Ready, Set, Go
Red Carpet Review
The International Pancake Day race was March 8. Seward students were involved in events from the International Race to the Miss Liberal Pageant. Seward Student Alex Richards represented Olney, England, this year. — Pages 2B-3B
The 83rd annual Academy Awards were Feb. 28. Awards were given to this year’s best films. — Page 4B
Year 42, No. 9
News notes • SPRING BREAK is March 13-20. There will be no classes at SCCC/ATS, but campus offices will be open regular hours. • TIME SPRINGS FORWARD March 13 when daylight saving time begins. Set clocks ahead one hour at 2 a.m. Safety professionals also suggest using daylight saving time as a reminder to change batteries in all home smoke alarms. • SCHOLARSHIP applications for the fall semester of 2011 are due in the Office of Student Financial Aid by April 1 for priority deadline. • LIBRARY EXHIBIT on William Allen White: Sage of Emporia, is a traveling exhibit open to the public at the Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School library. For more information, contact the library at (620) 417-1160. • XTREME CHALLENGE will be March 30, with area high school students on campus for academic challenges, tours and a chance to win prizes. High school students can register for the event through March 21. For information, go to sccc.edu, click on More Events and then on Xtreme Challenge. • THE PHONATHON to raise money for SCCC/ATS scholarships will be April 5-7, 9-10. The goal for the phonathon is $33,000. Students will be calling alumni, friends, family and members of the local community. Anyone wishing to make a pledge in advance should call the SCCC/ATS Foundation office at 417-1131 or go to alumni.sccc.edu/donations to donate online by credit card. • CUSTOM CAR SHOW with proceeds for student scholarships will be April 10 at the tech school, 2215 N. Kansas in Liberal. Entries can start setting up cars at 9 a.m., and the public is invited from 1-5 p.m., to see the show, hear the Sound Off event, and vote for the People’s Choice Awards to be awarded at 4 p.m. A $20 registration to enter a vehicle includes two lunch tickets. Classes are pickups, motorcycles, classic cars, muscle cars, street rods, imports, tractors, low riders and stock cars. For information, call (620) 417-1154. • TELOLITH SUBMISSION deadline is March 11. Poems, short fiction, and personal essays must be submitted to Bill McGlothing who can be contacted at (620) 417-1457 or at bill.mcglothing@sccc.edu. Drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, or two- or threedimensional art can be submitted to Susan Copas who can be contacted at (620) 417-1453 or at susan.copas@sccc.edu.
Largest tiny exhibit
March 10
Erika Nelson visited the Seward campus and talked about experiences as a traveling artist. — Page 1B
Mad for Chad World-record-holding juggler, Mad Chad Taylor, performed at Seward on March 2. — Page 1B
e Crusader www.crusadernews.com
Raul Lemus Crusader staff
Ann starring in Pre-med earning her stripes
& Dance
Nguyen receives U.S. citizenship Li zul y Monarrez Crusader Staff Ann Nguyen — a cheerleader, a dancer, a pre-med student, and, as of this year, a U.S. citizen. Seward student Ann Nguyen, along with her dad Binh Nguyen and brother Thanh Nguyen, recently completed the final steps to a lengthy citizenship process and now each can proudly say, “I am an American!” Nguyen first came to the United States from Vietnam with her parents in 2002. Nguyen and her family arrived in Arlington, Texas, where she started the fifth grade, and completed her junior high education. Her family then moved to Liberal in 2006 where she began her freshman year at Liberal High School. The period of time to become a U.S. citizen, between sending in the completed application and the interview, can vary from five months to more than two years. For Nguyen, though, the period of time waiting for her next appointment was more anguishing than studying for it. “It’s actually not that hard. I had government in high school, so basically I learned everything already. I just reviewed a little bit. The hardest part was the process. It takes forever! I started way back last year. I had to take several trips to Wichita. First it was for the fingerprints, then to get an interview, then for the final oath.” Nguyen enjoys cheerleading, dancing and her nursing classes, while still finding time for her family and friends. Jennyfer Thach, a good friend and supporter of Nguyen, admires all she has done. “I want to congratulate her on getting her citizenship. Now she feels more comfortable fitting in and isn’t categorized as not being considered an American.” Nguyen has been determined and has conquered the obstacles from not speaking any
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114
Liberal, Kansas
Saints in Service striving for 150 volunteer hours
the All-American
Cheer
2011
English to fluently mastering the language. “She’s come a long way. When I first met her, you could tell she had just come from Vietnam, and now she fits in so well: the way she speaks, dresses, acts—she’s just so Americanized. And she’s doing great in cheerleading and dancing. I’m really proud of her,” Thach added. Nancy Bansemer, Nguyen’s instructor at Allied Health, along with Nguyen’s peers, surprised Nguyen with a surprise party when she got back from taking her citizenship oath last semester. “Ann told us she was going to be absent one day to take her test for citizenship, and that was all she said about it. A couple of weeks later she informed me she had to go back to take the oath. Whenever she was gone for it, we decided we would have a surprise party for her, Nguyen and we had balloons, cake and decorations in red, white and blue.” Bansemer admires Nguyen’s tenacity and her devotion to the program. “She’s a very strong student. She’s very devoted, and how she manages to be on the cheer team, the dance team, plus making excellent grades in nursing, which is a full-time plus program, is beyond us. We don’t know how she manages, but she does a great job.” Nguyen’s enthusiasm for school and extracurricular activities has taken her a long way, and with her recent naturalization, she can only foreshadow all of the future success that is hoped for her. Ann addresses her desire to become an American. “I’ve lived in America, so I always wanted to be an American, and now I am an American!”
