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TEG WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016 H V V V PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING H H FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895 E L E C T I O N 2 0 1 6 H V V V H ESU STUDENTS EXPERIENCE IOWA CAUCUS By John Robinson [email protected] A group of eight students from Emporia State University attended the Iowa caucus on Monday night for a chance to see the event firsthand. “There are polls, there are straw polls, there are other things which happen before, but there was an actual delegate selection and Iowa is the first one,” said Michael Smith, associate professor of political science at ESU. “I thought ‘well, heck, that’s the same region of the country, we should be able to get out there.’ Of course it’s also February but we decided to do it anyway.” The group attended the caucus held at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where they were given the Please see Students, Page 5 Good Evening VVV Get involved! WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM H AREA LEADERS REACT TO IOWA CAUCUS By John Robinson [email protected] COURTESY PHOTO A group of nine Emporia State University students had the opportunity to travel to Indianola, Iowa to observe the Iowa caucus. COURTESY PHOTO COURTESY PHOTO With the conclusion of the Iowa caucuses on Monday evening, the heads of both the Republican and Democratic parties of Lyon County reacted to the results and looked forward to the Kansas caucuses on March 5. Ted Cruz was the winner in the Republican caucus, finishing ahead of Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, while on the Democratic side Hillary Clinton edged out a narrow victory over Bernie Sanders. “Well I think the one thing you can say about the Republicans is we have lots of options,” said Charles Steffes, head of the Lyon County Republicans. “There are plenty of choices and I think there is somebody out there for everybody.” There were 12 different candidates on the Republican ballot and, with the removal of Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul, who suspended their campaigns after the caucus, Republican voters still have 10 different candidates to choose from. “Once the field gets narrowed down ... we’ll have some very good options to pick from,” Steffes said. Please see Reactions, Page 5 FINAL IMAGINE EMPORIA TOGETHER VISION PLANNING MEETING HELD By Jessie Wagoner [email protected] KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE Michael Smith speaks during an open forum as one of three candidates for the Emporia State Foundation president on Tuesday. Smith is the former University of Rhode Island Foundation president. FIRST CANDIDATE FOR ESU FOUNDATION PRESIDENT POSITION MEETS WITH COMMUNITY By Jessie Wagoner [email protected] The first candidate for the Emporia State University Foundation president position participated in a community forum on Tuesday morning. Michael Smith met with Emporia State University employees, students and community members. Smith says his ties to Emporia date back to  the fourth grade when his family moved to the area. Smith graduated from Emporia High School and then continued his education at Kansas State University. “I have very fond memories of Emporia,” Smith said. “This is a great community to raise a family in.” Smith was the director of con- stituent development and director of development at the University of Kansas for eight years. For 15 years he was the vice president of development at Kansas State University. Most recently, Smith has served as president of the University of Rhode Island Foundation. When asked about a significant challenge he has overcome as a foundation president and how he overcame it, Smith recalled a recent experience at the University of Rhode Island. When he entered that position, only 5.8 percent of alumni were giving to the foundation. He said connecting with and developing communication with alumni was one way that barrier was overcome. “One of the biggest challenges was participation,” Smith said. “The key is, you have to communicate in different ways, in so many different ways. We started VOL. 124, NO. 184 Please see Smith, Page 5 Community members used stickers and coins to rank goals at the final Imagine Emporia Together community vision planning meeting on Tuesday evening. The community vision process began in June of 2015 as a way for the City of Emporia to develop goals, objectives and action steps for Emporia to achieve in the next five to ten years. Early on in the planning process, led by Shockey Consulting, five desired outcomes emerged. Those include growth, diversification, revitalization, advancement and promotion. Using feedback from community members, a steering committee, stakeholder interviews and an online survey, the following 11 goals were identified. ✦✦Increase population by 10 percent (2,500) by 2025. ✦✦Increase well-paying jobs by 1,650 by 2025. ✦✦Keep local dollars within the local economy. JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE Community members viewed the different goals of the community vision plan at the Imagine Emporia Together meeting on Tuesday. Attendees were given stickers to identify which goals are urgent and which are important. The information will help the steering committee implement the community vision plan.  ✦✦Ensure the educational in✦✦Increase the number of housstitutions in Emporia have ing units built by 200 by 2025. adequate resources to support ✦✦Expand recreational and culstudent learning. tural programs to meet the ✦✦Increase citizen engagement needs of all residents. and collaboration to organize ✦✦Reinvent and rehabilitate existaround community endeavors. ing commercial buildings or ✦✦Increase the annual number of areas of concern. visitors to Emporia. ✦✦Enhance community services  As part of the community vision planning process a community proand programs. file was c