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Joel Dixon, program supervisor of Camp Alexander, discusses the 5K extreme obstacle course. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Dash will take place at Camp Alexander on Sept. 22.
Lingzi Su/The Bulletin

Students, teachers and community members are signing up to participate in a Warrior Dash-esque event, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Dash, on the morning of Sept. 22 at Camp Alexander, 1783 Road P5. The event is sponsored by the Recreation Center, Associated Student Government, Union Activities Council, Camp Alexander, Center for Student Involvement and Community Hornets.

“The Dirt Dash is going to be messy and a whole lot of fun,” said Joel Dixon, program supervisor. “We started setting a couple weeks ago.”

The trail is approximately as long as a 5K and boasts “a lot of mud pits, trenches and barbed wire,” Dixon said. The first wave of runners will start at 10:30 a.m., according to Emporia State’s website. Additional waves of runners will be sent off on the obstacle course until 12:30 p.m. Check-in begins at 9:30 a.m. the same day.

“We are also setting up log hurdles on the Walnut Grove area of the camp,” said Lance Claibourne, maintenance supervisor at Camp Alexander.

Other obstacles found on the course include tires, cargo nets and a half mile uphill run followed by a hay bale “mountain.” Food vendors and kids’ activities will also be available at the race site, as well as live music by Russell Dickerson at 12 p.m.

“We have already gotten a lot of feedback and participation,” Dixon said. “People from Wichita and Lawrence have signed up. We have a group of elementary school teachers who signed up as a group.”

Dixon said making the extra muddy trenches and pits required a couple trucks and a 150 gallon water tank.

“We are (also) hoping for one more, good, long rain by the 22nd,” Claibourne said.

Mike Wise, director of recreation services, said the event was spawned through research at other campuses.

“The Recreation Center is always looking for something fresh and exciting,” Wise said. “While we were meeting with other organizations on campus, we found that CSI had also (come) up with the idea for a Warrior Dash type of event.”

The proceeds of the event will pay for kids in the Lyon County area to go to summer camp who could not otherwise afford to. Wise said their goal was to not only take care of students, but also the community.

“Because this is an event that benefits children in our community, we wanted to make it open (to everyone). We tried to gear the event towards people familiar with the area or who would want to compete in a Warrior Dash event, but live too far away to do so,” Wise said. “We’re really excited to for the opportunity to work with other organizations. It’s good for the campus, and it benefits the community.”

Wise also said the Recreation Center is starting to plan a variety of other events that are not set in stone.

“We try to implement new ideas all the time,” Wise said. “We are currently working on adding more to the new pool programs as well.”

To register for the race online, visit ESU’s website to download the registration form. Completed forms can be turned in to the Center for Student Involvement or the Recreation Center. The entry fee is $10. On-site registration will also be accepted the day of the race. Optional T-shirt orders must be made by 5 p.m. this Friday, and all participants must sign a waiver and be at least 14-years-old.

RSO presidents prepare for pizza challenge

RSO presidents will chow down on a 24-inch pizza like this at 6 p.m. Monday
night at Wheat State Pizza.Photo illustration by John Coffey and Cheyenne Broyles/The Bulletin

Select Recognized Student Organization presidents will each be chowing down on a 24-inch pizza during the “Corky Challenge” at 6 p.m. on Monday at Wheat State Pizza, 1015 Commercial St. The event, President v. Food, is a competition to raise money for the first ever Fan of the Year Scholarship.

“I really like the idea of a self-sustaining scholarship,” said Stuart Sneath, Associated Student Government vice president and senior sociology major. “I thought a ‘Man vs. Food-like’ competition would be a great idea to raise funds for the scholarship.”

The scholarship will be awarded in the spring semester to the student – or students – who attend the most ESU sports events. Brooke Schmidt, ASG president and senior Spanish major, said ASG and the Union Activities Council are co-sponsoring the scholarship and hope to raise enough money to be able to award it to multiple students. The Bulletin is also helping to sponsor fundraising events for the scholarship.

“It’s pretty great to see local businesses help out like this,” Schmidt said. “They have been really supportive.”

