With President Barack Obama’s signature of the Health Care and Education Reform Act last Monday, there will be minor changes for Emporia State students when it comes to financial aid.

“Student loans have always been government backed, so that part of it is really no different… Instead of going to ‘bank ABC’ and filling out all of your paperwork with them, and then ultimately paying SallieMae, or whomever the servicer is, you now just do all your loan business with the federal government,” said Elaine Henrie, the Financial Aid Director and Registrar for ESU.

According to a press release from The Office of the Press Secretary for The White House, the bill is a “significant down payment on the President’s ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable.”

The press release explained the changes to student loans enacted by this bill.

“Starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans, delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education,” the press release said.

This means that no “intermediary” will be involved in the acquisition and repayment of federal student loans.

According to Henrie, because ESU began using direct loans during the summer 2009 semester, ESU students will be affected less than students from colleges using an intermediary in their student loan programs.

“Student interest rates and entrance loan counseling and exit counseling, all that is still really the same. I don’t think that students in general will see much difference,” she said. “We are a little bit ahead of the curve (because) we have been a direct loan school for a year already, so we did all of our awareness and reaching out and letting students know that there was going to be a change last year,” she continued.

The bill also stipulates that, starting July 1, the maximum payment a graduate is required to make per year is 15 percent of his or her income. Starting in 2014, the maximum payment a student is required to make becomes 10%. After 20 years of payment, any additional debt is forgiven.

According to Henrie, before the bill was passed, students simply had to pay their loans off in a maximum of 10 years.

The Pell Grant, a federal grant for undergraduates given on the basis of financial need, is also affected by the bill.

According to the White House press release, the bill “invests more that $40 billion in Pell Grants to ensure that all eligible students receive an award and that these awards are increased in future years to help keep pace with the rising costs of education.”

According to Henrie, 34 percent of all ESU undergraduate students receive the Pell Grant, while 50 percent of students who apply for financial aid to pay for school receive the grant.

“It’s always been authorized by congress that Pell Grants can go up a certain amount, but this process kind of works very slowly. So really, (the changes in the Pell Grant) makes it more predictable. We’re not waiting till the last minute. It’s legislated that it is going to go up a certain amount for students, and we all know that up front. I think for Pell Grant students, that is a definite good thing,” Henrie said.

The base amount that the Pell Grant for 2011 can be, according to the new legislation, is $5,273. Before the bill, there was simply a maximum amount of $6,000 a student could receive for the grant.

According to President Obama’s speech at the signing of this bill, the average student graduates with over $23,000 of debt. Henrie said that at ESU, the average student graduates with $18,501 of debt.

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Last June, the Emporia State Alumni Association agreed to a partnership with Liberty Mutual, an insurance company based in Springfield, Mass., to exchange alumni mailing addresses for a portion of the profit Liberty Mutual makes from alumni using their insurance programs.

According to Judith Heasley, executive director of university advancement and the ESU foundation, the ESU Alumni Association provides the mailing addresses of alumni who have agreed to be contacted about these partnerships and special offers.

“(Liberty Mutual) sends a letter out to alumni on the Alumni Association’s behalf, who have agreed to be contacted… If (alumni) decide to use Liberty Mutual, we get back a source of revenue for the Alumni Association,” Heasley said.

Heasley said the exact amount that the Alumni Association will receive in revenue from Liberty Mutual has not yet been determined because promotion to alumni started in January.

Heasley addressed the accusation that the Alumni Association is selling Alumni names through these partnerships.

“We do not sell our alumni lists, we have conflict of interest and donor confidentiality policies here in the Alumni Foundation and Alumni Association,” she said. “We never sell our lists, ever. If (an alumni) doesn’t want to receive something, they can let us know, and they will be put on a ‘do not contact’ list in our database.”

Though Heasley is unsure at this point how much money the affinity partnership with Liberty Mutual will produce, she stated she was excited about the contract, and hopes more affinity partnerships will become available in the future.

