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MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017 | VOLUME 133 ISSUE 13
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Sanders encourages KS Dems in Topeka speech NOLAN BREY @NolanBrey
S
enator Bernie Sanders spoke on the importance of continuing to push for liberal progress under Republican leaders when he visited Topeka High School on Saturday night. Sanders was the keynote speaker of Washington Days 2017, the Kansas Democratic Party’s annual celebratory convention. Sanders has seen strong support in Kansas. He won the Kansas Democratic caucus last March, when he soundly defeated eventual nominee Hillary Clinton, capturing 67.7 percent of the Kansas Democratic vote to Clinton’s 32.3 percent. Sanders began by thanking those who supported his candidacy, stating that he won a great victory and calling for a political revolution. “I think it’s fair to say that we surprised a few people in Kansas,” Sanders said. Sanders called Saturday’s turnout of more than 1,000 people “incredible. “Members of the audience included high-ranking Kansas Democrats, such as former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Later in his speech, Sanders also said the people of Kansas should demand that Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback listen to people, not wealthy campaign donors. Kansans, such as Secretary of State Kris Kobach and the Koch brothers, were also chastised by Sanders and booed by the audience.
“
If you transform Kansas like I know you can, we’re going to transform this country.” Bernie Sanders Vermont Senator
“If you transform Kansas like I know you can, we’re going to transform this country,” Sanders said. One of the issues that needs this transformation, Sanders said, is the economic difficulties facing many Americans. He said America is the wealthiest nation in the world but so many of its citizens are struggling. Sanders said that the middle class is working harder than ever without ever getting ahead. He attributed this blame, partially, to poor trade deals.
“We have seen millions of good-paying jobs lost because of disastrous trade policies,” Sanders said. “Invest in America.” Sanders next laid out many of the problems facing America, including the inflated expense of childcare and child poverty as well as the healthcare system, which Sanders thought was improved by the Obama administration. “[Republicans] are not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” Sanders said. Next, Sanders addressed wealth distribution. He said the American economy is rigged in favor of the wealthiest one percent of the population, and that this is an issue that has to be solved, both economically and morally. “Democracy is not a difficult concept,” Sanders said. He said that one person gets one vote and that government should not be controlled by the extremely wealthy. Additionally, Sanders spent a significant portion of his speech criticizing Republicans, specifically President Donald Trump, whom he called a pathological liar. “Trump has brought the entire swamp into his administration,” Sanders said.
Hailey Dixon/KANSAN Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at Topeka High School on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Sanders encouraged Trump to keep his promise of not cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but he said that he does not believe that Trump will listen. “Almost half of older workers have zero savings as they prepare for retirement,” Sanders said. Sanders also said that Trump is “trying to divide us up.” He also said on the issues of racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia that “we are not going back!”
Sanders ended his speech by listing all of the things that the progressive movement hopes to accomplish together, which includes a government that works for all people. Sanders said that he wants a decent standard of living for all. He said this includes a minimum wage of $15 an hour, equal pay for women, a woman’s right to choose, a path to citizenship for immigrants, free college and a new healthcare system where “healthcare is a right, not a privi-
lege.” Climate change was also addressed by Sanders. “We know climate change is not a hoax but a threat, at terrible threat,” Sanders said. “We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.” Finally, Sanders ended his speech by criticizing Trump and calling for a progressive revolution. “[Trump] has a mandate for nothing,” Sanders said. “We can defeat Trump’s America and create a progressive America.”
KU addressing underused services EMILY WELLBORN
Number of students utilizing service in 2015-16
@Em_wellborn
Several University departments are trying to address an issue of underutilized student services like the University Career Center, Office of Study Abroad, Legal Services for Students and the Academic Achievement and Access Center. In the past year, the Office of Study Abroad worked with about 7 percent of undergraduate students, according to a report from the Office of Study Abroad. The AAAC helped about 20 percent of undergraduate students, and the UCC and LSS each helped about 9.6 percent of undergraduate students, according to the 2015-2016 Student Affairs Annual Impact Report and data from the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies, said that students not using these services is a problem, because it could hurt their overall college experience. “We hear from students that they need this resource or that resource and
Annual expenditure budget $9.7 million
Watkins 15,547 Study Abroad 1,394
AAAC 3,776
$3.7 million
$1 million
Career Center 1,711
Legal Services 1,777
Missy Minear/KANSAN Many counterfeit Kansas basketball jerseys are sold through AliExpress, which is a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba.
$876 thousand
Fake jerseys cost KU
$557 thousand
EVAN LAY
@KansanNews
Student Money Mgmt. 285
$45 thousand Graphic by Roxy Townsend
sometimes those resources do exist, but we found that students didn’t know or that by the time they found out they had already struggled,” Burns-Wallace said.
Which services are being underutilized Each of these resources is currently not seeing the kind of utilization that they’d like to and want to expand their reach to more students.
INDEX NEWS............................................2 OPINION........................................4 ARTS & CULTURE..........................................9 SPORTS.........................................12
Andrew Shoemaker, the director of the AAAC, said the organization saw 1,304 students participate in supplemental instruction, 1,161 students use tutoring services, 1,163 students register with disabilities and 148 individual consultations in the 2015-2016 year. Student Money Management Services reported wanting to work with faculty to expand its services. In the impact report, the office
said there are over 12,500 students participating in educational programs and presentations, but only 285 students participating in one-on-one counseling. The year before, there were only 125. The Office of Student Affairs also reported that Legal Services for Students assisted only 1,777 cases in the last year, and 1,674 in the year before. SEE SERVICES PAGE 2
KANSAN.COM FIVE YEARS LATER: Read an oral history of the final Border War between KU and MU on Kansan.com.
