6
Tuesday, October 8, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Fraternity restores old Acacia house
Phi Kappa Tau awaits renovation completion in May
By Bradley Brooks
Kansan staff writer
The corner of 11th and Indiana streets has been the site of a dilapidated house for nearly four years. But renovations on the structure soon will be complete, and it will become the home of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
"Our current house is smaller than most fraternities," said Chad King, Overland Park junior and vice-president of the fraternity. "It only holds 24 people. We hope the new house will hold 60 to 70 members."
The fraternity purchased the house, at 1100 Indiana St., shortly after its previous owner, the Acacia fraternity, left campus in 1992. The fraternity paid $150,000, said Trey Ham, Phi Kappa Tau chapter adviser and 1995 graduate of the University of Kansas.
Ham also said that the fraternity couldn't move into the house immediately after Acacia left
because some members and nonmembers of that fraternity damaged the property during a farewell party.
"Ever see the movie The Money Pit?" The house pretty much looked like that," Ham said.
The renovations began roughly a year after the purchase of the house, Ham said. The roof and all of the windows and floors had to be replaced. An internal staircase also has been built.
"We had always been looking for a new house. A lot of the recent graduates are really excited about this, and the older alumni will be when they see it," Ham said.
Ham said that the cost of the project, which he estimated to be between $750,000 and $1 million, was paid by donations from alumni and from fund-raisers.
Although the renovations will not be complete until early May, the fraternity will hold an open house for alumni during homecoming weekend. Ham said.
John Green, executive director for Phi Kappa Tau's national headquarters, said the ownership and management of the house was on a local level, but that the project had full approval from the national office.
"We strongly support and are elated with the local activity and interest in this project," Green said.
King said that the house the fraternity now occupies, at 1232 Ohio St., would be sold when the members leave the house. He
also said he was eager to move into the new residence.
"We go by the house every day to see what they're doing." King
said. "There have been quite a few members living outside the house. We are all excited to live in the same place."
Caroline Lewis / KANSAN
The Phi Kappa Tau fraternity is expected to move into its new house, at 1100 Indiana St., in May, after renovations are completed. The house was purchased from the Acacia fraternity after that group left the campus in 1992. The new house is expected to hold 60 to 70 people. Although the house was purchased for $150,000, total renovation costs are estimated to be between $750,000 and $1 million.
Student debates racist religion
By Nicholas C. Charalambous
Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
For KU student Antonio Shepherd, religious bigotry is public enemy No. 1. Do away with it and society would be a better place, he says.
Racism, sexism and homophobia have their origins in the writings of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he said. Religion teaches the superiority of one group of people above another, breeding division and hatred.
It didn't come as a revelation, he said.
Shepherd, 40, said he had spent most of his life thinking through that notion. Now, after six years of research, he has published
his first book, Is Religion Higher Than Truth?, to open a debate with clergy, activists and writers.
In his 93-page book, Shepherd, a Lawrence nontraditional student, attacks the Black Church for not confronting what he calls the racist word of God.
Shepherd found a version of the Book of Genesis in which Noah curses Ham's descendants to be enslaved and born ugly and black, with swollen lips, hair twisted into kinks, loving theft and fornication.
Shepherd then argues that the curse of Ham is a cause of self-hatred that has led to high crime rates within African-American communities.
The pastor of the Victory
Antonio Shepherd
Bible Church,
1629 W.
19th St,
which has an almost 80-per cent African American congre
gation, thinks that's ridiculous. Leo Barbee said modern Bibles did not even contain the passage.
"His premise is wrong. Black people were not cursed," Barbee said. "It is the Black man's faith and trust in God that has kept him sane and sound in the midst of bias and prejudice."
But Barbee agrees with
Shepherd's charge that the Black Church ignores the Black history of early Christianity by displaying images of a blond, blue-eved Jesus.
"The question is not:
'Where are Black folk in the Bible?' The question is:
'Where are the White folk?'" Barbee said.
Shepherd also suggests that the Black Church should serve the physical needs of its members rather than trying to save their souls alone.
Shannon Ikerd, Kansas City, Kan., senior and president of Harambee Student Ministries, said 80 percent of African-American males between 18 and 25 never had been to church. The Church could only give help when it
was asked, Ikerd said.
Shepherd, who was raised as a Pentecostal Baptist, said that the 10 commandments were sound moral principles, but religion should be replaced with a universal belief in human rights.
