THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.101,NO.105
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28,1992
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Recent demonstrations have not been as violent as the racial protests of the '70s, but participants still strive for more ethnic and racial acceptance.
KU's history mirrors today's race concerns
By Lyle Miedens and Gayle Osterberg Kansan staff writers
By Lvle Niedens
In 1970, Marshall Jackson was a senior at the University of Kansas and an ardent member of the Black Student Union.
At that time, the Lawrence community was a hotbed of racial tension, and the organization was a powerful voice in attempting to improve the racial climate for African Americans in Lawrence.
The tensions turned violent in the spring and summer of 1970.
In the early morning hours of April 21, 1970, the Kansas Union burned and fire bombs were thrown through Lawrence High School windows.
Lawrence residents speculated that the actions were in response to a referendum at the Lawrence High School the previous day in which white student council members voted down a series of demands by Black students. BSU members protested the vote at the high school.
The killing set off four days of racial violence in Lawrence that included a gun battle between four Lawrence students and about 50 African Americans.
Small fires and disturbances were commonplace near 12th Street and Fifth Avenue.
That year, BSU members dumped $8,000 worth of Kansans in Potter Lake after the University refused to provide funds for a newsletter.
That summer, Rick Dowdell, a 19-year-old Black man was shot and killed by police in Brooklyn.
The violence ended after the death of another Black man, Nick Rice. He was killed by police in a disturbance.
Black History Month
"It was a really tense time around campus," Jackson said. "There was a lot of tension, distrust and fear."
Robert Shelton, KU's embudsman,
was an assistant professor of religious
studies.
"There certainly was tension, but I don't know that that was necessarily a negative thing," he said. "People expressed themselves who had never expressed themselves before, and people were listening who had never listened before."
After several BSU demands were met, including the creation of the Office of Minority Affairs and the appointment of several African-American staff members, the organization name less active and disbanded in 1974.
Jackson, who now is an administrative associate at KU's student assistance center, said he did not think all the goals BSU was striving for in 1970 had been fulfilled.
"The atmosphere is much better, but we haven't reached a true level of acceptance," he said.
"I don't think the expected results have been achieved," Jackson said. "I don't think African Americans have gotten what they thought they were going to get as a result of their activity."
For that reason, and for the need for social-cultural interaction, the organization was re-established in 1978, he said.
"I think African-American students need to be needed to be yoised." Jackson said.
Marek Jacobs, St. Louis sophomore is an executive board member of today's BSU.
"I am not an activist type," Jacobs said. "But I think there is a need for BSU to get fellow brothers and sisters involved in campus events. We need to unite and work as one on behalf of Black students on this campus."
Jacobs said that there were several things he would like to see the organization accomplish before he graduated: the establishment of a multicultural center, a more dominant position for the Office of Minority Affairs and an increased number of Black faculty and staff.
Increasing numbers of minority students is a large goal of all minority schools.
"The general consensus is that they want more of their ethnic group to be in college," Jacobs said. "Financial aid is really hard to get for Black students. If more Blacks could get the money, then they'd be here."
"I think it is something more under-
lying than something outward," he said. "Racism exists. It's just not out-
wardly present."
Jacobs said that he thought racism still existed at the University but that it was not a problem.
Ex-aide to Iran explains his 1980 hostage theory
Jacobs said the only thing that would wipe out racism was mutual respect.
"The key to solving the problem is to enact some kind of program to get different cultures together," he said. "If we want to culture your, you are going to respect it.
"Until we respect them and they respect us, there is going to be a problem."
By Katherine Manweiler
Kansan staff writer
The Reagan-Bush campaign's involvement in the hostage crisis of 1980 makes Watergate look like a tea party, the former White House aide to Iran during the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis said yesterday.
"If you're going to take on a subject
Sick's book alleges that the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1980 manipulated the Iran hostage situation for political gain.
Gary Sick, the former aide, refuses to back away from the controversy surrounding his new book, *October Surprise*. The 1967 KU graduate spoke out against the often crowd of more than 200 at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
as controversial as this, it's not going to be cost-free," he said.
October Surprise is a phrase originally used by the Republican Party in 1980 to refer to the possibility that President Carter might attempt a surprise rescue of the hostages just before the presidential election.
Sick said his theory of the 1980 hostage release could lead to a different view of some of the governmental actions and actions in the past 12 years.
"If there was a deal done between the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1980 with Iran and Israel, then it was a direct precursor of what happened in the Iran-Contra affair, and you had to look at the Iran-Contra affair in a very different way." he said.
"If nothing happened in 1980, then
you could say it was an isolated sort of abberation, but otherwise, it was simply a repeat of something that had already been done before."
Sick said that both the House and the Senate were beginning investigations into the incident and that the results were scheduled to be announced in July.
"Compared to this, Watergate was a tea party," he said. "If in fact, a party out of power intervened with a hostile foreign power to undercut negotiations that were under way between their government and this other power
"I don't know whether we'll ever prove this absolutely. I do know that the evidence that is there is not easily
especially one that involved the
federation of 50 Americans — that's simi-
ply PIXXI.
dismissed, and it is quite serious."
But Sick's theory does not include a complete distrust of government, he saws.
"There is a tendency now, partly because of the JFK movie and other things, to suggest that everything in government is connected with everything else in a grandiose scheme," he said. "Mostly, people in government aren't that smart."
