CAMPUS/AREA UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, August 28, 1992
3
Minority numbers rising at KU Med Center
But discriminating job markets still face graduates, dean says
By Joe Harder
Kansan staff writer
Although the enrollment of first-year minority medical students at the University of Kansas Medical Center reached an all-time high this fall, many of those students will have difficulty finding jobs when they graduate, said the associate dean of minority affairs at the Med Center.
Enrollment of first-year under-represented minorities jumped from three to 23, a 667 percent increase, according to figures released by the
Med Center.
Under-represented minority groups are those whose national proportions are not reflected in the health-care profession. Their status is established by the American Medical Association and includes American Indians, African Americans, Mexican Americans, mainland Puerto Ricans and Hispanics.
"Many ... physicians are reluctant to hire a minority doctor," he said. "It's purely prejudice."
But as minority interest in the health sciences increases, their opportunities remain limited, said Shadrach Smith, associate dean of minority affairs at the Med Center.
He said many physicians were uncomfortable with the idea of interracial patient-doctor relationships.
"It's mostly that they feel that majority patients don't want to be treated by a minority doctor," he said.
Latisa Carson-Veglia, a first-year African-American student at the Med Center, said she was considering working in an inner city. She said she would like to be able to make health care accessible to a larger number of people.
"The only physicians who want to go there are minority physicians
because, number one, they understand the people, and number two, most of them aren't in it for the money," she said. "The majority of white physicians are not willing to go into those positions."
Carson-Veglia said she thought more minorities needed to go into health positions, but their involvement was improving.
"KU is doing some good things as far as minority recruitment," she said. "Some schools work hard at recruitment and then their retention rate isn't very good, but Smith has been wonderful as far as support."
Smith said his goal was for the Med Center's minority enrollment to more closely reflect their national proportions.
"My goal is to get a 15 percent minority student enrollment, with a 10 percent Black enrollment," he said.
This fall, first-year under-represented minority students constitute 11.4 percent of the 201 first-year medical students at the Med Center.
Of that number, 4 percent are African American, 3.4 percent are American Indian, 2.5 percent are Mexican American, .5 percent are Mainland Puerto Rican and 1 percent are Hispanic.
By comparison, under-represented minority students enrolling for the first time at the University of Oklahoma make up 13 percent of the total
first-year students, said officials at the university.
At the University of Missouri, officials say they constitute 9 percent of that group.
The students enrolling at the Med Center this fall were selected from roughly 2,300 applicants, about 230 of which were minorities. Smith said.
He said one of his most important recruiting tools was to make sure the students at the Med Center had a good educational experience.
"Students we accepted last year are recommending KU to their friends," he said. "Many of our applications are coming from student referrals."
Candidate seeks student help
By Mark Martin
Kansan staff writer
In a speech to a packed KU Young Democrats meeting last night, Gloria O'Dell, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said if she were elected, she would continue to live in Kansas.
O'Dell, who is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Dole, stressed that she was the candidate who understood the people of Kansas.
"I will be the senator from Kansas," she said at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. "I pledge to live here to serve you... because you made me first; you are first."
"Bole Dole is afraid to speak to the people of Kansas one-on-one. My grass-roots campaign welcomes the inclusion of all people. I am not afraid to talk to people because I have nothing to hide."
O'Dell gave a 15-minute speech and then answered questions for 15 minutes. Before and after she spoke, she mingled with the crowd, comprised mostly of students.
Urging students to help her campa-
nion, O'Dell addressed several edu-
cations.
O'Dell spent much of her speech bashing Dole
"Investing in people means increasing access to education at all levels," she said.
Dole, who is running for his fifth consecutive term as senator, is considered unbeatable by most political experts. O'Dell says she is focusing on the young.
“There are some that say I shouldn't be here talking to people,” she said. “Conventional wisdom says that students don't vote. I say conventional wisdom is what gave us a $4 trillion debt and has put this country on the verge of bankruptcy. That conventional wisdom is the problem. You, our future, are the solution.”
