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MONDAY, JULY 24, 2017 | VOLUME 134 ISSUE 08

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904

Campus carry opponents plan to keep pushing CHANDLER BOESE @Chandler_Boese

F

or four years, dozens of faculty members, students, Lawrence residents and more fought against the inevitable: that guns would be allowed on the University’s campus.

Protests, petitions, lobbying, demonstrations and letters were not enough to stop a 2013 law from going into effect three weeks ago on July 1, 2017. Now, these advocates have to move forward to new fights.

At the University, two groups remained pushing against the implementation of concealed carry on

campus by the time it went into effect: Fail Campus Carry and Faculty for a Safer Campus. Members from the two groups, who often mixed together, visited the legislature during the spring semester and staged protests.

“

Ultimately, we have been successful.”

Megan Jones Fail Campus Carry member

Even though these efforts did not succeed in keeping guns off the Uni-

versity’s campus, said Megan Jones, a member of Fail Campus Carry, there were some victories in the fight against guns and she hopes there will be even more.

“Ultimately, we have been successful,” Jones said. “Guns are not allowed in hospitals now and, if there wasn’t such a big push to keep guns off campus, we probably wouldn’t have been able to keep guns out of hospitals and care homes.”

Professor Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, an active member of Faculty for a SEE CAMPUS CARRY PAGE 2

Andrea Ringgenberg/KANSAN A crowd gathers on Wescoe Beach to protest the concealed carry rule that went into effect on July 1.

What we know so far about the Pepsi partnership DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan

July 1 brought several changes to the University with one of the newest ones being the end of a 20-year relationship with soft drink provider Coca-Cola ­ — and the beginning of one with Pepsi.

The Coca-Cola partnership, which began in 1997 and was renewed in 2007, expired on July 1 of this year. Following its expiration, the University decided to switch drink providers

and, as of Monday, without “final negotiations” or a contract to go off of.

If it operates similarly to the previous one with Coke, the new partnership will mean that beverages sold

by Pepsi, such as Gatorade, Mountain Dew and Pepsi, will be sold on campus and provided at events.

Along with tangible goods, the previous Coca-Cola partnership meant scholarships and student group funding. This funding was overseen and delegated by the KU Coke Partner-

ship Committee, which will now become the KU Pepsi Partnership Committee and hold the same responsibilities.

“

As for the University, I think it will be better off from the switch.”

Constanza Castro Junior

One of the members of that committee is Student

Body Vice President Mattie Carter. According to Carter, who had no role in the switch but will be involved in its implementation, how much money the Committee will be allocated is not yet finalized. However, she said, it being less than what was included in the Coca-Cola partnership is not likely.

“I imagine the committee would not have selected Pepsi if the company did not offer a better deal,” Carter said. “So I imagine the funding for student groups will have the same, if not more,

amount of money that the Coke funding did.”

More than drink options, Carter said, having an exclusive partnership with Pepsi means monetary advantages for student groups. This is something the KU Pepsi Partnership Committee will provide.

“Typically, [Student] Senate sends groups here when they do not meet all the Senate funding requirements, or if they need additional funding that we cannot provide,” Carter said.

“I imagine this will now be-

come the Pepsi Partnership Committee because they will offer the same kinds of programs.”

The Kansan requested access under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) to the contract between the University and Pepsi but was told the contract is not yet available.

“The negotiations on this contract are not yet final,” the response states.

“Therefore at this time the University has determined SEE PEPSI PAGE 2

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FROM PEPSI PAGE 1 that it possesses no records responsive to this request.”

Some of the campus affiliates most affected by the new partnership, KU Athletics, Dining and KU Memorial Unions, refused to comment on the switch pending the new contract’s completion.

Despite the lack of contractual details, students will no doubt be met with a new campus partner this fall.

Constanza Castro, a junior from Raytown, Missouri, is one student who is looking forward to not only more drink options, she said, but a new exclusive drink partner.

“As for the University, I think it will be better off from the switch,” Castro said. “I think an exclusive drink sponsor is a good thing because it cultivates relationships between KU and the sponsor. That wouldn’t happen without the exclusivity.”

FROM CAMPUS CARRY PAGE 1 Safer Campus and the president of the Kansas chapter of the American Association of University Professors, also said this was a big victory for the anti-gun movement.

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s the first time the NRA has ever been dealt a defeat in a red state legislature in modern times,” Barrett-Gonzalez said in an email.

Looking forward, Jones said there are some other fights she would like to

Photo illustration by Missy Minear

spend time on in addition to campus carry, such as keeping guns out of public libraries and reversing a gag law that prohibits public entities from speaking out against legislation.

“Constant pressure is what’s needed,” Jones said.

