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TMP-M dedicates new learning commons

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Bishop Gerald Vincke acknowledges Fr. Blaine Burkey during the dedication of the new TMP Learning Commons, which is named for Burkey. Burkey is a former TMP teacher.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Thomas More Prep-Marian unveiled its new Learning Commons during a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.

Principal Chad Meitner said the school is undergoing a complete renovation of its interior, and this is just one stage of what will be a lengthy process.

School officials realized, he said, the school’s old library was antiquated and not being used by teachers or students.

Fr. Blaine Burkey prepares to speak at the dedication of the new Learning Commons at TMP that was named for him.

“We realized that we needed to do the space differently,” he said, “organize it and stack it with flexible furniture, with materials that are meaningful for what the students are needing to research and learn and study. That required a complete new beginning and a new space.”

The new 3,600-square-foot space on the main floor of the building, includes shelves full of books, study areas, a conference room and a pull-down screen for multimedia presentations.

Students are being asked to work more in groups, give presentations and do more in-depth research than just a Google search. Meitner said he thought the Learning Commons would be a space conducive to that type of learning.

You can still check out a book, but also receive help with digital research, Meitner said.

“It’s a space for others too,” he said. “If there is a group that would like to reserve it because they have a reception or a speaker and they want to have a good, conducive setting to have an event, let us know. … We are open to listening to how we can share it with others.”

The Learning Commons ribbon cutting.

The former library on the third floor has been renovated into a junior high classroom and high school study hall.

The commons was named for Fr. Blaine Burkey, who served at TMP-M for 27 years. As the director for the Center for Research, he believed in the value of the written word and significance of preserving historical knowledge. He now resides at a friary in Denver, but was on hand Friday for the dedication.

“The word ‘commons’ means it is a place for everybody — learning for everybody,” Burkey said. “I thought that was pretty good.”

Bishop Gerald Vincke was also on hand to bless the commons.

“We listen to the news, and there is so much bad news,” he said. “This is great news. This is the desire of the Lord for this to happen. We are thankful to God for this day and this opportunity to bless this Learning Commons.”

A new study area in the Learning Commons doubles as a serving table during its dedication.

 

Portion of 280th will be closed for culvert repair project

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Beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, the 1100 block of 280th Avenue (just south of Old U.S. 40) will be closed for a culvert repair project, the Ellis County Public Works Road & Bridge Division reported.

That portion of the roadway will remain closed until the project is completed, which is expected to be 4 p.m. Thursday. Motorists traveling in the affected closure area should use alternate routes of travel until the project is completed.

For more information, call 785-628-9455.

— Ellis County

21st annual Western Summit set for Oct. 10 in Hays

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The Annual Western Summit, sponsored by the Hays chapter of AARP, will be from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall, 2350 E. Eighth.

Registration of $11 can be paid at the door and includes the luncheon. Information will focus on areas of concern for seniors and how to decrease susceptibility to these concerns.

While enjoying coffee and doughnuts from 8 to 9 a.m., there will be a number of tables for participants to peruse information on what’s available for seniors. Some vendors will have free giveaways or door prizes. There will be door prizes to give away at the end of the summit.

To register, call (785) 625-6896 or (785) 623-7412 by Oct. 3.

You do not have to be an AARP member to attend.

— AARP

Options among organizations receiving federal grant funding

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Office of the Governor

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced more than $1.2 million from the Federal Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grant program awarded to communities across Kansas.

“It takes great courage to leave an abuser. Oftentimes, victims need to leave a dangerous situation quickly,” Kelly said. “We must do all we can to encourage women and men to leave abusive relationships. Housing and other resources must be available to keep our survivors and children safe. This grant will help provide these critical resources where they are needed most.”

Hays-based Options: Domestic & Sexual Violence Services was among the organizations receiving grant funding.

