If you’ve read this column regularly over the past several years, you know how much I love commencement weekend at Fort Hays State University. For the graduating students and their families, this is a time of tremendous joy, and it is an honor and a privilege for me to greet each one as they cross the stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Several days after our spring commencement weekend in May, I received a note from Mallory Fischer. For Mallory, graduation day was a celebration ten tough years in the making. After years of struggling to find her way, she decided to take control of her life. “I made a lot of mistakes. I got kicked out of college. I was basically homeless. Finally, I decided I didn’t want to be mediocre anymore,” said Mallory.&nbsp;

In 2014, Mallory enrolled at Seward Community College in Liberal, where she went on to earn two associate’s degrees that led to her starting a career as a certified surgical technologist. She then came to FHSU in 2019 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology with the goal of becoming a physician’s assistant. At FHSU, Mallory decided to pursue a minor in Chemistry and began working in the department.&nbsp;

Four days before graduation, Mallory was studying in the Memorial Union. She looked out the window and saw a group of students playing volleyball on the quad. She decided to take a break and join in the action. In the heat of competition, Mallory recalls hearing and feeling a “pop” as she fell to the grass. While on the ground and initially a bit embarrassed after her tumble, she noticed that the lower half of her leg-didn’t look right. As the result of the fall, Mallory ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), suffered several micro-fractures in her lower leg, and strained both her posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and her medial collateral ligament (MCL). In short, very little was holding her leg together below her knee.

Immediately, her fellow students, most of whom she didn’t even know, sprung to her aid. Several headed for the Medical Services office in the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success to help. They came back with a medical team and a wheelchair. While waiting for the medical staff to arrive, graduate student Misael Trejo sat with Mallory and kept her calm and alert.&nbsp;

Mallory admits that she probably should have gone immediately to the Hays Medical Center, but at the time insisted on going home to Dodge City to seek the attention of an orthopedist she knew well and trusted from her time working in the operating room.&nbsp;

It was about this time, just a few days before the graduation ceremony she had looked forward to for so long, that Mallory began to despair. Before she could even think about it and how she might be able to participate in commencement, she still had one more exam she had to complete-a chemistry final. With her leg secured in a brace but still suffering from significant pain from a major injury that would require an operation, Mallory made the trek back to campus to take her final. She recalls three things from this last academic challenge. First, she cried most of the way through the exam.&nbsp;Second, she bombed the test. And third, her professor, Dr. Krisztina&nbsp;Benze, was there to remind her that she had done so well in the class that failing her exam final would have no bearing on her grade or her being able to graduate.&nbsp;

Relieved as she was to complete all of her academic requirements despite the injury, Mallory still doubted whether she would be able to physically make it into the ceremony and participate with her graduating class as she had envisioned. That’s when her mentors in the Chemistry Department stepped in.&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Benze, Dr. Arvin Cruz,&nbsp;and Dr. James&nbsp;Balthazor&nbsp;were adamant. They told her she had no choice. They told her they all had decided that she would graduate with her class, and they would be there to support her throughout the event.&nbsp;

Mallory then decided to reach out to the Office of the Provost to explore any accommodations the university might make so she could participate at some level. She really wanted to process with her fellow graduates and walk across the stage to receive her diploma, but she was ready to accept something lesser if she could still attend the ceremony. Executive Administrative Specialist Cynthia Cline answered her phone call. She is one of our principal commencement ceremony organizers. Cline told her not to worry. She would meet Mallory at Gross Memorial Coliseum on the morning of the event and ensure everything would be OK.&nbsp;

Mallory arrived on graduation morning, and Cynthia&nbsp;was there as promised. She told Mallory that her significant other could sit with her and push her wheelchair as necessary. While Mallory was waiting for the event to begin, she encountered Dr.&nbsp;Balthazor. She told him she thought she was going to her seat on the coliseum floor ahead of the student procession and would probably miss joining this part of the event.&nbsp;Balthazor, slated to guide the procession as a commencement marshal, told her that not only would she participate in the procession, she would lead it! He then stepped behind her wheelchair, and Mallory, with the help of her friend and mentor, Dr.&nbsp;Balthazor, led the procession.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In her email to me, Mallory shared these thoughts:

I am so proud of how far I have come, and thanks to this incredible university, I was able to celebrate this very special day in front of my friends and family.&nbsp;

FHSU is my happy place. I received an excellent education that has prepared me for my future and simultaneously allowed me to cultivate relationships I will always treasure with many brilliant professors and my fellow students. I will miss this campus dearly. And I will never forget the kindness the professors, staff, and students provided me throughout this experience. You have an amazing team.&nbsp;

Thank you, Mallory. I think you are right. We do have an amazing team at FHSU. I call it our “ethic of care,” and it’s&nbsp;a fine description of&nbsp;the&nbsp;compassionate and caring people who make this&nbsp;university community&nbsp;special.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575301942236.jpeg" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>If you’ve read this column regularly over the past several years, you know how much I love commencement weekend at Fort Hays State University. For the graduating students and their families, this is a time of tremendous joy, and it is an honor and a privilege for me to greet each one as they cross the stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;Several days after our spring commencement weekend in May, I received a note from Mallory Fischer. For Mallory, graduation day was a celebration ten tough years in the making. After years of struggling to find her way, she decided to take control of her life. “I made a lot of mistakes. I got kicked out of college. I was basically homeless. Finally, I decided I didn’t want to be mediocre anymore,” said Mallory.&nbsp;In 2014, Mallory enrolled at Seward Community College in Liberal, where she went on to earn two associate’s degrees that led to her starting a career as a certified surgical technologist. She then came to FHSU in 2019 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology with the goal of becoming a physician’s assistant. At FHSU, Mallory decided to pursue a minor in Chemistry and began working in the department.&nbsp;Four days before graduation, Mallory was studying in the Memorial Union. She looked out the window and saw a group of students playing volleyball on the quad. She decided to take a break and join in the action. In the heat of competition, Mallory recalls hearing and feeling a “pop” as she fell to the grass. While on the ground and initially a bit embarrassed after her tumble, she noticed that the lower half of her leg-didn’t look right. As the result of the fall, Mallory ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), suffered several micro-fractures in her lower leg, and strained both her posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and her medial collateral ligament (MCL). In short, very little was holding her leg together below her knee.Immediately, her fellow students, most of whom she didn’t even know, sprung to her aid. Several headed for the Medical Services office in the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success to help. They came back with a medical team and a wheelchair. While waiting for the medical staff to arrive, graduate student Misael Trejo sat with Mallory and kept her calm and alert.&nbsp;Mallory admits that she probably should have gone immediately to the Hays Medical Center, but at the time insisted on going home to Dodge City to seek the attention of an orthopedist she knew well and trusted from her time working in the operating room.&nbsp;It was about this time, just a few days before the graduation ceremony she had looked forward to for so long, that Mallory began to despair. Before she could even think about it and how she might be able to participate in commencement, she still had one more exam she had to complete-a chemistry final. With her leg secured in a brace but still suffering from significant pain from a major injury that would require an operation, Mallory made the trek back to campus to take her final. She recalls three things from this last academic challenge. First, she cried most of the way through the exam.&nbsp;Second, she bombed the test. And third, her professor, Dr. Krisztina&nbsp;Benze, was there to remind her that she had done so well in the class that failing her exam final would have no bearing on her grade or her being able to graduate.&nbsp;Relieved as she was to complete all of her academic requirements despite the injury, Mallory still doubted whether she would be able to physically make it into the ceremony and participate with her graduating class as she had envisioned. That’s when her mentors in the Chemistry Department stepped in.&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Benze, Dr. Arvin Cruz,&nbsp;and Dr. James&nbsp;Balthazor&nbsp;were adamant. They told her she had no choice. They told her they all had decided that she would graduate with her class, and they would be there to support her throughout the event.&nbsp;Mallory then decided to reach out to the Office of the Provost to explore any accommodations the university might make so she could participate at some level. She really wanted to process with her fellow graduates and walk across the stage to receive her diploma, but she was ready to accept something lesser if she could still attend the ceremony. Executive Administrative Specialist Cynthia Cline answered her phone call. She is one of our principal commencement ceremony organizers. Cline told her not to worry. She would meet Mallory at Gross Memorial Coliseum on the morning of the event and ensure everything would be OK.&nbsp;Mallory arrived on graduation morning, and Cynthia&nbsp;was there as promised. She told Mallory that her significant other could sit with her and push her wheelchair as necessary. While Mallory was waiting for the event to begin, she encountered Dr.&nbsp;Balthazor. She told him she thought she was going to her seat on the coliseum floor ahead of the student procession and would probably miss joining this part of the event.&nbsp;Balthazor, slated to guide the procession as a commencement marshal, told her that not only would she participate in the procession, she would lead it! He then stepped behind her wheelchair, and Mallory, with the help of her friend and mentor, Dr.&nbsp;Balthazor, led the procession.&nbsp;&nbsp;In her email to me, Mallory shared these thoughts:I am so proud of how far I have come, and thanks to this incredible university, I was able to celebrate this very special day in front of my friends and family.&nbsp;FHSU is my happy place. I received an excellent education that has prepared me for my future and simultaneously allowed me to cultivate relationships I will always treasure with many brilliant professors and my fellow students. I will miss this campus dearly. And I will never forget the kindness the professors, staff, and students provided me throughout this experience. You have an amazing team.&nbsp;Thank you, Mallory. I think you are right. We do have an amazing team at FHSU. I call it our “ethic of care,” and it’s&nbsp;a fine description of&nbsp;the&nbsp;compassionate and caring people who make this&nbsp;university community&nbsp;special.&nbsp;

MASON: Team Mallory

In vitro fertilization (IVF) faces an uncertain future in Kansas if the abortion amendment on the August 2nd ballot passes.&nbsp;

The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned precedent on&nbsp;Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion. Voters now have a direct say in whether abortion remains legal in Kansas.&nbsp;

If the abortion amendment passes with a “yes” vote, then the Kansas legislature can ban abortion under any circumstance. If the amendment fails with a “no” vote, then abortion remains legal but heavily restricted in Kansas.&nbsp;

Quoting the Mayo Clinic, IVF “is a complex series of procedures used to help with fertility or prevent genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

IVF involves medication and surgery to implant fertilized eggs in a uterus. It often involves fertilizing multiple embryos to increase the chance of a successful and healthy pregnancy.&nbsp;

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that about 2 percent of annual American births occur via IVF. Americans who use the procedure often face infertility challenges and recurrent miscarriage due to genetic problems.&nbsp;

Vague language in state abortion bans threatens IVF. Many bans declare that life begins at fertilization. They criminalize terminating fertilized embryos and the broad wording in many can readily be interpreted as criminalizing IVF. Indeed, doctors are widely concerned that abortion bans might soon be used to ban or limit IVF.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The easy “fix” to safeguard IVF is for politicians to explicitly exempt it from abortion bans. However, many conservative politicians are reluctant to do that.&nbsp;

A recent&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;analysis documents that dozens of anti-abortion bills introduced in state legislatures since 2010 fail to explicitly safeguard IVF. That includes Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This year, a conservative lawmaker in Kansas introduced House Bill (HB) 2746. It bans abortion except in very limited circumstances, with no exception for rape, incest, or many threats to a woman’s life or health. It makes no apparent exception for IVF.&nbsp;&nbsp;

HB 2746 didn’t pass, but the Republican House Majority Leader didn’t rule out considering it in 2023 when speaking to the&nbsp;Kansas City Star.&nbsp;

National surveys show that only about 15 percent of Americans consider IVF immoral. That minority skews toward Republican-leaning religious conservatives.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Many conservative politicians who are anti-abortion might worry that defending IVF will anger Republican primary voters, perhaps fearing twisted campaign accusations of being “pro-abortion.”&nbsp;

Other conservative politicians openly oppose IVF on moral grounds, though they rarely propose banning it. The closest Kansas has come to an IVF ban is when Republicans considered Senate Bill 302 in 2014. That bill, which failed, criminalized surrogate pregnancy in Kansas, and applied to IVF and artificial insemination.&nbsp;

If the August abortion amendment fails, then the Kansas legislature cannot pass an abortion ban that might ultimately threaten IVF in our state.&nbsp;

But, if the abortion amendment passes, then the Kansas legislature could pass an abortion ban like HB 2746 that doesn’t safeguard IVF. That would leave the legal status of IVF in Kansas in limbo.&nbsp;

Some conservative lawmakers might be perfectly content to intentionally “oops” their way into threatening IVF despite there being an easy out to that situation. But, the easy political choice for politicians could cost Kansans seeking fertility treatment, and ultimately harm Kansas families.&nbsp;

Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575644168170.png" alt="Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>In vitro fertilization (IVF) faces an uncertain future in Kansas if the abortion amendment on the August 2nd ballot passes.&nbsp;The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned precedent on&nbsp;Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion. Voters now have a direct say in whether abortion remains legal in Kansas.&nbsp;If the abortion amendment passes with a “yes” vote, then the Kansas legislature can ban abortion under any circumstance. If the amendment fails with a “no” vote, then abortion remains legal but heavily restricted in Kansas.&nbsp;What is IVF?&nbsp;Quoting the Mayo Clinic, IVF “is a complex series of procedures used to help with fertility or prevent genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IVF involves medication and surgery to implant fertilized eggs in a uterus. It often involves fertilizing multiple embryos to increase the chance of a successful and healthy pregnancy.&nbsp;The Centers for Disease Control estimates that about 2 percent of annual American births occur via IVF. Americans who use the procedure often face infertility challenges and recurrent miscarriage due to genetic problems.&nbsp;How do abortion bans affect IVF?&nbsp;Vague language in state abortion bans threatens IVF. Many bans declare that life begins at fertilization. They criminalize terminating fertilized embryos and the broad wording in many can readily be interpreted as criminalizing IVF. Indeed, doctors are widely concerned that abortion bans might soon be used to ban or limit IVF.&nbsp;&nbsp;The easy “fix” to safeguard IVF is for politicians to explicitly exempt it from abortion bans. However, many conservative politicians are reluctant to do that.&nbsp;A recent&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;analysis documents that dozens of anti-abortion bills introduced in state legislatures since 2010 fail to explicitly safeguard IVF. That includes Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;This year, a conservative lawmaker in Kansas introduced House Bill (HB) 2746. It bans abortion except in very limited circumstances, with no exception for rape, incest, or many threats to a woman’s life or health. It makes no apparent exception for IVF.&nbsp;&nbsp;HB 2746 didn’t pass, but the Republican House Majority Leader didn’t rule out considering it in 2023 when speaking to the&nbsp;Kansas City Star.&nbsp;Why not shield IVF?&nbsp;National surveys show that only about 15 percent of Americans consider IVF immoral. That minority skews toward Republican-leaning religious conservatives.&nbsp;&nbsp;Many conservative politicians who are anti-abortion might worry that defending IVF will anger Republican primary voters, perhaps fearing twisted campaign accusations of being “pro-abortion.”&nbsp;Other conservative politicians openly oppose IVF on moral grounds, though they rarely propose banning it. The closest Kansas has come to an IVF ban is when Republicans considered Senate Bill 302 in 2014. That bill, which failed, criminalized surrogate pregnancy in Kansas, and applied to IVF and artificial insemination.&nbsp;How does August matter?&nbsp;If the August abortion amendment fails, then the Kansas legislature cannot pass an abortion ban that might ultimately threaten IVF in our state.&nbsp;But, if the abortion amendment passes, then the Kansas legislature could pass an abortion ban like HB 2746 that doesn’t safeguard IVF. That would leave the legal status of IVF in Kansas in limbo.&nbsp;Some conservative lawmakers might be perfectly content to intentionally “oops” their way into threatening IVF despite there being an easy out to that situation. But, the easy political choice for politicians could cost Kansans seeking fertility treatment, and ultimately harm Kansas families.&nbsp;Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

INSIGHT KANSAS: Abortion and the future of IVF treatment

A few years ago, while out cruising the backroads near Inman, we discovered a group of blue heron nests high in trees along the river. We stop by each spring to check on them and to marvel at the&nbsp;almost comical sight of great blue herons standing tall in the middle of hodge-podge collections of twigs and leaves in the top of cottonwood trees. We checked on them just recently, and they are there again this year. I’m reminded of a&nbsp;funny&nbsp;conversation I had&nbsp;with a nursing home resident a couple years before I retired.

That particular day&nbsp;while walking down the hall at&nbsp;the large nursing home where I worked as a maintenance technician, I passed by a sunroom where an elder was working on a crossword puzzle. Liz&nbsp;was&nbsp;a classy lady whom I love talking with, so I swung in for some conversation. The long windows in that sunroom overlook Inman’s nice little park pond, where a great blue heron was fishing along the bank. She saw me watching the heron and asked “Are you watching the shitepoke?”&nbsp;I turned and asked her&nbsp;“What&nbsp;did you call it?”&nbsp;“A shitepoke,” she stated; “Are you watching the shitepoke?”

I remember hearing my grandpa talk&nbsp;about shitepokes&nbsp;when I was a kid but had no idea he was talking about herons. As I stood there in the sunroom, chuckling at what Liz had&nbsp;just&nbsp;said, another elder who heard nothing of our conversation walked into the room and promptly asked “Are you&nbsp;watching that&nbsp;shitepoke&nbsp;over there?”&nbsp;

Apparently the slang name “shitepoke”&nbsp;is an old country name&nbsp;given generations ago to any member of the heron family because of behavior I guess I have never witnessed.&nbsp;Evidently herons have a habit of defecating when startled and flushed from their hunting spot, often leaving a long white ribbon of digested fish parts in the air as they flee. I searched at length but nowhere could I find a language or nationality of origin, but EVERYTHING&nbsp;I found agreed on what it meant. The last four letters “poke” literally means a sack of some sort, and&nbsp;from watching British detective shows on TV, I know&nbsp;the first five letters “shite” literally mean _ _ _ _ or excrement, thus the term “shitepoke” was meant to mean a sack of excrement.&nbsp;Apparently&nbsp;our&nbsp;ancestorsnamed the birds based on what they observed.

I also found that the term shitepoke is supposedly used&nbsp;(understandably)&nbsp;in some parts of the country as a derogatory term. The explanation went as follows: “A&nbsp;shitepoke is someone who revels in the drama of needless commotion accompanied by a lot of noise and fanfare, ultimately leaving someone else to clean up the mess. Simplified, a shitepoke is someone who’s only contribution to an issue or situation is a load of shite.”&nbsp;On one of the many&nbsp;discussion sites I visited,&nbsp;someone remembered&nbsp;never hearing their parents swear, but rather hearing them say “Oh shitepoke” when angry.

A few other common birds have nicknames that reflect something obvious about their behavior. Baltimore Orioles make those amazing hanging nests, earning them the nickname “hang nest.” American Goldfinches are also known as “thistle birds” because of their love for thistle seed.&nbsp;Cuckoos for&nbsp;some reason can&nbsp;often be heard just before a rain storm, prompting the old timers to call them “rain crows&nbsp;or storm crows,”&nbsp;and the nickname “bob white” for quail should be self-explanatory.&nbsp;

I found a few other nicknames for herons also, most of them more honorable than shitepoke.&nbsp;There was Ol’ Cranky, Big Cranky, Grandfather, Crane, Blue Crane, Gray Crane, Long John and Poor Joe. Over the years I’ve written a couple stories on great blue herons, and now I’m wondering if readers found them to be boring and mundane cause’ I’ve always just referred to them as great blue herons and never anything as interesting as shitepoke or Ol’ Cranky.&nbsp;Before my conversation with&nbsp;Liz&nbsp;ended that day, I remember asking&nbsp;if she ever heard anyone say what they thought the word shitepoke meant. She thought for a second, then said “Nope; we just always called them “shitepokes” and&nbsp;I&nbsp;guess&nbsp;that’s what they were!”

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>A few years ago, while out cruising the backroads near Inman, we discovered a group of blue heron nests high in trees along the river. We stop by each spring to check on them and to marvel at the&nbsp;almost comical sight of great blue herons standing tall in the middle of hodge-podge collections of twigs and leaves in the top of cottonwood trees. We checked on them just recently, and they are there again this year. I’m reminded of a&nbsp;funny&nbsp;conversation I had&nbsp;with a nursing home resident a couple years before I retired.That particular day&nbsp;while walking down the hall at&nbsp;the large nursing home where I worked as a maintenance technician, I passed by a sunroom where an elder was working on a crossword puzzle. Liz&nbsp;was&nbsp;a classy lady whom I love talking with, so I swung in for some conversation. The long windows in that sunroom overlook Inman’s nice little park pond, where a great blue heron was fishing along the bank. She saw me watching the heron and asked “Are you watching the shitepoke?”&nbsp;I turned and asked her&nbsp;“What&nbsp;did you call it?”&nbsp;“A shitepoke,” she stated; “Are you watching the shitepoke?”I remember hearing my grandpa talk&nbsp;about shitepokes&nbsp;when I was a kid but had no idea he was talking about herons. As I stood there in the sunroom, chuckling at what Liz had&nbsp;just&nbsp;said, another elder who heard nothing of our conversation walked into the room and promptly asked “Are you&nbsp;watching that&nbsp;shitepoke&nbsp;over there?”&nbsp;Apparently the slang name “shitepoke”&nbsp;is an old country name&nbsp;given generations ago to any member of the heron family because of behavior I guess I have never witnessed.&nbsp;Evidently herons have a habit of defecating when startled and flushed from their hunting spot, often leaving a long white ribbon of digested fish parts in the air as they flee. I searched at length but nowhere could I find a language or nationality of origin, but EVERYTHING&nbsp;I found agreed on what it meant. The last four letters “poke” literally means a sack of some sort, and&nbsp;from watching British detective shows on TV, I know&nbsp;the first five letters “shite” literally mean _ _ _ _ or excrement, thus the term “shitepoke” was meant to mean a sack of excrement.&nbsp;Apparently&nbsp;our&nbsp;ancestorsnamed the birds based on what they observed.I also found that the term shitepoke is supposedly used&nbsp;(understandably)&nbsp;in some parts of the country as a derogatory term. The explanation went as follows: “A&nbsp;shitepoke is someone who revels in the drama of needless commotion accompanied by a lot of noise and fanfare, ultimately leaving someone else to clean up the mess. Simplified, a shitepoke is someone who’s only contribution to an issue or situation is a load of shite.”&nbsp;On one of the many&nbsp;discussion sites I visited,&nbsp;someone remembered&nbsp;never hearing their parents swear, but rather hearing them say “Oh shitepoke” when angry.A few other common birds have nicknames that reflect something obvious about their behavior. Baltimore Orioles make those amazing hanging nests, earning them the nickname “hang nest.” American Goldfinches are also known as “thistle birds” because of their love for thistle seed.&nbsp;Cuckoos for&nbsp;some reason can&nbsp;often be heard just before a rain storm, prompting the old timers to call them “rain crows&nbsp;or storm crows,”&nbsp;and the nickname “bob white” for quail should be self-explanatory.&nbsp;I found a few other nicknames for herons also, most of them more honorable than shitepoke.&nbsp;There was Ol’ Cranky, Big Cranky, Grandfather, Crane, Blue Crane, Gray Crane, Long John and Poor Joe. Over the years I’ve written a couple stories on great blue herons, and now I’m wondering if readers found them to be boring and mundane cause’ I’ve always just referred to them as great blue herons and never anything as interesting as shitepoke or Ol’ Cranky.&nbsp;Before my conversation with&nbsp;Liz&nbsp;ended that day, I remember asking&nbsp;if she ever heard anyone say what they thought the word shitepoke meant. She thought for a second, then said “Nope; we just always called them “shitepokes” and&nbsp;I&nbsp;guess&nbsp;that’s what they were!”Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Shitepokes 

By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher Harvest is a farmer’s Super Bowl. It’s the culmination of a year’s work and his way to measure success. After the last load of wheat heads to town, there is a final buzz of activity. Equipment is cleaned and put away, paperwork sorted and other things neglected during harvest are checked on. The stress of constant activity, anticipation and worry, ebbs and there is room to breathe; a moment of thankfulness and rest. That brief rest is a special time for a farm family. Though a farmer’s work is never done, a fresh sense of accomplishment reminds a farmer that even God rested occasionally. The win of harvest gives farm families a small window for a holiday. Marc and I love both love to plan trips and travel to fun destinations, but he often struggles to commit to plans far enough in advance to book tickets or make firm commitments with friends. He can’t predict the weather, if irrigators will break down, when crops will be ready to harvest, if cattle fences will need unexpected mending, a storm causing damage or all the other unpredicted but steady tasks that keep farmers busy 365 days a year. But when the stars align, a brief vacation is in order. We love to grab a road map and snacks and jump in the car for a day of exploring the hidden gems of our neighboring towns in Kansas. Some people may read this and think I mean Wichita, Kansas City or one of our larger cities. Though these cities have some wonderful attractions, they are rarely the focus of our Kansas adventures. A little over a decade ago when I first moved here, the Kansas Sampler Foundation had just completed their “8 Wonders of Kansas” publications. That list joined personal recommendations from friends and our paper atlas to create ready inspiration for any of a dozen day trips we have ready for moments when the opportunity arises for us to travel this beautiful and unique state. If you have never seen the “8 Wonders of Kansas” or taken a day trip to the small towns who have pulled together resources to create museums, preserved history, share local art, or supported unique customs and businesses, you are missing out. Another joy of these day trips is that very little planning allows us to be flexible and see where the road leads us. This year our postharvest adventure started with my dad’s (a farmer who sees helping during wheat harvest as his annual vacation) interest in the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette. Lunch at the Ranch House, an extensive and well maintained motorcycle collection and a very trendy and cool Smoky Hill Distillery awaited us on Main Street in Marquette. Next we decided to travel to neighboring Lindsborg for the view from Coronado Heights, the Old Mill Museum and the Dala Horse artists at Hemslojd. We meandered home through Lyons for a tasty dinner at the County Seat. Our day in towns with less than 4,000 people included rare items, interesting culture and history, great food and drink, and wonderful family memories. Small town Kansas may not be on the top of your vacation bucket list, but it is full of interesting people who freely share their passion with the people who step into their towns every day. That is what make traveling through our state so amazing. The next time you have a moment to pause for an adventure, I hope you will get out and see what the small towns around our state have to offer. Maybe I will see you there.

"Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575406519723.jpeg" alt="Jackie Mundt" />
 <figcaption>Jackie Mundt</figcaption>
 </figure>By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher Harvest is a farmer’s Super Bowl. It’s the culmination of a year’s work and his way to measure success. After the last load of wheat heads to town, there is a final buzz of activity. Equipment is cleaned and put away, paperwork sorted and other things neglected during harvest are checked on. The stress of constant activity, anticipation and worry, ebbs and there is room to breathe; a moment of thankfulness and rest. That brief rest is a special time for a farm family. Though a farmer’s work is never done, a fresh sense of accomplishment reminds a farmer that even God rested occasionally. The win of harvest gives farm families a small window for a holiday. Marc and I love both love to plan trips and travel to fun destinations, but he often struggles to commit to plans far enough in advance to book tickets or make firm commitments with friends. He can’t predict the weather, if irrigators will break down, when crops will be ready to harvest, if cattle fences will need unexpected mending, a storm causing damage or all the other unpredicted but steady tasks that keep farmers busy 365 days a year. But when the stars align, a brief vacation is in order. We love to grab a road map and snacks and jump in the car for a day of exploring the hidden gems of our neighboring towns in Kansas. Some people may read this and think I mean Wichita, Kansas City or one of our larger cities. Though these cities have some wonderful attractions, they are rarely the focus of our Kansas adventures. A little over a decade ago when I first moved here, the Kansas Sampler Foundation had just completed their “8 Wonders of Kansas” publications. That list joined personal recommendations from friends and our paper atlas to create ready inspiration for any of a dozen day trips we have ready for moments when the opportunity arises for us to travel this beautiful and unique state. If you have never seen the “8 Wonders of Kansas” or taken a day trip to the small towns who have pulled together resources to create museums, preserved history, share local art, or supported unique customs and businesses, you are missing out. Another joy of these day trips is that very little planning allows us to be flexible and see where the road leads us. This year our postharvest adventure started with my dad’s (a farmer who sees helping during wheat harvest as his annual vacation) interest in the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette. Lunch at the Ranch House, an extensive and well maintained motorcycle collection and a very trendy and cool Smoky Hill Distillery awaited us on Main Street in Marquette. Next we decided to travel to neighboring Lindsborg for the view from Coronado Heights, the Old Mill Museum and the Dala Horse artists at Hemslojd. We meandered home through Lyons for a tasty dinner at the County Seat. Our day in towns with less than 4,000 people included rare items, interesting culture and history, great food and drink, and wonderful family memories. Small town Kansas may not be on the top of your vacation bucket list, but it is full of interesting people who freely share their passion with the people who step into their towns every day. That is what make traveling through our state so amazing. The next time you have a moment to pause for an adventure, I hope you will get out and see what the small towns around our state have to offer. Maybe I will see you there."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: The joy of farm family day trips

By RON SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/28/in-electing-lawmakers-kansans-might-want-to-look-past-active-verb-artists/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

True Story: The 2022 Kansas 
Legislature recessed in early April before coming back to a veto 
session. During the break, several legislators, the attorney general, 
and the governor decided to go on safari. While stretching their legs 
outside the jeep, a lion jumped out of the bushes and cornered the 
attorney general. The others scream at the governor to help him. She 
said, “The<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Cowardly_Lion.png" target="_blank"> lion</a> got itself into this mess, it can get itself out.”

Before 1964, farm folks were a 
majority of lawmakers in Kansas. Every county had its own state 
representative. The Legislature met for only 30- or 60-day sessions. 
Veto sessions were two-day affairs and considered only motions to 
override vetoes. At session’s end, everyone shook hands and went home in
 time to plant fall crops. My former senior partner, Glee Smith Jr., was
 president of the Kansas Senate in the late 1960s when the state changed
 from each county having its own representative to the “one person, one 
vote” concept.

Now sessions are 120 days, with 
lengthy veto sessions in even-numbered years. Lawmaking takes a serious 
time commitment. That’s also why there are fewer businesspeople and 
professionals in the Legislature, and it is top-heavy with retired 
folks. The number of lobbyists has increased like rabbits in a prairie 
brothel. And the veto sessions not only consider vetoes and the freak 
bills lawmakers couldn’t decide on before the break — but they vote on 
the omnibus budget bill. Think Jabba the Hutt dining on greenbacks.&nbsp;

Modern campaigning has begun. You 
won’t see your local representative or senator at your door. You get 
flyers instead. They brag, “I did all these Good Things for You.” His or
 her identity isn’t important. Their flyers are out. They all are 
self-proclaimed heroes and heroines.

Miss Bebermeier, my fifth-grade teacher, would say, “Oh my, look at all those active verbs!”

My rep was “busy working on important
 legislation.” After the break, “I’ll be working on even more important 
legislation.” “Important” is not defined.

“I represent every person in the 
district, not just those who voted for me.” Well, then it will be 
interesting to see why so many vote against him or her.

I’m defending you against … I’m 
fighting for you because … I fought to defend conservative/liberal 
values … defend our rural way of life …

“The Republicans are totalitarians …”

From reading this growing library of 
active verb flyers, one thinks House floor debate looks like fight night
 at a biker bar. My representative apparently was defending me against 
people I didn’t know were attacking me.&nbsp;

The flyer then gets to his or her 
monumental achievements in 2022. “Defending Traditional Values …” He or 
she voted for the Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment, ratification
 of which will be decided in our upcoming primary election. The 
amendment was drafted because the judicial branch swam in the pond of 
“judicial activism,” my rep opines.

Promoting fiscal responsibility is 
also on my state rep’s “achievements” list. He or she wants a cap on 
state spending by constitutional amendment. In other words, let a 
constitutional amendment say “no” to spending because lawmakers haven’t 
figured out how to say the word out loud.

I used to work in the Kansas House of
 Representatives as a staff member. Back then, it was pretty simple. At 
each of the 125 desks was a little box with red, green and white 
buttons. Red, no. Green, yes, and White was “I got no clue.”

I am blessed because I cannot be a 
state representative. Among my genes are those for red-green 
colorblindness. I would be voting “no clue” too many times.

Finally, my rep brags about 
supporting a Convention of States. Only 19 states have adopted the idea.
 The goal, he or she says, is to change the current Constitution to 
“impose fiscal restraints on the federal government.” Each state would 
send delegates to meet in convention and redo the federal Constitution.

Supporters want to amend Article I, 
§9 of the federal Constitution, which states, “No money shall be drawn 
from the Treasury, but in consequence of an appropriation made by Law.” 
The 34 white men of 1789 left Congress in charge of the budget. The 
Convention of States could make bitcoins our national currency and a 
constitutional provision that gasoline cannot be sold for more than 
$1.99 a gallon. It could help America advance to the rear.

Red state conservatives might believe
 they can impose fiscal restraints at a convention. But I fear blue 
state liberals will think they’ve just been handed the whole candy jar.

A little logrolling would be fun. “You let me have my amendment, I’ll vote for yours.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thomas+sowell+biography&amp;adgrpid=1338106223687335&amp;hvadid=83631711218194&amp;hvbmt=be&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=49848&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83632001352680%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=22563_10445501&amp;tag=mh0b-20&amp;ref=pd_sl_7zt8lix7h8_e">Thomas Sowell</a>
 reminds us how our pockets might get picked in a COS convention: “If 
you have been voting for politicians who promise to give you goodies at 
someone else’s expense, then you have no right to complain when they 
take your money and give it to someone else, including themselves.”

Sowell is prescient. The 2011 
Congressional Budget Control Act raised the debt limit by $2.1 trillion,
 and Congress then agreed to cut spending by the same amount. The first 
$917 billion of cuts came from caps on defense and non-defense 
discretionary spending. Then came the hard part. Congress couldn’t agree
 on how to cut the remaining $1.2 trillion since that meant looking at 
“social programs,” a<a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail_(politics)"> political third rail</a>.&nbsp;

With Russia blowing up Ukrainian cities, capping the defense budget in 2011 would have been imprudent today. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.englishliterature.info/2022/03/fagin-character--oliver-twist.html">Fagin</a> sang in “Oliver Twist,” “I think they’d better think it out again!”

I’m unimpressed with active verb 
artist politicians who substitute catchy phrases for critical thinking. I
 prefer the lawmakers who are not chin-wagging as to what they are doing
 for us. Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien had a recipe for 
what to do when the opposition got nasty. He turned into a brick.

Sort of a <a target="_blank" href="https://ourwhitehouse.org/the-eloquence-of-silent-cal/">Calvin Coolidge</a>
 of the Northlands, Chretien said: “We don’t have to be in the damn 
paper every day. People don’t like it. They want to hear from us when 
it’s important. But not all the time. Silence is good.”

Maybe we’ll be lucky in November. Maybe the active verb artists will lose.

Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. He has written a variety of historical articles about 19th century lawyers for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and a biography of Thomas Ewing Jr., the state’s first chief justice, published by the University of Missouri Press. His Civil War novel, “The Wastage” was released in 2018.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656436066139.png" alt="The Kansas House of Representatives meet for a special session in 2020. Sessions these days stretch for much longer than the past, writes Ron Smith. (Nick Krug for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The Kansas House of Representatives meet for a special session in 2020. Sessions these days stretch for much longer than the past, writes Ron Smith. (Nick Krug for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/28/in-electing-lawmakers-kansans-might-want-to-look-past-active-verb-artists/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>True Story: The 2022 Kansas 
Legislature recessed in early April before coming back to a veto 
session. During the break, several legislators, the attorney general, 
and the governor decided to go on safari. While stretching their legs 
outside the jeep, a lion jumped out of the bushes and cornered the 
attorney general. The others scream at the governor to help him. She 
said, “The<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Cowardly_Lion.png" target="_blank"> lion</a> got itself into this mess, it can get itself out.”That’s, well, sorta true. Maybe.Before 1964, farm folks were a 
majority of lawmakers in Kansas. Every county had its own state 
representative. The Legislature met for only 30- or 60-day sessions. 
Veto sessions were two-day affairs and considered only motions to 
override vetoes. At session’s end, everyone shook hands and went home in
 time to plant fall crops. My former senior partner, Glee Smith Jr., was
 president of the Kansas Senate in the late 1960s when the state changed
 from each county having its own representative to the “one person, one 
vote” concept.Now sessions are 120 days, with 
lengthy veto sessions in even-numbered years. Lawmaking takes a serious 
time commitment. That’s also why there are fewer businesspeople and 
professionals in the Legislature, and it is top-heavy with retired 
folks. The number of lobbyists has increased like rabbits in a prairie 
brothel. And the veto sessions not only consider vetoes and the freak 
bills lawmakers couldn’t decide on before the break — but they vote on 
the omnibus budget bill. Think Jabba the Hutt dining on greenbacks.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Modern campaigning has begun. You 
won’t see your local representative or senator at your door. You get 
flyers instead. They brag, “I did all these Good Things for You.” His or
 her identity isn’t important. Their flyers are out. They all are 
self-proclaimed heroes and heroines.Miss Bebermeier, my fifth-grade teacher, would say, “Oh my, look at all those active verbs!”My rep was “busy working on important
 legislation.” After the break, “I’ll be working on even more important 
legislation.” “Important” is not defined.“I represent every person in the 
district, not just those who voted for me.” Well, then it will be 
interesting to see why so many vote against him or her.I’m defending you against … I’m 
fighting for you because … I fought to defend conservative/liberal 
values … defend our rural way of life …“The Democrats are socialists …”“The Republicans are totalitarians …”From reading this growing library of 
active verb flyers, one thinks House floor debate looks like fight night
 at a biker bar. My representative apparently was defending me against 
people I didn’t know were attacking me.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656436343641.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The flyer then gets to his or her 
monumental achievements in 2022. “Defending Traditional Values …” He or 
she voted for the Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment, ratification
 of which will be decided in our upcoming primary election. The 
amendment was drafted because the judicial branch swam in the pond of 
“judicial activism,” my rep opines.Promoting fiscal responsibility is 
also on my state rep’s “achievements” list. He or she wants a cap on 
state spending by constitutional amendment. In other words, let a 
constitutional amendment say “no” to spending because lawmakers haven’t 
figured out how to say the word out loud.I used to work in the Kansas House of
 Representatives as a staff member. Back then, it was pretty simple. At 
each of the 125 desks was a little box with red, green and white 
buttons. Red, no. Green, yes, and White was “I got no clue.”The vote is called. Push a button.I am blessed because I cannot be a 
state representative. Among my genes are those for red-green 
colorblindness. I would be voting “no clue” too many times.Finally, my rep brags about 
supporting a Convention of States. Only 19 states have adopted the idea.
 The goal, he or she says, is to change the current Constitution to 
“impose fiscal restraints on the federal government.” Each state would 
send delegates to meet in convention and redo the federal Constitution.Supporters want to amend Article I, 
§9 of the federal Constitution, which states, “No money shall be drawn 
from the Treasury, but in consequence of an appropriation made by Law.” 
The 34 white men of 1789 left Congress in charge of the budget. The 
Convention of States could make bitcoins our national currency and a 
constitutional provision that gasoline cannot be sold for more than 
$1.99 a gallon. It could help America advance to the rear.Red state conservatives might believe
 they can impose fiscal restraints at a convention. But I fear blue 
state liberals will think they’ve just been handed the whole candy jar.A little logrolling would be fun. “You let me have my amendment, I’ll vote for yours.”<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thomas+sowell+biography&amp;adgrpid=1338106223687335&amp;hvadid=83631711218194&amp;hvbmt=be&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=49848&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83632001352680%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=22563_10445501&amp;tag=mh0b-20&amp;ref=pd_sl_7zt8lix7h8_e">Thomas Sowell</a>
 reminds us how our pockets might get picked in a COS convention: “If 
you have been voting for politicians who promise to give you goodies at 
someone else’s expense, then you have no right to complain when they 
take your money and give it to someone else, including themselves.”Sowell is prescient. The 2011 
Congressional Budget Control Act raised the debt limit by $2.1 trillion,
 and Congress then agreed to cut spending by the same amount. The first 
$917 billion of cuts came from caps on defense and non-defense 
discretionary spending. Then came the hard part. Congress couldn’t agree
 on how to cut the remaining $1.2 trillion since that meant looking at 
“social programs,” a<a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail_(politics)"> political third rail</a>.&nbsp;With Russia blowing up Ukrainian cities, capping the defense budget in 2011 would have been imprudent today. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.englishliterature.info/2022/03/fagin-character--oliver-twist.html">Fagin</a> sang in “Oliver Twist,” “I think they’d better think it out again!”I’m unimpressed with active verb 
artist politicians who substitute catchy phrases for critical thinking. I
 prefer the lawmakers who are not chin-wagging as to what they are doing
 for us. Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien had a recipe for 
what to do when the opposition got nasty. He turned into a brick.Sort of a <a target="_blank" href="https://ourwhitehouse.org/the-eloquence-of-silent-cal/">Calvin Coolidge</a>
 of the Northlands, Chretien said: “We don’t have to be in the damn 
paper every day. People don’t like it. They want to hear from us when 
it’s important. But not all the time. Silence is good.”Maybe we’ll be lucky in November. Maybe the active verb artists will lose.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656436399186.png" alt="Screen Shot 2022-06-28 at 12.10.13 PM.png" />
 <figcaption>Screen Shot 2022-06-28 at 12.10.13 PM.png</figcaption>
 </figure>Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. He has written a variety of historical articles about 19th century lawyers for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and a biography of Thomas Ewing Jr., the state’s first chief justice, published by the University of Missouri Press. His Civil War novel, “The Wastage” was released in 2018.

OPINION: In electing lawmakers, Kansans might want to look past active-verb artists

By JOHN C. DANFORTH <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/27/lets-fix-our-toxic-politics/">Courtesy Missouri Independent</a>

When Eric Greitens posted <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/EricGreitens/status/1518590662777749509">his April 25 tweet</a>, I thought, “this is the craziest thing I have ever seen.”

He was on a shooting range with Donald Trump, Jr., first firing what 
appeared to be an AR-15, next a handgun with the audio messages, 
“Striking fear in the hearts of liberals,” and, “Liberals beware.”

May 25 was even crazier, when he emailed the same tweet to his supporters, this time on the day after the school <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/25/1107626183/graduation-uvalde-high-school-class-remembers-slain-children">shooting in Uvalde, Texas</a>.

But last Monday, Greitens outdid himself. He posted a video showing him with a camouflage-clad combat team <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/20/eric-greitens-ad-touts-hunting-permit-for-gop-rivals-in-missouri-u-s-senate-race/">breaking down the door of a home and firing heavy weapons</a> before saying: “Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit.”

His short video was a scene out of a horror movie, and his message 
was unmistakable. In the wake of Uvalde and Buffalo and so much more, 
Greitens encouraged his supporters to take guns in hand and go hunting 
for fellow humans, his political opponents.

Perhaps the Greitens message shouldn’t surprise us as it comes from a man who, according to both his ex-wife and ex-lover, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/11/17227132/eric-greitens-missouri-governor-rape-sexual-assault-nonconsensual-force-revenge-porn-blackmail">personally given to violence</a>.&nbsp;
 What should surprise us is that it appeals to Republicans who have put 
Greitens at or near the lead in the race for our Senate nomination.

While Greitens’ ads are the most extreme in the Senate contest, his 
theme isn’t unusual at all. Even short of descending into violence as on
 January 6, the current trend in politics is to treat adversaries as 
enemies we should attack, not as opponents we should respect.

Notice how often the words “fight” and “fighter” are used by 
candidates these days. In a recent campaign solicitation I received, 
“fight” or its derivative appeared three times in a single sentence. 
It’s as though there is no room for reasonable disagreement and 
certainly no room for compromise.

This is the state of affairs today, and it has made politics as we 
have previously understood it — a place to address and hopefully resolve
 our disagreements — unworkable.

It has rendered the U.S. Senate, where I had the privilege of serving
 for 18 years, dysfunctional. Here’s a question you might consider: What
 are senators actually doing these days besides issuing statements 
saying how angry they are?

It would be bad enough if this state of rage were contained within 
the world of professional politics. Unfortunately it is not. It has 
metastasized into our interpersonal relations.

Most of us know families and friendships that have broken up because 
of politics. I know a young woman whose father ended a phone call over 
politics and hasn’t spoken to her in two years. I know another whose 
mother disinvited her to a family Christmas gathering for the same 
reason. Then there is the 35-40% of partisans that doesn’t want their 
children to marry someone in the other party and the 33% of college 
students who “unfriended” those who voted for the wrong candidate.

For the health of our personal lives and certainly for the good of 
America, we must end this constant fighting. It won’t be enough to think
 as I did that the Greitens tweets were crazy. We will have to do something. To this purpose, we can find inspiration in the illustrious history of our nation.

Former close friends John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became so angry 
about the election of 1800 that they didn’t speak for 12 years. Then 
they were reconciled and ended their lives in a warm and respectful 
friendship.

In 1861, after seven southern states had seceded from the Union, 
Abraham Lincoln pleaded for national unity: “We are not enemies, but 
friends. We must not be enemies.”

James Madison not only understood political disagreements, he 
welcomed them, believing that offsetting one another they would protect 
us against tyranny.

From our beginning, a great project of America has been to hold 
ourselves together, with all our differences, as one united country. We 
honor this with our motto, e pluribus unum; we are many different people, and we are one. We pledge allegiance to one indivisible nation.

Today, the standard tactic of politics is to cast aside our great 
project of national unity and drive us apart.&nbsp; That tactic is pursued by
 “fighters” who on the left put our different identities above our 
common identity, and on the right claim that we shouldn’t trust that our
 leaders were legitimately elected.

The work of holding ourselves together as one people must be both 
political and personal. Politically we must elect candidates who reject 
the politics of division, and will commit themselves to work across our 
differences and hold America together.

Personally, we must commit ourselves to the reality that family and friendships are more important than politics.

John C. Danforth, a Republican, served three terms as Missouri's U.S. Senator from 1976 to 1995 and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656360561881.png" alt="John C. Danforth" />
 <figcaption>John C. Danforth</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN C. DANFORTH <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/27/lets-fix-our-toxic-politics/">Courtesy Missouri Independent</a>When Eric Greitens posted <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/EricGreitens/status/1518590662777749509">his April 25 tweet</a>, I thought, “this is the craziest thing I have ever seen.”He was on a shooting range with Donald Trump, Jr., first firing what 
appeared to be an AR-15, next a handgun with the audio messages, 
“Striking fear in the hearts of liberals,” and, “Liberals beware.”May 25 was even crazier, when he emailed the same tweet to his supporters, this time on the day after the school <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/25/1107626183/graduation-uvalde-high-school-class-remembers-slain-children">shooting in Uvalde, Texas</a>.But last Monday, Greitens outdid himself. He posted a video showing him with a camouflage-clad combat team <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/20/eric-greitens-ad-touts-hunting-permit-for-gop-rivals-in-missouri-u-s-senate-race/">breaking down the door of a home and firing heavy weapons</a> before saying: “Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>His short video was a scene out of a horror movie, and his message 
was unmistakable. In the wake of Uvalde and Buffalo and so much more, 
Greitens encouraged his supporters to take guns in hand and go hunting 
for fellow humans, his political opponents.Perhaps the Greitens message shouldn’t surprise us as it comes from a man who, according to both his ex-wife and ex-lover, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/11/17227132/eric-greitens-missouri-governor-rape-sexual-assault-nonconsensual-force-revenge-porn-blackmail">personally given to violence</a>.&nbsp;
 What should surprise us is that it appeals to Republicans who have put 
Greitens at or near the lead in the race for our Senate nomination.But maybe not.While Greitens’ ads are the most extreme in the Senate contest, his 
theme isn’t unusual at all. Even short of descending into violence as on
 January 6, the current trend in politics is to treat adversaries as 
enemies we should attack, not as opponents we should respect.Notice how often the words “fight” and “fighter” are used by 
candidates these days. In a recent campaign solicitation I received, 
“fight” or its derivative appeared three times in a single sentence. 
It’s as though there is no room for reasonable disagreement and 
certainly no room for compromise.This is the state of affairs today, and it has made politics as we 
have previously understood it — a place to address and hopefully resolve
 our disagreements — unworkable.It has rendered the U.S. Senate, where I had the privilege of serving
 for 18 years, dysfunctional. Here’s a question you might consider: What
 are senators actually doing these days besides issuing statements 
saying how angry they are?It would be bad enough if this state of rage were contained within 
the world of professional politics. Unfortunately it is not. It has 
metastasized into our interpersonal relations.Most of us know families and friendships that have broken up because 
of politics. I know a young woman whose father ended a phone call over 
politics and hasn’t spoken to her in two years. I know another whose 
mother disinvited her to a family Christmas gathering for the same 
reason. Then there is the 35-40% of partisans that doesn’t want their 
children to marry someone in the other party and the 33% of college 
students who “unfriended” those who voted for the wrong candidate.For the health of our personal lives and certainly for the good of 
America, we must end this constant fighting. It won’t be enough to think
 as I did that the Greitens tweets were crazy. We will have to do something. To this purpose, we can find inspiration in the illustrious history of our nation.Former close friends John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became so angry 
about the election of 1800 that they didn’t speak for 12 years. Then 
they were reconciled and ended their lives in a warm and respectful 
friendship.In 1861, after seven southern states had seceded from the Union, 
Abraham Lincoln pleaded for national unity: “We are not enemies, but 
friends. We must not be enemies.”James Madison not only understood political disagreements, he 
welcomed them, believing that offsetting one another they would protect 
us against tyranny.From our beginning, a great project of America has been to hold 
ourselves together, with all our differences, as one united country. We 
honor this with our motto, e pluribus unum; we are many different people, and we are one. We pledge allegiance to one indivisible nation.Today, the standard tactic of politics is to cast aside our great 
project of national unity and drive us apart.&nbsp; That tactic is pursued by
 “fighters” who on the left put our different identities above our 
common identity, and on the right claim that we shouldn’t trust that our
 leaders were legitimately elected.The work of holding ourselves together as one people must be both 
political and personal. Politically we must elect candidates who reject 
the politics of division, and will commit themselves to work across our 
differences and hold America together.Personally, we must commit ourselves to the reality that family and friendships are more important than politics.John C. Danforth, a Republican, served three terms as Missouri's U.S. Senator from 1976 to 1995 and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush.

