2A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY, APRIL 24. 2006
STUDENT ORGANIZATION
Carlv Pearson/KANSAN
Jay Kayhill, Topeka artist, plays a drum at the KALA-BASH at the Kansas Union on Saturday evening, while a movie of incarcerated men rapping about how the drum makes them feel plays on a projection screen behind him. Kayhill was a special guest artist at the event, which was a celebration of African cultures.
Bash celebrates African culture
BY ANNE WELTMER
aweltmer@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Four men from Phi Beta Sigma fraternity stepped down the aisle of Woodruff Auditorium singing a cappella and chanting in harmonies about their fraternity Saturday evening as part of the African Student Association's KALA-BASH in the Kansas Union.
The stepping demonstration was one of 17 parts of the KALA-BASH, which is aimed to teach students and Lawrence residents about African traditions, said Paul Oruoch, Nairobi, Kenya, sophomore.
When they got on stage, they explained the dance they had just preformed had roots in African and Christian traditions, but had evolved into a competitive musical style with the Temptations and other African American musical groups. Now, it's a right of passage for historically African American fraternities and sororities.
He said the media usually gave Africa a bad reputation by
showing only poverty and suffering. The KALA-BASH was to "show students what Africa is all about," he said. "This is the good side of it."
The event also included dances, singing and a fashion show. The KALA-BASH is an annual event by the African
Student Association, a student organization that has been in existence since the 1960s.
The African Student Association members put together the KALA-BASH on a low budget without
were paid for by the group's fundraising events throughout the year.
One part of the event was a man from Rutgers University reciting poetry. His tone fluctuated from emotional to angry as he talked about his experiences being African
Student Senate funding. Genet Mulugeta, Addis, Ethiopia, senior, said everyone provided their own costumes, they painted their own backdrop and the University of Kansas let them use Woodruff Auditorium for free. They spread the word through e-mail, facebook.com and word of mouth, but the programs and fliers
"I'ts an honor because you're a part of people who are bringing awareness to KU about African culture."
Genet Mulgeta Addis, Ethiopia, senior
American. Jazz music played lightly in the background of the video, accentuating his rhythmic words. Jay Kayhill, a Topeka artist who accompanied the video on stage on a drum, said it
was a way for the incarcerated people of Africa to tell their story.
Men wearing patchwork skirts and bands around their heads danced and leapt around the stage during the Shamwari Tamba dance. Their broad, sweeping movements was in unison with the heavy drum beat.
Then, a woman wearing a sparkling white blouse and black skirt with a red wrap over it walked solemnly down the aisle singing. She got to the stage and praised God. Some audience members responded with "Amen." She sang a "halleujah song" and danced with a scarf in each hand.
All of the events were created to share their culture with other students and for them to celebrate their own culture.
Oruoch said he came to the United States because he could get the best education for a reasonable price. After he gets his engineering degree, he plans to move home to Kenya. Staying involved in African Student Association has kept him involved with his culture.
with her cousin.
Muluga said she joined ASA two years ago because she thought it was a good organization and enjoyed spending time with the other members.
"It's an honor because you're a part of people who are bringing awareness to KU about African culture," she said.
— Edited by Lindsey Gold
Violence greets new politicians working on government
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Insurgents killed three American soldiers in the Baghdad area Sunday and fired mortars near the Defense Ministry in a spree of violence that killed at least 27 Iraqis as politicians began work on forming a new government.
The largest Sunni Arab party raised new allegations of sectarian killings, one of the urgent issues facing the new leadership.
BY LEE KEATH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
U. S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the next government must decommission
sectarian militias and integrate them into the national armed forces, warning that the armed groups represent the "infrastructure for civil war."
Sunday's deaths raised to eight the number of U.S. troops killed in the past two days.
At least 61 American service members have died in April, putting it on track to pass January, with 62, as the deadliest month this year. It represents a jump over March, with 31 deaths, was the lowest monthly toll for the Americans since February 2004.
The three soldiers were killed Sunday when their vehicle hit
Drive-by shooters in a nearby district gunned down a schoolteacher and a car mechanic in his shop.
Twenty-seven Iraqis also died in other violence Sunday, including seven killed when three mortars hit just outside the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad, not far from Iraq's Defense Ministry. Police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said it was hard to identify the dead
a roadside bomb northwest of capital, the U.S. command said.
because the powerful blasts and shrapnel severed their limbs and destroyed their identification.
In the evening, another mortar hit a home in southern Baghdad, killing a man and wounding two of his relatives. Drive-by shooters in a nearby district gunned down a school-teacher outside her home and a car mechanic in his shop.
At least eight other mortars or rockets exploded about the same time on the other side of the Tigris River in central Baghdad, without injuries, police said.
The violence underlined the challenge as prime minister-designate Jawad al-Maliki began on Sunday the tough task of assembling a Cabinet out of Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties.
President Bush called al-Maliki, the Iraqi president and the parliament speaker and urged the quick formation of a coalition government.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has 30 days to do it, but the parties are under pressure to move quickly without the often intractable haggle over ministries.
The United States is hoping the new government will unify Iraq.
CAMPUS
The local band Boo & Boo Too won JKHK's Farmer's Ball this weekend.
The band outlasted the other three finalists — Mary Me Moses, Death and Flowers, and Vibralux — to win the battle of the bands event on Saturday at the Granada.
The annual event is one the biggest events KJHK presents during the spring semester, said Jaimie Oborny, KJHK live events director.
DeJuan Atway
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
MOI