Balance: Kendra Kahler juggles volleyball and track and field with school. Page 1B Disease: Hepatitis B, although potentially deadly, is preventable. Page 3A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
ADVERTISING 864-4358
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24,1996
SECTION A VOL.103.NO.45
(USPS 650-640)
Dying winds are a break for firefighters in quelling brush fires in California
MALIBU, Calif. — The dry, blustery Santa Ana wind that turned brush fires into blowtorches eased yesterday, giving firefighters an edge as they tried to contain the flames that destroyed more than 100 houses.
Fires scattered across California had charred about 37,000 acres. Blazes that engulfed neighborhoods of Malibu, Carlsbad and Lemon Grove still were out of control but were being contained gradually by firebreaks.
President Clinton issued an emergency declaration for San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange counties, where the firestorms had chased thousands from their homes, said officials in Gov. Pete Wilson's office. The action allows federal funding for assistance programs.
Airplanes and helicopters flew over the dry canyons of Los Angeles and San Diego counties for a third day, drenching hot spots and laying down fire retardant.
Highway agency says seating children in front of air bags can be deadly
WASHINGTON — For the first time, the government's highway safety agency has found that a child properly using an automobile's front seat belt was killed by the force of an air bag, according to a report released yesterday.
I the child's death shows that not only are air bag warnings inadequate, but new safety warnings proposed by the government also do not go far enough, said par-
MIRANDA DE EBRO, Spain — A 9-year-old girl and her three sisters were behind bars yesterday after they distracted bank employees long enough *o* steal $10,000 from the vault.
either and safety advocate Instead, safety advocates want everyone told, forcefully, that children should not sit in front.
Freeman honored for book
About midday Monday, as three of the sisters questioned employees at state-run Banco de Exterior about credit and claimed they were shortchanged, the youngest slipped into the open bank vault and took the money.
The four, aged 9 to 14, were caught within minutes of the robbery, but authorities still were looking for the money, police said.
Four girls steal $10,000 from bank vault in Spain
Five-year-old Frances Ambrose of Nashville, Tenn., was in the front passenger seat wearing her lap and shoulder belt correctly when she was killed Sept. 12 in a low-speed accident, the highway safety agency's new report says.
"There are a lot of children that are out there that are still in front of these air bags," said Albert Ambrose, Frances' father. "Had we been notified, we wouldn't have put our child in front of an ail bag."
The four left before employees realized what had happened. In the ensuing chase, authorities found the girls but not the money.
News reports said police were investigating whether the sisters might have passed the money to a fifth person.
Chris Hamilton / KANSAN
The girls were not identified.
Bryant Freeman, director of Haitian studies, created a 656-page Haitian Creole-English dictionary.
Freeman has spent the last 38 years studying the people and politics of Haiti. In Haiti, Freeman held positions including political adviser for the United Nations and political adviser for the commanding American general during the United States' occupation in 1994.
Haitian expert writes dictionary
Although Freeman has been influential in the recent politics of Haiti, he said the closest he had been to the U.S. embassy residence was when he was on the front lawn enjoying hot dogs and Coca-Cola for the Fourth of July.
The Associated Press
Freeman said it was exciting to be on the cutting edge of a field. The dictionary is his fifteenth book on Haiti.
By Lindsey Henry and Eric Weslander
Kansan staff writers
In addition to honoring Freeman and hiking up historic hills, Hemenway said he planned to discuss ways to boost KU's international exchange program with the president of the Haitian university.
The University's Institute for Haitian studies is one of only two in the United States. The institute and La Presse Evangelique in Port-au-Prince are publishing the dictionary.
A chauffeured limousine will meet Chancellor Robert Henneyan and Bryant Freeman, director of Haitian studies, when they step off of an airplane today in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Freeman will finish a second English-Haitian Creole volume in 1997, which will be more than 1,000 pages long.
Freeman said he would show Hemenway some of Haiti's historic sites, including the Citadelle, a fort built to defend the Haitians from the French. The only way to reach the fort is by a 30-minute walk uphill, he said.
Hemenway and Freeman will be official guests of the United States Ambassador to Haiti at a reception celebrating Freeman's completion of a 666-page Haitian Creole-English dictionary. They will stay at the Haitian embassy residence for four days.
"This is a tremendous honor," Hemenway said. "It is a recognition of the great respect for the University of Kansas in Haiti."
"I want to find out the ways Haitian studies
Freeman worked for 15 years to compile the dictionary, which includes terms for modern medicine, politics and voooo in addition to everyday vocabulary.
