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KU scholars contribute to Brown v. Board book p. 2

discuss their behindthe-scenes hard work

The University Daily Kansan

vol. 138 // iss. 18 Thurs., March 28, 2019

SEE MANAGERS • PAGE 12

LAUREN HAWKINS @laurensidney__

KU

Read these stories and more at kansan.com

The University of Kansas’ department of health, sports and sciences is set to offer a new bachelor of science in exercise science for students on the prehealth track.

Senators unveil new platforms Coalition introduces seven new transit platforms, including an expansion to SafeRide.

KU football practices begin Fans of Kansas football are earning their first looks at Les Miles and his new coaching staff.

KU golfer takes top spot KU golf’s Charlie Hillier won the Hootie at Bulls Bay Invitational last weekend.

Rachel Griffard/KANSAN Kansas football coach Les Miles purchased lunch for students in The Underground on Wednesday.

Students enjoying a break in-between classes in a crowded Wescoe Hall were in for a surprise as members of the Kansas football team announced new head coach Les Miles would be purchasing lunch for everyone at the Underground.

“It was super crazy, I had literally just bought food at the DeBruce Center,” said senior Justin Mills from

and fan experience intern Sam Klein. “We want to drive student engagement up especially with the spring game coming up.

But, it wasn’t until Miles arrived that people were really excited.

“Everyone looked super skeptical at first because this is the first time something like this has ever happened, at least, since I have been here,” READ MORE ON PAGE 12

SYDNEY HOOVER @lsydhoover17

Members of a previously approved ad hoc subcommittee that was formed to check the integrity of Student Senate elections have been fully appointed, allowing the subcommittee to have its first meeting Thursday, March 28.

Membership includes Nick Hinman, who initially proposed the subcommittee; Derek Dunn, from the Student Rights Committee; Max Schieber of the University Affairs Committee; and Phoenix Schroeder of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Student Rights Committee chair Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff will act as oversight to the committee.

“This has the opportunity to turn into a discussion with more than one voice talking to us,” said Hinman, a sophomore senator representing freshmen and sophomores in the College

Sophia Belshe/KANSAN Nick Hinman, a senator from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, presents legislation to create an ad hoc subcommittee to investigate the integrity of Student Senate elections on March 6. of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “It can become a discussion of what we can do, what perspectives are not being heard and what perspectives need to be heard.”

Members will discuss

the subcommittee’s proceedings at their meeting on Thursday, as well as elect a chairperson and secretary.

Hinman said members already established the idea

to go back through up to a decade of Senate elections to look at underlying issues in the establishment as a whole, rather than looking solely at the 2019 election cycle.

“The intent is not to target people,” Hinman said.

Hinman proposed the subcommittee to Student READ MORE ON PAGE 2

3 K-State students banned from Capitol SYDNEY HOOVER @sydhoover17 The Kansas Young Democrats president, along with two Kansas State University students, can no longer enter the Kansas State Capitol Building following the display of four banners protesting recent Medicaid expansion decisions Wednesday morning.

Kansas Young Demo-

Band speaks against school shootings The Arsonists sparked a fire with their new music video featuring a commentary on school shootings.

Hailing from Lawrence High School, The Arsonists is a band composed of a group of sophomores. The current band is Aden Smith on the drums, Jaxon Ray

Topeka. “I got a message from one of my friends that said Les Miles was here so I hightailed it up here.”

Miles took to Twitter Wednesday afternoon, solidifying his lunch plans for the day. Members of Kansas Athletics handed out football koozies, Kansas wristbands, and flyers for the upcoming spring game.

“We are trying to inspire student participation in football with the new coach we have a great opportunity,” said senior marketing

Ad hoc subcommittee fully appointed

Sarah Wright/KANSAN Lawrence High School students Giovanni Ventello, Aden Smith, and Jaxon Ray comprise local band The Arsonists, who have recently released a music video for their song “Alex.”

JOSH MCQUADE @JoshMcQuadeUDK

Read more at kansan.com

Lunch with Les Miles

What’s New at

KU department to offer degree in excercise science

KU Theatre’s second play of the semester featuring feminism and witches opens Friday night p. 4

on the keys and accordion, Giovanni Ventello on guitar and vocals, and Giovanni Lule-Paredes on bass.

For the bands most recent song, ‘Alex,’ which also features fellow student Sadie Capps, the music video is filmed in black-andwhite and features a school undergoing a lockdown situation during a lyrically implied school shooting.

While the band plays in the gym, students hide under desks in classrooms and in bathroom stalls, following procedure.

Jacob Schermerhorn, a junior from Wamego studying film and media, directed “Alex,” with the goal of making something new.

“I was like, ‘How can we do more than having these kids hide?’” Schermerhorn

said. “We didn’t want to use any kind of gun imagery, and just focus it on the experience of the kids.”

True to Schermerhorn’s wishes, one student leaves the classroom and walks down the hall. As the video progresses, more students join him, simulating READ MORE ON PAGE 4

“We wanted to act as a voice for the 150,000 Kansans who are in need of Medicaid expansion.”

Katie Sullivan KSU senior

crats President Katie Sullivan, a senior at Kansas State University, along with KSU senior Nate Faflick and fifth year Jonathan Cole dropped four banners in the Capitol building, each covered in red hand prints and reading “Blood on their hands” and “#ExpandMedicaid.”

Each of the four banners also featured a different state leader’s last name: Senate President Susan Wagle, Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, Speaker of the House Ron Ryckman and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, all Republicans.

“The banners were designed to be large, visible and made to directly call out the Senators who are preventing Medicaid expansion from taking place within the senate,” Cole told the Kansan.

This comes after the Kansas House passed legislation for Medicaid expansion on Monday, putting the fate of Medicaid expansion in the hands of the Republican-dominated Senate, according to the Wichita Eagle.

“Rights are literally at stake. We wanted to act as a voice for the 150,000 Kansans who are in need of Medicaid expansion,” Sullivan said.

Following the banner drops, the three were escorted to a Kansas Capitol READ MORE ON PAGE 3

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

staff NEWS MANAGEMENT

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Scholars help with Brown v. Board book LUCY PETERSON @petersonxlucy University of Kansas scholars worked alongside the Hall Center for Humanities and the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research to publish a collection of stories that highlight first and second-hand accounts of the Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court case.

Deborah Dandridge, curator for the African American Experience Collections in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Darren Canady, playwright and associate English professor, John Edgar Tidwell, English professor, and Vincent Omni, graduate teaching assistant in the Department of English met with plaintiffs and their relatives from the Brown v.