The FVPSA grant program assists states in their efforts to support the establishment, maintenance and expansion of programs and projects to:

1) prevent incidents of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence;
2) provide immediate shelter, support services and access to community-based programs for victims of family violence, domestic violence or dating violence and their dependents; and
3) provide specialized services for children exposed to family violence, domestic violence or dating violence including victims who are members of underserved populations.

These programs provide outreach, shelter, support groups, crisis intervention and advocacy in obtaining protection from abuse orders, court accompaniment, transportation and prevention education in schools and communities.

2020 FVPSA Grant Awards

 

County Organization Name Grant Award
Allen Hope Unlimited $43,657
Barton Family Crisis Center $54,105
Butler Family Life Center $49,580
Crawford Safehouse Crisis Center $64,100
Douglas The Willow Domestic Violence Center $67,735
Ellis Options:  Domestic & Sexual Violence Services $71,526
Finney Family Crisis Services $50,070
Ford Crisis Center of Dodge City $47,838
Harvey Harvey Co. Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Task Force $49,558
Johnson SAFEHOME $137,328
Leavenworth Alliance Against Family Violence $50,103
Lyon SOS $52,816
Reno BrightHouse $52,527
Riley Crisis Center $71,590
Saline Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas $61,875
Sedgwick Catholic Charities, Harbor House $78,668
Sedgwick Wichita Family Crisis Center $90,505
Seward Liberal Area Rape Crisis/Domestic Violence Services $46,187
Shawnee YWCA Center for Safety & Empowerment $70,149
Wyandotte Friends of Yates $62,373
  TOTAL $1,272,290

 

FIRST FIVE: Does First Amendment protect speech made by AI?

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Lata Nott

When we talk about our right to speak freely, most of us know intuitively that isn’t just limited to the words that come out of our mouths. Because when we say that our “speech” is protected by the First Amendment, we’re also talking about books, movies, TV shows, video games, music, virtual reality simulations, art — every way that human beings express themselves. Last week someone posed the following question: What if the expression isn’t from a human being at all? Does the First Amendment protect speech made by artificial intelligence?

Personally, I love questions like this. Some of the most exciting and unsettled First Amendment issues center on whether or not the amendment covers new forms of technology, like computer code, algorithms or blockchain. It might seem odd to consider these things to be in the same category as a fiery political speech or work of art, but they all share an important commonality in that they’re all vehicles people can use to communicate with one another and express ideas.

The history of technology and the First Amendment essentially involves our legal system slowly and reluctantly expanding the definition of speech to include new forms of communication. My favorite example is the Supreme Court’s initial take on movies. In 1915, the court decided movies weren’t protected by the First Amendment because they were a business rather than a legitimate form of expression and noted that movies were “vivid, useful and entertaining, no doubt, but … capable of evil, having power for it, the greater because of their attractiveness and manner of exhibition.”

This language seems to reflect a fear that the technology behind movies was a little too entertaining and immersive and therefore needed to be controlled. But by 1952, the Supreme Court had changed its mind completely, stating that, “It cannot be doubted that motion pictures are a significant medium for the communication of ideas. … The importance of motion pictures as an organ of public opinion is not lessened by the fact that they are designed to entertain as well as to inform.” By then, the once alarming technology had become engrained in daily life and so the court could recognize its value in facilitating expression. Many believe the same will eventually be true for things like computer code (while some lower courts have recognized code as speech, the Supreme Court has never weighed in on this).

Of course, just deciding that something “counts” as speech doesn’t mean that it’s protected by the First Amendment. Not every type of speech is. For example, if you threaten someone’s life, or hire a hitman, you are certainly engaging in the act of speech, but the First Amendment won’t protect it. There are times when speech becomes conduct — when it’s more than just an expression of an idea, but constitutes an action — and that’s usually when the government can regulate it. For example, using code to create a video game could be considered an act of expression protected by the First Amendment, but using code to launch denial of service attacks probably wouldn’t be. There are very few bright-line rules for determining whether or not something is protected by the First Amendment. Courts have to examine the context surrounding an expression and, sometimes, the intent of the speaker when making these decisions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) adds a whole other dimension to this debate, because it’s not always clear who the speaker is. Right now, most code can be considered to be the expression of the programmers behind it. But as AI grows more sophisticated and more able to think for itself, there will come a point where the things it says and does can’t be attributed to any human being. (Maybe that point has already arrived. In 2016, Microsoft created an AI system named “Tay,” which they had operate a Twitter account to tweet out as a teenage girl and learn from the Twitter accounts that interacted with it. Within 24 hours, Tay became racist and anti-semitic and Microsoft was forced to shut it down.)

