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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 126
Jerry Wanq/KANSAN
Campus campaign for sensitivity
REJECTING THE 'R-WORD'
Forrest Woods, Wichita sophomore, holds up the "Spread the Word to End the Word" petition poster as Melissa Conrad, Olathe freshman, signs it. Woods and Overland Park sophomore Clint Armstead are volunteering for the Special Olympics and hope to end the use of the word "retreat" because of its potentially offensive nature.
Special Olympics group collects signatures to improve disabilities awareness
BY MIKE BONTRAGER mbontrager@kansan.com
Spread the Word to End the Word is an initiative to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding the "r-word" — "retard."
More than 100 students pledged to "Spread the Word to End the Word" Tuesday in front of Wescoe Hall.
Clint Armistead, Overland Park sophomore, is president of the KU chapter of Special Olympics College and director of the event on campus.
"Two hundred million people in this world have an intellectual disability," Arminead said. "This word
offends many, many people and is very harmed."
The goal of Special Olympics International was to have 100,000 people pledge not to use the word on the Web site www.r-word.org.
Armistead said the goal for the University was 5,000 pledges, but it would be difficult to estimate how many students pledged because there was no way to specify student status when pledging on the Web site.
"That's going to be difficult to count," Armistead said. "We put that goal and hopefully we can reach that somehow and try and get an estimation to see if we reached that amount, but it's really unlikely to determine."
Armistead said pledging showed initiative.
"Often times, kids our age in college are told we are going to be the leaders of tomorrow." Armistead said. "We're trying to prove that you can actually be the leaders of today."
Special Olympics International started Special Olympics College during the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho, in February.
Armistead said Special Olympics College connected high school volunteers involved in Special Olympics with the professional world.
"It's a network of universities worldwide working together to
try and create that next bridge between the high school level, where people tend to volunteer quite frequently and have gotten in connection with Special Olympics into that professional field," Armistead said.
Spread the Word to End the Word was originally proposed by two college students who also started SO College.
Armistead said Special Olympics International liked the idea enough that it decided to host the event, providing T-shirts, posters, stickers, buttons and other materials to Special Olympics College.
autism who was involved in Special Olympics.
Bailey Schiltz, Tonganoxie freshman, said she decided to volunteer because she had a cousin with
"It's similar to the civil rights movement of our day," Armistead said. "It's an opportunity for us to fight for civil liberties."
"It has a pretty big effect on people who are actually mentally handicapped," Schiltz said. "When I hear people say that, it hurts feelings."
Armistead said pictures and video taken in front of Wescoe would be posted on the Special Olympics Web site.
Armistead said the effort had important social significance to him.
Edited by Chris Hickerson
TOURNAMENT
Debaters become national champions
BY ADAM SAMSON asamson@kansan.com
A national championship early Tuesday morning was icing on the cake for ljayhawk debaters Nate Johnson and Brett Bricker, who were also recognized by the Cross Examination Debate Association as first-team Academic All-Americans.
In a 4-1 decision, Johnson, Manhattan senior, and Bricker, Wichita senior, routed Wake Forest University, the defending national champion, to become the first pair from Kansas to win the National Debate Tournament championship since 1983.
Ranked second nationally before this week's tournament at the University of Texas-Austin, Johnson and Bricker finished 11-1 in their debates overall. The two competed with 77 other intercollegiate teams. In the final debate, the two argued that eliminating grain subsidies in the United States would reverse anti-Americanism and would help agriculture in developing countries.
The duo's 3-2 decision in their final four match-up against the University of California-Berkeley put them into the final round.
"Everyone in debate realizes you have to be on top of your game." Bricker said. "You never really expect that you're going to win, but you have to have expectations going into the tournament that you can win."
Scott Harris, debate coach and professor of communication studies, said the hard work had paid off.
"Bricker and Johnson are incredible students and incredibly hardworking and deserving of their national championship." Harris said.
Student renters have no say on political signs
Harris, who won his first title on Tuesday after 18 years of coaching, said the team's victory reflected a
SEE DEBATE ON PAGE 3A
HOUSING
BY KAYLA REGAN
kregan@kansan.com
The two signs in the yard of Jaclyn Frankenberg, Leawood senior, suggest that she and her roommates support Price Banks and Lance Johnson for the April 7 city commission election. But Frankenberg doesn't know who those people are, or where the signs came from.
"I think I would only take them down if it was something I didn't believe in," Frankenberg said. "People wonder about them but never ask."
Frankenberg said she assumed that her landlord posted the signs and that she didn't know when they would come down. According
to city code, tenants need permission in their leases to post or take down signs in support of city candidates, but landlords can post such advertisements notifying the tenants.
"I'm surprised the city would be involved. How could city enforce it?" state Sen. Marci Francisco said. "They can't unless they look at people's leases."
and tenants should talk about what is and isn't allowed. Francisco said, and she told her tenants it was OK to post signs. Francisco said the rental's lease should clarify the
"I would encourage people to put up signs and then communicate with their landlords ..."
ties in Lawrence, said both the property owner and the person living in the house had a right to put political signs up. Landlords
Francisco, who owns rental proper-
MARCI FRANCISCO State senator
rights and responsibilities of the tenant and landlord if the topic wasn't discussed.
"I think a reasonable thing to say is it's good to talk about this ahead of time," Francisco said. "I would encourage
people to put up signs and then communicate with their landlords and let them know that that's what they've done."
Erica Lathrop, Blair, Neb., senior, said she and her roommates were leaving their house about a month ago when they noticed a stranger posting a sign in their yard. The person asked the property owner's name and claimed he had permission to post the sign.
"Sometimes I wonder what we're supporting." Lathrop said. "I think the only thing that bothered us is whenever we see someone we don't know in a yard, you kind of wonder."
Brian Jimenez, Lawrence code enforcement manager, said he didn't know how the code was enforced and guessed it was passed to try to avoid conflict between ten-
SEE SIGNS ON PAGE 3A
Rachael Gray/KANSAN
Jaclyn Frankenberg, Leawood senior, said she didn't mind that her landlord put up election signs in the yard of the property she rents. According to the city code, landlords do not need the permission of renters to put up political signs.
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