Board case in order to create the book “Recovering Untold Stories: An Enduring Legacy of the Brown v.

Board of Education Decision.”

Cheryl Brown Henderson, founding director of the Brown Foundation, invited Dandridge, Canady, Tidwell, and Omni to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. for the project.

They participated in three workshops where they helped the plaintiffs and their relatives in writing their own accounts of the court case, rather than what had continuously

AD HOC FROM PAGE 1 Affairs following the establishment of only one Senate coalition in the 2019 elections. He said he wanted to use the subcommittee to ensure the accessibility of Senate.

For members of the subcommittee, being involved in it means a way to better the future of Senate.

“I think democracy thrives when you have competition,” said Schieber, a freshman senator. “And so, I want KU’s democracy to thrive. Ultimately, one coalition is not going to kill Student Senate, but I think it is going to hurt Student Senate, and I want to make Student Senate better.”

Senate elections have rarely seen only one coalition in the running — in the past decade, every election has had at least two coalitions run, and both the 2017 and 2018 elections saw at least three coalitions, according to KU Info.

However, Hinman said this unique circumstance could draw concerns of potential candidates feeling unable to challenge candidates who are “handpicked by the current administration.”

“This one coalition is of course not a direct sign that something is wrong, but we can’t just assume the reason no one else is running is because everyone loves these candidates, and ev-

Contributed photo Contributors work on revising stories provided by plaintiffs for their book Recovering Untold Stories: An Enduring Legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision in Washington D.C. appeared in the news.

“The story is often told by the lawyers,” Dandridge said. “They tell the story from a different perspective, but I think telling the story from those who are involved becomes very important.”

Dandridge, Canady, Tidwell, and Omni worked to facilitate the writing of first-person narratives and editing the pieces that would eventually be published in the book.

“Once we received their drafts, our task shifted to editing the stories, giving special attention to ensuring that they expressed personal rec-

ollections, not simply rewritten versions of the official historical accounts,” Tidwell said.

The book focuses on the hundreds of people who were affected by the Brown v. Board decision, during and after-the-fact, according to Dandridge.

The University scholars felt it was important to shed light on the collective effort of people locally and nationally throughout the Civil Rights Era. “This case is not about someone just wanting to go to school,” Dandridge said. “It’s a far more complex issue.”

Tidwell believes this

book is important because of its potential to “shake readers out of their comfort zones and cause them to reassess the way they interact with others.”

He said he chose to get involved knowing the importance of the Brown v. Board case. He wanted to help highlight the sacrifices that people made during the time period, especially those whose voices had not previously been heard.

“I’m standing on the shoulders of a group of people who dared to resist the legal imposition of racial difference, and who insisted that the Decla-

Members of the Ad Hoc Committee Nick Hinman

Derek Dunn

Max Schieber

Phoenix Schroeder

initially proposed the subcommittee University Affairs Committee

Student Rights Committee

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

Committee Oversight Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff Student Rights Committee chair

Illustration by Regan Smith/KANSAN eryone loves this coalition so much,” Hinman said.

“That’s not in good democratic spirit.”

Student Senate Rules and Regulations (SSRR) currently require a subcommittee to be established every other year to investigate the equity of the elections code throughout the fall semester, with the next required semester for the subcommittee being fall 2019.

Chief of Staff Zach Thomason, who is also serving as the campaign manager for Crimson+Blue, said the subcommittee established in SSRR would allow a more thorough look into the election code while better representing the committees across Senate.

The ad hoc subcommittee allows three members from Student Rights, one

from University Affairs and one from DEI, while the established subcommittee in SSRR allows for one representative from each committee as well as select Senate executives. Thomason said this committee would allow for better representation from the committees, as Student Rights would not have a “supermajority.”

“I think democracy thrives when you have competition.”

Max Schieber freshman senator

“To me, this kind of adds a layer of unnecessary action that will be more thor-

oughly and more equitably answered next year,” Thomason said.

Thomason also said he does not believe there is a lack of accessibility in Senate, as Senate has seen some growth over the past several years, despite a general trend of decreased involvement across student organizations.

“Everything is open to exploring the cause behind things, but I don’t think the situation is what it’s being made out to be,” Thomason said about the single coalition. “I think that, you know, the poor attendance thing, that more than anything is just a product of apathy on this campus.”

While Thomason said he doesn’t believe there are significant accessibility issues within Senate, he said,

ration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights applied to them as well,” Tidwell said.

Tidwell also hopes readers will gain a new understanding of the obstacles people faced during the time of the court case.

“It is hard to read these profiles in courage and not be moved by the strength it took to stand up to the power,” Tidwell said.

“Recovering Untold Stories: An Enduring Legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision” is available online or can be purchased from the KU Bookstore.

in part, the creation of the subcommittee speaks positively on Student Senate in itself.

“I think that senators should feel empowered to take these approaches and invest in these concepts.

So, I don’t know what this committee is going to come up with, if they come up with nothing, if they come up with the world and then some. I think that it exists because people think it needs to exist, and that in itself speaks to the beauty of Senate.”

The subcommittee will also look into actions taken within the past year involving elections that senators believed to be “ethically questionable,” Hinman said. Though he declined to provide specifics on these actions, he said he is confident in what the subcommittee will find.

“I can’t really lie and say that there aren’t certain things that have happened this year under this administration that have prompted me and a lot of other people who are not serving on the subcommittee to become concerned,” Hinman said. “Whether they’re expected part of the culture or not, they’re certainly not good for the reputation of Student Senate, so some things need to change.”

All subcommittee meetings and findings will be open to the public. The first meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on March 28 in Anschutz room 429.

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KC tattoo parlor rebrands, provides safe space LIAM MAYS @KansanNews

A small tattoo shop located in the West Bottoms in Kansas City, Missouri, is beginning its rebranding process, hoping to create a safe, comfortable place for women, Hispanics and anyone else who hasn’t previously felt welcome in tattoo shops.

Tintoretta Tattoo is owned by Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales, who is also one of the two artists who works there. Morales hopes her different take on offering tattoos – by being appointment only and with all female artists – will help differentiate her brand from the pack.

The shop was originally named Box Turtle Tattoo, but Morales said she thought “that the name ‘Tintoretta’ would be more accessible to people that are Spanish speakers;” as the English word ‘turtle’ can be difficult to say for Spanish

Liam Mays/KANSAN Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales has recently rebranded the tattoo parlor in hopes to create a more welcoming environment for diverse customers. speakers. Morales’ family is from Mexico and she is bilingual.