If you take a night-time stroll around the Lawrence bars or walk across campus on a game day, you can hardly take two steps without seeing a crimson-and-blue jersey. The Kansas basketball student section consists of a sea of jerseys, and jersey parties are a common theme across Lawrence. One popular and affordable destination for buying these jerseys is AliExpress, a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba, a Chinese company similar to Amazon. One problem – AliEx-
press jerseys are counterfeits. A Frank Mason III or Andrew Wiggins jersey with last names on the back is a giveaway for a counterfeit. According to Paul Vander Tuig, trademark licensing director, the University is not allowed to sell jerseys with players’ names on them due to NCAA amateur and player likeness rules. Aaron Thomas is a freshman business major who sells jerseys on an Instagram account called Jersey Express. He’s been selling jerseys for several months now, mostly to SEE JERSEYS PAGE 2
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NEWS MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief Lara Korte Managing editor Christian Hardy Digital operations editor Matt Clough Social media editor Emily Johanek Associate social media editor Emily Juszczyk ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT
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who said he’s bought several jerseys from AliExpress, said the money savings are worth it to him. “When you’re a poor college kid, you take the cheapest,” he said. “I don’t see how buying a KU licensed product will see the money come back to me as quickly as I see saving $40 on a jersey.” Thomas said he does his best to stay away from the knock-offs, but plenty of his
friends have them. He said he’s seen so many jerseys that it’s easy for him to tell the real from the fake — the stitching is different and the material is lower quality. To his buyers, though, that’s not what it’s all about. “They’re not authentic, they’re not made through Kansas, but people don’t necessarily care about that. They care more about the looks of the jersey, rather than the quality,” Thom-
as said. “It’s little stuff that most people don’t see and most people buying don’t care because they’re so much cheaper.” For the University and Kansas Athletics, it’s tough to find any way to get rid of this problem. “We do our best to fight the things that make sense for us to fight,” Vander Tuig said. “This is an extremely difficult situation.” Lawsuits pressed against Alibaba for counterfeits have thus far fell flat. “It’s difficult to imagine that it would make sense for a university to use its resources to litigate against something like what we’re seeing on [AliExpress],” Vander Tuig said. However, the U.S. government has helped out with the issue recently. Last year, the U.S. seized $1.38 billion in counterfeit goods. Alibaba was placed on a U.S. Trade Representative’s blacklist for being “notorious” for counterfeit goods back in December. One student mentioned that he’s seen the U.S. crackdown in action. Erik Panther, a junior business major from Overland Park, said he ordered jerseys for Christmas from an Alibaba seller and started to get concerned when he hadn’t received them by mid-January. “We reached out to the seller and they refunded us and said the jerseys got stopped by U.S. customs
cus of her office is trying to match students with more resources that could be useful to them, but don’t have as large of an outreach. “Part of a lot of the work that we are doing is taking a look at resources [students might not realize they have access to] and just figure out how do we get more students to take advantage of the resources,” Burns-Wallace said. Crawford-Parker also said that the Office of First Year Experience tries to partner with different course instructors in firstyear seminars to use resources like the Center for Undergraduate Research and the AAAC in their assignments.
program this summer. “The work of our office, it’s been trying to identify populations of students who aren’t selecting to study abroad,” Perryman said. “Whether that’s because academically it’s been challenging or financially it’s been challenging, or maybe we haven’t created a program or identified programs that fit particular needs or interests of student populations.” The Academic Achievement and Access Center also tries to adapt to the needs of students. Andrew Shoemaker, the director of student access services, said that ideally all students would take advantage of these services. “We’re always trying to be cognizant of where student demand is,” Shoemaker said. He said that tutoring services and supplemental instruction are dependent
on what students ask for, but they are trying to reach out to more students through social media and events with the Office of First Year Experience. Burns-Wallace said that her office wants to work with more services across the University to reach out to more students and match them with possible resources that they might need proactively so that students will have a better idea of what resources would be the most appropriate for their college career. “Part of the work that we’re trying to do is to think about how we ensure students are finding resources, being proactive and not just saying ‘these offices exist or these resources exist,’ but trying to find students where they are,” Burns-Wallace said.
FROM JERSEYS PAGE 1 University students who are well aware of the counterfeits. While he did mention that professional sports jerseys are bigger and more popular in these counterfeit markets — “those sites are trying to knock off big-name athletes,” Thomas said — the University is just like the others. The sale of counterfeit goods with Kansas’ name and image on them costs the University directly, as it does not benefit in any way. The University has a licensing deal with Adidas, who manufactures and sells Kansas gear. As part of the deal, the University receives a 12 percent royalty on apparel sales from Adidas, which is how the University profits on apparel sales. Rather than royalties that are split between the University and the athletic department for scholarships or programs on campus, they go to the pockets of the counterfeit jersey organizations, like AliExpress. “By avoiding [the University] and buying an unlicensed product, that support isn’t being bolstered,” Vander Tuig said. “Those royalties are not generated that are going to benefit a student or an athlete here.” But that doesn’t always bother the consumer. Nick Crawford, a junior nursing major from Olathe,
FROM SERVICES PAGE 1 Although the University Career Center has over twice the amount of staff than Legal Services for Students and has an expenditure budget that is about $300,000 more, the center reported that only 1,711 students contacted them about appointments. The Office of Study Abroad reported that 27.1 percent of students will study abroad before they graduate, but they want to raise the percentage to 30 percent by the year 2020.
