Lane

Michael Lane, president of Emporia State,  Steve Brown, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Gwen Alexander, dean of the School of Library and Information Management, are currently being evaluated, a process which is coordinated by Faculty Senate. It has not yet been determined if or how the results will be released.

“We do not have a specific protocol for the reviews,” said Carol Russell, president of Faculty Senate. “In the past, the Committee on Campus Governance has attempted guidelines, and a bill was even drafted, but did not go to the senate for a vote. We probably need to look at this again.”

Amy Webb, associate professor of English and former president of Faculty Senate, said the release of evaluation results have varied in the past, depending on the decisions of COCG, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the administrator who is evaluated. In the past, results have sometimes been summarized, distributed showing exact commentary, or locked in an office where those who wish to access them must sign in.

Though there have been discrepancies in the release of these documents, Webb said they try to remain in compliance with the Kansas Open Records Act.

“There have been investigations by various faculty and administrators to know what we are legally supposed to do (in regards of releasing the evaluation results),” Webb said. “We have files in the senate office of asking the regents lawyer, where should these things go, and the one thing that legally is consistent is it’s a personnel file and it needs to be protected, you can’t just have it out there.”

The evaluations pertain to employee performance, which is outlined in KOMA as a personnel issue and is legally a closed record.

“Public agencies shall not be required to disclose: personnel records, performance ratings or individually identifiable records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment, except that this exemption shall not apply to the names, positions, salaries or actual compensation employment contracts or employment-related contracts or agreements and lengths of service of officers and employees of public agencies once they are employed as such,” a portion of KOMA pertaining to these records reads.

Though, in the past, some of those files were available.

“Some administrators have asked that their evaluations be open,” said Kevin Rabas, chair of COCG. “However, they have often asked that those wishing to see the data sign in and read the documents in a secure place, such as in the Faculty Senate office.”

Webb said that deciding how the evaluation results will be handled is constantly debated.

“We’re of two minds about this,” Webb said. “No faculty member would want his or her evaluations available to every single person in the world because people can be irresponsible with those and it can be damaging, but at the same time we want some level of accountability.”

Though, as far as the evaluation results determining change, Rabas said they are mainly used to measure progress.

“It is my understanding that the evaluations are to be used by the administrator as a gauge and are not traditionally used to determine job fitness, merit, promotion, or retention,” Rabas said.

Lane said he looks forward to the completion of the evaluation, as it will allow future improvement.

“I think it’s a good process,” Lane said. “I’m more than happy to see the results and it gives me an opportunity to look at things I do and see if there are ways to make things better. I think that’s one of the benefits of having that kind of an evaluative process.” 

Though it has not yet been decided whether or not Lane’s evaluation results will be open, when asked, Lane responded: “on this campus we have determined them to be personnel issues, and they don’t become public.”

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Requested line item increases to student fees were introduced in the first readings at the Associated Student Government meeting last Thursday.

“We’re dealing with the student fees directly,” said Jonathan Rivers, chair of the Fiscal Affairs Committee and junior secondary social sciences education major. “So any increase or decrease directly affects everyone, so we’re really trying to take this as seriously and as professionally as possible and we try to find a mutually beneficial situation for all the groups involved because in actuality we don’t want to cut anybody, but if we feel that there’s waste being done or that groups are not being responsible with their money then we’ll make the appropriate decisions.”

The recommended increases by the Fiscal Affairs Committee were an increase for Quivira of 45 cents to 70 cents per full time student while the part time fee of $0.25 will remain unchanged and an increase for The Bulletin of $1.02 to $9.12 per full time student and of 14 cents to $1.29 per part time student. The only other line item increase to be considered is for The Sunflower, but more information was necessary before an amount, if any, could be recommended.

“These are all just recommendations from my committee, I would encourage all of you to talk to your constituents ask them questions, ask them how they feel about these recommendations that we made, because these directly affect their student fees,” Rivers said to the senate.

