CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, February 25.1994
3
The University Daily Kansan wants to know what you think about the effectiveness of heritage celebrations in raising awareness. Some heritage celebrations include Black History Month (February), Women's History Month (March) and the Asian American Festival (first two weeks of March).
What is the most effective way for a university campus to participate in these celebrations?
What is the best way for a university newspaper to cover heritage celebrations?
What are the positive and negative aspects of such celebrations?
How have minority and women's issues been taught in the school systems and universities?
HOW TO USE OREAD FORUM:
1) Call 864-9040 and wait for the tone at the end of the greeting.
3) Hang up immediately when finished.
2) Record a concise message (try to keep it less than two minutes).
Names are not required.
Cultural celebrations ignored
4) If you prefer, you may respond in a typewritten or printed letter to the *Kansan* newsroom, 111 Staufer-Flint Hall. Clearly mark "Oread Forum" on the letter or envelope.
1) The Kansan will report the content of the Oread Forum discussions Wednesday. The Kansan reserves the right to use all, part or none of each recorded message and letter.
2) The Forum will stop taking responses at 6 p.m. Monday.
WHAT WE'LL DO:
Non-minorities seldom attend
By Denise Nell
Kansan staff writer
Amber Reagan-Kendrick said she had no explanation for why less than 5 percent of the people who attended Black History Month events were non-minorities.
"It may be that there's not enough out there," said Reagan-Kendrick, organizer of Black History Month events and programs coordinator for the Office of Minority Affairs. "Maybe we need to advertise more."
Black History Month is one of many cultural celebrations scheduled for specific weeks and months throughout the school year. But the groups that sponsor the events say they are having trouble getting people outside of their cultures — the people they are trying to educate — to participate in the events.
Sandra Olivas, Kansas City, Kan., junior and president of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, said her group had trouble getting non-Hispanics to participate in Hispanic Heritage Month events in October.
"It was very, very frustrating because it seems like the goal isn't being met," she said. "That goal is, of course, to educate the campus about our culture."
Octavio Hinojosa, Hutchinson senior and member of the group, is working now on plans for next year's Hispanic Heritage Month. He said he was trying to schedule more inclusive events that would attract more student attention.
Events such as panel discussions tended to get the lowest attendance, he said, and discussion topics tended to be repeated.
"People get burned out hearing about diversity and multiculturalism," Hinojosa said. "Ifyou'veheard it once, you don't want to hear it again."
He said he thought students might become overwhelmed with the number of events.
"Maybe there are just too many events to attend," Hinojosa said. "It seems like every month is a heritage month. If you want to attend all of them, that's a lot of time right there."
Hinojosa said he thought another problem might be that non-minorities felt uncomfortable attending the events.
"Another factor may be that students are hesitant or scared to attend an event where they may be the only one of their race there," he said. "I'm sure they'd feel out."
Charlie Reed, an Oskaloosa junior who said he had never attended a heritage-month event, agreed with Hinojosa. He said that one reason minority attendance was low at events was that some non-minorities felt uncomfortable.
"In my opinion, most people don't feel very welcome at these events," Reed said. "It's very strange for a person from one culture to go to a different one's culture."
Reagan-Kendrick said she thought conflicting events, such as Student Union Activities films and Rock Chalk Revue rehearsals, might have kept attendance at Black History Month events below what she would have like to see.
Reagan-Kendrick said she thought more instructors should do what she did when she taught English 101 classes four years ago. She made attendance at cultural events a requirement for the class.
"They would go, and I would make them write a paper about what they heard," she said. "The kids learned a lot and actually thanked me."
Some heritage celebrations observed at KU:
Celebrated events
Hispanic Heritage Month
Women's History Month
- Women's History Month *
* Asian American Festival Anvil *
Native American Month
Black History Month
KAMBAM
Sarah Preston, Chicago sophomore, said she also had never been to a heritage-month event.
"Personally, I think they're a good idea even though I don't take part," she said. "But I don't think they're that effective only because, unfortunately, people aren't very aware or don't take the initiative to do things like that."
Preston said she considered herself adequately aware of other cultures already but thought the heritage celebrations should be continued.
"They're worth keeping around," she said. "I just don't feel like people think they'll make a difference by attending."
It's more than a show for director
James Wilcox / KANSAN
Rock Chalk Revue provides memories
By Frank McCleary Kansan staff writer
Julie Thies, Overland Park senior and Rock Chalk Revue executive director, makes some last-minute announcements to the Delta Gamma and Lambda Chi Alpha group. The revue's first performance was yesterday.
Julie Thies met her fiance through Rock Chalk Revue in 1991.
"We were co-directors for our show," she said. "I had a big crush on him but he had a girlfriend."
But they broke up and Thies and David Dunlap, now a KU graduate, started dating, she said.
"We thought maybe it was a Rock Chalk Revee thing," said Thies, Overland Park senior. "But we kept dating after the show."
They got engaged about two weeks ago, Thies said.
"That's when I decided I wanted to be a director," she said.
But the revue is more to Thies than how she met Dunlap. She is the executive director of one of the largest student-run shows in the country. Before she was the boss, she was an usher her freshman year.
