University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 19, 1992
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CAMPUS/AREA
Peace Corps recruits helpers for ex-Soviets
By Svala Jonsdottir
Kansan staff writer
Students who want to work overseas will be able to get information on campus today about volunteering in less-developed countries.
The Peace Corps will sponsor an information table from 9a.m. to 4p.m. in the third-floor lobby of the Kansas Union.
For the first time, volunteers will be sent to newly independent Soviet republics, as well as to other countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.
Melanie Martin, public affairs specialist at the Peace Corps' Kansas City, Kan., office, said the Peace
Corps looked for motivated people who wanted to experience different cultures.
"Right now, we are getting many requests for English teachers, science and math teachers, agriculturalists and business people," she said.
"The new republics are more interested in business people with extensive experience than in recent graduates, but anyone can apply," she said.
Volunteers will be sent to the three Baltic States, the Ukraine and Armenia this summer, Martin said.
In the past five years,69 KU students have served as Peace Corps volunteers. Martin said.
Tom Kenny, Peace Corps recruiter,
said yesterday that many of the students he had talked to were interested in joining.
Eighteen students picked up applications at the information table yesterday, and many more requested information, hesaid.
"People want to go overseas because they hear of these countries in the news," he said. "I think college students are more informed about world events now, and that increases the interest in the Peace Corps."
Kenny joined the Peace Corps after receiving a master's degree in business from the University in 1988. He spent two years teaching business skills to small-business owners in Costa Rica.
electricity and no running water," he said. "It was hot, and there were few comforts, but that was more than made up for by the friendliness of the people."
Philip Lesniewski, Peace Corps recruiter, said many volunteers returned to the United States and graduate school after two years.
"It was an area where there was no
"There are over 150 colleges and universities that offer returned volunteers teaching and research benefits and financial aid," he said. "Many colleges and employers want returned volunteers because of their leadership experience, organizational skills and planning experience they have gained."
Certain student loans can be
deferred during the time of service,
Lesniewskiisaid.
Marian Kamin, San Jose, Calif. graduate student, is considering rejoining the Peace Corps upon graduation in May. She served from 1982 to 1984 in North Yemen after receiving her undergraduate degree at a California university.
"I taught English to students who were planning to come to American universities," she said. "Peace Corps volunteers, money, but they take total care of you."
Kamlien learned Arabic during her stay in Yemen, and she said she learned more in the two years there than in her degree program at school.
"I would like to go back, but it is just
one of many choices," she said. "After my experience, I would definitely like to work overseas."
Candice Autry, Enid, Okla., senior has waited for placement since she interviewed with the Peace Corps in October.
"Basically, they try to match up your qualifications with the country's request," she said. "You can list a preference on your application, but I said I would go anywhere."
Autry said she hoped to gain experience that would help her in her life and career.
"I am looking forward to see what it is like to live in a totally different culture," she said. "It is a challenge and also a learning experience."
JulieDenesha/KANSAN
Insects
Carefully positioning a wasp he has just removed from alcohol, Matt Sorochty, Bradenton, Fla., sophomore, pins the insect collected by students and faculty in Ecuadorat the Museum of Entomology in Snow Hall. Sorochty spends most of his afternoons arranging insects for the museum's collections.
Theater group performs play for the deaf
Kansan staff writer
By Ranjit Arab
As the cast of "Treasure Island" sang, "Yo ho yo and a bottle of rum," their every word was seen by the audience.
The play was performed last night in the auditorium at Haskell Indian Junior College by the National Theater of the Deaf, a company of hearing-impaired and hearing actors. Their adaptation of the play combined sign language with spoken words, allowing the audience to see and hear every word.
As a cast of characters signed the dialogue, two actors shared the speaking parts.
The performance also made use of instruments such as drums, a guitar and cymbals.
Along with being the first company to combine sign language with spoken words, the National Theater of the
Deaf was the first professional theater to tour all 50 states.
The company now is on a six-month tour of 22 states and the District of Columbia.
Jacqueline Davis, director of the KU Concert Series, said that the performance was sponsored by the University of Kansas, but that it was performed at the junior college because of a lack of auditorium space.
The play was one of the seven events this school year which had to be rescheduled to Haskell, Topeka or Liberty Hall because of the Hoch Auditorium fire. Davis said.
Brian Somers, Buckner, Mo.
junior, is a deaf student who teaches a
"Everything is integrated so beautifully that the signing becomes a part of the process." Davis said.
She said she had seen the touring company when it performed a version of "The Odyssey" at the University in Spring 1990.
sign language lab at the University.
he said that although he used a hearing aid, the signing of the actors made it easy to follow the plot.
Culver said the performance could help people who could hear by exposing them to sign language.
"The body motions and gestures fit extremely well." he said.
