University News // January 21 // Issue Sixteen

UNIVERSITY NEWS UMKC’s Independent Student Newspaper

Volume 81, Issue 16

Tuesday January 21, 2014

UMKC SENDS SMOKE SIGNAL, ANNOUNCES DATE FOR TOBACCO BAN Roze Brooks Editor-in-Chief

Chancellor Leo Morton sent a message to the UMKC community this month announcing that on Aug. 1 2014, the University will become smoke- and tobacco-free.

Though this news may have been a surprise for some, discussions of the ban have been ongoing for nearly two years.

Morton’s letter stated that “in typical Roo fashion, students got the ball rolling.” Initial student efforts at UMKC began in November 2012, when the Student Government Association passed a resolution to create a task force. The charge of this group was to move UMKC towards a tobacco-campus.

The movement was also supported by the ease in which Mizzou’s Missouri Student Association was able to approve implementation of its own campuses smoking policy to an earlier date. With the assistance of

two other organizations on campus, a unanimous vote was made to revise the original date of July 1 2013 to Jan. 1 2013.

Members of UMKC’s SGA took note of this student-led alliance, and used the success of the neighboring UM school to gain local support.

One of the points of the SGA resolution was that “approximately 775 colleges and university campuses in the United States are not 100 percent tobacco-free, including in Missouri the University of Missouri- Columbia, St. Louis University, Missouri State and Washington University St. Louis.”

The University of MissouriKansas City has now been added to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation list of schools across the country that have implemented this tobacco-free policy.

The need for a committee was also endorsed by the Faculty Senate on Sept. 18 2012 who passed a sense of the senate resolution after a group of students presented on the topic.

With student and faculty backing of a tobacco-free movement, the University took the next steps toward gauging the opinion of the entire UMKC population.

Through a series of forums and online polls, the University engaged students, faculty and staff to gauge opinions of a new tobacco policy. According to Morton, “the responses from students, faculty and staff reflected a majority in favor of UMKC becoming a tobacco-free, smoke-free campus.”

Mizzou’s policy focused on smoking tobacco. UMKC has taken an all-encompassing route and will include additional products such as chewing tobacco and hookah.

Morton provided encouragement for students who may be interested in quitting, stating that “everyone will be glad you quit – your family, friends and loved ones, not to mention your employers and insurers. And most of all, you.”

Exact procedures of how the tobacco ban will be enforced across

campus have not been announced.

UMKC’s Volker campus currently has 32 designated smoking areas, which will be eliminated once the tobacco-ban becomes active. This will include parking structures on both UMKC campuses.

Although the maps listed on the “Smoke-Free UMKC” website indicate that the parameters of the ban extend to the edges of campus, there are some minor exceptions.

According to the site, “UMKC’s ban does not apply to public rights of way (sidewalks/streets) within campus boundaries, as these are governed by City of Kansas City ordinance.”

Smoking and tobacco use will still be permitted on sidewalks adjacent to a city street.

UMKC will be working in conjunction with several health resources for students, faculty and staff to quit smoking. Healthy for Life: TE Atkins UM Wellness Program, currently has cessation programs established at the three

other UM system schools. Whether in-house resources will be listed for UMKC in the near future has not been announced. Additionally, the Student Health and Wellness Center will offer resources for students interested in kicking their nicotine habits.

For employees, smokingcessation coaches are available.

Benefits of this resource include free nicotine replacement therapy, oneon-one coaching, a personalized quit plan and peer support. Although numerous cessation programs will be offered, UMKC vouches that it is not asking anyone to quit smoking.

“What matters to me is your success in quitting,” Morton said. “Together we can move in a new direction, take better care of ourselves and look at 2014 as the year we got serious about our health.” rbrooks@unews.com

SMOKE-FREE

ON CAMPUS

There are now at least 1,182 100% smokefree campuses. Of these, 811 are 100% tobacco-free. UMKC will be joining 22 other Missouri campuses with a smoke-free policy.

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences Drury University* East Central College* Evangel University * Fontbonne University Hannibal-LaGrange University* Harris-Stowe State University Lincoln University * Maryville University Metropolitan Community College (5 campuses)* Missouri Western State University * North Central Missouri College * Northwest Missouri State University Ozarks Technical Community College * Saint Charles Community College * St. Charles Community College * St. Louis Community College (7 campuses) * University of Missouri - Columbia University of Missouri - Kansas City (3 campuses) * University of Missouri - St. Louis * Washington University in St. Louis* Westminster College

Illustration // Joey Hill

* Designates 100% tobacco free campus SOURCE: http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/smokefreecollegesuniversities.pdf

GOING SMOKE-FREE September 2006 — the UMKC Hospital Hill campus implemented a strict policy – no smoking on university property, except for a single designated area.

October 2007 — Residential Life implemented a smoking policy for the residence halls, banning all smoking, including in resident rooms.

October 1, 2006 — UMKC implements policy that limits smoking to one of 32 designated areas and prohibits the use of tobacco products in all universtiy vehicles and buildings.

A look at UMKC’s smoke & tobacco policy history.

September 18th 2012 — Faculty Senate passed a sense of the senate resolution.

“The Faculty Senate endorses the formation of a campus-wide committee to move toward implementation of a tobacco-free institution.” Senator Andy Holder moved to approve the resolution; Senator Jerry Wyckoff seconded.

The motion was approved, with 2 abstentions.

November 12th 2012 — SGA senate passed that resolution to create a task force charged with researching how UMKC could become smoke or tobacco free.

August 1, 2014 — Smoking is not allowed on the UMKC campuses as of August 1, 2014.

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

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RooWriter receives positive feedback from students

Erin Melrose Staff Writer

Arts & Sciences students experienced a change in the way their writing is evaluated after UMKC made the switch from its previous Writing English Proficiency Test to what is now the RooWriter in the fall of 2013. The evaluation process is more thorough and, thus far, student response rate has been mostly positive.

Dr. Henrietta Rix Wood, the coordinator of writing assessment and professor of English, has been hard at work with her faculty and information technology team working out the kinks and providing students with quality reading content.

“Six different people produced the current reading packets,” Wood said. “They started with an interesting topic, and then looked for both scholarly and popular articles on that topic.”

A huge part of the problem with the WEPT was copyright issues and releasing copies of articles for hundreds of students.

In order to eliminate this problem, now all of the articles offered as reading material with the RooWriter must be available online and are allotted no more than seven sources.

“There are some challenging criteria for the packets: all of the articles must be available online, a total of 35 pages of text is allowed and every packet must have the information necessary to answer at least five different questions or prompts,” Wood said.

Student Katrina Flynn was among a select few students chosen as test

subjects for the RooWriter.

“I thought it was a great way to evaluate my writing skills.” Flynn said. “After receiving feedback from graders, I was able to work on these aspects in my other writing assignments in Discourse I.” Scaled evaluations produced by two faculty members provide

Illustration // Aaron Cecil students with feedback on their writing as opposed to the previous pass/fail assessment.

“I got several comments about citing sources correctly and citing all of my sources,” Flynn said.

“The RooWriter taught me [how] important this aspect of writing

is, and for it not to be mistaken for plagiarism.”

Since students are given 72 hours to write their essays, there is less pressure and allows for more opportunity to seek help from the writing center. The goal is not to determine whether a student can pass or fail at writing, but instead to constructively pinpoint areas that need attention.

“Faculty members care about how their students write, and they helped us design the RooWriter to assess both the skills of students and the teaching of students,” Wood said.

The Writing Studio will be offering two free workshops in February to help students prepare for the assessment.

“Evaluations advise students about their strengths as readers, critical thinkers and writers, and suggest ways to improve their skills,” Wood said.

“Not only has the switch from the WEPT created a more hands-on experience for students, it has also given professors a chance to cater to specific needs. With access to each assessment, professors can put together goals for their classes based on common struggles. I saw that a lot of students in my class struggled to write thesis statements, so we worked on that basic feature of academic writing.

Though there are still some kinks getting straightened out along the way, the RooWriter has improved the way students’ writing is being evaluated. emelrose@unews.com

UMKC to host film series Hope Austin

Staff Writer

UMKC will host a series of four films that document the trials and tribulations of the civil rights era.

UMKC faculty member Clovis E. Semmes, professor of black studies, will lead the after-film discussion on Jan. 26 after the showing of “The Abolitionists.” The film was produced and directed by Rob Rapley and it focuses on the start of the abolitionist movement.

The film showings are open to the public and will take place in the iX Theater in the Miller Nichols Library.

The other three films are “Slavery

by Another Name,” “The Loving Story” and “Freedom Riders.” The film and discussion sessions are part of a grant program called Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle.

“These films and the discussions that will follow provide a unique learning opportunity for our entire community, providing a window into the generations-long struggle to achieve equal rights for all Americans,” said Bonnie Postlethwaite, dean of libraries.

“We are pleased to receive a grant from NEH to provide programming around these films, enabling us to convene an important opportunity for the Kansas City community.”

In the summer of 2013, UMKC Libraries applied for and won the grant and films from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. UMKC is among the 473 organizations and educational institutions selected for the program.

The event is free, but those who wish to attend must register through the UMKC Libraries events page. haustin@unews.com

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

King’s dream lives on in Kansas City Eppie O’Neal Contributing Writer

promote his newly published book, and the stab wound he suffered to the chest from a deranged woman.

Coulter explained that if King had sneezed he would have severed an artery and bled to death.

“I’m happy he didn’t sneeze.” said Coulter. “If he sneezed he would not have had the chance in 1963 to tell us all about his dream, to see young black men and women sit down and have lunch in the south, or registering to vote for the first time and casting their very first ballot. He would not have seen the fruits of his labor.”

Coulter urged the audience to take action.

“Many of those issues that Martin Luther King Jr. was talking about in 1968 still bother us today and if we don’t do it today then when?” said Coulter. “Who’s going to do it?

We can’t survive as a society if we don’t start working together, living together, and treating each other as equals.”

A Black Panther remembers MLK

The nation paid homage to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. The activist is celebrated for his non-violent resistance to injustice during the civil rights movement in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and is regarded as one of the greatest inspirational speakers of all time.

