Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 4, 1990
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SAE to form race awareness committee
By Eric Gorski
Kansan staff writer
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will work with the University in forming a committee to heighten awareness of race relations on campus, the SAE president said yesterday.
The announcement came after a weekend when two groups of protesters confronted SAE members at the office and in a forum at Hoch Auditorium.
According to police reports, a member of the fraternity struck and racially slurred a KU student who had been an active member of SAE house. 1801 W Campus Road.
"We have no witnesses to support this specific allegation," said Bryce Petty, the president. "But we are concerned enough that we are forming a committee. We want to take a leadership role in this."
Matthew Willenborg, St. Louis freshman, was suspended from the fraternity Sunday because of Friday's incident.
Petty said he hoped the incident could be turned into a positive experience to benefit the chapter and the campus community.
Ann Dean, St. Louis sophomore, had planned to file a complaint yesterday with the University. She said she still planned to file but would do so no sooner than Friday, Dean, who has 30 days to file, said she wanted to make sure the complaint was phrased correctly.
Dean said it was great that the fraternity decided to help form the racial awareness committee.
"It's sad that it took this much," she said. "The fact that they're willing to do that is very positive, and will be a benefit to the community."
During the past two days, two University governing bodies have called for action and for awareness about minority concerns.
Jeff Morris, student body vice president, said Student Senate would vote tonight on a resolution that would condemn the incident at the SAE house and ask the University administration to take action to improve minority awareness on campus.
Justice department to examine incident, unsure of action
By a Kansan reporter
An agency of the U.S. Department of Justice is assessing the incident that caused racial tensions to flare during the weekend at the University of Kansas, a Justice official said yesterday.
William Whitcumb of the department's Kansas City, Mo., bureau said he was interviewing those who worked for the company between a Sigma Aloha, Enellion
member and a KU student who was delivering pizza to the fraternity. According to Lawrence police reports, racial slurs were made by a fraternity member.
Gustav Gaynet, regional director of the bureau's community relations service, said Whitcomb would assess the incident before determining the extent of the service's involvement. The service is not a regulatory body.
"We assist individuals and communities experiencing racial disagreements." Gaynett said.
He said University officials, Lawrence police and the students involved would be contacted before the service determined what its role would be.
Whitcumb said the service provided consultation and assistance and advocated discussion between
to the statement.
parties involved in racially sensitive situations.
Toni Lawhorn' Grandview, Mo,
senior, said she called Whitcomb
on Monday to tell him about the
incident.
According to a statement by Senate administrative members, "Student requests for increased funding, increased minority staff positions, larger minority affairs staff, etc., have been met with little or no response. We can accept this no longer. Action needs to be taken."
William Scott, Senate Executive Committee chairman, said SenEx discussed the incident at SAE on Monday at its meeting and released a statement calling for University officials to investigate the incident.
The Senate administration also supports mandatory sensitivity training for all students residing in recognized living groups, according
According to the statement, "If members of such a group are responsible and the group allows them to join an organization, we call for withdrawal of University
Whitcomb said he worked with KU officials and students in Spring 1988 when members of the Ku Klux Klan participated in a forum at Hoch Auditorium.
recognition from the group
Carol Krekeler, Panhellenic president, said the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic boards would continue to monitor the situation.
Students Concerned About Discrimination and Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas released separate statements Monday expressing anger and concern and calling for action by the University.
Chris Mulvenon, Lawrence police spokesman, said Douglas County district attorney Jim Flory had not yet received a full report on the case and was interviewing those involved and are collecting background information.
Flory said he could not pursue a battery charge until he received a full report.
Candidates stress health issues
Kansan reporter Pam Soliner contributed information to this story.
Bv Matt Tavlor
Kansan staff writer
Educating students about health issues should be a key policy for Student Senate next year, coalition leaders said last night in a public debate.
