 "Photo: Tommy Thels")
 "Photo: Tommy Thels")
It has been two months since the Manhattan Regional Airport started offering flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and the service has already exceeded expectations.
Airport Director Peter VanKuren said American Eagle, affiliate of American Airlines, is extremely pleased with how service has been since the twice-daily flights began Aug. 25. Flight loads are consistently close to capacity, and this success opens up many opportunities for the community.
“We’re in a position of strength where we’re doing so well that they’re looking at how we can serve the market better down the road,” VanKuren said.
Some of the ideas the airport is looking into are modernizing the long-term parking lot and adding a food and beverage service inside the airport. Though none of these plans are definite, VanKuren said airport personnel are taking into consideration the demands and needs for the region.
This includes the possibility of adding a third flight to Dallas and new locations, such as Chicago, in the future. However, VanKuren said these are strictly airline decisions.
“We provide the infrastructure, they provide the service,” he said of American Airlines.
Richard Jankovich, chairman of the airport advisory board, said he is also was pleased with the response from the community and how service has been going. He said he sees this success continuing as more people recognize the service and come to use it.
Several K-State staff members have recognized the convenience of flying straight into Manhattan after a trip. Kirk Schulz, K-State president, and John Currie, K-State athletics director, both said they enjoy the absence of a two-hour drive from Kansas City and a hotel stay.
Schulz and Currie said they recognize the opportunity the additional flights add, such as attracting prospective students and athletes to K-State.
VanKuren also said the military has been taking advantage of the additional flights to DFW. He said the strength of Fort Riley was one of the reasons the airline chose this region.
“Not only are there soldiers leaving with official orders, but when you take into account all the dependents, soldiers going home on leave, military retirees, the contractors that support Fort Riley – taking all of this into account, there’s a huge amount of use there,” he said.
Jankovich said the addition of flights also is a factor in attracting new businesses to Manhattan, such as Mega Starter and the Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Laboratory.
With more people flying to and from Manhattan, Jankovich said he would like to see some kind of transportation service put into action. He said this service could be useful in getting people from the airport to their next destination in the area.
In 2007, the airport began an effort to seek out interested airlines to come into the Manhattan market with the plan to start flights to DFW. American Airlines was offered incentives like not being charged landing fees, fuel flowage fees or office rent. It also was offered a two-year contract to serve the Flint Hills area.
VanKuren said he does not rule out adding another airline in the future, but said he does not believe it would be a profitable move for the airport or beneficial for the region at this time.
For now, the airport will stick to its two flights to DFW. However, VanKuren said he feels confident the success the airport has experienced in the past two months will continue as the community expands.
“I don’t see this service going away,” VanKuren said. “I just see it growing.”
It’s acceptable and a quick way to travel.
Good thing, but a safety hazard.
As long as they don’t hurt anyone, then it’s fine with me.
I actually saw a girl get hit on by a bike last Thursday. You have to watch out.
By Sheila Ellis Kansas State Collegian
He took some of his first pictures as a Collegian photographer 40 years ago, and now he has become one of the most productive contemporary contributing photographers for National Geographic.
Jim Richardson spent the entire day at K-State speaking to photojournalism and agriculture classes Tuesday. In the evening, he presented a slideshow of his works from the pyramids in Africa and the Taj Mahal in India to the night-time, blind-folded riding lawn mower contest in Cuba, Kan.
“That’s the stuff of small towns,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t have to be exotic places to make interesting pictures.”
He explained his philosophy on photography through a series of photo stories.
“Photography doesn’t mean anything unless it changes people’s minds,” he said. “The meaning of the image goes straight to your heart.”
One of the photo stories he shared was his 2004 National Geographic color story on the Great Plains with a 30-year retrospective photo documentary of Cuba, which was profiled twice by CBS’ Sunday Morning, first in 1983 and again in 2004.
“I was inspired by all that time in Cuba, Kan.,” whose population at the time was 230, he said. “When you think of a city that small, you think nothing happens.”
Richardson presented his photo documentary of the farming community of Cuba through lessons he learned during his time there.
“I learned about the idea of community,” he said. “Community happens when people are together.”
Photos of different town festivals, male beauty contests and rocking chair tournaments filled the projected screen in the Flint Hills Room in the K-State Student Union.
Richardson said the goal of his Great Plains photo story was to show people who were not familiar with Kansas its beauty as well as people who drive by the Flint Hills everyday.
“I was tired of people thinking Kansas is just flat or not beautiful,” he said. “After looking at the photos, people say, ‘I drove by that everyday but nobody ever told me it was something.’”
Many of the students in attendance stayed for the entire presentation and said they found Richardson’s work interesting.
“His presentation was really engaging,” said Josh Hartman, senior in architecture. “The stories he told through photography were really intriguing.”
Richardson also shared his work on different farming communities around the world in relation to soil. He showed images of smiling farmers in Iowa holding corn to distraught farmers in Niger, whose desperate farming conditions made it difficult to grow food to feed their children.
“His presentation was very knowledgeable and enriching,” said Alex Twitchel, sophomore in fine arts. “It was really neat seeing how even though he goes around the world, he comes back here to Kansas.”