Gary O’Neal, a 65-year-old Kansas City native and co-founder of the Kansas City Chapter of the Black Panthers and Founder of Soul Inc., a black militant organization, remembers the day King was assassinated.

“I was a young man working for Conoco delivering oil and products to service stations,” said O’Neal. “I was driving down Troost Avenue when I saw a girl I went to school with fighting with the police and people running franticly. Things just didn’t look right.”

His work shift ended shortly after and as he navigated through his neighborhood he witnessed chaos unfolding.

“All of a sudden about 35 men that I knew from the neighborhood were running down the street and jumping on the hood of a car screaming ‘We’re going to war. They killed Martin Luther King,’” he said.

King’s message of non-violent demonstrations was forgotten as hostility grew.

“During the riots an old man in his eighties came outside and said ‘young boys come here, they killed our leader, go get them,’” said O’Neal.

The destructive aftermath of King’s assassination devoured the city.

“People were driving in procession looting stores, taking alcohol and anything else they wanted. They became drunk and more upset which started many riots,” said O’Neal. “I

MSNBC Host and professor to deliver Keynote Address

Charles Coulter Are they going to kill me? I think it woke up a lot of young AfricanAmericans to the fact we’re not going to put up with this anymore.”

King was assassinated on April 4,1968 in Memphis, Tenn. while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. King had a dream to end segregation and O’Neal was able to witness his dream come true. Beginning in 1986, Congress voted that the third Monday of every January would become a Federal holiday in his honor, and his legacy lives on.

KCAI serves cake on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. was standing on a street corner with a group of guys talking about what was happening and then several white men jumped out of a car and started shooting at us and we didn’t know why.”

The violent acts caused multiple deaths and injuries throughout the city, and led to increased community involvement in the civil ights movement.

“The animosity and hatred led to more militant civil rights movements being formed after his death,” said O’Neal. “Young blacks were eager to sign up and right the wrongs that were perpetrated against us. He was our leader and someone took him.”

King’s assassination had a profound effect on O’Neal’s perspective.

“His death made me aware of the depth of how African-Americans were oppressed,” said O’Neal. “At that time not only could we not get a job at a department store, but also our own leader was killed, what’s next?

Photo // Vishnu Chander

Kansas City Art Institute celebrates MLK Charles Coulter, former op-ed editor at The Kansas City Star and African-American history professor at UMKC and KCAI , was the keynote speaker at The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) on Jan. 20 to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. Jaqueline Chanda, the current president of KCAI and first AfricanAmerican to hold this position, and Andrea Khan, registrar and director of academic resources, shared remarks with the audience.

Geri Sanders, a staff member of the president’s office, was instrumental in establishing the annual celebration that originally started 15 years ago after KCAI opted not to observe the federal holiday.

“Geri’s attitude is ‘if I have to come to work we’re still going to commemorate this day.’ I call it Geri’s

Photo // Vishnu Chander protest on campus but it turned into a positive and wonderful thing,” said Khan.

The celebration began with a viewing of “Eyes on the Prize,” a film chronicling King’s and the civil rights movement. Chanda spoke about the progress society and the campus has made over the years.

“We have come a long way since the 1960s, but we haven’t yet come far enough for there is still inequities that need to be addressed in our world, in our community, in our state and in our societies. In short, diversity is still an issue that many community organizations struggle with,” said Chanda.

Sanders also viewed the celebration as an effort to enhance diversity on campus.

“At the time diversity at the Kansas City Art Institute was at a minimum,” said Sanders.

“We have increased the level of diversity among our student population to move diversity forward,” said Chanda. “It has grown, this year alone we have the highest percentage of minority students on campus then we have had since 2010. We are proud of this accomplishment and look forward to continued efforts to improve inclusiveness in our environment.”

Khan challenged the community to embrace diversity.

“Never again do I want to hear people say, ‘I don’t see color or I treat everybody the same.’ See color, recognize what makes each of us unique and valuable, appreciate our connections and differences,” she said.

Coulter told the story of King’s visit to a Harlem bookstore in 1958 to

KCAI screens MLK footage at event.

Melissa Harris-Perry, an American writer, television host and professor, will speak at UMKC on Jan. 27 as part of the speaker series to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Harris-Perry spoke at the UMKC Women of Color Leadership Conference several years ago and the audience connected with her message. UMKC thought this made her the ideal keynote speaker.

“She is a powerful advocate for

doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Her father was the first dean of African-American affairs at the University of Virginia and her mother taught at a community college. Harris-Perry followed in their footsteps when she served on the faculty at the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University until 2011 and at the University of Chicago. Currently she’s a professor of political science at Tulane University and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on gender, race, and politics in the South where she resides with her husband and daughter.

Her work is also featured in a monthly column titled “Sister Citizen” in The Nation magazine and she can be seen on weekends hosting “Melissa Harris-Perry” on MSNBC. Harris-Perry made headlines in December after remarks she and her co-panelist made about a Mitt Romney family Christmas card that showed Romney, his wife and 22 grandchildren including an AfricanAmerican grandson. Harris-Perry later made a tearful public apology.

UMKC supports Harris-Perry despite the recent events.

“We’ve been following the story closely. She did an incredible job of apologizing in a sincere way on her show— it was heartfelt and wellarticulated. Mitt Romney accepted her apology and thought she meant no harm. I think since then it’s died down and people on the right side of the equation have come out and said any backlash needs to cease,” said Noguera.

KCAI’s MLK event attracts a young audience. women’s voice, empowerment and overcoming stereotypes,” said Erika Noguera, coordinator of diversity and inclusion. “She speaks out for equality and equity and recognizes the value in everyone, especially in women and people of color. Her message fits with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.” Harris-Perry graduated from Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in English and attended Duke University to receive a Ph. D in political science.

She also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and was presented with an honorary

Photo // Vishnu Chander

Photo // Vishnu Chander

She is the author of several critically acclaimed books including most-recently, “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America,” which analyzes the harmful stereotypes that shape black women’s politics. Through her numerous works Harris-Perry has increased her influence and recognition.

“The Martin Luther King Jr. lecture series has always been all about bringing powerful people that are visible and vocal on the national stage to Kansas City to engage the community in that conversation. We want to make sure it’s not happening just on the national level but in Kansas City too,” said Noguera.

Her previous book titled “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought” was published in 2004 and won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and the 2005 Best Book Award from the Race and Ethnic Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.

Harris-Perry’s lecture, sponsored

by UMKC’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion begins at 6 p.m. at Swinney Recreation Center. Registration is required and can be located at http:// www.umkc.edu/diversity/events/ mlk2014/. eoneal@unews.com

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

Residential life:

Positions offer leadership experience, professional development opportunities Kate Baxendale Managing Editor

Residential Life has begun accepting applications for department staff positions for the 2014-2015 academic year. Justin Goddard, assistant residential life coordinator, said the department has many openings, including 12 resident assistant positions and one academic assistant position at Oak Street Hall. Additionally, there are eight resident assistant positions at Johnson Hall and four apartment resident assistants each for Oak Place Apartments and for Beacon Hill Apartments.

“We want to have faith that the students we choose are going to represent the department well,” Goddard said. “Time management skills—it can be pretty hectic— students have to balance their class work, approximately 20 work hours with us each week. Flexibility is a quality we look for. You can never anticipate everything that is going to come up in this environment.”

Sean Grube, director of residential life, spoke from personal experience about the benefits of working as an RA. “I’ve actually worked in residential life my entire career since I was a sophomore in college,” Grube said.

“I started out as an RA at KU and I’ve worked in res life ever since.

Working as an RA I think it gives you a lot of skills that employers value as far as time management skills, ability to confront problems or issues. It definitely forces you to be an organized person.”

As the director of residential life, Grube oversees the three current campus housing units in addition to Beacon Hill Apartments, the first campus housing unit on Hospital Hill which is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2014.

“We’re always making sure we have the highest expectations of our environments for students and making sure that we have clean buildings and that maintenance problems are being addressed in a timely manner,” Grube said. “More than anything it’s just a great opportunity to work with students and provide an environment in which their academic hopes can come true.”

Dylan Stanfield, a third-year ARA at Oak Place, said his position has helped him break some of his hometown misconceptions.

“Some of the challenges would be being faced with such a diverse campus,” Stanfield said. “I came from a very narrow-minded background in a very small town in the middle of Missouri, so one of the challenges I faced was learning to accept all sorts of different people. It’s an experience I never would have had unless I had this position. ” Haley Crane, a first-year RA at Oak Street, said her experiences with residents have been positive.

“I’m a big extrovert, so it’s been really great for me,” Crane said. “I can talk to everyone and I feel like I have a good excuse to because I have this position of authority and I can talk to all of these residents. It also gives you an opportunity to broaden those horizons and to meet more people from different cultures, cities, towns, states and countries.”

Stanfield said working in

residential life has been a good networking opportunity for him.

One of his coworkers is a student senator for the School of Computing and Engineering and now Stanfield is involved as well.

“I would say this job is for someone who is an introvert because it will change you,” Stanfield said. “One of my previous coworkers told me that they wanted to have this job because they were introverted. He said it absolutely made him a more confident person just because it forces you to be in those leadership positions around campus.”

Crane said she often deals with situations that have put her outside of her comfort zone, and even things such as fire drills have given her the opportunity to practice being a leader and remaining calm under pressure. She said this experience will help her with future professional endeavors, especially when given another leadership position. The application process was helpful too, Crane said.

“I think one big thing, especially for first-year RAs, is a lot of mediation,” Crane said. “You have a lot of roommate conflicts. You see a lot of differing opinions or different ways they were brought up. We are instructed to help mediate the situation. It is not in our role to solve the conflict. We want the residents to resolve the conflicts on their own, but we are there to facilitate some of the discussion.”

Grant Meyer is the academic assistant in the honors hall of Oak Street. He serves as the liaison between the honors program and residential life.

“We do anything specific they want to see us do, whether it’s a guest speaker or a tour of the city,” Meyer said. “Any kind of extracurricular activities that the honors program is doing and they want to coordinate with residential life, I am in charge of being that bridge between this building and campus.”

The honors wing has two RAs and one academic assistant that aid the honors program residents.

