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Channeling Mrs. Doubtfire
PHOTO BY JOEL REPOLEY | STAFF
UK junior Julia Vega slams pie in the face of Student Government president Jake Ingram for the Doubtfire Challenge to raise suicide prevention awareness on Tuesday.
Challenge raises suicide awareness in memory of Robin Williams By Anne Halliwell ahalliwell@kykernel.com
In the name of suicide prevention, 42 students, staff and administrators took pies to the face during Tuesday’s Wildcat Wellness and Suicide Prevention Fair. The fair, held by the UK Counseling Center, brought booths from campus and community resources like University Health Services, UK Student Wellness Ambassadors and the Lexington Healing Arts Academy onto the Student Center patio. Counseling Center staff partook in the Doubtfire Face for Suicide Prevention Challenge, smushing “pies” of whipped cream into their own faces in reference to actor Robin Williams’ role in “Mrs.
Doubtfire” and challenged students and staff to be filmed doing so as well. Staff psychologist and coordinator of career counseling Megan Marks said she was challenged by a member of another university’s counseling staff and, instead of completing the challenge on her own, decided to make it part of the campus-wide event. “It’s very lighthearted, and sometimes that’s where people are, in wanting to hear about a topic,” Marks said. “Students tend to enjoy being silly and being in videos.” Vice president of student affairs Robert Mock and student body president Jake Ingram also took pies to the face, Marks said. International studies and history junior Matthew Whis-
Employees gain health checks By Cheyene Miller news@kykernel.com
UK employees now have the opportunity to view their current health status through screening and an online dashboard with the addition of the LiveWell Check In. “It allows employees to get a snapshot of their overall health status,” said wellness specialist Andrea Deweese from UK Health and Wellness. “Our goal is to really have a culture change on campus.” Regular status UK employees who are eligible for coverage under a UK health plan (UK-HMO, UK-RHP, UK-PPO or UK-EPO) may participate in the LiveWell program, wrote human resources communications officer John Buzzard in an email. UK doesn’t look at employees’ student status, Deweese said, and added that UK encourages eligible students to apply. Employees who do have a UK health plan, though, receive a $100 rebate for registering for Check In and completing the screening. Deweese said the Check In Guides, staffers who perform the screenings, can bring up individual needs based on blood work from the biometric screenings at the designated locations, along with other body measurements, and combine that with the employee's personal
preferences and goals to match them with the most compatible information to address any health concerns. After employees complete their 30-minute Check In screening, which involves a finger stick to check cholesterol and blood sugar, as well as BMI and body composition, they receive an email with their results and information on the next step to achieve their health goals. The screening allows employees to view their blood pressure, total cholesterol and other health information in the online dashboard. After receiving the information, the LiveWell website says employees can be guided through setting new health goals and will be provided with information about beneficial programs. Deweese stressed that a using Check In is not the same as going for a check-up at a doctor's office, but it does provide essential information about one's health and aids employees in meeting their individual health goals. According to UKNow, eligible employees can sign up online for a Check In appointment at one of 20 locations on and off campus until Dec. 19. As of Monday, 2,471 employees had signed up for Check In, Deweese said, placing the program well on its way towards the goal of 7,000.
man completed the Doubtfire challenge after seeing a poster featuring Robin Williams in Patterson Office Tower. “Robin Williams is my childhood hero,” Whisman said. “We went up and were like, ‘Can we do it?’” As a member of UK’s chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity, whose philanthropy goals pertain directly to suicide prevention, Whisman said the cause was one almost anyone could relate to, since suicide affects the family of the victim and even the community at large. “I think everyone’s affected by suicide,” Whisman said. “I think this is a good way to raise awareness ... and it’s fun, it’s not ‘please donate money’ over and over again — it’s different.”
While Marks said there had been some controversy about the challenge because of the heavy topic, she said she believes the awareness it brings is a good thing. “One thing that we were hoping is that students understand that suicide is preventable,” Marks said. Senior biology major and president of UK Student Wellness Ambassadors Haley Wehder said SWA likes to partner with the Counseling Center, especially now that the organization is trying to branch into mental health. “Just from what we’ve learned in our organization, suicide is a bigger problem than we know about because it’s a silent problem,” Wehder said. “It’s good to get the word out.”
PHOTO BY TAYLOR PENCE | STAFF
A man holds a script for people taking the Doubtfire Challenge on the Student Center patio Tuesday.
