Spring Break
With a hefty margin of votes, The Gold Standard Party defeated The Roo Party: UMKC Moving Forward in the Student Government Association (SGA) election last week. The referendum for a new student fee of $2.72 per semester for the Collegiate Readership passed narrowly by 23 votes.
For many, the 37th annual Earth Day was the perfect occasion to think of what humans could do to preserve this planet for generations to come. UMKC students and educators marked Earth Day with a variety of activities. Last Friday, the Environmental Studies program at UMKC celebrated in Flarshiem Hall with the showing of Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and by distributing related flyers and brochures.
Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, spoke to a small group of students Saturday night at Pierson Auditorium. The event was the keynote address for the RFK Symposium, named in honor of her father. Kennedy, author of the book "Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who are Changing Our World," written in 2000, was a gracious host who spoke with passion and conviction about the plight of true heroes of modern times who have suffered severe injustice in defense of human rights across the globe.
By signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the University of Missouri-Kansas City has promised to actively pursue numerous improvements for minority students, faculty and staff.
Alexandra McHale amused a small crowd with her easy, breezy comedy at the University Center cafeteria Thursday evening. A friendly camaraderie developed between the audience and McHale. "I feel like we're all friends," McHale said. "I have personally talked to everyone in the audience.
As part of the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Symposium, last Thursday, Vernon A. Wall spoke in the UMKC School of Law Courtroom about social justice issues, diversity and multiculturalism. He opened with his experiences as a seventh grader. Wall said he had a teacher that pushed students to work hard, making them do a book report every Friday.
Despite the difficulty with state funding for Missouri Governor Matt Blunt's MoHELA proposal, the new UMKC Health Sciences Building on the Hospital Hill campus will open this fall. About 70 percent of the building will be completed and occupied by the Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing, according to Bob Simmons, director of Campus Facilities.
Kite lines crisscrossed everywhere, tangling up the Quad with color and laughter Thursday afternoon. The Pakistani Students' Association (PSA) celebrated "Basant Mela" - literally, "the coming of spring" - with food, soccer, cricket, and lots of kites. The festival is normally celebrated between mid-January and mid-March, according to PSA president Bilal Saleem, sophomore.
Faculty and staff have a new parking-permit proposal to consider. With this model, faculty and staff who earn less than $23,774 a year would pay $20 per month for parking on campus, those who make more than $71,400 would pay $60 per month, and those in between would pay a variable rate equal to 1.
Faculty senators support forming an undergraduate council - which Provost Bruce Bubacz proposed to assess undergraduate education - but view it as an ad-hoc committee. They mandate a 100-percent elected committee by Jan. 1, 2008. Faculty expressed this in a resolution passed at their April 17 senate meeting.
The Muslim Students Association (MSA) held a party in honor of UMKC alumnus Fahim Siddiqui on Thursday, April 19, in Flarsheim Hall. Siddiqui is one of 17 UMKC alumni selected for their outstanding achievements to receive the 2007 SCE Alumni Achievement Award at UMKC.
The whereabouts of Jesse Ross, a UMKC student who went missing in Chicago last November during a model United Nations conference, is still a mystery. Chicago police have been unable to find any evidence or leads that may help in breaking the case. "We interviewed all those we were able to interview, and we searched the river immediately after his disappearance.
April 13 1:45 p.m. Larceny - Between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., license-plate renewal tabs were stolen from a staff member's vehicle parked in the 4825 Troost Ave. lot. April 16 11:12 a.m. Larceny - A student left an iPod and ear buds unattended in the School of Law and returned to discover the property missing.
Campus McCaskill to speak at commencement Sen. Claire McCaskill, former state auditor and one-time Jackson County prosecutor, has been selected as the UMKC commencement ceremony keynote speaker. McCaskill is a 1978 University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law graduate.
Help Wanted Attention: Finance/Marketing Majors Seeking enthusiastic and outgoing individual to make evening calls, 10-15 hours a week, experienced preferred. $9/hr with bonus potential. Michelle Poston Financial Advisor Waddell & Reed, Inc.