“Students get a lot of individualized attention,” Meyer said. “I am a special resource for any kind of academic needs. I’m supposed to be the expert on how to do really flexible career planning or education planning. A lot of our students like to do multiple majors and minors and that can be difficult to make four-year plans so I help them out with that. It’s the only position of its kind on campus.”

Goddard said the department is encouraging health sciences students to apply for the ARA positions at Beacon Hill so the staff represents the students they are serving.

“A commitment to social justice advocacy is also appreciated because when you get this many students in one building we get people of so many different races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc,” Goddard said. “So we want to create a safe and inclusive environment for all of our residents. We also appreciate creativity since they are involved in programming.”

Students may apply for RA and ARA positions now until Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. Applications can be found at http://www.umkc.edu/housing/. kbaxendale@unews.com

Electrifying products of CES 2014 Venkatesh Mendu Contributing Writer

The annual Consumer Electronics Show was held Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. CES displays all the innovative electronic gadgets that are going to be released into the market. It emphasizes all fields of technology like robotics, health, gaming, mobile devices and more.

Below are some of the best gadgets of CES 2014 that will revolutionize technology with many advancements.

Photo // topdollarmobile.us

Samsung Galaxy S5: Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will look distinct from S3 and S4, and the next-generation Android phone could include an iris scanner. It can identify a person based on patterns in the eye, and it would be a competitive response to the fingerprint scanner in Apple’s iPhone 5S and HTC One Max.

Pebble Steel:

Photo // slashgear.com

Pebble Steel is a smartwatch that looks like a regular watch. The Pebble Steel is now available with leather straps and metal. It features all the functionality of the old Pebble with new inclusions like a larger, thinner screen with RGB LED on the bottom for notifications. It is also protected with Corning Gorilla Glass.

Steel Series Stratus wireless gaming controller for Apple devices: The first wireless gaming controller for Apple’s mobile devices, the Steel Series Stratus can be connected to any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that runs iOS 7 with Bluetooth 2.1. The Stratus is provided with four pressure-sensitive buttons, four shoulder buttons, dual analogue sticks, a four-way D-pad and, best of all, support for up to four connected controllers at a time.

Photo // eteknix.com

PlayStation Now:

Photo // blog.games.com

PlayStation Now is a new service announced at CES 2014 that will allow users to play games and also stream similar to YouTube. Users can play games across multiple devices including some 2014 smartphones and Bravia TVs. The advantage is that it requires low-latency internet connection and you can take your game with you across a variety of devices when games are hosted in the cloud by powerful servers. vmendu@unews.com

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

Money The Eyes have it, new $aving technology creates security tips for college students Sumanth Koushik Kalli Staff Writer

EyeVerify, the exclusive provider of EyePrint verification, emerged as the winner of €1 million in the Get in the Ring international investment competition at Rotterdam, Netherlands on Nov. 23. The patented technology created by Reza Derakhshani, associate professor in the School of Computing and Engineering, is the force behind EyeVerify.

Derakhshani vied for the prize against competitors from 32 countries and more than 1,000 participating startups. The nationwide champion has made its mark among the other eight international finalists of the Get in the Ring entrepreneurship competition for the global title.

EyeVerify was selected as the Photo // savemymoney.us winner by the jury that included Ingrid Vanderveldt, entrepreneurAlekhya Boyapati in-residence at Dell, Riku Asikainen, Staff Writer chairman Finnish Business Angels Network; Fatih Isbecer, While entering college life is Turkish Angel Investor; and Bala exciting, at the same time it is filled Kamallakharan, CEO of GreenQloud. with more responsibilities like The final decision was made with learning to budget. The word seems the help of an audience vote, which to be simple but there are many small consisted of 600 people, including things that need to be taken care of.

120 investors and 300 entrepreneurs.

Apart from scholarships and other EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush made funds from the university, students his entrance in the final round to the should also have a pre-planned song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, budget fixed for every category like and faced Dutch startup JackSavior housing, food, entertainment and in his battle. textbooks.

“It is an amazing and satisfying Dining out should be limited to feeling to work hard with your team save money and also prevent weight and to get recognized,” Rush said. “It gain. It is always advisable to cook is a great encouragement, because at home so that one can gain health during the startup you work hard for along with wealth. months. It is like you are pushing a Have a book swap with friends, rock uphill in mud and fog, and you borrow them from the library or use really don’t know when you will e-books. Be sure to sell last semester’s get to the top of the hill. In victory books. Facebook is a great tool for moments like these you think: we are exchanging textbooks with friends. doing this, and we are doing it right Buy groceries and home goods and it’s gonna work .” in bulk from wholesale stores like EyeVerify was named Startup of Costco and Sam’s Club rather than the Year in the 2013 Silicon Prairie from neighborhood grocers and Awards. share the cost with friends. Before “We continue to be humbled by going shopping always make a the recognition we’ve received at list of necessary items and avoid previous competitions and from our buying junk food. Websites such peers in the technology industry as splitwise.com help keep track of here today,” Rush said. “This one shared bills and calculate what each is special because the voting panel person owes. was comprised of industry experts Try walking or riding a bike as well as journalists and editors instead of driving to nearby places. for major tech publications. We are Use public transportation for a excited heading into 2014 as we will cheap and energy efficient mode of be announcing several customers, transportation.

Apply for a part-time job on campus to make a little extra spending money. Reach out to professors to see if they need help with research or know of any fieldrelated work for students.

Be sure to utilize student discounts when possible. Many businesses offer discounted services with a valid student ID. aboyapati@unews.com

Reza Derakhshani strategic relationships as well as will become commercially available all in the first quarter.”

The technology that launched EyeVerify into its award-winning status is one that is based on biometric modality. This means that the primary function of the technology involves measuring a biological or behavioral characteristic—in this instance, the eye. Vasculature refers to the vein patterns in the eye, which are completely different in each person. Using this biological identifier to create EyeVerify, the software can be used with minimal risk of error.

This type of technology has been suggested for use in airports, casinos and other venues that require topnotch security.

The biometric technology would enhance businesses’ ability to identify individuals entering these secured locations.

However, the logic behind EyeVerify is somewhat simpler than airport security or catching people counting cards at the blackjack table.

Through Rush’s commercialization

of EyeVerify, cell phone users would be able to ensure their devices could not be used by anyone else.

“I was thinking of a new biometric modality,” Derakhshani said. “From my previous work I was interested in things that do not require a heavy hardware implementation so I was scratching my head thinking what could be a good biometric modality.

The only area we have the vasculature open is the white part of our eye and the cool thing about the veins is that they can be captured using the regular simple cameras. You can take any RGB or color camera in your cell phone and identify yourself as who you are.”

Derakhshani teamed up with a professor from West Virginia University and in 2005 he moved on with other co investigators and received funding from the Center for Identification Technology Research, a National Science Foundation university research center at WVU. “[The] university wanted to commercialize this technology and office of tech transfer. That is how we came across Toby Rush,” Derakhshani said. “That’s when

Photo // Sumanth Koushik Kalli he wanted to use this as mode of authentication for the cell phone. He had his great vision and enthusiasm and with the great team we made it happen now.”

Derakhshani also serves as the director of the Computational Intelligence and Bio-Identification Technologies Lab which has core research interests in biometrics (physical and psychophysiological), biomedical signal and image processing and physiological system identification using computational intelligence paradigms and novel hardware platforms. Derakhshani holds five patents in addition to the patent on eye vein biometrics used in EyeVerify.

Derakhshani earned his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in electrical and computer engineering.

After completing his Ph.D. in 2004 he moved to Kansas City and joined University of Missouri-Kansas City.

In 2012, Derakhshani also started working at EyeVerify LLC as Chief Scientist. skalli@unews.com

UMKC welcomes new international students organized the Jan. 14 event, which Suma Raganaboina served as a cultural exchange for the Staff Writer participants.

The orientation leaders made Lakshmi Swetha Valiveru an effort to make the students feel Staff Writer comfortable by conducting breakout More than 300 students sessions. They initiated short games attended the International Student and made sure that the students Orientation, a platform where interacted with each other and all the students from different developed some rapport.

Short informative sessions were countries get to meet each other. The International Student Affairs Office conducted. Information regarding

New students get acquainted with UMKC organizations.

Photo // Vishnu Chander

American culture was given in a session called “Culture Shock.”

For people who were not acquainted with American culture, this segment was really helpful.

V a r i o u s academic topics were presented in the form of small skits, New students get acquainted with UMKC organizations.

Photo // Vishnu Chander which was an interesting way to Chairs of various departments inform the students. The skit about were introduced and they delivered plagiarism and its impact was made clear to all the international students speeches regarding their role in who may not have had any idea making students feel comfortable.

There were several booths setup to about it. provide information about banking, UMKC Pathway was explained, and students were taught how to apartment browsing and more. At enroll in classes, drop classes and the end of the orientation, one lucky winner was awarded with a gift. view grades online.

“Campus tour” was a a segment that covered building such as the sraganaboina@unews.com Miller Nichols Library, Swinney Recreation Center, the International lvaliveru@unews.com Student Affairs Office and the Atterbury Student Success Center.

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

Release: The story of one man’s musical triumph over life’s hardships Matt Melson Staff Writer

He had finally had enough.

Walking away with thoughts of his raging dad still in his mind, Matt couldn’t help but look back at his front lawn where all of his things now laid. In the last steps before his home was out of sight, he saw his smashed guitars.

Matt was a rough child to raise.

He didn’t know how to follow rules, something that carried into later parts of his life. Despite his strenuous childhood, he was a normal kid. He played sports throughout middle school and high school, hung out with friends, partied on the weekends and played music.

He had an infectious personality.

He was always smiling, someone people were excited to see.

Matt’s intense passion for music started at a young age when his mother made his siblings and him sing in church services. It was a driven passion that was passed down from his father who was a musician. Music consumed all of his time. If he wasn’t at work or hanging with friends, he was playing music.

Music was something he felt. It was something that when he touched the keys, no matter the nature of his day, no matter his problems, the world around him disappeared. The only things left after his fingers touched the keys were the notes he played.

He started running into problems during his later years of high school but Matt was never great at expressing his emotions. Instead he liked to bottle them up and let the emotions fuel his music.

