THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Voter registration drive to recruit students to vote in Douglas County
By Caleb Nothwehr
Kansan staff writer
Liz Monaghan lives in Lawrence nine months out of the year, but she is registered to vote in New Jersey.
"I do absentee ballot every time," she said. "I just find it easier to keen up with it at home."
This fall, Student Senate will try to change the Glen Gardner, N.I. senior's mind.
Coordinators of Senate's voter registration campaign are trying to register at least 5,000 University of Kansas students for November's state elections.
Johanna Maska, legislative director, said she had high expectations for this year's drive.
"We're hoping not one student goes by without knowing that the voter registration is going on,"
Maska said.
The Student Senate Legislative Awareness Board will act as the umbrella organization for the 2002 voter registration drive, involving other campus organizations such as College Republicans, Young Democrats, and KU Greens.
The groups will set up tables across campus and around town.
During the registration campaign two years ago, Senate fell short of its 5,000-votergoal, registering slightly more than 2,000 voters.
Senators face the challenge of convincing students who are registered in their home towns or states to register in Lawrence.
According to voting records from the Douglas County Clerk's office, 722 registered voters, out of 52,838 total registered in Douglas County, voted in the November 2000 election in the 10th precinct at Allen Fieldhouse, the only poll site on the
KU campus.
Douglas County Clerk Patty James said students might have trouble adjusting to Lawrence or Kansas politics.
"I realize some students feel close ties to home." James said. "Sometimes it's difficult to break those ties."
As tuition increases at the University, Maska said students should be particularly concerned with electing leadership to make decisions in students' interests.
interests. "We are facing an incredible budget situation," she said. "The people we elect are going to have to deal with that."
Ultimately, because students
"I realize some students feel close
ties to home. Sometimes it's difficult
to break those ties."
Patty James Douglas County Clerk
"It's probably more influential to register here."
spend a majority of their time in Lawrence, they may as well vote here. Maska said.
"You make Lawrence home for at least four years," Maska said.
Those interested in voter registration can attend the SLAB organizational meeting at 4 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Kansas Union parliars.
Contact Nothwehr at cnothwehr@kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Hill.
Program eases move to college
HAWK Link helps students adjust to new life
By Katie Nelson
Kansan staff writer
Getting into the swing of college life is tough. But doing it alone is even tougher.
First-generation students, those who don't have a family member who went to college before them, might not have as many people to turn to for advice on the ins and outs of navigating a big university. Those students are who the Office of Multicultural Affairs' HAWK Link program hopes to help.
The university-funded program, which is 4 years old, is recruiting this week for new members. It sponsored a block party filled with hip-hop music and information tables on Strong
Hall's front lawn Tuesday night and Take Over the Beach Tuesday afternoon.
Yet the sticky 91-degree temperature didn't keep Shieley Waters, Little Rock, Ark., graduate student, from hiking up the hill for the event.
Waters came to campus to catch up with friends and take care of last minute enrollment changes.
She ended up with about 200 other students, collecting information on multicultural organizations from booths lining the steps of Wescoe Hall, cooling off by eating a popsicle handed out by the Asian American Student Union and watching Unity Hip-Hop Dance Troupe perform.
"We want students, especially new ones, to get connected with other offices, programs and campus organizations," said Natalie Lucas, program coordinator.
Zeta Phi Beta, a traditionally African-American sorority, was recruiting new members at Take Over the Beach all afternoon. The seven-member group displayed group photos and passed out fliers about an upcoming makeup and massage party.
"This is a good way to get our name out there," said Lawrence junior Dena Odom, pointing to a list of girls' names who requested information about the sorority.
"When students like me can't go home and ask their mom how things work, it's good to have that resource available." Lucas said.
HAWK Link's attempts to familiarize new students with the University of Kansas don't end with Hawk Week events.
The group points first-generation and minority students toward other campus programs for the assistance they need. It also offers tutoring, seminars and student mentors.
"We're offering an opportunity for kids to get involved," Lucas said. "We just hope they take us up on it."
Contact Nelson at knelson@kansan.com. This story was edited by Amanda Sears.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A 24-year-old woman from western Missouri has tested positive for the West Nile virus, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said yesterday.
The case in Buchanan County is the state's first of a human infection outside the St. Louis area. So far, 10 people there have tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus.
"While this is a new development in Missouri's West Nile virus situation, it is not an unexpected one," said the health department's Howard Pue.
West Nile creeps closer, spreads west of St. Louis
"We're receiving reports of mosquitoes, birds, and horses testing positive for the virus from many parts of the state now," Pue said. "Therefore, it was only a matter of time before we received our first report of a Missouri resident testing positive for the West Nile virus in another part of the state."
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