4
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TALENT SHOW
MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2007
Marla Keown/KANSAN
Veronica Mosier, Nevada, Mo., sophomore, twirls a baton Friday evening at Murphy Hall. Mosier's and others' talents were showcased during a performance fundraiser called "Genius of Women". Mosier has been batten twirling for 17 years.
Fundraiser honors women
BY BRIAN LEWIS-JONES
A talent and performance show called "Genius of Women" helped raise more than $350 for the Salvation Army this past weekend to benefit battered women and children.
The show featured singers, actors, various musicians and 10 baton twirler last Friday and Saturday nights. It was designed to celebrate, honor and promote the dignity women, said Maria Thyerson, Milwaukee graduate student who helped plan and produce the show.
Friday night's show attracted more than 165 people, filling every seat in the choir room at Murphy Hall and leaving about three dozen people standing. About 80 people attended Saturday night's show.
Thorson said that three years ago she helped plan a similar "Genius of,o.Women" show at Saint Louis University based on conversations about women as individuals. She said the show provided another
outlet for performers of different talents to express their gratitude to women.
"One of my favorite parts of the show is how we come from different backgrounds and share a similar vision," she said.
Thorson said the show's title was from Pope John Paul II's "Letter to Women", in which he described his profound love for women.
"He fills women with joy to be women and fills men with joy to have women in their lives," she said.
Becca Ashley, Olathe sophomore, said that at first she was reluctant to sing at the show.
"I never sing in front of people," she said. "Only in the shower."
She said she was happy the "Genius of Women" show was her first chance to perform in front of an audience because it gave her the chance to celebrate women. She sang the song "Christmas Lullaby," which she said exemplified the dignity of motherhood.
doesn't get enough credit in our world today," Ashley said. "It's absolutely beautiful."
Veronica Mosier, Nevada, Mo., sophomore, twirled batons at the show. Mosier has been baton twirling since she was 2 years old, and said she can spin around as many as six times per toss and can twirl five batons at a time.
"Motherhood especially - it
"A lot of people think it's pretty weird," she said. "This is my first performance at KU for them to see me twirl."
Jared Loehr, Overland Park senior, sang the song "Sing of Mary" Friday night, which helped acknowledge how much women are needed and how special they are, he said.
"I was going to support them from the seat or from the stage." Loehr said.
Kansan staff writer Brian Lewis-Jones can be contacted at bljones@kansan.com.
— Edited by Carissa Pedigo
Seconds, Cody Charles and Tyrone Brown, said they had hoped for a bigger audience but were pleased with the result.
FRENCHIE (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
"Frenchie was amazing," said Charles, Houston graduate student. "It's relieving that someone who's doing what she's doing can deeply commit to something so local."
Charles and Brown first contacted Davis about their plans through MySpace. Charles said she didn't really care about not being paid but was happy to help spread HIV awareness on campus.
15 Seconds began as a way to inform mass audiences about HIV and AIDS. The group is named after a specific HIV statistic that Charles and Brown found, which stated that one person under the age of 25 becomes infected with HIV every 15 seconds.
Shocked by this number, they
Trevor Wysling, member of the hip-hop group AR 15 who spoke on a guest panel last week, attended Davis' performance before returning to Los Angeles. Wysling was impressed by Davis' contributions to HIV awareness.
decided to start prevention through education by forming 15 Seconds.
"The fact that someone of her status wants to give back to the community, that's huge," Wysling said. The rap artist said he was also impressed by her family's involvement in Darfur to help foster better relations.
Wyslid said that it was crucial to get people thinking about the dangers of HIV, and that Every 15 Seconds put together a week of important events to do just that.
Billy Massey, Hoyt sophomore, said it was encouraging to see students supporting the week-long events during 15 Seconds Week, which was March 26 to 31.
Students at the performance were equally impressed by the contributions of Davis and 15 Seconds to social issues.
"People would just stop by, and even if they weren't there the whole time, they learned a little bit," Massey said.
"We all will be directly or indirectly affected by this disease, and I think we all have a social responsibility for the cure," she said.
Davis ended her presentation with a few songs and one-on-one discussion with audience members. She said her experience in Kansas was a positive one and hoped the audience got something out of it.
Kansan staff writer Katy Blair can be contacted at kblair@kansan. com.
Edited by Ashley Thompson
BRACKET (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
for KU College Republicans, running for a Student Senate position in the United Students coalition and a Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader finalist. Davis said that her picture was relatively modest compared to the other women's photos, and that the closest experience she had to a beauty pageant or photo shoot was her high school senior pictures.