How administrators are trying to help One of the administrators trying to address this issue is Provost Neeli Bendapudi, who last month announced the creation of a program to introduce freshmen to student services, based on their under-utilization. Sarah Crawford-Parker, assistant vice provost and director of First Year Experience, said her office tries to connect students with different services as early as orientation, but it can be difficult for students to use the resources later in college. “We’re trying to get them connected to a variety of different things,” Crawford-Parker said. “Certainly academic support resources, opportunities for campus involvement, opportunities for experiential learning — things like undergraduate research and service learning, study abroad.” Wallace said that a fo-
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017
Screenshot Aaron Thomas, a University student who sells jerseys through social media, says he and most of his customers can tell the difference between real and counterfeit jerseys.
How the services are looking for more users Administration and faculty want to connect students to different resources through social media, their classes and each other. Crawford-Parker also recommended peer-topeer interaction to talk about different services on campus. This is something that Angela Perryman, the director of the Office of Study Abroad, said is one of the most effective ways to reach students. “Students who have been abroad are the best resources for students who are interested in going abroad,” Perryman said. Perryman said that the office tries to reach out to as many students as possible by adding new programs every year, including a new faculty-led microbiology
CORRECTION In a story that ran on Feb. 23, “’Heartland Project’ seeks to research college sexual assault through survey,” Marcy Quiason’s name was mispelled. The story has been updated online. The Kansan regrets this error.
for being counterfeits,” said Panther. “Several of my friends and family members had the same issue as well.” Alibaba is working on cracking down on counterfeits being sold on their websites. They cited closing down 180,000 third-party stores selling counterfeits and 675 manufacturers of counterfeit goods in the twelve months prior to last August. In total, there have been estimates on the amount of fake goods being sold on Alibaba pegged as high as $1.7 trillion.
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New faculty group fights to keep guns off campus EMILY WELLBORN @Em_wellborn
A
group of faculty members is currently working to oppose guns on campus. The Faculty for a Safer Campus group is aiming to protect students and keep discussion in the classroom safe, according to a statement that the group released earlier this month. “The Faculty for a Safer Campus envisions our classrooms as ‘safe spaces’ — as welcoming places for exchanging ideas, conducting critical debates and even disagreeing, without the threat that differing arguments will escalate into dangerous life or death conflicts,” the statement said. State legislature passed an amendment in 2013 that would allow anyone over the age of 21 to carry a legally obtained, concealed firearm on public property. Universities got a four-year exemption from the law, which will expire this July 1. Maryemma Graham, a distinguished professor in the English department and a spokesperson for the group, said that the group of 50-60 faculty members formed during the fall 2016 semester after members of the faculty were angry that their voices were not being heard on the state’s decisions to allow concealed carry on campus. “This was not something that the faculty, the administration or KU as a whole had any part of,” Graham said. “It really is our responsibility to decide what is best for us.”
Ashley Hocking/KANSAN Ronald Barrett-Gonzalez, an aerospace engineering professor and member of the Faculty for a Safer Campus group, speaks at the University Senate meeting on Feb. 23. The Faculty for a Safer Campus group want to protect students, inform people and keep discussion in the classroom safe.
She said that the group of all faculty members across multiple departments including history, English and engineering, formed because faculty hold a greater amount of influence and they didn’t want to put students who share their opinions at risk. “Students can be opposed to something, but they also can risk getting kicked out of school, so the faculty have a little bit more control,” Graham said. “We felt that we could do something that stu-
dents cannot do.” Graham said that the group tries to mobilize and inform people.
“
We felt that we could do something that students cannot do.” Maryemma Graham English professor
“You kind of educate people and to get people to
understand what it is that is going on within their interests and whether or not it is something they need to consistently resist,” Graham said. “Mobilizing is interaction — what do people want to do. We want to do what’s in the interest of the people who understand what the impact of this is.” Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, a professor of aerospace engineering and president of the Kansas chapter of the American Association of University of Professors, said that the
group is also reaching out to state senators. “There are active bills in the house that we as a community must be supporting, that we keep guns off campus,” Barrett-Gonzalez said. “We need to lobby as hard as we can.” He said that the group has spoken to Rep. John Barker, chair of the Federal and State Affairs committee that has been blocking the legislation, about the issue. Barrett-Gonzalez said the group has also sent letters to the
Abilene Reflector-Chronicle to convince Barker’s constituents to speak to the representative. Barrett-Gonzalez also said that the group will continue to speak with representatives about the law. He said the group wants to learn about the concerns of representatives as well as share their point of view.
— Edited by Ashley Hocking
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opinion FREE-FOR-ALL ›› WE HEAR FROM YOU
KANSAN.COM/OPINION | MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017
Told myself I’d get work done this morning. Slept in the library for 2 hours. Dreams do come true. Sometimes you want to experience the ‘dark side’ of partying. Do you think Bill Self has a Venmo setup with the Douglas county jail? My prof on 17th century England: “People just died a lot.” The 5 minutes directly after I wake up from a nap are the most confusing minutes of my day because I have to remember how the entire world works. You can’t ride with the devil, and expect god to pay for the gas. The words ‘home cooked’ just brought me to tears.