Music became his connection to life.

Matt’s father was never fully supportive of his music but he knew that when his father gave him grief about his career choice that it was only to protect him from struggles he’d went through. Matt was given ultimatums to either give up his music aspirations or be forced to leave his house.

The communication between them became less about the music and more about Matt’s unwillingness to change his dreams. Constant arguments with his father felt like battles—battles that he rarely won.

His father was a minister and tried his best to raise Matt in a traditional family format. He implemented rule after rule in the hopes that Matt

would follow them.

But Matt was rebellious, one who always broke the rules. Sneaking out to go to a friend’s house. Breaking curfew. Drinking. These were just some of Matt’s defiant moments against his father and the long list of rules he tried to enforce.

At first when Matt was caught breaking one of his father’s commandments, he was usually grounded as punishment But after years of Matt continually disregarding the rules, his father had to start thinking of more severe penalties.

The punishments started to escalate. Matt found himself being kicked of the house for a night. Then for a couple of days. Then for a couple of weeks. Matt was spending long durations of time without a place to stay, food to eat, or anyone to care, but no matter the punishment, he

music equipment, everything. As he pulled up to the house, he saw his father smashing one of his guitars against the pavement.

Matt was stunned. In that moment, Matt didn’t recognize his father. He saw the vague remnants of the man who raised him but the man who stood before him in this moment was a stranger.

For the first time in his life, Matt lost it. Getting out of the car, he started screaming.

Matt’s dad grabbed another guitar, the sound of hollowed wood echoing through the neighborhood.

His mother positioned herself between them. Matt and his father were exchanging verbal blows, but things looked like they could turn physical at any moment. Matt’s mother cried out “you can’t treat your father like this.” It was in that moment that Matt had reached his

continued to connect his fingers to the keys of his piano and his world would drift away.

limit. “He isn’t my dad,” he yelled back.

Matt’s mother quickly grabbed her husband and took him inside the house.

Matt recovered what he could of his possessions and put them in a backpack. His smashed guitars were left in pieces as he walked away from his childhood home.

Music was his release.

Eventually Matt’s dad got fed up with the constant disregard for his rules.

It was a chilly fall evening in November 2010 when Matt headed out to a party with some friends. It was nearing his curfew and Matt decided not to test the rules too much that night and left the party early.

What Matt didn’t know was that his father was done being forgiving.

He was through with Matt never taking the rules seriously.

Matt arrived at his house no more than 15 minutes past curfew but it didn’t matter to his father. As Matt pulled up he discovered all of his belongings scattered across his front lawn. His clothes, his computer, his

Student winter break highlights Sujitha Onteru Staff Writer

At the end of a busy and hectic fall semester, students were relived with a winter break to recoup from studies and jam-packed schedules.

With unpredictable weather conditions throughout the recess, students had to get creative with their plans. For several international students, this was the first time they had experienced snow. While some students may have spent time prepping for the beginning of another semester, others took the opportunity to visit new and exciting places around Kansas City. Sindhu Koneru, graduate student in the School of Computing and Engineering spent her holiday traveling.

“I got a chance to flee away from tight schedule and engaged myself in celebrating New Year and Christmas along with my relatives residing at Texas,” she said. “We visited Los Angeles and it has left us with couple

of unforgettable moments.”

Avani Kapa enjoyed some of the local pleasures of Kansas City and surrounding areas. “I along with my friends reached to a nearest local park Shawnee Mission Park, Lenexa,” she said. “We saw not few birds over there with utmost joyous, eventually deciding that this season brings in spirit to both human and animal life. Kansas has treated us so well with its snow fall.”

While many students spent their time off with school out of sight and out of mind, others took advantage of some opportunities to advance their education or their careers.

“Roo Career services over university website gave me great exposure to a wide range of opportunities available to a freshman like me,” said Alekya Boyapati.

“Thusly helping me to exhibit my potential across the globe and update myself with today’s world.” sonteru@unews.com

Music was still his release.

Matt trekked back to the house party he’d been at earlier that evening. Though the party had ended, a friend offered him a place to stay for the night.

Once he got settled Matt finally had a chance to sort through the things he recovered from his front lawn. He found his shoes, his clothes and some other essentials, but as he rummaged through the backpack he found a bottle of pills. The bottle was more than half full, leftovers from

when he broke his leg in high school.

He sat in the basement as familiar thoughts began to race through his mind. Thoughts that told him he didn’t need to carry on anymore.

Thoughts that told him no one cared.

Thoughts that told him he would be better off dead. These thought that he’d staved off so many times before were finally starting to win him over.

Disgusted with himself, he stared at the bottle of pills until he couldn’t any longer. He opened the childproof cap and found a bottle of whiskey leftover from the party.

Lifting the bottle to his lips, he put as many pills in his mouth that would fit, and drowned them down with the liquor.

As the pills started to kick in, a slow fog started to drift over him, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

As the haze cleared and he rubbed his eyes, he found that it was

Illustration // Joey Hill morning. He was alive.

He heard the footsteps of people upstairs starting their day. Even though he was alive he was still lost, confused, hurt. The emotions from the night before were still fresh and for the first time in his life, he cried.

In a few weeks’ time, he was able to patch things up with his father.

Once he was allowed back in the house, Matt decided not to take anymore chances with his dad, but the relationship with this father never felt the same.

The Aftermath

It’s been a couple years since that cold November night and Matt has kept moving forward with his life.

His struggles are still present but are less of a threat to him now.

In August of last year, he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant,

noticing her belly slowly getting bigger.

After he found out, he knew he would need to get another job to start saving money. He had worked at UPS in the past. It was the only job that worked around his music schedule.

However, when returning to UPS to reapply, he found out he’d been blacklisted as a no-rehire. He pleaded for an explanation but there wasn’t one to be given.

In addition to this, a few months ago Matt received news that his brother Ryan went missing.

Apparently, his older brother left his home to go get a hair cut and never returned.

At first, there wasn’t much worry about Ryan not informing anyone of his whereabouts. It wasn’t until a few days passed without a word that concerns started to arise.

It didn’t become real to Matt until they found Ryan’s car— abandoned, with no trace of his brother.

The longer his brother was gone, the more Matt knew something was wrong.

When his parents were finally interviewed by homicide detectives Matt felt hopeless. Knowing that the police had stopped searching for his brother and had started looking for a body instead paralyzed him.

A few weeks ago a body was found in an abandoned house downtown.

The detectives were vague about what happened or how long the body had been there but concluded it was a clear case of homicide.

Matt’s fears became a reality when they asked his parents to identity the body. It was his brother.

The same brother who taught him to play music, the same brother who sang with him in church services, the same brother who was always there for him.

Although Matt’s life has been a continuum of struggles, he never complains about the hand he has been dealt. He never rants about the battles with his father. He never complains about his upcoming fatherhood or being denied a job.

He never complains about what happened to his brother. He just continues to play music.

Music is his release.

mmelson@unews.com

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Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

Catching the Light:

Recent Nelson-Atkins exhibit captures the landscapes of 1800s France Joey Hill

Senior Staff Writer

The Nelson-Atkins’ special exhibit “Impressionist France - Visions of Nation From Le Gray to Monet” celebrates the industrious century of the 1800s in which France advanced itself greatly, growing its population and cultural influence in the arts.

During this time, artists of all kinds journeyed the cobbled streets of the newly expanded cities. They stood atop the craggy cliff faces overlooking the rapturous beaches that housed the ports that would become France’s centers of trade.

The exhibit captures the feel of this pivotal moment in history through the eyes of the artists who would later become known as the greatest visual historians of this era: the Impressionists.

The Impressionists were a group of painters and photographers whose penchant for creating works that blurred the lines between realism and the abstract gave rise to a completely new way of portraying their subject matters. Entering the exhibit, it’s easy to appreciate the calming feel that the Nelson-Atkins has created in keeping with the ideals of the artists. The walls are a muted shade of dark blue and the artificial lighting is kept low, only to illuminate the works, while natural light is allowed to flood the space from the Bloch Building’s great windows.

The Photograph and the Paint Tube

Separating itself from conventional methods of art museum composition, “Impressionist France” combines both paintings and photography intermingled to display the connection both genres of study had during that time. Edouard Manet’s paintings of street scenes bathed in a pastel sea green glow of midday are hung next to crisp, breathtaking photographs of workers building the first Parisian opera house.

This use of dichotomy creates an idea of the era as being a unification of the arts and technology. Photography had advanced significantly in the 1850s with new portable cameras that used plates of glass coated with collodion, a chemical which greatly shortened the exposure time required and allowed for a much more detailed photograph. This advancement improved both artistic and commercial photography of the time.

An actual camera that used this technique is included in the exhibit’s center across from a folding easel set up with an artist’s umbrella from the same era. Placed on the easel is the painting “Cows in Field” by Eugene Boudin, painted on a miniature canvas. These additions to the exhibit display the new liberation that artists had at the time. Painters and photographers alike were able to quickly transport equipment and create works from direct observation for the first time. The invention of paint tubes freed artists from the perils of mixing pigment by hand with linseed oil.

19th century folding artist’s easel and artist’s umbrella.

Photo // Joey Hill

19th century collodion field camera.

The Travel Itinerary The exhibit is divided into different sections covering various regions of France while also showing the various parts of society that were affected by the great changes of the era. Visitors are encouraged to take small pamphlets aptly named “Travel Kits” which have facts tucked inside as well as both a foldout informational booklet that briefly covers each section of the exhibit.

The travel kits also include a small sketchbook for patrons to fill with sketches of the various landscapes seen in the exhibit.

The back cover of the pamphlet can be torn off to create a postcard on which visitors are told to sketch a picture of their favorite landscape in the exhibit along with a brief message and put it in a vintage French mailbox in the gallery to be mailed to a friend or family member. While these elements are charming and stand as classic examples of the NelsonAtkins’ love of adding extracurricular activity to the celebration of art, they aren’t particularly needed except to emphasize the theme of travel.

