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Friday, October 27.1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Speak-out promotes student activism
Speakers encourage talk about women's issues, urge more involvement
By Hannah Naughton
Kansan staff writer
A small seed was planted yesterday with the hope that a flower of student activism may blossom and spread at the University of Kansas.
In honor of National Young Women's Day of Action, the newly recognized Feminist Collective Force organized an old-fashioned speak-out at noon yesterday in front of the Kansas Union. The speak-out advocated student activism in the community, and 20 student activists snoKE.
"I wanted to hear what people had to say," said Sean Demory, Olathe senior, who sat on the brick pavilion listening as the crowd swelled to more than 100. "I like the fact that they are putting forth unity. These are collective human issues that need to be dealt with as people, not as factions."
Many of the speakers focused on women's issues, such as rape, the international status of women, reproductive rights and abusive lesbian relationships. Also addressed was the larger theme of the inter-relatedness of all social issues and the need for students to become active.
"People need to get out and energize on the local level," said Jeff Livingston,
Wichita senior and student senator. "We need to energize people to a point where there won't be a few smatterings of people at a speak-out. There won't be a single brick on this floor that can be seen."
Edmee Rodriguez / KANSAN
Jenny Lawson, Overland Park senior, came to the speak-out representing Habitat for Humanity. She said students needed to find a passion.
The day wasn't just about women's issues because women's issues are human issues, she said.
"Be inspired to go out and do things in your community," Lawson said. "Make a lot of noise, be visible, and we will make a difference."
The 20 speakers represented different student groups from campus, including KU Environs, KU Young Democrats, Amnesty International, LesBiGay S OK, Jewish Feminists of KU and the Feminist Collective Force.
The National Young Women's Day of Action was first organized three years ago at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. It was celebrated nationally yesterday at more than 300 college communities, said Amy Turnbull, Lawrence junior and one of the members of the Feminist Collective Force who helped organize the event.
Robert Minor, professor of religion, speaks about how sexism affects man. The speech was part of the Voices of Action speak-out held at noon yesterday in front of the Kansas Union.
"In a way, we kind of made it our own," said Regan Cowan, Scottsdale, Ariz., sophomore and event organizer. "We revamped the day, integrating all kinds of groups and student organizations working toward the same goals that we are."
Turnbull said she was frustrated with a
lot of talk and no action and that the day was a celebration for those students who did involve themselves in the community, and it was a call for those who hadn't taken action to do so.
"Through direct action and social change, justice can and does happen," Turnbull said. "We need to educate our peers to stand up for what they believe in."
Revamping classics: 'The Scarlet Letter' is now rosy
By Scott Mullen Special to the Kansan
Don't screw with the classics.
Austen.
"I don't want my idea of the original work messed with," said M.J. McLendon, University of Kansas lecturer in English.
McLendon was referring to the Hollywood rendition of "The Scarlet Letter," which now is playing in movie theaters.
The movie is just a sample of Hollywood's effort to revamp classic literature. Many works, such as "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Lady Chatterly's Lover," have been reinvented on the silver screen. Even the recent hit "Clueless," starring Alicia Silverstone, was loosely based on the novel "Emma" by Jane
"I worry that movies ruin the authors' original intent," said Shelley Manis, Lenexa junior. "Movies often change endings to stories so that the characters ride off into the sunset."
Although "The Scarlet Letter" is based on the classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, barely a glimpse of the real story is offered in the Tinseltown version starring Demi Moore. Blood-thirsty Indians, graphic skinny-dipping scenes and witch trials are just a few of the new plots that have been added to the 1990s version of adultery in a Puritan society.
"It's not true, not valid and not real," McLendon said.
Manis agreed.
"I think if they're going to make a movie out of a book, they should be true to the book," she said.
Movie producers aren't the only ones revising classic literature. The publishing world has discovered a new way to continue readers' interest in classic literature by creating sequels to many long-loved classics.
Although Margaret Mitchell flatly refused to write a sequel to "Gone with the Wind," nothing stopped Alexandra Ripley from churning one out. "Scarlett," the sequel to Mitchell's story, was one of the fastest-selling novels of all time.
Other beloved classics that have become part of the sequel game include "The Last of the Mohicans," "Jane Eyre."
and most recently, "Les Miserables."
Susan Rettlede, manager of Adventure A Bookstore, 844 Massachusetts St., said it made perfect sense for publishing houses to market sequels to classics.
"When people like something, they want more," she said.
Although movies such as "The Scarlet Letter" don't portray the original stories they were based on, these productions may spark some curiosity in literature for the movie audience.
"If people like the story a movie is based on, a lot of them will go find the book and read it," Manis said. "It provides an interest that wasn't there before."
Program lets students help community
By Stephanie McDuff
Kansan Correspondent
KU students who want to participate in and make decisions about community projects need look no further than Student Senate.
Youth on Board, a program offered through Senate's Center for Community Outreach, allows students to become involved in profit and nonprofit community organizations by serving as board members and liaisons to the University of Kansas.
The program was started last school year by Jennifer Ford, a May 1995 graduate who also was director of the center last year. It was started so that young people could gain experience while working with Lawrence community leaders, said Lorraine Claassen, Hesston senior and co-director of the center.
Although the student board members do not generally possess voting rights, they do attend community board meetings and participate in the discussion and planning of community projects. The program allows college students to contribute to decision-making arenas they couldn't be active in before.
Claassen said that a youth perspective on a community board is the biggest benefit students could make to the organization. She also said that giving students a chance to interact with professionals in the community and learning how organizations were run could be very beneficial.
"Even if the students are not very experienced, it improves the communication between the University, which is a major employer in the city, and the actual city itself," said Tina Schreiner, Topeka graduate student in urban planning and member of Youth on Board. "They both need each other, and I think the more communication, the better."
An informational and planning meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Student Senate office in the Kansas Union for students interested in being placed on a community board for the spring semester.
Claassen said that several organizational boards in Lawrence would be offering student positions, including Community Development Block Grant Advisory Commission and the Ballard Community Center.
Schreiner has been a student member of the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission since September.
She said that students who participated in Youth on Board could gain job experience similar to that found in an internship.
"It's hard to get internships, and this is another possibility if they can't get one," she said.
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