Sunday afternoon at the Red Rock home of William Allen White, John Brownlee shares poetry at the Poetry. Poetry on the Porch was part of the Sunday on the Porch series provided by the William Allen White Society. Jennifer Baldwin/The Bulletin.

On Sunday, Poetry on the Porch had its final run for the year on the porch of William Allen White’s house, located at 10^th and Exchange streets.

“The William Allen White house was opened in May 2005, and Poetry on the Porch got started that same fall,” said Roger Heinken, member of the William Allen White Community Partnership Program. “I had asked Kevin Rabas to announce the event to his classes and to encourage his students to attend.”

The event began with Kevin Rabas, associate professor of creative writing, playing a cajón drum from South America.

“I use the cajón drum because it has a nice sound and it helps to set the mood for the poetry,” Rabas said.

Shortly after this musical introduction, Heineken gave an opening speech before turning the stage over to Rabas again to begin the readings.

“This is the third year we have done Poetry on the Porch, and approximately the 29th program that has been hosted here on the porch,” Heineken said.

Rabas read a few poems and then opened the floor for student and community members to have the opportunity to read their poems or works they found inspiring.

Though it was cold, Heineken thought there was a large crowd in attendance.

“I always count the attendees at every event we host, and today we saw about 24,” Heineken said. “We count every person who participates in some way, even if they are only here to take photographs.”

Cheryl Unruh, Emporia resident, Kelli Kuhlman and John Brownlee were among those who read poetry at the event. Stephanie Russell, a student poet published in this year’s edition of Quivira, read a poem of hers titled “The Way.”

Rabas also sent around a small notepad for a writing game called “Consequences,” sometimes better known as “Exquisite Corpse.” As the notepad was passed around, each person wrote a line or two without looking at the line before. Once everyone had a chance to write a little on the paper, it was read aloud so that everyone could hear the end result.

Sunday’s “Consequences” read like this:

Alone, on a withered bough / a crow perches / long after dark / in silence and stillness / the symphony of autumn / leaves bursts forward / with a cymbal splash / and fall a silent crush / with only a crow / to witness its passing / and the world goes to sleep / from me not a peep / dreaming of autumn colors / red, yellow, brown, / and a few green stragglers / the crisp smell overwhelming, / crunching leaves / a dog barking, a / train whistle screaming, / I must be home again.

Venice Russell, Emporia resident, was also in attendance on Sunday.

“This is my first time coming to this event,” he said. “I mainly have become interested in poetry because I enjoyed my sister-in-law’s knack for poetry, and my daughter’s, too.”

Rabas and Heineken both commented on the increase in the crowd size since the last Poetry on the Porch event.

“At the Poetry on the Porch event this summer, we counted about 37 in attendance.” Heineken said.

Rabas said he was also excited about the number of attendees.

“A few years ago, there were only about half as many people coming to this event as there are now,” Rabas said. “Enthusiasm for poetry has been building.”

Sunday afternoon was the last Poetry on the Porch event for the year, but both Heineken, Rabas and Venice Russell anticipate the future afternoons for poetry.

“I will definitely come again next year,” Russell said.

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Eddy

Emporia State University has shown a decrease of 90 students from last year’s enrollment count, according to Kansas Board of Regents Web site. ESU was one of two of the KBR schools that experienced a decrease. The University of Kansas has also reported a smaller enrollment number for this fall with a drop of 98 students.

“We are working hard on recruitment plans for next fall,” said Laura Eddy, director of admissions. “We would really like to see a growth in enrollment for 2010.”

On Sept. 24, the KBR released the enrollment numbers for the six Board of Regents schools. The state overall has experienced an increase of 1,435 students, or 1.6 percent since fall 2008.

Fort Hays State University showed the biggest enrollment increase with a total of 1,201 students, and Kansas State University showed the smallest enrollment increase of 61 students. Pittsburg State University had an increase of 150 students, and Wichita State University showed an increase of 211.

In addition, ESU has 520 international students on campus this fall.

Last year, Emporia State’s student headcount was 6,404 – it has declined to 6,314. The university overall has experienced increases and decreases in enrollment since 2000 but ultimately enrollment has risen by nearly 700 students from 5,616 in 2000.

