Monday, April 27, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
-
Section A·Page 7
Planet Party celebrates the Earth
Community turns out for Earth Day activities
By Graham K. Johnson gjohnson@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas students and Lawrence residents drummed, danced, biked and even painted their faces to celebrate the Earth during the weekend.
The Planet Party took place from noon to 6 p.m.
Saturday at Lawrence's South Park.
The community-wide Planet Party and the Earth Day Bike Ride took place Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The two events were part of a month of Earth Day 98 activities organized by University of Kansas student groups.
Earth Day celebrators participated in a variety of activities, including watching belly dancers, joining a drum circle and learning about paper making. Information tables were set up to demonstrate the importance of conservation.
At the Wildcare information table, Laura Rumberg, a Wildcare volunteer, held a red-tailed hawk and answered questions about wild animals.
"One of the main goals of Wildcare is public education and increased appreciation of wildlife," Rumberg said.
Victoria Silva, director of the University's Office of Resource Conservation and Recycling, said the most popular attraction of the day was the face-painting station.
"We've had lots and lots of kids," Silva said.
Roya, an Egyptian dancer, balances a sword on her head while performing a dance in her American Tribal-style costume. The performance was part of Earth Day celebrations Saturday at South Park in Lawrence. Photo by Lizz Weber / KANSAN
Andrea Repinsky, Olathe junior and one of the Planet Party organizers, said she had expected the attendance. She said that about 25 people came and left throughout the day.
The Earth Day Bike Ride from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
on Sunday also attracted a crowd.
About 50 people rode their bikes 16 miles from Broken Arrow Park at 31st and Louisiana streets to Douglas County State Fishing Lake near Baldwin. Local restaurants provided bikers with sandwiches, fruit, cookies and other items.
"I personally like riding bikes, and this was a good opportunity to do it," Morrissey said. "The fact that it was the Earth Day Bike Ride just made it a better reason."
Kathleen Morrissey, Omaha, Neb. junior, said that although environmental awareness was important, it was a secondary reason for why she participated in the ride.
The bike ride was sponsored by the University of Kansas Environment Studies Student Association.
Todd Simmons, Augusta junior and event organizer, said he was pleased with the weather and the number of individuals who participated in the bike ride, which is in its first year.
He said he thought the bike ride would be a good way to raise money. Proceeds from the $15 entry fee will go toward a scholarship fund for environmental studies majors, he said.
Nicole Seltzer, a recent graduate of the University and co-founder of E.S.S.A. , said that in addition to providing money for scholarship funds, the event also was a good way to promote environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
"You can ride 32 miles, and it's not so difficult." Seltzer said, "Maybe people will start taking their bikes to the store instead of taking their car on small trips."
Students fast to promote freedom in Tibet
By Ronnie Wachter
Twachter @ Kansan.
Kansan staff writer
About 10 University of Kansas students took part in a nationwide fast Saturday to raise awareness about the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Members of the University of Kansas chapter of Students For a Free Tibet talked to passers-by and gave out informational pamphlets in front of Mercantile Bank, 900 Massachusetts St.
Erik Goodman, Dayton, Ohio, sophomore and president of the group, said that the event was held Saturday to honor the birthday of Gebbun Chokeyi Nyima, a young leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Nyima, who turned 9 on Satur-
day, is a political prisoner of the Chinese government, Goodman said.
"Because he's a high figure in Tibetan Buddhism, he's seen as a threat to Chinese rule in Tibet," Goodman said.
He said that he and the other Students For A Free Tibet felt that Nyima's imprisonment in Beijing, which began in 1995, was unjust.
"We're going to fast and sit here all day," Goodman said Saturday. "There are Tibetans that are on an indefinite hunger strike, though."
He said that more than 350 chapters of Students For a Free Tibet, headquartered in New York City, were participating in the fast. The University's group was founded in September.
Jason Hoeff, St. Louis sophomore
and member of Students For a Free Tibet, said that he was fasting out of concern for the Tibetan people.
"I'm a Chinese major, so I'm real involved with a lot of Asian activities," he said. "The things going on in Tibet are wrong, and I just think if people keep hearing about it, we can do something about it."
Hoeft said that he and Scott Brazell, St. Louis freshman, designed the information pamphlet that the students were passing out.
"One out of every 1.2 Tibetans, 1.2 million, have been killed by torture, starvation and execution," Hoeft and Brazell wrote. "Today the human rights of the Tibetan people continue to be pathetically overlooked."
Goodman said that he and other
members of the group were on KJHK's "Bring The Noise" talk show on Thursday to discuss China's occupation of Tibet. He said they would sponsor a forum Friday in the Kansas Union with three speakers.
Lama Tenzin, a Tibetan Buddhist monk; Gendeng Gyatso, a Tibetan refugee; and Felix Moos, professor of East Asian Studies, will speak about the imprisonment of Nyima and other troubles happening in Tibet.
The forum will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union, Goodman said.
"China has a very active policy of moving the culture of China into Tibet," Moos said. "It's getting to the point where a Tibetan town is looking like a Chinese town."
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