Walking backward part of KU ambassadors' job
By Susanna Lööf Special to the Kansan
It is Thursday morning, and Tom Field, Overland Park junior, is walking between the Kansas Union and Strong Hall. But Field isn't walking like most students — he is walking backward, and he is singing "I Am a Jayhawk" and performing the hand gestures that go with the song. Ten high school seniors are following him.
Field is a KU ambassador, one of 60 students who give tours to prospective students and other visitors. Ambassadors try to give visitors a positive picture of the University of Kansas and the campus. They do not all sing like Field, but all of them walk backward. Field does it so well that the group following him that Thursday morning had to work hard to keep up
with his pace climbing stairs.
"It is something you just learn," Field said about the backward walking. He admitted that he has bumped into people a few times and that he almost fell once. Dressed in a Jahawk T-shirt and with a Jahawk watch on his wrist, Field beamed enthusiastic school spirit.
During the hourlong tour, Field not only showed the 10 high school seniors most of campus, he also told them where to find good sledding spots and acquainted them with his laundry problems and the pleasures of eating ramen noodles.
Ambassadors also acquaint visitors with KU trivia. When passing by Potter Lake and Snow Hall, Field told his group a story about the dead bodies that used to be kept for research in Snow Hall. When
KU played football games against Kansas State University, some KU students dressed the corpses like K-State fans and put them in rowboats on Potter Lake, Field said.
Some students bring along their parents, who often have different interests.
"Parents want to know about the class sizes and students want to know about the food," he said.
KU ambassadors have existed since 1985. Before then, students employed at the Office of Admissions were picked randomly to give tours.
"But that was pretty tough, because the students were employed to do office work," said Kirk Cerny, admissions representative and adviser for the ambassadors.
"The program is popular because it gives students who have fallen in love with the campus an opportunity to show it to others." Cerny said.
Cerny and a few of the current ambassadors choose the new ambassadors by reading six short essays that are a part of the application and by interviewing the applicants.
Each ambassador spends one or two hours a week giving tours.
QUIPS AND QUOTES
Kansas ranks 112th among party schools
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In this survey of the "Best Colleges Ever," Yale, Johns Hopkins and Chicago didn't make the top 10 — they barely made the top 300.
That's because, as the young editors of an irreverent publication for college-age men put it, those schools may excel in academics, but they "rot" when it comes to having fun.
The pollsters emphasize that the best party schools aren't necessarily scholastic zeroes; their survey simply focuses on "the fun factor."
The unscientific poll appears in Inside Edge, a national magazine produced by students from Boston-area colleges, including Harvard, which was No. 122 on the list.
Using reports from 50 student correspondents nationwide, Inside Edge graded America's 300 largest coed universities on nine criteria ranging from the bar and club scene to sports.
"The things we rate are things that make the schools fun to go to," said publisher Aaron Shapiro, 21, a Harvard senior.
While researchers considered "ease of classes" and "ease of graduation," Shapiro insists they don't view the top schools as filled with brain-dead party animals.
The top 10, in order, are: Florida State, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Vermont, Rice, Georgetown, Syracuse, Alabama, Penn State, Connecticut and Tulane.
2. Cher (1946-)
Singer; part Cherokee
Ten Americans you may not have known were part American Indian
The Associated Press and Kansan staff reports
The University of Kansas placed 112th, far behind Kansas State University's 32nd place. The University of Missouri, Columbia placed 82nd.
1. Johnny Cash (1932-)
Country singer; 1/4 Cherokee
3. Charles Curtis (1860-1936)
Vice president under Herbert
Hoover; 1/4 Kansa
4. Redd Foxx (1922-1992)
Comedian; grandson of a full-blooded Seminole
5. James Garner (1928-)
Actor; part Cherokee
6. Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
Musician; part Cherokee
7. Lena Home (1917- )
Singer; great-granddaughter of a full-blooded Blackfoot
8. Waylon Jennings (1937-)
Country and Western singer; part
Comanche and Cherokee
9. Burt Reynolds (1936-） Actor; 1/4 Cherokee
10. Oral Roberts (1918-)
Evangelist; Cherokee blood from his mother's side
Adapted from "The People's Almanac Presents The Book of Lists: The '90s Edition" Copyright 1993
Tabloid Roundup
"I originally planned to wear the boots for just a year, but after I did that, we decided to make the bet double or nothing," Tariz Rahman told reporters in Jhang, Pakistan. "Now he has to pay me $200."