Another reason for the change is the limitations for logos that the name

“Box Turtle Tattoo” creates compared to “Tintoretta Tattoo,” Morales said.

“It’s a difficult industry for women,” Morales

said. “It’s kind of a private studio so I kind of made it so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the industry.”

The tattoo industry is worth around $2 bil-

Liam Mays/KANSAN Tintoretta Tattoo owner Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales hangs out at her shop.

lion annually with more than 47,000 tattoo shops in the U.S. according to Ibisworld. Tintoretta Tattoo is attempting to disrupt this rapidly growing industry by being one of the few that doesn’t have walk-in clients, as well as only female artists.

According to The New York Times, women have more tattoos than men, yet only one out of six tattoo artists is female.

This was important to customer Baylee Childress who said Tintoretta Tattoo is “committed to empowering women and others through art and self-expression.”

“There are so many excellent artists out there, but few who have the inclusiveness and commitment to the local community that she does,” Childress said.

Childress said she was also impressed with the line work and that Morales was able to make such a beautiful tattoo by free-handing.

Morales said she’s no longer giving tattoos that people like on the internet and is now only doing original illustrations that can show her artistic skillset. According to Inked Magazine, this is

something that a lot of shops are doing because copying someone else’s design takes the artist out of tattoo artist. Prices at Tintoretta tattoo can vary from $60 to several hundred dollars depending on the size.

Morales said she’s building an official website – which she hopes will help advertise the shop – where potential customers can go to see the artists’ work and schedule appointments.

She’s also trying to think creatively about marketing Tintoretta in unique ways. For example, she wants to create fun videos of the tattooing process at the shop to showcase how peaceful and welcoming it is compared to the average shop.

On top of that, she had the idea of having a Super Smash Bros tournament in her shop where the winner would receive a free Nintendo tattoo.

“That’s part of what sets Tintoretta apart, in my opinion,” said Tintoretta tattoo artist Amy Wilson. “Our environment is one in which people are able to relax and have a much less stressful tattoo.”

“They don’t have the facts on their side, so they resort to extremism,” Hawkins said in the statement.

“We will not let extremists rule the day. That is not the Kansas way.”

STUDENTS BANNED FROM PAGE 1 police office where their names and drivers licenses were recorded. The three are not permitted to return to the Capitol for one year.

Statehouse staff removed the banners shortly after.

Cole said they are currently in contact with the American Civil Liberties Union for possible violations of First Amendment rights.

“I personally think it’s violating my freedom of speech,” Cole said. “I think I should be able to protest peacefully in my state legislature and I was forbidden

2030 Burge Union | Jo Hardesty, Director

from doing that by radical Republicans in the legislature, unfortunately.”

Legislative policy requires protesters to obtain advanced permission before bringing banners into the state house.

time of publication.

Hawkins’ office released a statement regarding the incident, deeming the stu-

dents extremist demonstrators and stating supporters of progressive healthcare “don’t care about the facts.”

“...I should be able to protest peacefully in my state legislature...”

Jonathan Cole fifth-year KSU student

Wagle, Ryckman and Denning did not respond to request for comment by the

Kansan file photo Three students from Kansas State University were banned from the Kansas State Capitol for one year following a protest against recent Medicaid expansion decisions.

4 ARTS & CULTURE

arts & culture Thursday, March 28, 2019

KANSAN.COM

K A N S A N .C O M /A R T S _ A N D _ C U LT U R E

KU Theatre debuts play about feminist witches KALÉ SEARCY @KansanNews “Sycorax,” is a prequel to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” that unravels the tale of the untold life of the previously unseen and misunderstood character from “The Tempest,” Sycorax.

This play, written by Susan Gayle Todd, tackles the ideology of feminism, religion, sexuality and power all through the lens of Sycorax in the country of Algeria.

“I think it is an important story to tell because of the women’s part and allowing women to tell their stories instead of men, but also because it helps us understand about a country that is potentially not well-known, especially people from Kansas,” said Jane Barnette, director of the production.

“I think it is an important story to tell because of the women’s part and allowing women to tell their stories instead of men...”

Jane Barnette director

Sycorax is set in the year 1989 in the African country of Algeria that reimagines the life of the alleged witch Sycorax as the healer of her country.

This play can be consid-

ered a tragedy as it tells the story of an Algerian healer being dethroned of her power by men. Not to mention the play challenges the contemporary view of religion and gender expression, according to Barnette.

“The way the religious factors and the government have interacted in Algeria is a very complicated history there,” Barnette said. “Yet in our own country, you know, we have some interesting parallel with how religion and government are having important conversations and how that affects gender freedom and identity as well.”

Throughout the months of preparation, the dedicated cast worked to conceptually grasp the parallelism between the past and present time periods. The reality surrounding both religion and gender identity freedom are aspects that remain relevant in today’s society.

“I will say that the persecution of people who practice alternative belief systems is a theme that carries throughout time,” said Alysha Griffin, a doctoral student playing the titular role of Sycorax.

Stella Garibaldi, a sophomore at the University, plays Ariel, a magical character vital to Sycorax’s story. Garibaldi has used the play to take on self-reflection of her own morals and how societal formed perceptions can largely affect situations of everyday life. Although

Contributed illustration “Sycorax” makes its regional debut in the William Inge Memorial Theatre Friday at 7:30 p.m. the play conveys serious undertones, Garibaldi hopes the audience enjoys the overall story and leaves with a message.

“I think the overall takeaway for the audience from the play is the fact that every situation is three dimensional and the play does a good job

of showing that,” Garibaldi said. “Every event that happens in our lives, a big decision, is a result of a complicated bet of choices — not just one factor goes into everything that we do.”

“Sycorax” will make its regional premiere on March 29 and play

through April 4, excluding April 1, at 7:30 p.m., and will be held in the William Inge Memorial Theatre located in Murphy Hall. Additionally, a matinee will be performed March 31 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets for “Sycorax” are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and $15 for

Kansas faculty and staff.

It’s $15 for KU students at the door, and $10 for KU students in advance, with KU ID. For tickets and more details, call 785-8643982, visit the University Theatre Ticket Office in Murphy Hall or go to kutheatre.com.

old played baritone in the school marching band and trombone in the orchestra.

sarily about him, but that kind of resonated with me because, you know, just a kid my age playing music and his life was cut short,” Ventello said. “The song, I guess it’s titled after him, but it’s about gun violence.

It’s for him, but not about him.

