K-State’s Manhattan campus, Union ranks high on two national lists
Great Value Colleges ranks K-State No. 24 among the most beautiful campuses in the nation, according to K-State Today. The campus has more than 2,300 acres for research activities and agricultural teaching, including the Konza Prairie Biological Station, the K-State University Gardens and Colbert Hills Golf Course.
Great Value Colleges also commented on the architecture of Hale Library and the David Hicks Oversmyer murals in Hale’s Great Room. According to K-State Today, K-State was the only Big 12 school to make the list which includes Harvard University and Amherst College.
EdSmart’s list of 51 most phenomenal student unions also ranked the K-State Student Union at No. 22, according K-State Today. The list of criteria includes architecture and exterior appeal, interior appeal, amenities and student services, and more. K-State was the only school from to Kansas to make the list.
Shakespeare’s first folio has arrived at K-State
William Shakespeare’s first folio has finally arrived at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum, according to K-State Today.
The opening reception will be held at the museum today from 5:30-7 p.m. The exhibition, on loan from the Folger’s Shakespeare Museum, will be available to the public during the month of February.
The folio establish Shakespeare as a major literary and without the first printed work, 18 of Shakespeare’s most famous plays would be lost, according to K-State Today.
Guilty plea in Fort Riley attempted bombing case
John T. Booker, of Topeka, pleaded guilty to attempting to activate a vehicle bomb on Fort Riley’s military base, according to KMAN.
Booker pleaded guilty on one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of attempted destruction of property by fire or explosion. Sentencing is to come, but both parties have stipulated a sentence of 30 years in federal prison, according to KMAN.
During March 2014, the FBI began investigating Booker after he posted to his Facebook that he wanted to commit jihad. Booker then admitted that he attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army in order to commit an “insider attack” against American soldiers. He was denied and his plan was temporarily delayed, according to KMAN.
In October 2014, Booker began communicating with undercover FBI informants, telling them that he dreamed of becoming a fighter in the Middle East and proposed capturing and killing an American solider.
During March 2015, an undercover FBI informant met with Booker, who believed he was meeting someone to help him plan an attack. Booker told the informant that he wanted to detonate a suicide bomb to avoid capture and all evidence would be destroyed, as well as a guaranteed hit of his target, according to KMAN. Booker also created a video explaining his plan and reasoning.
He then unknowingly purchased fake materials to build the bomb and once the bomb was completed, he entered the military base with the informants where he was promptly arrested after he made the connections he believed would set off the bomb, according to KMAN.
