THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
NEWS
DOLE INSTITUTE
3A
Honors go to civil rights leader
BY SASHA ROE
sroe@kansan.com
One of the "Big Six" leaders of the civil rights movement — a group that includes Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks — will visit the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics on Sunday. Civil rights leader and U.S.
Institute awards Leadership Prize
Congressman John Lewis will receive this year's Dole Leadership Prize, in the Institute's largest event. Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center.
Lewis
Lewis grew up in rural Alabama where he experienced racial discrimination daily. Lewis said he remembered seeing the white men and women signs and colored men and women signs. He said witnessing such segregation had a profound impact on him. After hearing King speak and learning of Rosa Parks' demonstration on the bus, Lewis said he was motivated at a young age despite his mother's objections.
"My mother would say, 'Don't get in trouble, that's just the way it is.'" Lewis said. "But I was inspired to do something. I thought if they can do it, we can do it, too."
Lewis became one of the youngest leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and formed a close friendship with King. He participated in sit-ins at Nashville diners in 1960 and was arrested for the
first time at age 20 during a sit-in. Lewis said he knew when he decided to get involved in the movement it would be a difficult yet necessary battle.
"I knew I had to take a long, hard look at the struggle," Lewis said. "I fell against great odds, but I never gave up, never became hostile or bitter."
At 23, Lewis helped organize the March on Washington where King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Lewis was also a speaker at the march, and he said it was one of his proudest moments.
During a Freedom March from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., on March 7, 1965, Lewis was severely beaten on Edmund Pettus Bridge by a state trooper. Lewis said although he thought at that moment he would die, he never has renounced the principles of non-violence.
Lewis has served Georgia's fifth district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic caucus and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Ebony Howard, president of the KU Black Student Union and Fort Worth senior, said she highly valued the recognition the Dole Institute was giving Lewis. She said she was looking forward to hearing Lewis speak because he was truly living history. Howard said Lewis'
work was relevant to students.
"I think his work in the Civil Rights is commendable because it was done at such a young age," Howard said. "Most students don't realize much of the movement was fought by teenagers."
Monica Crane, Wichita senior and Dole Student Advisory board member, said sometimes the news highlighted politicians who were corrupt or working for personal gain. Crane said the prize was awarded to someone who was completely opposite that image. She said Lewis was one of the last living leaders who experienced the Civil Rights movement and few students
details
For more information, visit www.doleinstitute.org.
had much knowledge of the era.
"He's nationally respected for being one of the first in the movement," Crane said. "He was nearly killed. He bears the scars of the movement."
Dole Institute interim director Jonathan Earle said U.S. Sen. Bob Dole instituted the prize to show that politics could be an honorable profession. Earle said candidates were often considered true American heroes along with their political titles. Former mayor of New York City Rudy Guillani, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Polish President Lech Walesa and South Dakota Sen. George McGovern are past Dole Leadership Prize winners.
Earle said Lewis was a unique American hero because of his leadership throughout the Civil Rights movements and his work in the U.S. Congress.
Lewis said receiving the Dole Leadership Prize was a very meaningful honor. He said any student could become a leader.
"Young people should find something that is so dear to them," Lewis said. "Find a calling, a mission and bring about change. Leave something for the next generation."
Tickets to the Dole Leadership Prize ceremony are free and may be picked up at the Lied Center, Murphy Hall or Student Union Activities in the Kansas Union.
Edited by Amelia Freidline
STUDENT LIFE
Hillel adds food drive to Shabbat celebration
BY SARAH NEFF
sneff@kansan.com
did you know...
Jon Hurst-Sneh said he wanted to reach out to the community for tonight's Rock Chalk Shabbat, so he partnered with a local food donation service.
For the past six years, Hillel has invited both Jewish and non-Jewish students, faculty, staff and community members to join them for a Friday night service followed by a free traditional Shabbat dinner.
