6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
》 KULTURE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2008
A day in the life of Big Jay
The biggest bird on campus shares the best parts of being a college mascot
BY ASHLEY BARFOROUSH
abarfoorouhekansan.com
Editor's note: "It's an unwritten rule in the mascot world to always conceal your identity. It's kind of like a Superman/Clark Kent thing."
Spirit Squad Coordinator Catherine Jarzemkoski said. Therefore, students in this article remain anonymous for their protection.
"I take out at least three kids a game, on accident of course."
However, there's a lot more to the mascot than feathers and a beak.
Sport fans feel like they know him. Between the high fives and the occasional noogie, students bond with Big Jay like an older brother.
There are four students keeping Big Jay's secret. They are two junior and two senior men sharing one identity. The men who rotate being Big Jay are like a brotherhood
SENIOR NO.1
with traveling pants. They've shared some of the unwritten rules to their otherwise confidential lives as a mascot.
think you have what it takes?
Tryouts for the 2008-2009 squad are scheduled for May 3 and 4 at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. You'll need to prepare a 1-minute skit with a theme, props and music or sound effects. For more information, or if you want to schedule an event with Big Jay or Baby Jay, go to www.kumascots.com.
Rule No.
Sweat until the job is done
HEIGHT REQUIREMENTS
Big Jay: 6 feet to 6-foot-3
Baby Jay: 4-foot-11 to 5-
foot-1
FAST FACT
In 1971, Baby Jay hatched during the halftime show of the homecoming victory game against Kansas State.
"The suit is 30-40 degrees hotter than the temperature outside of the suit. Even your ears perspire. Once you are the mascot for a while, you learn to sweat on command. We have one of the biggest heads in the nation, so it is one of the toughest suits to wear. We don't have perception of where our beak is, so we beak people," junior No. 1 said. "I take out at least three kids a game, on accident of course," senior No. 1 said.
Rule No. 2: Keep the secret.
"The suit probably weighs 50 pounds, even more when it's all soaked in sweat. The suit stays in the nest. The whereabouts of this nest will not be disclosed," senior No.2 said.
Rule No. 3: Drink profusely.
"Hydrating before the game is like a job. We wake up a couple hours before the game to start drinking water or Gatorade. Also, no eating Chipotle before you get in the suit," junior No. 1 said.
Rule No. 4: Be creative...and then some.
"We don't lose. But if we do, it is hard to keep the crowd going when everybody is so down," Junior No. 2 said. "Really what it comes down to is that you all have to get along together. I mean you have to be creative and good at what you do
but we all get along so well and that's what makes it so much better," senior No. 2 said.
Rule No. 5: Follow the fans.
"It's a huge time commitment. Volleyball, women's basketball, anywhere there are fans we are there. What people don't realize is that there are also charity events, grocery store appearances, birthdays, weddings, funerals,"
days, weddings, funerals," junior No.1 said
Rule No. 6: It's all about the children.
"We love kids. The best thing is giving a little kid a hug that is just so happy to meet you. He just smiles and wants a high five or something. The worst part is disappointing them when they're waiting in line and we have to go. Yeah, the best part about the job is definitely the kids...and the Rock Chalk Dancers," senior No.1 said.
Rule No. 7:
Live the dream.
"I've wanted to be a mascot since junior high and I didn't make the team. I didn't make it as a Spartan. Now being Big Jay is that much sweeter," junior No. 2, "My favorite part about basketball is running out with the team, at the four minute mark, it gets you so hyped up," junior No. 1 said.
Rule No. 8: Vote online every day.
vote for their favorite. Go to www.
easports.com/ncaa09 and vote for
Big Jay. It all ends on March 14, so
vote every day or more on different
computers. We went to the library
and voted five times at once. It
would just be the perfect culmination
of Orange Bowl and basketball
victory," junior No. 2 said.
Rule No. 9: Being Big Jay is always worth it
"To celebrate the first NCAA football on the Wii they decided to put a college team mascot on the cover by having fans
Mindy Ricketts/Kansan
"Going to the game as a human is awesome. But going as the mascot is the best. You don't get to watch most of the game, people watch you," junior No. 1 said. "Our parents think it's cool that we're this big, fluffy bird, but the fact that we're so close to athletics and we can travel with football and basketball...we're going to remember that stuff for a lifetime. I mean you can't beat the Orange Bowl," junior No. 2 said.
Rule No. 10:
There is only one
Big Jay.
Were all so close this year our program has been the best it's been in the past 4-5 years. You got to be able to fit in or else you aren't going to want the same person wearing the suit as you. We have to be the same person," senior No. 2 said. "Yeah, I get excited when I see
Big Jay on TV because that's me. No matter who is in the suit, we are one Big Jay."
>> SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Edited by Russell Davies
BY MARY SORRICK
Expo focuses on green technology
msorrick@kansan.com
More than 800 students from elementary school through high school explore the School of Engineering's annual Expo today and Saturday at the University of Kansas.
The event, called "Engineering Expo 2008: Planet Engineering," features exhibits and activities contributed by various departments from the school.
Melody Redburn, Wichita sophomore and co-coordinator of the Expo, said the event, which was free and open to the public, would introduce younger students to the variety of work engineers could do.
