Monday, November 30, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Multicultural Holidays
Kwanzaa
Celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 with seven guiding principles, one for each day of the observance:
Umoja- Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community
Kujichagula- Self-Determination requires defining common interests and making decisions that are in the best interest of family and friends
Ujima- Collective Work and Responsibility are reminders of obligations to the past, present and future, and that everyone has a role to play in the community, society and world.
Ujamaa- Cooperative economics emphasizes collective economic strength and encourages meeting common needs through mutual support.
Nia- Purpose encourages looking within and setting personal goals that are beneficial to the community.
Kuumba- Creativity makes use of creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.
Imani- Faith focuses on honoring the best of traditions, draws upon the best within, and helps strive for a higher level of life for humankind.
Chanukah
Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem on the 25th of the month of Kisley.
Each night after sundown,
another candle on the Menorah is lit (One for the first day, two the second etc.) and prayers are said.
People often play dreidel and eat foods cooked in oil such as potato lattes. People receive small gifts each night.
Jason Benavides/KANSAN
December includes many holidays
Kwanzaa, Chanukah not just Christmas celebrated in month
By Steph Brewer
Kansan staff writer
December for most Americans means mistletoe, Christmas trees, Santa Claus and presents.
But for some Americans, December has nothing to do with Christmas. The month is also the time of Chanukah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, and Kwanzaa, a seven-day African-American cultural celebration.
Despite efforts on the part of American society to be politically correct, some people say these two holidays continue to be surrounded by ignorance and misconceptions.
"You have a lot more of the minority knowing what Christmas is about than the majority knowing about Chanukah or Kwanzaa," said Dion Jones, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, senior.
Alan Potter, Iola sophomore, said that the ignorance came from the makeup of American society.
"I guess more people don't know
anything because we're in a predominantly Christian society," Potter said. "Most of our laws are based on Christian precepts and that allows people very little room to be exposed to other faiths."
The American understanding of Chanukah has changed throughout the years.
"Personally, I think it's very Americanized," said Nikki Anesi, Chicago junior. "I think it's lost a Jewish perspective and become sort of the matching to Christmas in society's eyes."
Besides the religious differences, the importance of Chanukah and Christmas varies greatly.
"We're not dealing with holidays of equal weight," said Steve Jacobson, executive director of University of Kansas Hillel Foundation.
Christmas is one of Christianity's most important holidays, whereas Chanukah's gift-giving is traditionally not nearly as lavish as that of Christmas. There are eight days of gifts at Chanukah, but the presents are often small trinkets, such as books or calendars.
Jacobson said the reason that many Americans saw Chanukah as the big Jewish holiday was
"I think it comes from good intentions," Jacobson said. "They're wanting to be inclusive. The problem is people make assumptions instead of asking questions."
Celebrants of Kwanzaa face a different problem. Many Americans don't even know what the holiday concerns.
"I think they just think it's a thing African Americans do after Christmas," said Yasmeen Coleman, Kansas City, Kan., junior.
Coleman said she didn't celebrate Kwanzaa as a child because her father was Muslim. She celebrated her first Kwanzaa two years ago with friends.
Kwanzaa was founded in 1966 in America by Maulana Karenga.The celebration is based on seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective works, cooperative economics, creativity, purpose and faith.
because it is in December.
"I think the principles behind it are fundamental," she said. "We should all be promoting unity amongst ourselves."
Coleman said because of the focus of Kwanzaa, the holiday could be appreciated by everyone.
Kwanzaa has a gift-giving ceremony, but it is a very different one from that of Christmas.
"You have a lot more of the minority knowing what Christmas is about than the majority knowing about Chanukah or Kwanzaa."
Dion Jones Virgin Islands senior
"To show how important it is, the gifts have to be handmade," Coleman said.
Amy Miller, Topeka senior, said that she thought Chanukah and Kwanzaa were less focused on gifts and therefore less commercialized.
"There's not as much publicity surrounding Kwanzaa and Chanukah," she said.
Traffic accidents mar long holiday weekend
Coleman said that she would like more Americans to learn about Kwanzaa but that she wouldn't want it to become as commercialized as Christmas.
"I think making it commercialized lessens it," she said.
