TEG
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2015
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TRAVEL ALERT CONCERNS
HOLIDAY TRAVELERS
By Kerri Jackson
[email protected]
ESU STUDENTS DIVIDED ON
CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Students at state universities
throughout Kansas had the opportunity to complete a survey
about concealed carry on campus
and a number of Emporia State
University students expressed
their opinions. The preliminary
results of the survey, which more
than 20,000 students took, have
now been released.
Survey results vary based on
the campus. Some campuses,
like Emporia State, saw a split
between students saying they approve of campus concealed carry
while others are opposed. When
all state universities were averaged, 42 percent said concealed
carry would not affect their decision to attend and 42 percent
said that it would make them less
likely to attend.
Those results were nearly
identical for Emporia State students. Forty-three percent of Emporia State University students
said they would be less likely
to attend a Kansas university if
concealed carry was allowed on
campus while 44 percent said
that concealed carry would not
affect their decision to attend.
Thirteen percent of the Emporia
State students surveyed said they
would be more likely to attend if
concealed carry was allowed.
Please see Guns, Page 3
On Nov. 23, the U.S. Passports
and International Travel division of
the U.S. Department of State issued
a press release alerting international travelers of potential travel risks.
The press release stated: “The
State Department alerts U.S. citizens to possible risks of travel due to
increased terrorist threats. Current
information suggests that ISIL (aka
Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram,
and other terrorist groups continue
to plan terrorist attacks in multiple
regions. These attacks may employ
a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional
weapons and targeting both official
and private interests. This Travel
Alert expires on Feb. 24, 2016.”
The alert, as well as recent terrorist attacks, have many holiday
travelers and students returning
from or preparing to depart for
study abroad trips concerned.
Gonzalo Bruce, Dean of International Education at Emporia State
University, said that he’s heard
those concerns from students and
parents of students currently studying abroad.
“Particularly, we (had a group
in) Paraguay, and they were the
ones who had the most concerns
about this travel warning,” said
Bruce. “Because their trip was only
a month, we concluded that it was
better to finish the whole thing and
not disrupt.”
He acknowledged, however, that
he has not seen an increase in the
number of students who originally
planned to study abroad next semester deciding otherwise.
“We have had cancellations of
students who are scheduled to
study abroad, but they have not
really explicitly told us that it’s because of the travel warning or the
security concerns or anything like
that,” said Bruce. “I wouldn’t say
there are more than usual.”
ESU also had six students studying abroad in Europe during that
time. Bruce said that he has not
heard concerns from those students.
Courtney Crosby is one of the
ESU students that studied in the
U.S. Virgin Islands recently. Crosby
said that although the attacks and
warnings did cause concern, she
wasn’t going to let it affect her experience.
“At the time of hearing about
all of these separate events taking
place, it did make me think twice
about traveling for anything in the
near future. Shortly after the attacks in Paris, authorities actually
detained three Syrians on the island
of St. Maarten on Nov. 14, which is
pretty close to where I am. Whether
or not they were a part of anything,
it still had me thinking that unfortunate events can happen anywhere at
anytime,” said Crosby.
“I did receive an email from my
home coordinator telling all of us
students who were studying abroad
to try and avoid any unnecessary
traveling if possible.”
Please see Alert, Page 3
The Emporia Gazette polled Facebook followers about whether
the recent terrorist attacks and travel alert will affect their travel
plans. The results of the 203 poll responders are shown above.
HETLINGER BRINGS HOLIDAY CHEER TO STAFF AND CLIENTS
By Kerri Jackson
[email protected]
Hetlinger Developmental Services, Inc. celebrated
their annual day-long Christmas party on Monday. Clients and employees alike got
to join in on the fun, which
began with a drawing of
names for gifts that morning.
Following the gift drawing, all in attendance enjoyed
Little Caesars pizza, then
headed to the workshop for
a carousel of fun, Christmasoriented stations.
Dale Childears, one of the
clients in attendance, won
several prizes at the different
stations. When asked which
was his favorite, he began
listing them all.
Michelle Pendlay said her
favorite part of the day was
the snowball throw, where
they got to throw whipped
cream at the face of the new
Director of Day Services, Jon
Gausman. Gausman agreed
that there was definitely a
favorite workshop this year.
“It was the snowball
throw this year! First time
for everything, I guess,” said
Gausman, who got the brunt
of the whipped cream throwing.
Other stations included
activities such as musical
chairs, sugar cookie decorating and bingo.
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Judy Hodge, left, and Tammy Maley, right, both staff members at Hetlinger, smile
while talking to Santa during their Christmas party on Monday.
“We do the stations because, with such a large
group, it’s easier to control
it,” said Tammy Maley, the
human resources training
coordinator who has &VVখ