Thursday
October 31, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 49
Today's weather 42° Tonight: 33°
Tell us your news Call Jay Krall, Brooke Hesler or Kyle Ramsey at 864-4810
KANSAN Kansas athletes make their way back to where they started. p.16A
Student reservists prepare to deploy
They are preparing their mobilization packages — updating medical records, being fitted for gas masks, making financial preparations and readying wills — in case they are deployed.
By Jenna Goepfert
jgoepfert@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
With tensions mounting between the United States and Iraq, University of Kansas students in the military reserves are bracing for its impact.
"Our platoon sergeant says it's highly likely that we'll be mobilized in the immediate future," said Justin Montgomery, Wellsville sophomore, in the Army Reserve.
Montgomery said he would be sent to Ft. Riley once he received his orders, and from there he could remain to run the base or be sent to Iraq.
He said mandatory drills had grown longer in recent weeks. That made him nervous but never regretful of his decision to join the military, he said.
“It's not like I want to go, but if we went, I wouldn't have a problem going.” Montgomery said.
About 295 KU students are classified as being on active duty in the Army, the Air Force and the Navy.
Lindsey Gold/Kansan
These students, once mobilized, would withdraw from all their classes
at the University and be reimbursed for tuition.
"It a little bit different being up here as a college student at KU one day and in the big sandbox the next," said Jonathan Kincaid, Olathe sophomore, in the Army Reserve. "It's quite the contrast."
Kincaid said he would work in civilian affairs in Iraq, relocating Iraqi citizens from the battlefield to civilian camps to keep them safe.
A family tradition of military service has kept Stacy Fagan, Wellington junior, calm.
Her father and brother were both active in the military, and she is part of the Air Force Reserve.
He said apprehension about future attacks was a natural reaction, but supporting his country was more important.
"When you're in the reserves, you realize there's a job to be done," Kincaid said. "You just got to step up to the plate. So fear is not an option."
Fagan said she could not be deployed until late November, when her unit returns from England. She was excused from duty because she was in school.
"I'd try to think of it as an adventure or as something not a lot of people get to
SEE RESERVE ON PAGE 6A
Justin Montgomery, Wellsville sophomore, joined the Army Reserves at age 17. Samples of chemical detection liquids and papers, 5,56 blanks for a M-16A2,and awards Montgomery has won are among the items on the table.
War protests don't affect ROTC members
Rv Lindsev Hodel
ihodel@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Even though some students have protested the potential war against Iraq, some ROTC members said they had not felt many personal attacks on campus prompted by their relationship with the military.
Capt. James Cooper, professor of the Naval division of ROTC, said there was no comparison between the public's response to the Vietnam War 30 years ago and the possible war in Iraq.
Cooper remembers when the public was not as supportive of the military as it is today. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1974, attending school and participating in the ROTC program during the Vietnam War. He said recent protesters were not as negative toward ROTC members as were
protesters in the past.
"What is going on today and what went on in the '70s are polar opposites," he said. "People then wanted to take a lot out on ROTC members, but today, most people divorce ROTC students from national politics."
Protesters commonly gathered around the Military Science Building in the '70s to target the ROTC program, Cooper said.
"Thaven't seen any protesters around the building yet," he said.
Holly Hollenbeck, Neodesha freshman, also said she had not encountered hostility from students on campus. Hollenbeck is enrolled in the Air Force ROTC program.
"Mostly people have been telling me it's cool that I am serving my country and how they wish they had enough guts to do it," she said.
U. S. foreign policy has been a topic
tor debate in many of Alex Krutz's classes. The Overland Park senior is a political science major and a member of the army division of the ROTC program.
"I haven't heard many negative things being said in my classes from professors or students," he said. "From what I'm seeing, most people support the war and say we just need to do it the right way."
Many people make assumptions that all ROTC members support action against Iraq, said Aaron Hedrick, Sparks, Nev, senior. He said these military stereotypes came from a lack of
Because he has a ROTC contract with KU, Krutz said he wasn't worried that the National Guard, of which he also a member, would call him to service.
But other ROTC members have noticed subtle differences in students' attitudes since talk of a possible war began.
understanding the issue.
