Thursday
December 5, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 70
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN Bench provides few answers for coach Roy Williams in win p.12A
Students marched 40 years ago for change. Today's crowd marches to a different beat.
By Caleb Nothwehr
Kansan staff writer
Photos courtesy of University Archives
Each Saturday since Sept. 7, about 100 Lawrence residents gather in front of the Douglas County Courthouse to protest military action against Iraq. Tie-dyed shirts and plaid hats sprinkle the crowd. The protesters smile, wave and flash an occasional peace sign at passing cars.
But these protesters are noticeably older. Waves of gray, thinning hair highlight the crowd. Some are middle-aged parents, whose children frolic behind the protest line.
This isn't the first time many of these activists have joined hands in support of peace.
"I think we were over there during the Vietnam War," said Allan Hanson, coordinator for the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice, as he pointed across the street toward South Park.
Hanson said his organization's hope was to send the message that the
people are against an invasion of Iraq.
Less than a mile away from where the protesters stand, on the University of Kansas campus, a different type of political activism took place 30 years earlier. Hundreds of students would march down Jayhawk Boulevard, invade Strong Hall, and roll over cars in protest of the Vietnam War and racial injustice.
At its height, the racial tension and political turmoil in Lawrence during the late 1960s and early 1970s drove the city into a frenzy of urban guerrilla warfare. The dissension cost two young activists their lives, and led to the burning of the Kansas Union which remains an unsolved arson.
Lawrence residents and former KU students still engaged in political activism admit that protesting is different these days.
the Kansas Green party. "And there was higher participation from the students," he said as he stepped back from the protest line.
Anne Haehl, a protester who held the American flag during one recent Saturday protest, was a student at KU during the time of the turmoil.
"It was more spontaneous back then," said Rich Wenzel, co-chair for
"It does seem that, as far as the antiwar movement, it was pretty much led by the college students back then," she said. "Now, it's babies and old people."
To understand KU and Lawrence during the late 1960s and early 1970s, one needs to hear the story of the people whose lives changed during the time period: an African-American student whose brother was killed by a policeman; a KU professor who taught the first African-American history course at the University; and a peace-
SEE PROTEST ON PAGE 8A
Dialogue deals with prejudice within race
By Kate Nelson
knelson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
At first glance, Andrea Pantoja looks like a Chicana — because she is.
her brown hair,slightly dark skin tone and last name indicate her Mexican heritage. But ask her to speak Spanish, and the signs might not be as clear.
"I can't speak it as well because I, or my parents, didn't grow up with it," she said.
But it doesn't mean she is less of a Chicana, even though that's what she's been told, she said. The Mission sophomore worked for a Latin American education center last summer and helped lead a discussion about what it means to be a Chicano or Chicana. The children identified both of Pantoja's co-workers as being Chicanas, but not her.
"It was really hurtful," Pantoja said, recalling working with the middle-schoolers. "I was in there trying to support those kids, and they are sitting there telling me I'm not one of them. I was just sitting there trying to hold back tears."
Experiences such as Pantoja's aren't rare, said Juan Izaguerre, a Multicultural Resource Center graduate student assistant. Although internal racism probably isn't international, it's hurtful, he said.
Because of prejudice like Pantoja faced, he's helping coordinate the last Diversity Dialogue of the semester.
"Apples, Oreos, Coconuts and Bananas — Exploring Internalized Racism" will take place at 7 tonight at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union. Rueben Perez, coordinator of leadership development programs, will moderate
SEE RACISM ON PAGE 5A
Marching band director resigns
By Erin Beaty
ebethey@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The KU marching band director, Tim Oliver, officially announced his resignation yesterday.
Oliver, who has directed the band since fall 2000, would not comment on his resignation last night. He will remain at the University through the spring semester.
Chloe Wong, Junction City freshman and band member, said Oliver had told the band he was resigning because he wanted
to spend more time with his family.
"He said that both the band and he would do better if he moved on and we received a new director," she said.
She said she was upset about his decision.
