INSIDE
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Two-game football
Aerospace engineering students bring home national awards p. 2
winning streak ends after loss at Baylor
The University Daily Kansan
vol. 137 // iss. 11 Mon., Sept. 24, 2018
SEE FOOTBALL • PAGE 8
Trevor Noah visits Lied Center, uses comedy to explain today’s culture
p. 3
Read more at Kansan.com
Monarch butterflies migrating to Lawrence Every year, hundreds of butterflies make their way from Canada to Mexico. Over the next few weeks, researchers will be waiting for them to stop at KU.
Madeline McConico/KANSAN Butterflies can be found at Monarch Watch on Constant Avenue on West Campus. SYDNEY HOOVER @sydhoover17 Hundreds of monarch butterflies can be seen flying all around the West District of the University of Kansas over the next few weeks thanks to efforts by staff and students at Monarch Watch. The one-of-a-kind program, in partnership with the Kansas Biological Survey, tags and tracks monarch migration, with special events coming up
this month for community members to experience the migration as it’s happening. “We have a lot of monarchs to see, a lot of caterpillars to hold and pet for the kids,” said program assistant Ann Ryan. Monarch Watch held its fall open house on Sept. 15, where University students and Lawrence residents were able to walk through the organization’s facilities and learn about the butterflies.
It also hosted an event at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center on Sept. 22, where participants tagged butterflies to be tracked throughout their migration. “We’ll bring the nets and the tags and the data sheets,” Ryan said. “And then we’ll just send them out into the wetlands to tag.” Since 1992, the University’s Monarch Watch program has been tagging monarchs and watching as
Three hundred other cities and counties from across the country have also adopted the policy, as well as the states of California, Oregon, Hawaii, Maine and New Jersey. “That has some unintended consequences,” Collie-Akers said. “We really don’t want kids from other communities coming here just so that they can get tobacco.” Collie-Akers said ideally, a Tobacco 21 policy would reduce minors’ access to the substance. According to the CDC, nearly 20 percent of high school students report using tobacco products, but Collie-Akers said that high school students she has spoken with estimate it to
we tend to think of a lot of more recent tobacco prevention work to be sort of tax based, raising taxes on tobaccos, and this isn’t a tax. It is only trying to change the age of purchase and sales, so I think it’s a really unique opportunity.” The policy will affect students at the University between the ages of 18 and 20, as a 2013 survey of over 3,000 University students found that 16 percent of students reportedly used tobacco products. Grace Schulz, a freshman from Castle Rock, Colorado, said the policy would be inconvenient and cause confusion as to where purchasing is and is not legal at 18. Schulz said she purchases Juul pods at local convenience stores. “I think that moving the age up is going to make people mad,” Schulz said. “How are you going to have it 18 in some places [in the state] and 21 in others?” In a later 2016 study, it was found that 64 percent of students from the University were in support of banning tobacco use on campus, which was implemented in July. The work group has gained support from a
they migrate from Canada all the way to Mexico. Monarchs are tagged with stickers with identification numbers on them as well as Monarch Watch’s phone number and address. Stickers are sent to people across the eastern half of the country to tag monarchs as they see them migrating through their region. “It’s based around education, conservation and research of monarch butterflies, and it’s just a real-
ly cool organization,” said Carly Conroy, a freshman from De Soto. Conroy, who is studying human biology, was hired as a lab assistant at Monarch Watch to fulfill requirements for the workstudy program. Conroy’s job includes tasks such as taking care of caterpillars, cleaning, maintaining cages, and making nectar for the butterflies. “The people are really nice, the work is cool; it’s just a fun place to be,”
Conroy said. In addition, Monarch Watch has programs that reach students on a national level. Teachers across the eastern side of the country can get rearing kits from Monarch Watch to raise their own caterpillars into butterflies. It also provides free milkweed plants through its restoration project, and Ryan said students and families with gardens can create and register their own monarch habitat.
Work group looks to increase legal tobacco age to 21 SYDNEY HOOVER @sydhoover17 University of Kansas faculty and Lawrence community members are pushing for the city commission to increase the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. The group, Tobacco Free Living, began as a work group through LiveWell, a countywide coalition working to address various health concerns. “There’s a real opportunity to explore the impact that a Tobacco 21 policy would have in Lawrence and Douglas County,” said Tobacco Free Living Chair Vicki Collie-Akers. The policy would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21, but there would be no restriction on the underage possession or use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, vapes and juuls, according to Collie-Akers. Surrounding cities and counties have already adopted the Tobacco 21 policy, including Wyandotte and Johnson counties as well as Topeka, according to a document from the Public Health Law Center.
“It’s a very sensible policy. I think that’s part of what I find so attractive.” Vickie Collie-Akers Tobacco Free Living Chair
be much higher. “It’s a very sensible policy. I think that’s part of what I find so attractive,” Collie-Akers said. “I think
Chance Parker/KANSAN A Lawrence group is hoping to bump up the legal buying age of tobacco to 21. number of organizations across Lawrence, including the Lawrence Public School District, a resistance chapter within the Boys and Girls Club, Breathe Easy At KU, and a number of healthcare providers, including Watkins Health Center. Collie-Akers said the Lawrence City Commission will be holding a work session on Oct. 9 to discuss Tobacco 21, and said that the work group will have a better idea of support coming from the commissioners after that. “I think we will have a
better sense of where their perspectives are landing,” Collie-Akers said. “We do know that we have some city commission members in favor of this and are hoping to continue to provide education and encouragement to other city commission members in advance of that meeting.” Collie-Akers said the work group hopes community members will support the policy, and said they will be supportive of any student looking to take steps toward cessation. “I think that for students who are here already
and maybe are in that 18 to 20 window and maybe are already using tobacco products, we hope that we can be really supportive in any cessation steps that they are willing to take,” Collie-Akers said. “There are a number of resources here in the community … so I think that we are prepared to be helpful in cessation attempts.” Students and faculty wanting to quit smoking can find services such as the KanUQuit Tobacco Cessation Program at Watkins Health Center.
