Volume 125 Issue 92
kansan.com
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
BACK TO SCHOOL
FORGING A NEW PATH
Students enrolls for fall semester to support children
JENNA JAKOWATZ
jjakowatz@kansan.com
The 5:30 a.m. alarm has been roaring for the past five minutes. Brianna Ryan finally comes to, and slams her hand on the cell phone to shut it off. She eases her way out of bed, and sluggishly shuffles toward her daughter's play pen. It's time to wake up Zoey and start the day.
Ryan, an incoming freshman from Huntington Beach, Calif. will be completing her college education at the University in the fall. Ryan is one of more than 11 million people in the United States who are single parents.
Ryan moved to Lawrence about six months ago because the cost of living in California was too expensive for her and her daughter. There was no way she could work a minimum wage job, pay for food, rent and all of Zoey's expenses, and go to school, or even save enough money to eventually go back to school.
Currently, Ryan is working at a warehouse and making a decent hourly wage — when she gets called in to work, that is — and is paying her own rent and food as well as taking care of her daughter.
But a warehouse job won't cut it for Ryan, and that is why she will be starting her college education in the fall.
"I decided to go back to school because I am not satisfied with giving my daughter the bare minimum," Ryan said.
Ryan will join the ranks of thousands of parents across the country who are raising a child while completing a college degree. A student who is a parent of a dependent child is what the University refers to as a "nontraditional student." Currently, nontraditional students make up
approximately 25 percent of the University's student body.
According to the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, "the Student Senate generally provides approximately $50,000 of the Educational Opportunu-
nity Funds to the Office of Student Financial Aid for child care grants for student-parents with children under the age of five."
"I decided to go back to school because I am not satisfied with giving my daughter the bare minimum."
This financial aid helps out parents like Kathy Diaz, a junior from DeSoto.
Diaz spends her days in class finishing her degree in journalism, and when she comes home, she balances homework and looking after her daughter Tracy.
parent has been a challenge, but her professors have been patient so far.
"It's difficult," Diaz said. "My mom is my baby sitter during the day. My husband helps me when I am doing homework, but I have to wait for him to get home before I can focus because I can't go back and forth between keeping track of my daughter and doing homework."
"I carried full term while still in school, and I actually went into labor during finals week," Diaz said. "I let my professors know, and they were very understanding and accommodating."
Diaz said her experience as a
BRIANNA RYAN incoming student
While most students roll out of bed and hop on a bus to head to class, Diaz spends up to two hours getting herself and Tracy ready for the day. Finding extra time for much else outside of school
and parenting has proven to be a challenge for Diaz.
"I'll maybe go to one or two parties a year. We spend time at
ties a year. We spend time at my mother's house, and sometimes we see movies on the weekend," Diaz said.
Ryan said she plans on scheduling classes so she can work a parttime job and Zoey can spend the day at day care.
"Once I start school, I expect life to be both easier and more difficult," Ryan said. "I will most likely try to keep my classes restricted to a few days a week, so that I can allow myself maximum time for work and assignments."
CONTINUED PHOTO Kathy Diaz, her husband and 22 month old daughter, Tracy, pose for a family picture picture.
CAMPUS
Women's activist to lecture on immigration reform
REID EGGLESTON
reggleston@kansan.com
Made famous by her calls for expanded contraceptive insurance coverage in front of House of Representatives Democrats and the following criticism from conservative media outlets, Sandra Fluke is stopping by the University to present her lecture "Making Our Voices Heard."
The lecture will take place tonight at 7:30 in the Kansas Union's Woodruff Auditorium. The presentation is this year's installment of the Hall Center's Emily Wilson and Marilyn Stockstad lecture series.
The presentation, which will be followed by a question and answer session with Fluke, will focus on immigration reform specifically in regards to the unique concerns of women and families. Backed by the National Effort of March and the National Coalition for Women's Rights, Fluke's interest in promoting the rights of immigrants meshes with the principles of students in favor of social progress.
"I feel it's important to step up and be a force for social justice," Fluke said. "For college students, you are privileged to have the flexibility to learn where you fit in within a community, so in return you have a responsibility to engage the issues that are important to this community and to other communities."
In many ways, Fluke's brushes with the Congressional limelight as a student made her an attractive candidate as this year's speaker in the eyes of Hall Center Associate Director Dr. Sally Utech.
ed was to bring in a speaker that would talk about something that seems really relevant to undergrad students," Utech said. "She is a student and a normal, everyday person. In the past we've
"I think one thing that we want-
info and raise awareness that's critical to women's issues," Rose-Mockry said. "It will encourage women to empower themselves. But these issues affect men, too. I've been pleased to see many men that can speak out on having a role in these
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Sandra Fluke, waves at a campaign event at the University of Colorado Auraria Events Center on Aug. 8, 2012, in Aurora, Colo. Fluke will be on campus today to give her lecture, "Making Our Voices Heard."
"It's important that we are constantly looking outside our own experiences."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
brought in more established women, but this should get students interested in social justice issues."
SANDRA FLUKE women's activist
Because of the nearly universal applicability between this Georgetown law student's legislative fight and the ideals of many University students, Kathy Rose-Mockry, director of the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity at the University, hopes that both women and men interested in social justice will attend.
Those more established women have included speakers such as former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and attorney Sarah Weddington, agitator for abortion rights in the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case.
issues."
"Sandra will be there to provide
Fluke agrees that social change is amplified when an interest is shared between groups, and encourages all students to attend her lecture, which is free and open to the public.
"It's important that we are constantly looking outside our own experiences." Fluke said. "We need to be allies to other communities and not segment ourselves. That's where we begin to see real change, when communities look out for each other rather than compete with one another."
And this comes at a critical time in the history of women's and families' social rights. State and national legislation over these issues has at times diverged sharply with the aims of constituents and social activists, alike.
"I think the 2012 election set a really clear message on what we want to see in this country," Fluke said. "We don't want to question
the legitimacy of rape, but we do want to assure that underrepresented groups see policy that impacts them in positive ways"
Despite Fluke's sponsorship of clear policies for women such as the national Paycheck Fairness Act and the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in California, activists assert that no single policy will stimulate lasting social change alone.
"There is not one answer in finding gender equity," Rock-Mocky
Whether policy requires a broad view or an intimate dissection, Fluke and other activists agree that social change is possible at all levels, from a worldwide scale to Massachusetts St. itself.
said. "There are many things that need to come into play, but first we need to raise awareness. Policies that currently exist that send women back must be challenged. We need to look at the climate in which these policies evolve."
Index
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
"Much of the good advocacy we see today occurs close to home," Fluke said. "If not at school, you are able to look toward the community, as well. We have an ability to bring about really important social change, but we need to remember that, at this point, it's still an opportunity, not an accomplishment."
Edited by Alyssa Scott
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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