OPINION: It's time to fix our broken politics

By TONY MATTIVI Candidate for Kansas Attorney General

I support the idea of&nbsp;allowing qualified and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers the option of having&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure,&nbsp;and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;in the classroom and at school. &nbsp;Sharon&nbsp;Hartin&nbsp;Iorio, dean emerita at the Wichita State University College of Education recently wrote a piece noting my&nbsp;position&nbsp;and arguing&nbsp;it&nbsp;won’t improve school safety. &nbsp;Her argument&nbsp;is flatly incorrect.

Too many children have died in school shootings. &nbsp;I agree with Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;that our society needs to act now. &nbsp;I also believe our response should be comprehensive. &nbsp;Here’s what I suggest.

First, we should protect schools by making them harder targets. &nbsp;The Pulse Nightclub shooter scouted two other targets before entering the Pulse Nightclub. &nbsp;When the shooter saw a visible police presence&nbsp;at each of the other nightclubs, he moved on. &nbsp;When he came to Pulse, he saw no police outside. &nbsp;He entered the nightclub to see if any officers&nbsp;were&nbsp;present inside. &nbsp;When he saw none, he returned to his vehicle, armed himself, re-entered the nightclub, and began his killing spree. &nbsp;Schools are attacked because they are soft targets. &nbsp;We must change that.

When my kids were in school, those schools were secured during the day. &nbsp;All exterior doors were&nbsp;locked&nbsp;and access was limited. &nbsp;If I needed to drop off their lunch or bring the homework&nbsp;they&nbsp;forgot (which happened more times than I wanted!), I had to ring the bell and be buzzed in. &nbsp;Once inside, the first person I typically saw was the school resource officer. &nbsp;This should be the case in every school.

But that’s not enough. &nbsp;Careful examination of mass shootings has shown a consistent theme: &nbsp;the longer the wait for an armed person to confront the&nbsp;shooter, the more people die. &nbsp;On average, an attacker&nbsp;shoots one victim every ten seconds. &nbsp;That means six victims every minute. &nbsp;There are two&nbsp;enemies in a mass shooting: &nbsp;the shooter and the clock. &nbsp;What saves lives in a mass shooting is to&nbsp;neutralize the threat.&nbsp;&nbsp;The only way to do that is to&nbsp;take&nbsp;the shooter&nbsp;down as quickly as possible.

In 2019, a mentally ill 43-year-old man walked into a church in Texas, pulled a pistol-gripped shotgun from under his coat, and began shooting. &nbsp;He immediately killed two of the 240 worshipers present. &nbsp;Fortunately,&nbsp;that church had&nbsp;a security team consisting of armed parishioners. &nbsp;Less than six seconds after the first shot, one of those armed parishioners killed the attacker&nbsp;before anyone&nbsp;in the church&nbsp;even had the opportunity to call 911.&nbsp;&nbsp;The only&nbsp;thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. &nbsp;And the longer it takes for a good guy with a gun to get there, the more people die.&nbsp;&nbsp;It’s&nbsp;that simple.

Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;argues that “not all school personnel will be willing or able to carry firearms.” &nbsp;I don’t advocate that&nbsp;all&nbsp;school personnel carry firearms. &nbsp;Rather, I believe that any school personnel who are willing, able, and trained should be allowed&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;at school&nbsp;if they wish. &nbsp;Some&nbsp;teachers are retired law enforcement officers or combat veterans. &nbsp;Right now, if one of those highly qualified individuals wished to have&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;to protect&nbsp;their&nbsp;students, most school districts would prohibit it. &nbsp;This is a travesty, and it makes our kids less safe.

She also argues that a person with a handgun is “no match for an active shooter with military-grade firepower.” &nbsp;Example after example has disproven this argument.&nbsp;From Texas to Wisconsin, Oregon to South Carolina, good guys with handguns have been able to&nbsp;stop attackers with rifles or shotguns. &nbsp;One&nbsp;particular hero&nbsp;with a handgun in Garland, Texas was able to stop two attackers armed with rifles.

School shootings are a problem that has existed for far too long and has only gotten worse. &nbsp;I don’t advocate for arming teachers as a substitute for a comprehensive&nbsp;whole-of-society&nbsp;approach to keeping our kids safe. &nbsp;But&nbsp;allowing qualified&nbsp;and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers to have&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm should be part of&nbsp;a&nbsp;comprehensive approach to protecting our kids.

Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;concedes that&nbsp;a mix of armed teachers, school-based security personnel,&nbsp;and licensed peace officers in all schools&nbsp;could make schools safer. &nbsp;I agree with her. &nbsp;But&nbsp;then&nbsp;she discounts this approach because she says it “wouldn’t make schools fully safe.”We can all agree that&nbsp;we should be trying to make our schools&nbsp;fully safe.&nbsp;&nbsp;But until they are, we should be doing anything we can to make them&nbsp;more safe. &nbsp;Allowing qualified and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access&nbsp;to a weapon in their classroom&nbsp;will make our kids safer.&nbsp;&nbsp;There is absolutely no valid reason that&nbsp;school officials like Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;should be&nbsp;blocking these common-sense efforts to protect our students.

By TONY MATTIVI Candidate for Kansas Attorney GeneralI support the idea of&nbsp;allowing qualified and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers the option of having&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure,&nbsp;and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;in the classroom and at school. &nbsp;Sharon&nbsp;Hartin&nbsp;Iorio, dean emerita at the Wichita State University College of Education recently wrote a piece noting my&nbsp;position&nbsp;and arguing&nbsp;it&nbsp;won’t improve school safety. &nbsp;Her argument&nbsp;is flatly incorrect.Too many children have died in school shootings. &nbsp;I agree with Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;that our society needs to act now. &nbsp;I also believe our response should be comprehensive. &nbsp;Here’s what I suggest.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>First, we should protect schools by making them harder targets. &nbsp;The Pulse Nightclub shooter scouted two other targets before entering the Pulse Nightclub. &nbsp;When the shooter saw a visible police presence&nbsp;at each of the other nightclubs, he moved on. &nbsp;When he came to Pulse, he saw no police outside. &nbsp;He entered the nightclub to see if any officers&nbsp;were&nbsp;present inside. &nbsp;When he saw none, he returned to his vehicle, armed himself, re-entered the nightclub, and began his killing spree. &nbsp;Schools are attacked because they are soft targets. &nbsp;We must change that.When my kids were in school, those schools were secured during the day. &nbsp;All exterior doors were&nbsp;locked&nbsp;and access was limited. &nbsp;If I needed to drop off their lunch or bring the homework&nbsp;they&nbsp;forgot (which happened more times than I wanted!), I had to ring the bell and be buzzed in. &nbsp;Once inside, the first person I typically saw was the school resource officer. &nbsp;This should be the case in every school.But that’s not enough. &nbsp;Careful examination of mass shootings has shown a consistent theme: &nbsp;the longer the wait for an armed person to confront the&nbsp;shooter, the more people die. &nbsp;On average, an attacker&nbsp;shoots one victim every ten seconds. &nbsp;That means six victims every minute. &nbsp;There are two&nbsp;enemies in a mass shooting: &nbsp;the shooter and the clock. &nbsp;What saves lives in a mass shooting is to&nbsp;neutralize the threat.&nbsp;&nbsp;The only way to do that is to&nbsp;take&nbsp;the shooter&nbsp;down as quickly as possible.In 2019, a mentally ill 43-year-old man walked into a church in Texas, pulled a pistol-gripped shotgun from under his coat, and began shooting. &nbsp;He immediately killed two of the 240 worshipers present. &nbsp;Fortunately,&nbsp;that church had&nbsp;a security team consisting of armed parishioners. &nbsp;Less than six seconds after the first shot, one of those armed parishioners killed the attacker&nbsp;before anyone&nbsp;in the church&nbsp;even had the opportunity to call 911.&nbsp;&nbsp;The only&nbsp;thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. &nbsp;And the longer it takes for a good guy with a gun to get there, the more people die.&nbsp;&nbsp;It’s&nbsp;that simple.Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;argues that “not all school personnel will be willing or able to carry firearms.” &nbsp;I don’t advocate that&nbsp;all&nbsp;school personnel carry firearms. &nbsp;Rather, I believe that any school personnel who are willing, able, and trained should be allowed&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;at school&nbsp;if they wish. &nbsp;Some&nbsp;teachers are retired law enforcement officers or combat veterans. &nbsp;Right now, if one of those highly qualified individuals wished to have&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm&nbsp;to protect&nbsp;their&nbsp;students, most school districts would prohibit it. &nbsp;This is a travesty, and it makes our kids less safe.She also argues that a person with a handgun is “no match for an active shooter with military-grade firepower.” &nbsp;Example after example has disproven this argument.&nbsp;From Texas to Wisconsin, Oregon to South Carolina, good guys with handguns have been able to&nbsp;stop attackers with rifles or shotguns. &nbsp;One&nbsp;particular hero&nbsp;with a handgun in Garland, Texas was able to stop two attackers armed with rifles.School shootings are a problem that has existed for far too long and has only gotten worse. &nbsp;I don’t advocate for arming teachers as a substitute for a comprehensive&nbsp;whole-of-society&nbsp;approach to keeping our kids safe. &nbsp;But&nbsp;allowing qualified&nbsp;and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers to have&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access to&nbsp;a firearm should be part of&nbsp;a&nbsp;comprehensive approach to protecting our kids.Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;concedes that&nbsp;a mix of armed teachers, school-based security personnel,&nbsp;and licensed peace officers in all schools&nbsp;could make schools safer. &nbsp;I agree with her. &nbsp;But&nbsp;then&nbsp;she discounts this approach because she says it “wouldn’t make schools fully safe.”We can all agree that&nbsp;we should be trying to make our schools&nbsp;fully safe.&nbsp;&nbsp;But until they are, we should be doing anything we can to make them&nbsp;more safe. &nbsp;Allowing qualified and trained&nbsp;volunteer&nbsp;teachers&nbsp;safe,&nbsp;secure, and immediate&nbsp;access&nbsp;to a weapon in their classroom&nbsp;will make our kids safer.&nbsp;&nbsp;There is absolutely no valid reason that&nbsp;school officials like Dean&nbsp;Iorio&nbsp;should be&nbsp;blocking these common-sense efforts to protect our students.

OPINION: Argument against arming teachers not sound

There is a&nbsp;big wooden&nbsp;street light pole midway between our driveway and the neighbors.&nbsp;Every&nbsp;morning for the past&nbsp;couple years,&nbsp;at least&nbsp;one of the&nbsp;Mississippi Kites&nbsp;here in town could be found&nbsp;perched on the top of that pole, calmly surveying the surroundings as life went-on beneath&nbsp;it. This year, though, not so much, and today&nbsp;I discovered why.&nbsp;The&nbsp;metal pipe&nbsp;that extends the light out over the street fastens to the pole with a metal bracket formed in the shape of a “u.” For the&nbsp;second&nbsp;time in a few years, a pair of western kingbirds have claimed that metal bracket for themselves and built a nest cradled in its&nbsp;interior. Our first impression of their chosen “digs” was “Why on earth right there, of all places,&nbsp;when there is a fine&nbsp;oak&nbsp;tree just a few yards&nbsp;away that would provide much more cover and protection.”&nbsp;

The answer to our bewilderment lies in the fact that kingbirds are classified as&nbsp;“tyrant&nbsp;flycatchers.”&nbsp;Birds classified as flycatchers hunt and feed by snatching insects&nbsp;in midair, known as “aerial hawking,” or&nbsp;while hovering, often returning to the same perch time and again with their catch. Because of their mode of hunting, they need large open areas nearby to accommodate their hunting style, thus,nesting in the open on that&nbsp;light pole makes perfect&nbsp;sense to them.&nbsp;Plus,&nbsp;the street light&nbsp;beside them will attract a buffet of insects every night.&nbsp;The&nbsp;“tyrant”&nbsp;part of their classification is earned because they aggressively defend their nest and territory against intruders, often succeeding in driving away much larger birds like hawks and owls&nbsp;(which explains the absence of the Kites.)&nbsp;That was evident the other evening as I watched them from the front porch. Both parents were at the nest, but were very nervous.&nbsp;They are used to watching us putter&nbsp;around in the nearby flowerbed or pull weeds beneath their pole, so I wondered why they seemed so on-edge. Then I looked to the sky and noticed several of our&nbsp;big&nbsp;local Mississippi Kites soaring around on the updrafts high above. They were no threat, but had the kingbirds on alert nonetheless.&nbsp;Western kingbirds&nbsp;are a species that have benefitted from man’s acts of planting trees and erecting light and power poles.

