CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, October 25,1994
3A
High voter turnout goal of group
Students want on-campus voting and registration
By James Evans Kansan staff writer
Registering for and voting in elections may become a little easier for KU students in the future.
David Stevens, co-coordinator of the Student Political Awareness Task Force, said he was working with students from five other Regents schools to try to put voter registration on enrollment forms and set polling places on campus. He said the bill would be presented to the Kansas Legislature during the spring legislative session.
Source: Lead or Leave
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
"There are ways to increase students' activity in the political process," Stevens said.
Stevens is working under the direction of a national organization called Lead or Leave, a group that is working with universities around the country to empower students politically. The group is funded by several private businesses such as Coca-Cola and Esprit and other groups such as the Rockefeller Foundation.
Stevens and Marc Wilson, the other co-
coordinator of the task force, attended an informational conference sponsored by Lead or Leave in Washington Oct. 12-14. At the conference, they learned about the potential actions student groups could take to help students become more involved in the political process.
Part of the reason for the plan is to increase the number of voters in the 18-to-24-year-old age bracket. Wilson said.
In a national study conducted by Lead or Leave, Kansas rated 35th in the nation for voting accessibility for college students, said Bill Scher, a legislative assistant for Lead or Leave in Washington.
He said the ranking was based on three criteria; whether the 1993 National Voting Rights Act passed in the state, local voting barriers and youth participation.
Kansas currently has not passed the National Voting Rights Act, also called the motor vote bill, Scher said. The bill allows people to register to vote when they apply for or renew their driver's license.
Scher said the rating for local barriers was based on whether state universities had at least one polling place on campus. He said of the three Kansas universities having 10,000 students or more, two had polling places on campus. Kansas State University and Wichita State University have polling places, while KU does not.
Scher said 56 percent of students aged
But Ken Collier, assistant professor of political science, said putting registration on school enrollment forms and placing polling spots on campus would not make a big difference in voter turnout.
"Registration is just one barrier to voting." Collier said.
He said students still would not vote because of the lack of political interest.
"There are not that many issues that
interest students right now," Collier said. He said if the draft was an issue on the ballot, students would be more politically active.
Collier said political interest in older Americans was greater because of their greater experience with political issues and interest in current issues such as health care.
Collier also said the values of college students had made an impact on the interest of students. He said there was no social pressure to vote.
Roommates overlook violent past
Pakistanis, Indians live with friendship
They live together as friends.
By Heather Kirkwood Special to the Kansan
Despite long-standing feuds between India and Pakistan, Ali Rizvi, Karachi, Pakistan sophomore, at left, lives with three roommates of Indian descent. From left to right, Rizvi's roommates are: Sonney Sapra, Botswana, South Africa sophomore, Tamim Arif, Nagbur, India graduate student and Raku Patel, Nairobi, Kenya sophomore.
Ali Rizvi, a sophomore from Karachi, Pakistan, and his three Indian roommates have achieved something their native governments have not been able to accomplish.
Pakistan and India have been at odds over both land and religion since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Despite the troubled history their countries share, the four students have been able to overlook a violent past and become a support system for each other while they are far from home.
Yumi Chikamori / KANSAN
"We do discuss things, but we don't hurt each other's feelings," Rizviz said. "We will argue about things but in a friendly way."
Rizvi, who is president of KU's Pakistani Club, pointed out that while Pakistani and Indian cultures were distinctly different, they did have a lot in common. Many Pakistani and Indian students share similar languages and cultures, he said.
Rizvi said it was comforting to find someone who had so much in common with him far from home.
Tamim Arif, Nagbur, India, graduate student and one of Rizvi's roommates, blames the two counties' troubles on a combination of government politics and religion.
"The government has a vested interest in ignorance. "Arif said.
He said many of the ethnic riots between Hindus and Muslims in India benefited those in power by helping to unify their constituencies against an outside force.