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Engineering wins aerospace contest SOPHIA BELSHE @sophia_654_
The University of Kansas aerospace engineering program continued a legacy of success at recent American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and GoFly competitions, facing international competition and coming away with two team victories and two individual awards. The AIAA hosts the oldest and largest aerospace design competitions in the world. Every year, the University enters a number of aircraft and spacecraft designs in these competitions. This year, University students won first in Team Space Transportation Design and both second and third in Individual Aircraft Design. The Space Transportation Design team was comprised of 10 undergraduate students, advised by Mark Ewing, an associate professor of aerospace engineering, who worked together on a design to send an orbiting spacecraft to Pluto for exploration of the planet and its moons. “The significant thing is there have been flybys, but we were designing going there, slowing down and orbiting the system and then hanging around for years, then crashing,� Ewing said. The team worked on their design throughout the spring 2018 semester, and competed against 10 other teams. The University took first place, winning $500. “We’re proud of our work and the design we came up with,� said Nathaniel Routh, team member and recent graduate from Kansas City, Kansas.
Rachel Griffard/KANSAN The aerospace engineering competition team for Go Fly win first place with its design, the Mamba. The space transportation team was not the only University success story at this year’s AIAA competition. Frank Bonet, a first-year graduate student from Dallas, Texas, and Pedro Toledo, also a first-year graduate student from TaubatĂŠ, Brazil, won second and third place respectively in Individual Aircraft Design. Their task for competition was to design a plane to replace the A10, a military aircraft, which was also their undergraduate capstone project. “We basically started with what we want the plane to look like, then we start getting into intricate details,â€? Toledo said. In addition to success at AIAA competitions, this past summer, it was announced that a University team of eight aerospace engineering
students won a $20,000 prize from a GoFly competition, sponsored by Boeing. The team designed a pod-racer type aircraft, named the Mamba, beating 600 competitors from around the world. The
“It’s like sculpting. You start off with a lump of clay, you start making it, then start refining it.� Patrick McNamee Graduate Student
team worked on the design from January to April. “It’s like sculpting. You start off with a lump of clay, you start making it, then start refining it,� Patrick McNamee, team member and second-year graduate
student from Topeka, said. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, a professor of aerospace engineering who also sponsors the individual AIAA competitors, traded in his advising role to become a team player for the Mamba design, though the team was still lead by students. “I got to compete against my colleagues all around the world, and that was an unusual experience for me. Normally, I’m just advising students ‌ I could actually lend material help to the Mamba team,â€? BarrettGonzalez said. “It was a lot of fun, I got to work like I was in college again, which I love.â€? The team will continue to work on their design for the grand prize phase of the GoFly competition. The final phase will include a mock-up and flight tests of their design.
“Since this is being marketed as a recreational vehicle, it’s likely that you’re not going to need a true pilot’s license to fly this thing, so we wanted to make it really easy to understand,� said Lauren Schumacher, Mamba team leader and fourth-year PhD student from Rolla, Missouri. The University aerospace design program may not be the largest in the nation, but it has been winning AIAA awards since 1950. “We’ve got a dynasty going on. We’re a relatively small department in a small state, and we are in essence the mouse that roared,� Barrett-Gonzalez said. “We compete against Penn State and Georgia Tech, Purdue and MIT and Stanford and Cal Tech, and more often than not, we beat them.�
Senate opposes transgender discrimination SYDNEY HOOVER @SydHoover17 Student Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that condemns discriminatory actions against employees in the state who identify as transgender. T r a n s g e n d e r Americans are currently protected in their employment under the Civil Rights Act, but Kansas law makers have now joined 14 other states pushing for the United States Supreme Court to overturn a 2013 ruling about transgender workers. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a transgender employee who was fired in Michigan in 2013. According to the 14 states’ petition, they are fighting this ruling because they question whether discrimination against sex also encompasses gender identity. Senate Director of Diversity and Inclusion Trey Duran has disagreements with these states. “At the end of the day it comes down to
Sarah Wright/KANSAN Director of Diversity and Inclusion Trey Duran introduces a resolution “condemning actions against transgender employment anti-discrimination protections.� transphobia and there is no real genuine economic reason to take this specific set of individuals of the encompassed inclusion in the Civil Rights Act of 1964,� Duran said. “Kansas is known for doing these sorts of things.� The Senate resolution states that transgender students “are valuable members of the student body, the City of Lawrence, the broader Jayhawk community, and current as well as future
employees in the Kansas workforce.� It goes on to say that Senate is obligated to advocate for the students it represents, and therefore condemns the actions of the state. “What this resolution is doing is it’s spreading the message that student senate views this as an
appalling action taken __on by the political administration in Kansas,� Duran said. A previous Kansan article reported that while the University has been successful in remaining accepting toward the LGBTQ community, students such as Nathan
Stucky, a transgender man and president of Spectrum KU, feel undervalued as Kansas residents. Stucky explained in the previous article that though his opinions do not reflect the transgender community as a whole, he feels that transgender citizens “aren’t viewed as humans to the Kansas government.� “I think that it would be wrong of student senate to ignore that,� Duran said. “I think we have an obligation to advocate for those students and individuals at the university.� The resolution will be sent to a number of state and federal representatives, such as senators Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, as well as LGBTQ organizations on campus and media outlets. Senate committees will meet for the third cycle on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
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arts & culture Monday, September 24, 2018
ARTS & CULTURE
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K A N S A N .C O M /A R T S _ A N D _ C U LT U R E
Wiccan witches open to curious community