This “affinity partnership,” according to Heasley, is aimed at providing benefits for ESU Alumni, as well as generating more funds for the ESU Alumni Association.

Some students thought targeted benefits after graduation were a good idea.

“We spend so much money here that it is good to know they offer something for us after college,” said Lacey Bishop, freshman psychology major.

Heasley explained the nature of the relationship between ESU and partners like Liberty Mutual.

“Affinity partners are partners that we (partner with to) offer as many services that we can give to our alumni,” Heasley said.

The Alumni Association sends emails to alumni to promote these affinity partnerships.

According to a Liberty Mutual Brochure, 650 institutions nationwide have some type of partnership with Liberty Mutual. As stated on Alumni Association Web sites for Regent institutions, Kansas University, Kansas State University, ESU, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburgh State University have affinity partnerships with Liberty Mutual.

“These affinity partnerships are very normal in higher education,” Heasley said.

Because the ESU Alumni Association does not charge annual dues for members, Heasley said that other sources of income become essential to the association because of increasing statewide budget cuts.

“We all know what’s happening with state funds—they’re being cut. So in order to operate the association, we do need to have some partners and do need to be bringing in money,” Heasley said. “The Liberty Mutual contract is great… and it’s a nice discount (for alumni).”

Heasley did not give an exact amount for discounts that alumni receive.

Through Liberty Mutual, ESU alumni are offered car, life, short-term medical and renter’s insurance at discounted prices. According to the Alumni Association Web site, other affinity partnerships with ESU include GoNext, a company offering travel opportunities, the Emporia State Federal Credit Union and a partnership with the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles, which offers Emporia State themed license plates to alumni and friends of the university.

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It seems likely that most around ESU have heard of Chat Roulette, it has been featured on CNN, The Huffington Post and certain late-night Comedy Central shows, which is definitely where it belongs.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, here is the low-down: chatroulette.com is a kind of social networking tool, in the same vein as Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and any of the countless others which have sprouted up following Facebook’s large and mostly warranted success. Chat Roulette is different, though. Instead of adding friends for the purpose of keeping in touch or sharing ideas, Chat Roulette connects the user with another random user via video chat for the purpose of… Well, actually, I’m not really sure what the purpose is.

Anyway, when a friend and I logged on to Chat Roulette to do some “research” for this story, what I found was… eye-opening, I guess.

I decided that simply logging on to the site probably wasn’t enough to get an accurate picture of the viral leviathan that was Chat Roulette, so I decided to play a game I first heard of through a stumbleupon link: Chat Roulette Bingo.

By logging on to chatroulettebingo.net, one can generate bingo cards and download them in PDF form. In Chat Roulette Bingo, a person logs onto Chat Roulette and attempts to find the things listed on the Chat Roulette Bingo card. We decided that the loser had to pay for dinner.

I had a space on my card that read, “Dude who looks like Jesus.” The gotee’d man wearing a robe who I spoke with briefly after first loading the site worked great. Another space read “inappropriate sign,” and a piece of notebook paper ordering me to show my private areas seemed to fit in that category.

This went on for about 45 minutes before I clicked the next button, and a large man with no shirt on devouring what looked like a whole calf’s leg between two slices of bread engulfed my screen. At this point, my buddy rose out of his chair with glee, and yelled “BINGO” at the top of his lungs. Apparently, his bingo card called for an overly comfortable man showcasing his unique talents to the world.

That was it. I had lost the game, thanks to one very hungry man and the wonders of Chat Roulette. After nearly an hour of contorting my face into odd expressions of confusion and laughter, I had nothing to show for it. Except perhaps a better view of how many people are comfortable with themselves to the point where I felt very uncomfortable.

There was one conversation I had on Chat Roulette which seemed to redeem the Web site, at least in my eyes. I talked with a fully clothed, socially adept girl from New York for about five minutes before my buddy told me we had to move on so he could get his free #2 with pulled pork from Bobby D’s.