“If we just gave up now, I feel like it would all kind of be in vain. The way that the gun lobby has functioned in Kansas prior to us trying to stop campus carry has essentially been getting everything they’ve wanted without much fuss. I want to give them as much fuss

as possible.”

“

Constant pressure is what’s needed.

If we just gave up now, I feel like it would all kind of be in vain.”

Megan Jones Fail Campus Carry member

For Barrett-Gonzalez, having more success with fighting campus carry might come in the form of

a personnel change in the governor’s office and statehouse. Kansas will get to choose its next governor in 2018, as well as voting on some legislators, and Barrett-Gonzalez thinks concealed carry will be no small issue in those elections.

“Many people thought that [campus carry] was such a crazy idea that it would ‘never happen;’ accordingly, they didn’t do much to resist it,” he said in an email. “Because untrained armed individuals with guns are now here, some people far more en-

ergized to change the situation not so much by lobbying, but by working to kick out the legislators who made this happen.”

Barrett-Gonzalez said he thinks switches in the governor’s office would fix the issues he sees in the Board of Regents, and changes in the legislature would make it possible to change the law. In the 2017 session, neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate ever had a debate on an amendment exempting college campuses.

Though they plan to

take different approaches to their fights, both Barrett-Gonzalez and Jones said they are not giving up on getting rid of concealed carry on campus, because it’s something they object to so strongly.

“That mission still hasn’t gone away. Guns still don’t belong on campus,” Jones said. “I’m still going to do everything I can to show that they don’t belong there, and it’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or injured.”

NEWS

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Report: Consultants cost KU millions, offer few benefits ANGIE BALDELOMAR @AngieBaldelomar

A

fter releasing a report about the millions of dollars the University of Kansas spends on consultants, University Senate is aiming to create an analysis of the benefits that the University receives from these spendings.

Suzanne Shontz, University Senate president, said that although nothing is set in stone yet, she expects a discussion on this analysis during the first University Senate meeting in September.

In the spring semester, the Planning and Resources Committee released a report on the use of external consultants and consulting contractors by the University who were paid more than $10,000. The report concluded that “there is strong evidence pointing to more than ($21 million) being spent on consultants and consultant-like activities over the past 7 years

at KU with little-to-no tangible evidence of positive work product relating to the bulk of these monies.”

Consultants are hired to fix problems, cut costs, make operations more efficient or anything else the client asks them to do. At the University, consultants are used in different areas, from the climate study reports (Rankin & Associates Consulting) to consultants for the implementation of IT systems (Oracle America Inc.).

For Shontz, this report is only a step forward and shows that more research needs to be done, especially of the benefits of these costs.

“That committee, as you can imagine, they had a lot of charges, they got through a lot, but they weren’t able to do every single thing because they needed to interact with the administration, and administration was giving them things, but it takes a while to talk to them and get data from them,” she said.

Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, aerospace engineering associate professor and member of the Planning and Resources committee, agreed with Shontz in that more research is needed.

He said in an email that the work results of nearly all of the consulting services are unverified.

“It doesn’t mean that the work wasn’t done or done satisfactorily, it just means that the Administration hasn’t shown the Committee evidence of this,” he said in an email.

The report was done in response to a specific charge given by the University Senate Executive Committee, Barrett-Gonzalez said, to “develop a cost-benefit analysis of partnerships between KU and outside contractors and consultants.”

Although Shontz said she can’t guarantee the committee will make the benefit side of this analysis the following year, she thinks it is more likely to happen.

File Photo/KANSAN Consultants are being used for many projects within the University, including construction projects. A report from this spring semester by the University Senate found that millions of dollars are being given to these consultants, sometimes without substantial results.

For her, there needs to be a way to find a “happy balance” between what instances need consultants and the cost of using them.

“Do a little more on this, investigating side, asking is it really worth the money you pay? That’s just one

thing,” she said. “Another thing would be just also getting more input from people who will be involved.”

The Kansan reached out to some members of the University’s administration, but they could not be

reached for comment.

Shontz expects a decision to be made on whether this benefit side of the analysis will be a charge for the Planning and Resources committee during the first University Senate meeting in September.

Lawmakers’ decision triggers raises for KU employees CHANDLER BOESE @Chandler_Boese

The University announced plans Tuesday to issue pay increases to some faculty and staff members this summer.

A 5 percent increase will be given to faculty members and unclassified staff members who have been at the University for more

than five years and haven’t gotten a raise in the last five years. A message to faculty and staff said this group should be relatively small, since “virtually every employee” has seen an increase in the last five years.

A 2.5 percent increase will be given to faculty members and unclassified staff members who were hired in the last five years.

The increases come after a last-minute decision in June by the state legislature to increase salaries for all state employees who hadn’t recently received a raise.

