Friday, February 20, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
KU students revel at Mardi Gras
By Emily C. Forsyth
eforsyth@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Laura O'Neil and five of her friends rented a van and departed yesterday for New Orleans.
O'Neil, Lawrence senior, is one of many University of Kansas students who are making the trek to Mardi Gras this year.
`'It's a perfect place to be drunk for five days straight,' O'Nell said.`
O'Neil and her friends plan to return late Tuesday night. She said they were going to sleep in the van to save money.
O'Nell's is attending Mardi Gras for the third time. Although she considers it an opportune time to consume alcohol, she said this year she hoped to participate in activities other than drinking.
O'Neil said she and her friends also would return to some of their favorite places.
"This year, we're a little more organized," O'Neill said. "We'd like to go sightseeing and to some clubs to see bands."
"There's lots of punks that go to Mardi Gras, and they all hang out on the Boardwalk by the river," O'Neil said. "It's fun to go down there because they have so many stories from all over the world."
Ryan Killian, Kansas City, Mo.. junior, said Mardi Gras was an event unlike any other he had ever experienced.
"It's a huge mass of people, and the whole feel of the environment, being down there on Bourbon Street, is incredible." Killiany said.
Kiliany went to Mardi Gras with the Kansas Jayhawks Rugby Football Club, which is competing in a tournament in Baton Rouge, La., this weekend.
"We play Saturday during the day, we play Sunday during the day, and Friday and Saturday night we go to Mardi Gras." Kilian said
Kiliani said he was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the sights and sounds of New Orleans.
O'Neil said she thought there was a decline in the traditional activities of Mardi Gras, such as masquerading. But the weekend won't be tame
"There's going to be a lot of nudity and general tomfoolery and people having a good time," O'Nell said.
She said she enjoyed attending the parades and accumulating beads.
"Me and my friends have all kinds of piercings and different colors of hair, so people usually give us beads because we look interesting," O'Neil said.
O'Neil said the atmosphere at Mardi Gras was tourist-oriented and crowded.
"You can't even walk down the street without sliding past people," O'Neil said. "Sometimes you get stuck in the crowd and can't get out. If you're claustrophobic, you shouldn't go at all."
Literally means "Fat Tuesday"
*Term describes a day of merrymaking on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday*
US Travel & Finance Day
■ In New Orleans, Italy and Brazil, a week or more of parades and parties precedes the Tuesday celebration
Beagan: March 3. 1699
Begun March 3, 1879
Official colors: purple, gold and green
- Consumers spent $660 million during Mardi Gras in 1994
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GenerASIAN next has conference
Leadership, culture highlight workshops presented by AASU
By Sara Anderson sanderson@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Despite Student Senate funding problems, the Asian-American Student Union will present its third Asian-American Student Leadership Conference on today on the fifth floor of the Kansas Union.
The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until 2:50 p.m. The conference, "The Next GenerASIAN: Building the Bridge to the Future," will have three workshop sessions. The conference is free for college students and $25 for high-school participants.
Yan Zeng, Winfield junior and president of the AASU, said the goals of the workshop were to teach participants how to be effective role models. explore career choices and educate the community about Asian-American culture and history.
"It's about how to prepare yourself for tomorrow," she said.
A bill for funding the conference was discussed at the Feb. 4 Senate meeting. Objections were raised that the event would be seen as a recruitment measure because it was co-sponsored by the Office of Admissions, and that it excluded KU students because it was geared more toward high schools.
AASU was allotted $2,813 for the event. The money was used for speaker fees, office supplies and printing costs. Zeng said.
Jason Fizeil, Liberal Arts and Sciences senator and one of the opponents of the bill, said once the Senate allotted money for the conference, it was no longer an issue.
Students were asked to sign up ahead of time, but they would not be turned away if they did not. Zeng said students could still sign in at the Union before the workshop they wanted to attend began.
Gloria Flores, associate director of the Office of Minority Affairs, will provide the opening remarks for the conference. She said the conference was one of the University's obligations for community outreach.
"It should be more of a collaboration to build bridges and give connections so secondary students can set their sights on higher education and the conference is a vehicle to do that," she said.
Zeng said more than 150 high school students from Kansas and Missouri had registered. The conference last was held in 1995.
The event is sponsored by the history department, Applied English Center, Office of Admissions, Multicultural Resource Center, Office of Minority Affairs, Office of the Chancellor, Student Senate, and the Kansas Union Bookstore.
Off campus sponsors are Capitol Federal Bank, the Kansas Department of Education and The Eye Galleria.
AASU Conference
When: 8:30 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. today
What: Asian-American Leadership Conference: "The Next GenerASIAN: Building the Bridge to the Future"
Where: Fifth Floor, Kansas Union
Schedule of events:
8:30- 9:30 a.m. - Opening Remarks
10:10-5 a.m. - Workshop session I
11:11-5 a.m. - Workshop Session II
2- 2:50 p.m. - Workshop Session III
Free Admission for college students
Workshops include:
College Success: A panel discussion with college students sharing stories on coping with college and dealing with everyday issues.
Breaking Stereotypes by Appreciating the Multicultural Experience: A creative workshop with a blend of history and poetry.
Asian-American Heritage:
An interactive exploration of the history of the Asian-American community and the struggles they have gone through as well as current issues today.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway; Gloria Flores, associate director of Office of Minority Affairs; Lawson Inada, Japanese-American poet; and Helie Lee, Korean-American author.
Speakers include:
Symposium highlights hip-hop, rap
A University of Kansas senior has reached the conclusion that rap music is similar to religion.
Tara Bisel, Scottsdale, Ariz., reached offers this theory in her research paper about hip-hop culture and rap music. Bisel and 47 students will present the results of their research in the first multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Symposium from 8:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at at the Big 12 and Jayhawk rooms in the Kansas Union.
Some students will give oral presentations and some will show present their research on posters. Two students will give video presentations.
Poster sessions will be from 10:10 to 10:40 a.m. and from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. The authors of the posters will be available to answer questions at these times.
"I think it's great that KU has created a forum like this for undergraduates to present their hard work." Bisel said.
Barbara Schowen, honors program director, created the idea of the symposium. Schowen and a committee of six students planned the event.
Schowen said it was the first time a program included projects from such a wide range of schools.
Many of the students participating in the symposium were recipients of a KU Undergraduate Research Award during the spring or summer of 1997.
- Emily C. Forsyth
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