8A the university daily kansan
friday, february 27, 2004
news
Doctorate student says fate drew her to Lawrence
By Samia Khan
skhan@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Rosalind Fisher said she is blessed to be in Lawrence after spending 15 years in Florida.
Fisher did not come to the University of Kansas because she hadn't seen snow in years, or because her parents lived in the area. Last fall Fisher, 48, took a two-year professional leave from her administrative position at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla., to pursue a doctorate in sociology at the University.
So Fisher was in Lawrence last week when policed reopened her sister's murder case.
"It's not just a coincidence," she said. "I think God placed me here for a reason and the universe is definitely trying to tell me something."
Kansas City area, where her parents live, she is able to be near them and provide support during the investigation.
Twenty years ago Fisher's younger sister was murdered in Kansas City, Mo. Police never solved the case. But new advances in DNA testing and better technology have given detectives a new edge when solving crimes. Fisher said police think this technology could help solve her sister's murder. Last week, the case was reopened.
Fisher's sister was strangled in her apartment at the age of 23. Fisher said she and her family believe her sister was killed by a jealous ex-boyfriend. The police were never able to prove anything, but the technology might change that. With the case reopened, Fisher is experiencing both the hope for closure and justice and the pain of memories.
Now that she is back in the
"You never stop grieving for something like that," she said. "But there is also the dread of reliving it and realizing all over again that she's not going to come back."
Fisher's mother, Gwendolyn Miller, said she was glad to have her daughter close again. She said even when Fisher moved back to Florida, she would be thankful for the time they spent near each other.
ence, and a GPA that has never fallen below 3.6, she was admitted to the University as a provisional student because of low scores on the Graduate Record Exam.
"All you have is the present," Miller said. "Having lost a child, I know how important that time is."
After her two-year leave, Fisher will return to Florida without her doctorate. Although Fisher has a masters in community development, years of experi-
Her provisional status makes her ineligible for teaching assistant positions during her first year, which is a required part of her degree, Fisher said. She will finish her coursework, but will need to complete her teaching, dissertation and comprehensive exams after returning to Florida.
Rosalind Fisher, a sociology graduate student, displayed a picture of her sister who was murdered more than 20 years ago in Kansas City Mo. Recently Fisher was told by the Cold Case Unit that her sister's case was reopened by police.
Fisher wants to study the societal and emotional effects on white mothers of biracial children. At her position as assistant vice president of Multicultural Studies and Diversity at West Florida, she encountered biracial students struggling with their identities and trying to connect with both sides of their culture.
Fisher is looking for seven mothers to interview and hopes to have the mothers meet at the end of her research to form a support network.
"I want to do research that helps others, not just answers a question for me," she said.
Fisher said she has struggled with readjusting to returning to school as a full-time student. She
is the oldest and only African-American student in all of her classes and often feels very alone, she said. Although Fisher has had to endure what she calls a "traumatic transition" without the hope of receiving her doctorate at the end of her time in Kansas, she said she was still grateful for the opportunities she has received at
the University. She said going back to school had given her a new start and taught her a lot both academically and emotionally. Most of all, she was given the chance to be near her family when they needed each other most.
When Fisher returns to Florida, she said she would go
back to her old job and continue work on the doctorate she won't finish in Kansas.
"I guess the purpose I thought I was here for was not the purpose God intended for me," she said. "But I've never failed at anything — at least not permanently."
Judge says Washburn statute can stay
— Edited by Danielle Hillix
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A federal judge refused yesterday to order Topeka's Washburn University to remove a statue from its campus that critics feel is offensive to Roman Catholics.
The statue, titled "Holier Than Thou," has been on display since September outside the Washburn student union and is scheduled to remain there until summer.
Critics contend the ceremonial hat worn by a clergyman depicted in the work, by sculptor Jerry Boyle of Longmont, Colo., resembles a penis. They also have complained
about the expression on the clergyman's face and an inscription that accompanies the statue.
Andrew Strohl, a Washburn student, and biology professor Thomas O'Connor filed the suit against the university, seeking to have it removed from the campus.
But in his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Van Bebber wrote: "In an environment of higher learning on a college campus, the court cannot conclude that a reasonable observer would perceive the university's display of 'Holier Than Thou' as an attack on Catholics."
University president Jerry Farley said the university did not see anything offensive in the sculpture when it was selected last year for display, though he added, "We deeply regret that anyone was offended."
"We had no intention of making a political statement." Farley said in an interview. "We had no intention of making a religious statement."
He defended the university's decision to keep the sculpture in place, saying the issue was one of maintaining academic freedom.
"The people who are offended here are well-meaning," he said. "There may be other well-meaning persons who might ask that we remove a book from the library because it is offensive to them."
Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Several school districts in Kansas, including the Catholic and public schools in Wichita, have banned Washburn from recruiting at their high schools.
Farley said the university will "immediately reach out to them to try to reconcile our differences."
Washburn, with an enrollment of about 7,000 students, is the nation's only municipal university.
CDC: Asthma rates increase by 4 percent
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The number of Americans with asthma rose more than 4 percent in 2002, and minority groups have a more difficult time controlling disease than whites, federal officials said yesterday.
About 7.5 percent of Americans reported having asthma in 2002 — the most recent year figures are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That is up from 7.2 percent a year earlier — an increase of more than 4 percent.
About 16 million Americans
have asthma, the CDC said.
Experts said they do not know why asthma rates are on the rise, although it is possible that the disease is diagnosed more often, said Jeanne Moorman, one of the study's authors.
Asthma has been on the rise since 1980. Between 1980 and 1996, cases nearly doubled from 3 percent to 5.5 percent of the population. CDC researchers do not compare those numbers with the most recent data because they have changed their survey questions since 1996.
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