During a June meeting of the Board of Regents, representatives from the University of Kansas and other state universities said the legislature’s decision, while good for employees,

was proving hard to implement.

The legislature funded the increases for employees whose salaries came out of the state’s fund, but many faculty and staff members at universities are funded (at least partially) by other sources, like grants, federal funding or endowment. As a result, universities would be obligated to increase

some employees’ salaries, but had to come up with that money on their own.

According to the University’s proposed tuition plan, the legislature would be providing $2,461,969 for the increase, but $1,186,062 more would be necessary to fully fund the increase. The University said it would fund that through reallocations, not tuition revenue.

Graduate teaching assistants will also be getting a salary increase this year, according to the University’s plans, as a result of a contract negotiation with the GTA union last year.

This increase raised the minimum GTA salary to $15,000 and will be paid for through tuition increases.

OPINION

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Liston: Both major political parties need reform RYAN LISTON @rliston235

P

olitics can often seem like a whirlwind of debauchery and corruption. Currently, with President Donald Trump’s ongoing Russia scandal, the Republican Party may seem particularly rotten. However, the Democratic Party is not wholly perfect either.

On July 11, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted screenshots of an email conversation he had with publicist Rob Goldstone indicating that the Russian government wanted to provide damaging information regarding Hillary Clinton to the Trump campaign. To me, this spells out collusion in bold letters.

A few days after seeing the frenzy caused by these tweets, I read a CBS News article about former Clinton White House aide Alexandra Chalupa seeking out damaging information on then-candidate Trump from the Ukrainian government.

This was not a breaking report, but it was the first time I read about the situation.

To me, this again spells out collusion; although, the Ukrainian meddling seems less severe and less-connected with the Clinton campaign.

Nonetheless, neither of our political parties should be turning to foreign entities in an attempt to beat the other in elections.

Collusion, while likely one of the most corrupt acts by either party, is only one issue that the parties need to address. The Democratic and Republican Parties both need major reform.

Illustration by Gracie Williams

On the Republican side, falling in line behind a candidate that is so blatantly sexist, incompetent and narcissistic is deplorable. During the primaries, Trump was roundly criticized even by members of his own party. Yet during the general election, most Republican opposition faded even when Trump was at his worst. The GOP supports a man who threatens the free press, attacks women on their looks, mocked a disabled reporter, labeled Mexicans as criminals and frighteningly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for his strong leadership when discussing the killings of Putin’s political enemies and of journalists who criticized Putin’s regime.

Instead of leading to any retrospection, President Trump’s actions have emboldened some other members of the Republican Party to act similarly. One of the more extreme examples of this manifested when Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte — then a candidate for Montana’s House seat and the eventual winner of that election — body-slammed a reporter.

On the Democratic side, the Democratic National Committee seemingly put its weight behind Clinton during the primaries in an attempt to stop Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination. Leaked emails show that the DNC strate-

gized ways to weaken the Sanders campaign.

The Democratic Party also places heavy emphasis on higher education, which to many Americans is financially unattainable, and environmental issues that some people rightfully worry will put them out of work.

Sanders himself pushed for a reform of the Democratic Party with his “political revolution.” He hoped to make the party’s platform highlight income and wealth inequality, job creation from converting to renewable energy, and a general focus on growing the country’s middle class.

On both sides, politicians rely heavily on wealthy donors and special interests to

get elected and push their agendas. This reliance on big money takes a politician’s focus away from everyday Americans and encourages them to court donors who can aide their political ambitions. Consequently, the problems and issues that most Americans face can take a back seat to the will of corporations and wealthy individuals.

The onus of creating a political system that works for everyone is not just on the major political parties; it is on all of us. We need to be active and passionate about the issues that we face.

We must vote for politicians who we believe will institute necessary changes to their parties. We must

vote for politicians who place an emphasis on campaign finance reform and making the government work for the people. We must vote for politicians that we trust will act ethically when campaigning and when governing instead of undermining our democracy.

Reform comes from a demand for change. We cannot wait for years before calling for such reform. We need to make it clear now that the current political climate is unacceptable, and that we will not tolerate cut-throat politics anymore.

Ryan Liston is a junior from Lawrence studying journalism and political science

ARTS & CULTURE

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Professor’s show takes humorous approach to cancer COURTNEY BIERMAN @courtbierman

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endi Renee Doran, a senior studying theatre, knew that Mechele Leon was always in her office. The student and theatre professor would regularly hang out in the theatre department, discussing plays and history.

So when Leon's office was empty one day in March of 2016, Doran

knew something was wrong. Other department staff told her Leon was out for "health problems," and Doran eventually pieced together what was going on: Leon had been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

"It was like the department wasn’t alive for a while," Doran said.

Leon was back at work less than a year later, even though her cancer was high-grade and muscleinvasive.