Richardson is a Kansas native who grew up on his parents’ wheat and dairy farm north of Belleville in north-central Kansas.
In 1971, he left K-State for a photography internship at the Topeka Capital-Journal. After being published in Life, Time and Sports Illustrated magazines, he began his full-time freelance career where he became most-known.
Richardson and his wife Kathy now live in Lindsborg, Kan., where they operate Small World: A Gallery of Arts and Ideas on the town’s Main Street.
His visit was sponsored by the K-State Union Programming Council and the student group Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
“The topics Richardson spoke on were specifically related to Kansas,” said Anna Knackstedt, UPC forums co-chair and junior in political science and international studies. “His work showing soil and pollution has a big effect on the agricultural community.”
“If there are people on the sidewalks, bikes go around them on on the grass,” she said.
However, according to K-State policies, riding bikes on any campus lawn or planted area is prohibited.
Many cyclists on campus said they feel bike regulations are not strictly enforced.
Hopkins said if students were punished for not following regulations, more people would know anf obey the rules.
Harstine said he thinks most bikers know the basic rules, like staying in the bike lanes, but do not always follow them.
“I think there should be more bike lanes, and there should be more announced rules,” he said.
Timothy Schrag, campus police officer, who is one of the officers that patrols campus by bike, said it is difficult to catch moving violations and to enforce bike regulations.
“We are short-staffed,” he said, “I am the only bike patrol during the day.”
Schrag said there have been some issues with bicyclists not following rules over the years, but bikes are not the only ones who need to be aware of their surroundings.
“There are some groups who have issues with pedestrians not watching,” he said. “Everyone needs to be careful and respectful of others.”
On-campus fines include a $15 fine for a moving regulation, a $15 fine for parking and locking bikes anywhere but bike racks and a $5 fine for not registering a bike.
Bike permits can be obtained from Parking Services in the parking garage at no cost. Schrag said it is important to have bikes registered and to know the serial number on the bike in case they are stolen or impounded.
This week, media mogul Rupert Murdoch — the man behind Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and numerous other media outlets – announced he will block Google from searching his sites. This is only the latest in a series of attacks where Murdoch has called the search giant a “parasite” and “kleptomaniac” in an interview with Sky News Friday.
This block will coincide with a new “pay-for-access” content model, in which only subscribers will be able to access stories on any of Murdoch’s News Corp. Web sites.
For someone who has made a career out of using new technology mediums, this move shows shocking naivety on the part of Murdoch. It’s obvious he doesn’t understand one of the basic realities of the Web: the level playing field. It takes millions in advertising revenue to run a TV or cable station. A newspaper requires a dedicated staff working around the clock. A Web site requires almost nothing.
Anyone born after about 1985 can write content and embed YouTube.com videos on a Web page. The millions of dollars news companies spend on the Internet give it little advantage over a dedicated blogger living in his mom’s basement. Matt Drudge started his Drudge Report news Web site while working as a cashier at a 7-11. Today, DrudgeReport.com receives around three million views per month.
Why would anyone pay to read stories and watch videos from FoxNews.com when they can get the same thing from a 30-year-old college dropout living with his mom in upstate New York? Murdoch is overestimating the quality of his own news outlet’s work.
News Corp. will probably draw enough devoted readers to pay five bucks a month to read the Wall Street Journal to turn a profit. The traffic, however, will only be a fraction of what it used to be, thereby losing out on ad revenue. Google claims it sends 100,000 clicks to news sites every minute, and Murdoch won’t see a single one of them now because of this silly ploy.
Murdoch is on the wrong side of history here. Perhaps, when the Internet was still young, had news Web sites required payment, we would be able to stomach such a system today. But now, nearly an entire generation has grown up in a world where we can access any information we like with a few clicks.
That reality won’t change because Rupert Murdoch doesn’t like giving away content for free. Media consolidation is the solution to this problem. The advantage that FoxNews.com has over the unemployed computer geek is Fox has the number-one cable news network feeding it readers. Web sites should complement the more profitable TV broadcasts, and they should be free. Web sites might lose money or turn only a small profit, but these losses can be absorbed by higher ratings due to an enhanced television experience.
The news media are still timidly poking around at the Internet, not sure of what to make of this new beast. Do they hop on and go for a ride or look fearfully at the teeth that might bite? Murdoch, at least for now, has chosen the latter. But ultimately, the level playing field of the Web will be good for media. It will shift the focus back to quality journalism, rather than which network can produce the most expensive graphics.
In the Information Age, the news is free.
More than three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day, according to a 2008 World Bank report, and about 25,000 children die every day due to poverty, according to UNICEF.
Hunger, disease, economic exploitation and lack of access to basic resources plague billions who do not have the political or financial means to escape their endemic poverty.
Jesus taught us to help those in need, that we should live simply so others may simply live. He and his apostles shunned worldly possessions in favor of the spiritual wealth that comes with sacrificing for others. It is difficult to deny one of Jesus’s central lessons was to live humbly.
