K A N S A S
S TAT E vol. 125 issue 53 wednesday, feb. 12, 2020 kstatecollegian.com
MENTAL WELLNESS Counseling Services offering free sessions for students
TIMELESS MAGIC
PETER LOGANBILL NEWS EDITOR
As of the new year, students enrolled at Kansas State are able to access free counseling sessions from Counseling Services. Kodee Walls, assistant director and training director at Counseling Services, said this change was made to decrease barriers to access. “With the mental health crises that have become a reality for the country, and certainly a lot of students who maybe in the past decades wouldn’t have been able to go to college because their mental health treatment would have gone unaddressed,” Walls said. “We have higher functioning people with more chronic mental health concerns coming to college to be successful, so we needed to kind of open up opportunities for those folks.” Free individual counseling is on a short-term model of care, meaning that students can get eight sessions per semester. Walls said a lot of the people she works with are doing bi-weekly sessions and this model allows her to see double the clients. “That’s so people can kind of get a sense of, ‘Are these needs something that I can have addressed at the Counseling Center, or do I need to look for other options and referrals in the community?’” Walls said. Workshops, group therapy, couples counseling and biofeedback are unlimited and also free. All scheduled appointments
Students weigh in on why ‘Harry Potter’ has remained popular Page 7
Student body presidential candidates share platforms Pages 4-5
Dalton Wainscott | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
After the new year, students enrolled at Kansas State were able to take advantage of free services from Counseling Services. have a $25 no-show or late cancellation fee. “We want to make sure that other people don’t become a barrier to access for folks,” Walls said. “If you have an appointment, for example, and you no-show it ... then you’ve basically taken that away from another person.” Walls said she often recom-
mends group therapy and adds that small groups of six to eight people tend to decrease isolation. “That tends to be one of my primary referrals because for college students, mental health issues like depression and anxiety, they can be very isolating,” she said. “So, you come to therapy and you talk
one-on-one with a clinician, it can be great and amazing, but the isolation doesn’t necessarily decrease.” While there will still be a wait, Walls said these changes will start to lower the amount of time it takes to get in. She also noted that it may take two or three weeks to get an appointment at Counseling Services,
but other mental health centers or private practices can take six weeks or six months. “There will still be a wait to get into initial appointments,” Walls said. “This isn’t just going to disappear in that you call today and get in tomorrow, but it should significantly decrease the amount of time people end up waiting.”
Committee recommends decrease to Rec Services budget Page 6
Low- and no-cost Valentine’s Day date ideas Page 8
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
FAST ACTION
Students, police officer save life at rec center
Photo courtesy of Kansas State University
From left to right, Emme Tremaine, Kennedy Brown, Officer Andrew Koharchik and Ian Gash.
Campus police activity: Feb. 3 to Feb. 10 Tuesday, Feb. 4 Incident: Theft under $1,500 Location: 1831 Olympic Dr. Time: 7:25 p.m. Disposition: Items were not stolen. No theft occurred. Thursday, Feb. 6 Incident: Vehicle-pedestrian, minor injury accident Location: 1500 block of Claflin Rd. Time: 9 a.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. Citation issued.
Incident: Two vehicle, non-injury accident Location: 1700 block of College Heights Rd. Time: 10 a.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. No citation issued. Incident: Two vehicle, non-injury accident Location: 2100 block of Kimball Ave. Time: 12:14 p.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. Citation issued
Friday, Feb. 7 Incident: Theft Location: 1831 Olympic Dr. Time: 12:15 p.m. Disposition: Under investigation.
Saturday, Feb. 8 Incident: Theft and criminal use of financial card Location: 1825 Claflin Dr. Time: 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 6 Disposition: Under investigation.
Incident: Two vehicle, non-injury accident Location: 1400 block of Denison Ave. Time: 4:23 p.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. Citation issued.
Incident: Criminal damage to property and driving while license is suspended, cancelled or revoked Location: 1705 Hillcrest Dr. Time: 6:14 p.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. Arrest made.