At their own school, the band has allegedly experienced a close call with gun violence. In early February, there were two incidents of students allegedly bringing guns to Lawrence High School within a week of each other, according to the Kansas City Star.

“It just makes you think about, that could happen here,” Ray said. “Even though there’s so many high schools out there, like the chances are very slim, but there’s this thought that lingers in the back of your head. It’s been brought to the top due to these recent incidents, and it’s just stressful.”

According to The Washington Post, 189 students have been killed during a mass shooting. Between January of 2009 and May 21, 2018, there were 288 reported school shootings, according to CNN. These

statistics bring a reality to the lyrics of the song.

“Texas, Florida, Kansas, Wichita, churches, schoolyards people getting shot up in, you think we’ll be safe with a few more guns,” Ventello sings.

The Arsonists are planning a music festival featuring over eight local bands performing at the White Schoolhouse. The festival will raise money for March for Our Lives.

“It doesn’t matter where it happens,” Ventello said.

“It is happening, and kids are getting killed just trying to go to school.”

LHS BAND FROM PAGE 1 a march against the unknown danger.

“Alex” ends with the band staring at the camera in silence as the same students marching lay on the ground in positions that symbolize dead bodies.

After cutting to black, the video then shows a stat from edweek.org, stating there were 24 school shootings in 2018 that resulted in injury or death and 5 deaths this year as of February.

Lyrically, “Alex” is a politically-charged song, com-

menting on politicians and older generations attacking students when they speak out about gun violence.

“Florida kids got down to biz while we shut up and dribble, yeah we can be civil if ya sit down and admit that you are wrong,” Ventello sings in “Alex.”

The lyrics even speak out against Donald Trump, saying “the president sends his bullshit prayers.”

The story behind the title of the song has a message hidden behind it. Alex Schachter was a victim in the Parkland school shooting. The fourteen-year-

“...Kids are getting killed just trying to go to school.”

Giovanni Ventello LHS sophomore

The Arsonists named the song after the late student musician to remember him and other victims of gun violence.

“The song’s not neces-

Chance Parker/KANSAN The Arsonists pose as their music video ends, with students on the floor representing students killed in school shootings.

KANSAN.COM

ARTS & CULTURE

5

Theatre & Dance names new department chair RACHEL GAYLOR @raegay218 University of Kansas professor Henry Bial has been named the department chair for the department of theatre and dance.

Bial is a former associate dean and assistant director of the University Honors Program.

The recently merged department is in its first year. The fall saw an interim director in Michelle Hefner Hayes, with Ben Chappell taking over in the spring, but Bial has been named the permanent chair of the department effective on May 20. Bial is currently on sabbatical but specializes in teaching theater history and Jewish popular culture.

While Bial enjoys teaching, he said there’s something special about administrative duties that draws him to the field.

“I enjoy the more social aspects,” Bial said. “Being a professor can be a very isolated and day-to-day existence. It’s great to have that independence, but it’s not like working in an office with people.”

Bial is no stranger to chairing a department.

During the 2010-2011 school year, he served as the interim chair of the Jewish studies department and was the chair of American studies from 20112014.

“I enjoy administrative work because I get to interact with my colleagues and a wide variety of people on any given day,” Bial said.

“And that’s been true in a lot of [my] roles.”

Mechele Leon is an associate professor in the theatre and dance depart-

Johnny Meehan/KANSAN Henry Bial has been part of the faculty at the University of Kansas since 2005. Bial will become the chair of the department of theatre and dance starting in the summer of 2019. ment, and she also specializes in theater history along with French culture.

She said she has known Bial since he first arrived at the University in 2015.

They’re both from New York, so they became fast friends. Leon said Bial is a naturally gifted professor and administrator.

“He’s rigorous, but he also thinks outside the box. He’s not rigid; he’s not a professor that gets stuck in one way,” Leon said. “He meets students where they are.”

While Bial has made his way around different de-

partments, he said he always seems to come back to his true home in performing arts.

“I’ve enjoyed those [positions], but performing arts is really my intellectual and artistic home,” Bial said.

Bial was perfect for the job not only because of his connections but because of his experience. Before coming to the University, he was a professor in the department of theatre and dance at the University of New Mexico, making him one of the few faculty members with experience

working in a combined department.

“I got to work with the dance faculty and dance students a lot,” Bial said.

“I feel like it’s a particularly auspicious time for me

Leon said Bial’s personality lends itself to success in this role. She said he is fair in his treatment but has a clear picture of what a department should look like.

“I’ve enjoyed those [positions], but performing arts is really my intellectual and artistic home.”

Henry Bial department chair

as we’re trying to reinvent what that means in terms of working in combination here.”

“He really has a strong moral compass about how faculty, staff and students behave,” Leon said. “He’s

seen very complex departments and seen issues of complex departments and understands the logistics.”

With theater and dance being, as Bial said, “a collaborative and deadline-oriented operation,” the department provides Bial the opportunity to improve the cooperation and collaboration between two fields still trying to find their footing as one unit.

“You can’t put on a show by yourself,” Bial said. “Performing arts departments have a different energy and one that I personally find more rewarding.”

Jordan Peele expertly blends horror and comedy again WYATT HALL @thewyatthall15

After the breakout success of “Get Out,” expectations were high for Jordan Peele’s next major movie, “Us.” After months of teasing from Peele on Twitter, the wait is finally over and he has delivered once again. The film debuted at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and despite the fact it has slightly fallen after opening nationwide, positive buzz reigns from critics and fans alike.

The story follows Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) as she goes on a trip with her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and her kids Zora and Jason (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) to a beach where she had a traumatic childhood experience.

Everything seems fine until four mysterious intruders appear in the night, a duplicate family.

This movie delivers multiple integral aspects of film near perfectly: the acting is phenomenal; the cinematography is unique and unsettling; the building of atmosphere is extremely well done; and the blending of horror and comedy is flawless.

The only real “issue” of the movie that people are talking about is the holes in the plot. I disagree.

Part of the beauty of it is

that unlike “Get Out,” the meaning isn’t straightforward and obvious. It’s up to the viewer to interpret what they watched and make sense of the sequences and events that took place.

Each actor had to perform two conflicting roles. Lupita Nyong’o absolutely killed her performance. You can feel her emotion throughout, and her duplicate self is absolutely terrifying. There’s a fight sequence near the end of the film that is so well done, I can’t stop thinking about it. I believe she has a shot at an Oscar with this role. She stole the show.

Winston Duke also

If you think “Get Out” was a great mix of horror and comedy, he takes both to the next level with this one. does a great job of playing the heartwarming but embarrassing dad. He’s a great comedy relief throughout, but when he needs to focus, he does what he needs to do to take care of business and protect the family.

