THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.101.NO.122
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING:864-4358
TUESDAY,MARCH 31,1992
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
Campaigns come to KU
Students form volunteer groups to support Democrats
Peony Woods/KANSAN
Jean Carter, Wichita senior (farright) works on a poster, and member Jey Hays, Springfield. Mo., senior (second from left) searches for fliers for Lynne McAdoow, Wichita senior, and Matt Doyle, Tulsa, Okla.. junior.
By Svala Jonsdottir and Jay Williams Kansan staff writers
With the Kansas presidential primary one week away, some KU students have started to campaign for candidates seeking the nation's highest office.
The campaigns of Democratic candidates Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and former California Gov. Jerry Brown have reached the University of Kansas through student volunteer groups distributing information and planning rallies in support of the candidates.
Yesterday, members of KU Students for Clinton passed out information and answered questions about Clinton at a table on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union.
Jean Carter, member of KU Students for Clinton, said that about 25 students were working as volunteers on the campaign.
"All of the money for this is coming out of our own organization," said Carter, Wichita senior. "This is a real grassroots effort."
She said that some visitors to the table had asked about Clinton's candidacy.
"I think people who ask us about this are not familiar with Clinton and are not familiar with politics," Carter said.
The campaign issues are more important, she said.
Clinton volunteers passed out fliers saying Brown's proposed 13 percent flat tax would increase taxes for most U.S. residents except the wealthiest.
Jeff Hays, another member of the organization, said that about 80 people visited the table yesterday to take fiers explaining Clinton's campaign goals and to ask questions.
"Once the conversation gets going, people are more enlightened," said Hays. Springfield, Mo., senior. "We have more students understand the issues."
In addition to the table in the Union, KU Students for Clinton will operate a phone bank to gather support for Clinton, he said.
Casey Wolfe, member of the Lawrence group, Brown for President, said that about 15 people had been killed in a fire in Lawrence for the past few weeks.
Most of the volunteers are KU students. said Wolfe. Emoria junior.
Owen de Long, another member of the group, said that it would have an information table today in the fourth floor lobby of the Union.
He said that the KU students he had talked to were receptive to Brown's platform.
"They think Clinton does not represent that much of a change from Bush and the Republicans, although he may
talk about change," said de Long,
Frankfort graduate student. "There also is a huge number of students who have been selected, although they may like it."
Members of the Democratic party and the media who act as if Clinton already has won the nomination are wrong, he said.
"We are only halfway through the primary process," de Long said. "Just because Bill Clinton won in the South does not mean he will win in the North or the West. Connecticut was the first test of that, and Clinton lost."
de Long said that there was a campus rally for Brown planned near the end of the week. State campaign officials have said that Brown could visit KUFriday.
David Allen Gawell, Lawrence graduate student, said that he had been actively supporting the Brown campaign since December.
"We have been talking to people on campus and in Lawrence," he said. "I think we have managed to convert quite a few voters in the last weeks."
David Paul, treasurer for the College Republicans, said that the organization officially supported President Bush, although a few members supported Pat Buchanan. No formal campaign groups for Republican candidates have been formed on campus, he said.
Brown may stop on campus
By Gayle Osterberg
Kansan staff writer
See related story on Page 3
Volunteers for Jerry Brown's presidential campaign are preparing for the candidate to speak at KU on Friday, but they say the plans are not concrete.
Jennifer Dooder, President of the KU Young Democrats, said she would reservereither spacefront of Wescoe Hall or the Kansas Union Ballroom for no Friday in case Brown is able to come.
Dodd said she had been contacted by Tess Bannon, state regional campaign coordinator. Banion said Brown's appearance was not certain.
"I have no guarantee on if he's coming or when he's coming," she said. "We just have got to be prepared in whatever we can."
Banion said she would know today whether Brown would make an appearance.
She said Kansas was competing for Brown's time with New York and Wisconsin, states that also have primaries April 7.
She also said Brown was more limited in his travel than other candidates because he did not have a chartered plane. He flies
commercially to save money.
Owen de Long, KU graduate teaching assistant, has volunteered for the campaign. He said Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, could come to KU at the end of the week if Brown was not able to come. Kathleen Brown is California's secretary of state.