Students share talents, stories By Joshua Qualls news@kykernel.com
The Student Center’s Grand Ballroom was filled with performers and spectators for the annual King Cafe Storytellers event at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The lights were turned low and the Grand Ballroom’s stage was lit. Strangers embraced and friends introduced each other. Before the event officially kicked off, crowd members had even flocked to the sides of the room and got things started by dancing in
unison alongside each other. “King Café is just an opportunity for people to share their story,” said second-year assistant director for the Martin Luther King Center Rosalyn Robinson. “We … got the idea from VH1,” she continued. “They used to do Storytellers, where artists would perform their songs but then kind of tell a story with it.” Robinson said the MLK Center anticipated a larger turnout than in previous years and relocated King Café Storytellers to the Student Center’s Grand Ballroom to compensate.
Aaron Foley, an undecided freshman, said he saw flyers for the event and decided to go to Storytellers because it featured open mic performances. Foley began his dance performance of Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” by identifying himself as the “Trenchcoat Guy” referenced on UK social media. After explaining that he had stage fright, he asked for the audience’s understanding, then flung off the coat and proceeded to dance. Spoken-word performers delivered riffs on topics such as Ferguson, poverty and gun violence. One performer ref-
erenced “tanks and gasmasked faces.” One spectator was randomly selected from the crowd and, after a small hesitation, faced the audience and spoke about student loans and scholarship fairness. “I feel like it’s a good event for UK students to come together and show off talents,” said family sciences senior Dominique McClain, who also has a minor in African-American studies. “A lot of people don’t realize what people can really do until you come together and see it.”
Players involved in Sunday’s lockdown deserve more than game suspension JOSHUA HUFF Kernel Columnist
With one-game suspensions handed down to four UK football players for their involvement in an on-campus weapon possession incident, an argument about the possibility of dismissal from the team ought to be made. As most people are aware, freshmen Dorian Bak-
er, Drew Barker, Stanley “Boom” Williams and Tymere Dubose were discovered in surveillance camera footage and thought to be behind the shots fired report that locked down campus around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. The four men disposed of one air-soft gun and two BB guns that were subsequently discovered by the UK Police Department. It remains to be seen whether the players will receive any additional punishments outside of internal team punishment and being
suspended for the South Carolina game. But what should be done if all the allegations are true? Is a one-game suspension a justifiable punishment for walking around with an object that so clearly resembles a gun and locking down a campus? I don’t believe it is. Any athlete who represents an organization is held to a higher standard than your typical individual. College athletes may be under the same code of conduct as any average student, but they rep-
resent so much more. They represent the university; they should be a walking epitome of the values that are instilled. UK’s core values wrap around the foundation of integrity, mutual respect, human dignity, a sense of community and civic responsibility. The irresponsible actions of the four football players not only lack any semblance of common sense, but it highlights the culture surrounding high-profile athletes, especially young athletes. The players See FOOTBALL on page 3
page 2 | 10.1.14
Kyle Arensdorf | Opinions Editor | karensdorf@kykernel.com
Focus on more important issues than ‘latte-gate’ CHEYENE MILLER Kernel Columnist
The controversy surrounding this supposed “latte-gate” scandal is ridiculous for so many reasons. It's a constant reminder of how polarized our political discourse has become – that something like this would be taking up significant amounts of time on national media airwaves. For starters, President Obama is once again being criticized for doing something another president has also done. President Bush routinely saluted troops with a dog in hand. Seriously, Google it right now, there are several photos of Bush saluting troops with his terrier Barney in hand. This scandal is also ridiculous in that it isn't about anything as noble as respecting our troops, which I am certainly all for. It's about using anything and everything you can to attack those who stand against you politically. Numerous conservatives like Sarah Palin have mocked the president by mimicking the coffee salute. First of all, why
does anyone care what Sarah Palin has to say on presidential matters? If she ever were to become president (God help us if she does), she would likely not follow through with the salute anyway. But the most disturbing part about this “scandal” is that everyone likes to play the “we love the troops the most” game, though few people actually back it up. So sure, President Obama saluted the troops with a cup in his hand. Disrespectful? Perhaps. But you know what's even more disrespectful? Sending troops to fight wars based on finding weapons of mass destruction that never existed, and then keeping them in that country for nearly a decade as we did in the Iraq war. Blocking a $21 billion bill that would provide medical and educational benefits to veterans, as Republicans did earlier this year, that's disrespectful. Cutting $39 billion from food stamps, which are used by around 900,000 military households, is incredibly disrespectful to the troops. Guess which party pushed for this last year? Leaving countless troops without proper mental health counseling after they return
from the horrors of war, leaving them to self-medicate with drugs and suffer from suicidal depression at a horrendous rate, isn’t just incredibly disrespectful, it’s downright disgusting. Now, I don't mean to sound biased. Democrats share some of the blame in the botched efforts to take care of our troops as well. But in this particular situation, Republicans are trying to masquerade as if they always have the best interest of the troops in mind. And recent history has shown that this simply isn't true. As for President Obama, yes, he should have at least switched the cup to the other hand before throwing up that salute. But the idea that he is any less respectful than a president who salutes with a terrier in his hand, or a political party that sent our troops to a near-decade long war based upon faulty evidence and then refused to bring them home, which has since made many attempts to cut programs that benefit many veterans, is indeed ridiculous. Cheyene Miller is the assistant opinions editor of the Kentucky Kernel. Email opinions@ kykernel.com.
