tuesday, november 25, 2003
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news
the university daily kansan 3A
Student art showcased in San Francisco exhibition
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
S"even University of Kansas design students are receiving national exposure through their first assignment of the semester.
The medals they designed in their enamelling class have been displayed at the Velvet da Vinci gallery in San Francisco throughout the month of November. The exhibition is entitled "Anti-War Medals" and explores artists' feelings about the conflict with Iraq.
Enameling is glass fused onto metal, such as copper or silver. The glass is in either a powder or liquid form. To apply the glass onto the metal, a kiln is fired at about 1,500 degrees to complete the process.
Gina Westergard assigned her students to design and enamel a medal no bigger than three inches all the way around.
Westergard, associate professor of metalsmithing and jewelry
design, instructed students to design a medal "for a relevant issue." The instructions were broad enough so that the students didn't need to focus entirely on the Iraq war for the project.
But the majority of the 13 students in the class did choose war as their theme. The subject matter aroused a series of discussions as they shared project ideas.
"I thought the way they handled it was really mature," Westergard said. "They talked about their own ideas without really hurting anybody's feelings or getting too emotional."
One of the students whose medal is on display is Jennifer White, Carrollton, Texas, junior. Personal history played a role in what she wanted to design, because she has two cousins and some friends in the military.
"It was very hard to come up with something anti-war," she said.
She researched medals of pris
oners of war and came up with the idea of dog tags wrapped around an American flag. She named the medal Captured.
Laura Zell, Lawrence senior, said much of the imagery in her work had a Christian base. Her medal, Peace, Like a Dove...has a simple design of a dove,a symbol of universal peace and of the Holy Spirit in Christianity.
Zell said she was honored to have her work included in an exhibition that featured professional artists as well as aspiring ones.
"I wish I could go there myself and see the other artists in the exhibit," she said.
Velvet da Vinci, which opened in 1991, puts together about five shows a year. This exhibition features 135 artists from 16 countries and it continues until Sunday.
For more photos of the medals,
go to http://www.velvetdavinci.com.
Edited by Joey Berlin
Contributed photo
Students from Gina Westerding enameling class are being honored by having their medals shown in an anti-vair exhibit at San Francisco's Velvet da Vinci gallery. The class project required students to focus their work on a "relevant issue."
Winter break extended 1 week; spring finals delayed
By Maggie Newcomer mnewcomer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Chancellor Robert Hemenway and the Kansas Board of Regents granted University of Kansas students seven extra days of winter break this year, and they made up for the lost time by pushing spring finals back a week.
Kyle Cohlmia said the extra week would give her more days to spend with friends and family
before jetting to England to study abroad for a semester.
The Stillwater, Okla., junior said she didn't think the extra time would delay her trip, and the additional days would allow her to spend more time with her friends who lived in Lawrence.
Lynn Bretz, director of University Relations, said academic calendars were proposed each year by the Calendar Committee of University Governance and had to be approved by the chancellor
and Board of Regents. The committee is comprised of the University Registrar, faculty and students.
That 2004 is a leap year made this year's calendar a little more puzzling, Bretz said.
Kansas universities are required to have 150 schools days each year. The University usually has 150 days split evenly between the fall and spring semesters. Bretz said the committee started by choosing Stop Day each semester.
Stop Day will be May 14 this spring. Then they counted back 75 school days, allowing for spring break and holidays.
Usually the spring semester starts before Martin Luther King Day Jr., Jan. 19 this spring. The University does not have classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the semester usually starts on a Thursday to compensate.
Because next semester's classes start after Martin Luther
King Jr. Day and the University doesn't have to make up the day, spring classes will begin on Friday, Jan. 23.
Richard Morrell, former registrar, said in an e-mail that the committee discussed several alternatives to adding a week to winter break, all of which were defeated by a vote.
The committee rejected plans to add a day to the fall semester and take one away from the spring, make the school year 151
days or do away with Stop Day, Morrell said.
Having classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day wasn't discussed, Morrell said.
Cohlmia said she thought the majority of students were in favor of or indifferent to the revamped schedule.
"I can't imagine anyone being opposed to an extra week of break time," Cohlmia said.
Investigation into Douglas County homicide continues
-Edited by Doyle Murphy
By Joe Hartigan
jhartigan@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Investigators completed the search late Friday afternoon, Sheriff Rick Trapp said.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office has completed its search and investigation of the house just north of Lawrence where Carmin Ross-Murray was found murdered.
No arrests have been made in the homicide investigation.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office has followed more than 100 leads, Lt. Kathy Tate of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators also searched the Manhattan home of Thomas Murray, an English professor at Kansas State University and exhusband of Ross-Murray, last week, according to reports from
the Lawrence Journal-World.
Trapp would not comment on whether there were any suspects in the case.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office had not released information on how and when Ross-Murray died.
An autopsy of Ross-Murray was completed but a coroner's report had not been released.
Trapp said it was impossible to determine when the investigation
would be completed and an arrest
would be made.
Investigators were stopping vehicles in the area last week and asking drivers if they had seen anything suspicious going on.
Ross-Murray, 40, was a self-employed conflict mediator, according to a news release from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. The release said she had a 4-year-old daughter who was
staying with relatives.
The daughter was not in the home at the time of the murder, according to the press release.
Ross-Murray's body was found at about 1 p.m. Nov. 14. Officers from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office were responding to a call from Ross-Murray's fiance, who lives in California.
The fiance had been unable to reach Ross-Murray by telephone.
Trapp said investigators had received some information about the case from people who had called CrimeStoppers.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office asked anyone with any information relevant to the investigation to call 841-0007. Callers who wish to remain anonymous were encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at 843-TIPS.
—Edited by Andy Marso
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