It was at that point, in the heat and sweat of tension, that the young editor vowed revenge. From those feelings of hate, the Golden Forks were born. As a testament to that young reporter we take it upon ourselves to strike back with venomous pleasure at those who have wronged the mighty “Fourth Estate.”

Editor’s note: OK, OK that’s a lie. We’re a bunch of sarcastic, immature college students who feel like venting their frustrations at the end of the year. It’s unfortunate that some of you must bear the brunt of that. But take comfort in the fact that in about a month the summer Kernel begins, under the direction of Les Johns, and then comes the fall with the woman you love to hate, Becca Clemons. You are encouraged to make the life of these two fine people a living hell. Until then, if you’re upset, feel free to send in letters to the editor, as always.

But this is the second-to-last issue, so they won’t get printed. We’ll read them though.

Have a good summer.

This blurb was adapted from the April 28, 1989, edition of the Golden Forks Awards.

The “Prince Charming Combover” award goes to Student Government President Micah Fielden. Never before have we seen hair flow so smoothly from one side of the head to the other. Never before has a Student Government president been so closely groomed — appearance-wise, that is. At least, he’s the prettiest in recent years. We’re too lazy to look up the mugs of past leaders.

The “Always on Vibrate” award goes to basketball walk-ons Sam Malone and Brian Long. Thanks, guys, for answering our phone calls.

The “Freshman! Freshman!” award goes to President Eli Capilouto, who is finishing his first year at the helm of this institution. Our new president has survived his Freshman 15. But can he survive the Sophomore 20? As in, a $20 million budget cut for UK. Take a deep breath and do one last keg stand before you head into upper division, Eli.

The “Finally Leader of the Pack” award goes to Provost Kumble Subbaswamy, who recently landed the top job at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The job market is tough. We know, we’re newspaper journalists. But you’ve proved the old adage that if first you don’t succeed in getting the top job at a state institution, try, try again. Looks like fourth time’s the charm.

The “Long Eyebrow Hair, Don’t Care” award goes to UK freshman baller Anthony Davis for refusing to shave his unibrow at the beginning of the year. And for subsequently making it the biggest fashion statement on campus since “Jorts.” Good luck in the NBA. Maybe Gillette will sponsor you.

The “How to Make a Quick Buck” award goes to poster sellers on eBay for making money off of Anthony Davis. Some of the auctioneers sold the posters for more than $150. Take that, NCAA.

The “Give This Guy Some Damn Basketball Tickets” award goes to a man from Charlotte, N.C., who posted a listing offering his wife in exchange for NCAA Tournament tickets. Classy, right? This man deserves an award. He’s just doing what millions of men across the country could only hope to do: See UK in the Final Four. We hope it worked out for you, big guy.

The “Look Ma, I Finally Did It” award goes to this year’s football team for beating Tennessee after a 26-year losing streak. Congrats for finally beating the team that our parents never could. Next year, maybe an actual quarterback can lead the team to victory.

The “That’s What She Said” award goes to DanceBlue 2012 participants for going “twice as hard, half as long” (their words, not ours) after the annual marathon was shortened to 12 hours because of weather concerns. Don’t get us wrong, we love the mission of DanceBlue, but long nights in the newsroom can make you channel your inner crude high school sense of humor.
*Runner-up goes to Kyle Wiltjer for this quote: “Not a lot of people have seen it. When I pull it out, they don’t know what’s coming. Then when it goes in, they’re like, ‘Whoa, what just happened?’” (He’s talking about his hook shot, people.)

The “Most Photogenic” award goes to Kate on State. Getting to New Orleans and buying Final Four tickets were expensive endeavors. But, one UK student found a way to bring Bourbon Street to the Bluegrass. Whether she received any beads on State Street that evening has yet to be confirmed.

The “Smile, You’re on Candid Camera” award goes to UK fans who set a car on fire on State Street after UK beat Louisville in the Final Four. No, no, keep telling yourself that gasoline isn’t flammable. And forget about the fact that someone might need that car to get to work. Celebrating a sports win is much more important than safety and livelihood. What a bummer that police figured out how to use that darn YouTube thing and identified your faces in a video of the incident. Oops!

The “Party Crasher” award goes to UK’s former president, Lee Todd. We expected current President Eli Capilouto to cut down the nets in Atlanta after the win to go to the Final Four, but we were a tad surprised to see that Todd hopped on that ladder, too. We know Capilouto’s just a freshman, but he’s ready to fly on his own now.

The “Our Biggest Pet Peeve” award goes to DeWayne Peevy of UK Media Relations. When one of our reporters called two unofficial basketball players, Peevy revoked our access to an interview. That ticked us off. Then, he finished the year by NOT giving us any more trouble. That REALLY ticked us off! Thanks for making public relations the news.

1. Stay fit
Develop a plan for exercise.  You may be stuck behind a desk for eight hours a day instead of walking around campus.  Plus, without the convenience of the Johnson Student Recreation Center, it may be difficult to stay active.    It will be important to find ways to exercise, like taking the stairs at work or scheduling workouts into your daily routine.

2. Kick the habit
The longer you smoke, the harder it gets to stop.  If the UK smoking ban didn’t help you kick the habit, this is a great time to try as you transition into your new life.  UHS has tools that can help you quit.  Call 323-APPT to schedule an appointment with a Tobacco Cessation Specialist.

3. Are You Covered?
Up to this point, you may have had some type of health insurance.  Some students may now find themselves without coverage.  If you have some “lag time” between graduation and when your new job starts, then continuation coverage may be an option during this transition period.   Contact your carrier to see if you have the option to continue your coverage.  If you are enrolled in the Academic HealthPlans/Humana insurance plan you may elect to utilize the “continuation plan”.  Email studentinsurance@email.uky.edu for details.   Also, if you are under the age of 26, you may be eligible for coverage under your parent’s health insurance policy based on the Affordable Care Act.

If you will be buying your own plan, compare more than just monthly premiums.  Before you purchase anything, be sure you understand their out-of-pocket costs, provider choices and covered services.  Tools are available online to help you make a well-informed decision.  A guide to choosing a health insurance plan and glossary of insurance industry terms can be found through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website at www.ahrq.gov.

4. Don’t stress out
Some people may find that they feel anxious or stressed about graduation.  It may be overwhelming to think about life after UK and being in the “real world.”  This is normal and is something that many graduating seniors experience.  You may find it helpful to talk to friends who are also graduating.  They may share similar feelings, and it may be easier to cope with your own anxieties or fears.  It may also be helpful to talk to someone in UHS Behavioral Health (323-5511) or the Counseling Center (257-8701).

The staff at the University Health Service wishes all graduating seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Jill Kindy is a registered dietitian at the University Health Service and UK students can schedule one-on-one appointments with her by calling 323-2778. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

Disabled students currently do not have access to five campus UK buildings, but even getting onto campus and finding ramps into accommodating buildings can be a challenge.

As students, it is important we recognize the struggles our peers face. We need to offer our support and encourage the administration to improve campus accessibility.

The high costs of campus renovations and elevator installations limit any progress the administration can make.

Yet, as UK moves forward with renovations and construction in the future, the issue of accessibility must be at the forefront.

When renovating UK’s campus, the university needs to not only consider the mandates of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, but it needs to consider the students on this campus whose education and lives are affected every day.

UK must not accept the bare minimum for improvements and must move away from the problems of the past as it considers how overall better facilities can be built on campus.

Eli Capilouto

He planned meetings with the heads of each UK college. He repeatedly voiced his desire to learn all he could about campus and Kentucky. But he declined to make any big decisions in those first couple months, and he wouldn’t get his hands dirty in touchy matters (such as the question of whether or not giving athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s daughter a job in the athletic department was nepotism).

We were skeptical.

Many of UK’s students are from Kentucky, and as the commonwealth’s flagship institution, UK isn’t tied only to Lexington.

How could an outsider, someone who’s lived and worked in Alabama nearly his whole life, understand what this university means to the state and its millions of people?

He hasn’t been a Cats fan his entire life. He hasn’t dealt with the stigma of being one of the two lowest states in education rankings or being known for poor health due to high rates of smoking and obesity. Coal isn’t the center of much debate in Alabama. Horse racing isn’t as big a sport in many other states. He had to learn how big of a rivalry UK against U of L is.

But Capilouto learned. He traveled with the basketball teams during the NCAA tournament. He and his wife ditched their UAB green wardrobes for UK blue. With their medical backgrounds, the Capiloutos launched dental initiatives for children around the state. Capilouto made a friendly bet with U of L’s president over the Final Four game.

But more importantly, Capilouto learned about the existing plan to make UK a Top 20 research institution by 2020, and he chose to focus his attention on undergraduates, who don’t do the majority of the research.

