LAWRENCE
L AWRENCE J OURNAL -WORLD
| 7A.
X Sunday, May 22, 2011
From the school of hard knocks to KU grad By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
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ONLINE: See the video at LJWorld.com
Mathew Shepard will admit he’s probably a little more into metaphors and deep thoughts than most folks. So, in a way, it’s a good thing that the graduating senior who went to high school in the small western Kansas town of Norton was the one who helped design and create the class motto, banner and class gift. The class gift, in fact, is a display that will showcase the banners in the Kansas Union. Shepard said he knows that many students in his class have probably never heard of the class motto or know about the banner, but he thinks it will likely have a significance for them later. He knows, because he’s talked with alumni who feel that way. “A lot of students don’t care, but I think 20 to 30 years down the road, they’ll care about these things,” he said. The motto is “Began with dreams. Created legacies. Continuing the Tradition.” The beginning part, Shepard said, is partially a nod to the basketball title the class experienced during their freshman year. And that capital “T” references the unique traditions at KU. Shepard said he’s heard of other universities that sing their alma mater in Latin, so few people know the words, much less the meaning of what they’re singing. He’s glad it’s not like that at KU. Clinton Everhart, associate director of admissions for KU, serves as the adviser for the Board of Class Officers, which selects the motto, banner and class gift. Everhart said Shepard seemed to have a “passion for excellence” in all that he
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
KANSAS UNIVERSITY GRADUATING SENIOR MATHEW SHEPARD is pictured Monday with the class of 2011 banner, which he helped design. does. That includes the class gift stuff. “He definitely put a lot of effort and energy into those things,” Everhart said. Growing up, Shepard said, he faced his share of difficulties. He won a scholarship named for Horatio Alger, the rags-to-riches author popular in the 19th century. His mother died when he was 13. He hasn’t spoken to his father in two years, and he has had to contribute to raising his two younger sisters in a significant way. He said he might describe his family growing up as a middle-class family, but that’s probably a stretch, he concedes now. Even still, he always knew he’d finish college, even though his parents never did. Maybe, he said, particularly because his parents never did. “It’s never been a goal, it’s always been a ‘this will happen,’” Shepard said. No one from his family will watch him carry the banner he helped design down the hill. His little sister is graduating from high school just hours after the KU ceremony, so he encouraged his family
to go to that one. It’s smaller and more personal, he said, so it just makes sense. “The people I rely on most are my friends,” he said, who will be there en masse. Limited on cash for school, he applied to only KU and Kansas State, but fell in love with KU, where he said he seemed to click. Shepard is one of those students who’s involved in practically everything — he’s done marching band, the glee club, been a leader at Krehbiel Scholarship Hall and even participated in one year of Student Senate (though he didn’t particularly fit with that crowd, he remembered), along with much more. He’s paid for school with the help of numerous scholarships, and has received numerous awards, including a chancellor’s award that comes with a lifetime membership to the KU Alumni Association. Shepard wants to go into higher education administration, and so he’s a little more plugged in to what’s going on in the KU administration than most. He has also spent time working in
SmartStar Family CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
structure where energy is the most expensive when demand is at the highest. The technology also will make it easier for Westar to find and alert customers to power outages. Since installing the meters, the company has been manually reading them to make sure the amount of electricity being used matches with the wireless data. So far, it has. “We want to be sure that everything is working correctly and everyone is being billed correctly,” Jensen said. Westar had originally set late spring as the date for the rest of the 44,000 meters to go up in Lawrence. The time frame has since been moved back to late July. It should take four months for Westar to reach all of the city. When smart meters are installed this summer, residents should be able to go online the next day and begin monitoring their energy usage. The delay of the second round of smart meter installation doesn’t have anything to do with the meter technology, Jensen said. Instead, crews continue to work on updating the electric company’s massive technology infrastructure in Topeka. The back-end technology upgrades that are being made in Topeka are intended to support all of Westar’s 687,000 customers. “It truly is a huge amount of technology that has to go in several different components that has to be aligned with all the other systems that Westar has,” Jensen said. “We don’t want to rush through that.” — Reporter Christine Metz can be reached at 832-6352.