The line items will be discussed and debated at the next ASG meeting at 5 p.m. on March 25 in the Heritage Room of the Memorial Union.

ASG elections were also discussed at last week’s meeting. Any full time student with a Grade Point Average of 2.0 is eligible to run for Senate. ASG can hold up to 27 senators, including: two graduate students, two students who are undeclared majors, two students from the School of Library and Information Management, seven students from the School of Business, seven students from the Teachers College and seven from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Students who currently serve on the senate must be reelected in order to continue in their position, and all students running for senate must either get 50 signatures from students in their respective college on a petition or pay a $30 buy-out. Applications and petitions for Senate are due to the Lauren Leif, election commissioner and junior political science major, by March 29.

Leif said this year’s goal is a more competitive senate race.

“It would be wonderful if we had more competition,” Leif said. “But in the past years there hasn’t been as much competition and that would be an amazing thing to have. We’re still looking for people to run for Senate or Vice President or President if they’re interested.”

Students who wish to run for President or Vice President must have a GPA of 2.5 or better. Jonathan Krueger, current ASG President and senior political science major, said staying positive is the best way to be successful in the presidential position.

“I think the biggest advice I can give is just to stay positive,” Krueger said. “There’s a lot of differing opinions, but in the end I think everybody is trying to accomplish the same thing, and at the end of the day, the bottom line is you have to stay positive about your goals and even the goals of the opponent that you’re running against.”

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Brad Raines, senior secondary social studies education major, tries to toss a pingpong ball into the cups at the end of the table during the Safe Spring Break carnival Monday night in Webb Lecture Hall in the Memorial Union. The carnival was held to make students aware of the many possible dangers that could happen during spring break.

Giant penis cutouts with oozing sores, condom encased cucumbers, beer goggles, diapers and tattoos were all featured in games played by students at the Safe Spring Break carnival on Monday.

The event, hosted by the Health Center, SOS, GAMMA, ADAP, Division of Student Life and UAC focused on providing awareness to students about potential dangers that arise during spring break.

“We try to raise awareness so that students can decrease their risk because we all hear the stories on the news about the bad things that can happen,” said Mary McDaniel, assistant director of Student Health Services. “We want our students to have a wonderful spring break and to come back safe and rested and ready to finish up the semester.”

This was the fifth annual “Safe Spring Break,” a tradition which started after Student Health Services saw some trends following spring break.

“Years ago, we started noticing that right after spring break we had an increase in the request for pregnancy tests so we know that’s a concern,” McDaniel said. “Also, we have seen over the years a rise in the number of requests for sexually transmitted infection testing following spring break, and sometimes a rise in the number of positives.”

The event had carnival games focused on five main areas: unintended pregnancy, alcohol and drug use, STIs, sexual assault and general safe traveling. Some games included “Pop that Sore,” “Bankrupt Baby,” “Think Before You Drink” and “Crash Your Cranium.”

“It’s a little bit different every year because the nursing students who are in their community health class actually design, develop and implement all of the games,” McDaniel said. “So it’s education in the guise of carnival style games. While it’s the same topic material, it’s entirely new creation from the students that are new to that class.”

Nathaniel Enabnit, senior nursing major, helped man “Walk the Line,” a game where goggles impair students’ ability. The students have to walk a straight line after riding a tricycle.

“We’re hoping that they learn something from all of the four stations that we have (in the drinking safe category),” Enabnit said. “But the ‘walk the line’ I think is more fun and I hope that it makes them realize that they shouldn’t be driving because they’re not doing very well.”

Spencer King, freshman pre-pharmacy major, said he enjoyed the information that was presented through the games.

“The wheel of misfortune was definitely my favorite,” King said. “You could get asked a question about pretty much anything, which made it really interesting.”

Another station, where students could practice their punching, focused on self-defense. Damon Leiss, physical recreation instructor, took the hits.

“The idea behind it is that when women punch, they should try to punch as fast and as many times as possible to deter somebody if they are grabbed,” Leiss said. “I think people are having a good time with this, but I hope they are also learning a little something.”

