Tomorrow's weather
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 6601-3585
Kansan
Tuesday
March 17, 1998
Section:
A
Vol. 108 • No. 122
Warming up tomorrow with rain most of the day.
Discover a few Irish treasures brought to you by the University.
Online today
http://www.ukans.edu/~spencer/exhibits/irish_treasures/shamrock.html.
Sports today
Members of the Kansas men's basketball team express their reaction to the loss Sunday in the NCAA Tournament.
SEE PAGE 1B
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blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow ...
-Irish proverb
Holiday celebrates spirit of the Irish
(USPS 650-640)
By Sara Anderson and Chris Horton sanderson@kansan.com chorton@kansan.com
Kanson staff writers
While it may be a major holiday for Irish in the United States, St. Patrick's Day has less significance in Ireland.
The holiday is most prominent with the Irish diaspora, or scattering, throughout the world, said David Katzman, chairman and professor of American Studies. Katzman specializes in American ethnic groups.
"Fenianism, Irish nationalism, started more in the diaspora than in Ireland," he said. "St. Patrick's Day has become very important to keep traditions alive for Irish around the world and express their identity with Ireland. It's a chance to unify."
Katzman spent a year in Ireland in the 1970s as a visiting professor at the University College of Dublin. He said that during St. Patrick's Day, festivities were reserved mainly for visitors in the country.
"In Ireland, it is more of a minor holiday," he said.
"There is a St. Patrick's Day parade that included bands from the United States, but is has developed as more of a tourist holiday. Not a lot of Irish come out to watch or participate in the parade."
The St. Patrick's Day parade in Lawrence is an opportunity for people to show their Irish side, regardless of their heritage, said Tami Stum, Lawrence St. Patrick's Day committee secretary.
"We've got people coming out wanting to show their Irish spirit year after year." Stum said
Dorothy Rooney, Lawrence resident, has participated in the parade the past eight years. Rooney said people of any ethnicity could enjoy St. Patrick's Day.
"Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day," she said.
"Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day," she said. Katzman said that the holiday was a chance for everyone to show their spirit, not just people of Irish heritage.
"It's a chance for non-Irish to acknowledge Irish contributions and it plays against the notion of a homogeneous society," he said. "It acknowledges diversity."
Katzman compared the holiday to Mardi Gras. He said that Mardi Gras was held to celebrate the Lenten season and the Catholic faith, but that everyone participated in the event
"It's taken on a different meaning because it's a fun experience," he said. "So St. Patrick's Day is just a fun day for some people like Mardi Gras."
Dan Curry, Overland Park senior, said he focused on food and drink when he celebrated St. Patrick's Day.
"Usually I go home and eat potatoes, cabbage and corned beef with my family," Curry said. "Then I come back to Lawrence and get some beers."
Curry said that although the American version of St. Patrick's Day was a good time, for him, it held little meaning.
"It's cheeseball, pure cheeseball," he said
ST. PATRICK'S DAY
■ Finding a four-leaf clover: double the good luck.
■ Wearing green: green in association with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland and the shamrock.
■ Kissing the Blarney stone: there's only one, and it's part of a castle in Blairney, Ireland.
Leprechauns
Treasure hunters can track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoealer's hammer. If caught, he can be forced to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure.
■ Parasite fret.
There are more than 100 cities in the United States that hold parades, the largest is in New York City.
Legend of the Shamrock St. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It represented how each element could exist on its own but was part of the same entity. St. Patrick's followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
By Aaron Knopf
aknopf@kanson.com
Knopson staff writer
11. Patrick's Day brings to mind images of parades, shamrocks, green beer, leprechauns and Web sites. And Web sites?
That's right. Academic Computing Services and the Spencer Research Library have co-developed Irish Treasures, an Irish history Web site, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.
Irish Treasures is located at http://www.ukans.edu/-spencer/exhibits/irish_treasures/shamrock.html. It contains a small selection of materials from the library's P.S. O'Hegarty Collection.
