Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, March 8, 1988
3
Experiment brings racism to classes
By Julie Adam
Kansan staff writer
James Jackson walked into an English 102 classroom in Fraser Hall误到 7 at 3:30 a.m. and told the 18 white students and one black student how much he hated white people.
James Jackson
student how many buttons on the black man stood about 6-foot-4 and was dressed in a red checked shirt, headband, one black leather glove and dark sunglasses.
None of the students realized, though, that they were subjects of an experiment and that Jackson was only role-playing a black racist. Jackson is actually a KU graduate student from Baltimore majoring in psychology.
One of his opening lines as guest speaker in the English class was, "I'd rather slap one of you than shake your hand because I really do not like whites."
Jon Bell, graduate teaching assistant in the English department, said that he set up the mock racism session in two of his classes yesterday.
Jackson's appearance was scheduled on the same day as a campus visit by members of the Missouri Knights, a group affiliated with the Ku
This whole issue is not about racism in itself or freedom of speech. It is about hating someone for no reason at all.'
T
James Jackson Baltimore graduate student
Klux Klan, because Bell wanted his predominantly white classes to see hatred from a vulnerable point of view.
The students were informed at the end of the class what the session was all about and why they had been misled.
"This whole issue is not about racism in itself or freedom of speech. It is about hating someone for no reason at all." Jackson said.
nor class or effect. Bell said he was hoping to get a student response of fear, anger or inferiority. In the first class, the students cross-examined Jackson's violent and racist comments, but the mood was relatively calm.
In the second class, the mood of the class was filled with more aggression. At one point, Bell said, it looked as though violence might erupt in the classroom, but tempers were cooled to a discussion level.
Jackson said that by getting angry, the students started understanding the object of the lesson.
Lisa Guild, Topeka freshman, visited both classes
She said the session made her think about racist issues.
Bell said, "The flight or fight response in animals and in us is not one of hate. However, if your fear of otherness, of the unknown, can beat you, then you will begin to hate. And hatred, like the common cold, is acquired through contact with hatred."
"I felt like it was very enlightening," she said. "I haven't seen that type of situation where there was that much hate in the room," she said.
Gary Decock, Overland Park sophomore, said he understood the message Jackson was trying to convey to the class.
"It was very convincing. It showed that we have stereotypical ideas on how people should act.
Selective admissions rejected
Kansas House defeats bill requiring core courses for students
TOPEKA — After a two hou debate, the House yesterday failed to approve a bill that would have ended the state's long-standing policy of open admissions to all state universities.
House members voted 43-80 against the bill, sponsored by State Rep. Denise Apt, I-Noia. Apt said she will not get the bill debated again this session.
The Associated Press
Currently, the six state Board of Regents universities must admit all graduates of Kansas high schools. The universities can set admissions requirements for out-of-state students
Under Apt's bill, the universities would have been required to admit only those Kansas high school graduates who had passed a certain set of classes while in high school.
"When we send a student not prepare to, set them up him." All said.
However, State Rep. Gary Blumenthal, D-Merriam, said the bill would limit some young Kansans' opportunities to go to college.
Denise Apt
W,
When we send a student not prepared to college, we set them up for failure.
state representative, R-Iola
"If we are so concerned about the products that come out of our Kansas high schools, why aren't we strengthening the K through 12 programs?" Blumenthal asked.
Under Apt's bill, the required set of classes would have been stipulated by the Regents.
Several House members said they were worried the Regents could change the required courses at any time if Apt's proposal had passed.
Currently, the Regents recommend the courses for college-bound students. They include three years of math, science and social studies, four years of English and two years of a foreign language. The foreign language requirement would not have taken effect until 1994, and the others in 1992, under Apt's bill.
However, members rejected on a voice vote an amendment that would have placed the current Regents recommendations in the bill and thus not allowed the required courses to be changed if the bill passed.
Although the bill's opponents have said many rural school districts can't offer all the required courses, especially foreign language. Apt said that districts could use telecommunications and cooperation between districts.
State Rep. Don Crumbaker, R-Brewster, however, said Apt's proposal was too restrictive.
"It can be done," Apt said.
"Many students don't realize when they start high school that they'll want to go off to college." Crumbaker said.
Several other House members said they knew of young people, especially minorities or students with learning disabilities, who had not done well in high school but then succeeded in college.
"This is a proposal that will do nothing but limit opportunities," Blumenthal said.
Commission receives 12 racetrack proposals
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The Kansas Racing Commission received 12 proposals yesterday from groups that want to build and operate pari-mutuel ractacks within the state.
Jimmy Grenz, the commission's executive director, said the commission must hear formal, daylong presentations on each proposal, and the Kansas Bureau of investigation must check the backgrounds of the officers of the groups involved. After that, the commission will schedule public hearings, then review the proposals as a group, Grenz said. The commission could take between one and four months to issue the first licenses, he said.
Voters approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution allowing pari-mutuel betting on dog and horse races in 1986.
Under Kansas's pari-mutuel laws, the profits from racing must go through a non-profit group to charities. However, those organizations can contract with companies to build, own and operate tracks.
Here is a list of the 12 proposals for pari-mutuel racetracks in Kansas:
Edwardsville, dog and horse racing.
Kansas City, near the intersections of Interstate 70 and I-435, dog racing.
Racing
■ Kansas City, a half mile south of I-70, near Kansas Highway 132,
dog racing.