Kelsie Jones, freshman biology major, said she found the overall event to be very informative.

“I think it’s a good way to help prevent some of these things from happening over spring break by being informed,” Jones said. “And making it interactive makes it a lot more fun.”

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Potential tuition increases due to state funding cuts and increased university spending were discussed by administration, student leadership and faculty members at yesterday’s Budget Development and Tuition Committee meeting. An increase has not been finalized, but debates over the issue will continue after spring break. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Potential tuition increases due to state funding cuts and increased university spending were discussed by administration, student leadership and faculty members at yesterday’s Budget Development and Tuition Committee meeting. An increase has not been finalized, but debates over the issue will continue after spring break.

The university’s expenditures have increased due to mandatory rises in employee health insurance, retirement, promotions and possible state mandated increases to classified employee wages. Michael Lane, president of Emporia State, said that the university is doing whatever is possible to minimize the impact of budget cuts on students.

“We are advocating with the legislature to leave our money flat this year,” said Lane in an interview. “Not to decrease it more because we know the state budget is going to be lower for fiscal year 2011 than it is in 2010. So our position with them is whatever it takes, no more cuts and then we will work through what we need to to continue to offer the most quality education that we can to our students.”

But he said that the mandatory expenditures will likely be made up by a rise in tuition costs because he is “reasonably sure (the university) is going to get no more money out of the state.”

According to information provided by Ray Hauke, vice president for Administration and Fiscal Affairs, the cost increase for faculty promotions will be about $3,000 and the retirement increase will be around $700,000. Information for the other two major expenditures was unavailable.

In addition to these rising costs, health services and the athletic department are requesting increases in their budget from the university, which would affect the campus privilege fees that students pay in their tuition.

Due to many factors including a relocation to Southeast Morse, newer equipment and furniture and an increased cost of flu vaccines, Health Services is requesting a $1.50 increase to a total fee of $64.85 per full time student which will give them a total increase in their budget of about $12,000.

“All of these things add up over time,” said Jaque Schmidt, director of Student Wellness. “We want to be conservative because we know the budget situation. We kept it as modest as we felt we could, maybe even a little too modest.”

One thing brought to question was that the university issues free flu shots to students. The price of the shot will increase in cost from $6.00 to $11.60 next year and are a factor in the Health Services request. Some suggested the university not pay for these, but Schmidt said the benefits outweigh the costs.

“One of the things we’ve given the students as part of their privilege fee is free office visits and free flu shots because we feel that those things are beneficial to the health of the campus,” Schmidt said. “If we can keep the students from getting the flu, keep them in classes, keep them from spreading it, then that a service to the campus that we want to be sure to come in and get.”

The athletic department did not receive an increase last year but its requested increase of $7.40 will brings the total fee to $130.28 for full time students. The requested increase for part time students is 85 cents to a total fee of $14.86. The increase will help cover athlete medical costs, payment for game officials and travel to competitions.

“Our teams get around on a pretty thrifty budget and don’t have a lot of frills that go with it,” said Kent Weiser, athletic director. “But there are just certain things that if we are going to have a quality program we need to be able to provide.”

Carol Russell, President of Faculty Senate, said that it is important to remember that cuts are happening university-wide.

“I’m sure you do understand that in academics we do the same thing,” said Russell as a response to Weiser’s statement. “And also how it looks to cut our academics and cut positions and then increase athletics.”

The Budget Development and Tuition Committee will continue to debate this issue, but Lane said that their decisions are only a recommendation and that the Kansas Board of Regents makes the final decision.

“We don’t know what the other institutions are going to be doing,” Lane said. “But I expect that the committee will do a good job of discussing a lot of options and ultimately come down with a recommendation which is best for our institution which would ultimately be best for our students as well.”

The next meeting will be held on March 24 in the PKP room, upstairs in the union. The time has not been confirmed but has been set for 12 p.m. An open forum will be held sometime in May where students can voice their opinion.