A Visual Map

Starting first in the Cityscape of Paris, the paintings and photography show the growth of the metropolis with paintings like Jean-Charles Cazin’s “The Quarry of Monsieur Pascal near Nanterre” which depicts the advances in construction at the time. Cazin creates a daunting visual of a yellowed quarry almost painted to look like gold with small fringes of yellow-white on the tops of the square-cut blocks. The human elements of the piece are made detailed and monochromatic, represented as simple dark brown and black forms lifting, leaning and traversing the landscape under a cold gray sky.

Another room shows the changes in transportation and manufacturing with railroads and factories.

Suddenly, gorgeous paintings of newly erected railroad bridges give way to the works of photographer Edouard Baldus, whose work is condensed in a large album of photographs taken to commemorate Queen Victoria’s trip to France in August 1885.

The remainder of the exhibit covers the various landscapes of the countryby artists like Theodore

Photo // Joey Hill Rousseau, whose paintings of the mountains and woodlands of the area of Fontainebleau helped move the government to create a nature preserve in the forest in 1853.

Depictions of people and livestock don’t begin to appear until a section on agricultural life and farmland.

Constant Troyon’s “Cattle Pasture in the Touraine” from 1853 has brilliantly presented bulls and cows resting upon muddy soil all back lit by a glowing heavenly sky. This work is linked to a more realistic portrayal in the photograph “Study of Cows” by Adolphe Braun. The pasture in which the cattle reside in Braun’s photograph may not be as heavenly bathed in light as Troyon’s, though the photograph lends itself to a kind of simple sublime look of the countryside of early France.

When exiting the exhibit it is hard not to feel a sense of having gone somewhere. The paintings and photographs truly create a sense of having visually traversed thousands of miles with the same intensity as the artists who physically traversed them to find the France bathed in the luminescence of the ever-changing world of the 1800s. jhill@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

8A

Disclaimer: The views of individual writers expressed below in this section do not represent the official stance of U-News. U-News welcomes participation from all UMKC students. Letters to the editor may be submitted to Editor-in-Chief Roze Brooks, editor@unews.com.

When the smoke clears Is privacy going Matt Melson

Staff Writer

For anyone who is not up on the latest UMKC news regarding new campus policies, there is now a smoking ban that will take effect in August 2014. This ban will include all tobacco products: pipes, e-cigs, hookahs, cigars and all other tobacco products can no longer be used on campus.

This ban was the result of a “student-led initiative that indicated that a significant majority of employees and students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City value smoke- and tobacco-free campuses,” according to the UMKC website.

Somehow a “significant majority” was found that wanted this ban to happen although many smokers and I were not asked.

Besides the interesting number of people who wanted this ban to happen, there seems to be a few huge problems with the ban itself.

One of the first and more interesting problems with the ban is that people are still allowed to smoke inside their cars but only if the windows of the car are all the way up. So basically, UMKC is advocating smokers to “hot box” their cars rather than let a small amount of cigarette smoke leak into the air. .

I am assuming that is because when you mix cigarette smoke and the exhaust fumes from all of the cars

driving around the parking garages, it does twice the damage. Best to segregate the smoke to make sure people only damage their bodies with the smoke that they see fit.

Secondly, the ban can only be enforced on the property of UMKC. Since UMKC is filled with and surrounded by residential streets and public sidewalks, all smokers would have to do is find a public sidewalk and light up.

“This smoking ban does not apply to public rights-of-way (sidewalks/ streets) within the campus boundaries, as these are governed by City of Kansas City ordinance.”

The main thing to focus on in that last quote was “within the campus boundaries.” So any sidewalks that are directly connected to a public street on the UMKC campus are fair grounds for smokers to smoke. These include sidewalks on: Oak Street, Cherry Street, Holmes Street, Charlotte Street, Rockhill Road, Troost Avenue, East 50th Street, Bixby Lane, East 51st Street, East 52ndStreet, East 53rdStreet and East 54thStreet.

If that seemed to be literally all of the streets that run through this campus it is because it is all of the streets that run through this campus.

As long the street has a public sidewalk smokers can still light up.

The last problem with this policy

Letter to the Editor: New Smoking Policy

I am a non-smoker. I hate smoking and can’t stand being stuck in a room with someone smoking. I believe it is bad for you, not only on scientific grounds, but because my Latter Day Saint religion says so too. I, personally, would encourage everyone to quit smoking. However, I think the recent decision to ban smoking even outside on the UMKC campus is wrong. The Chancellor’s message justified this new policy by citing the results of a recent poll.

Does this mean we are establishing the general principle that a minority of students can be forced to change otherwise understandable behavior

just because the majority commands it in a poll? What if we took a poll that, instead of being about smoking, was about something else that has, at various times in history, been unpopular like homosexuality, Communism, atheism or unpopular religions? Would the majority being against these things justify banning them too? If not, then why is the same logical structure justified in the case of smoking? Why is smoking any different? Just because we have a poll that shows that something is unpopular does not justify banning it. I find the implication that the mere preference of the majority is

extinct?

Lindsay Adams Senior Staff Writer

Matt Melson that seems to be overlooked by many is the cessation programs that the university is now offering. While these are a great thought and may actually help an individual quit smoking, these programs are not free.

So if you attend UMKC next fall, the money you pay to attend here will be now helping to pay for someone you have met to quit smoking.

This ban lacks the cohesiveness to be enforced properly. It seems to be more a poor attempt for nonsmokers just to not have to see anyone smoking anymore. This policy, although good in intent, will be horrible in execution and will be using students’ money to pay for cessation programs. It would be truly surprising if this made anyone quit smoking. mmelson@unews.com

somehow a justification to force the minority to undertake such a major change to be far more concerning than a few cases of lung cancer people may bring on themselves by their own bad choices.

“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.” -- George Orwell Benjamin McLean Umkc Student

There has been a lot of negative press lately over the many recent stories breaking about the National Security Agency and its collection of American and foreign data, and for good reason. A Washington Post/ ABC News poll that was taken in November found that 68 percent of Americans feel the NSA is intruding on privacy rights. American citizens are shocked by the numerous scandals that have become public since the leaking of NSA documents

by Edward Snowden.

Honestly, the only thing that surprised me about the news of the NSA’s data collection was how surprised people were about it.

Anyone paying attention to the Patriot Act could see that we were headed in this direction. This is merely the frightening realization of the Bush administration’s attempted “total information awareness” program in 2003. The government’s invasion of our privacy is far from a new situation however the advent of the internet and online data storage has changed the nature of the game and the ease with which the government can access our information.

The media fire has led to President Obama addressing the nation with his plans of reform. Unsurprisingly, his plans were frustratingly vague and far from satisfactory.

While Obama said he plans to stop the mass collection of phone metadata, he also made it clear he was not planning on inhibiting the practice itself. Obama’s plans include adding more checks and balances to the process and limiting the spying on foreign leaders, but he was careful to try to avoid mentioning his Executive Order 12333, which he authorized on his own without legislative or judicial support to collect overseas intelligence.

In a world where the majority of personal data and communication takes place online, Obama’s refusal to address the NSA’s history of taking information over the internet is a travesty and a failure. President Obama didn’t even mention many large concerns, such as The Washington Post finding evidence of the NSA illegally gathering millions of email contact lists or the fact that encryption companies in America such as Lavabit and Silent Circle are shutting down.

The founder of Lavabit, Ladar Levison, was put under a gag order by the government, so he could not say anything more specific than that they were asking him to be “complicit in crimes against the American people.”

Silent Circle preemptively closed, saying they expected the government soon to request backdoor keys to their encryption.

Meanwhile, the FBI has been developing and using what they call “network investigative techniques,”

Lindsay Adams but what I like to call a serious invasion of our civil liberties. Using these techniques they not only can covertly download files and emails, but they are able to use computers’ built-in cameras to take real-time images without turning on the light showing that the camera is being used. These kinds of technologies do not clearly fit within the limits that the constitution has in place when it comes to searches and seizures.

Obama promised that he would allow the tech companies to release more information about the government’s requests of data to the public. However, he did not clarify how much or at what point they would be able to do so. He claimed, “This secrecy will not be indefinite,” unless the government determines that they need a more sustained silence, he stipulated.

So now we get to know when our privacy and freedoms are being invaded, but only if the government doesn’t deem gag orders necessary.

Doesn’t that make you feel better about your privacy? Obama is merely throwing the American people a bone in the hopes that they will be mollified. These halfhearted promises and blatant prevarication have worn out their welcome. It is quite clear that the collection of information will not stop. Don’t let the speech fool you.

Obama is now offering to let us know when we’re being watched, but the main issue isn’t that the people know when their information is being invaded. The issue is the invasion of information.

The government doesn’t have the right to look en masse through our emails, and target companies for trying to allow people more privacy through encryption. The right to privacy many not be in the Bill of Rights, but it was decided in the court case Griswold v. Connecticut that that right was protected by the Constitution. The data collection is the real problem and unless it is taken out of these agencies hands, it will continue be abused. No presidential speech will change that. ladams@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

Section B

UMKC forms partnership with FC Kansas City

Jake Newstrom

A&E Editor

Most students are aware that Kansas City has a men’s professional soccer club, Sporting KC. However, students may not have heard that Kansas City also has a women’s professional soccer club.

And they’re really good.

F.C. Kansas City ranked second in its first season competing in the National Women’s Soccer League.

They have a strong following, with an average crowd of more than 4,500 fans and one of the league’s highest numbers of season-ticket holders.

With Kansas City currently at the center of American soccer, it seemed natural for F. C. Kansas City to bring its home games to the city’s university.

Starting this season and ending in two years, UMKC will be hosting the team at Durwood Stadium, which was built specifically for playing soccer. The current seating capacity is 850 people, but F.C. Kansas City is expanding the seating to accommodate up to 3,200 fans.

Mel Tyler, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management, was the primary negotiator for the partnership.

“The partnership provides an opportunity for us to expand the seating capacity of Durwood Stadium, which allows more students to attend events there,” Tyler said. “It gives students an opportunity to see professional athletes perform on campus on a

regular basis; and considering that Kansas City has evolved into a major soccer market, and the game is the world’s most popular sport, this partnership is an exciting addition to the campus life experience for both local and international students.”

While ticket availability for students is still being negotiated, Tyler views the partnership as a way to increase UMKC’s prominence and future enrollment.

