4 Folio Copy

1. 2. 3.

4.

1. The guest speaker and entertainer for the 11th Annual Breast Cancer Candlelight Vigil on Sept. 29, Candy Coburn plays and sings for the crowd. Coburn is a Nashville recording artist and songwriter.

2. Alpha Gamma Delta sorority sister Elise Papp bounces in a relay during the Greek Games at Pitts-burg State University on Wednesday, April 14.

3. A hot air balloon floats over the town of Pittsburg April 19.

4. An Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority member sits in the grass on Wednesday, April 14, watching the Greek Games during Greek Week at Pittsburg State Univer-sity, near the Oval.

Aaron Anders

Zackary Fields

Zackary Fields

Aaron Anders

004-005_9-14318_000.indd 4 6/29/10 2:27:15 PM

5Folio Copy

5. 6.

7. 8.

5. Samual Harting, 2, carries the football into the end zone on Saturday, Sept. 9, to celebrate another Pitts-burg State victory.

6. Pittsburg State University Gorilla fan takes her photo with Gus at PSU’s Carnie Smith Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26.

7. Homecoming Queen candidate Jessica Grazier waves to the crowd on Oct. 24 in downtown Pitts-burg.

8. International students enjoy the football game on Aug. 29.

Shalin Patel Zackary Fields

Zackary Fields

Shalin Patel

004-005_9-14318_000.indd 5 6/29/10 2:27:51 PM

8 Folio Copy

1.

2.

1. Two Pittsburg State University football fans show their support at a fall game.

2. Spectators cheer on cricket players on the PSU campus Sept. 20.

3. Trombone players in the Pride of the Plains marching band play on the PSU football field during halftime.

4. Ron Pettibon, senior in communication, dons star glasses and a vest to do an impromptu Elton John impersonation on the Oval at Pittsburg State University, Nov. 5.

Shalin Patel

Zackary Fields

Aaron Anders

3.

Jim Quist

Jim Quist

008-009_9-14318_000.indd 8 5/19/10 6:09:11 PM

9Folio Copy

4. 5.

6. 7.

5. The Pittsuburg State University cheer squad marched down Broadway during the homecoming parade.

6. Polar Bear Plunge participant emerges from the icy cold waters of the Crimson Villas pool in a sombrero af-ter jumping in to benefit the Special Olympics on Feb. 13.

7. Kelsey Herken of Sigma Sigma Sigma takes part in the tug of war against Alpha Gamma Gamma during the Greek Games on the Oval, April 14.

Shalin Patel

Jim Quist

Jim Quist

Zackary Fields Shalin Patel

008-009_9-14318_000.indd 9 5/19/10 6:10:16 PM

10 Folio Copy

1.

1. Sigma Chi fraternity brothers Ryan Bratton and John Barr III pull in the Greek Games tug-of-war April 14.

2. Seniors Katie Robben, nursing, and Laura Glenn, biology, pose for a photo before a PSU football game during tailgating by the stadium.

3. Danielle Stegle, freshman in biology, carries a lamp up to her new room in Dellinger Hall on Aug. 22.

4. A few brave Pittsburg State University alumni came to the Oct. 10 Gorilla football game clad in kilts.

Zackary Fields

Jim Quist

Aaron Anders

2.

3.

010-011_9-14318_000.indd 10 6/29/10 4:34:05 PM

11Folio Copy

5.

5.

6. 7.

5. Jason Ramirez and David Haist, fraternity brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha, pull ahead of Kelsey Herken, Sigma Sigma Sigma, in the canoe races at the Pittsburg State University campus lake during the Greek Games on Wednesday, April 14.

6. Crimson and Gold dancers leap across the field dur-ing half time of a PSU football game.

7. Senior Ryan Thayer runs to third base and on to home plate to score a run against Fort Hays State University at Al Ortolani Field on April 4. The Gorillas split the Tigers in the double header, winning the first game 13 to 11, and then losing the second game 10 to 9.

Shalin Patel

Zackary Fields

Shalin Patel

Shalin Patel

Zackary Fields

4.

Jim Quist

Aaron Anders

010-011_9-14318_000.indd 11 6/29/10 4:34:20 PM

12 Folio Copy

1. 2.