PAIGE EICHKORN WRITER
On Jan. 24, a Kansas State student playing basketball at the Peters Recreation Center suddenly fainted and began seizing on the floor. Students Kennedy Brown, Ian Gash and Emme Tremaine parted the crowd and called 911. They proceeded to get the first aid kit and the automated external defibrillator (AED) to administer a shock to his heart if he lost a pulse. K-State Policer Officer Andrew Koharchik also helped with chest compressions as they worked to save his life. “I have a newfound respect for people who do that every day,” Gash, senior in marketing, said. “Because I can’t imagine that being your nine-to-five. It really brings home the sanctity of life and how fragile we really are. It really brings everything into perspective when you see something like that.” As rec center employees, CPR and first aid training are required parts of getting the job. These medical emergencies can and have occurred multiple times in the same week at the rec center. Brown, junior in human development and family science, said she is grateful for the training sessions she’s had and the skills they gave her. “I mean, he was a perfectly healthy kid, 20 years old, just playing basketball with his friends that he grew up with and then all of a sudden ... he was close to dying,” Brown said. “And I think it just makes you realize how fragile life is. Appre-
Sunday, Feb. 9 Incident: Two vehicle, non-injury accident Location: 1600 block of Tunstall Circle Time: 1:07 p.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. No citation issued. Monday, Feb. 10 Incident: Burglary and criminal damage to property Location: 1105 Sunset Ave. Time: 12:22 a.m. Disposition: Investigation completed. Arrest made.
ciate the people around you and make the most of every day. You can hear about that stuff happening but then when you see it and you’re like, ‘OK, this really could happen to anybody.’” Thankfully, the student was revived and is recuperating at a hospital in Kansas City. Tremaine, sophomore in mass communications, hopes the staff at the rec center will implement yearly or monthly CPR training. “You can’t really prepare mentally necessarily for that,” Tremaine said. “But I think knowing the skills — the fact that we do have to be trained in order to work at the rec is obviously good — but I think after that whole experience we can all agree, we want all the rest of our staff to be brushed up on it, because it is something where it’s like you shouldn’t have to be nervous, you just know how to do it so go and do it. ... Somebody’s life is depending on it.” The three students and K-State police officer were presented with challenge coins from Riley County EMS and K-State Police, signifying their earned respect from them as well as their ability to go above and beyond in an emergency situation. These coins are also highly respected in the military. After the paramedics were able to get the student into the ambulance that day, they expressed their appreciation for the work the three student employees had done. “They had all asked us each if we were OK, but also just reminded us, ‘You did everything you were supposed to,’” Brown said. “‘You guys did awesome. We’re proud of you.’”
Grab your copy of at Burger King
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
ELECTIONS PAIGE EICHKORN WRITER
With student body presidential elections right around the corner, the pressure is on for those vying to lead the Student Governing Association and take on the task of being the primary representative of the student body. However, for the Jacob Casey ticket, it’s not about winning. During the student body presidential debates last week Casey, junior in hospitality management and political science, said he doesn't stand up against the other two candidates who have been deeply immersed in SGA for a large portion of their time at Kan-
sas State. “One of the biggest things that our whole campaign is based on is honestly [that] me [and] Morgan [Boyer] have no intention of winning,” Casey said. Casey and his running mate, Morgan Boyer, freshman in theatre, got into it mostly to find out what the process was like and share that with the students. "We know a lot of people who don't pay attention to SGA at all, but anyone can be involved in it," Casey said. "It's fun. It's very simple. It's not something that they try to gate keep. It’s just gate kept by this stigma, honestly.” If elected, the three goals Casey hopes to accomplish are provide, inform and advo-
Jacob Casey says he has ‘no intention of winning’ presidency
cate. The campaign wants to provide students with the best experience they can to fulfill their needs, inform students about what SGA is and what it means for them and, finally, advocate for student issues. “I would definitely try and really interact with the students because I feel like a lot of the students are currently fed up with all the administration,” Casey said. “Everything is just so slow with what the students want actually happening. So I am really just trying to speed that process up and even if I can't, just be very transparent." Casey and Boyer hope to reach the students in a way that is convenient for those they serve. “It's so easy to get in your
own bubble in college so instead of just trying to pull them out of that bubble, how can we get that information into their bubble?” Casey said in regards to their goals. Another goal of the pair is to show students that it's good to try something new for the fun of it is while in college. “[We want to] push students to just have fun, even if it's not running for SGA,” Casey said. “Just trying to do things that you're like, 'That sounds fun, I should do it' ... students shouldn't fear trying new things because you can always choose to back out if you don't like it." Though it's his name on the ticket, Casey expressed his desire to make his run about the students.
