Wednesday, November 5, 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 5
Safe Ride solicits commission for funds to fuel operation
By Daniel E. Thompson
dihompson@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
Safe Ride has asked the Lawrence City Commission for money.
But they were not the only organization to do so.
"Requests are coming in every week or two," said Bonnie Augustine, Lawyer - mayor.
City commissioners are addressing how to structure requests in the future: have the requests submitted when the budget is put together or ask for the requests by a specific time.
Safe Ride, along with the other organizations, is requesting financing from alcohol-tax money to expand and improve services.
"Mid-year budget requests ought to be judged on whether or not they're
extraordinary needs and on the consequences of not having funding," city commissioner John Nalbandian said.
Marty Kennedy, city commissioner, stressed that the emergencies should be well-documented to warrant the commission's interest. Bob Moody, city commissioner, questioned why Safe Ride had requested money from the commission.
"I thought I saw an article in the UDK a week or so ago that said there was additional $2 fee to be used for the transportation fees, including Safe Ride," he said.
Oct. 29, Student Senate approved a transportation fee increase from $14 to $16 per semester to allow the transportation board to improve Safe Ride
City Manager Mike Wildgen said that Safe Ride was furnishing him with additional budget information.
It seems the word has gotten out that the city's finances are in good standing.
Outdoor pool revenues soared to $210,000. It had been budgeted at $75,000. In 1996, the pool brought in $85,000 in a shortened season because of construction.
According to the Nine Months Report, the city has a significant amount of idle cash to invest. Because of this, Ed Mullins, director of finance, said most projects next year would not require that bonds be issued.
One project that would need to be financed by bonds is the 6th Street renovation from Wakarusa to K-10. Wildgen said the budget had not foreseen the expenditure.
Wildgen said the Kansas Department of Transportation had pledged $2 million for the project construction but that money would not finance the renovation. Last night the commission voted to appoint the city manager to start accepting bids for the $400,000 design cost to be split between the city and Douglas County.
Film projects cultural diversity
Stereotypes about Asian Americans addressed, broken
By Rachelle Detweiler
detweiler@kansan.com
Kansan stuff writer
On childhood family vacations Renee Tajima-Pena's family would pack into the Ford Fairlane and cruise through the county.
Even though they would visit sites common in many American families vacation plans, they could travel through five states and sometimes not see another family like theirs.
Talima-Peña is an Asian American.
"My father had a wandering, Tajima-Peña said. "He took us to every corner of the country. When I traveled, I felt America was magnificent, but I was lonely because I was the only Asian American on the road."
Tajima-Peña took her memories and mixed them with coast-to-coast documentary footage. Her film "My
America ... or Honk If You Love Buddha" shows how Asian Americans are becoming more visible.
Tajima-Peña's video was shown last night to a group of about 50 people in Dyche Auditorium. The Multicultural Resource Center, the English Alternative Theater and the Art Department sponsored the event.
She broke stereotypes through comic portraits of characters like Mr. Choi, a New York fortune cookie maker, and tied the film together through the experiences of her guide, Victor Wong, a 70 year-old ex-Beatnik who lived in San Francisco's China Town during the fervor of the Beat Movement in the 1950s.
The film won an award in 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
"Her reputation among Asian Americans is very solid," said Roger Shimomura, an art department professor who helped coordinate the event.
He said Tajima-Peña also would release a film this month with footage from Lawrence about the remaining members of the Beat Generation.
Growing up in a truly American fashion, just blocks from Wrigley Stadium in Chicago, Tajima-Peha did not become absorbed in her heritage until high school when she wrote a paper about her grandparents' experience in a Japanese interment camp and the teacher told her no such camps existed.
She began searching for real Americans to be her guide.
"Documentary is a search for characters," Tajima-Pena said. "I wanted to find characters that fit into the last 50 years of history."
Mirah Kwon, Leawood junior, said the humor made younger viewers more comfortable with the Tajima-Peña's message. Kwon was one of about 10 members of the Asian American Student Union who attended the film.
Kwon said she understood the experiences Tajima-Pena explained through the film and that she agreed with the film's message.
"I'm surprised that there's more of a common ground than I expected," Tajima-Peña said. "Asians are a part of American culture than I expected. I'm just happy that people laugh at the right places."
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