My last acting shoutout will go to someone who will likely not get talked about as much,

Elisabeth Moss. Playing a family friend, she’s somehow able to pull off both a stuck-up diva and a crazy woman side-by-side and make it look easy.

Outside of the actors themselves, the creativity of Jordan Peele’s cinematography conveys the atmosphere brilliantly. He pulls off shots that make the viewers question the meaning of every little detail, as well as making you feel both unsettled and engaged. This helps with the blending of two very different genres that creates an overall enjoyable experience.

If you think “Get Out” was a great mix of horror and comedy, he takes both to the next level with this one. It’s a weird feeling, not knowing whether to laugh or cry throughout a large majority of the movie.

The icing on the cake is the well-balanced pacing of the three acts. It builds well early on, setting things up without being too slow and losing your attention. When the action kicks in through the entire middle hour of the movie, it keeps you engaged without overdoing it, before finishing everything off with a stunning climax that leaves the audience questioning everything they just witnessed. I never once felt tired or bored. I was intensely focused through

Contributed photo “Us” is Jordan Peele’s latest film, which debuted in March. every second, whether it was a laugh out loud moment or a scene that was truly horrifying.

“Us” is a must-watch film for horror fans and movie-goers alike, rival-

ing “Hereditary” as one of the best scary movies in recent history, if not ever.

It’s a very different feel from “Get Out,” but it’s still spectacular nonetheless. If you have the time,

go out and see this movie.

It is well worth it. Peele created another masterful film, showing he is not a one-hit wonder.

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OPINION

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Text your Free For All submissions to (785) 289-8351

FFA of the day: “Hey baby are you a french fry ‘cause you’re limp and greasy” “I always knew I’d meet my soulmate at Arby’s.” another day another girl from my high school who just got engaged is pregnant “i’m down like the economy” Sleeping in an hour and a half past your alarm is the ideal way to start the week i have more sympathy for serial killers than i do for people who don’t pull their weight in group projects “I miss frosted tips.

Not because I like them, but because I like making fun of them.”

“This place smells like if markers had armpits” “Can people stop posting personal life updates on Facebook and put it on Rotten Tomatoes where I can see it?” “don’t go throwing shade at only him, there’s plenty of shade to go around” “i’ll never forgive him for making a move on me during shrek” “Salt is just angry sugar.” a guy in the front row left class 5 minutes in so our prof just gave the entire rest of the class extra credit to spite him after you watch handmaids tale, every republican woman you meet becomes Mrs. Waterford. I can’t unsee it.

“Boost his ego. He’s a man. They love that.”

“People need to calm down. The sun is out” My favorite in-class activity is ordering food Everclear makes my insides clean The thing I miss the most about childhood is crying in public without being embarrassed The steam whistle still sounds sick and it makes me sad “I’m going to therapy tomorrow y’all want anything” “Serotonin”

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K A N S A N .C O M /O P I N I O N

Healthy ways to measure self-worth ARCHANA RAMAKRISHNAN

@KansanNews The weeks after spring break can be challenging for all students at the University of Kansas. The semester’s pace quickens as we get back into the swing of our coursework and we rapidly become overworked and overstressed, leaving our health on the backburner.

With that being said, it is important to make mental health a priority by consciously reminding ourselves that our self-worth is not tied to our productivity or achievements in school and in life.

We often tend to think in binaries and have an “it is all or nothing” mindset.

We’re human and it is normal when we place our selfworth into the hands of a good test score, building a stellar resume or securing that job.

This issue goes beyond just creating unreasonable expectations for oneself.

It embeds a negative motivation behind the drive to succeed in college. ‘Doing your best’ turns into stressing out until you have no room to relax or take some time off for yourself.

As a student, it is very common to feel like you need to be on the go constantly, achieving one aca-

Illustration by Gracie Williams/KANSAN Columnist Archana Ramakrishnan highlights ways to keep self-worth high by promoting a healthy mindset amidst the post-Spring Break academic rush. demic feat after the other and balancing an array of extracurricular activities at the same time. We often feel pressured to prove ourselves as accomplished and hard-working, a jack of all trades.

Several Jayhawks agreed that they were continually surrounded by or stuck in this binary mindset.

Among those passionate about mental health outreach on campus are Hannah Berland, a senior

studying human biology on a pre-med track and Kailyn Lindsey, a sophomore on the pre-nursing track, who shared some valuable insights. Both of them noticed how it is sadly hardwired into societal norms that constant productivity and efficiency is the essence of being worthy.

They expressed how we get caught up in the expectations set by social media, offering us magnified and exaggerated moments of

happiness in the lives of others in our age group.

To combat this negative thought spiral, Berland and Lindsey advised that we must live in the now, make a conscious effort to stop overthinking and devote all our energy to current goals or shoot “one hoop at a time.”

The next time a project does not go well or you are trying to take on way too much, pause. Pause and take a moment to think

about how your self-worth is an infinite list of all the notable quirks that you possess. You are worthy because you are you—it is as simple as that. Daring to dream big, having kindness and loving the people in your life and yourself adds to your self-worth.

Feeling like you are not achieving enough is by no means a sign of failure. In fact, it is a sign that you should never stop trying.

The willpower to keep trying adds to your self-worth.

Knowing when you need to take a break adds to your self-worth. Our time in college is a period of growth and the best time to navigate through all of the many difficult feelings we encounter.

We must try to treat our student life and the life that we live outside of school as two separate realms. It is necessary that we are present and dedicated to either one of the two that we pick.

Trying to be present in two different realms at once is impractical, much like trying to measure how worthy or accomplished you are purely based on how much you have achieved.

Archana Ramakrishnan is a sophomore from Chennai, India, studying computer science.

Voting holiday is the way to save democracy SARAH GRINDSTAFF @Kansanstaff As more Democratic challengers announce bids for the 2020 presidential election, it is abundantly clear that the United States must prepare for the election with the passage of a bill that declares a federal voting holiday.

This bill would include provisions marking our national election day a paid, federal holiday in the United States. A paid holiday would allow all citizens the opportunity to find time to get to the polls and vote for their candidate of choice. In today’s United States, this legislation is vital because our socio-economic landscape is changing, and our democracy as we know it is in danger of disappearing.

