Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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by Jessica Durh; iaW iawestiun students own and operate family farm complete with hayrack rides, fresh produce and corn maze during fall months Down a long stretch of dirt road bordered by plowed, yellow fields, an old, groaning tractor surged toward acres of harvested corn stalks and patches of bright orange pumpkins. In tow was an old wooden hayrack, filled to capacity with children, their parents and several K-State students, all bouncing in sync with the rack. October was in full swing at Britt ' s Farm, off Fort Riley Boulevard just outside Manhattan. Each weekend during the month, the public could pay $2.50 for a ride to the farm ' s corn maze and pumpkin patch, as well as a pumpkin of their choice from the patch. The farm ' s retail and wholesale store, where it sold home-grown fruits and vegetables, was open year- round. The farm was owned and operated by Richard and Angela Britt, two K-State students. Angela, junior in hotel and restaurant management, and her husband, Richard, junior in horticulture, purchased the farm in March 2006 from Richard ' s father, four months after their marriage. With the farm, they also acquired the seasonal business of the hay-rack rides, corn maze and pumpkin patch, which had existed for seven years prior to their purchase. Angela said the attraction made autumn the farm ' s most popular season with the public, but she wished more K-State students knew about it. I wish it was more popular, but only certain crowds of K-State students know of us, Angela said. She said the patrons the farm attracted usually heard of it through word-of- mouth. Many were students wanting to eat healthy food or were members of the greek community buying large quantities of produce for philanthropies. She said during the fall, the farm usually attracted 50 to 100 K-State students each week, but during other seasons less than 50 came during one week. I would love to see more K-State students out here, Angela said. It ' s so healthy, and it ' s so much fun. A lot of them don ' t know what a farm is. This is a real, working farm. Richard and Angela weren ' t the only students who worked at the farm and understood the advantages of spending time there. Samantha Patterson, senior in mass communications, worked there for three years and had seen the customers enjoy the autumn attractions each year. The job is so fulfilling, she said. You get to meet people and visit. It ' s not a glamorous job, but for me, it ' s in my blood. I ' ve grown up on the farm and getting dirty. Of the students who did visit the farm, many already had an appreciation of farm life and were attracted to it because it offered them a taste of home, and nothing like it existed anywhere else in the area. Growing up, going to pumpkin patches was one of the most fun things, said Michelle Sullivan, junior in animal sciences and industry . I think it ' s a good experience and a blast, and it ' s a good way to get the family out. We don ' t believe in buying pumpkins at grocery stores — it ' s not nearly as fun. 09 14

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Miles Ellington Gregley did not know he was black until he was 13 years old. He moved from suburban Los Angeles to Atlanta with his mother and suddenly realized there was a difference between being black and being African-American, he said during a Sept. 13 performance of N ' gger, Wetb ck, Ch nk at McCain Auditorium. Dressed in a fur coat and large gold necklaces, a stereotype of black men, Gregley reflected on his realization. It was much worse in ' 97, he said of his costume. That was the year I was black. I was happy in my white-surfer-boy life. In Atlanta, I wasn ' t your average white guy. He got rid of the surfer shorts and California clothes, but it wasn ' t enough. I felt great, I felt black, he said. Until I opened my mouth. Gregley spent the next year in Atlanta before his mother sent him back to California. The black clothes stayed in Georgia. Gregley was a member of the three-man tour group that presented a comedic play about growing up a minority in America. Written during college by Gregley and his co-stars, Raphael Agustin and Allan Axibal, the stir about N W C grew with every performance. When the show began in 2004, many questioned the intent, Axibal said. We ' re trying to de-power the words, he said. It is part of the character of the play to make it funny. A lot of people don ' t think race is very funny. The day before the 90-minute performance, Agustin, Axibal and Gregley led workshops in the K-State Student Union to prepare students for the show ' s content. Several classes required students to attend the performance as well. Rachael Barnett, a small group leader for Introduction to Leadership Concepts, required her students to attend the show. It is important that we talk about issues like race, Barnett, junior in communication sciences and disorders, said. The goal of the class is to teach (students) how to be better leaders. To do that, they have to understand and accept diversity of every kind, including race. The focus of N W C was addressing racial perceptions and stereotypes to find a common ground. We ' re playing ourselves, Gregley said. We act out the things other people think but won ' t say. We don ' t censor ourselves. gger,Wetb ' ck,Ch nk issues to forefront, causes students to question stereotypes and the role race plays in their daily lives. by Mary Bershenyi In McCain Auditorium, Rafael Agustin and Allan Axibal act out a scene about meeting in Los Angeles during one of the opening acts of the N W C performance. I ' m tired of being brown in a country that only values green, Agustin said. Christopher Hanewinckel o 13

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In the pumpkin patch, with hundreds of pumpkins to choose from, Josh Perez, junior in architecture, tries to decide which he likes best. Perez visited the farm for the first time with his wife, Megan Perez, 2000 K-State graduate, as an inexpensive date. We are one of the largest fruit and vegetable farmers in Kansas, with 500 acres, Angela Britt, co-owner of Britt ' s Farm, said. Christopher Hanewinckel To find their way through the corn maze, Michelle Sullivan, junior in animal sciences and industry, Becky Sullivan, freshman in agricultural communications and journalism, and Krista Perkins, freshman in mechanical engineering, create their own trail through corn stalks. At the end, visitors reached the pumpkin patch, where they chose their own pumpkins to take home. Christopher Hanewinckel St in i 15