AREA
Former Lawrence resident Chad Beers pleaded not guilty to six criminal charges in a Lincoln, Neb., court. PAGE 5A.
WORLD
PARTLY SUNNY
The United Nations has authorized NATO air strikes in Bosnia and Croatia. PAGE 6A.
High 47° Low 30° Weather: Porte 24
高歌
Weather: Page 2A.
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
5
VOL.104,NO.64
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1994
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
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Star Trek flick draws sell-out, unites Trekkies
"Generations" brings together old, new casts
By David Wilson Kansan staff writer
For the 10 hardcore fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" living at Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall, Friday night was a reunion of sorts.
The 10, who gathered around the television every Monday night last year to watch the now-defunct show, got together Friday night to see "Star Trek: Generations," the most recent Star Trek movie.
The movie is the seventh in a series that draws on the 1960s television show "Star Trek." "Generations" is the first movie to include the cast of "Next Generation" and brings Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) from the original series together with the Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) from the new series. The movie opened in Lawrence on Thursday night at Hillcrest Theatres, 925 Iowa St.
The Grace Pearson fans, who were among more than 400 Trekkies at Friday night's 9:50 showing, deemed the movie a qualified success.
"I liked it, but I think it was aimed more toward families," said Mark Stover, Lawrence junior and Grace Pearson resident. "It wasn't as intense as the show."
(1984) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
(1986) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
(1982) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(1989) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
(1979) Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Stover said a typical episode of "Next Generation" would have viewers struggling to resolve a disruption of the space-time continuum or some other extra-dimensional puzzle. The movie wasn't like that, he said.
(1991) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Since 1979, seven Star Trek movies have been produced, keeping cast members from the original series and the Next Generation busy.
Stover, who has seen all the Star Trek movies, said the special effects in "Generations" were spectacular. In one of his favorite scenes, the Starship Enterprise makes an emergency landing by skimming across the forest of a nearby planet.
But some parts of the movie could have been better developed, he said.
(1994) Star Trek Generations
"The effects were unbelievable, especially that crash sequence," he said. "That was something you wouldn't see in an episode."
"I could have watched for another hour, and I wouldn't have been bored," he said.
Another Pearson resident, Tom Grelinger, Kansas City, Kan., senior, said the movie did a smooth job of bringing the old and new casts together. He just wishes he could have seen more of it.
Grelinger said the scene where "Next Generation" android Data
Noah Musser/KANSAN
received an emotion chip came from nowhere.
On the television show, Data (Brent Spiner) is an analytical, emotionless character who interacts with other characters much the same way Spock (Leonard Nimoy) did in the original television series.
But Grelinger — and the rest of the near-capacity audience — clapped and whistled after Data discovered one human emotion: triumph.
Richard Cole, professor of philosophy and a fan of the "Next Generation" series, said fans of Star Trek were attracted to the ideas of potential and possibility. In the series, which is set in future, the problems of poverty and class distinction have been solved by technology, he said.
"It's the same thing that attracts people to science fiction generally," he said. "It goes beyond literary imagination to technological imagination."
Janet Lopez, manager of Hillcrest Theatres, said the 7:20 showing of "Generations" Friday night was sold out. Ticket sales were brisk all weekend, she said.
Football fans opt for fun, beer
Daron Bennett / KANSAN
Leon Edrington, St. Joseph, Mo., freshman; Jessica Allen, Tuscon, Ariz., freshman; and Kelly Crownover, St. Joseph, Mo., freshman endure the cold and rain at the Kansas-Missouri football game. The three made the trio to Columbia on Saturday to see the Jayhawks tail the Tigers 31-14.
By Shannon Newton Kansan staff writer
Mizzou rivalry ends season gives road trip opportunity
Julie Sandoval, Overland Park senior, made the trip Friday to see Saturday's game, but she did not go because of a burning desire to see KU play.
Some KU students weathered rough conditions Saturday to see the Jayhawks play their final football game of the season. Though some students drove the three hours to see the game, which was played in cold, rainy weather, others took the trip to drink beer.
Sandoval said that she had friends from high school that went to the University of Missouri. Because the game was in Columbia, she thought it was a perfect opportunity to visit her friends.
"Basically I came to go out with my friends and drink beer," she said.
At the game the few Jawahack fans were easily recognized among the black and gold of Mizzou fans.
When the Jayhawks scored a touchdown those few fans could be seen waving the wheat throughout the stands, and dispersed claps and cheers could be heard.
Jason Brunkan, Missouri student, had friends come from Lawrence to stay with him for the weekend, but he said he really didn't care about the outcome of the game, which KU won 31-14.
"The winner will be the better of two teams that really aren't good," he said. "The teams are both evenly matched in skill, which is not saying much about the quality of either team."
Brunkan said that he was looking forward to basketball season because that was when the competition really began between the two rival schools.
"The rivary is a sixth sense for Tigers and Jayhawks when it comes to basketball," he said. "We play in basketball, I won't be as considerate to my Jayhawk friends."
Missouri student Kirk Morales did not agree with Brunkan on the importance of the game.
"The rivalry will always exist in every aspect of the two schools from sports to academics," he said. "I'm mad that we lost the football game, but just wait until basketball." he said.
Robin Richardson, Olahoma City junior, drove to Columbia on Saturday to see the game. She said a win for the Jayhawks had not looked promising in the first quarter.
