Blackboard, Emporia State’s online learning outlet, will soon be changing to a new, more modern platform known as Canvas. After 15 years of ex-perience with the Blackboard program, the university will officially start using Canvas campus-wide on June 30.

“The faculty wanted a change and the students want-ed a change,” said Ron Gibson, director of Learning Technolo-gies.

In addition, Gibson said the Blackboard version known to the Emporia campus is two years out of date. This prob-lem won’t be seen in the future, since there are no “versions” of Canvas. Instead, the pro-gram uses small updates and

improvements called Sprints, which are automatically re-leased every three weeks.

“They decided that Black-board was good for its time,” Gibson said. “It was good for its day, but new products have emerged.”

The Canvas mobile app also played a part in the decision-making of which new program the university should license with. Students can now view their grades, assignments and class discussion boards right from their Android or Apple phone. This makes the Cro-codoc feature of Canvas even more instantaneous. Crocodoc allows teachers to annotate di-rectly over an assignment with-out the need to download and print each submission. In turn, students now have the oppor-tunity to see the corrections and comments on their papers the moment the grade is posted.

Plagiarism protection is one

feature that Canvas lacks. In order to compensate for Safe-Assign, which is a Blackboard native product, the university will license with Turnitin.com, which provides the same ser-vices.

“We will kind of miss hav-ing SafeAssign built into it be-cause it’s all part of the same license,” Gibson said. “At the end of the day, weʼll have two better products because TurnI-tIn is much better than Black-board and SafeAssign.”

Some instructors who teach predominantly online classes or have intricate set ups on Blackboard still have concerns about the switch.

“I feel like I have something that works great, and I’m kind of nervous that it might be dif-ficult to rework what I’ve done,” said Marcia Schulmeister, pro-fessor of geology. “It could be

Hobbits are well-known creatures for fans of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jennifer Ferris, fresh-man elementary education major, knows the life of the hobbits all too well – because she lives as one.

“I’ve kind of been liv-ing this way for most of my life,” Ferris, who also goes by “Hobbit,” said. “I just re-cently realized that it’s very similar to how a hobbit be-haves. I’ve kind of modified some things to try to be more like the hobbit. They’re very interesting creatures.”

A fan of Tolkien’s books and the films, Ferris said she goes by the name Hobbit for

two reasons – her name is very common and she is in love with “Lord of the Rings.”

She started referring to herself as Hobbit in August of 2013 after listening to some members of the alternative lifestyles group S.C.A.L.E.S. (Safe Consensual Alterna-tive Lifestyles Education and Support) talk about lifestyles they’d like to represent.

“They’re talking about all these different lifestyles, and I’m just sitting there thinking, ‘Well what about hobbits? No one has hobbits on the list,’” Ferris said. “I looked at hob-bits and I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m a lot like that. I can definitely be a hobbit.’ I mean, I’m little. I’m a little fun-sized person with the curly brown hair. I love food. I don’t like what it does to my waistline, but it’s part of the joy.”

Ferris, who has many non-hobbit friends and a non-hobbit boyfriend, has come to

Candidates for Associated Student Government elections have been collecting signa-tures to go on the ballot for the upcoming Associated Student Government elections April 7-9.

Positions looking to be filled through the election process include president and vice president, who run to-gether on the same ticket, and several senator positions.

Three presidential and vice presidential tickets are expected to be on the ballot. Ray Voiers, sophomore po-litical science and public ad-ministration major, and Matt

Parra, junior political science major, are among those seek-ing a spot. Voiers will run for president, and Parra for vice president.

“I’m really excited about it because we haven’t been involved in ASG before, and to just step over the senator phase and go straight into vice president and president, it’s going to be an adventure, but it’s exciting,” Parra said.

Students who intend to run for office began collecting signatures for their petitions on March 3, and have until tomorrow to collect what they need. Candidates are not of-ficially on the ballot until they

T H E S T U D E N T S ’ V O I C E S I N C E 1 9 0 1

EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSIT Y

Student government elections approaching

THE BULLETINVOLUME 113 - NUMBER 16THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014

Hobbit Out of Middle Earth

Corky’s Corps reaches out to perspectivestudents

New learning platform replaces Blackboard

Crocheting offers relaxationPage 6

Vandiver named Coach of the YearPage 8

Emma andErson

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see CANVAS page 2

Ray Voiers (left), sophomore political science major, and his running mate Matt Parra, junior political science major, count the number of sig-natures they have collected March 12 in the William Allen White Library. Associated Student Government requires all candidates to collect 578 signatures to be accepted onto the election ballot. ALEX HAMMERSCHMIDT | the Bulletin

Canvas, the university’s new learning platform, will take over June 30 and will be in full swing by the fall semester. The Blackboard version that Emporia had previously was out of date. The new platform will use small updates instead of having different “versions.”PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JON COFFEY | the Bulletin

see ELECTIONS page 3

As students return from spring break and the semester keeps on rolling, the Center for Student Involvement will be kicking off Corky’s Corps, a program for students in-volved in campus groups and community service who are not Emporia State Ambassa-dors to reach out to prospec-tive ESU students.

“The main goal of a mem-ber is to meet one on one from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. once a week with a prospective stu-dent during their campus visit about campus life and opportunities at ESU,” said Jason Bosch, senior director of the CSI. “It’s not a big time commitment and it’s a great way to for students involved in campus organizations and community service to expand their own involvement on campus.”

Bosch said Corky’s Corps is for students who love ESU and want to share that expe-rience with a prospective stu-dent. He also said student in-volvement consultants in CSI helped develop the idea for Corky’s Corps.

“When prospective stu-dents go on tours they go through a tour with a student ambassador,” Bosch said. “But other than that, there is no opportunity for prospec-tive students to interact with current students.”

Corky’s Corps wants to get all of the departments and clubs involved, but is not limiting it to just majors and RSOs.

Members of Corky’s Corps represent major and discipline-specific groups, athletic and recreation groups, community service groups, multicultural groups, religious and faith-

see CORKY CORPS page 2

stEvEn Edwards

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Ferris lives lifestyle of Tolkien character

see HOBBIT page 3

HORNET LIFE

Jennifer Farris, freshman elementary education major, shows off her hobbit feet slippers in her favorite place on campus, Wilson Park. Far-ris, also known as Hobbit, usually visits the park. for the battle games on Wednesdays. JENNIFER PENDARVIS | the Bulletin

Emma dEPriEst

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ally sPEasE

amanda GoErinG

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c o p y e d i to r

Associated Student Govern-ment’s last meeting before spring break proved a productive one on March 6. ASG also held their annual RSO fund allocation meeting March 5 in Webb Hall 2, awarding 68 RSOs fund alloca-tions.

Rachael Countryman, ASG president and senior commu-nication major, announced that Faculty Senate had passed sev-eral resolutions on March 4 re-garding recommendations by David Cordle, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, to discontinue certain academic programs.