Despite this, the Catholic Church is one of the richest institutions on the planet. There are two aspects of Vatican wealth: its material possessions and its financial holdings.
Full disclosure: I was raised Catholic — 12 years of Catholic schooling, Mass every Sunday, the works. I no longer identify with Catholicism for a myriad of reasons I need not discuss here.
St. Peter’s Basilica is full of art treasures worth millions of dollars — the lavish costumes, chalices and papal accessories run into the thousands, and even local churches, like mine in Olathe, Kan., spend tens of thousands of dollars on religious art.
Pope Benedict XVI recently commissioned a set of 30 new vestments modeled after Pope Leo X, one of the most corrupt and lavish popes in Church history. Some of these include capes so expansive they require two cope bearers to hold them out to either side.
Jesus would have been disgusted by these exorbitant displays of wealth and pageantry, just as he was with the money-changers in the temple. The truly consistent pope would wear simple garments, while his people celebrate Mass in simple buildings. Isn’t it the teachings that matter rather than the stained glass?
One notable, but often ignored, exception to the extravagance is the thousands of nuns and monks who live modestly and without unnecessary indulgence. Mother Teresa is a prime example. The Church would do well to emulate her.
Many point to the limited annual budget of the Catholic Church, as well as its history of operating in the deficit, as an indication of its limited resources. This is misleading, however, as it ignores the Church’s vast holdings.
Avro Manhattan said in his book “The Vatican Billions,” “The Catholic Church is the biggest financial power, wealth accumulator and property owner in existence.” He cites the U.N. World magazine as estimating the store of Vatican solid gold alone exceeds several billions of dollars.
The Church’s investments are spread out among banks all over the world and include vast tracts of land and investments in some of the world’s largest corporations. Yet millions starve.
Even if I’m wrong, and the Vatican is not the major financial powerhouse it seems to be, the hypocrisy of many local churches is undeniable.
Marble statues, stained glass, seasonal ornamentation and ornate tabernacles adorn my former church and many of those I have visited. While these expenditures beautify the church, just as the lavish Vatican does, this is little comfort to a person desperately in need of basic resources.
How can the Church possibly justify spending thousands, if not millions of dollars on such extravagances when people are dying from preventable plagues?
The best thing Catholics can do to cease the hypocrisy is demand financial transparency from their churches and question unnecessary expenditures. While in my years of Catholic education, it was repeatedly stressed to me that the Catholic Church is not a democracy. That doesn’t mean priorities can’t be changed as a response to the clarion calls of thousands of parishioners. These demands for change, however, will not be heeded if no one makes them.
If you’re a Catholic, demand accountability from the institution that represents you.
Dear Editors:
I have to disagree with Chuck Fisher and his opinion column about “free speech” and how liberal politicians are trying to silence the opposition.
In at least three examples, he proves bias and ignorance. First, his characterization of those who criticized Bush as “the beast of liberalism” shows that he clearly thinks liberals are somehow monsters and not deserving of being taken as anything more than opponents instead of reasoning people.
Second, he is wrong to say Obama was not criticized for calling Sgt. James Crowley an idiot. He was promptly scolded by Fox News pundits for the next week, and many White House officials released statements saying he had spoken inappropriately.
Third, he comments off-handedly that the health care bill passed Monday is so awful “it would be better to pass quickly,” rather than have the coverage you would be entitled to under the new plan.
All this aside, however, he fails to understand that conservatives are not chastised for using their free speech, but for slander. There is a difference between calling a man an idiot and claiming that he resembles an evil, sociopathic agent of chaos. Such a cartoonish jab would be funny, if people didn’t take it seriously. Even if you don’t think of such comments as slander, the free speech to criticize such characterization is the same free speech that allows it to be made in the first place.
Conservatives hate liberals, I get it, but at least understand we’re not attacking your constitutional rights when we don’t like being made fun of.
By Jason Miller Kansas State Collegian
On Moro Street, there is a new addition to the Aggieville bar scene: Kite’s Legends Room. Unlike other bars, though, if the doors are open between Sunday and Thursday, it is because Kite’s Bar and Grille’s new room is hosting a private event.
Scott Sieben, Kite’s director of operations, said the bar management found the available space and decided to get a lease so the establishment could have a special room for events.
“There’s not a lot of areas in Manhattan for things like this,” Sieben said. “Some are either too big or too small, and we thought this would be a good-sized location for people to do events.”
The room was once the pool table room of Rusty’s Last Chance, but had been vacant for more than a year. After speaking with the owner of the building, Sheryl Ballard, Kite’s management, signed a lease to open Legends and have a location specifically designed for banquet, party or special occasion use. The back door of the building opens directly to Kite’s patio area, making it an extension to the bar.
“It’s an improvement to the building,” Sieben said. “It’s an extra space we can use, whether it be a wedding party, graduation party, a get-together or anything like that, where we don’t have to close one side of the bar down for it.”
Five large flat-screen TVs and three filled-in door frames full of black and white photos are currently displayed, but the room is still being decorated.
Sieben said a collage spanning an entire wall of the room is in the works and should be finished soon.
