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KU News: KU debaters are top-ranked team in the country

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Guest Columnist
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From the Office of Public Affairs | https://www.news.ku.edu

 

Headlines

 

KU debaters are top-ranked team in the country

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of Rose Larson, Milwaukee, and Luna Schultz, Houston, ended the fall semester as the top-ranked team in the country, according to the 2025-26 College Policy Debate Rankings. The data set for the rankings this semester is based on the evaluation of 556 teams and 3,770 debates. Three other KU teams are in the top 25, including students from Lawrence, Overland Park and Topeka.

 

Bales Choral Society will host public concert

LAWRENCE — The Bales Choral Society, composed of University of Kansas employees and students, will present its fall semester concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at St. Lawrence Catholic Center. Program highlights include John Rutter’s “Gloria.”

 

Full stories below.

 

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Contact: Scott Harris, KU Debate, 785-864-9878, [email protected]
KU debaters are top-ranked team in the country

 

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of Rose Larson, Milwaukee, and Luna Schultz, Houston, ended the fall semester as the top-ranked team in the country, according to the 2025-26 College Policy Debate Rankings.

The ratings are based on a mathematical algorithm that calculates rankings based on accumulated head-to-head results for all tournaments in the fall semester. The data set for the rankings this semester is based on the evaluation of 556 teams and 3,770 debates.

The top-10 teams for the fall semester represent, in rank order: KU, the University of Michigan, Emory University, Northwestern University, Georgetown University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, California State University-Long Beach, the State University of New York and the University of Iowa.

Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of Debate at KU, said, “Rose and Luna had an incredible semester that ranks as one of the best performances in the history of the program.”

The KU duo competed in five tournaments and compiled a record of 46 wins and five losses. They won both the Franklin R. Shirley Debate Tournament at Wake Forest University and the Baird Debate Tournament at the University of Iowa. They finished third at both the J.W. Patterson Debate Tournament at the University of Kentucky and the Jesuit Debates at Gonzaga University. They started the semester with a fifth-place finish at the Owen L. Coon Memorial Debates at Northwestern University.

Larson and Schultz are 12-4 against teams ranked in the top 10 and do not have a losing record against any of them head-to-head.

“We’re very excited about this ranking and so grateful for our wonderful coaches, teammates, and supporters that made this possible,” Larson said.

“Debate is a whole team affair,” Schultz said. “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without all of Kansas behind us.”

KU Debate has two other teams ranked in the top 20, as Owen Owings, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Zach Willingham, Topeka, are the 12th-ranked team in the country, and Brooklynn Hato, Overland Park, and A.J. Persinger, Lawrence, are the 13th-ranked team.

A fourth KU team, Claire Ain, Overland Park, and Max Ulven, St. Paul, Minnesota, are ranked 21st.

“We are very proud of the performance of our teams so far this season, but, as Coach (Bill) Self would say, we must ‘keep loading the wagon,’ because there are a lot of debates ahead of us in the spring semester,” said Brett Bricker, KU’s head debate coach.

Last year the KU team of John Marshall, Lawrence, and Graham Revare, Shawnee, finished No. 1 in the postseason 2024-25 College Policy Debate Ratings, while Larson and Schultz finished last year as the 12th-ranked team.

 

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KU activity supports nearly 88,000 jobs — or 1 in every 23 jobs in Kansas.

If KU by itself were its own industry sector, it would be the 10th-largest sector in Kansas.

https://economicdevelopment.ku.edu/impact

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Contact: Gerri Berendzen, [email protected]
Bales Choral Society will host public concert

LAWRENCE — The Bales Choral Society will present its fall semester concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road.

John Rutter’s “Gloria” highlights the program, which also features Rutter’s “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol,” Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto 3rd movement, Giovanni Gabrieli’s “Canzon Septimi Toni a 8,” Claude Daquin’s “Noël I” and “It was a Sunday,” which was composed by BCS member J.R. Speake.

The BSC is made of KU faculty, staff and students from across the Lawrence campus. KU brass and percussion musicians make up the orchestra.

The group is under the direction of Wolfgang Reisinger, visiting professor of organ and church music from Vienna, assisted by graduate students in the music program. Cory Reames and Max Linares are featured conductors for the concert.

Admission is free, and no ticket is required. Doors open at 6:40 p.m., and parking is available in regular lots on the KU campus.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

https://www.news.ku.edu

 

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

 

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

 

Don’t Do This To Your Lawn!

By
Guest Columnist
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Many of you ask question about lawn problems. The following are a list of things you should not do to your lawn!

Only water your tall fescue (cool season) lawn as needed, not because it’s Tuesday!. Don’t water your lawn in the winter/early spring months unless we have had “zero” moisture. If we have no rain, snow or moisture otherwise (December through April), watering isn’t necessary unless you have planted seed or sod. In the Spring water minimally. In the Summer months of July and August water 1 to 11⁄2 inches per week. In the Fall water only as needed to prevent wilting.