She'd gone

through four rounds of chemotherapy, and doctors removed her bladder.

Like a true artist Leon turned her brush with death into a one-woman show, which premiered at the Kansas City Fringe Festival on Saturday.

Leon’s “Bladder Interrupted” is an hour-long tragicomedy in the same vein as work by Carrie Fisher and Tig Norato, performers who turn terrible or life-threatening experiences into comedy.

Leon uses humor to bring awareness to and start conversations about a deadly disease, as well as her recovery.

“Of course, when anybody's diagnosed, you feel like your world has crashed,” Leon said. “Now, looking back on it, it feels like a very serious medical event in my life, but it doesn't feel like a death sentence.”

Doran is one of two Jayhawks also involved with the production of

"Bladder Interrupted."

Doran is an assistant producer, and 2004 graduate Theresa Buchheister is the dramaturge and cowriter.

Buchheister is a New York City-based actor, writer and director, and Leon recruited her early on in the creative process. The women pored over the early drafts of the show to make sure it was as funny and relatable as possible.

As Leon and Buchheister were writing, Buchheister’s

father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She said the experience made her feel closer to the material of “Bladder Interrupted,” and gave her a new perspective on what Leon was trying to accomplish with the show — especially when she observed Leon commiserating with Buchheister’s father in his hospital room.

“The way that they talk to each other was so different SEE CANCER PAGE 8

Revisiting the National African American Quilt Convention COURTNEY BIERMAN @courtbierman

The work of about a dozen quilt artists is on display across Lawrence as part of last week’s National African American Quilt Convention.

The Lawrence Arts Center, the Spencer Museum of Art, and the African American Museum and Textile Academy all currently house quilts from a number of visiting artists across the country.

Artists Myrah Brown Green and Bisa Butler were both in Lawrence earlier this month to participate in the first-ever National African American Quilting Convention. Green and Butler taught classes in different quilting techniques to convention goers. Green also gave a lecture on African symbolism in quilting.

Green is an art historian, academic, curator and professional quilt maker from Brooklyn. Much of her quilt-

ing work includes appliqués and symbolism meant to tell less-told pieces of black and African history, such as a quilt that tells the story of Malcom X’s wife, Betty Shabazz, a PhD who survived her husband’s assassination and continued to raise their six daughters.

Green, who had never been to Kansas before, said she felt a responsibility to attend the convention.

“I feel like as a woman, as someone who knows how difficult and challenging it is to put on a big event such as this, whatever I could do, it was important for me to do it,” she said.

Butler works as a high school art teacher in New Jersey. Her quilts are detailed, colorful portraits of prominent figures, many of whom are no longer living. The subjects of the quilts tend to be people who influence and inspire Butler, such as poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and

actress Lupita Nyong’o.

Also in Butler’s collection is a piece depicting the face of an unfamiliar elderly black man. He’s meant to be Butler’s grandfather, who died well before she was born.

Butler’s father was 11 years old when he lost his own father to appendicitis in Ghana. Butler said she wanted to create something that would show what she imagined her grandfather would look like if he were alive today. The quilt now hangs in her father’s living room.

Green and Butler both expressed gratitude toward the quilting community. Butler said other types of visual artists can tend to be competitive and cold, but quilters support one another. They attend each other’s workshops and buy each other’s art. She said the warmth of the quilting community was one reason she was happy to attend the convention “I'm so happy just to be

Contributed Photo Quilt artist Bisa Butler stands with her piece “I Know Why the Caged Bird Beats His Wings” at the Spencer Museum of Art. Butler visited Lawrence last week to teach a quilting class, and her work was on display at the Lawrence Arts Center.

a part of this renaissance,” Butler said. “I felt the vibe of quilting in general and African American quilting were making a resurgence, so for all of us to be here, and to have this many people and

all of these major museums respect and want to promote that, it really puts us out there. It's like it's a renaissance of African American quilting.”

More of Green and But-

Contributed Photo Myrah Brown Green, whose quilt “Dancin’ at the Tree of Life” is shown here, visited Lawrence to lecture and teach classes as part of the National African American Quilt Convention.

ler’s work can be seen on their websites. The Lawrence Arts Center’s “Boldly Stitched” exhibition, which displays the work of six different quilters, can be seen until August 19.

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Swain: Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington will be missed MICHAEL SWAIN @mswain97

I

grew up on Linkin Park.

I grew up listening to albums "Meteora," "Hybrid Theory" and "Minutes to Midnight."

On the way to school, we would listen to "Meteora."

My parents always say I would only ask for the track numbers on the album. “Seven! Let's listen to seven!” I would say.

Track 7 was "Faint," one of the more electronic songs on the band's third studio album. There were many more that I loved and would blurt out as soon as we got in the car. To this day I know most lyrics to just about all Linkin Park

albums released before 2010.