KU students have not had the opportunity to hear a presidential candidate speak on campus since 1984, when Gary Hart spoke in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union during his first presidential race.
Jimmy Carter visited the camp in 1975 when he was campaigning for the 1976 Democratic nomination. Robert Kennedy and Nelson Rockefeller spoke in Allen Field House in 1968.
Allan Cigler, professor of government, said Kansas rarely attracted presidential candidates because the state traditionally held a caucus instead of a primary. The primaries or caucuses have been conducted later in the year than in many states.
"Often the race is finished by the time it gets around to Kansas," he said.
Students invent majors that cater to special needs
By Ranjit Arab
Kansan staff writer
Matthew Christian could not find a major that would prepare him for a career as a sports agent, so he created his own.
Christian, Leawood senior, met with a professional sports agent and looked through the University undergraduate catalog. Together they designed the sports finance major, which includes courses in business, psychology and communications.
Christian is one of about 40 students at the University of Kansas who are enrolled in the special major students to create their own majors.
He said this major allowed him to specialize, whereas other people who wanted to become sports agents usually majored in business.
Leawood's degree also got positive feedback from some potential employers in professional sports, such as the NCAA.
"I think it maybe gives future employers something to look at, that a student took the initiative to make a major," he said.
Pam Houston, director of the College of Liberal Arts Administration, said students who wanted to create their own majors had to submit a petition outlining the courses and justifying the proposal. The petition is reviewed by a committee and must not overlap significantly with existing majors.
She said special majors may include courses in the professional schools but are only offered through the college. As a result, students require that at least two-thirds of the courses are in the college.
Houston said the program gave students a chance to receive a specialized degree.
"For various reasons, students have a set focus and are interested in going in a certain direction," she said.
Patricia Kerstein, Skokie, Ill. senior, said she chose to create a major in historical preservation after she became disappointed with the jobs offered to interior design majors.
"Interior design is wiping out something that is old and has heritage, and replacing it with something new," she said. "I was more interested in preserving our heritage."
"I think it maybe gives future employers something to look at, that a student took the initiative to make a major." Matthew Christian
Matthew Christian
Leawood senior
Kerstein said her major required some graduate-level courses in the school of architecture as well as courses in art history.
She said the special major could be an advantage when looking for a job.
William Arnold, associate professor of sociology, said a crime and delinquency major was offered through the special major program. The major includes courses in the school of social welfare as well as courses in sociology, psychology, political science, and human development and family life.
"For anything in the criminal justice system, we say you are ready if you have this major." Arnold said.
He said the major offered specialization to students wishing to find jobs in the criminal justice profession.
Tim Schwartzkopf, Lenexa junior, is one of about 30 students enrolled in the crime and delinquency major. He said he chose the major after courses in his previous major of political science were filled during enrollment.
Schwartzkopf said he thought the degree could improve his chances of getting a job after graduation.
"It could very well be the difference if you want a job in the criminal justice system and you have this degree and other else has an English degree," he said.
KJHK may play 'indecent' music
Station considers 'safe harbor' period from midnight to 6 a.m.
By Erik Bauer
Kansan staff writer
KJHK's music director has made a proposal that would allow the station — during certain hours — to play music that the Federal Communications Commission has deemed indecent.
KJHK staff members and faculty advisers are discussing a proposal made March 23 by the music director, Greg Isenhagen, that asks for changes in the station's interpretation of FCC regulations.
Iserhann formally asked the KJHK executive staff to consider a midnight until 6 a.m. "safe harbor." The station currently does not allow a legal safe harbor that permits announcers to air music with indecent lyrics at any time.
In 1989, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional to have a 24-hour ban on indecent broadcasting. On March 2, the Supreme Court threw out a case that would have reversed the decision.
Bill Beringer, Belleville, Ill., senior, introduces the featured album on the Dinner Hour Album Playback show at KJHK.
Iserhagen, Stillwell senior,
said he decided to propose the
return of safe harbor after he
heard about the Supreme Court's
refusal to hear the safe harbor
case. The station has banned
music deemed indecent since Fall 1989.