A 36-year-old man wore his boots 24 hours a day for two straight years — just to win a bet with his father.
Tariz said he would have tried for another year if the soles of the boots hadn't worn out.
Adapted from Weekly World News
Herk!
Harold 'Herk' Harvey's 1961 vacation foray into feature filmmaking has turned into a piece of movie history. The film, Carnival of Souls
has won the KU grad worldwide fame, but little fortune.
By Brian Whitburn Special to the Kansan
In 1961, filmmaker Harold "Herk" Harvey took a three-year vacation to make a $30,000 horror movie called "Carnival of Souls" in Lawrence and Utah.
“It’s kinda interesting that you spend a three-week vacation making a film,” Harvey said. “Then, you spend 36 years making films, and the one you make in a very rushed period of time is the one remembered.”
After the film's 1962 release, Harvey discovered that the film's distributor had stolen all his profits and left for Europe. Discouraged, Harvey never made another feature film.
Thirty years later, the film was screened in Lawrence. Those screenings created a renewed interest in the film and led to its eventual re-release. Harvey has ended up a celebrity, and the film has been heralded as a classic.
Harvey, 69, graduated from the University of Kansas in 1948 with a degree in education. In 1950 he earned a master's degree in education in the theater and went on to spend his career working for Centron Films, a Lawrence studio that produced educational and industrial films. It is now Oldfather Studios,
home of KU's film department.
"Carnival of Souls" is about a woman named Mary Henry, who after surviving a car crash in the Kansas River travels from Lawrence to Utah. Throughout the film she is haunted by a recurring image of a spooky man played by Harvey.
Harvey said the filming was fraught with hazards.
"We did a scene of a car going
This poster from the original release of "Carnival of Souls" portrays the film's lead characters. The film was named one of the scariest movies on video by Rolling Stone magazine.
through the Compton Bridge and into the Kaw River," he said. "I got permission from two counties — Leavenworth and Douglas — by telling Leavenworth I had Douglas' permission and by telling Douglas I had Leavenworth's permission. When I finished the shot I looked, and right under the bridge where the car had gone off was about a 6-inch gas line."
The damage the car caused by going off the bridge cost Harvey only $12.
In another scene, Candice Hillgoss, who played Mary Henry, had to go into the extremely cold Kansas River. She wouldn't go in.
"Finally I had to grab her and pull her into the car and get her into position." Harvey said.
The writer of "Carnival" and fellow Centron employee, John Clifford, spoke highly of Harvey's work ethic.
"one secret of Herk's success was that although he appears to be a casual sort of guy, his work is extremely organized," he said.
Despite his good organization skills, Harvey had his share of problems. For instance, some of the film was lost.
But the problems in filming didn't keep the movie from resurfacing
See HARVEY,Page 10.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES
"Abstract Expressionist Works from the Spencer Museum Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9, 1994, free
"Aspects of Modern Life: 19th century French Prints and Drawings" will be on display through Jan. 9, 1994, free
"A Survey of the History of Photography from the Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9,1994,free
Student Art Exhibit will be on display through Oct. 31 in the gallery on level four of the Kansas Union, free
The Design Department Faculty will have its works on display Sunday through Nov. 12 in the gallery of the Art and Design building, free
Tour du Jour — by Marie Aquillino, assistant professor of art history, on 19th century French art in the collection at 12:15-12:45 p.m. Thursday Nov. 4 in the White Gallery of the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Film — "Daughters of the Dust" (not rated), explores the culture of the Gullah people, at 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 4 in the auditorium of the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Traveling Exhibit: Sacred Ground/Sacred Sky will be on display Thursday Nov. 4 through Nov. 23 in the gallery on level four of the Kansas Union, free
PERFORMANCES
Undergraduate Music Honor Recital 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Swarthout Recital Hall, free
Instrumental Jazz Concert: "A Tribute to Gil Evans" 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Lied Center, public $6, students $3, senior citizens $5
Doctoral Recital: Lynn Trapp, organ, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Mo., free
Visiting Artist Series: Early Music Concert of Kansas City 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2104 W 15th St., free
Due Piano Performance: Sequeira Coeita,
Artur Pizzaro 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Lied
Center, orchestra seats/students $7.50.
See CALENDAR Page 10.
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