1. Divya Anandaraju, graduate student in international busi-ness, and Manreet Ludhar, sophomore in computer science, perform during Dawali.

2. Mathilde Mien and Romain Lehec, students from France majoring in business administration, view construction plans of Saudi Arabia at Eid festival Sept. 26 in Crimson and Gold Ballroom.

Shalin Patel

1.

Shalin PatelJim Quist

012-013_9-14318_000a.indd 12 6/29/10 4:37:40 PM

13Folio Copy

3.

4. 3. Marching into the stadium, Pittsburg State University’s Gorillas, led by defensive end Jordan Karr, prepare to face their opponent Sept. 5.

4. Members of the Pittsburg State University Bike Club ride to Weir April 28.

5. 15-year-old Paige Whit and 14-year-old Sammi Miller of Baxter Springs cheer on the Gorillas.

Jim Quist

Shalin Patel Jim Quist5.

012-013_9-14318_000a.indd 13 6/29/10 4:37:56 PM

14 Folio Copy

Below, technology women play with raw plastic mate-rial in plastic processing lab.

Regent Jill Docking of the Kansas Board of Regents places the Pittsburg State University Presidential Medallion around the neck of Steve Scott during his official inauguration cer-emony in front of Russ Hall on Oct. 23.

Shalin Patel

Jim Quist Natalia Rex

Zackary Fields

014-015_9-14318_000.indd 14 5/19/10 1:28:22 PM

15Folio Copy

v

academics

Above, Tera Reed, an art graduate student with a painting concentration shows off her work to visitors.

Katie Bowers struts her stuff in the Green is the New Black fashion show in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom on April 1.

Natalia Rex

Zackary Fields

014-015_9-14318_000.indd 15 5/19/10 1:28:43 PM

15Folio Copy

v

academics

Above, Tera Reed, an art graduate student with a painting concentration shows off her work to visitors.

Katie Bowers struts her stuff in the Green is the New Black fashion show in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom on April 1.

Natalia Rex

Zackary Fields

16 Academics

A glimpse of Alex Jaeger’s intel-ligence showed at 18 months of age.

First, it was getting out of the crib – only a regular bed with bed rails would do. Next, it was numbers. The clock face caught his attention every time the family went to the Tokyo train station.

It was in kindergarten that Alex’s intelligence was validated. He scored above the 98.2 percen-tile in reading and above the 99.9 percentile in math on the Stanford-Binet test.

The scores didn’t lie.“… ‘This kid is different. This

kid is different,’” Alex’s kinder-garten teacher, Lori North, kept saying to the school psychologist.

And she was right. Now, at 11, Alex is enrolled as a freshman at Pitt State taking a full-course load that includes biology and chemis-try lectures and labs, piano, choir and calculus.

And it all started in kindergar-ten, where his outstanding test results placed him in the gifted program.

In third grade, Alex’s father, Wesley, saw a change that needed to be made.

“I went to pick him up at school and while the rest of the class was running around, yell-ing and screaming, he was quietly sitting at his desk reading,” he said. “I made the decision then he wasn’t getting what he needed in the public school system, so we withdrew him and enrolled him in home school.”

With the help of the A Beka homeschooling materials, Wesley helped Alex finish grades four through 12 in three and a-half years.

Alex’s success has a simple answer.

“I just try and do my best,” Alex said.

Day after day, he continues to test his intelligence and its speed.

“For him, he wants to learn a concept quickly … He wanted to know it in the first five minutes and if he didn’t, it would be a major crisis,” Wesley said. “He would sit there and push himself until, ‘Hah, I got it!’ OK, then, next concept.”

His uniqueness has caused some flurry of attention at PSU.

Alex says he tries to keep fo-cused.

“I try to not let it bother me,” he said.

Ideas of “A kid should be a kid” and socialization problems are likely to spring up when thinking of an 11-year-old attending col-lege.

Alex goes to activities like ka-rate three nights a week or piano workshops that include kids his own age.

Therefore, Wesley doesn’t see a problem.