She said the faculty senate does not support the discontinu-ance of the Bachelor of Science degrees in physical and social sciences, the B.S. degrees in the business finance program, the

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor’s of Secondary Education degrees in the German and French mod-ern language concentrations, or the instructional leadership pro-gram.

However, Faculty Senate does support the discontinuance of the Master of Arts in teaching and B.A. degrees in social sci-ences, physical sciences and the B.S. degree in the information re-sources studies program.

“The actual outcomes of these will be decided upon later on,” Countryman said. “But as of now, this is where Faculty Senate stands.”

Countryman said these rec-ommendations will go to Presi-dent Michael Shonrock and the Kansas Board of Regents.

John Sheridan, dean of Uni-versity Libraries and Archives, met with ASG on March 6 to address the removal of books from the library. He said one goal

ASG debates the future of library, degree programs

Police ReportsReports given to The Bulletin

from ESU Police and SafetyMarch 19Officer assisted Emporia

Police Dept. with a car stop at 12th and Merchant.

Officer assisted Emporia Police Dept. with a car stop in 100 W 15th.

March 20

Officer assisted Emporia Police Dept. with an attempt to make contact in 700 E 12th.

Officer responded to a grass fire at the northeast cor-ner of Cremer Hall. Fire was out prior to officer’s arrival.

Officer stopped KS Handi-capped 8497 at 12th and Con-stitution. Verbal warning for failing to yield for pedestrian at 12th and Commercial.

Officer stopped KS 469FNE in 1400 Merchant. Verbal warning for a stop sign violation at 15th and Merchant.

Officers assisted Emporia Police Dept. with directing traffic around downed power lines at 12th and Commercial.

Officer found the door to ESU Apt. B-13 opened. Of-ficer searched the apartment and no problem was found.

March 21Officer stopped KS 644FBL

in 1300 Merchant. Citations for driving while suspended, stop sign violation and no proof of insurance.

A female student request-ed to speak with an officer in Sector 8.

A female student request-ed to speak with officer at 12th and Market-First Chris-tian Church.

Officer checked welfare of occupants of KS 188FXU in 1300 Highland. No problem was found.

March 22The north door of King

Hall is difficult to close and requires attention.

March 23Morse Complex Reception

reported a washer over flow-ing in the laundry room.

ESU PD HQ received a telephone call from male at Trusler Sports Complex. Sub-ject was locked inside the complex and needed to be let out.

Officer checked the wel-fare of the occupants of KS 658BJV in Free Parking. No problem was found.

March 24Officer stopped 724FNE in

1600 Merchant. Verbal warn-ing for a stop sign violation at 15th and Merchant.

Officer stopped bicyclist in 1700 Morse Dr. Verbal warn-ing a one way violation in Sector 3.

Officer stopped KS 579CEA in 1700 Merchant. Verbal warning for a stop sign violation at I-35 and Merchant.

Officer stopped KS 432GDT in 1400 Merchant. Verbal warning for a stop sign violation at I-35 and Merchant.

Male reported the theft of a bicycle from the bicycle rack on the east side of Twin Tow-ers Complex. This theft oc-curred between 3-14-14 and 3-24-14.

Officer stopped KS 367EAH in 1100 Constitution. Verbal warning for defective taillight.

Officer stopped KS-904GCT in 1100 Market. Ver-bal warning for obstructed windshield.

Officer stopped KS-668GAB in 1200 Highland. Verbal warning for obstruct-ed windshield.

Officer assisted Emporia Police Dept. with a car stop at 12th and State.

March 25Officer stopped KS

640CUP at 1829 Merchant. Verbal warning for defective brake light.

Officer assisted the Empo-ria Police Dept. with a stolen vehicle in Sector 6. Handled by officer.

A burglary and theft was reported in Room 114 of South Twin Towers between 3-14-14 at 2000 hours and 3-23-14 at midnight.

Officer took report of a non-injury accident involving KS 989DVL and KS 913BST in Lot 3.

Officer checked KS 183CNK and 515GGT parked in the circle drive at Sauder Foundation. Officer also checked building and made contact with the operators of the vehicles. Both subjects were authorized to be in the building.

Officers assisted Emporia Police Dept. with a fire call at 9th and State.

Officer reported a heater had gone out in HPER build-ing gym ‘C.’

The Bulletin | March 27, 20142

Brief

Correction

Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity will be hosting Putt Palace this Saturday from 12-6 p.m. at the AKL, 1005 Constitution. The entire house will be turned into a miniature golf course with various obstacles to play around, and each room will have a unique theme. The event is open to the public, and par-ticipants are encouraged to bring friends and family. Tickets are available for $3 and can be purchased from AKL members until tomorrow. Tickets are $5 at the door on Saturday, and concessions will be available as well.

In the Feb. 6 issue of The Bulletin, the article entitled “Tran-scripts will go digital with Ellucian Banner ERP,” stated that other colleges can request transcripts from Emporia State and avoid paperwork by receiving an electronic version. Colleges cannot request transcripts. Only students can. The Bulletin re-grets this error.

John Sheridan, dean of the University Libraries and Archives, attends the Associated Student Government meeting to discuss the library’s plans regarding past books March 13 in the ASG Senate Chamber in the Memorial Union. The next ASG meeting will be at 5:15 p.m. tonight in Webb 2 in the Memorial Union. NICHOLAS SUMNER | The BulleTin

Steven edwardS

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of the Campus Master Plan is “the transitioning of William Al-len White library into a modern learning commons.”

Sheridan pointed out that stu-dents’ use of the library’s techno-logical resources, such as laptops and wireless internet usage, had surpassed the checkout of books and print academic journals.

“The number of laptop checkouts in 2008 began exceed-ing book checkouts,” Sheridan said. “This says to me that stu-dents are using online resources more than book resources.”

Sheridan said other concerns include the shrinking amount of space available for print aca-demic resources and acceptable disposal methods. He said do-nating the books to public librar-ies and recycling books would be one ideal method of disposal.

ASG also passed Senate Bill 14027 unanimously, officially recognizing the ESU Rehabili-tation Club. ASG then passed Senate Bills 14030 and 14031, ap-proving reserve fund requests for Sigma Phi Epsilon and Model United Nations Club.

Senate Bill 14032, a reserve fund request for Zeta Phi Beta, was passed unfavorably.

ASG passed a resolution to support a feasibility study for a natatorium expansion of the student recreation center. Senate Resolution 14007 passed 18-0-1.

Josh Wallace, junior commu-nication major and ASG senator, sponsored the resolution.

“This proposed feasibility study is just to bring the archi-tects to actually look at all the options that we could have and analyze the cost of that,” Wallace said.

ASG also passed Senate Bills 14028, 14029 and 14033, revising senate attendance policy, code of conduct and election regulations, respectively.

