Polividical
Politics and comedy have long gone hand in hand. Based on everything from the less-than-surefootedness of Gerald Ford and the malapropisms of George W. Bush to serious concerns about social justice and fair dealing, political humor holds a special place in American public life. Thus, WSU's Political Science Club and Student Activities Council sponsored a political humor video contest this spring, with the winning contestant awarded $250 from the Glickman Institute. The winner? An entry by junior Lee Whitman called Kid Games, a spoof that morphs familiar family board games (think Monopoly with its Go-to-Jail card) into dubious life messages: "white-collar crime does pay," for instance — at least at Enron.
Shocker of Dedication
With two escorts at her side, Bettejan (Heft) Counts '49/49 was recognized as one of the Salvation Army's 15 Women of Dedication for 2004 during a spring ceremony in San Diego. One escort was her husband, retired Rear Adm. Stanley Counts, who attended the University of Wichita for a year before World War II intervened. Her other escort was their grandson, Midshipman 1st Class R.D. Jenkins. The Women of Dedication presentation attracted more than 900 attendees.
Say What?
At first glance, you might think Tracy Novinger '96 is the kind of person who likes getting wires crossed. After all, her second book — just published by the University of Texas Press — is Communicating with Brazilians: When "Yes" Means "No." But Novinger, a San Antonio real-estate investor who speaks several languages and who is also the author of Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide, champions the uncrossing of communicative wires. In her newest book, which studies cultural barriers to effective cross-national communication, she points out that Brazilians can be so gracious they may actually say "Yes," when they really mean "No."
Economic Stimulus
The creative works of the Wichita-based rock band The Mess, featuring Tom Page '97 and WSU student Jon Eaton, often spotlight life in the Air Capital. The band's repertoire, for instance, features several songs that only intimates of Wichita can catch the full force of: "The Mess Don't Mess With Meth," "Out of Town Rock Star," "My Dad Is BTK" and "South City," which includes a kind of passing homage to Joyland, Wichita's venerable amusement park. No word on whether tourists get a copy of the The Mess' 2003 CD, Economic Stimulus Package, upon arrival.
N-A-R-R-O-W M-I-S-S
This season, WSU's Cheer Squad landed its best finish since 1989 at the National Cheerleading Association Collegiate National Championship in Daytona, Fla. Competing against 12 other universities in Division I, which is Division IA schools without football, and coached by Jay Grayson and Tony Nash, the squad performed a spirited routine with 20 members on the mat and two alternates. But, alas, WSU finished second to the squad from Steven F. Austin in Nagodoches, Texas.
Where's Yer Geetar?
Joe Utterback '68/69 has a trunkful of stories about his early days of performing. And the jazz pianist and composer recalls one of them in Kick Those Blues, a newsletter devoted to Utterback's musical endeavors, past and present. "Back in the 1970s," he writes, "I was sent to Rawlins, Wyo., to play in a saloon. When I arrived, the bartender asked, 'Where's your geetar?' I told him, 'I'm a piano player.' 'We ain't got no piano,' he said." Utterback solved the problem by talking the minister of the Baptist church next door into letting him borrow the church's upright. "We rolled the piano over during the week," relates Utterback, who today calls New York City home, "and rolled it back in time for the Sunday morning service."
Crackin' the Case
"Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" This spring, FOX's long-running television series COPS focused its cameras on Wichita and its 38 police beats, where, as elsewhere in cities across the country, scores of crafty criminals flee the long arm of the law. Among the Wichita police officers featured on the May 1 episode was Javier Guete fs '00, who was filmed pulling over a vehicle for a traffic violation and questioning the driver, who anxiously confesses to smoking crack. Guete searches the suspect's mouth and, after a brief struggle, extracts cocaine. For crime fighters like Guete, it's all in a day's work.
Hot 100
For the second year in a row, WSU's entrepreneurship program has been ranked in the top 100 by Entrepreneur magazine. Landing in the third tier of regionally recognized schools, WSU's ranking (like all the rest) was based on more than 70 criteria, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreaches, research centers and institutes, degrees and certificates offered, and faculty and alumni evaluations.