Jorge said the learning environment and English as a Second Language program in Lawrence public schools CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A were strong. He added, “I think it was experience turned into a the right decision” coming great one, he said, crediting here. his father and mother, Kemly After graduating from Regidor, his teachers at Lawrence High School, IgnaSouthwest Junior High and cio enrolled at JCCC and then the fact that few peoreceived a Jack Kent ple in town spoke Cooke Foundation Spanish. scholarship to go to “You had to speak KU. English, otherwise Ignacio said that you couldn’t talk to coming to Lawrence people,” he said. has been a blessing. He also has three “I have found KANSAS sisters — twins Maria UNIVERSITY incredibly beautiful and Marta who are people here,” he said. students at Johnson County He’s not staying, however. Community College, and After graduation, he is headMonica, an eighth-grader. ed to University of Texas at Ignacio has also written Austin for graduate school. poetry for years, and has “The world is so big,” he hosted “Word,” a program on said, “and I want to see as KU student radio station much of it as I can.” KJHK . The prog ram is — Staff writer Scott Rothschild can be devoted to poetry and hipreached at 785-423-0668. hop.
1339 Massachusetts
Spring Styles Have Arrived
LJWorld.com and Kansas University are bringing you live coverage of 2011 KU Commencement. Log on to LJWorld.com today at 10 a.m. to watch the annual walk down the hill and commencement ceremony via live stream. If the event is delayed by rain, the live stream will begin based on the rain delay schedule. Reporter Christine Metz will be posting updates throughout the day, and if you're on Twitter, you can be part of our coverage by tagging your tweets with the #kugrads hashtag. Tweets with #kugrads will appear just below the live stream player on LJWorld.com. the provost’s office. So he knows about ongoing efforts to front-load scholarship money. There’s a lot of funds available for juniors and seniors and KU, but when he applied to KU and KState, K-State offered him more upfront money. Shepard turned it down anyway, but he saw the appeal of more funds. It’s stuff like that, he said, that he’d like to help figure out in other places — how to best get students the help they need to succeed. Armed with his bachelor’s degrees in economics and environmental studies, he’ll be headed to the University of Vermont to get a master’s degree, with a Ph.D. likely to follow, he said. “It’s so inspiring to be in a place where knowledge is the goal,” he said. — Higher education reporter Andy Hyland can be reached at 832-6388. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/LJW_KU.
For Grads Luggage Sale
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City band returning to South Park South Park soon will be emitting smooth tunes again as the Lawrence City Band begins the 2011 season. The local tradition will grace the bandstand in the downtown park starting Wednesday. The eight-week season, with music starting at 8 p.m. every Wednesday, is free and open to the public. The tail end of the season features some of the most popular events, including the annual Children’s Concert on July 6 and the finale, which includes the 1812 Overture, fireworks and cannon fire on July 13. The events are sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department and assisted by the Rice Foundation.
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Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Benefit for Huntington’s Disease Research and Gary Glover. Special thanks to: Scotty & Martha Wenzel Ras Neville and Kingstonians • The Prairie Village People Billy Ebeling • Mike Logan and The Granada Bo March • Debbie Dillon Thanks to these local donors whose generous contributions are the reason Lawrence has earned the reputation as a community who cares for each other Martin Logan • Wanda Allen Fine Jewelry • Angler’s Seafood House • The Mirth Café • Tellers • Slimmer Automotive • Glen Sohl – Hedges Realty Executives • Kirsten Fitch – The Blue Dot Salon • Free State Brewery • Jayhawk Guttering • JHS Home Designs • Mike Alexander • Papa Keno’s • Pella Doors & Windows • Accent Pet Grooming • Greensprings Massage Therapy • Toni Brou • Fleetwood Mowers • Signs of Life • Smith Service Company • Stoneback Appliances • Lawrence Lawn Care • Alvamar Golf Course • Colorport • Marks Jewelers • Arlo March • Dean Schmanke • Craig & Michael Knabel • Ruth Knabel • Gwen Wiens • Jerry & Barbara Goforth • Jayvee & Jools Viaene • Sara Ann Gallagher • Shamrock Tree Service
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