KATIE COUNTS @KansanNews Freshman pre-nursing student Abygail Okupsi is a witch. Not a cauldron-brewing, broomstick-flying, pointy hat-wearing witch. Okupsi is a follower of the modernized pagan religion of Wicca. “It’s just the way I believe. Everyone else has their own beliefs,” Okupsi said. “Create harmony within the world. Don’t try to mess up the balance of what is going on.” These ideas of harmony and balance are what first drew Okupsi to Wicca. She was raised a Catholic, but as she got older she grew apart from the church. With the guidance of some friends in her hometown of Seneca, Okupsi decided to convert. For Okupsi, being a witch means wearing a five-pointed star, or pentacle, for protection, burning candles, consulting tarot cards for guidance, praying to the Greek gods and goddesses and reading from her spell book. But not every Wiccan practices this way. In fact, being a Wiccan and being a witch are two separate things. Wicca is a religion, but witchcraft is the practice of magic. You’re supposed to make your religion what your religion should be,” local witch Kerry Johnson said. She uses witchcraft as an outlet for her Wiccan
Katie Counts/KANSAN Freshman Abygail Okupsi reads spell books and books on Wiccan history. She also uses crystals, candles, and wears a pentacle (five-pointed star) for protection. The pentacle represents each element: earth, wind, water, air, and spirit. beliefs. Among her many titles, Johnson is high priestess of the Nine Roses Coven and an owner of local shop Village Witch at 1910 Haskell Ave., Suite 1. Regardless, the religion upholds one major value as written in their belief statement, the Wiccan Rede: do no harm. Wicca is not supposed to be about black magic or hurting people; it’s about creating harmony. “All of those rules align the same way. Do unto others as you would do unto you. Whatever you do comes back to you. It’s just
worded differently,” said Ashlie Christianson, Johnson’s daughter-in-law and the owner of Green Goddess, which is connected to Village Witch. “It’s more so what makes you comfortable, what makes you happy, what gives you that reason for that energy.” Johnson teaches a number of classes at Village Witch, including a series on the basics of ritual. To complete this class, Johnson hosted a ritual in her shop on the night of Saturday, Sept. 15, and with her permission I was able to attend.
I arrived at Village Witch around 7 p.m. but a couple of members were late so we stood around eating snacks for a bit. “How can you tell when it is midnight at the witch’s house? The 9 o’clock ritual is starting,” Johnson joked. There were nine women there, including myself, ranging in age and amount of witchcraft experience. Many of the women came from different religious backgrounds and were just there to learn. Unlike some faiths, Wicca does not actively seek to convert. “If you’re supposed to
Trevor Noah speaks at Lied Center
DEASIA PAIGE @deasia_paige
Comedians whose material is about social issues often have to walk on eggshells for them to not be deemed offensive (just ask Dave Chappelle). Perhaps it’s the reason why comedians like Kevin Hart only make their personal lives the topic of their jokes. However, Trevor Noah proved it’s possible to make jokes about social issues without being offensive during his relatable and inclusive stand-up show at the Lied Center Saturday night. Before his set, the anticipation for “The Daily Show” host to take jabs at the nation’s current political climate was budding. It was also likely, given that the comedian often talks about being South African, that Noah would joke about his “Coming to America” moment. But the anticipation was eased as his opening act, Angelo Lozada, took the stage. Although Lozada had never visited Lawrence, the Bronx, New York, resident was instantly welcomed by the crowd as he talked about his observations in coming to the city. He joked about Lawrence not having any homeless people and mentioned how it would be a rare day for him at home in New York to not interact with one. Lozada also engaged with several audience
Contributed Photo Trevor Noah is the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” members, most of whom were students, as he joked about the University’s rivalry with Kansas State and his disdain for Spirit Airlines. However, Lozada’s set wasn’t welcoming for some people in the audience. Isabel Carttar, a junior studying sociology who attended the show, said she thought Lozada’s set was a bit offensive. “The way he was imitating the voice of an African-American male was kind of too stereotypical, and [he seemed] a little anti-homeless. I know it was a comedy act, but I felt that he could find comedy in other ways.” Carttar said. Noah, like Lozada, opened his set by talking about his observations of Lawrence. He joked about not being able to find a black barbershop in town and the University being deemed the Mecca of bas-
ketball. He also talked about being in Rochester, New York, and how that place was a site for escaped slaves to be transported to Canada. Noah joked about the level of persuasion it would’ve taken to convince a person who had just escaped slavery to get on another boat. Noah recounted visiting the White House and meeting former president Barack Obama for the first time. He compared how Obama’s presence made him feel at ease to how President Trump gives him a sense of terror and joy every day. The terror, as Noah describes, is that Trump is responsible for the most powerful nation in the world; the joy is that Noah finds comic relief in almost every action Trump decides to take. Noah effortlessly used comedy as a lens for understanding seemingly complicated social and political issues. Such was the case when he introduced the topic of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh being accused of sexual assault to talk about the broader issue of male privilege. Growing up in South Africa, Noah talked about how it was hard for him to understand the concept of patriarchy when he came to America because he was raised by powerful women. He mentioned how his mom would always give
him spankings for getting in trouble and how that dynamic made it hard for him to fathom the idea of men having any kind of privilege. But he provided examples to the audience of how male privilege easily seeps into the grain of society. He mentioned the hypocrisy of men deciding if it’s legal for women to get abortions, women having to fear for their lives while walking late at night and society’s discomfort with women being on their periods. All examples were met with applause from the audience. Shelby Huggins, a Lawrence resident who attended the show, said she liked the way Noah uses comedy for highlighting different issues. “I thought he was really funny, and I like the way he makes you think,” Huggins said. “He made complicated issues seem real and thought-provoking and funny at the same time, and I really enjoyed that.” Noah ended his set by talking about the time he was called the N-word while jaywalking in Chicago. It’s during this time that Noah offered commentary on the racial dynamics in America and tied it to the Rochester, New York, joke he made earlier in the show. Noah’s stand-up was a reminder of his ability to fuse politics with personal experiences, which is something that sets him apart.