He said the design of the collage will challenge occupants’ knowledge of K-State legends. Each photo will have a number for customers to guess which legend is in it.
Though the bar has only been open for a short time, there has been demand for the space.
“It’s been pretty good,” said Freehley Buster, bar manager. “We’ve had a lot of parties over here already, and people have been enjoying it.”
Legends has even received some appreciation from an important source — its neighbor. With the leasing of the additional room, Kite’s now wraps around three walls of Zotcis Attire, a clothing boutique.
“I think it’s great,” said Sara Strothman, Zotcis owner. “I know it was set up for banquets, and there’s not a lot of room dedicated for that in Aggieville.”
Strothman said about seven years ago, she jokingly told Rusty Wilson, Kite’s owner, he would have to go over the top of her store because she liked her location. Strothman said she finds it ironic that with this move, he did just that.
The bar is open to the public on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. and during Kite’s regular business hours on Saturday. Buster said while the bar is open to customers on those nights, it will restrict access if anyone reserves the room during that time. The first priority of Legends is to provide a space for people to host an event.
“It’s nice to have your own bar and definitely a lot more of a relaxed atmosphere,” Buster said. “Whatever anyone wants to do, we try to make that happen the best we can.”
Additional servers and bartenders from other locations were brought in to staff the room, and Kite’s management is still in the hiring process. Buster said the bar is almost full-service, providing its customers with liquor drinks and bottled beer, but not draft beer. It also offers the full menu of Kite’s.
Sieben said anyone looking to reserve the room should contact the Kite’s catering service at 785-410-2791.
By Hannah Blick Kansas State Collegian
K-State is paving the way for more students to earn their bachelor’s degrees without ever setting foot in Manhattan.
On Oct. 9, K-State established new 2+2 partnerships with Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, Kan., and Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., said Melinda Sinn, public information coordinator for continuing education.
The partnerships allow students at community colleges to earn their associate’s degrees in two years and transfer credits to K-State, where they can complete a bachelor’s degree in two more years.
Sinn said the largest appeal of the 2+2 opportunity is the K-State bachelor’s degree can be finished completely online, without students having to leave their community.
“A lot of adult students can’t move to Manhattan because they have family and work responsibilities,” Sinn said. “It just doesn’t work for them. But part of the land-grant mission is to reach out and provide education for all Kansans.”
Jennifer Pfortmiller, affiliate site manager for Barton County Community College and Colby Community College for continuing education, said the 2+2 idea had been floating around since 1998, and finally took off in 2002 with the first partnership created between K-State and Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. Pfortmiller now travels around the state, meeting with students who are interested in the 2+2 programs.
Dawn Lesperance, facilitator for the bachelor’s degree completion program, is responsible for keeping the communication lines open between K-State and distance students. Because she primarily interacts with 2+2 students through phone calls and e-mails, she said it can be challenging for both her and the students to sift through all the information and questions that come with working toward a degree. She said it helps to use Yahoo.com and Facebook.com chats to speed up the advising process with some students.
The program offers 21 different bachelor’s degrees through the community colleges. Pfortmiller said the most popular degrees include dietetics, technology management, general business and interdisciplinary social science.
Sue Maes, dean of continuing education, said the programs are chosen based on what courses match up at the community college and what is already offered through K-State’s online distance education program.
“We go with what our online strength is,” she said. “It takes a lot of effort to make sure that the hours fit. We spend a lot of time examining the courses at the community colleges to make sure there is equivalency with our courses.”
Ron Jackson, program coordinator for the bachelor’s degree completion program, said he works with the community colleges to develop specialized 2+2 degree maps, which are tailored for students who might not otherwise consider attending a four-year university.
“It’s a recruitment tool for us in an unexpected place,” he said. “We’re hoping that we’re helping to market K-State.”
Jackson said it is difficult to pinpoint how many students are in the program since K-State never asks them specifically to sign up. However, Lesperance said there are at least more than 50 students who are working toward a bachelor’s degree from K-State.
Jackson and Lesperance are working with admissions to implement dual enrollment for students at the community colleges to better track the students, as well as trying to quantify numbers through iSIS.
K-State has 2+2 partnerships with 17 in-state colleges and 4 out-of-state colleges, and Maes said the K-State distance education program will continue to expand to other campuses with different degree options.
Three transported to Mercy
An injury accident yesterday resulted in three people being transported to Mercy Regional Health Center, according to another RCPD report.
The three-car collision occurred in the 1000 block of Fort Riley Boulevard at 3:50 p.m., according to the report.
Robert McDiffett, 62, of Wamego, was driving westbound on the street in a 1997 Mack dump truck when he hit his brakes and slid left, said Crosby.
McDiffett crossed into the eastbound lane and hit a 2001 Dodge Ram. Benton Ensminger, 45, who was driving the eastbound vehicle, was pushed into a 2003 Toyota after the collision with McDiffett.
Ensminger, of Dwight, Kan., collided with the other vehicle, which was driven by Racheal Nekuda, 25, of 1016 Butterfield Road. Joy Spickelmier, 14, of 2500 Farm Bureau Road, Lot 314, was a passenger in Nekuda’s car.