The conversation was normal: name, age, birthday, location, and then, of course the usual jokes about not being in Kansas anymore, but I think that conversation is the most probable point of Chat Roulette. Meeting new people and talking about normal things, experiencing different lifestyles. Making connections.

Sure, the large majority of people on Chat Roulette are just in it to mess with people, but the conversation I had with that New Yorker humanized the entire experience for me. For that, I thank her and the makers of Chat Roulette, who seem to have hit the nail on the head in terms of Internet randomness, and the subtleties of the human condition.

Eric Undercover is a weekly Arts and Entertainment article in which Eric experiences a different facet or interesting aspect of society and life at ESU. Email Eric Undercover suggestions to entertainment@esubulletin.com.

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During Spring Break, while most of us were getting some much needed rest and relaxation on a beach, or in some large metropolis, the Emporia State Debate Team was hard at work, preparing for the National Debate Tournament held in Berkeley, Calif. last week.

Four of the debaters from the ESU team competed in the 78-team tournament, an impressive feat by itself. The team of Chris Loghry and Kurt Fifelski received an invitation by qualifying at the District Three tournament held in Dallas, Texas, and the team of Ryan Wash and La Toya Williams-Green received an at large bid.

Though supporting all of ESU’s extracurricular activities is important, the reason why I make such a big deal about the debate team is this– in collegiate debate, there is no such thing as Division One or Division Two, every school is included regardless of size, which means that debaters at Emporia State compete against teams from large and prestigious colleges such as Harvard, the University of Texas and pretty much any other big school you can think of.

The fact that the ESU Debate Team not only competes with teams like these, but wins against such teams on a consistent basis is simply incredible.

It seems like it would go without saying that any team competing on that level deserves recognition. It is my impression that this is not the case. The only publicity or credit I have seen for the team comes from press releases, which come few and far between.

These guys and gals work hard all year long, and fly relatively under the radar when it comes to campus-wide acknowledgment.

I realize debate is not as exciting to non-debaters as some of the spectator sports and entertainment activities on campus, but it seems to me that in order to live the most complete student life possible, it is crucial that one have a good grasp on what the University is known for and what it is good at.

Ladies and Gentlemen… Emporia State is good at debate, and has been for several years. They even won the National Championship in 1993.

My fellow opinion staffers and I are major supporters of getting involved, and I see a brilliant opportunity to get involved and show support for a highly successful facet of our student body. The debate team works hard all year to compete nationally, and they deserve respect and support from the university, just as any other extracurricular activity who shows success would.

Though this debate season is over, I encourage everyone to go to The Bulletin’s Web site and show your support. Leave a comment on the electronic version of this story to encourage the teams of Fifelski/Loghry and Wash/Williams-Green and the entire debate team in their endeavors.

If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that the most distinct advantage we have here at ESU is the incredible opportunity to create a sense of community not available at larger colleges. This sense of community will come from encouraging individuals like those on the debate team to continue to succeed in their undertakings. Everyone could use a little encouragement, even if it is from strangers, and a little bit of pride in ourselves and peers never hurt anyone.

I’m not going to debate you on it, but I truly believe the ESU debate team deserves the respect and support of the entire ESU community. If someone can convince me otherwise, they should probably be on the team.

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The Emporia State Special Events Board is currently accepting applications for the allocation of funds for the 2010-11 school year.

Blythe Eddy, associate director of the Memorial Union and executive secretary of the Special Events Board for the past nine years, expressed that groups interested in gaining funds for a specific event should fill out an appropriation request form before the April 2 deadline. Request forms are available in the Center for Student Involvement, located on the first floor of the Memorial Union.

According to the Special Events Board’s philosophy statement, the board “provides… educational opportunities through the performing and visual arts as well as the historical support and funding, in part, of Family Day, Homecoming and Orientation.”

