THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
AIDS Project to hold volunteers training session
By Lindsay Hanson
lhanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Douglas County AIDS Project boasts a count of about 80 volunteers, and that number is about to grow.
The program is holding one of its training sessions for new volunteers Saturday.
David Morrissey, volunteer coordinator, said volunteers were required to attend the orientation to participate, but people interested should contact the offices to sign up.
He said the popularity of the
program might not allow space for more volunteers at Saturday's orientation, but those interested could add their names to the waiting list and sign up for the next orientation, to be announced later.
Morrissey said that even if people at the orientation decided not to volunteer, it offered an eyeopening educational experience.
opening education Buck Rowland, education outreach coordinator, said the orientation covered basic facts on how the disease was transmitted.
He emphasized the importance of informing the public about the disease even now, years
after its outbreak in the United States.
He said that nearly one in every 500 college students was living with the disease today, a number that had increased this year. The figure was estimated because many people do not report their status as HIV/AIDS patients, he said.
Rowland said almost everyone could think of an excuse for why they could not contract the disease.
"People sometimes say. 'I can't get HIV from him because he lives in Johnson County,' or 'my boyfriend doesn't have sex with
gay men, so I can't get it from him,"" he said.
But everyone remains at risk, he said.
Rowland also said that some people believed the myth that today's medications could kill the pain of living with the disease.
pain living with the HIV he said some drug regimes were no longer effective on everyone and that some strains of HIV had developed a resistance to the medications.
medications. "People don't understand that it's a very difficult life, even now," he said.
Reasons to volunteer vary,but the experience is rewarding no
"I have known people in my life who have had AIDS, and I've always felt very strongly about getting people educated."
Alhambra Frarey
Prairie Village senior and
Douglas County AIDS Project volunteer
matter what the motivation, said Alhambra Frarey, Prairie Village senior.
senior. "I have known people in my life who have had AIDS, and I've
always felt very strongly about getting people educated," said Frarey, who has been working with the organization for about five months. "It effects everybody's lives or one day will effect everybody's lives in one way or another."
Frarey said she donated time by performing clerical work, giving rides to clients and cleaning their homes.
She said outreach activities, such as distributing condoms at local bars, were equally rewarding.
Edited by Christina Neff
Many paths lead to law school, hard work paves all
By Nathan Dayani
ndayani@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The deadline to apply to the KU Law School isn't until March 15, but the best time to work on the application is now.
Rachel Smith, assistant dean of admissions at the University of Kansas Law School, said that students should try to apply before most of the applications come in January through March.
Although this early preparation for law school can be a tenuous process, it usually pays off in the end.
Smith said law schools considered many factors when reviewing students' applications. She said these factors included grade point average, Law School Admission Test scores, work experience, letters of recommendation and the reputation of the program in which a student majored.
Long before the application process, however, students considering going to law school must choose an appropriate undergraduate major.
graduate major. Crystal Mai, associate dean of administration at the law school, said although students could benefit from majoring in programs related to legal studies, such as
political science, they should pursue undergraduate programs representing their intellectual interests.
Will Wohlford, Wichita second-year law school student agreed that commitment to study was more important than the subject of study.
"It really doesn't matter what you major in as long as you do well and work hard in school before you get there," he said.
However, Smith said students should major in challenging programs because law schools considered the programs' reputations.
Wohlford, who majored in political science, said his peers who majored in biology and music did well in law school even though their majors were not related to law.
"When we read transcripts, we're looking for people who have participated in academically rigorous courses," she said.
Smith said that after students choose an undergraduate major, they should begin to prepare for law school during their junior year. This would give them time to write and revise law school applications and have adequate time to study for the LSAT.
Ideally, students should take their LSAT the summer before
their senior year so they could send out applications in August, Smith said.
Smith said.
Students can register for the LSAT online at the Law School Admission Council's site, www.lsac.org.
Smith said students should emphasize self-discipline when studying for the LSAT before they considered taking intensive preparatory classes, such as the Kaplan LSAT programs.
Applications to law school, which include a personal statement for KU law school applicants, should be well-edited, Mai said.
"Errors don't bode well," she
said. "Your personal statement that you submit is your first example of your writing to the law school. Not only is the content important, but your skill as a writer is important, too."
Smith also advised that students should use their people skills when applying for law school.
school. She said law schools were uninterested in students who boasted about their admissions to other schools.
"It a game that no admissions professional would care to play," she said.
Edited by Adam Pracht
www.business.ku.edu
KU School of Business Thursday, September 26 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Kansas Union Ballroom
838 MASSACHUSETTS LAWRENCE KS 66044
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