Wheat State Pizza will also donate 30 percent of their sales on Monday to the Fan of the Year Scholarship fund.

“The goal of this initiative is to increase sporting event attendance from students and increase school spirit,” Schmidt said. “It’s really important that our students have pride in their school.”

Sneath said that ASG will also implement a new online service called CampusLabs that will help connect students and student organizations.

“Our main goal is to get students involved more,” Sneath said. “Being involved on campus is such a crucial part of college experience.”

Micheal Torres, UAC president and sophomore communications major, said that so far seven RSO representatives are competing. As of Tuesday, Juan Rosales, Hispanic American Leadership Organization president; Ben Riley, Interfraternity Council president; Taylor Wash, Black Student Union president; Tim Thomas, Sigma Alpha Lambda president; Kirsten Zamarippa, Beta Alpha Sci president; Schmidt and himself had signed up for the challenge.

“ASG and UAC have been working on getting other local businesses such as Amanda’s Bakery and Do-B’s to participate in events like this in the upcoming months,” Schmidt said. “We would like to expand this scholarship to students who attend the most theater and music events on campus. It would be pretty interesting to see this idea applied to a lot of the other programs here at ESU.”

The deadline for RSOs to sign up for the challenge is tomorrow, and the cost is $13 to enter. Email Schmidt at asgpres@emporia.edu, or Torres at mtorres2@emporia.edu to sign up.

Slack Theory set to kick off school year

The Slack Theory, a local band comprised of several Emporia State students and community members, will perform at 10 p.m. Friday night at Natasha’s Bar and Grill, located at 627 Commercial St.

The band includes P.J. Stephenson, junior music major, on saxophone and vocals; percussion performance graduate John Gilmore on drums; graduate music student Jason Brooks on keyboards and vocals; junior music major Colin Jones on bass guitar; senior music major Riley Day and local musician Wade Krump on guitar.

Local band Beans and Cornbread will also perform.

Who are some of Slack Theory’s influences?

Riley Day: Alphabeat, Roy Hargrove, Electric 6, Bad Rabbits, Nine Inch Nails…

Colin Jones: Cannonball Adderley, Parliament.

Day: Lots of funk and stuff you can dance to.

How would you describe your music to someone who has never been to Slack Theory show?

Jones: We play “party funk.”

Day: Lots of funky stuff, but there’s some stuff from other genres that we play where we add that funk feel. If it’s not funk, we make it funk.

Was this party vibe intentional from the band’s inception, or did it evolve into that over time?

Jones: That kind of sound came from us starting out playing house parties.

Day: The house party shows are always fun, but we have really liked playing all these (different) venues lately. We are excited to play this back to school show at Natasha’s.

Do you have any shows planned beyond the show on Friday?

Jones: We’re trying to play some more back to school shows at other venues in Emporia, but nothing is really set in stone yet.

Day: We are trying to set up an out of town show for Halloween.

Any ideas on where the Halloween show will be yet?

Day: Not sure yet, but we are thinking about doing the show in Lawrence or Kansas City.

Did Slack Theory play any shows over the summer?

Day: Yes, we played two shows at Wheat State (Pizza).

Jones: The first show was at the end of dead week. The second show was back in June.

Day: All of the members of Slack Theory – except for PJ – were involved in providing music for the last ESU Summer Theatre production, “You Bug Me.”

Have you been working on any new material lately?

Day: We mostly still play covers, but we have some more originals.

Jones: We have a new song called “Slack Off” that we wrote over the summer.

Day: That and we have another song we are working on that has no title yet.

Any plans for recording?

Day: There are no plans for recording right now, just trying to add new stuff to the set list at the moment.

Jones: I’m pretty sure there is a live recording of a recent show somewhere on the Internet.

Any last comments?

Day: We are really excited to play this show on Friday. We hope to see a lot of people there. It’s going to be a fun show.

Campus gearing up for annual fundraising event

Blaufuss

Students and community members are registering for the seventh annual Emporia State Scholarship Run/Walk next Thursday to help raise money for the university.