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The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 was put into effect on Feb. 22, and while it will enforce many new stipulations, its main focuses are to protect young consumers and make credit card use and payments easier and better understood by the general public. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 was put into effect on Feb. 22, and while it will enforce many new stipulations, its main focuses are to protect young consumers and make credit card use and payments easier and better understood by the general public.

“For too long, credit card companies have had free rein to employ deceptive, unfair tactics that hit responsible consumers with unreasonable costs,” President Barak Obama wrote in a formal statement following the enactment of the bill. “But today, we are shifting the balance of power back to the consumer and we are holding the credit card companies accountable.”

One major provision of the act requires persons under the age of 21 to have a cosigner who is responsible for the cardholder’s debt, should they accumulate any. That cosigner must also agree to any increase in spending limits.

“No increase may be made in the amount of credit authorized to be extended under a credit card account for which a parent, legal guardian, or spouse of the consumer, or any other individual has assumed joint liability for debts incurred by the consumer in connection with the account before the consumer attains the age of 21, unless that parent, guardian, or spouse approves in writing, and assumes joint liability for, such increase,” the act reads.

The Act also prohibits credit card companies from offering enticements such as free giveaways for signing up for a credit card on college campuses or at college-sponsored events.

Rob Catlett, economics professor at Emporia State, said that while he agrees with some stipulations of the act, the age restriction is not one of them. The age provision affects most traditional college students, and Catlett said that 18 years of age rather than 21 would be a better age restriction.

“Restricting the flow of credit to college student is treating them in kind of a childish way,” Catlett said. “If I were a student I’d feel uncomfortable with that.”

The Act is aimed at protecting students from accumulating bad credit through their college years, which Catlett said is a problem for some students, but not the majority.

“I’ve had enough students who have visited with me because they’ve gotten way in over their heads and it makes it challenging to focus on their academic work when they’re in serious financial trouble because they’ve overspent,” Catlett said. That’s a problem, but it’s not a problem with the general student population. I think most students handle their credit wisely.”

In fact, the average balance is $452 for the 35 percent of college students who did not pay their credit card balance in full each month in 2008, an amount that is down from 2007 by 19 percent. It is approximately one-third the amount of the average balance of non-students, according to the Student Monitor annual financial services study.

Catlett said that this particular provision “protects consumers a little too much.”

“It will help to have some people who are not in a position to repay that, to keep them out of trouble,” Catlett said. “But it also is problematic in terms of establishing credit and showing one can use it responsibly.”

Laura Bosiljevac, freshman biology major, agrees with the age provision because of personal experience. Multiple times, she said she has overdrawn on her debit card without realizing it, for which she has been charged a $35 fee. While she acknowledged that she should have been more careful, she said it is still a problem that she thinks could be partially alleviated by the age provision.

“I’m already afraid to get a credit card, but you have to build up credit somehow,” Bosiljevac said. “But a lot of college students, having the low income jobs that they do, I don’t think they need to go out and be spending senseless money because our economy is already in trouble the way it is.”

In addition to young consumer protection, the act also prohibits credit card companies from increasing rates retroactively or within the first year an account is opened, or to use over-limit fee traps. Also, it is now required that they send consumers ample notifications of any changes to the terms of the card and have clear payment dates and times.

“There are many things that got tightened up that really were long overdue because the information that was coming from credit card companies was so detailed that few people could really understand it,” Catlett said. “And this effectively reigned in some of those practices that were I think deceptive, predatory, and enriching of credit card companies at peoples’ expense that wouldn’t realistically be able to understand without that guidance.”

Obama said that while the new rules are a step in the right direction, the consumers remain responsible for payments.

“These new rules don’t absolve consumers of their obligation to pay their bills, but they finally level the playing field so that every family and small business using a credit card has the information they need to make responsible financial decisions,” Obama said.

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When education majors graduate from Emporia State, will there be jobs for them?