The Board is given money from a line item in student fees. Eddy estimates that the amount of money given to the Special Events Board is around $17,000 annually.

The Special Events Board is made up of four ESU students, who are appointed by the Associated Student Government President, and four ESU faculty members. According to Eddy, the board members change every year, but the criteria for deciding which programs the Special Events Board allocates funds to remains the same.

The board accepts requests for events sponsored by University Departments, recognized ESU campus organizations, the Special Events Board, and Emporia community groups who wish to sponsor events which are open to all ESU students, do not require ESU students to pay more for admission than non-students and adhere to all local, state and federal laws.

The Special Events Board will hold hearings in late April, wherein they will hear from those who requested funds of the board in order to determine if the Special Events Board will sponsor the program.

Eddy said that after the allocation hearings, the board will meet to discuss which programs they will sponsor in the coming year.

“The board votes for certain amounts of allocations for each request based on whether or not they meet our criteria; whether or not we believe in that program… It is really all about students, attendance and whether or not it’s a program that students would support. It’s really a great process,” she said.

According to a Special Events Board document, the board sponsored 16 events fully or partially during the 2009-10 school year, including Family Day, Homecoming, Freshmen Orientation, the Pflaum Memorial Lecture, The Emporia Arts Council Performing Arts Series, and Bethany Springer’s art exhibit entitled “Figurehead,” among others.

Eddy also expressed that she advises any group on campus or in the community to apply for Special Events Board sponsorship.

“I encourage departments and organizations to apply for funding. (Campus events) add to the culture of Emporia State University and the variety of programs that students get to see,” she said.

In addition to Eddy, the faculty members on the board are Susan Mai, professor Communication and Theatre; Shawna Shane, assistant professor of Health and Physical Education; Brice Obermeyer, assistant professor of Sociology, Anthropology, Crime & Delinquency Studies and Sheryl Lidzy, assistant professor of Communication and Theatre. The students on the board are Anna Altwies, senior secondary education major and ASG president pro-tempore; Hannah Belton, sophomore elementary education major; Laura Bosiljevac, freshman biology major and Aaron Newton, senior crime and delinquency studies major and ASG chair of the student rights and special projects committee.

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The Kansas State House of Representatives passed House Bill 2221, a bill prohibiting indoor smoking for a majority of public places in the state, on Feb. 26.

The bill, more commonly called the Kansas Clean Indoor Air Act, states that “no person shall smoke in an enclosed area or at a public meeting including, but not limited to, public places, taxicabs and limousines, restrooms, lobbies, hallways and other common areas in public or private buildings, and any place of employment.”

Gov. Mark Parkinson is expected to sign the bill in Topeka tomorrow and perform ceremonial signings in Kansas City and Salina on Monday. In a statement released by the governor’s office, Parkinson said that he was happy the bill had passed. The law will go into effect on July 1.

“This is a victory for workers, families, businesses and future generations,” Parkinson said. “Today’s success took many years and many struggles, but thanks to a bipartisan coalition in the legislature, the tireless efforts of our state’s health advocates and the support of the Kansas people, this legislation will soon become law.”

While Emporia already has a comprehensive smoking ban in effect, the statewide ban has the final say if any discrepancies occur.

 According to Ryann Summerford, Kansas Grassroots Manager for the American Cancer Society, the ban is several years in the making.

“We at the American Cancer Society have been working towards a clean air bill for a long time,” Summerford said. “Through our Grassroots program, which works within the Kansas Congressional districts, we have sent petitions, and emails promoting Bill 2221.”

Summerford works with around 8,000 volunteers throughout the state.

“I am proud and thrilled that our legislature had the courage to pass a secure state-wide smoke-free bill. 380 people die each year due to complications brought on by second-hand smoke,” Summerford said.

According to Summerford, the bill makes Kansas the 29^th state in the union to implement a comprehensive indoor smoking ban. The bill also allows for individual cities in Kansas to pass regulations involving stricter indoor smoking bans, but the state-wide ban remains the bare minimum required of towns with no smoking ban.

