Five Things You Need To Know This Week: Jan. 20

WPA Dance to Occur

Three weeks from this Saturday will be the annual Women Pay All (WPA) dance. This year the dance will take place on Valentine’s Day itself. The dance is said to be a combination of a Sadie Hawkins dance, a Winter Formal and a Sweetheart dance in several ways. The dance takes place in the winter around Valentine’s Day, and women are typically the ones to ask their dates.

Tickets will be on sale the week of the dance, starting on Monday, Feb. 9.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Inspires 

Yesterday, Jan. 19, was Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day. Across the country, thousands participated in various marches and protests in honor of MLK, and in response to racism in today’s society.

The cast of the film “Selma,” released earlier this year, marched in Selma, Ala. in honor of MLK. Other gatherings occurred in New York City, Philadelphia and other cities in protest of police brutality. Many of these protests have been happening spurred by the recent deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y. and the rulings in their respective court cases.

The twitter hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #reclaimMLK were also popularized yesterday. These were created, or in the case of #blacklivesmatter, trending again because of the outrage people have been feeling on social media because of the racism against blacks in America. 

Boko Haram Continues to Terrorize Nigeria

In Nigeria, 2000 people were killed by terrorist group Boko Haram over the weekend of the 9th. The group opened fire on 16 villages in Northern Nigeria, shooting at random. This attack is said to be the deadliest attack of Boko Haram’s yet. Over 30,000 people from these villages have been displaced, and while two-thirds of them are currently staying in Maidugiri city, arrangements are being made to place the rest in Monguno town.

Over this past weekend, as well, Boko Haram has also kidnapped 80 people in Magass, Cameroon. The victims are mostly women and children. According to the BBC, at least 24 of the victims have been freed, but there has been no further news.

Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigeria since 2009, and most notably made headlines earlier in April when they kidnapped over 200 Nigerian girls.

State of the Union Address To Be Delivered

Today, President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address, where he will focus on middle-class economics. The White House has already revealed most of the content of Obama’s speech, which include several new proposals. Obama will discuss his plan to make community college tuition free in the U.S., to expand broadband Internet access, to introduce new taxes for the wealthy and to provide guaranteed paid sick and family leave.

This will be the president’s sixth State of the Union address, and will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on ABC, CBS and Fox, among other stations.

Jayhawks Win Marginally, Sporting KC Splits With Bieler

Last night, the Jayhawks were able to squeak out a win against Big 12 rivals Oklahoma. After leading by double digits going into the half, the Sooners were able to come back and outscore the Jayhawks by 12 in the second half, but Kansas held on to win 85-78.

In other Kansas sports news, Sporting KC has split with Designated Player Claudio Bieler. Bieler, who was a part of the 2013 MLS Cup team is now on his way to Quilmes in the top Argentinian league. The striker struggled for minutes last year after a break-out season by striker Dom Dwyer.