Hurst-Sneh, Overland Park sophomore and co-chairman for Rock Chalk Shabbat, said he wanted to add another dimension to the annual event. He arranged a canned food drive with Harvesters Community Food Network in
"Shabbat, Hebrew for the Sabbath, is a day of rest and is celebrated every week from Friday night at sunset until Saturday night at sundown (25 hours). On Shabbat, you spend time with family, pray, read, and rejuvenate. Many Jewish people light candles to symbolically ward off the darkness and welcome the Divine."
— www.joi.org/celebrate/shabbat/
index.shtml
Kansas City, Mo. Hurst-Sneh also planned a raffle to encourage dinner guests to bring canned foods.
All prizes were donated by local businesses.
Rachel Seliger, Seattle senior and Hillel intern, said last year the chancellor, vice provost and about 450 other people attended the event. She said they expected about 500 guests tonight. She said they would serve brisket, chicken and potatoes.
"Its just kind of a nice way to get the community to eat together." Seliger said.
Carli Harber, Atlanta senior and co-chairwoman for Rock Chalk
Shabbat, said she and Hurst-Sneh had been meeting at least once a week for the past month and a half to prepare for tonight's event. She said the canned food drive fit well with this year's theme, "Making a Difference, One Jayhawk at a Time."
Services begin at 6 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union, followed by a free dinner in the Kansas Union Ballroom. Several student speakers will participate in the service. The raffle will be held after the dinner.
Hurst-Sneh made a video about tonight's event that can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook or on Hillel's Web site, www.kuhillel.org.
- Edited by Amelia Freidline
Panel to debate government climate policy
CAMPUS
BY DYLAN SANDS dsands@kansan.com
It is the middle of October and many Kansans are still wearing shorts. Despite what others might think, researchers at the University of Kansas say this is not a good thing.
Glicksman said the U.S. government was not doing enough to curb some of the long-term effects of global warming.
Robert Glicksman, KU professor of law, said he and other law professors were working on a book which details U.S. policy on climate change. The experts attending the conference originally were invited to contribute to the book.
The School of Law on Saturday will play host to experts in fields from natural sciences to philosophy to discuss current policies on climate change Saturday. "Facts, Ideas and U.S. Climate Change Policy: A Conference on Climate Change" will feature a panel of experts from around the world to present research concerning global climate change. They hope to come to an agreement on suggestions for local and federal policy concerning the issue.
"We figured as long as we have these experts in town, it'd be a great opportunity to inform the public on these important issues," he said.
"The main thesis of the book is that the federal government doesn't act because of commitments to free market ideology," Glicksman said.
He went on to say that the government tended to believe imposing changes on businesses' carbon dioxide emissions and other factors that contribute to climate change would cost more money than it was worth.
"Cost-benefit analysis done by government agencies sacrifices long-term environmental action for short term economical gains," he said. "They often think there is a lot of scientific uncertainty."
David Braaten, professor of atmospheric science and deputy director of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at KU, said local and federal policymakers often ignored the issue and its long-term effects. He said government officials were typically concerned with the next election, not the next generation.
"When we're talking about the extinction of species or the oblitera-
"Climate change policies have largely been ineffective, but today the increasing weight of scientific evidence and public opinion provides the opportunity for meaningful policy ideas to become legal realities," Zimmerman said.
Ben Zimmerman. Dodge City third-year law student and president of the Environmental Law Society, said other students could use their voice to produce profound policy change regarding global warming.
"The surface melt is increasing and is extending well into the fall," he said. "We are seeing entire lakes on ice sheets in September. This is something we've never really seen before. It should be getting cold and it's not. It's very dramatic."
tion of a city because of flooding, it is difficult to figure a monetary value.
"I'm not sure they want my opinion," Braaten said. "Some of the rhetoric is that the science is uncertain, that's not true. The science is as solid as science gets. I think politicians use that as an excuse for not doing anything policy-wise. We don't need another 10 years to say there is a big change happening."
Braaten said that people were also still wearing shorts in Greenland, where a good deal of ice sheet research was done. He said rising global temperatures were producing scary side effects where the weather was usually extremely cold.
The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in 104 Green Hall. The conference is open to the public.
Edited by Jeff Briscoe