The original voting day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, began as an apt plan of action for the country since the November weather patterns and post-Sunday location permitted fair travel standards, as well as the ability to travel to the polls without skipping Sunday mass. The November timing also permitted farmers to vote, as their traditional farming season would proceed uninterrupted. With the socioeconomic landscape of the mid to late 1800s, the average number of eligible voters each election was at 80 percent, according to

CNN. However, the average turnout rate since 1916 has hovered around the 55-60 percent mark, according to FairVote. At the dawn of the 20th century, industrialism was growing and evolving. As the industrial market grew and agricultural careers became less prominent in the United States, the difficulty to vote because of job commitment increased further.

In the 2016 election, only 56 percent of eligible voters made it to the polls, according to the Pew Research Center. 157.6 million U.S. citizens were able to register to vote in the 2016 election, of the 245.5 million Americans 18 years of age or older.

These numbers prove the dangerous state our current democracy is in, with only 64 percent of the population able to vote in the last presidential election, and only half of them actually voting.

Next time you hear an angry Hillary supporter say she “won the popular vote,” be sure to remind them that only 36 percent of the population voted in the last election. One can conclude that our democracy is in a state of decay.

In order to assure that the 2020 presidential election is decided by a true majority of Americans, Congress must pass a bill to invoke the National Voting Holiday Bill.

Every election, Amer-

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Brooke Boyer/KANSAN Columnist Sarah Grindstaff argues that a national holiday on Election Day will encourage voter turnout to maintain a healthy democracy. icans find the act of voting a difficult and obstacle-ridden process.

Employees at industrial plants and 9-to-5 jobs aren’t always able to find the time in their work-laden schedule to visit the polls.

Every election, Americans find the act of voting a difficult and obstacle-ridden process.

Others work two to three jobs in order to simply put food on the table. With many Americans having these complex economic struggles, voting is just another half-cocked luxury they can’t afford.

I understand that you,

reader, may be moved by these sentiments and statistics, so much so that you may passionately believe all Americans deserve to vote — you may already be fighting for such a change in our society. Some of you may want President Donald Trump to return to the White House in 2020. Lucky for you, there is a way you can help make America great again.

In the 2016 election, Trump’s victory was a result of one group that formed a competitive voter profile in battleground states: white men without a college degree. Trump became a popular voting choice in rural, industrial towns across the United States. In order to secure these votes for even

contact us Shaun Goodwin Emma Greenwood Editor-in-chief Business Manager sgoodwin@kansan.com egreenwood@kansan.com

Trump in the upcoming 2020 election, our Congress must pass a bill that will ensure a national voting holiday in the United States to ensure that the working class Americans can take time to vote, too.

Fellow Jayhawks, next time you have free time in between two classes with a strange 45-minute break in between, call your state representatives and advocate for a 2020 National Voting Holiday. Together, we can assure that everyone has the opportunity to vote. Our democracy doesn’t have to decay any further if we all have an equal voice.

Sarah Grindstaff is a freshman from Columbia, Illinois, studying political science.

editorial board

Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Shaun Goodwin, Savanna Smith, Aroog Khaliq and Emma Greenwood.

KANSAN.COM

OPINION

9

An invitation to Special Session at the Lied Center LETTER TO THE EDITOR

CHIEF JUSTICE LAWTON R. NUSS Kansas Supreme Court On behalf of the Kansas Supreme Court, I am pleased to invite University of Kansas students, faculty, and staff to join the court for a special session Monday, April 1.

The court will hear attorneys’ present arguments in two cases starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lied Center. Right after this special session of about 90 minutes, the court’s seven justices will greet everyone in an informal reception in the Lied Center lobby.

Justice Carol Beier and I received our undergraduate and law degrees from KU. Justices Eric Rosen and Lee Johnson received their undergraduate degrees from KU, and our colleague Caleb Stegall is a graduate of the KU law school. So we will have lots to talk about with you.

The Supreme Court’s work has always been open to the people of Kansas. But to observe our work during the first 150 years of statehood, people had to come to our courtroom in Topeka.

Then in 2011, the court started making community visits to hear cases.

Lawrence is our 17th destination during that time.

We know that thousands of people in the Lawrence area are either at work or in school

Contributed by Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss (front center) and Justice Carol Beier (front right) are two of several University of Kansas graduates on the Kansas Supreme Court. during the day when we typically hold court. We therefore decided to conduct Monday’s session at 6:30 p.m. so more people have the opportunity to attend in person.

Your attendance is important because the Supreme Court and its work are sometimes defined for you by those who simply want to benefit their

personal agendas. What they do not mention is a

interests, public opinion, or even our own personal

...your attendance Monday night will allow you to see for yourself who we are, what we do, and how we do it. code of judicial conduct that prevents the justices from deciding cases based on politics, special

beliefs. Instead, we must decide cases based on the law — such as the Constitution of the United

States and the Constitution of the State of Kansas, which we are sworn to support.

As a result, your attendance Monday night will allow you to see for yourself who we are, what we do, and how we do it. You will see a sampling of the hundreds of cases that come before the court each year. We want you

to hear the arguments that Kansas attorneys make and to listen to the questions the justices ask — with the intent of correctly applying the law. Then you can make up your own mind about your Supreme Court.

My colleagues and I look forward to meeting you April 1.

Voluntourism hurts recovering global communities GRACE BRUNNER @Gracebrunner4 Spring break has come and gone, leaving behind only traces of evidence that life was recently midterm-free and full of adventure, evidence primarily seen through Instagram feeds.

Scrolling on social media, seemingly every feed is crammed full of photos from trips abroad or to tranquil, sunny beaches.

However, among these photos emerged another trend: a surge of photos from volunteer trips.

Voluntourism is defined as “a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work.” It is a growing trend among individuals of all ages, particularly college students seeking to dress up their resumes while seeking out adventurous opportunities.

On the surface, volunteering and the nonprofit sector don’t seem like a lucrative business or reason to be alarmed, yet with the rise of voluntourism, ethics should be a key component in the decision to participate in service endeavors.

The voluntourism industry is undoubtedly harmful, as it satisfies travelers’ desire to not only visit a new locale, but also to leave feeling as though they’ve made a positive impact on the community.

However, many times these volunteer contri-

butions are not helpful or genuine. For instance, according to Reuters, a recent survey revealed that orphanages in Cambodia have intentionally worsened conditions in order to entice more voluntourists to continue visiting and fueling tourist revenue.

For instance, New York Times columnist Jacob Kushner writes in his piece, “The Voluntourist’s Dilemma,” of his own experience in Haiti.

Kushner recalled watching missionaries struggle to build a church while the local masons looked on in amusement, knowing they could have completed the task exponentially quicker.