She said the Expo would also help recruit juniors and seniors in high school to
high school to the School of Engineering.
Among the exhibits devised for this year's Engineering Expo is a bicycle-powered LED display built by Theta Tau, an engineering fraternity.
Participants in the exhibit can peddle on the bicycle to generate electricity that powers an electric Jayhawk display.
"Green has been a major emphasis in government policy and engineering."
McHenry, also an Expo co-coordinator, said the event was unique because it encouraged elementary and middle school classes to work creatively in teams and compete in activities like the volcano contest.
engineering expo
Reece McHenry, Wichita sophomore, said students from the department of chemical engineering would host a volcano-building contest. Students entered in the contest can build their own plaster volcanoes that erupt when baking soda and vinegar are mixed inside the volcano.
When: Today 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Learned and Eaton
halls
Cost: free
Redburn said this year's Expo
would also have a green theme.
"Green has been a major emphasis in government policy and engineering." Redburn said. "We thought it would be fun to educate kids a little about the environmentally friendly side of things."
MELODY REDBURN Wichita sophomore
Francis Pamatmat, Olathe sophomore and member of the Engineering Student Council, said
the Expo's activities would make it a fun event for kids and would provide good exposure for the School of Engineering.
bolster the event's environmental theme.
Pamatmat said guest speaker Daniel Valero would
Valero, a University alumnus, worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to lead an investigation into air pollution in New York City after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Redburn said she was confident the variety of activities and exhibits at this year's Expo would make it a hit with attendees.
"I think that we could probably give previous years a run for their money," she said.
The Engineering Expo takes place in Learned and Eaton halls today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Edited by Samuel Lamb
Rioters burn U.S. Embassy in Serbia
INTERNATIONAL
BELGRADE, Serbia — Angry Serbs broke into the U.S. Embassy and set fire to an office Thursday night as rioters rampaged through Belgrade's streets, introducing violence to a day of mass protest against Western support for an independent Kosovo.
BY SLOBODAN LEKIC
ASSOCIATED PRESS
At least 150,000 people rallied in Belgrade, waving Serbian flags and signs proclaiming "Stop USA terror," to denounce the bid by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority to create their own state out of what Serbs consider the ancient heartland of their culture.
Protesters burned American flags and the mob that attacked the embassy tore down the U.S. flag there. Crowds also ransacked a McDonald's, looted stores and fought with police in front of other diplomatic compounds in a display of the resentment seething in Serbia over the secession of what has been its southernmost province.
A charred body was found in the U.S. Embassy after the fire was put out, but all staff were accounted for, embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris said. Belgrade's Pink TV said the body appeared to be that of a rioter.
White House spokesman Dana Perino strongly criticized Serbia's government, saying the embassy "was attacked by thugs" and Serb
Coming after smaller outbursts of violence in Belgrade as well as attacks on a United Nations building and police checkpoints in Kosovo, the surge of rioting underlined the determination of Serbs not to give up Kosovo quietly.
The Serbian government has said it won't resort to military force, but the street violence could be a tactic to slow moves by more countries to follow the U.S., Britain, Germany and France in quickly recognizing Kosovo's independence.
At the mass rally earlier, Kostunica attacked the U.S. and others for supporting Kosovo's independence. "Is there any other nation on Earth from whom (the great powers) are demanding that they give up their identity, to give up our brothers in Kosovo?" he said.
police didn't do enough to stop it. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. warned Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic that it would hold them personally responsible for further damage.
Russia and China lead the states standing with Serbia, worrying that Kosovo's example could encourage separatist sentiment elsewhere. The Kremln has underlined its displeasure by hinting it might back separatists in pro-Western nations such as the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Serbian officials dismissed violence earlier in the week as "insignificant," and no police were guarding the U.S. Embassy compound even though it had been targeted previously. American officials said the
Officers from an elite paramilitary police unit drove armored jeeps outside the embassy and fired dozens of tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Rioters wheeled out large garbage bins in an unsuccessful attempt to block the police vehicles. Thick clouds of tear gas obscured hung in the street as officers chased rioters into nearby side streets.
Police arrived about 45 minutes after the blaze broke out, and after the riots left the building. A half-dozen fire trucks also appeared and quickly doused the flames, leaving the front facade and two police guard posts on the sidewalk smoldering.
offices had been closed at midday because of security concerns.
The State Department officials said no protesters got into the embassy's main chancery section, a separate area that was manned by a U.S. Marine guard unit and some security personnel.
Masked men smashed their way inside the compound's consular building, tore down the U.S. flag and tried to throw furniture from an office. They set fire to the office and flames shot up the side of the building.
Milorad Veljovic, a top Interior Ministry official, said that security forces had the situation under control and that mobs had been broken up.
It was the first attack on a U.S. Embassy since Sept. 12, 2006, when Syrian security guards stopped an attempt to blow up the compound. The last time a mob broke into one was the Iranians' seizure of the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, taking American staffers hostage.
Critics of the prime minister accused his government of tolerating the violence over Kosovo, perhaps as an excuse to crack down on pro-Western forces in the country.
"I cannot tell if the authorities are going to allow this to escalate, and how long they will let this go on, but it is absolutely clear that it is all under their control," said Vesna Pesic from the pro-Western Liberal Democratic Party whose offices also have been attacked.