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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CIVIL RIGHTS
Activist focuses on civil rights' history in modern society
HANNAH BARLING editor@kansan.com
Raised in southern Alabama by active members of the Ku Khux Klan, Bob Zellner is the perfect example of an independent thinker: Zellner rebelled against his
Zellner said that he learned the importance of equality from someone outside of his family.
Zellner
upbringing to further the civil rights movement.
"My boss at the country store was a unitarian universalist, an equalitarian. He taught me not to be racist." Zellner said.
The civil rights activist spoke to students Wednesday night about the history of the civil rights movement and why he thinks the fight for those rights still isn't over today. Zellner said he has firsthand knowledge of the work that was done to obtain some racial equality.
Zellner said during his freshman year of college in 1961, he was assigned a paper on solutions to the racial problems at Huntington College in Montgomery, Ala.
"Me and four other students went to our dean and told him that we wanted to meet Dr. King and Rosa Parks to interview them for our papers." Zellner said.
Even though the dean warned them they would be arrested, Zellner and his fellow students attended a protest at a local church lead by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
While Zellner was in the church that day, Rosa Parks gave him simple advice.
"She came up to me, placed her
hand on my left elbow and said. 'Bob, when you see something wrong, you have to take action.' I'll never forget that,' Zellner said.
"After briefly meeting with Dr. King, he assisted us in running away so we wouldn't be arrested. Here we were, five young, white boys who grew up top class, instantly becoming criminals because of segregation laws," Zellner said.
Zellner was arrested 18 times in several states for offenses such as breaking segregation laws and "inciting the black population to acts of war and violence"
Zellner refused to let the law keep him from pursuing equality.
"The more we got arrested, the more dedicated we became. We knew we could survive and that we were still going forward. We were a very strong collective brother and sisterhood," Zellner said.
America must strive for something that gives back to humanity according to Zellner.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs sponsored Zellner's speech, and the office's associate director, Precious Porras, said she hoped Zellner would send a message to the students.
"My mind was blown. He's a living legend. When he said he was in jail with Dr. King, who can say that?" she said. "It was incredibly inspiring."
Zellner, along with other activists, will lead students on a Freedom Summer ride through the south to relive history. The dates of the Freedom Summer Ride have not yet been determined.
"If we don't want to go back to (those days) we have to do more than we ever have in these next eight to ten months. We can't sit around anymore," Zellner said.
Edited by Caroline Kraft
GOP NOMINATION
Supporters rally around Paul in visit
VIRAJ AMIN
vamin@kansan.com
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul spoke in front of a packed house Friday night at the Lied Center on West Campus.
Ron Paul supporters lined up hours before doors opened, and Paul met their expectations. Paul received many standing ovations from a booming audience and touched on topics ranging from war to the government debt.
Minutes before Paul was scheduled to speak, "President Paul" chants hailed from the Lied Center balcony and quickly made its way down to the rest of the
auditorium Paul said the younger generation has been very important for his campaign.
"A lot of young people say that I energize them, but young people
Paul said it makes me him excited that young people are listening to his campaign and have been for four or five years now. He would like to see students' frustrations with the ongoing war and country's debt explode into a victory this year.
While Paul thinks he has a chance at the Republican nomination, he understands that it will be an uphill battle to gain the nomination.
energize me because they are so enthusiastic and they have so much at stake," Paul said in a Q and A following his speech. "Young people are inheriting a mess."
"We have to convince a lot to people,work on our organization,raise a lot of money."
"We have to convince a lot to people, work on our organization, raise a lot of money," Paul said "We get small donations, and our job is a little bit more challenging. We don't always get
RON PAUL
Republican presidential candidate
Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, delivers a speech at the Lied Center Friday evening. Paul explained his stance on several political issues and offered answers to questions from the audience following his speech.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
the recognition we think we should be getting from the media."
that day. The KU event was organized by Lawrence's Youth for Ron Paul group, and President David Conway said he was more than pleased with the turnout.
In addition to being in LawrenceFriday night, Paul was in Topeka and Wichita earlier
Conway said people were
turned away at the door because theLied Center was filled to capacity. Conway also hoped that this event could help Paul in the Kansas Caucuses which took place Saturday afternoon.
Results were announced at 5 p.m. on Saturday, and Rick
Santorum captured Kansas, earning 33 delegates while frontrunner Mitt Romney received the remaining seven delegates. Paul finished in 4th place.
Edited by Nadia Imafidon
COURT
Accused man arrested for courthouse attack
SEATTLE — A man accused in a courthouse attack in Washington state that left a sheriff's deputy with a gunshot wound and a judge stabbed has been arrested.
Authorities arrested Steven Daniel Kravetz, 34, Saturday afternoon at his mother's home in the state capital of Olympia, Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott said.
The gun taken from the deputy during Friday's attack in the small town of Montesano and other evidence were recovered, he said.
Scott identified Kravetz earlier in the
day as the lone assailant in Friday's attack that wounded Judge David Edwards and Deputy Polly Davin. Dozens of law enforcement officers had joined the manhunt for him.
Kravetz's mother called police to turn her son in after authorities released a flier with her photo and her son's photo Saturday, according to the Seattle Times.
Kravetz was the only one in the house at the time of the arrest and gave himself up voluntarily around 1:30 p.m., said Olympia Police Lt. Jim Costa. No one was injured.
"Why he was at the courthouse yesterday remains a mystery," Scott said, adding that his motive is
unclear.
Scott said his deputies haven't had contact with Kravetz since a 2005 domestic violence incident that was handled in Grays Harbor District Court. More recently, Kravetz made a number of public information records requests related to that incident, he added.
In 2008, Steven Kravetz was convicted in Lewis County of third degree assault and making false or misleading statements to a public servant. He served 102 days on the charges, the Daily World of Aberdeen reported.
In that incident, Centralia police Sgt. Stacy Denham told the Seattle Times that Kravetz was arrested after he refused to cooperate with police
after being kicked out of a Centralia public library.
Scott said courthouse witnesses identified Kravetz as the man who was behaving strangely in the courthouse Friday.
Around lunchtime Friday, Deputy Davin responded to a report of a suspicious person at the courthouse and confronted a man. During a struggle, she was stabbed with either a small knife or scissors. The judge intervened, striking the assailant, who then stabbed him, authorities said.
Associated Press