“It’s difficult to (guess) what public educators want from socialization because they say they’ll miss out on high school. Like smoking and drinking and other perverted activities? When he could be finished with college while his chronological-age coun-terparts are experiencing teenage pregnancies and drinking and the drama of high school,” he said. “Drama in high school does noth-ing for you in life.”

Wesley says there is a balance, though, to raising a gifted child. He says a parent has to evaluate the child’s mental age and chrono-

logical age and raise him or her between the two, but still honor and respect the child’s mental capabilities and childhood.

Wesley says it takes a certain type of giving energy to feed that type of intelligence.

“Just like anything else, you have to put the time and sacrifice into it, otherwise it withers away and who knows what happens after that,” he said.

Alex’s intelligence certainly won’t disappear anytime soon. The undeclared freshman says he doesn’t know what he wants to take next semester yet, but he has his sights set on graduating with two degrees. One in piano and one that is science-related.

When Alex isn’t doing home-work, he plays with Legos, watch-es videos on YouTube, plays video games or reads – Michael Crichton books being his favorite.

“At first it was just a college reading list, and then I read ‘Juras-sic Park,’ and I liked it,” he said.

Wesley says a master’s and a doctorate degree are a possibility for Alex since he’ll be too young to work once he graduates.

For the time being, Melinda Roelfs, director of admissions and Alex’s adviser, says having Alex attend Pitt State is just as new for them as it is for him.

“It’s interesting, certainly an experience I don’t think most of us have had yet, both in terms of Alex and his parents and also those of us here at Pittsburg State,” she said. “It’s just one of those things, that again, was new to us and we didn’t have a lot of experience to draw from, but I think things are going well.”

11-year-old Alex Jaeger attends the university as the youngest studentby Mandy Toepfer

he’s smarter than a 5th grader

016-017_9-14318_000.indd 16 4/8/10 8:58:11 PM

17Youngest Student on Campus

Hunter Peterson

11-year-old Alex Jaeger enrolled as a full-time freshman for the spring semester. Although he’s taking college-level courses, Jaeger still makes time for playing with Legos and reading Michael Crichton books.

016-017_9-14318_000.indd 17 4/8/10 8:58:17 PM

18 Academics

Shuffling to class just like any other student, Lola Ide has an upper hand in learn-ing from teachers. Ide holds points of views both different and similar from most of those around her. As Pitt State’s oldest stu-dent, Ide can draw on her experiences to offer insights not available in any textbook or lecture. “I do get called on by teach-ers on occasion, especially in history classes,” Ide said. “It’s fun to give real-life examples to help relate lessons more easily, but at the same time it does get frustrating recalling different stories at a moment’s notice.” It took a family reunion and a little scheming from her chil-dren to give Ide the extra push of enthusiasm she needed to return to the college life. “They took me on a tour of my old college at the reunion and we ran into the registrar, who remembered me. I was convinced by both her and my family to start taking classes again. The new opportunities in education and financial aid and grants were just too invit-ing to turn down,” Ide said. Ide originally started school in 1941 with the intention of majoring in speech and drama. These days at Pittsburg, she’s shooting for a major in general studies with an emphasis in psychology. “I primarily looked into attending here because of the location. I live in town, so it would make sense,” Ide said. “And I’m glad that I did. I

haven’t had one bad experi-ence. Everyone here has been wonderful.” Ide says the biggest differ-ence between then and now is the lesser formality among students; she mentioned how differently students and teach-ers dress, speak and interact in general than from her former school days. “Even when I hear about unmarried people living together I still am a little shocked,” Ide said. “The in-formality in relationships is something new and is taking me quite awhile to get used to.” Ide expects to graduate in 2012, saying that it feels great to have the end in sight. While reminiscing, Ide says her most memorable moment yet at Pittsburg was two years ago when she and another student were contrasted in another Kanza story. Ide at 85 was the oldest student en-rolled, and the other was the youngest at 16. Last summer, the two finally met in their two classes together, psychol-ogy and social psychology. Reflecting on her academic journey, Ide had one bit of advice for students, young women especially: Finish your education while you’re still young because opportuni-ties are much easier to come by, and never be afraid to try something new or unexpected. “Because, well, you never know what you could be miss-ing out on until it’s too late,” she said.

ldest student offers perspective on learning

The oldest student on campus during the fall semester, Ide, 86, from Pittsburg, wears a crown, wig and a boa during Kanza Yourself in November.

by Shiloh Hilton

lessons from historyO

photos by Jim Quist

018-019_9-14318_000.indd 18 3/11/10 5:46:41 PM

19Oldest Student on Campus

Ide stops to speak with students at the Indian Student Association’s henna booth in the Oval dur-ing the fall semester.