“We saw this as a great opportunity to bring more people to our campus, particularly families with children, as well as providing students the opportunity to attend professional soccer matches on campus in addition to our NCAA Men’s and Women’s soccer teams,” Tyler said.

The partnership was created solely at the administrative level of both organizations, which had some UMKC students feeling left out of an important decision. Ben Campero, president of the Student Government Association, is concerned that students had no advance knowledge that such a decision was being made.

“I am excited to have FCKC at UMKC,” Campero said. “It will be beneficial to bring the community to our campus, as well as provide a great experience for our students,” Campero said. “However, when inquiring as to why students were not engaged in the process of creating the partnership, I was told that it is just a rental agreement with FCKC, with no real student engagement

F.C. Kansas City plans to expand Durwood Stadium. other than attending games. It raises to be included in such decisions. questions about whether students After all, students can learn from will be involved in future major the experience of negotiating and decisions at their university.” developing partnerships.

FCKC Whether or not that happens, and UMKC have come up with administrators will find a number an agreement that will affect both of students who have the desire students and fans alike, and both

Courtesy // FCKC parties are eager to see what happens.

FC Kansas City will commence its season at Durwood in April. jnewstrom@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

2B

Roos’ basketball coaches set higher expectations

Matt Melson

Staff Writer

KS Ross-Miller 8 2-5 2 2 2

The men’s and women’s basketball teams continued to struggle over winter break. With both teams racking up almost twice as many losses as wins, it seems to be a wash of a season for the Roos.

The women lost 50-65 to TexasPan American on Jan. 16, in which the Roos were never within 10 points of winning. Although the Roos’ star players Eilise O’Connor and Kim Nezianya had a combined 38 points of the 50 total scored by the Roos, it was still not enough to top the Broncs.

“Kim and Eilise came out and did what we expect out of great senior leaders, but we aren’t going to win too many games if we get that kind of production out of two kids,” Head Coach Marsha Frese said. “We are looking for other people to step up and be ready when needed.”

Nezianya had a career high of 17 rebounds with 19 points and O’Connor had 19 points as well.

The men’s team lost 66-78 to Texas-Pan American. The Roos were down by 21 points at the start of the second half, and it didn’t get much better for the Roos after that. The Broncs dominated the Roos in the paint, outscoring the Roos 26-4.

“We thought play in the paint would be a big emphasis tonight, and obviously they did a much better job of executing in there,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I wasn’t happy with our body language tonight when we got down. We have to stay focused and overcome that.”

Top scorers Martez Harrison and Nelson Kirksey started the game 2-of-23 from the floor and finished 6-of-27 for the night.

The men’s team defeated defending WAC Champion New Mexico State 68-66 on Saturday. Freshman Martez Harrison scored 21 points and notched seven assists.

Next up, the men’s team will play at Utah Valley on Thursday and at Bakersfield on Saturday.

The women’s team lost 77-106 to the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday. The women will host Utah Valley at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Bakersfield at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Daniel Mullings 3 1-11 11 2 4

mmelson@unews.com

HARRISON

PLAYER

KIRKSEY

PTS

FG-FGA REB

A

TO

Nelson Kirksey 17 0-1 9 0 3 Trinity Halle 10 5-10 6 1 3 Fred Chatmon 4 0-1 4 0 2 Martez Harrison 21 6-16 5 7 1 Frank Williams 13 6-7 2 2 2 John Burke 0 0-0 0 0 0 Jacoby Bledsoe 0 0-1 0 0 0 Caleb Johnson

0

0-2

1

0

0

Kirk Korver 3 1-3 0 0 0 TOTAL 68 27-58 33 11 12

PLAYER

PTS

FG-FGA REB

A

TO

Renaldo Dixon 33 13-19 8 1 0 Tshilidzi Nephawe 14 4-6 9 2 3 DK Eldridge 2 1-9 2 0 3

O’CONNOR

PLAYER

NEZIANYA

PTS

O’CONNOR

FG-FGA REB

A

TO

Kim Nezianya 10 3-14 12 0 3 Taylor Leathers 2 1-5 3 0 0 Grace Mitchell 4 2-5 3 0 0 Eilise O’Connor 35 6-17 12 2 4 Calli White 12 5-13 2 0 5 Kelsey Barnwell 6 2-7 1 0 0 Justice Collins 4 2-6 4 0 1 Lexis Hardiek

0

0-1

0

0

0

Taylor Strickland 0 0-2 1 0 0 Hailey Houser 2 1-2 1 0 2 Jordan Evans 2 1-1 5 0 1 TOTAL 77 23-73 50 2 18

PLAYER

PTS

FG-FGA REB

A

TO

Brianna Freeman 13 4-10 7 0 1 Sasha Weber 20 7-13 6 7 1 Moriah Mack 10 4-8 6 2 3 Danesia Williamson 30 10-15 1 5 1 Abby Scott 25 7-19 8 3 2

Travon Landry 0 0-1 0 0 0

Bradley Nash 6 3-5 4 0 0

Ian Baker 0 0-1 0 0 0

Tamera William 0 0-3 1 0 0

Kevin Aronis 6 2-4 0 0 0

Brandee Walton 0 0-0 1 0 0

Matej Buovav 0 0-0 0 0 0

Tyler Elliss 2 1-1 10 0 4

TOTAL 66 23-56 34 7 12

TOTAL

14 10 4

points off turnovers FAST BREAK POINTS Times the score was tied

“I wasn’t happy with our body language tonight when we got down. We have to stay focused and overcome that.”

106 15-36 45

13 34 2

17

12

2nd chance points points in the paint times the lead changed

“Kim and Eilise came out and did what we expect out of great senior leaders, but we aren’t going to win too many games if we get that kind of production out of two kids.”

Graphic and Statistics // Ashley Lane

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

3B

Health Recipe: Good Pho You Soup Health

Journal:

Lindsay Adams Senior Beat Writer

How to stay healthy during the winter

Many soups are creamy and loaded with fat and sodium. Pho, a Vietnamese soup, is a much lighter option. This soup recipe takes only 30 minutes to make and is the perfect end to a long, cold day. Snuggle up with this comforting soup, and it’ll cost you only 300 calories and give you 21 grams of protein. This recipe makes approximately three servings.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Lindsay Adams Senior Beat Writer

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients Homemade Broth:

1/4 teaspoon olive oil 4 cups low sodium chicken broth 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds 1 cinnamon stick 1 teaspoon garlic, minced 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Pho Soup:

6 ounces sirloin steaks 1 cup snow peas with the ends trimmed 1/4 medium thinly sliced white onion 2 ounces dried flat rice noodles (banh pho)

4 leaves bok choy 1 sliced green onion

Toppings:

2 fresh sprigs cilantro 2 fresh sprigs mint leaf 1 cup bean sprouts 1 small lime or 1 teaspoon of lime juice per bowl

Preparation

Put the steak in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will firm the meat making it easier to thinly slice. Soak noodles in hot water in large bowl for 20 minutes or until soft.

While the steak is chilling and the noodles are soaking, heat olive oil in

saucepan over medium-high heat, then add ginger and garlic; sauté two minutes. Add all of the remaining broth ingredients and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain the broth carefully and discard the solids. Return the strained broth to the pan; season with black pepper.

Bring the broth to another boil, and then add the noodles to the boiling water. Cook for 30 seconds. Drain and divide the noodles between three soup bowls.

Return broth to a boil and add the white onion and bok choy. Cook just until the bok choy is limp, which

Illustration // Joey Hill will take about two minutes. Once the bok choy is limp, add the steak strips to the boiling broth. Cook the meat very briefly, just until the steak is medium rare. Turn off the heat and immediately add the sliced green onions.

Stir soup and then pour into the three soup bowls that are waiting with the noodles. Add the fresh bean sprouts, cilantro and mint leaves to taste, then cut the lime in quarters and squeeze over each bowl. Enjoy. ladams@unews.com

Many students are not in tiptop shape during this time of year due to the less-than-ideal jogging temperatures and a much more appealing Netflix list. Whether recovering from a cold or just feeling the winter blues, here are some easy ways to stay healthy both mentally and physically.

Find a way to exercise Finding the willpower to get up early and exercise is a challenge when the weather app reads 30 degrees. Instead of braving the cold, buy a exercise DVD or check out free online workouts that can be done in one’s living room. It is possible to stay warm and stay in shape at the same time.

Go outdoors Don’t stay inside all winter, however. Exercising in the cold actually has its own benefits, so bundle up and get that body working. Research published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise found that when exercising in cold temperatures, run times are naturally faster. The quicker pace means that those exercising burn more calories than they would running the same amount in moderate weather. According to a review in Environmental Science and Technology, endorphin levels increase while outside.

Light it up Because winter mornings are so dark, it isn’t as good for our health.

Waking up to light helps stimulate us and wake us up. Sunlight increases serotonin levels in the body and helps the body suppress melatonin, a chemical which can lead to drowsiness. Going outside is important even beyond the boost it gives to one’s workout plan. It is important during the winter to make sure that one is getting enough sunlight. Movement and sunlight both help to keep away the winter blues. Humans aren’t meant to hibernate, so don’t.

For people who are unable to get outside as much as is necessary, it is possible to get sunlight another way.

One way to do this is to use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) instead of incandescent bulbs. CFLs have color temperatures around 4,000 degrees Kelvin, very similar to the Sun’s rays.

Using them to light a room where most of one’s time is spent can be helpful. A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that relaxing in front of a high-intensity fluorescent lamp for 30 minutes can improves one’s mood.

Plan a Spring Break Getaway Even if one is not certain about going somewhere for spring break, look at different possibilities and plan out possible vacations. A study in Applied Research in Quality of Life found that those who were planning a vacation felt cheerier for two months before actually leaving on said trip. Just thinking about planning a trip makes people happier. Whether or not the trip is to a tropical destination, it can still help one make it through the cold months with a much better attitude. ladams@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

4B

Lucha Libre:

The man behind the mask

Stuka Jr. against Namajague.

