THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Staying wary of the Web
Technology workshop puts students on the lookout for cyber scams. NEWS | 6A
KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
Jayhawks playing it cool
Team's No. 1 ranking won't mess with its game. MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1B
female
bete in
national
since
Bonds
selector
or the
coming
history
STUDENT SENATE
e that indoor is able olwork is just accom-
2009
ls was
Big 12
executive
degree
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Forging Colbert rapport
concender for student body president.
You won't see his name chalked anywhere on Wescoe Beach this spring, but Stephen Colbert is a
BY JOSH HAFNER jhafner@kansan.com
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 90
Student senator Tom Cox has authored a bill to be debated this evening that would
Colbert
make "The Colbert Report" host "honorary student body present for life," provided he came to campus to fulfill the role.
"This would be a great way to get the University of Kansas some positive mention, as well as getting — potentially — Stephen Colbert to come to the University," Cox, a graduate senator from Shawnee, said.
EMPLOYMENT WOES
Cox's bill is the latest of several worldwide attempts to get Colbert's attention. In 2007, the show featured the city of Oshawa, Ontario, after Mayor John Gray lost a bet to Colbert. When Colbert's preferred hockey team beat the Oshawa Generals, Gray, according to the terms of the bet, declared a city-wide Stephen Colbert Day. More recently, Colbert's show sponsored the U.S. Speed-skating team. The "Colbert Nation" logo will be featured on the team's uniforms at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Cox said he wrote the bill out of appreciation for Colbert's work and to generate interest in Student Senate. He said a bill that could bring Colbert and his comedic brand of patriotism to campus would draw more attention than a bill on campaign accountability procedure.
SEE COLBERT ON PAGE 3A
Mary Meyer, director of the KU School of Nursing Clinical Learning Lab, works with Frank Redondo, a nursing student, on a high-fidelity mannequin in the Clinical Learning Lab. The school continues to receive high numbers of applications each year.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Job search a hardship for nursing grads
A high demand for nurses doesn't help graduates find jobs
BY JENNY TERRELL jterrell@kansan.com
Aubrey Heckman struggled to find a nursing job after graduating from the University in May. She was unemployed for almost three months, but spent the entire time searching for a job. Once she got her nursing license, she was unable to work as an intern or a CNA because she was overqualified.
"I thought maybe I should go
work at Family Video or Jimmy John's — anywhere. It is kind of embarrassing for the school to have nurses working at those places because they couldn't get hired." Heckman said. Heckman was finally hired at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., in August. She took the first job she was offered, she said.
Ann Hartley, associate director of the University Career Center, said that nursing, along with most health care positions, continues to be a field of high demand, but that graduating nurses were struggling to find jobs in this economy. Rita Clifford, associate dean of student affairs for the KU School of Nursing, said that nur-
ing jobs were available, but that students might not receive their first choice.
Marilyn Obee, manager of nurse recruitment at Truman Medical
Center, said she understood the anxiety that graduating nurses were experiencing. Last year, Truman Medical Center hired 50 nursing graduates
"You don't want a hospital full of new grads." Obee said. "Until you've had at least a year of experience, you aren't really comfortable in your nursing practice."
"I thought maybe I should go work at Family Video or Jimmy John's — anywhere."
This year, the center plans to hire only 10. Obee said Truman needed experienced nurses but also had to balance new nurses and veterans.
AUBREY HECKMAN Nursing graduate
New nurses have to go through four to six months of training. This can be expensive for the hospital because nurses in training are
paid but unable to care for their own patients. Obee said training a nurse cost roughly $25,000. At Truman, the starting wages for
new nurses vary between $20.50 and $21.50 per hour.
Marianna Reasons graduated from the University in May and works at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. While in school, she completed her practicum at St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. The medical center offered her a job, but she was unable to accept the position because she did not pass her board exam. When she did pass the exam, the position was terminated and she began her job search. Reasons' husband was able to keep the couple's finances under control while she searched for jobs.
SEE NURSING ON PAGE 3A
Ingredients in bulk have remained one of The Casbah's staples of service. The local market and cafe will undergo negotiations for new ownership or possible closing.
Tanner Grubbs/KANSAN
LAWRENCE
BY ANNIE VANGSNES annie@kansas.com
Resigning owners could mean end of The Casbah
anniev@kansan.com
A downtown organic market and cafe's fate is unclear as it enters negotiations with prospective buyers this week. The Casbah Market, 803 Massachusetts St., sells vegetarian, organic and local food and also houses Nice Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant.
Casey Millstein, one of the owners, said that she like the market to stay open downtown, but that she and her partners would no longer be the owners.
"We kind of decided it's time for us to move on." Millstein said.
"We've done what we can here, Some of us are going to grad school and getting married, so that's why we're doing our best to pass the torch. We're just out of time."
The Casbah Market has been open for two years. Millstein said she was still a student at the University when she and the other two owners, her brother and sister-in-law, began renovations on the building. She said that they opened the market and restaurant to offer a healthy place to grab lunch and that it was convenient for downtown residents who could shop within walking distance.
Rebekah Horton has worked at
The Casbah since August and said the employees found out about the closing three weeks ago. She said she was sad that Lawrence would not only be losing a downtown grocery store, but one that was organic and local.
Horton said she was also sad to leave the people she worked with and the customers.
"I just moved here this last summer and I've met a lot of really great people just from seeing them in here," Horton said. "A lot of people come in here every day because they either work or live downtown."
index
SEE CASBAN ON PAGE 3A
See more photos online at kansan.com/photo
Classifieds...3B
Crossword...4A
Horoscopes...4A
Opinion. ... 5A
Sports. ... 1B
Sudoku. ... 4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise; © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
Pentagon considers end to 'don't ask, don't tell' policy
Controversial ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military could be repealed. POLITICS | 2A
weather
THURSDAY
TODAY 4232
43 31
Cloudy
FRIDAY
37 29 Snow Shower
weather.com