Illustration by Erica Gonzales/KANSAN
Liston: Private prisons should be abolished
This guy’s cute, I wanna ruin his life. I check my email as much as I check my social media, it’s in the routine of flipping between them. You know the history curriculum is lacking when you see a house in Stull, KS with a confederate flag in the front yard and an American flag in the backyard. Ahhh yes. Let’s add some alcohol to campus right after we add guns. Great idea, Onward. I know it’s early, but I can’t wait until volleyball season. Anyone else seeing this shark tent?? I used to be addicted to the Hockey-Pokey, but I turned myself around!
RYAN LISTON @rliston235
P
aying companies to lock up criminals presents a dangerous conflict of interest, yet the federal and state governments often pay companies per prisoner to do just that. While companies seek to maximize profits, prisons should be set up to rehabilitate criminals (although prisons often focus on punishing inmates instead).
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Being surrounded by violence and mistreatment will only serve to make inmates more susceptible to returning to prison. Yet for private prisons, high recidivism is good. In a 2012 pitch to investors, the Corrections Corporation of America said that high recidivism keeps private prisons operating and should encourage people to invest in the private prison system, according to CBN News. Having stakes in high recidivism means that private prison corporations do not have an incentive to rehabilitate their inmates. In Kansas, the CCA runs the Leavenworth Detention Center. During last August’s court case regarding drug smuggling and contraband distribution in the Leavenworth Detention Center, it
was revealed that the CCA made video recordings of confidential meetings between lawyers and their clients and recorded the audio of phone calls between attorneys and their clients, according to KCUR. The CCA then turned these recordings over to the prosecutors. These actions show a blatant disregard for the privacy rights of the inmates and
“
Violence, improper housing and poor health services in private prisons were among the major findings that the report exposed.”
staff in the private prisons. Although the Bureau of Prisons tries to ensure that private prisons are meeting certain standards, the nature of for-profit companies inhibits the BOP’s ability to regulate and allows these companies to exploit the system. Housing prisoners should not be a business venture. The goal of all prisons should be to rehabilitate criminals, not to make a profit off of them. The prison system as a whole needs to be reformed. It often unfairly targets minorities and poor individuals. That reform would be expedited if private prisons were abolished. Ryan Liston is a sophomore from Lawrence studying journalism and political science.
McCarthy: Tax reform still needed in KS
Google Sean Spicer Easter Bunny. GOOGLE. IT.
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On Feb. 23, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a memo from the Obama administration. The memo was written by then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and aimed to reduce and eventually eliminate the usage of private prisons. It was written after a report by the Justice Department found that private prisons ‘incurred more safety and security incidents per capita than’ federally run prisons with similar inmate populations. Violence, improper housing and poor health services in private prisons were among the major findings that the report exposed. Living conditions such as these should not be tolerated because they do not foster a rehabilitative atmosphere.
KEVIN MCCARTHY @kevindmccarthy
Three votes. That’s how close the Kansas Legislature was to ending Governor Brownback’s disastrous tax experiment. On Wednesday, the House voted 85-40 to override the veto of HB 2178 while the Senate voted 2416 in favor of the override. The Senate needed 27 votes to override the Brownback’s veto. While this is a little disheartening for Kansans, like
myself, who were hoping that this bill would pass, it is still encouraging. If you would have told me a few years ago that the legislature would be three votes short of reversing Brownback’s tax cuts, I would have said you were crazy. The reality is most of the legislature is now against Governor Brownback on this issue. They have heard their constituents loud and clear. This abysmal tax policy must end. In previous columns, I have talked at length about the negative impact of the Brownback tax policy. Therefore, I think that it’s important to discuss the positive impact of repealing the unaffordable tax cuts. HB 2178 has received widespread bipartisan support. The major parts of the
tax bill include the elimination of the LLC loophole for 330,000 small businesses, restores a third income tax bracket for higher-income taxpayers, and ends the “march to zero.”
“
They have heard their constituents loud and clear. This abysmal tax policy must end.”
This legislation represents a major shift in the legislature from just a few years ago. Part of the reason for this is the influx of new lawmakers from the 2016 election. Moderate Republicans and Democrats have formed a powerful coalition in the 2017 legislative ses-
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sion. While these changes to the tax code would not solve all our state’s problems, it would be a major step in the right direction. Contrary to what the Governor and his administration have been saying, Kansas has a revenue problem, not a spending problem. As much as it hurts, the only way to solve a revenue problem is by increasing taxes. The Kansas economy is in dire straits right now but it is not too late to do something about it. We must continue to put pressure on the legislature and Governor Brownback. The last few weeks have been vital in the fight to end the tax experiment, but we cannot let up. Anything short of comprehensive tax reform
CONTACT US Lara Korte Editor-in-chief lkorte@kansan.com
Tucker Paine Business Manager tpaine@kansan.com
is unacceptable. We have tried it the Governor’s way and it has not worked. For the tax reform to be passed, the legislation might have to be altered, but provisions such as repealing the LLC loophole, ending the “march to zero,” and restoring a third tax bracket for higher-income must remain intact. I am feeling hopeful after this week and I think that we will see major tax reform coming out of the statehouse sooner rather than later. Kevin McCarthy is a senior from Lenexa studying political science, history and public policy. — Edited by Casey Brown
THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Lara Korte, Christian Hardy, Tucker Paine and Vince Munoz.
