Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Warm again tomorrow with periods of clouds and sunshine
Kansan
Tuesday
October 13, 1998
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 36
Miss all the wrestling action last night? To catch up, take a look here.
Online today
http://www.wcwwrestling.com
http://www.wwf.com
Sports today
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Glenn Cunningham was one of the greatest distance runners of the '30s. He ran for Kansas and twice for the United States in the Olympics.
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
Controversy
Hate crimes talk of service
Queers and Allies honor gay student, victim of violence
By Pallavi Agarwal
Kansan staff writer
Sadness, shock and anger overtook the light-hearted celebration that gay students at the University of Kansas had planned for a national gay rights day.
A 30-minute memorial service was held for Matthew Shepard, a homosexual University of Wyoming student who died yesterday after being beaten. The service replaced a parody of homosexual stereotypes on Jerry Springer's talk show that was planned for noon yesterday
Nearly 50 KU students and staff members gathered outside the Kansas Union yesterday at noon to pray for Shepard and remind the public that any kind of hate crime is morally wrong.
The event took place as part of a KU student organization. Queens & Allies' celebration of National Coming Out Day, which was celebrated Sunday.
Two of the members shared with the public the hate crimes that they had faced and asked the audience to support stronger hate crime legislations in the country.
tor of Queer & Allies.
"All you people out there who hear and
In an emotional voice, and cheered on by the audience, Rowland gave three examples of homophobia he had faced that could have put his life in danger.
"Once, somebody set fire to my house," he said. "Four years ago on Christmas, somebody threw a stone on my face, I filled charges and won."
Another time, he said, he was pulled out of the car at gunpoint.
Katie Shay, Leawood sophomore and director of the group, who goes by the name Jack and plans to legally change her name soon, said it was wrong to think Lawrence was safe for gays.
Shay said that on Oct. 3 someone pulled up beside her at a stoplight, said a homosexual slur, and threatened to rape and kill her.
Some members of the audience sympatized with the concerns of the memorial service but held homosexuality to be wrong.
Shay was unharmed.
"I'm not going to protest against homosexuals, but I'm not going to support them either," said Jared Martin. Fort Scott junior.
Rowland said Shepard's assaulters were being booked for
"All you people out there who hear and not prevent those who degrade women, blacks and gays are permitting people to conduct crimes that are violent..."
Don Rowland, office coordinator of Queens and Allies, speaks about Matthew Shepard, a student from the University of Wyoming who recently died from injuries sustained during a beating. Rowland and others wore Shepard's picture on their backs at a rally and memorial service yesterday morning in front of the Kansas Union. Photo by Jeff Sewerin/KANSAN
not prevent those who degrade women, blacks and gays are permitting people to conduct crimes that are violent and full of hate," said Don Rowland, the university's lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender liaison and office coordina-
Don Rowland Office coordinator of Queers & Allies
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have hate crime laws that include sexual orientation as a basis of hate crime, he said.
manslaughter and not hate crime because Wyoming has no laws addressing hate crimes.
Federal law describes hate crimes as those perpetrated on the basis of race, religion, national origin and color.
The two speakers asked the public to lend its support for The Hate Crime Prevention Act of 1988, which is considered by Congress.
Sexuality one factor in death of student
The Associated Press
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A gay University of Wyoming student digged yesterday, five days after he was found pistol-whipped and lashed to a fence post in an attack denounced nationwide as a hate crime.
Matthew Shepard, 21, died while on life support, said the head of Poudre Valley Hospital, Rulon Stacey. Shepard had been in a coma since bicyclists found him tethered to the post in near-freezing temperatures outside Laramie, Wyo., on Wednesday.
Police have said robbery was the primary motive for the attack. But gay rights groups and others assailed the beating and called on Wyoming legislators to adopt laws to deter crimes against homosexuals.
McKinney's girlfriend, Price and his father, Bill McKinney, told The Denver Post that the two men did not mean to kill Shepard. Instead, they said the two wanted to get back at Shepard for making passes at McKinney.
Before Shepard's death, Russell Arthur Henderson, 21, and Aaron James McKinney, 22, had been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery. Their girlfriends — Chasity Vera Pasley, 20, and Kristen Leann Price, 18 — were charged with being accessories after the fact.
Sgt. Rob DeBree of the Albany County sheriff's office, a lead investigator in the case, confirmed today the charges would be upgraded to first-degree murder. He gave no details.
Worm could creep through campus Macs
By Liz Wristen
Kansan staff writer
A computer worm that has infected the University of Kansas' School of Journalism computers could spread to computers campuswide.
A worm is a slower-moving type of virus that usually is self-replicating, said Justin Knupp, systems specialist for the University Daily Kansan.
According to information from the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center, the worm replicates itself from computer to computer as a self-contained, standalone file. It may cause performance problems and corruption to files.
The Kansan received a worm, called AutoStart 9005, from a zip disk that had been used in a Macintosh PowerPC-based computer at the Lawrence Journal-World last week.
Since then, the Academic Computer Center has received four or five calls from students who reported problems with their disks after using computers infected with the worm, said Jan Grzymala-Busse, programmer/consultant for the center.
Knupp said the easiest way for the worm to be transferred would be through zip disks, although any kind of disk or disk drive that is formatted for use by a Macintosh computer could be infected by the worm.