“We’ve moved the event to Thursday evening to make it possible for more ESU students and families to be involved in helping us raise scholarship dollars,” said annual giving manager Andrea Fullen. “The annual ESU Scholarship Run/Walk is held in memory of former ESU controller John Blaufuss, who was killed while jogging in 2005.”

Fullen said that Blaufuss was “a dedicated runner” and “dedicated to garnering support for the university.”

The last day to sign up for the event in advance is tomorrow. Participants may also register at the Sauder Alumni Center during business hours, or at the event starting at 4:30 p.m. The price of registration is $25. Fullen said there will also be event T-shirts available in limited quantities for purchase.

The Scholarship Run/Walk will start at the Sauder Alumni Center at 6 p.m. Fullen said that the participants have a choice between a 5 kilometer run or a 2 mile walk over meandering courses through the campus before winding up at the finish line in front of the president’s residence, 522 Highland St.

A childcare service is offered for parents whose children cannot or choose not to participate in the event. Snacks, beverages and activities such as an inflatable obstacle course, beanbag toss and balloon animals will be provided for the kids. There will be a reception following the event for participants, family and friends in the Sauder Alumni Center.

Steve Edwards

Speaker to present on surviving domestic violence

Teri Jendusa survived her ex-husband’s attempt to murder her in 2004. He hit her in the head with a baseball bat, stuffed her in a trash can and left her in a storage locker to die. Jendusa was featured on Oprah, 20/20, I Survived, the Women’s Entertainment network and CNN.

In order to shed light on the reality of domestic violence, the Union Activities Council invited Jendusa to campus to speak about her experiences with domestic violence. The talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 14 in Webb Hall.

“Our programming board tries to provide educational events,” said Carlos Urgiles, UAC vice president and junior biochemistry and molecular biology major. “We saw Terri at a regional conference last semester. We were very impacted by her story, and we thought students would be able to truly understand the importance of domestic violence awareness. We think it is important to educate students on this topic since it is under the radar.”

Urgiles said that domestic violence is a worldwide problem and UAC wants to prepare students to what the world holds outside of college. Urgiles said there are things out there that are not pretty, but people need to be aware of.

Crystal Maurath, freshman elementary education and visual arts major and vice-chair for UAC, said students should go “because it will provide good insight on domestic violence.”

“I know that I don’t know much about it, and I am guessing that other people don’t know much about it,” Maurath said. “I think that this speech will provide students with insight on this harsh reality.”

Amy Allen, sophomore elementary education major, said that she thinks everyone should attend the speech because the harsh reality is that every marriage or relationship is not perfect, even though people like to think they always are.

“Some people get together for all the wrong reasons or jump into things without really knowing a person,” Allen said. “I would hate to say this, but domestic violence can happen to anyone and people need to be aware. I think that talks like this can help those who are in that situation find the courage to get out.”

For more information on Jendusa, check out the UAC event page. For information on domestic violence, help for victims or if you would like to donate to domestic violence victims, visit the Kansas SOS website.

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Hijinks abound in upcoming play

Senior Casey Mccabe, junior Annie Rosenbrook and sophomore Brandon Jensen rehearse for the production of “The Lady’s Man” Tuesday evening. The play will premiere at 7:30 p.m. on March 5 in King Hall. Jenny Pendarvis/The Bulletin

Rehearsing for the upcoming show “The Ladies Man” has been nothing short of interesting and full of comical mishaps for the eight-member cast.

“During rehearsal Monday night, we were going over a scene where part of my skirt gets ripped off and my entire skirt and petticoat fell off,” said Amy Dunlap, junior theater major, who plays the role of Suzanne Aubin. “I was practically half naked on stage, but I could not stop laughing. We had to make some adjustments to that whole thing after we went through the rest of the act.”

Some of the cast’s rehearsal mishaps have helped the set crew fix mistakes that could have been troublesome during the performance. Part of the set is a revolving bed that has previously caused some technical issues.

“My foot got caught in the brace on the revolving bed during rehearsal,” said Aubrey Near, sophomore communication and theater major, who plays the role of Yvonne Molineaux. “It’s good to have that type of stuff happen during rehearsal so we can fix the problem and it doesn’t happen during show time.”