When the day comes that Siri and Alexa are able to think for themselves, will the First Amendment protect their right to express those thoughts? As crazy as that might seem, there’s nothing in the text of the First Amendment that requires the speaker to be human. Furthermore, the First Amendment doesn’t just exist so that speakers can express themselves, but to protect listeners and viewers and their right to receive information. As John Frank Weaver wrote in his article, “Why Robots Deserve Free Speech Rights,” “The First Amendment protects the speaker, but more importantly it protects the rest of us, who are guaranteed the right to determine whether the speaker is right, wrong or badly programmed. We are owed that right regardless of who is doing the speaking.”

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why we wouldn’t want the First Amendment to apply to AI. It would make it just as difficult for the government to regulate computer speech as it is for the government to regulate our speech — which might be a problem considering that computers are much, much better at speaking than we are. As the wonderfully named law review article, “Siri-ously? Free Speech Rights and Artificial Intelligence,” points out, ” a number of thoughtful commentators have already extensively documented the harms caused by the speech products of existing technologies due to computers’ phenomenal speed and often global interconnectivity, harms that include deception, manipulation, coercion, inaccuracy and discrimination. We can expect such harms only to mount with the growing communicative capacities of increasingly sophisticated computers.”

But the article goes on to point out that failing to protect AI speech risks the government suppressing a valuable source of information for human beings and that we don’t need to take an all-or-nothing approach here. These are still the early days of the so-called AI revolution, so we have time to think things through before Siri takes over.

Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. Contact her via email at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.

New season of live theater comes to FHSU stage Oct. 3

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FHSU University Relations

A season of comedy is planned for the 2019-20 season of theatre at Fort Hays State University, beginning Oct. 3 with “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a parody of 1920s-style musicals starring Man in Chair.

The season progresses through Ken Ludwig’s “Comedy of Tenors,” and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” as adapted by Kate Hamill for a cynical and modern but funny sensibility by Kate Hamill.

The season-ending opera, scheduled for April, has not yet been selected.

“It has been our privilege to delight and entertain people through the magic of live theatre,” said Tomme Williams, director of FHSU Theatre.

“We come to the theatre to unite as artists and audiences in performances that create unique and inspiring experiences, taking us out of our everyday lives and into the realm of imagination,” she said. “This season is about exactly that: coming together – whether in celebration, hope, faith, love, perseverance, or risk, the stories of this season are of people reaching out and trying to overcome divides between each other.”

All productions are in the Felten-Start Theatre in Malloy Hall on the FHSU campus.

The Drowsy Chaperone
Oct. 3, 4, 5, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. curtain
Sunday, Oct. 6, matinee at 2:30 p.m.
Winner of five Tony Awards, “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a loving valentine to musical comedy, hosted by the narrator and theatre aficionado Man in Chair, who invites the audience to listen to his favorite LP record of a fictitious 1928 musical, which comes magically to life around him.

The musical is full of the song and dance and the plot twists that were features of 1920s musicals.

A Comedy of Tenors
Nov. 14, 15, 16, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. curtain
Sunday, Nov. 17, matinee at 2:30 p.m.
Comic genius Ken Ludwig wrote this sequel to his 1989 Tony Award winning comedy “Lend Me a Tenor.” The setting is 1930s Paris with one hotel suite, four tenors, two wives, three girlfriends, and a stadium full of screaming fans. The stage is set for the concert of the century – as long as producer Henry Saunders can keep Italian superstar Tito and his hot-blooded wife, Maria, from causing runaway chaos.

