade, but many keep
Project Coordinator Amber Grant said peer mentors and volunteers play a big role in assisting students in the program in their adaptation to college life, while also encouraging them to discover what their career interests are
the students separated from the rest of the student body.
and socialize.
"For the first semester, our focus was on helping these students with their day-to-day lives on campus," she said. "Our peer-mentors help in a number of different ways. The mentors help the students with school work and time management, but also help these students get out and be social."
Morningstar said the program will take on up to ten more students this semester, and will take on at least ten more each semester. She also said students in the program will be integrated into Student Housing, where they can form connections and socialize with fellow students.
"We plan to bring on ten more students each semester, though we will likely only have eight new students joining us this spring," she said. "In the future, we plan to have the students living in scholarship halls. The dorms are where many students make connections and meet their friends, so having these students in Student Housing is another way we can connect them to the rest of campus."
Grant said the program is currently in search of volunteers and peer mentors, as the number of students enrolled increases.
"We had a few volunteers for the first semester, but most of the others were paid peer mentors. Some of those who were interested in volunteering ended up being paid mentors," she said. "Students interested in volunteering, being a peer mentor or helping out for a class requirement are encouraged to contact us. We want students to know that we are an option if they are looking to volunteer."
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