Since her freshman year, she has served on the Rock Chalk Reve Advisory Board and helped direct the show for the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority her sophomore year.
Since last August, Thies has been responsible for organizing the revue. Her responsibilities included meeting with the advisory board to choose the theme for the show. She also scheduled rehearsal time for the groups and hired Nathan Berg, a local musician, as the revue's music arranger and conductor.
Last semester she gave 10 to 20 hours a week to revue preparations, she said. That has more than tripled to about 50 to 60 hours this semester.
"Trying to balance this with school is nuts," said Thies, a microbiology major.
She said her microbiology laboratory teaching assistant teased her about the revue.
"She said, 'I don't like you,'" Thies said. "You make my students flunk."
But Thies said she was not concerned about her grades.
"It's all mendable," she said.
Thies paid a physical price recently when she became sick and missed a week of school.
"When it physically brings me down, that's really bad," she said.
"My mom is really worried about me."
"I missed a family dinner about a week ago," she said. "The family isn't mad, though. David understood I couldn't be with him every weekend."
She also sacrificed time with her fiance because of the revue, she said.
Thies said she had many special memories about the revue.
"I like seeing people try new things and succeed at them," she said.
Erich Starrett, Salina senior and assistant director for the revue, said
"But he told me that he is having the time of his life now," she said.
One of this year's show directors told her he did not want to be a director at first, Thies said.
ROCK
CHALK
REVUE
1994
It's showtime
The Rock Chalk Revue will be presented at 7:30 tonight and tomorrow night in the Lied Center. Tickets for Saturday's performance are sold out. For information on the call for Rock Chalk Revue office at 864-4033.
The theme for this year's show is "The Word is Out."
These groups will perform original shows:
Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Chi
Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Gamma Delta
Delta Delta Delta and Phi Delta Theta
Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Kappa Lambda
Delta Gamma and Lambda Chi Alpha
KANSAN
Thies was the perfect choice for director.
"She can turn on the game face and get the job done," he said. "But she loves to have fun too. She can put the show on the back burner and enjoy herself."
"She is a master at it," he said. "She can cheer people up and get them centered on the show."
Starrett said Thies knew how to motivate the cast members.
Thies said she would never forget her time with the revue.
"I can't say I haven't enjoyed this," she said. "I have had more fun this week than I ever have."
By Angelina Lopez
Kansas staff writer
A survey the College Budget Committee developed for graduate student employees is not getting what it needs most — responses.
The committee, which consists of 12 University of Kansas faculty members, developed the survey to get accurate information about graduate student employment, said Linda True, member of the committee and professor of systematics and ecology.
However, some graduate student employees said that they were wary of the administration's intentions and that they would not take part in the survey.
David Reidy, member of the Committee for Graduate Employee Organization and graduate teaching assistant, said many of his colleagues feared that the information in this survey would be used against them in their continuing legal battle to be allowed to unionize.
Trueb said that this survey was intended to gather information concerning graduate student employee stipends, time spent in research and other aspects of graduate student employment.
The information revealed would be used to compare graduate student employment between different departments, she said. It would also be used to compare the University's graduate student employment programs against other universities' programs.
Trueb said this survey could make life better for the University's graduate student employees, whose stipends typically are lower than those of their counterparts at other universities.
"With accurate data on graduate employment, it gives us an opportunity."
nity to send a message upstairs," Trueb said.
Reidy said that he supported and applauded the committee's efforts and that if collective bargaining became a reality at KU, the information provided by this survey could be very important.
The Graduate Experience Committee also has released a survey concerning graduate student employment.
The members of the committee were appointed by Andrew Debicki dean of the Office of Research, Graduate Studies and Public Service, and David Shulenburger, vice chancellor for academic affairs.
The purpose of the committee, Debicki said, was to look at the academic experience of KU's graduate student employees.
Richard Schowen, head of the committee, said that the survey was established to look at the quality and effectiveness of each graduate student program at the University.
Sally Frost-Mason, member of the committee and associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that members were chosen because of their close involvement with graduate students and graduate education. However, she said that neither the Graduate Experience Committee nor the College Budget Committee involved students in the formation of its surveys.
Sam Marinov, graduate teaching assistant in Western Civilization, said that the lack of student involvement was the reason he had decided not to complete his survey.
"These surveys had not been coordinated with any major graduate organization," he said. "To be effective, students should participate in the formulating and analysis of the surveys."
ADVERTISE IN THE DAILY KANSAN FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS
Local bands, get ready to plow the fields to the KJHK FARMERS'BALL.
What it is about?
Local bands can send a two
song demo tape by March 30,
at 4:00 pm
to: 2051 A Dole
*Must be all original work.
Who is chosen?
*Eight bands are chosen
from the town.
Whatitisabout?
*Eight bands are chosen from the tapes
One winner will be chosen
*Four will play at The Bottleneck April 26th
*Four will play at The Bottleneck April 27th
*Judges will select the top four bands which will go on to play April 29th
The Prize:
Winner will get recording time at Mercy Records Studio and will be the opening band at SUA's "Day on the Hill", April 30th!