The play was written by Salt Lake City playwright Charles Morey, who provides a script that is loosely translated from Georges Feydeau’s “Tailler Pour Dames.”

“Charles Morey has freely adapted this work,” said Theresa Mitchell, professor of theater and director of the show. “The adaptation stays true to the time period, but the humor is still somewhat modern.”

In the author’s note, Morey says that those who know Feydeau’s original text might be taken aback by the “wholesale additions, deletions and emendations.” Morey also says that many of the alterations and reengineered comic devices are lifted from other works from Feydeau.

“The Ladies Man” is set in Paris in the early 20th century over the course of one day in the second floor parlor of the Molineaux residence, serving also as a doctor’s office and waiting room, as well as a dressmaker’s shop. Hijinks ensue when the recently married Dr. Hercule Molineaux tells “one, tiny, little, hardly noticeable lie” to cover up an innocent but embarrassing indiscretion that unravels a storm of increasingly convoluted deceptions, misunderstandings and mistaken identities.

Adding to the insanity of Molineaux’s situation are a suspicious wife, a gorgon of a mother-in-law, an outrageously aggressive female patient and her violently jealous Prussian husband, a well-intentioned friend with a serious lisp, a valet with an attitude, a maid with a secret and “more slamming doors than realistic architecture should ever accommodate.”

The Theater Department decided on “The Ladies Man” last year, and began casting at the beginning of the semester. Mitchell said she’s had “a lot of fun” working on the show and hopes to do plays like it in the future.

The show is set for 7:30 p.m. from March 7-10 in Karl C. Bruder Theater in King Hall. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $9 for senior citizens and $5 for students. To reserve seats, call the University Box Office at 341-6378.

Steve Edwards

Hadrian’s Wall: some aspects of its post-Roman influence on the landscape (BAR British series 296).(Review)

Antiquity June 1, 2001 | BREEZE, DAVID ALAN MICHAEL WHITWORTH. Hadrian’s Wall: some aspects of its post-Roman influence on the landscape (BAR British series 296). vi+133 pages, 78 figures. Oxford: Archaeopress; 1-84171-053-9 paperback 22[pounds sterling].

Alan Whitworth has hit on a splendid idea for a book, an examination of the influence of Hadrian’s Wall on the landscape. It has obviously long been appre ciated that the Wall had an effect on the people of subsequent centuries but, to the best of my knowledge, this has never been considered systematically. Whitworth seeks `to find out where the Wall has gone to, why was it taken down, by whom, when and for what purpose’ (p. 1). In order to try to answer these questions, a wide variety of sources are investigated: buildings, place-names, maps, estate plans, antiquarian writers and modern archaeological research. The text is supported by seven appendices listing supporting evidence and 78 maps and photographs. go to website hadrian s wall

This book is of more than local interest. Whitworth considers the factors which have affected the survival of the Wall including population densities, climate, farming practices, national politics, antiquaries’ interest and, now, tourism. As a result of an analysis of geology and soils, he is able to explain why the Wall has survived so badly in the west. The point is of value to all concerned with the details of monument protection.

In war and peace, the Wall was robbed for its stone — for defensive buildings, churches and farms. The use of the Wall as a quarry can be seen to have started as early as the 7th century when the builders of churches removed columns and whole arches for their new edifices. Norman incomers with a penchant for building castles and the Anglo-Scottish wars of the late 13th and 14th centuries were both disastrous for the Wall. Stukeley, whose observations on Hadrian’s Wall remain of value, protested at the destruction of the Wall in 1751 to build the new Military Road from Newcastle westwards in the wake of the 1745 fiasco, citing the care that the popes devoted to the ruins of Rome. Following the construction of the road the central section was opened up to yet more devastation. Whitworth charts this robbing by type of building as well as chronologically, and concludes that up to the 18th century the Wall was standing higher than has generally been considered. Amazingly, to modern eyes, the excavations of the 19th century led to further damage as John Clayton allowed his workmen to remove buildings once they had been planned.