Kansas City, about 5 miles north of I-70, east of I-435, dog and horse racing.
Wichita, three applications for site on i-135 near the Kansas Coleium, two applied for dog breeding and two applied for both horses and dog racing.
Pittsburg, three applications for dog racing.
Eureka, horse racing.
Hutchinson, horse racing.
Mail vote to decide policy for add-drop
By Terry Bauroth Special to the Kansan
Amy Randles, student senator, moved yesterday in a special session called by the University Senate that the vote on the policy occur by mail ballot.
■ Eureka, horse racing.
■ Hutchinson, horse racing
The University's add-drop policy will be decided by mail ballot.
The mail-ballot vote will occur because only 87 members of the 1,235 member Senate attended the meeting. According to University of Kansas regulations, a quorum, or 247 members, would have had to attend before the Senate could have taken action on the measure.
Senate is composed of all faculty members and 62 student senators.
Randles said that the best thing would be to go to a mail ballot.
After the meeting Randles said,
"It's to the students' advantage that
everyone in the body has a say."
Mail ballots will be sent to all student and faculty members at the end of this week or the first of next week. The members will have seven academic days to return the ballot.
A majority yes vote would support the add-drop policy as passed by University Council. That policy gives students three weeks and two days to add a class and three weeks to drop a class.
A no vote would support the existing add-drop policy, which provides four weeks to add a class and five weeks to drop a class, leaving the option for individual schools to set shorter add periods.
Sandra Wick, administrative assistant to Senate Executive Committee, said the last time a mail ballot was sent to Senate members was in 1984 concerning the grade appeals board. She estimated that about 400 members voted.
Students to donate their spring breaks to Appalachia
By Ellen Stohr
Special to the Kansan
"It's something everyone should do," said Aracelia Perez, Plainview, Texas, senior. Perez, who went on the trip last year, is planning to go again this year.
Most students envision spring break as a time of fun and relaxation on sunny beaches or snowy slopes. But for 30 KU students, spring break will be spent rebuilding homes in the Apalachian Mountains.
The program is sponsored by the Christian Appalachian Project, one of many organizations that provides help to the poor of Appalachia.
"It makes you grateful for the things you have." Perez said. "You get caught up in your own little world of academics and don't realize
Perez said that last year, she and several students from the University of Kansas and across the country concentrated their efforts on a home in the mountains that had no electricity, gas or water. They helped put up siding, built a new porch and repaired inside walls.
On Saturday, the KU students will leave Lawrence to work in three towns in Kentucky and Tennessee. They will repair homes, plant gardens, provide day care and visit the elderly.
It makes you grateful for the things you have. You get caught up in your own little world of academics and don't realize there's another world out there.'
— Aracelia Perez Plainview, Texas, senior
there's another world out there."
"Not everyone chooses to live like we do," she said. "The pace is definitely slower and more simple, what we're not ignorant to what's going on."
Perez said that while she was working in Appalachia, she learned more about herself and other people.
One thing that struck Perez was the level of poverty.
"There is more poverty in the United States than people think," she said. "Helping the poor is as great of a need here as it is in other countries."
Interest in helping the less fortunate has been increasing, said Dale Romme, staff assistant at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road, and coordinator of this year's trip.
"There is a big movement toward people wanting to do something humanitarian," he said.
from across the United States. Although most of those volunteers are short term, some are long term. Long-term volunteers receive housing, meals, medical and dental insurance and a monthly stipend.
Romme said the work of the volunteers was not just a giveaway. The sponsoring organizations try to get the people involved and proud of the project so that they continue the improvement.
Romme, who has been to Appalachia three times with different organizations, said that volunteers came
"If the volunteers help plant a garden, they hope the people will continue to cultivate it," he said. "But some people love having things done for them because they don't want to do it themselves."
Romme said that most of the people in Appalachia worked but received such low wages that they depended on welfare. Often, he said, the poorest people live high in the mountains.
"But overall, the majority live in towns," he said. "It's not like the Beverly Hillbillies; the standard of living is just depressed."
Schooling is a minor priority to the people, Romme said. Although many don't place great value on an education because they will never leave the hills, religion is important to them, he said.
The project is very Christian oriented. The program leaders hope that each volunteer experiences community living, prayer in life and humanitarianism.
"They seem to have a peacefulness with themselves and nature which gives them a feeling of some control in their lives," Romme said.
"We grow from seeing another culture satisfied with their lifestyle," Romme said. "They don't gripe and complain. It's very humbling for those who go."
Romme said that most who went came back thankful for everything they had and were amazed at the drastic cultural differences.
Monica Philpot, Germantown,
Tenn., senior, said she gained so much from her experience last summer that she would work in a camp over the summer.
"Many students go thinking about what they've going to give the people."
Philpot spent spring break working in a day-care center.
"I really fell in love with the kids and where they were from," she said. "You get a feeling that they really need you."
Philipo said that though many of the children lived at poverty level, it was hard to get people to change the stereotype that those were problem children because they were poor.
"The kids are just like normal kids," she said. And although she wished she could do more to help them, one of the head volunteers told her that she just could give them the best week of their lives.
Philip said that although she was not very religious, the trip was very pleasant.
"It changed my life; I feel so much better about myself.
Student Senate Presents:
A political reporter for the Washington Post and author of "Eyes on the Prize."
JUAN WILLIAMS
Speaking On:
CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Thursday, March 10 8:00 p.m.
Kansas Union Ballroom
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