SPORTS: The Kansas men's and women's tennis teams defeats Nebraska 9-0 and 7-2. Page 8.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103,NO.135
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1994
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Kansas House passes capital punishment, 67-58
Bill to become law if Finney keeps promise
By Stephen Martino Kansan staff writer
The Kansas House of Representatives passed the Senate's death penalty bill Friday, virtually guaranteeing that capital punishment will return to the state for the first time since 1972.
Only a veto by Gov. Joan Finney
The bill, which passed the House 67-58, would take effect July 1. Lethal injection would be the method of execution.
The passage of the Senate version of the bill ended a stalemate between the House and the Senate. Both chambers had passed death penalty bills earlier in the session, but their versions were significantly different.
The House passed a death penalty
dii. Feb. 11 that included several broad applications, including felony murder. This provision would have allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for people involved in a crime that resulted in someone's death, even if the accused did not kill the victim.
However, on March 1, the Senate passed a much narrower version of the law, specifying seven cases that the death penalty could be applied.
The Senate bill was based on Virginia's capital murder law. Its narrowness allowed State Sens. Richard Rock, D-Akansas City, Paul "Bud" Burke, R-Olathe, and Bill Wisdom, D-Kansas City, to vote for the bill.
Burke said his training as a fighter pilot had taught him that there were times when lives should be taken.
"I arrived at a decision that there were situations that would justify taking lives," he said. "I'm in a very uncomfortable, narrow position."
The House vote Friday was the second time it considered the Senate's version. It failed on the first vote, with 11 representatives writing a letter to the Senate saying that they could support the bill if it were a little stronger. They suggested removing the ransom provision and allowing all murders during kidnapping to be covered.
The Senate refused to budge, saying it was a take it or leave it proposition.
State Rep. Clyde Graeber, R-Leavenworth and the person who shepherded the legislation through the House, voiced frustration a week ago, saying that members who voted against the Senate bill should focus on getting a death penalty on the books.
Graeber said he was glad the fight was over.
"It's a strange feeling," he said. "It's not something you can particularly say you're happy about, but I am satisfied that we put capital punishment on the books."
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
The bill covers:
■ premeditated murder during a kidnapping if the kidnapper intend-ed to hold the victim for ransom.
■ murder of an individual for
- murder of an individual for money, covering contract killings.
- murder of an inmate or a guard, if the murderer is an inmate.
■ intentional murder of an individual during a rape, sodomy or aggravated sodomy.
murder of a law enforcement officer.
murder of more than one person as part of the same act.
12 murder of a kidnapped child under
12 if sexual offense was intended
LesBiGay week begins today
Lawrence graduate student Megan Hurt, left, accompanies singer Allison Faling on fiddle during the LesBiGay Awareness Week kickoff variety show. The show featured LesBiGays OK members and supporters who performed poetry, comedy and music last night in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
'Come-Out-a-Thon' kicks off annual awareness events
KANSAN
Melissa Lacey / KANSAN
By Denise Nell Kansan staff writer
Janet Pryor was surrounded by a group of lesbian friends when she admitted that she was gay.
Her decision to "come out" changed her outlook on life.
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I fit in completely, and I understood why I hadn't before," said Pryor, Scammon senior and co-coordinator of LesBiGay awareness week 1994. "Finally, everything made sense."
Students and faculty will have a chance to hear coming-out stories like Pryor's all day today in front of Wescos Hall. As part of LesBiGay awareness week, personal accounts of KU students and Lawrence-area residents coming-out experiences will be read aloud from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at a "Come-Out-aThon."
Pryor said that reading the stories all day instead of a few hours was significant.
Pryor said she hoped that the event would help gay people feel comfortable admitting it.
"The point of reading them all day long is to show that there are that many Lesbi-Gay people all over the world," she said. "If we wanted to read stories of queens all over the world, we could do it until doomsday."
While fear of being rejected by their families is strong, they also are concerned about their physical safety, Pryor said.
"A lot of people who are already gay see us having such a good time and join in for the first time ever," she said. "One of the main reasons people in college don't come out is that they're financially dependent on their families. They feel they'll be cut off entirely from their families."
"It's obvious why they're afraid to come out when you see people getting hurt," she said.
In addition to the coming out stories of students and area-residents, Pryor said stories of homosexual men persecuted during the Holocaust also would be read aloud.
Eric Moore, Lawrence senior and co-coordinator of the LesBIGy awareness week, said that a goal of today's event and of the rest of the week's events was to
promote acceptance of lesbian, bisexual and gay people.
"Acceptance for LesBiGay people is an issue everywhere," he said. "Fortunately at KU, for whatever reason, people are more tolerant, more open toward LesBiGay people. But I always think that there's room for improvement on something like this."
If last year was any indication, Moore said, the Come-Out-a-Thon will reach some people.
"I had people come up to me out of the blue and say 'I thought you were really brave for doing this. It was a good idea,' he sailed. "We want to reach a lot of people, but if we can reach one person, I think it's well worth it."
"It can be very empowering for people to participate in the Come-Out-a-Thon," he said. "It's encouraging to hear how other people are doing so that we as a community of LesBiGays can know that sometimes life isn't fair, but there is hope."
