KU News Release

Back when KU senior Paige Giblin was struggling to decide upon a major, a chain of increasingly tragic events overwhelmed her tight-knit family in Minnesota. But guided by her ailing grandmother’s advice to “find a career you will be passionate about,” she decided to apply to the School of Social Welfare. Since then, Giblin has pursued her education and life with a passion that would have made her grandmother proud. More.

For 13 years, school was absolutely routine for Neil Melton. But when he was a sophomore at KU, Melton’s Army Reserves unit was deployed to Iraq. After more than a year overseas, Melton came back to KU to finish his degree. “To just take a year and a half off of school and to be thinking about a totally different mindset and to then come back to that, it was a little bit difficult. It took an adjustment,” he says. More.

Talia Martin never studied chemistry while attending high school on an Indian reservation in Idaho. Luckily, she discovered 500 Nations/Bridges to the Baccalaureate, a federally funded program at KU and Haskell Indian Nations University that promotes diversity in biomedical research. Now her goals include encouraging other Native Americans to study science. More.

A native of Hutchinson, Jon Dennis always has been an advocate for those less fortunate than himself. When he came to KU, he found another passion: peace. Dennis started a group called KU Peacebuilders with a mission to create a more just society. The Peacebuilders work in the Lawrence community, hosting everything from panel discussions to pancake feeds. More.

To say Sofia Galarza Liu had a bad summer in 2002 is an epic understatement. Instead of sun, vacation and fun, the KU staff member had surgery, school and work. But despite the hardships, Liu finished her master’s degree and helped the Spencer Museum of Art take a technological leap. More.

Before he took his first class at the University of Kansas, Tony Raymond dreamed of two things: living in Japan and landing a prestigious job in the automotive industry. In July, Raymond will pack up his diploma and a couple of suitcases and head 6,000 miles west. The 12-hour flight will land him in Tokyo, where he will begin his new career as an automotive engineer with Bosch Group. More.

Two KU students have been chosen to participate in a joint commissioning ceremony for Reserve Officers Training Corps graduates in Washington, D.C. Michelle Davis, an Army ROTC cadet, and Michele Dierks, a Navy ROTC midshipman, will be sworn in by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. President Bush will host and attend the ceremony. More.

Tyler and Trey Glapa remember the exact moment they fell in love with film: It was the day in 1994 when their father bought them their first video camera. Since that day, the fraternal twins, who will graduate from KU with degrees in theatre and film, have been working toward their dream of becoming successful movie directors. More.