Wildcat statue nameless no more

This article was originally pulished in the Kentucky Kernel.

Wildcat statue nameless no more
By Jennifer Abreu

Meet Bowman.

Bowman is the winning name voted on by students for the 7-foot bronze wildcat statue in front of Memorial Coliseum.

Bowman was named after John Bryan Bowman, an innovator whose belief in education contributed to what we know as the University of Kentucky today.

The history from the name chosen is important, said community and leadership development professor Rebekah Epps.

“We have a really rich history on campus that is not talked about, so I am excited that students incorporated that,” she said.

The sculpture has been a UK trademark since its installation in April but had since been nameless.

The UK Alumni Association let students choose the name of the statue.

Early into fall semester, students could suggest names.

Leslie Hayes, program director at the Alumni Association, said most of the names were related to athletics.

“But we wanted something that would be timeless, and representative of all campus,”  she said.

A committee made up of students selected three favorite names to compete for students’ votes: Bowman, Victor and Champ.

The winning name, suggested by student Mills Armbruster, was announced during the homecoming pep rally last week.

Being able to participate in something that affects the entire campus connects students to UK even when they become alumni, Hayes said.

“After they graduate they look back and know that they were part of that,” she said.

Hayes said she is satisfied with the participation and the decision students made.

“I really like the historic tie, bringing new and old traditions,” she said. “(Bowman) intertwines past and present.”

Capilouto vaccinated in support of American Pharmacists Month

This article was published in the Kentucky Kernel
Some small corrections have been made from the original article

Capilouto vaccinated in support of American Pharmacists Month
By Jennifer Abreu
jabreu@kykernel.com

UK President Eli Capilouto received his flu shot from a third-year pharmacy student Thursday to support American Pharmacists Month and to raise awareness about the flu season.

The idea of immunizing Capilouto emerged form the College of Pharmacy and its students to emphasize the importance of the vaccination.

Jay Blanton, executive director for public relations and marketing, said in an email to the Kernel that the initiative also highlights the quality of education UK provides to its students.

“One of the tremendous things about UK is that learning is experienced in so many ways – both theoretical and hands-on,” he said.

Blanton said by also bringing attention to American Pharmacists Month, the UK College of Pharmacy can be recognized.

“We are blessed to have one of the Top 5 Colleges of Pharmacy in the country,” he said, “Highlighting the work of these students and health-care professionals is important because it underscores the diversity of careers involved in pharmacy, as well as the incredible experience our students receive at UK.”

The student who immunized Capilouto is pharmacy junior Bridgette Kanz.

She said in an email to the Kernel that Capilouto was only the third person she had vaccinated.

“I was nervous,” she said, “but once I met Dr. Capilouto it really felt like any other patient encounter, and I felt very confident in my skills and training.”

Kanz, who is also a pharmacy intern at UK Chandler Hospital, said hands-on experience is what’s most important.

“The difference with a top 5 school is our level of involvement in the community,” she said. “We are already reaching out to make a difference in healthcare before we’ve even graduated.”

Kanz encourages all students to get a flu shot and reminds that prevention is key.

“The most important reason to get a flu shot is prevention. Not only to prevent yourself from getting sick, but to prevent your boyfriend, your best friend, your roommate or your cute little niece that you visit on the weekend,” she said.

Students and staff can also get their flu shots. Flu sessions are being held around campus throughout the week.

University Health Services is vaccinating Tuesday outside Big Blue Deli from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Wednesday, at the Johnson Recreational Center, from 4 to 7 p.m.

The first 50 individuals to come to this clinic will receive a UHS thermometer. The last session on campus is Oct. 25 outside the Big Blue Deli from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The influenza vaccination began Oct. 1 at the Student Center and Fadyia Lowe, the UHS health education and marketing coordinator, said 80 to 100 vaccinations were provided at the a previous clinic at W.T. library.

The idea of having the clinics at different locations on campus is mainly for student’s convenience, Lowe said.

“We know that sometimes students don’t get to make it to the medical side of campus, and they may forget it’s time for flu shots and that they need it,” she said.

Lowe said overall the UK Health Services has received a “great response” from the campus community, and that she expects more people will show up to get vaccinated.

“Everyone is all about protecting themselves,” she said.

The shot costs $10 for students with a student ID and free with a valid UK AHP Student Insurance card.

For staff with ID it costs $20.

Students will be able to utilize their Plus accounts, Lowe said.

Latino festival draws multicultural crowd

This article was originally published in the Kentucky Kernel on Oct. 5, 2012

 

An event Thursday evening featured a salsa dancing stage, a history board game, Brazilian music performance and Loteria, a Mexican board game.

People crowded the Small Ballroom in the Student Center to participate in UK’s first Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month Campus Celebration.

Carlos Marin, assistant dean for community and cultural engagement, estimated more than 120 attended.

The H/LHM Core Planning Team had initially expected 70 people and set up for 90, Marin said.

Marin said the celebration to honor Latin heritage month was to connect Latinos at UK to each other and also to the campus community.

“We not only wanted to respond to the needs of Latino students, staff and faculty on campus, we also wanted to find out ways to be proactive, to give back to the university,” Marin said.

Marin was surprised at the diversity in attendance and said the event received a “multicultural response.”

Kevin Malone, a geology sophomore, appreciated UK’s initiative.

“I think this is a culture that is underrepresented here because Latin America is just below us,” he said.

Malone, who spent a year in Spain, also made a suggestion.

“I wish they had incorporated the more modern culture and music, representing what’s going on in Latin America right now, rather than the more traditional,” he said, “but overall, I enjoyed it.”

A visitor from Ecuador, Dr. Luis Alberto Tuaza, is working on his postdoctoral at UK and also attended the event.

Tuaza said he met people from Colombia, Peru, Mexico and France and said that sharing culture is important.

“Here in the U.S. there is room for sharing, and that’s when life is more enjoyable, when we can share and be united,” he said.

Tuaza is staying for a month in the U.S. and is speaking at the Global Mountain Region Conference on Oct. 26 hosted by the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program.

Sneha Thapa, in her first year of graduate school in anthropology, was giving salsa lessons throughout the celebration.

Thapa learned how to salsa in Nepal, where she is from, and said she danced with about 10 people, including “a little girl, and she was so cute,” she said.

“I learned a lot about people,” she said, “I met people from Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico.”

The Latino heritage month celebration on campus wraps up Oct. 12 with the Politics of Latin American Migration in Student Center Room 230 from 2 to 3 p.m.

Professor David Cook-Martin from Grinnell College and professor Chirstian Zlolniski from the University of Texas will be speaking to discuss migration policies in the U.S. and Latin America.