The next ASG meeting will be tonight at 5:15 p.m. in Webb 2 in the Memorial Union.

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based groups, fraternities, so-rorities and groups involved with arts, music and entertain-ment.

“Corky’s Corps members need to have a positive attitude and positive energy, as well as having good interpersonal communication skills,” said Josh Wallace, student involve-ment consultant and junior communication major.

When prospective students schedule a campus visit, a sec-tion for general interests is pro-

vided for them to fill out. Bosch said these interests are looked at when choosing a Corky’s Corps representative to meet with the student.

Becca White, student in-volvement consultant and ju-nior elementary education ma-jor, said prospective students will get to see more of campus life from an ESU student’s per-spective.

The deadline for Corky’s

Corps applications was at mid-night last Friday, March 23, but Bosch said they will be taking applications at least once every year and there is no set limit on how many students can be in Corky’s Corps.

“We would like to see a new group of students in Corky’s Corps every semester, but we’ll have to look into how many students are interested in this program,” Bosch said.

about the switch.“I feel like I have something

that works great, and I’m kind of nervous that it might be difficult to rework what I’ve done,” said Marcia Schulmeister, professor of geology. “It could be great, and if it’s not, I just hope IT will work with me in revising my classes.”

The Science Department is one that has yet to be trained for the new platform. The School of Libraries and Information Man-agement, however, began using the Canvas program at the be-ginning of spring semester.

“As a blended course pro-gram, we wanted to transition sooner rather than later” said Mirah Dow, associate professor of library and information man-agement.

Spending only 30 face-to-face hours with their professors, MLS students have also been able to use the video feature of Canvas to have more produc-tive conversations with their teachers.

“As a basically brand new product, it still has a few little quirks,” said Mike Butler, Asso-ciate professor of Health Physi-cal Education and Recreation, who also began implement-ing the Canvas platform to his

courses this semester. “I think that is to be expected for a brand new product.”

Dow said that one of the problems she’s run into this past semester is that the emails sent to her Canvas account no longer directly go to her Outlook email, like they did with Blackboard. Canvas will notify her Outlook account that she has an email waiting, but she cannot view the email until she logs on to Can-vas.

“I believe that long-term, Canvas has some good options and a bit more flexibility than Blackboard had,” Dow said. “I’m not interested in going back to Blackboard.”

CanvaS continued from page 1

James F. and Dorine D. Harter Offi ce of International EducationMemorial Union, Lower Level Room 40 ■ oie1@emporia.edu

www.emporia.edu/oie/study-abroad

Have you ever wanted to live and learn in another country?Emporia State University gives you the opportunity to study in more than 60 countries. From two-weeks to a full academic year, study abroad is life-changing and can be aff ordable.Make yourself stand out among other students.Emporia State gives you the world!To learn more, contact us:

STUDY ABROAD with Emporia State University

COrKY COrPS continued from page 1

realize that being upfront with her lifestyle has helped her find those people who really deserve to be a part of it.

“(When I found out) I thought that was awesome,” said Sara “Otter” Matt, senior printmaking major and one of Ferris’ friends. “It’s a really good first impression.”

Matt said Ferris’ honesty about how she lives and iden-tifies herself attracts good friends.

“I see beauty as more of just the natural, who someone tru-ly is,” Ferris said. “I don’t see beauty as the make-up cov-ered faces that we’re supposed to be. It’s whatever you truly are.”

Ferris’ boyfriend, Mike Brown, former Emporia State student, said that when he met her, she was upfront about her lifestyle.

“(She told me) the first evening that we met,” Brown said. “I don’t personally live like that, (but) I understand that that’s who she was.”

The couple has been togeth-er for about six months and is currently living together. Fer-

ris said their house is comfor-ting to her because there is not as much energy as one would find in the residential halls.

Ferris said she considers herself a hobbit for many rea-sons, one being how much she eats.

“You go from breakfast to second breakfast, eleven-sies, lunch, supper, dinner, snack, dessert, dinner,” Ferris said. “If you can get the food, you will eat the food. When you have to go without you can, but…you whine if you have to go without.”

She also walks a lot and, for a long time, went barefoot everywhere. To her, the life of the hobbit is one of comfort – something she plans on keep-ing up with in the future too – but this hobbit has set up other goals for herself aside from comfort.

“I want to be successful in life and I feel like the thing about hobbits is they’re very small creatures who want to impact the world in very big ways,” Ferris said. “Well, I want to change the lives of over 2,000 people in my life-time. I’m not that big and im-portant. I’m just a small per-son, but I feel like I can change the world.”

A new club at Emporia State will allow students to participate in conferences that simulate United Nations meet-ings.

The Model United Nations conferences are international events held by universities throughout the world. People from many different cultures and countries can meet in their own country, or travel to other conferences across the globe.

Kaisa-triin Karu junior marketing major, holds the position of secretary for the Model United Nations of ESU.

“Basically, all the univer-sities who are interested in participating, they make their own schedule of which con-ferences they would like to at-tend,” Karu said.

Nizomiddin Kuchkarov, senior economics major and president of the club, said stu-dents are assigned a country for every conference.

“They will represent the country and they will lobby for the best interests of that country,” Kuchkarov said.

Kuchkarov also said the goal of ESU’s organization is

to help students prepare for conferences, to organize inter-nal conferences at ESU and to “encourage the awareness of the students about the political situation in the world.”

Ikbal Ben Gaied Hassine, senior business major and the club’s treasurer, said being a part of the MUN will chal-lenge students to bring togeth-er many different skills and apply them in an interesting way.

“Public speaking, social-ization, public relations, in-ternational relations, politics, research, many things at the same time,” Hassine said. “I think it’s a very important ex-perience. You can grow within it.”

The topics of at the confer-ences differ, but each one has only one topic on the table. Once the subject has been given, Kucharov said stu-dents start researching their topic and their country about a month in advance.

The goal of each confer-ence is to reach a resolution on the given topic. However, the resolution is not applied to anyone.

“It’s not applied because the students play the role,”

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014 3

Pi-shaped snickerdoodle cookies, a celebration cake and an Oreo dessert served in a Pi dish were served at Pi-Mathalon at 3:14 p.m. March 14 in Science Hall. PiMathalon consisted of three events, including the 400 year dash, Tour de ESU and the Mindstroke. JENNIFER PENDARVIS | The BulleTin

Students who attended the Model United Nations meeting raise their hands to show if they are interested in certain opportunities for them to study abroad March 6 in the Heritage Room in Memorial Union. Each student will be assigned to represent a country and must lobby for the “best interests of that country,” said Nizomiddin Kuchkarov, president of Model United Nations and senior economics major. JENNIFER PENDARVIS | The BulleTin

PiMathalon celebrates March 14

Model United Nations offers conference opportunities

US first lady stresses freedom of speech in China

A small group of faculty and students got together

on March 13 to celebrate one of the few things in the uni-verse that will never end – pi.