ESU’s Teacher’s College is among the top four in the nation and currently has 145 students in the student teaching phase. These future educators flocked to the Educators Career Fair sponsored by Career Services yesterday in Webb Lecture Hall in hopes of finding job offers.

But of the 59 districts that attended, only four posted a cumulative total of 13 positions that need to be filled on a board in Webb Lecture Lobby. Exact statistics on job listings were unavailable from June Coleman-Hull, director of career services.

Coleman-Hull said the number of districts represented is down from 73 last spring and 105 in the spring of 2008, likely a repercussion of financial hardships facing schools because of state budget cuts.

“Higher education took a big hit and the public schools were starting to see that big hit last year, but people didn’t anticipate another hit again this year, so the number (of districts looking to hire and attending the career fair) has certainly dropped almost in half,” Coleman-Hull said.

The jobs posted were in the fields of Special Education, Music, Math, English, Elementary Education and Science in the districts of Turner, Gardner, Hugoton and for Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative.

“There are much fewer jobs and districts are very tentative about hiring for jobs right now because they’re not completely clear on what their budget is going to look like,” Coleman-Hull said. “Therefore they’re not willing to extend contracts to teachers because the jobs just either may not be there or they aren’t there, so certainly much fewer jobs for our student candidates.”

Kathryn Taylor, assistant superintendent of Chanute Public Schools in Chanute, said that her district is not currently looking to hire. Instead, she hopes that by attending the fair, her district can become more known to students in the future.

Taylor is an ESU alumna, which is one reason she likes to attend the Educators Career Fair at ESU and is why she looks at ESU graduates before considering others, even though her district is located near Pittsburgh State University.

“I’m an alum, and therefore I know the quality of the students that are produced by Emporia State University going out into education,” Taylor said. “I have hired many ESU graduates and have never been let down by the quality of those that I’ve hired.”

Jestin Blake graduated from ESU in December with a degree in elementary education and has not found a permanent teaching job.

“It’s been difficult,” Blake said. “In December, there was one opening for January, but I just went into subbing. I came here because there are different school districts that I wanted to talk to and I felt that it was important just to show my face and to get my name out there to the schools.”

Cruz Jasso of the Emporia school district encouraged future educators to keep an open mind and take a job where they can find one because things will get better in a couple years and then they can pursue the district of their interest.

Coleman-Hall said education students who are preparing for graduation should use their networks and connections to find jobs and market the advantages of hiring a brand new graduate, like current training in their field. She said there may be more job opportunities in the future.

“(The job market for educators) is going to recover in a couple of years,” Coleman-Hull said. “It will not recover fully is my prediction. Students should look into alternatives to classroom teaching and what else they might want to do that allows them to work with kids but not necessarily in the classroom.”

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“I didn’t actually plan for the night shift,” Grizzard said. “When they called me, they were like, ‘we have a position open for a night shift stocker,’ and I was so excited because I needed a job that I took it. I didn’t really think about it at first.” Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

While scanning over her zoology notes, Jennette Grizzard, freshman biology and pre-veterinary major, is interrupted by a text message from her mother. Grizzard is on her lunch break at 2 a.m. at Walmart, where she has worked the night shift stocking shelves in the grocery section for seven months.

“I didn’t actually plan for the night shift,” Grizzard said. “When they called me, they were like, ‘we have a position open for a night shift stocker,’ and I was so excited because I needed a job that I took it. I didn’t really think about it at first.”
Grizzard’s mother, Karla, has worked the night shift for 12 years and currently works as a nurse at Burlington Community Hospital. She said getting used to the night shift took her a couple of years.

“Night shift is a different lifestyle,” Karla Grizzard said. “You’re not awake when everyone else is, that’s your sleep time, so just doing normal things like calling up the electric company or whatever, you have to stay up late to do that. You lose sleep to do your everyday business.”