Instead, the masons were out of work for a week and funds that could have gone toward construction efforts or post-construction support of the church were instead being spent on travel costs for the volunteers’ inexperienced efforts. Kushner questions the sustainability of these efforts, because ethical service must be sustainable.

Even those with the most altruistic intentions are often unintentionally engaging in unethical service, and causing negative ramifications to the community they are serving without even realizing it.

Volunteer trips abroad are certainly a reason for increased caution, but even local volunteer op-

portunities should be approached with a critical mindset.

considerations to ensure the service you are engaging in is ethical.

Even those with the most altruistic intentions are often unintentionally engaging in unethical service, and causing negative ramifications to the community they are serving without even realizing it.

The Center for Service Learning at the University contains a guide on its website with important

These suggestions emphasize a partnership-based approach rooted in the needs and wants

of the local community.

Moreover, volunteers are encouraged to be wary of any programs that do not provide proper training to volunteers or allow volunteers to complete tasks they are ill-qualified or unlicensed to do — such as construction or medical work.

These precautions are necessary to ensure the volunteer work is not more harmful to the community in the long-run by circumventing services provided by locals and

stunting the local economic growth.

Not all traveling service opportunities are harmful or exploit the communities they are meant to serve. Those with service-oriented mindsets should not feel as though service and service trips are always implying negative consequences.

However, it is absolutely necessary that every individual puts forth thoughtful and thorough analysis before engaging in service.

Illustration by Philip Mueller/KANSAN

KANSAN.COM

SPORTS

11

KU Hockey Club reforms as national powerhouse JAKOB KATZENBERG @KatzInHatz10 Kansas hockey was once a program forced to shut down after falling into debt. Eight years later, the team is one of the best club hockey squads in the nation.

This season, the club finished with a 21-0-1 record and qualified for the 16-team American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III National Championship in Frisco, Texas, which began Tuesday. The Jayhawks are the No. 1 seed in the Pacific region.

The recent success of Kansas hockey has come rather quickly, considering the team was revitalized only four years ago after being forced to disband in 2011.

Coach Andy McConnell, who played on the team a year before it had to shut down, said the team fell apart because coaches failed to collect dues and a lot of the players didn’t see eye-toeye with the coach at the time.

“He wanted more out of us than we were willing to put in,” McConnell said.

“We just wanted to play hockey and he wanted to make it more than that.”

Several players ended up quitting midseason in 2011. Despite having several games left on the schedule, the team was a no-show for the remainder of the season.

McConnell said because the club didn’t

contact the arenas where games were scheduled, the team fell into debt. Kansas hockey owed $2,000 to Line Creek Ice Area in Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, and Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri.

When the team reformed, it still had to pay its debt. McConnell said the club was able to pay in installments by raising the price of participation fees. It took a full year for the club to pay off the 2011 debt.

In its first year back, Kansas hockey didn’t have the type of season it expected. The season included an embarrassing 12-1 blowout loss to Nebraska. The loss was so bad club president James Samuels said the following year Nebraska refused to play them.

“They were showing up to teams with eight or nine guys, mismatching socks, different jerseys, different shells, different colored helmets, everything,” Samuels said.

“We were a joke. We were a laughing stock at the time.”

Kansas isn’t a laughing stock anymore. Although Nebraska (18-11) also qualified for nationals this season, the Jayhawks beat the Huskers in four straight games to start the season last September, outscoring the Huskers a combined 22-8.

“We knew we were going to be good, but we didn’t expect that,” McCo-

Emma Pravacek/KANSAN Sophomore Dane Johnson hugs a teammate after scoring on Missouri. Kansas won 7-3 against Missouri Thursday, Feb. 21. nnell said. “They couldn’t skate with us.”

To ensure the club doesn’t run into financial troubles again, the club has eight off-ice members who handle all things non-play related. General Manager Erin Cole said one of the responsibilities of the off-ice staff is to keep track of the team’s funds.

Hockey is currently the most expensive club sport

to participate in. The current cost to join is $1,250.

Samuels said a big reason why the initial fee is that much is because it costs $250 per practice at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

Cole said the team now actively reaches out to donors and has found some other ways to raise funds for the club. This year, the club opened a GoFundMe that makes it easy for ev-

eryone in the community to make donations.

The GoFundMe has allowed the club to raise more than $7,500 toward the nearly $12,000 it costs to attend Nationals.

Cole said Kansas hockey has also been working with KU Endowment, KU Senate and the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center to help fund the trip as well.

Cole also said the team

now sells replica jerseys priced at $80 as well as custom stitched jerseys with a name and number for $110.

The ACHA Division III National Championship starts with round-robin pool play. Kansas will play in Pool C against Oakland University, Fairfield University and the University of Tampa. The Jayhawks won their first match 6-3 over Oakland on Tuesday.

ing progress as the team sits a few weeks away from its spring game, which has been dubbed “Late Night Under the Lights.”

“Today was a really good practice,” Miles said on Tuesday. “We touched on a number of things: red zone coverage, tight-zone situations and special teams.”

It may not come across as groundbreaking when speaking highly of the tiny tidbits of action sprinkled throughout practice, but as it remains early in the

stages of the offseason, any steps forward are taken on the fly with the coaching staff.

Perhaps the most contemplated question this early in the process seems to be the depth chart, especially at the quarterback position. However, it doesn’t do much good to select the number one right now, Miles said.

“It’s too early to benefit to make the call,” Miles said. “We’re not quite halfway. After the spring game we may have a thought.”

Making the correct choice could greatly impact just how well the first year under Miles turns out to be.

Another faulty choice by the Kansas coaching staff and sitting in the basement of the conference for the 10th consecutive season isn’t out of the question.

The lack of stability has stunted the program since Turner Gill took over the helm to begin the 2010 season. Since his first se-

lection of Kale Pick in the opener against North Dakota State, a game in which the Jayhawks fell, 6-3, nine different quarterbacks have taken snaps under center in Lawrence. (Kale Pick, Jordan Webb, Quinn Mecham, Dayne Crist, Michael Cummings, Jake Heaps, Montel Cozart, Carter Stanley, Peyton Bender and Miles Kendrick).

of coaches on the staff to aid in his journey, Miles has flushed out of nearly every previous coach aside from former defensive coordinator Clint Bowen and running backs coach Tony Hull. But, Miles seems pleased on how things appear to be shaking out with so many new faces.

“There’s some real energy here,” Miles said. “I like our guys here. Some I have known for a number of years and some are new faces.”