Pi Day, March 14, was ush-ered in with an event called

PiMathalon from March 10-13. The idea for PiMathalon was conceived by Brian Hol-lenbeck, professor of math-ematics.

PiMathalon consisted of three events, including the 400 year dash, Tour de ESU and the Mindstroke. Each of these events had a specific theme, such as problem solv-ing or finding specific places on campus.

Students who participat-ed in the event worked on the problems individually or in a teams containing up to three members. All of this culminated in the final event, called the Pyth-event, where students had to find a statu-ette of the mathematician Py-thagoras.

According to Hollenbeck, PiMathalon was not initially intended for Pi Day.

“Originally, we were look-ing for something to (serve as) an activity for students that were coming to a confer-ence here at ESU,” Hollen-beck said. “We’re hosting the Mathematical Association of America Conference.”

The PiMathalon was put together in such a way that it would be a competition. The ultimate winner was Amy Bretches, senior computer science and math major, who

received an Applebee’s gift card. Bretches said PiMatha-lon was “something to get people of all skill levels of math involved in celebrat-ing Pi day, so involved in cel-ebrating math, basically.”

Betsy Yanik, professor of mathematics, computer sci-ence and economics, said pi is an old number with a long history dating back to antiq-uity, and some interesting applications.

“One interesting aspect is for students in mathemat-ics at a fairly early age, it’s one of the first examples of a number that’s irrational, that it has a decimal expan-sion thats non-repeating, and yet they can think about it in a nice application… a circle,” Yanik said.

Bretches said events like the PiMathalon help people learn about the benefits and value of math.

“It helps you with criti-cal thinking,” Bretches said. “That’s one of the things I’ve seen, because I’ve always loved math and I think that thinking mathematically means thinking logically.”

Alec MAnley

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Alec MAnley

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HOBBIT continued from page 1

Karu said. “The real United Nations will not make any changes because of what the students do.”

According to Karu, the time

it takes for a resolution to be reached depends on how the conference is set up, and it all starts with choosing the topic.

“Some conferences take

place in four days, some take place for a shorter period, so it depends,” she said.

The cost for attending con-ferences will vary.

have adequate signatures. Those running for a senator position need 50 signatures, while those running for presi-dent and vice president need a total of 578.

Although Voiers and Parra have not been involved with ASG before, Parra has worked closely with ASG senators in his position as president of the public affairs club.

In senator positions, more students are running than in years past. There are usually around 10 candidates, but this year about 20 petitions were handed out at the beginning of the election process. There are a total of 23 senator positions in ASG.

Brandon Schrader, fresh-

man psychology and business administration major, is run-ning for a position as senator for the Teacher’s College. He was a senator this school year, but this will be his first time going through the election pro-cess.

“It’s very much dependent on the voters themselves, but I also think that…the people running for those elected posi-tions have a very big influence as well,” Schrader said.

For the second year, elec-tions will take place online through Hornet Life. Students will receive an email remind-ing them to vote, including a link to Hornet Life.

“This election process al-lows the students to speak their mind or to use their voice to have a direct say in the stu-dent government and what

happens on this campus,” said Billy Garner, senior politi-cal science major and election commissioner.

The president and vice president of ASG are paid po-sitions. Other paid staff posi-tions include legislative direc-tor, treasurer, and public affairs director. The executive assis-tant may become a paid posi-tion next year. Garner said the president and vice president hire the other staff positions.

Next week, candidates will begin to campaign. Presiden-tial and vice presidential de-bates will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 in the Kanza Room of Memo-rial Union. There will be a re-ception following the debates from 6:30-7 p.m. Elections will take place the following week, beginning Monday, April 7.

elecTIOnS continued from page 1

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. first lady Michelle Obama told students in China, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on the Internet, that freedom of speech and unfettered access to informa-

tion make countries stron-ger and should be universal rights.

Mrs. Obama was speaking Saturday at Peking University in Beijing during a weeklong trip aimed at promoting edu-

cational exchanges between the U.S. and China. The trip also took on political over-tones when she was granted a previously unscheduled meeting with Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping on Friday.

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014

The job of a campus newspa-per is to report university news in a timely, accurate, fair and impartial manner. But lately, the Student Government Asso-ciation and others at Newman University, a private Catholic college in Wichita, don’t seem to think so.

For the past few months, “The Vantage,” NU’s campus newspaper another Division II school, has been under fire from its student organizations and individual students for minute mistakes and claims that the newspaper is something they are “not proud of.”

First, the student govern-ment vigorously questioned the coverage of a story about their purchase of crucifixes for the school.

A few weeks ago, several anonymous Samaritans shoved newspapers with minute typos and mistakes in “The Vantage” office door. Then, at a town hall meeting, which allows students at NU to bring up concerns

and suggestions to the school’s cabinet, including the presi-dent, questions about the school newspaper were brought up. One of these inquired, “‘The Vantage’ consistently reports erroneous information and is full of grammatical and spelling errors. Does NU fund and/or advise this? What can be done to create a paper that students can be proud of?”

As fellow university journal-ists, we want to emphasize that college journalism is a hard task to undertake. Not only do we balance classes, homework and other student organizations, but sometimes we stay in the office well past when the buildings close. What we do by necessity is very public – our names are attached to our stories, photos, columns and designs. Journal-ists are one of the few groups in which students are learning in the public eye. In journalism, your teacher isn’t the only one who sees your mistakes on an assignment. The entire campus

can see it in print. We’re stu-dents, too.

College journalism is increasingly more difficult if your school doesn’t have a jour-nalism major, as both ESU and NU only offer minors. NU’s newspaper staff consists of 13 people – 7 editors and 6 staff writers. Like The Bulletin, they put out a weekly, eight-page newspaper – and we have twice the staff. None of their employ-ees are paid more than approxi-mately $2.15 an hour, and that’s only the editors. Staff writers are not paid at all. That, to us, is a feat in itself.

It is disheartening that a student body would try to tear down an organization, rather than build it up. The Bulletin experienced a similar matter two years ago when a petition was made to abolish us. Anyone can have strong opinions about negative things, but what about positive things that newspa-pers do for colleges, including letting the students have their

OPINIONVantage Point

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Max McCoyAssociate Professor of Journalism

Department of English, Modern Languages and Journalism

THE BULLETINLet Them Make Room

Disservice to Students

Summer Job Search

As Dean of the School of Library and Information Man-agement at ESU, I am one of the professional experts qualified to make a statement about the real-location of resources within the library. Libraries exist to provide access to ideas and information for everyone and value-added services of professional librar-ians to assist in identifying the best information resources. An academic library should not be a repository for out-of-date information and books that do not circulate.

