Ken Davis

Ken Davis, a popular Christian comedian, will perform at 7 p.m. tonight at the Granada Theatre, 807 Commericial St. Sponsored by KJIL 99.1FM, Davis’s one-man comedy show will center around what influences people.

“This will be a great act for the community,” said Jessica Buchholz, Executive Director of the Emporia Granada Theatre. “The Granada Theatre is excited to have Ken Davis perform here again. It is our mission to help bring a variety of different acts to the community and support all different kinds of culture and performances.”

Davis has made appearances around the world.

When asked why invite Davis to come to Emporia, Buchholz said “I think that the community should come and check out the show-it will be fun for all ages. It gives community members a chance to see something unique in the Granada.”

Davis lives in Tennessee with his wife, Diane and two daughters, Traci and Taryn. His entire family is involved in Davis’ ministry.

Davis has written nine books and published 15 CDs and 16 DVDs.

“I would say that I’m more of a storyteller than a stand-up comedian,” Davis said in a previous interview. “(The audience members) respond well to the stories, there’s a lot of humor involved. I think that I talk about things that people see every day, but never stop to notice.”

Davis is also a motivational speaker and offers seminars on speaking. All of his stories come from real life experiences.

“(I get inspiration from) real life,” Davis said in a previous interview. “I get it from the guy at the airport hassling the guy with the eye stuff. I get it from the guy asking me if I’m reading the newspaper. I get it from my grandchildren telling my wife that she has many wrinkles and then saying, ‘there’s cream for that.’ I get it from real life.”

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ΣΦΕ (Sigma Phi Epsilon)

Tanner Monroe, vice president of programming and crime and delinquency studies major, and Kyle Farmer, vice president of finance and secondary social studies education major pose with the Sig Ep house dog. SiSi Huang/The Bulletin

Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded at Richmond College on November 1, 1901 with the cardinal principles: Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love. ΣΦΕ has grown to more than 280,000 lifetime members, including over 14,000 undergraduates on 241 campuses in the United States.

“We are currently the largest fraternity in terms of undergraduate enrollment in the nation,” said Tanner Monroe, vice president of programming and crime and delinquency studies major. “We set up the highest GPA standard at the national fraternity. Maximizing members’ academic abilities is the number one priority of our fraternity. ”

The founders of Sigma Phi Epsilon set high standards for all brothers to follow.

”We sent three SigEps to Greece to learn about our balanced men because gracefully with balanced mind in balanced body, you will become a better person,” said Kyle Farmer, vice president of finance and secondary social studies education major. “The experience in SigEp helps me focus on money to balance the budget, and how to manage my time and realize who you are and become a better person.”

The fraternity also provides opportunities for motivated members to become leaders.

“We have a lot of leadership conferences that we are able to attend, and we get a lot of support from our alumni,” Monroe said. “There is so much you can do here.”

Farmer said he’s had many opportunities for leadership as well.

“All the fraternities help people develop leadership, but we are different in that we focus more on leadership,” Farmer said. “When I attended the leadership conference in St. Louis, where we gave out the ideas about how we help ourselves in different ways, I learned how to become a leader by uniting everyone under one rule and trying to make our fraternity a great place on the campus and in the community.”

In 2009, Sigma Phi Epsilon was responsible for 800 hours of community service activities, which accounted for almost one-third of the total reported hours within the Greek Community. 

“We will hold ‘Teeter-Totter’ every fall beginning in October and raise money for CECE,” Monroe said.

When asked about his attraction to Sigma Phi Epsilon, Monroe said they are “thirteen guys working for one common goal and we help each other out.”

ΣΣΣ (Sigma Sigma Sigma)

Whitney Wiebe, president of Sigma Sigma Sigma and secondary social sciences education major stands in front of the Tri Sig house. SiSi Huang/The Bulletin

 

A sisterhood called Sigma Sigma Sigma was formed in Farmville, Vir., in 1898.

“We are a sorority containing 58 members and aiming to help college girls to become better women,” said Whitney Wiebe, president and secondary social sciences education major.

Sigma Sigma Sigma holds the mission of establishing among its members a perpetual bond of friendship, to develop strong character and to impress upon them high standards of conduct.

“The advantage is that I know a lot of women and I can establish friendship and be close to them,” Wiebe said.

As part of the mission statement, Wiebe emphasized that what she learned most about was conduct.

“Through character and friendship, you really get to develop how to become mature women, like being a president – I have a lot of leadership responsibilities and encourage others in the house,” she said. “That’s kind of cool.”