Kingbirds make a kind of jabbering, twittering sound and we often see them hovering above the nest while making that noise. They are masters of hovering by flapping their outstretched wings but remaining in one spot above us. They are also known to be masters of great acrobatic maneuvers while&nbsp;hunting, although we have not yet&nbsp;been treated to that.&nbsp;Kingbird’s&nbsp;breed and nest&nbsp;all across the western half of&nbsp;the United States and winter in Mexico and South&nbsp;America. They have a small topknot that usually lies flat unless agitated, but their&nbsp;pale-yellow&nbsp;breast is&nbsp;probably&nbsp;what&nbsp;distinguishes&nbsp;them the most.&nbsp;

We enjoy watching our kingbird pair; one is always on the nest, only visible from our vantage point on the ground by either a head or a tail sticking over the side of the nest. The other is usually near, either perched on the metal pipe holding the light or flitting around, always greeting our presence with their jabbering song. It will be fun to watch them&nbsp;raise their chicks high on that light pole; yet another way to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>There is a&nbsp;big wooden&nbsp;street light pole midway between our driveway and the neighbors.&nbsp;Every&nbsp;morning for the past&nbsp;couple years,&nbsp;at least&nbsp;one of the&nbsp;Mississippi Kites&nbsp;here in town could be found&nbsp;perched on the top of that pole, calmly surveying the surroundings as life went-on beneath&nbsp;it. This year, though, not so much, and today&nbsp;I discovered why.&nbsp;The&nbsp;metal pipe&nbsp;that extends the light out over the street fastens to the pole with a metal bracket formed in the shape of a “u.” For the&nbsp;second&nbsp;time in a few years, a pair of western kingbirds have claimed that metal bracket for themselves and built a nest cradled in its&nbsp;interior. Our first impression of their chosen “digs” was “Why on earth right there, of all places,&nbsp;when there is a fine&nbsp;oak&nbsp;tree just a few yards&nbsp;away that would provide much more cover and protection.”&nbsp;The answer to our bewilderment lies in the fact that kingbirds are classified as&nbsp;“tyrant&nbsp;flycatchers.”&nbsp;Birds classified as flycatchers hunt and feed by snatching insects&nbsp;in midair, known as “aerial hawking,” or&nbsp;while hovering, often returning to the same perch time and again with their catch. Because of their mode of hunting, they need large open areas nearby to accommodate their hunting style, thus,nesting in the open on that&nbsp;light pole makes perfect&nbsp;sense to them.&nbsp;Plus,&nbsp;the street light&nbsp;beside them will attract a buffet of insects every night.&nbsp;The&nbsp;“tyrant”&nbsp;part of their classification is earned because they aggressively defend their nest and territory against intruders, often succeeding in driving away much larger birds like hawks and owls&nbsp;(which explains the absence of the Kites.)&nbsp;That was evident the other evening as I watched them from the front porch. Both parents were at the nest, but were very nervous.&nbsp;They are used to watching us putter&nbsp;around in the nearby flowerbed or pull weeds beneath their pole, so I wondered why they seemed so on-edge. Then I looked to the sky and noticed several of our&nbsp;big&nbsp;local Mississippi Kites soaring around on the updrafts high above. They were no threat, but had the kingbirds on alert nonetheless.&nbsp;Western kingbirds&nbsp;are a species that have benefitted from man’s acts of planting trees and erecting light and power poles.Kingbirds make a kind of jabbering, twittering sound and we often see them hovering above the nest while making that noise. They are masters of hovering by flapping their outstretched wings but remaining in one spot above us. They are also known to be masters of great acrobatic maneuvers while&nbsp;hunting, although we have not yet&nbsp;been treated to that.&nbsp;Kingbird’s&nbsp;breed and nest&nbsp;all across the western half of&nbsp;the United States and winter in Mexico and South&nbsp;America. They have a small topknot that usually lies flat unless agitated, but their&nbsp;pale-yellow&nbsp;breast is&nbsp;probably&nbsp;what&nbsp;distinguishes&nbsp;them the most.&nbsp;We enjoy watching our kingbird pair; one is always on the nest, only visible from our vantage point on the ground by either a head or a tail sticking over the side of the nest. The other is usually near, either perched on the metal pipe holding the light or flitting around, always greeting our presence with their jabbering song. It will be fun to watch them&nbsp;raise their chicks high on that light pole; yet another way to Explore Kansas Outdoors!Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Kings of the neighborhood

So far this year, 27 people were killed and 56 injured in school shootings.&nbsp; Of those killed 24 were students or other children and three were adults, according to Education Week.

At this writing, a bipartisan bill to reduce gun violence is on its way in Washington. The bill includes funds for school shooting prevention and safety training for students and educators.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As part of the Kansas education budget, school safety will be upgraded this year by $5 million to fortify school facilities and security systems plus hire school resource officers. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that early requests to the Kansas State Department of Education for funding from 139 districts add up to around $10 million.&nbsp;&nbsp;

An alternative to safety funding is to arm teachers, as 28 states, not including Kansas, have done.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The three Republican primary candidates for Kansas Attorney General—the state's chief legal officer and top law enforcement official—Kris Kobach, Tony Mattivi, and Kellie Warren have each declared support for arming teachers.

Not everyone thinks this is a good idea.&nbsp;

The National Education Association and its Kansas affiliates advocate for schools to be gun-free.

Will arming teachers stop school shootings?&nbsp; Let’s consider how that might play out.

First, not all school personnel will be willing or able to carry firearms.&nbsp; Of those who are willing, many are handgun and shotgun owners like me.&nbsp; Hardly a match for an active shooter with military-grade fire power.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To win a gun fight, almost always the defender must be better prepared and more skillful.&nbsp; Would we expect armed teachers to undergo SWAT-level training, access AR-15 style weapons and wear body armor and helmets at school activities including bus transportation?

Active shooters typically confront small, isolated groups of students.&nbsp; Could armed teachers communicate with unarmed teachers in another part of the school and get to the shooter before it’s too late?&nbsp;&nbsp;

The effect on students when educators carry guns is a basic concern.&nbsp; Since 18-years-old kids may be gun owners, could schools deny students be armed if teachers are?&nbsp;&nbsp;

Teachers have voiced through national reports that their students feel less safe when teachers carry guns.&nbsp; Certainly, there is less teaching going on when teachers are tasked with the extra burden of fire-power readiness.&nbsp;

It’s conceivable to provide a mix of armed teachers, school-based security personnel and licensed peace officers in all schools, but the result wouldn’t make schools fully safe.&nbsp; Examples of school shootings elsewhere prove this.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Moreover, in a largely rural state like Kansas it may be possible to get local police to a school quickly but virtually impossible to get especially trained, tactical law enforcement assistance to each school quickly.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The reality is—we may feel better by putting guns in teachers’ hands—but it won’t make our schools safer.&nbsp;&nbsp;

What will make our schools safer is for our elective Congress persons and candidates for governor and attorney general to put Kansas kids’ safety first.&nbsp;

We need to push our Congressional and state legislators for laws and funding that will keep school invaders out.

We need to elect an attorney general in November who will enforce a statewide, widely publicized plan for increasing communication, training and coordination of law enforcement agencies.&nbsp;

We need to protect Kansas students both rural and urban.&nbsp;

The threat of school shootings is significant and increasing.&nbsp; It’s time for voters to act now.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593719779701.jpeg" alt="Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education." />
 <figcaption>Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.</figcaption>
 </figure>So far this year, 27 people were killed and 56 injured in school shootings.&nbsp; Of those killed 24 were students or other children and three were adults, according to Education Week.At this writing, a bipartisan bill to reduce gun violence is on its way in Washington. The bill includes funds for school shooting prevention and safety training for students and educators.&nbsp;&nbsp;As part of the Kansas education budget, school safety will be upgraded this year by $5 million to fortify school facilities and security systems plus hire school resource officers. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that early requests to the Kansas State Department of Education for funding from 139 districts add up to around $10 million.&nbsp;&nbsp;An alternative to safety funding is to arm teachers, as 28 states, not including Kansas, have done.&nbsp;&nbsp;The three Republican primary candidates for Kansas Attorney General—the state's chief legal officer and top law enforcement official—Kris Kobach, Tony Mattivi, and Kellie Warren have each declared support for arming teachers.Not everyone thinks this is a good idea.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The National Education Association and its Kansas affiliates advocate for schools to be gun-free.Will arming teachers stop school shootings?&nbsp; Let’s consider how that might play out.First, not all school personnel will be willing or able to carry firearms.&nbsp; Of those who are willing, many are handgun and shotgun owners like me.&nbsp; Hardly a match for an active shooter with military-grade fire power.&nbsp;&nbsp;To win a gun fight, almost always the defender must be better prepared and more skillful.&nbsp; Would we expect armed teachers to undergo SWAT-level training, access AR-15 style weapons and wear body armor and helmets at school activities including bus transportation?Active shooters typically confront small, isolated groups of students.&nbsp; Could armed teachers communicate with unarmed teachers in another part of the school and get to the shooter before it’s too late?&nbsp;&nbsp;The effect on students when educators carry guns is a basic concern.&nbsp; Since 18-years-old kids may be gun owners, could schools deny students be armed if teachers are?&nbsp;&nbsp;Teachers have voiced through national reports that their students feel less safe when teachers carry guns.&nbsp; Certainly, there is less teaching going on when teachers are tasked with the extra burden of fire-power readiness.&nbsp;It’s conceivable to provide a mix of armed teachers, school-based security personnel and licensed peace officers in all schools, but the result wouldn’t make schools fully safe.&nbsp; Examples of school shootings elsewhere prove this.&nbsp;&nbsp;Moreover, in a largely rural state like Kansas it may be possible to get local police to a school quickly but virtually impossible to get especially trained, tactical law enforcement assistance to each school quickly.&nbsp;&nbsp;The reality is—we may feel better by putting guns in teachers’ hands—but it won’t make our schools safer.&nbsp;&nbsp;What will make our schools safer is for our elective Congress persons and candidates for governor and attorney general to put Kansas kids’ safety first.&nbsp;We need to push our Congressional and state legislators for laws and funding that will keep school invaders out.We need to elect an attorney general in November who will enforce a statewide, widely publicized plan for increasing communication, training and coordination of law enforcement agencies.&nbsp;We need to protect Kansas students both rural and urban.&nbsp;The threat of school shootings is significant and increasing.&nbsp; It’s time for voters to act now.&nbsp;&nbsp;Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

INSIGHT KANSAS: Arming teachers won’t increase school safety

By ED CROSS Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas Association

Debate continues across the country on our nation’s energy future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The competing visions, however, are not just philosophical arguments. &nbsp;There are real differences between these two visions and their outcomes on our economy, on consumers, and on our way of life.

​On one hand, we have&nbsp;the&nbsp;energy reality&nbsp;that the U.S. can lead&nbsp;the world in production of oil and natural gas and consumers enjoy almost unprecedented energy security.&nbsp;As recent as 2019 gasoline prices averaged $2.60 per gallon. &nbsp;This pro-energy vision means energy from all sources, including oil and natural gas, generate economic growth and reduce carbon emissions. &nbsp;&nbsp;

On the other hand,&nbsp;extreme&nbsp;environmental activists work to obstruct energy development and infrastructure projects, reducing our energy options under a false belief that oil and natural gas production and use are incompatible with environmental progress. &nbsp;Their vision is one of constrained energy choices, with less certainty and reliability, less assurance on affordable power and higher energy costs.

Fact is the U.S. leads the world in reduction of carbon emissions. &nbsp;From 2005 to 2018, total U.S. energy-related CO2&nbsp;emissions fell 12% while global energy-related emissions increased nearly 24%. &nbsp;Since 2005, national greenhouse gas emissions fell by 10%, and power sector emissions fell by 27% - as the U.S. economy grew by 25%.

The oil and natural gas industry has proven that over the long-term it is possible to lead in energy production&nbsp;AND&nbsp;in environmental stewardship. &nbsp;Those are the facts.

Cutting&nbsp;American&nbsp;oil and natural gas production&nbsp;would take us back to last century’s era of energy dependency. &nbsp;The U.S. economy would lose a projected 5.9 million jobs. &nbsp;But the vision of extreme environmental activists would take us there again, plunging the economy into persistent recession-level unemployment through&nbsp;2040. &nbsp;Lower U.S. energy production and higher energy prices could reduce cumulative GDP by $11.8 trillion.

Those who oppose American energy development at the state and national level are using environmental and regulatory issues to disrupt orderly oil and natural gas development and influence policymakers. &nbsp;They use these issues not to make energy development better, but to impede or stop oil and natural gas development. &nbsp;They have shown a propensity to align themselves rhetorically with public sentiment for more American energy development even as they espouse policies that would put that goal farther and farther out of reach.

History has shown that increasing taxes on oil and natural gas development negatively affects consumers, businesses, and the economy. &nbsp;Imposing new duplicative federal regulations when the industry is already well-regulated by the states will not put America on a path of preparing for its real energy future. &nbsp;

Contrary to claims from environmental activists, cutting U.S. oil and natural gas production would not magically reduce world energy demand. &nbsp;But it could raise costs significantly for American families and manufacturers, profoundly damage the U.S. economy, diminish our geopolitical influence, and severely weaken our energy security. &nbsp;That’s where&nbsp;Biden’s energy policies&nbsp;lead, and it is not a path most Americans want to take.