This ride is full of mistaken identities, bedroom hijinks and farcical delight.

Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Kate Hamill
March 5, 6, 7, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. curtain
Sunday, March 8, matinee, at 2:30 p.m.
This bold, surprising and boisterous retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” puts a modern outlook in Georgian dress. This “Pride and Prejudice” for a new era explores the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life. One of literature’s greatest tales of latent love has never been so theatrical and full of life.

Opera
April 17, Friday, 7:30 p.m. curtain
Sunday, April 19, matinee at 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Joseph Perniciaro, director of opera at Fort Hays State, has presented works spanning from Mozart to Bernstein.

Season ticket prices are $25 for students, up to age 18 or an FHSU student with ID; $30 for senior citizens, age 60 and up; and $50 for the public.

Individual tickets $10 for students or senior citizens and $15 for the public. For a complete listing, visit the website at www.fhsu.edu/music-and-theatre/arts-calendar. For more information, call 785-628-4533.

“Our goal is to bring the best theatre experience we can, so we ask everyone to please grab a friend and join us,” said Williams. “A spectacular season awaits and everyone is invited.”

🎥 Go Truck Go goes great in new location

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By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The parking lot was full and overflowed to neighborhood streets for Thursday’s Go Truck Go in Hays.

Children and their parents were invited to the popular annual event sponsored Hays USD 489 Early Childhood Connections for a closeup experience with large work vehicles — and their drivers — used in and around Hays.

The two-hour event was held for the first time at the former Oak Park Medical Complex, 2501 E. 13th, now home to all of the school district’s early childhood programs. The Hays school board will consider suggested new names for the four-building complex at its Monday meeting.

Youngsters got up close and personal with the operators of the huge vehicles who lifted the smallest kids up into high cabs while talking about their job and how the vehicle is used. Other children took pride in clambering up by themselves and posing for pictures taken by their parents.

The vehicles were parked on the east side of the school complex.

Walking alongside the vehicle lineup was also a lesson in learning colors as parents pointed out the bright red Hays fire truck, a yellow USD 489 school bus near a yellow Ellis County Public Works road grader, the John Deere green tractor from Carrico Implement, gleaming white Midwest Energy bucket trucks, and a blue semi from Simpson Farm Enterprises.

First responders from Ellis County showed curious youngsters the equipment aboard their fire truck, ambulance, and police and sheriff’s vehicles.

Free food and drinks were also available for the families, many of whom took advantage of the adjacent Kiwanis Park to enjoy a picnic.

Several agencies provided information and giveaways from their groups including Girl Scouts, CASA of the High Plains, Cottonwood Extension District and the city of Hays Water Resources Department.

Phi Delta Theta fraternity starting on FHSU campus

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FHSU University Relations

Phi Delta Theta, an international fraternity, is establishing a new group on Fort Hays State University’s campus this semester.

Founded in 1848 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by six men, the fraternity was built on three principles, friendship, sound learning and rectitude.

“We are excited to have Phi Delta Theta join our community,” said Stephen Hopson, coordinator of student engagement at FHSU. “They have a good reputation for being an organization that attracts a diverse array of students and helps support them through their college journey. We are excited to have Phi Delta Theta grow and strengthen the fraternity community.”

“Helping every individual to meet his true potential is the bedrock of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity,” said Austin Dean, a Phi Delta Theta leadership consultant.

“Rather than try to find young men to mold into some ideal, we celebrate the uniqueness of each individual,” he said. “Through encouragement, values, example and brotherhood, we empower every brother to exceed his personal expectations.”

Since its founding, Phi Delta Theta has initiated over 270,000 men and currently has 191 chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada.

Their national philanthropy of choice is the LiveLikeLou Foundation which is committed to making an impact on ALS research while it supports the children and families affected by ALS.

