**Secretary of Homeland Security announces new student visa website**

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS — International students at the university might be affected by a new federal initiative to process all student visas through one new website.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton announced the initiative and the launching of the “Study in the States” website Friday in a conference call from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Napolitano called Study in the States a “one stop shop” for student visas, visa renewals and information about visa qualifications. The site was designed to make the visa and regulation process open and easy to use for members of academia, the public and prospective visiting students and professors.

Morton said the intent of the initiative was to encourage more than 1.1 million international students, visitors and their dependents now in the United States to stay while improving the integrity of the nation’s immigration law enforcement.

Morton said one goal of the website is to help foreign students remain in compliance with visa laws. He said it was part of a greater federal initiative to move the visa regulation process entirely online, replacing the current system, which uses both paper and electronic documents.

The website will employ a variety of social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, to disseminate relevant visa requirements and information to international students, exchange visitors and the academic community. It will also feature a blog with posted videos, public service announcements, relevant news, requirements, helpful tips and success stories.

Morton said recent policy memos from his department directed enforcement to focus on criminals and national security threats, but he said international students were not expempt from any applicable immigration laws.

-The Kansan
By Ian Cummings

**Color me professional: A discussion about tattoos in the workplace**

PURDUE UNIVERSITY — Whether they have a deeper meaning or are just an embarrassing reminder of a long-gone fad, tattoos have taken their place among types of expression deemed socially acceptable for the Millennial Generation — those who were born after 1980.

IPFW Career Services Director Jim McAtee said students should be conscious of placement of any tattoos.

“Most employers I know say, ‘Tattoos (are) fine, no problem,'” McAtee said. “If you’re dealing with my customers, have tattoos in ways that you can professionally cover them up if need be.”

Although most employers don’t have a particular bias against tattoos, the employer’s potential clients are a different story.

“It’s all about customer base,” McAtee said. “Customers drive a business.”

McAtee said covering tattoos up is the best course of action when it comes to interviews.

“Let’s look at tattoos like we look at cologne and piercings,” McAtee said. “Does my interviewer have an allergy to my cologne, does my interviewer have a bias towards people with piercings?”

Local tattoo artist Derek Whetsel, who has been tattooing for 19 years and has been featured in a national tattoo magazine, can attest to the effect professionalism has on tattoo location.

“I’ve tattooed doctors, nurses and lawyers,” he said. “They definitely have them in places they can cover them up.”

-The Communicator
By Zachary Seitz

**Feminist group Fire stands for equality**

KANSAS STATE — Fire, a feminist organization at K-State, is about more than just issues regarding women. Fire is about bringing social awareness to equality and justice for all types of people.

“This group is geared toward social change including issues of gender inequality in capitalism, race and class,” senior and Fire event coordinator Amelia Engel said.

Originally named “Ordinary Women,” the group was renamed within the last few years to help broaden the expectations of what the organization does, senior and media coordinator Madeline Wetta said.

Wetta said the name change derived from the discomfort certain members felt regarding the exclusivity of women and people who fall outside the norm.

“We spent a year rewriting the mission statement,” Wetta said.

One of the largest events Fire hosts each year is “Take Back the Night.” Current facilitator Kelsey Longpine, senior in political science and women’s studies, said “Take Back the Night” is a national event geared toward bringing an end to the issue of sexual violence. The event includes a march and a rally and takes place in the spring. The march is open to the public.

-Kansas State Collegian
By Jakki Thompson