Courtesy // CMLL Dan Moreno For more than eighty years, Senior Staff Writer hundreds of luchadores (wrestlers) have put their lives in danger for the Mexico is a country full of history, fans in what is known as the world’s noise, food and traditions. Lucha best wrestling, attracting tourists Libre is a prime example of the from all over the world to attend one country’s rich culture. of these mystical weekly events.

Luchadores wear colorful and intricately adorned masks during the events, unlike the masks worn in American wrestling.

Just like Spiderman or Batman, many Mexican wrestlers use a mask to protect and conceal their identity making them national superheroes.

The masks also allow them to live a normal, private life.

Salvador Lutteroth, the son of a high-class immigrant family from America, introduced Lucha Libre to Mexico in 1938. Not long after that “Murcielago Velazquez,” the first masked wrestler, rose to fame.

Today there are hundreds of colors, fabrics and types of masks, every single one of them unique.

Inquisidor is a wrestler whose name represents the Spanish Inquisition, a Catholic movement in the 15th century that punished individuals who disobeyed the church. He becomes a different person when his mask hides his face.

“My mask is the most important thing I have in my life,” Inquisidor said. “When I am about to head to the ring and put my mask on I become someone else. I feel the need to go out and make the fans roar and go wild with my high-flying punishments.

This mask allows me to do things I can’t when I’m not wearing it.”

A mask isn’t simply part of the costume. Every masked wrestler designs his own mask, adding features that symbolize or represent the man behind it.

Stuka Jr., a wrestler from Gomez Palacio, Durango, decided to follow his older brother’s legacy by wearing the same mask as him. but also adding some eye-catching designs of his own.

“Ever since I was young I followed my brother everywhere,” Stuka said.

“He has always been a hero for me, so when I decided to follow his steps and become a wrestler I wanted

Inquisidor punishing his rival. to be like him. “You won’t believe how much my mask has given me and how much I value it. It has truly become my favorite friend.”

Although wearing a mask is a personal decision, other wrestlers like Leono prefer not to wear one.

Leono is a young wrestler who has been training and fighting for more than ten years.

“I don’t wear a mask because I don’t like hiding my face,” Leono

Courtesy // CMLL said. “I want people to know who I am and to know who is the person they are watching on the ring. I don’t think a mask makes a wrestler popular, I believe fans do.”

Lucha Libre in Mexico is more than just a show. Lucha Libre means tradition, history and entertainment. dmoreno@unews.com

Lunch with the Organ:

Main Street church hosts local organist for lunch performance

Nicolai, Buxtehude’s composition Joey Hill lent it a feeling of almost unbridled Senior Staff Writer joy. Moving around the organ’s keys, Kicking off its first performance Kraybill used a variety of pitches and of the year, the Visitation Church tones. She made the quick rhythm on Main Street opened its doors on rise and fall, with the lower keys Thursday, Jan. 16 with local organist carrying on simple melodies while Jan Kraybill for its “Lunch and the complex works and sound were Listen” concert series. in the high keys.

Going on throughout the year at The second piece, by J.S. Bach, noon on the third Thursday of every dramatically changed the mood and month, the church hosts a local artist atmosphere of the performance from to perform to the public for free. jubilant to austere. Playing “Prelude Kraybill is the principal organist at and Fugue in A minor,” Kraybill Community of Christ International brought an almost extreme sense of Headquarters in Independence, as control over the keys. Written during well as the conservator of the Julia Bach’s stay as the court organist to Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the piece at the Kauffman Center for the seems the ultimate classical gothic Performing Arts. organ piece, with a thundering bass The performances are only section under an agitated and quick thirty minutes long so they allow treble. for a perfect sanctuary from the Kraybill joked about the formation humdrum settings of most lunch of the fugue, a composition that breaks. Visitors are encouraged to begins with one melody repeated bring their own lunches, and water with slight variations throughout and coffee are complementary to the song. enjoy during the performance.

“Fugues are a lot like politics, it Kraybill utilized the short time for all starts with one person standing the performance well, playing three up and saying something really good pieces from varying artists that and then another person stands up created a wonderful atmosphere for and says the same thing and then a midday concert. a third person says the same thing The first was German Baroque and then a forth, each changing it composer Dietrich Buxtehude’s slightly,” she said.

“Wie schon leuchtet der Her repertoire for the performance Morgenstern,” translated to “How seemed to be a collection of pupils. lovely shines the morning star.” J.S. Bach was, like many composers Written in 1597 as a hymn by Philipp of his time, inspired by the work

The Main Street Visitation Church’s pipe organ. of Buxtehude just as the writer of Kraybill’s excellent composition of the third song, 1950s jazz composer Brubeck’s “Bees Knees.” Both her Dave Brubeck, was heavily inspired adaptation and playing were perfect,

by Bach. As interesting and different but on a large scale classical pipe as it is to jump from classical to jazz, organ, 1950s jazz created the weakest with an instrument like the organ it point in the performance. While in concept, bridging the connection just doesn’t seem to work as well.

There were no problems with between two composers separated

Photo // Joey Hill by centuries was an ingenious idea, in an audible sense it was too jarring of a change.

The next Lunch and Listen at the Visitation Church on Main Street will be on Thursday, Feb. 20. jhill@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

5B

2014 Oscar Nominees

Lindsay Nelson Staff Writer

The list of Oscar nominees for the 86th Academy Awards was released on Thursday. Now it’s time for movie-goers to make an educated prediction.

The nominees for best picture are…

Twelve Years a Nebraska Slave

Produced by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa

Produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas

Alexander Payne’s film about a man hellbent on redeeming a million-dollar sweepstakes is the black-and-white, not-so-underdog of the nominees. The film was nominated for Original Screenplay and Cinematography. Bruce Dern and June Squibb are nominated for Best Actor/Actress and Supporting Role.

The acclaimed Steve McQueen presents the story of a free black man kidnapped into slavery. The film has eight total nominations, nearly more than any other title on the ballot. Chiwetel Ejiofor is up for Best Actor, and the film has been nominated in categories across the board from Directing to Costume Design.

Captain Phillips

Philomena

Produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca

Produced by Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward

Director Paul Greengrass crafted the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 Somali pirate hijacking into an awardwinning film. Barkhad Abdi is up for Best supporting actor, as well as nominations in Film Editing, Sound Editing/Mixing and Adapted Screenplay.

Stephen Frears’ contribution is a captivating story of a woman in search of her son and a journalist in search of a story. Judi Dench is in the running for Best Actress, not to overshadow the film’s other nominations for Original Score and Adapted Screenplay.

American Hustle

Produced by Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon

This David O. Russell film about the tantalizing world surrounding a con man already claimed the Best Picture title at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards. Actors Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence are individually nominated for best and supporting Oscar titles. Apparently the Academy was astounded by more than Bale’s and Cooper’s hairdos.

Gravity

Produced by Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman

Alfonso Cuaron’s story may be lost in space, but it is well within reach of the Academy. The film is up for nine possible Oscars, with Sandra Bullock in the mix for Best Actress.

The Wolf of Wall Street

(Producers to be nominated)

Dallas Buyers Club

Produced by Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter

Jean-Marc Vallee illuminates a man’s fight to help AIDS patients get an accessible means of medicine in 1985 Dallas. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto both are nominated for their performances, in addition to nominations for Film Editing and Original Screenplay.

The fact that the film is directed

by Cecil B. DeMille Award Winner Martin Scorsese holds almost no precedence over the fact that a certain expletive is used 506 times in the screenplay. Leonardo DiCaprio managed to merit a nomination through all his swearing and shouting as well. lnelson@unews.com

Her

Produced by Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay

Even if it does not bring home an Oscar, Spike Jonze’s story of a man who falls in love with an operating system would easily take the cake for most unanticipated screenplay.

It is evident the Academy is pleased that Joaquin Phoenix is back in the acting game. He is nominated for Best Actor for his performance.

All Photos // IMDB.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

6B

Movie preview 2014 Matt Melson Staff Writer

With the dawn of a new year, there are many new films to be released. Here are the top 10 most anticipated titles to hit theaters in 2014.

Edge of Tomorrow

22 Jump Street

This film takes place in the future, where the human race is fighting off an invasion. One of the soldiers, Bill Cage (Tom Cruise), fights in what turns out to be a suicide mission and dies. But after he dies, he wakes up in the past, days before the suicide mission is supposed to occur. He confides in another solider, Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who says she has experienced a similar situation.

Apparently, Bill is destined to continue dying and traveling back into the past until he is able to change the future. Release Date – June 6

The sequel to “21 Jump Street” will be here soon, and the trailer is a must-see sneak preview. After the initial success of the first movie in 2012, the studio quickly began working on a follow-up film. Fans of the original movie know just how crazy the film can get at times and the sequel seems to be trying to surpass that mark. This film surrounds the two main detectives (Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) investigating a drug outbreak at a local college.

Release Date – June 13

Horrible Bosses 2

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes For any fans of the “Planet of the Apes” saga, this new movie will be an exciting installment. The sequel to “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” this movie takes place 15 years after the events of the first film. Following the aftermath of the rise of Caesar, the leader of the Apes, much of the world has been devastated by the virus that helped to create the genetically enhanced apes. The humans and the apes have reached a very fragile peace agreement but with both sides now on the brink of war, tensions between the two sides are at an alltime high. Who will become the dominant species of Earth? Check out the movie to see. Release date – July 1

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It seems like every movie these days gets a sequel, so why not “Horrible Bosses?” Currently, there is no trailer for this film and the plot is pretty vague, but audiences should celebrate the return of the original cast including Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Anniston, with the addition of Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz.

Release Date – Nov. 28

This sequel and offshoot of the Avengers franchise is definitely a fan favorite. The original Captain America movie was one of the highest grossing films of 2011. The second film in this franchise is set just after the events of the first Avengers movie. After Captain America’s partners from S.H.I.E.L.D come under attack, it is up to him and Black Widow to fight off the evils and corruption overtaking the nation. Captain America may have met his match with the Winter Soldier. Release Date – April 4

All Photos // IMDB.com

X-Men: Days of Future Past

The Amazing Spiderman 2 The second film in the new Spiderman franchise is set to be one of the best Spiderman films to date.

Peter Parker, or Spiderman, is to face his toughest battle yet, battling both the Rhino and Electro in this film.

