6A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2003
Writer sojourns to 'golden land' of his father
By Erin Ohm
eohm@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The atmosphere matched the tone at Oread Books in the Kansas Union late yesterday afternoon.
Sun slanted through the windows looking out over Campanile hill as a group of 20 people listened to author Kim Stafford remember the literary legacy left by his father, poet William Stafford, a graduate of the University of Kansas.
Stafford sang a song he wrote and read excerpts from his book about his father, Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford, as he described their relationship and the impact his father had on his life.
William Stafford, born in Hutchinson, often spoke of Kansas, said Kim Stafford.
"Many of our conversations in my childhood would arrive at some comparison to Kansas," Stafford said. He said his return to the University was "a pilgrimage to visit the golden land" that his father often spoke of.
Stafford said he thought many aspects of his father's character were formed at the University. While here, William Stafford had a job typing notecards for geological samples in the geology department that paid 35 cents per hour.
Stafford also said it was during his father's time at the University that he decided to become a poet.
William Stafford received his
"Many of our conversations in my childhood would arrive at some comparison to Kansas."
Kim Stafford
Writer and son of poet William Stafford
bachelor's and master's degrees from the University and moved to Portland, Ore., to teach at Lewis & Clark College. William Stafford raised Kim in Portland.
William Stafford wrote 67 volumes of poetry and prose and won the National Book Award in 1963 for his first major collection of works, Traveling Through the Dark. William
Stafford also served as poet laureate, a poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, in 1970.
Kim Stafford has continued his father's literary tradition. He has written 12 books of poetry and prose and is founder and director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon.
Kim Stafford said he knew he loved writing because school writing assignments always seemed too small. He wanted to say more.
"A writer is someone who has discovered a process," Stafford said. "And in going through that process you find things to say that you hadn't thought of before."
Stafford said his book about his father was how he dealt with the grief he felt at his father's death.
"I have very little patience with grief alone," Stafford said. "So I turned it into a creative, constructive work."
Lucia Orth, a Lawrence resident who attended the reading and book signing, said she had enjoyed Stafford's book.
"It really humanizes him," Orth said. "It shows all the warts."
Sabrina Channel, a Springfield, Mo., senior, said she had heard about the reading in one of her classes and dropped by because she was in the area.
"It's the kind of writing that makes you feel the warm fuzzies." Channel said.
The KU Libraries and Oread Books sponsored the reading.
Edited by Melissa Hermreck
University budget cuts affect ethnic studies
The Associated Press
WICHITA—Budget cuts have forced Wichita State University to lay off the only Hispanic teacher in its ethnic studies department, which may not have any Hispanic classes next fall.
Ethnic studies programs at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas are also tightening their budgets.
Martha Sanchez has taught for 14 years at Wichita State. The three classes she teaches will most likely be eliminated after she leaves in the summer, leaving the department with no Hispanic classes unless it can find a teacher to teach them for less money.
A 3.9 percent cut ordered by Gov. Bill Graves in November
translated into a $2.6 million loss for Wichita State, a $9.3 million loss for Kansas, and a $6.3 million loss for Kansas State.
Of the 467 faculty members at Wichita State, 56 are minorities; seven are Hispanic or Latino. Wichita's Hispanic population doubled in the last decade to a little over 33,000.
Kansas State's department, which serves 800 students a year, operates on a $10,000 budget used primarily for programming events. Juanita McGowan, director of Kansas State's American Ethnic Studies Department, said the budget this year was cut by $500.
"For a low-budget program, that's like losing $10 million," she said.
The Associated Press
Accidents pile up with snow
Kansans were digging out yesterday from a fast-moving Sunday storm that left a foot or more of snow in some parts of the state.
There were hundreds of accidents statewide, with four traffic deaths reported. Portions of some highways were closed, and many schools canceled classes.
Snowfall totals ranged up to around 15 inches in some areas along the Oklahoma border. Wichita had just over 10 inches of snow, making it the ninth heaviest snowstorm to hit the city since it began keeping records in 1888.
Because the storm came at the end of the weekend, there were few traffic disruptions or serious injuries from traffic accidents in
the Wichita area, officials said.
Only traces of precipitation lingered in scattered areas yesterday morning. The possibility for light snow or flurries remained in the forecast statewide yesterday and in the south half of the state last night.
However, much colder weather followed the storm into the state, with highs mostly in the teens forecast yesterday and readings expected to drop below zero in the northeast last night.
Eugene K. Wilson, 82, and Mattie W. Wilson, 81, of Galena, died Sunday afternoon in a Cherokee County crash. The Kansas Highway Patrol said that their vehicle slid off the side of ice Kansas 26 in Galina and landed on its top in a creek.
pendence, died in Woodson County. Authorities said the car she was driving on U.S. 75 north of Yates Center sideswipped an oncoming vehicle and was hit broadside by a third vehicle.
Marci Lea Gray, 21, of Inde-
In Miami County, a 45-year-old woman from Belton, Mo., died in a crash at U.S. 69 and Kansas 68. Investigators said her car crossed the center line and struck an oncoming vehicle.
Northern winds and gusts near 45 mph caused blowing and drifting snow and blizzard conditions throughout large sections of southwest Kansas. Jim Johnson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Dodge City, said another round of snow is expected midweek, with bitterly cold temperatures until then.
Local stylist selected for competition
Jennings has been invited to braid hair at the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Atlanta from Jan. 3-11, 2004.
LAWRENCE — The way things are going, Debra Jennings might have to change her nickname from Braider Deb to the Skater Braider.
The Associated Press
More than 150 skaters from across the United States will compete at the event, known to skaters simply as "Nationals." The best of the best will qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
"I feel lucky." Jennings said of the invitation. "I feel real fortunate."
Seven years ago, a girl's skating team called from Oklahoma, where Jennings had braided hair at the Muskogee Ren Fest. They wanted her to braid their hair when they traveled to Kansas City for their next competition.
That was the beginning of her skater braiding career.
Word spread, and she's now braiding hair at competitions in six states. Skaters call her by name; Braider Deb.
"I love the girls. It's like your family just keeps enlarging," Jennings said. "If they win a medal, they always come back and say, 'I think it's because of the hair.'"
PLAY IT AGAIN
SPORTS
After all, appearances count in figure skating.
"Hair's a really big thing. They're real perfectionists. The girls like to go out there feeling like they're on top of the world. They just do a better job when they're from head to toe perfect," Jennings said. "The judges look at it as well."
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