FEATURES: Basketball uniform styles have evolved with the passage of time. Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103.NO.87
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1994
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Crime, welfare health care top Union address
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Standing before Congress for his first State of the Union address, President Clinton promised a forceful effort to enact health and welfare reform and challenged lawmakers to attack the nation's crime crisis with a ban on assault weapons.
"Our work has just begun," he declared last night in a speech that lasted more than an hour and was interrupted more than 60 times by applause, mostly from Democrats.
Clinton, who has yet to veto a bill, said he would do so if Congress passed a health-reform plan that does not meet his standard of universal coverage.
"It is inevitable and imperative" that the health-care system be overhauled, Clinton said, calling it an issue on which "the people are way ahead of the politicians."
Turning to crime, Clinton voiced strong support for legislation that would put 100,000 more police officers on the beat, send three-time felons to prison for life and ban assault weapons.
"Violent crime and the fear it provokes are crippling our society, limiting personal freedom and fraying the ties that bind us," Clinton said.
Clinton tipped his hat to a "brave young" New York police detective, Kevin Jett, who sat near first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, who received a standing ovation when the president spoke of her work on healthcare reform, was flanked by AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland and Jack Smith, the chief executive officer of General Motors Corp.
In the formal Republican response, Senate GOP Leader Bob Dole signaled that a fierce battle lies ahead about Clinton's health-care plan, saying Clinton's plan meant "more cost, less choice ... more government control."
Displaying a huge, complicated flow chart that he said indicated the bureaucracy needed to operate the Clinton health plan, Dole pointed to the bottom and said: "You and Iare way down here."
Dole called instead for a more modest proposal that he said would offer greater access to health care for all.
Democrats gave Clinton 17 standing ovations during the speech, while stony-faced Republicans kept their hands in their laps when the president discussed his prime objectives for the next year: health care, welfare reform, the anti-crime legislation and worker-training programs.
Clinton took advantage of — and some credit for — the improving economy to call for Congress to "continue our journey of renewal" by enacting the remainder of his domestic program.
"We replaced drift and deadlock with renewal and reform." Clinton said.
He addressed the nation at a time when both the economy and his own approval ratings are on the upswing.
"My fellow Americans, what is the state of the union? It is growing stronger. But it must be stronger still," he said.
KU leaves state lobbying group Kaosan staff report
Kansanstaffreport
The University of Kansas pulled out from the League of Kansas Students yesterday because of a ruling by Attorney General Bob Stephan.
The league, which represented the University, Kansas State University, Wichita State University and Washburn University, lobbed in the Kansas Legislature on behalf of students.
Stephan ruled that student lobbying groups could not use student fees for lobbying. He said a precedent had been set in a California Supreme Court case, in which a student lobbying group had used student fees to lobby for abortion-rights causes.
The court ruling said that student fees could not be used for lobbying because university lobbying groups did not represent all students.
Alan Tikwart, co-director of KU Student Lobbying Group, said the ruling would make KU students underrepresented in the Legislature.
KU students read, play cards and video games and occasionally study while they camp in front of Allen Field House for tonight's game against Oklahoma State. Page 11.
Passing the time
Club raises funds for funeral
Bangladesh group helps defray costs
By Denise Nell Kansan staff writer
Ashueq Rahman's difficult year and a half in the United States ended with a fatal car crash Friday in Independence, Mo. — thousands of miles from home.
But a KU group has helped to send his body home to Bangladesh.
Rashed Haque, Dhaka, Bangladesh, graduate student and a friend of Rahman's, said the 20-year-old Bangladesh native had lost his job in a Kansas City, Kan., hotel about a month ago and had taken two jobs — one at McDonald's and one delivering newspapers — to make ends meet.
But it wasn't enough. Rahman had been
forced to give up his apartment and move in with his girlfriend and her mother in Kansas City, Kan., Haque said.