be here, you’ll find your way here,” Johnson said. We were to perform an earth-healing ritual which is meant to send out good energy. The Wiccan Rule of Three states that whatever energy you put out will returned threefold, so it’s important that witches expel positive energy into the world. The women gathered in a circle around a small shrine that held candles, mini pumpkin cakes, wine and two intricately carved statues of a woman and a man. Wicca is a polytheistic
religion, but it traditionally recognizes one main god and goddess called the “Lord and Lady.” These gods can be pulled from any pantheon including Greek, Egyptian, Native American, Nordic and the traditional Celtic. These gods and goddesses can even be mixed — it just depends on the witch. The room was dark except for a few lit candles and the setting sun behind us. To begin the ritual, Johnson had to cast a circle of protection. She walked around the room blessing the cardinal directions with smoke and a blade. Each direction is represented by a different element: east is air, south is fire, west is water, and north is earth. After blessing the space, Johnson invoked the Lord and Lady, and then we began the spell work. The group circled around the shrine, moving clockwise while chanting a spell about the the elements until it had been repeated nine times. After chanting, we ate the cakes and passed around a chalice of wine. Johnson called this a sort of “Wiccan communion.” Once we finished eating, Johnson thanked the Lord and Lady and then uncast the circle. The atmosphere did not feel any SEE WICCA • PAGE 4
Professor discusses women in early film COURTNEY BIERMAN @courtbierman The film industry used to be an institution of equality. From 1912 to 1924, a time in which Hollywood as we know it now was just beginning to take shape, women wrote half of the films made in those 12 years. Laura Kirk opened her book talk at the Kansas Memorial Union with this fact. Kirk, a professor of theater and film at the University of Kansas, contributed two chapters to the 2018 book, “When Women Wrote Hollywood: Essays on Female Screenwriters in the Early Film Industry.” Kirk’s appearance was part of the 2018 Free State Festival. Kirk said researching early women filmmakers is like connecting the dots; not a lot of information about certain figures is readily available, so scholars have to make due by linking pieces of what they do have. She said this made for tough going at times. “I knew at the end I would have quite a picture, but I’m glad I stuck with it,” Kirk said. Writers Eve Unsell and Bella Spewack are the subjects of Kirk’s research. Unsell had a background in journalism and theater and had amassed 96 film credits at the time of her death in 1937. Spewack and
her husband Samuel were immigrants from eastern Europe who wrote beloved musicals including “Kiss Me Kate.” The success of these women can be attributed to the structure of the film industry at the time, according to Kirk. The structure was nonexistent. Women were there simply because no one told them they couldn’t yet. “There were no paths. There were no rules,” Kirk said. “It was literally the Wild West.” Senior theater student Tori Kilkenny said her admiration for Kirk as well as her aspiration to become an actress brought her to the lecture. “Obviously as a woman in the arts, I’m very interested in our history because it’s important to know where you’ve been and what women have been through in order to know where we can go from here,” Kilkenny said. “So that’s exciting to see our history and see one of my mentors tracking that so diligently.” Kirk ended the event with a passage from her chapter on Unsell. “While her name is missing from the index of a broad survey of film history books of the silent era,” she read. “It is clear that Eve Unsell was a player who surely merits our regard.”
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Sibling band ‘Lawrence’ to perform at Granada JOSH MCQUADE @JoshMcQuadeUDK
Lawrence is coming to Lawrence. Siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence are the two founding members of the eight-member soulpop band Lawrence. Clyde and Gracie grew up in an entertainment-oriented family, as their father Marc was a film writer and producer, known for his work on “Miss Congeniality.” The two spent a large chunk of their childhood in the living room listening to and creating music — hence the title of their sophomore album, “Living Room.” “It was just me and Clyde messing around in our ‘Living Room,’” Gracie said. Growing up, the two siblings seemed to build a bond quickly, with both Clyde and Gracie citing music as an outlet they enjoyed together. Although they are family, Gracie said they never seemed to fight or have tension as children. “We didn’t grow up fighting with each other, or anything like that,” Gracie said. “We’ve never had that rivalry in our dynamic at all.” Lawrence formed after years of Clyde and Gracie playing music together, dropping their first LP, “Breakfast,” in 2016. According to Lawrence’s website, “Breakfast” reached No. 6 on the iTunes R&B/Soul charts when it was released. After the release of “Breakfast,” the band
took two years to work on “Living Room,” releasing the sophomore album on Sept. 14. The album is inspired by the lives of Clyde and Gracie, detailing love, breakups and loss. However, the album means more to the band than just the storytelling. “I think that when you put out a first album, like when we put out ‘Breakfast,’ people begin to expect things from the band,” Clyde said. “We want people to ask, are they going to stray from their sound? What can we
expect from this band?” Songwriting is one of Lawrence’s strong suits, which may be due to Clyde’s experience of writing music as early as five years old. Clyde is credited with writing the “Miss United States” song for “Miss Congeniality,” as his father, who was a writer for the film, turned to his 5-year-old son for input. “[My dad] helped write [Miss Congeniality] and, at the time, they were looking for a theme song for the pageant, and they
Katie Counts/KANSAN Freshman Abygail Okupsi reads spell books and books on Wiccan history. WICCA • FROM PAGE 3
Contributed Photo
Clyde and Gracie Lawrence are members of the New York-based band Lawrence. found a bunch of submissions from professional songwriters.” Clyde said. “My dad asked for my advice, because, even at the time, I was, at least as far as 5-year-olds go, I was a very prolific songwriter.” While Clyde was more of the singer/songwriter, Gracie spent her time in acting classes as a child, while also working on her singing and songwriting skills. “As a kid, I did a lot of [acting and singing/ songwriting],” Gracie said. “I quickly realized
that this is not just my after-school hobby the way that ice skating was. There’s a difference between how much I love ice skating and how much I love acting.” Gracie has progressed her acting career to a professional level, acting in films such as “The Sitter” and “Phoebe in Wonderland.” Most recently, Gracie will appear on the new CBS show, “One Dollar,” in a lead role. The band has previously driven through and stopped in Lawrence, but
Monday will be its first performance in town. “We’ve often passed through Lawrence, or asked by people if we have any relation to Lawrence,” Gracie said. “The answer has always been no, but now it’s exciting to be able to say ‘no, but we’re actually playing there.’” Lawrence will perform at the Granada Sept. 24, taking the stage at 8 p.m.