The goal of the event is not only to promote acceptance, Moore said. It also is a source of encouragement for people who already have come out.
The week's events
Today
Come-Out-a-Thoon — 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
in front of Wescock Hall
Graduate Lecture Series: Sarah Collins, Department of Sociology — 4 p.m. Alcove B. Kansas Union
Lecture: Donna Red Wing, National Chapter Coordinator, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation — 7 p.m.
9 p.m. Kansas Room, Kansas Union
- Wear jeans if you're LesBiGay day
- Information table: "LesBiGay Rights aren't special rights" — 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
- In front of Wesco Hall
Forum: Oppression of LesBiGay people throughout the world — 7-9 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
Graduate Lecture Series: Randy Griffey, Department of Art History — 4 p.m. Alcove B, Kansas Union
Tomorrow
Performing a comedic version of "Tonight" from the movie "West Side Story" are Michael Hinman, Oswego junior, left, and Eric Moore, Lawrence senior. Moore enceved the show as Miss Cynthia Vale.
Melissa Lacev / KANSAN
KANSAN
U.S. planes strike targets inside Bosnia
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. Air Force jets struck targets in Bosnia yesterday as NATO responded to a request from U.N.forces for support to halt Serbian advances on the town of Gorazde, military officials said.
"U.N. peacekeeping forces requested close air support," said the military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Two U.S. Air Force F-16s responded."
The officials said the incident occurred near Gorazde, the scene of fierce Serbian attacks in recent days that had sparked a debate among U.S. and U.N. officials over whether NATO air strikes would be mounted to save the besieged Muslim enclave.
The military officials said they did not know what exactly had sparked the inci-
oent, which U.N. forces had come under attack or what targets may have been hit.
The incident occurred around 11:20 a.m. CDT, they said. The aircraft that took part in the strike are part of the U.S. armada of war planes based in the northern Italian town of Aviano, they said.
The action came just one day after a new U.S. admiral took over as the NATO commander in the region. Admiral Leighton Smith took command of NATO's southern flank Saturday after a transfer of power from Admiral J. Michael Boorda, who is in line to become the Navy's top admiral.
About two hours before the air strike occurred, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the United States was ready to join any use of NATO air power to halt Bosnia Serb advances around Gorazde.
If the U.N. commander asks for NATO air support to stop Serb aggression, "we're going to be paying a lot of attention to that and responding," Christopher said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
He said the United States "has an obligation and a right to respond along with its NATO colleagues."
Christopher's comments came a week after Defense Secretary William Perry and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. John Shalkikashvili appeared to rule out any immediate use of air strikes.
The threat of NATO air attacks led to a cease-fire around Sarajevo in February, and there had been pressure for NATO, at the behest of the United Nations, to take similar action in Gorazde. The military chiefs, however, said air strikes would be less effective against the small-unit assault of the Serbs against Gorazde, in southeastern Bosnia.
Although the defense stopped junior quarterback Mark Williams, Kansas coach Glen Mason says he's pleased with the Jayhawk offense.
Down. but not out
Page 9.
Money available for Hispanics' education
By Angelina Lopez
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
One street will not lead to financial aid for an Hispanic student.
Instead, Hispanic students had to make a commitment to search many avenues, said Andrea Moss, regional director of the National Educational Service Center for the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Moss and other representatives from the center spoke Saturday morning at Dyche Auditorium for a workshop titled "Financing Your Education." The workshop, which drew about 40 people, was part of the Hispanics of Today conference. The conference was sponsored by the Hispanic American Leadership Organization and attracted Hispanic high school and college students from across Kansas.
"Don't be scared off from applying for
financial aid because you think you won't be eligible," said Ana Melgoza, a center representative and a junior at Rockhurst College. "The only thing that can happen is that you've missed an opportunity to get it."
The first avenue a student should try, Moss said, was to apply for federal and state aid. By filling out the free Federal Aid application, which also is available in Spanish, a student is eligible for the Pell Grant, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity grant, the Perkins loan, the Stafford loan, the Plus loan and a work study program.
Another avenue, Moss said, was to check the scholarship books at a public library.
Many scholarships were set aside strictly for Hispanic students, she said.
"Although this takes the most time, the library is your best resource," Moss said.
Moss also suggested that Hispanic students check their own or their parents'
One of the easier approaches to getting information, Moss said, was coming to the center. The National Educational Service Center — which has offices in Wichita, Garden City and Kansas City, Mo. — offers academic, career and financial aid counseling to Hispanic students for free.
However, since the centers are federally funded, they only can cater to Hispanic students who are residents of areas with a high concentration of Hispanic people, which are the greater Kansas City area, the Southwest region of Kansas and Wichita.
employers, community organizations and churches or dioceses for scholarships.
But the center won't turn away Hispanic students from other areas.
"If a student was from Lawrence, we could send them the information they needed," Moss said. "We could at least point them in the right direction."
Who to call
For more information, students from these areas can contact the following National Educational Service Centers:
3515 Broadway, Suite 201
Kansas City, Mo. 64111
(816) 561-0227
2409 N. Market Wichita, Kan. 67219 (316) 838-4449
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Garden City Community College Library 801 Campus Drive Garden City, Kan. 67846 (316)276-9621
KANSAS
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