"Humanity is humanity. Skin pigment should be understood for what it is; no more, no less," he said.
Shepherd's book is on sale for $10 at Terra Nova, 920 Massachusetts St., and the KU bookstore. So far, he has sold 200 of 1,000 copies printed. He will read from his work and take part in a question-and-answer session at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the bookstore.
Revue participants volunteer time
Community service, not just performance on Rock Chalk playbill
By Ashlee Roll Kansan staff writer
Preparations for the 1997 Rock Chalk Revue are underway, and along with singing and dancing, some students have a backstage project.
For the last six years, groups involved in the revenue also have been volunteers for Douglas County charities and non-profit organizations.
"The United Way needs volunteers as bad as they need money," said Ryan Wilkerson, Mission Hills junior and community service co-coordinator for the revue. "Last year there was 30,429 volunteer hours contributed to the community through this project."
Wilkerson said that this year there were 2,000 students representing 28 student groups participating in the community service project.
According to a revue news release, students involved in the project will devote their time to tutoring children, volunteering for Douglas County Senior Services and working with underprivileged children.
The project began on Sept. 7 with the United Way's Day of Caring, and it will continue until the revue.
"This is something that can be done through Rock Chalk besides the show," Wilkerson said. "It is strictly about volunteering."
Amy Griggs, coordinator of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, 211 E. 8th St., said the students who volunteered through the project were an incredible asset.
"When they are on vacation and aren't here it causes a panic," she said.
Any University residence organization that participates in the
project can win recognition in the form of award medals. The three levels of awards are: the gold award for 13 or more individual hours of volunteer service, silver for 11 hours, and bronze for 9 to 11 hours.
Students who participate in the project said the service went beyond the show.
"I volunteered because I like the feeling that you are helping someone," said Jill Bachnick, Spring Hill sophomore. "You are participating in Rock Chalk even if you aren't in the show."
From the organizations that win gold awards, one person and one organization will be chosen for a Most Charitable Award. The winners of the awards will split $450 to be donated in their names to a United Wav charity of their choice.
"A lot of individuals get involved in specific organizations because they were first involved in Rock Chalk," Bachnick said.
"I volunteered because I like the feeling that you are helping someone. You are participating in Rock Chalk even if you aren't in the
Students soothe stressful attacks caused by midterms
By Dave Breitenstein
Kansan staff writer
show." Jill Bachnick Spring Hill sophomore
Open textbooks, late nights and coffee must mean one thing for KU students: midterms.
During the middle of every semester, students stress about tests that make up significant portions of their final grades. With a course grade on the line, students coping with the consequences of late nights and unread pages of text feel the inevitable pressures of stress.
Kassy Stephens, Gardner sophomore, said she often stressed because of midterms, causing headaches, neck pains and nervousness.
"I'm usually stressed when I have too much work or not enough time," she said. "I drink a lot of soda, stay up very late and exercise. Stress just jumps me."
Stephens said her midterms usually were worth about 25 percent of her final grade, but she realized the importance of continuing to study and not letting stress get the best of her.
"I want to be a judge, and in order to get to my goal, I have to get through school first," she said. "I'm really lucky to be in school because a lot of people do not have the chance to go to college. I love to learn anyway."
Yolanda Jackson, assistant professor of psychology, said students' stress levels differed depending on pressure from home, performance anxiety and self-esteem.
"If students are previously well-adapted to stress, they will
perform better," she said. "If there is a good balance in their lives between things they are successful at and things they are not, they will usually do better."
Jackson said stress could be both harmful and helpful to students,depending on how they handle it.
"In college, you have a syllabus telling you when things are coming," she said. "But when you get in the real world, things just fall on you that you cannot plan on."
She said students could avoid stress by organizing their schedules and undertaking activities that get their minds off school, such as cleaning, cooking or exercising.
"Prevention is the key," she said. "When the fire starts blazing, you know it's too late."
Some students said they knew how to control stress.
Paul Moore, Lenexa senior, said that when he starting feeling stressed, he focused on how close he was to finishing school.
"If I'm stressed out, I don't sleep very well," Moore said. "I have to drink a ton of coffee to stay awake."
But Moore said he did not stress out as much as others because he kept things in the right perspective. Overall, one test does not really mean too much to him, he said.
"I take things a lot lighter than most people," he said. "As long as you enjoy what you're doing, it should turn out all right. It'll all be OK in the end."
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