         Cody Grauberger, junior English major, said he feels that the ban is restricting the rights of smokers.

         “I don’t smoke very much, a cigar here and there, but I think that any discriminatory action is immoral,” Grauberger said. “No matter how you candy coat it you are still forcing an entire group of people to abide by others regulations. My father has been a smoker for the better part of his life, and continues to this day.  Though I do not agree fully to what he does, I stand strongly for his and others right to choose their habits.”

         However, Jake Tannehill, sophomore English major, expressed that he views the smoking ban as a positive thing for the state.

         “I smoke cigars occasionally, but when I do it is always outside… I guess I don’t see the benefit of smoking indoors,” Tannehill said. “It just makes it uncomfortable for those inside who don’t smoke. So I see (the smoking ban) as a good thing, a kind of win-win situation, because I don’t see a problem with smoking outside.”

         The bill lists certain businesses that are exempt from the ban, including outdoor areas of any building, private homes or residences, which are not being used as a daycare home, up to 20 percent of the rentable rooms in a hotel or motel, the gaming floor of a gambling or racetrack facility, an area of an adult care home designated as a smoking area, tobacco shops and private clubs.

         The fine for the first violation of House Bill 2221 is up to $100. The fine for the second violation within a one year period of the first violation is up to $200. For the third violation, and all subsequent violations within a one year period of the first violation, the fine is up to $500.

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On March 8, 9 and 11, People Organizing for Women’s Equal Rights (P.O.W.E.R.) will sponsor a performance to raise awareness and funds to help those affected by domestic abuse.

In the past, P.O.W.E.R. has sponsored the performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” however, this year the program will be a little different. Instead of “The Vagina Monologues,” a group of students will perform a collection of monologues edited by the writer of “The Vagina Monologues,” Eve Ensler, entitled “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer.”

Cait Costelloe, senior sociology major and president of P.O.W.E.R., explained how this year’s performance is a bit different from “The Vagina Monologues.”

“Basically this show is a different set of monologues meant to include men into the performance,” Costelloe said.

“The Vagina Monologues” is made up of monologues intended to be performed by women, while “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer” includes monologues intended to be performed by men.

“(Behind) the inclusion of men in this production is the underlying idea that any improvements upon the condition of women requires the support of all people regardless of gender, class, or race, and that’s why we find it so important to make feminism for men and women,” Costelloe said.

Ryan Scully, junior theater major, directed this year’s show. Scully said that he has been proud of how the production has been coming along.

“I am very proud of it so far,” he said. “The actors have really been bringing it together, and they have really been able to bring to life these powerful messages in the monologues, even though it is something that they have never necessarily dealt with personally.”

The performances will take place in the Memorial Union Ballroom, and tickets will be sold for $2 for students and $3 for non-students.

All of the proceeds from the performances will go to SOS, a group dedicated to ending domestic abuse, and 10 percent of the proceeds for the show will go to women in The Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the spotlight campaign charity this year for V Day, a global organization devoted to helping domestic violence victims worldwide.

According to Scully, the group of 13 actors involved in the production have been working for a little over three weeks, and Scully says he has been able to meet with every actor in the production at least once a week.

Scully also stressed why he feels this production is a good way to address the issue of domestic violence.

“People can really grasp it this way,” he said. “A lot of times, it is easy for some people to hide from this issue, but this show allows them to see this issue in a comfortable manner.”

Scully said the show is a good way to discuss an issue pertinent to our society.

“I think if people give this show a chance, they will see that it is a good way to express a meaningful message,” he said. “I think this is a topic everyone cares about, and this show shows it in a way that everyday people can relate to, because the characters are everyday people,” he said.

The inclusion of men in this production is the main difference between this show and “The Vagina Monologues,” and is something Scully views as a good thing.