Rahman died around 3:30 a.m. Friday morning at the Interstate 70 and Nolan Road overpass in Independence, Mo., police said. Haque said Rahman had fallen asleep at the wheel while delivering newspapers. His girlfriend, who was with him in the car, is recovering in a Kansas City, Mo., hospital.
"I think he was having so many personal problems," Haque said. "I think he felt he was all alone. The first couple of months here, he called back home all the time. I think before he died, he was still homesick."
Haque said that Rahman's parents did not have the $2,000 needed to send Rahman's body back to his home in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
So the Bangladesh Club took up a collection to raise the money. Since the accident.
members of the club have been accepting donations of up to $500 from people in Lawrence, the Kansas City area and as far away as New York, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India.
Sharif Ahmed, a KU graduate and a friend of Rahman's, said that as of last night the club had raised $4,000. An extra $2,000 will be given to Rahman's family, he said.
Haque, who is the president of the club, said he had met Rahman when he first had arrived in the United States a year and a half ago. The club, Haque said, encouraged involvement from Bangladesh natives in areas around Lawrence. Haque said Rahman sometimes would spend up to three or four nights a week at Haque's Lawrence apartment.
Haque said Rahman had developed close friendships with many members of the club.
"He was very friendly with everybody."
he said. "He was very nice, very funny. He
used to joke around with everybody."
Rashid Malik, Dhaka, Bangladesh, graduate student and former president of the club, said people living abroad often did not have money put aside for situations such as this.
"That's the sad part about being abroad," he said. "You don't have enough funds for accidents or emergencies. It's a good feeling to know people care when you're so far away from home. You'd really have to put yourself in the shoes of an international student to know how they feel."
Mahk said that the club would be willing to help again if a similar problem arose with international students. He said Rahman's death made him think about his own situation.
"I love my family, and it makes me think and ponder seriously what would happen if something happened to me," he said. "It's news like this that hits you deep inside."
Professors nominated for Pulitzer
Prize recognizes history writings
By Ashley Schultz Kansan staff writer
William Tuttle, professor of history, is hoping for a new first name sometime this spring.
"My name is William now," he said.
"William Tuttle — Professor William Turtle.
And if I win it, my new first name will be Pulitzer Prize winner William Turtle.
"I'm sure it will be in my obituary, too. It would be a permanent change."
Amy Solt / KANSAN
William Tuttle, professor of history, has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in American history for his book, "Daddy's Gone to War: The Second World War in the Lives of America's Children." With letters collected from people who had family members in World War II, he tried to present the war from a child's point of view.
Tuttle, who has written three books and co-authored two others, has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in the American history category for his book "Daddy's Gone to War. The Second World War in the lives of America's Children."
Donald Worster, professor of history, also received a Pulitzer nomination for "The Wealth of Nature: Environmental History and the Ecological Imagination." It is his second nomination. He declined to be interviewed and currently is on a lecture series in Italy.
The names of award winners should be announced in April, said Sheldon Meyer, Tuttle's editor for "Daddy" at Oxford University Press.
Tuttle received an Intra-University Professorship from 1982 to 1983 to study developmental psychology with professors of human development and family life at the University, including Aeltha Huston.
Tuttle became interested in the plight of home-front children while working on a World War II chapter for another book.
He furthered his research in the National Archives and the Library of Congress. He also did research at the Stanford Humanities Center — with a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities — and at the Institute of
Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley.
The result was a 600-page manuscript.
"I finished that in early 1900, and it was at about that time that I started to realize that I had a real stiff book on my hands, a book that really could be exciting but wasn't," Tuttle said.
He needed something to bring the book alive.
Aletha Huston read that original draft.
Aletha Huston read that original draft. "I think he felt it was a little dry without the letters," Huston said. "They add another dimension, certainly, but I thought it was a very good book before he added them.
"I think it's a very creative combination of disciplinary perspectives."
