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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Sports: Duke wins the national championship 82-72 against Arizona. See page 1B
Inside: Education students worry about violence in schools across the country.
See page 3A
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
(USPS 650-640) VOL.111 NO.115
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Kyle Ramsev/KANSAN
KU graduate pilot in crash still in China
By J. R. Mendoza
editor @kansan.com
Kansas wiki editor
LINGSHUI, China — A University of Kansas graduate is among 24 Americans confined to a military base on a tropical Chinese island. Three days after a collision with a Chinese plane, they are still out of contact, but American diplomats are heading to the site.
Lt. Junior Grade Jeff Vignery graduated in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree in business. He participated in the Navy ROTC program, and his mother, Judi Vignery, said her son received a Navy commission after graduation and had since served as a pilot.
Vignery said her son had been making flights in a Navy EP-3 surveillance plane, the type involved in Sunday's collision.
"He was one of three pilots on the plane," she said. "We don't know who was flying."
Vignery, 27, is one of the crew members being held on the island of Hainan, 2,700 miles south of Beijing.
He is originally from Goodland, where his parents live, and his wife lives in the Dodge City area.
In a tense standoff with China yesterday, President George W. Bush demanded the prompt return of the 24 crew members and their crippled plane "without further damaging or tampering." China said there would be no access at least until today.
The emergency landing of the turboprop EP3 surveillance plane on Hainan after its collision with the Chinese fighter jet early Sunday brought a new chill to already frosty U.S.-Chinese relations.
U. S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher said American officials were being denied contact with the crew.
But Mary Ellen Countryman, a White House representative, said she had no confirmation that they boarded the plane.
The crew, in one of its last communications from the plane, told U.S. authorities the aircraft was being boarded by the Chinese, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In Washington, U.S. officials said the United States was keeping three Navy destroyers in the vicinity of Hainan.
After discussing the incident with his national security team, Bush said he was dismayed that diplomats had not been given access to the crew.
Chinese leaders appeared to be trying to decide on a response. Beijing issued no new information after a statement Sunday blaming the collision on the U.S. plane.
Going through the tunnel, Jeannette Deardorff, Lenexa freshman, and Anne Smith, Wichita freshman, watch a clip from a movie about the Aryan brotherhood. Both Ellsworth Hall residents, they said their resident assistant recommended that they participate in the Tunnel of Oppression yesterday afternoon in Hashing Hall. Photo by Selena Jabara/KANSAN
In Paris, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said he hoped the dispute didn't strain U.S.-Chinese relations.
The U.S. ambassador, however, complained that top officials weren't involved in diplomatic contacts.
— The Associated Press contributed to the story.
Edited by Leita Schultes
Tunnel of oppression
An Oppressive force, Lyle Dohl, Sylvan Grove senior, corrals people down a hallway and into a small room representing a concentration camp. He said he wanted people to realize that this really happened to people and to know how it might have felt. The Tunnel of Oppression will continue from 2 to 5 p.m. today and from 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow on the first floor of Hashinger Hall. Photo by Selena Jabara/KANSAN
Program stirs emotion
Students experience effects of oppression
By Danny Phillips writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
T he students aren't allowed to speak as they walk single file down the narrow corridor.
In a flash, a man with a swastika arm band appears and begins shouting at the students in German, pushing them violently into a dark room and closing the door behind them.
Cramped and quiet, the 15-person group waits restlessly until the door opens.
"Come with me," says Robert Page, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Everyone does as he says. Now, the students have a taste of what it was like during the Holocaust.
The simulation was part of the Tunnel of Oppression, an explicit interactive program that will continue on the first floor of Hashinger Hall until Wednesday.
"The gas chamber scene was very overwhelming," said Sheri Johnson. Shawnee junior.
She said she knew what was going on when she saw the arm band, and she tried to visualize how it must have felt for concentration camp prisoners.
During the walk through the tunnel, the participants were exposed to simulated oppression of all kinds — dealing with racism, sexism and homophobia, among other forms of oppression. Audio, video and volunteer actors and guides added variety to the program.
For example, radios blared words like "honkey" and "slut," and a boyfriend yelled obscenities at his girlfriend, grabbing her neck and then shoving her back into a room.
For Marisa Moreno, Wichita senior, that scene was especially disturbing.
"I'm glad that was at the very
end," she said. "I almost started
criving at that point."
Moreno said the program showed how anyone could experience oppression.
"It showed how widespread it really is," she said.
After the 10-minute walk through the tunnel, the participants were taken to a debriefing room, where a counselor from KU's Counseling and Psychological Services opened up dialogue about how the students felt about the tunnel.
Irad Orduna, Pomona, Calif., senior, said he related to the scene in the movie Higher Learning that was shown at the beginning of the walk through.
It showed a White woman riding in an elevator. She got nervous when an African-American man entered the elevator, prompting her to move her purse to the other side of her body.
Orduna said late one night on campus he was walking down the sidewalk and noticed a
Tunnel of Oppression
Where: Hashinger Hall's first floor
When: 2 to 5 p.m. today, 4 to 7
amorrow
Cost: the event is free, and every one is welcome to participate
p. m. tomorrow Cost; the event is free, and every-
woman approaching him.
The Tunnel of Oppression will continue for the next two days. It will run today from 2 to 5 p.m. and tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. There is no charge.
"She made an incredible effort to get out of the way." he said.