Many audiences have been skeptical about the quick turnaround in Spiderman franchises, but this new film should silence critics and excite audiences around the globe. Release Date – May 2

The Hobbit: There and Back Again The final movie in the trilogy of Hobbit movies will finally be released later this year. For fans of this franchise this is something that they have been greatly anticipating.

Following the adventure of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the last movie will finally connect all the pieces which is something fans of this franchise have been waiting to happen for years. Taking one book and expanding it into three movies made for quite the wait but this movie will show the final events of Bilbo Baggins’ infamous adventure.

Release Date – Dec. 17

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 The epic finale to “The Hunger Games” trilogy is upon us. It is strongly advised to watch the first two installments of the series before starting the third part. The film picks up right after the end of the second hunger games in which Katniss was able to escape with her life. In doing so she has made the Capitol very angry. The president is planning on making an example of her to prove that no one is safe, not even her friends or her family. Release Date – Nov. 21

Transformers 4: Age of Extinction For those seeking another Shia LaBeouf film, sorry, he will not be taking part in this sequel to the Transformers franchise. Instead the main character in this film will be played by Mark Wahlberg.

Nonetheless, this movie looks to take the franchise to new heights.

The film is set during the aftermath of the last Transformers with the dark rise of Ancient Transformers on the horizon. Chaos and the fight for freedom ensue in this revamped sequel. With Director Michael Bay at it again, intense explosions will be expected. Release Date – June 27

This new revamp of the X-Men series is something completely different from its predecessors. The story is set in an alternate future where most of the mutants have been tracked down and killed. The X-Men must travel back into the past to stop a specific event from occurring to save their future. Check out the movie trailer to get amped about the release date on May 23. mmelson@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

7B

Frank Lillig:Pirate of UMKC

questions, we would answer in character. I’d also teach people how to tie knots and what each flag meant and all that. We were more or less in-character tour guides.

Frank Lillig the pirate.

Lindsay Nelson Photo //Frank Lillig Staff Writer I wore a big, billowy, green Undergraduate theatre student shirt with ties to tie the sleeves Frank Lillig spent half a year looting and such. I had these gold and pillaging the catacombs of shorts. They were pantaloons at Union Station as a crewman of the one point so they billowed out, “Real Pirates” exhibit, and it is a tale then they came together around the ankle and frayed out at the worth hearing. bottom. It almost looked like I What inspired you to audition was wearing a skirt, but it was a golden skirt, so it was pretty to be a pirate?

It’s actually a hilarious story. I was cool. Then of course I had a pair in French class, and we were talking of black leather shoes and a about the Corsairs, who were French sash with printed skulls on it. A pirates, when I got a text from a black, leather studded belt, gold friend of mine asking if I’d heard earring, and a big ol’ bandana about the pirates audition at Union covering my head.

Station. By the time I got home, I had Did your pirate have an six emails from various friends all identity, or did you have to create saying I should check out this pirate one? audition. So I did. And because I He did have an identity. His basically am a pirate. name was Theodore Berelski, What did the audition process Henry Morgan’s first mate, and it actually turned out that he was a entail?

I had to give a monologue, relative of mine. Toward the last that’s really about it. Actually, couple days of the exhibit, I even they told me afterward that one ran into direct descendants of of the biggest reasons they hired Henry Morgan. It was great. me was because I was an Eagle What were your Pirate duties?

Scout. There was this board At the start of the exhibit, we where you had to go tie all these showed a short introductory knots, and before we even made film.

There were various boards it in, I knew how to tie them all. and displays throughout the Nobody knew how to tie all of exhibit, and it was our duty to them but me. memorize the information and to What did your costume look learn further history on pirates.

When the patrons would ask us like?

What was your favorite part of the exhibit?

My favorite part of the exhibit itself would have to be the treasure room. They had actual, real pirate treasure from this shipwreck, the Whydah. It was full of gold and silver. Some of the silver coins found on the shipwreck were actually 300 years older than the ship itself.

They had estimated all the chests to be worth some $9 million, not even taking into consideration historical value and all that.

What was your most memorable experience?

One day as I was working the front, this little boy walks up to me and says, “Sont tu un pirate?”

So I said, “Oui, oui je suis un pirate. Sont tu un pirate aussi?”

Then he said “Oui je suis un pirate aussi!” and just walked right inside. That was it, but I had an entire French conversation with a five-year-old kid. Loved it.

If the exhibit were to be opened again, would you be involved a second time?

Yes. Twice. I would sign up two more times. A lot of us crew are getting together to set up more pirate events throughout the year. There’s a Jackson County Pirate Cruise on Longview Lake that’s been a really low number thing, but we’re going to try to commandeer that and make it our own little deal. We’re working on setting up a Pirate Fest of sorts.

Any last words?

Fair winds to ya. May the cannon balls miss all your vital organs, your powder always dry, and your hull ever full. lnelson@unews.com

‘Blackfish’: Striking new documentary captures old injustice of his repeated acts of violence.

Marlee Newman The story of Tilikum is told Staff Writer mostly through the accounts of “Blackfish,” a documentary that several previous SeaWorld trainers, premiered at the 2013 Sundance now disillusioned by what they Film Festival, follows Tilikum, the had experienced during their time largest male orca whale in captivity, working with Tilikum and other from his capture to his continued marine life. From these accounts, life in the pools of SeaWorld. The the audience hears first-hand details documentary is intense and dark, which results in a viewing experience that is much more emotional than expected.

Over the course of his life in captivity and his time performing at SeaWorld, Tilikum has killed three people, inclu¬ding two trainers.

After the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration placed a ban that restricted the interaction between humans and killer whales.

The film expertly tackles many questions relating to the consequences of taking animals from their natural environments. In a disturbing investigation, the documentary pries into the reasons why SeaWorld insists on keeping Tilikum despite the apparent lifethreatening danger to the trainers. Tilikum’s Photo // IMDB struggle with unfortunate frustration and aggression that has about the relationships that each arisen due to his life in captivity is trainer had with the animal and captured on film. This subject matter their suspicions when it came to the facilitates a tug-of-war between policies of SeaWorld. “Blackfish” emotions and causes hearts to break includes detailed commentary for Tilikum as well as for the victims and surveillance footage of the

unfortunate attacks that occurred throughout the years.

Although the anger and sadness of the trainers remains palpable throughout the film, the documentary does not make the mistake of relying solely on emotion.

Instead, the film features expert researchers and marine biologists who deliver scientific explanations about what happens to the psyches of whales in captivity and why Tilikum was driven to act aggressively toward his captors. They conclude that behavior like Tilikum’s is rarely displayed in the wild.

Since SeaWorld declined to be interviewed for the film, there is little commentary from the opposite side of the spectrum except for accounts from court hearings that occurred between OSHA and SeaWorld officials.

As with most documentaries, “Blackfish” sets out to observe an injustice that happens every day. The film heavily sides with evidence that Tilikum’s aggressive behavior is a product of his restrictive environment, so some may attempt to label the content as being PETA-esque propaganda.

However, that claim will not hold for long with a documentary as wellinformed and involved as “Blackfish.” mnewman@unews.com

Expectations greater than reality with romantic drama ‘Her’ Marlee Newman Staff Writer

At first glance, “Her” has almost everything that is needed to be considered one of the most refreshing and inventive films of the year for several reasons. Spike Jonze, most famously known for directing the quirky yet quietly sinister “Being Jon Malkovich” is the mind behind this futuristic love story. Additionally, award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line, The Gladiator) stars as the main character, 3. The movie, as mentioned before, takes place in the not-so-distant future, setting the stage for what could have been a perfect social commentary on how technology has shaped human interactions, most importantly, the process of romantic love. Although there was a wealth of potential written throughout the preview for this film and many outstanding reviews that followed, it fell flat in more ways than one and enchanting cinematography as well as promising ideas could not help “Her” live up to such high expectations.

The beginning of the film introduces the audience to Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) at his place of work. Theodore is a writer who creates heartfelt letters for paying customers to be sent to their loved ones. Immediately, it can be seen that Theo has an exceptional talent for producing touching letters for his customers and it is then that the audience tunes into how sensitive this character is.

Beneath the foreshadowing to the demeanor of Theo, there is a magnificent clue to the state of human relationships in this futuristic world - technology has monopolized society and relationships so heavily that a personal, handwritten letter has become a novelty that one pays someone else to write with expertise.

The next scene cuts to Theo walking through the city, surrounded by people but very much alone as he sorts through e-mails that he listens to through an earpiece. It is in this scene that it becomes apparent how melancholy and depressed Theo is, a stark contrast to all of the positive emotions he faked in his office not moments before. Phoenix lends his skilled acting to the role of Theo and creates a character that, on his own, is very relatable and complex.

Unfortunately, this complexity dissipates as the film progresses.

As a solution to his newfound loneliness, Theodore purchases an operating system (OS) to keep him company as he struggles through the

Photo // IMDB process of divorcing his wife. The operating system is advertised as an intelligent computer that acts as a companion. The voice of the OS, who names herself Samantha, is played

by Scarlett Johansson. Although the idea of a romantic relationship with a computer in the technology-driven future is an extremely interesting idea because it is so plausible, the relationship between Theo and Samantha seems to grow into such a “strong” love a little too quickly and fails to create any significant connection with the audience. Not only is it hard to find any emotion to invest in this onscreen relationship, but the dialogue between Theo and Samantha is so full of clichés about love and life that it almost reads like bad teenage poetry, a shocking outcome from the much respected writer and director Spike Jonze.

Another flaw with the film is that one of the main themes, the divorce between Theo and his wife, is mentioned as an afterthought and is not given much attention, when, in reality, it is the source of the depression and hurt that plagues Theo.

It should be noted that despite a script that tries too hard to be “deep” and dialogue that comes off as nothing short of pretentious, there is a saving grace in the beautifully artistic cinematography throughout the film. Some of the best viewing moments of this movie were spent taking in the unique angles and close-ups that could be found in many of the shots.

In the end, flawlessly unique cinematography could not help prevent the overwhelming letdown of “Her.” mnewman@unews.com

Tuesday January 21, 2014 | Issue 16

8B

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