The president saw there was a need for new student housing, and he did something about it. He decided to take a chance on privatized housing, which has never been done at such a large scale at a similar university.

He knows change doesn’t happen overnight, but realizes that trying something new can be beneficial.

Of course it will be years until we reap the benefits or suffer negative consequences from UK’s partnership with Education Realty Trust, but we salute Capilouto for daring to be innovative.

We also commend Capilouto for not waiting many months or years before making changes.

Talk is cheap, but action is valuable — especially when that action addresses the needs of nearly 20,000 undergraduate students who have been cast aside in favor of research. Both groups should be able to coexist, and with a background in medicine, Capilouto seems to understand that.

In his investiture speech, Capilouto said: “We cannot wait or be held back because we’re afraid to take the first two steps.”

He has taken those two steps. We hope he takes many more.

UK has room for improvement in many areas, and we hope Capilouto intends to address those areas in the near future.

Good ideas plus good intentions can only equal good changes for this university, regardless of a “Top 20” distinction or not.

Born and raised in the same city (Lexington), I naturally gravitated toward what was comfortable and safe. Though I attended the university of my hometown, I made a conscious effort to try branching out through evolving friendships and involvement throughout my community. I generally ignored the nagging feeling telling me that I wasn’t reaching my potential and after two years of an intense clinical program training to be a therapist, I was confident that I finally figured myself out. I felt solid in my insight, relationships and beliefs (as much as anyone could be).

But, after I completed my degree, I began to heavily feel the cost of safety and certainty in regards to missing out on opportunities to stretch and grow. I decided to take advantage of my new-found unemployment and plunge into a journey that I had dreamed about — I took a five month trip to volunteer and taught English as a Second Language in Palestine, studied Arabic and traveled in the area.

Away from my environment for the first time, I gained a new lens that perhaps can only be worn if you are at a distance from your life and your relationships. In a foreign country, I was thrown out of my comfort zone, surrounded by internationals and learned that open-mindedness went beyond others and into having that attitude toward myself.

I have always found hindsight to be a powerful teller of information, and what it has told me is that the changes I’ve gone through are not all together sudden. Rather, each experience gradually shaped me to become who I already was. Those parts of me always existed; I just never gave them a chance to be known.

I learned the hard way that again and again, the definition you have for yourself is only fleeting. Part of being “who I am” is accepting that it won’t be one state of being, but is fluid, adaptive and ultimately a beautiful thing. It turns out that it was less about being afraid of who I was and more about realizing that it is okay to not always have a sure idea of who I am.

In all honesty, this concept can be frightening. To put in the work and effort to learn more about yourself, only to have to start over every so often can feel confusing and defeating. But each time you go through the process, you will gain a new layer of understanding, depth and ease with yourself. I have never come out of a change that hasn’t shaped me for the better, regardless of what led me there.

So in the search to “be yourself,” you don’t have to look far. It’s in you, waiting to be noticed. Live more. Do something different. Try a new coffee shop. Make a new friend.  Be daring— leave everything you know, even if just for a short time.  After all, you can always come back.

Fatimah Shalash is a recent graduate of the marriage and family therapy program at UK. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

The issue of college players leaving early to turn professional has had its fair share of debate in recent years as it becomes more and more common, and there have proven to be many sides to the issue.

Over the last few decades, the reason people attend college has shifted. When fields were general and majors less specific, most came to college simply to learn. As fields have become more specialized and majors increasingly specific, the majority of students arguably attend college presently in order to secure a job upon graduation.

These five players secured a job, and they did so at record-setting pace.  Forget trying to attain a high-paying job after four, or perhaps even three years of college; these players will earn the big bucks after one.

It is hard to argue against their decision, for it is true that nearly all of us as students have the same mindset monetarily as do they. Certainly the vast majority of college students would leave early and choose to pay a lesser amount of tuition if they had a high-paying job waiting for them at their departure date of choice.

In the past several years, UK has become the trademark university when it comes to basketball players leaving early to turn professional.  A slew of players have come through its doors being rather certain that they will leave after just one year to head off to the NBA. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis are a few examples.

Players leaving college early to play a professional sport certainly makes sense, but perhaps we should re-evaluate what it means to be a student athlete in today’s climate. If academically benefiting is the purpose of attending college, then athletes leaving college early would seem to be putting their athletic experience above their learning experience.

There is a fine line between identifying oneself as a student and putting one’s profession above all else, whatever that may be.

A lucky few are able to retain Internet connection long enough to have time to complete certain online assignments and submit them before losing service.

For the rest of us, logging onto Blackboard is a major challenge. One must refresh the window multiple times, switch back and forth between Resnet connections, or just give up altogether. I cannot even begin to count how many times I have just grown so frustrated with having to jump from connection to connection before just giving up.

Forget about attempting to do any research for a paper in the dorms. Granted uky.edu is an excellent service. It’s fast, reliable and accessible in major buildings on campus such as the Student Center or library. Such locations are great places to get assignments done.

Many people, however, are more comfortable doing their homework in the privacy of their own rooms so they can listen to music or whatever else helps them be more productive. Students cannot do that when they are constantly losing connection.

Even online video lectures that a teacher posts for a class take an eternity to load when using Resnet. Attempting to enjoy any free time as well with the use of Netflix, Pinterest, StumbleUpon or Skype or to keep in touch with family and friends becomes a battle to maintain a decent connection.

From personal accounts, I know a multitude of people who, during the week of registration, got no Internet service for two days. They tried connecting in their rooms and in the dorm study ultimately resulting in perhaps 10 minutes of solid Internet usage.

The University of Kentucky is not the only college that uses Resnet services. In fact many schools such as University of Illinois, Purdue and University of Texas also use Resnet as their Internet provider. Even in these schools the Resnet service is less than reliable.

No matter which university a student attends, if he or she is living on campus then for nine months out of the year that student is using Resnet. Why make those nine months any more stressful than they already are?

As college students, we have enough to worry about with exams, living on our own, balancing our finances, and making friends. Accessing the Internet should not be a source of concern. By improving the Internet service or switching to another provider, the university will help in creating a less stressful environment for its residents.

Neal Querio is a freshman. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

Gazi M. Huda

Although we have weather forecasts for as long as 10 days prior, the respected housing officials fail to anticipate the warm or cool weather ahead every time.

We, the residents, suffer the hot and cold weather for two weeks or so before helping them to make a decision.

Since they are not proactive, they just wait for enough complaints and flip the heater or cooler as the system works one way or another.

The irony is that those belated decisions usually come at a time when we actually don’t need them. By the time, the “responsible” people wake up and show off that they are doing their “job,” they flip the air conditioner at a time when the residents don’t need it at all.

They would prefer just the opposite.

Once again this year, we survived a week of hot temperature.

As soon as it is getting cold, the housing officials come to a “decision” and flip the air conditioner to cool only.

Therefore, the residents have no heating for the last couple of weeks when every night the temperature is below the 40s, if not the 30s.

Our predicament gets even worse with the “contract” stating that we are not supposed to use our own appliances, no heater-cooler, nothing.

So we have to live through the chilly or hot temperatures, no matter what.

You may just re-read the same story when winter arrives: just replace the word “cold” with “hot” and yes, we end up having the heater turned on when the temperature is above the 80s.

Gazi M. Huda is a fourth year electrical engineering graduate student and a research assistant for the department of electrical and computer engineering. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

People are very quick to remember that our government is “for” the people, and yet more often than not, the “by” the people eludes them.

I’d like to propose an amendment, as follows, to a popular saying:

America: Love it, leave it or get off your rear and govern it.

We have a duty as citizens to participate in our government. It’s part of the deal.

That means voting. That means paying taxes (to those few of you who don’t use public roads or schools or the police or the fire department, ignore that). That means participating in the legal system when we are called to jury duty.

And it means, and this is key, if we have a problem with our government, we have a duty to address it with responsible action.

Sometimes, that’s as simple as writing a letter to a representative. Sometimes it means going to the state or federal Congress to present our views formally or informally.

For the record — it never means to whine on Facebook unless you are doing so in a way that promotes further knowledge and intelligent exploration of the issue at hand and presents a logical action to redress your issue (for example, a link to more information, a plea to contact reps, whatever) and accepting and respecting that people will not always share your views or passion.

And when that isn’t enough, and you still have problems, you have the final duty of a citizen — to participate in your government.

Let’s take a look at some numbers — I’ll start big and get smaller, so don’t get discouraged.

Lexington has about 300,000 people. Getting on the Urban City Council of Lexington took an average of about 3,000 votes — that’s 1 percent of the population.

There are 12 districts, each with one representative, and then six representatives-at-large voted upon by all districts.