Statewide, enrollment has increased by over 5,000 students from 88,817 in the fall of 2005 to 93,307 in the fall of 2009.

That makes for a 5.1 percent increase for the state of Kansas over the last five years.

The number of students taking classes from off-campus has increased by 114, in addition to ESU seeing an increase of 17 for the non-resident student category. Statewide, the only decrease in enrollment is in the number of resident students, which has only decreased by 35.

“To increase enrollment for next year, we want to offer more special on-campus visits and special scholarship promotions and programs,” Eddy said. “We will also be traveling more in Kansas and the NEARR states.”

The NEARR program is a plan that gives students in certain states near Kansas the option of getting a tuition that is lower than out-of-state tuition but not as low as in-state tuition.

“The ‘NEARR states include Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Nebraska,” Eddy said. “We are set up to travel to forty different college fairs from Kansas City to Liberal in the next year.”

Emporia State also plans to increase the number of Hornet Nights, as well as hold fairs that are targeted towards students with specific backgrounds, such as Minority Recruitment Days.

“We also plan to host more visits specifically for international and transfer students,” Eddy said.

A lot of the enrollment recruitment is also done through advertising and the view books that are sent out in the mail to prospective students.

“Hopefully with these new recruitment plans in place, we can bring enrollment up next fall,” Eddy said. “We are really working on getting the information out there and getting faculty more involved in the recruitment process as well.”

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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Sarah McClenning

“Adjectives equal life,” said Sarah McClenning, senior English major with a minor in journalism. “I love putting lots of adjectives into my writing.”

This fall is McClenning’s third semester at Emporia State but she hopes to graduate this spring. She aspires to be an editor or copy editor.

“I like to fix grammatical errors,” McClenning said. “If I were a professor, I would be the one known as the grammar-nazi.”

Even her teachers can see the passion she has.

“This is the first semester that I’ve had Sarah as a student, but she’s almost always got a smile on her face,” said Thomas Winski, associate professor of English, modern languages and journalism. “I can tell she has a passion for learning—she’ll get that sparkle in her eye when she finds the answer or when something connects.”

Winski said that copy editing is not a highly sought after job.

“She participates every day and seems to stay up-to-date in what we’re talking about in class,” Winski said. “Copy editing is not a glamour job that people really go after.”

Born and raised in Coffeyville, Sarah finds life in Emporia more exciting than at home.

“Out at my parents’ house, everything is so peaceful,” McClenning said. “Here there is always something going on, even if it is just people having pool parties at my apartment complex.”

Growing up in a small town, she spent a lot of time playing video games with her two brothers. Her older brother Sean, 25, is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas. Her younger brother Zach, 17, will graduate high school in May.

“I can’t believe Zach is going to be graduating this year,” McClenning said. “He’s so grown up. I think he should stay small forever.”

McClenning spent a year in the dorms before finding her own apartment this semester. The downside to that is she’s not allowed to have pets in her complex, or she would have brought her orange and white tabby cat Teddy, with her.

At her parents’ house in Coffeyville, she also left behind a calico cat named Bobbie, and an Australian shepherd/border collie mix named Daisy.

“Bobbie was originally named Bob,” McClenning said. “My parents told me I couldn’t give a female cat a boy’s name. I had to prove them wrong.”

McClenning was a member of Phi Theta Kappa at Coffeyville Community College, and was the vice president of the service committee. During her service, she helped clean up a house that had burned down. The remainder of the house was infested with asbestos, broken glass, and rusty nails in a neighborhood frequented by children.

“We got it all cleaned up, and that felt pretty good,” McClenning said.

McClenning also went on a mission trip with a church group to Honduras, where they rebuilt part of a church and cleared large boulders from a field to make a soccer field for the children.

In Emporia, McClenning enjoys visiting local bars, especially on nights when they have live music.

“This last weekend the Dead Idols played at Mulligan’s and it was a lot of fun,” McClenning said. “And I got to see my friend perform.”

McClenning is also a fan of Italian food, playing softball and baseball, and is currently learning how to play the acoustic guitar.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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Yasushi Koyama, freshman business major, and Sieun Lee, Junior communication major, eat in the lakeview cafeteria Tuesday afternoon. GIRI NAM/THE BULLETIN

The Lakeview Cafeteria has long been a staple for student life at Emporia State University. Students who live in the dorms have a various list of options to choose from for their meal plan.