Needing each and every member of his personnel to carry their own weight, the partial identity of at least a handful of them will be discovered during the spring game on April 13. Allowing the first look at both the offense and defense along with the skill players involved, the Kansas coaching staff will have a shot to showcase why this year won’t have anyone longing for basketball to tipoff in October.

Depth chart is key focus for Miles and football staff ANALYSIS JACK JOHNSON @JohnyJ_15 When tasked with solving the mass number of issues Kansas football has dealt with on the field for the last decade, positive strides at any length are considered improvement by any measure. Even after tripling their win total from 2017 to 2018, the Jayhawks failed to secure six victories in total over a four-year

stretch with former coach David Beaty.

The failure to find consistency on the field led to yet another coaching change for the fifth time since 2009. In came Les Miles, who was dormant in the college football world for two and a half years following his firing from LSU. Now returning to college football and looking to become the first Kansas coach to record a winning season since Mark Mangino in 2008, Miles is slowly gain-

Emma Pravacek/KANSAN Kansas football coach Les Miles is in his first year with the program.

“I like our guys here. Some I have known for a number of years and some are new faces.”

Les Miles football coach

If Miles picks JUCO transfer Thomas Macvittie over Stanley to open 2019, the Jayhawks will hit double-digit quarterbacks in 10 years.

Banking on his new crop

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K A N S A N .C O M /S P O R T S

Behind the scenes with student managers DYLAN CUNNINGHAM @dc_cunningham

Junior Kyler Womack sees all the dirty laundry of the Kansas baseball team. Literally. As a student manager for the team, Womack’s name is never in the limelight.

That doesn’t bother him one bit.

“I like to think of it as the best job on campus,” Womack said.

Womack has been involved with the student manager program since his freshman year. Shortly after Womack applied for a job at a bank, Kansas baseball head coach Ritch Price gave him the best news possible.

“The first day that classes started [my freshman year] I went and talked to coach Price,” Womack said. “Pretty much ever since I started here, I knew I wanted to get involved with [baseball].”

Womack’s position includes setting up practice drills, sorting through equipment and doing laundry. He said he feels these aspects of his job are what separates himself from the players.

“It’s funny because [the players] put in a lot of time with class and tutoring and practice and games and all that kind of stuff. We put in work too that a lot of people don’t see, but [the players] just

Contributed photo Junior baseball student manager Kyler Womack throws a ball at practice. Womack has been involved with the student manager program since his freshman year. get to showcase it, and it’s awesome for them.”

Senior Riley Cobb, head manager for the Kansas men’s basketball team, echoes this sentiment.

“It’s a lot of behindthe-scenes work,” Cobb said. “We’re there an hour before any team activity starts, and we’re there 3040 minutes after cleaning up.”

Cobb is in his third year as a student manager. As the head manager, he takes on a much heavier load of responsibilities.

“On a daily basis, my main responsibility is to make sure all of our tasks are handled, along with leading our other seven managers,” Cobb said.

There are currently eight total managers on staff for the men’s basketball

Contributed photo Womack has been involved with the student manager program since his freshman year.

team.

Larry Hare, director of the Student Manager Program at the University, said hard-working people like Cobb and Womack are the most rewarding part of his job.

“I’ve been in their shoes,” Hare, a former student manager himself said. “I’m making sure that they’re well-represented and living up to expectations, and they do a great job rising to the occasion.”

Hare has been working in college athletics for the past 27 years, dating back to when he worked as a student manager at Boston College. He also spent seven years working as the director of equipment services at Connecticut before arriving at Kansas in 2005. In his eyes, there is no more essential quality in an excellent student manager than being trustworthy.

“One of the biggest details we instill upon [our managers] is the concept

of being a good wingman,” Hare said. “They are their own best recruiters for the process.”

Given his plentiful experience with the program, Hare said he expects his managers to surround themselves with people who have the same degree of passion and work ethic as they do. He said potential student managers who aren’t as driven by their work as their peers are likely a poor fit for the program.

For anyone hoping to take on the task of being a student manager, Womack cites passion and hard work as the ultimate keys to success.

“Someone has got to be passionate about what they’re doing. It’s every single day,” Womack said.

Cobb also stresses the importance of effective time management, integrity, trustworthiness and a tireless work ethic in a quality student manager. Since many student managers have already

experienced the daily grind of being an athlete in high school, they are better prepared for such a time-consuming position.

Given all of the thankless tasks, early mornings and late nights these students face each day, some might still be wondering: Why become a student manager?

“It’s because we wanted to be a part of something bigger than ourselves,” Cobb said. “This is our way of continuing to stay involved with a team in some capacity.”

Womack encourages those who are eager to work in collegiate athletics to seize the opportunity and never look back.

“If you’re wanting to be a part of a team group in a team setting, and maybe you didn’t get the chance to go play collegiately or something like that, it’s a great way to stay involved with that sport or just with athletics itself.”

LUNCH WITH LES FROM PAGE 1 sophomore Justin Pierre said. “At first only like seven people got up but after we realized it was legit, it was crazy.”

Students and staff took full advantage of the opportunity to meet with Miles and have some lunch. Purchasing items in bulk, the lines were wrapped around the corner.

“We all just tapped in, [Miles] just showed us he really cared,” junior Kierra Covington said. “He took the time to ask us our names, where we were from, and how we were doing.”

quick hits

Working to get students excited for the upcoming season and newly renovated spring game on April 13, Miles and staff took the time to meet with students and take pictures. Taking a Late Night in the Phog approach to the annual Kansas football spring game, the Jayhawks are trying to promote the changes to ensure a higher attendance rate than seen in the past.

“It was electrifying, he is really excited about being around the team and the school,” said Grayson Smith, a Houston, Texas, native. “The Lawrence community already really likes him and he’s only been here

about five months.”

With his charisma and charm, Miles was able to captivate the campus.

Sporting his championship ring he showed a glimpse of what’s to come.

“We were joking around with him about his ring,” Mills said. “He had his natty ring on and it just made us all excited for the upcoming season.”

Long after Miles left the Underground, students were still buzzing with excitement.

“After that, I’m ready for the season,” Covington said. “I just hope they can show us something.”

Rachel Griffard/KANSAN Football coach Les Miles discusses the upcoming spring football game.

SOF TBALL

MEN’S GOLF

BASEBALL

MEN’S BASKE TBALL

3

8

24

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Consecutive games won by the Jayhawks

Shots under par for a first-place finish by Charlie Hillier at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate

Straight games played away from Hoglund Ballpark this season

2018-19 honors earned by Dedric Lawson thus far

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