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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANS KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TOPEKA, KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.104.NO.21
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20,1994
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
People wary about results of accord
Julanne Peter / KANSAN
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
Bryant Freeman characterized the 11th-hour compromise that averted an American invasion of Haiti as an absolute betrayal of the Haitian people.
Freeman, director of KU's Institute of Haitian Studies, said the accord reached by President Clinton's negotiators was a total reversal of previous actions by the United States.
The accord, which was announced Sunday night, is intended to pave the way for the
return of Haiti's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, the agreement does not mandate that Haitian army commander Raoul Cedras leave the country, and Cedras did not even sign the agreement.
"At this point, Clinton has talked himself into a corner," Freeman said.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Cedras and Haitian army chief of staff Philippe Biamby were almost certain to leave. But Freeman, who has studied Haiti for 35 years, said Cedras and Biamby would not leave voluntarily.
"Why should they leave?" Freeman said. "They have their houses, their money and their supporters in Haiti. Until Sunday, they were going to have to leave, but this allows them to stay."
At this point, Freeman said, the United States could try to restructure Haiti's economy.
"We can help them economically, and they would welcome this," he said. "But politically. I don't see any way for us to be successful with this agreement."
Vandals defaced the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Drive and West Campus Road Sunday night. They wrote "Vietnam and Haiti" in red letters.
Sara Lechtenberg, Overland Park law student, said the agreement was typical of Haiti's unpredictable political atmosphere.
"In Haiti, you never know what will happen," said Lechtenberg, who has visited Haiti four times to study and complete service projects. "Only when the changes happen will I really believe that the agreement worked."
Lechtenberg acknowledged that Clinton and his negotiators had done their best but said they were setting themselves up for disaster.
"Clearly, this is a compromise and not what we really wanted," she said. "It's a ridiculous idea because there is no mandate for the military leaders to leave. This is so very typical of politics in Haiti."
James Nasser, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, sophomore, spent the first 19 years of his life in Haiti. He said the agreement should be
"I believe Cedras and Blamby eventually will leave," Nasser said. "I think they realize their time is up."
While the transition will not be immediate, Nasser said Aristide would return to the presidency and a more peaceful atmosphere
would be achieved.
The transition won't happen in two years, but it will happen, perhaps in 10 years," he said. "When I was younger, it was more peaceful, and people weren't afraid to go out. I hope it will be like that again when I go back."
Campus acts as an obstacle Life on the Hill is not always accessible for disabled persons
By Ashley Miller Kansan staff writer
“It’s rare to get anything before 10,” said Steward, who has to call a city transportation service to send a wheelchair-accessible van to her home each day.
Julie Steward spends most of her morning finding a ride to campus.
Sean R. Crosier/ KANSAN
Steward is a research assistant in the Research and Training Center of Independent Living, a campus program that teaches the appropriate language to describe a disability, shows those with disabilities different living options and educates others about disabilities. She also is a wheelchair user.
Steward said gaining access to campus buildings sometimes was as tough as finding a van.
"It varies from building to building a little bit," she said.
Steward said Carruth O'Leary Hall did not have an elevator. Wheelchair users can enter the building only on the basement and first floor levels.
Lippincott Hall also does not have good elevator access for students in wheelchairs, she said. The elevator only goes to the second and fourth floors of the building.
Steward said she thought many wheelchair users complained about curb cuts, the areas where curbs were removed for wheelchair accessibility, near the Kansas Union. The cuts near the Union are not in the same places on each side of the street, forcing wheelchair users into the street — and into traffic.
Doors are also a problem for wheelchair users. Steward said.
"If I were trying to open the door, it would be nearly impossible for me to maneuver my chair, open the door and carry my books," she said. "You should be able to park beside the door and open it."
Steward said the stacks at the Anschutz Science Library also were too narrow for a wheelchair. Wheelchair users needed help finding books, and she did not know if the staff at the library was prepared to retrieve books for them. Blake Hall is another building on campus with difficult wheelchair accessibility, Steward said. There is a bathroom only on every other floor.
She said accessibility problems in many other campus buildings included the height of elevator buttons and drinking fountains, cracks in the sidewalks, small elevators and lack of access to a bathroom on every floor.
"Dole is an excellent example of accessibl- erson," she said. "It was built to access standards."
But, Steward said, at least one campus building was accessible to wheelchair users.
Bob Burke, the founder of Access USA, a wheelchair-accessibility advocacy group, said colleges and universities were required by law to provide students with wheelchair accessibility if possible, even if only one student used it.