Wiebe encourages all girls to come out and see what being a part of a chapter and a university is all about.

“Sigma Sigma Sigma has introduced me to amazing young women which some have become my best friends,” said Kalyna Nelson, vice president and sociology major. “My sorority has offered me many opportunities and has helped me become involved at ESU.”

 As a new director for Up’til Dawn, Nelson always keeps busy with her classes, practice, work and leisure time.

“Tri Sigma is a home away from home giving the opportunity to be an individual while transitioning through life in college,” she said.

Looking back over the entire experience and the support Sigma Sigma Sigma has given her, Nelson said, “I believe character and friendship are important because any person should be unique while representing themselves in a positive way and friendship is key to a happy life and will help any person become a strong and better person.”

While a Greek chapter may be the answer for finding a place to get involved on campus, determining which fraternity or sorority to join can be a tough choice. Sigma Sigma Sigma has set up a detailed goal for GPA achievement and also encourages member to do certain community service projects every semester.

“Tri Sigma is a sorority that is really trying to get women who want to become better women and are trying to live better lives, developing leadership go out around the sorority and experience lives together,” Wiebe said.

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: As a part of women’s history month, ESU assistant professor of history, Joyce Thierer held a performance named “This Land Can Not Be Sold” last Tuesday night at Bruder Theatre in King Hall in the form of a personal narrative. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

As a part of women’s history month, ESU assistant professor of history, Joyce Thierer held a performance named “This Land Can Not Be Sold” last Tuesday night at Bruder Theatre in King Hall in the form of a personal narrative.

Thierer portrayed a woman named Grower, who lived in a plains Earth Lodge village before white settlers came. As a composite character, Grower told teaching stories that are stories that have been told by native peoples, and talked about change, trade and farming.

“Some people call it oral biography,” Thierer said. “I chose the name Grower because to grow is what women did, to be a grower, someone to grow things need to be women. I grow thing but there will be more complex name that one will not share with the culture because you have your personal name and public name. ”

The people created by Thierer with the background of American and Western history are concerned about loss not so much of control of the land, but of use of land.

“They know very well what has happened to the peoples to the East, how they have lost the land because the women, not the men, were farming it. For all of these peoples, to farm, to be a producer of food means to be a woman. This is one of the basic clashes of cultures, that of production – what it is and who does it,” Thierer said.

At the end of the performance, the issue for Grower is that of how many of the white ways the people will need to adopt to survive.

“I have never seen this kind of historic performance before. Dr. Joyce left me strong impression and impact with her unique performance,” said Alison Li, junior business major. “I was not familiar with the history that was told tonight before, but now I know it. It’s about hope, about survival, about adjusting to the change. It makes me think about it again and again.”

“With performance, we have one time to connect, and the level of excitement is what I learn from the performance. I am working very hard on my teaching delivery and my teaching style,”
Thierer said.

Thierer held her first performance of Calamity Jane in 1988 while she was working on her doctorate degree in history from Kansas State University and teaching history for Emporia State University.

“History is the story of the choices we have made over time, and the story of how we have explained those choices,” Thierer said.

Some of Thierer’s creative performance teaching styles were inspired by her earlier experience. Thierer has been performing with “Ride into History” since she founded the historic performance touring troupe in 1990.

“The more I think, the much better the students like it,” Thierer said. “Because when I am out on the road, and I drive around campus, and talk to Kansa, I get excited about the topics, so it keeps me always thinking. The performances keep me learning and interested in it,”

Thierer recently published, “Telling History: A Manual for Performers and Presenters of First-Person Narratives,” and also won the Philadelphia Award.

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Art from the “Stranger Company” show was on display in the Gilson Gallery in King Hall.

You will find yourself in “Stranger Company” if you venture over to the Gilson Gallery in King Hall before tomorrow.

Elizabeth Shenk, graduate in painting, held the opening reception for her senior exhibition last Friday. All the paintings in the show are available for purchase.

The exhibition’s theme, “Stranger Company,” reflects a conglomeration of sorts inspired by the strangeness of the company in which she said she finds herself surrounded most evenings.

“Most of the work was drawn from the memory of short interactions with total strangers,” Shenk said in her artist statement.

As to the word strangeness, Shenk said, “I appreciate it, and I want to show other people how I think about it and what I see.”

Her inspiration comes from the people she meets.

“I get to meet a lot of people, I get to meet people in a way that is not a lasting thing, but it gives me an opportunity to get in inside a person’s personality within 30-minute camaraderie,” she said.