However, on July 1, the prices for the Lakeview Cafeteria increased.

“Lunch is $5, so it stayed the same, but dinner was $5.90 and now it is $6,” said Jeff McCullough, general manager of the Lakeview Cafeteria.

The Skyline Diner has also seen price changes in the last year.

“Any price changes that have occurred here at the Skyline or with the cafeteria downstairs are based on the contract that the university has with Sudexo,” said Kimberly Reyes, catering director.

In the past, the Skyline offered a meal for $5.25, and students could swipe their hornet card to pay for the bulk of the meal.

Current Skyline prices are $5.50 for the salad and dessert bar, $7.25 for salad, dessert and the hot entrée bar and $8.60 for the salad, dessert, entrée and a beverage.

All the prices are not including tax, and are posted directly outside the entrance to the dining room along with the Skyline hours.

“We’ve seen about the same number of students coming through this semester as we saw last spring,” said Terri Seastrom, Lakeview Cafeteria supervisor. “There hasn’t seemed to be any real change in traffic due to the price increase.”

These cost increases arrive in addition to other cost increases for the students, ranging from tuition, to books and supplies.

“When I lived in the dorms I lowered my meal plan when the cost increased. Now that I live off-campus I no longer have a meal plan,” said Gwen Wilson, senior information and resource studies major.

The Lakeview Cafeteria has also been working on expanding their menu and offering a wider variety of foods.

“Of course we have the menus from corporate, but we have extended the omelette bar to operate at all meals every day, and added ‘Roodles,’ which is a stir-fry type station to offer more options for vegetarians and vegans,” Seastrom said.

In addition to “Roodles” and the omelette bar, the deli selections have been expanded and pastas are also being offered more frequently.

In the middle of last year, “Innovations” was started, which is where a chef or cook stands to make a la carte items for lunch or dinner.

“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from the omelette bar, and the expanded international food choices have also received a positive response,” Seastrom said.

Though the increased prices may be discouraging, many students cannot afford to go without a meal plan or to move off-campus right after their freshman year.

Many students, however, do see moving off-campus as a money saving venture in regards to food or housing.

“Higher prices definitely make it tougher on students, especially when the food always seemed to be the same quality and quantity as it was when the price was lower,” Wilson said.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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Ray Pesina, junior art major, picks up a copy of the USA Today in the Memorial Union Friday. The USA Today is provided free to students at ESU through the Colligate Readership Program. JONATHAN ELLIOT/THE BULLETIN

In modern times, there are many resources for students and others alike to gain access to local, regional, or national news.

Another resource that has become available to students this semester at Emporia State is the USA Today Readership Program. The new program offering USA Today started the first day of classes for this semester.

The program offers students the opportunity to pick up a daily issue of USA Today or The New York Times at various locations around campus.

The budget for the program is about $19,500, but ESU is only billed for the papers that students take off the racks. The university gets about 200 copies of the NYT and 150 copies of the USA Today.

“Copies of USA Today and The New York Times can be found in the William Allen White Library, the Koch Lounge of Cramer Hall and in the atrium in Visser Hall.” said Jonathan Krueger, president of Associated Student Government.

Papers are also available in the Memorial Union.

Each day, a USA Today representative places the papers in the rack and picks up previous issues. As of yesterday, 5,250 papers had been delivered and 1,773 had been picked up by the representative, Krueger said. The university is billed based on the number of papers that the representative picks up at the end of each day.

New copies of the papers will be available to students five days a week.

“The New York Times and USA Today are both daily papers and will be made available for every day class is in session with the exception of finals week,” Krueger said.

Faculty and students alike are showing a good response to the program.

“The indirect feedback we’ve received has been largely positive,” Krueger said. “Many people were happy to see the addition of USA Today and others were happy that we continued to offer The New York Times.”

Some professors are including the papers as part of their coursework for their classes.

“I only read The New York Times for my honors biology class, but I might continue to read it in the future,” said Sarah Windsor, freshman environmental biology major. “It is good to have the option available.”

The newspapers are funded partially by the provost, who works jointly with Associated Student Government to determine the price.

