KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, MAY 5. 2011 / NEWS
STUDENT ACTIVISM
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Freshman meets original Freedom Riders on Oprah
William Dale, a freshman from Topeka, attended the Oprah Winfrey Show for the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. Dale and 39 other students will recreate the FreeRide on May 6.
BY ALEESE KOPF akopf@kansan.com
Not many KU students can say they have been on Oprah. Not many students can say they have met a true American hero. Yesterday, William Dale, a freshman from Topeka, met both.
Dale attended the Oprah Winfrey Show covering the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. He is one of 40 college students from around the country to join original Freedom Riders in retracing the 1961 Rides from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, LA.
Dale and the 39 other students will begin the re-created Freedom Ride on May 6 and will finish on May 16. The documentary film "American Experience" will premier on PBS May 16 and will feature the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials and journalists who witnessed the Riders firsthand.
Originally, more than 400 black and white civil rights activists rode on public buses to protest against segregation laws in the South. Dale was also one of five of the 40 students selected to appear on Oprah.
The show featured 178 of the original freedom riders, their families, civil rights activists and five student riders as well as some of the anti-black attackers. Dale said one of the most touching moments of the show was the reunion between Congressman John Lewis, a former Freedom Rider, and his attacker Elwin Wilson, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. He said the entire experience — seeing the riders,
hearing their stories, listening to the history — was touching.
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WIN WIN (R) 4:30 7:00 9:25
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED(PG)
4:40 7:10
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"It was kind of a surreal experience but also emotionally and physically taxing," Dale said. "I was kind of in awe of them. I was disgusted by some of the actions people did against them, but then inspired by their stories. It was up and down emotionally."
The public can follow the student riders through Facebook, Twitter, online blogs and video posts. Dale said he is most excited about the discussions that will take place on the bus.
Dale had the chance to meet Oprah after the show and said that even in the few minutes he had to talk to her, she was inspiring, motivational and encouraging in her words.
"This freedom ride will bring together the civic engagers of tomorrow," Dale said in his online video post. "I feel like we are a group of compassionate individuals that will have the will power and strength to one day change the world."
"On behalf of all of America, may I say you make us proud to call ourselves American. Thank
you!" Oprah said to the Freedom Riders.
Edited by Emily Soetaert
Kangaroo lifts woman's spirits
ODD NEWS
"We believe this provides the necessary protection for the city," said City Manager David Wooden. Councilman Johnnie Parks also
The permit would require exotic animal owners to have a $50,000 liability insurance policy for any injuries inflicted by the animal, certification that the animal has adequate housing for its health and meet all federal and state guidelines for licensing, among other provisions.
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — A depressed woman can keep a partially paralyzed kangaroo at her home in a northeast Oklahoma city, officials have agreed, just weeks after she was warned that the therapy pet might be run out of town.
"My life centers around him," Carr said. "Irwin has brought me out of my shell."
The Broken Arrow City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to create an exotic animal ordinance exemption that would allow Christie Carr to keep Irwin the red kangaroo within city limits under certain conditions.
Irwin fractured his neck and suffered brain damage when he ran into a fence, and Carr offered to take him home and nurse him back to health. Irwin cannot stand or walk on his own, although he can hop with assistance.
But veterinarians say Irwin will probably not grow larger than 50 pounds because of his injury and because he has been neutered. Carr's therapist has certified the animal as a therapy pet under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Council members had been concerned that the kangaroo could present a risk to public safety. Native to Australia, healthy male great red kangaroos can grow up to 7 feet tall, weigh more than 200 pounds and bound 25 feet in a single lean.
Carr is unable to work because of her health and has found comfort in the companionship of Irwin, whom she met while volunteering at a local animal sanctuary on the advice of her therapist.
"Irwin is my life," she said Tuesday at the council meeting. "He's given me strength."
mentioned that neighbors who live near Carr would have to be notified that she has a pet kangaroo.
Carr had been devastated because she couldn't afford to buy an insurance policy for Irwin, and was certain that the pair would have to move out of her Broken Arrow home. But last month an anonymous donor paid for Irwin's insurance.
She changes Irwin's diaper several times a day. She feeds him salad, raw vegetables, kangaroo chow, popcorn and the occasional Cheez-Its or a handful of Cheetos.
Carr kneeed down with a plate of veggies and filed his nails. When it came time to play, Irwin could only manage a few imbalanced hops before tumbling to the ground.
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu (keyword: testprep) - 785-864-5823
Associated Press
The University of Kansas University Theatre and the School of Music present Engelbert Humperdinck's classic fairy tale opera
HÄNSEL
und
GRETEL
Performed in German with English supertitles
Performed in German with English superstores featuring the KU Symphony Orchestra, David Neely, conductor Original choreography by Jamel Hilding performed by members of the University Dance Company
7.30 p.m. April 29 & May 3,5,7,2011
2.30 p.m. May 1 & 8,2011
Crafton Prever Theatre
Crafton Preyer Theatre
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket office: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kutheatre.com. Tickets are $20 for the public, $19 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, and $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee; funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency. The University Theatre's 2010-11 season is sponsored by the KU Credit Union.
KU UNIVERSITY
THEATRE
The University of Kansas
Kansas Arts Commission
STUDENT SENATE
KU CREDIT UNION
A FUNCTIOn OF 60 PERSONAL CREDIT UNION