collegian kansas
Vol. 115 | No. 102
Schulz imparts life lessons to students Austin Enns | Collegian
President Kirk Schulz spoke to a group of about 40 students during Tuesday night worship at K-State Wesley. K-State Wesley is a United Methodist campus ministry located at 1001 Sunset Ave. in the old Delta Tau Delta fraternity house. Mike Toluba, campus minister for K-State Wesley, said they decided to invite Schulz to speak at their ministry because one of the members of the organization, Lora Andrews, junior in secondary education, works for the Schulz family. Schulz accepted but decided to give a lecture focused on life lessons as opposed to a traditional sermon. “We left it really openended so he could talk about anything he wanted to,” Toluba said. Schulz opened the speech with an outline of his transition between faith communities. In one of his anecdotes, Schulz revealed he had started attending the Baptist Student Union in college because they met in a nicer building than the Methodists. After getting a Ph.D. at Virginia Tech, he accepted a job at a university in North Dakota. Due to a lack of Baptists in the area, the Schulzes began to get involved in the Methodist church once again. After detailing his spiritual journey from Methodist to Baptist and back to Methodist, Schulz discussed four ideas he thought were important for a good college experience. Being passionate about the college experience was his first point. He said he believes when ex-students come back to K-State, they should be able to show their children activities they participated in during college. Tolerance was the next area of emphasis for Schulz. He said life is complex, and not all issues are morally absolute. Not compromising in life is a belief Schulz developed with the help of Stephen Covey’s book, “Principle-Centered Leadership.” Schulz said he and his wife made a decision to not compromise in their desire to have no regrets when they die. Seeking out new experiences was the final point in Schulz’s speech. He said he has lived in many different states in his life, and even though some of them seemed unbearable initially, there were always people who loved living in those places. He concluded by saying he had been personally impacted by all the locations he has lived in and that everybody should “travel somewhere.” After the lecture, Schulz engaged the audience in a short question and answer session. Included in the answers was his favorite experience at K-State, which was when he was introduced to the students and faculty at the Texas Tech basketball game last year. Schulz also divulged that he failed a Fluid Mechanics class the first time he took it in college. Stephanie Hern, junior in secondary education, said she thought Schulz was humanized through his speech. “This gave me a closer connection to him,” Hern said.
state
Check out page 8 for coverage of The Big XII Fashion Show.
wednesday, february 17, 2010
www.kstatecollegian.com
Aggieville celebrates Mardi Gras
Fat Tuesday
Lauren Garrison | Collegian Last night, Auntie Mae’s Parlor held a Superheroes and Villains costume party in celebration of Fat Tuesday, which is Mardi Gras in French. In France, Mardi Gras is the practice of eating richer, fatty foods on the last night before Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday, or today. In the United States, Mardi Gras refers to the events of the Carnival celebrations and is most famously celebrated in New Orleans. Every year, hundreds of people travel to the city, and most dress in costumes and paint their bodies. Women lift up their shirts for beads, and many people drink beer to celebrate the day. Auntie Mae’s costume party is a yearly event that always occurs on Fat Tuesday, and every year a band plays during the party. Two Man Gentlemen Band played during this year’s celebration. The band began playing at 10 p.m., the same time the costume judging began. For those who chose not to wear costumes, there was a cover charge of $2. About one-third of the patrons who were at Auntie Mae’s when the band started were wearing costumes. Throughout the evening, employees of Auntie Mae’s walked through the crowd and judged people’s costumes, and around midnight the best costumes were chosen to receive a prize. There were three categories for judging: Best Male, Best Female and Best Couple. Tracy Engstrom, server at Auntie Mae’s, said the manager of the parlor, Mark Bargabus, helps choose winners for best costumes, along with the band of the evening. “It usually gets pretty busy,” said Engstrom, who was dressed as Valkyrie. “We always celebrate on Mardi Gras,
and it’s always fun.” Lindsey Givens, graduate student in English, who was dressed as Rogue from the X-Men, said she usually only comes to Auntie Mae’s for poetry night, which was canceled that evening and moved to a different day for the party. Luke Stramel, Manhattan resident, won last year’s Best Male Costume for his costume of Rorschach of the Watchmen. This year, he dressed as Zorro and carried a sword. “The biggest concern I had was that I needed the sword,” Stramel said. “I had to tie four zip-ties around the handle. It’s a real sword.” Stramel said he had used the same sword with his Link costume, from the Legend of Zelda, for a different costume party in a different bar last year. He said he was stopped by a bouncer who had asked him not to wave the sword around at the bar. “But of course, as I am walking in, everyone wants to wave it around,” Stramel said. Stramel was at the Purple Pig before the party began at Auntie Mae’s. He was there to celebrate a friend’s birthday, along with several others like Zack Pistora, senior in political science. “I came out for my friend’s
Photos by Tommy Theis | collegian
Top: A group of friends wait to celebrate a birthday with a shot at the Purple Pig. Above: The bartender at the Purple Pig gets festive with a bright feathered mask and Marti Gras beads, popular costume items for Fat Tuesday celebrations. birthday, but I enjoy the happy times, too,” Pistora said of Mardi Gras celebrations. Many of the bars in Aggieville did not have any patrons around 10 p.m. Tubby’s Sports Bar was empty on
the dance side, and Pat’s Blue Rib’n only had about six people sitting at the bar. Several of the bars were in the Mardi Gras spirit, and were giving away glittered plastic top hats to bar-goers.