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Company is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee. The University Theatre’s 2016-17 season is sponsored by Truity Credit Union.
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arts & culture HOROSCOPES ›› WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?
KANSAN.COM |MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017
Adam Devine brings laughs to Lied Center JOSH MCQUADE
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he two short words, “Heh, stupid,” followed many jokes of actor-comedian Adam Devine’s Thursday night stand-up show at the Lied Center. Devine is best known for his work on Comedy Central's "Workaholics," ABC's "Modern Family" and the "Pitch Perfect" movies, and his career path is still on the rise. Devine performed an hour-and-a-half set that touched on subjects like being rich, global warming, dying polar bears and his mistake in thinking “Pitch Perfect” was a baseball movie when he auditioned. Omaha native Austin Anderson opened for Devine before he got on stage. Anderson warmed up a nearly sold-out auidence at the Lied Center, starting his set by mentioning how he is enjoying being in Lawrence. Anderson continued his 20-minute set discussing everything from being a Ninja Turtle in a man’s body to fastfood chains' plan to slowly kill everyone. The crowd took to Anderson's set quickly. “[Anderson] was really funny,” said John Foster, a
student at the University attending the event. “They both did a really great job.” Anderson ended his set by introducing Devine to the audience and welcoming him onto the stage. Devine walked out to widespread cheering and applause from the audience. He opened his set with high praise for Lawrence and hate for the city he had just come from performing: Oklahoma City. Instantly from that joke forward, Devine controlled the stage with a vivid, outgoing personality and animated body language. “I loved Chris Farley growing up,” Devine said in an interview after the show. “He was my favorite comic He was always falling through tables and running through walls. So to me, I knew early on when I was a kid, to get a laugh you could flip over a couch or fall down some stairs.” Devine’s outgoing personality showed within his first bit of the night, where Devine describes his attempt to get away from fighting someone. First, run away — shown by him darting across the stage — and then advising the audience to act deaf to avoid a
Contributed photo Adam Devine performed at the Lied Center on Thursday night. He has starred in “Pitch Perfect” and “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.”
fight, as "no one wants to be the person to punch a deaf person," he said. Devine quickly redacted his statement, saying anyone who acted deaf during the fight would immediately be beaten up. Devine then riffed about his work on Comedy Central's "Workaholics," and said his personality matches up more with Adam DeMamp than
anyone he's ever played "[In college] I was more like my 'Workaholics' character," Devine said. "Luckily I wasn't exactly like him or I'd be dead." Between talking about differences in puberty between boys and girls and a dude’s night out at the nightclub, a member of the Lied Center staff walked onstage to get backstage. Devine noticed,
jumped in fear and took a deep breath. “I thought that was an assassination attempt,” Devine said. Devine interacted with the audience throughout the set. At random points during the show, audience members shouted quotes from “Workaholics,” “Pitch Perfect” and “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” prompting Devine to ask what the audience most knew him for. The majority of the audience applauded for "Workaholics," but the whole crowd laughed and applauded when he shared his thoughts on the people who come to his shows. “I always assume there are at least three people who think they are at an Adam Levine concert,” Devine said. Whether it was acting like a T-Rex or yelling out to the crowd, Devine stayed strong until the end to give Lawrence the best show possible. “I felt like the crowd was really loose and having a good time,” he said. —Edited by Paola Alor
Breaking the ice: How Lawrence became an olive branch between countries during the Cold War COURTNEY BIERMAN @Courtney Bierman
The Soviet shot putter didn’t speak English. Then-mayor of Lawrence David Longhurst was trying to make conversation, but without much success. The year was 1983. The athlete was a part of a group of Soviets that was invited to Lawrence for the Kansas Relays. “There was the stereotypical tension because they were the Soviets and we were the Americans, and so it was kind of awkward,” Longhurst said. Then the shot putter took out his wallet. He showed Longhurst a picture of his children. Longhurst took out his wallet and did the same. “It was like everything just melted away,” he said. “All of a sudden we understood one another.” The boundary was broken. Now, at the Watkins Museum of History, there is an exhibit that explores Lawrence's diplomacy efforts during the Cold War — efforts that helped improve sentiments between Russia and the United States.
“
People don’t think about how critical things were happening…right here in the not-solong-ago past.” Steven Nowak Watkins Museum executive director
The 1983 Kansas Relays was the first event in more than a decade of Lawrence-Soviet diplomacy during the Cold War. It was one of the first times during the era that there was real contact between a delegation of Soviet citizens and the United States, Longhurst
Contributed photo Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev greet Lawrence resident Bob Swan Jr. at a private luncheon before Gorbachev’s speech in Fulton, Missouri on May 6, 1992.