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Learning about ‘The Grand Old Man’ of campus PATRICK BRENNAN Kernel Columnist
What do you know about “The Grand Old Man” of our university? I bet you’ve seen him staring off into the distance at least a couple of times. Or even more likely, you’ve been in, worked in or lived in a building named after this important man. James Kennedy Patterson, whose bronze statue is perched in the courtyard outside of Patterson Office Tower, left a huge footprint that is still being felt more than a century later. History only has room for those like Patterson who filled big shoes, but any of us can be transformed by understanding the giants of our past and their ideas. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1833, Patterson became president of what eventually came to be UK in 1869. But empty facts like these do not capture the man himself. Patterson was a man transformed by the study
of people before him, as he chaired the department of History and Metaphysics for the 40 years he presided over the university – I can only wonder if he was drawn in by the same time periods or philosophers that draw in my peers and me today.
“
The Grand Old Man of our university is now cemented to our foundation.” Not only did his advocacy for liberal arts influence curriculum and students for decades, but his fiery passion for this university kept it afloat. Besides complete dedication and personal loans to the school, Patterson is credited with an impassioned speech at the Kentucky Senate which overcame opposition to a statewide tax that was greatly needed for UK in 1882. One of Patterson’s last
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achievements before stepping down as president was to transform our growing school into the university it is today: one where hundreds of thousands have come to take part in the expansion of knowledge over the last century. More generally, our study of the past will always lead to the increase in knowledge that we have witnessed here as a result of people like Patterson. This is because temporary knowledge that is more tenuous will be replaced by more complete knowledge from people who build on the past. The Grand Old Man of our university is now cemented to our foundation, with an inscription facing Whitehall reading, “The True Past Departs Not.” With a keen eye on the paths carved by greats like Patterson, we should make a point to dive into the history of people and ideas that influenced our university to keep this sentiment true. Patrick Brennan is a philosophy sophomore. Email opinions@ kykernel.com.
10.1.14 | Independent since 1971 | 3
FROM THE FRONT PAGE
FOOTBALL Continued from page 1
punished are freshmen who were highly recruited coming out of high school where they were celebrated and idolized. That simply means that athletes typically get away with things that a typical person wouldn’t be able to get away with. Take for example a rape incident that occurred at Steubenville High School where two football players were convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl. One of the players, Ma’lik Richmond, who was convicted of rape, suited up in August and has played football this season,
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despite having to register as a sex offender. Now, the incident involving the UK players doesn’t compare to the incident at Steubenville, but it highlights the privileges an athlete receives. People are more willing to grant favors to those who bring prominence to an organization or community. Prior to the release of the Ray Rice video, the NFL buried domestic violence issues and dished out miniscule punishments and fines, and the fans were more than willing to ignore the evidence. The UK football players caused a campus-wide lockdown and instilled fear upon its student body for nearly
two hours. If it wasn’t for the security footage, they might have walked away scot-free. Head coach Mark Stoops needs to set the tone if he intends to stand by his philosophy of instilling change in the locker room. Players should have enough common sense and maturity to realize that walking around a college campus with anything that resembles a deadly weapon is absurdly stupid and irresponsible, even for an 18-year-old kid. And if they can’t realize how irresponsible they were after the fact, then Stoops needs to nip this in the bud and dismiss the players from the team.