A ‘ merican Idol’ watch party held for Wamego contestant Tiffany Roney | Collegian Jessica Furney, 20, of Wamego, has taken her small-town personality and big-city talent to “American Idol” auditions two years in a row. Both times, she made it to Hollywood. This time, she competed to stay in the top 24. When Furney auditioned for the panel in 2008, she sang Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby,” and Simon Cowell responded by saying, “I like you; you stand out. Small town girl, big dreams; I like that.” In this year’s audition, Furney aimed to impress the infamously cynical judge once again‚ this time by auditioning with a song he had co-written. “Doing a song by Simon Cowell was a huge risk, because there was a girl last year who did it and messed up the words, and he instantly started ragging on her,” Furney said. “It was a really pretty song, and I knew if I did it well, it would be even more impressive, but I could not mess up. If I’d messed up at all, it would have been really, really bad.” Furney did not mess up the song and was sent on to the next level. This accomplishment was the reason for the “American Idol” watch party at Barleycorn’s Downtown BarGrille in her hometown on Tuesday night. Throughout the evening, Furney’s friends and family were kept in suspense while she was the only person in the room who knew whether or not she made it into the top 24. J.C. King, on-air personality for Z96.3, one of the sponsors of the watch party, said the elephant-in-the-room aspect added “a whole other element of fun.” Unfortunately for Furney’s “American Idol” success, she did not make it any further. However, she did not go out without a fight. When the judges explained to her that she
Lisle Alderton | collegian
Friends, mentors and family gathered to cheer on and support Wamego native Jessica Furney, who was one of the recent contestants in this year’s “American Idol,” at the Barleycorn Tuesday night. did not make it into the top 24 contestants, Furney responded persistently, “You guys have no idea. I can do this.” She proceeded to argue with the judges and plead for them to let her stay on the show, but to no avail. Still, Furney said she does not regret her feisty response in the least. “I think it’s good to say what you feel and what you think,” she said. “I’ve been taught to fight for what you believe in, and I fought for what I believed in. That’s part of who I am.” She then added with a laugh, “And, it finally got me on TV. I finally got some good drama for them.” Despite the end of Furney’s 2010 “American Idol” career, several people gave her hugs and high-fives afterward and told her they would continue to support her music, no matter what direction she takes. Susan Furney Howser, Jessica’s mom, said Jessica knows first-hand what it’s like to stand by someone through thick and thin, because she is the primary in-home caregiver for her
grandmother, who is 95. “It’s a challenge, definitely, for her to do it; it takes a lot of energy and patience,” Susan said. “My mom’s very, very appreciative of it, but she’s still ornery.” That orneriness may be the signature trait of the Furney family, but Jessica also displayed a kind heart as she talked sincerely about how she did not believe it was right for “American Idol” to exploit the failures of popstar hopefuls by replaying their worst audition moments. Furthermore, she said she wanted to encourage students who read this article and have a passion for music to pursue their dreams. “If you even think about auditioning, you should do it, because even getting into the stadium and auditioning in front of people for the first round, you have already accomplished something,” she said. “Try not to be intimidated by it, go out, and give it your best shot. That’s really all you can do.”