Books in the William Allen White Library are all state of

Kansas property that, by law, cannot be sold or given away. This protects state taxpayers from corrupt personal gain practices of selling or donat-ing items originally purchased with state funds. The idea of giving these unwanted worn, outdated, and historically uncirculated materials to other libraries and schools is regres-sive. Schools and libraries need and want the latest ideas and resources, not those items iden-tified for good reasons by pro-fessionals for removal from our library. Dean John Sheridan is using good judgment and fol-lowing professional best prac-tices for re-cycling the materials.

The real travesty is to use valuable space to hoard books that are readily available on

demand from inter-library loan. Instead, we should make more space for library users to access the wide world of ideas and information through a range of materials and elec-tronic resources. The profes-sional librarians who work in the library have graduate degrees and are skilled experts in both the identification of new materials and resources and of knowing what needs to move on to make room for the new. Here’s a pat on the back for Dean Sheridan, the librarians, and the critical thinkers on campus who understand discernment and strategic use of resources.

In May I will have spent eight years associated in some way with Emporia State University. I first came here as a terrified freshman, came back as a gradu-ate student, and now I am here as an instructor. Through all of this the department of English, Modern Languages, and Jour-nalism has been my home away from home. A large part of the life of an English major centers around books.

It is distressing then to hear of the weeding of books in William Allen White library that seems to be happening rather covertly, without any say from faculty, staff, or students. It makes me wonder exactly what the library believes its purpose is.

The library has served many purposes for me over my time at ESU. It is a point of pride with me that I can tell you from memory which deck holds what books,

and you will find me frequently haunting Deck 6. During gradu-ate school I spent many hours in the library finding books, taking notes, and doing research for my MA thesis. Without the library resources especially the books, it would have been infinitely harder to have completed my thesis in the timely fashion I did.

I feel that Dean Sheridan is missing the bigger picture in his weeding of all these books, the titles of which we may never know. It is apparent that he does not understand the impact this has on the students. Our library and I mean no offense when I say this, does not have all the resources that other universi-ties such as KU have. Therefore students already have to inter-library loan a large portion of the books they made need while researching for projects and theses. Is it wise then to weed out books that supposed have not been checked out since 1999 or that are “old?” I think not.

A student attempting to com-plete their thesis on a subject

within history may discover that the book they are looking for as been weeded just because it was considered “old.” There-fore that student would have to inter-library loan the book from another university. While being able to inter-library loan items is wonderful, it can also take time. As a graduate student time is of the essence. If our library already has the book this student needs, it saves him or her that much time, and they can get on with researching and writing.

The library is not only a place for students to study; it is also a place for learning and fostering a love of knowledge through the books found there. If another learning commons area is going to take precedence over a signifi-cant portion of the books located at William Allen White library then I believe the library is doing a disservice to the student body it is supposed to be serving.

Westin BroWn

Op i n i O n Wr i t e r

own voice? We are here to serve you. Almost always, your college newspaper reports accurately, but that tends to be overlooked.

What we suggest to students who are concerned at NU is the same thing that we suggested to students who were concerned about the credibility of The Bul-letin two years ago: 1. Let the school paper know if something is factually incorrect. Newspa-pers are more than happy to run corrections. 2. Join the staff

yourself and help us make our papers better! 3. Remember that it is only our job to report on campus happenings, not to be a cheerleader for our universities.

So, hats off to you on “The Vantage” staff. We applaud your ability to report in a timely and precise manner. We understand that sometimes it’s hard to keep your sanity while balancing a newspaper and schoolwork. And you do a phenomenal job of both.

It’s time to start worrying about summer jobs.

Positions are going quick and you need to make some extra money for the new school year. Now is the time to apply. No, not tomorrow, today, because all those open job spots in your hometown will be filling up with eager high school appli-cants.

It is very easy to wait until May and then decide to get a job, but employers need to know what kind of applicants they have available for the summer.

College students, like us, who have a strong sense of work ethic and experience working with people, are a great addi-tion to any work force. A college student who knows how to prepare a résumé, dress well and speak with a sense of pro-fessionalism has a better chance of landing a job. Use this to your advantage and prove yourself worthy of the position you are trying to fulfill.

The hardest part of any job is actually finding the job. There are several websites to help you

find a summer position, such as Snagajob.com, Monster.com and Indeed.com. These sites offer a diverse range of job opportuni-ties based on where you live and your personal criteria. Beware of sites that require your debit or credit card information because this could be a scam waiting to happen. City websites often list jobs under an employment or careers tab. If you enjoy reading the newspaper, there is usually a classified section for job listings.

Don’t be afraid to use social connections such as profes-

sors, family and friends to find the kind of positions that will build up your academic resume with jobs that relate to your major. The job market is hard on students because of limited field experience or lack of time. Future employers don’t just look at grades. They look for individuals who were active learners outside the classroom as well.

Put your skills to the test and start searching for that summer job that will benefit your pock-etbook, as well as your résumé.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Gwen Alexander

Lindsey Bartlett

Dean of the School of Library and Information Management

Instructor of English, Modern Languages and Journalism

DONOVAN ELROD | the Bulletin

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014 NEWSSnow in Spring

Unpredicted snowfall takes campus by surprise

5Million-dollar Powerball ticket sold in NE Kansas

ABOVE: A student braves the unexpected snowfall between classes in the afternoon on Monday, March 24. What was expected to be rain turned to snow under cold and windy conditions. WILL AUSTIN | The BulleTin

LEFT: Married couple Minji Park, graduate instructional design and technology student and Gilseung Park, sophomore biology major, shield themselves from an unexpected spring snow on Monday March 24. The frosted shower lasted from noon to 3 p.m. and its traces had already mostly cleared by the end of the day. WILL AUSTIN | The BulleTin

A quick snowfall covers campus in the afternoon on March 24, the first day back from spring break.The weather didn’t prevent students from get-ting across campus. WILL AUSTIN | The BulleTin

TOPEKA (AP) — House members have advanced a measure that would ask Kan-sas voters to amend the state constitution to allow charities to hold raffles to raise funds for their causes.

The resolution advanced on a voice vote Tuesday. The Senate has already passed the measure. If it receives at least 84 votes on final ac-tion Wednesday, it would be placed on the November gen-eral election ballot.

If a majority of voters give their approval, nonprofit reli-gious, charitable, fraternal, ed-ucation and veterans groups could operate raffles. The measure is necessary because the constitution once said all forms of lotteries were “for-ever prohibited.”

The term “lottery” has been interpreted broadly enough by the state’s courts to include any enterprise that has people paying money to get a ran-dom chance to win a prize.

TOPEKA (AP) — The Kan-sas Lottery says that someone is holding a Powerball ticket worth $1 million.

The ticket for Saturday night’s drawing in the mul-tistate game was sold in the northeastern part of Kansas. Lottery officials said Monday it matched the first five num-bers in the drawing, but not the Powerball.

