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MONDAY, OCT. 17, 2016 | VOLUME 132 ISSUE 17
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
University students dance the Dandiya at Garba, an event put on by AIS and SASA
Miranda Anaya/KANSAN
MIRANDA SHAPPE CANSAN
Sri Gayatri Sundar, executive officer of AIS, dances at Garba, which originated in Guajarat.
Students celebrate Indian culture at Garba event
Miranda Anaya/KANSAN dances at Garba which
HAILEY DIXON
@ Hailey Dixon
The ballroom of the Kansas Union was filled with dancing, music and festivities Saturday evening as students celebrated Indian culture at Garba.
Over 100 individuals took part in the event, dressed in colorful clothing and dancing to traditional Indian music. It was a coordinated effort
between the Association of Indian Students and the South Asian Student Association.
Garba is a dance form performed during the Hindu festival Navratri, according to Puja Shah, co-president of SASA. Navratri means "nine nights" and it symbolizes the victory of positivity, truth and goodness over evil, according to Shah.
Navratri is held in
this is very a religious activity in India, and we wanted to get all Indian students in one room to make friends and connections here."
honor of the goddess Durga, and Shah said Hindus believe that worshipping her will bestow wealth, auspiciousness,
Chinmay Ratnaparkhi AIS President
prosperity knowledge and other abilities to take on hurdles you may face The festival also marks the arrival of winter.
"This is a very religious activity in India, and we wanted to get all Indian students in one room to make friends and connections here," Chinmay Ratnaparkhi, AIS president, said.
The event started off with performers dancing for the crowd and before Sri Gayatri, AIS executive officer, taught the steps to the rest of the room.
After onlookers learned the steps, they soon started to join in. Dancers moved in pairs, each person holding a dandiya stick and tapping their partners in time to the music, before switching partners.
"It gives a chance for people to act out these roles of gods and goddesses through Garba,"
SEE GARBA PAGE 2
Tanner Hassell/KANSAN
Eve Levin, a professor of history, said guns on campus could hinder intellectual conversations.
Professors: Guns stifle discussion
TANNER HASSELL @thassell 17
On July 1,2017 the concealed carry exemption.for college campuses in Kansas will expire, opening once gun-free zones to the less restricted concealed carry regulations effective throughout the state.
students, 82 percent of faculty and 70 percent of students, were opposed to the "campus carry" legislation. Even so, the exemption is still scheduled to expire barring a last-minute change in the law during the upcoming Kansas state legislative session.
History Professor Eve Levin and African American Studies Professor Clarence Lang have been two of the most vocal op-
Polling completed by the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University revealed a overwhelming majority of faculty, staff and
SEE GUNS PAGE 2
MELISSA YUNK
@KansanNews
Regents aim to keep grads in KS
Paige Hillebert, a business administration graduate from Shawnee, knew long before she graduated last May that she wanted to move to New York.
She searched for jobs early in her last semester, but despite applying to more than 20 places, had no offers. But she wanted to make the move so badly, she packed up in July and left Kansas. After a few weeks in New York, she found a job as an office administrator at an ad agency.
Hillebert is among the roughly 40 percent of University graduates who leave Kansas and Missouri for their first job, according to the University Career Center.
Some state officials feel the state should be
doing more to keep them at home.
"I had spent my entire life in Kansas, and I was ready to experience something new and see what else is out there for me," Hillebert said.
"I think we can put the blame in a lot of places," Blake Flanders, Board of Regents President and CEO, said during a board retreat in August. "I think it's something we can work together on. I would say it's all of our responsibility to make our state the best that we can."
2014-15 data from the University Career Center Destination Survey
Kansas graduates are a large source of new professionals for companies in the state. With students leaving after college, Flanders and others worry there will not be enough degree-holding individuals to fill positions, said Breeze Richardson, Board of Regents communication director.
In order to retain more graduates, the Board of Regents is encouraging programs that connect the higher education systems with the economic needs in Kansas. They are currently working on a program for the University.
Another program, the Innovation Campus at
Wichita State University, allows students to do real work for companies while still taking classes. The goal is to build relationships between students and employers and show students what opportunities are available to them upon graduation.
The top states for University students looking to relocate for work are Colorado, Texas, Illinois, California and New York, according to a 2015 Career Center survey. Additionally, about 30 percent of graduates who choose to further their education go out of state
as well.
"We want students to know that there are many opportunities and ways to grow professionally here as well," Richardson said.
The trend in students leaving the state has not changed in the past few years.
"It really depends on the student for why they want to leave, but for certain markets, you should go where the business is," said Wendy Shoemaker, the senior associate director for the University Career Center.
INDEX
INDEX
NEWS...2
OPINION...4
ARTS & CULTURE...5
SPORTS...8
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