The University Daily Kansan
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Tuesday. February 6, 2001
Sports: Jayhawks fall to Iowa State 79-77 at Allen Fieldhouse.
SEE PAGE 10A
Inside: Student senators to speak against housing ordinance at commission meeting.
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Campus mourns death of RA
By Lauren Brandenburg
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Neighbors, student senators and friends expressed shock yesterday at the death of Shyra McGee, a Lawrence senior who served as a resident assistant for Stouffer Place apartments.
McGee died Sunday night as she was flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center by helicopter after a car accident at Sixth Street and Monterey Way.
Lawrence police Sgt. Mike Patrick described the accident this way: McGee was the passenger in an '89 Honda Accord, driven by her husband John, Amber Sellers, Wichita sophomore, was in the back seat. The Honda was stopped at a light on Monterey Way and began to cross Sixth Street when it turned green. A '92 Ford Explorer, driven by 30-year-old Brandon Gentry, of Lawrence, struck the McGee vehicle on its passenger side. Shyra McGee and Sellers were taken to the Med Center by helicopter, and Gentry and John McGee were taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital by ambulance.
Gentry was released yesterday from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where John McGee was listed in good condition. Sellers was listed in fair condition at the Med Center.
Patrick said police were still investigating the accident yesterday and had not
issued any citations. He said alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the accident. Patrick asked for anyone who wilt-
nessed the accident to call the police department at 841-7210 and ask for the detective division.
Ken Stoner, student housing director, said housing notified Stouffer Place tenants of McGee's death late Sunday night.
"She was very well known and very well liked in the Stouffer Place community," Stoner said.
Shyra McGee: died in a car accident Sunday night
Dusten Crichton, Ft.
Duster, Crichton, I, met McGee when he became an RA at Templin, where she was a desk assistant.
"She had a great sense of humor," Crichton said. "She was always laughing, hugging. If she was in a good mood, you knew it. Every time I was around her I felt loved. She always made me feel like I belonged."
Crichton said that McGee was popular among her residents and that everyone he knew who worked with her "loved her."
Justin Mills, Lansing senior, worked with McGee in Student Senate, where McGee served as a nontraditional student senator
last school year. He said McGee had quit Senate to become more involved with the issues of the people she served as an RA.
"She always had something good to say." Mills said. "She always made you smile even if you were stressed out. She was always honest with people, and a lot of people had respect for her."
Diana Rhodes, Senate secretary, said that McGee had been one of the authors of a bill last year that would help minority students and that McGee "could make things a lot of fun."
At Stouffer Place, Rathgama Jayalah, Lawrence graduate student, said McGee loved his two children and would join them when they played in the yard. He also said that she was readily available for any of her residents' maintenance problems and that Stouffer Place had definitely experienced a loss.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway echoed Jayalath's comments in a statement released yesterday.
Children at Stouffer Place also said they missed McGee. Amelia Kyle, 7; Blossom Kyle, 7; Ronni Ricketts, 7; and Kinsey Ricketts, 5; said McGee would play Frisbee
"Shyra McGee was known by many at the University, including the children she worked with at Stouffer Place," he said. "She will be missed. On behalf of the University community, I offer our prayers and deepest sympathies to Shyra's husband, family and friends."
and ride bikes with them, buy from their fund-raisers, pump air into their bike tires, make sure they were safe, and talk to parents when their children were picking on others.
"It wasn't right that she was killed because she was a really nice lady." Romi said.
Amelia said "a lot of people" at Stouffer Place knew McGee. Amelia hoped she and the other children would be invited to Shyra's funeral.
Laura Morgan, assistant director of the Student Development Center, said the McGee had been one of the founders of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority on campus and a founding member of the National Council of Negro Women at the University. She also received the 2000 Outstanding Nontraditional Woman Student award from the University and an award for Outstanding Women Students in Residence Halls. Scholarship Halls and Sororities.
"It's obviously just a real loss to the entire University campus with the breadth of her involvement," Morgan said. "It's really awful."
Crichton, who knew McGee from residential life, said he did not know how to react to her death.
"I'm still waiting to see her on campus," he said. "I still think I'm going to hear her laugh. She had a unique personality that came out in her laugh."
- Edited by Leita Schultes
SIGNS OF RESPECT
Revising sign language
Story by Danny Phillips Photo illustration Matt Daugherty
When politically correct terms became mainstream in the early 1990s, Jason Curry accepted the change immediately.
The Long Beach, Calif., graduate student said he recognized that traditional references to certain ethnic groups had become offensive to many and were no longer culturally appropriate. But there was one difference. While Curry changed his habits, he never changed his speech.
That's because Curry is deaf, and he communicates with American Sign Language. Just like its spoken counterpart, ASL has made a few recent changes in the name of political correctness.
In the past, it was common to identify China or Japan by signing a slanted eye. The sign for Africa involved circling the face and touching the nose. Tracing a cross on the forehead was the sign for Italy.
Because signs like these offended some people, ASL adopted new signs for many countries and ethnic groups.
Often, the updated signs aren't really new at all — they're the signs used by non-
More information
Additional illustrations of sign language changes available on
www.kansan.com
indigenous peoples to describe their own countries.
