KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011 / NEWS
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LOCAL
Volunteers are 'homeless' in South Park for one night to raise awareness
BY KATIE PRIEBE editor@kansan.com
Homelessness surrounds residents every day in Lawrence and throughout the country. But few actually take the chance to learn more about this ongoing problem and the people facing it.
The Homeless Sleep-Out, sponsored by Into the Streets Week, aims to bring awareness and understanding about this issue to students and residents. Into the Streets Week is an annual event involving various community volunteer activities. The Homeless Sleep-Out took place on Saturday night in South Park in downtown Lawrence. The attendants spent the night in the park and participated in discussions and presentations. Loring Henderson, director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, held a group discussion during the event.
Megan Watson, one of the co-coordinators for Into the Streets Week, said this project was important to her and she wanted students to become more aware of homelessness in the community.
"This event is neat because it has more of an activism component than a lot of the events we have had," she said. "It's not as hands-on and down-in-the-trenches working, but it's more learning; and that knowledge will stay with students forever."
Watson said homelessness is a situation that few people take the time to actually solve.
"It's something, unfortunately, we have become accustomed to," Watson said. "Our main goal is to make students aware that homelessness is an issue. It's a global issue and making them aware and giving them the tools to help change that is important."
The biggest problem for homeless people in Lawrence was finding a place to sleep for the night, said William Dale, one of the co-directors of the Center for Community Outreach at the University of Kansas. He said that being homeless is a stigma in the Lawrence community.
"When you think about homelessness, you think about the beggar on Massachusetts Street, when that is really not a good representation of them at all," Dale said. "They are
hardworking people who, through other circumstances, ended up in the place that they are. On a global scale, you can see it in every city, every country and every community. It's something we need to work to get rid of"
He said the first step to helping the homeless is volunteering and getting to know them.
The last Homeless Sleep-Out took place in the spring of 2005, Watson said. The event organizers were pleased that a few people showed up to learn more, raise awareness and participate in a group discussion about this issue. About 10 people attended.
— Edited by Caroline Bledowski
LAW
Interim dean named to permanent position
The School of Law named Stephen Mazza as dean Friday.
Gail Agrawal, who accepted a position at the University of Iowa.
Mazza, who had been serving as interim dean since July, replaced
Mazza has been part of the KU law faculty since 1998. He was managing editor of the
"He has helped reform the law curriculum and is instrumental in recruiting and alumni activities." Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said in a statement. "Stephen's leadership will be a key factor as we embark on strategic planning initiatives and a major fundraising campaign."
-By Jonathan Shorman
BUSINESS
Tax Law Review and received his master of laws degree from New York University. Mazza specializes in taxation, and his work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
School names second candidate for dean
According to a University press release Neeli Bendapudi, an Ohio State business professor and KU alumnus,"will meet with faculty, staff and students in a public forum from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at 3014 Wescoe Hall."
Bendapudi is the second candidate for the School of Business dean position to participate in
The search for a new School of Business dean continues.
a public forum. The first was Ali Malekzadeh, dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University.
A 15-member search committee made up of students, faculty and business professionals selected both Bendapudi and Malekzadeh as candidates to replace William L. Fuerst, former School of Business dean of 11 years. Fuerst resigned from the position in September 2010, amidst allegations by business students of the misallocations of course fees.
Bendapudi has been published in the Harvard Business Revue and the New York Times. Bendapudi's most recent research articles include "How to use Language that Employee Get" and "Co-producing class participation," Talking about Teaching, Volume 4, 42-64.
The KU Office of the Provost has made an online evaluation form of the public forum available on its Web page. Though the School of Business has yet to name a third candidate for the position, the due dates on the forum evaluation form suggest the possibility of a third candidate speaking in public forum on April 7 or 8.
The search process for the new business school dean began in November.
- By Adam Strunk