It is to be expected that such a visible feature would be used as a boundary between estates, townships and parishes: an etymological reminder of this is the name Hare Hill, Har meaning boundary. Whitworth avers that Hadrian’s Wall has had more influence in the naming of places, including fields, than any other monument in Britain. Names such as Shield-on-the-Wall, Sewingshields and Winshields are reminders of past farming methods, now abandoned. In some cases, field names associated with the Wall remained unchanged for 700 years. hadrianswallnow.com hadrian s wall

One name of particular interest is that of the Wall itself. It is called the Roman Wall in the 12th century, and at times simply the Wall, taurus or taurus antiquus. By the 15th century, it had become the Pict’s Wall in charters. This change in name is possibly influenced by Matthew Paris’ 13th-century map on which Hadrian’s Wall was described as taurus dividens anglos et pictos and the Gough map of 100 years later on which that is abbreviated to taurus pictorum. The name reverted to the Roman Wall in the mid 19th century, an ascription which survives in the title, The Handbook to the Roman Wall, though otherwise, universally, it has become Hadrian’s Wall.

Whitworth’s approach is of value for all interested in the development of the landscape, heightened in this case by the backdrop of one of Britain’s premier monuments.

DAVID BREEZE Historic Scotland, Edinburgh BREEZE, DAVID

Sex expert to host group therapy

Courtesy of danielpackard.com

Daniel Packard, dating expert and professional dating coach, radio personality and internationally touring speaker, will uncover secrets of the opposite sex and answer students’ dating and relationship questions during his Live Group Sex Therapy show at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 in Webb Hall.

“I’m personally excited,” said Carlos Urgiles, junior biochemistry and molecular biology major and vice president of the Union Activities Council. “It’s very interactive, and I really was attracted to what his message was – that’s why we asked him to come to our campus.”

Urgiles saw Packard perform before at the National Association of Campus Activities conference in Oklahoma.

“It’s something that college students are involved in, like sex, dating, having problems with someone that you might like, so we thought it would be an event that could reach everyone,” Urgiles said.

Packard was named Speaker of the Year in 2007 by the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities, according to COCA’s website.

“I’ve never been to one like this,” said Alyssa Schultz, senior sociology major. “I would be interested to go. I’m sure he will have a lot of things to say, so it’s probably really important for students to understand someone else’s point of view.”

The free show, with the slogan “A Comical Insight to the Opposite Sex,” will use a blowup screen to communicate with the students via their cell phones. Students can share their thoughts or ask questions about their personal life with live and anonymous texting and polling.

“Basically he’s a dating and relationship coach who tries to get opposite sexes to reveal secrets to other people,” said Micheal Torres, freshman business administration major and UAC’s chair of public relation, “and then he will interpret those text messages, let us know what exactly that means, how we can work with certain problems, or face specific situations on our own.

Torres described Packard as having an optimistic, humorous personality.

UAC has three speakers lined up to present this semester, and this is their first “sex” topic to their knowledge, Urgiles said.

Tianhai Jiang

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Campus prepares to celebrate Black History Month

Senior sociology major Taylor Bullock and graduate student in music Jason Brooks design a poster for the list of 2012 events in the Multicultural Affairs office. Yo Han Kim/The Bulletin

For the past 35 years, February has marked the observance of Black History Month. To celebrate the 36th year of the month-long celebration, the Black Student Union will host a variety of events on campus throughout the month.

But Black History Month is not just for students of color, said graduate assistant for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Jason Brooks. It is also a part of American History.

“Even though it’s phrased ‘Black History Month,’ it’s a part of everybody’s history,” Brooks said. “It’s geared not toward blacks, but (toward) educating our society.”

Chasity Wadley, junior business administration major, said BHM is as equally important to learn about someone else’s culture as one’s own.

“You might meet people and you might have more similar interests in common than you could imagine,” Wadley said. “Students need to support other students.”

BSU president and senior recreation major James Jones said he looks at life from a different perspective because his ancestors suffered but he doesn’t have to endure the same hardships.

“(Heritage) embodies us,” Brooks said. “It’s almost like genetics. It lets you know who you are as an individual. You are allowed to not only blossom as a person, but it (also) sets a platform for your character.”

Several events during February are planned to encourage diversity and education, Brooks said. One of these events includes a showing of the movie “Roots” from Feb. 6-10 at 7 p.m. each night in Roosevelt 110, followed by a discussion.

