THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.100,NO.125
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1990
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
NEWS:864-4810
Racism debated at forum SAE incident Greeks promote cultural diversity spurs discussion
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Bush and Soviet President Mihail S. Gorbachev will meet for a superpower summit in the United States beginning May 30, U.S. and Soviet officials said yesterday. The announcement marked both sides' return to bargaining on possible arms-control treaties.
might仰面 position a spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said several major agreements could emerge at the summit, including a long-sought Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to limit long-range nuclear weapons.
But Bush said merely that the summit would provide "time for a lot of dialogue and a lot of discussion."
Fitzwater said the summit, Bush's second meeting as president with the Soviet leader, would be a "tough
love" encounter, with the crisis in Lithuania a central topic.
Bush and Gorbachev last met early in December in a storm-tossed shipboard summit at the Mediterranean island of Malta. Since then, pushes for independence in Lithuania and other regions of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet response to them, have strained superpower relations.
Simultaneous announcements of the summit came from the White House and the Soviet news agency Tass early yesterday as Baker and Shevardnadze were holding their second day of meetings on arms control and other issues.
Both the Washington and Mogow announcements gave the summit dates as May 30 to June 3.
April showers?
David Gross, Shawnee junior, walks through Marvin Grove near the Spencer Museum of Art during a brief snow flurry. Snow flurries occurred intermittently yesterday. Today should be mostly sunny with a high near 50 degrees.
By Eric Gorski and Jonathan Plummer Kensan staff writers
By Eric Gorski
Debate and emotion dominated a forum about racism last night that was attended by students, University officials and police at the Kansas Union.
Mark McCormick of Black Men of Today, which sponsored the forum, introduced a panel consisting of Lawrence Police Chief Ron Oln James Denney, director of KU police, and Cory Anderson of Black Men of Today.
Men of Policy
Members of the audience of about 70 voiced their opinions about the racial atmosphere in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas. The discussion included minority recruiting, police involvement in situations involving minorities and last weekend's incident at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
According to police reports, a member of the fraternity on Friday struck and uttered a racial slur to Ann Dean, St. Louis sophomore, who was delivering pizzas to the SAE house, 1301 West Campus Road.
Attending the forum were University officials from the Department of Student Life and the Organizations and Activities Center, who have been meeting this week to determine the University's response to the incident.
Two Greek governing bodies at the University of Kansas will offer programs in Fall 1990 to promote cultural diversity in the KU greek system, greek officials said.
By Eric Gorski Kansan staff writer
officials said.
The programs, which were developed this academic year, deal with minority sensitivity, alcohol and substance abuse, sexism and date rape in the KU Greek system, said Margaret Miller, assistant director of the organizations and activities center and coordinator of greek programs.
tor of grek programs.
Miller said minority concerns carried a sense of immediacy because of an incident last weekend at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Signage according to police reports, a member of the fraternity struck and uttered a racial insult to a KU student delivering pizzas to the house at 1301 West Campus Road.
Dean, who attended the forum,
Tom Cartmell, president of the Interfraternity Council, said minority-related issues needed to be confronted.
Carol Krekler, Panhellenic president, said it would be more effective to begin the new programs at the beginning of the year when a new group of students enters the greek system.
controened.
"When we are recruiting, we need to look at the quality of the men, not the color of their faces," he said.
said.
Carmell said that every pledge in the Fall 1990 class would go through a minority sensitivity program.
krekeler said minority recruitment during rush as well as lectures and forums focusing on minority sensitivity were planned for the Fall 1990 semester.
we are the first to admit that our system does not reflect the entire campus community in the numbers of minority students," she said. "We're trying to change attitudes and make them feel comfortable."
said that it was beneficial and positive, but that she hoped the University would take action beyond simply talking about the incident.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, was in the audience and stood to answer questions about the University's response.
"There are no magic wands that will make people love each other, or respect each other," Ambler said. "The only wand we have in the University is education. We do have policies, and we do need to see that they are adhered to."
they are audited." Anderson said, "But he does have one magic wand. He can make students disappear."
Tonya Sanchez, an audience member, said, "We want the University to act. We're tired of not getting solutions. Apologies aren't working. Committees aren't working. We need actions."
actions. McCormick said, "We don't need more meetings. At other universities, racial slurs are punishable by expulsion. This school seems to be lethargic."
tenargic.
Olin said police involvement in minority situations was no different than in any other situation.
"Our business is victims," he said. "It doesn't matter if the victim is Black or white or male or female. If we have the opportunity to take
crime off the street, then that is our role."
neutral position and defuse the situation while mediating discussion between protesters and fraternity members at the SAE house.
members at the stadium.
Chris Mulvenon, Lawrence police
spokesman, said yesterday that
Dean had been interviewed for
the second time by Lawrence police
investigators.
Dean first was interviewed Friday. Battery was listed as the offense on the first report.
the first report.
Caryl Smith, dean of student life,
said Dean did not file a complaint with the University yesterday.
Two KU profs may conduct jury poll in Grissom case
Bv Rich Cornell
Special to the Kansan
'There's a very strong presumption against a change of venue. The evidence has to be overwhelming.'
- Tom Beisecker
Two KU professors have been asked to quiz Johnson County residents about their opinions of Richard Grissom's upcoming trial, and the results could show that the trial should be held in another county.