Saturday’s numbers were 13-28-31-55-58, Powerball 15. A single ticket sold in Missouri hit the jackpot of $96.5 million.

Holders of winning tickets have one year to claim their prizes. Kansas law allows win-ners to remain anonymous if they choose.

Kan. House advances charitable raffle amendment

Young workers change jobs frequently,

study shows

Kan. Senate GOP unveils schools planTOPEKA (AP) — Kansas

school districts could impose additional property taxes with local voters’ approval to sup-plement their state funding under a plan outlined Wednes-day by Republican leaders in the state Senate.

The new plan also would boost aid to poor schools in an effort to comply with a re-cent Kansas Supreme Court ruling in an education fund-ing lawsuit. But the proposal from Senate GOP leaders also would reduce aid for busing costs, online classes and pro-grams for students at risk of dropping out.

Poor districts would see their aid increase $134 million a year, for both general opera-tions and capital improvement projects. Those additional costs would be offset by about $56 million in reductions in other aid, for a net gain in state aid to schools of about $78 mil-lion. The state already spends about $3 billion of its tax dol-lars a year on schools.

But the key wrinkle intro-duced by top GOP senators in-volves school districts’ ability to supplement spending levels set by the state. The law al-lows districts to increase their spending up to 31 percent, and the Senate Republican leaders’ plan would increase the “lo-cal option budget” figure to 33 percent to provide up to $85 million more for schools.

Much of that new money would come from additional local property taxes, and the spending would have to be authorized by each district’s voters in a mail-ballot election. But Senate Republican leaders said it offers local school dis-tricts a chance to boost class-room spending.

“All options are up for de-bate,” Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, said after the caucus.

Boosting local spending authority could have some appeal for legislators from Kansas City suburbs in John-son County. It is the state’s

most populous county, and the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts there — with nearly 50,000 students be-tween them — would receive little help with an increase in aid to poor districts. Also, area lawmakers have argued for more local authority in the past.

“They put a lot of thought into this,” said Sen. Kay Wolf, a Prairie Village Republican, adding that her initial impres-sion of the plan is favorable.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said he was re-viewing the proposal in detail. House GOP leaders also were studying the new plan. They released their own proposal last week, boosting aid to poor districts but tying it to policy changes missing from the Sen-ate plan, such as changing teacher accreditation rules and setting up a commission to hunt for efficiencies in school district operations.

The Supreme Court ruled

March 7 that past, recession-driven cuts in aid to poor dis-tricts created unfair and un-constitutional gaps in funding between them and wealthier districts. The high court told lawmakers to fix the problems by July 1.

The state Department of Education estimates that sim-ply reversing the past cuts would boost aid to poor dis-tricts by $129 million a year. Democratic leaders want to take that step, using the state’s cash reserves to cover the costs.

But some Republicans fear poor districts would use most of the new money to replace property tax dollars and lower their levies, resulting in no net gain in classroom spending. The increase in spending au-thority is designed to address that issue — and the Senate GOP leaders’ plan contains an extra $5 million in aid to poor districts to help keep their property taxes in check if they go for extra spending authority.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Young adults born in the early 1980s held an average of just over six jobs each from ages 18 through 26, a Labor Depart-ment survey showed Wednes-day.

Since 1997, the depart-ment’s Bureau of Labor Statis-tics has been keeping tabs on about 9,000 young men and women born in the early 1980s, surveying their educational and workplace progress. The latest survey is from interviews conducted in 2011-2012.

According to the survey, more than two-thirds of the jobs held by high-school drop-outs lasted less than a year.

Women in the study group overall were more educated than the men. Thirty-two per-cent of the women earned a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24 percent of the male par-ticipants. Overall, 70 percent of the women had either some college or received a bachelor’s degree, compared to 61 percent of the men.

In the survey, young adults born from 1980 to 1984 held an average of 6.2 jobs from ages 18 to 27 — 6.0 jobs for men and 6.3 for women.

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014HORNET LIFE

Tasha Messer, junior secondary education major, crochets the beginnings of a blue blanket Feb. 21 in the Me-morial Union lobby. Messer is new to the club, but learned to crochet from her parents when she was younger. ALEX HAMMERSCHMIDT | The BulleTin

6

Whether it’s Dr. Oz pro-moting the newest herbal supplement or “60 Minutes” reporting on the dangers of sugar, the general population is quick to eat up health infor-mation from the news.

I get it, it’s easier to watch a three-minute report than to read research papers, but do you really think you’re get-ting the whole story? Like those students who only read the Cliff notes, they may be able to pass a simple test, but rarely know all the necessary details.

Catchy headlines and numbers of views are most important in media. “Over-weight, sedentary individuals consume too much sugar and health declines” is stale. In contrast, the headline “New study: Sugar the new smok-ing?” has viewers yearning for more. Despite the fact that the former is the truth, it’s not sexy.

It seems like the news gets bonus points for fear mon-gering. Seriously, what hasn’t been reported to cause cancer at this point? But if you speak with cancer specialists, they will tell you exactly what does cause cancer.

One of the reasons the pub-lic gets frustrated with health guidelines is the thought that it’s complicated and contra-dictory. CNN may report that saturated fat is linked to heart disease, while ABC runs a special on how healthy bacon

is, which is high in saturated fat. Again, speaking with a nutritionist quickly clears this issue up.

In the hierarchy of impor-tance, accuracy is near the bot-tom for televised news pro-grams. They want to be loud and being accurate is nearly a luxury. In their attempt to make a splash, news reports often pick a certain stance and then only provide evidence that supports it, with little ef-fort to be objective. This, my friends, is called confirmation bias.

Be skeptical when you hear a report and dig for the other side of the story.

Not all inaccuracies are intentional. It’s important to note reporters aren’t doctors, dietitians or physical thera-pists – not that those people can’t be wrong, as well – so they’re automatically in deep water when discussing these health topics. Some reporters may be doing their best, but simply coming up short from a lack of knowledge.

The news is great for the same reason it sucks – it allows viewers to get quick informa-tion when time is sparse. Af-ter hearing intriguing news, I encourage you to examine the topic in greater detail. Message a friend in medi-cal school (we all have those, right?) or check with those who could tell you more. De-mand evidence before accept-ing information as true.

HEALTHYHORNETS

BY GREG FARRIS

Not-So-Newsworthy

Crocheting club creates relaxation time

Kan. Senate passes bill barring Medicaid expansion

Inmate accused of smuggling drugs in prosthesis

At 6 p.m. every Monday in front of Webb Hall, a group of students can be found work-ing away over needles, hooks and yarn in the Unwind Knit and Crochet Club. The low-pressure group consists of approximately 10-15 women and one man.