In place of the slanted eye sign, the shape of the island now identifies Japan. China is signified by its traditional military uniform, and Africa is signed by outlining the continent.
Trina Schartz, University of Kansas interpreter coordinator, said, "I don't think when they created the signs that they were doing it to be oppressive. A lot of it has to do with naivete."
Schartz said until people were educated, they might do or say things that might look derogatory from other points of view.
Kim Brown-Kurz, Lincoln, Neb., graduate student, who is deaf and teaches several sign language
See SIGN LANGUAGE on page 5A
American Sign Language has adapted through the years to include new signs for some countries and ethnic groups. The older sign for "Japan" and "China," imitating a slanted eye (below), is less accepted than the new signs, the shape of the island for Japan (above left), and the traditional military uniform for China (above right).
University attracts more foreign students
By Michelle Ward
Kansan staff writer
When Giri Gokulrangan first arrived in Kansas, he found few fellow Indians in his new home at the University of Kansas.
The growth Gokulangan has witnessed at the University is part of a national trend. The increase of international students studying in the United States has risen 5 percent, to 514,723 students, during the last school year of 1999-2000, according to USA Today.
"Our system of higher education has been
The University boasts a small increase in international students, increasing from 1,506 students in the fall of 1999 to 1,534 this fall, an increase of 1.9 percent. India, China and Japan post the highest numbers of international students for the University at 176, 153 and 127, respectively.
a model for many, many years," said Diana Carlin, dean of international programs. "People are becoming more aware of the importance of international experience."
"I had a fairly smooth transition," Gokulrangan said. "The Midwest is one of the best places for having a smooth transition. The people are really warm and friendly here."
"We have been doing some recruiting," said Joe Potts, director of international student services. "Our recruiting has paid off."
Gokulrangan said the University's ability to help international students adjust could have attributed to its growth.
Linda Xu, a Chong Qing, China, senior,
"The most important thing about coming here is meeting people from all over the world," Xu said. "This is the only country where you can come to a university and meet people from everywhere."
came to the University with the help of her uncle C.C. Cheng, a professor emeritus at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She took two semesters of English at the Applied English Center before making the transition to a normal schedule.
The University's large group of Chinese students gives Xu a chance to celebrate holidays and events with her fellow citizens.
While this group can't enjoy special events back home, Xu said she still understood why so many make the move.
"There are more opportunities for scholarships and fellowships in America than other countries," she said. "Many people prefer a degree from a U.S. university than from schools in other countries."
International numbers
International students at the University of Kansas
Fall 1999: 1,506
- Edited by Melinda Weaver
Fall 2000: 1,534International students in the
Holliday State
Fall 1998: About 490,000
Fall 2000: 514,723
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
International students from India, Japan and China at the University of Kansas; 4 percent Percentage of KU international students from India, Japan and China: 30 percent International students from India, Japan and China in the United States: 143,675 Percentage of international students in the United States from India, Japan and China: 28 percent Source: Joe Pots, director of international student services, and USA today
Students raise money for victims of quakes
By Danny Phillips
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Student organizations at the University of Kansas are mobilizing relief efforts for victims of recent earthquakes in El Salvador and India.
The Cultural India Club is assembling to raise donations for the 600,000 people left without shelter near Bhuj, India, and the surrounding regions.
The campus group Latin American Solidarity is continuing its campaign to raise money for the earthquake victims in El Salvador.
To help with its cause, Latin American Solidarity solicited donations at tables in the Kansas Union last week. Joanna Griffin, Wichita junior and organization president, said that there also were tentative plans to organize a benefit concert later in the semester but that no performers had been booked.
"There will still be a lot of need in a couple of months," she said.
The Cultural India Club plans to contact every member on its 150-person mailing list for contributions.
Meanwhile, the International Student Services office will e-mail more international students to request donations for the club's effort.
In addition, Chetan Khanna, Lawrence graduate student and club vice president, said the group would make a concentrated effort to collect money from students on campus Thursday.
Three donation boxes will be placed at strategic locations Wescoe Hall, the Kansas Union and the Information & Telecommunication Technology Center in Nichols Hall.
Khanna said that while the plan was to close out the fund raiser by next week, he didn't want to put any pressure on people who might want to contribute.
Griffin said Latin American Solidarity already had raised nearly $75 and while she wanted to collect as much as she could, her realistic objective for now was $200.
Khanna said he would be a little disappointed if his organization didn't raise at least $5,000.
"It doesn't have to be anything very large," he said. "Just the change you have in your pocket will help out."
The earthquake that struck El Salvador and India have caused monumental destruction.
Residents of the more than 65 towns in El Salvador affected by the 7.6-magnitude quake Jan. 13 continue to struggle. In addition to 726 deaths, more than 4,000 people were injured and nearly 200,000 homes were destroyed.
The India earthquake that struck 10 days ago measured 7.7 on the Ritcher scale and reduced several densely populated towns to rubble. Officials estimate 17,000 people were killed during the quake, but that number is expected to rise as search teams continue to find bodies.
"The nature of the calamity is unprecedented," said Khanna. "It's probably the worst in the nation's history."
Latin American Solidarity will set up tables in the Kansas Union to solicit donations from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 13-16.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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- Edited by Melinda Weaver
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