4A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY JANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006
GLOBALIZATION
Institute brings Chinese home
Kansans to gain perspective on increasingly global language
BY DANNY LUPPINO
The new Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas began bringing Chinese language and culture to Kansas on Monday when the first Mandarin Chinese classes began for high school students across the state.
two sections of the year-long class will teach select students from Free State High School in person, while others from Maize, Holcomb, Deerfield, Washburn Rural, Marysville and Winfield will use video-conferencing equipment to connect to the classroom in JRP Hall, west of Memorial Stadium. The high-school classes are a prelude to others that will be available to the general public Sept. 12.
Honggen Yi, the teacher for the high-school classes, said learning Chinese would prove useful in coming years.
"Both China and America are major countries in the world, but
John Kennedy, professor of political science, teaches classes in Chinese domestic and foreign policy. He explained China's importance on the world stage.
Kennedy said learning Chinese would be important for American students because students in China began learning English in the seventh grade. One-fifth of the Chinese college entrance exam is a written English test.
ous cultures in the world and it's important to learn how to interact with Chinese people. $ ^{a} $
"China has a direct or indirect influence on almost everything," Kennedy said. "If you're interested in international business, China is unavoidable."
"That really shows you there's
"China is becoming ever more important economically."
for many years there had been no contact," Yi said. "They still have misunderstandings because of language. People are less likely to be misled if they learn the language."
SHEREE WILLIS
Associate executive director for
programs at the Confucius Institute
Sheree Willis, associate executive director for programs at the Confucius Institute, agreed that students would benefit from learning Chinese because Mandarin Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, she said.
"China is becoming ever more important economically," she said. "It's one of the most continu-
shows you there's an edge they have over most Americans." Kennedy said.
Willis said students should start learning Chinese now because it was easier to learn a language earlier in life. She said they should
"Americans tend to be intimidated by Asian languages because they seem so different from English," Willis said. "But most people find after they start learning that it's not hard and it's a lot of fun."
not be afraid of what was sometimes perceived to be a difficult language.
Kansan staff writer Danny Luppino can be contacted at dluppino@kansan.com.
—Edited by Derek Korte
Fund established to reward internationalism
》 ADMINISTRATION
Woodyard International Educator Award aims to encourage further faculty innovations
BY COURTNEY HAGEN
Woodyard, professor emeritus of Spanish & Portuguese, and his wife Eleanor donated $25,000 to create an award that will recognize faculty members who have made exceptional efforts to further international education at the University.
International programs at the University of Kansas recently received a bit of a boost, courtesy of George Woodyard, appointed as the University's first dean of international studies in 1989.
Beginning fall 2007, the George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award will reward a faculty member with a
$1,000 prize. The cash award will be given to faculty members without any restrictions for its use.
"We hope it will encourage people to work with study abroad programs and conduct more research in overseas programs," Woodyard said. "If faculty members are more connected to international programs, it will also move down to benefit the students."
Diana Carlin, dean of the graduate school and international programs, said the award should encourage faculty members to help prepare students for a global world.
"When they know their international efforts are being recognized,
they might push harder to include international issues and ideas into their curriculum," Carlin said.
The donated money will be put into an endowment; the award money will come from the interest gathered on the primary sum.
Carlin said faculty members could be nominated by students and other faculty members. A panel will choose the winner based on their efforts in research, classes and participation in international programs, she said.
woodyard said his donation stemmed from his own experiences with globalization at the University. Woodyard's involvement in international programs spanned 12 of
his 40 years at the University, during which he established overseas alumni chapters and overseas programs for medical students. He still acts as editor of an academic journal for the Latin American theater.
Carlin said applications for the award would be available from the Office of International Programs in April.
Kansan staff writer Courtney Hagen can be contacted at chagen@kansan.com.
—Edited by Kristen Jarboe
>> RAMSEY INVESTIGATION
Karr family offers to sell book, movie rights
Family hopes their story will pay for Karr's defense lawyer and college education for his sons
BY LINDA DEUTSCH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — John Mark Karr's relatives offered up the book and film rights to the family's story Wednesday in hopes of raising money for a high-powered attorney to defend Karr against charges that he killed 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.
"They're not looking for money for themselves," said Larry Garrison, a producer the family hired to represent them in media deals. "They're looking to support John's boys' college education and to make sure all legal fees are covered."
Karr remained in a Los Angeles
jail Wednesday afternoon awaiting transfer to Colorado, where JonBenet was killed in her Boulder home in December 1996.
Garrison told The Associated Press that no money had changed hands yet with the Karrs, and he didn't want to go into details about the agreement. Karr's brother, Nate Karr, confirmed that Garrison is now representing the family.
Karr told reporters in Thailand last week that he was present when JonBenet died and that her death was an accident. He did not specifically say he killed her, and Boulder prosecutors have not disclosed their evidence against him.
His family has insisted Karr was in Georgia during the Christmas
week that JonBenet was killed.
Georgia attorney Gary Harris, who had represented Karr's father and brother in recent days, has said the family found a photo from Christmas 1996 showing Karr's three sons at a dinner in Atlanta. Karr is not in the photo, but the family insists that if the boys were there, Karr would have been too.
"John Karr wasn't working,
Harris said. "He couldn't afford to buy a MARTA (Atlanta public transportation) or bus ticket, much less plane fare to Colorado."
A family photo has been turned over to Boulder authorities, but Garrison could not say what it shows.
"I can tell you they proclaim his
innocence," Garrison said. "They feel he was not there at the time, that some of the statements made by the press are absurd."
Harris told the AP on Wednesday that as far as the family knows, the only time Karr was ever in Colorado was in 2001 when his car broke down on a trip from Alabama to California with his then-wife and children. He said the family got the car fixed and moved on.
Harris said he thinks Karr claimed involvement in JonBenet's death because he is ill.
"Obviously, this guy has some mental problems," he said. "He obviously has some emotional problems. He's always had some."