When I heard that Chester Bennington had died in what has been reported as a suicide, I was surprised. But then, as I thought more about him and his music, I wasn’t.

Bennington used music to forget an abusive childhood and his struggles with alcoholism.

Bennington was just like any one of us, a person who has their demons and is constantly trying to find ways to combat them.

Songs such as "Numb," "In The End," "Hands Held High" and "Shadow of the Day" each detail different aspects of our own lives that we deal

with. Bennington's ability to take those emotions and put words to them was fascinating. Through good times and bad, you can find a song from Linkin Park that perfectly fits with the emotion.

The band takes real emotions and problems, and turns them into catchy songs that transcend generations. I know plenty of people over the age of 40 that jam out to Linkin Park, but I also know 10-yearolds that recognize Linkin Park when it is played.

At the apex of the band's popularity as a group, it was featured in the 2007 "Transformers" movie, and even recorded an album with Jay-Z. Bennington

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Associated Press In this May 16, 2015 file photo, Chester Bennington, left, performs in New Jersey. The Los Angeles County coroner says Bennington has died in his home near Los Angeles.

was the face of it all.

Many people know Linkin Park because of his lungbursting vocals and his ability to be understood even when it sounded as if

housing

his voice box was about to implode.

With Bennington's passing, many will be looking for consolation.

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the lyrics Bennington sang is he already taught us all how to grieve him. Take this verse from "Leave Out All The Rest" from the album "Minutes to Midnight:" “When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done / Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed / Don't resent me and, when you're feeling empty / Keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest.”

There songs that have similar verses, but this one speaks volumes. Let us all celebrate a great life, and an incredible artist.

Rest in peace, Chester Bennington — you will be missed.

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TV Stock: ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Twin Peaks’ and more GUS HUNNINGHAKE @gushunninghake

W

hat a week to be alive and watching television. It’s time to nerd out and talk about my favorites from last week.

“Game of Thrones:” Trending UP QUEUE THE MUSIC. I won’t deny that I’m one of those people who pretends to conduct the orchestra as the epic theme for this fantasy show plays at the beginning of each episode.

And let me tell you, my fake baton was in full use last Sunday night.

“Dragonstone” kicks off pretty much right where we left our characters at the last finale over one year ago (too long to

CANCER FROM PAGE 5 than anyone who doesn’t have cancer,” Buchheister said. “Observing them communicate with each other and talk about their experience and also how frustrating it is to sometimes be a jerk to people who care about them when they don’t understand what they’re going through is a sort of fascinating, enlightening moment.”

Buchheister also owns a small theater in Brooklyn called Vital Joint where Leon will perform “Bladder Interrupted” in October.

Doran joined the show

wait, if you ask me). Arya remains in the Twins post-killing Walder Frey, and prepares to make sure every Frey knows that "the North remembers."

Jon Snow and sister Sansa butt heads in Winterfell as they decide the fates of two family lines who opposed them in the Battle of the Bastards. Cersei remains in King’s Landing, trying to figure out where her loyalties lie. And most importantly, Daenerys arrives in Dragonstone with Tyrion and company and prepares for an upcoming attack on mainland Westeros.

This packed episode features some lovely payback for the Stark family, substantial power moves as well as minor plays on the large game board that set the end of the long-

running series in motion.

Winter is truly here, and the always wonderful cinematography and enthralling character acting makes "Game of Thrones" feel back and better than ever for its shorter season.

after an internship experience fell through, and Leon offered her a production role.

“She prefaced this with: 'It doesn't have a lot of pay,'” Doran said. “It cracked me up. As if that was going to dissuade me.”

Doran said working on “Bladder Interrupted” has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of her life. She’s gotten the chance to see a piece of theatre — a celebration of a loved one’s good health— go from a script to stage.

“Watching her take humor and use it to almost kind of cope with what's happening — first of all,

it doesn't surprise me because it's Mechele, and second of all, it was really cool to see her take a field that she’s worked in for so many years and use it for whatever everyone else use it for, which is catharsis,” Doran said.

As an educator, Leon wants her students to take “Bladder Interrupted” as an example of the good things that can come out of tragedy, as well as an encouragement to take risks.

“As a theatre professor, it matters to me that students see me put my own self on the line,” Leon said. “Because we're

“Ari Shaffir: Double Negative:” Trending UP Netflix continues its recent roll of solid standup releases with a two-part set from the always funny and undeniably odd Ari Shaffir.

The two-part series takes place in the same theatre with the same crowd and focuses on two specific topics: children and adulthood. Shaffir wonderfully weaves through stories of his friends' kids, the overall stupidity of childhood, the

advantage of not having kids as experienced through traveling to Thailand and coming to grips with his own sexuality. All of these ideas are tightly thought out and experienced through two 45-minutelong specials available now on Netflix.