Lou Gehrig was a member of Phi Delta Theta during his college years at Columbia University. He went on to play for the New York Yankees and was later diagnosed with ALS. In honor and support of their brother, Phi Delta Theta’s across the nation raise money every year for research to find a cure for ALS.

Chapters also locate local ALS families and reach out to them to provide help and support in any way they can to the family.

Phi Delta Theta is looking for the opportunity to become a driving force for improvement on the FHSU campus and offer a different fraternity experience from those that currently exist.

“I became a founding father of Phi Delta Theta because I want to help give rise to a new set of leaders at FHSU. Leaders that are held accountable, have a strong sense or right and wrong, and push one another to become the best versions of themselves,” said Eiran Saucedo-Rodarte, a Wichita junior majoring in general studies.

“I joined Phi Delta Theta because it had an aspect of leadership to it which was inspiring and it gives you an opportunity to make your mark on campus by creating something different from the ground up,” said Jacob Quiggle, a Maize freshman majoring in history.

For more information about Phi Delta Theta, visit FuturePhiDelt.org.

Kansas man dies in ATV accident

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LANE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 8p.m. Saturday in Lane County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Suzuki driven by Jason Penka, 44, Healy, was southbound leaving Healy on Dodge Road.

As the driver attempted to make left turn at County Road 200, the vehicle overturned an unknown number of times.

EMS transported Penka to the Lane County Hospital where he died. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

New music series at FHSU to honor influential music couple

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FHSU University Relations

Twenty-five years after she defected from the Soviet Union, Luba Edlina Dubinsky met and mentored a doctoral piano student who is now an associate professor of music at Fort Hays State University.

This year, a year after the death of Luba Edlina, Dr. Irena Ravitskaya and the Department of Music and Theatre at Fort Hays State University are beginning a classical music series in memory of Luba Edlina and her husband, Rostislav Dubinsky, who died in 1997.

“The Rostislav and Luba Edlina Dubinsky Classical Music Series is designed to play a distinctive role in the lives of our students and the community by cultivating classical music appreciation,” said Ravitskaya.

The series will feature musicians from around the world and across the United States, many of whom studied under the Dubinsky’s. While on campus, guest musicians will offer presentations and masterclasses.

The first concert of the series, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center, will feature Ravitskaya, piano, Ben Cline, chair of the Department of Music and Theatre, cello, and a guest artist Sharon Stanis, violin. The concert is free.

Stanis is a founding member of the world famous Lafayette String Quartet. She studied violin and chamber music with Dubinsky at Indiana University. Currently Stanis teaches violin and coaches chamber music at the University of Victoria, Canada.

While attending Indiana University for her doctoral degree, Ravitskaya studied piano under Luba Dubinsky.

“She became a dear friend and mentor,” said Ravitskaya. “I would visit her once a year until her death, observing her lessons, going to concerts, listening to recordings, talking about music and life, and just enjoying every day spent with her.”

Born in the Soviet Union, Luba Edlina and Rostislav Dubinsky studied music at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In the 1980s, they immigrated to the United States to teach at the Indiana University school of music.

The Dubinskys were founding members of the Dubinsky Duo and the Borodin Trio demonstrating chamber music at the highest international level.

“The Dubinskys brought a wealth of knowledge to their teaching, not only from their vast performing experience, but also because of their training by the foremost masters of the Russian school of violin and piano playing,” said Ravitskaya.

Other performances in the inaugural year of the Dubinsky Classical Music Series are:

• Saturday, Nov. 9: Mei-Hsuan Huang, originally from Taiwan, will play piano with Borivoj Martinic-Jercic, from Croatia, on violin. Both now teach at Iowa State University.

• Sunday, Nov. 17: Kristin Jonina Taylor is an Icelandic-American pianist who teaches at the University of Nebraska–Omaha.

• Sunday, April 5: Zsuzsa Kollar, is a piano teacher at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest.

All concerts are free.

To help sponsor the Rostislav and Luba Edlina Dubinsky Classical Music Series, contact Irena Ravitskaya at [email protected].

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