“It’s hard for me to sit down in my dorm room when I know I have a ton of other stuff I could be working on and actually work on a project I have,” said Michaela Riley, junior secondary English edu-cation major and club treasur-er. “So it’s a nice little hour that I can set aside during the day to actually just sit and work on my project and not stress out over homework or anything.”

The club was created in the fall of 2012, but lost its Recog-nized Student Organization status in the spring of 2013 due to confusion over com-munity service hours. Un-wind Knit and Crochet seeks to provide a low-key space for students to unwind and work on their yarn projects.

Unwind recently reinstated their RSO status and has also

knitted and crocheted items for several different chari-ties. The club has made baby hats for the Shiloh Pregnancy Center, scarves and hats for the homeless shelter and ear warmers for the citizens of cold Matamoros, Mexico.

Unwind encourages stu-dents who are seasoned knit-ters and those just starting to crochet to intermingle and ex-change ideas. Lyndsey Kopsa, senior interdisciplinary stud-ies major, said there are many experienced people who want to share their knowledge with others.

“We don’t care if you’re a guy, girl or whatever,” Kopsa said. “It’s just if you want to learn, if you want to actually do it with someone, you’re welcome.”

Kopsa, who learned to cro-chet in 2002 through a teacher, taught another member, Me-lissa Hoyle, senior secondary biology major, how to crochet a month ago. They are both currently working on blan-kets. Kopsa is far along in her project, while Hoyle is just getting into hers.

“I tried to learn before but I didn’t stick with it so I forgot about it,” Hoyle said.

Hoyle also said she had been interested in crochet-ing for a while, and Unwind seemed to give her the time she wanted to learn without feeling pressured.

“It’s a good way to be so-cial, even if you’re introvert-ed,” Hoyle said.

For students unsure what Unwind has in store for them, Kopsa, Hoyle and Riley said there is no better way to know than to try.

“There’s no pressure to be good at it right away, and you work at your own speed,” Hoyle said. “I think it’s just a way to be creative. For some people, I think it’s just a way to get away from the stressful-ness of classes and stuff like that, and then you can just learn something new.”

The Unwind Club also meets Wednesdays at 1 p.m. and every other Friday at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Union.

Emma DEPriEst

s Ta f f w r i T e r

 President/Vice-­‐President  Debates  

Wednesday,  April  2nd  5:30  P.M.  

MU  Kanza  Room    

Contact  Billy  Garner,  Elections  Commissioner,    bgarner1@g.emporia.edu  

SALINA (AP) — A Kansas man being held on a proba-tion violation is now accused of smuggling drugs into jail inside his artificial leg.

The Saline County sheriff’s office says deputies became concerned when the 33-year-old man slurred his speech while complaining Sunday about missing breakfast. Au-thorities said tests showed the Salina man had been taking

drugs.Sheriff Glen Kochanowski

says the inmate is accused of hiding prescription drugs and methamphetamine inside his prosthesis.

The man had been taken into custody in early March on four suspected probation violations. Prosecutors will now decide whether to charge him with drug offenses as well.

TOPEKA (AP) — The Re-publican-dominated Kansas Senate wants to indefinitely extend a ban on expanding the state’s Medicaid program in line with the federal health care overhaul.

Senators approved a bill on a 33-7 vote Tuesday night saying the state couldn’t ex-pand Medicaid unless the Legislature approves the policy. The measure goes to the House.

A ban included last year in budget legislation is set to

expire with the appropria-tions law in July 2015.

Medicaid provides health coverage for the needy and disabled. Supporters note that an expansion would help thousands of poor, working Kansans and that the federal government promises to pick up most of the cost.

But GOP lawmakers see the 2010 federal health care law championed by Dem-ocratic President Barack Obama as burdensome and likely to harm the economy.

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014 NEWS 7

Emporia State students proved they have talent dur-ing Psychology Club’s first Talent Contest.

Singing, dancing and a variety of other talents were displayed by contestants and audience members March 13 in the Memorial Union Ball-room. Not only did the per-formers show off their talents, but the audience also partici-pated by displaying some of

their own abilities.“This is the first time we’ve

done anything like this,” said Sertrice Grice, junior psychol-ogy major. “The idea for the contest was to get psychology club’s name out more on cam-pus.”

Grice is the president of the psychology club, and said she hopes they host another talent contest next year.

Four contestants competed for various prizes. An entry fee of $5 was required for con-testants. The money collected

served as fundraising for the psychology club. For audi-ence members, the cost of ad-mission was one canned good, which will go to either Abun-dant Harvest or Shiloh House.

The first act on stage was Maggie Wilson, junior recre-ation major, who sang a song medley and played guitar. The songs Wilson mashed to-gether varied from “Royals” by Lorde to “Let It Go” from the Disney movie “Frozen.”

“It felt great to be up there. It was totally worth the foam

finger,” Wilson said, “I’ll defi-nitely do this again next year.”

Wilson took first place in the talent show and claimed an ESU foam finger with its stinger raised high as her prize.

Other prizes ranged from a cappuccino machine to sev-eral gift cards. Each contestant had a chance to choose their prize in the order they placed. The audience could also win prizes by participating in the show.

Around 50 students at-

tended the event. The three judges of the event were Pa-melyn MacDonald, professor of psychology; Kayla Smith, Complex Coordinator of Morse Complex and Theresa Mitchell, professor of com-munication and theater. Per-formers were judged on their originality, talent and audi-ence appeal.

“It was fun, exciting, and surprising. I was surprised in the depth of talent,” Mitch-ell said. “They should do this again.”

Emporia State’s Got TalentPsychology Club hosts its first talent show

RIGHT: Maggie Wilson, junior recreation major, per-forms a medley of songs she had prepared for the first Psychology Club talent show March 13 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Wilson took first place at the show. NICHOLAS SUMNER | The BulleTin

ABOVE: Kate Freeland, junior interdisciplinary studies major, sings a classic jazz song for the talent show March 13 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The talent show was hosted by Psychology Club. NICHOLAS SUMNER | The BulleTin

Connor Delaney

s Ta f f w r i T e r

SPORTS8SportS ShortS

The Emporia State soft-ball team won four of their six games last weekend at the Missouri Western State Uni-versity Invite in St. Joseph, Mo.

The Lady Hornets split their series on Friday, beating St. Cloud State and losing to Pittsburg State. The Lady Hornets went up by four against the Huskies in the fifth inning, thanks to a bases-loaded double from Jessica Gragg, junior center. ESU ended the game with a 5-2 victory. The Lady Hornets led 2-1 against PSU in the second inning, but the Gorillas ended up taking the win 3-2.

Saturday held another split series for ESU, with both a victory against Augustana and a loss to Minnesota State-Mankato. The Lady Hornets took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning against Augus-tana. The Lady Hornets ended the game with six unanswered runs, taking a 7-1 victory. In the second game, the Mavericks were up 9-2 by the end of the fifth. Kaitlyn Caston, junior pitcher, hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth, putting ESU down by five. The Mav-ericks, however, ended the game 12-4 in the bottom of the sixth.

