6A
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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2. 2008
ALASKA (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
"I texted my family right away," Harris said. "I asked them if they knew what was going on, because it's a pretty big deal."
Harris said that because Palin would be on the ticket in November that it presented a problem for her on who to root for. She said that she was excited about Palin and that the state of Alaska was excited as well, but she wasn't as socially conservative as Palin and didn't agree with all of her policies.
As far as the famous "Saturday Night Live" skit, featuring Tina Fey as Palin, Harris said sometimes she just had to laugh.
"It's frustrating for me," Harris said. "I'm not in Alaska so I'm looking at it from the other side of things where everyone is laughing at Alaska and I get a bit defensive at times, but then I laugh, too." Harris said she thought the SNL skit was hilarious and that every state had its stereotypes.
Luke Cronin, Anchorage, Alaska, junior, said he was a registered Republican in Alaska and he was going to stay that way. Cronin will be receiving an absentee ballot from his home state this year to cast his vote.
Cronin said he was leaning for McCain, but overall, he wasn't excited about either candidate. When it came to Palin, though, Cronin said he supported her all the way.
"I really like her as our governor," he said. "She has done a lot for our state that a lot of people don't really focus on."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaks as her daughter Willow, left, Cindy McCain and Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., look on during a campaign rally at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday. Eleven students at the University are from Alaska.
paid $2,000 to $3,000 per year to live in Alaska because the state revenue was so high and that as governor, Palin decided to provide residents with an extra $1,200 this year to help with the rising cost of living.
Cronin said that everyone was
"It's really expensive to live there," Cronin said. "She does what the people want and I'm definitely pulling for her."
"She needs work when it comes to foreign policy," Cronin said. "But as far as doing what people want for the good of Alaska, she's done a great job with that."
Cronin said he was unsure about Palin as vice president and that he thought she might be in over her head.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sean Pauzauskie, Anchorage, Alaska, medical student, said overall people were unaware of the issues Alaskans had to deal with.
"Pipelines, oil, wildlife conservation," Pauzawskie said. "Those are things you don't see in every state. Alaska is unique because of its geography."
Pauzauskie voted Democratic in the 2004 elections, but said this year he wasn't sure how he would vote. Pauzauskie said it was a pride thing.
"It's a point of pride for everyone in the state of Alaska and it's sort of like when Bob Dole was on the ticket in 1996," Pauzauskie said. "Even if you're not part of that party, it's great to get recognition of your state."
Pauzauskie said McCain knew what he was doing when he chose Palin, and said he didn't think
"I think the negative feedback against her really has more to do with her personally and not so
much with the fact that she's from an old state," Pauzauskie said.
Pauzauskie said he had visited Palin's hometown of Wasilla and would compare it to the size of
Tonganoxie.
"I'm kind of torn when it comes to voting this year," Pauzauskie said. "It's my home state versus my current state. With Obama being
from the Midwest and Palin being from Alaska, I'll have to weigh one against the other."
- Edited by Brenna Hawlev
COUNTRY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
particularly acute as they relate to Palestinians, Phillip Schrodt, professor of political science, said.
"It's just a complete legal nightmare," Schrodt said. "There is no typical way in which these things are resolved. That's what drives you crazy."
Schrodt was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in the West Bank, in the area commonly referred to as the Occupied Territories, in 1996. He said he has returned to the area about a dozen times in the years since.
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"I'll give you an example," Schrodt said. "If you're a Palestinian in the West Bank, there are seven different sets of laws that may apply to you, going all the way back to the Ottoman Empire, or maybe it's Jordanian law, or maybe it's Israeli law, or Israeli military law and so on. The problem is that because that situation is still unresolved after 60 years, these people are in legal limbo. You have no idea what you're running into."
Schrodt said that it was important to remember that this situation was not unique to the UAE.
"The UAE is no more guilty of this than dozens of other Arab countries, as well as Western countries and Israel," Schrodt said.
A contributing factor to predicants like the senior's is the relatively "hands-off" approach
most government agencies — both in the United States and abroad — tend to bring to the situation. Rekha Sharma-Crawford, an immigration attorney in Overland Park and former District Attorney in Lawrence and Wichita, said that while each immigration case was different, most shared a common element of indifference from the U.S. government.
"Just because he is 'stateless' is not going to be a basis for the U.S. government to allow him to remain in the United States," Sharma-Crawford said.
Marry Lou Cabrera, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that agencies are bound by a legal framework.
