TUESDAY, NOV.27.2001
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 24
Students devote week to the death penalty
By Eve Lamborn Kansan staff writer
A stronger correlation exists between the death penalty and minorities than between cigarettes and heart disease, said Karen Keith, Tulsa, Okla., junior, and president of the University of Kansas chapter of Amnesty International.
To bring attention to the problems with the death penalty, KU Amnesty International is having a focus week on the issue.
The movie is a drama about two friends who face a dilemma when a third friend is detained in Malaysia on drug charges. Unless the pair returns to share the blame, the third will die.
The group is having a free showing of the movie Return to Paradise at 8 tonight at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
The KU chapter of Amnesty International also is sponsoring an information table through Friday in the Union.
The KU Green Party is sponsoring a discussion about the death penalty in Kansas at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., in conjunction with the death penalty protest week.
Tommy Bobo, North Augusta,
S.C., freshman, and member of KU
Greens, said the group included a
member of an activist group working
against the death penalty in Kansas
and Thad Holcombe, pastor at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204
Oread Ave.
Bobo said Greens worked on many of the same issues as Amnesty International.
"Our concerns are their concerns, and their concerns are our concerns," Bob said.
Keith said the implementation of the death penalty in the United States had a lot of problems besides the ideological issue of killing a person.
"It's racist, it classify, and it's somewhat random," Keith said.
She said two people could be convicted for exactly the same crime, but one person could receive the death penalty, while one might not. The penalty is irreversible, even if debate continues about a person's guilt or innocence. Also, it is more expensive to kill people than to imprison them for life, she said.
The Death Penalty Information Center listed four people on Kansas' death row as of July 1. Kansas has not executed anyone since 1994.
Keith said she used to be in favor of the death penalty until she started doing research about it in high school. Now she works to inform others about the flaws in the system.
"It's important to get people thinking about it and maybe reexamine where they stand," she said.
ANTHONY REYES/KANSAN
Contact Lamborn at 864-4810
Kyle Browning, student body vice president, watches as students sign a petition aimed at putting a moratorium on the death penalty. KU Amnesty International will protest the death penalty this week.
Jayrock: Members say they care for students
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
founded by Jimmy T. Roberts in 1971. Members consider Roberts to be "The Elder" or "Brother Evangelist."
"There is cause for concern, because if anyone is recruited they will be completely taken from family and friends," he said. "The extent of harm will be extremely great." The International Church of Christ
Loomis said the International Church of Christ, which is registered with the University, is a group that used similar deceptive and manipulative techniques to recruit members.
Jane Teh, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia senior, became involved with the International Church of Christ first in Malaysia and then when she came to the University.
"It was difficult to leave the church because the only thing I was involved in was the church," Teh said.
Teh said that after she left the church, she could see why some called it a cult.
"They really isolated themselves from society, and that's not healthy for me," she said.
Teh said that although starting again was difficult, she still loved members of the church and did not harbor negative feelings.
"I learned that the faith is from within me," she said. "It's not from
other people."
Holcombe said Kansas University Religious Advisers had experienced problems with the International Church of Christ in the past, and it was "definitely cult-like in nature."
"They are an extreme sectarian church that uses manipulative techniques and pressure with their members, but I wouldn't call it a cult exactly," he said.
In 1995, KURA, an inter-faith group that monitors the activities of religious organizations on campus, formed a panel that investigated the church after a series of student and parent complaints.
The panel originally began as a way to discuss the concerns, said Jim Musser, Campus Christians minister.
"The University and KURA basically gave them a list of things that they needed to change before they could register again," Musser said.
Musser said that the panel's conclusion was based on pressure that was placed on members by the group.
"They didn't give students an opportunity to make their own decision," he said.
The group was also found to be deceptive, he said.
"They're always very friendly in the beginning with people," Musser said. "But they don't tell you a lot of what the expectations are."
Musser said members often became so involved that they lost contact with people and activities outside the group.
"If they dropped out of the group, they had this fear that they wouldn't have any friends," Musser said. "That's one of the leverages they have with people. That's by design."
The group did not re-register with KURA. But the church's new campus ministry, Jayrock Ministry, is now recognized by the University.
organized by the University Steve Stevenson, evangelist of the church, said he re-registered the ministry with the University in 1999 by filling out simple paperwork.
