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AAAAAAHHH
★★★ STUDENT ELECTIONS WEEK ★★★
Weather
Kansan
Today: Sunny with a high of 77 and a low of 57
Tomorrow: Cloudy with a high of 70 and a low of 48
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday, April 9, 2001
Sports: The softball team lost two games at Texas Tech this weekend.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: A Friday night sleepout raised money and awareness about the plight of area homeless people.
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 118
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Samantha Swiderski, Austin, Texas, senior, throws craps at Templin Hall's annual Casino Night party. The event Friday night was sponsored by the Organization and Leadership Office as part of Hawk Nights, which are non-alcoholic events for students. Photo by Joshua Richards/KANSAN
Rolling a win together
Two campus entertainment events. Casino Night and Hawk Nights, merged Friday to create a successful evening of gambling and prizes.
"Stars on the Strip" resulted from combining Casino Night, Templin Hall's largest event of the year, which offers students a gambling haven, and Hawk Nights, a University-sponsored, alcohol-free entertainment program.
Ann Foltz, Abilene sophomore and Templin Hall president, said the alliance improved Casino Night by increasing funds, publicity and turnout.
Approximately 450 students — twice the number usually drawn by Casino Night — walked down a spotlighted, red carpet to gamble their chips until midnight on Templin's floors. Volunteers from Templin, Triangle fraternity and around campus supervised poker, roulette and craps tables.
Hawk and Casino nights
Hawk and Casino nights enjoy benefits of teaming up to party
By Sarah Smarsh Kansan staff writer
Students earned money to buy raffle tickets for the subsequent drawing and a chance at a seven-day trip. Other prizes included two "all-sports combos," a Sony Playstation 2, a DVD player and a mountain bike.
Foltz said working with Hawk Nights meant more prizes — and more winners. Another new perk was free admittance. In the past, Templin Hall government charged Casino Night attendees to raise money for philanthropies. However, Hawk Nights is a free event this year.
Aramis Watson, Wichita sophomore and Hawk Nights president, said the event garnered about 200 cans.
Chris Keller, Seward, Neb., freshman, said "Stars on the Strip" provided an alternative to partying.
"Why do the same thing every weekend?" he said. "Plus, you can win cool stuff."
Watson said Hawk Nights organizers had begun working with Templin Hall government in March seeing an opportunity for a "good collaboration." Hawk Nights has worked in the past with Student Union Activities, the Student Alumni Association and fraternities and sororites.
The union of organizations succeeded in making a bigger, more accessible event, Foltz said.
"Everyone had a good time," she said.
Habitat houses its 37th Lawrence family
By Cynthia Malakasis
Kansan staff writer
As the people in the driveway sang "Amazing Grace," the bright April sun shone on the pale yellow wall in the background — the color that the Bartels chose for their new house.
"It's unbelievable, really," said Dawn Bartels, mother in a family of nine, after the dedication ceremony of their new house. "This is our first house."
Saturday the Bartels became the 37th family in Lawrence to have a house completed through the efforts of the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, an ecumenical
Christian non-profit organization that builds housing in a partnership with low-income families.
Andre Bollaert, Lawrence resident and executive director for Habitat, said it took a year of work by about 800 volunteers and donations from businesses, churches and individuals to construct the house on East 17th Street.
the current housing situation of the family and whether there was a real need for change. The other two determining factors are the willingness of the family to work on construction and whether they're financially able to pay a mortgage after they move in.
He said Habitat first examined
Bollaert said the mortgage payments got channeled toward the construction of more houses, thus contributing to the purpose of the organization.
Bollaert said the organization held a presentation twice a year, where families could get information about the program and apply. He said there were three criteria considered in determining whether Habitat would take on a housing project.
Linda Klinker, program director for Habitat, said the contribution of the family was one of the most important factors in the construction process.
work on their house and make the mortgage payments. This is not a welfare program."
For the Bartels, the feeling cannot be described. After living in a rented trailer, the sight of their new house is makes their faces beam.
Seven-year-old Phalena, the second-oldest child of the family, said what excited her the most was the prospect of having a bedroom to share with two of her sisters.
"My dad is going to make the bed." Phalena said.