“Men in this production is good, because a lot of people think that only women care about (domestic violence), but this show let’s people see that there are men who are very sympathetic to the cause,” he said.

Ellen Hansen, associate professor and chair of the social sciences department who has been helping P.O.W.E.R., expressed why she felt this performance is important.

“To me, (this) performance… represents women’s ongoing efforts to find their voices regarding sexuality, domestic violence, sexual assault, and self esteem,” Hansen said. “The ‘Monologues’ and all the events that go along with the performance highlight the fact that violence against women continues and affects millions of women around the world. The importance of the (performance of ‘A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer’ is) that the violence not be ignored, whether through shame and embarrassment or through deliberate efforts to hide the reality; that women know they are not alone in their experience – and that we can work together, men and women, to end domestic violence around the world.”

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Racheal LeClear, opens Monday nights Local Food Network discussion and movie. The movie took place at the Flint Hills Technical College on Monday March 1. Kenny Thompson/The Bulletin

Throughout the latter two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March, The Emporia Area Local Food Network is hosting a film festival featuring films which advocate and educate viewers about the benefits of growing and buying local produce.

The film showings, sponsored by The Emporia Area Local Food Network (EALFN), Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia Public Library, will be at 6:30 p.m. every Monday until March 15. The first two showings were held at the Emporia Public Library, while the final three segments of the festival will be shown in the auditorium of Flint Hills Technical School.

Admission to the event is free, though the EALFN will be accepting donations at a table set up at the event. The table will also have information regarding the EALFN and the projects the organization is involved in, and how one can get involved with this group.

Racheal LeClear, who sits on the board of EALFN, expressed that all interested in attending the event should not hesitate.

“It is a good opportunity to learn about local food practices, and the advantages of buying locally grown food. The five films we have decided on give a good overview of the topic, and also give diverse perspectives on the situation,” she said.

The five films are “Fresh,” which was shown Feb. 15, “Asparagus,” which was shown Feb. 22, “Food Inc.,” which was shown March 1, “The Future of Food,” which will be shown March 8 and “Locavore,” which will be shown March 15.

LeClear said that the EALFN chose these specific films because each one gives a slightly different view of the issues involved, and each gives good background on the issues in an entertaining fashion. “Food Inc.” is directed by Emmy Award Winning Director Robert Kenner, and was nominated for the 2010 Academy Award for best documentary.

John Crisp, board member for EALFN and owner of Shepard’s Valley, the only Community Supported Agriculture Farm in the area, said that the reason this film festival is important is because it “opens the eyes of the consumer to the importance of understanding the organization of food companies in America today.”

“When you see a film like ‘Food Inc.,’ viewers go through many different emotional responses – anger frustration, and ultimately, the thought of “what do I do now? Films like these are motivation films, which are meant to convey to the viewer that there are options available, and that they should find out about these options,” he said.

The EALFN, according to LeClear, was started about a year ago, in an effort to spread awareness about the options available to Emporia residents and others from the area in terms of buying locally grown food. The organization helped to develop the farmer’s market occurring in Emporia during the spring, and the community garden, which went through its first season of production last spring.

Bill Ihling, board member for EALFN, expressed why he believes this film festival is important to raise awareness about food production in the U.S.

“There is very little we do that is more important that what we put into our bodies three times a day,” Ihling said.

LeClear stressed the importance of this event in helping to education the issues of everyday eating habits of Emporians and others in the area.

“If you don’t know about what it is your eating and if you don’t know the background behind the food you eat, it is really easy to ignore these things,” she said. “If you eat an apple off a produce shelf, and you don’t know what is actually on that apple it’s possible and probably likely, that there are a lot of things on that apple that are hurting your body rather than helping it. These films can really help people to find out what is on that apple,” she said.

LeClear also added that anyone interested in more information about the organization, or those interested in joining the EALFN can contact her at rleclear@fhtc.edu.

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The Emporia State Faculty Senate Committee on Campus Governance met on Tuesday to discuss  the status of two surveys currently being developed by the committee.