ESU won both of their games on Sunday against Northern State and Wayne State College. Northern State took an early lead in the first game with a single run homer, but ESU ended the game with a 4-3 victory, due a two RBI double by Gragg. The Lady Hornets went up 3-0 in the fifth in the second game, and came away with a 4-1 victory over the Wildcats.

The Lady Hornets softball team will play this Friday in Emporia and Saturday in Topeka for two double headers in the Turnpike Tussle against Washburn.

Winning career starts at Emporia

The Bulletin | March 27, 2014

Wright shines as senior forward

Lady Hornets go four for six

Baseball splits four-game

series

Jory Collins, women’s head basketball coach cuts down the net after winning the MIAA Tournament Champi-onship March 9. This was Collin’s second championship victory in his four years as head coach. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN COLEMAN

Kaleb Wright, senior forward and health promo-tions major, just finished his final campaign at Emporia State. Wright had three 30-point games, including his senior night against Washburn. He helped start the turn around of the men’s basketball program.

“When Kaleb was locked in and engaged and had the right mindset, he was a very good leader…Talent-wise, there is no question about his talent. He is very talented,” said Shaun Vandiver, head coach. “What I would like to see Kaleb improve on is his ability to communicate posi-tively. He has gotten better at it. The biggest thing Kaleb got better at from his first year to now was his shot improved from the outside and he got in better shape.”

In the Hornets’ best stretch of the season, a five-game winning streak, Wright went off, scoring at least 20 points in all five games. He was one of the team’s leading rebounders in that stretch, as well, pulling down at least 8 per game.

“I was very important to the team’s success. My job was to bring leader and I did that with passion,” Wright said. “Over my time here, I grew as a leader and I owe that to Coach V for always staying on me (to) become a better leader.”

For a team that seemed like they could get 20 points and 10 rebounds from four dif-ferent players on any given night, Wright was the guy that it seemed like the team could always count on to show up when they needed a spark.

Terrence Moore, sopho-more guard and physical edu-cation major, said Wright was a part of their success because he was there a couple of years before some of the other players.

“(He) got to witness this tough conference firsthand, so matching his high level of

play and intensity was crucial throughout the season,” Moore said.

Moore also said Wright not only led vocally, but mainly through his actions.

“(Wright) will be missed greatly next year, but for him… his college career is closed and now a door for him to play for a living opened up,” Moore said.

“I know he will keep in contact to pass things down to me as an individual and keep this program rolling.”

When Wright transferred to ESU two seasons ago in 2011-2012, the program was in a state of flux, with Vandiver as a first-time head coach, only two returning players and no returning starters. Statistics-

wise, Wright was the best player on the team that year but he couldn’t play since he had transferred. The team that year was 9-18, only taking 4 wins in the MIAA.

Now, the program has had back-to-back winning seasons and won an MIAA tournament game for the first time under Vandiver.

Nearly 15 years ago, Jory Collins stepped on to the Emporia State campus as an undergradu-ate. Since then, he has put down roots in the Emporia commu-nity, marrying fellow ESU alum Casey Wilson and sending the Lady Hornet basketball team to their second MIAA Tournament Championship.

After leading the team to a 30-4 season, their second and a fourth straight trip to the title game, Collins, head coach, was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division II Region 7 Coach of the Year.

“Getting a coaching award sounds great and all but there are a lot of people that go into that,” Collins said. “It should be a great recruiting award and a great hiring of your staff award. You don’t get a coaching award unless the team and everybody else does a great job.”

In his fourth year as head coach, Collins has and impres-sive 96-31 record and is the first coach in ESU history to advance to four conference tournaments and three regional champion-ships in those four years, accord-ing to the Emporia website.

“Coach Collins has done a fantastic job for us these last few years and is someone that I

really enjoy working with,” said Kent Wesier, executive director of intercollegiate athletics. “He is a very talented coach and has the balance you need for student athletes. He is concerned with their academic success as much as their athletic success.”

The ESU graduate has been apart of the Lady Hornet bas-ketball team for nearly 14 years, starting as student assistant back in 2001, and only taking a year break to get his master’s degree in educational administration from ESU in 2006.

“This is the only thing I know,” Collins said. “I have had every job here from doing laundry to practice player to full-

Rocky Robinson

s p o r t s e d i to r

time head coach.”Collins is now one of eight

finalists to receive the inaugu-ral Pat Summitt Trophy that is given to the 2014 Russell Ath-letic/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year.

“Jory always pushes me to my potential and expects per-fection out of all his players. He is a great coach that holds his players accountable on and off the court,” said Merissa Quick, junior forward and crime and delinquency studies major. “He really tries to make personal rela-tionships with all of his players and is always around to help us.”

With success comes oppor-tunity, but Collins said he has no current plans of leaving because of the importance of women’s basketball at Emporia. He said he has one of the top 50 jobs in women’s basketball because his team plays in front 2,000 fans on average, and that’s “pretty unheard of at this level.”

“When big opportunities come up, I want him to look at them. I would want all our coaches to look at them, you do what is best for them and their family,” Weiser said. “I want it to be a heck of a good opportunity, though. I want to make this job as good as it can be, and show him that we appreciate him and want him to stay here.”

Collins said he plans on raising his two boys, Jett and Jude, in the community that has supported him for the last 15 years.

Ace Finch

s p o r t s w r i t e r

Kaleb Wright, senior guard, puts up a shot against the Bethel defense in a preseason game earlier this year. Wright was the season’s leading scorer, averaging 20 points per game, and was also one of the team’s leading rebounders, averaging almost six per game. ROCKY ROBINSON | the Bulletin

The Emporia State Hornets baseball team took on the Nebraska Kearney Lopers in Emporia last weekend, splitting the four-game series.

The Lopers took an early lead in the game on Friday, leading by six at the end of the fourth inning. The Hornets were able to take the lead by one at the bottom of the fifth with the help of a two-run single from Dean Long, junior infielder. Nebraska Kearney got the lead again with a two-run home run, and ended up winning by three runs.

Friday saw a split in the double header, with the Lopers taking the first game 3-1. The nightcap saw no runs until the bottom of the fourth, when the Hornets went up by one thanks to an RBI single from Aaron Gile, sophomore infielder. Nebraska Kearney answered in the top of the sixth and took a 2-1 lead. ESU tied it up in the bottom of the sixth and ultimately came away with a 3-2 win.

The ESU baseball team got the split with a 5-4 victory on Sunday. ESU led by four in the bottom of the sixth. The Lopers scored three in the top of the eighth, but Brenton Higgins, senior pitcher, was able to close out the game for the victory.

The Hornets will travel to Hays this weekend to take on the Fort Hays Tigers.