Seven of the 12 district seats ran unopposed in 2010. What does that mean? It means either everyone is in perfect agreement with the representatives (who are predominately white, college educated and older than 40 years of age, incomes unknown) or people aren’t doing their civic duty.

Diana Merritt

This means you can effectively divide those 3,000 votes in two and say that it takes about 1,500 votes to get on the council. District one took only 900 votes.

Let’s look at a few more. To be a state representative in the 47th District (Oldham County) took 2,000 votes. Unopposed.

Now, if 2,000 votes sounds intimidating, look at these numbers:

It took 1,000 votes to become the mayor of the city of Crestwood, who ran unopposed.

It took 269 votes to become the mayor of the city of Goshen. That’s not a typo. Also unopposed.

It took 364 votes to become the mayor of Pewee Valley.

The entire city council of Pewee Valley ran unopposed, with an average of 22 votes.

It took 30 votes to become the mayor of Prospect. Unopposed.

Now, you may make the argument that Prospect Valley isn’t that big. So, more numbers.

The population of Prospect is 5,838. Let’s assume roughly half are legally old enough to vote, and then half again of those old enough to vote actually bother. That’s about 1,500 people.

You need to reach 22 — 22 out of 1,500. Manageable? Yeah. Yeah.

To check out your own Kentucky city, the results for the 2010 election are at results.enr.clarityelections.com/KY/22208/45378/en/summary.html. Just click on your county and take a look.

So, do your research. Run for office. You’re 18, you’re old enough (note — some state representative spots require 24 years of age or older, but most city councils are 18).

If you’re old enough to complain, you’re old enough to act like a citizen.

Diana Merritt is a first year business administration graduate student. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

Being in the ‘wrong’ UK more than 3000 miles away when it happens? Painful.

The most agonizing aspect of it all (other than the difficulty of streaming games over a temperamental Internet connection) was the fact that there was no one here to celebrate. No CATS cheers, no sea of UK blue adorning every corner of town. No couch fires either, albeit thankfully on that one. But the final knife to the heart was a friend commenting on my excitement for March Madness with, “Really? Basketball is so boring. All they do is run up and down the court.” After I dried my little blue tears, I reminded myself that sports are an important aspect of cultural diversity and that the UK is in the midst of its own exciting year in sports.

Recently, we had the Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union tournament between the countries of France, Italy, Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland. Opposed to the single-elimination bracket style of the NCAA basketball tournament, teams in the Six Nations Tournament all play each other once. The winners of the tournament receive the Championship Trophy, although a variety of other trophies are also awarded. This year Scotland triumphantly received the Wooden Spoon – meaning we came in dead last.

There’s always next year, right? It might take me that long to actually understand the sport of rugby. All I’ve figured out at this point is that it is a more violent form of American football, minus all the padding, and seemingly a few players’ teeth. But don’t ask me the difference between rugby league and rugby union just yet. One day I hope to figure it all out.

Also, this month was The Boat Race, an annual competition between the rowing clubs of Oxford University and Cambridge University. Millions of spectators watch the event (live on the River Thames, or on the television), which generally consists of no more than 20 minutes, two boats and less than 20 people.

This year, Cambridge emerged victorious, although that was the least important aspect of the entire event. Partway through the race, a man deliberately swam out into the middle of the river and after nearly getting his head chopped off by a rowing blade, caused the race to be stopped for 30 minutes, and again restarted. Why? Apparently it was an “an act of civil disobedience against elitism.”

If that wasn’t strange enough, the remainder of the race was subject to a boat clash, a broken oar on the Oxford boat, and a rower collapsing from exhaustion and requiring extraction from the boat by medical personnel. Thrilling.

And of course, there is the culmination of all sporting events — the 2012 Summer Olympics — to be held in London in July and August. The games will feature 26 distinct sports and happen to coincide with the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a celebration of 60 years since her accession to the throne. Needless to say, London might implode on itself this summer with the pending excitement. You thought State Street was bad?

So as a sport lover of all kinds — running to rowing, foosball to football (both the American kind and what the rest of the world plays) — and an entire ocean away from my alma mater, I still wear my CATS shirt proudly. But nothing beats a good game of basketball.

Jordan Covvey is a 2010 Doctor of Pharmacy graduate from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate and Fulbright-Strathclyde Postgraduate Scholar at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. The monthly column “From one UK to another” will follow her experiences and cultural education across the pond. For more information on the US-UK Fulbright Commission, visit www.fulbright.co.uk

Jill Kindy

What about vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants? The trick is balancing out how much we eat, with what we eat.

Fad diets usually only focus on the weight management piece. For example, some diets suggest cutting out all carbohydrate foods. The problem isn’t the carbohydrates themselves — it’s the amount of carbohydrates.

Or, how about a diet that recommends only eating cereal for breakfast and lunch along with a sensible dinner.

This doesn’t allow enough room to fit in all the nutrients you need from the other food groups.

Also, it’s hard to eat sensibly when you’re ravenous after only eating two bowls of cereal all day!

Yes, as a society, we do need to work on maintaining a healthy weight and this can be done with portion control. Unfortunately, portion control is something that our culture is not very good at.

We are so skewed from what a normal portion is supposed to look like — when was the last time you got a 12-ounce can of pop from the vending machine? And we like to get more for our money. We love king size candy bars, buffets and large oval platters rather than regular, circular plates full of food.

However, we also need to think about a dietary intake that includes heart healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, high fiber foods, whole grains and lean proteins.

If we eat healthy and watch our portion sizes then we can have room for dessert or something fried — occasionally and in moderation, of course!

March was National Nutrition Month but it’s always a good time to think about eating healthier.

Jill Kindy is a registered dietitian at the University Health Service and UK students can schedule one-on-one appointments with her by calling 323-2778. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

As Mr. Phipp’s correctly acknowledged, Kentucky is currently dependent on coal. This relationship has been quite destructive to the local and global environment, as one simply needs to see the iconic images of a mountaintop removal “restoration” site to understand.

However, Mr. Phipp is not correct in his assessment of job figures related to coal in Kentucky. According to a 2006 report by the Mountain Association of Community and Economic Development, in 2004 only 13,000 jobs were direct coal mining jobs in Eastern Kentucky.

This number has continued to dramatically decrease as coal companies continue to choose profits over people with their increased mechanization of the industry.

It goes without question that at one time the economy of Kentucky was dependent on the industry, but according to the same report, less than 1 percent of the jobs in Kentucky were directly a result of the coal industry.

These figures are quite remarkable to those who are accustomed to the coal industry rhetoric describing the importance of mining in our great state.

In a report published in 2011 by Harvard professor Paul Epstein, the coal industry actually cost the U.S. $500 billion.

Beyond health problems, add the cost of coal’s effect on land use, energy consumption and food prices, plus the cost of toxic waste spills and cleanup. This figure shows how detrimental this industry truly is.

Coal is a finite resource and we need to start moving to alternative sources to help future generations make an easier, quicker transition.

Many studies have proven that geothermal is viable in Kentucky, and the university administration is pursuing this option in their new dormitories.

Kentucky actually has a higher solar potential than Germany and it is the highest solar producing country in the world. There are regions of Eastern Kentucky where wind is a viable resource.

Some might like to call our incessant pleas idealistic, but the overwhelming scientific research would not only call it realistic, but mandatory if we want our children to lead happy, healthy lives.

Please be creative in your critical thought about this issue and understand that industry and corporate rhetoric is meant to do one thing: blind the public from the truth to increase profits.

Elaine Alvey is a political science senior. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

Alli Sehon

But how do we measure up in the arena of human rights? It turns out that UK keeps stats on this as well, through our athletics department and the division of Collegiate Licensing.

Our sports teams use a lot of apparel between jerseys, training gear and coach and staff attire. To ensure that our university isn’t supporting sweatshops, UK contracts the Fair Labor Association, through the Collegiate Licensing Company, to monitor factories producing UK apparel.

The FLA is responsible for conducting reviews of factories by visiting the sites and observing working conditions to ensure companies are not discriminating against minority or female employees, employing children or using violence to control employees, among many other concerns.

The FLA is a flawed organization despite its seemingly noble purpose. The FLA has come under fire for poor reporting habits, ignoring reports of rights abuses and systemic conflicts of interest.

The Board of Directors even includes representatives from those companies being monitored for labor violations. Allowing companies to monitor their own labor abuses is like allowing players to call the fouls they make on other players. This may be fine for a pick-up game in the community court, but at the level of a global and wealthy corporation like Nike (think Final Four of the NCAA tournament) outside referees are needed.

Now, if those referees also happen to be employed by oh, let’s say, the University of Louisville, could anyone be really sure a fair game had been played?

But the FLA isn’t monitoring a game, they are responsible for ensuring real human beings are not abused simply because they are poor.