“The cost average for each student comes to about two dollars because of the funding we receive from the Provost office,” Krueger said. “This is a joint program between Associated Student Government and the Provost office, and together we try to keep costs as minimal as possible for students.”

Students look at the paper for more than just the pictures.

“I like to know what current events are and what is happening around me,” said Casey Bisnett, sophomore secondary social science major.

Grabbing a copy of USA Today or NYT means getting to the stand early in the day for some.

“We only receive a limited number of each paper on a daily basis. I’ve seen the shelves empty nearly every day.” Krueger said.

Offering two newspapers also allows for flexibility and convenience for many students.

“It is nice to have the papers available for students to grab if they want,” Windsor said.

Having two papers gives students the option to choose how they get their national news.

“Some students are partial to one paper or the other,” Krueger said. “We’ve previously only offered The New York Times.”

Students said they like having the option of picking up an actual paper as opposed to only being able to find news online.

“I will probably continue to pick up the paper in addition to reading news online,” Bisnett said.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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RUSSELL

Carol Russell, associate professor of elementary teacher education, has been teaching at Emporia State for 14 years. She enjoys teaching here because of the opportunities that her department offers.

“Emporia has a wonderful reputation, and I was especially drawn to it because their Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education were in the same department,” Russell said. “This is important because Early Childhood Development truly is education at its earliest level.”

This year, she is getting the chance to be faculty senate president. When she was invited to run for the position of president she accepted.

“I thought for sure I wasn’t going to get it,” she said.

Prior to achieving the position of President of the Faculty, she was a senator for the faculty. Faculty Senate is an organization that holds meetings to discuss campus issues, pass bills, and provide a voice for the faculty here at ESU.

Originally from Minnesota, Russell received her undergraduate degree from Baker University, located in Baldwin City, Kan., and worked on her doctorate degree from the University of South Dakota while teaching at South Dakota State University. After 15 years of teaching at South Dakota State, Russell went on to receive her master’s from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Amy Sage Webb, associate professor of English and former Faculty Senate president, said that the focus of the senate ranges from all topics from academic affairs to the calendar and where fall break will occur.

The senate is also responsible for writing bills for academic affairs and attendance policies.

“(Faculty Senate) is a lot of work, but also an opportunity,” Russell said. “You can make a difference if you are willing to take on leadership roles. It takes a real commitment but is still very exciting.”

Dwight Moore, associate professor of biology, was president of the Faculty Senate in 2001-2002, and currently serves as a senator on the Academic Affairs Committee. He praised Russell on her communication with the faculty and others

“I have every reason to believe she will do a fine job,” he said.

Webb also speaks highly of Russell.

“She is very compassionate and patient, and willing to collaborate with others on different issues,” Webb said. “She also seems very capable of time management. She is a very positive person.”

Russell is working hard to plan ahead and strategically looking at challenges that the senate, the students or the university might face as a whole.

“This position requires teamwork and collaboration to overcome challenges or new issues we face,” Russell said. “It is not my voice alone, but representing the faculty.”

A PDF copy of the Faculty Senate constitution and bylaws can be found on the university website, under the University Resources tab located on the home page.

Faculty Senate also works with student representatives through Associated Student Government.

Faculty Senate holds meetings every first and third Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in the Memorial Union Kanza Room.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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At 10 p.m. this Saturday, Ha Ha Tonka will perform at Beer:30, 402 Merchant St. The band will also be touring in Cambridge, Mass., Philadelphia, Penn., and Dallas, Texas.

Josh Olsen, a co-owner of Beer: 30, said he is excited to have Ha Ha Tonka back in town.

“We are expecting a crowd of 500 or more and we’ll have drink specials all night,” he said.

Some of their specials will include a mixed drink recipe that is the signature drink of Ha Ha Tonka. Beer: 30 also offers the band drink specials and free Pyramid Pizza.

Ha Ha Tonka will play after two openings acts, Treaty of Paris and Eric Murphy. A cover charge of $3 will be charged to those who are over 21 and $5 for those who are under, Olsen said.

Ha Ha Tonka is classified as indie/rock and is promoting their second album “Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South.” Their first album, “Buckle in the Bible Belt,” can be accessed via their merchandise links on MySpace. They are originally from Springfield, Mo.

