FRIDAY. IANUARY 28. 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3A
Day
ar all
U and
out KU
at 864-
n at
he stur-
Kansas.
student
Kansan
e purse,
119
Blvd.
Party to celebrate Chinese, Korean Lunar New Year
N 07464 school
break
ring the
holidays.
ence, KS
mail are
11.11 are
BY ERIC SORRENTO
esorrentino@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
to Thelint Hall,
The Center for East Asian Studies will provide friendliness, entertainment and a crash course on how to make Chinese dumplings at the East Asian Lunar New Year party today.
The Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday of the year in Chinese culture, said Sheree Willis, director of the China Kansas Asia Scholars Program.
Anyone can attend the free gathering, which is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Ecumenical Christian
Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. The party will feature live singers and food. Willis said that the dumplings, symbolizing wealth in Chinese culture, would be the main attraction.
"Everyone will be able to choose from vegetarian, meat and ground pork fillings for the dumplings." Willis said.
The East Asian Lunar New Year takes place on the American calendar on Feb. 9. The party will provide a preview of what is traditionally celebrated in China for 15 consecutive days. Willis said the party attracted 300 people last year and she expected more than 300
"I'm looking forward to the party showing what the Chinese New Year is really like."
Joy Ruan Overland Park junior
people today.
There are distinct Chinese traditions involved with the New Year, including thoroughly cleaning and decorating the house, paying off debt and providing family with new outfits. Willis said. Traditional Chinese
Jun Fu, accounting specialist for the Center for East Asian studies, said that another Chinese tradition involved asking the eldest member in the household for money in a red envelope.
New Year's food includes sticky rice cakes, melon seeds and long noodles.
This will be the first year that the party also honors the Korean New Year because Korea celebrates the Lunar New Year as well. Willis said. Students studying Korean at the University will sing songs and teach the audience how to say "Happy New Year" in Korean, she said.
off ghosts and bad spirits.
"I'm looking forward to the party showing what the Chinese New Year is really like."Ruan said.
The color red is associated with good fortune in Chinese culture, and many individuals wear red for the New Year, Fu said. She said that money in red envelopes would be given away at the party as part of several door prizes.
Ruan said that she celebrated the New Year in China at a young age, and she remembered that students had two weeks off from school for the holiday. She also said that her family and friends often set off firecrackers, which were supposed to scare
ior, said she would attend the party to support her native Chinese culture. Ruan said the New Year in China was all about family, and she hoped the party would provide an atmosphere of togetherness.
Joy Ruan, Overland Park jun-
"We are very pleased to see other groups on campus also celebrating the Lunar New Year according to their traditions, and some of us participate in their parties as well," Willis said.
Edited by Azita Tafreshi
University noted for enrollment Higher education magazine praises increased Hispanic numbers
BY ESTUANDO GARCIA
egarcia@kansan.com
KANSAN START WRITER
"Hispanic Outlook Magazine in Higher Education" named the University of Kansas in their "Publisher's Pick List," in December. The list recognizes schools that focus on recruiting and graduating Hispanic students.
Currently there are 844 Hispanic students at the University, which accounts for 3.1 percent of the student body. This is an increase from five years ago when 608 students were enrolled.
happy with the numbers.
Although Ann Brill, dean of journalism, said she was happy with the ranking, she was not
The magazine also ranked the School of Journalism 19th in their top 25 schools granting bachelor's degrees in journalism and mass communication. The magazine states the growing number of Hispanics in the field of journalism is the result of "explosive growth" in Spanish-language newspapers and broadcast stations.
"When you look at the data, I'm not impressed," she said. "When you look at that, I think we could do better — we should do better."
The school's minority enrollment was 10.9 percent in the fall of 2003, while minorities in the state of Kansas made up 13.9 percent of the population.
The University has expanded and developed new programs to increase minority enrollment at the University. Hawk Link, a program developed in 1998, was developed to primarily help students of color succeed at the University. The Multicultural Scholars program is another program that supports students financially with scholarships and scholastically with tutors and advisors.
"We are a competitive school, we aren't a regular university like any other. We have a great graduation and we have things to offer for any and all students," said Juan Izaguirre, assistant director of the office of multicultural affairs.
Road Show sent University faculty and staff from different departments to Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City, Kan., to convince under-represented students in Kansas to come to the University. Janice Davis, recruitment coordinator for the William Allen White School of Journalism, said it needed to focus on getting more potential students to attend the event.
This week, the Multicultural
Izaquirre said certain key issues, such as the cost of tuition and the University's location kept certain students from being interested.
"The first reason why they wouldn't choose KU is because of the price," said Izaguirre. "We like to break it down for students and see how much it will cost to go to school."
Students and parents can sit down with advisers and go through different financial options and contact departments in regards to scholarships and programs giving financial aid.
Salary release suit yields new open records provision
TOPEKA — The unsuccessful fight waged by the University of Kansas to keep secret its athletic director's pay package could earn the Jayhawks a new place in state law.
A so-called "Lew Perkins Provision," requiring the compensation of all public employees be made open to the public, was among a series of proposed changes to the Kansas Open Records Act outlined Thursday.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
- Edited by Lori Bettes
The package, presented by Attorney General Phill Kline, legislators and representatives of the Kansas Press Association and Kansas Association of Broadcasters, would attempt to reform the open records act by increasing public access to government activities at the state and local level, as well as organizations that receive public money.
Several media organizations, including the publisher of The Lawrence Journal-World and
Along with the Perkins provision, the changes would include a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to create any new exemption to the open meetings law. That question would be put to voters in November 2006.
The Associated Press, won a lawsuit against the University requiring the school to disclose Perkins' compensation package.
Doug Anstaett, president of the press association, said the fight over access to the Perkins contract demonstrated the need for the constitutional amendment despite efforts over the past two decades by legislators to specify which records and meetings must be open.
"The press still encounters misapplication of the law and even hostility in isolated cases," Anstaett said.
California, Florida, Louisiana, Montana and New Hampshire have similar constitutional amendments that require a super-majority of legislators to make changes to open records
law. Kline said.
The package also includes creating an office public integrity in the attorney general's office charged with overseeing how open records complaints are disposed of by district attorneys. It would also clarify the procedures for filing a complaint with the attorney general's office.
Other changes would require private entities that receive more than 50 percent of their operating budgets from any combination of state, federal or local governments to be subject to the records act, and would redefine the "personal privacy" exemption to narrow its use. The new definition would clarify that an unwanted invasion of privacy would constitute "information that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and not of legitimate concern to the public."
Sen. Tim Huelskamp (R-Fowler), chairman of the Senate Elections and Local Government Committee, said the proposals would give more power to citizens.
North Central Association Accreditation Open Forums
On January 30th,12 consultant-evaluators from research universities arrive for a three-day reaccreditation visit. KU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Several open sessions will be available for interested faculty, staff,and students
Faculty Sessions
Date Monday, January 31. 2005
Time
3:30-4:15 P.M.
Tuesday, February 1, 8:30-9:15 A.M.
2005
International Room Kansas Union
Location Parlors A and B Kansas Union
Staff Sessions
Monday, January 31. 2005 11:15 A.M.-Noon Alderson Auditorium Kansas Union
Student Sessions
Monday, January 31, 3:30-4:15 P.M. 2005
Regionalist Room Kansas Union
The final report is available at www.ku.edu/~oirp/NCA/ReportTOC.shtml. A 37 page briefing document that summarizes key points from the self-study is available at www.ku.edu/~oirp/NCA/report.pdf/MCARief.011805.pdf
www.ku.edu/~oirp/NCA/report.pdf/MCABrief_011805.pdf
1