Ensminger received cuts to his left arm and was transported to Mercy by ambulance, Crosby said. Nekuda and Spickelmier were also transported to Mercy by ambulance, Nekuda for head pain and Spickelmier for back pain, according to the report.
Crosby said no citations had been issued.
A Salina woman reported a burglary worth $16,030 in Manhattan, according to another RCPD report.
Carol Cooper, 29, reported someone broke into her vehicle and took two diamond rings, worth $14,500, a makeup case and $180 in cash, Crosby said.
The burglary occurred at 1101 Moro St. sometime between 11 p.m. on Saturday and 3 a.m. on Sunday, according to the report.
A local teen reported a vehicle burglary, amounting to $1,410, according to another RCPD report.
Matthew Tredway, 16, of 3003 Tomahawk Circle, reported someone broke into his car and stole his Fender Geddy Lee jazz bass guitar, a Fender hard guitar case and an iPod, Crosby said.
The incident allegedly occurred sometime between 9:30 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday, according to the report.
“It looks like the vehicle was probably unlocked,” Crosby said.
in the area.
In 2007, the airport began an effort to seek out interested airlines to come into the Manhattan market with the plan to start flights to DFW. American Airlines was offered incentives like not being charged landing fees, fuel flowage fees or office rent. It was also offered a two-year contract to serve the Flint Hills area.
VanKuren said he does not rule out adding another airline in the future, but does not believe it would be a profitable move for the airport or beneficial for the region at this time.
For now, the airport will stick to its two flights to the DFW area. However, VanKuren said he feels confident that the success the airport has experienced the past two months will continue as the community expands.
“I don’t see this service going away,” VanKuren said. “I just see it growing.”
By Melissa Short Kansas State Collegian
The stage has been set, the choreography perfected and the costumes fitted. The only thing left to do for the cast and crew of the KSU Theater’s “Guys and Dolls” is to take the stage. After many weeks of daily practices, the curtain will open in McCain Auditorium this Thursday for the first performance
“I wouldn’t say I’m really nervous, but I’m definitely excited,” said Chelsey Fritch, who plays Adelaide, the ditzy leader of the Hot Box dancers. Fritch, senior in humanities, said her favorite part about preparing for “Guys and Dolls” was the musical numbers and seeing everything come together in the end.
The cast and crew held dress rehearsals Monday and Tuesday night and will have a preview performance today for more than 200 Kansas high school theater students, said R. Michael Gros, assistant professor in theater and director of “Guys and Dolls.” After that, opening night will be Thursday, and the musical will run each night through Saturday with a matinee performance on Sunday.
“Having the high school performance gives the cast a chance to rehearse one final time in front of the audience and also gives the high school students a look at K-State’s theater program,” Gros said.
He also said having dress rehearsals is important because adding costumes and full sets to rehearsal can add major variables.
“The cast has been rehearsing this whole time in jeans and flip-flops, and being put into costumes and wigs can be very different,” Gros said. “For the guys, it can be hard because before they were in a sweatshirt and now in full suits and hats from the period. It can be very restricting.”
He also said having quick changes as short as 30 seconds in between scenes can be quite a challenge.
“This is also a rehearsal for the crew because they have to get the scene and costume changes down,” Gross said. “The sound and lighting crews are also getting everything together and making it perfect. It’s exciting when everything comes together so rapidly to share a finished performance with the audience.”
Sarah Unruh, junior in theater and a member of the stage crew, said she believes the hardest part of the performance is keeping track of the many costumes.
“A lot of the Hot Box girls’ costumes have little pieces that they take off on stage, so you have to make sure everything is together and everything is on straight,” she said.
Unruh said she has never worked with costumes before and is helping out as part of a class she is taking.
With an orchestra in the pit to play the upbeat songs synonymous with “Guys and Dolls,” another variable of the live performance is thrown in. During rehearsal, the orchestra was still tweaking and tuning their 1940s-style sound that is essential to the many song and dance numbers of the show.
“My favorite song is ‘If I Were A Bell,’ because I can have fun with it and it’s one of my character’s big numbers,” said Kristi Mason, who plays Sarah Brown, the pious leader of the Save-A-Soul Mission.
Mason, sophomore in applied music, said she probably will be nervous for the first performance.
“This is a lot bigger production than other plays I’ve done,” Mason said. “The stage is a lot bigger.”
She also said “Guys and Dolls” is a show everyone can enjoy.
“It’s a classic Broadway musical, and I think that because there are so many different main characters, everyone can find someone to relate to,” Mason said.
There is a diverse group of characters in the show, from the smooth-talking gambler Nathan Detroit to Sarah Brown and her band of missionaries.
Staci Horton, who is making her debut on the K-State stage as a recent transfer student, plays General Sarah Cartwright, Sarah Brown’s stern boss.
“My favorite part about rehearsal is watching the actors become their character,” said Horton, graduate student in music. “When they say a line completely differently and just step in and own the character, I think that’s a really cool thing to see.
