CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, April 1, 1997
3
Senate to vote on health plan
By Emily Vrabac
Kansan staff writer
The Student Health Advisory Committee has recommended price changes for the student health insurance plan. Student Senate will vote on the plan, including the price changes, on April 9.
The committee thinks the price changes will increase program participation.
"The plan has dropped from 2,500 participants in 1992-1993 to 1,100 this school year, so there are a lot of people dropping out of this plan,"
said Jim Strobl, director of student health services.
Jim Boyle, associate director of student health services, said the insurance-plan quality was not the reason for the participation decline.
"This is a comprehensive plan." Boyle said. "This is not bare bones. It is a very good plan, and for the price, it is a tremendous bargain."
With the proposed rates, students would be divided into age groups, similar to larger, corporate insurance plans. Students 25 years old and younger would have a different set of rates than students more than 25 years
old because older students accounted for a larger amount of the paid claim money than younger students.
Strobi said for each dollar paid in premium, the older students were receiving $1.64 in claims, while the younger students were receiving 30 cents in claims. The committee was trying to change the distribution so that the younger students would not be subsidizing the older students.
Strobl and Boyle said the students on the committee had done the work to choose and maintain the student health insurance plan.
Strobl said, "The students drew up
the plan, looked at the companies and made the decisions."
He said the plan was the only Student Senate-endorsed health insurance plan.
"The goal of the student health insurance is to give the most reasonable rate to the largest amount of people," Committee member Jordan McKee, Lawrence senior said. "We played around with the numbers to keep the rate as low as we could."
McKee said that some people's rates had to be increased but that the committee tried to confine the higher rates to a small group of people.
Art exhibit focuses on the Virgin
By Andrew Humphrey Special to the Kansan
According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Christianized Mexican Indian twice in December of 1531 on a hill near Mexico City and asked for his help in creating a shrine to her on that spot.
These appearances led to more than the construction of a church. They created a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the apparition is known among Hispanics in Mexico and throughout the Americas.
This devotion is expressed through images of her kept by Hispanic Americans.
An exhibit of these images is on display in the Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology. The exhibit ends April 6.
Among the items featured are a glass door with the image of the Virgin etched in it; a statue of the Virgin set on an altar, surrounded by candlelabrum and potted cactuses and roses; and an ornate home altar constructed from pieces of furniture and jewelry.
"Most of the people have in their
homes a kind of small altar," said Robert Smith, professor emeritus of anthropology. "It will be in the dining room or in the bedroom and so forth. And they will talk to the Virgin and pray to her. It's definitely an indication of devotion."
The mystical image of the Virgin Mary is etched in a glass door with the reflection of a nearby window. It is part of the Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe exhibit, on display until April 6 at the Museum of Anthropology.
The items were gathered from 12 households and churches in local Hispanic communities.
The objects range from calendars and key chains to priests' vestments.
But whether etched in glass or sculpted from wood or plaster, most of the images include similar components: the Virgin Mary framed by the rays of the sun, standing on a crescent moon. She wears a mantle covered with stars, and a black sash is wrapped around her waist. An angel is at her feet.
All of these come from a portrait of the Madonna said to be created by herself.
The legend is that after the Christianized Indian, Juan Diego, first saw the Virgin, he was unable to convince the archbishop of Mexico of the appearance. The Virgin then appeared to Diego once more, and this time told him to gather roses from a hill in his
cloak.
When Diego went to show the roses to the archbishop, the roses fell from his cloak to the floor, revealing an
image of the Virgin. The cloak is now kept in the New Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, near the site where the Virgin is said to have appeared.
Families have housing option for graduation
Ellsworth Hall will open rooms
By Harumi Kogarimal
Kansan staff writer
Most hotels in Lawrence already are reserved for commencement, but families of graduating seniors have another option for accommodations.
The Department of Student Housing will provide 300 rooms in Ellsworth Hall between May 16 and 18 for those attending this year's ceremonies.
Randy Timm, assistant director of the department of student housing, said about 250 people staved in Ellsworth last year.
"Families who have forgotten to make reservations at hotels in town usually sign up for commencement housing." Timm said.
He said the housing department already had received two requests for commencement housing.
The Ellsworth housing costs $16.50 per person per night for double room occupancy and $25 for single room occupancy. Timm said the cost was higher than the regular guest housing rate because it included breakfast at Ekdahl Dinning Commons.
Bed and linens are supplied by the housing department, and the security system and desk operations will be in effect.
Reservation cards for commencement housing were sent to graduating seniors together with senior packets during spring break. Those who want to reserve rooms need to fill out the form and make a payment for their stay.
Timm said seniors who lived in any residence hall also could stay in Ellsworth Hall, but they did not have to pay for the commencement housing. Those who live off campus also can stay in the hall if they pay the required rate. Timm said about 10 graduating seniors staved in the hall last year.
The hotels said they wouldn't take reservations for next year's commencement until after this year's commencement.
Rachel McDowell, manager of the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., said some people already were on next year's waiting list, but those people needed to call back after this year's commencement to verify the reservation.
Some rooms still are available at hotels in Toneka.
Ed Forman, owner of the Best Western Candlelight Inn in Topeka, said about 40 rooms were still available, but the rooms could be filled quickly depending on the number of travelers and families arriving for commencement.