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HOROSCOPE To get the advantage, check the day's rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Aries (March 21—April 19) — Today is a 7 — Work on practical, short—term objectives. Avoid controversy. Study an issue from all sides. Break through to a new level of understanding. Attend to career goals today and tomorrow. Take new territory, even in small steps. Taurus (April 20—May 20) — Today is a 9 — Favor study and research today and tomorrow. Some avenues seem blocked, so come back to them later. Change is inevitable. Adapt as it comes, and take time to process. Wash everything in sight. Gemini (May 21—June 20) — Today is an 8 — Study ways to make and keep wealth today and tomorrow. It may require self—discipline. Study the numbers, and review a variety of scenarios. Ignore provocation and snark. Let your partner take credit. Listen for commitment. Cancer (June 21—July 22) — Today is an 8 — Partnership and teamwork make the biggest impact today and tomorrow. Listen carefully and speak clearly, to avoid miscommunication. Handle your share of the chores (or more). Do what you said you'd do. Bring love home. Leo (July 23—Aug. 22) — Today is an 8 — The next two days could get busy. Save romantic daydreams for another time. Decrease your obligations by completing tasks and turning down or postponing new requests. Stay respectfully on purpose, despite distraction. Dress for success. Virgo (Aug. 23—Sept. 22) — Today is an 8 — Get ready to party. Let romance simmer today and tomorrow. Don't worry about the money (but don't overspend, either). Play just for the fun of it. Practice your game. Do what you love.
Libra (Sept. 23—Oct. 22) — Today is an 8 — Stick close to home for a few days. Keep momentum with a creative project. Take a few days for family rest and recreation. Get into handicrafts and food preparation. Cook up something delicious. Scorpio (Oct. 23—Nov. 21) — Today is a 9 — Study the angles today and tomorrow. Don't gamble, shop, or waste resources. Be patient. Network, and get feedback from trusted friends before making a big move. A female asks the burning question. Sagittarius (Nov. 22—Dec. 21) — Today is an 8 — Stick to your budget. Gather your resources together over the next few days. Listen for what you can learn from a critic, for the commitment underneath a complaint or opinion. Research a purchase before buying. Capricorn (Dec. 22—Jan. 19) — Today is a 9 — Let your confidence propel your projects today and tomorrow. Don't worry about someone who doesn't understand you. Finish old business so you can get on with the clean—up. A female provides key information. Aquarius (Jan. 20—Feb. 18) — Today is an 8 — Study and dig for clues. Stop worrying. Focus on short—term needs, close to home. Fix old problems today and tomorrow. Get methodical. Success comes through diversity. Apply finishing touches for an amazing development. Pisces (Feb. 19—March 20) — Today is a 9 — Extra paperwork leads to extra profits. Team projects go well today and tomorrow. Test your work together. You'll love the result. Friends provide your power source. New opportunities get revealed as current jobs complete.
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4 | Kentucky Kernel | 10.1.14
NEWS
Texas confirms Ebola case in Dallas By Judy Wiley Fort Worth Star-Telegam (MCT)
FORT WORTH, Texas — A patient in a Dallas hospital tested positive for the Ebola virus, the Texas state health department said Tuesday. The patient developed the symptoms days after coming back to Texas from West Africa, and was admitted into isolation Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, according to a statement from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The department is working with the CDC, the Dallas County health department and the hospital to investigate the case and help prevent spread of the disease. In the current outbreak — the world's largest ever, which began in West Africa — Ebola is fatal about 50 percent of the time. It has killed more than 3,000 people. David Magana, spokesman at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, said the county, the CDC and other public health agencies look into travel routes, adding, "We take our lead from the health agencies" with respect to any kind of screening. DFW airport has no direct flights to and from Africa, so if the patient were flying, he or she would have had to make a connection elsewhere. Williams' email says the state and local health departments are coordinating with the CDC. The Tarrant County Public Health Department is monitoring the situation
closely, a spokesman said. "In any of these scenarios, we are ears up. We are listening. We are making phone calls to get the best information we can," said Kelly Hanes, Tarrant County Public Health spokesman. "We are not passively sitting here by any means." Hanes added that the patient in Dallas is "in the best place they can be, for their safety and our safety as well." The patient, who has not been identified, is being kept in strict isolation at the hospital, according to a statement released by the hospital. The statement says officials at Texas Presbyterian are following CDC recommendations to keep doctors, staff and patients safe. Ebola has killed more than 3,000 people across West Africa and infected a handful of Americans who have traveled to that region. Worth Star(Fort Telegram reporters Monica Nagy, Susan Schrock and Andrea Ahles contributed to this report.)