He said he attended several KURA meetings, but did not feel comfortable with the monitoring group.
"KURA doesn't particularly like our campus ministry, and they weren't really receptive to our group being a part of the organization," he said.
part of the organization. He said some members of other churches joined their ministry because they want to be more committed to the Bible.
Stevenson said the group had not changed since it was asked to leave the University and re-register in 1991. The group was then known as Campus Connection.
don't check it out for themselves."
people "People just believe the hype," he said. "People like negative news. They love to believe the bad news and
If people dug into the Bible, he said, they would not find anything wrong with the church.
"If you think Jesus was a cult leader, then we are a cult." he said. "People who really want to follow the Bible love our church and our campus ministry. People that want to be shallow and just believe what people say won't be part of the church."
Christina Harms, 2001 KU graduate,
is a member of the International
Church of Christ and Bible study
leader. She said the group's mission was
to make disciples of other students.
Harms joined the group about three years ago when her boyfriend invited her to a Bible study. At the time she was an atheist, she said.
The phone calls some people called harassment were out of concern, Harms said.
"We're a close-knit group," she said.
Harms said she was aware of the conceptions of the ministry.
"I know wholeheartedly that we're not doing anything that's not in the Bible or harassing," she said. "I really believe that just as people persecuted Jesus and his followers, we will be treated like him because no student is above his teacher."
Contact Burhenn at 864-4810
Scholarship halls robbed, damaged
By Michelle Burhenn Kansan staff writer
Both K.K. Amini Scholarship Hall and Margaret Amini Scholarship Hall were burglared during Thanksgiving break between 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and 2:15 p.m. Friday, according to a KU Public Safety Office report.
In both cases, someone entered the halls after shattering the glass French doors in the basement, ripped the box containing the five master keys off the wall and went through residents' rooms, stealing mostly electronics.
his Playmates 2 and 3.
"It seems like too far of a trip from the first floor lobby for someone to go if they're going to steal something like that," he said.
Kevin Fann, Hutchinson senior, is missing about $500 worth of equipment. He said he came back to his room in K.K. Amini on Sunday and learned from his roommate that his Playstation 2 and DVDs were stolen.
"Guy that have lived here for years don't know where the master keys are," he said.
Although Fann said he was confident that the person who stole the items did not live in either hall, he said the person had to be familiar with the setup of the hall.
know which Maggie Beedles, Lawrence junior and Margaret Amini resident, said she was walking by the halls when she noticed the doors had been shattered. She filed the police report Friday.
report it today.
"I walked closer to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and noticed the other hall's door was shattered," she said.
Ryan Giffin, K.K. Amini director, said that the locks for the residents' room had not been changed, but that all rooms would have new locks by the end of the week.
Giffin said about four rooms had items stolen, but he said he could not be certain if more residents were affected.
Both halles met at Margaret Amini at 10 last night to discuss what happened and to alleviate fears.
Liza Pehrson, Margaret Amini president, said that her hall wasn't hit as hard by the break-ins. She said that there were only two items stolen — her roommate's new laptop and cash for hall sweatshirts.
Pehrson said that the person who stole the items must have known what he or she was after in both halls.
"They only stole brand new lap tops and certain CDs," she said. "I have an older lap top that wasn't even touched."
She said residents were uneasy.
"Knowing they had gone into every single room to check it out is really disturbing," she said.
Contact Burhenn at 864-4810
Opens in theaters December 26
Presents a
FREE ADVANCE SCREENING
and
Chat with METHOD MAN and REDMAN LIVE after the show! via satellite
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
@ Woodruff Auditorium
8:00 PM Wednesday, November 28, 2001
FREE ADMISSION while passes last*
INFO?: call 785-864-3477 • www.ukans.edu/~sua
- Pick up passes at SUA Office, Kansas Union, 4th Floor, 2 passes per KU I.D. Passes will be distributed from the SUA office the day of the event.
Passes required. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. Please arrive early.
ID required. Rated R (Restricted - Under 17 Requires accompanying Parent Or Adult Guardian) for pervasive drug use and language, and for sexual dialogue Presented in association with Student Union Activities.
student union activities
The University of Kansas • 130-844-5129