As a big fan of standup and its type of expression, Shaffir’s brand of comedy has stood out among the rest for many years now.

His sort of relatable dude mentality combines with wholly unique experiences to make his brand of comedy completely relatable, as if the viewer was there with Shaffir when he experienced each story. The crowd below him enjoys it and folks at home should be laughing right along with them throughout both sets.

“Twin Peaks:” Trending UP I didn’t expect to return to this show so quickly. In fact, I was rather hoping to do an in-depth analysis at the season’s conclusion.

However, “Part 10” was so compelling and revealing that I couldn’t shy away from talking about it.

“Part 10” contains so many important events that it’s hard to explain what happens, especially if you haven’t been watching. But hell, here goes nothing. Chief Gordon (David Lynch) has visions of Laura, while Albert tells him of a message from Diane about Hastings' arrest. One of the many evil variations of Cooper, “Dougie,” is framed for the denial of an arson claim that cost

the Mitchum family $30 million.

This exciting and longwinded episode highlights so many things about what makes the show so wholly unique. Something about the direction of this season feels so fully realized by creators Mark Frost and Lynch. The pair’s writing and Lynch’s direction has been on point and doesn’t let up with each passing episode.

With the conclusion in sight, the pieces of the puzzle seem to be converging, and as star Kyle MacLachlan recently promised, everything seems to be making sense and the end approaches.

teaching them to be artists, and we're teaching them to put themselves out there. If I'm unwilling to do that, if I'm unwilling to talk about my cancer, if I'm unwilling to talk about changes in my body, then what kind of example am I?” Subsequent performances of "Bladder Interrupted" will take place on July 24, 26 and 28 at the Kansas City Fringe Festival. Tickets are $10 with a festival admission button.

More information can be found on the festival website.

Contributed by Rana Esfandiary “Bladder Interrupted” premiered at the Kansas City Fringe Festival on Saturday, July 22.

KANSAN.COM

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SPORTS

Dzwierzynski: It’s time to believe in Kansas football BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI @BrendanDzw

I

t’s been years since there was any real hype around Kansas football.

Now, with the season approaching, players being named to watch lists and even a semblance of hope for the future surrounding the program, fans are finally getting a chance to be excited for the Jayhawks.

Frankly, it’s about time.

It’s been a long time since Kansas had a roster as talented as its current one. Junior defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. is the headliner for the new era of Kansas standouts, entering 2017 as the Preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

But, unlike in past years when Kansas might have one standout player from a roster filled with mediocrity (or worse), there are multiple Jayhawks receiving attention heading into the season.

Receivers LaQuvionte Gonzalez and Steven Sims

Hannah Edelman/KANSAN Led by sophomore Taylor Martin, the Jayhawks run out to take on the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 19. Kansas went on to win 24-21.

Jr. are both on award watch lists to start the season, a phenomenal sign for an offense that has ranged from bad to unwatchable dreck over the past several seasons, dating back to the Turner Gill disaster

and Charlie Weis reign of destruction.

Even at quarterback, where there’s not a definitive starter at this point, there’s more to look forward to behind center than there’s been since

at least the days before Michael Cummings’ knee was shredded by one of the dumbest spring game plays of all-time.

Whether it’s redshirt sophomore Carter Stanley or junior transfer Peyton

Bender, it feels as though coach David Beaty’s modified Air Raid offense is in good (or at least better) hands.

Neither passer has much in-game experience, but they have enough to be an

asset to the offense. Bender started his college career in Mike Leach’s true Air Raid system at Washington State, so he knows the gist of the Kansas offense well enough.

People forget that Stanley was the quarterback for Kansas when the Jayhawks beat the Texas Longhorns last season, a massive win for the program.

Up and down the roster, there’s reason to be excited.

Two former four-star recruits from Alabama, sophomore wide receiver Daylon Charlot and junior offensive lineman Charles Baldwin, are eligible this season.

Junior defensive tackle Daniel Wise leads a defensive interior that has the girth and strength to impose on opposing offensive lines.

And, of course, sophomore safety Mike Lee is quickly ascending to the ranks of the best safeties in college SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 10

Jack Whitman leaving Kansas basketball program WESLEY DOTSON @WesDotsonUDK

Before a single game with the Kansas basketball team, senior transfer forward Jack Whitman is leaving the program.

ESPN Basketball Insider Jeff Goodman reported on Twitter on Wednesday night Whitman’s intention

to leave the team.

Whitman, a 6-foot-9 forward, played three seasons at William & Mary before transferring to Kansas. Whitman averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

He would have been able to immediately play for the Jayhawks this season as a graduate transfer.

