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ON THE
The students’ voice since 1901 • Vol. 111 No. 2 • Thursday, August 25, 2011 • Check us out online
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Main Street making Emporia attractive to students L uke B ohannon bohannon@esubulletin.com In accordance with a student survey given last year, the Emporia Main Street organization is attempting to help make Emporia a more student friendly place. This process includes new businesses and reshaping old services in order to make Emporia more accessible and appealing to the student body. “We’ve done several different things and it’s a work in progress, but we continue to try to work on the Black and Gold Zone close to ESU and implement some of the different activities and businesses that students have asked for,” said Casey Woods director of Emporia Main Street. The Black and Gold Zone is an area surrounding Em-
poria State University that stretches roughly two blocks, Woods said. He explained how Emporia Main Street is working to make this area as student friendly as possible in order to encourage students to come off campus and participate in the community. The area includes businesses, restaurants and other establishments, which Woods said he hopes will become more student oriented over time. Another facet of making Emporia more accessible for students is the Lyon County Alternative Transport service, or L-Cat. Doug Stueve works at the Lyon County Department on Aging and he oversees the L-Cat service. “There’s not any current special setup, but busses come right in front of Plumb Hall on an hourly basis…and that
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The L-Cat bus makes a quick stop Tuesday morning in front of Plumb Hall. The Emporia State campus is one of the many stops on the public bus route. Megan Gartner/The Bulletin
ESU glass student wins international prize
C harlie H eptas news@esubulletin.com
Her glass sculpture titled Play Things won Kaila Mock, senior art student major, first place a the International Glass Arts Society Conference in June. “It’s really overwhelming (to win this award),” Mock said. “It’s very prestigious and quite an honor.” Mock’s win, a large glass socket with nine plugs held in a roughhewn wooden box, was the first time an Emporia State student received a first prize at the conference. But for Mock, glass is more than just an opportunity to win awards. “Glass is really versatile,” Mock said, “you can do anything you want with it, that’s what makes me still excited about it even now.” Mock started out as a sculpture major but grew tired of it quickly. Then she discovered glass. She said that glass blowing felt fresh after and that there was always something more to do with the medium. At the conference, Mock was in competition with around 80 other students ranging from undergraduates to graduates from all over the world. The competition was judged by a panel of experts in the glass field. “Winning this award is a major accomplishment for an ESU student because it shows that we can compete at not only a national level but an international one as well,” said Patrick Martin, glass professor. Mock said that every student was required by Martin to bring a piece of work to the conference, a rule that other schools didn’t have. “After the competition, I was able to talk to the judges and they said how surprised and impressed they were with the quantity and quality of ESU’s submissions to the con-
Teachers college praised for educators despite economy S imone C osper cosper@esubulletin.com
Senior art major Kaila Mock poses with her glass sculpture, titled Play Things, that won first place at the International Student Exhibition. She is the first Emporia State student to win this competition. Megan Gartner/The Bulletin
test,” said Roberta Eichenberg, associate professor of art. ESU has the only collegiate level glass program in the state and is one of the few in the region. Martin said that glass is a unique medium and that the program allows students the chance to work with area experts that they may not have gotten at other universities. The International Glass Conference is a yearly event that is usually held in the United States and is open to art students from all over the world. Well over 1,000 people attended this year’s conference, which was held in Seattle, Wash. ESU had ten students in attendance.
WHO:
Kaila Mock
WHAT:
Won first prize
June
Seattle, Wash.
Glass sculpture
WHEN:
WHERE: WHY:
The U.S. Department of Education recently recognized Emporia State’s teachers college for excellence in a blog posted to their website this summer. BENNET According to the blog posted June 14, ESU cultivates educators with “the knowledge, skills, resources and fortitude to lead and succeed in the twenty-first century.” “We have several measures along the way to make sure students are meeting high standards,” said Dee Holmes, director of the Professional Development Schools program. “It makes the program rigorous but gives us quality control. We know that we cannot be satisfied with the statusquo, that if this is a good program, we always ask ‘how can we make it better?’” But because of recent budget cuts in the education field, some are concerned about the future success of teaching graduates in the job market. “(In past years) we had a 95 percent placement rate (after graduation) and now this last year was lower because of the job market,” said Phillip Bennett, dean of the teachers college. “The jobs just are not out there – it is not a matter of (the quality of ) our graduates.” The Bulletin was unable to obtain placement rates for last year’s teaching graduates before press time on Wednesday. “Budget cuts do discourage me,” said Mary Baca, sophomore education major, “and I do worry about finding a job once I graduate because there are a lot of small districts around here. They have cut back and have for sure cut teachers and it will be more difficult than before to find a job.” Still, others expressed confidence in the experience ESU provides to students of the teachers college. “There will always be a demand for teachers and there will always be a job out there somewhere for you,” said Misty Lowe, sophomore elementary education major. Holmes said she keeps in contact with ESU graduates, including those affected by budget cuts. She said several grads have lost jobs due to the current state of the economy. “Budget cuts mean the positions
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