— Tom Beissecker KU associate professor of communication studies
"Owing to the enormous publicity and political activity surrounding
sound to Deputy Public Defender Andrew Wassler asked Allan Cigler, associate professor of political science, to conduct a jury poll, Warren stated Wednesday in a request to a judge. The poll would be given to jurors active in other trials and be used to determine whether county residents have prejudices about Grissom's innocence or guilt.
Such a technique never has been used in Kansas, according to Warren's statement. He would not comment yesterday about the request
A hearing to determine whether the trial should be moved out of the county will be June 11 and 12.
ment years. Grissom is charged with the murders of Joan Butler, a 24-year-old KU graduate from Overland Park, and Christine Rusch and Theresa Brown, 22-year-old Lenexa roommates.
Grissom faces nine other related charges. His trial, expected to last three weeks, is scheduled to begin Aug. 27.
this case, the ability to obtain an impartial jury is in question." Warren stated Wednesday in his request to allow the jury poll.
Cigler, who is attending a conference in Chicago, said yesterday that Warren had asked him to prepare a 15- to 25-question form to learn whether Johnson County residents were biased in regard to the case.
He and Tom Beisecker, associate professor of communication studies, may conduct the poll, Cigler said.
"One would want to find from a jury poll whether, in fact, a person could be given a fair trial," he said
Cigler said that although he never had polled jurors, he had extensive experience in survey research. His largest concern is obtaining an adequate sample size.
"I'm uneasy when I do samples of less than 400," he said.
That number would provide a 5 percent error margin, Gciled say. A useful poll also requires that the researcher know the total number of
people from which the sample is taken, he said.
Beisecker said that defense attorneys sometimes conducted a random survey of eligible voters to argue that a trial should be moved.
"What's unusual in this is the almost double use of the jurors," he said.
The jurors are asked to comment on the Grissom case as well as participate in another trial, Beisecker said.
Trials rarely are moved as the result of a jury poll, he said. Other researchers have told him of judges who turned down requests when 90 percent of a sample showed bias.
"There's a very strong presumption against a change of venue," Beisseker said, referring to the legal term for moving a trial. "The evidence has to be overwhelming." ■ The Associated Press contributed
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
E. Germany becomes a democracy
The Associated Press
EAST BERLIN — East Germany's first freely chosen Parliament declared the nation a democracy yesterday and began building a political system that will lead it to unification with West Germany
The lawmakers, elected March 18 in the nation's first democratic ballot, convened for the first time and formally dismantled the communist system that ruled for four decades.
decade. Meeting in the Palace of the Republic built by the former Stalinist regime, the 400-member Parliament began rewriting the constitution to mirror that of West Germany.
The new legislature and the government it creates could be East Germany's last as a sovereign state because of the moves toward unification with West Germany.
mhdy
Parliament chose christian Democrat leader Lothar de Maiziere, whose party holds the most seats in Parliament, to build a new government from the 11 parties represented in the legislature.
president of the
Dr. Sabine Bergmann-Pohl,
a Christian Democrat, was elected
president of Parliament.
New president of Haskell will serve on Indian Nations at Risk Task Force
By Kathryn Lancaster
William Demmert, left, and Terrel Bell, center, will be co-chairmen of a task force whose members were appointed by Lauro Cavazos.
Kansan staff writer
FAIRWAY - The president of Haskell Indian Junior College will serve on a national task force to study the problems of American Indian education, U.S. Education Secretary Lauro Cavazos announced yesterday.
yesterday:
Speaking at the Shawnee Indian Mission Museum, a manual labor school for Shawnee Indians during the 1800s, Cavazos announced that Terrel H. Bell, former secretary of education, and William G. Demmert Jr., commissioner of education in Alaska, would serve as co-chairmen for the national task force.
Bob Martin, Haskell president, is one of 15 task force members appointed to the Indian Nations at Risk Task Force.
The process of developing the task force began in October, Cavazos said. The group will meet for one year and then is expected to report its findings to the department of education.
education
Cavazos said a comprehensive study on American Indian educational needs was long overdue.
areas, is indeed grave," Cavazos said.
sau.
Two major issues the task force will need to address are reducing drop-out rates and improving standardized test scores among American Indian populations, he said. The study should look at education reform needs at all levels.
Although American Indians have proven above-average academic abilities, he said, as a group they have the highest drop-out rate of any racial or ethnic group in the nation. Language difficulties, poverty and high unemployment rates compound the problems.
Studies and reports from our department . . . suggest that conditions of Indian education, particularly for students in isolated rural
MARY.
The group must address high drop-out rates among Indians, said Martin, who was present when Cavazza made the announcement in Johnson County. He estimated that between 50 and 60 percent of first-year Indian college students did not graduate.
Martin, who became Haskell president in September, said he was interested in developing long-range general education goals, including goals for higher education. The first meeting of the entire task force is expected to take place sometime in May.
About 90 percent of Indians attend public schools, he said. Students
perform poorly because the public schools' curricula are not relevant to their needs and do not recognize cultural differences.
cultural three The national focus is significant, he said, because it will help close the gaps of regional education studies.
Bell, the former secretary of edu
workable solutions.
Demmert, a former director of educational programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the task force
cation and co-author of a 1983 Department of Education study, "Nation at Risk," said the first issues facing the task force were defining issues and workable solutions.
level. I last major studies on American Indian educational needs were done in 1869 and 1970, said Dermett, former deputy commissioner for the
would not be creating new studies but rather puling together information already available at the regional level.
U. S. Office of Education. Those studies led to the Indian Education Act of 1972.
Cavazos announced that Alan Ginsburg, director of the Department of Education's planning and evaluation service, would serve as executive director of the task force.