Tuesday
October 29, 2002
Vol. 113, Issue No. 47
Today's weather
50°
Tonight: 39°
Tell us your news Call Jay Krall, Brooke Hesler or Kyle Ramsey at 864-4810
KANSAN Kansas football team prepares for Sunflower State showdown p.9A
More students apply for aid than last year
By Lindsay Hanson
Ihanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A tough economy and a tuition increase at the University of Kansas have driven more students to ask the government for help with tuition, said a representative of the Office of Student Financial Aid.
As of Saturday, Oct. 26, 2002, the office had received 15,723 Free Applications for Federal Student Aid since Jan. 1, which exceeded the total received by Oct. 26, 2001 by 954 applications, said Stephanie Covington, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Aid.
That doesn't necessarily represent the number of this semester's financial aid recipients, Covington said, which
will not be known until all applications are in at the end of the semester.
Almost half of the student body will secure some type of financial aid this year, Covington said, which is similar to most years.
The office accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the semester.
"It's not too late to apply for money for the current semester," she said.
Some federal money is competitive, Covington said. Supplemental grants — for undergraduates with exceptional financial need — have limited supply.
Covington said people were applying for federal aid earlier this year than they had last year.
Students can begin filing
SEE FINANCIAL AID ON PAGE 5A
Rising gas prices trouble students
By Nathan Dayani
ndayani@kansan.com
ndayani staff writer
Higher gasoline prices have forced Kate Danenberg to cut corners.
"It ites out on my grocery money," said Danenberg, Manhattan sophomore. "I have to skimp on other things. I'm a thrifty buyer anyway, but it's getting kind of ridiculous."
According to fuelgaugerreport.com, the AAA's Web site for local and national gasoline prices, the average cost for gasoline in Lawrence is about $1.50 per gallon of regular unleaded gas. But only a month ago, the average cost was $1.39 per gallon; one year ago, the cost was about $1.15 per gallon. The national average is $1.47 per gallon.
Catherine Weaver, assis
tant professor of government, said the looming threat of war with Iraq probably kept gas prices higher than usual. She said past instances of political instability in the Middle East, including the Gulf War and the oil crisis in the '70s, raised gasoline prices.
"There's almost always a direct correlation between political instability and higher gas prices," she said.
Neal Becker, assistant professor of economics, said the demand and price for gasoline was usually lower during the winter because people drove less than in the summer. However, he said Americans were traveling less in the air and more on the road than in previous years, which could
More than 200,000 protesters against the war in Iraq gather on the lawn of Constitutional Gardens in Washington D.C., next to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial. They listened to Patti Smith, musician and political activist, perform a song Saturday.
SEE GASOLINE ON PAGE 5A
Students cross country to oppose war in Iraq
By Lindsey Hodel
lhodei@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
Editor's note: Lindsay Hodel, a Kansan reporter, traveled last weekend with a group of KU students to Washington D.C., where they joined 200,000 people protesting possible military action against Iraq.
At noon last Friday, 10 KU students piled into a 15-passenger van to embark on an 1,100-mile cross-country trek to Washington, D.C., for a protest against the possible war against Iraq.
LINDSEY HODEL/KANSAN
The drive was tedious — 20 hours long in fact - yet the students remained generally positive and excited about the march, which was taking place on0 the first anniversary of the passing of the Patriot Act, an act that gives law enforcement agencies more power to track citizens in order to find potential terrorists.
Amanda Slott, Omaha, Neb., junior, and Maggie Beedles, Lawrence senior, lead a chant while marching around the White House. Beedles and Slott helped organize the trip for KU students to attend the protest Saturday.
Conversations during the drive included the reasons of why people had decided to march in the nation's capital, and the goals they strived to accomplish.
"I'm not optimistic enough to believe this march will directly affect policy concerning the war," said Karen Keith, Tulsa senior and an
organizer of the trip. "But I think we can get more people to speak out against the war and change the public's opinion, which can then change government policy."
Concerned Active and Aware Students, a
student group on campus, spearheaded the organization of the KU students' participation in the rally for peace.
SEE PROTEST ON PAGE 6A
Day of the Dead
More than 60 Kansas social studies and foreign language teachers listen to a lecture entitled, "Liven Up Your Classroom with El Dia de los Muertos" in the Museum of Anthropology. The Center for Latin American Studies held a Day of the Dead workshop for educators Saturday as part of its series that lasts into December.
Eric Broom/Kansan
Read about the Day of the Dead on Page 5A.
Poll says many students undecided about election
By Caleb Nothwehr
cnothwehr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A survey of students at six universities showed that a quarter of the student voting population is still undecided in the Kansas gubernatorial race. The "Sunflower Survey," conducted by KU's department of communication studies, stated that the majority of students who had made up their minds would vote for Democratic candidate Kathleen Sebelius.
"Sunflower Survey" question:
The Methods in Political Communication class survey interviewed 363 undergraduate students at six Kansas universities,
question.
"If the gubernatorial election was held today, for whom would you vote?"
Kathleen Sebelius: 42.2% (135)
Tim Shallenberger: 32.5% (104)
Undecided: 24.1% (77)
Dennis Hawver: 0.9% (3)
Ted Pattibone: 0.7% (1)
(percentage (number of voters)
*Results add up to more than 100 percent because of rounded figures
Source: Communications studies
asking them about their level of political involvement and knowledge of the candidates. KUrepresented most of the undergraduates with 146 students
interviewed.
"The biggest conclusion was that there is still a lot of vote out there to be determined," said Taleyna Morris, third-year graduate student in the class.
The poll also asked 320 students that were likely to vote: "If you could vote today, who would you vote for?" Slightly more than 42 percent of the participants indicated they would vote for Sebelius for governor, while 32.5 percent supported Republican Tim Shallenburger and 24.1 percent remained undecided.
The survey also showed that
SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 5A
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