Feature, p. 7A
Student Veterans Organization aims to provide military friendly climate on campus.
Sports,
Women’s Soccer, p. 1B
Women’s soccer team celebrates most successful season in UMKC history.
UNIVERSITY NEWS UMKC’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 81, Issue 14
Monday November 18, 2013
Women in Passport Day: Students and children come computer together for culture and a cause science:
Does UMKC’S SCE program have a gender problem?
Hope Austin Contributing Writer Kansas City was host to the second Missouri-Iowa-NebraskaKansas-Women in Computing conference in October. The goal of the conference is to help women explore opportunities in computing and networking with other women in the field. Among the organizers of the event were UMKC faculty members Dr. Cindy Yi and Judy Mullins. The conference was of particular importance to female students in UMKC’s School of Computer Science and Engineering, who make up 18 percent of the whole program. The number is small when compared to UMKC’s overall female student population of 57 percent. Computer science student Sarah Withee says sexism may be to blame. “Society tends to say that women shouldn’t enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, Withee said. “These career fields are often full of men, and often the men discriminate against the women. There are tons of studies showing that women are often set up to not be promoted, to be stuck on projects that are doomed to fail from the beginning and are not really valued in the workplace. Little girls are encouraged to be moms and princesses and nurses, and never to be scientists, engineers or software developers.” Even so, things seem to be making a turn-around. “I can see that the number of female students is increasing right now,” Yi said. Still, Withee said UMKC and society at large could do much more to encourage women to pursue a career in computer science. “While there needs to be encouragement for women in college, there definitely needs to be encouragement for girls in elementary, middle and high schools showing them that not only are technology careers fun, but that they play a very valuable role in bringing new and different ideas to these careers,” Withee said. “And since women are half the world’s population, then how they think and use technology is important to consider when designing and engineering the technologies too.” haustin@unews.com
Bottoms, HALO provides a learning Johanna Poppel center for area youth with a few Contributing Writer staff members, 30 volunteers a week International student and a board of committed volunteer organizations and local ambassadors. disadvantaged youth came together Andrea Steere, president of the last Friday evening in Pierson new HALO Foundation branch at Auditorium for UMKC’s first UMKC, serves on the ambassador Passport Day, which was presented board and has served as an intern by the HALO (Helping Art Liberate at the local HALO branch since Orphans) Foundation at UMKC, last January. Steere’s experience a student organization new to led her to start this new student campus this semester. organization at UMKC this HALO may have a new presence semester. Steere explained a need on campus, but the HALO for such a group on campus because Foundation is nationally and of a disconnect she noticed between internationally at work. HALO students and the reality of youth in partners with 11 orphanages and developing countries. programs in Uganda, Kenya, “We wanted to be the ones that Mexico, India and Nicaragua. The start the conversation on campus.” HALO Foundation helps provide Steere said. “Students often get food, water, shelter, clothing, distracted with the hectic and busy education, art therapy, caretakers life of a student.” and vocational training, skills and Steere said she sees great potential college scholarships for homeless or for the new student organization. impoverished youth. HALO focuses “The students that are a part on programming to help at-risk of this new organization show youth to develop a fulfilling future a strong passion and are really for themselves so they can support engaged.” Steere said. their community. Originally, HALO Students and local youth in sought to allow street children and HALO’s program were invited to impoverished youth in developing learn about the different countries countries an opportunity to create in which HALO offers support. a bond and express themselves Participation from various student through art. HALO has grown to organizations helped make Passport provide much more on a broader Day successful. Various student scale, serving more than 1,000 youth organizations were responsible each year. for setting up tables showcasing Domestically, HALO partners information, crafts, artifacts and with area homeless shelters, activities unique to that country in residential care facilities and which HALO serves. transitional living programs to Students in UMKC’s HALO provide art therapy, educational branch represented the table workshops and life skills to youth. for Nicaragua and GlobeMed Workshops range in a variety of students represented Uganda. The skills such as: personal finance, Association of Latin American dance, sewing, computing and Students represented Mexico, poetry. Branches are located from INDUS represented India and coast to coast with its headquarters the African Student Cultural in Kansas City. Located in the West Organization represented Kenya.
HALO, a new organization at UMKC, is dedicated to helping at-risk youth in impoverished areas. Photo // Johanna Poppel After visiting each table, students and children had a chance to of Bachata, a Dominican Republic have their “passports” stamped style of dance, by Idaima Calderon. The HALO branch at UMKC by various countries. A cultural show was presented. A group of plans on offering educational INDUS students performed a dance workshops, advocacy and volunteer showcasing traditional Indian opportunities for students. choreography and Anna Jobe jpoppel@unews.com danced Mexican folklore. The show ended with an interactive lesson
Black Studies Program encourages students to join Hope Austin Contributing Writer
Encouragement and education were on the agenda at the open house hosted by the UMKC Black Studies program. The open house, held at the Black Studies house at 53rd and Holmes Street, started with a reception where students and faculty could eat food and mingle. The reception was followed by a series of presentations by Black Studies professors.
Faculty of the Black Studies Program reached out to students at its open house event last week. Photo // Hope Austin
The main purpose of the event was to reach out to students who are interested in the Black Studies graduate and undergraduate programs. Dr. Adrienne Hoard, director of the Black Studies program, welcomed guests and prospective students. “The Black Studies Program has all the critical information that you need to know about African descent people, African people in the world, African American, AfroCarribean, Afro- Latin. . . We have the information for you, and we can put it into critical context for you,” Hoard said. “Now then, the work is on you. How do you use this information? How do you make it relate to your life? And how does it become a part of who you are? The challenge is with you. We’re here, we’re hoping that you’re going to come learn with us, but the challenge is up to you.” Hoard was followed by Dr. Veronica Wilson-Tagoe, who presented the undergraduate program. “What’s interesting about the Black Studies minor and the BLA emphasis is that we offer four excellent core courses designed to
ground students in contextual and theoretical foundations of African American Studies,” WilsonTagoe said. Wilson-Tagoe was followed by Dr. Clovis Semmes, who presented the graduate program and also encouraged students to spread the word about the program. “These are worldclass scholars that you can learn a lot from, and UMKC is lucky to have them,” Semmes said. The program ended with a statement by T. Monette Lartey, an artist whose Kwanzaa piece, Students received information on Black Studies “Principles of Programs at UMKC. Blackness,” hangs on Photo // Hope Austin the second floor of the Black Studies House. haustin@unews.com