Tim Mensendiek, KJHK general manager and faculty adviser, said, "We have a right to a safe harbor. Since we now have a 24-hour bar on indecency, we are trying to decide if we want a safe harbor of any kind — a limited safe harbor or a broad safe harbor."
"I feel that the executive staff is beginning to understand my side of the story," he said. "There are a lot of songs we can't play because there are a few dirty words, and I don't think that 's right between 12 a.m. and 6a.m."
Menskindi said the executive staff, which consists of seven students, had limited authority on the matter. If the staff approves the safe harbor, it would be considered a recommendation.
Isernhagen said the format would not change drastically if the measure was approved.
"I'm supportive of the investigation," he said. "It's a great learning experience for the students."
Mensendiek said the FCC regulations required radio stations to comply with community standards on the level of indecency.
A final decision would rest with Mensendiek. The University holds the station's license.
"We're not talking about songs that are intentionally indecent, but songs that would qualify for play if it weren't for one particular part of the song that is indecent," he said.
The FCC defines indecency as "language or material that describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the use of language or excretory activities or organs."
The safe harbor does not protect material that is considered
obscene. The FCC differentiate between obscenity and indecency by specifying that, as applied to national standards, obscene material "lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."
Tricia Kensinger, KJHK station manager, said a safe harbor could prove harmful to the station.
"The major damage that can be done is to KJHK's reputation and image," said Kensinger, who is on the station's executive board. "I need to know why I should honor the safe harbor."
Mother of young victim of AIDS to speak at KU
Jeanne White has traveled the United States giving lectures since her son, Ryan, died of complications of AIDS in April 1990. A nationally-recognized AIDS activist, she will share her ideas about what people should do to respond to the AIDS epidemic.
Kansan staff writer
A woman who fought fear and misunderstanding about AIDS in defense of her son's right to attend school will speak at 8tonight at the Kansas Union Ballroom.
Several campus and community groups are sponsoring the free speech. White will receive about $4,000 for the speech, but the total cost for the event will be about $6,000, said Patrick Dilley, head of the Student Senate AIDS Task Force.
By Katherine Manweiler
Kenan staff writer
Senate and the task force allocated $2,775 for the speech and Student Union Activities contributed $3,000.
Ryan was expelled from school in Kokomo, Ind., the town where he was born and lived, and received his lessons from a telephone hookup at home. Jeanne White, a single parent who was employed as a subsidiary of General Motors, then took the school system to court and won.
Ryan White was 13 years old when he found out that he had contracted HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion. Transfusions are standard treatments for his hemophilia.
But the Whites could not win the battle against prejudice and fear from members of
The tires of Jeanne White's car were slashed, obscenities were scribbled on Ryan's school locker and people called in to radio talk shows to call Ryan names such as faggot, homo or queer.
"His candor and his honesty really took the nation by surprise, I think," Diley said. "They were used to seeing people with AIDS who didn't want anybody to know. Ryan White helped Americans to see that AIDS was not a disease that they could write off."
The prejudice reached a boiling point when someone fired a bullet through the White's living room window. Although no one was injured, Jeanne White moved Ryan and his younger sister, Andrea, to Cicero, Ind., a community about 25 miles away.
Ryan and his family found acceptance and friends in Cicero. It was there that the Whites' story gained national attention, and Ryan captured the hearts of people across the United States because of his willingness to talk about his experience with AIDS.
Dilley said Ryan was the first person in the public eye with HIV who could not be disregarded by being labeled as a homosexual or a drug-user.
Laura Aofm, coordinator for the Douglas County AIDS Project, said the Whites' story helped some people understand the AIDS virus better.
"I think that what happened is that it gave the disease a face — the face of a child," Amof said. "He was probably the first person to make people see that it can affect anyone, not just what people usually see as someone who has AIDS."
Steve Hummel, executive director of Good Samaritan Project, an AIDS support organization in Kansas City, Mo., said prejudice and fear toward people with AIDS was still a strong force in the United States.
"Ryan touched a lot of people, but he touched people who were willing to be touched," Humel said. "Some people still just didn't care."