The most pressing risks facing U.S. companies in the foreseeable future are unlikely to be those arising from climate change or an energy transition. &nbsp;Rather, the factors to watch are more apt to be inflation, rising energy costs, and national security threats. &nbsp;The Biden Administration is too focused on climate change to anticipate or deter these significant real threats.

Today’s sky-high gasoline prices were a policy choice, not an unavoidable accident. &nbsp;No matter how many misleading statistics White House officials and congressional liberals try to throw at the people, the blame for high energy costs rests with them.

While claiming to fight to bring energy prices down, President Biden has made the wrong move at every turn. &nbsp;It is time for President Biden to recognize the strategic importance of American energy production. &nbsp;He should abandon his quixotic energy strategy immediately. &nbsp;Nothing less than total reversal of his approach is necessary.

President Biden and all federal and state policymakers should prioritize advancing American energy leadership with policies that encourage development of responsibly produced energy here at home. &nbsp;These policies should recognize the volatile world we live in and the long-term impacts of returning to the days of foreign energy dependency. &nbsp;

Ed Cross is president of the Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas Association.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584027001010.png" alt="Ed Cross" />
 <figcaption>Ed Cross</figcaption>
 </figure>By ED CROSS Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas AssociationDebate continues across the country on our nation’s energy future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The competing visions, however, are not just philosophical arguments. &nbsp;There are real differences between these two visions and their outcomes on our economy, on consumers, and on our way of life.​On one hand, we have&nbsp;the&nbsp;energy reality&nbsp;that the U.S. can lead&nbsp;the world in production of oil and natural gas and consumers enjoy almost unprecedented energy security.&nbsp;As recent as 2019 gasoline prices averaged $2.60 per gallon. &nbsp;This pro-energy vision means energy from all sources, including oil and natural gas, generate economic growth and reduce carbon emissions. &nbsp;&nbsp;On the other hand,&nbsp;extreme&nbsp;environmental activists work to obstruct energy development and infrastructure projects, reducing our energy options under a false belief that oil and natural gas production and use are incompatible with environmental progress. &nbsp;Their vision is one of constrained energy choices, with less certainty and reliability, less assurance on affordable power and higher energy costs.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Fact is the U.S. leads the world in reduction of carbon emissions. &nbsp;From 2005 to 2018, total U.S. energy-related CO2&nbsp;emissions fell 12% while global energy-related emissions increased nearly 24%. &nbsp;Since 2005, national greenhouse gas emissions fell by 10%, and power sector emissions fell by 27% - as the U.S. economy grew by 25%.The oil and natural gas industry has proven that over the long-term it is possible to lead in energy production&nbsp;AND&nbsp;in environmental stewardship. &nbsp;Those are the facts.Cutting&nbsp;American&nbsp;oil and natural gas production&nbsp;would take us back to last century’s era of energy dependency. &nbsp;The U.S. economy would lose a projected 5.9 million jobs. &nbsp;But the vision of extreme environmental activists would take us there again, plunging the economy into persistent recession-level unemployment through&nbsp;2040. &nbsp;Lower U.S. energy production and higher energy prices could reduce cumulative GDP by $11.8 trillion.Those who oppose American energy development at the state and national level are using environmental and regulatory issues to disrupt orderly oil and natural gas development and influence policymakers. &nbsp;They use these issues not to make energy development better, but to impede or stop oil and natural gas development. &nbsp;They have shown a propensity to align themselves rhetorically with public sentiment for more American energy development even as they espouse policies that would put that goal farther and farther out of reach.History has shown that increasing taxes on oil and natural gas development negatively affects consumers, businesses, and the economy. &nbsp;Imposing new duplicative federal regulations when the industry is already well-regulated by the states will not put America on a path of preparing for its real energy future. &nbsp;Contrary to claims from environmental activists, cutting U.S. oil and natural gas production would not magically reduce world energy demand. &nbsp;But it could raise costs significantly for American families and manufacturers, profoundly damage the U.S. economy, diminish our geopolitical influence, and severely weaken our energy security. &nbsp;That’s where&nbsp;Biden’s energy policies&nbsp;lead, and it is not a path most Americans want to take.The most pressing risks facing U.S. companies in the foreseeable future are unlikely to be those arising from climate change or an energy transition. &nbsp;Rather, the factors to watch are more apt to be inflation, rising energy costs, and national security threats. &nbsp;The Biden Administration is too focused on climate change to anticipate or deter these significant real threats.Today’s sky-high gasoline prices were a policy choice, not an unavoidable accident. &nbsp;No matter how many misleading statistics White House officials and congressional liberals try to throw at the people, the blame for high energy costs rests with them.While claiming to fight to bring energy prices down, President Biden has made the wrong move at every turn. &nbsp;It is time for President Biden to recognize the strategic importance of American energy production. &nbsp;He should abandon his quixotic energy strategy immediately. &nbsp;Nothing less than total reversal of his approach is necessary.President Biden and all federal and state policymakers should prioritize advancing American energy leadership with policies that encourage development of responsibly produced energy here at home. &nbsp;These policies should recognize the volatile world we live in and the long-term impacts of returning to the days of foreign energy dependency. &nbsp;Ed Cross is president of the Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas Association.

CROSS: What’s next for our energy future?

In June of 1902, Theodore Roosevelt&nbsp;was president.&nbsp;The Wizard of Oz opened as a musical in Chicago.&nbsp;And&nbsp;on&nbsp;June 23&nbsp;of that year,&nbsp;57&nbsp;students attended the first day of classes&nbsp;in the infirmary building on the grounds of the former military outpost, Fort Hays.&nbsp;Few could have predicted&nbsp;extraordinary&nbsp;journey of service,&nbsp;innovation,&nbsp;and persistence that would follow for&nbsp;what was then known as the Western Branch of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Kansas State Normal School.&nbsp;As we celebrate our blessings on this 120th&nbsp;anniversary, I thought I would share some massive moments that have shaped our journey.

Congress introduced legislation in 1900 to transfer the abandoned military reservation in Hays, Kansas, to the State of Kansas to establish the Western Branch of the State Normal School.

The state legislature severed the Hays branch from Emporia as part of a more extensive restructuring, thus changing the name to Fort Hays Kansas Normal School on March 6, 1914. Thus, began FHSU’s substantial growth in enrollment, facilities, and, most importantly, in the scope of our academic and cultural mission.

Focusing on building a faculty of scholars and researchers, in March 1927, George Sternberg, the noted fossil hunter and geologist joined the faculty. Discovering the fish within the fish brought international attention to our research prominence.

House Bill No. 487 authorized a name change to Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1931. More importantly, we recognized a much broader role for the institution advancing from a normal school to a liberal arts institution.

In the 1980s, FHSU received a Title III Strengthening Institution Grant for $2,423,567 that provided major IBM mainframe computing equipment for FHSU, laying the foundation for a new high-tech/high-touch learning environment. Today, we are pioneering a university digital master plan, one of the first in the country.

The rise of a basketball powerhouse

In 1984 and 1985, the men’s basketball team won back-to-back NAIA national championships. The women won the NAIA national title in 1991. Five years later, the 1995-1996 men’s team won the NCAA Division II national championship to complete a perfect 34-0 season.

In 1999-2000 the Kansas Board of Regents&nbsp;secured a change to the established tuition&nbsp;model to allow each university to keep any&nbsp;tuition and fees collected. Other institutions&nbsp;used this new authority to raise tuition. FHSU launched an affordability advantage&nbsp;mission that drove enrollment and expanded&nbsp;access.

The introduction of online learning

Education at a distance began in 1911, with&nbsp;coursework offered by mail. Highly successful,&nbsp;the program grew year by year, developing new&nbsp;techniques and adopting new technology. In&nbsp;1977, the Division of Continuing Education&nbsp;emerged, later becoming the Virtual College.&nbsp;The first online courses were offered in 1998,&nbsp;and the first full-degree programs started in&nbsp;1999. The ability to provide online classes was&nbsp;a game-changer for the university. Today we&nbsp;are only one of six universities in the world to&nbsp;earn the United States Distance Learning&nbsp;Association’s rigorous 91-point quality&nbsp;certification.

FHSU established a partnership with Zhengzhou&nbsp;Sias University to offer four-year degrees in&nbsp;China in 1999. FHSU has granted degrees to&nbsp;more than 12,000 Chinese graduates at two&nbsp;partner universities in China – Sias University&nbsp;and Shenyang Normal University. Today our students represent more than 30 countries and a growing number of educational partnerships in Bolivia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Senegal, and China.

Our long history of serving military-connected&nbsp;students included an Army ROTC program&nbsp;(1980-1987). With the increase in distance&nbsp;learning in the late 1990s, FHSU began to&nbsp;deliver education to military students across the&nbsp;nation, joining the Navy College Program&nbsp;Distance Learning Partnership in 2001. Today&nbsp;we serve every branch of the military. Over the&nbsp;past three years, we have launched the&nbsp;Associate of Applied Science (AAS) –&nbsp;Technology &amp; Leadership (2019), the Transfer &amp;&nbsp;Military Center (2020), and the Kansas Army&nbsp;National Guard Officer Candidate School&nbsp;Program (2021).

Expanding the regional reach of FHSU affordability

In 2021, we expanded our commitment&nbsp;to providing a high-quality and accessible education,&nbsp;making a bold move to redefine the meaning of&nbsp;regional tuition. We now offer in-state tuition to students from 13 states across a swath of the central United States.

FHSU today is a regional comprehensive public university where determined, innovative, and caring faculty and staff share a deep commitment to teaching and mentoring students. This commitment, established and built upon for 120 years, will continue to guide us forward.&nbsp;

Our mission remains relentlessly focused on developing the engaged global-citizen leaders our world needs today. This singular focus has been the principal driver of our success for more than 120 years.

FHSU consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the American Midwest. A remarkable 95% of FHSU students secure jobs or higher education opportunities after graduation. Employers tell us the combination of challenging academic programs, close faculty/student relationships, and the abundance of experiential learning opportunities our students enjoy while at FHSU set our students apart in a competitive job market worldwide.