"That's just why I like this campaign so much, because it's really just about the students actually," Casey said. "We're not serious about winning, so we can focus all on the students and make sure that they get the most out of this.”
Voting in the student body presidential primary is on Tuesday and Wednesday. From there, the two candidates with the highest percentage of student votes will go head to head in the general election.
Jingting Lan | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Jacob Casey, junior in hospitality management and political science, is running for student body president. His campaign is focused on getting more students engaged in SGA.
Tel Wittmer highlights the land grant mission in campaign BAILEY BRITTON
MANAGING EDITOR
"Success, Sustainability and Service" — these are the three platforms Tel Wittmer, junior in secondary education, chose to run on for student body president. Wittmer's vice presidential running mate is Lane Lundeen, junior in fisheries, wildlife and conservation science. Their success platform outlines goals for collaborating with administrators, lowering "wasteful spending" and revising the K-State 8 curriculum to include classes on subjects like personal finance or on relationships, that would benefit students beyond college. "Yale and Harvard are both creating 'adulting' curriculums, as silly as that word sounds, it's something we need to consider," Wittmer said. For sustainability, Wittmer wants to focus on creating waste reduction opportunities on campus. This includes im-
plementing "sustainable practices" for reducing waste in dining halls. "It's a big passion of Lane's," he said. Finally, for their service platform, he wants to engage the student body by including student's voices in decision making and encouraging social media interactions. Before Wittmer even considered running for president, he held other offices in SGA and participated in Student Alumni Board. "I wasn't elected a senator my freshman year for my sophomore year, but one of the elected senators stepped down so I was brought on," Wittmer said. "I ran for reelection last year and then applied to be On-Campus Allocations chair." In addition, he was a student ambassador for the K-State Alumni Association, representing students at alumni and university events. "That was totally worth it," Wittmer said.
Wittmer's experience also includes being a teaching assistant for anthropology professor Michael Wesch's cultural anthropology class for the fall 2019 semester. "It was kind like of my first experience of applying myself in the classroom and trying to teach students," he said. For Wittmer, this reinforced his desire to be a teacher. He is currently on schedule to student teach in the spring 2021 semester. However, if he becomes president, he has to be enrolled full-time at K-State. "There's no way I would be able to [student teach] then because that is a full-time job," Wittmer said. "That's something I thought about for a long time, but I'm willing to sacrifice and wait. I would have no problem taking classes to get a minor in history or anthropology." Just like he had to consider the changing his path to graduation, Wittmer also con-
sidered if he should run and who he would like to be his running mate. Wittmer ultimately chose to run with Lundeen because they have many of the same goals and complementary personalities, Wittmer said. "[I want] to further the mission of the university," Wittmer said. "Lane has the same idea. We just mesh together and it's really awesome to see each other grow." The duo's goal is to further the original land-grant mission of K-State — education, opportunity and access, Wittmer said. "That's what Lane and I want to expand upon," Wittmer said. "Our mission as a university is to not make money as an institution or just get by in education. It's to create opportunity for people." Voting in the student body presidential primary is on Tuesday and Wednesday. From there, the two candidates with the highest percentage of student votes will
go head to head in the general election.
Bailey Britton | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Tel Wittmer, junior in secondary education, is running for student body president with Lane Lundeen, junior in fisheries, wildlife and conservation science. The campaign is looking to emphasize K-State’s land grant mission during the race.
