thursday, October 30, 2003
news
the university daily kansar
3A
Megan True/Kansan
Jamie Sangster, Olathe junior, read T-shirts made by women and children who were abused at yesterday's display on the Stauffer-Flint Hall lawn. Titled the Clothesline Project, the demonstration was sponsored by Women's Transitional Care Services as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
T-shirts draw violence awareness
By Meghan Brune
mbrune@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Messages of rape, abuse, tears and survival decorated colored shirts in sparkled paint with silk flowers.
The Clothesline Project is a display of T-shirts, hung on clotheslines, that tell the stories of women and children who have been the victims of violence.
Women's Transitional Care Services, or WTCS, has hung the project 15 times this month throughout Douglas, Franklin and jefferson counties as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Its final stop of October was yesterday on campus, where the lines were hung between trees on the Stauffer-Flint Hall lawn.
"Ithink it is an awesome,beautiful tool to educate that catches
peoples' eye," said Maggie Beedles, Lawrence senior and outreach coordinator for WTCS.
The national awareness project began in Lawrence in 1995. Shirts have been designed by women and children and the families and friends of victims who have died.
The 250 shirts tell the stories of women and children who were victims of battery, child abuse, incest, rape or sexual assault. This month, 10 to 15 new shirts have been added to the project.
Each shirt's color represents the type of violence the victim suffered. Among the red, purple yellow and blue shirts, white ones represent victims who have died. Clothesline is used to bring to mind a female or maternal image.
Beedles said she thought the projects' colorful appearance confused people.
"It is difficult for people that we
present a dramatic topic in such a cheerful way." Beedles said. "A lot of people think we shouldn't be talking about it."
The goal of the project and the whole month is to make people aware and to get people talking. Beedles said.
"We have a belief that violence is feeding on silence," Beedles said. "The more we can get people talking, the better chance we have of eradicating it."
According to the Department of Justice, a Kansas woman is beaten by an intimate partner every 29 minutes. Every two weeks, a woman is murdered.
This year, Alpha Chi Omega sorority teamed up with WTCS for awareness activities. The sorority's national philanthropy is domestic violence awareness said Lauren O'Brien, Eagan, Minn., sophomore.
Lea Burgess-Carland,WTCS volunteer coordinator, said the hardest part of the project was getting people to look.
"For the people who find out what it is about, I think it is effective," Burgess-Carland. Lawrence senior, said.
Besides helping with the Clothesline Project, O'Brien said the group has increased domestic violence awareness by handing out purple ribbons, selling T-shirts to benefit WTCS and collecting old cell phones. The cell phones are distributed to at-risk women, so they can call 911.
O'Brien said domestic violence awareness was especially important for college students.
"At this time in our lives, we are getting involved in more serious relationships," O'Brien said. "And you need to learn to protect yourself."
- Edited by Cate Batchelder
Funding needed to begin building
By Amber Byarlay
abyarlay@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas has a long-term plan to provide laboratory space for undergraduate science majors. Now all it needs is $30 million dollars.
The plan includes a five- to sixstory building that would be located cast of Malott Hall. Labs and teaching facilities would be located in the new building. Additional labs will provide more and improved space for undergraduates. The lab space available now for science undergraduates is limited because it is small and outdated.
"It would help with chemistry labs because the chemistry labs we have are old," Mohammad Haider, Kuwait City, Kuwait, sophomore, said. "Not all of the equipment and computers are working properly at all the work stations."
Haider, who is an environmental science major, said he had problems in a chemistry lab when the lab was using gas and only one work station had access to gas.
Haider said he also had difficulties getting into classes because he could not get into the accompanying labs, which were full. The labs have no more than 30 students in them because the rooms can't hold more students, and teaching assistants prefer the smaller classes, said Julie Campbell, director of labs for biological sciences. Campbell said there were 10 biology labs, and the largest held 24 students. Another holds 16, and the remaining eight can hold 12 students.
Joe Heppert, a chemistry professor who helped create the new building's proposal, said the physical layout of Malott limited the types of lab experiments that could be done.
"Experiments involving gases or cleaning materials need to be under hoods." Heppert said. "There is only a single hood in a lab, so we try to avoid those experiments."
These space and design difficulties could be solved by the new undergraduate natural sciences laboratory learning center if funding can be found for construction.
Campbell said in the plans the building looked beautiful, but in order for the plans to materialize, a donor must be found.
The building idea was generated in the late 1990s by a group of science professors who thought there was need for more space. The building plans were approved and became a part of the KU First program to generate funds, but a donor has not been found. The building's cost was estimated at $60 million in 2000; it's now estimated to be between $64 and $65 million dollars. The cost comes from the equipment and designs that the new science building needs to solve the problems faced in labs in Malott and Haworth halls.
Jack Landgrebe, professor emeritus in chemistry, said $20 million to $30 million would need to be provided by a donor to begin construction. If a donor gave the money, the University would then ask the state to provide the rest of the money. Landgrebe said. The building's plans have been approved by the Board of Regents, Landgrebe said; all that is needed is the funding.
Students in chemistry, biology, astronomy, physics and geology would use the building. The building is supposed to have office and storage space, computer labs and a commons area in addition to new laboratories.
Edited by Katie Bean