tuesday, february 10, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Afghan woman to lecture on Middle East situation
By Jodie Kraft
jkrafft@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Using personal stories from her life in Afghanistan, Nelofer Pazira, star of the movie Kandahar and co-director of Return to Kandahar, will speak at 7:30 tonight at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Pazira was born in India but grew up during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. She moved with her family to Pakistan in 1989 and lived there as a refugee for a year before moving to Canada.
Pazira said while some aspects of life in Afghanistan
nave improved since the removal of the Taliban, poverty has worsened. When she traveled there last year, she saw school-aged children everywhere, begging for money instead of attending school.
"I'm worried for the future of these Afghans," Pazira said. "They can easily become attracted to warlords and gangs."
Pazira said she thought her experiences of growing up in Afghanistan — receiving a college education in Canada and then returning to the Middle East — had given her a unique perspective. She said her role as a journalist was to inform others
of the events taking place in Afghanistan.
"I'm not a savior, I'm not a saint. I just love to create bridges of communication between people." Pazira said.
She said she met director Mohsen Makhmalbaf while she was trying to enter Afghanistan from Iran to reach a friend. Makhmalbaf contacted her a few years later with the idea for Kandahar, a fictionalized, but historical accurate, version of Pazira's life.
Kandahar, released in 2001, was shot on the border of Iran and Afghanistan in a refugee village; the filming crew was denied access into Afghanistan.
Pazira was later able to return to Afghanistan to begin filming her documentary Return to Kandahar. In the film, Pazira tries to return to the city to prevent a friend who was depressed by the Taliban's strict regime from committing suicide.
Pazira recently returned from Iraq and Russia, where she was gathering information for a book she's writing on Afghanistan before and during the rise of the Taliban.
"It's looking at the coming out of the so-called 'freedom fighters' in the context of time and history," Pazira said.
Tonight's lecture will be an opportunity for students to hear
about what's going on in the Middle East and what they can do about it, said Roksana Alavi, co-president of February Sisters Association.
"We wanted to bring somebody in who knows this stuff first hand," Alavi said. "It's nice to hear the other side of the story and see other perspectives."
Alavi said several professors of women's studies had prepared their classes for tonight's lecture.
Students in a women's studies class read Women for Afghan Women, a collection of essays by women of Arab descent about women's rights. Kathy Libal, lecturer of women's studies and
international studies, said these readings and lectures on Afghanistan have piqued her students' interest.
"I've been so encouraged by my class. They're doing the readings and seem quite inspired and engaged." Libal said.
Shannon Cline, Wichita junior, said she kept on international issues, but Libal's class allowed her to learn more by taking a closer look at the situation.
"It's important to see that women all over the world want the same thing," Cline said. "We're all just wanting equal rights under the law."
Fund honors late astronaut
-Edited by Michelle Rodick
Scholarship given in memory of Indian-American
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
It has been one year since the Columbia space shuttle tragedy hit the Indian community hard with the loss of astronaut Kalpana Chawla. Now members of the Kansas City Indian community are trying to preserve her memory by raising funds for an aerospace engineering scholarship at the University of Kansas in her honor.
Kottarappat Dileepan, a faculty member at the KU Medical Center who is heading the drive, said he had been planning the scholarship for a while.
"I got the idea immediately after the shuttle tragedy," he said, referring to the crash on Feb. 1,2003. "During that time I felt it would be a wonderful idea to establish a scholarship to honor Kalpana Chawla."
Chawla was the first Indian woman and Indian-American to fly in space.
In the days following the tragedy, about 150 members of the Kansas City Indian community gathered to discuss the plan for a scholarship.
Dileepan said they formed a committee that would organize the drive. The committee was lucky enough to get Chawla's family's blessing through a chance encounter.
He said one of the committee members actually met Kalpana Chawla's parents on a plane and then wrote a letter to them telling them about the idea for a scholarship. They replied back saying they appreciated the effort.
Mark Ewing, an associate professor and chairman of aerospace engineering, said the scholarship was a great idea for the aerospace engineering program, which has about 120 students.
"It's a great memorial for someone our students look up to, and is something they would want to have," he said.
start an annual $1,000 scholarship that would be either need-based or merit-based, depending on the student's situation, for any student in the aerospace engineering program.
So far the committee has raised about $5,000, but it needs at least $20,000 to get an endowed scholarship established at the KU Endowment Association.
Dileepan said the plan was to
Dileepan said he hoped to reach his goal of more than $20,000 by later this year. The committee also had plans to hold a fundraising dinner this summer if it didn't have enough by then.
The committee has raised money by sending out letters to members of Kansas City's Indian community, which has more than 2,000 people, asking for donations. More than 200 letters have been sent, and the committee plans to send more.
To contribute to the Kalpana Chawla Scholarship Fund, visit www.kuendowment.org and click "4Donors."
—Edited by Collin LaJoie
Residents reconsider policies after burglar strikes their hall
By Neetey J, Spellmeier
nspellmeier@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Several residents of the hall, 1318 Louisiana St., reported that someone had gone through their rooms and stolen items between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
A burglar at K.K. Amini Scholarship Hall may force a change in its lock-down policy.
Members of the hall briefly discussed the incident at a meeting Sunday night. Because of time, they couldn't come to a definite decision, but they will meet again Thursday. Residents are considering implementing an escort policy, adding a desk position to check visitors in and keeping the front door locked at all times.
Currently the hall's front door is unlocked during the day, but does locks at night. When the door is locked, residents use a code to enter the building. Saturday night the door was malfunctioning and not closing completely, said resident Joe Alfaro, Springdale, Ark., sophomore.
Alfaro said he and his roommates returned to their room about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. He said they immediately noticed the doors to their entertainment system were open, which was rare unless they were playing video games. They then realized that Alfaro's Playstation and games were gone.
Alfaro began to inspect the rest of the room and found draws that had been rummaged through. His roommate's backpack was also missing.
Alfaro's room was one of four that had missing items, he said. A fifth room was entered, but nothing appeared to be missing. None of the rooms that were entered were locked. Alfaro said he knew of two Palm Pilots and CD player that were taken from the other rooms.
Police reports show that a purse and its contents, valued at $120, were also missing.
Three reports had been filed but only two currently were available, said Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office. He said his office had no suspects at this time.
Alfaro said some residents reported seeing an unfamiliar male on the hall's second floor around 10 p.m. Saturday. He said the male told residents he was looking for Chris, but there are two residents named Chris on the floor. Alfaro said neither Chris knew anything about the individual.
According to a story in the Nov. 27, 2001, University Daily Kansan, a robbery took place at K.K. Amiini and Margaret Amini Scholarship Halls during Thanksgiving Break of 2001. Someone broke the French doors in the basements of each hall, took five master keys, and went through residents' rooms. Electronics were the most common items taken in that robbery.
— Edited by Danielle Hillix