As Kentucky’s flagship institution and a leader in college sports, UK has an opportunity to set the standard for how universities do “good” business.

The FLA does not work and we should not be spending money on a failing system. Even our competitors, like U of L, UNC and Auburn are using a different method: the Worker Rights Consortium.

Rather than being led by corporate representatives, the WRC is led by students, experts in international and labor law and representatives of charitable organizations.

The WRC is a direct line between factories and universities, reducing lost and misleading information which plagues the FLA and would give UK the power to make informed decisions in our business practices.

As a student and a sports fan, I’m calling on our administrators and our Wildcat community to switch to the WRC and institute higher standards for UK’s partnerships.

We are on the road to having the best sports program in the nation and moving toward a “sweat”-free future is an essential part of that goal.

Alli Sehon is an anthropology undergraduate. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

There are citizens who will sing coal’s praises because of the jobs the mining industry creates and its direct impact on low cost electricity. There are those who recoil at the mere mention of the word.

However, when you take the emotion out of the equation, and look at hard facts, it becomes apparent that Kentucky truly is dependent upon coal.

Coal accounts for Kentucky enjoying the fourth lowest utility rates in the nation.

These low rates are a benefit to citizens of the commonwealth in many ways. Not only do we have lower utility bills thanks to coal, but these low rates have attracted a variety of industries that provide high-paying jobs for Kentuckians.

These industries include aluminum smelters (Century, Rio Tinto Alcan), auto manufacturing plants (Toyota, GM, and Ford) and assembly plants like General Electric.

The auto manufacturing industry alone employs 84,000 Kentuckians, making Kentucky the third largest producer of motor vehicles in the U.S.

It’s not surprising that the coal industry provides an estimated 134,000 direct mining jobs it creates and supports another 500,000 support jobs; jobs that UK students will be vying for in the coming years.

In recent opinions shared with your readers, several UK students have called for the university to end its dependence upon coal.

Idealism is a good thing, but idealism without any acknowledgement of reality is not only useless, but also dangerous.

It may sound great to want UK to be carbon-neutral and to rely entirely on alternative, non-coal sources of energy in the future.

Unfortunately though, this idea is far-fetched and would only serve to increase costs for the university — costs that would be passed on to future students.

Alternative energy is simply not yet capable of supporting present or future energy demands.

The coal industry in Kentucky is far more than coal miners and coal transportation. Even while these high-paying jobs are an asset to our economy, it is crucial that every citizen of the commonwealth understand that coal touches their lives.

Whether it’s through low utility bills or through the low rates that attract large industry to the state, everyone has skin in this game.

Coal is vital to the well-being of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky.

Tyler Phipps is an agricultural economics senior. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

It was the best of times, thanks to March Madness. It was the worst of times, given the devastating and deadly tornadoes.

It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair—and that happened in just the first week with the back-to-blizzard-to-back school days of March 2, 5 and 6.

Buck Ryan

Whiplashed Journalism 101 students at the University of Kentucky were put to the test to record their memories of this historic month. They range in age from 18 to 47 and hail from 12 states, plus the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Their reflections on the Unforgettable March of 2012 run from surprise to inspiration. Who could forget when a Friday tornado lockdown was followed by a Monday snowstorm, then a Tuesday that heated up to a high of 64 degrees from a morning low of 24.

“I think it’s time Mother Nature and Kentucky go into relationship counseling,” said Rich Doyle, 19, a broadcast journalism major from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., who tried to keep his head during the scary moments. “Their marriage has been hot, cold and just a whirlwind of anger.”

Imagine the surprise for Kayla Pica, 18, of Hermitage, Pa., when she got an 8 a.m. phone call from her weather-watching parents, telling her not to go to class.

Brandon Farmer, 22, a journalism major from Stanton, Ky., was surprised when a professor canceled a midterm exam.

“You could walk into White Hall,” he said of UK’s main classroom building, “and feel the ‘stormxiety’ of the students.”

For Lauren Thompson, 19, a marketing and journalism major from Louisville, an extra-credit opportunity for her economics class got blown away as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) canceled his campus speech.

An image from Oz crossed the mind of Cristy Anderson, 21, a secondary English education major from the U.S. Virgin Islands, a far stretch from Kansas.

“I had never experienced a tornado besides the movie I saw with the cow flying across the farm,” she said. “I did not want to be that cow.”

Stephanie Anderson, 21, an English and Spanish major from Versailles, Ky., found inspiration on a sunny day.

“The brave little flowers in my front yard stood up and smiled again,” she said, after enough snow fell on them to cancel Fayette County schools, but not UK, of course.

Taylor Norberg, 25, a journalism major from Union, Ky., turned his attention to the end of the month when the focus was not the lion and the lamb but the Wildcat and the Cardinal. For him the month turned to only “March Gladness.”

Farewell, March 2012: We knew you well. Let’s hope that in April we all will be going direct to weather heaven, not going direct the other way, as Dickens put it.

Buck Ryan is director of the Citizen Kentucky Project of UK’s Scripps Howard First Amendment Center. Email buck.ryan@uky.edu.

Nevertheless, while all the hoopla was dominating the news waves, an important email was sent out by President Eli Capilouto last week – one that I think at least deserves mentioning in the opinions section of the Kernel.
In an email to students, staff and faculty, Capilouto revealed the results of the two-year state budget that had been passed that morning by House and Senate members.  He detailed how it will cut our university’s operating budget by 6.4 percent, or around $20 million, as well as deny UK the authority to accumulate up to $200 million in debt capacity.  The only good news from the new legislation was that $175 million was authorized to move forward with the public-private housing partnership over the next two years.

Essentially, means that UK will be able to follow through with its initiative to privatize housing, i.e. transferring ownership of on-campus dorms to private companies in exchange for them to front the building and renovations costs.
On the other hand, however, UK would not be able to make much, if any, headway regarding the failing classroom infrastructure around campus over the next two years, as the new budget prevents it from accumulating the necessary debt.
A 2007 study performed by Vanderweil Facility advisers said that UK’s facilities were in worse condition than those of any other university the company had evaluated in the previous five years, according to an article published last year by the Lexington Herald-Leader.  The company also said that about 75 percent of UK’s 167 buildings needed some form of remodeling.

When Eli Capilouto arrived as UK’s 12th president and expressed his desire to focus more on the undergraduate experience and on-campus renovations, I as a student was delighted.  It was nice to see a shift from perhaps overly-lofty research goals to goals that were more realistic and visible to the normal student.  After almost a year of his presidency, however, it is a shame that he will not be allotted the adequate resources to immediately pursue his goals.
I covered the rally for higher education for the Kernel in February to protest the projected 6.4 percent budget cuts.  I left feeling happy that students declared a message, but aware that the proposed cuts would probably still take effect.  Indeed they did, and it comes as no surprise that UK was also denied the $200 million in debt capacity, as the ability for the university to repay such substantial debt was most likely in doubt given the economic circumstances.
It is clear that the state does not have the appropriate funds to remain on par with past higher education spending.  The university also clearly has no substantial reserve funds from which to finance classroom renovations.  Is there any place to look?  Why, let’s just look to the news.

UK’s 2012 athletics budget is around $82 million annually, according to an article published last week by the Lexington Herald Leader.  According to an article published last year by the Kernel, it gives only $1.75 million of that back to the university’s general fund.

This argument has been made before, and it is true that UK Athletics is one of the only programs to be entirely self-funded.  It also brings large amounts of awareness to this university, and who can put a price tag on that?  We must be sure to give credit where credit is due.

Nevertheless, it remains true that the university is currently struggling for funds, while its athletic program is generating more money than ever.
At a time where tuition is set to increase for the third consecutive year, but men’s coach John Calipari just made $700,000 in the last month based on the team’s NCAA tournament run, shouldn’t there be a little more balance between these two entities?

I’m all for basking in the glory of a hard-fought national championship, but some consideration should be given to other urgent priorities as well.

Brian Hancock is an English junior and the Kernel’s assistant opinions editor. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

By Bill Day | Contributing cartoonist

The police used pepper spray moments after the game to try to disperse the crowd around 8:30 p.m., but fans continued to gather.

Fans flipped cars and set them on fire, threw beer bottles at police and created a general scene of mayhem.

This type of behavior is unacceptable.

While property, such as cars, can be replaced, those who participated in Saturday night’s celebrations could have seriously injured others.

And people were injured. As of midnight on Saturday, 12 first-aid runs had been made, said UK spokeswoman Kathy Johnson.

And others, though their injuries may not have been reported, were still hurt by the celebrators on Saturday night, including two Kernel photographers. One photographer was hit in the head with a beer bottle and pushed to the ground. The other was pelted on the arm.

Setting cars on fire, which could have exploded and killed people, is not funny. Neither is acting drunkenly and throwing objects at police.

