Monday inside
Week of Love The Black Student Union's annual Black Love Week will begin today. The theme this year will be "Black Love... what are you scared of?" The "Mr. Black Love" competition is a new event organized by freshman members. PAGE 3A
Poetry with a twist
Poetry takes on a different
perspec-
tive as
slam
poets
distance
them-
selves from 'coffee shop' poetry. Slam poetry includes profanity, heckling the audience and just a lot of screaming and yelling. PAGE 6A
Aggies pull rank
The baseball team dropped its first two weekend
games to No.15 Texas A&M, but battled back to win the final game of the series. PAGE 1B
River rowing
The University of Kansas rowing team won its sixth consecutive Kansas Cup on Saturday. It defeated Kansas State and the University of Cincinnati. PAGE 4B
Weather Today
5134 partly cloudy
Two-day forecast tomorrow wednesday 6040 6745 mostly sunny sunny — Josh Molgern KUJH-TV
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Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 1B
Sports briefs 2B
Horoscopes 5B
Comic 5B
KANSAN
IN ITS 100TH YEAR AS THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Vol.114 Issue No.128
Debate at Wescoe Beach
Candidates aim to focus on platforms
The four candidates for student body president and vice president will stage an informal debate at noon today on Wescoe Beach.
By Andy Marso amarso@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
With elections two days away, today's debate provides the candidates with one of their last chances to sway undecided voters. They staged a formal debate last Thursday that was attended by mostly coalition candidates and supporters.
Blake Swenson, Topeka senior, is running for president with Delta Force against Steve Munch, Bellevue, Neb., sophomore who is running with KUnited. Kevin McKenzie, Salina sophomore, is running for vice president with Delta Force against KUnited's Jeff Dunlap, Leawood junior.
Students were invited to last week's debate but weren't allowed to participate. All the questions came from a group of three panelists. The debate turned personal fast, with all four candidates throwing verbal jabs at their opponents. Swenson said he wanted to get students more information on the Delta Force platform today. "I think there'll be more concentration on the issues," Swenson said. "I think it
Swenson
Munch
INFORMAL DEBATE
SEE DEBATE ON PAGE 8A
The KUnited and Delta Force candidates for student body president and vice president will stage their last debate today with the elections two days away. Students will be able to question all of the participants.
Who: Blake Swenson and Kevin
**Who:** Blake Swenson and Kevin McKenzie of Delta Force; Steve Munch and Jeff Dunlap of KUnited
**What:** Informal debate
**When:** Noon today
**Where:** Wescoe Beach
**Why:** Student Senate elections begin
Wednesday
John Kary, Topeka freshman, fought on the terrorist side in a game of Counter-Strike at AdrenaLAN, 833 Ohio St., on March 31. At any given time, there's 100,000 people logged on to Counter-Strike, a modification of Half-Life.
Are You Game?
Lawrence gamers find common
Armed with a headset equipped with a microphone, plus two bags of Doritos and a can of black cherry cola, John Kary is ready to take on the terrorists. He hides behind corners, runs to evade his enemies and yells to his teammates when he's out of ammunition.
Luckily for Kary, running out of ammunition isn't that big of a deal because the guns were never real in the first place. The terrorists were created by a software engineer, and if Kary happens to get killed, he can simply start up again. Kary is in the world of Counter-Strike — a world where five players work together to eliminate terrorists from the streets.
Kary, Topeka freshman, Joined his
Counter-Strike team in July. The five local gamers compete in online tournaments twice a week, as well as tournaments held around the Lawrence area
Kary, who plays video games about 10 to 15 hours a week, is just one of many people across the country who can regularly be found in front of a computer or a television set playing video games. Although a lot of people enjoy playing video games every once in while, "gamers," as they are sometimes referred to as, are more than just casual players and usually spend a couple hours each day playing. For some, playing can interfere with the rest of their lives and in some cases, it can lead to addiction.
On this particular
day, Kary and his teammates are practicing at AdrenaLAN, 833 Ohio St., a computer and console gaming center that is a haven for gamers.
Kary said he had been playing video games ever since he was 3 years old, to the dismay of his parents.
"They would always tell me to 'Go dead and go to bed.'" he said, laughing about his parents' interesting use of terminology.
He said he loved games such as *The*
SEE GAME ON PAGE 5A
Pride Week begins with political speaker
By Steve Vockrodt svockrodt@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Donate Against Hate, meet a U.S. congress official, partake in a drag show and finally, march for queer pride.
These are only a few of the activities that Queer and Allies will host during Pride Week. The Week will begin today at 10:30 a.m. on Wescoe Beach where Queers and Allies members will distribute free soda and copies of Vanguard, the University of Kansas' gay and lesbian publication.
gay and lesbian U.S. Representative Sabrina Sojourner will speak at 7:30 tonight at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Sojourner was the first openly lesbian official to be elected to Congress. She is also an author of anti-opression literature. Jimmie Manning, graduate student from Liberal and chairman of Pride Week, said he was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Sojourner accepted the invitation. He said getting speakers to come to Lawrence was difficult, partly because of the reputation areas around Lawrence have in the Bible Belt.
Pride Week will also feature a Religion and Oppression panel on Thursday that will discuss the use of religious texts, especially Bible scripture, to oppress homosexuals and other minority groups. Members of local clergy will be on the panel to discuss the meanings behind disputed passages in the Bible.
"There's a lot of gray area in the middle, and the panel will explore the black and the white of it," Manning said.
SEE PRIDE ON PAGE 8A
Vice-presidential personalities
Dunlap: Friend to elderly, hard worker,'Rings' fan
By Andy Marso
amarso@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
"We're well-off, but my parents wouldn't let me have a free ride," Dunlap said. "I've been working since eighth grade."
Jeff Dunlap, KUnited's vice presidential candidate, is from Leawood in Johnson County. His father is a doctor and Dunlap's wardrobe is full of polo shirts. But he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
eighnt grade. Dunlap's dad grew up on a farm in Liberal, a city of about 20,000 people in southwest Kansas. He taught Dunlap and his sisters the value of work.
Dunlap's résumé includes stints as a car porter, cashier, waiter, deli attendant, lawn service owner and personal assistant. He's been successful, with the exception of car portering.
except a car porter Dunlap was responsible for taking cars from the service area to the holding area at a dealership. He
Annie Bernethy/Kansun
"I had to quit because I wrecked a lot of cars," Dunlap said. "I was only 16 and I was a terrible driver.
wasn't quite ready for the job.
SEE DUNLAP ON PAGE 8A
McKenzie: Music lover, willing compromiser
By Andy Marso
amarso@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kevin McKenzie, the Delta Force vice presidential candidate, is the only candidate vying for one of Student Senate's top positions who is trying to balance campaigning with maintaining a serious relationship.
McKenzie and his girlfriend, Cassi Ross, Sabeth sophomore, have been dating for about five months. When they got together, McKenzie had just decided to run for student body vice president.
"I knew he had made this commitment," Ross said, "but I didn't know it would be quite like this."
During the intense campaigning of the last month, McKenzie, Salina sophomore, has left his house at 7 a.m. every day and generally not gotten home until 10 or 11 p.m.
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
Annie Bernetty/Kansas
"I'm not sure who we need to."
"Basically she's been incredibly understanding about it," McKenzie said. "We really haven't been seeing each
other as much as we used to."
other to include McKenzie and Ross are confident they can overcome the challenge that the election presents to their relationship.
步
SEE MCKENZIE ON PAGE 8A
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