to learn more. Blevins said she decided to take the class to find “the truth,” and what she found was a sense of community and freedom like nothing she had ever had before. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for most of my life,” Blevins said. Blevins would like to continue her training and said she hopes to eventually join Johnson’s coven. But while Blevins is drawn to Wicca, obviously not everyone feels the call or believes in magic. “Can I prove that magic works? No,” Johnson said. “Have I had spells work? Yeah. Have I had spells not work? Yeah. To me, spells are very much like prayers. You’re petitioning a higher power, and sometimes the answer is no.” In Lawrence, most people have been pretty relaxed about her Wiccan beliefs, but both Johnson
and Okupsi say they have experienced some backlash. Johnson has had bibles thrown at her, and she’s even had to kick threatening people out of her store. “It’s the ’other,’” Johnson said. “We all hate the other. It’s just the way our society is.” She said she finds it particularly ironic that some Christians have a hard time with Wicca
when holidays like Christmas and Easter actually come from pagan practices. But Johnson said she doesn’t care about what anyone else thinks. She said she believes there is no wrong religion, just wrong religions for you. She’s just happy that she gets to practice what feels right to her. “Just live and let live,” Johnson said.
“I literally had to move halfway across the U.S. to find something [that] would teach me like this and that I would feel comfortable like with,” Blevins said.
Blevins is originally from Maryland and came to Lawrence for school. Growing up, she said she was taught that Wiccans were bad people, but as she got older she wanted
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) You’re getting stronger. This Full Moon in your sign illuminates a new personal direction. Push your own boundaries and limitations. Turn towards an inspiring possibility.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) Friends come and go with community and group projects. This Full Moon lights up a new social phase. Share appreciations, greetings and goodbyes.
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) Experiment with new concepts. To really learn, visit the source in person. This Full Moon illuminates a new educational direction. Begin a new phase in an exploration.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) Reach a turning point in a partnership with this Full Moon. Compromise and collaborate for shared commitments to pass an obstacle or barrier.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21) Change directions with a romance, passion or creative endeavor under the Aries Full Moon. Express your heart, imagination and artistry. Shift perspectives.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) Cash flows both directions, in and out. Profitable opportunities bloom under the Full Moon. A turning point arises around income and finances. Keep track.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) One door closes as another opens. This Full Moon shines on a spiritual fork in the road. Ritual and symbolism provide comfort and satisfaction.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) Focus towards current passions. The Aries Full Moon sparks a shift in your career. Finish a project before beginning a new professional phase.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) The stakes could seem high under the Full Moon. Shift directions with shared finances over the next two weeks. Work out the next phase together.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) Practice your moves. Review and revamp your skills and practices. Are you having enough fun? Prioritize physical health and fitness with this Full Moon.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19) Renovate, remodel and tend your garden. Domestic changes require adaptation under the Full Moon. Begin a new home and family phase.
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different to me, but to the other women, including Autumn Blevins, a recent student of Johnson’s class, it seemed to have made an impact.
horoscopes
Chance Parker/KANSAN Okupsi has only been a witch for a few months.
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opinion
OPINION
Monday, September 24, 2018 Text your Free For All submissions to (785) 289-8351
FFA of the Day: FIRE DAVID BEATY “God, I can’t wait for Jeff Sessions to die.” “I just wish my cat would tell me he loves me” “It’s time for my favorite thinggg” “Death?” “I’m a woman respecter” “I’m allergic to cats but we stan” sometimes I want to rule the world and sometimes I want to hole up in Antartica with a husky and silence when will people understand that I need constant attention and affirmation KU campus squirrels are the ballsiest creatures I’ve ever encountered Formal shoutout to one direction for igniting my sexual awakening “the thing is, you’re not an unintelligent person...you just say dumb shit sometimes.” I was today years old when I found out that there are no male cows. Checking my email in the club at 1 am Do you ever stare at your computer screen for so long that everything in your line of vision starts getting blurry? remember when we beat rutgers and everyone thought we were a football school Ordered a glass of sake with dinner. They came with a bottle. My crippling social anxiety just caused me to get drunk at 5:30 You can fit two fingers up your butt hole but you can’t get them back out. PS - send help “I’m never doing that DHP shit again.” -my friend, referring to CBD “ROCK CHALK! I shit crimson and blue” Anyone wanting to start a 1D fan club where we sit around and listen to Olivia and cry lmk
K ANSAN.COM
K A N S A N .C O M /O P I N I O N
Sexual harassment isn’t a ‘slip-up’
AROOG KHALIQ @aroog_twt
The nomination of a Supreme Court justice is always fraught with political peril, but recent allegations of sexual assault against nominee Brett Kavanaugh led to an inundation of hot takes surrounding the situation. The momentum of the #MeToo movement, the result of nearly a decade of work helmed by activist Tarana Burke, resulted in the public takedown of many hidden and notso-hidden perpetrators of sexual violence against women in the past year. But has the world learned its lesson? Less than a year after their sexual harassment and assault scandals were made public, defenders of Louis C. K. and Kevin Spacey are crawling out of the woodwork to make a case for their comebacks, all in the name of forgiveness. Should these men pay with the rest of their lives for a mistake, they ask? In one word: yes. To term sexual assault and harassment, which in Louis C. K.’s case was a consciously repeated act, a mistake, is to minimize the trauma of survivors and minimize the rightful blame against perpetrators. Sexual harassment is not a mistake. Sexual assault is not a mistake. Rape is not a mistake. These are all conscious decisions, made with the intent to sexually violate another person and destroy their sense of safety in the long term. A mistake is not so malicious, not so aware as these acts are. To blur the lines between these definitions is to absolve men who, in all honesty,