Dusti Howell, senator representing Instructional Design and Technology, discussed the Faculty Information Survey,  a morale survey given to ESU faculty members to gauge satisfaction within the faculty body.

Several Regents schools are using the same survey, and results are being compiled to gauge satisfaction of professors in the State overall. The survey results were compiled, and the results will be given to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to be discussed further at a later date. None of the results were taken on an individual basis, but rather, compiled to measure satisfaction of the entire faculty.

Provost Tes Mehring joined the committee in a discussion of the possible institution of an overall standard for the amount of time each faculty member should spend on campus, in office hours, teaching class, or simply working in their offices each week. The committee discussed the concern that a few professors at ESU were not spending enough time on campus, leaving some jobs, such as student advising, to be done by faculty members who are on campus consistently. Mehring expressed that it was a small number of professors causing the issue.

“I would say that it is 3-4 percent of professors who are the issue, the other 96 percent or so are doing what needs to be done, and are having an extra burden placed on them by professors who aren’t here all of the time they need to be,” Mehring said.

Though the committee did not reach a conclusion on this issue, there was a substantial discussion of possible ways to solve the problem. Phil Kelly, senator representing the Social Sciences Department, lamented that it was necessary for the Senate to solve issues such as this one.

“There are more important issues at ESU, and it is unfortunate that we have to deal with this one. But, I believe is must be dealt with,” Kelley said.

The second survey discussed in the meeting was aimed at dealing with this problem. The survey, titled the “Days on Campus Survey,” is in the preliminary stages of its production, but the committee worked during the meeting to develop it. According to Kevin Rabas, senator representing the Department of English, Modern Languages, and Journalism, and chair of the committee, the COCG is working towards developing the survey, and hopes to release it to the faculty shortly after their March 9 meeting.

“As a committee, our first job is to gather information through the survey,” Rabas said. “Then, once we have that data, we can begin incorporating the larger voice of the faculty into any initiative, such as a bill, that we may write. Also, we need to continue to discuss this issue with administration and work towards building a balanced, informed, and measured overall view of this issue. That approach will help us as we proceed.”

Apart from Howell, Kelly and Rabas, the committee consists of Jim Costello, Psychology Department; Stanford Felix, Music Department; Eileen Hogan,  Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Teacher Education; Gregory Larson, Athletic Department; Paul Luebbers, Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Don Miller, Business Department.

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Boyle

When it comes to safe sex, Jessica Boyle, sophomore environmental biology major, takes it seriously.

“I just want everyone here at Emporia State to know there are options available to them, no one has to have unprotected sex,” Boyle said.

Boyle is a member of the Great American Condom Campaign, a national movement aimed at promoting awareness about safe sex on university campuses.

As a way to promote this campaign, Boyle, her boyfriend, Garrett Nekuda, junior chemistry and physics education major, and others give out condoms to students at student events on campus, and also by way of her dorm room door in Southeast Morse Hall.

At the recent Zoiks! improv comedy event in the Fredrickson Theater in Roosevelt Hall, Boyle offered 1,000 free condoms to students who attended the event.

“The Zoiks performance was really cool. We showed up with 1,000 condoms and left with about 350, so it went pretty well,” she said. “I think it kind of got the word out about safe sex and the benefits of practicing it.”

According to Boyle, there are around 1,000 advisers for the Great American Condom Campaign, residing in all 50 states. These “safe side advisers,” as they are called, promote safe sex on their campuses and in their own communities in much of the same way Boyle does.

Boyle initially found out about the campaign from a link she found on her Facebook page. The link took her to amplifyourvoice.org. The site features campaigns for many different issues currently prominent in the U.S. and elsewhere. The “issues” tab on the site contains links for campaigns ranging from abstinence programs to body image, from human trafficking to social justice and human rights.

Boyle advocated going to amplifyyourvoice.org if students are interested in finding out more about an issue, or are interested in getting involved.