"We do welcome people coming in on student visas and temporary visas," Cabrera said. "But we do have our restrictions as well. We're
granting them the opportunity to come here, but it's a temporary situation. It's not a permanent situation.
"I'm not saying, 'it's not our problem,'" Cabrera said. "I'm saying that we did grant him a temporary visa."
In June, the senior's travel document went missing, although that has been the least of his worries.
"It's really worthless," he said. "It's not worth the ink that is written on it. It used to have value, but right now, they're not considering it."
The senior said his application for political asylum in the United States was denied because the UAE was considered stable, and he was not considered likely to face persecution if he were allowed to return. In addition to applying to graduate school or optional
practical training, is available to F-1 visa holders. The senior also has the option of marriage to a U.S. citizen.
"That's just crazy," the senior said. "I'm not going down that road."
Recently, the International Student and Scholar Services office informed the senior that he would soon be issued an I-20 form, requiring him to leave the country no later than February, two months after his F-1 visa expires.
That is how the senior began to consider extending his educational plans to graduate school. Without an F-1, L-2 or refugee travel document, neither the UAE, nor any other country, with the exception of Somalia, currently considered a "failed state" by the U.S. State Department, will grant him citizenship.
Although some countries are
willing to grant 30-day tourist visas, they are by no means a permanent solution. If the senior travels to the UAE or Egypt, for example, he would have 30 days to find a job in the country. When asked for comment on individuals in situations like the senior's, the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., replied in an e-mail: "The door is open for the student to apply for the visa through the proper channels. Also he can apply for a job in the booming and vibrant economy."
But because of economic structures, not every job ensures citizenship.
"If I have grad school, I have a better chance of getting a job that will ensure me a resident card," the senior said. "I'm thinking about an MBA right now."
Edited by Becka Cremer
**Erin Pfannenstiel, library assistant at Watson Library, read a passage from "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker aloud Wednesday afternoon in front of Watson. Pfannenstiel, 2003 graduate, was reading as part of KILIЯRANN'Banned Book Week.**
LIBRARIES
2nd annual 'read-out' gives a voice to banned literature
BY HALEY JONES
hjones@kansan.com
Students and faculty gathered in front of Watson Library on Wednesday to listen as KU faculty members read aloud passages from books that had been banned or challenged in schools. The second annual "read-out" commemorated the American Libraries Association's Banned Books Week, which is Sept. 27 to Oct. 4.
Erin Pfannenstiel, KU library assistant, read passages from one of her favorite books, "The Color Purple." Only 16 years ago, Alice Walker's novel, which focuses on female African-American life in the South during the 1930s, was labeled "smut" and banned by a Pennsylvania school district.
Flannentniel said she decided to participate in the event because she noticed that all her favorite books had, at one point, been on the banned books list.
"I saw that people didn't have the same access to the books that helped shape who I am," Pfannenstiel said. "I got to read whatever sounded interesting to me."
According to the ALA Web site, its Office for Intellectual Freedom received 420 book challenges last year. The site said a challenge was a formal, written complaint that had been filed with a library or school requesting the removal of
Rebecca Smith, KU Libraries director of communications, said although the ALA was working hard to spread awareness of book banning, it was something people would continue to face. She said all viewpoints deserved to be heard, regardless of their popularity.
materials because of content or appropriateness.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
"It is important to celebrate the freedom to choose when it comes to what one wants to read," Smith said.
Alex Hubbard, Overland Park freshman, graduated last year from Blue Valley West High School. She said her school banned William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" because of violence. She said she thought banning books was ridiculous.
Many groups and individuals in Kansas advocating higher literary standards in schools have worked to remove certain materials or assigned books from high school curricula. Some of them have succeeded and some students have noticed.
Lea Currie, head of the collection development for KU Libraries, said the KU Libraries' collection was selected based on whether it supported the research of KU faculty and students.
"Some of those books are classics and we need to read them because they are life-changing," Hubbard said.
She said most faculty and students appreciated the variety of materials available in the KU libraries, but some community members who had library memberships borrowed books on controversial topics such as abortion and did not return them.
"It's their form of censorship"
Currie said.
She said the libraries generally
replaced the books if they were stol len.
KU Libraries also designed a series of bookmarks to raise awareness of the importance of the free and fair accessibility and use of information.
libraries. That list includes books like Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and James Joyce's "Ulysses." Oread Books, located on the second level of the Kansas Union, also displayed a history of banned books in North America.
Smith said the bookmarks highlighted various books that had been traditionally banned or challenged that were available in KU
Edited by Kelsey Hayes