UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, April 8, 1994
7
Sharing culture aim of conference
By Denise Nell Kansan staff writer
Richard Ruiz, co-coordinator of the fifth annual Hispanics of Today Conference, said preparing for the conference had become like a part-time job.
Ruiz, Kansas City, Kan. senior and member of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, the group sponsoring the event, said the group had been planning for the conference since early September. It will take place today through Sunday.
During the past two months, Ruiz said he had been working up to 25 hours a week preparing for the conference, which will feature workshops and nationally-known speakers.
"What we want is for the whole campus to take advantage of this," he said. "This is a great opportunity for the faculty and students at KU to hear three very inspirational keynote speakers discuss Hispanic issues." The conference began five years
But Ruiz said that a successful conference would make the work worthwhile.
The conference began five years ago, when a group of Hispanic KU students organized a forum to discuss issues facing them in higher education. That group formed a coalition called the Midwest Youth Council of Hispanic Organizations. Now the 11 schools in the coalition bid to host the conference each year. Students from the other schools in the coalition and high school students from surrounding areas will come to Lawrence today for the event, Ruiz said.
Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza and Samuel Betances, professor of sociology at Northeastern Illinois University, will speak tomorrow. Esther Valadolid Wolf, executive director of the Richard Cabot clinic in Kansas City, Mo., will speak Sunday.
Sandra Olivas, Kansas City, Kan. junior and president of the Hispanic American Leadership Association, said all the workshops and speeches were open to the public. Those interested in attending the dances and dinners must pay a registration fee.
"The message this year is that the conference is all-inclusive," she said. "In years past, we haven't got a lot of non-Hispanics there. We want to build a coalition of interest, not a coalition of color."
Schedule of events
Todav
Dance, Kansas Union Ballroom
— 8 p.m. - 12 a.m. $5
Saturday
Various workshops, Kansas Union — 2:45 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Keynote speaker, Samuel Betances — 5:45 p.m.
Dance, Kansas Union Ballroom, Kansas Union — 9:30 p.m. - 12 $7
■ Career Fiesta, fourth floor,
Kansas Union — 10 a.m.
■ Various workshops, Kansas
Union — 10:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
■ Lunch, Kansas Ballroom,
Kansas Union — 12:45 p.m. $15
■ Keynote speaker Raul Yzagirre,
Kansas Ballroom, Kansas Union
— 1:30 p.m.
Sunday
Breakfast, Holiday Inn
Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive
9:45 a.m. $5
Commuting isn't always a joy ride
KANSAN
Bv Gennifer Trail
Kansan staff writer
OVERLAND PARK— Commuting between the KU Regents Center and the Lawrence campus has become a fact of life for some students and professors.
Some students, such as Sunny O'Neal, Overland Park graduate student in special education, said they had enrolled in their degree program at the center, 12600 Quivira Road, expecting to have to commute to Lawrence occasionally.
"Ilike commuting to Lawrence," she said. "It's a neat town. But going there is a problem if you don't have a parking permit and, for example, want to go to the library before 4 p.m. when the parking meters are still restricted."
to travel to get the classes they need.
Leroy Scharnhorst, Bonner Springs graduate student in education at the center, said that he did not like having to drive to Lawrence for classes.
"I don't enjoy commuting to Lawrence," he said. "It's a pain driving to the Regents center and Lawrence to get all the classes I need. I should be able to go just to the Regents Center."
Students from Lawrence also have
Mark Guire, Blair, Neb., graduate student of chemical engineering, said that he was enrolled in an engineering class in Lawrence but that the University canceled the class. If he wanted to take the class this semester, he could either have commuted to the center or waited for it to be offered again in Lawrence. McGuire is now commuting.
"It was upsetting to have to drive to Kansas City for a class that should have been in Lawrence," he said.
The reaction to commuting by professors is mixed as well.
Mary Zimmerman, associate professor of health services administration, enjoys commuting.
"Commuting is a time for me to relax," she said. "I drink a cup of coffee, listen to the news and no one bothers me."
About ninety percent of the professors at the center teach full-time in Lawrence and then commute to the center usually once a week, said Bruce Lindvall, assistant dean of the center.
■ The professor could drive his or her own vehicle and then collect a reimbursement of $.29 per mile. It is 34 miles from the middle of the Lawrence campus to the center, so the University would pay $19.72 for each round trip by a professor.
Lindvall said that a professor had three choices for how he or she could commute to the center.
The professor could borrow a state vehicle from the University motor pool, drive it to the center, then drive it back the same night. The University pays for the gas.
- The professor could ride in a 9-passenger van, driven by a KU employee, to and from the center.
Lindvall said that 80 percent of the professors either drive their own vehicles or drive a vehicle from the motor pool and that 20 percent ride in the van.
Robert Lee, associate professor of health services administration, said that he used to ride in the van to the center until he moved to Overland Park.
"Commuting has always been a pain, but it wasn't bad because I only had to teach one night a week and I knew that we were helping out the working students by catering to their needs," Lee said.
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