"Dr. Oliver is a very good director,"she said. "I've enjoyed my first year at KU under his direction."
Ashley Meagher, Golden, Colo., senior and band member, said she thought it probably had been a rough transition for Oliver to replace Robert Foster, who had directed the band for 30 years.
after someone's been there for so long," she said.
She said she hadn't expected Oliver to resign.
"I'm pretty surprised," said Megher. "I thought perhaps he'd give it another year."
Larry Mallett, chair of the department of music and dance, said Oliver's resignation was not spurred by conflict.
"Tim just chose to pursue other career opportunities," he said. "He's a hard worker and has been a strong leader for the Marching Jayhawks."
Undying devotion to alma mater
"It's hard to find a place for yourself — Edited by Amanda Sears
Caskets offer KU fans way to express zeal even in their death
By Lindsay Hanson
ihanson@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
Die-hard University of Kansas fans can now take their allegiance to the grave. Collegiate Memorials of Macon, Ga., a funeral-product distributor, finalized a licensing agreement with the University last spring. The first KU casket arrived yesterday at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home and Crematory, 601 Indiana St.
Paul Vander Tuig, director of trademark licensing for KU, said the company had approached him earlier this year and he
couldn't find a reason to turn the offer down.
The casket, made of 18-gauge, royal blue steel, has the KU letters sewn inside the velvet lining. The University receives the standard royalty payment of 8 percent of the wholesale price of every casket the company sells. Trish Burnette, the company's bookkeeper, said wholesale price on a KU casket would run between $1,590 and $2,390, which gives the school between $127 and $191 per sale.
Bart Yost, director of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, said he hadn't had any requests for KU caskets, but thought they would sell once they became known.
University logos are a logical progression in personal expression trends in the funeral-product industry, Yost said. Rumsey-Yost carries caskets with gardening, golf and other scenes.
Scott Walston, president of the Collegeiate Memorials, said a funeral home's markup could price the casket at more than $3,200. Retail prices of caskets with university logos usually run about $300 to $400 above the cost of caskets of comparative styles to compensate for licensing fees and shipping costs, he said.
Vander Tuig said the University had granted unofficial permission to individual requests in the past for using the logo on headstones free of charge.
The company, the largest of its kind, has been marketing caskets and crematory urns emblazoned with University logos since October 2000. Kansas is one of 52 schools in the country represented in the Collegiate Memorials database.
SEE DEVOTION ON PAGE 5A
KU student wins national pageant
By Lindsay Hanson
Ihanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
One of the first tasks Trinity Wright plans to do as Miss United States Teen is drop some of her next-semester classes at the University of Kansas.
Wright, 19-year-old Shawnee freshman, will have to do that because of her busy schedule of touring and speaking to represent her title. She was crowned in the national competition Nov. 18 in Charlotte, N.C.
"I'm really still trying to get over it," she said.
Wright said the girls had expected Sarah Medley of South Carolina to claim the crown because she had swept up all the optional contests — swimwear, fashion, evening gown and the on-stage interview.
Candidates from all 50 states, ages 15 to 19, competed.
Wright said winning the pageant could help her make connections to later pursue an acting career. She mentioned Halle Berry, a former pageant
Some of Wright's winnings include a crown of Australian crystal, a fox-fur coat, a $1,000 gift certificate to a Tennessee-based clothing store, paid travel expenses to philanthropy events and golden jewelry.
queen who won an Academy Award last year.
Wright
"I'm really going to use this opportunity to try to get into a good acting agency," she said.
Now she
must hand down her title of Miss Kansas United States Teen, which she has held since March. Capturing this new crown isn't the end of pageentry for Wright, who has been competing in pageants since her mother first enrolled her at age four. She said that, once her reign ended she would begin preparing for the Miss Kansas USA pageant. Wright also said she would be in New York City next year to watch the Miss New York United States Teen pageant.
Wright's mother, Tudy Wright, said her daughter's years of preparation had paid off.
"She's worked a long,long time for this," she said.
Edited by Amanda Sears
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