University Daily Kansan/ Monday, September 23, 1991
CAMPUS / AREA
3
In celebration of Sukkot, Carvyn Silver, Memphis, Tenn., junior, decorates the ceiling of a sukkah booth.
Jewish KU students meet celebrate exodus holiday
Festival marks the end of period of penitence
By Rochelle Olson Kansan staff writer
Jewish KU students gathered last night at Hillel House to celebrate Sukket by building and decorating a kukah, a booth modeled after those used by Israelites wandering the desert.
"When you see the sukkah, you know that they are building them all over the world so everybody has a Sukkah, Olga Solomon, Tulsa, Olga. juror.
Sukkot is a historical and agricultural festival that represents the 40-year journey of Israelites through the desert after the exodus from Egypt. The Israelis lived in booths during the journey.
At the Hilch House, 940 Mississippi St.. the students built a sukken with wire fencing material supporting corn stalks around all sides. Bamboo was laid across the roof, and popcorn strands, paper chains
and gourds decorated the ceiling.
Some people sleep or eat in the kukahs during the holiday, which lasts eight days.
Solomon said her family did not build a sukah. Instead, they visited the sukah at the synagogue and ate dinner with about 300 people.
Sukkot also represents the final gathering of fruit and produce for the year. The festival marks the end of the High Holiday period of penience that began two weeks ago with Rosh Hashana.
Julie Steinberg, Arlington Heights, Ill., sophomore, said she saw the holiday as the beginning of autumn
Sukkot is a time to be thankful for the things one has. Steinberg said.
She said she had decorated a sukakb only once when she was young so she was excited to have the opportunity to do it again.
Hymie Genderson, Richmond, Va., graduate student, said he also
was thankful for the opportunity to help build a sukkah.
"We built aukkah at a neighbor's and decorated it and had a party like this one, so it feels just like being at home." Genderson said.
The students ate felafel in pita sandwiches while they decorated.
Genderson said the holiday was a time to reflect, be thankful and share his faith with others.
"It's really fun," he said. "Good people and a good sukkah."
But Genderson said he had no plans to sleep in theukkah.
Marla Adler, Wilmette, III,
senior, said that at her hotel, Sukket
was a fun time for people to get
acclimated to the city and to a friend's home for the holiday.
"Inever really got a chance to help build a sukkah until I got here," Adler said.
She said that this was the first year the students had decorated the sukkah and made a party of it.
Financial aid, students paired through scholarship data base
By Heather Anderson
Kansas staff writer
For some companies, finding financial aid for college students is a business.
Kansan staff writer
A new Overland Park company has helped six students in Kansas and Missouri find financial aid during the two months that it has been open.
The company, Educational Funding and Planning, opened because $30 billion of financial aid is unclaimed each month. The company vice president for the company
She said that most of the money was simply donated by private sources but that students did not want to do the homework to find the financial aid.
The company matches students, through a data base, with possible scholarships after the students have submitted out a questionnaire, Proctor said.
The financial aid search costs $89,
the service guarantees it will find
student loans.
If the service does not help the students find one source of financial aid, the company will give the student a $100 U.S. savings bond, she said.
Diane Del Buono, director of the office of student financial aid, said several private companies such as Education Funding and Planningused data base programs to find private scholarships.
$30 billion of financial aid goes unclaimed
every year.
However, the office of financial aid also offers a similar program. Delaware Financial Aid.
She said the department differed from private companies because the office did not guarantee students would find scholarships.
The center, which has three offices in Nebraska, offers the same services as the Educational Funding and Planning, but for free.
The office simply matches students with possible scholarships. The student then has to apply for the scholarships, she said.
Another student financial aid program which helps students nationwide get approved to attend college.
Deana Unger, director of the Educational Planning Center's Lincoln, Neb. office, said the center was able to offer a free service because it was no longer under either Education Loan Program and the Nebraska Student Loan Program.
The center was formed five years ago to help students and their parents understand the financial aid process, Unger said.
Bettie Joe Armagott, director of the Educational Planning Center in Rearney, Neb. said the center acted as a vital aid office for various schools.
This service is not limited to Nebraska residents or students who attend colleges in Nebraska, Unger said.
She also said students should resist the temptation to pay for search services offered by some companies.
"Look at all your options for assistance before paying a fee for help with the installation."
George Hart of the Kansas City Bet Business Bureau said the bureau had not received any complaints from students who had been dissatisfied with services from private companies.
However, many students use their universities' financial aid offices instead of relying on these companies, he said.
Groups encourage alcohol awareness
Dee Dew Everhart, a junior at Shawnee Heights High School in Topeka, said she would be willing to pay for the training if the company guaranteed its work.
