CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, September 30, 1994
3A
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Professionals give Hispanics job tips
Two speakers at the Young Hispanic Professionals Forum last night at Dyche Hall told students to make contacts in the professional world, dress for success and expect an insensitive comment or two from co-workers.
By David Wilson Kansan staff writer
Chris Hernandez, a reporter for WDAF-TV Newswatch 4 in Kansas City, Mo., and Veronica Martinez Sellers, a clerk for U.S. district judge Fernando Gatian, both said landing a job after graduation from KU was only the first step in building their careers.
"I got hucky," Hernandez said. "I was working two weeks after graduation. But advancing from there was much tougher. You have to be on top of your game."
Hernandez said his high-profile job made him a role model for the Hispanic community — an honor he hadn't expected.
"I wasn't ready for that," he said. "Sometimes you're working so hard to get your own career going, you don't realize your community needs you."
But while he was a role model to some people, others were still trying to determine his ethnicity.
"I had one co-worker — not the brightest person — say, 'You know, Chris, you just don't look like a Mexican," he said. "That's something you're going to face on the job."
But Sellers said being a minority could be an advantage.
"A lot more employers are trying to look like they're diverse," she said.
Political candidates discuss several issues at forum
Qualified admissions and public employee salaries among topics debated
By Jodie Chester
Kansan correspondent
Barbara Ballard pulled double duty yesterday.
Barbara Ballard pulled double duty yesterday. Ballard, associate dean of student life and incumbent state representative of the 44th district, represented herself and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Slattery yesterday at a candidate's forum in the Burge Union.
Ballard and eight other candidates and incumbents spoke about a variety of topics including abortion, state employee salaries and qualified admissions in front of about 20 people.
Ballard said she supported the Quality Performance Accreditation system that was being implemented in public high schools and thought that admission standards would not discriminate against students.
Eric Schmidt, the Republican candidate running for the 46th Kansas House district, which includes portions of KU, agreed that waiting until high school to determine reading and writing ability was too late. He said that qualified admissions
Bob Kennedy, who represented Kathleen Sebelius, explained that the Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner wanted to explore how to involve universities in the insurance industry.
would eliminate the high drop-out rate and control the cost of colleges.
"We would like a partnership between companies and colleges to work on training programs because this would encourage companies to locate here," Kennedy said. "This type of program also would encourage economic development because new companies would mean more jobs."
Most audience members were from the University of Kansas Classified Senate and Unclassified Professional Staff Association, which sponsored the forum. The groups said they were concerned with a cost-of-living raise for state employees because some salaries fall below the poverty level.
Troy Findley, Democratic candidate for the 46th Kansas House district, said that the solution was to build salaries into the budget instead of waiting until the final appropriations bill when salaries received whatever money remained.
Jason Mora, Olathe junior, said he attended the forum because he was a political science major and wanted to hear the candidates' views.
"I was impressed with Ballard," he said. "You can respect her integrity, and I understand why she is running unopposed."
Julianne Peter / KANSAN
Troy Findley, Democratic candidate for the 46th district; Eric Schmidt, Republican candidate for the 46th district; and Bob Kennedy, who represented Democratic insurance commissioner candidate Kathleen Sebelius, took part in a political forum yesterday at the Burge Union.
KU student helps take much needed supplies to Kyrgyzstan
By Shannon Newton Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
supply lifts to countries around the world
Jill Brandenburg never thought she would visit the Soviet Union when she was growing up.
"I was raised to think that the Soviet Union was the big, bad bear." Brandenburg said.
trandenburg became involved in the project after helping obtain various pharmaceuticals through the pharmacy school.
But Brandenburg, Parsons senior, did go to what used to be the Soviet Union this summer. From July 15 to July 31, she traveled with 19 other people to give the people of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, donated medical supplies.
The trip was sponsored by Heart to Heart International, a nonprofit organization based in Olathe, and the University of Kansas Medical Center. Heart to Heart International is a relief organization that coordinates medical and food
"The school helped obtain supplies, and I did some investigation to get further involved," she said.
Tom Volek, assistant professor of journalism also participated in the airlift.
Volek said KU and Heart to Heart had realized that Kyrgazstan needed medical and pharmaceutical supplies. So in February, they recruited doctors, pharmacists and interested people to go to the country to distribute the supplies.
The trip cost each participant $2,700.
Volek said that since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country had faced economic problems, and it had a shortage of medicine.
While in Kyrgyzstan, the participants were responsible for unloading the 70 tons of supplies from a U.S. State Department DC-8, reload the supplies onto a truck and deliver them to a warehouse.
While in Kyrgyzstan, Brandenburg was able to communicate with the people of the country through interpreters and learned about the hardships the people had faced since the new democratic government was established
She said all the people had a positive attitude about the future and showed little despair.
"They would always tell me that if they could make it through the next five years, they would make it," she said.
Brandenburg said her trip was one she would never forget.
"In the end, two different worlds worked together," she said.
COURTESY
Volunteers unload medical supplies at an airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as part of a relief effort co-sponsored by University of Kansas Medical Center and Heart to Heart International, a nonprofit relief group based in Olathe.
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