Contributed photo Lawrence resident Bob Swan Jr. and President Boris Yeltsin toast RussianAmerican cooperation in the Red Room of the Kremlin on May 5, 1993.
said, a sort of olive branch extended between the nations. Bob Swan Jr., a longtime Lawrence resident, is one of the founders of the Athletes United for Peace, the organization that invited the athletes to Kansas. Swan said the Soviet athletes set Kansas Relay records that still stand today. “It was an amazing thing, because there weren’t many things going on between the two countries," Swan said. "All the cultural relations were cut. They’d never seen anything like Americans clapping when a Soviet runner was winning a race against the Americans." The relays were a success, and relations were peaceful for a while. Then, in fall of that year, “The Day After” premiered on ABC. The film, which takes place in Lawrence, follows several Kansas citizens who survive a nuclear attack. People all over the country watched the movie, even President Reagan saw it. Brittany Keegan, collections manager at the Watkins Museum of History, said the movie shook Lawrence residents to their core. Although the threat of nuclear war had been hanging over Lawrence residents’ heads for years, many of them hadn’t considered the horror of surviving such an event.
The year 1990 was the culmination of their efforts with the Lawrence Meeting for Peace, in which Lawrence residents welcomed about 300 Soviet citizens into their homes for a week of cultural events and forums. “All the feelings were right,” Longhurst said. “The intent was right. It was a sincere effort to communicate and understand as opposed to posturing and arguing and proving the other side wrong—none of that stuff took place.” The guests were mostly professionals and ordinary citizens representing almost every Soviet republic. The late Lawrence resident Millie Peters, a member of the Coalition for Peace and Justice, hosted two women during the Meeting for Peace. Peters died in 2016 at 99 years old, but her daughter Susan Ashley — although she doesn’t remember much — said she remembers how kind the women were. They brought gifts for the family, and they wanted to learn English curse words and go shopping at K-Mart. “It was interesting, the things they wanted — boom boxes and things they wanted to buy that they just couldn’t get there,” she said. One of the women, who Ashley said thinks was named “Reisa,” was a teacher. She and Peters
A large group of residents watched the film together when it came out, and they then gathered at the Campanile. Mayor Longhurst had been invited to address the crowd, but when he took the stage, he was speechless. The event wasn’t supposed to be solemn, but he said he estimates there were 1,000 people in front of him. Many of them were holding candles, and all of them were terrified. “I was just standing there holding the microphone, and I said, ‘Oh my god. I don’t know what to say to you,’ ” Longhurst said. People were scared, and something had to be done. Swan, Longhurst and a group of Kansas-based organizations began writing letters and proposals. Longhurst took a group of children to Washington D.C. to deliver the letters to the White House and the Soviet embassy. For the next six years, Swan and his colleagues continued their work and planned events to foster diplomacy in Lawrence. Many of their efforts were organized through the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice, a local grassroots organization that had grown out of Lawrence’s anti-war movement, according to Watkins Museum executive director Steven Nowak.
corresponded by mail for a number of years after the meeting. Three years later, Swan, Longhurst and other prominent Lawrence residents were invited to Moscow. They visited the Kremlin and met President Boris Yeltsin. “He came around to each one of us individually and did a toast, which I thought was nice, and then I had the chance to talk with him a little bit,” Swan said. “It was a real honor.” Nowak said Lawrence’s Soviet diplomacy followed a pattern of grassroots activism that makes Lawrence unique. There were the settlers who insisted that Kansas remain a free state. There was the group of black high school students who staged a sit-in in the 1950s to protest racial inequality. There were University students who protested the Vietnam War on campus. He added, now with Watkins Museum's exhibit, there is a way for people to see that they can change the world without leaving home — even if home is a small Midwestern city. “People don’t think about how critical things were happening shaped our world right here in the not-so-longago past,” Nowak said.
— Edited by Ashley Hocking
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Emotions raw for women’s basketball seniors SEAN COLLINS @seanzie_3
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ayhawks coach Brandon Schneider avoided this day last year. After accepting the head-coaching job at Kansas, Schneider took on a group of women that had just lost all their senior leaders and had no seniors to replace them. Saturday, Schneider stood on the court of Allen Fieldhouse, blue and red roses cluttering the floor, and six senior Jayhawks standing at mid-court to be recognized for the last time at home. The Jayhawks had just lost 6154 to the Wildcats in the Sunflower Showdown. Senior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen had a career-high 21 points and senior guard Timeka O’Neal hit two threepointers. “I couldn’t be more proud of our seniors for their effort,” Schneider said. “These two [Manning-Allen and O’Neal] obviously over the last couple years especially in the midst of a coaching
Caitlynn Salazar/KANSAN Senior guard Timeka O’Neal steals the ball from Kansas State in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday. She had four for the evening, leading the team.
change.” The post-game press conference was an emotional moment for O’Neal. She sat down with Schneider and ManningAllen to take questions. When asked what senior day meant to them,
O’Neal was overcome with emotion. She stuck her face in her hands with teary eyes. Manning-Allen recognized O’Neal wasn’t going to be able to answer the question and took it on herself. “Personally I felt like
we work so hard, and we always fall just a little short,” Manning-Allen said. “I felt like coming into this game one thing that we have been emphasizing especially the last couple of games is just playing for each other and playing for
the seniors that we have here, the six of us.” The six seniors, O’Neal, Manning-Allen, center Lisa Blair, forward Jada Brown and forward Sydney Umeri, all stood alongside their parents at center court after the game.
Schneider expressed how important the seniors were to this team and to him after the game. After not experiencing a senior day last season, Schneider said this year was certainly different. “You have to think about in athletics today, the journey that these kids take from the time they start playing ball, the investment they make to become a good enough player to earn a scholarship and all the support they have to get with their family and sometimes extended family, club basketball and travel,” Schneider said. “It’s a pleasure for me to be a part of these moments with them.” The Jayhawks have one remaining game in the regular season, at West Virginia on Monday. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. Schneider was able to get a win in the first round of the tournament in 2016 against TCU. Tournament play starts March 3.
