January 29 2014
Homecoming 2014 photos and candidate profiles. —Pages 1B-4B
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Year 45, No. 6
Liberal, Kansas
Students face disconnect with new Wi-Fi Kyleigh Becker Crusader staff
Homecoming lets the cards fall. — Page 4B
A new Wi-Fi system has some students struggling with adjusting to the sign-in or getting kicked off the network. The new system was put into effect at the beginning of the spring semester. A new and better version of the software control system has now been implemented, and some of the access points have been changed out, which will soon allow higher bandwidth in those areas, such as the Student Living Center and the Academic Building.
The main change students and teachers have noticed is the requirements of having to accept the SCCC/ATS Guest Network onto their device. Soon, that will be a thing of the past. “Eventually we’ll have you logging in to the Network with your username and password, so we’ll really know who you are,” Doug Browne, Director of Multimedia Technology, said. According to Browne, IT is trying to roll out a new Network where students will log in once, and every time they come back on campus it will automatically
log them back in. Currently, the Guest Network is set on an 18-hour loop for reauthentication. Previously, the Network was set on a 4-hour reauthentication timer. “I think the biggest problem is people getting kicked off the WiFi, because they’ve set it on a timer… they’ve said they’re working on that, “ Housing Director Kate Mulligan said. One of the reasons for the complete change-out of the Network was the number of devices connecting. Since the new system has been implemented, the Network has half as many de-
vices connecting automatically. The high number of automatic connects was an “inherent security risk because you don’t know who’s connecting,” Browne said. Some, however, think the new system is a hassle. “I think there’s a lot of people complaining about the new WiFi, especially on their gaming systems. “I was able to connect about a week ago, and, as of now, I still can’t connect to it,” student Jordan Anderson said. Students with gaming systems and smart TVs won’t be able to connect to the Guest or the new
Network. Those students must connect to the Appliance Network and email IT about the device so it can be accepted on the Network. “When you go to sign in to the Wi-Fi, it says ‘No data received’ and it kicks you off on my phone. So I haven’t been on Wi-Fi in the past two days,” student Kathryn Roohan said. Some others are more neutral. “I don’t think it’s more difficult [to use the Wi-Fi], I just think there are more steps,” Mulligan said.
Seward makes top 150 in early Aspen search Makiah Adams Crusader staff
‘Into the Woods’ branches into dark comedy. — Page 5
Crusader photo / Jakub Stepanovic
“Mad Chad” Taylor selected SCCC students Megan Armstrong, Tanner Thompson and Willy Blais from the audience to help with some of the stunts on stage during his Thursday performance as part of homecoming week.
Data storage forecast is cloudy to fair. — Page 8
Hopes for hot shower down the drain. — Page 2
Madman juggles roaring chain saws to entertain SC audience Kyleigh Becker Crusader staff “Mad Chad” Taylor, professional chain saw juggler and actor in a Progressive commercial, performed in the SCCC/ATS Showcase Theater on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 23. Taylor began the show by conspiring with students to create a louder, bigger entrance than his first, asking students to hold up signs he’d handed out, and even asking one to throw a bright red pair of women’s underwear at him. He then continued the show by juggling his skateboard and cellular phones. One of his first questions after that was something along the lines of “So how many of you want to see me get hurt?” Half the students raised their hands. After juggling some pink balls, he moved onto larger objects. A black light, shot put and a raw egg, and then three 10,000 volt cattle prods. “I thought it would’ve been funny if he would have dropped a chain saw, but you want to see him do good too,”
student Tanner Thompson said. Bringing Thompson and fellow students Megan Armstrong and Willy Blais onto the stage, he asked Thompson and Blais to hold onto a unicycle while Armstrong placed a carrot between her teeth. Swinging the machete in his hands, he proved to the students that they were real before giving them to Armstrong to hold. Then he jumped up onto the unicycle with the help of Thompson and Blais and juggled the machete and an apple. “I was scared, nervous to be up there,” Thompson said. “I didn’t know what he was going to have us do. Just holding a unicycle wasn’t too bad.” As students chanted “Eat it! Eat it!”, Taylor took bites out of the apple while juggling the machetes. Soon, he moved on to the main event, what the students had been waiting for – the chain saws. From one chain saw and two balls, he moved up to two chain saws and one ball, and then finally three roaring chain saws were being tossed through the air to
a silent, nervous crowd. Surviving the chain saws, he caught them to applause. Taylor called the students a “good crowd.” In an interview after the show, Taylor recounted one of his most embarrassing experiences during a performance. “The worst thing that’s happened during my performance, well, I don’t know if it’s the worst, years ago I was performing on a cruise ship, and it’s totally gross, but I was on the stage, and I had food poisoning but I told them I could still do the show. I said, ‘The show must go on! Put me on!’ and I did the show. But 10 minutes into the show I had explosive diarrhea that I had to deal with. So I went running to the back. Backstage there was a restroom that I knew where it was. I said ‘Sorry guys!’, waved to the cruise director, and I ran back there. And the funniest part was my microphone was still on. The sound guy muted it so the crowd didn’t hear it, but he recorded it so he could have blackmail later.” — Interviews by Crusader reporter Franklin Guillen.
‘I got this, give me one, give me one!’ Simulator colors Tech School world. — Page 3
According to his website, “Mad Chad” Taylor has been a favorite on the college circuit for many years. As well as performing his hilarious show at hundreds of colleges around the country, he has been featured in Campus Activities magazine and showcased at over a dozen NACA conventions. Taylor has made more than 100 television appearances around the globe, including the Progressive Auto Insurance commercial pictured here.
Crusader photo / Jakub Stepanovic
“Mad Chad” Taylor entertains about 150 people in the campus theatre with cycling and juggling machetes.
Although the finalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence won’t be determined until next year, the first rounds have already begun. Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School made the first round by being one of the 150 community colleges selected from 37 of the 50 states. Dr. Duane Dunn, president of SCCC/ATS, said, “The last time this award was given…we made it through the second round.” “It is exciting to be selected in the process because we don’t apply for the recognition,” Dunn said. “Having an external group such as the Aspen Institute recognize our college as one of the best in the nation is very gratifying.” There are three rounds, each round eliminating the community colleges that don’t meet the criteria. The prize is a million dollars in cash, which is divided among the top finalists. Eight other community colleges from Kansas are included in the top 150. They are Colby Community College; Flint Hills Technical College, Emporia; Garden City Community College; Hutchinson Community College; North Central Kansas Technical College, Beloit; Northwest Kansas Technical College, Pratt; and Salina Area Technical College. In round one, a Data Panel is created to work with the National Center for Education Management Systems on selecting 150 public two-year colleges out of a potential 1,000. The Aspen institute website states that these 150 are chosen based on, “(1) student success in persistence, degrees awarded, completion, and transfer; (2) consistent improvement in these areas over time; and (3) equitable outcomes for students of all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.” During the second round, the 150 selected are invited to submit an application describing student success and improvements on campus. “We are now required to submit data to be considered for the second round,” Dunn said. A Finalist Selection Committee, made up of former community college presidents, researchers and policy experts, look over the applications and choose 10 they think are best qualified. The four areas they use to critique are completion outcomes, labor market outcomes, learning outcomes, and equitable outcomes. The 10 finalists will then be announced in the fall of this year. The last round consists of twoday site visits, which are conducted to each of the finalist colleges in order to observe the campus up close and gather additional information through interviews with staff members as well as students. A winner is then selected along with four finalists-withdistinction and publicized in early 2015.