The site is organized to look like an old book. The images come from a variety of sources, but they have been positioned on screen to look like pages
More information
See page 6A
Continued coverage of St. Patrick's Day
See page 6A
Bus may reduce Safe Ride wait
Bv Marc Sheforaen
By Marc Shetorgen
msheforgen@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
A quicker pick-up time may be in store next year for students tired of waiting on weekends at downtown bars for Saferide.
The transportation board will vote after Spring Break on a proposal to run a city bus on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 12:30 to 2:30 a.m. The bus would make stops at bars on Massachusetts Street, and then drop off patrons at Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall, the Kansas Union, the Chi Omega fountain, Naismith and Oliver Hall, Stewart Avenue, Daisy Hill and Emery Road.
The Lawrence Bus Company would run the buses for $11.05 per hour. Running a bus for two hours, three nights a week, would cost $186.30 per week.
ing together and that having a security guard on board would be a must.
Chris Ogle, owner of the Lawrence Bus Company, said that it would take a bus one hour to complete the proposed route.
Kaiser estimated that having security on the bus would cost an additional $17 to $20 per hour.
Kaiser said that he was worried about so many possibly biroated people rid-
"Right now, something that's challenging Saferide's mission of getting people home safely is the waiting times," Kaiser said. "I'd like to see waiting times reduced, and I think this will do it."
If the proposal passes, the board would aim to get Student Senate money allocated to next year's KU on Wheels budget to run the service.
For a full school year the proposed route would cost about $11,000.
Scott Kaiser, transportation coordinator, said that the plan aimed to alleviate the long waits that have become customary for people calling Saferide.
Ogle said that his company would be willing to work with the KU on Wheels to provide the service, despite the possibility of having difficulty finding drivers for those short shifts.
Ogle said that if students accepted the ideg, the service could be very efficient.
shuttle students from the downtown area to some of the high-density living areas," he said.
New route
"It would be a real effective way to
On the road
See page 1B
Long days and nights, fast food, fun, the open road and basketball. See the NCAA tournament through the eyes of member of the women's basketbal band.
Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN
University is study aid for students from Asia
By Gerry Doyle
gdoyle@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
As the Asian economic market continues to implode, many Indonesian students at the University of Kansas are having trouble keeping their heads above water.
For those who study in the United States, international student visas only allow the holders to work for the universities that they attend. Because of these limitations, students from the Indonesian region who are hurting for money have been forced to seek University jobs.
Daphne Johnston, associate director of international student services, said that since last October when the crisis first hit, about three to four times the usual number of students from East Asia now had jobs with the University. She said that there were about 306 students at the University from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Johnston said that the problem did not only affect the University.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway has said that any Indonesian student who came to him would have a job at the University.
"There was a run on currency, and the whole thing came crashing down," he said. "Suharto refused to end his policies—he essentially said 'screw you' to the IMF. Now, the system is in collapse because he is unwilling to make changes."
"This problem is affecting students all over the U.S." she said. "Self-funded students are more seriously affected. If they're not graduating, they have to look seriously at whether they can stay. Some have already left to go home or go to a cheaper school."
The financial troubles arose when rapid, uncontrolled economic growth in Asian countries led to inflated property values and unregulated banking, said Terry Weidman, associate director of international programs. Indonesia's president, Suharto, had arranged a network of family and friends in the economic infrastructure of his country and had refused to depose them to get International Monetary Fund money.
When the economy reached a breaking point, the bubble burst and caused the rupiah's value to drop 80 percent, Weidner said.
As the system collapsed, students from these areas who relied on funds from home suddenly found their currency was worth fewer dollars, he said. This forced many students to look for work.
Offering jobs to needy international students is a good first step for the University, said Beatrice Selomulyo, Indonesian senior.
Selomulyo said that she worked for Support and Educational Services to help make ends meet and that the money especially had been helpful since the ruhipa's plunge.
"I don't expect things to be free. I just want more options," she said. "My job has helped my parents a little bit. The cancellor's idea means a lot to us financially — there are people whose grades have been decreasing because they're thinking about tomorrow."