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How supermarkets trick us into taking home more. JAYPLAY | INSIDE
Q&A with Connie Schultz
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010
Schultz spoke about equality at the Dole Institute Wednesday. LECTURE | 7A
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VOLUME 121 ISSUE 146
RELIGION
Students discuss faith and the Bible
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
Students had the opportunity to ask questions about Christianity Wednesday night in a forum called "Ask A Christian A Question." The program, b used on the annual "Ask a Black Person a Question" event, was meant to create an informal but safe atmosphere for people to discuss ideas about Christianity and the Bible.
Taylor Scott, a senior from Wichita, organized the event in Ellsworth Hall, where he is a resident assistant.
"I feel that religion in general is somewhat a taboo topic across KU's campus, yet an important one that should be discussed," Scott said. "So I planned this program as an outlet to start that conversation."
Scott hosted the event last year, and after feedback from panelists and attendees, he decided that it
SEE Q AND A ON PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
BY NANCY WOLENS nwolens@kansan.com
KU Farm group still hopeful for next year
Lack of support, unavailable funding and an absence of future leadership has left KU Student Farm at a near standstill.
Ben Alexander, vice president of KU Student Farm, said the lack of support wasn't coming from students, however.
The plan seemed tangible: research, organize and ultimately create a farm to cultivate food and sell it to KU Dining.
"There are a lot of students that are really enthusiastic about this and want to be involved," said Alexander, a senior from Lenexa. "It's a lack of support from the administration, and so far we don't have funding."
KU Student Farm was denied funding by Student Senate on March 10. The organization asked for about $10,000 to cover a wa-
KU Student Farm, an organization started by students in the Environmental Capstone course, has had to jump over some unexpected hurdles throughout the semester, and the project is now up in the air.
LIVING IN LIMBO
How undocumented students exist in the shadows of the only home they know
BY BRENNA DALDORPH |bdaldorph@kansan.com
August 2009 The cop approaches Javier's car. He's sheer bulk confined in a brown uniform.
Javier is sick with fear. How could he have missed the speed trap? He knows what's at stake. He's 19 years old, a freshman from Kansas City, Kan., but he's also here illegally, undocumented. If this cop finds out his secret, Javier could be arrested and shipped back to Mexico, a country he hasn't seen since he was 5 years old.
Javier, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, frantically plans what he'll say as he watches the cop draw nearer in the rearview mirror. He steps closer to the black VW Golf and gazes in at Javier.
"License and registration?"
Javier feels his hands trembling. He has no license because he is undocumented. On paper, he doesn't exist. He tries to play it cool and hands the officer hjs registration and insurance.
"And your license?" the officer says. Javier tries to calm his voice as he tells the cop what he will discover anyway.
SEE FARM ON PAGE 3A
The cop walks away, Javier's ID in hand. Relief floods over him. His dream is still alive.
"You'd better call someone to pick you up."
The officer asks for some form of ID. Javier hands him his KU ID, newly printed at orientation. The officer stares at it. Javier holds his breath.
"I don't have one."
"I never got around to it."
Raul stumbles out of the bus and onto the asphalt. His bruised wrists ache from being handcuffed to another man during the long journey from the jail in Missouri where he was detained.
Guards with guns drawn toss the men's belongings to the ground in plastic trash bags. Raul scrambles for his Bible, drawings of his godson and his $40 prison check, his parting gift from the U.S. government to start a new life in Mexico.
It is a year and a half and 750 miles from Raul's 2007 graduation from the University. In that faraway life, he was the radiant example of success against all odds - a student senator, the first in his family to earn a college degree. Even now, as Raul stands at the Mexican border, his face beams from the Latino recruitment poster used by KU Admissions. On the poster, he is pictured below text in Spanish that reads: You Have a Home Here.
Then-Provost Richard Lariviere delivered an impassioned speech for diversity, using Raul's story as a shining example: how he came from a poor family and worked full time to both support them and pay for his education, earning a degree in psychology.
"We must repeat his story thousands of times," Lariviere told faculty.
Lariviere and those who heard that speech didn't know that Raul, who came to the United States with his family in search of the American dream, was undocumented.
That dream crumbled into a nightmare only a year and a half after he walked down the hill at graduation. This time, he would walk across a bridge over the
Photo contributed by Raul
Raul, a KU alumnus and 2007 graduate, sits outside his grandmother's house in a suburb of Mexico City. Raul, a star student at the University, was deported in 2008 and is now struggling to make a life in a country he doesn't know.
Rio Grande to another country and another life.
For Raul, life in limbo had ended.
Each year, more than 65,000 undocumented students like Javier and Raul graduate from high schools in the United States. These students live in limbo; They grow up American, yet are not legal residents.
In Kansas, undocumented students can go to college. But in some states, including Missouri, it is illegal to attend public universities. Undocumented students can't get Social Security numbers to work legally, driver's licenses or college scholarships. They live in constant fear of deportation to countries that they don't remember.
For students like Javier, living in limbo means that any at-second, life as he knows it could be snatched away, as when Raul was sent back to Mexico.
"I was born there, but it's not my home." Javier said.
SEE IN LIMBO ON PAGE 4A
index
Classifieds...6B
Crossword...8A
Horoscopes...8A
Opinion... 9A
Sports... 1B
Sudoku... 8A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
Student model balances catwalk and classroom
Janelle DiPaola's outlook and her friends and family help keep he grounded in the fast-paced fashion industry. FASHION | 10A
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