Although he could not hear the musical instruments, he said he felt the vibrations of the drums.
Ken Culver of Lawrence said through an interpreter that the play was very focused.
Hearing-impaired people from Lawrence and surrounding cities were present at the play, he said.
Culver said nothing was lost in the translation from the written word to sign language.
Police look for patterns in recent burglary spree
"It is like watching closed-capca television," he said. "Because you can see all the words."
Lawrence police are investigating several possibly related burglaries of local homes and businesses, a police representative said.
By Michelle Betts Kansan staff writer
An unusually high number of burglaries since the second week of January has prompted police to look for burglar patterns, said Lt. Mark Brothers, Lawrence police representative.
Brothers would not say how many burglaries had occurred.
He said the burglar used similar methods to commit the crimes, such as how they gained entry into homes or businesses.
He said that the unidentified persons consistently burglarized single-family homes, but that the homes were in different areas of the city.
"It is difficult to tell where one pattern leaves off and another picks up," Brothers said.
Police believe there may be a group of people involved in the burglaries, he said.
could be carried, such as a television or videocassette recorder, Brothers said.
Patterns in the burglaries show that people entered residences and took small items that fit into their pockets and then took one larger item that
Paul Kieler's home in the 1100 block of Sunset Drive was burglarized twice last week, according to police reports.
After the first burgary Feb. 12, Kieler,
a 1989 KU graduate, said he asked a
neighbor to watch his house while he
was at work.
He said that he showed his appreciation by taking his neighbor out to dinner Friday night, and that his house was burglarized again while he was gone.
Kieler said he had checked all the city's spawnshops for his stolen jewelry and for other items of his that were identifiable, such as imported compact discs from Holland.
After the first burglary, Kieler and his roommate put a wooden plank in the sliding glass door the burglaries used to gain entry, but the same door was used during the second burglary, he said.
"Now we're keeping someone here all the time." he said.
Brothers, citing the burglaries at Kieler's home, said it was possible that one person who took small items in the first burglary might have returned to take other items in the second burglary.
"If they start that, there are people who should be nervous," he said.
A burglar also might knock on the door to find out whether someone is home, Brothers said.
People whose homes are burglared need to call the police immediately after discovering the crime, and neighbors need to report to police any suspicious people, he said.
In many of the recent burglary cases, people reported the burglaries late and neighbors were not wary of strangers, which makes it difficult for police to find clues to solve the cases, Brothers said.
"It leaves a very cold trail to follow," he said.
Police have not received any reports of stolen jewelry being sold to area pawnshops, Brothers said.
Despite the prevalence of burglaries in the city, campus burglaries have not increased, according to KU police reports.
Lt. John Mullens, KU police representative, said that 13 burglaries had occurred in the last 30 days, which is below the 30-day average.
Five of the campus burglaries have occurred in residence halls, Mullens said.
Forum focuses on international perceptions of domestic violence
By Shelly Solon Kansan staff writer
Rape and domestic violence affect women internationally, a speaker said last night at a forum about violence against women.
The program, sponsored by the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, focused on how women in the United States and other countries deal with standards and customs in their countries concerning violence against women.
These differences often present problems in reporting and identifying situations such as date rape, said Daphne Johnston, assistant director of the office of international student services.
Johnston said lack of communication and misunderstandings intensified the threat of rape for international women.
"A man and a woman from Kansas cannot communicate about sex, let alone a man and a woman from different cultures. They have different patterns of behavior," she said.
ence and abuse in international students' cultures might differ greatly from the standards in the United States.
"Different things are seen as acceptable and unacceptable," she said. "Sometimes I have run into students who can't believe spouse abuse and sexual harassment are illegal."
Johnston said the definitions of vio-
About 25 people attended the program, which was co-sponsored by Women's Student Union, Commission on the Status of Women and Students Against Violence Against Womyn. Women's Transitional Care Services and Rape Victim Support Services also spoke.
Johnston gave an example of an international woman who was forced to have sex against her will and then saw a counselor who told her she had been date raped.
"She told me later that she has no idea what date rape meant," she said.
International women may avoid reporting rape or domestic violence because they had a bad experience with police in their countries or have bad impressions of police in the United
She said that some progress had been made, but that cultural values and legal stipulations, like maintaining visas, made it difficult for international women to escape domestic violence.
States, Johnston said
Connie Burk, Women's Transitional Care Services advocate, said KU police had translated information about WTCS into other languages so international students could know about their options.
"We have had foreign women call on the crisis hot line and participate in our support groups," she said. "But not a lot of women can stay in the shelters because of visas or other complications."
Sherrill Robinson, graduate assistant at the women's resource center, said that because she was an international woman, she had additional concerns.
"On campus, we cannot ignore part of the population," she said. "We need to be aware of different concerns and communicate with international women in our programs."