"It takes a few people with vision to come out and make a change," he said. "What we discuss here isn't going to make a difference. We have to go home and make a difference."
Arif said he wanted to return to India
but would go wherever he could find a job after he graduated.
Pakistan and India's problems began in 1947 when British India gained independence, and Pakistan was carved out of the new country to serve as a homeland for India's Muslim minority. However, the hapazard way in which the land was divided has fuelled conflict ever since.
Pakistan originally was made up of eastern and western halves, with India separating each half of the country by nearly 1000 miles. In 1971 war broke out as eastern Pakistan made a bid for independence with the help of India. Thousands were killed and an estimated 10 million refugees fled to India. After the war, eastern Pakistan became Bangladesh.
Another source of ongoing tension between India and Pakistan results from the division of Kashmir, a predominately Muslim state divided between India and Pakistan.
As independence was being won from Britain in 1947, Kashmir made a bid to become an independent state. Its failure
to do so resulted in Kashmir being divided, with two-thirds of the land going to India, a Hindu country. An estimated 1 million people died trying to emigrate to the new Muslim state of Pakistan.
Rikizi said that the differences between Pakistan and India could be solved easily but that both governments' egos and politics got in the way. But, Riizki said, the two governments' problems wouldn't get in the way of his friendships in Lawrence.
"Why should we let that keep us from being friends?" he said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Man sent to hospital after drugs contribute to weekend wreck
A Lawrence man who was involved in a two-vehicle accident Sunday morning was listed in satisfactory condition yesterday afternoon at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Hospital officials said that Verner Newman IV, 33, was admitted to the intensive care unit at 1 a.m. after firefighters had to cut the metal from the truck he was riding in to pull him out of the passenger's seat.
The driver of the other car, Kenora Carlin, 16, Salina, was heading south on Massachusetts streets when she failed to stop at a flashing red traffic light, police said. She then hit the rear end of the truck, which was traveling east on 23rd Street, police said. The impact turned the truck clockwise, forcing it to hit a utility pole on the corner of 23rd and Massachusetts streets. The utility pole snapped.
Carlin was cited for failing to yield the right of way. According to police reports, drugs and alcohol contributed to the accident.
The driver of the truck, Kenneth Patterson, 23, Lawrence, was not injured in the accident. He was cited for driving under the influence but was released yesterday on a $500 bond, police said.
Carlin, who was not injured, told police she had taken cocaine, crank and marijuana earlier in the day. She was given tests at the hospital to determine if she had been driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Police said two other 16-year-old Salina women, who were riding with Carlin, were treated for minor cuts and bruises.
Kansas Endowment has new chairman
Kansan staff report
Dolph Simons Jr., publisher of the Lawrence Journal-World, is the new chairman of the Kansas University Endowment Association.
Simons were elected Sunday at the board of trustees annual meeting.
Simons succeeds John Stewart III of Wellington, who was chairman for eight years
Money raised by the association is used for student loans and scholarships, professorships and library acquisitions.
Simons graduated from KU in 1951 and has served on the association's board since 1977.
Two K-State students suspected of vandalism
Two Kansas State University students have been contacted and questioned by KU police regarding a vandalism spree the day of the Kansas vs. K-State football game.
The two K-State students are 19-year-old and 20-year-old men who were in town for the football game, said Sgt. Rose Rozmiarka of the KU police. KU police said they were also investigating a third suspect.
The vandalism occurred in the parking lot of Gerrteur Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall throughout the day Oct. 6, police said. Most of the damage was to license plate frames or personalized license plates, Rozmiarek said.
She said KU police had about 20 reports about vandalism that occurred on the parking lot Oct. 6 on file as of yesterday.
If charged, the suspects will face felony charges instead of misdemeanor charges because the cost of the damage exceeded $500, Rozmiarek said.
"Whoever did this did not steal anything," Rozmiarek said. "They just tore things off and left them in the parking lots."
Compiled by Kansan staff writers Manny Lopez and David Wilson
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