"I actually was kind of nervous about how the Jayhawks would do because I didn't feel like taking any crap from my Mizzou friends," she said.
Lights and sweets are focus of diwali
By Nathan Olson
Kansan staff writer
A woman moves precisely but gracefully across the stage. Her blue and gold costume flows in time with a soft, passionate voice, a violin and an mridangham, an instrument similar to a drum. In the audience, the darkness is broken by the candles at each table.
The dance and the candles are part of an annual celebration presented by the KU Cultural India Club. The celebration, which occurred last night at the Granada Theater, 1020 Massachusetts St., attracted approximately 330 people.
The celebration was in honor of diwali. Pronounced di-VA-lee, it began centuries ago as deepavali, a festival using small candles. The candles signified the return of Rama, a king who was banished from his
home for 14 years on the wish of one of his auids. When Rama returned to the city of Ayodhya after his banishment, the city was lit up with candles in windows.
Rama is significant to Hindu religion in part because he is supposed to be one of the 10 avatars, or incarnations, of Vishnu the preserver. Vishnu is one of the three major gods of Hinduism. Another avatar of Vishnu was Buddha.
From its ancient beginnings, diwali has developed into a celebration of lights and sweets. Fireworks are lit and candy is exchanged among people. Some give gifts to one another.
Paul Bajaj, Shawnee senior, said that even though it began as a Hindu festival, it had developed into a pan-Indian festival.
"There are approximately 30 states in India," he said. "And they're not like the differences between Kansas
and Oklahoma. In India, the differences are in creeds and colors and religions. Diwali is special because it breaks down the separation of races and religions in India."
Bajaj said that next to India's independence day, diwali was the most important of the year in India.
This year, it was celebrated Nov. 4. Because of problems securing a venue, the club could not celebrate it that day.
The festival could be compared loosely to Christmas, said Rina Bansal, Chandigarh, India, senior, and president of the KU Cultural India Club.
"I get to eat a lot of food and get some new clothes," she said.
Bansal said that last night's celebration was more than simply an introduction to diwali.
an culture." she said.
Learning about other cultures was why Brent Lewis, Overland Park junior, said he attended the festival.
"it's a good idea to come to other events and see the rest of the world," he said.
Lewis said he especially enjoyed the music.
"It has different instruments, different tempos," he said. "When you don't understand the language, you can really get into just the music. Sometimes you're more inclined to be moved by just the music because of that."
Amy Plumlee, Shawnee sophomore, said she attended the festival because it would help her as a textile major.
"I like seeing the different textile styles," she said. "I might be able to incorporate them into my designs."
The Kansas football team defeated the Missouri Tigers 31-14 Saturday in its final game of the season.The Jayhawks ended their season with a 6-5 record.
Page1B.
Arts may be affected by Congress changes
By James Evans
Jane Alexander, head of the National Endowment for the Arts, told members of the local media Friday that it was still unclear how the new Republican majority in Congress would affect the NEA.
Kansan staff writer
The change in Congress could affect how the arts at KU are financed by grant money from the NEA.
Kansas is the 47th state that Alexander has visited since being named director of the NEA by President Bill Clinton in August 1993.
"The NEA is a bipartisan agency," Alexander said during a tour of the Lied Center. "And we have support on both sides of the aisle, and we always had it."
Alexander has been traveling around the United States speaking with politicians and the public about the importance of the arts in education and in a community.
Alexander said she had addressed the issue of a new Congress during her three day tour of Kansas.
She left for California Friday after spending time in Wichita, Topenka and Lawrence.
"I feel that it's not so much going to be a partisan issue but an issue about balancing the budget," Alexander, a Tony award winning actress, said. "And whether we may fall under that abscise of that remains to be seen."
"No other agency has that kind of record," Alexander said. "And that is pretty great."
She said the NEA was a great investment for the American people by helping seed the arts in the United States. For every dollar the NEA gives to the arts, she said, $11 to $26 is brought in through other public and private funds for the arts program or institution.
But Jackie Davis, director of the Lied Center, said she thought the new political make-up of Congress could make a difference in the level of funding for the NEA.
"Some of the people that were elected have expressed disenchantment with the NEA in the past," Davis said. "And there could be a real change in the funding pattern."
Davis also said that some of the people who were going to be in leadership positions in Congress had expressed concern about the NEA and the works it funded.
The budget for the NEA in the 1995 fiscal year is $167 million. The 1994 budget was $170 million.
Brian Vandervillet / KANSAN
KU benefits yearly from NEA grants. The Lied Center last year received $16,000 in grants for its 1994 presenting series, which consisted of acts such as the Boys Choir of Harlem and H.T. Chen and Dancers. The Lied Center will find out its status for funding in the 1995 fiscal year in the first week of December.
The Spencer Museum of Art received three grants in the 1995 fiscal year from the NEA, Andrea Norris, director of
Jane Alexander, head of the National Endowment for the Arts, left, speaks with Jackie Davis, director of the Lied Center, Jeanne Klein, associate professor of theatre, and Andrea Norris, director of the Spencer Art Museum, at a reception for Alexander.
the museum. said.
The grants include: $15,000 for an exhibit of works by Roger Shimomura, distinguished professor of art, in the winter of 1995; $10,000 for a exhibit of Pre-Colombian Treasures of Costa Rica in Spring 1996; and $15,000 for museum training.