For example, if one student has class in a building without an elevator and the class meets on the second floor, the school has to accommodate the student.
"You can't deny a student education because of a lack of access," Burke said.
Access group meets tonight
By Ashley Miller
Kansan staff writer
Although most of the KU campus is wheelchair accessible, some parts are not. Organizations that advocate wheelchair accessibility are trying to help students solve this problem.
Access USA will present a seminar at 7 tonight at the Jayhawk Room in Lawrence Memorial Hospital to discuss accessibility problems, employment of people with a disability and other issues, said Bob Burke, founder of the wheelchair accessibility advocacy group. The group often addresses problems such as wheelchair-accessible parking, building accessibility and legislation.
The meeting is open to anyone interested in wheelchair accessibility, especially those interested in filing a complaint.
Most people that complain about accessibility are disabled. Burke said.
However, some individuals file complaints because they are sensitive to accessibility issues or know someone who needs wheelchair accessibility, he said.
Burke said people filed complaints because businesses, colleges and cities throughout the state often did not meet the access requirements outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Accessibility problems often are not solved unless a complaint is filed.
Mike Shuttic, assistant director of the Student Assistance Center, said the act did not require all buildings to be accessible to wheelchair users. For example, if wheelchair users cannot attend a class they are taking because the building is not accessible, the class can be moved to a different building.
Both Burke and Shuttic said they only knew of a few complaints against accessibility at the University.
"I know KU is the only college in Kansas that meets the criteria for parking," Burke said.
Burke worked with Don Kearns, parking director, to regulate the wheelchair-accessible parking on campus. The criteria included posted signs, access to the curb and parking spaces closest to the door of a building, he said.
A hard hit during
Saturday's game
against Texas
Christian has taken
Kansas senior
quarterback Asheikd
Preston out of the
line-up indefinitely.
Pazo 18.
Labels attempt to distinguish Hispanic identities
By Nathan Olson
Kansan staff writer
KU's Hispanic American Leadership Organization and the Student Organization of Latinos at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Mo., serve the same populations.
Around the country and at KU, many Hispanic students are examining words others use to describe them and words they use to describe themselves.
But what those populations call themselves differs.
John Augusto, Topeka graduate student, said some of the words referred to geographic regions.
"Many people in the Southwest of the United States call themselves Chicano, while in the East, it's more Latino and Puerto Rican," he said.
Augusto said the different terms were part of Hispanic culture.
"The Southwest has more indigenous
people, while the East Coast has more people of a Latin accent," he said.
Another division between the names revolves around history, said Eladio Valdez III, Kansas City, Kan., senior.
Valdez said the term Chicano implied an alignment with Mexico's indigenous people, while Hispanic referred to the entire population of Spanish-speaking people. Latino emphasizes the influence of the Catholic Church and implies a mild protest of the term Hispanic, which is used for census purposes. Hispanic is seen by some as an acceptable term Americans have created for Spanish-speaking people.
"For political reasons I'll say I'm Hispanic because that groups all Spanish-speaking people together." Valdez said.
"The trend in my family is that people 30 and over are bilingual, and people 60 and over speak only Spanish. But some of the little kids are starting to learn Spanish."
Valdez, whose grandparents immigrated from Mexico in about 1915, said he grew up in a Mexican-American family but went to a predominantly Caucasian, Catholic school.
"The only thing I didn't learn as a child was the language," he said. "But I learned the culture and the values.
Octavio Hinojosa, Hutchinson senior,
said that he considered himself more Mexican than American.
Hinojosa said he also used the term Hispanic.
"I say my family is from Mexico," said Hinojosa, whose family moved to the United States in 1975 from Mexico. "That's my identity, my background."
"I say I'm Hispanic-American to Anglo- Americans because that associates me with other Hispanics," he said.
But, he said, he wasn't always comfortable with the terms.
"When I was between 9 and 12 years old, I went through a self-denial of identity as a Mexican because I wanted to be an average American boy," he said.
Hinojosa said that his self-denial was common among first-generation immigrants. Often, Hinojosa said, they are forced to choose between Hispanic and American cultures.
"The change for me occurred in the summer of 1983, when my mother hired a tutor for me while I was on vacation in Mexico," he said.
Hinojosa said his Spanish was broken, and he had forgotten much of the culture. The summer in Mexico, however, changed him.
"It made me more aware of my Hispanic aspects and culture," he said.
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