Two individual victories provide silver lining in men’s track second place finish at Big 12 Indoor Track Championship MATT HOFFMANN @MattHoffmannUDK
The Kansas men’s track and field team had their best finish at an indoor conference meet since 1983 on Saturday when they finished second at the Big 12 Championship in Ames, Iowa. Two individual wins, from senior middle-distance runner Strymar Livingston and junior thrower Nicolai Ceban, highlighted the day. Kansas had picked up another two wins after the first day of the meet, but was unable to maintain its lead through Saturday. Kansas finished with 110.5 points, 13 points behind Texas, the meet winners. “We did come up short,” said coach Stanley Redwine in a KU Athletics news release. “It just means that there are some areas [in which] we need to get better.” Redwine was pleased, however, to see Livingston win the 800-meter run. “I was really excited for Strymar, for obvious reasons, since I coach him,” Redwine said in the release. “But at the same time, he went out there and gave his all. That's all that we ask all our athletes to do and he
did a really good job.” Livingston raced twice around the Lied Center track in 1:48.40, his second-fastest time as a Jayhawk. His victory was also the first win for Kansas in the 800-meters at the indoor championship since the Big 12 began. Livingston’s fellow gold medal-winner, Ceban, took first in the shot put. His first toss of the day would’ve been good enough for the victory but he topped that mark with his third throw, heaving the shot 18.97 meters. No other competitor came within three feet of that mark. “For Nicolai to win the shot as he did, Coach Andy (Kokhanovsky, throws coach) does a phenomenal job with those guys,” Redwine said in the release. The Kansas women’s team finished in fifth. One of the best performances on the women’s side came from senior distance runner Hannah Richardson, who broke her own school record in the 3,000 meters. She finished second with a time of 9:16.02. The women’s 4x400-meter relay team also found their way to the podium, finishing third with a time of 3:37.06.
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“We've got to get healthy, and we've got to have more depth,” Redwine said in the release. “We want to be in the top three [of the league standings].” Both teams may find motivation in Kansas hosting the outdoor Big 12 Championship in May. “I would hope that it does, but each meet brings a different thing,” Redwine said in the release. “It just seems like last year, we were second and everyone was really excited. This year, we're second and there's a bitter taste.” Whatever feeling the team has, Redwine knows the outdoor championship won’t be easy. “It's not going to be an easy meet outdoors either,” Redwine said in the release. “We have other teams thinking they can beat us.” The Jayhawks will discover which individual athletes qualified for the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships on Tuesday. That meet is scheduled for March 10-11 in College Station, Texas.
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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2017
Jayhawks win Big 12 outright in Austin SKYLAR ROLSTAD @SkyRolSports
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o. 3 Kansas celebrated the Big 12 title last Wednesday after a win over TCU, but secured sole possession of the title Saturday by defeating Texas. A balanced scoring effort spearheaded a 77-67 win for Kansas over the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas. Senior guard Frank Mason III contributed 16 points in the win. The Jayhawks (26-3, Big 12 14-2) shot well on the night, although Texas (10-19, Big 12 4-12) stayed within 10 points most of the way. Kansas finished shooting 45.8 percent from the field. Kansas rose above its 66 percent free throw mark by shooting 77.3 percent. Kansas freshman guard Josh Jackson turned in an all-around excellent performance with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Kansas nearly finished with five players in double figures, as senior center Landen Lucas finished with eight points and eight rebounds. The Jayhawks struggled to contain Texas forward
Associated Press Sophomore guard Lagerald Vick scores over Texas guard Eric Davis Jr. on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, in Austin, Texas.
Jarrett Allen in its previous matchup with Texas at Allen Fieldhouse. Allen excelled again for the Longhorns on Saturday afternoon with 20 points and 11 rebounds. During the first 10 minutes of the second half, Kan-
sas coach Bill Self reverted from the normal four-guard lineup to a two-in, three-out setup. Lucas and sophomore forward Carlton Bragg Jr. lined up together in the frontcourt during the second half.
Lucas played 27 minutes in the win, but received plenty of help from teammates like junior forward Dwight Coleby, who filled in during the first half. Coleby tied his career-high with 12 points and chipped in four
rebounds during his 13 minutes of play. The Kansas bench continued its consistency from the last three games in Austin. Sophomore guard Lagerald Vick scored seven points and recorded four rebounds.
The Jayhawks face a quick turnaround heading into next week, as the team faces Oklahoma for senior night on Monday at Allen Fieldhouse. That game tips off at 8 p.m.
Dzwierzynski: Senior Night shows what makes college sports great BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI @BrendanDzw
Missy Minear/KANSAN Sophomore infielder Rudy Karre swings at a pitch on Feb. 21 against Omaha. Kansas defeated Omaha 11-1.