1.   Do not apply fertilizer out of the correct season (between December and April) for cool season lawns like fescue, Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass OR warm season grasses like Bermudagrass, Buffalo or Zoysia.

2.   If fact the best time of year to fertilize cool season lawns is September. The second best time is November, May is the 3rd time if you choose to do so.

3.   Do not apply fertilizer to warm season grasses like buffalo, Bermuda and Zoysia while dormant August through June. This is a compete waste of fertilizer because these grasses do now grow during the dormant time. Fertilize it during June and July only.

4.   Don’t water your lawn every day. If does not matter what kind of lawn grass you have get as many days between watering as you can. This helps the grass roots get oxygen and oxygen is just as important as water is!

The best prevention against weeds is to culture a healthy lawn!

Read and follow label directions for any fertilizer or pesticide you use on your lawn.
The best time to plant or overseed tall fescue is in September.

 

Cranberry Sauce

By
Debbie Dance Uhrig
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Well our son and daughter in law got home from their honeymoon to multiple inches of snow in St. Louis, MO. They had no idea what they were returning to, back here in the Midwest.

So, our Thanksgiving dinner was held on Sunday instead of Thursday. Like most of you we pushed back from the table with full bellies and everyone basically moaning the usual, ‘we ate too much!’ Everyone jumped in to help me with the last minute preparations. Our friend, Seth, deep fat fried a turkey, and the rest of the sides were pretty much standard fair: dressing, potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, 7 layer, lettuce salad, hot rolls and pies. The next holiday dinner will be greatly simplified for all of us.

As we approach the month of December, let’s think simplicity. I often need to rely upon quick fix sauces and toppings when things get a bit vicious in the kitchen. It doesn’t make a person any less of a cook, it’s just good common sense. An easy holiday

meal can be pulled together relying upon sliced ham, baked sweet potatoes, salads, and vegetable. The cranberry sauce would be a wonderful addition to go with the meal. Tinker with the sauce and preserve a few jars as gifts for the family and neighbors. It could even be placed over or in cream cheese as an interesting dip. Add a few green onions, spices, write a recipe for the dip and include it with the sauce. I would also put in a few jalapeno slices. Imagine a leftover dinner roll with the homemade cranberry spread on the inside of the roll.

I have another cranberry sauce recipe that relies upon honey and chunky cranberry sauce, which I also ‘can’ and use as winter gifts. There are so many easy ways to remember work colleagues, friends and family during the season and on a regular basis. Sometimes I create baskets during the holidays. Who doesn’t enjoy a box of quality pancake mix, or a homemade mix along with a bottle of real maple syrup. Chicken noodle soup baskets with starter soups, canned chicken, crackers and cheese. Fruit baskets with cheese, sausage and

crackers. I purchase a great deal of my cheeses at Aldi’s along with quality crackers.

This week is going to be a very busy one for me. I’ll be working with a knee replacement, therapy and ‘pain management’. It is a way overdue procedure and I’m so excited to get it done. It has been 16 years since I got my first one replaced. Think creative as you prepare for the holidays and remember this little tip: ‘Often the stress we place upon ourselves we create by placing too many expectations on our person,’ I am a perfectionist, and it has taken me a very long time to learn this lesson, which I try to conquer each and every day. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Cranberry Sauce

1 can (15.5 oz,) whole cranberry sauce

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup Merlot wine, or a burgundy

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan on stovetop. Work to break up the cranberry sauce, so it is somewhat smooth. Allow the sauce to cool

and rewarm in microwave or in a small dip crockpot.

Tip: Go on line and look at some of the interesting cranberry spreads, they really are refreshing at gatherings, and can be a delight on a specialty cheese sandwich. Enjoy-

Whitetails, Shotguns and Turkey Shoots

By
Steve Gilliland
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One of the perks of having had an interesting and memorable childhood full of interesting and memorable characters, is having a treasure chest full of stories at one’s disposal should all other inspiration elude me as I sit down to pen a weekly column. And with deer rifle season beginning in KS this week, here is a story full of those characters.

I’ve often mentioned that during our first several years of deer hunting my brother and I were part of a neighborhood group of landowners and farmers that often hunted deer together. We would converge on a property, “post” two or three guys along one edge, then walk through from the other side as a group and attempt to run the deer out past the “posters” for a shot. We had some colorful and amusing individuals in our assembly. As in every group, we had Dave, the local cop who always shot straight, looked sharp and made no mistakes. Many deer were spotted from his kitchen window as we all sat around warming up with a hot drink. Someone (usually Dave) would spot a deer crossing the road, and coffee cups and chairs would fly as we headed for the trucks.