Related link: Thousands start fires, destory cars on State Street after Cats win; UK officials release statements.

Instead, these actions are immature and shameful for other members of the UK community. The rioting overshadows what should have been a light-hearted celebration after the Cats’ win.

Those who participated in the celebrations on Saturday night reflect negatively not only on themselves but the whole university.

Arrests were made on Saturday, and more could be made in the days to come as police review videos of the rioting. More are sure to be made Monday if fans act in such a ridiculous manner.

We, as students, should not condone this behavior. This is not to say students shouldn’t celebrate, but the actions of those on Saturday night were disdainful and embarrassing.

If potential arrests or university punishments aren’t enough to deter students and fans from acting this way, the possibility of seriously injuring someone should.

Congratulations, at least so far, to the Cats in New Orleans! We will be watching Monday night with all of you in Lexington and throughout Kentucky. This team has shown class, strength, and great skill.

On the other hand, I could hardly believe my eyes Sunday morning when on national and international news channels the lawlessness, lack of class, and outright utter destruction of the so-called celebration of the win over U of L was broadcast repeatedly to the entire world. This sure does make a positive statement for UK and for Lexington, don’t you think?

The last time I was on campus I noticed a sign stating that the University was a smoke-free campus. Bravo. Maybe next time I visit I will see another sign proclaiming that UK is a dumb-free campus as well.

Good grief – how about acting like champions instead of thugs?

Terry Dempsey

Grayson, Ga.

BBA UK 1971

For a student in the School of Journalism, sustainability has not been in the forefront of my mind during my college career. Nonetheless, the environment is just as important for journalists as it is for scientists, and sustainability should be incorporated into all of our lives, starting with me.

Coming home from spring break, I realized that I must have left my lights on during the entire week, since I was in a rush on my way to the airport. I felt like I must not be the only one to make this type of mistake, and that eliminating my energy wasting habits can at least make a small difference so that my impact on the environment is minimal.

This is when I researched the many ways the University of Kentucky brings awareness to the practice of sustainability. Various programs make it possible for anyone to make changes in their lives in order to positively affect the environment, regardless of what they study.

First, the Common Reading Experience is an initiative designed to bring incoming freshman together with a common literary work, introduce the new students to academic discourse before classes commence and provide the students with a common intellectual experience, according to the Common Reading Experience website. This year’s assigned reading was “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan. The Assistant Director of New Student and Parent Programs, Michelle Ashcraft, said the book removes the mysticism of sustainability for students.

“The problem is that many students believe they cannot make a difference in the environment by changing their habits,” Ashcraft said. “This book shows that even little changes can make a difference.”

Jenny Zimmerman, a kinesiology freshman, says that the writing style indeed made the book more compelling.

“I like how the book isn’t just a bunch of facts,” Zimmerman said. “Some of it relates sustainability to happiness and fulfillment in life, and I appreciate that.”

“No Impact Man” also had an impact on K-Week, according to Ashcraft.

“Sustainability has been a topic discussed during K-Week since I’ve been here,” Ashcraft said. “When we chose ‘No Impact Man’ this summer, we decided to practice sustainable living conscious during K-Week.”

Ashcraft said between encouraging students to bring water bottles to avoid using tons of paper cups and the use of dining services’ recycled materials, K-Week is now more environmentally friendly than ever.

Making the knowledge of sustainability easy to implement is also the goal of empowered.uky.edu, according to the Sustainability Coordinator, Shane Tedder.

“Empowered.uky.edu offers a variety of interactive features designed to focus on how people can practice sustainable living,” Tedder said. “It has things that everyone can do to elevate awareness and make a difference.”

Now students and faculty from all majors have the opportunity to learn about sustainability in a comprehensive, fun to use website. The website offers data for the energy usage, carbon emissions, and cost of operating different household appliances. These same data are recorded for the buildings on campus, as well. The site also has facts about sustainability, the top ten things we all can do to practice sustainable living and the Campus Energy Saving Project.

Between replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones to save energy, avoiding the use of space heaters which are “energy hogs” according to the website, or just remembering to turn off the lights when you leave the room, the website has a comprehensive solution for almost any energy question.

UK’s different sustainability initiatives are likely to impact people and the environment in the coming years. Hopefully, they will help many people make changes in their lives. For me, at least, I am working on reducing my environmental impact as ­­­much as possible.

Steven King is a broadcast journalism senior. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

So many burning couches. I don’t understand it, but I like it. #uk #bbn
— Wesley Jetton

Congrats, Kentucky & #BBN! We’ll see you in New Orleans! #FinalFour
— NCAA March Madness

Let this be known you’re either a UK fan or a UofL fan there is absolutely NO in between!!! Go #BBN
— La’Rod King

S/O to UK for making it to the Final 4! Best of luck down in the Big Easy! #BBN #LaFamilia @BrandonWeems10 @AntDavis23 @MikeGillie14
— Lebron James

Let’s hashtag it up: #UKfinal4 #BBN #WeAreUK #NotDoneYet #Back2BackFinal4 #BringOnUofL #DavisForPOY #AnotherBanner #LetsDoThis #LaFamilia
— Rupp Arena

If you think Louisville is gonna beat Kentucky… Slap ya self with 2 hands  #WeAreUK #BBN #8 on the way…
— Kentucky Engineerin’

#bbn The 1996 team is the best college team ever …
— Antoine Walker

By some stroke of fate, the UK Cats and the Louisville Cardinals have both advanced to the Final Four and will face off in what some are calling the biggest game in NCAA Tournament history.

As if you need to be reminded.

Campus has been buzzing with excitement since UK’s win over Baylor, and rightfully so. Never before and, most likely, never again, will students have the opportunity to witness a national championship run like this.

Although the Cats have been chosen as the favorite in Saturday’s game, there’s no denying that the Cardinals are going to show up big in New Orleans.

With a rivalry as heated as ours and a national championship on the line, fierce competition is practically guaranteed.

That being said, I want to emphasize how important it is for UK students, faculty and fans in general to conduct themselves appropriately before, during and after Saturday’s game. Win or lose, there will be plenty of opportunity for rowdy behavior.

I encourage everyone to enjoy the contest, but I also hope that our fans will remember that they are representing not only UK, but the city of Lexington and the state of Kentucky.

By now everyone has heard about the couch-burning and breast-revealing that took place in Lexington following our victory on Saturday. There’s just something about tournament time that makes everyone a little bit crazy.

I can imagine that Lexington police and firefighters are preparing for madness of even greater magnitude following the Final Four game.

Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are already exploding with comments about the match.

I’ve learned that fans will express their love for the Cats in any way they can. And obviously there is no shortage of outlets for them to do so. Unfortunately, fun is sometimes had at the expense of our university’s dignity.

When students behave drunkenly in the streets and make snide marks about U of L, they may not realize their actions reflect poorly on our school, city and state.

The media documents much of this foolery to be shared with others and I’m sure that not everyone is as impressed with our means of celebration or comments about the upcoming game as we are.

You may already be shaking your head and dubbing me “Negative Nancy,” but let me finish.

I was raised a die-hard UK fan and despise U of L as much as anyone else on this campus. On Saturday, you’ll find me making jabs at the brave U of L fans who dare to enter Lexington, yelling at the TV screen (Calipari-style) and going wild somewhere on State Street after the game.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I’m certainly going to embrace it. However, I plan to do so respectfully. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, and as college students we should be mature enough to recognize them.

I urge everyone to focus on cheering the Cats to victory this weekend, rather than talking smack about Rick Pitino and Peyton Siva.

No matter the outcome, I know that my basketball team, my university and my city are superior.

People love to hate UK. I’ve always chalked it up to jealousy. Let’s give everyone one more reason to be envious: a big, humble fan base that beats any other in college basketball.

Amelia Orwick is a journalism sophomore. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

Drake Staples

We know that, if elected, we have the ability and determination to make both of these goals realities within our one year term.

Mary Ellen and I believe SG’s job is never complete and there is always room for the addition of new initiatives and programs. From a text book lending library to short-term, interest free loans, we will work to lessen the financial burdens college expenses can impose.

With Redbox movie rentals, improved wireless printing and other on-campus improvements we will work to make Kentucky a better place to live and learn.

We plan on revamping the lottery system to reward loyal fans and to increase attendance at home football and basketball games.

Finally, we will work to turn more money back to the student organizations that play a crucial role in so many students’ undergraduate experiences. We will dedicate ourselves to implementing these and other programs with the knowledge that SG has a commitment to ensuring the best Kentucky experience for as many students as possible.

As is demonstrated through our diverse Senate tickets, Mary Ellen and I are dedicated to making SG a true representation of the student body. With a ticket that includes ROTC members, Greek and non-Greek campus leaders, club and varsity sports athletes and members of religious and diversity organizations, our ticket is a reflection of our dedication to making SG a more diverse and open organization.

