Photo courtesy of University Archives
One of the Black Student Union's first accomplishments was crowning its own homecoming queen at KU's 1969 homecoming. During halftime of the football game, BSU queen Lorene Brown, right, rode with her attendants behind the University's homecoming motorcade. The three raised clenched fists, the symbol for "Black Power" and for BSU.
BSU at 25
KU's Black Student Union was formed in the turbulent
1960s to combat discrimination on campus. Twenty-five years later,BSU is still a voice for KU's
African-American students.
By Cathleen Siechta Kansan staff writer
The Black Student Union at the University of Kansas was formed in September 1968, a time when racial tensions ran high and civil rights movements created turbulent atmospheres on campuses across the nation.
Twenty-five years ago, the social unrest caused by racial inequalities inspired African-American students at the University to unite. Then, BSU's primary aim was to fight for the rights of African Americans with protests, sit-ins and demands to the chancellor for more respect for African Americans on campus.
Today, as the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary, BSU still is striving to be a voice for African-American students at KU.
"When BSU started, its main concern was to integrate more Black faculty and recruit more Black students," said Marshall Jackson, administrative associate of student assistance. Marshall was a charter member of BSU.
"There was a major thrust for more Black representation on campus," he said.
Jackson said African Americans felt alienated at KU in the '60s and '70s because discrimination was a problem in Lawrence and across the nation.
The need for Black Student Union was first recognized after the Negro Student Association, a group which organized protests in the '50s, became inactive in the '60s.
"The 60s were a time of frustration for Blacks," he said. "But we fought for what we needed."
African-American students still saw the need for a representative organization, and BSU was established. One of the organization's immediate goals was to address Black representation in the University's
Some of the BSU's first accomplishments were the successful recruitment of KU's first African-American pompon girl and a BSU homecoming ceremony. Though the University only would allow the organization a five-minute crowning ceremony before the football game, the BSU homecoming royalty followed the University's official homecoming queen's motorcade at halftime, waving clenched fists, symbolizing "Black Power."
"You have to keep in mind that, at that time, homecoming queens were a fairly big affair," Jackson said. "In the whole scheme of things it may seem like a small accomplishment, but at that time and location, it sent a message to students, alumni and faculty. It let everyone know that we wanted to participate and to be recognized.
administration and activities.
BSU became inactive in 1975, and was reborn in 1978. Milton Scott, assistant director of student housing, was a member of BSU in the '80s. He said the organization had to make up for lost time when it rebuilt in the '80s.
"There were several battlefields and several strategies in our movement. That strategy was important for that time, that day and our goal," Jackson said.
In recent years, BSU has managed to make progress without resorting to the radical struggles of the past. However, some think those struggles may be
"The interest and energy that died off in the late '70s is back now," Scott said. "In the '80s we were backtracking to where we had left off, when we were just getting started and getting things rolling. But the issues from the '70s are the same issues that BSU talks about today. The difference is that today BSU sets time frames along with their goals rather than just talking about their goals," Scott said.
most effective at bringing about change.
In the words of current BSU president Terry Bell, "No struggle, no involvement."
"Everyone seems to just be content with where we are," the Tampa, Fla., senior said. "Too many Black students have fallen through the cracks because of lack of knowledge of the organization and lack of interest."
Jackson said that although BSU had made progress, the University recently has been losing African-American students and faculty. He said better recruitment and scholarships for African-American students would combat declining Black enrollment.
"The issues on the forefront of the '90s are very similar to what they were in the '60s," he said. "Sometimes they're so similar it's scary. Protests have their place, but it's time that students learn to get political. The work has been done, and now we need to exert pressure to implement the recommendations," Jackson said.
Bell said he thought that much could be accomplished if students would work together but that he was worried about the drop in African-American enrollment at the University. He said last semester's African-American enrollment of 769 was 400 to 500 students fewer than in the '70s.
Recruitment of African-American students will be one topic discussed at the 17th annual BSU Big Eight conference, which will be held at the University of Missouri in Columbia Feb. 18-19.
Bell said he hoped for a large turnout at the conference, which was held at KU last year. He said the conference and other BSU-sponsored activities could benefit the shrinking African-American population at the University.
"BSU can create a better sense of community for Black students," Bell said.
Monthly bills cause stress for some students
Kansanstaff writer
By Kevin Hoffmann
Amy Kautter sat at the dining room table punching buttons on her calculator. She wiped her brow and checked her calculations.
Kautter, Kansas City, Mo., junior, wasn't working on a difficult calculus problem or trying to solve a physics calculation. She was sorting out her monthly bills.
Kautter is not alone. Like many KU students, Kautter faces the task of making sure she and her roommates pay the bills on time.
And the bills mount quickly. Electric, gas, water, cable and phone bills seem to bombard students faster than it takes previous payments to reach the bank.
The process can be stressful, frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking, Kautter said.
Some students encounter financial stress because of lack of organization. Kautter, who has four roommates, said she had developed a system that took some of the stress out of paying bills.