In addition to texting her daughter while they are both on break, the Grizzard family plans meals at times when everyone, including her father and aunt who are on a daytime schedule, will be awake.
“We try to plan dinner times so that we all can eat and it’s usually later, like around seven because that’s when I’m getting up and getting ready to go to work and she’s getting ready to go to work, so we try to do that so at least we see each other,” Jennette Grizzard said.

Grizzard said that their matching schedules allowed them to form a stronger relationship.

“Working the night shift has made me and my mom closer because we can relate to each other,” Grizzard said. “When we’re both tired and crabby at the same time, that’s kind of nice because we’re like ‘oh, we’re tired, it’s okay.’”
The night shift pays a dollar more an hour, and Grizzard thought rearranging her schedule might allow more time for school work.

“I guess I figured with my school schedule it’d be hard to go to school and then still have time to do homework after work, so I figured the night shift would be easier,” Grizzard said. “I was wrong. It’s just as hard if not harder.”
Along with taking time from her school work, Grizzard’s new schedule deeply cut into her social life.

“I have no social life,” Grizzard said. “I really don’t. The only friends that I have now work the night shift with me because the friends that I had before I started working the night shift, they all work either during the day or they go to school or they don’t work, and I try to match up their schedules with mine and we’re all too busy so I don’t really have time for anybody.”

Tanner Monroe, senior crime and delinquency studies major, who has worked the night shift at Chase County Detention Center for three months, has also noticed a drawback in his social life.

“A lot of times I don’t get weekends off,” Monroe said. “I get weekends off about every three to four weeks and so I don’t get to go out with my friends or anything.”
However, he still holds the position of vice president of Sigma Phi Epsilon and is able to continue to spend time with his girlfriend.

“I get to see my girlfriend still, and I try to keep doing those things that I like to do but I don’t get to go home as much,” Monroe said. “I like to go home and see my family but I usually see them about every two months now.”

Monroe said that while at work he “pretty much baby-sits inmates” and is able to find a couple hours where he can work on homework. He will continue working nights until he is finished with school.

“The other two shifts conflicted with my class schedule, so I choose the night shift so that I could go to all of my classes during the day,” Monroe said. “I’ll keep working nights as long as I have afternoon classes, which will probably be until I graduate, hopefully next December. I was hoping I’d graduate in May, but this job cut down the number of classes I could take this semester.”

But both Grizzard and Monroe said one thing is certain – that since they’ve started working the night shift, they don’t sleep as much.

“Sleeping is a good hobby,” Grizzard said. “I try to catch every little wink of sleep I can get.”

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According to a recent sampling done by Associated Insulated Inc., a contracting company based in Manhattan, the walls in Webb Lecture Hall, the adhesive on the tiles in the Webb lobby and the Ballroom bays, the steam lines and ceiling in the lower level have all tested positive for asbestos. Jonathan Elliott/The Bulletin

Asbestos is banned in about 50 countries, but still lingers in some buildings constructed before 1980 in the U.S., including the Memorial Union.

According to a recent sampling done by Associated Insulated Inc., a contracting company based in Manhattan, the walls in Webb Lecture Hall, the adhesive on the tiles in the Webb lobby and the Ballroom bays, the steam lines and ceiling in the lower level have all tested positive for asbestos.

“Most of the asbestos is on the far east side of the building which was built in 1971, and it was applied during construction because in that time frame it was a very popular method for insulating,” said Dave Hendricks, director of the Memorial Union.

Preliminary to the construction for the renovations in the union, the university contracted with Associated Insulated Inc. to get the asbestos abated, a bid which fell in around $380,000. This left $120,000 in the “environmental concerns” portion of the renovation budget to cover any additional fees of new findings once construction is underway.

“We had done a couple of asbestos abating projects in the 1970s additions so we suspected that we had it,” Hendricks said. “We would have been surprised if we wouldn’t have had any. I think we’re going to be more surprised in what we find when we start tearing down walls and ripping out ceilings.”

According to “Ban Asbestos Now,” a campaign advocating awareness about the dangers of asbestos, 2,000 to 3,000 people each year are diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Director of Facility Planning Bobbi Pearson said that despite concerns, the university was advised to leave the asbestos undisturbed.

