Around and About for March 24, 2012

Kansas University has added students to its Honor Roll for the fall 2011 semester. The honor roll comprises undergraduates who meet requirements in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and in the schools of allied health; architecture, design and planning; business; education; engineering; journalism; music; nursing; pharmacy; and social welfare. Honor roll criteria vary among the university’s academic units. Some schools honor the top 10 percent of students enrolled. Some establish a minimum GPA, and others raise the minimum GPA for each year students are in school. Students must complete a minimum number of credit hours to be considered for the Honor Roll. Area honorees, as provided by the university, are as follows:

Isaiah Cardona, Lawrence, School of Journalism; Emma Cornish, Lawrence, School of Journalism; Trevor Davies, Lawrence, CLAS and School of Journalism; Margaret Hull, Lawrence, CLAS and School of Journalism; Brecken Liebl, Lawrence, School of Journalism; Alexandra Rogers, Ottawa, School of Journalism; Benjamin Holladay, Mulvane, School of Journalism.

Ninety-eight students from Kansas University are spending their spring break volunteering with nonprofit organizations all over the country. Alternative Breaks is a student-run organization that centers on service-learning trips that help foster a lifelong commitment to service. This spring, students will be working with 13 nonprofits in 10 states, including rebuilding homes for natural disaster victims, preserving natural habitats, encouraging children to lead healthy lifestyles and assisting teachers. Are volunteers are as follows:

Chelsea Alderman, Lawrence; Wendy Armstrong, Lawrence; Kelsey Coleman, Eudora; Zhi Geng, Lawrence; Erin Ice, Lawrence; George Katumba, Lawrence; Tiffany Lammon, Lawrence; Lynn Lee, Lawrence; Kelsey Leinmiller-Renick, Lawrence; Sarah Long, Lawrence; Leigh Loving, Lawrence;

Lindsey McDaniel, Lawrence; Kylie McKenzie, Lawrence; Mariah Riling, Lawrence; Katie Roberts, Lawrence; Cristiana Sandigo Campos, Lawrence; Dustin True, Eudora; Shelby Webb, Lawrence; Kirk Yager, Lawrence.

Army Pfc. Matthew Smarsh has graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. During the nine weeks of training, he studied the Army mission and received instruction and training exercises in drill and ceremonies, Army history, core values and traditions, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, rifle marksmanship, weapons use, map reading and land navigation, foot marches, armed and unarmed combat, and field maneuvers and tactics. He is a 2008 graduate of North Hunterdon High School, Annandale, N.J., and the son of Ed Smarsh, Lawrence.

Kansas University student Alex Rose has been nominated and interviewed for a 2012 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. More than 600 students were nominated nationwide for the 60 awards. Winners will be announced March 30.

Rose is a junior political science major with a peace and conflict studies minor. The Truman scholarships provide up to $30,000 for graduate study.

Mark Jongman-Sereno, of Lawrence, has achieved academic ranking in the top 2 percent of students in the College of Design at Iowa State University in Ames. Iowa.

Lawrence residents Noah Yoshida, 14, won first place and Jared Lange, 13, won second place March 17 during the Play! Pokémon Trading Card Game State Tournament in Lenexa.

Thirteen teams, including both Free State and Lawrence High School, and 19 individuals from Lawrence have been named All-State in Chess by the Kansas Scholastic Chess Association for the 2011-12 chess season. The top 10 teams and top 20 individuals are determined based on their performance at the State Tournament, which took place March 10 in Lawrence, and based on their top performances at previous tournaments during the season.

All-State teams in K-12 were Free State High School and Lawrence High School; in K-8, Southwest Middle School and West Middle School; in K-5, Cordley, Langston Hughes, Prairie Park and Sunflower; in K-3, Sunset Hill, Cordley, Quail Run, Sunflower and Prairie Park.

All-State individuals in K-12: Aaron Simon and Sam Beaulieu, Free State; and Kaustubh Nimkar, Lawrence High. In K-8, Kiana Hajiarbabi, Apramay Mishra, John Ely and Ilya Schaeffer, Southwest; Alex Trujillo, West. In K-5, Jack Easton, Lawrence Virtual School; and Shrivatsa Malladi, Langston Hughes. In K-3, Annelise Hoopes, Guthrie Bricker and Wheeler Battaglia-Davis, Cordley; Caleb Prescott, Rita Joseph and Logan Camarda, Sunset Hill; Ryan Duan, Quail Run; Oliver Rubenstein, Raintree; and Anna Jian, Sunflower.

Excellence in research, leadership and scholarship has earned 50 students from Kansas State University’s College of Human Ecology membership in Kappa Omicron Nu, the human ecology honor society. Membership in the society is extended to undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated integrity, high standards of scholarship and the promise of future achievement. Undergraduate students must have completed 45 semester hours and have a minimum grade point average of at least 3.5. Graduate students must have completed 15 semester hours of graduate work and have a minimum grade point average of 3.7. Members from this area include: Anna Baughan, sophomore in communication studies and disorders, Baldwin City; Jordan DeTar Newbert, sophomore in interior design, Bonner Springs.