TODAY'S WEATHER: Isolated storms with a high of 79 INSIDE: More coverage on the aftermath of the terrorist attack.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact
Kursten Phelps or Leita
Schultes at (785) 864-4810
or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
MONDAY
SEPTEMBER 17,2001
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ISSUE 16 VOLUME 112
Clinton aide touts diverse student body
By Eve Lamborn
Kansan staff writer
SEEKING YEAR-ROUND SHELTER
Janet Murguia moved from the west wing of the White House to the west wing of Strong Hall last year.
Murgula, executive vice chancellor for University Relations, spoke about her background and her goals for promoting diversity at the University of Kansas during a speech Friday evening at the Multicultural Resource Center.
Her appearance, sponsored by Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority, was a part of Gamma Week activities and Hispanic Heritage Month.
Heritage Month. Murgia, who worked for the Clinton administration and Al Gore's presidential campaign, said she left politics to focus on promoting diversity at KU.
"It enhances and enriches the university experience," she said.
She said one of her goals was to help others achieve the same success she was able to achieve when she came to the University.
"Those of us who have been successful have a responsibility to help others make it through here and be successful," she said. "I want to do my part."
Murguia:
Moved from
D.C. to KU.
Murguia grew up in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Kansas City, Kan. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and one of seven children. She and three siblings graduated from KU. Murguia went on to earn a KU law degree.
"I was armed with a good education, and that gave me a lot of confidence," she said.
She went to work in Washington, D.C., and eventually earned a position in the White House as deputy director for legislative affairs for the Clinton administration. Murgia moved to Nashville last year to become the deputy campaign manager for the Gore campaign.
She said the values her parents instilled in her and the lessons she learned from her community prepared her for her career in Washington, D.C.
"I got used to dealing with people of different perspectives," she said. "It's important to work with people of different perspectives and views and bring them together."
Curtis Sloan, Powhattan first-year law student, said he went to hear Murguia speak because of her credentials and her desire to increase diversity at the University.
"It is her charge to do that, and there is a cry for that on campus," he said. "Meetings like this are where that starts."
ANTHONY REYES/KANSAN
Contact Lamborn at 864-4810
The gym inside the Salvation Army, 946 New Hampshire St., serves as a homeless shelter from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily. About 25 people a night use the shelter which is open from September to April. They must pass a breath test to get into the shelter, where they can eat and stay out of the weather.
Shelters ask for changes
By Courtney Craigmile Kansan staff writer
Homeless advocates in Lawrence are lobbying for extended shelter hours and possibly a year-round shelter.
"I don't think it's any different than you or I having a home year-round," said Teresa Thompson, board chair for the Community Drop-In Center.
Capt. Kirk Schuetz of the Salvation Army agreed.
"My hope and dream is that a year round shelter would be able to provide more services to people with substance
abuse problems," he said.
The homeless have been on the minds of several people after the death of Rachelle Conrad on Sept. 7. Conrad was found at Clinton Park, 901 W. Fifth St., after police received a 911 call.
And in April 2000, a local homeless man named John Lowe was run over by a car and killed in an alley behind the Community Mercantile, 901 Mississippi St.
Lawrence has two homeless shelters: the Community Drop-In Center, 214 W. 10th St., and the Salvation Army shelter, 946 New Hampshire St.
The Community Drop-In Center is open from 8:30 to noon for anyone and from noon to 5 p.m. by appointment, Thompson said.
She said the center was trying to extend its hours to 9 p.m. to give the homeless a place to stay until they could go to the Salvation Army's shelter.
The Salvation Army shelter is open from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. every day.
The City Commission approved the drop-in center's four-hour extension at its Sept. 4 meeting. Thompson said the center was awaiting approval from its owner.
Center is open year-round, the Salvation Army shelter is only open from September to April.
Although the Community Drop-In
Schuetz said plans were in the works to build a year-round shelter, but it would take at least two years before the project would be finished. He said the Salvation Army was "in a holding pattern," waiting for a location for the shelter and money to build it.
Chris Adams, Leawood senior and co-coordinator for Jubilee Café, said he was in favor of a year-round shelter.
SEE SHELTER ON PAGE 3A
Side by side, KU shoulders the tragedy
Kansan staff writer
By Jeremy Clarkson
Konson staff writer
Students, faculty, staff and Lawrence residents packed the Lied Center on Friday afternoon for a service aimed at uniting the community after Tuesday's terrorist attacks.
celed classes for two hours so students could attend the services.
The service was part of the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance declared by President Bush. All 2,018 seats in the Lied Center were filled. Some sat on the floor or stood outside the building during the ceremony.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway can-
Many students found themselves sitting on the floor, including Ashley Ellis, Hill City junior. She said it was important for everyone to be together to show support and remember the victims.
It was the first time classes were canceled for reasons other than weather since April 5,1988,when the men's basketball team won the NCAA championship.
"I think it was really good, and it was what we needed to hear right now," Ellis said.
Hemenway said that although the nation had seen tragedy before, a national catastrophe was a new experience for many students.
"The tragedy of such dimension is really important for us to come together as a University, as a Lawrence community and as a nation, to remember and to pray," he said.
Hemenway said the attacks of Tuesday, Sept. 11, would be remembered as "an act of evil." He said the people who died deserved remembrance.
"Remember the people who are
For more terrorist attack coverage
see page 6A
buried in New York, buried in Washington. People who gave their lives, even though the didn't know they'd be expected to," Hemenway said.
Justin Mills, student body president, said students should take time to mourn for victims.
"I hope on Monday, that you remember what you saw here today in this auditorium." Mills said.
SEE SERVICE ON PAGE 3A
Rachel Magario, Sao Paulo, Brazil, junior, has a kidney disease that requires her to undergo a kidney transplant operation.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kidney disease challenges student as doctors search for transplant donor
By J. R. Mendoza Kansan staff writer
A steady stream of friends visited Rachel Magario in her room at Lawrence Memorial Hospital where she was admitted last Tuesday for kidney complications.
The Sao Paulo, Brazil, junior's face lit up with a smile as her friends greeted her with a kiss and a handshake. Although Magario couldn't see them because of her blindness, their presence made her eyes sparkle with delight.
"She's a social butterfly," said Marcela Vilchis, a Monterrey, Mexico, graduate student. "Everyone goes to her."
Magario has focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease doctors diagnosed a year after she was injured in a car accident at the University of Kansas in 1998. She was crossing Jayhawk Boulevard with her guide dog when a car struck her, causing two crushed vertebrae and a concussion.
Doctors told her after she was admitted Tuesday that she would need a kidney transplant because medicine she had been taking failed to improve her condition.
Doctors are testing Magario's mother in Brazil to see if she might be a kidney match. Magario said.
Wednesday after doctors stabilized her condition. She said doctors told her she would die if she didn't start dialysis.
She has undergone dialysis since
Magario said doctors also told her she might be able to return home by midweek but would have to continue dialysis.
"I feel pretty crappy," Magario said. "I'm stabilized now, but not enough to go back to classes."
INSIDETODAY
To add to her stress, Magario said she was also having insurance coverage problems. The insurance company of the person who struck her wouldn't pay medical bills for her kidney disease because doctors couldn't say for sure if her disease was related to the accident.
SEE TRANSPLANT ON PAGE 3A
WORLD NEWS ...2A
HILLTOPICS ...8A
WEATHER ...6B
CROSSWORD ...6B
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
ROSH HASHANA: Jewish students ready for their celebration of a new year
ROTC: KU military group prepares to take on role in country's battle against terrorism
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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