Throughout our history, the quality of our academic programs, our unmatched affordability, and generations of caring and supportive people have been the hallmarks of the Fort Hays State University experience. On this 120th&nbsp;anniversary of the founding of our university, I continue to marvel at the remarkable Tiger Nation we’ve all built.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575302014229.png" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>In June of 1902, Theodore Roosevelt&nbsp;was president.&nbsp;The Wizard of Oz opened as a musical in Chicago.&nbsp;And&nbsp;on&nbsp;June 23&nbsp;of that year,&nbsp;57&nbsp;students attended the first day of classes&nbsp;in the infirmary building on the grounds of the former military outpost, Fort Hays.&nbsp;Few could have predicted&nbsp;extraordinary&nbsp;journey of service,&nbsp;innovation,&nbsp;and persistence that would follow for&nbsp;what was then known as the Western Branch of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Kansas State Normal School.&nbsp;As we celebrate our blessings on this 120th&nbsp;anniversary, I thought I would share some massive moments that have shaped our journey.Humble beginningsCongress introduced legislation in 1900 to transfer the abandoned military reservation in Hays, Kansas, to the State of Kansas to establish the Western Branch of the State Normal School.Independence Day in HaysThe state legislature severed the Hays branch from Emporia as part of a more extensive restructuring, thus changing the name to Fort Hays Kansas Normal School on March 6, 1914. Thus, began FHSU’s substantial growth in enrollment, facilities, and, most importantly, in the scope of our academic and cultural mission.Building the academyFocusing on building a faculty of scholars and researchers, in March 1927, George Sternberg, the noted fossil hunter and geologist joined the faculty. Discovering the fish within the fish brought international attention to our research prominence.A new name and an expanded roleHouse Bill No. 487 authorized a name change to Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1931. More importantly, we recognized a much broader role for the institution advancing from a normal school to a liberal arts institution.TechnologyIn the 1980s, FHSU received a Title III Strengthening Institution Grant for $2,423,567 that provided major IBM mainframe computing equipment for FHSU, laying the foundation for a new high-tech/high-touch learning environment. Today, we are pioneering a university digital master plan, one of the first in the country.The rise of a basketball powerhouseIn 1984 and 1985, the men’s basketball team won back-to-back NAIA national championships. The women won the NAIA national title in 1991. Five years later, the 1995-1996 men’s team won the NCAA Division II national championship to complete a perfect 34-0 season.Expanded financial freedomIn 1999-2000 the Kansas Board of Regents&nbsp;secured a change to the established tuition&nbsp;model to allow each university to keep any&nbsp;tuition and fees collected. Other institutions&nbsp;used this new authority to raise tuition. FHSU launched an affordability advantage&nbsp;mission that drove enrollment and expanded&nbsp;access.The introduction of online learningEducation at a distance began in 1911, with&nbsp;coursework offered by mail. Highly successful,&nbsp;the program grew year by year, developing new&nbsp;techniques and adopting new technology. In&nbsp;1977, the Division of Continuing Education&nbsp;emerged, later becoming the Virtual College.&nbsp;The first online courses were offered in 1998,&nbsp;and the first full-degree programs started in&nbsp;1999. The ability to provide online classes was&nbsp;a game-changer for the university. Today we&nbsp;are only one of six universities in the world to&nbsp;earn the United States Distance Learning&nbsp;Association’s rigorous 91-point quality&nbsp;certification.East meets west&nbsp;FHSU established a partnership with Zhengzhou&nbsp;Sias University to offer four-year degrees in&nbsp;China in 1999. FHSU has granted degrees to&nbsp;more than 12,000 Chinese graduates at two&nbsp;partner universities in China – Sias University&nbsp;and Shenyang Normal University. Today our students represent more than 30 countries and a growing number of educational partnerships in Bolivia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Senegal, and China.Military partnershipsOur long history of serving military-connected&nbsp;students included an Army ROTC program&nbsp;(1980-1987). With the increase in distance&nbsp;learning in the late 1990s, FHSU began to&nbsp;deliver education to military students across the&nbsp;nation, joining the Navy College Program&nbsp;Distance Learning Partnership in 2001. Today&nbsp;we serve every branch of the military. Over the&nbsp;past three years, we have launched the&nbsp;Associate of Applied Science (AAS) –&nbsp;Technology &amp; Leadership (2019), the Transfer &amp;&nbsp;Military Center (2020), and the Kansas Army&nbsp;National Guard Officer Candidate School&nbsp;Program (2021).Expanding the regional reach of FHSU affordabilityIn 2021, we expanded our commitment&nbsp;to providing a high-quality and accessible education,&nbsp;making a bold move to redefine the meaning of&nbsp;regional tuition. We now offer in-state tuition to students from 13 states across a swath of the central United States.FHSU today is a regional comprehensive public university where determined, innovative, and caring faculty and staff share a deep commitment to teaching and mentoring students. This commitment, established and built upon for 120 years, will continue to guide us forward.&nbsp;Our mission remains relentlessly focused on developing the engaged global-citizen leaders our world needs today. This singular focus has been the principal driver of our success for more than 120 years.FHSU consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the American Midwest. A remarkable 95% of FHSU students secure jobs or higher education opportunities after graduation. Employers tell us the combination of challenging academic programs, close faculty/student relationships, and the abundance of experiential learning opportunities our students enjoy while at FHSU set our students apart in a competitive job market worldwide.Throughout our history, the quality of our academic programs, our unmatched affordability, and generations of caring and supportive people have been the hallmarks of the Fort Hays State University experience. On this 120th&nbsp;anniversary of the founding of our university, I continue to marvel at the remarkable Tiger Nation we’ve all built.&nbsp;

MASON: FHSU at 120 — a legacy of massive moments  

By KIM BALDWIN McPherson&nbsp;County farmer and rancher Every year around this time, the world around me has the potential to quickly turn into a continuous swirl that would be perfect for a TV series.&nbsp; &nbsp; In cinematic effect, I imagine my story would begin with a black and white tight shot of my eyes opening wide from slumber and darting back and forth in a semi-confused state. &nbsp; The background music at the start of my episode would consist of an odd pattern of guitar plinks and orchestral bursts, and over this hair-raising musical selection would include a Rod Serling-like narration: &nbsp; “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance. Of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into … the ‘Harvest Zone.’” &nbsp; Harvest crews are making their way through wheat fields in my part of the world right now. As a farming family, this begins the busy season of not only harvesting wheat from the fields while racing the summer storms, but also finishing up the planting of our fall crops, and beginning the long, hot summer days of irrigation. Sprinkle in a variety of summer activities for our kids like Vacation Bible School, baseball games and swim lessons, and you have a swirling vortex of days that leave people like me asking at times, “What day is it?”&nbsp; &nbsp; It’s during this time of the year I have to intentionally look at my calendar every morning to identify which kid has a baseball game that evening, if I have a scheduled Zoom call at some point during the day, or if my newspaper column is due. In reality, I also have to look at my calendar to know what the actual&nbsp;day is. &nbsp; It’s during this part of the year where I intentionally set two alerts on all of my calendar entries. One alert is set for “1 day before” and the second for “1 hour before” to help remind me of daily events.&nbsp; &nbsp; And it’s during this part of the year while conducting my daily morning calendar review, I will also routinely set alarms on my phone to go off approximately 30-minutes prior to any calendar entries that demand me to be at a certain place at a certain time.&nbsp; &nbsp; While it seems excessive, all of this helps me to avoid wandering through a timeless dimension exacerbated by the hustle of wheat harvest and other continuously flowing summer farm and family tasks and appointments that can easily blend into one big summer blur if not contained. &nbsp; To know what day&nbsp;it is and to be aware of what time&nbsp;it is helps me stay as grounded and focused as possible. These are the steps I take to keep moving forward and not overlook important tasks needing my attention.&nbsp; &nbsp; Whether it’s getting my kids to their games on time, delivering seed to a field at the right time, or consistently delivering our harvest crew their meals twice daily at mealtime, it’s just one of the ways I try to maintain awareness of real time&nbsp;while living in the “Harvest Zone.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573617414005.jpeg" alt="Kim Baldwin&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Kim Baldwin&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By KIM BALDWIN McPherson&nbsp;County farmer and rancher Every year around this time, the world around me has the potential to quickly turn into a continuous swirl that would be perfect for a TV series.&nbsp; &nbsp; In cinematic effect, I imagine my story would begin with a black and white tight shot of my eyes opening wide from slumber and darting back and forth in a semi-confused state. &nbsp; The background music at the start of my episode would consist of an odd pattern of guitar plinks and orchestral bursts, and over this hair-raising musical selection would include a Rod Serling-like narration: &nbsp; “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance. Of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into … the ‘Harvest Zone.’” &nbsp; Harvest crews are making their way through wheat fields in my part of the world right now. As a farming family, this begins the busy season of not only harvesting wheat from the fields while racing the summer storms, but also finishing up the planting of our fall crops, and beginning the long, hot summer days of irrigation. Sprinkle in a variety of summer activities for our kids like Vacation Bible School, baseball games and swim lessons, and you have a swirling vortex of days that leave people like me asking at times, “What day is it?”&nbsp; &nbsp; It’s during this time of the year I have to intentionally look at my calendar every morning to identify which kid has a baseball game that evening, if I have a scheduled Zoom call at some point during the day, or if my newspaper column is due. In reality, I also have to look at my calendar to know what the actual&nbsp;day is. &nbsp; It’s during this part of the year where I intentionally set two alerts on all of my calendar entries. One alert is set for “1 day before” and the second for “1 hour before” to help remind me of daily events.&nbsp; &nbsp; And it’s during this part of the year while conducting my daily morning calendar review, I will also routinely set alarms on my phone to go off approximately 30-minutes prior to any calendar entries that demand me to be at a certain place at a certain time.&nbsp; &nbsp; While it seems excessive, all of this helps me to avoid wandering through a timeless dimension exacerbated by the hustle of wheat harvest and other continuously flowing summer farm and family tasks and appointments that can easily blend into one big summer blur if not contained. &nbsp; To know what day&nbsp;it is and to be aware of what time&nbsp;it is helps me stay as grounded and focused as possible. These are the steps I take to keep moving forward and not overlook important tasks needing my attention.&nbsp; &nbsp; Whether it’s getting my kids to their games on time, delivering seed to a field at the right time, or consistently delivering our harvest crew their meals twice daily at mealtime, it’s just one of the ways I try to maintain awareness of real time&nbsp;while living in the “Harvest Zone.”"Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: The harvest zone

Everywhere we turn there are signs of the upcoming Aug. 2 constitutional amendment and primary elections, and soon enough they’ll be replaced with reminders of the Nov. 8 general election.

For a political scientist like myself, I love election years. It’s like my Super Bowl — except the stakes are a whole lot higher because the winners and losers affect the lives of everyday Kansans.

But more and more often I’m finding myself disappointed during election season.

Surprisingly, it’s not the bombardment of negative campaign ads, yard signs, and armchair political scientists that make me feel this way — though those certainly don’t help. It’s how few options Kansas voters really have.

Shortly after the June 10 candidate filing deadline, I noticed tweets from several candidates for the Kansas House celebrating their victories. And that feeling of disappointment hit me again. These candidates had essentially won because they didn’t have a single challenger running against them.

All 125 House seats are up for election this year. Yet, 55 of those seats are completely unopposed. Voters in 44 percent of our House districts don’t get a choice in who their representative is going to be. Another handful of districts will be decided in the Aug. 2 primary, as there isn’t a partisan challenger running for the seat.

Considering the 2021 Kansas Speaks public opinion survey found less than one-third of Kansans are satisfied with the overall performance of the state legislature, it is perhaps surprising so many candidates are running unopposed.

This begs the question, why are there so many districts without opposition candidates?

Well, there are completely valid reasons why potential challengers don’t run in these districts.

First, many of Kansas’ House districts just aren’t competitive.

Of the 55 unopposed races, 36 have a Republican candidate and 19 have a Democratic candidate.

Rural areas of our state strongly favor Republicans. While urban and suburban areas, especially in the northeast, are more favorable to Democrats. 

Electoral districts are drawn with this partisanship in mind. The goal is to maximize the number of districts winnable by the majority party, which can only be done by giving up a few districts to the minority party.

To determine competitiveness, I analyzed 2020 voting trends in each 2022 House district and deemed districts that came within 2 percent of a 50-50 partisan split to be competitive. I found that only 12 of our 125 House districts met these criteria.

Most of these unopposed races are in districts that are not competitive for members of the opposite party. And potential challengers aren’t going to run if their chance of winning is low.

Everywhere we turn there are signs of the upcoming Aug. 2 constitutional amendment and primary elections, and soon enough they’ll be replaced with reminders of the Nov. 8 general election.For a political scientist like myself, I love election years. It’s like my Super Bowl — except the stakes are a whole lot higher because the winners and losers affect the lives of everyday Kansans.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1633377761670.jpeg" alt="Alexandra&nbsp;&nbsp;Middlewood" />
 <figcaption>Alexandra&nbsp;&nbsp;Middlewood</figcaption>
 </figure>But more and more often I’m finding myself disappointed during election season.Surprisingly, it’s not the bombardment of negative campaign ads, yard signs, and armchair political scientists that make me feel this way — though those certainly don’t help. It’s how few options Kansas voters really have.Shortly after the June 10 candidate filing deadline, I noticed tweets from several candidates for the Kansas House celebrating their victories. And that feeling of disappointment hit me again. These candidates had essentially won because they didn’t have a single challenger running against them.All 125 House seats are up for election this year. Yet, 55 of those seats are completely unopposed. Voters in 44 percent of our House districts don’t get a choice in who their representative is going to be. Another handful of districts will be decided in the Aug. 2 primary, as there isn’t a partisan challenger running for the seat.Considering the 2021 Kansas Speaks public opinion survey found less than one-third of Kansans are satisfied with the overall performance of the state legislature, it is perhaps surprising so many candidates are running unopposed.This begs the question, why are there so many districts without opposition candidates?Well, there are completely valid reasons why potential challengers don’t run in these districts.First, many of Kansas’ House districts just aren’t competitive.Of the 55 unopposed races, 36 have a Republican candidate and 19 have a Democratic candidate.Rural areas of our state strongly favor Republicans. While urban and suburban areas, especially in the northeast, are more favorable to Democrats. Electoral districts are drawn with this partisanship in mind. The goal is to maximize the number of districts winnable by the majority party, which can only be done by giving up a few districts to the minority party.To determine competitiveness, I analyzed 2020 voting trends in each 2022 House district and deemed districts that came within 2 percent of a 50-50 partisan split to be competitive. I found that only 12 of our 125 House districts met these criteria.Most of these unopposed races are in districts that are not competitive for members of the opposite party. And potential challengers aren’t going to run if their chance of winning is low.Second, there are features of the Kansas Legislature that limit who is realistically able to run for office.We have a part-time, low-pay, legislature. On average, lawmakers spend about half of a full-time job doing legislative work. This requires many legislators to have other sources of income to make a living — usually flexible careers, family wealth, or retirement. Therefore, running for office is often limited to upper-middle-class or wealthy Kansans.Logically, it makes sense why this wouldn’t be an appealing draw for potential challengers.But it’s concerning for our democracy. Government necessitates competitive elections to be considered representative.The voice of the people is supposed to drive our government. But nearly half of Kansas voters won’t get a choice in who their state representative is this year.Alexandra Middlewood, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of political science at Wichita State University.

Opinion