We will maintain this dedication in our own executive cabinet with the creation of a group of 40 on-campus leaders that will meet directly with us once per month, eliminating any middle men and allowing us to hear the concerns and issues most pressing to the entire student body.

Finally, through our One Kentucky campaign, Mary Ellen and I will work to create a feeling of unity, eliminate ignorance and promote the commonalities that every member of the Big Blue Nation shares.

Through a lecture series, a large marketing campaign and the promotion of events co-sponsored with other campus organizations, we will work to show every student, regardless of Greek affiliation, race, sex or religion, that the things that unite us are much greater than the things that divide us.

The above is only a brief outline of our extensive plans for Student Government. Please visit stapleswimberly.com for more information.

We look forward to the coming days of elections and ask for your support on March 28 and 29.

Drake Staples is a finance and marketing junior.

Taylor Cox

In the upcoming elections, I find myself in a difficult position. I know each of the main candidates well and consider each a friend. However, given careful consideration of both the Bilas-Kington and Staples-Wimberly tickets, Stephen Bilas and Mary Katherine Kington emerge as the candidates best suited for the roles of student body president and vice president.

Having served as the president of a large, Greek organization (Phi Delta Theta fraternity) and a small, non-Greek organization (Student Development Council), in addition to my involvement in organizations across campus, including the acoUstiKats and the K Book Editorial Board, I understand the various issues that face our diverse student body.

Given these considerations, I strongly support Bilas and Kington in the upcoming election.

First, consider the experience of both candidates. Bilas has extensive experience in the executive branch of Student Government across multiple administrations, which is an invaluable experience for a president-elect.

Bilas began his SG service by participating in the freshman Leadership Development Program, ultimately helping organize a successful campaign in his first year. During his sophomore year, Bilas served as the Student Government comptroller, a position requiring oversight of the entire SG budget — at the time, more than $500,000.

This year of service with direct control of the financial operations of the executive branch — a group often criticized for its big-ticket expenses — has fostered an attitude of fiscal responsibility and pragmatism that will define the Bilas-Kington administration.

This past year, Bilas served as the chief of staff for current President Micah Fielden’s administration, observing and facilitating the day-to-day operations of the administration and developing significant relationships with current members of the UK administration, Board of Trustees and SEC members of the national Board of Student Body Presidents.

Simply put, there is no individual on UK’s campus with better experience than Stephen Bilas, and this experience will translate into a highly effective administration.

While Bilas has extensive experience in the executive branch, Kington has spent her three undergraduate years becoming deeply rooted in SG’s legislative branch. During her time on UK senate, she has served as the chairman of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and vice-chair of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee, managing all legislation impacting the student body and helping disperse more than $100,000 in grants to UK student organizations, respectively.

While she has had a distinguished career as a UK senator, she has also maintained cross-campus connections through her involvement in UK Leadership Summit. As the student body vice president maintains a close relationship with the Senate, Kington will be perfectly suited to fill this role in addition to her responsibilities within the executive branch.

Bilas and Kington have distinguished their ticket through their selection of college and at-large senators.

In the past, the senator selection process has been criticized by some as a method of “buying votes” from the various constituencies on campus. To avoid this, Bilas and Kington sought out senators who were deeply involved with their college and who were prepared to discuss how they, individually, could work to serve the students within their colleges and constituencies.

In fact, before any senator joined the Bilas-Kington ticket, he or she was required to highlight prior service to the college and outline plans for the upcoming year, if elected.

The careful, purposeful selection process for senators is a prime example of the team-centered, goal-oriented approach that Bilas and Kington have taken during the entire election process.

Finally, consider the candidates’ stated platform. Where past administrations have pushed large, costly projects through the Senate approval process and into action, Bilas and Kington have other plans for their administration.

Before developing another big-ticket project like TallyCats or the Cats Cruiser, Bilas plans to carefully examine the effectiveness and operations of each of the three main projects developed by the past three administrations: TallyCats, Cats Cruiser and the Wildcat Interest Group.

Where improvements need to be made, Bilas and Kington will act in the necessary and appropriate manner to limit financial waste while maximizing the benefits each of these programs have for the student body as a whole.

Simply put, we do not need another hastily formed $250,000 project from SG.

What we do need is an administration focused on how SG can most effectively serve the students, rather than an administration interested in making its mark through a bloated, expensive program that may or may not succeed.

After examining the efficiency of these large programs, they will turn their attention to closer financial management of SG promotional and advertising budgets, opening more resources for direct student services in the upcoming months and years.

Bilas-Kington are not the only two individuals running for president and vice president in the upcoming elections, but they are certainly the most qualified and best-prepared candidates in this year’s field.

Based on their mutual records of integrity and efficient leadership, both will thrive as the leaders of our student body and will serve as the best representation of our great university.

Taylor Cox is a political science and pre-dentistry senior and Student Development Council President. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

SG is designed to act on behalf of all UK students, and the Kernel believes Staples and Wimberly would best represent student interests.

Those elected to SG have one year to evaluate and build upon old programs and implement new ones, and Staples and Wimberly have ideas that could realistically be achieved in one year.

ONE Kentucky, a marketing campaign, would help promote diversity. And Staples and Wimberly appear to be focused on inclusiveness based on whom they have met when developing their platform and selecting senators for their ticket.

The “Textbook Library” program would let students in certain classes have the opportunity to check out textbooks from libraries on campus.
This program, though potentially expensive to initiate, would prevent students in those classes from spending hundreds of dollars on a book that would be used only a few times, and would be a good manner of putting student fees to use for students.

Other programs, such as “Wildcat Wardrobe,” which would allow students to rent dress clothes for interviews; wireless printing; and a new student ticket lottery system are ones that could directly benefit students all across campus.

One of the other large programs Staples and Wimberly want to include is a student loan program, but that program needs more review and discussion. SG is tasked with managing student funds, and a student loan program needs certain stipulations so the money students pay isn’t
used to fund, for example, someone else’s spring break.

The other candidates, Stephen Bilas and Mary Katherine Kington, are also qualified. Their idea to make existing SG programs more efficient and effective is a good one, especially coupled with existing experience in balancing the SG budget. However, Staples and Wimberly and their proposed programs are the better fit to lead a student-run government that represents and serves its university’s students.

Online voting for SG will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday and end Thursday at 6 p.m. Go to uksga.org to vote.

Polling locations will be set up in White Hall Classroom Building and the Student Center from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

The uncertified results for SG will be announced Thursday evening at 8 p.m. on the Student Center patio.

This article has been updated to reflect an editor error. The original version of this article included a headline with the words “better qualified.” It was supposed to read “Kernel Editorial: Staples, Wimberly qualified, innovative candidates.” The Kernel regrets the error.

Stephen Bilas

Stephan Bilas and Mary Katherine Kington:

What’s the difference between your teacher accountability program and ratemyprofessor.com?

Unlike ratemyprofessor.com and modeled after successful programs at universities across the country, our teacher accountability program would gather an individual evaluation from every student who completes the course.

Ratemyprofessor.com relies on polarized reviews — majorly negative or positive — but our system would publicize all students’ perspectives to provide a more accurate and holistic evaluation. Additionally, it would detail the course structure and teacher’s measurement preference (exam or assignment-based evaluation).

We believe such a system better prepares students, aligning their interests with teacher expectations.

Our conversations with faculty and academic administrators made it clear: students need more information to better register for classes and our teachers hope to attract students better suited for differing teaching styles and grading systems.

Mary Katherine Kington

We want to ensure no student is unprepared on the first day of classes and teachers are not subject to consistently apathetic learners.

I am currently one of the coordinators of the College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors. In two years with the program, we have seen our senators one time — at the end of last school year. This year, I was in contact with SG for about a month before learning that A&S had no senators. If elected, how will you ensure that your college senators are representing their college, as opposed to personal affiliations?

The unique, unrivaled aspect of our ticket is that our college senate candidates are highly motivated, firmly established leaders within their colleges. These are students who have already connected with deans and college administrators and have developed interests in and passion for their respective colleges and its students.

Early discussions with our candidates showed each was eager to represent his or her college in a way that benefits those students never approached by their college senator, historically underrepresented. Each candidate provides fresh ideas and immeasurable passion for the opportunity to give back to his or her college and do good for student peers, and each is committed to year-long total representation.

How do you plan to increase military support (ROTC) in its time of need?

Stephen is the son of a military family and we recognize the commitment of our military students. We want to better promote Student Government’s funding opportunities and connect with all student groups to enhance each individual’s campus experience.