“The actors have done such a great job of making their characters fun and getting all the one-liners right. Visually, it’s also really fun and high energy with all the costumes and sets. This is definitely not a show people will be leaving at intermission.”
Rihanna recently explained details of her well-known experience with domestic abuse during an interview on “20/20” with Diane Sawyer, according to People.com. Parts of the interview also appeared on “Good Morning America.”
In the interview, Rihanna described what was going through her mind as her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, began physically assaulting her on their way to a pre-Grammy party in February.
In the interview, Rihanna said Brown “had no soul in his eyes” during the incident, and added there was “no person” when she looked at him.
The singer said the fight started after Brown received a text message from another woman while in the car, then lied about it. She explained she had repeatedly caught Brown lying to her. She would not let the subject drop and Brown could not deal with her persistence.
Rihanna said, looking back, she believes her relationship with Brown was unhealthy and it was “a bit of an obsession.”
Brown pleaded guilty of felony assault as a result of the fight, has five years of probation and six months of community labor and one year of domestic violence classes. In addition, he is not allowed to contact Rihanna for five years.
For only the second time in the magazine’s history, “O, the Oprah Magazine,” will feature two women on its cover. Oprah Winfrey recently posed with Ellen DeGeneres in four different versions of the magazine’s December cover, according to People.com.
The Web site described three of the four covers, saying one cover will feature both women dressed in all white, with Winfrey sitting on top of a large gift box. Another version will include Winfrey in a red dress and DeGeneres wearing white, wrapped in Christmas lights. The last cover shot the Web site described will be DeGeneres decorating a life-sized gingerbread house while Winfrey, dressed in a green dress, leans against the door frame.
Inside the magazine, there will be an article about DeGeneres and her life as an “American Idol” judge and what it is like to be married to Portia DeRossi.
Until 2009, Winfrey had never shared the cover of her magazine with anyone else, but she broke that streak in April when she featured First Lady Michelle Obama by her side for the cover page. Winfrey said it was not her initial idea to share the cover with DeGeneres but it was “a great idea,” according to People.com.
Lindsay Lohan’s father Michael Lohan recently released recorded telephone conversations between he and Lindsay’s mother Dina Lohan revealing numerous details about Lindsay’s life, from her relationships with Samantha Ronson and the late Heath Ledger to “problems with her DNA,” according to Eonline.com.
The tapes, which the Web site described as “heavily edited,” feature only Dina’s side of the conversation; all of Michael’s responses to her statements are carefully omitted.
According to the Web site, Dina worries that Lindsay will “do something like Heath Ledger did in a second without thinking” because she recently resumed drinking vodka and sometimes takes Adderall, a prescription drug designed to improve focus, with the drink.
In the tapes, according to Eonline.com, Dina said Lindsay might end her sometimes on, sometimes off relationship with Ronson if she were a “rational person.” But for Lindsay, ending the relationship is unlikely due to Lindsay’s status as “an irrational person who has a problem with her DNA and alcohol and Adderall and asthma and every other thing she’s got wrong with her, smoking like a chimney ...”
The last section of the tape discusses Dina’s relationship with Lindsay and includes Dina explaining she is “not a yes person to Lindsay,” according to Eonline.com.
By Melissa Short Kansas State Collegian
Churches across the country are making a move from brick and mortar buildings to blogs and podcasts. According to an article by the Associated Press, many churches are holding services online, and some even have their congregations meeting entirely online.
There is no exact count of online churches operating today, but The Leadership Network, which studies innovative churches, has found at least 40, according to the article.
While no churches in Manhattan or the surrounding area conduct their services entirely online, several do post sermons and offer opportunities to connect on the Internet.
Rachel Engle, senior in family studies and human services, attends Grace Baptist Church in Manhattan and often listens to posted sermons.
“I really appreciate that the sermons are online,” she said. “It’s helpful if you can’t make it to church or are listening to a series of sermons and miss one, because then you can catch up.”
Engle also said she listens to sermons on DesiringGod.org posted by John Piper, who she says is a highly respected pastor whose teachings are listened to by people all over the world.
St. Isidore’s Catholic Church, located in Manhattan, also hopes to post daily readings and audio reflections online by next semester, but already offers some classes online. For about four years, the church has posted its Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults classes online, said Father Keith Weber. The church requires new members to take these classes before being baptized.
Weber said the class sizes were too large for everyone to come every week, so the church videotapes classes and posts them on the Web site so people can stay caught up.
“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, and people outside the classes, such as non-Catholics looking to learn more and alumni, have told me they’ve gone to the Web site to watch the videos,” Weber said.
First United Methodist Church, which has two locations in Manhattan, offers a page on its Web site where users can submit prayer requests and have them sent to the church’s prayer chains, staff or entire congregation.
Manhattan Church of Christ posts its sermons online weekly, along with essays from religious leaders. Brian Cobb, a minister who also works with Cats for Christ at K-State, posts his sermons and essays on the church’s Web site so the messages can reach not only church members but other people in the community.
“I can see how online church services may serve people who are unable to meet with the faith community,” Cobb said. “But if people do it voluntarily, they cheat themselves out of a community experience. They lose that sense of community and fellowship.”