U. S. Senate candidate Gloria O'Dell greets spectators before her speech. She spoke a KU Young Democrats meeting. Dana J. Belmont/ KANSAS
Office corrects calendar errors
Mistakes found with KU dates Jewish holidays
Kansan staff report
Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas may miss some holidays and academic dates if they rely on the 1992-93 KU wall calendar for their information.
The Office of University Relations issued corrections for four Jewish holidays and four academic dates listed incorrectly in the calendar.
Brad Kemp, calendar editor, said 4,500 calendars were distributed to KU faculty and staff members.
He said he received the correct information for the academic dates but put it into the calendar database incorrectly. The calendar gives the wrong dates for Spring 1993 enrollment and advising and dates for degree applications and awarding.
He said the dates for four Jewish holidays were listed incorrectly because of the references he used
"the references that I used gave the first full date of the holidays, but Jewish holidays actually begin at sundown the day before," he said.
Kemp said he had not received many calls about the errors.
"I think I've talked to about three people about the mistakes," he said.
Calendar correction
The 1992-93 University of Kansas wall calendar distributed this mon contains the wrong information for several academic dates and for Jewish holidays. The correct dates are:
Jewish holidays
Rosh Hashanah begins sunday
Sunday, Sept. 27, and ends
Tuesday, Sept. 29
Yom Kippur begins sundown Tuesday, Oct. 6, and ends Wednesday, Oct. 7
■ Hanukkah begins sundown Saturday, Dec. 19, and ends Sunday, Dec. 27
Passover begins sundown
Monday, April 5, 1993, and ends
Tuesday, April 13.
Academic dates
■ Advising for spring main enrollment begins Monday, Oct. and ends Monday, Nov. 2.
Spring main enrollment begins Monday, Oct. 26, and ends Friday Nov. 20.
- Fall semester undergraduate degrees will be awarded Thursday Dec. 31.
■ The last day for Spring 1993 degree candidates to submit applications for degrees and graduate schools is "day, April 23, 1993"
Source: University Relations KANSAN
"That's a very common mistake," Mark Addleman, Hiljel president said. "All of the secular calendars list the first full day as the beginning of Jewish holidays.
"It would be nice if they had gotten it right, but I'd hardly list that as a slap in the face."
By Stacy Morford
Volunteer fair to attract students with spare time
Kansan staff writer
Representatives from 25 nonprofit organizations are scheduled to answer questions and recruit new volunteers from noon to 5 p.m. during the Plaza's first Volunteer Festival,
Area agencies in search of helping hands plan to turn the Lawrence Riverfront Plaza into a volunteer mecca Sunday afternoon.
KU students make up a large percentage of Douglas County's volunteer force, said Lanae Heine, Roger Hill Volunteer Center
Nonprofit Lawrence groups to recruit helping hands
coordinator.
"Most of these organizations would not exist in Douglas County without volunteers," Heine said. "There just isn't the money to hire paid staff."
The boys' and Girls' Club of Lawrence, which will have a display at the fair, had almost 100 KU student volunteers last spring. John Alesch, the club's executive director, said he expected more than 50 students to
"A lot of these agencies want student volunteers." Heine said. "When students aren't in town, especially during spring break and between terms, a lot of agencies are in crisis situations. All their volunteers are gone."
Every career field has volunteer opportunities, Heine said. At Roger Hill Volunteer Center, 211 E. Eighth St., staff members try to match volunteers to tasks related to their careers and interests.
apply this fall.
"We want to create a public awareness and let people know there is a need for volunteers
"Some students do it for class credit," Alesch said. "A lot of students do it just because they want to."
Julie Wise, Riverfront Plaza's coordinator of the event, said a lot of people were unaware of the volunteer opportunities available in Lawrence.
here in Douglas County." Wise said.
Wise said she had read about large-scale volunteer fairs in Washington, the nation's leading volunteer state. She said she wanted to do the same in Kansas.
She and the directors of five area nonprofit organizations met as a committee to organize the fair.
The goal of the fair is not to solicit memberships. Wise said. The agencies' goals are to recruit volunteers.
"Volunteer work is true altruism." Wise said.
"You do it because you want to do it."
A LOT OF PIZZA FOR A LITTLE DOUGH!