In preparing for this campaign, we reached out to military veterans and ROTC students to investigate their concerns and goals. We have found there are unique ways to connect Student Government with the mission of our campus military community — co-sponsoring like-minded events like Day of Remembrance and funding military organizations’ initiatives.

This is another example of our mission to connect with our diverse student body and reach out to all students groups, encouraging each organization to seek Student Government’s assistance.

If financial circumstances require budget cuts, what would you first eliminate from SGA’s budget?

The advantage of our platform is that it does not compromise Student Government’s budget by introducing a handful of expensive, unfeasible, unnecessary programs. Those new initiatives we do want to implement are cost-effective and efficient. We want to evaluate Student Government’s current programming to cut wasteful spending and redirect funds toward exciting, satisfying opportunities all students can enjoy.

If funding circumstances did require cuts, however, our administration would first eliminate executive staff salaries. Our team committed to this campaign because of passion for the organization and enhancing the student experience, not because of financial benefit.

In regards to the $600,000 budget, is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it?

Currently, all remaining funds from Student Government’s annual budget transfer to the next administration. In our current roles, we are working with the existing administration to develop a clause to cap leftover rollover funds. Any monies that exceed that capped allotment would be contributed to the University Scholarship Fund to assist students needing financial aid. This is an exciting amendment to challenge our senators to responsibly allocate funds to the most important initiatives and consider our students’ financial need in years of limited programming.

As Senate Appropriations and Revenue committee member and Chief of Staff, respectively, Mary Katherine and I have extensive experience developing Student Government’s budget and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Our administration will balance an efficient, transparent budget that eliminates waste and considers our students’ scholarship needs.

You both touched on improving the experience of the unmotivated/average college student. How would you reach out and develop programs to get these students involved?

Studies show students involved on campus are better retained, more likely to return to campus. We want to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between students and their government. This relationship of shared satisfaction will establish a tie to this campus and its opportunities for each student. If Student Government reaches out to this campus’s networks and addresses the interests of all students, we hope our peers feel more inclined to get involved on campus, joining organizations that enjoy success with the help of Student Government, and develop a passion for enhancing the student experience.

Engaging organizations to assist in recruitment and empowering students are easy efforts to involve the entire Wildcat community. Our student body is talented and passionate, and we want to attract our peers to our proposed “Legacy” initiative, a new approach to a current yet underdeveloped, under-utilized program. This program will allow students access to Student Government’s resources and team to develop their own, programs and initiatives, leaving their own personal legacy on campus, establishing a tie to this community and potential programming that benefits all students.

On your platform you say that you want to increase diversity on SGA. Staples-Wimberly has a program called ONE Kentucky planned. What do you have planned on increasing diversity?

Student Government’s primary role is representing its constituents, the students and their diverse interests and concerns. We believe our ticket provides a unique, diverse approach to total representation.

We intentionally selected each candidate based on his or her campus involvement, background and passions — students from large and small, Greek and non-Greek, service and faith-based organizations, as well as in-state and out-of-state students.

Some have Student Government experience, others are young, passionate and eager to get involved for the first time. Our full ticket includes the interests of all colleges on this expansive campus and our graduate and undergraduate students, an effort to fully represent.

Outside of student representation, Student Government must commit to the programs and initiatives of our student’s diverse backgrounds and concerns, projects like SAB’s “It Gets Better.”

We want to maintain direct, open lines of communications with our student organizations, using administration liaisons to frequently poll those organizations, engaging them to identify new ideas and concerns and report to Student Government, so our administration is up-to-date on campus issues and student concerns.

How do your current positions make you the most qualified candidates for the positions you are seeking?

Mary Katherine and I provide unequaled executive and legislative experience. Our history with funding allocation, budget development and student organization engagement showcases preparedness.

We have unique, close relationships with faculty, staff and administrations, having worked with university leadership for three years — relationships we can rely on to surpass constructive red tape and successfully implement Student Government’s initiatives.

More importantly, we are involved outside of Student Government in big and small organizations across campus, providing a more expansive understanding of this diverse student population, its interests and its needs.

Additionally, our experiences prepare us to lead from day one on the job. Having navigated the intricacies of the executive and legislative branches, Mary Katherine and I escape any learning curve an inexperienced administration would naturally face.

Drake Staples and Mary Ellen Wimberly:

Drake Staples

First and foremost, we would like to thank everyone who came out to Wednesday’s debate. We were happy to have the opportunity to discuss many of our ideas and are looking forward to putting these ideas into place next year.

Unfortunately, innovation nearly always brings harsh criticism. We are happy to confront these criticisms in the hope that readers will see that our ideas are not only fiscally responsible and feasible, but also include concrete plans for making Student Government Association a more representative organization that can better serve the entire student body.

Instead of slamming our opponents’ platform (or lack thereof), we want to keep this letter positive and focus on the tangible benefits our administration would provide to UK, as we have throughout the entire campaign process.

Leadership is about trying new things and suggesting ambitious plans as opposed to solely playing devil’s advocate.

Many of our plans would be invaluable to students once implemented, but were falsely decried as being too expensive, too risky and not a smart use of SGA money. This is simply not the case. Our interest free loans would bear very little risk and cost to SGA.

Mary Ellen Wimberly

We would not be handing out loans to every student who came knocking on Student Government’s door. Instead, at the beginning of the semester we would set aside a specific amount to be loaned out to students who struggle with costs of school supplies, textbooks, rent and other expenses at what is often the most costly time of the school year.

This loan would be charged to the same account used for tuition, room and board, parking fines and nearly every other charge imposed by UK. Due to the extremely high volume of charges placed on and paid on the myUK system daily, this program would represent a miniscule portion of myUK traffic.

Most of these loans would automatically be paid off as financial aid comes in and payments are made on the account. Unpaid loans would result in holds on registration, graduation and advising. SGA would thus be able to collect almost the entire amount loaned out in the first months of the semester, with the rest being collected before the end of the semester.

Since the number of loans available will be capped at the beginning of each semester based on current budget situations, there is no risk of the program costing more than originally planned due to a high volume of loans requested.

While we do anticipate that the program will be very successful, we are committed to an extensive research process before it is made available to the student body.

It is also important to note that this program, and others that we have suggested, will not create unnecessary constraints on the budget.

As of March 21, 2012, SGA has spent less than half of its allocated money. We do not see it as careless to propose new programs and services, as it would allow the SGA resources to benefit those who directly fund Student Government.

We see a great parallel between this loan program and Cats Cruiser, which was also proposed during campaigning but underwent a significant vetting process with UK Legal and a number of other UK departments after the candidates were elected. It is important to note that Cats Cruiser evolved significantly from its original plan in this vetting process, but through dedication, Cats Cruiser emerged as a program that remained true to its original intent.

We will explore the idea of possibly restricting these loaned out funds to plus account, where money could only be spent on food, textbooks, etc., and not on alcohol, which was a valid concern of many in attendance at the debate. However, we recognize that the program would be most effective if students were able to get cash.

It is also very important to note that this type of program, which was so wholeheartedly bashed by our opponents, is already a service that student governments at many of our benchmark schools, such as Michigan State University, offer.

The next issue that concerned our opponents and some members of the audience was the cost of our proposed textbook lending library. While we do recognize that there will be a large initial expense, we believe that the potential reach and usefulness of this program undoubtedly justifies the cost.

By devoting just $20,000 to the textbook lending library, SGA could potentially purchase over 400 used textbooks at an average cost of $50.

These books would be selected for popular classes where students often spend hundreds on a book only to use it a couple of times each semester. If 10 students use each of these books during the school year, we will have reached around 4,000 students, or approximately a quarter of the undergraduate student body, in this program’s first semester.

By offering these books on a reference basis in the library, we would be able to serve the maximum amount of students and ensure fairness in distribution since the books would be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Furthermore, there will be a vast amount of surveying done in order to establish which classes could benefit most from this service. In response to one of the questions posed to us, we never planned to offer this service to all 100 and 200 level classes. It is very unreasonable to expect SGA to provide textbook accommodations for every student, but it is our hope that each student will benefit from this program in at least one class during their undergraduate career, saving them several hundred dollars.

Our other plans for Student Government involve making it a more representative and transparent organization. As was discussed in the debate, this is already evident through the diversity of our Senate ticket, which includes students not only involved in Greek Life, but also ROTC,Club Sports, Varsity Athletics, Residence Life, Religious Life and countless other organizations.

In selecting these senators, we chose students who we know will challenge us and provide insight that is reflective of the entire student body, instead of students who share the same background and involvement that we do.

In addition to working toward representation for all students within Senate, we will also make Senate voting and attendance records easily accessible and increase their visibility, ensuring their accountability to the students and colleges they represent. Also, our plans for direct discussions with leaders of student organizations will cut out the “middle man” and allow us to directly serve these groups.

