KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS.
SECTION VOL.104, NO.151
WEDNESDAY. JUNE 21. 1995
(USPS 650-640)
Card-carrying spouses
Some foreign students are using marriage to become U.S. citizens.
Page1B
KU LIFE
The Sesame Street edge
A new study by KU professors says children who watch Sesame Street perform better in school. Page 3A
Former director of international students dies
Graveside services for Clark Coan will be at 2 p.m. today at the Riverside Cemetery in Waterville.
Coan, director emeritus of KU's international student services died Sunday.
Compiled from The Associated Press and Kansan staff reports.
NEWS
BRIEFS
Coan was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Barnes. He earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in education from KU.
In 1967, Coan came to work for the University as assistant dean of men and foreign student adviser. He held this position until 1966. From 1966 to 1974, he was dean of foreign student services, and from 1974 to 1990 he was director of foreign student services and associate dean of student life. He also served on the KU Athletic Board for more than 10 years.
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca; sons Clark Jr., Marc and Edward, all of Lawrence; and a sister, Maxine Helene Summers. Lawrence.
The family suggests memorials to the Clark Coan International Student Leadership Award Fund in care of the KU Endowment Association or to the First United Methodist Church in Lawrence in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W 13th St.
Senate: Pedal to the metal
"If we raise the speed limit and take the limits off, from a national perspective, people will die," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio.
WASHINGTON — It's time to get rid of the 55 mph federal speed limit for cars, the Senate decided yesterday, moving to cancel a rule praised by safety groups but opposed by many motorists. The limit would remain for big trucks and buses.
This issue and others came to the floor during debate over the National Highway System bill, which would provide $13 billion spanning two years to improve 159,886 miles of roads across the country. The House has yet to consider the measure.
Defenders of the federal speed limit said there was no question that it had saved lives since it took effect in 1974.
Loans directed straight to students
Students can cash in federal loans at KU, avoid banks, red tape
By Kimberly Crabtree Kansan staff writer
Students who receive government loans to finance their education soon may find the process a little easier, thanks to the William D. Ford Federal Direct Student Loan Program.
Under the program, more commonly known as direct lending, the federal government will make loans directly to students through their
schools. Students will no longer have to go through a lending institution to receive their loan money.
The University of Kansas has been selected to participate in the program beginning with the 1996-97 school year. Direct lending was started during the 1994-95 school year. By 1996, 1,854 colleges and universities will be a part of the program. Direct lending will affect Federal Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans and Federal Plus Loans.
"From a student's perspective, direct lending is similar to the current program," said Diane Del Buono, director of student financial aid. "The difference is that you're borrowing from the Department of Education. It will allow us to provide a lot more consistent service to students, rather than trying to deal with lending institutions all over the country."
Tracey Cluthe, Houston senior, agreed. Cluthe receives loans from local and out-of-state banks.
Students who already receive loans through lending institutions automatically will be switched over to the new program.
"It will allow us to work more efficiently," Del Boone said. "Right now, if a student shows up at fee payment completion and for some reason doesn't have their loan money, we have to refer them to their lending institution, which causes time delays for the student in getting tuition and books paid for."
"This new program definitely sounds like a step in the right direction," said Matt Direst, Topeka junior. Direst receives a student loan through Capital Federal Savings. "The program would conserve time, energy and money by totally eliminating a step that is currently involved in the program. Eliminating the step of correspondence with the lending institutions would also get rid of some red tape."
Direct lending will allow the office of student financial aid to streamline loan functions and assist students in a more timely manner when problems arise.
The University deals with 8,000 to 9,000
student loan recipients, with loan totals amounting to about $37 million.
"It's a pain to go through all the steps you have to take now," Culthe said. "I just see the process being a lot quicker and more accessible if it's on campus."
The Rape of a Homeland
Nafa Mehmedovic sorts through a pile of pictures on the coffee table her forehead furrowed, blinking back the tears filling her brown eyes.
Covering her mouth with her quavering hands, she points to a picture of Mostar, her hometown in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It shows a graceful 500-year-old arched bridge made of white bricks spanning a river with clear blue water, with houses and gardens full of flowers in the background.
Then she points to a more recent photo. The bridge is reduced to rubble; the stream filled with debris; and the picture might as well be black and white, for Mostar is now gray and pock-marked by bullet holes from the war.
In broken English, she says, "My town, before beautiful, now destroyed."
Trying to maintain the Bosnian-Muslim custom of feeding visitors, she offers a typical Bosnian dish, chevapchichi — little beef kebabs — as she sits at her kitchen table and talks about how she and her family fleed their homeland to find safety and peace 5,000 miles away in Lawrence.
She came to Lawrence with her husband Hardijia, 50; sons Vanja, 21, and Haris, 26; daughter-in-law Alisa, 22; and grandson Adnan, 2. Other family members remain in Mostar.
Her husband, a tall gray-haired man, listens in gloomy silence as Mehmedovic tells how they came to the United States because there was no food, no work and no safety in her own country.
"When soldiers start knocking on your doors and getting into your house without your consent, you live in constant fear," she said
through a translator.
Her son Vanja said the way in Bosnia-Herzegovina was not easy to understand.
"No one should be blamed for this war," he said as he clapped his hands once in anger. "The politics and politicians are guilty for the suffering of our country. This is no one's fault, not the Muslims, not the Croatians, not even all of the Serbs are guilty."
Before the war the family lived a normal middle-class life in Mostar and were not politically involved. Nafa Mehmedovic said.