"It's not a handout, it's a handup," Klinker said. "People have to
Currently, Habitat has two more houses under construction, and construction on a third is scheduled to begin Saturday, April 28. — Edited by Sydney Wallace
The release of crimson and blue balloons mark the start of a 5K benefit run — organized by the Center for Community Outreach — in the Lied Center parking lot as part of into the Streets Week. Forty-five runners raised $750 Saturday morning for the Heartland Community Free Clinic, which treats patients at no cost. The clinic, at Heartland Community Church, 619 Vermont St., is open from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Photo by Joshua Richards/KANSAN
And they're off
Student Senate
Make Yours Heard
Candidates share focus on minorities
The competing coalitions for Student Senate this spring share a similar viewpoint on the progress of minority recruitment and retention at the University of Kansas.
By Danny Phillips writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
It's a problem; it's going to take
it's going to fix; and that money
will be hard to come by.
"This is a problem that's going to take years to address," said Jessica Bankston, VOICE candidate for student body president, who, along with her opponent, Justin Mills, is
on a minority issues committee that recently released a recommendation report.
The report asked the administration to determine if money earned from its partnership with Coca-Cola could be used to fund minority scholarships and to establish a permanent commission on the status of minorities.
"The report summarizes a starting point." Bankston said.
She said the next step was to research the University's peer institutions and examine their
See page 6A
More information
Additional coverage of Student Senate.
See page GA
recruitment and retention programs.
The peer institutions, which are similar to the University in size, community and population, include the University of Colorado, University of Oklahoma, University of North Carolina, University of Iowa and University of Oregon.
"I'd rather learn from another school's mistakes so we can try and avoid making those same errors," Bankston said.
Mills, Delta Force candidate for student body president, said he was making diversity his platform issue and the theme of his term if he was elected.
But Mills said he would focus on more than just the hard numbers of minority recruitment. He would also initiate a year-long campus program aimed at making the student population aware of the importance of diversity.
"There needs to be a change on the view of diversity," he said.
Both nationwide and on campus, Mills said, there has been a backlash against the concept of diversity, especially concerning Affirmative Action.
See CANDIDATES on page 64
Thirty-seven Watkins Scholarship Hall residents have signed a petition demanding that they have a voice in deciding the hall's new proctor.
But when the housing department reviewed the committee's recommendation, it delayed the selection of the new proctor, creating suspicion among Watkins residents that the department rejected Kuiper because she was involved in an ongoing lawsuit hall residents had against the University of Kansas and Bank of America.
By Cassio Furtado
The Department of Student Housing announced Thursday that Aidan Loveland would be the hall's new proctor.
Kansan staff writer
The candidates for the position — Kaili Kuiper, Salina junior, and Loveland, Lawrence junior, were interviewed by a hall selection committee before spring break.
Watkins women protest new proctor
Loveland said the petition didn't personally attack her but instead asked that the hall's authority in the selection process not to be taken away. She also said that because the housing department worked closely with the proctor, it needed an active voice in its selection.
The committee then recommended Kuiper's appointment. Committee members said the housing department's approval of committee recommendations was usually a formality.
Kuiper believes issues other than her qualifications for the proctor job played a role in the department's decision, but she said the decision would not hurt her ties with the hall.
Olga Ramm, Manhattan senior and Watkins resident, said that the hall's residents were disappointed in housing and that the residents still were talking about what to do next.
"This isn't the end of it," she said. "People are truly upset about it. We expect a full and complete explanation."
Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said the recommendations made by the selection committee were just a part of the input that the department received before deciding who would be the new proctor.
He said that Kuiper's involvement in the lawsuit wasn't a factor in the selection process.
On March 15, Jennifer Scott, current Watkins proctor, said student housing had delayed the announcement because Kuiper was involved in the lawsuit.
Scott said Dan Suitor, director of scholarship halls, had expressed concern that Kuiper was involved in the hall's preservation committee and in the lawsuit against the University and Bank of America.
Sultor could not be reached for comment.
Scott also said the housing department normally checked whether the nominees had violated any hall policies and approved the nominees if they had no violations.
Edited by Doug Pacey
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