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KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5,2001
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ISSUE 67 VOLUME 112
Diverse panel mixed about meanings of slang terms
By J. R. Mendoza Kansan staff writer
Four students discussed the different meanings and consequences words can have based on a person's cultural background.
Four students shared experiences of communication among members of their culture and those outside of their culture and found the results can have different meanings and consequences.
different meanings and contexts. About 65 people attended "More than Words—Cultural Styles of Communication" last night in the Kansas Union. The event was part of the Multicultural Resource Center's Diversity Dialogues Series, "Cross Talk: Culture, Communication and Community."
Communication skills in the Panelist Latasha Reed, Topeka junior and an African American, said a White friend sang a song with the word "nigga" in it. Reed said she was offended her friend said that word because only African Americans should use the word among themselves.
among themselves.
"I said 'don't say that word around me.'" Reed said. "She refrained from using it and everything's fine. It not supposed to be used outside our culture."
Panelist Juan Toledo, Topeka second-year pharmacy student, said he and his other Hispanic friends would joke around and call each other "spics," which is a derogatory word for Hispanics.
for Hispanics.
"I thought it was OK to call each other 'spic' among Hispanics," Toledo said. "But my teacher, who was half Hispanic, said the word was ignorant and when we use it we were being ignorant," he said.
being ignored, too.
"Then it gives other people the OK to say that word. Now I don't call anyone a racist word because I don't want them to call me a word."
Panelist Mark Dupree, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, said a lot of his friends used the 'N' word.
"I fall under the category where I am one of those people who don't like to use that word, period," said Dupree, an African American. "A lot of people feel that within our race we know the meaning and what's behind it. We share that history."
we share that Jose Interiano, Wichita freshman, identified with some of the panelists' experiences because he is Hispanic.
"When I am around a friend I can be more comfortable talking because we share something," he said about his background. "Your level of comfort is higher. Outside your race, you have to make sure you're not stepping on anyone's toes."
Contact Mendoza at 864-4810
New football coach hired
After a month-long search, Mark Mangino steps onto Kansas' field
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mark Mangino became Kansas' football coach yesterday, ending a month-long search.
Mangino, who helped lead last year's Oklahoma team to a national championship, was introduced at a press conference yesterday afternoon by Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Al Bohl, Kansas athletics director. Mangino was also joined by his wife, Mary Jane, his two children, Samantha and Tommy, and his brother, Mike. Samantha is a sophomore at the University of Kansas.
The decision to hire Mangino came exactly 30 days after Bohl fired former Kansas coach Terrv Allen.
Bohl, who fronted a 16-person search committee, said Mangino, 45, had all the qualities Kansas was looking for — integrity, character, discipline and football knowledge, to name a few.
Mark Mangino
name a new.
"Through our search, several people rose to the top, but one stepped forward to capture the position," Bohl said. "We have an outstanding football coach, and he will be a great ambassador for our community and our state."
Rumors had circulated in the days
before the announcement that the other finalists for the position were John L. Smith, coach at Louisville, and Charlie Strong, the defensive coordinator at South Carolina.
Mangino, who has never been a head coach at the college level, becomes Kansas' 35th coach. Before his three-year stint at Oklahoma, Mangino was Kansas State's recruiting coordinator for six seasons before becoming its assistant head coach in 1998. He said that if he had never coached at K-State, he would never have had the opportunity to coach at Kansas. But he said he was pleased to return to a state he called home for seven years.
Kansas wide receiver Harrison Hill, who is expected to play in his sixth season next fall, said Mangino's track record, work ethic and enthusiasm would create a atmosphere in the football program that Hill had to yet see in
Lawrence.
Lawrence. "I think the biggest thing is his commitment to excellence," Hill said. "And that's an attitude we haven't had here for awhile."
Mangino signed a five-year deal valued at $128,438 per season, but Bohl said that the package could be sweetened to more than $1 million if Mangino reached certain incentives.
According to the Associated Press, Allen made $320,000 this year with incentives.