Whitman’s departure weakens what was already a thin frontcourt for Kansas. Sophomore center Udoka Azubuike, freshman forward Billy Preston and sophomore forward Mitch Lightfoot are currently the only three big men eligible to play in 2017-18.

With Kansas now holding an open scholarship, the

team could potentially target Rivals’ 2018 top-ranked recruit, power forward Marvin Bagley III. Bagley is considering reclassifying to the class of 2017 to be eligible for the 2018 NBA Draft, according to CBS Sports.

According to 247 Sports, Bagley is currently considering Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Arizona and USC.

Missy Minear/KANSAN The Jayhawks huddle before the start of the game against Long Beach State on Nov. 29.

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Mason III, Lokedi named candidates for Athlete of the Year WESLEY DOTSON @WesDotsonUDK

F

ormer Kansas guard Frank Mason III and track and field’s sophomore Sharon Lokedi have a chance to receive more recognition for their stellar 2016-17 seasons.

On Sunday, the Big 12 Conference nominated Mason as Kansas’ male Athlete of the Year candidate, and Lokedi was named the female Athlete of the Year candidate.

Mason turned in one of the most successful seasons in the history of the program this past year. He averaged 20.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per FOOTBALL FROM PAGE 9 football.

It’s been a slow process, but the drawnout turnaround for Kansas football all goes back to hiring Beaty. It hasn’t been a smooth run by any means for Beaty, with the winless season in 2015 and painful play calling marring his first two seasons in Lawrence. But, the key is improvement, something he’s shown since arriving.

Winning games at all is an important part of a coach’s job, so that was a clear step up last season.

And, by hiring Doug Meacham to take over as offensive coordinator, the program is clearly dedicated to improving the on-field product (Defensive coordinator Clint Bowen deserves a shout out as well due to the defense’s

game, making him the first player in Kansas and Big 12 history to average over 20 points and five assists in a season.

The 5-foot-11 guard also completed a sweep of national player of the year awards and became the first Jayhawk to win the AP National Player of the Year award.

Mason was drafted No. 34 overall in the NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings last month and was recently signed to a contract by the team.

Lokedi, a two-time AllAmerican, found more success in her sophomore campaign for the Jayhawks.

She captured Big 12 titles

vast improvement over the course of 2016).

Beaty was known as a great recruiter while at Texas A&M, where he was the Aggies' recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach.

He’s carried that over with him to Kansas, where, as of July 20, the Jayhawks have the 33rd-best 2018 recruiting class per 247Sports, despite only a handful of wins in his tenure. The recruits are improving every year and so is the team in general.

Success breeds success.

It may feel like grasping at straws to put so much stock in potential and hope. But, while the plight of Kansas football is well known across the map, it doesn’t really sink in how dreadful the team has been until it’s verbalized or written in plain sight.

The most recent crop of

Missy Minear/KANSAN Senior guard Frank Mason III looks to set up a play in the first half against Oregon on March 25. The Jayhawks fell to the Ducks, 74-60.

in both the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Big 12 track and field

championships in May, making her just the seventh female in the conference’s

four-year graduates from the University saw eight wins over the course of four seasons. That group was in the first weeks of their freshman year of high school when Kansas last won on the road.

They were eighth-graders when Kansas last won a conference game on the road.

Games like Homecoming 2015, a four-hour, 55-point blowout to Oklahoma, were more snuff film than football game. There has been a lot of bad football under the Kansas Jayhawks banner in recent memory.

That’s the past, though.

Being skeptical is an understandable approach considering the program’s futility. But, it wasn’t that long ago that Kansas went to back-to-back bowl games and was at least competing with conference foes. It

won’t be long until we see that again, either.

Kansas may not be a bowl team this season, but it will certainly be a better team than it has been over the past several years.

The program is distancing itself from bad players, bad hires and the unending negativity (or worse, apathy) of the past more and more every day.

There’s reason to finally have faith in the Jayhawks.

history to win both events at a Big 12 meet.

Lokedi was also named

the Big 12 Outstanding Female Performer of the Year by Big 12 coaches.

Lokedi’s stellar season propelled her to an NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance in June. She placed sixth in the 10,000 meters at the championships after clocking a personal-best time of 32:49.43.

One male and female candidate from each school has now been selected. Fans will be able to vote for their choices through July 25 on the Big 12’s official website.

The fan voting results will be taken into consideration in the conference’s final tally for selecting the winners.

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Nadeau: Royals on the brink of something big JACK NADEAU @jacknadeuku

With the MLB All-Star game in the rearview mirror, the Kansas City Royals now have a daunting task with a two-week deadline — keep winning.

As the American League Central currently sits as the tightest divisional race across the entire league, the Royals have until the MLB trade deadline on July 31 to essentially make or break their season.