However, proponents of Internet churches say it is a church’s duty to reach potential and current members through any means possible, especially when the Web is already such a large part of everyday life, according to the AP article.
Many churches have been posting sermons online for years, but those more tech-savvy establishments now can do anything from chat and exchange Facebook.com and Twitter.com information with fellow church members to confess sins and receive communion via the Web. According to the article, people watching a service from home can also chat live about the day’s service and the teaching of the day — a sort of interactive, virtual Bible study.
Though New Hope Church, also located in Manhattan, does not offer an entire service online, it does provide information on the church’s Web site like audio messages from services, online forums, announcements and quizzes that supplement the messages.
“Posting online just makes things easier,” said Dave Geldart, administrator of New Hope Church, who is in charge of maintaining the church’s Web site. “Everyone is online these days, and everyone has an iPod, so it’s quick and easy to download a message and catch up on what you missed.”
Geldart said New Hope’s online messages were started to benefit members who were out of town or sick and did not want to miss anything or those who wanted to listen to a particular message that affected them. For example, Geldart said there is a member of the New Hope congregation who typically cannot make Sunday services due to scheduling conflicts with his job. Instead, the member downloads the audio from the Sunday service and listens to it Monday at work.
Though the messages are moving online, Geldart said he still believes the foundation of Christianity is the work of God through others in a physical community.
“The way non-Christians come to know Christ is by witnessing those in the Christian community who love each other, and I don’t see how that can happen if everyone is just sitting at their computer,” he said. “I’m not going to say online churches are a no-go, but it doesn’t seem like the best way to worship.”
By Sam Nearhood Kansas State Collegian
University students are in a constant struggle to balance academics, social activities and school functions, which can lead to great amounts of stress. The recent outbreak of H1N1 has only added to students’ growing stress levels.
Heather Reed, assistant dean and director of student life, said many fears of H1N1 stem from the virus’ obscurity.
“The swine flu is a novel flu,” Reed said. “It’s unknown how it’s going to affect individuals and how serious it will be.”
This could cause students to panic and become stressed over uncertainty that will happen if they become infected, she said. However, Dorinda Lambert, associate director of Counseling Services, said she advises students not to attend class if they are sick.
“People who are feeling ill with flu symptoms need to stay home, take care of themselves and then later work with their professors to catch up with coursework,” Lambert said. “Trying to force yourself to attend class when you feel ill can actually make it more difficult for them to get stuff done if they are going to classes. It’s difficult to concentrate and absorb information when you’re not feeling well.”
But not all students agree missing class is the best option.
“If I miss a lot of class, I’d be set back a year in school,” said John Wolf, senior in architecture. “I could probably work it out with my teacher to get it done still, but it would be a big hassle.”
However, Reed said she believes this concern is unjustified.
“I think the professors, faculty and staff have really tried to work very thoughtfully with students who have been sick, and they’ve made every effort they can to help students stay caught up in their classes,” she said.
According to Apahelpcenter.org, one recommendation to reduce H1N1-related stress is to gather facts about the virus from a credible source in order to make a smart decision.
Lambert said she agreed with this position.
“I think the most effective way is to give them the facts of things,” Lambert said. “As college students, they need to use critical thinking.”
Many government sources recommend people with flu-like symptoms stay home. According to Flu.gov, Centers for Disease Control urges citizens to remain in isolation for a minimum of 24 hours after their fever has subsided without medication.
Brenda McDaniel, assistant professor of psychology, said she recommends cardiovascular activities, like walking, yoga and tai chi to help students who are feeling stressed about H1N1. She also said reducing stress is important for the well-being of students.
“Stress depreciates your performance as well as suppressing your immune system,” McDaniel said. When stress from H1N1 is added to everyday affairs, “it’s like a ball rolling down the hill.”
Reed said she encourages students to be cautious to decrease the chance of contracting the disease.
According to Flu.gov, there are a number of preventative measures students can follow, such as covering coughs and sneezes, avoid ingtouching one’s eyes, nose or mouth and washing hands frequently.
However, if students do get sick, Reed said they should not stress out but know the university will work with them to ensure that they do not fall behind.
“We just want to educate them the best that we can about H1N1 and communicate that their faculty will work with them.”
By Corene Brisendine Kansas State Collegian
City commissioners discussed how to spend future sales tax income devoted to economic development of Manhattan last night.
The discussion followed a presentation of how the money had been spent and what the city gained in the past year and a half.
Lauren Palmer, assistant city manager, presented the annual economic development report to the commission.
“Of the over $28 million we have invested, it has been used to leverage other investments into our community,” Palmer said. “Even though some businesses lost jobs, overall, the companies have created 44 percent more jobs than initially projected.”
One of the companies the city has invested in was a regional jet service. Palmer said the city owns the ground support equipment needed for the service that provides daily flights to Dallas through American Airlines and Capitol Air, which provides flights to Kansas City, Mo., and Denver. The airlines have increased air traffic through Manhattan 142 percent since September 2008.