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
Heatherman emphasizes affordability in student body presidential run KAYLIE MCLAUGHLIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
GRACE WYATT WRITER
When Hannah Heatherman, junior in finance and organizational management, first came to Kansas State, she hadn’t planned on being involved with Student Governing Association. Two years later, she’s the speaker of the student senate and is running for student body president. She got involved with SGA her sophomore year as a student senator for the College of Business. As someone who hadn’t been involved with SGA from the start, Heatherman says she has a unique perspective: she knows what it’s like to be outside SGA, but also has the experience necessary to be
student body president after taking on upper-leadership positions within the organization. “The reason that I’m running for student body president is really similar to the reason I ran for student senate two years ago,” Heatherman said. “I wanted to be sure that any student on the K-State campus that didn’t understand the resources ... felt empowered to learn what SGA did and also felt like they could be changemakers on campus.” Heatherman said it didn’t sink in that she wanted to run for student body president until late last summer when she attended a Board of Regents meeting with current student body president Jansen Penny, senior in industrial engineering. “I got to see him help present our tuition propos-
al and that’s the first time it ever really set in for me how vital it is that we have a person who understands not only the student experience but everything that happens behind the scenes and administratively too,” Heatherman said. As far as her campaign goes, Heatherman said she is focusing on three main aspects of student life. The first one is affordability. “Some things that we hope to accomplish includes putting into place stricter restrictions on the use of expensive educational platforms like TopHat, McGraw Hill Connect, Wiley Plus,” Heatherman said. “All of us students know too that they aren’t the best way of teaching ... I really want to cut back on the usage of stuff like that during my term.” Heatherman said she’d
also like to work on setting up a program that would allow students to charge textbook and classroom material expenses to their KSIS account, like a tuition bill. That way, they can use scholarship dollars on it immediately or deal with the bill overtime in the hopes that it could prevent students from missing rent payments or skipping meals at the start of the semester to make up for personal budget shortfalls that might occur from purchasing expensive materials. Another big cornerstone of her campaign is promoting mental health and wellness. “Mental health is as prevalent of an issue as ever, and it isn’t a trend that’s going to stop overnight,” Heatherman said. “While I think that K-State has really great individual resourc-
es, the network of how they work together and refer into one another isn’t as strong as it could be.” Heatherman said a first step in dealing with mental health on campus is better training for academic advisers. If they can spot the warning signs of a student struggling with mental health, they would be able to refer that student to Counseling Services sooner. These two areas combined lead into her final campaign initiative: improving the overall campus experience at K-State. “I think that I’m the best candidate to be student body president because of my experience, ideas and commitment to the job,” Heatherman said. “Ever since I became a part of SGA, what’s made college easier for me is making college eas-
ier for other people. It’s been proven that people who are excited to show up for work work better, they work harder, they work longer, and I’ve spent countless hours on this organization.” It’s her commitment, she says, that sets her apart from the other candidates in the race. “I’m the person who’s willing, who’s committed, who’s passionate about staying late and working for students every day, because, for me, it doesn’t feel like work. I think that’s really unique amongst the candidates,” Heatherman said. Voting in the student body presidential primary is on Tuesday and Wednesday. From there, the two candidates with the highest percentage of student votes will go head to head in the general election.
Jingting Lan | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Hannah Heatherman, speaker of the student senate, is running for student body president. She says her commitment to SGA and the student body is what sets her apart from the other candidates in the race.
