the review washburn university
The Lady Blues soccer team boosted its record in the win category by defeating Missouri Southern State. Page B5 SERVING WASHBURN UNIVERSITY SINCE 1897
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VOLUME 135, ISSUE 7 • MONDAY, OCT. 6, 2008
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‘Bodway’ Έλληνας (Greek) to me: part one of a two part series coming to Greeks looking to revive residence campus James Ahrens WASHBURN REVIEW
Brick house: After the women of Kappa Alpha made the decision to no longer use their former sorority house pictured above, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has been working out a plan to purchase and renovate the former Greek building.
Christine Nelson Photos by Arissa Utemark WASHBURN REVIEW The greek community has had its ups and downs over the past few years here at Washburn, but members have decided now is the perfect time to band together, revamp and strengthen membership. The fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon currently sits to the northeast side of campus on 17th Street. Having been there since 1980, the fraternity is looking to a sorority house for a more updated look. The former Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house sits on the west side of campus, facing MacVicar. It was rebuilt there after the 1966 tornado destroyed the original sorority house which was located on campus. Because of low membership numbers, Kappa Alpha Theta decided it was in their best interest to give up their house. They began formal sorority recruitment this year with only 11 active members. Sara Neiswanger, alumni board president for Theta, said less members meant more bills and burden for the actives. This made recruiting and every day life much more difficult. She said it was a progressive decision made by alumni, actives and their
headquarters. Sigma Phi Epsilon saw this as the perfect opportunity to improve housing and modernize their facility to stay competitive. Chris Howe, alumni board president for Sigma Phi Epsilon, said they hope to purchase the house by the end of this semester. First, the fraternity must face the financial challenge of actually paying for the property as well as prepare themselves for the expected expenses of owning it. The property will also be funded by alumni and the Washburn Endowment Association. Howe said the fraternity feels it is unfortunate Kappa Alpha Theta had to come to this decision, but they hope to be able to keep the house in the greek community by purchasing it. Sigma Phi Epsilon does not have the financial means to be a part of Washburn’s future Greek Village, but needs to update to be able to compete. Howe said the Theta house is in great shape and members would be able to move in right away. Neiswanger said members of Kappa Alpha Theta have decided to find their own No trespassing: Plagued by falling membership, the loss of their house and ultimately the revocation of their charter, the Greek house is Please see GREEK page A5 the only remnant of Washburn’s chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Homecoming week is a busy time on Washburn campus, and this year’s homecoming is a perfect example. The offices and workrooms in the lower level of the Memorial Union are buzzing with activity as students work feverishly to complete the necessary planning for a major campus event. The student Activities and Greek Life office does much of the planning. Student organizations across campus are encouraged to participate in the planned activities with this year’s theme in mind, “Give My Regards to Bodway.” In the Washburn Student Government Association office, two students work at a relaxed pace to complete a model for what is turning into a representation of a top hat. Erica Koepsel played with clay to model a top hat. “I’ve had a lot of fun planning and learning about all the Broadway plays,” said Koepsel, who continued by noting how each play relates to the theme of a Broadway production. Kylie Gilstrap is also involved in the Homecoming Top Hat Decoration contest. Koepsel, public relations director, and Gilstrap, administrative assistant for WSGA, are both involved in one or more of the many activities that make up the Homecoming festivities. Amy Billinger, vice president of WSGA, is the chair of the Homecoming Committee. As a senior, she has experience with the campus and its students, and said she knows first hand how stressful an event like this can be. She said she is happy that she has the assistance of her peers in WSGA. Billinger said she is working hard to make the week as fun for students as possible. She is also involved in welcoming Washburn alumni, many
Please see BODWAY page A6
Mabee to streamline searching with Encore search engine Richard Kelly WASHBURN REVIEW
The wait is over, candidates for homecoming king and queen are announced.
of the most exciting parts of Encore is the how much more accessible materials and resources are compared to the old system. The program itself has only been launched in about 50 to 60 schools and public libraries. Some of the notable schools which use Encore are the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the Yale Law Library. Washburn will be utilizing Encore 2.0, the second version of the program. “It’s pretty exciting for Washburn,” said Bearman. “It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten out on the cutting edge like this.”
Country star Carrie Underwood made a smashappearance at the Expocentre Tuesday.
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A new search engine is in the works for users of Mabee Library. After several student-and-facultydriven requests for a more intuitive searching program, Alan Bearman, interim dean of university libraries, went with his colleagues to the group
they work with, called Innovative. books just in Mabee Library, and one This group often finds itself on the of the complaints we always had was cutting edge of new technology, said that the catalog we were using wasn’t Bearman, and they will continue to student friendly,” said Bearman. make improvements to their existing “With [Encore] we think we’ll give students a much more products, so that they get organized and intuitive better even after they’ve MABEE experience, more similar to been implemented. During LIBRARY Amazon.” the selection process last One of the major spring, Mabee Library administrators saw Innovative had a differences with the Encore program plan to launch a new product called is it offers an easier way to obtain Encore. Ultimately, they made the materials. On the current system, decision to bring the search engine to searches often yield unsatisfactory results, even if the material is located Mabee Library. “We have well over 300,000 within the library. Bearman said one
Most people are lucky enough to make it to a few every season. One WU fan has made every one for the last 42 years.
sports
New search engine promises easier finds, starts Oct. 10
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With a launch date of Oct. 10, students won’t have much longer to wait. Students and faculty will be introduced to it that Friday. The transition will be slow, but Bearman said the old interface will still be available for those who prefer it over the Encore program. Bearman added the Encore program will be easy to adapt to and shouldn’t require much of a transitional period. Richard Kelly is a freshman mass media major. Reach him at richard.kelly@washburn.edu.