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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Baseball wins against A&M
Jayhawks beat the Aggies 9-5 in last night's game. **SPORTS | 10A**
FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Students will wage Humans vs. Zombies battles today. STUDENT GROUP | 6A
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 127
CAMPUS
Howard Ting/KANSAN
John Hamill, a sophomore from Olathe, discusses the implications of abusing and legalizing marijuana with KU's NORML member Jacob Fox, a freshman from Landenberg, Pa. Tabling outside of Wescoe Hall Thursday, NORML (National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) is trying to promote marijuana as a safer alternative to alcohol.
Students push pot as safe alternative
BY ROBERT ALTMAN raltman@kansan.com
A pack of students picked Wesco Beach Thursday as part of a nationwide effort to promote marijuana use as a safer alternative to alcohol.
The event was launched by Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
More than 80 colleges and universities across the country recognized the day of action, which also marked the first day of National Alcohol Awareness Month.
Recreation, a national nonprofit organization founded in response to alcohol overdose deaths on college campuses.
"College life has become a large scale promotion of alcohol," Jacob Bigus, a sophomore from Hillsdale and the University's student coordinator for SAFER, said. "We feel that the University should be promoting safer alternatives to drinking
NO SMALL CHANGE
"The alcohol policy right now is steering kids towards drinking."
— smoking marijuana being one
— rather than just urging students
to drink responsibly."
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Task Force on College Drinking, alcohol use by college students leads to approximately 1,700 deaths, 600,000 unintentional injuries, 695,000 assaults and 97,000 sexual assaults and date rapes for students each year.
The US Department of Education
lists marijuana use as a close second to alcohol among college students on its website, saying that frequent use of either substance can lead to poor school performance.
Jane Tuttle, assistant vice provost for Student Success, said that both marijuana and alcohol consumption were against the University's Alcohol and Drugs Policy and that each violation was judged individually.
Members of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the campus chapter of the National Organization for
THOMAS DEACON NORML president
the Reformation of Marijuana Laws teamed up for the event, proclaiming that the University enforces marijuana laws more severely, causing students to choose the more dangerous
booze before buds.
"The alcohol policy right now is steering kids towards drinking" Thomas Deacon, a freshman from West Lafayette, Ind., and president of the University's NORML chapter, said. "We're just trying to keep students safe and expand rights."
After they were finished picketing, the group marched to the Union to hand the Student Senate the book "Marijuana is Sater: So why are we driving people to drink?"
The picketers also distributed copies of the "Emerald Initiative", a response to the Amethyst Initiative which calls for a public debate on whether lowering the drinking age
SEE MARIJUANA ON PAGE 3A
Spencer Walsh/KANSAN
Casey Brunk, a junior from Hesston, and Brittany Love, a senior from Conway Springs, practice for the Bud Light Shoot for the Championship quarters tournament they will participate in Sunday. Brunk and Love will fly to Las Vegas, where they will play using gambling chips.
KU pair traveling to Vegas for quarters tournament
$25,000 grand prize up for grabs in national tournament
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
They barely even know each other — they've only seen each other three or four times — but this weekend, Casey Brunk and Brittany Love will travel to Las Vegas together to try to win $25,000.
They're competing in Bud Light's Shoot for the Championship national quarters tournament. The second time they met, Brunk, a junior from Hesston, and Love, a senior from Conway Springs, qualified for the
tournament when they became this region's champions.
"In terms of skill, we're pretty much equal." Brunk said. "We pretty much dominated people."
Their first meeting was all by chance: They happened to be sitting at the same table at Brothers, 1105 Massachusetts St., on the same night as the quarters semifinals. Brunk, an employee at Brothers, had heard about the tournament and wanted to compete, but found out from a Bud Light representative that teams had to be coed. That's where Love came in.
Their mutual friend, Steve England, a junior from Bloomington, Minn., introduced the two to each other and arranged for them to be partners. To England's surprise, the duo
couldn't be beat.
"They just dominated everyone," England said. "It was awesome."
This isn't your everyday game
or quarters. in this tournament, contestants attempt to bounce a poker chip into a small plastic tub. Inside the tub is a tall glass. For every poker chip
After Love and Brunk won the tournament at Brothers, they were informed that they would be competing in another tournament 10 days later at Jet Lag.
"In terms of skill, we're pretty much equal. We pretty much dominated people."
that lands in the tub, the team receives two points. For every chip that lands in the glass, they receive three points. The team has 35 seconds to score as many points as possible.
CASEY BRUNK
Hesston junior
Watch the pair practice at kansan.com/videos
610 Florida St. Without practicing, the two went to the tournament, competed and won.
"We both just happened to be really good," Love said. "Our
friends kept asking, 'Are you guys really this good? How'd you get this good?'
The two have named them-
SEE QUARTERS ON PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
Group prepares for mud volleyball fundraiser
BY KIRSTEN KWON kkwon@kansan.com
"We were in a pool of mud, up to our ankles as least," Sarah Licktege, a junior from Lenexa, said. "It was hard to keep balance and we couldn't jump as much but it was fun because you could just fall all over the place."
The teams tried to stay clean, but in shin-high mud that was nearly impossible.
Lickteig participated in last year's Hawk Mud Fest. The second annual Hawk Mud Fest will take
The event, which is sponsored by Students for KU, the KU endowment's student foundation organization, includes a mud volleyball tournament with teams of six competing to raise money for the Student Leadership Award. The award is given to a select few student leaders on campus.
Last year 24 teams played. Ten teams have already registered to play this year, but the last day to register is Friday, April 9. Playing in the tournament costs $15 a person or $90 per team.
place April 24.
"Our goal is to educate current students about the importance of giving back to KU and to cultivate that habit now, so when they become alumni, they'll understand the importance of philanthropy.' Sarah Phillips, director of annual giving and special projects, said.
The idea to hold a mud volleyball tournament came from a few members of Students for KU. They had seen a similar program at a conference they had attended and thought it would be a successful event at KU.
"The students were inspired by
a few other colleges that have mud fests as well", Phillips said.
The fields aren't naturally muddy enough for the event so the student group hires Lawrence Landscapes to dig four trenches that act as the volleyball courts. Then the Lawrence Fire Department fills the trenches with water.
"Then you'll be shin-high deep in water and mud." Micaela Karlin, a sophomore from Shawnee and vice president for Students for KU, said.
SEE MUD ON PAGE 3A
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
From the left Dan Georgalas, a senior from Chicago; Leah Cullen, a sophomore from Overland Park; Sarah Lickteig, a junior from Lenexa; Scott Tunnel, a junior from Tucson; Ariz; Sarah Flynn, a junior from Leawood; and Cassie Neale, a senior from St. Louis, celebrate after winning the first Hawk Mud Fest last spring. The next Mud Fest is scheduled for April 24.
index
Classifieds...6 A
Crossword...4A
Horoscopes...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...10A
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
Western Civilization classes to be reorganized
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Volunteers will no longer teach honors courses. CAMPUS | 3A
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