Thursday
February 13, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No.96
Today's weather
55°
Tonight: 41°
KANSA
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
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What's going on in Westport
Pg. 8
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Catherine Bell, mock voter, and senators Kit Brauer and Kyle Johnson test the new online voting system in a computer lab at JRP Hall. The new system was tested by 12 people in last night's Student Senate meeting and will go into effect for the spring election.
Online voting to come
New program approved for University elections
By Cate Batchelder
catchelder@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Last year's Delta Force candidates Karen Keith and Kit Brauer won the Student Senate race by six votes.
Too bad it didn't really count, said Jonathan Ng, the University of Kansas' real student body president.
The mock election at last night's Senate meeting used the Spring 2002 ballot to test an online voting program developed by Academic Computing Services. It passed the test, and Senate passed the bill to have the program in place for the this semester elections.
Catherine Bell, student executive committee chairwoman and mock voter, said the process was very simple.
She said she thought students would like that it would take less time than standing in lines and using paper ballots.
Fewer than 17 percent of the student body voted in the Spring 2002 elections.
said David Mitchell,2002 elections commissioner.
Kit Brauer, holdover senator who drafted the online voting bill, said he thought more students would vote because of the new system.
"And there will be better representation in Student Senate because the elections will better represent the student body if more people vote," he said.
This year's election commissioner, Courtney Wachal, said she expected the same voter turnout despite the new sys
Monks perform ancient legend
Shaolin monks open up last night's performance at the Lied Center by showcasing their daily exercise routines. Shaolin Wheel of Life featured monks trained at the Chinese Shaolin Temple, an institution established in A.D.495.
By Lauren Bristow
Ibristow@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Eric Braem/Kansan
A shirtless performer lay on top of three swords placed perpendicular to the stage. A board with nails protruding from both sides was placed on his chest. Another performer, weighed down by a square of concrete on his chest, lay on top of the nails.
healthy bodies and strong ability to concentrate.
Established in A.D. 495, the Shaolin Temple has been the home and training site of these Zen Buddhist monks for more than 1,500 years. The monks' performance, along with the help of five professional actors, depicted a legend from the temple's history.
As an audience of nearly 2,000 people watched in awe, another performer smashed the concrete with a sledge hammer in an almost circus-like fashion.
The performers, 25 Shaolin monks from the Henan province of China, are part of the theatrical and martial arts performance, Shaolin Wheel of Life. The 90-minute performance last night at the Lied Center showcased the monks' original form of meditation, daily exercise and self-defense called Kung Fu.
Shengli Feng, associate professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures said the Shaolin monks were able to perform outstanding martial arts because of their
The show was hushed except for steady drumming music, occasional lute, Chinese flute and the yells of the Shaolin monks. A narrator told audience members that Shaolin monks believed that life was a circle. Although all but five young monks were killed at the end of the legend, the narrator said, they lived to continue the wheel of life.
"My favorite part is that they are fighting in the styles of different animals." Wes Wedman, Tulsa, Okla., senior, said during intermission. "You can tell which one they look like—a scorpion, tiger or snake."
Kung Fu mimics the movements of animals, Feng said.
Young boys start learning the art of Kung Fu before the age of 10. Feng said.
Two young boys stood at the stage
corners each with one leg extended directly parallel to his bodies and with one foot directly behind his head for nearly three minutes while older monks performed martial arts tricks on the center stage.
"They are extremely flexible," Cara Ingram, Edmond, Okla., senior said.
"It's amazing what they can do."
Shaolin Wheel of Life, a House of Blues Entertainment production, has been on tour since April 2000 and has performed more than 260 shows. Spectators could buy T-shirts, key chains and other Shaolin memorabilia.
"I think it showed their amazing talent and what meditation does," said Cindy Tran, external vice president of the Asian American Student Union and Wichita junior. "But I think without further research the general public can't fully understand what the monks do."