"People in ROTC may or may not agree with a war," he said. "We need to perform our jobs without letting our personal feelings get in the way."
ROTC members are also not allowed to discuss personal feelings about U.S. foreign policy.Hedrick said.
"Whether or not an individual supports or opposes U.S. foreign policy doesn't matter," he said. "We will support the directions given to us."
Hedrick also said he had noticed increased public support of the military.
"The U.S. public has been much more supportive in the last 20 years than before and during the Vietnam War," he said. "It will be interesting to see what happens with Iraq and how that affects public opinion."
— Edited by Christina Neff
K-State site helps make local parties successful
By Justin Henning jhenneng@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Walking up and down the streets of the student ghetto in search of parties is no longer necessary.
Richard Maxwell, operator of ksunderground.com, has tweaked the fiveyear-old party posting site into one of the region's most popular cyber fliers.
"My friends and I just got drunk one night and made a Web site;" Maxwell said about the site's creation in 1995.
The site originally dealt only with the Manhattan area and has grown to almost 2,000 users in the last seven years. Maxwell, a senior at Kansas State University, said that several months ago his site branched out to include Lawrence. The expansion was partly due to the demise of partyku.com, a site focusing on the Lawrence party scene.
Scott Bideau, Chanute graduate student who created partyku.com, said he did not want to work on the site and pay for it anymore.
"It was just people making suggestions and complaints without offering anything constructive," he said.
Enter ksunderground.com, which offers users a place to log on and chat in forums about previous or upcoming parties. Users can even log on to play card games, which Maxwell made himself.
"The wild cards took me days to code," he said.
Despite the similar content of their sites, Maxwell and Bideau do not know each other well. Bideau simply gave Maxwell some e-mail addresses and places to get started when he learned that ksunderground.com was coming to Lawrence.
The site can replace passed-out fliers and colored chalkings by providing a laundry list of parties in the Lawrence, Manhattan and Wichita areas with the click of a computer's mouse. But while it offers convenient information about parties, the site also has its detractors.
"We don't want people to not drink, we just want them to do it responsibly," said Mary Chappell, Director of Recreation Services and member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Maxwell is also sure police officers are logging on to ksunderground.com to keep tabs on local party scenes.
"Every cop in town knows who I am," Maxwell said, which is why he said it
SEE UNDERGROUND ON PAGE 6A
Enrollment caps cause students woes
By Kyle Ramsey
kramsey@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
After seven years of studying at the University of Kansas, Gary Grayson is concerned the School of Social Welfare won't offer him and other students in his program the opportunity to take the final class necessary to graduate. But, school officials say it's a problem the students themselves created.
Grayson, Lawrence graduate student, said yesterday that a course
SEE SOCIAL WELFARE ON PAGE 6A
Halloween helps UNICEF gather money to fight polio
By George Schulz
gschulz@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The group, known as KU UNICEF, is assisting the United Nations Children's Fund by asking kids to collect money in a small orange box they can carry with them while going door-to-door asking for candy. Lawrence residents are encouraged to drop a handful of change into the orange box along with the candy they drop into children's sacks.
Members of the University of Kansas student group Campus Initiative for United Nations Children's Fund are asking trick-or-treaters to request more than just candy this Halloween.
Anil Nimmagadda, Vijayawada,
India masters student, said the KU
"We want to act as a bridge between UNICEF and the community, "
Anil Nimmagadda
Viiavawada, India masters student
branch of UNICEF's worldwide support network had been established last year. He said money raised from "Trick or treat for UNICEF" would help purchase vaccinations, food items and school supplies for children living in under-developed countries around the world.
"We want to act as a bridge between UNICEF and the community," he said.
Nimmagadda said he decided to join KU UNICEF after he saw how the program had helped children in southern
SEE UNICEF ON PAGE 6A
Happy Halloween
Zach Straus/Kansan
When Pat Goldman, Topeka junior, and Bob Holmes, Topeka senior, started to decorate their house for Halloween, they made sure to include their "pet" rat, SwampyGoldman said he fed the doll peanut butter. For more Halloween stories, see page 7A and this week's Jayleay.
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