4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006
》 GLOBALIZATION
New center will help students prepare for business careers abroad Exam will test students' prowess with business-related German language
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
An new interdisciplinary center at the University of Kansas will assist students looking for an edge in a competitive international market.
On Tuesday, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Center for International Business Education and Research, or CIBER, formed the Center for Germanic Business Language to teach, test and train students to compete for international business professions.
The newly created center has the approval of the Goethe Institute in Germany to certify students' German language proficiency.
The proficiency gives students an edge when they are looking for a job, said Melissa Birch, CIBER director.
"Now we are collaborating on the Center for Business Language that will really put KU on the map as a place where rigorous education in German language and culture is available to people who want to work in business," Birch said.
The center has been five years in the making, she said.
Jim Morrison, instructor in
German and co-director of the newly created center, said the first tests would be administered in December. Morrison and Rex Clark, the other co-director, were certified by the Goethe Institute to administer the German business language proficiency tests. The three-hour long test involves vocabulary, reading, listening, an oral exam and office scenario role playing to help test office skills, Morrison said.
Jörg Meindl, graduate teaching assistant in German, is training to test students at the center. He teaches a German for Professions class, which is the first of two classes for fourth-year students preparing to take the language proficiency test.
German employers have difficulty understanding what a transcript actually means and business language skills are not necessarily guaranteed in other classes, Meindl said. Five students are preparing to take the test this semester, he said.
Kansan staff writer Erin Castaneda can be contacted at ecastaneda@kansan.com.
Edited by Derek Korte
HOUSING (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
from their parents for the first time.
Sometimes the boundaries are tested illegally. Virtually all marijuana seized by KU Public Safety officers this year was from Oliver and McCollum. Several reports of alcohol poisoning this semester have come from the two halls. The two rapes reported in 2006 were from McCollum and the Towers. The parking lots and bike racks outside Oliver and the Towers are popular places for thieves looking for bikes and vandals who smash
"They're busy, trying, to find their boundaries," Bailey said.
car mirrors or bend windshield wiper blades. The most reported crime on campus is theft, most often of bikes, cell phones or wallets.
The Rolla, Mo., junior, said there was less supervision at the Towers than at residence halls because resident assistants were less visible.
One desk attendant at McCollum spoke on condition of anonymity, because the Department of Student Housing threatens to discipline employees who speak to the media, said it was surprising to learn that McCollum had so many crimes reported.
Ashlen Williams, a Towers resident, said she saw other Towers residents not locking their doors because they were afraid they would lock themselves out.
Towers guests don't have to check in. Though keycards are required to get inside, Williams said that sometimes doors got propped open on weekends and anyone could walk in.
The Towers tend to draw older residents who have more connections off campus and who may be old enough to legally purchase alcohol.
"It's been quiet times when I've been on duty," the attendant said. "I don't feel less safe there than I do anywhere else."
"We lock our doors and go on with our business," Williams said. "I feel pretty safe. I don't really think about it."
Kansan staff writer David Linhardt can be contacted at dlinhardt@ kansan.com.
Williams' roommate Carey Krovatin, Piscataway, N.J., junior, said she liked living in the Towers because she felt more secure. She said she hadn't been a victim of any crime in the three years she had lived in campus housing.
Richards rose to the governorship with a victory against millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."
The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others — especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.
Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton for president.
AUSTIN, Texas — Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.
BY KELLEY SHANNON ASSOCIATED PRESS
NBC/ASSOCIATED PRESS
》 OBITUARY
Former Texan Democrat governor dies at 73
- Edited by Natalie Johnson
"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.'
"Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
As governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.
I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, "She opened government to everyone," Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995.
She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards won cheers from delegates when she said that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astraire did, "only backwards and in high heels."
She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush.
Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, vice president at the time:
INTERNET
Bradley Whitford, left, and Matthew Perry star in the new NBC dramatic series "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip," which will be available free on the internet after its television debut.
NBC to stream six shows on Web
BY GARY GENTILE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The network, starting Oct. 1, will begin streaming on the Internet episodes of all six of its new prime-time series one day after their network airing.
LOS ANGELES — NBC is about to join CBS, ABC and Fox in offering free, advertising-supported shows online.
The episodes will run on the network's video player, called NBC 24/7, the network said Wednesday. The episodes will be accompanied by blogs from the shows producers,
writers or stars.
The network said it would air the first four episodes of its new comedies, "30 Rock," and "Twenty Good Years," and the first eight episodes of its new dramas, "Kidnapped," "Friday Night Lights" "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Heroes."
NBC will also allows fans to interact with the creators of all its shows on the night of their premiers, the company said.
The goal is to help promote the new shows and experiment with giving viewers multiple options to view them, the company said. NBC also sells episodes of some of its on shows
"When you launch a new season, it's important that you get the shows in front of as many eyeballs as possible," said Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, in a statement.
Apple Computer Inc's iTunes store for $1.99 each.
ABC, last fall, was the first network to sell its shows online and stream free, ad-supported episodes on the Web. That network said Wednesday it would resume the free streaming, adding several new shows, including "Six Degrees," "Ugly Betty," "The Knights of Prosperity" and "The Nine."
FOUR SQUARE (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Wednesday, Jay Warring, Paola junior, saw his girlfriend playing a pick-up game of four square with Nguyen and Vierhalter. He decided to play too.
"If you get out, it doesn't mean you really lost, you just get back in," Warring said.
The next opportunity for Nguyen to reapply for funding will be at student senate committee meetings on Sept. 20.
Kansan staff writer Nate McGinnis can be contacted at nmcginnis@kansan.com.
Warring said he liked the game because it was easy and quick.
Edited by Travis Robinett
TICKETS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said, "We really do not have any intention of changing the policy."
The department is an autonomous organization and can set departmental policies at its own discretion.
Marchiony said that the policy was common at many schools and that it was used for all NCAA championship events in every sport, as well as the Big 12 Championships.
Students can purchase singlegame or season tickets for children and spouses at student prices of $10 and $45, respectively.
Parents can enroll their children in the Junior Jayhawk Club, which gives the child free admission to the first three football games and allows parents to purchase single-game tickets for $25. Junior Jayhawk Club members also get free admission to all athletics events except men's basketball.
With a family plan, parents can purchase football season tickets for two adults and two children for $300. Season tickets for additional children can be purchased for $50.
Even though children two or younger must have a ticket, several programs exist for reduced costs for infants, Marchiony said.
Kansan staff writer Nate McGinnis can be contacted at nmcginnis@kansan.com.
Edited by Natalie Johnson