The band consists of four guys – Brian Roberts (vocals and guitar), Lucas Long (bass and vocals), Lennon Bone (drums and vocals) and Brett Anderson (keyboard, guitar and vocals).

The four use harmony to their benefit in most of their songs, but especially in “Hangman.” The group has been touring all summer and has been getting a lot of attention from radio stations across the U.S.

Just recently they’ve had requests for their music to be played on stations in Alaska and Florida. A station in Wichita, KACY 102.5, is the only station in Kansas listed as playing their music so far, according to their Myspace page.

Ha Ha Tonka has also recently received a lot of attention from magazines. J. Edward Keyes of Rolling Stone said in May that “(Novel Sounds) Occupies the sweet spot between country and indie, writing ornery songs with big hooks.”

This weekend’s performance will be Ha Ha Tonka’s third time playing in Emporia, and Olsen said he hopes they continue to return in the future.

Krista Harries, junior accounting major, discussed her musical preference as consisting of country, soft rock, and oldies.

“I’ve not heard of them before, though I would be interested in going,” Harries said.

Ha Ha Tonka will have merchandise for sale at the show.

Beer:30 will also host an Open Mic night tonight, the DeWayn Brothers on Friday, with Granny Tweed and Calvin Bennett opening, and the grand finale of Ha Ha Tonka with Treaty of Paris and Eric Murphy on Saturday night. Both shows start at 10 p.m.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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The Villas, 1839 Merchant St., are open and accepting residents. Amenities include a workout room, pool, hot tub, tanning, on-site laundry and free wireless internet. KELSEY RYAN/THE BULLETIN

On the back wall, a sign reads “Your mouth isn’t watering. It’s crying for Jimmy Johns.” Like Jimmy Johns, other businesses have opened in Emporia in the last few months. Tyler Clabaugh, the head manager of Jimmy Johns, was very anxious for his store to open on August 18.

“We’re expecting a lot of business,” said Clabaugh. “We will offer delivery, and we will be open until 3 a.m., with delivery and in-store options until that time as well.”

Jimmy Johns will offer many catering opportunities to other businesses in town, including schools and hospitals. They are mainly here for the college population and intend to cater to their late-night needs.

Jimmy Johns will open daily around 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m., “whenever the bread comes out of the oven.”

The Villas, a brand-new apartment complex, located at 1839 Merchant St. is open and still accepting residents. Jacqueline Dill, property manager of The Villas, mentioned a few of the features of the complex.

“We have apartments that are two and four bedroom, but each resident is contracted individually, so if one of the renters decides to bail at semester, it will only affect that person,” she said.

The Villas include a workout room, a pool and hot tub, free tanning, on-site laundry and vending, a social room that includes four televisions, two poker tables, a ping pong table and free wireless internet. Outside by the pool they have a sand volleyball court, a basketball court and they are hoping to build some permanent grills.

“We will also be having a pool party that will be open to the public this Friday, the 21^st, at around 4 p.m.,” Dill said.

On August 4, Bravo Salon in the Granada Plaza at 726 Commercial St. They are located in Suite D, with parking off of 8^th street. Shawna Short, one of the stylists at Bravo Salon, talked about the services they offer.

“We offer a full range of services pretty much – cuts, color, manicures, pedicures and facial waxing (for) men, women and children,” said Short.

The two other stylists, Heather Bailey and Aimee Morris, each carry different lines of hair products. Another feature unique to their salon is the hand-held blow dryers that hang from the ceiling. Each dryer is weightless, meaning that when they pull the dryer down, it turns on and stays at the precise length it was pulled to so it won’t fall on your head.

Bravo Salon does accept walk-ins, Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., with Mondays and Saturdays by appointment only.

Flint Hills Laser Expressions is also new to Emporia. They occupy the location where Jock’s Nitch used to be at 912 Commercial St. Rick Robidu does his own granite marble laser engraving, and offers many other kinds of services and merchandise.

Laser Expressions offers athletic apparel for ESU, KU and K-State, as well as other memorabilia. They can also do customized screen printing for t-shirts, unique gifts and glassware engraving for any occasion.

Laser Expressions is open Tuesdays through Fridays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Some other businesses that have opened within the past few months include Pumpkin Doodles Children’s Boutique, 725 Commerce St. and RuYi, 1113 Merchant St., an Asian restaurant.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

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