Stanford sweeps Kansas WESLEY DOTSON @WesDotsonUDK
Kansas baseball will return to Lawrence without securing a win in three tries in Stanford, California. No. 23 Stanford swept Kansas over the weekend as the Jayhawks lost their third straight game to the Cardinal on Sunday, 4-2, at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. A three-run home run in the second inning by Stanford right fielder Brandon Wulff was the only separation the Cardinal (5-2) needed. It was the only blemish on the day for Kansas junior pitcher Taylor Turski (0-1), who turned in another effective outing in his second start for the team after transferring from Palomar Junior College. Turski threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs (two earned), and struck out six batters across an 84-pitch performance. “He grinded that game,” said Kansas coach Ritch Price in a Kansas Athletics news release. “He did a nice job mixing his pitches and was able to elevate the fastball when they were sitting off-speed. It was good to see him add that to his pitching plan. He competed and it ended up being a solid out-
ing.” Kansas (2-5) was once again unsuccessful at the plate, mustering only seven hits and two-late innings runs. Three of those hits came in the seventh and eighth innings. The Jayhawks’ offense struggled the entire weekend. Sunday’s game featured the only two runs the team scored in the three-game series. Kansas also generated only 11 hits in three games. “It was a tough series for our club,” Price said. “We fought and found a way to score a run in the seventh inning. Then we had the tying run at the plate in the eighth inning and the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning. That is one of the things you preach to young players is that you have to fight your way back in it. If you get the tying run to the dish, you have a chance to do something special.” After a 15-hit, 11-run outburst in a win over Nebraska-Omaha on Tuesday, Feb. 21, Kansas’ offensive production has gone stiff. Much of that drop is because of two slumping hitters in the heart of the order. Sophomore infielder David Kyriacou and sophomore center fielder Rudy Karre, two younger players who were thrusted into the
No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the lineup for the majority of the weekend, went a combined 2-for-22 in Stanford. Karre did not record a hit in 11 atbats. Another part of those struggles for Kansas was the strong pitching performances from Stanford. The best performance of the weekend came on Friday from Cardinal pitchers Andrew Summerville and Will Mattheissen, who combined to strike out 10 batters and allow only one hit in a 6-0 win. Before Sunday’s game, Stanford held a team ERA of 2.17, which ranked third in the Pac-12 conference. Price said he hopes the youthful team will benefit from facing quality pitching from a nationally-ranked opponent. “We need to just keep getting better,” Price said. “Stanford has physical guys in the middle of its lineup and speed at the top and bottom. We didn’t see their two aces and every arm they ran out there was quality. It is a good learning experience and hopefully we got better and took a step forward.” Kansas will next host Oral Roberts at Hoglund Ballpark on Tuesday, Feb. 28. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
Mercifully, the college basketball season doesn’t end with Kansas’ last home game. For a trio of players on this year’s Jayhawks team, however, their careers in Allen Fieldhouse will come to a close. While simultaneously a sad and celebratory day, Senior Night is a reminder of the beauty of college sports. The Big 12 Tournament is still on the horizon for Kansas, as is the NCAA tournament. March Madness is a roller coaster of emotions throughout, but Senior Night certainly doesn’t leave the senses deprived. A touch of sadness, copious amounts of nostalgia and overwhelming gratitude is par for the course on the day of Kansas’ last home game. Allen Fieldhouse is famous for its atmosphere, for being a place where fans, alumni and students come together to cheer on their beloved Jayhawks, creating the best home-court advantage in the nation. What makes Senior Night so special is that the game is the co-main event of the night, alongside the celebration of players who gave four years of emotional and physical stress for the program and for the fans. That massive celebration, that togetherness in love for the players, is a perfect example of why college sports can be so great. While the level of play may not always be the best in the world, the pageantry of college athletics can’t be beaten. There’s something truly special about watching players pour their hearts out when describing their careers at Kansas while surrounded by 16,300 fans who hang on their every word with bated breath. Senior Night gives fans
Missy Minear/KANSAN Senior guard Frank Mason III smiles walking off the court in the final seconds against Kansas State on Feb. 6. Kansas won 74-71.
the chance to see an emotional side of players and coaches that is rarely seen during games. When else could you see Bill Self brought to tears by the words of a player like he was during Jamari Traylor’s speech in 2016? That genuine, raw emotion is unparalleled anywhere else.
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Senior Night gives fans the chance to see an emotional side of players and coaches that is rarely seen during games ... that genuine, raw emotion is unparalleled anywhere else.”
This year, three Jayhawks will say goodbye to Allen Fieldhouse on Senior Night. There’s guard Tyler Self, the coach’s son, who always gets one of the loudest cheers of any player when he steps on the court. Self may not have historic stats, but his cult-hero status won’t leave Allen Fieldhouse, even when he
does. Then there’s center Landen Lucas, the constant force down low. While he’s endured a fair share of criticism over the past couple of seasons, it’s blatantly obvious how important his rebounding and defense is to the Jayhawks. His scoring numbers may not be flashy, but he has been a major, necessary part of Kansas’ success during his career, specifically over the last two seasons. And who could forget guard Frank Mason III? He’s atop multiple player of the year watch lists, he’s the Big 12’s leading scorer and he’s the unequivocal leader of the team. His toughness and tenacity has endeared him to Kansas fans the world over. From being the lowest-ranked recruit in a legendary 2013 Kansas class to a likely first-team All-American, his four-year story is one that will be celebrated loudly in Allen Fieldhouse on Senior Night. Something about coming together to celebrate the careers of Jayhawks on Senior Night is simply special. The camaraderie and pageantry of the event is a reminder of how powerful, emotional and outright special college sports can be.