"If you're definitely going to get something out of it, it makes it more worthwhile," she said.
RACCHUS, other organizations plan to sponsor alternative events
By Kerrie Gottschalk
Kansan staff writer
That's the word two alcohol awareness groups are spreading at the University of Kansas. Their actions, group organizers say, are promoting housing organizations to offer real solutions to drinking and driving.
The message around campus is: is
acctaccessible while driving.
She said GAMMA was created to share responsibilities with BACCHUS.
Boost Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students was started four years ago at KU. BACCHUS sponsors educational programs, speakers and various activities that promote safe alcohol use.
Following BACCHUS' lead, Greeks Advocating Mature Management of Alcohol formed this semester. It promotes alcohol awareness among students who belong to a fraternity or sorority, said Jenni Zucco, Long Grove, Ill., junior and chairperson of GAMMA
"GAMMA and BACCHUS stand for the same things," said Julie Dolan, St. Louis senior and president of BACCHUS.
"We will work together because we are reaching for the same goal."
That goal is to promote responsible use of alcohol at KU.
"We are not going to preach to people or condemn them for using alcohol," Dolan said. "We just get upset when people don't use resources and don't think maturely after they have been drinking."
"Wewant to offer some fun programs that do not center around alcohol." Zucco said. "It would take the pressure off students who don't want to drink, and it would give under age students something to do."
about drinking," Zucco said.
- National fraternities and sororites are really cracking down on members
Forming GAMMA also showed national chapters that KU greeks were working to reduce alcohol related crimes and accidents, she said.
She said GAMMA planned to reduce accidents by creating a designated driver program within each chapter.
The chapter would designate a different member each weekend who would be on call to pick up those unable to drive.
The Phi Kappa Theta fraternity plans to discuss creating such a program, said Joe Pierle, president of the fraternity.
"We think it's a good idea," he said.
"It sounds like everybody wants to do it."
Sigma Phi Epsilon already has its own designated driver program called Care Cab, created two years ago, said Christine Skletee, of the fraternity.
But Dolan and Zucco said their programs were more than just designated driver programs.
GAMMA, in cooperation with BACCHUS, intends to offer educational programs. It also plans to sponsor events that will not serve alcohol.
Hispanic-American activist works to give something back to society
Esther Valladolid Wolfobbied as an advocate for the elderly while serving as the secretary of the Kansas Department of Aging.
By Stephanie Patrick Kansan staff writer
Esther Valladolid Wolf's friends call her an issue junkie.
Whether it is helping the aging, fighting for women's rights or working to further understanding of the issues is a top priority. Wolf is there and ready to work.
"You've got to give back to society what you've taken from it," she said. "I act as if what I do makes a difference."
In 1896, Wolf was named Secretary of the Kansas Department of Aging by former Gov. Mike Hayden.
Wolf now serves as a consultant for several area human services organizations.
As secretary, she lobbied as an advocate for the elderly.
Activism was a family tradition in Wolf's family, she said.
Her father risked his own life rescuing Mexican priests and nuns from religious persecution during the Mexican Revolution. He eventually was stopped and threatened with execution.
In gratitude for his efforts, the tweenspeople helped him escape to California.
Following in her father's footsteps,
she began her career as an activist
when she was 13. She started working
with children at Barrios, barrios,
or ghettoes, of El Paso, Texas.
The middle class, first-generation U. citizen was saddened by the poor condition of his family.
"It gave me a real sense of justice," Wolf said. "Every person has the right to have at least the basics for life."
She said it was not unusual to see children without proper clothing or shoes because their families could not
afford them.
Determined to make a difference, Wolf went to New Mexico to teach religion classes to the children in the canyons.
There, she met her husband, James. They were married in 1963.
Wolf said their different cultura backgrounds had caused problems at times, but they shared a common bond in their religious beliefs.
"He's been able to see some of the cultural differences that are important to me," she said.
James also was a catalyst for her decision to finish her education.
When her husband entered college at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Wolf decided she needed to do the same.
She entered KU in 1974 as a nontraditional student and once again became an activist.
Less than six weeks after entering the University, Wolf was in the Chancellor's office lobby for more services catering to women students, especially those with children.
"My mother was sick and couldn't understand her Medicaid bills," she said. "I thought, 'I'm intelligent, I can figure out this,' but 'I could not figure it out.'"
Wolf said that her entry into the school of social work was natural, given her background but that it was not a significant concentrate on the plight of the elderly.
Soon after receiving her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work, Wolf worked for several health care agencies.
Angela Cervantes, former president of Hispanic-American Leadership Organization and Topeka junior, said Wolf was a role model.
"I regard her as a role model for women, specifically Mexican-American women, because she was able to succeed," she said.
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