“Industry practices recommend that existing asbestos-containing materials be maintained in their original state,” Pearson said. “When materials are removed for renovation work, a licensed contractor will safely contain areas to protect against health risk then collect and legally dispose of products.”

Hendricks said that because asbestos clean-up is an expensive process and the building has not been under construction, there has not been an opportunity to abate the asbestos before now.

“It’s a very costly method and it is my understanding that as long as it is not being disturbed or you’re not doing construction in those areas, then you don’t have to worry about it,” Hendricks said.

The asbestos evasion will begin March 1 and will extend to Webb Lecture Hall around April 19. Hendricks said the process should not disrupt student travel through the union, instead, rerouting is a product of the construction.

“Your biggest thing is that Webb Lecture Hall and lobby will be offline, not because we’re abating asbestos but because we’re under construction and our path of travel is going to be changed,” Hendricks said.

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Nearly one in five Emporians were without power yesterday around 5:30 p.m. for about 40 minutes. The outage affected 2,461 Westar Energy customers in Lyon County, according to Westar Energy’s website. Westar Energy gave no cause for the outage.

The basketball game at William Lindsey White Auditorium was not affected, but the campus residence halls, the Memorial Union and other buildings on campus and around town lost power, causing some evening meetings and classes to be cancelled.

“Parts of campus have lost power before but I don’t think it’s ever been off this long, at least not in the three years I’ve been here,” said Ed Franks, assistant director for scheduling and operations.

Carol Blade, Towers Complex coordinator, said there are immediate actions taken in the event of a power outage.

“One of the first things we do is make sure that nobody is in the elevators and if there are then we call police and safety and have the people let out,” Blade said. “We have a couple other systems that run off of batteries and so we just make sure those batteries are working and if they don’t then we have another plan to fall back on.”

While there was nobody in the elevator shafts of the residence halls, one student was caught in the dark while showing.

“I was in the shower and then it got really dark and so I grabbed my towel and ran to my room,” said Dakota Hagar, freshman computer science major. “It was actually pretty scary because I didn’t know what was going on, I was confused.”

After the power had been out for about 20 minutes, Franks directed everyone out of the union.

“I instructed the operations manager on duty to try and contact public safety,” Franks said. “That’s who we contact first because they can usually tell us what the problem is, but their lines were busy so we started to go upstairs where we had the least amount of natural light and clear the upstairs and asked anyone who was currently in the building having a meeting to please exit and letting those who were coming in for meetings know that they would not be able to meet until we figured out how long we were going to be without power.”

Meanwhile, students ate dinner in the Lakeview cafeteria.

“We try to keep the cafeteria open so we can feed as many people as possible but once we run out of food, we don’t have the ability to make more food, so we’re going to have to close that as well,” Franks said.

The cafeteria remained open due to the return of power around 6 p.m., but not before everything was removed from the serving tables and marked as spoiled. The cafeteria staff was able to prepare and serve more food once the power returned.

“We’ve had maybe 50 students come in and we’ve had to turn the rest of them away because the temperatures of our food is down,” said Tracy Judson, night shift supervisor for Lakeview cafeteria, around 5:40 p.m. “We can’t serve it, it’s in the danger zone. Pretty much all of it we will have to throw away.”

Katie Galliart, freshman secondary English education major, was in the cafeteria when the power outage occurred.

“I went over to tell the cafeteria lady that there was sugar on the French fries and the lights just went off,” Galliart said. “I kind of looked around to see if there was anybody or whatever it was. I was pretty calm about it.”

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Over the next six weeks, the Fiscal Affairs committee of Associated Student Government will formulate an allocations bill to be presented at its first meeting in April. The bill will outline allocations of student fee dollars for recognized student organizations for the 2011 fiscal year.

About $135,000 is available for allocations to the 60 RSOs that met the application deadline.