Tuttle wrote to the 100 newspapers in the nation that had the largest circulations. He asked them to run his letter to-the-editor requesting first person accounts. About 20 percent of the publications obliged. A syndicated columnist with the Atlanta Constitution also picked up on Tuttle's letter, putting his request in a couple hundred other newspapers, Tuttle said.
He eventually received about 2,500 letters and rewrote the book.
Tuttle said he had attempted to use developmental psychology to offer a child's point of view of the war. He also tried to deal with lifespan consequences.
"It only makes sense to look back on the second World War and to realize that a lot
of the veterans who came back, especially combat veterans, came back seriously disturbed emotionally," he said. "The romanticized, idealized image of father's return, of course, is that he just slips right back into the family and everything is terrific."
One woman called the letter writing "reminiscence theravn." he said.
Tuttle could relate to many of the letters. His father was in the war from 1942 to 1945.
"It's tough not being with your father," Tuttle said. "And the war not only took him away from me in war years, it also took him away afterwards, as well."
Tuttle now is working on a book about the making of the baby boom.
Journey back from the epicenter
By Nicole Peltier Special to the Kansan
Imagine King Kong picking up your apartment building and shaking it for about 15 seconds. Everything flies across the room, and you scream and hold on to whatever you can, just waiting for something to come crashing down on you.
Editor's note: Nicole Peltier is a Tulsa, Okla., senior majoring in community health. This is her second semester at the University. Peltier traveled to Los Angeles on Jan. 14 to spend the weekend with friends who had been taking an extended vacation there. What follows is her account of the earthquake that rocked Los Angeles on Jan. 17.
It just was supposed to be a long weekend with a couple of friends. Southern California was beautiful, warm and full of exciting people, places and good food. On my last night, I thought that maybe someday I could live here.
I lay there thinking, "I'm going to die here, and some stranger will find my body, and my parents won't believe it because they think I'm safe in Kansas, Oh God, this is it. I'm 24 years old, and it's all over right now."
And then came the earthquake.
Then it stopped. There was a strange silence before my friends and I began to climb our way out of the dark room into the
Los Angeles residents attempt to move on with their lives despite the damage the earthquake caused in the city. Page 7.
hallway. We ran barefoot and lightly clothed down the shaky staircase to the center of the complex where the pool was. There was so much water, and rocks had fallen everywhere. The whole place was in a state of chaos.
People were frantically coming out of their rooms naked and screaming. We stood there shivering, wondering what on earth we should do. I, unfortunately, never had earthquake drills growing up in the Midwest, and most of the people staying in this apartment complex were also from somewhere else. One thing I did know was that we weren't going to get very far through all the rubble and broken glass without shoes.
In a daze, we climbed back up the stairs and tried to get our shoes and whatever else we could salvage before the after-
Back in the room, I felt around the wreckage for my shoes, a pair of cowboy boots, and I grabbed my already-packed bag. I had packed the night before because my flight was scheduled for early the next morning.
shocks destroyed everything. Again, if I had been in a normal state of reasoning I would not have re-entered that rickety building, no matter what I thought I needed. This is the first stage of terror — taking unnecessary risks and making panicked decisions.
My friends looked for their things, and we grabbed as much as we could, shoved whatever we found into pillowcases and threw them out the window.
Suddenly the building started to shake, and we dropped everything and ran. Because it was only about 4:30 a.m., it was dark and cold.
It was difficult making our way to the front of the complex. We followed the limited light offered by the random flashlights that people were using to look for missing people, pets or possessions. I remember my friend yelling "Oh my God!" when we realized that the three-story apartment building next to ours had dropped a whole floor — flattening every car in the parking area below it. I just thought, "Gosh, I hope no one was in their car," and that if the
See QUAKE: , Page 6.
The day the earth shook
KU student Nicole Peltus, Tilma, Oka., senior, went on a weekend trip to Sherman Oak's, Calif.
On the day of departure, Jan. 17, she found herself near the center of the earthquake.
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Micah Laeker/KANSAK