86-year-old Lola Ide takes notes as Sean Lauderdale lectures in her abnormal psychology class surrounded by many students a fourth her age.

Ide is enrolled in two courses during the fall semester. After her second class on the second floor of Hughes Hall, she rides the elevator to the first floor, and leaves the building to go home.

018-019_9-14318_000.indd 19 3/11/10 5:48:46 PM

20 Academics

Curriculum and Instruction Department: Front, June Taylor, Jeanette Stengel, Julie Samuels, Susan Knell, Alice Sagehorn, Kathy Spillman, Pam Sells, Carolyn Fehrenbach and Trinity Davis. Back, Tatiana Sildus, Ray Willard, Tracey Mussa, Marilyn Dishman-Horst, Kent Runyan, Kenny McDougle, Dale May, Jeanette Hurrelbrink, Frank Miller and Howard Smith.

Abby Wolfe, nursing, has her makeup airbrushed for the “Green is the New Black” fashion show presented by the Fashion Merchandising Association.

photos by Zackary Fields

Models pass time between hair and makeup by texting in the Overman Student Center before the fash-ion show April 1.

020-021_9-14318_000.indd 20 5/6/10 1:12:03 PM

21Fashion Week

Communication Department: Sitting, Alicia Mason, Mike Gullett, Shirley Drew, Joey Pogue, Mark Arbuckle, Oliver Shao and Debbie Sullins. Standing, Cynthia Allan, Megan Westhoff, Troy Comeau, Leo Hudson, Gil Cooper and Erica Edwards.

Student models rushed around backstage before the show trying to find their assigned dresses, necklaces, shoes and courage before stepping out onto the runway.

The lights dimmed and a projector flicked on and displayed images programmed to music. The chattering crowd grew silent and the show began.

This was the moment model Katie Bowers says she was anxious about.

“It was nervous in the beginning, but then I just wanted to have fun on stage,” Bowers, freshman in communication, said.

The “Green is the New Black”-themed fashion show was part of the Fashion Merchandising Association’s eco-conscious fashion week at PSU.

Members of the organization sponsored this first-ever fashion week to raise green awareness on campus in a new way.

Sasha Ball, instructor in fashion merchandising, says the students combined this idea with their skills to put on the show.

“The students were excited because they had a bigger vision for this show than some have had in the past,” Ball said. “They wanted to make it feel like a professional fashion show.”

Ball says students and the fashion merchandising industry want to set the record straight: clothing can be just as environmentally friendly as other items.

“A lot of times our industry gets thought

of as frivolous, and of not having a big impact,” Ball said. “We want to change that perception.”

She says consumers can go green by owning an organic cotton shirt or adding a reused vintage piece to an outfit.

The fashion show presented ways these items could be put together, showing the audience how to incorporate the green theme.

James Smith, one of the seven students who worked on the fashion week committee, says the show was well-received.

“(For it) being the first time, it went really well,” Smith, sophomore in commercial graphics and family and consumer sciences, said. “There was a great turnout and response from the community in general. I hope we made people interested in buying green-made products.”

Because of the great response, he says he’s already started planning for next year’s show.

“...We’ve been thinking about a circus theme with green products still tying into it,” he said.

Not only did the fashion show educate an audience about the impact environmentally friendly clothes can have, it also strengthened bonds between all the members who made the event possible.

“It was awesome and it got us all closer together and I would do it again next year,” Bowers said. “It made me want to join FMA and become more involved.”

Crista Hooven thanks the audience after her mini show following the FMA fashion show.

by Monica Hart

rganization proves clothes can affect the environmentO

Janae Bloom poses at the end of the runway during the Green is the New Black fashion show.

reduce, reuse, re-wear

020-021_9-14318_000.indd 21 5/6/10 1:12:31 PM