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
REVIEW ANNA SCHMIDT WRITER
YouTube and Twitter personality Ben Shapiro is widely known for his sharp tongue and controversial ideas. The conservative thought leader is a regular participant in political debates, a network television contributor and travels across the U.S. giving political speeches on college campuses. Many don’t realize that Shapiro also hosts “The Ben Shapiro Show,” a daily news commentary podcast on political and current event topics. Most podcast episodes begin with a rundown of all things current. Shapiro reviews what-
ever is buzzing — from election coverage to foreign policy to the latest feud the president has gotten himself into on Twitter. With each piece of news, Shapiro passionately shares his outlook with intelligence and wit. Each episode of the podcast reserves around 15 minutes for Shapiro’s segments, “Things That I Like” and “Things That I Hate.” Here, the host identifies a piece of news that felt like a win and another that felt like a step in the wrong direction. This portion of the podcast gives Shapiro room to rant and rave, which is when he is at his best. “The Ben Shapiro Show” has kept me coming back to listen every day for a few reasons. The first: It is honest and
Privilege Fee Committee recommends $100,000 decrease to Rec Services BAILEY BRITTON
MANAGING EDITOR
The Privilege Fee committee recommends a $100,000 decrease to the Recreation Services budget
‘Ben Shapiro Show’ is witty, thoughtprovoking
straightforward and unwaveringly consistent. Shapiro doesn’t pull any punches when labeling his show and it is openly referred to as conservative commentary. Shapiro is transparent about his identity as an Orthodox Jew, a proud capitalist and a strong opponent to political correctness. In some ways, this could appear to be a negative rather than a positive for the show, but nothing is worse than turning on the news and feeling like you are being fed subtle messaging disguised as “unbiased, honest coverage.” Shapiro isn’t trying to sneak anything past us. Everything is on the table. The next: It makes me laugh. No one has the back pocket of cultural references
quite like Shapiro does. The self-proclaimed outcast in high school spent his formative years reading, writing, listening to classical music and watching every Oscar-nominated film since 1933. When he speaks on current events, he is never without an analogy. The final reason: The ideas presented are legitimately good. While Ben possesses a certain sense of humor that often comes across as charming and likable, his commentary is most definitely not without substance as well. The lawyer and Harvard graduate skipped two grades in elementary school because the pace at which he was learning was so much more accelerated than his fellow students. His nat-
FINANCES
citing surplus funds in maintenance reserve accounts. “This is one of the bigger entities,” said Ethan Shultz, committee member and senior in statistics and data science. “It is easier to cut a lot from their budget than a little
from other entities.” Recreation Services includes the Peters Recreation Complex and Ahearn Natatorium. Privilege fee dollars help provide fitness courses, equipment rentals and student worker salaries. Cur-
rently, Recreation Services is allocated $3,171,114. “There are not very many entities of this size and are as important,” said Michael Dowd, College of Agriculture senator and junior in animal sciences and industry. “It’s a
ural intelligence shines through in his commentary. He also regularly cites trustworthy data throughout his show and follows his opinions with a strong line of reasoning. In many ways I believe that “The Ben Shapiro Show” has shaped who I am today. The podcast hooked me with its wit and flow, and then introduced me to ideas that have changed my perspective on politics, religion and everyday decision making. What I have found to be the core political belief around which the show operates is the idea that I am in charge of my own life. When Shapiro talks about war or peace or leadership or poverty, there is always an assumption that every human involved has the capacity to step up to a challenge and overcome it. When I’m listening to “The Ben Shapiro Show,” the American dream is most certainly not dead.
Shapiro isn’t known for being open-minded or for being particularly encouraging. In fact he is viewed as directly the opposite of those in many circles. But in my experience, listening to “The Ben Shapiro Show” has opened my mind and encouraged me to believe that I am capable of creating a beautiful life for myself. I’d recommend it to anyone in search of a news source that makes you think. From the first moment I began listening to the show I realized just how much is out there to think about, and I’ve been an immeasurably better person for it.
lot more feasible for Rec Services to be decreased.” The committee debated the recommended cut briefly as some committee members worried about renovation projects. Nathan Bothwell, speaker pro tempore and junior in communications and political science, reminded the committee that Recreation Services must ask the committee before using more than $30,000 on a single project.
“They have only spent about the amount we have replenished them, so what is the point of giving them extra,” said Sara Wallace, committee member and junior in biochemistry. The recommendation will be introduced to Student Senate on Feb. 13. Donny Riffle, committee chair and senior in computer science, said he expects lots of debate on the recommendation since it is a substantial decrease.
Anna Schmidt is a junior in mass communications. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@ kstatecollegian.com.