Associated Press In this Aug. 7, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, officiates at the swearing-in of Judge Britt Grant to take a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington. express more remorse in their “apologies” for being caught than they do for their crimes. Louis C. K. received a standing ovation for a show in August that broke his hiatus. What does it say about our culture when we stand up to applaud a man who violated multiple women — enough that they turned their backs on their dreams of comedy for good? Silence in the face of such indignity is bad enough; applause is a much louder response. The crackdown against men in the entertainment industry, and the slow re-emergence of the predators therein, is a beast of its own. Take, for example, the shunning and harassment of Olivia Munn, who spoke out against the in-
clusion of registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel in the film “The Predator.” Determining how to keep vulnerable groups safe from predators in an industry that protects them tooth and nail is a conversation that the entertainment industry continues to have. But the extrapolation of it to a scale as grand as the highest court in the land is difficult. The precedent set by the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is not promising. The horrific, public defamation of Anita Hill, who accused Justice Thomas of sexual harassment in the 1990s, demonstrated a lack of empathy for survivors of sexual harassment that remains the
attitude du jour. In Kavanaugh’s case, President Donald Trump’s tweets amplify the common refrain of “why not come forward sooner?” A better question should be why Americans expect survivors to put their traumatic experiences on blast when public sympathy is so obsessively centered around the accused’s “future” (see: Brock Turner, the Steubenville boys, and on and on and on). Only 7 of every 1000 cases receive a felony prosecution. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is receiving death threats for coming forward. The #MeToo movement is essential in its demonstration that powerful men can receive consequences for their depraved, criminal actions, but to make a last-
ing change in our societal attitudes towards acceptable treatment of women, we must commit to lasting consequences. Hermiting away for a few months in one’s luxurious home, or posting a PR aide’s vague apology to social media is not atonement, and to pretend it is, merely shifts the status quo to a different method of turning a blind eye to violence against women. The proceedings of the Kavanaugh investigation are still unfolding, but it is essential that the mistakes of the past (and those of the present) are not repeated. We must believe women. Aroog Khaliq is a sophomore from Overland Park studying English and psychology.
as a direct path to vanquishing insecurity. Don’t say negative things about yourself and you won’t feel them; tell yourself every day that you’re worthy of love, and eventually your self-esteem will skyrocket, leaving the old you in the dust. Think positively, be positive, and smile, damn it! Life is wonderful and you are precious. These phrases could never work on me because I’d never say them, but do they work at all? A study from 2009 published in “Psychological Science”
found that participants with low self-esteem who proclaimed positive statements about themselves actually felt worse than those who didn’t say them. Why? Because the statements were so obviously untrue. Saying positive statements did benefit those with already high self-esteem, so, you know, good for them. Proclaiming out loud that I’m a joy to be around will only make me more aware that I actually think I’m awful, awkward company. My mood will go dark and my self-esteem will plummet. The grown-up thing to do here is face reality. People are not equal when it comes to talent and they never will be. They can only be equal in their capacity to be aware of themselves, and chart a path to change what they don’t like, little by little, awkward conversation by awkward conversation. It’s not helpful to tell yourself you are something you almost certainly are not, nor
is it helpful to believe you can become it overnight. In his short story “Bobok,” Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote a few pertinent words through the diary of frustrated writer Ivan Ivanovitch: “The wisest of all, in my opinion, is he who can, if only once a month, call himself a fool — a faculty unheard of nowadays. In old days, once a year at any rate a fool would recognise that he was a fool, but nowadays not a bit of it.” He wrote that in the late 1800s, and today, I’d wager the situation is even grimmer. The last thing anyone wants to do is admit their weaknesses — “I’m actually quite mediocre” is a painful thing to say. But it’s the surest way to grow, and guess what happens when you grow? You can accurately say that you’re a damn successful human. Rebekah Lodos is senior from London studying journalism and political science.
Have low self-esteem? Face it honestly REBEKAH LODOS @rebekahlodos
If there’s something on your mind, shoot an email to rlodos@kansan.com. Self-esteem – Kanye West has too much, Demi Moore said she has too little. The ability to walk into a room without questioning whether you really deserve to be there seems to be a key characteristic of success, but it’s also luck of the draw. I’m one of two siblings. A couple of weeks ago, my brother was mingling at the opening of a London exhibition on personal invitation from South African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere. He texted: “You wanna be an art journalist? Just met a Turner Prize winner and now judge that loves me.” Yes, “loves,” because my brother would have no trouble believing it. Earlier, he said he was suffering an existential crisis because he’d “basically, pretty much reached” all
his goals in life. He’s 25. Across the Atlantic, I — raised in the same household, in the same way — still spend a solid 20 minutes a day wondering if my boss secretly hates me, and spend the rest of my time compulsively dwelling on how little I’ve accomplished. Can I ever make myself as blindly confident as my own brother? Use power poses, chants, declare my success looking into the car mirror à la Dwight Schrute? Positive affirmations are commonly prescribed
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Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Shaun Goodwin, Conner Mitchell, Rebekah Lodos and Baylee Parsons.