“Every year the amount that all of the organizations ask for greatly exceeds how much we can actually give to them,” said Jonathan Rivers, chair of the Fiscal Affairs committee and junior secondary education in social sciences major.

As part of the process, RSOs must schedule a meeting with the Fiscal Affairs committee where they discuss their goals and needs as a club.

“We’re just looking at what they’re asking for and how they’re going to use it to better the campus,” said Jennifer Cheray, member of the Fiscal Affairs committee and sophomore marketing major.

Group size, goals and previous achievements that are discussed in the meetings are all contributing factors in deciding how funds will be divided, as does the amount that the RSO is asking for.

“Some groups just want publicity money, money for a speaker, or just trip money, and so the committee sits down and goes through and sees where they can make the fewest cuts to get the maximum benefit for the money,” said Whitney McGinnis, ASG graduate assistant.

RSOs that applied for allocations are required to sit in on the ASG meeting in April where the amounts for each club will be discussed and debated. They then must attend workshops held by ASG, the dates of which have not been set.

“After the meeting there’re some workshops in April that are put on about how to spend the money that they are allocated, what kind of forms they have to fill out when they travel, who to get into contact with when they travel and that sort of stuff,” McGinnis said.

While ASG representatives are responsible for contacting their RSOs, the clubs themselves must follow through on the allocation application, the meeting with the fiscal affairs committee, the ASG meeting in April and the workshops in order to receive funding.

“There’s a lot of responsibility on the organization but we feel that if they’re wanting to use this money it’s a good way to make sure that they’re really going to use the money for the best purposes since it is student fee dollars,” McGinnis said.

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Students and community members gather in Tuesday night in Beer:30 to celebrate Mardi Gras. The party was hosted by the French Club.

Beads, costumes and sodas were the highlight of the French Club sponsored Mardi Gras party at Beer:30 last Tuesday night.
In past years, the event has taken place on campus, however, French Club Co-President Naomi Gonzalez, sophomore communications major, said they were ready for a change of venue.
“We decided that we needed to explore new territory and come out of campus and thought it might attract more people,” Gonzalez said.
To encourage people to dress up, there was a cover charge of $1 for those who did and $3 for those who did not. This was done as a fundraiser for the French Club and raised around $500.
“We wanted people to dress up to just get into the spirit of things,” said Co-President Sarah Palmer, sophomore sociology major. “We wanted people to have fun.”
Hidden behind his makeshift pizza box mask, Jay Andrew Vehige, Emporia resident, 19, strutted his Lady Gaga inspired costume.
“I went to the thrift store and got a regular jacket,” Vehige said. “I was actually going to get a dress but it took too long, and I got a pizza box and painted it black.”
Though he had not celebrated Mardi Gras in the past, Vehige heard about the event and thought it sounded like fun.
“This is my first time celebrating Mardi Gras,” Vehige said. “My friends told me about it and I just thought I’d come out and enjoy the night.”
Sporting three inch long feathered eyelashes, Shauntae Stewart, freshman sociology and modern languages major, said it was also her first time celebrating Mardi Gras.
“I just like the cultural value of it,” Stewart said. “This is the first big event that I’ve had, it’s nice to feel alive to go out on the town.”
Also as a fundraiser, the club sold Mardi Gras beads. Soft drinks were provided for free.
“We sold non-alcoholic beverages to just remind people to drink responsibly and just to be a good influence outside of campus,” Gonzalez said.
Traditionally a Christian holiday, Mardi Gras is a common celebration in many countries on the day before lent begins, Ash Wednesday.
“Mardi Gras in French means ‘fat tuesday,’” Palmer said. “It kind of got that name because traditionally it was the last day to get rid of all of your butter and sugar and whatever you’re supposed to give up for lent.”
Gonzalez stresses Mardi Gras as important in French culture and tradition.
“We celebrate Mardi Gras because it’s part of the francophone culture and everyone can celebrate it,” Gonzalez said. “I like the festive colors that people wear and how they dress up.”

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