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The fandom that lived: Students talk ‘Harry Potter’ popularity ANGELA SAWYER WRITER
For 23 years, J.K. Rowling’s story about Harry Potter, the young wizard who survived a deadly curse, and his fight against darkness took the world by storm through seven books and eight movie adaptations, birthing spinoff books, a theme park and a play. For a lot of young people around the same age as the franchise itself, “Harry Potter” was one of the first book series they ever read. Lavanya Kumar, freshman in economics, found it hard to stop when she started reading them. “I think the books were really interesting and that was when
I first got into reading,” Kumar said. “And once I started reading, I wanted to read as many books as I could.” A large portion of the series revolves around the friendship among the three protagonists: Harry, Ron and Hermione. “I think the whole friendship part was what I really liked about books and the movies,” Kumar said. “When I first read it, that was all I could talk about.” Another theme in the book series is love: romantic love, love between friends and love between parent and child. As the series nears its end, more characters are introduced and the story gets more complex. Darby Schneider, freshman in ar-
chitecture, said it was easy to keep up with the series despite its complexity. “I liked the storyline, how a lot of it was connected,” Schneider said, “and how it kept growing and how it got complicated but still was really easy to get a handle on.” Ann Barker, freshman in music education, said one of the reasons “Harry Potter” is so beloved is because people can see themselves in it. “There are a lot of things people can identify with that kind of escapism, like wanting to go to your own school,” Barker said. “Also, there is a wide variety of characters that people can find themselves in.”
magazine Illustration by Abigail Compton
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wednesday, february 12, 2020
LOVE ON A BUDGET MONICA DIAZ
THE COLLEGIAN
Those who celebrate Valentine’s Day are faced with a looming question: What should I get my significant other? For some couples, they decide they won’t buy gifts. Others decide to do a date or activity together as they celebrate their love. Some decide to continue the tradition of gift giving and set a price point for spending or just go overboard. For those who are on a budget but still want to give a gift, there is an option for you. Consider homemade gifts that have sentimental meaning and will make your loved one feel appreciated. Homemade gifts are great because they are (literally) what you make them. They can be expensive or cheap — you decide. Before you decide on what to make, figure out what your partners love language is so you can get the best gift for them. A great thing to do is take the love languages test and then choose a gift based off of those results. Here are three ideas that
are inexpensive but sentimental:
1. LOVE LETTERS
Valentine’s Day is just one day of the year, so why not express your love through letters that can be read all year? Letter giving is something that is extremely personal and can mean a lot to someone. Here are some ideas you could write about: qualities that you love about them, letters for when they are sad, happy or going through various emotions or simply just a letter explaining why you love them. Out of those listed ideas, the best is writing letters about qualities of your significant other that you love. Written letters are highly valued and if your significant other’s love language is words of affirmation, this is the perfect gift to give. These letters can let your person know you love their humor, compassion, sense of adventure or whatever qualities they have.
2. COOK TOGETHER Does your significant other enjoy quality time? If so, try cooking a meal together. Pick a meal that
Valentine’s Day ideas that cost little, no money
your significant other enjoys or one that you both have been wanting to try. Cooking a meal together can be great and allow you two some quality time. If you want to get crafty, try making a meal and dessert. You can split the tasks or do them together. Cooking together is great because you learn how the other cooks and works in a kitchen. Some people are strict recipe followers, while others have a more “go with the flow” attitude in the kitchen. Cooking together will help you find this out. This is a great time to be goofy and just enjoy being with your significant other.
3. EXPLORE YOUR CITY
No matter where you live, you can explore your city. Write down a list of places that are memorable to your relationship, places you haven’t been or maybe find an event in the area. Write down a couple of places and make your date into a scavenger hunt. You can make the first card a place where you two met or that holds a significant place in your heart for you two. Next,
Logan Wassall | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Valentine’s Day is coming up quick. There are many ways to spend quality time with a romantic partner or other loved one. pick a place and have a meal set up there or an activity to do. You can even see if there is an event in the area that is free or cheap. End your scavenger hunt with a new place or go back home. Whatever you choose to do, make it fun for you both. This is an opportunity for you both to explore your city, make new memories and
grow closer together on this special day. Remember, Valentine’s Day isn’t all about the gifts. It’s about being with your loved one and showing them that you care for them. Consider one of these three date ideas as a way of saving some money and spending quality time with your loved one.
Monica Diaz is the social media editor for the Collegian and a senior in journalism. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian. com.