K ANSAN.COM
SPORTS
7
Volleyball defeats TCU in Big 12 opener JORDAN WOLF @JWolfAP
Kansas volleyball began Big 12 play with a 3-1 win over TCU on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The Jayhawks needed serious offensive execution toward the end of sets, particularly the fourth frame, to get past the Horned Frogs, winning in three of four sets (28-30, 27-25, 25-21, 2523), with two extended frames. “That’s how the league is going to be,” Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. “There’s gonna be a ton of games that go extra points, and we’ve got to get used to playing in those moments.” The match opened with a back-and-forth first set. After trailing 2419, the Jayhawks staged a remarkable comeback try to stay alive and force extra points, thanks to several diving saves and clutch hits. However, the Horned Frogs outlasted the effort, eventually winning the set 30-28. In the second set, the two teams were tied at 25 until junior hitter Jada Burse delivered a powerful kill off an assist from junior libero Allie Nelson to take the advantage, then freshman middle blocker Rachel Langs sealed it with a kill of her own. Kansas’ defense was the fuel for a victorious third set, holding TCU to
Chance Parker/KANSAN Junior outside hitter Jada Burse celebrates with her teammates in the match against TCU. Kansas defeated TCU 3-1 on Saturday. a -0.031 hitting percentage in the frame. After its early defensive struggles, this improvement was key to creating separation. A kill from senior hitter Gabby Simpson put the Horned Frogs down 2421 before freshman setter Camryn Ennis dropped a no-look dump-off onto the wood to win, setting the Jayhawks up to earn the victory in the fourth. Arguably the biggest
difference between Kansas at the beginning of the match and at the end was defense. TCU swung for a .256 figure in the first set, but Kansas clamped down from there, as TCU ended with a .113 percentage. The back-and-forth continued in the fourth set, each team delivering body blows, but failing to create any real separation. The match hung at 23-23 coming out of
a Kansas timeout, before junior hitter Ashley Smith scored for a 24-23 advantage for the Jayhawks. The Jayhawks finished off the set with a kill by Burse, subbing for Smith, giving Kansas its victory against the Horned Frogs. Burse was the leader of an offense that struggled often to find its rhythm, finishing with a career-high 23 kills. The
team’s inefficiency did not skip over her, though, as she finished swinging for just a .194 hitting percentage. “I don’t know the last time we had somebody take that many swings,” Bechard said. Despite her low percentage, Burse thrived against TCU and said she attributes this to the support around her. “I honestly want to
give the credit to my teammates,” Burse said. “They were keeping me up, they were encouraging me the entire time. If I got blocked, they were like 'Jada, keep swinging, we’re covering you.' The support from them was really why I did so well.” Kansas will head south to Oklahoma for a Wednesday tilt against the Sooners. The first serve is set for 8 p.m.
Offense uncompetitive in road loss to Baylor JACK JOHNSON @JohnyJ_15
On Saturday afternoon, with a chance for Kansas football to bring itself back into relevance, the Jayhawks came up well short with a 26-7 resounding loss at the hands of the Baylor Bears. Kansas came in on a two-game winning streak for the first time in seven years, outscoring opponents 86-21 in that span. On the other side, Baylor fell short to Duke at home last week 40-27, following back-to-back wins to start 2018. However, the momentum that seemed to fuel Kansas in the games after a shocking opening loss to Nicholls State simply ceased to exist in the Jayhawks' first Big 12 game of the year. The quickness of the Bears receivers and the dual threat ability of quarterback Charlie Brewer were too much to handle as Kansas sputtered for the entirety of the first half. Freshman running back Pooka Williams Jr.'s statistics look solid on paper once again — 103 rushing yards on 14 carries — but aside from his 72-yard dash in the third quarter that set up the only points Kansas scored, his contributions were limited by a stingy Baylor defensive line. It would’ve been a stretch for Kansas to win three straight, but this loss seems all too familiar to a fan base that has
Kansas Athletics Freshman running back Pooka Williams Jr. runs down field in Saturday's game against Baylor. The Jayhawks fell to the Bears 26-7. become accustomed to beatdowns. In past years, a loss of this caliber wouldn’t turn many heads of the nation or the folks in Lawrence, but coming off the most impressive victories the program had seen under coach David Beaty, the loss may linger a little longer than usual. Although the score didn’t look pretty, the Jayhawks didn’t shoot
themselves in the foot in this one. They once again didn’t struggle in the turnover category, throwing zero interceptions for the fourth straight game, but failed to force a turnover on the defensive side. Penalties weren’t an issue either as the Bears committed over 100 yards worth of penalties to Kansas’ 55 yards. Kansas lost simply be-
cause there wasn’t much threat in the passing game. With teams previously unable to corral the speedster Williams, the passing game wasn’t brought to light much as its efforts were not really needed.