"I know what other Big 12 coaches make, so he's going to have a very good compensation package." Bohl said. "Mark was the right fit for Kansas. This is the guy I want to go to war with."
Contact Denton at 864-4858.
In an age when more than half of marriages collapse, students whose parents are divorced struggle to cope when lives are
Torn Apart
BY JEREMY CLARKSON PHOTOS BY OLIVIA SARI
Jennifer Orme will never forget the warm August morning when she loaded her clothes into her Mustang and drove away from the farm near Kingman where she grew up, on her way to a new life that would begin at the University of Kansas.
That very night at her Lawrence apartment, the phone rang. Orme's mother called to tell her that the family and home she had left just hours ago had dramatically changed. Her mother had served her father with divorce papers that would end a 22-year marriage.
"She didn't want me to worry while I drove to school." Orme said. Although the timing of the divorce was a surprise, she suspected it was going to happen sooner or later. Six months earlier, Orme's mother had told her she was thinking about leaving her father.
On the surface
Orme, a senior, is among a growing number of children whose lives change dramatically when their parents divorce.
In 1935, only 16 percent of marriages ended in divorce; in 1998, 51 percent failed, according to the Domestic Policies Department of the Heritage Foundation, a national research institute founded in 1973.
H Heritage Foundation, a national children nationwide live with a divorced single parent and more than half of children born into married families will experience their parents' divorce before their 18th birthday, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Children who get drawn into choosing sides in a continuing battle between former spouses are likely to fear establishing their own long-term relationships and are more likely to be in failed relationships. Studies show that these children experience guilt, fear, rejection and other emotional problems because they blame themselves for their parents' divorce.
problems because they The pain from her parents' divorce remains on Orme's mind today. For a long time, she felt guilty about how her parents' marriage came to an end before her eyes.
Her parents began to argue about their marriage in front of everyone, fighting about financial difficulties and even lack of intimacy in
She first noticed problems in her parents' marriage during a family dinner that took an ugly and unexpected turn.
SEE DIVORCE PAGE 3A
Decorations include variety of beliefs
By Luke Daley Kansan staff writer
Displaying holiday decorations in scholarship halls this year is being handled carefully so that students' beliefs aren't misrepresented.
Tami Scheibach, student housing program coordinator, said the University of Kansas had no official policy regarding the display of holiday or religious decorations. Posting decorations in scholarship halls is allowed on a house-to-house basis.
Some scholarship halls are making sure decorations reflect different religious and cultural beliefs.
Megan Buck, Cairo, Mo., senior, and Margaret Amini Scholarship Hall resident,
said students in her hall were trying to make the decorations inclusive. She said there would be a different religious or cultural decoration every day this week, including symbols for Hanukkah.
Philip Kissam, professor of law, said scholarship halls could not legally pay for or sponsor Christmas decorations because of the seperation of church and state, but students could individually buy and decorate as long as they could represent all their beliefs.
including them.
"We're trying to inform ourselves about other cultures and what they do for the holidays," Buck said.
The decorations inside Miller Hall are paid for by students and the University.
Kaelyn Fox, Miller treasurer, said the
INSIDETODAY
She said the Miller executive board decided how to allocate the money each year.
Ambriel Renn-Scanlan, Sellards Scholarship Hall president, said students who were offended by any decorations that did not reflect their own beliefs wouldn't be singled out. She said they could come to the house director or the house president with their concerns.
holiday adornments were paid for through two accounts, which include University and student money.
The residence halls don't have holiday decorations in the lobbies or foyers, but some students have decorated their rooms windows or halls.
EN-KAE CHANG/KANSAN
Kristyn Prescott, Manhattan, junior, resident of Douthart Scholarship Hall, tinkers with the Christmas ornaments.
Contact Daley at 864-4810
WORLD NEWS ... 6A
HOROSCOPES ... 2B
WEATHER ... 4B
CROSSWORD ... 4B
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
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BULKING UP: A KU GTA's study shows potentially harmful side effects of creatine.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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