That’s not to say a timely winning streak in the dog days of August or during call-up season in September is impossible. It’s been done many times before.

But for a squad teetering on the brink of contention,

the next two weeks will likely paint a clearer picture of what moves the Royals might make before the 4 p.m. trade deadline.

The Royals currently reside only a couple games out of first place, trailing the division-leading Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. In two weeks time, the Royals could be doing as well as having a couple games up on their division foes, or could slip and widen the margin between themselves and the top of the division.

While Kansas City is considered a small-market team, it is an organization that has not been afraid to make a splash at the trade deadline in the past.

In the banner 2015

Associated Press Kansas City’sLorenzo Cain is congratulated by teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels on June 16.

World Series season, general manager Dayton Moore moved a hefty package of three top pitching prospects to acquire Johnny Cueto, who went on to anchor a solid rotation through the end of the regular season

and into October. A similar move could be imminent if the Royals surge in the upcoming weeks before the deadline.

One position of particular need for Kansas City is help in the outfield. Loren-

zo Cain has been serviceable batting .265/.338/.413 with 11 home runs, 15 steals and tremendous plate discipline, but the corner outfield spots leave much to be desired.

A power bat would provide plenty of pop in the heart of the order, but a move within the division would be unlikely.

However, it is just as possible that the Royals could fall out of contention by that time. If Ned Yost’s squad somehow falls into the eight-to-ten game range out of first place and contending seems improbable, it could be the Royals’ marquee players that are sent to contenders in exchange for a replenishing of the farm system.

With expiring contracts looming for Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain and Jason Vargas, one or several of the players who have become household names could face relocation by the end of the month.

With key players expected to be shopped, it will be these next two weeks that determine if the Royals will be looking to acquire similar players, or if they will be shopping their own talent around the league.

Big moves are looming, it just remains murky as to which way they will affect the Royals moving forward.

Beaty excited to add ‘energetic’ offensive coordinator WESLEY DOTSON @WesDotsonUDK

When Kansas football coach David Beaty joined the program in 2015, he knew he ultimately wanted his longtime friend Doug Meacham as his offensive coordinator.

“I called him 10 times and offered him so much, I told him ‘look, you can have all the money, I’ll hire everyone else for a dollar,’” Beaty said on Monday, the first of two Big 12 Football Media Days in Frisco, Texas. “’You can have it all, what’s it going to take to get you here?’ Beause I just think that much of him.”

Beaty and Meacham’s

football relationship together dates back to Beaty’s high school coaching days in Texas.

The two first met while Meacham was recruiting from Beaty’s schools. Beaty served as coach of North Dallas in 2001 and Irving MacArthur from 2002-05. “[Meacham] taught me a lot of ball, spent a lot of time with him,” Beaty said. “Always wanted to work with the guy. So, that relationship started a long time ago.”

This past offseason, Beaty made that aspiration a reality when he hired Meacham to join the Kansas coaching staff in January after three

successful seasons at TCU. “He’s one of the best offensive minds in college football,” Beaty said.

“Bringing him to Lawrence was an incredible addition to an already amazing group of coaches and men that we have at our place.”

Beaty said the addition of Meacham to the roster has also provided an extra amount of energy during practices.

“This game of football, it’s tough on these guys,” Beaty said. “A day-to-day grind for these guys is a lot more than what a lot of people know. It’s very difficult. Doug has done such a great job of making sure that we have fun

every day. He’s a guy that is infectious and you just want to be around him.

He’s one of those people.”

Meacham will be tasked with turning around a Kansas offense that has ranked last in the Big 12 in total offense in each of the past three seasons.

Under Meacham, TCU ranked second (533 yards per game) in 2014, third (562.8 yards per game) in 2015 and seventh (463.2 yards per game) in 2016.

Beaty said he is eager to see the Kansas offense formulate into Meacham’s Air Raid style.

“It’s going to be fun watching him put his personality into it,” Beaty

said. “The concepts are all very similar, but like all the guys that kind of live in this offense, everyone has their own little personality and twist on it. It’s really interesting watching him instill that.”

Kansas has already had one position change on offense this offseason with junior Ryan Schadler moving to wide receiver.

“I don’t know [if] I would have thought to do that,” Beaty said. “We really think that he might be a really nice answer for us at that wide out spot.

He’s done nothing but great things for us.”

Prior to making what Beaty called an

“instantaneous” impact at TCU, Meacham served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Houston. Beaty is hoping Meacham can have an impact at Kansas similar to the impact he had for the TCU offense as the season approaches. “[The players] love being around Doug Meacham because he is so much fun and he’s really good at what he’s done,” Beaty said. “His leadership over the last three years and what he was able to do with coach [Gary] Patterson and those guys at TCU … really excited about Doug.”