THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2006
NEWS
3A
SPEAKERS
Lecture series season begins Hall Center for the Humanities attracts speakers to KU who inform, educate
BY DARLA SLIPKE
The Humanities Lecture Series exposes students to other cultures and struggles within the global community and challenges them to think critically about the world around them, Maria Carlson, professor of Slavic languages and literature. said.
"Turn on your TV or go to your favorite news site, and you will see the potential and real costs of cultural illiteracy," Carlson said.
Carlson is one of six speakers including an evolutionary theorist, a feminist, a post-modern Socrates raised in Ghana and a sociologist, who will be part of this year's series.
The series has brought speakers who discuss social, political and
other issues to the University of Kansas for 50 years.
National Public Radio personnel Andrei Codrescu is the first speaker of the 2006-07 series. He will speak about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Lied Center.
"Students should come listen to smart speakers because 98 percent of what they shovel into their brains is trash." Codrescu said. "Pop culture now has bigger gobs of exploitative crap in it than it ever did."
Carlson also emphasized the importance of attending lecture events.
"You don't have to agree with everything the speakers say, but you should let them challenge you; you
should take that opportunity to test your ideas and world view against theirs," Carlson said. "That's how you grow."
Victor Bailey, director of the Hall Center for the Humanities, located south of Stauffer-Flint, said this year they've tried to make the series a community event, not just a campus function.
"We try to get speakers who the public know, not just faculty," Bailey said.
Although a large portion of the audience were usually members of the Lawrence and campus communities, Bailey said people from nearby towns also come.
Many factors play into the selection of speakers. Bailey said people
write letters suggesting speakers, while a committee meets to suggest more names and prioritize the possibilities. The committee also considers cost and then whether or not the speakers can come at a suitable time.
In addition to speaking to a large crowd, many of the speakers in the series will also speak to a smaller, more intimate group in the Hall Center Conference Hall on the day after their lecture.
All of the lectures are free.
Kansan staff writer Darla Slipke can be contacted at dslipke@kansan.com.
Edited by Kate Shipley
All events are at 7:30 p.m. They are free and open to the public.
Humanities Lecture Series
All events are at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, August 28 Lied Center
» Andrei Codrescu, "An Evening with Andrei Codrescu"
Richard Dawkins"The God Delusion"
Tuesday, September 12
Woodruff Auditorium,
Kansas Union
Nuruddin Farah "The Fork in the Fork of the Road"
Monday, October 16 Lied Center
Thursday, November 2
Woodruff Auditorium,
Kansas Union
EDUCATION
» Nancy Cott "Grooming Citizens: Marriage and Civic Status In U.S. History"
Thursday, March 1 Kansas Union Ballroom
» Kwame Anthony Appiah "Making Sense of Moral Conflict"
Tuesday, April 10
Woodruff Auditorium
Kansas Union
School of Engineering promotes diversity while designing robots
Maria Carlson "Culture and History Matter: Russia's Search for Identity After the Fall"
Rvan McGeenev/KANSAN
Source: Hall Center for the Humanities
BY COURTNEY HAGEN
Robots created by a scientific group at the University of Kansas will hopefully travel to both the North and South Poles someday to monitor seismic activity at the poles. The purpose of the robots is to sense vibrations in the ground in areas that humans cannot go.
As of now, the designing stages are complete. This fall, the designs will be submitted in an academic paper for a competition in San Francisco.
Vionette Dechoudens, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico graduate student, prepares a calcium carbonate sample for stable isotopic analysis. Through research in various sciences, recruiting minority students is continually being emphasized. The University of Kansas and Elizabeth City State University paired up to increase diversity in the sciences.
The Undergraduate Research Experience, REU, with the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, CReSIS, was joined by Chienice Arthur and Bryce Carmichael who visited Kansas this summer from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina for a 10-week immersion program in the sciences.
toral degrees were African American in 2003, 2.5 percent were Hispanic
The University paired with the predominantly African-American
university in one of many efforts to increase the number of interested multicultural students in the sciences. The School of Engineering has also incorporated a diversity program to reach minority students.
Arvin Agah, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, worked with both Arthur and Carmichael to design the robots. Agah said the program aimed to recruit minority students to work in the sciences following their undergraduate work.
"The ultimate goal is to get the students interested to pursue graduate degrees, whether it is at KU or somewhere else," Agah said. "Even if they pursue graduate degrees somewhere else, we've succeeded."
Science Foundation stated that 2.8 percent of scientist and engineer docu
Through his years in engineering and computer science, Agah said he has noticed few minority students and even fewer female minority students. A report from the Office of University Relations and the National
and 15.8 percent were Asian.
Kelly Mason, project coordinator for CReSIS, said CReSIS and REU students were selected according to their promise of long-term commitment to research in the sciences, such as electrical engineering, geography, geology and computer science.
Florence E. Boldridge, director of Diversity Programs for the School of Engineering, worked to recruit committed students into the sciences. Boldridge oversees many organizations at the University to encourage minority engineers to succeed, such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the American Indian Science Engineers Society. Boldridge said the University incorporated the diversity programs after realizing low enrollment from minorities.
The School of Engineering employs a full-time recruiter with a special emphasis in recruiting multicultural students. Dawnelle Prince attends college fairs gared toward
minority students as part of her work as director of recruitment for the School of Engineering. Prince also assists in a Celebration of Excellence and Diversity program. Potential multicultural engineering students receive $2,000 toward their education just for attending the event if they meet the School of Engineering admission requirements.
Prince said programs like these are important to academic success on campus for all students, whether they are a minority or not.
"It provides current students with a well-rounded education," Prince said. "It provides students from all backgrounds with experience and improves the level of education."
Kansan staff writer Courtney Hagen can be contacted at chagen@ kansan.com.
Edited by Kristen Jarboe
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
August 28,2006
Attention KU Freshman: Freshman Elections are Fast Approaching!
VOTE FOR FRESHMAN SENATORS
funded by:
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Next Tuesday and Wednesday September 5th and 6th vote for your freshman senators! www.elections.ku.edu
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If your student organization is registered with the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, you may get FREE ADVERTISING here in the Kansan through Student Senate!
Attention Student Groups:
Email chrisblackstone@ku.edu for more information.
Falafel on the Beach
with KU Hillel
Need lunch on campus?
Stop by Wescoe Beach on for $2 falafel.
Wednesday, 11:30am - 1:30pm
http://www.kuhillel.org