Knupp said the worm acted as a hidden file and could not be seen on a disk. The worm can be transferred onto a computer through a program called QuickTime. When a person puts an infected disk into a computer, QuickTime may automatically open up the disk if the AutoStart file tells it to.
THE WORM
A worm has infected the Macintosh PC-powered computers in the School of Journalism. The worm, called AutoStart 9805, can only infect Macintosh computers
A worm is a slower-moving type of virus that is usually self-replicating.
■ The easiest way for the worm to be transferred would be through zip drives, although any kind of disk or disk drive that is for matted for use by a Macintosh computer can by infected by the worm.
Students may run software called Wormscanner to detect the virus on their computer and kill it. The free soft ware may be downloaded at http://members.ad.
The Macintosh PowerPC-based computers across campus all have the QuickTime program.
Students may protect their computers from the worm by opening up the QuickTime program and clicking on the settings option. By choosing AutoPlay, two boxes will appear. Do not check either of the boxes. This way the AutoStart file will not automatically open up an inserted disk and transfer any possible viruses that may exist on the disk, Knupp said.
The University has been taking care of the problem by running software entitled Wormscanner that detects the virus and kills it.
See COMPUTER on page 2A
Rally focuses on indigenous cultures
Michael Yellow Bird, assistant professor of Social Welfare, speaks to a crowd in front of Wescoe Hall. Yellow Bird was one of several speakers at the Columbus Day Rally yesterday morning. Photo by Jeff Severin/KANSAN.
Columbus Day talks show holiday's flaws
By Steph Brewer Kansan staff writer
While federal workers took a break yesterday to celebrate Christopher Columbus' landing on American shores, First Nations Student Association and Multicultural Student Coalition celebrated the survival of this continent's original inhabitants.
A small crowd of more than 50 students applauded the speakers throughout the hour-long rally in front of Wescoe Hall.
"All across the Western Hemisphere people are celebrating indigenous people's day or a day of survival," said Raven Heavy Runner, association president and Browning, Mont. senior.
The atmosphere was positive with the focus more on celebrating indigenous cultures and promoting multiculturalism rather than attacking Columbus.
Although the rally was peaceful, speakers did not shy away from presenting the harsh facts of colonization.
Ray Pierotti, associate professor of environmental studies, said that 200 years after Columbus arrived, 90 percent of the indigenous population of North America was dead, mostly because of introduced diseases.
Heavy Runner said different cultura groups needed to work together and learn from each other's experiences.
Martina Masaquiza, lecturer in Latin American Studies, said the issue also was important to the indigenous peoples of South America. She said her people were still struggling to survive ongoing colonization.
"I think a lot of people don't realize it's not so much what Columbus did, but what he came to represent," Pierotti said. "What we're doing today is celebrating the fact that we're still here." Conway Ekpo, vice president of Black Student Union and Lawrence senior, said rally participants wanted to challenge people's viewpoints.
Ekpo said she learned there were people already here when Columbus arrived. "Simply put: Columbus finding America is about as accurate as we walking up to your house, where you've lived for years, and saying I discovered you."
The arrival of Columbus is not a happy day for us," she said. "How can we be happy about Columbus coming here, robbing our land?" she said.
Former KU student Lidia Faverman was visiting campus yesterday and said she was happily surprised to see students speaking out against Columbus Day.
"I think it's important to speak about the real history of people," she said. "History can be taught from the streets and from the mouths of people who lived it."
Pierotti said problems in understanding arise because of a lack of respect. He said he would have liked to see more students at the rally.
"I don't understand the students' apathy on many issues," he said.
Seven counterfeit bills used to defraud three businesses
Police suspect crimes could be connected
Seven counterfeit $1 bills were used to make purchases at three Massachusetts Street businesses during the weekend, and Lawrence police said the crimes probably were connected.
By Keith Burner
"They've got to be, they're all the same," said Lawrence police Sgt. George Wheeler.
Kansan staff writer
The bills all were passed between 10 p.m.
Friday and 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Police
have no suspects.
Three of the bills were found Saturday morning at the Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St., by manager Patrick McDonald when he was counting the money collected Friday night.
"We got nailed about two weeks ago," McDonnell said.
"We run a whole lot of volume, and it was dark," McDonald said. "We can't really expect everyone to inspect every bill."
The employee found the second bill soon after.
That time, the club lost $300 when employees found 15 counterfeit $2 bills.
Two more counterfeit $10 bills were discovered Saturday night at Milton's Coffee
This was not the first time the club has been targeted by counterfeiters.
& Wine, a coffee shop at 920 Massachusetts St., when an employee accidentally spilled water on one of the bills, causing the ink to smear, police said.
The two other counterfeit bills were discovered at Coco Loco Mexican Cafe, 943 Massachusetts St., between 10 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Coco Loco could not be reached for comment.
Wheeler said it was possible to recognize counterfeit money if people took the time to inspect each bill.
"People should feel it, snap it and look closely at the paper." Wheeler said.
He said valid U.S. currency had a texture of tiny green thread that is very easy to tell apart from green ink smudged on paper, no matter how accurate the design of the counterfeit bill.
"If nothing else, just lick your fingers and see if the ink smears." he said.
Police said that if the counterfeiters were not caught, the businesses would have to absorb the loss.
McDonald said he already was taking precautions to avoid future scams.
"The bank did give us some pens to check the money with," he said.
McDonald said the ink in the pens turns gold when used on a valid bill but black when used on anything else.
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