THURSDAY, JAN. 24, 2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 3A
NEWS
Student assists Zapatista movement
By Mike Gilligan Kansan staff writer
Tyler French became nervous during winter break when he was told to grab his bandanna and follow the Zapatistas to the town of San Andres in Chiapas, Mexico.
"The military was going to take over San Andres, and the townspeople were mobilizing everyone," he said. "The townspeople wanted international observers so that the government wouldn't open fire."
French, Overland Park senior, left Dec. 26 for Chiapas to study Spanish and support the Zapatistas, a Mexican group based in Chiapas fighting for indigenous rights. He returned Jan. 13.
"I wanted to learn more about the Zapatistas and become involved directly in the struggle," he said.
French and the townpeople went to San Andres and gathered in front of the municipal building.
"There was music and speeches," he said. "The military heard that people had gathered and they turned around."
French traveled to Chiapas through the Schools for Chiapas program in San Diego. He paid $140 for room, board and classes for the entire trip.
"The purpose of the program is to generate money to build schools for the indigenous people living in Chiapas, as well as raising the awareness of the movement worldwide." French said.
He said volunteers taught the Spanish classes he attended.
"The money we pay goes towards the building of new schools," French said.
French traveled to Chiapas alone and stayed in the town of Oventic.
"I shared a hut with another student from Australia and the teacher of our class," he said.
French said the community was thriving with what it had, but the conditions could be improved.
French said the community treated him well.
"The community is extremely poor," he said. "There are some farms and scattered buildings, but not much else."
"The people who go to the town are not just tourists," he said. "The townspeople respect you because you live the way they live, eat what they eat, and sleep where they sleep."
The Zapatista movement officially began on January 1, 1994, when the Zapatista National Liberation Army took over five cities in Chiapas and more than 500 farms in Mexico.
The Zapatistas have many grievances with the Mexican government. According to the Schools for Chiapas Web site, the Zapatistas want to be Mexican citizens, but they want freedom to govern themselves. They also want better health care, education and protection of their culture.
French plans on getting together a fund-raiser to help the people of Chiapas.
"I want to gather together supplies like clothing and drive them down to Chiapas," he said.
If you are interested in helping French with his fund-raiser, you can contact him at Ty2po33@yahoo.com.
Committee formed to discuss tuition
Contact Gilligan at mgilligan @kansan.com. This story was edited by Jeremy Clarkson.
By Sarah Hill
Kansan staff writer
Justin Mills, student body president, told the Board of Regents last week that KU students are uninformed on the current debate over increased tuitions.
Mills asked the Regents for a chance to come back in February to update them after Student Senate could work with the students. The Regents declined, but offered Mills words of encouragement.
Mills called the session in order to form a committee comprised of student senators, faculty, staff and administration to better inform the campus about proposed tuition increases.
"They said they were looking forward to more dialogue coming from KU," he said last night at a special session of Student Senate.
Anna Gregory, senate communications director,
said that the committee was necessary so that each group involved had an equal say in the debates. She said the goals of the committee were to come up with a vision the four groups involved can adopt, then look at the specific details of the proposed increases.
Senators raised concerns about the effectiveness of getting students involved even after the committee was in place, but agreed that an effort was necessary.
"Until students see the grand scheme of things, they won't be interested," said Tony Treu, architecture senator.
Mills said he wanted to make sure the University focused on the quality of education, not the quantity of everything the administration could purchase with the extra money.
Contact Hill at shill@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jeremy Clarkson.
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