By Keith Burner Kansan staff writer
Driving was harsh during Thanksgiving week, Lawrence police said.
There were six traffic-related deaths in Kansas during the break and at least two KU students' trips home were delayed by an accident that hospitalized a 30-year-old Eudora woman.
The most recent fatality occurred early yesterday morning. Daniel
A large truck driven north by 20-year-old Lawrence resident James Toomay about 7 p.m. just north of 19th Street on Iowa Street plowed into a Chevy Beretta driven by 21-year-old Misty Sigler, Iola sophomore. Sigler and passenger Jared Spence, a 20-year-old Iola junior, suffered minor injuries. but were not hospitalized.
The truck then smashed into a second car, injuring Eudora resident Cindy Payne, 30, who was then taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center, where she was admitted in serious condition Tuesday night. Her condition was upgraded to fair, said Shirley Osborn, a Med Center nursing supervisor.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported six fatal car accidents in the state between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. yesterday.
Morse, 27, from Merriam, died when the car he was driving struck a tree in the Kansas City area, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.
A 10-year-old girl died about 5:45 p.m. Saturday when she was hit by a car as she tried to run across U.S. Highway 77 near Junction City, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.
A 45-year-old Trenton, Mo., man died Saturday from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle wreck Friday in the Kansas City area.
Matthew Linn, 16, of Wichita, died when the car he was in collided with another car in Wichita about 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Cynthia M. Whisnet, 42, of Kansas City, Kan., died about 10 p.m. Thursday when the car she was driving struck a light pole on Interstate 635 in Kansas City, Kan.
Roma Boschowitzki, 72, of Ellis, died Thursday when the car she was in ran off a county road west of Winona about 11:15 a.m., said Logan County Sheriff Parons.
Last year, three people were killed on Kansas highways during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which runs from 6 p.m. Wednesday through midnight Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
A wave of holiday spirit
Santa Claus waves to a spirited holiday crowd.
Santa Claus appeared on the rooftop of Weavers Department Store INC., 901 Massachusetts St.
Thursday night and was rescued by the Lawrence Fire Department as about 4,000 people looked on.
Music and caroling were part of the festivities before Massachusetts Street was illuminated by lights. Photo by Augustus Anthony Piazza/KANSAN
KU Habitat for Humanity has blueprint for helping
Kansan staff writer
By Julie M. Sachs
Plans are underway for the University of Kansas chapter of Habitat for Humanity to raise about $45,000 to build a house.
Members hope to begin construction within three or four years.
The group, which consists of about 30 members, will be working independently from its Lawrence affiliate, but parts of the project still will go through the Lawrence chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
"We're not trying to distance our
selves from the Lawrence chapter, but we want to contribute more," said Jeff Williams, Lawrence senior and president of the KU chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Troy Fowler, Minneapolis, senior and finance chairman for the KU chapter, said that the Lawrence affiliate would still be responsible for finding the building site and the family that the house would be built for.
But this would be the first house that would be financed entirely by the KU chapter.
The group has been busy finding sponsors to help with the cost of the
"This isn't a house for the homeless."
Jeff Williams
Lawrence senior
house. Sponsors either donate money or supplies toward the project.
"Basically, we're hoping to get corporate support and student support," Fowler said. "It will show the
Student Senate also supports the chapter by providing the group with funding for advertising costs.
Lawrence community that students have a vested interest in the Lawrence community."
Williams said that Habitat helped to eliminate impoverished housing.
"This isn't a house for the homeless," Williams said.
Individuals who are selected to receive a Habitat house pay for their house through no-interest mortgages. They pay no more than what the house cost to build. Williams said.
The family must also help with the manual work that goes into building a Habitat home. The family members must complete a total of 375 sweat-
equity hours along with the mortgage payments.
In addition to building their own house, the family members must help build to other houses. Williams said Essentially, habitat families help to build their neighbors' houses.
"It makes borrowing sugar a lot easier," Williams said.
Sweat-equity hours also can be earned through office work for Habitat.
In the end, Williams said that families were left with a house that would sell for twice what the family paid for it.
"It's such a great thing," he said. "It lets people build equity."
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24-Hour Emergency Dept.
749-6162
325 Maine Street Lawrence, Kansas 66044
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