monday,may3,2004
news
the university daily kansan 3A
3A
NAACP works for memberships
By Jodie Kraftt
jkraftk@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
With an informational table in front of Wescoe Hall and a movie and discussion night, members of the University of Kansas' NAACP worked last week to spread the word about their organization and to increase membership for next semester.
Amber Rucker, one of three presidents of the organization and Kansas City, Kan., junior, said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People started on campus in 2001 but hasn't been active because of a lack of organization. She said her main goal for next semester was to become registered nationally. This means having at least 25 due-pay
ing members. Right now, the organization has about 20 members.
Rucker said the NAACP was open to all students interested in its mission. According to its brochure, NAACP objectives include improving the "political, educational and economic status of minority groups" and increasing awareness of and eliminating racial prejudice and discrimination.
"It's not a black thing, it's not a white thing. It's an everybody thing." Rucker said.
Activities planned for next year include a voter registration drive, soul food competition, talent show, community service projects and a Black Heritage Ball.
Having a diverse group of members would allow for different perspectives and more discussions on topics relevant to campus, said Tyrone Brown, Topeka junior and one of the presidents.
"We want it to be a place where students can freely express opinions on different subjects to gain a greater understanding of each other." Brown said.
About 20 students and NAACP members expressed their opinions Wednesday night when they gathered to watch and discuss the movie Higher Learning. The 1995 film addresses issues of race and intolerance among college students. Veronica Shaw, Wichita freshman, said she attended Wednesday's event to support the organization. Shaw is a member of NAACP and said she encouraged her friends to get involved next semester.
"I've heard good things about the program in years past," Shaw.
said. "It's going to be an organization that's going to bring people together."
together. Even though she is not a member of NAACP right now, Lauren Ritchie said she wanted to join next semester. The Littleton, Colo., freshman said increasing awareness and diversity was important for the University and NAACP.
Annual membership dues for students are $10. Those interested in joining can e-mail the organization at ku_naacp@hotmail.com. The next event the group will host will be The Hook Up, featuring a guest speaker who will talk about summer relationships, 7 p.m. May 11 at the Jayhawk Room in the Kansas Union.
- Edited by Collin LaJoie
Study links drug effectiveness to race
By Bill Cross bcross@kansan.com Kansas staff writer
Doctors have known for years that bupropion, an antidepressant, can help motivated people quit smoking, but University of Kansas Medical Center researchers have found that it may not work quite as well, on average, for African Americans.
Jasit Ahluwalia, associate professor of preventative medicine at KU Medical Center, led a controversial study involving 600 African Americans who were attempting to quit smoking and found that bupropion helped, just as it did in previous studies with mostly white subjects.
Yet, he said, some smoking habits more common to African Americans — such as smoking menthol cigarettes and smoking soon after waking — made it
more difficult for the subjects to quit even though African-American smokers smoke fewer cigarettes per day than their Caucasian counterparts.
In a survey completed in February, 70 percent of African-American smokers said they preferred menthol cigarettes, while the same percentage of white smokers preferred non-menthol cigarettes. Menthol creates flavored smoke, which users tend to inhale more deeply, and Ahluwalia said this may contribute to a heightened addiction. He said menthol also has a cooling effect, so it is easier to hold breaths of menthol smoke than nonmenthol smoke.
Ahluwalia said studies like his were important in trying to explain the higher mortality rate among African-American smokers than among white smokers.
Kenneth Brooks, a California author and columnist who writes
about race relations, said the study did not deserve funding because the assumptions behind it were racist.
it were false.
"The barely-concealed racist implications make it another study that questions the human status of those people grouped as black or African American," Brooks said.
Brooks said the discrepancy in mortality rate was caused by worse living conditions, on average, for African Americans, and had nothing to do with smoking.
Ahluwalia agreed that other factors contributed to the difference in mortality rates, but said it was still necessary to study minorities in clinical studies.
"Additional studies focused on diverse populations are needed to improve treatment approaches and to identify population-specific factors," he said.
butrin, is popular as a smoking-cessation treatment because it does not contain nicotine. Doctors are not sure how it helps smokers quit, according to WebMD.
Bupropion, sold under the brand names Zyban and Well-
quit, according Ahluwalia said bupropion more than doubled the chances of his subjects quitting. These results were similar to those previously found for white subjects. However, Ahluwalia said addiction thresholds for African Americans might need to be lowered because his subjects who were light smokers showed more difficulty quitting.
Ahluwalia warned that his study requires further review, as his subjects were mostly African-American, middle-aged women. He said a study with a more diverse group of subjects is necessary before drawing any definite conclusions.
- Edited by Michelle Rodich
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan atfax writer
Visa process affects foreign enrollment
The University of Kansas has been feeling the effects of a national trend in a large decline of graduate school applications from foreign students. Like many other administrations across the country, officials at the University hope that trend will be reversed
hope that verbal procedures in the visa application process implemented since Sept. 11, 2001, has been a factor in the declining number of international students, Joe Potts, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said. These include face-to-face interviews, longer visa processing times and an increase in the number of visa denials.
demonstrate
"All of those things make it seem like the U.S. doesn't want as many foreign students," Potts said.
According to the Lawrence Journal-World, on the national level international graduate student applications for this fall are down 32 percent from a year ago. The trend is similar with undergraduate applications as well. The number of international students enrolled at the University has been dropping for years. In 1993, there were 2,067. In Fall 2001, prior to Sept. 11, there were 1,720. That number dropped to 1,585 in Fall 2003.
Potts said many people were worried about these numbers because having more international students in the United States helped the economy and strengthened its relations with other countries.
other countries "International students are part of the solution, not part of the problem," he said.
He said the best way to remedy
"All of these things make it seem like the U.S. doesn't want as many foreign students."
Joe Potts Director of International Student and Scholar Services
the problem was to improve the visa application process. The United States tightened its screening processes by requiring face-to-face interviews and background checks, but it didn't give the U.S. consulates the resources they needed to perform these procedures efficiently, Potts said.
He said the process took one month at best, but in many cases it took five, so some students missed an entire semester of school waiting for their visas.
"Even if you arrive in the U.S. with a visa, it doesn't mean you will be admitted," Juan Araoz, La Paz, Bolivia, sophomore, said. He said once you arrive, the consulates still have to do a background check so the visa is no guarantee. The process was tedious, he said.
Paul Trigoso, Lima, Peru, sophomore, said there was a lot of paperwork involved in the process, but for him it went smoothly.
But Potts said not all international students were comfortable with the system. In 2003, two KU students didn't go home for their fathers' funerals because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to get a visa to return to the United States, he said.
"There is no reason why that should be the case," he said.
— Edited by Michelle Rodick
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