Wadley said many do not know about their own individual cultures or their different background.

On Feb. 15 in the Memorial Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., BSU will have an “Ask a Black Person” box where students can leave anonymous questions.

“Knowing your culture can help you in the future,” Wadley said. “If you are asked about it, you want to be able to know and be proud of it.”

From Feb. 23-26, members of BSU will attend the Big XII Conference on Black Student Government in Norman, Okla. The conference will discuss minorities, including African Americans and their leadership capacities on college campuses, Brooks said. To finish off the month, BSU will host a “Karaoke Night” from 7-10 p.m. on Feb. 28 in Albert Taylor Hall.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs also plans to celebrate Women’s Heritage Month in March, as well as Diversity Week during the first week in April.

Susan Welte

Fire prevention workshop held in honor of students

Yawei Fan and Zheng Lin died in October when a fire broke out in their off-campus apartment at 12 East 11th Ave. Courtesy Photo

In honor of Zheng Lin and Yawei Fan, two Chinese students who died in a fatal fire off campus last October, and to remind students of the importance of fire safety, the Office of International Education, Student Life and the Emporia Fire Department will hold a fire prevention workshop from 4-5 p.m. on Jan. 30 in Webb Hall 1, in the Memorial Union.

“After the fatal fire last fall, we realized that we have students in our community that are not familiar with the type of heating equipment that they may encounter in off campus housing here in Emporia,” said Tom Andrews, fire marshal.

Captain Larry Bess, Battalion Chief Rex Fisher and Andrews will speak about safety routines, rights as a tenant, how to use safety equipment, how to escape in case of a fire and the best ways to take shelter in a tornado.

There are about 500 international students at Emporia State, and the majority of them live off campus, said Harry Imbeau, director of international education and scholar services.

“The fire department will talk about what things you can ask for and what things you should request when looking at a new apartment,” Imbeau said.

Imbeau said this workshop, which is now scheduled to take place at least once a semester, is not only for new international students – they also want to include domestic students.

“I live with my parents, and my father changes the battery every year and checks twice,” said Dylan Jacob, junior information systems major, “but when I didn’t live with my parents, I actually didn’t check, so that was a bad habit.”

Sirui Liu, junior information systems major said he will attend the workshop.

“It’s important to know the safety procedures and preventions that can potentially keep me safe in my apartment,” Liu said.

Before the fatal fire in October, Liu just assumed the smoke detectors in his apartment worked and thought it was the apartment complex’s responsibility to check them. So he didn’t personally check it.

Other than the workshop, the fire department will use the fire cell, which is under construction now on campus, to demonstrate how fast a fire can grow. The audience will be able to watch the fire from an incipient, or beginning stage, until the room is fully engulfed with fire, according to Andrews.

“This teaches us how little time we have to escape a fire and therefore the importance of smoke detectors and fire sprinkler systems,” Andrews said.

The fire department will also work with OIE to give away 50 smoke detectors donated by the Michael H. Minger Foundation, which has been addressing campus fire safety issues since Minger’s tragic death in 1998.

TIANHAI JIANG

CHILDREN’S HOLIDAY WISH LISTS INCLUDE DOLLS, LEGO’S, IPOD’S AND EVEN, IPAD’S, ACCORDING TO NRF.

States News Service November 22, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC — The following information was released by the National Retail Federation:

It won’t be sugar plums dancing in children’s dreams this holiday season – it’s more likely to be video games, iPods and even iPads. According to NRF’s 2011 Top Toys survey, conducted by BIGresearch, popular holiday toys this year will be a mix of classic and contemporary. Continuing her reign, Barbie once again tops little girls’ wish lists (26.9%) and video games (11.9%) top boys’ lists. Additionally, Apple iPod’s appeared on both lists, and girls ranked iPad as a “must have” this holiday season as well.