"I don't know anyone who likes paying bills," Kautter said. "If they do, they must have a weird sense of enjoyment."
"As soon as a bill comes, I open it and see how much it is," she said. "Then I divide it by five and write what we each one the envelope, and put it on the corner of the table so we all can see it."
Some students are not as fortunate as Kautter. Doug McIntyre, Overland Park senior, said it took two jobs to pay his bills. McIntyre, who works as a bartender and at a local bakery, said that working long hours while going to school often left him tired but that it also was satisfying to be able to pay his bills without help from others.
"Sometimes one of us is late getting our checks in the envelope," she said. "Then the others feel like a nag when we have to remind that person."
Kautter said that making sure each roommate had a bill in her name helped even out financial responsibilities.
"It makes it a little easier, but it still makes you mad when you see how much money goes for bills each month." she said.
But Kautter said problems still occurred in spite of her efforts.
Kautter said she and her roommates also got financial help from their parents.
"It can be rewarding knowing that you can survive independently," he said
"Sometimes students don't have steady incomes and rely on scholarships and other ways to pay bills," he said. "If they get into a tight spot and call us, we're usually understanding and can help out in some way."
Students may think utility companies and other bill collectors are out to drain their pocketbooks, but many companies actually are willing to work with students.
Todd Ronnau, customer service representative for Southwestern Bell, said he sympathized with students who have trouble paving their hills.
Ronmau said it was difficult to determine if college students were late in payments more often than other customers because utility companies didn't keep track of which customers are students.
Even the University understands how stressful bill-paying can be. Diane Del Buono, director of Student Financial Aid, said that monthly bills were considered when the financial aid department calculated how much financial aid to make available to students.
No matter what kind of help is available, sooner or later everybody has to deal with paying bills, McIntyre said.
college or after college, paying bills is something you have to learn, "he said. "The quicker you learn to do it, the better off you'll be."
Whether you learn it before college. in
Paying without pain
Paying your bills can be made easier by following certain tips.
1. Have an organized system for paying bills each month. Stress often is caused because of misplaced bills or miscommunication among co-workers.
2. Check with utility companies for special payment plans. Many utility companies have a plan that allows them to automatically draft a check from a student's checking account. Most utility companies also have an average payment plan that allows for equal payments throughout the year to avoid high bills during peak usage.
3. Southwestern Bell has a plan for individual billings of long distance charges. This helps eliminate confusion over who made what long distance phone calls.
4. Do not wait until a bill is past due to pay it.
This only adds additional charges to the next month's bill
FEBRUARY 8,1994
PAGE 7
People and places at the University of Kansas.
COPY CAT CRIMES
KANSAN
--Recently released Department of Energy records noted in U.S. News and World Report state that the amount of plutonium now in the U.S. stockpile was declassified and made public, but the amount of plutonium in the stockpile 10 years ago remains classified.
While the Lorena Bobbitt trial was making news during December and January, at least five instances of assaults on men's genitals were reported. A 55-year-old man in Arcadia, Fla., removed their own penises (with a knife and an electric saw respectively) because of dissatisfaction with their gender. A Toronto woman shredded her husband with a pair of scissors during a domestic fight. In Los Angeles, a man reconciled with his wife a month after she was charged with cutting off his testicles in a domestic fight. And in Jefferson, Ga., a 35-year-old woman was charged with ripping the skin off her ex-boyfriend's testicles with her bare hands in a domestic brawl.
-The protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Cincinnati's new human rights ordinance has the nation's only provision forbidding discrimination against "Appalachian Americans."
-According to a recent note in the British medical journal, the Lancet, a man attempting suicide in England was rescued after he had spent more than an hour inhaling automobile exhaust fumes. Doctors attributed his survival to the relatively low carbon monoxide content of the exhaust - because of new catalytic-converter standards in the European Community.
--The Austin American-Statesman reported in December that Texas Treasurer Martha Whitehead had hired a psychologist for $1,000 to counsel several employees of her office who were despondent about Whitehead's recommendation to abolish her agency.
-A December Associated Press dispatch from Australia reported that members of Parliament traditionally addressed each other more aggressively than members of Congress did in the United States. Among the names recently overheard on the floor of Parliament: perfumed gigolos, brain-damaged harlot, sleazebag, scumbag, mental patient and dog's vomit.
GOVERNMENT IN ACTION
-A Philadelphia Inquirer analysis in December questioned military rulings that suicide was the cause of at least 40 recent deaths of U.S. servicemen. The newspaper quoted former military investigators who said they were "stunned" or "astonished" at how shoddy some of the 40 investigations were and how the military often calls hard-to-solve cases suicides just to close them out. In one case, a military policeman's death was ruled a suicide two days after he was found shot to death in the head with his hat stuffed in his mouth, his handcuffs attached to his wrists, his holster wrapped around his ankles and a car-radio cable tied around his neck.
-In December, FBI agent John Wellman was fined about $1,000 for an October incident in which he
See WEIRD, Page 8.