Monday
May 5, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No. 148
Today's weather
78°
Tonight: 49*
Tell us your news
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
Students face opportunities, difficulties after graduation p.1B
100
Graduation
Storm clouds fill the sky over Piper at 110th Street and Parallel Parkway. Tornadoes ripped through Wyndotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas and Platte and Clay counties in Missouri yesterday.
Scott Reynolds/Kansan
Tornadoes hit Kansas City
By Shane Mettlen
smeltlen@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
At least one person is dead after four tornadoes touched down near the Kansas City metropolitan area yesterday, damaging buildings and scattering debris on both sides of the state line. Officials had not gathered an estimate on the number of injuries as of yesterday.
The largest tornado was about 500 yards across and tore through the northern side of the metro area, according to the National Weather Service.
Kansas City television stations aired video that showed houses and trees destroyed in residential areas. Industrial structures were destroyed in Missouri, and the video showed a fire hydrant that had been removed from the ground and erupted like a geyser. Other tornadoes were spotted in Miami County, south of Kansas City, Kan., and Crawford County in Kansas. The tornadoes also caused damage in Platte and Clay counties in Missouri.
A funnel cloud was first spotted in Leavenworth County about 3:30 p.m. The tornado apparently touched down in Wyandotte County near the Kansas Speedway and moved west past Kansas City International Airport and into the Liberty, Mo., area.
Lawrence was included in tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service, but most severe
weather missed the city. Though the most severe part of the storm missed the University of Kansas, some students were affected.
April Staatz, Basehor sophomore, works at Cabela's sporting goods store near the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. She said the tornado passed by the new Nebraska Furniture Mart adjacent to Cabela's.
"We heard the sirens," Staatz said. "The managers told us to get to the back of the store. I wasn't too concerned, but several girls were crying. The customers were mainly concerned for their families. They thought they might be out."
John Castillo, Cabela's assistant manger, said preliminary inspections
"We heard the sirens. The managers told us to get to the back of the store."
April Staatz
Basehor sophomore
didn't show any damage to the store, but customers had reported several nearby houses had been flattened.
"It was pretty intense here for a while," Castillo said. "There's been some damage a little bit north of us. We feel pretty lucky."
The Associated Press contributed to this story. This story was edited by Brandon Gay
Drivers annoyed at May Day party
By Kelley Weiss
kweiss@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Local protesters roped off the intersection of 23rd and Massachusetts streets with yellow caution tape and orange cones Saturday afternoon so they could party.
People in the group of about 70 people said they wanted to "take their streets back" for the short time the intersection was shut down.
Music played, people danced and drivers got mad.
The street party was the end of a three day celebration of May Day, which celebrates workers who fought for eight-hour
working days in 1886. On May 3, 1886, the Chicago police suppressed striking miners who protested for better working conditions. The street party was planned for May 3 to honor the events in 1886.
Members in the party had other messages they wanted to voice aside from the May Day message.
Kellev Weiss/Kansan
"Maybe people see us as a pain in the ass," McNeil-Marshall said. "But people have to work around anti-consumerism, which is what we are trying to promote."
Andrew McNeil-Marshall. Downers Grove, Ill., sophomore, participated in the street party. He said it was a party for peace and the planet.
Local anarchists and peace activists play a game of "Anarchist, Anarchist, Goose" at Seventh and Massachusetts streets. The group of demonstrators marched from the intersection of 23rd and Massachusetts streets and then took a break to have a street party Saturday afternoon.
SEE MAY DAY ON PAGE 6A
Provosts keep gaining power around U.S.
By Lauren Airy
lairey@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A national trend has given provosts, the second in command at universities, more responsibility and more power, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
As management of institutions has become more complicated,presidents have had to share the responsibility in more and more ways with their executive team,said Paul Hassen, assistant director of public affairs at the American Council on Education. On most campuses,the
ing, relations with legislatures and relations with faculty," Hassen said. "They're delegating other kinds of tasks to vice presidents or senior executives."
provost is taking responsibility for not only the academic parts of the university, but also the day-to-day running of the institution, he said.
Shulenburger
As if they weren't busy enough already.
"What we're seeing is a president being focused on issues such as planning, fundrais-
tively new and still evolving. At the University, David Shulenburger oversees every aspect of the campus except the Athletics Department and the Office of Public Safety, both of which report directly to the chancellor. The job description varies at every university, said Shulenburger, whose official title is "provost and executive vice chancellor."
At the University of Kansas, the provost position, formed in 1996, is rela-
"At a number of universities, the only provost duty is academic affairs, but it runs the whole gamut to everything on a campus," he said. "That's about what my job description is now."
Shulenburger took on the provost position in 1996 after Chancellor Robert Hemenway reorganized the structure of
the administration for efficiency in his first year at the University. Shulenburger had been the University's vice chancellor for academic affairs.
"I think the provost position has enabled us to streamline the bureaucracy and apply more focus to academic affairs," Hemenway said. "It has also made much clearer the reporting lines in the administration."
Shulenburger's responsibilities have grown in the seven years since he took the position. Since the reorganization, everything concerning academics has run through the provost office.
SEE PROVOSTS ON PAGE 6A
Local fiestas to recognize Mexican tradition
Cinco de Mayo. It's not Mexico's independence day, nor a holiday created by Corona, but it is a good excuse to have a fiesta here in the United States.
While the day may be a good excuse to party, it means more than that to many Mexican-Americans, Rico said.
Though the Mexican army was ultimately defeated, the day represents Mexican unity and patriotism, particularly to the Mexican community in America, said Raymond Rico, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore and officer with the Hispanic American Leadership Organization.
Growing up in a predominately Latin American part of Kansas City, Rico recalls attending Cinco de Mayo celebrations as long as he can remember.
The fiesta starts at 5:30 p.m. today in the courtyard at Jayhawker Towers and will blend Mexican food and music with good, old-fashioned American fun.
The day actually commemorates the Mexican army's victory over the invading French at Puebla in May of 1862.
It's celebrated more in America than anywhere else, Rico said, and this year for the first time. KU will celebrate too.
By JJ Hensley
jhensley@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
"It's more of a Mexican-American holiday than a Mexican holiday. It's not even celebrated in Mexico like it is here."
SEE FIESTAS ON PAGE 6A
"It goes beyond the victory at Puebla," he said. "It's a celebration of our culture here in the United States, and it's taken on its own significance here.
For some international students in HALO, today will mark their first celebration of the holiday since they haven't been in the States on the fifth of May, Rico said.
Academic freedom teach-in to respond to Wagle-led bill
Students advocating academic freedom in higher education will have a teach-in about the importance of an open market of ideas on May 14.
The teach-in will be at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries
Wagle
Building, 12th Street and Oread Avenue, at 3:30 p.m. University of Kansas students and Lawrence residents will speak at the teach-in about academic freedom.
The controversy surrounding Senator Susan Wagle's amendment aimed at Dennis Dailey's human sexuality class spurred the teach-in, said Christine Robinson, graduate teaching assistant in Humanities and Western Civilization.
Students have been rallying for academic freedom in the past few weeks. The most recent protest was Friday at noon when students handed out pamphlets and advocated for Dailey's class.
Robinson is one of the organizers of the teach-in. She said it was important to have an open forum about academic freedom.
"In higher education academic freedom is necessary for democracy and the pursuit of truth." Robinson said. "Without it education won't have either."
The teach-in will be co-sponsored by at least 10 organizations including The Women's Health Discussion Group, Men Can Stop Rape and the Douglas County American Civil Liberties Union.
For more information contact Christine Robinson at robinson@ku.edu.
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— Kelley Weiss
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