Thursday, March 18, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Student Senate passes budget bill
Senators debate funds for papers
By Nadia Mustafa nmustafa.kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Student Senate budget bill emerged intact last night after more than two hours of what many senators interpreted as partisan bickering.
The bill, which was submitted by the Senate Finance Committee, allocated $660,614 in funds to more than 40 student organizations for the next academic year. Senate, which could either pass or fail the budget without amendments, voted in favor of the bill.
Debate centered around a line-item allocation of $1,000 to the Greeks Achieving Leadership Excellence, a newsletter published by the KU Greek community. Senators were divided about whether Senate should finance a publication with a relatively narrow readership and limited distribution.
The *GALE* is distributed to KU fraternities and sororities and to the Organi
izations and Leadership Center in the Kansas Union.
Some senators also were concerned that the GALE was only a mouthpiece of the Greek community, which could survive without Senate financing.
Mark Horowitz, graduate senator, said that he was concerned that the GALE was not available to a majority of students.
"But we made the strategic choice although we recognized that it wasn't right," he said.
The strategic choice, Horowitz said, was recognizing the risk involved with not financing the GALE. Following debate about the narrow scope of GALE readership, some senators retrieved and distributed copies of the Kaw Valley Independent, which was allocated $4,574 through the Senate Alternative Media Subcommittee.
Scott Kaiser, student body vice president, similarly attacked the KV7's focus and leadership, alleging that it was a leftist publication aimed at a specific portion of the Lawrence community. He said that the KVI endorsed Delta Force during Senate elections last year and that it referred to Republicans as "Republicans."
In addition, Kaiser said, the KVI had survived without financing from Senate
for a year. He said that both the GALE and the KVI had narrow focuses.
Copies of the GALE were not available for Senate.
Horowitz said that many senators thought that if they voted against the budget, senators in favor of financing the GALE would later cut financing for the KVI.
Matt Dunbar, holdover senator and co-chairman of the Alternative Media Subcommittee, said that there was political pressure involved in the passage of the budget.
He said many senators were still opposed to Kaiser's rationale, which would set a precedent that threatened freedom of expression.
"Many senators are concerned about the tendency toward censorship or not trying to foster as many diverse viewpoints as possible." Horowitz said.
"I think that in the name of one person speaking up, people voted on the issue of picking up the greater good of the situation," he said.
Dunbar said that even though the bill passed, he was glad that Senate extensively debated the issue.
"Everybody had the right to express their opinions in a political realm," he said.
Edited by Steph Brewer
Senate approves funds for Earth Day rally
By Jennifer Roush
joshn@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Student Senate voted to give money to KU Environs for an Earth Day celebration that will include music, dance troupes and speakers.
The Senate gave the group $5,400 to pay talent fees for musician Casey Neill and environmental activist Adam Werbach. The celebration will be from noon to 6 p.m. April 24 at the South Park gazebo.
Neill is a folk-rock singer who has performed at Earth First! rallies across the nation.
When he was 23, Werbach was the youngest Sierra Club president in the organization's 104-year history. He left that position for his current job as president of the Sierra Student Coalition. He also wrote the book "Act Now, Apologize Later."
Matt Dunbar, KU Environs president, and Deidre Backs, KU Environs member, are two of the seven senators who initiated the bill.
Backs said that the bill would only pay for the national talent, and that other event expenses would be paid from the group's organization allocation.
She said that there would be speakers and musicians from the Lawrence community and University of Kansas at the event.
The speakers will include Cynthia Annett, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; Jorge Soberson, Museum of Natural History employee; Bev Worster, of the Douglas County Preservation Alliance, and Bruce Plenk, a local attorney.
In addition to the Senate bill preparations, the group also is talking to local businesses about selling vegetarian snacks at the Earth Day celebration.
Backs said that Free State Brewery, 636 Massachusetts St., and Sylas and Maddy's Home Made Ice Cream, 1014 Massachusetts St., already had agreed to participate.
She said that she expected about 600 people to attend the celebration,which will be free to the public.
"People seem to be really receptive to this," she said. "This is a really unique event. It's the first time in a long time that the University and the community have been involved in something like this."
Dunbar said that he wasn't surprised that the Student Senate was supportive of the idea.
"I think a lot of people are really interested in this instead of wanting to shoot it down." Dunbar said.
R. J. Woodring, Nunemaker senator, said that Senate was enthusiastic about KU Environs' Earth Day celebration.
-Edited by Melody Ard
"I think we are excited to help be a part of this." Woodring said. "It's something that's good for the University and the students, especially educating them about global issues and the environment."
A device displaying drivers' speed in large digital numbers was set up all day yesterday in the 1500 block of West 15th Street east of Green Hall. "A lot of students will be traveling by automobile over spring break," said Sgt. Troy Mailen of the Lawrence Police Department. "The purpose of the display is to increase driver cognizance of safety."
Slow down!
The equipment was lent to the University by the traffic division of the Lawrence Public Works Department. The display was part of Safe Break, a program designed to make students more vigilant of threats to their safety while enjoying their spring break vacation. Photo by Jeff Severin/KANSAN.
Show celebrates power of words
By Katrina Hull Special to the Kansan
The performance began in darkness with only words, leaving the audience to create its own images.
Two Emmy-winning actors presented "Behind the Broken Words," a dramatic interpretation of poetry and verse, last night before an audience of about 75 people at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Anthony Zerbe and Roscoe Lee Browne recited poems and selections from 21 different writers, said Ann Patrice Carrigan, managing director of the show.
The setting was small and intimate, with only two chairs and a
table Zerbie and Browne were dressed casually in jeans and boots.
"There are many themes, including love and war," Carrigan said. "It's about what you find."
Stephanie Sapienza, Overlane Park senior, said she liked the informal dress and setting because it allowed her to focus on the poetry.
She said her favorite poem of the evening was "Aria Da Capo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The poem is a dialogue between two shepherds separated by a wall.
"Millay portrayed the dramatic way relationships progress and human vices get in the way of friendships," Sapienza said.
Carrigan said that what was interesting about the selections was that even though most were written in the 1940s, they still applied to what is going on today.
"Junkman's Obligato" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is a conversion between two burned-out businessmen. Carrigan said.
She said the businessmen wanted to get beyond the words that didn't mean anything and create their own meanings.
Scott McMurray, Coffeyville graduate student, said the show's power came from its words that evoked imagination. He said that scenery would have been pointless.
McMurray said the conclusion of "Behind the Broken Words" made him realize that people did not know how to use language and that poetry was becoming nonexistent.
He said the small attendance at a performance by two well-spoken people confirmed this for him.
"It's beyond an absolute shame more students didn't turn out." McMurray said.
—Edited by Kelli Raybern
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