She said Serbian soldiers had no respect for private property; they often opened her door and walked into her house without asking permission. Her son sold soldiers did not care whether they hurt women or children.
He said that at times when the soldiers came, his mother hid her baby grandson and her daughter-in-law to protect them from harm.
"It was not safe for anyone, not even babies," he said. "In the ethnic cleansing the Serbian extremists killed many people, including babies."
Mehmedovic said that even in her Lawrence home she was afraid of answering the door because she still was traumatized by her past.
She said she was a murdered by her past. Tears run down her pale face as she shows a picture of the grave of her niece and nephew. They were killed after a grenade exploded near them, shortly before her family came to Lawrence. Her husband, still silent, shakes his head.
Mehmedovic said that early in 1994, Croatian troops surrounded Mostar, a city of about 110,000, and gathered together all Muslims and Serbs. She said the soldiers told her they were trying to protect them from getting hurt.
Soon, most of the city residents were sent to camps, including her family, she said. How-
see Bosnia, Page 2A
Photos from Nafa's photo album.
Bosnia tries to end Serb siege with attacks, peace plan
The Associated Press
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A few rare hours of respite from war yielded to familiar gunfire and explosions last night even as the Bosnian government and rebel Serbs hunted they might talk peace again — with some conditions.
Sirens sounded a general alert as the fighting began south of Sarajevo. Two civilians were killed and seven, including a child, were wounded, the government said.
ment forces renewed artillery attacks south west of Sarajevo and launched infantry attacks in several locations. Three Serb civilians were slightly wounded in the shelling of the western Serb-held suburb of Rilovac, Serb television reported.
Bosnian Serb media reported that govern-
A three-day blitz by Bosnian government forces last week heralded the start of a summer-long offensive to try to crack the three-year Serb siege of Sarajevo. The Muslim-led army hopes to capture strategic heights around the city, severing Serb supply routes.
The city has not had electricity, water or
regular food aid for the last month.
Both the Muslim-bosnian government and the rebel Serbs have indicated they might be willing to return to peace talks if the conditions are right.
"I think we both understand that peace in Bosnia is dependent on a negotiated settlement," said Muhamed Sacirbey, Bosnian Foreign Minister.
He added that the government's only condition was the lifting of the siege of Sarajevo.
The international peace plan — proposed by Russia, Britain, France, Germany and the
United States — would divide Bosnia, giving 49 percent to Serbs and 51 percent to a Muslim-Croat federation. The Bosnian government has accepted the plan, but Serbs, who now hold 70 percent of the country, have not.
However, there have been some signals that Serb leaders could accept the plan with some changes.
Momcilo Kraijasnik, a Serb leader, was quoted as saying that Serbs are urging a permanent cease-fire, negotiations and territorial divisions.
University philosophy professor dies of cancer at age 51
By Mark Luce
Kansan Staff Writer
Peers, students mourn loss of associate dean
Megan Hope, a spring 1995 graduate in English and anthropology, said she greatly admired J. Michael Young.
Mr. Young, professor of philosophy, associate dean of liberal arts and sciences, and director of the College Honors Program, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer.
During her undergraduate career, Hope and Mr. Young worked together in the University Scholars
Hope met Mr. Young as a freshman in his honors tutorial and said she was awed by his intelligence and generosity.
Program and co-taught an honors tutorial on multiculturalism.
J. Michael Young
"What I really learned from Mike was that life in college and after college is not about impressing other people," Hope said. "It's about loving life, loving learning, and maintaining integrity no matter what you go through. He was really an inspiration."
Sandra Wick, assistant director of the College Honors Program, said that even though Mr. Young was ill, he managed to finish a book, present conference papers and teach.
"There was never a better fit between a man and a job," Wick said. "He gave direction and focus and set a wonderful example for students of a professional life in the academy."
Mr. Young was born January 5, 1944, in Waterloo, Iowa. He studied philosophy at Grinnell College and joined KU's philosophy department in 1969 after receiving his doctorate from Yale University.
An internationally recognized Kant scholar, Mr. Young was the editor and translator of "Immanuel Kant: Lectures on Logic," a book published in 1992.
John Bricke, professor of philosophy and a close friend of Young's, said that Mr. Young's dedication to
He also wrote many articles on Kant and other topics for philosophical journals.
undergraduates was unique.
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Mr. Young's guidance was not just limited to his students.
Sally Frost-Mason said that her decision to take an opening as associate dean of liberal arts and sciences was made easier because she knew she would be working with Mr. Young.
"What marked Mike as a colleague was his incredibly deep concern for undergraduate education," Bricke said. "It is easy enough for highly specialized professors to drift toward graduate students, but that was never the direction he took."
"His focus created a network of students who name him as the major intellectual influence in their lives, and this is said by an astonishing number of students," Bricke said.
Bricke said that this commitment to undergraduates led not only to more philosophy majors, but also to a group of students who looked up to Mr. Young.
"He brought a special perspective that always took into consideration the needs of the students," she said. "I know as a teacher, a friend and a mentor he will be incredibly missed."
Young is survived by his wife, Carolyn; his children T. Jason Young, New York City, C. Bryan Young, Lawrence and A. Michelle Young, Las Vegas, Nev.; his parents, of Laguna Hills, Calif.; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held this fall at the University.
Memorial contributions should be made to the J. Michael Young Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Metropolitan Federal Bank, 901 Vermont St., Lawrence, K. 60044.
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