Shenk has consistently created her paintings in a wide range of captivating visual styles.

In the opening reception, viewers’ attentions were attracted immediately by one of her selected works – a memory series, comprised of portraits of more than 20 different people with multifarious expressions.

One attendee said she was inspired by the fertile imagination.

“People enjoy most of my ideas behind why I was doing this, and the fact is that a lot of people state that they could look again and again and again and they would never get boring,” Shenk said.

Another painting in the collection is named “Zack.”

“I like this a lot, and I think it is gritty, layered, raw,” said a viewer.

Shenk said that her favorite piece was “The Bar.”

“You never know what to expect,” Shenk said. “When I look at it, it is exactly how I feel when I am working back in the bar. It describes the annoyed and excited feeling.”

Shenk has an interest in the early childhood arts and building a strong interest in comics. Shenk mentioned that she liked to draw things that are half cute and half creepy, especially into comics.

Shenk said she aims to be a gallery coordinator in the future. All of the work on display at the exhibition, from site decoration, light control to designed propagating posters, have been organized by Shenk.

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Summey

Terri Summey, head of Access and Children Services in the William Allen White Library and associate professor of library services, has been worked at Emporia State for more than 22 years. And she is still passionate about her time with libraries and archives.

“Helping people use the library and helping people do research is sometimes like doing detective work,” Summey said.

Summey grew up in Nebraska and received her bachelor’s degree from Dana College, a master’s degree in library science from North Texas State University and a master’s degree in history from ESU.

“I really enjoy what I am doing, I never have change my mind of devote my career,” Summey said. “The nicest thing of my job is that I work a lot with students, that is why I become a librarian and an professor ,and I really enjoy the peace of working with people.”

Currently, she is working on her doctorate in library information management at ESU. In 1987, she took her first career-related position in the White Library.

“I wanted to be a librarian since I was in the high school,” Summey said. “I am interested in exploring history. It showed the different perspectives of the world.”

During college, Summey came across knowledgeable professors and the interaction with the professors and the vigorous atmosphere made her determined to become a librarian.

“Throughout our lives, a lot of people have influenced us” she said, “you pick up a little bit here and there, that all those experiences are what makes people who they are”

Terri emphasized that her job was not teaching students how to use the library but teaching students how to find the useful information they need.

“For the library, my job includes managing the department of Access Reserves which is circulation in the Reserves Inter-library loan, monitoring the operation of the coffee shop, check the supply or shortage of books,” she said. “As a manager, I help make day to day decisions to make the department run fluently. As a faculty member, I do research in my field. I try to do presentations and publish articles in journals on the research that I am doing.”

Summey also teaches on a part-time basis on the National Faculty for the School of Library and Information Management. She has taught one class for the library school for 13 years called on print and electronic resources and services.

“To be a good role model and a good mentor to people who want to be in this field, sharing my knowledge and my enthusiasts for what I do,” Summey said. “Things are always changing, there is a lot of things going on. The ability to influence my teaching profession seems to be passed on in my knowledge and my experience to new people who want to become librarians.”

Students that work with Summey said they benefit a lot from her teaching style which takes them out of the classroom and into the libraries to put theories into practice.

“She is a great boss to have,” said Dana Carter, SLIM graduate teaching assistant. “She is very dedicated with students, always being in contact with her students and always available to inspire you with professionalism.”

Summey also does story time to the primary school student four times a month.

“Reading to them, getting them excited about books is something new we are trying to do. They grow up and they will know how to use the library,” Summey said. “It is probably like teaching which allows me to mentor those kids, let them know that the library is a fun place.

“Some people are scared by libraries. If we can take some fears away and have people want to be in the library, it is good. We can make the library a comfortable place for people to come, with children, we can open a world of reading, a good place to escape. Open up a book you can go to a different world and you could learn something”

Colleagues of Summey’s remarked about her focuses on the job.

“She is very helpful to the students, she does good job with kids and the kids really like her,” said Candy Johnson, interlibrary loan supervisor. “She is always in good mood and full of energy. She is very knowledgeable, usually up to date on what is going on in the access world.”

Summey also had some advice for students about how to choose a career to pour their heart into.

“Find out what you really like with your passion, sometimes you need to not listen to the outside influences,” Summey said. “I am not getting richer being a teacher. But I am rich in another way – teaching in the classroom, being able to help people and teaching students is a good reward. Looking good and positive things in our lives, then you will be happy in doing that career.”

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