This, along with expanded funding options for these organizations, will play a huge role in countless students’ Kentucky experience, and will help them reach out to a wider range of students and bring them closer into the UK community.

Under Staples-Wimberly leadership, students would truly see change in Student Government with innovative programs designed to increase involvement, aid students who are struggling financially, and promote ideas of respect, equality, and unity on campus. Next, we will address other concerns that were brought up during the debate. We have answered all questions that were asked via our in-depth summary above and the following Q & A section.
DanceBlue is a very influential event on campus that Student Government has significantly contributed to financially in the past. Will you continue to allocate a certain amount to the marathon or do you feel there is better use for that money?

DanceBlue is a great example of what incredible feats UK students can achieve when we stand and work together for a common cause. It is because of this impact that we feel funding for DanceBlue should undoubtedly be continued.

We’re excited to work with Ethan Ritter, next year’s Dance Blue overall chair, to extend the reach of DanceBlue not only within the university, but also throughout the state. Funding for Dance Blue will remain the same, if not increase, depending on their need for a larger operating budget.

I am currently one of the coordinators of the College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors. In two years with the program, we have seen our senators one time — at the end of last school year. This year, I was in contact with SG for about a month before learning that A&S had no senators. If elected, how will you ensure that your college senators are representing their college, as opposed to personal affiliations?

This is an excellent question and an issue that we are particularly passionate about. When selecting senators, especially those who were running for College seats, we looked first to students involved in the college organizations that do a phenomenal job of representation within the college. Greek affiliation was never the focus, as choosing students who would do a good job is more important to us than winning the infamous electoral vote from Greek chapters.

We are particularly excited that one of our senators running for the A&S Senate seats, Kaylin Oldham, currently serves as an A&S Ambassador and, if elected, would represent the entire college exceptionally well.

If financial circumstances require budget cuts, what would you first eliminate from SG’s budget?

One of the first places where we believe money could be saved is in the amount paid to SG staff. This year, $38,400 was dedicated to salaries of Student Government employees. We have proposed a new executive staff structure, which would eliminate superfluous positions and save Student Government thousands.

Why do you think it is appropriate, through your platform for a new LDP, to force a group of staff on an administration that had no hand in picking them, and a group of students that has not proven themselves besides being chosen for their merits from high school at the beginning of their freshman year?

Although we did not get a chance to detail specifics of our plan for LDP expansion at the debate, this is definitely a misinterpretation of our proposed plan.

LDP’s focus has always been to connect freshmen with a multitude of campus organizations, and there never has been, nor are we advocating for, a guaranteed spot in next year’s Student Government staff.

Instead, we want to expand the program so that more students are able to reap the benefits. This will include marketing the program more effectively and to a wider range of people.

In regards to the $600,000 budget, is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it?

Money can be carried over from year to year, but stays within Student Government. Running a huge budget surplus only leaves the responsibility for spending in the hands of your successor.

Since SGA funding comes from student fees, it is important to use it in a way that benefits the students who pay the fees while they are currently students.

We believe that fiscal responsibility includes using the resources that have been given to SGA in a way that provides programs and services to the students who are paying for them.

Is it really realistic to buy books for all 100-level classes? How many books would you buy for a class of 200 kids?

Buying books for all 100-level would not be a good use of Student Government funds and we did not advocate this idea at the debate on Wednesday or in our platform.

Instead, we plan on extensively surveying students to find out which classes would most benefit from this service. We would begin very conservatively by buying only a few books for large classes and then strategically expand based on use.

It is our goal that every UK student would benefit from this program at least once during their undergraduate career, saving them several hundred dollars.

Without knowing the current Kentucky legislation, which applies to UK, how are you going to effectively represent the student body?

We recognize and apologize for the mistake concerning the tax code surrounding textbooks and acknowledge that there is a large learning curve for whatever students take office.

You will always be able to expect this kind of accountability and recognition of mistakes from our administration. We understand that by suggesting a complex and innovative platform that some of these ideas may not come to fruition.

We are still dedicated to assisting students financially through our textbook lending library and will also lobby for what is colloquially known as a “Textbook Tax Holiday,” which also exempts other necessary school supplies.

Once in office, we will work with Wildcat Interest Group, UK’s professional lobbyists and the president’s office to promote a common goal that will benefit the university.

Furthermore, we will recruit students for WIG in order to have a large group to visit Frankfort during legislative sessions.
You are saying that the money we students are paying in student fees will potentially go to someone who “can’t afford” to go on spring break without it?

As was discussed above, the loan program would be capped and available on a first come, first serve basis, so the loans most likely will not be available by spring break.

While funding spring break may be your only concern, many students have indicated that this program would be incredibly useful in alleviating the financial burdens that result from a number of expenses at the beginning of the semester and/or emergency expenses.

Additionally, the cost for this program would be very minimal since the loans would require repayment in 30 days.

Essentially, students using this program would be borrowing money from other students, which would later be paid back and used to provide other programs and services. Therefore, the same money is able to provide more benefit to students.

The current economic crisis is due in large part to banks giving out bad loans. Would it not be irresponsible to give out loans for students to blow on spring break? How would you decide who or who not to give money to?

Loans would be given on a first come, first serve basis to students who are in good academic standing with the university. By establishing a cap on the monetary amount to be spent on loans each semester and connecting the loan to a student’s financial obligation to the university, we would ensure the loan program would not stress SGA’s financial resources.

How do your current positions make you the most qualified candidates for the positions you are seeking?

Although we have both been very involved with SGA for the past two years, we feel that our experiences outside of Student Government is what makes us the most qualified candidates to represent the entire student body and bring fresh ideas that benefit a broader range of students.

Regardless of anyone’s current positions and titles within Student Government, there is a huge learning curve when stepping into the chief positions and this is why we think it is of the utmost importance to not only be plugged into the inner workings of SGA, but to have diversified experiences in other areas on campus, which is one of our greatest assets.

One would be naïve to think that just Student Government experience would qualify one to serve the entire student body. Collectively, we’ve been involved in organizations that reach many corners of campus and the Lexington community, including Greek Life, Team Wildcat, Honors Program, IGPA, LFUCG Town & Gown, GSP/GSA Alumni Club and organizations within the Gatton College.

These experiences have helped us become more aware of the issues facing our student body and truly make us uniquely qualified for these positions.

Stephen Bilas is a management and finance junior. Mary Katherine Kington is a finance junior. Drake Staples is a finance and marketing junior. Mary Ellen Wimberly is a finance economics junior. Email opinions@kykernel.com.

To Staples/Wimberly:

DanceBlue is a very influential event on campus that student government has significantly contributed to financially in the past. Will you continue to allocate a certain amount to the marathon or do you feel there is better use for that money?

To Bilas/Kington:

What’s the difference between your teacher accountability program and ratemyprofessor.com?

To both:

I am currently one of the coordinators of the College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors. In two years with the program, we have seen our senators one time — at the end of last school year. This year, I was in contact with SG for about a month before learning that A & S had no senators! If elected, how will you ensure that your college senators are representing their college, as opposed to personal affiliations?

Related link: Student Government presidential candidates debate Greek representation, budget, programs.

To Staples/Wimberly:

By allowing students the ability to use a $300 loan on things such as spring break, how can you be sure you are not endorsing underage drinking, use of drugs and other illegal activities? How would you regulate spending?

To Bilas/Kington:

How do you plan to increase military support in its time of need? (ROTC)

To Staples/Wimberly:

If financial circumstances require budget cuts, what would you first eliminate from SG’s budget?

To Staples/Wimberly:

Why do you think it is appropriate, through your platform for a new LDP, to force a group of staff on an administration that had no hand in picking them, and a group of students that has not proven themselves besides being chosen for their merits from high school at the beginning of their freshman year?

To both:

In regards to the $600,000 budget, is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it?

To Staples/Wimberly:

Is it really realistic to buy books for all 100 level classes? How many books would you buy for a class of 200 kids?

Staples/Wimberly:

Without knowing the current Kentucky legislation which applies to UK, how are you going to effectively represent the student body?

To both:

You both touched on improving the experience of the unmotivated/average college student. How would you reach out and develop programs to get these students involved?

Staples/Wimberly:

You are saying that the money we students are paying in student fees will potentially go to someone who “can’t afford” to go on spring break without it?

To Staples/Wimberly:

How are you going to prevent a large cash loss when you establish these “interest-free” loans?

To both:

How do your current positions make you the most qualified candidates for the positions you are seeking?

To Staples/Wimberly:

The current economic crisis is due in large part to banks giving out bad loans. Would it not be irresponsible to give out loans for students to blow on spring break? How would you decide who or who not to give money too?

Both sets of candidates plan to write letters to the editor answering these questions in the coming days.