"I'm not a model," she said. "A lot of the girls on there are. This is nothing like I would do. My 4.0 is more important to me than any of this stuff."
Duncan Davis, May's father, said his daughter was always most comfortable in the front and in the spotlight. He also said the "Bracket Babes" contest was "idiotic and without any sense whatsoever."
"I think she'll attempt about anything as long as it's not sticking her finger in a light socket," he said.
She said she listened her best body part in her "stats" as her legs, but in retrospect, she would have liked to have said her brain instead. Davis' first bracket opponent listed her favorite body part as her "100% REAL chest."
"As far as selling my body goes, I don't do that," she said. "I'm more of an academically-oriented person."
Davis said she wants to bring her friend Ali Zeigler, Los Baños, Philippines, freshman, to New York City if she wins the contest. Zeigler, who acted as the photographer-in-chief for an initial photo shoot in the corner of Davis' dorm room, was a big proponent of Davis entering the contest.
"May and I kind of do spontaneous things, and a lot of times they turn out to be funny stories." Ziegler said.
Davis stumbled across the competition on Facebook late one night in January and decided to enter the contest. She submitted the same photo she used on her Senate posters, a picture she said wasn't even scandalous.
"I think the contest is really superficial," she said. "If somebody was doing it who wasn't me, I'd probably be judgmental." Then again, she asked, "Why not, for $5,000?"
Kansan staff writer Brian Lewis-Jones can be contacted at bljones@kansan.com.
— Edited by Carissa Pedigo
ROTC (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
before and thought it would be useful experience.
them above and below the rock until it became searing hot.
"I didn't know you could get water from vines, and I didn't know you could cook steak on a rock," Koenig said.
Shana Beach, Lawrence graduate student, said it was like cooking with a grill.
The cadets cooked their steak dinner on a large, flat rock they had positioned near their campfire. They spent nearly an hour stoking the rock with burning sticks, placing
experience with practical survival skills.
"Things you might never use," Hatchet said of the training. "But you might."
KU ROTC Capt. Dan Hatchel, who organized the training, said cadets learned a lot of textbook knowledge through the University's ROTC program, but the training was an opportunity to get hands-on
Kansan staff writer Nathan Gill can be contacted at ngill@kansan. com.
Edited by Ashley Thompson
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"International understanding is pretty important," Jordan said. "There are so many international students that you never hear from."
The program will be presented at a national conference in Oshkosh, Wis., to be judged on its success in educating international identity to KU students.
While waiting to get a tattoo,
Sara Jordan, Overland Park sophomore,
said the program was a good idea for entertainment and educational purposes
STA Travel sponsored the event
As a resident of McCollum, Jordan said she would like to see a similar event in her hall.
and provided numerous prizes for students who participated. The grand prize was a $250 travel voucher, won by Clinton Dolan, Denver freshman. Dolan said his favorite floor was the ninth, which featured Japan.
Kansan staff writer Katy Blair can be contacted at kblair@kansan. com.
Other prizes included a luggage set, portable DVD player and an iPod Nano. All gifts were picked to be travel-friendly to correlate with the program's theme of traveling abroad.
Edited by Sharla Shivers
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>> KANSAS GOVERNMENT
Casino proposal flies by Legislature
BY JOHN HANNA ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA — Two weeks ago, if someone wanted to read the casino-and-slots bill that would pass the Legislature and make perhaps the biggest social and political change in Kansas in the past 20 years, its sponsors didn't have a copy to share.
Even some supporters didn't see the text of the 98-page gambling proposal until the House began debating it March 22. Six days and 10 hours later, it was on its way to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who'll sign it and make Kansas the only state to operate its own casino resorts.
Opponents were angered that such a big bill could fly through the Legislature so quickly. Supporters took advantage of long-term changes in how the Legislature operates, accomplishing something that would have seemed inconceivable two decades ago.
That process — looser, far less predictable and less controlled from the top — has flaws that gambling opponents were quick to note, such
as the ability to pass such a big proposal with a minimum of fly-specking. But there's an advantage, too: It's far more difficult for one person or a small group to thwart the will of legislative majorities, if those majorities are determined and spend some time on strategy.
"That's not unique to Kansas. That's a national trend that's true at the federal level as well," said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt (R-Independence) who voted for the bill. "It's the democratization of the legislative process."
Large casino-and-hotel complexes will be permitted in Ford County, Wyandotte County, either Cherokee or Crawford counties and either Sedgwick or Summer counties.
Passage of the gambling bill turned a session known mostly for low productivity into one likely to be memorable.
The state will own and operate the casinos, though private companies will manage their day-to-day operations. Supporters believe the state eventually will realize $200 million a year in revenues.
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