While the increase does not reflect the new Dallas flights, Commissioner Loren Pepperd was concerned whether the city would retain the services of Capitol Air because the state would not allow the city to provide funding to both airlines, and the city has committed development funds to American Airlines.
Ron Fehr, city manager, said Capitol Air has shown a willingness to provide flights while not receiving funding by the city to operate as it does with the flights to Denver.
Commissioner James Sherow said he was concerned with the fact the annual report did not specify what individuals earned on an hourly basis. He said he wanted future reports to include individual salaries and how each funded company was re-investing its capital back into the community.
“It’s our objective to create high-quality jobs and increase the quality of life in our community,” Palmer said at the beginning of her presentation.
Sherow said he was concerned the city could not determine if the quality of life had been raised if the 946 new jobs created did not keep up with the cost of living.
“A fair market housing, according to HUD, [Housing and Urban Development] in Manhattan is $620 a month,” Sherow said. “If these employees are making $20,000 a year, they are obviously not living in Manhattan. I want to know what is happening at a human level because it doesn’t give us an accurate picture using gross numbers.”
Mayor Bob Strawn said he wants the funds to raise the standard of living locally.Strawn said tax payers are burdened with taxes, and without the economic development providing quality jobs, the community suffers more with the lack of real returns on the city’s investments. Examples he gave included increasing sales tax and the $170 million debt incurred by the city this year.
“Riley county has the highest poverty level in the state,” Strawn said. “Someone reamed me out today because our property tax is 75 percent higher than five years ago.”
Pepperd said the old economic development model did its job in creating diverse jobs in the community, but now the model needed to change to reflect current issues facing the city.
One of those issues, Strawn said, was quality of life. He said companies would not be willing to move here if the city did not provide things such as bike trails, better parks, day care and quality public schools.
Fehr said the city might want to focus on what money was available and how the city wanted to invest it. The 1.5 cent sales tax comes up for vote in 2011, and the city needed to know how much money they would be dealing with if the tax was voted down.
Commissioner Bruce Snead said in 2002, the city focused on quality jobs and diversification. Now, he said, the commission should focus on growing the existing businesses.
Bill Frost, city attorney, said the commissioners might now be able to focus on quality of life issues because of how the sales tax was presented to the voters initially in 1996.
“The ballot defined it as: ‘the funds have to be for economic development initiatives,’” Frost said. “Everybody understood that to mean it was to be used to create jobs. I have a hard time getting too far afield from that definition.”
The majority of the commission decided the economic development model needed minor changes to reflect the changing needs of the community. Those changes include the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, coming into the community and the potential businesses that will want to move here along with it, the needs of the community to provide affordable housing and day care facilities.
“I think we are over complicating this,” said Dave Dreiling, owner of GTM Sportswear. “When we committed to NBAF, we landed the big gorilla. We can afford to be more picky.”
Dreiling said the city could afford to hold out for the higher wage paying companies because NBAF would put Manhattan on the map and companies would flock to the community without incentives. Therefore, the city should save the economic development funds for the best wage paying companies.
By Pauline Kennedy Kansas State Collegian
The Brasil Guitar Duo, the 2006 winners of the Concert Artists Guild International competition, performed a mix of classical and Brazilian guitar in All Faiths Chapel Tuesday night for the McCain Performance Series.
João Luiz and Douglas Lora said they enjoyed playing in the intimate setting of All Faiths Chapel.
“It’s the best,” said Lora. “The connection with the audience is much stronger.”
Todd Holmberg, executive director of McCain Auditorium, said the switch from the usual setting of McCain Auditorium was a lucky coincidence. He said the auditorium was currently being used by the K-State Theater group to prepare for their production of “Guys and Dolls,” and he was glad the duo had the opportunity to perform in the chapel.
“It worked perfectly for a guitar duo recital,” Holmberg said. “The acoustics are great, and we were all close together.”
Audience members said they liked having the performance in All Faiths Chapel.
“With only two players, it’s better that it’s in a more intimate, smaller area,” said Kari Roeser, junior in anthropology.
Sofia Pablo-Hoshino, graduate student in political science, said she also liked having the performance in a smaller setting and being closer to the performers.
“This is a good event to bring to campus,” she added.
Holmberg said the duo exceeded his highest expectations.
“I have a great amount of respect for winners of major classical music competitions,” he said.
The Brasil Guitar Duo was the seventh production in this year’s McCain Performance Series.
The guitar duo met in São Paulo when they were teenagers and have performed together for 14 years. Luiz started his music career at age 8 playing the trumpet, and Lora began playing the guitar at the age of 7.
Luiz and Lora filled the night with classical pieces from composers like Jean-Philippe Rameau and Claude Debussy, and traditional Brazilian pieces from some of Brazil’s most famous musicians and composers.
Luiz and Lora arrange and compose their own music as well.
They have traveled all over the world playing a variety of guitar works and have released several albums. Their next stop is New York.
“We live on the road,” Lora said.
Dean Eckhoff, sophomore in park management and conservation and a guitar player himself, said he thought the duo was “really impressive.”
“It’s kind of humbling,” he said. “You can tell it means a lot to them.”
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