However, it was the glaring problem in the offense's ineptitude to move the ball down the field with any force that stuck out Saturday. The Baylor defense was able to stack the box and shut down the “bread and but-
ter” in offensive coordinator Doug Meacham’s game plan. Coming in, the Bears weakness on the defensive side was limiting yards on the ground, while excelling in pass defense. But, with Baylor focusing its attention on the ground game of Kansas, the Jayhawks were unable to take advantage of the lack of coverage in the secondary. Senior quarterback Peyton Bender led Kansas in passing, with a less-than-impressive 105 yards on 10 of 17 passes and a touchdown. If the Jayhawks want to progress further in their rebuilding process, finding success in the passing game will be the ultimate decider in how the offense works as a whole. It is no secret now that Williams is one of the top backs in the conference and possibly the country, but with the lackluster passing game limiting the offense — which still has to face some of the top defenses in the country — the production everyone saw in weeks two and three may have been short lived. The Jayhawks next take on No. 15 Oklahoma State at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29 for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
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sports
SPORTS
Monday, September 24, 2018
K ANSAN .COM
K A N S A N .C O M /S P O R T S
Kansas loses two-game football win streak MADDY TANNAHILL @maddytannahill Following a dominant victory over Rutgers just last week, national attention surrounded the high-performing defense and run-oriented game of Kansas—both of which appeared virtually nonexistent in the Jayhawks’ 26-7 loss to Baylor to open Big 12 conference play. Trailing 23-0 in the third quarter, the Kansas offense desperately needed a surge of life. Turning to true freshman running back Pooka Williams Jr., the Louisiana native delivered, producing a 72-yard run to land the Jayhawks in the red zone. Fueled by the momentum of Williams’ first sizable gain of the day, a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Peyton Bender to senior wide receiver Jeremiah Booker gave Kansas its first points of the day, cutting the Baylor lead to 23-7. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, this was not enough. The Kansas defense, which had forced six turnovers for two consecutive weeks, simply had no answers for the versatile Baylor offense, giving up 257 yards in the air and an additional 189 yards on the ground. Though Kansas
Kansas Athletics Senior quarterback Peyton Bender passes the ball in Saturday's game against Baylor. The Jayhawks fell to the Bears 26-7. escaped Baylor’s first offensive possession unscathed, the Bears would go on to tally two consecutive touchdowns in their following two drives via the arm of Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer, a 22-yard and a 39-yard completion respectively. While Brewer picked apart the Jayhawk secondary, he additionally found the gaps in their defensive line, nearly leading the
team in rushing yards with 60. Kansas’ struggle of shutting down Brewer on the run became evident early in the first quarter as an open shot at Brewer for junior safety Bryce Torneden turned into a 15-yard gain for the Bears off a scramble from Brewer. Offensively, the Jayhawks found themselves unable to get anything going either off the run or the pass. A program that had been
averaging 224.0 yards on the ground through the first three games, today Kansas totaled a mere 122 yards with its previously praised rushing attack. The offense having relied heavily on the production of Williams in victories over Central Michigan and Rutgers, Baylor limited the freshman to only 16 rushing yards in the entire first half. Williams would finish with 103 rushing yards on the day.
With the output of Williams significantly reduced, Kansas turned to Bender, who got the start yet again despite an impressive showing by sophomore Miles Kendrick against Rutgers last week. Ultimately unable to compensate for the quiet run game, the senior completed 10 of 17 passes on the day, for a total of 105 yards. Bender was constantly harassed and pressured
in the pocket, thanks to an aggressive pass rush by the Bears' front seven, taking two sacks in the backfield. Despite a momentumcrushing loss in Waco, the Jayhawks will return to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium next Saturday for Homecoming as they take on Oklahoma State. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m.
Missed opportunities contribute to soccer loss
CARLOS PETERSON @CarlosWritesKU
Kansas soccer took on No. 15 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon in a potential title-altering matchup at Rock Chalk Park. The Jayhawks, who typically thrive late in games, came out strong early in the game against the Cowgirls, but ultimately lost 2-1. The midfield of both teams, particularly for the Jayhawks, were dictating the pace of the game. Senior midfielder Kaycie Young stressed that possession was a major focus for Kansas coming in to the match. “We just wanted to keep the ball," Young said. "Keep possession, switch it when we can and try to create gaps." Kansas created a lot of opportunities for itself in the first half but to no avail, with the Jayhawks creating six shots in the half. “That’s soccer sometimes," Young said. "It’s not gonna go your way. We put the shots
athletes of the week
Sarah Wright/KANSAN Junior forward Katie McClure dribbles the ball during Sunday afternoon's game against No. 15 Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks fell to the Cowgirls 2-1. up. We created chances. Hopefully next time they go in." To open the second half, Oklahoma State came out aggressive, pushing the ball up the pitch and pressuring the
Jayhawk defenders to make a play. It was clear a switch had flipped for the two teams, as all of the momentum sided with the Cowgirls as the game progressed. It didn’t manifest itself
in a lot of shots but it did in goals, as Oklahoma State scored twice in the half. “We absolutely pummeled them," coach Mark Francis said. "We talked about it in the
Jada Burse Volleyball
As Kansas volleyball finished up non-conference play and began competition against Big 12 foes, junior hitter Jada Burse was the standout performer. In matches against Drake and TCU, both victories for the Jayhawks, Burse led the team in kills, with 18 and 23, respectively. She also finished with a noteable .444 hitting percentage against Drake.
scouting report and we talked about it at halftime, they’ll sit back and bide their time but if you have a mental lapse, they will pounce and they will punish you for it." The game ended with
Elise Reina
a shot disparity of 15, with Kansas out-shooting Oklahoma State 21-6. The scoreboard didn’t indicate it, but there was still a lot for the Jayhawks to take away from this game, according to junior defender Elise Reina, who assisted the lone Jayhawk goal in the 90th minute. “It’s unfortunate but you can’t score if you don’t shoot so I feel that it was a good thing, having all those shots but putting them in is more important," Reina said. The Jayhawks came out of the weekend with a 1-1 record in the Big 12, following a 2-1 victory over Oklahoma on Friday, bringing Kansas' overall record to 7-2-2 on the season. Kansas will look to bounce back next Saturday when they play Iowa State at Rock Chalk Park, in another important conference match-up. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
Soccer Big 12 play started for Kansas soccer this weekend, with home matches against Oklahoma on Friday and No. 15 Oklahoma State on Sunday. With the Jayhawks going 1-1 over the weekend, junior defender Elise Reina shined, scoring against the Sooners and assisting senior forward Grace Hagan against the Cowgirls. Reina scored her second goal of the season in the 60th minute against Oklahoma and assisted Hagan in the 90th minute against Oklahoma State.