Go Green.
Hong Kong protesters pour into streets as police pull back
Recycle this Kernel.
PHOTO BY STUART LEAVENWORTH | MCT
Protesters have erected these signs at one of the three ongoing pro-democracy protest sites in Hong Kong, this one on a major shopping street at Causeway Bay, on Monday. By Julie Makinen Los Angeles Times (MCT)
HONG KONG _ After a night of tense confrontations with pro-democracy protesters in which the streets of Hong Kong were filled with tear gas, police abruptly reversed course Monday and adopted a much more relaxed stance that allowed even bigger crowds to pour into several main roadways. Traffic ground to a halt and some schools, banks and other businesses were shuttered. A carnival-like atmosphere prevailed as tens of thousands of demonstrators, most in their teens or 20s, filled the highway stretching more than a mile and a half from the city's central financial district to the shopping mecca of Causeway Bay. Across Victoria Harbor in the Mong Kok neighborhood, thousands more staged a sitin in a major intersection, demanding free elections in 2017. As night fell Monday, volunteers passed out donated bananas, water, face masks and dim sum to protesters, many of whom wore yellow ribbons. A group of women stood in front of a subway station armed with rolls of kitchen plastic wrap, offering to swaddle the limbs of anyone who feared officers might return with tear gas. So many protesters wore protective goggles that it looked as if every young person in the city of 7 million had skipped out on industrial arts class and taken to the streets. But aside from a contingent of almost bored-looking officers posted around government headquarters, police were hard to find Monday night — a remarkable shift from 24 hours earlier when
officers in full riot gear confronted protesters and fired 87 canisters of tear gas, sparking outrage in the normally staid and well-mannered semiautonomous Chinese territory. “It's much more relaxed tonight; last night we really thought something even more bad would happen,” said Renee Tsang, 19, who was hanging out with her boyfriend and other members of the Civic Passion Party on a stretch of pavement near government headquarters. Just behind her, Wong Yeungtat, a firebrand party leader, was screaming anti-Chinesegovernment epithets into a microphone, the mildest being. “Drop dead, Communist Party!” The demonstrations have burst forth in response to new rules imposed by mainland Chinese authorities that would limit voters' choices in Hong Kong's 2017 election for chief executive, the territory's top official. Locals in the former British territory, which returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, complain about a range of issues, including high housing prices and a growing income gap. Gary Lam, 44, watched Wong whip the crowd into a frenzy and joined in the chants. “I love this guy; he's a great activist,” Lam said. “I watched TV all day long yesterday and decided I needed to come out tonight. In the mainland, there's no freedom; we have to defend our freedoms while we have them.” After the confrontations Sunday night, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying appeared on television saying that police would use “maximum discretion” and he
hoped people would “keep calm.” Leung had said over the weekend that local officials would soon launch a new round of public consultations over the 2017 election rules. But on Monday, his administration backed away from any specific timeline, saying that the climate was not right and that authorities would solicit public input at a later date. Benny Tai, an activist with the group Occupy Central With Love and Peace, reiterated calls Monday for the widely disliked Leung to step down. About 9 p.m., a pair of young men carrying a huge cardboard cutout head of the Beijing-backed chief executive sporting vampire fangs came running through the crowds near Central District. Whoops of delight went up among the onlookers, some of whom punched the two-dimensional effigy. Just how long the protests might go on was unclear, but the territory is heading into a public holiday that officially begins Wednesday, which could bring out even more demonstrators. The government signaled that it doesn't expect an immediate resolution, announcing it would cancel a major annual fireworks celebration scheduled for Wednesday, China's equivalent of the Fourth of July. Without a cohesive group of leaders directing things, “it's very difficult to predict” how the situation will evolve, said Chi-Keung Choy, professor of comparative politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “It is no longer a movement initiated by (the group) Occupy Central, or the student strike. It became a selfinitiated movement,” he said.
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