The program was sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Multicultural Resource Center, the Student Organizations & Leadership Development Center, the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, the Diversity Peer Education Team, the Department of Student Housing, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Colors of KU.
Candidates examine spending
Coalitions debate merit of campaign financing
By Brooke Hesler
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
— Edited by Brandy Straw
Campaign financing isn't just a hot topic on Capitol Hill — Student Senate elections can also be costly, running up to thousands of dollars.
Campaign spending limits were lifted in 1999, allowing coalitions to spend as much as they can raise. Previously, coalitions could only spend $2,000 for all candidates, and independent candidates could only spend $200.
According to elections commission records, Delta Force had spent $696.51 and the VOICE coalition had spent $2,095.35 as of March 14.
Justin Mills said he is in favor of campaign spending limits. He said Delta Force did not plan to exceed $1,500 for the campaign.
Mills said not having as much money as V O I C E could be a disadvantage.
"Our campaign is really low-budget," he said. "We are at a disadvantage because we can't
Make Yours Heart
afford the glossy posters and the nice buttons."
Mills said most of the money the coalition raised was from candidates and from the Delta Force kick-off party.
Likewise, Jessica Bankston,VOICE presidential candidate, said most of the money VOICE was using came from candidates and other students helping with the campaign.
Coalitions and candidates can sign an optional spending limit form stating that coalitions will only spend $2,000, and independent candidates will only spend $200. This form was also available last year. However, nobody has ever signed the form.
Mills said the form didn't mean anything, so Delta Force would not sim it.
Bankston said VOICE wouldn't sign it because additional expenses might pop up. She said the group already paid for the reprinting of buttons and posters because of errors.
Hunter Harris, VOICE vice presidential candidate, said the coalition tried to keep costs low.
Bankston and Harris said Senate campaigns required a lot of money because candidates were trying to reach out to the
CAMPAIGN SPENDING
2001 campaign
Delta Force: $696.51
VOICE: $2.095.35
2000 campaign
Delta Force: $1,757
Students First: $4,067
United Students: $2,974
Sources: Rebecca Alway, Elections Commission undergraduate representative. Figures for the 2001 campaign include spending through March 14.
More information For more Senate election news, See page 3A
whole campus.
Kyle Browning, Delta Force vice presidential candidate, said he agreed that it was difficult to reach students but said he didn't like gimmicks past coalitions had used. He said he didn't like the fact that doughnuts were given out and people were bussed to classes during previous elections seasons.
"It shows the difference in campaign philosophies," he said. "We're running a very grass roots campaign, and we run on the issues. I think things like that totally cheapen the process. It makes it more of a popularity contest."
Bankston said VOICE members hadn't decided if they would rent a bus. She said it depended on whether the coalition had money left over, and if someone was willing to donate a bus.
"Just because you give somebody a ride to class doesn't mean that they're going to stand in line 10 minutes to vote, and it certainly doesn't mean they're going to vote for you," she said.
Browning said he was in favor of spending limits.
"It makes sense," he said. "If you consistently spend so much money, it begs the question, 'Are you buying the election?' "
Dustin Johnson, elections commissioner and Lawrence resident, said the money spent in this year's elections paled in comparison to last year's spending.
Campaign spending limits were abolished in July of 1999 when Ben Walker, current student body president, who ran with the YOU coalition for a Senate seat in 1999, appealed a fine levied against the coalition for exceeding spending limits. Walker said his First Amendment rights were violated by the spending limit and the University Judicial Board agreed.
Edited by Megan Phelps
Minority greek system emphasizes cultural unity
Chapters offer students alternative greek option
By Cynthia Malakasi
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
When Alexander Morales came to the University of Kansas in 1996, he was appointed that he couldn't join a fraternity geared toward his culture.
But after three years of development and organization, the Kansas City, Mo.
senior, and three other Hispanic students started a local chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta, a national Hispanic fraternity.
Morales said his goal was to promote unity among Latino men on campus.
"We felt like a smaller organization would benefit our community better," he said.
The University has 10 minority Greek organizations, and members said their structure and focus was different than traditional Greek houses, because they were separate entities. But they also said this was the first year in which more communication and joint projects between the
two greek systems had been attempted.
Christopher Haydel, Philadelphia senior and president of Alpha Phi Alpha, a historically African-American fraternity, said the development of separate minority chapters was triggered by the U.S. social climate during the early 1900s.
"Integration wasn't an option back then," Haydel said. "It wasn't an option back in the 1960s either."
Altitude minority students now can become members of traditionally White houses, the two organizations will remain separate branches of the greek system, said Enjoli Dixon, student senator for
"There are historically Black and Hispanic, and historically White chapters," she said. "We're starting to learn about each other's organizations. It's going to take time."
National Panhellenic Council, the body that oversees minority Greek chapters. But that doesn't mean there won't be more joint projects in the future, she said.
Hillary Dunn, vice president of public
"It's a retreat that you go to and break different stereotypes of houses," she said.
Dixon said members from both groups would go on a retreat in November, called "Greek Endeavor."
relations for the Panhellenic Association, the organization that oversees historically White sororites, agreed with Dixon.
"We feel that working together is going to be very beneficial to all our programs," the Dallas senior said. "And we think it will probably encourage attendance."
This year is also the first time the two groups participated in each other's community service programs.
Haydel said cooperation would improve NPHC community service projects, which are the focus of minority Greek chapters.
See COMMON on page 3A
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