She said the rooms usually were filled by December.
Theater fiesta lures scholars
Latin-American theater focus of lectures and performances
By Umut Bayramoglu
Kansan staff writer
This week the KU campus and Lawrence will be the center for playwrights, actors, directors and scholars specializing in an area of theater not commonly discussed.
The department of Spanish and Portuguese will present a symposium and festival of Latin-American theater beginning with a reception tomorrow.
"As a department, we want to promote the study of Latin-American theater," said George Woodyard, professor of Spanish and Portuguese.
The symposium will play host to more than 100 scholars from around the nation, Woyard said.
"We will have people talking about their area of interest or presenting papers on their latest research." he said.
Woodyard said the symposium was the third of its kind at the University.
"The first one took place in 1982, the second in 1992," he said. "This year we are having it to honor the 30th anniversary of Latin American Theatre Review, published on campus."
Woodyard said the symposium also would feature international participants from countries such as Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico and Colombia.
The academic portion of the symposium, which will take place at the Holiday Inn Holidome, 200
McDonald Drive, will start on Thursday morning and run through Saturday.
Woodyard said that after the academic sessions each day, there would be a theater performance at 8 p.m. every night at the Inge Theater in Murphy Hall.
The theatre and film department will present Between Pancho Villa and a Naked Woman, a play by Mexican plawright Sabina Berman.
John Gronbeck-Tedesco, theatre and film department chairman, said the department selected the play based on suggestions from the Spanish and Portuguese department.
"It's an interesting play by a contemporary female Mexican playwright," he said. "We thought it would go along well with the symposium."
Woodyard said that participants from the University of New Mexico would perform another play by Berman titled Sudden Death.
Playwright Sabina Berman will be present at the symposium to give a speech on Thursday, Woodward said.
Tony Carrera, Overland Park freshman and member of the KU Hispanic American Leadership Organization, said he was impressed to see the faculty trying to include more diversity on campus.
"It's nice to see that the University is trying their hardest to educate students multiculturally," Carrera said.
the symposium is free to KU students, and the plays at West Junior High School are $4. For more information, call Woodyard at 864-3851.
In addition to the two plays in English, he said that two other Mexican theater groups would perform plays in Spanish at West Junior High School.
Scents may be worth the cents
By Steph Brewer
Special to the Kansan
When Anneka Farmer puts on her Nag Champa perfume oil in the morning, she not only smells better but also feels better.
"When you breathe it in, it's really refreshing," said Farmer, Olathe freshman, of the Indian scent. "I just started wearing it a couple of months ago, and I am addicted."
Farmer's reaction is not unusual, said Edgar Chambers, professor of foods and nutrition at Kansas State University. Chambers, who studies people's reactions to different scents, said wearing or smelling perfume could change people's moods. Some scents, such as peppermint, even can alter brain waves.
"I don't think you'll find many perfumes that are actually changing brain waves," Chambers said, "but because things are pleasurable, we can get a physical change in moods."
Missy Horak, Lawrence freshman, said that although she wore fruity, natural scents to make her happy, she also liked smelling musky, outdoors-smelling cologne because it reminded her of her father.
"I like it because it always made my dad smell clean and fresh." Horak said.
Scients often prompt memories, Chambers said. For example, if a person's family baked pies frequently, the person will be reminded of the family when smelling an apple pie.
"You think, 'Oh boy, this is something nice and pleasant,' and you set warm fuzzies all over." Chambers said.
Horak said she wore perfume to express her personality as she wanted others to view it.
"The more I figure out about myself, the more I figure out what I want my whole persona to be like," Horak said. "That's what I think perfume is for."
Sue Hopkins, department manager of cosmetics and fragrance at Weaver's Department Store, 901 Massachusetts St., agreed.
"It's all about musk," Andrew Gilles, Columbia, Mo., freshman, said. "Deer have musk; we don't have a musk that attracts girls or does, so we have to wear cologne."
Mike Penny, Medicine Lodge senior, said he liked the way women reacted when they smelled his Drakkar Noir. He said perfume encouraged intimacy.
"We use it as a way to project our personality, to attract the opposite sex and to be noticed." Hopkins said.
Gilles may be right about cologne or perfume attracting the opposite sex, but musk may not be as much of a turn-on as some think. Chambers said.
What attracts people has changed during the years, Chambers said. In the 1960s, traditional floral were popular. In the '60s and '70s, spicy scents and musks gained popularity as young people tried to distance themselves from their parents. In the '80s and early '90s, water fragrances became prevalent, coinciding with the environmental trend. Now, food fragrances, such as vanilla, are the thing.
"Musk is attractive to deer," he said. "Whether it attracts is something that is up for question."
"Kitchen scents turn him on," Farmer said. "Men like eating food."
Farmer agreed, saying food scents were attractive to her boyfriend.
Different scents may be attractive to different people, but most agreed that smell was a factor in how people were viewed.
"People want stability," Chambers said. "Food is a stable thing."
"Smell is more sensual than even sight," Penny said.
The sensual pleasure scents bring is worth the money, Chamberssaid.
"It seems costly to go to a department store and spend $60 on expensive perfume or cologne," Chambers said. "But if it lasts six months, it is just pennies a day and cheaper than buying cigarettes, a candy bar or a new car to make you happy."
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