“Holiday toy trends change like the weather, but one thing remains constant: children’s love of both classic toys and all things electronic,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “With many retailers already offering a sneak peek at some of their Black Friday specials, parents who have hot toys and popular electronics on their shopping lists should start researching how, when and where to get their hands on these items before the most popular items become hard to fine.” For boys and girls, traditional toys like LEGOs, cars and trucks, and dolls remain top choices, but it’s hard for children to deny their love of bright and shiny electronic toys and gadgets. Apple iPod tied for eleventh with Disney items on girls’ lists and, came in at number 20 on boys’ lists. When it comes to tablet devices, girls have their hearts set on iPads, tying with LEGO and VTech Educational toys at number 20. website monster high wiki

Additionally, Elmo resurfaced at number eight on boys’ lists and number six on girls’ lists after having fallen out of the top 10 in recent years, and Monster High Dolls – characters based on their “famous” monster parents, such as “Frankie Stein” and “Draculaura” – made their list debut on girls’ lists, tying for third with Disney Princesses.

“From classic LEGOs to the latest video game station, children’s love for toys will never fade,” said BIGresearch Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow. “This holiday season, parents will seek out items that their children can use over and over again, and maybe even pass on to a younger sibling in years to come, serving as both practical and thoughtful gift opportunities.” According to NRF’s holiday survey, 43.1 percent of consumers plan to buy toys this holiday season.

2011 Top Toys for Boys 1. Video Games 2. LEGO 3. Cars (generic) 4. Transformers 5. Hot Wheels 6. Disney CARS 7. Xbox 360 8. Elmo 9. Nintendo DS 10. Trucks (generic) 2011 Top Toys for Girls 1. Barbie 2. Dolls 3. Disney Princess (tied) 3. Monster High Dolls (tied) 4. American Girl 5. Video games 6. Elmo (tied) 6. Lalaloopsy (tied) 7. Dora the Explorer 8. Nintendo DS 9. LeapFrog Products 10. Apparel About the Survey The NRF 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 8,502 consumers and was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 1-8, 2011. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent. go to site monster high wiki

BIGresearch’ consumer intelligence provides analysis of behavior in areas of products and services, retail, financial services, automotive and media. The Consumer Intentions and Actions’ Survey (CIA’) of 8,000+ respondents is conducted monthly and the Simultaneous Media Usage’ Survey (SIMM’) of 15,000+ respondents is conducted semi-annually.

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign emphasizes the economic importance of retail and encourages policymakers to support a Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value Agenda aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation. www.nrf.com.

Students to host concert in thanks to Emporia community

When a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan last spring, Midori Mukushi, sophomore business major and president of the Japanese Association Sakura Choir, and other Japanese students were sad, anxious and confused about disaster.

But the support and warm messages the local community gave them helped ease their anxiety.

“(Disaster) brings people together,” said Bob Edmiston, treasurer of the Emporia Presbyterian Church, “because disasters happen all over, some happen here, some happen there, and people like to help each other if they know you need help.”

The J.A. Sakura Choir will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. this Friday at Emporia Presbyterian Church to show their gratitude for the local community and how well they have recovered.

“Japan is now recovering well from the shock of the disaster with warm support from the international community,” Mukushi said. “I want to say thank you for the people who helped us. At that time, a lot of people, not only our friends but also people who don’t know us before, helped us a lot, like cheered us up and prayed for Japan. I’m really grateful for them.”

The concert, named “Four Seasons,” will present a variety of Japanese choral music that represents the four seasons in Japan through 18 pieces, including four solos from vocal music majors, featuring both traditional Japanese music and western music.

“The concert will be very interesting. I come every Tuesday and listen to them rehearse,” Edmiston said. “They have been rehearsing every Tuesday at the church and every Friday at Beach Music Hall, and they’ve been rehearsing at least twice a week for more than two months. They get better every time.”

J.A. Sakura was originally formed to perform at the International Food Festival last March.

“At that time, our goal was nothing more than entertaining the guests of the Food Festival,” said Masatoshi Takami, junior music major and the director of J.A Sakura, “and we had no plan after the performance until the big earthquake happened on March 11.”

But after the earthquake, they performed in many activities and raised more than $7,600 within two months.

“We invite all of you to our concert,” Takami said. “We would like to thank the Emporia community for tremendous support for Japan right after the earthquake.”

Tianhai Jiang/The Bulletin

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