"This is nothing new, and I have a lot more planned," he said. "There is a lot to be done, and there are not many people doing it."
The dictionary's 35,000 entries make it more than three times longer than Indiana University's 9,800-entry dictionary, which Freeman said was the best he had seen.
"I read 27,500 pages of Haitian text, thinking over every word, 'Do we have that in the dictionary?'" Freeman said. "One out of 10 or 20 times, we wouldn't."
To make the dictionary thorough, Freeman and Haitian native Jowel Laguerre read more than 237 Haitian books about everything from tuberculosis to animal husbandry. Freeman even read a 700-page Haitian Boy Scout manual, a book that he said taught him more than he wanted to know about tying knots.
can enhance KU's offerings," Hemenway said.
Vigil to recognize loss, prevention
By Ashlee Roll
Kansan staff writer
Tomorrow night, Lawrence community members will gather in South Park to remember loved ones who have fallen to drugs and alcohol.
Along with 20 sponsors, Project Freedom will sponsor a vigil in South Park, 1141 Massachusetts St., to focus on alcohol and drug prevention in Lawrence.
"It's going to be a very moving experience," said Emily Heath, Oskaloosa junior and co-director of the Center for Community Outreach. "There are some very powerful things planned."
Heath said several people who had lost children to drunk driving accidents are scheduled to speak. Also speaking will be women who have been in alcohol-related abusive relationships.
From 6 to 7 p.m., there will be information tables, visual arts and special performances.
The Prairie Wind Dancers, an interpretational dance group, will perform along with Cornel Peeweardy and the Native-American flute.
"The vigil is a community affair," said Julie Francis, health educator for Watkins Memorial Health Center, which is co-sponsoring the event.
From 7 to 8:30 p.m., members of
"There are obviously alcohol-related things like sexual assault and drunk driving that go on in college," Heath said. "Even though there are organizations like S.A.D.D. and M.A.D.D., it's still a problem."
Heath said the vigil's relevance to students was important.
The vigil will include special displays, such as a Chain of Caring and Tell it to the Wall. The Chain of Caring is a paper chain, with each link representing a community member's commitment to supporting someone who has an alcohol or drug problem.
The links will come from tables that have been set up across town in the weeks before the vigil.
ten it to the Wall will be a tarp that people can sign remembering friends and family members who have been lost to addiction.
"There is no question that this disease is at the root of many problems in our community," said Dan Griffin, Project Freedom community mobilizer. "This is one way for our community to end the silence and to experience hope. Together we can work to prevent problems with alcohol and drugs."
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Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer prize-winning poet, speaks to a crowded house at the Lied Center. Last night's poetry read attracted an audience of more than 1,000.
Social issues focus of poet's presentation
By Eric Weslander
Kansan staff writer
A crack-addicted mother, a sexually abusive alcoholic uncle and pool-shooting truants were brought to life at the Lied Center last night by Pulitzer prize-winning gwendolyn Brooks.
Brooks spoke to the crowd of more than 1,000 to describe issues such as child abuse, drugs and race relations through her poetry. Many of the poems came from Brooks' book Children Coming Home, which is a recent compilation of poems about children who are on their way home from school. Each child is returning to a troublesome situation.
"Not everyone is coming home to cookies and cocoa. Brooks said.
One poem described a young boy who was sexually abused by his alcoholic uncle. The child was uncomfortable with and confused by the uncle's behavior.
Other poems from the book addressed parents fighting, crack addictions and racial beauty myths,
"Almost inevitably, when I read that poem in an elementary school, some child will say to me afterward, 'That's happening in my home,'" Brooks said.
all from children's perspectives.
Brooks also read one of her most popular poems, We Real Cool, which is about carefree teen-agers skipping school, drinking and shooting pool. After the poem, she read a letter from a tenth-grade fan who wanted to learn more about the poem's significance.
Brooks began the evening by discussing the importance of words.
"We live on, by and through the effects of our words on and other peoples"words,"she said.
"Black" was one word she discussed. She said she hated hearing the phrase "African-American" because it was cold and excluding.
"The phrase is islanding, the phrase is limiting, the phrase is weak," she said. "Afri-can A-meric-an, as opposed to Black, which comes right out to meet you, eye to eye."
Luci Tapahonso, associate professor of English, said it was important for Kansans to hear Brooks' voice. Brooks was born in Topeka but has spent most of her life in Chicago.
Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. She is Poet Laureate of Illinois and a writer-in-residence at Chicago State University.
See BROOKS, Page 2A