The Beck clan, brothers Don & Paul and most of Paul’s kids made up the bulk of the group. As I talked with my brother the other evening, he reminded me that the first advice I gave him when he began hunting with us was, “When the Becks start shootin’, just get on the ground!” I remember standing beside Don one day in the woods when a big buck erupted from a brush pile in front of us. I was behind the pile and couldn’t see well enough for a shot, but Don emptied both barrels of his old double barrel at the fleeing buck. The buck danced away unscathed and the next day Don had a different gun. His brother Paul (known to all of us as junior) had a live-in girl friend named Elaine. They were both pretty course and crude around the edges, and the best way I know to describe Paul is to compare him to Jackie Gleason’s character Ralph Cramden; always grousing and whining over something. Elaine hunted with us too and when they were dressed in hunting garb, the only way to tell them apart was that Elaine was the bigger one. Her favorite line, uttered often as we stood somewhere loitering and planning our assault was “I’m goin’ deer huntin’ you pansies!”

Of the Beck’s, Ralph, who was my age, was my favorite. He was a big, hairy guy (that earned him the nickname wolf) who didn’t know his own strength. Turkey shoots were popular back in those days and sponsored by numerous organizations. For a fee you were given one shotgun shell and stood in a line in front of a row of paper targets. After everyone had shot, the targets were pulled down and the number of pellets was counted in each target. The winner was obviously the person putting the most pellets in their target and the prize was a turkey or a ham. Ralph had an old single-shot 12-gauge shotgun that broke open to load. The mechanism that allowed it to hinge open had long since ceased to function, so to load it, he simply pulled the pin and the gun became two pieces. He’d load the shell, reinsert the pin and close the gun. It was worth going with him to turkey shoots just to watch. All other shooters up and down the firing line sporting expensive custom-built shotguns would sneer and snicker as he walked up and broke the battered old 12 gauge in half and loaded his shell. The reactions became quite different, though as he fired the old cannon and walked away with the turkey every time.

As with most childhood stories, everything has changed now. I moved to Kansas and have lost touch with most of the old hunting gaggle. My brother and I and our families remain active deer hunters and trappers, I’d say in part because of those early experiences. Back then, we harvested few deer, but I learned respect for nature and for my elders. I learned hunter safety without a book or video to teach me. I also learned I’m glad that here in Kansas I can hunt deer with a rifle instead of a shotgun! Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Application Period for Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission Big Game Hunting Permits Now Open

By
Guest Columnist
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Logo credit: Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

Eligible nonprofit organizations have until December 26
to enter the drawing

TOPEKA – Kansas-based chapters of nonprofit organizations focused on wildlife conservation or promoting hunting and fishing have a special fundraising opportunity thanks to the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission. Through the Commission’s Big Game Permit program, administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), eligible organizations can enter a random drawing for one of seven special big game hunting permits, which may then be sold to raise money funds for conservation projects. Applications are due by December 26, 2025.

Each year, the program offers up to seven Commission Big Game permits (no more than one elk and one antelope, and up to seven deer permits), depending on the applicants’ preferences. Deer permits are either-species/either-sex and are valid statewide during any season with the legal equipment for that season; and they do not count against other big game permits the license holder may obtain.

To apply:

  1. Visit https://ksoutdoors.gov/KDWP-Info/Commission/Commission-Big-Game-Permits.
  2. Download the 2026 Commission Big Game Permit Application and review the guidelines.
  3. Return the completed application by mail or email to the addresses listed on the application.

“Organizations that win a Commission Big Game Permit typically raffle or auction it, which does two important things,” said Sarah Navarro, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’ chief of licensing. “It helps them raise funds for its mission, and it generates dedicated dollars for a mutually agreed-upon conservation project that KDWP and the organization approve together.”

Winning organizations keep 15 percent of their sale price of the Commission Big Game Permit to support their missions. The remaining 85 percent is held by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks until a mutually agreed-upon conservation project is approved. (If Kansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry is drawn, they may keep 85 percent of their sale price in order to offset donated deer processing fees.) Organizations may not win a Commission Big Game Permit more than once in a three-year period.

The 2025 winners were Ducks Unlimited Wyandotte Chapter, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Kansas Chapter, Kansas Bowhunters Association, Ducks Unlimited Kansas University Chapters, Pheasants Forever Southwest Kansas Ringnecks Chapter, Pheasants Forever Osborne Chapter, and National Wild Turkey Foundation Salty Spurs Chapter.

For more information about the Commission Big Game Permits, contact Sarah Navarro, KDWP Chief of Licensing, at [email protected]   .

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The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of Kansas’s natural resources for the benefit of both current and future generations. KDWP manages 29 state parks, 177 lakes and wildlife areas, more than 300 public waterbodies, and 5 nature centers. Other services include management of threatened, endangered, and at-risk species, law enforcement, and wildlife habitat programs. For more information about KDWP, visit ksoutdoors.gov.

The seven-member, bi-partisan Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission serves in an advisory capacity in formulating policies and plans for KDWP. The commission facilitates public hearings on rules and regulations proposed by the Secretary of KDWP, ultimately voting to approve, modify, or reject those proposed rules and regulations.

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