Sick said his goal for the book was to make people in the United States aware of the need for government offenses made accountable for their actions.
"I believe that the way you deal with political malfeasance is by bringing it out in public and letting people look at it and make up their own minds about it," he said.
Sick's speech drew mixed reviews from members of the KU community.
Tonya Lower, Sublette junior, said she did not think Sick's overall theory was correct.
"There's no paper trail," Lower said. "There are no definite facts to prove that this happened."
But David Gawell, graduate teaching assistant in political science, said that he was happy to work with
"If you put this in perspective, it's really very serious," Gawell said. "There were private citizens gambling with American lives. They played a private foreign policy."
"They looked at the Constitution as a barrier to their goals. This went against a fundamental tenet of democracy, that the ends don't justify the means."
Paul Kotz /Special to the KANSAN
Gary Sick, KU alumnus, talks about his book, "October Surprise".
Spring break warning: measles in Corpus Christi
By Katherine Manweiler Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
If KU students are not careful, they could bring more than souvenirs and a sunburn back to Lawrence from South Padre Island this spring break.
The public health department in Corpus Christi has confirmed 191 cases of measles since January. William Atkinson, representative for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, called the outbreak one of the most forceful outbreaks in the nation.
A measles outbreak in Corpus Christi, Texas, has health officials concerned. They are encouraging college students to make sure their measles vaccinations are current before hitting the beaches of nearby South Padre.
Elaine Housen, immunization charge nurse at the Douglas County Health Department, said a limited number of patients are available at the health department.
Houston said the health department only vaccinated a few college students each year.
Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said students who had been vaccinated since 1980 did not need to worry about getting the measles. But other students need to be vaccinated immediately, Yockey said.
"We have vaccine for college freshmen who haven't had their second vaccine yet," she said.
Watkins has 560 doses of the measles vaccine. There is no charge for the vaccine for enrolled students.
"The bottom line is that if anybody is going to Corpus Christi on Friday, they need to get in here ASAP and get a shot," he said. "It would only take 10 people to come back with the measles to cause a disaster."
Yockey said restaurants and bars could be risky places for students in Corpus Christi. Students need to take simple precautions such as not using eating and drinking utensils from other people and washing their hands frequently.
Ten students at the University of Kansas were vaccinated at Watkins on Wednesday, and four students were vaccinated yesterday.
"Any place where there's high density of people, that is where you're going to get the measles," Yockey said. "Fortunately, the spread rate is much higher when the weather is cold. Normally, measles spread on this campus in January, but we haven't had any."
"Measles is so common that it would not be hard for students to pick it up if they spend time with local people," he said.
The vaccine could have some effectiveness within 72 hours, but it could take up to six weeks for the vaccine to take effect. Yockey said.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Leap year Catching up with the seasons
Leap year has 366 days, one more day than an ordinary year. Every fourth year has the extra day — but only in years which can be divided evenly by four and not in those years marked by even hundreds (such as 1900). The exceptions are years which can be divided by 400, such as 1600. By custom, the extra day is always added to the shortest month, giving February 29 days
When
Seasons in Northern Hemisphere
Why
A solar year is the time it takes for the Earth to make one revolution around the sun. It takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to make one complete orbit. Our calendar year is 365 days long. An extra day is added to correct
In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are the reverse
the difference in time between the solar and calendar years. That keeps the calendar in step with the seasons, which are governed by the solar year. Otherwise, over the centuries the calendar would drift away from the actual seasons.
SOURCES: Charlotte Observer, Discovery Place, World Book
Knight-Ridder Tribune/FRANCOIS DUCKETT
Women arrested more under new state law
Kansan staff writer
By Michelle Betts
Kansan staff writer
Women make up almost 30 percent of people arrested in domestic violence cases since a new Kansas domestic violence law became effective Jan.1. Lawrence police reported.
Lt. Mark Brothers, crime analyst for the Lawrence police, said that before the law was passed, the police expected the percentage of women arrested in domestic violence cases to be about 25 to 35 percent.
"This is not an unexpected percentage to us," Brothers said. "It is unexpected to the folks who voice concerns about this issue."
According to police records, 18 women and 47 men were arrested for domestic violence in January, and 14 women and 37 men were arrested in February.
Brothers said he was concerned with the law's arrest policy. The law says that police "shall make an arrest in a domestic violence case if there is probable cause that domestic violence has occurred or may occur.
If officers were not required to make an arrest, the percentage of women arrested might be lower, he said.
"Without the 'shall,' officers are
Many women are arrested because police are required to arrest the primary aggressor if there is probable cause. Brothers said.
given the chance to look at the long- term situation," he said.
If the woman is retaliating against abuse she suffered for an extended period of time, she still is considered the primary aggressor in the situation. Brothers said.
Connie Burk, staff member at Women's Transitional Care Services, said she had heard about the percentage of arrested women and was disappointed.
She said police needed more training in how to deal with domestic violence situations.
"There are ways to tell a primary aggressor from a woman acting defensively." Burk said.
However, she said that, in most cases, the police were very concerned with domestic violence.
*There is potential for this to be worked out.* *Burk said.*
But Brothers said the Legislature should examine the law for loopholes or a different interpretation.
He said only a small percentage of domestic violence cases that ended in arrest went to court, which gives the police officer a great deal of power without the involvement of the court system.
"It is an encroachment on people's right to trial, and that is veiled by the very heartfelt wish to help out victims of domestic violence." Brothers said.