“There are a ton of different causes: safe sex, gay marriage, you name it,” she said. “It is a good source for those who are interested but don’t know where to start.”

Nekuda expressed why Boyle is so passionate about the Great American Condom Campaign.

“Because it’s important,” he said. “Safety is important to me, and safe sex is important to her. It should be important to everyone. It’s a good thing.”

Boyle, a Salina native and graduate of Salina Central High School, is also passionate about environmental science, and specifically marine biology, a field she plans to study more exclusively after graduation.

“I’d like to move to the coast, any coast really, but probably California, and continue my education by getting a master’s in marine biology. I just love the ocean,” Boyle said. “To quote a movie we watched in class, our knowledge of the ocean is a raindrop on the surface.”

Boyle said that the marine biology class in the Science Department has been her favorite class she has taken at ESU, and was what initially sparked her interest in the field.

“We studied all of the parts of the field, and I just loved everything about it,” she said. “There isn’t one part I particularly like more than others. I just like the mystery of it, and how little we know about it.”

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Members of Emporia State’s Greek community who participated in the recent American Fraternal Leadership Values Conference in St. Louis, MO.

Members of Emporia State’s Greek community have recently returned from American Fraternal Leadership Values Conference in St. Louis, Mo. At the conference, the participants attended speaking events about stimulating and improving Greek Life at ESU.

Matt Wallace, junior business administration major and President of Alpha Kappa Lambda explained what the conference focused on.

“Basically, the main thing I got from the conference was how to improve Greek life here at ESU,” Wallace said. “The speakers and fellow attendees talked about what has worked at their Universities, and what has not worked, and I think it gave me a lot of good feedback about how to make it better here in Emporia.”

There were 16 ESU students who attended the conference, representing nearly all of the Greek organizations on campus. Approximately 2,000 students from different parts of the country attended the conference.

“It was good, I thought, because there were Fraternity and Sorority members from all over the country— big colleges and small colleges alike, so there was a lot of people who could give us a different perspective on what we can do here to break stereotypes, get involved in the community, and a lot of other topics we can use here,” Wallace said.

Mike Stack, risk management director for the Inter-Fraternity Council, and member of Kappa Sigma Alpha, also attended the conference and felt it was a worthwhile experience.

“I think it opened out eyes a little bit, and showed us that the competition between different Greek groups really hurts us in the long run because, in the end, our values and goals are about the same, so we just need to remember that,” he said.

The speakers at the conference covered a range of topics, including recruitment, breaking stereotypes about Greeks on campus, and getting involved in each member’s perspective community. Which of these “hot topics,” as they were referred to at the conference, a student attended depended on their position in the fraternity or sorority.

“As the President, I attended a lot of speakers who focused on recruitment, and that sort of thing, but there were also people who attended talks about judicial issues in Fraternities, and other sorts of topics specific to that person’s job title,” Stack said.

Cody Pritchard, senior secondary mathematics education major, and president of IFC reiterated Wallace’s enthusiasm for the conference.

“It was great. I loved it,” he said. “I went to the conference last year and it was good to get a refresher on ways to make Greek life here in Emporia even better than it already is.”

Pritchard and others who went to the conference attended several speakers at the event, including the keynote speaker, Will Keim, who spoke at ESU last semester.

“One of my favorite speaker talked about the standards that the North American IFC has set, and it was cool to compare and contrast what we do here at ESU with the standards that were set but the NAIFC,” Pritchard said. “It was pretty interesting and I got a lot out of it.”

Pritchard also commented on why the conference helped him to think of ideas to improve and maintain the status of Greek Life at ESU.

“I think it was important for us to go to this conference because we are a relatively small Greek community and it was good to talk with others from small schools and large schools, and collaborate our ideas,” he said. “Honestly, I wish those outside the Greek community could see these conferences because it really would help to break some of the stereotypes that we deal with as far as the Greek identity goes.”

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