Abbie Dowell looks over science fair displays with her mom Tanya Dowell at the Southwest Regional Science Fair on March 5 at Seward County Community College. Seventyone exhibits were presented at the science fair. Chemistry and physics instructor William Bryan is a coordinator for the regional science fair. • For more, see story on Page 2.
Crusader photo/ Raul Lemus
In order to celebrate the sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday, of Kansas, Seward County Community College/Area Technical School is promoting Saints in Service during the last week of March. Saints in Service would consist of campus club members volunteering to help in the community. The goal is to reach 150 hours of community service; however, there is no limit to the number of hours Saints can volunteer. “We want to give back to the community, since throughout the Foundation the community helps the college,” Wade Lyon, director of student activities, said. A way to implement the celebration of 150 years since the birth of Kansas was to tie it with the Saints in Service, Lyon said. “Afterward, we could give back to the community every year.” Celeste Donovan, dean of student services, and Lyon are working towards incorporating campus clubs with the community. SCCC/ATS clubs and organizations will be asked for their support in helping with the celebration of the sesquicentennial of Kansas.
Activities that students may be performing during Saints In Service include, but are not limited to, painting, raking, reading, moving items and even building a garden for the Mosaic center. Donovan said those who would like to be considered for a Saints In Service project or activity should contact Lyon at 417-1064 by March 16. Lyon said projects are open to help not only the organizations, but also the community in general. The community service will be distributed based on club interests. “For example, the criminal justice club wants to clear up graffiti,” Donovan said. If a club shows interests, they can request volunteer work in that area. Even the city of Liberal was named after a liberal and generous man, Mr. S.S. Rogers, who gave water out freely to travellers. “You have a lot of determination in Kansas, the Dust Bowl affected the land, but farmers did not leave," Emery Swagerty, librarian technician, said. “The determination of the pioneers of Kansas is still with us, Greensburg was destroyed by a tornado, but now it is being rebuilt. Saints helped the community, and now they are doing it again.”
Kansas House says no to in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants Li zul y Monnarez Crusader staff A bill that would repeal a law passed by the Kansas legislature in 2004 granting in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrant students cleared the Kansas House of Representatives in late February. The House voted 6949 to approve the bill, which is now pending action in the state Senate. The current law grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants who have graduated from a Kansas high school or received a GED, lived in Kansas at least three years, and pledged to become citizens. Last fall, 413 Kansas university and college students — including more than 60 at Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School — received this benefit. Unsuccessful attempts to repeal the law have been launched previously, but with different representatives sitting in this session of the state legislature, the effort to repeal the bill has gained more attention. Seward President Dr. Duane Dunn suggests why. “The repeal was unsuccessful, probably because of the people that were in the legislature at the time,” Dunn said. “I think this year there’s more emotional passion about illegal immigration.” Supporters of the law argue that the current law costs the state about $1 million a year. Some also believe that these students are eligible for state and federal assistance for tuition. Dunn emphasized that is not true because the students do not qualify for those benefits.
“They don’t get state or federal assistance, and I don’t think some people understand that. I think they believe these students get Pell grants, federal loans or whatever, but they are not eligible for that,” Dunn said. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he has no current position on the in-state tuition issue, but believes that immigration issues should be handled at the federal level, not by states. “The legislature is wrestling with the issue of whether or not to grant in-state tuition rates to somebody that is here illegally although they went to school here in a legal fashion, and I’m watching the process to see what the legislature resolves to do with it,” Brownback said. “I do believe that immigration should be handled at a federal level, not at a state level.” Supporters of the in-state tuition bill say the current law gives an advantage to the students of undocumented immigrants over students in Kansas legally, but opponents suggest that the bill would penalize students who had no choice in following their parents to the United States. They also argue that it would discourage students from continuing their college education after the state invested in their public elementary and high school educations. If the bill passes in the Senate, it would remove in-state tuition rates for students who are not here legally. Students who would not qualify for in-state tuition could still attend regents colleges in Kansas but pay the international tuition rates.
Kappa Beta Delta inducts 13 members at spring ceremony Dei si Barboza Online editor
Crusader photo/ Deisi Barboza
Kappa Beta Delta members stand together after the induction ceremony. Thirteen members, majoring in business, were inducted into the organization.
Thirteen Seward County Community College students were inducted during the spring induction ceremony of Kappa Beta Delta. Those 13 new inductees are Rafael Raw, Cristiano Mendes, Yaneth Mendoza, Irma Ortega, Mitchell Foster, Adriana Vazquez, Blake Bradley, Adam Regier, Antoine Freitas Jr., Lucas Izkovitz, Raphael Machado, Jaime Maldonado and Felipe Cruz. In order to become members of Kappa Beta Delta, students must have declared business as their major, already completed 15 hours of college credit, six hours of business classes and have a 3.25 GPA. Those who qualify accept the invite. “I feel very honored to be in Kappa Beta Delta,” said inductee Adriana Vazquez. The ceremony was led by current member Ro-
gelio Alvarez. Alvarez had the task of reading the names of all the inductees. “It wasn’t my first time (speaking to a crowd). It was a little challenging to pronounce all the names but I’m proud to have this experience,” Alvarez said. Alvarez also had some advice to give to other students at Seward. “I do recommend to everyone who has the chance to join because it’s internationally recognized and there’s opportunities for scholarships,” Alvarez said. During the ceremony, an honorary membership award was presented to Rozelle Webb. “I’m honored that they thought of me,” Webb said. Webb has worked with SIFE in the past with their job fairs. Kappa Beta Delta sponsor Tanya Dowell has several activities planned for Kappa Beta Delta. Dowell’s main goal is to have the members socialize with local business members.