WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
University and city to honor Hughes with five-day festival
By Eddie Yang
eyang@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
To celebrate the arts of Kansas, sponsors from the Lawrence community and the University of Kansas are hosting a five-day Langston Hughes February Festival from today through Sunday. The festival, which stems from the success of last year's Langston Hughes Symposium, will include two writing conferences, a film festival and guest speakers.
"With last year's Langston Hughes conference, we had a tremendous response," said Maryemma Graham, festival organizer and professor of English. "The community showed that there is an interest in having it annually."
The University's 23rd Conference on Writing and Literature for elementary and secondary teachers of English and language arts kicks off the February Festival events today and tomorrow in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
Two films will premiere during the festival—"Confederate States of America" by Kevin Willmott, assistant professor of theater and film, and "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel" by Madison Lacy, an independent film producer from New York. The Wichita-born McDaniel won an academy award for her role in "Gone with the Wind."
Speakers invited include Kansas native Gordon Parks, nationally recognized photographer, composer and author of "The Learning Tree."
MOTTO
"The evening on Saturday will honor him with a panel of people to discuss his life and
— Langston Hughes
I play it cool
and dig all jive.
That's the reason
I stay alive.
My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig and Be Dug
In Return.
work," Graham said. "We're about 60 percent sure he is going to come, but he is 90 years old and you just never know."
Graham said that the festival would celebrate Kansas writers and artists in the name of Langston Hughes.
"For a long time, Kansas artists have been ignored everyone from Langston Hughes Gordon Parks, and Adam McAdams, who definitely have Kansas influence in their work" Willmott said.
Hughes lived with his aunt in Lawrence during his elementary school days, while his mother, a KU graduate, migrated looking for work. Hughes was born on Feb. 1, 1902. Graham said that Hughes wrote Not Without Laughter, a fictionalized book based on his experiences of growing up in Lawrence.
"Although the town in the book is called Stanton, people who have lived in Lawrence for a while and read the book can identify the markers in the book." Graham said.
Times and dates of events for the festival are available online at www.visitlawrence.com.
- Edited by Anne Mantey
Protest to target Taco Bell
By Cal Creek
ccreek@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Two Lawrence groups want workers who pick tomatoes for Taco Bell's food to be paid more money.
The Lawrence Industrial Workers and the Organization of Lawrence Anti-Imperialists will be protesting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at both of the Taco Bell locations, 1408 W.23rd St. and 1228 W.Sixth St.
"We wanted to be in solidarity with our brother and sister workers," said Chantel Guidry, member of both organizations and protest organizer.
The protest stems from a national hunger strike that will take place Monday. Protesters in Lawrence will join a national movement by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and allies to bring attention to Taco Bell's ties
to conditions in Florida's tomato fields that organizations feel are less than on par. Protesters across the nation will rally with people who are fasting on Feb. 28 outside the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, Calif.
According to the Coalition of Immokalee Web site, farm workers in Immokalee, Fla., who pick tomatoes for Six L's Packing Co., Inc., earn between 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick. Taco Bell then uses a purchasing company to pay a broker to purchase tomatoes from companies like Six L's Packing Co., Inc. The workers have received the same piece rate since 1978. At such a rate, workers would have to pick and haul two tons of tomatoes to make $50 in one day.
"I hope people in Lawrence realize when they support Taco Bell, they hurt workers in Florida," Guidry said.
Taco Bell executives met with members of the coalition and Six Ls. According to Laurie Gannon, director of public relations for Taco Bell, Six Ls said it paid its workers at least $9 per hour. Taco Bell asked the coalition to show evidence that contradicted this. Gannon said the coalition never provided that evidence.
The coalition maintains that if Taco Bell agrees to pay one penny more per pound for the tomatoes it purchases from Florida growers, it could double the picking piece rate paid to the workers. If Taco Bell chose to pass the added expense on to its customers, a chalupa would be about a quarter of a cent more.
Representatives of Taco Bell said that this was a dispute between Six Ls Packing Co., Inc., and the company's tomato pickers.
"This is a labor dispute and Taco Bell does not get involved in
outer companies' labor disputes," Gannon said. "We have no leverage over Six Ls."
A manager from the Sixth Street Taco Bell who didn't want to be identified said she didn't think it would affect business because Taco Bell had enough customers who didn't care.
Gannon said it was unfortunate if a protest in Lawrence did take place, because the Taco Bell locations in Lawrence were independent franchises.
"You're hurting an individual franchisee, not a national corporation," Gannon said.
Guidry said anyone was invited to protest. For more information contact the Black Cat Collective, the home for Lawrence Industrial Workers and The Organization of Lawrence Anti-Imperialists at 865-0578.
Student unwinds with picture passion
— Edited by Christy Dendurent
By Megan Hickerson
mhickerson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Although she's an education major, Kelley Lample's true passion lies behind the lens.
T he Mundelein, Ill., junior has been taking snap
Faces in the Crowd
shots since grade school.
Photography ability runs in Lample's family. Her grandfather is a retired professional photographer.
"All of her pictures are hanging
Kelley Lample's mother, Clarice Lample, said she was proud of Kelley's work.
"He would develop his pictures in his kitchen at night," Lample said. "He couldn't wait long enough to develop them at the office in the morning."
Jared Soares/Kansan
up at home," Clarice Lample said. "This is something that she truly eniows."
She submitted a collection of self-portraits to an art contest in Illinois and won a $150 frame.
"I ran out of time and had to take pictures of myself," Lample said. "It's kind of strange to take pictures of yourself."
Kelley Lample, Mundelein, Ill., junior, enjoys playing around with a camera. Her interest in photography was sparked in high school. Lample enjoys shooting nature scenery and also has an interest in black and white photography.
Besides taking self-portraits and wildlife photos, Lample loves taking pictures of her friends and her boyfriend.
Lample's favorite spot to take pictures is on the beach. She prefers the West Coast because the ocean and mountains are together.
Lample has not taken any photography classes at the University of Kansas.
"I may take a photo class just because I want to be in the darkroom." Lample said. "I don't care
about the grade, I just want to be there."
After she graduates, Lample wants to teach fourth- or fifth-grade children.
She hopes to somehow incorporate photography in the class room.
— Edited by Melissa Hermreck
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