— Edited by Melissa Hermreck
Ideal chapter housing property hard to find
By JJ Hensley
By JJ Hensley
jhensley@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
The booming housing market of the last few years produced a well-publicized windfall for sellers, builders and buyers. Unfortunately those economics haven't trickled-down to a handful of fraternity and sorority organizations looking for houses they can call home.
Pi Kappa Alpha has been among those organizations in recent years. The chapter now has the option to buy land by the
Sigma Nu house northwest of campus near Ninth and Emery streets, said Patrick Meehan, chapter president and Overland Park junior. Simply procuring that land proved to be a difficult task, he said.
"There's nothing else existing near campus right now," Meehan said. "There's a lot of work and money that has to be done on that land even before it's suitable to build on."
To Angie Carr, coordinator for fraternity and sorority life, the situation revolved around the most important factor in real estate: location.
"There is land and housing available. It's just not where they want to be," Carr said.
Properties around Stewart Avenue near 19th and Iowa streets, were once popular destinations for organizations looking to provide housing for its members. Now that area is home to a cluster of new apartment buildings and one remaining sorority house, Alpha Gamma Delta, which has also purchased land near Sigma Nu.
Ultimately the students who used to live there voted with their feet, Jeff Weinberg, assistant to Chancellor Robert
Hemenway, told the Oread Neighborhood Association at a recent meeting.
Weinberg said that like other students, members of those houses had found housing close to campus to be at a premium. It's a problem only compounded by the amount of land required for a building capable of housing a few hundred residents.
"If they don't want to live on Stewart Avenue, there aren't really any lots available," Carr said.
So far the only available pastures have been near Sigma Nu, and now even that
option has disappeared, Meehan said.
"The only option is to wait for an existing fraternity or sorority to go under." he said.
In lieu of waiting for a chapter to fold, Carr said, fraternity and sorority organizations could work together through the department of student housing to live together on certain floors in residence halls.
"There are chapters that have money and want to be in the thick of it," Carr said. "But right now things are too thick."
- Edited by Julie Jantzer
Lives stand still while visas delay return to Kansas
Scott Reynolds/Kansan
Ahmed Dashti, Al-Ardhyah, Kuwait, sophomore, came to the United States on a student visa despite increased restrictions. "I waited two months for my visa," Dashti said. "I have friends at home who have waited a whole semester and didn't get it."
Following in the footsteps of his father, Ahmed Dashti began the process of applying for college in the United States shortly after his graduation from the Kuwaiti equivalent of high school.
By Henry C. Jackson
cjackson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Unlike many international students Dashti, Al-ardhyah, Kuwait, sophomore, was not dissatisfied with life in his home country. Life in the oil-rich emirate, which has enjoyed an amicable relationship with the United State, was good; opportunities in the United States were simply better.
When the time came, Dashti applied to several schools in the United States. Though his father studied years earlier at the University of Michigan, Dashti decided to come to the University of Kansas. A friend of his had already spent a year studying in Lawrence and the school seemed a good fit.
"We have a university in Kuwait, but it is much different," Dashti said. "In the United States before you graduate you do a lot of projects, especially for engineering. Back home you don't do that. When you work is when you start projects."
Full of hope and excitement, Dashti planned for a early August arrival in the United States. He began the process of
"I was basically waiting for my life to start. I had my car, my apartment, my girlfriend, my life in Kansas."
Raed al-Bilbissi
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, senior
applying for an F1 student visa, which is used by international college students. Dashti expected the process would move swiftly, as it had for his father and many of his friends. It was possible for a visa to be issued the same day.
it would be more than two months before he was on a plane to Kansas.
Waiting game
Post-Sept. 11, Dashti's story is not the exception but the rule for Middle Eastern students. Increased scrutiny on student visas after the terrorist attacks has left hundreds of students wondering when — and in some cases if they will have their visas issued or renewed.
"There's no estimated waiting period for any applicant," said Kelly Shannon, representative in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, referring to the bureau's student visa application policy. "According to section 214 (b) of our code, all nonimmigrant visa appli-
SEE VISAS ON PAGE 7A
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