The debate, sponsored by Senate's Drug and AIDS awareness groups, pitted the five presidential candidates agains' one another. Candidates told their views on student health issues, drug and alcohol awareness and Watkins Memorial Health Center to about 30 people.
The candidates
Schreiner said that Watkins was administering quality services but that it should evaluate student needs.
"many students who use Watkins feel good about Watkins," he said. Milligan said Watkins needed a better image.
The candidates are Greg Hughes, Fast Break; Jeff Milligan, Jay Pride, Ray Sawyer; Blood; Todd Boerger, Real Representation; and M i k e Schreiner, YOU.
Boerger said he never had any problems at Watkins
"Watkins is receiving a bad rap," he said. "Some people would just as soon go out of town as to walk in and give them a reason to go to Watkins."
All the candidates agreed that
Students need the choice to buy condoms on campus from machines, Milligan said.
All five candidates supported the installation of condom machines on campus, based on a referendum vote by KU students last spring.
Student Senate Elections Student Senate Elections Student Senate Elections
"People don't want to come up to campus to read a flier," he said.
Hughes said information on health issues should be distributed properly through interesting student activities.
health education should be a top priority in Senate. Schreiner said disease prevention was important; Hughes said the key was drug, alcohol and AIDS awareness.
Students should decide for themselves whether to use drugs, Sanders said.
"Student Senate should not take a stance if a drug is good or bad," he
Boerger said students should join together to further educate themselves on all health issues.
'Watkins is receiving a bad rap. Some people would just as soon go out of town as to walk in there. We need to give them a reason to go to Watkins.'
— Jeff Milligan
Jayhawk Pride
Student Senate
presidential candidate
The candidates did not preview the prepared questions, said Jon Gregor, moderator of the debate.
After answering the prepared questions, the candidates responded to questions from the audience.
In response to this weekend's incident at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, in which a pizza delivery person was struck and shrieked according to police reports, the school said the occurrence was unfortunate.
"It's hard to change the attitudes of naive people. Milligan said, 'naive people are supporters.'
Hughes said racism was a problem of ignorance that could be broken by interacting with other minority students.
A multicultural center should be created to help retain minority students, Boerger said.
Capturing the great outdoors
Keith Thorpe/KANSAN
From left, Bryan Barnes, Olathe freshman, Daria Elliot, Tonganokie junior, and Karen Zakowski, Wichita freshman, sit on a wall near Potter Lake as they sketch landscapes for Drawling II. Members of the class were scattered around the lake yesterday, getting an early start on using landscape drawing techniques.
South African journalist speaks about sanctions, boycotts, U.S. attitudes
By Jonathan Plummer Kansan staff writer
of apartheid, a South African journalist said last night.
Dumisani Kumalo, speaking to about 115 people in the Kansas Union Ballroom, said the United States should not be so concerned with the loss of jobs sanctions bring to Blacks.
"Sometimes I think you love us more than we love ourselves," Kumalo said. "We are not asking for people to love us. We are using all the tools we can to fight a government that is getting help from overseas."
Economic sanctions are the first step in bringing an end to the system
"In the South, slavery was a full employment opportunity. No one said, 'If you free them then they will lose their jobs.'"
Kumalo also said that U.S. media's depiction of South Africa too simply defined the whole problem of violence between Blacks.
"The American people cannot tolerate more than three sentences at a time," Kumalo said. "We always hear about Black-on-Black violence, but it is also true that whites also kill Blacks."
"When we define violence on racial terms, we are bound to say that it is OK for one race to die."
David Hull, Wichita sophomore, said that he had heard many of the arguments about sanctions in his class on modern South Africa but
that he liked hearing them from another source.
Cheryl Forsha, Salina graduate student, said. "It was nice to hear how sanctions are not going to hurt Blacks in the long run."
After the speech, Kumalo said the U.S. media tended to accept the words of people like Bishop Desmond Tutu as the ideas of all Blacks.
"In the U.S., we are used to having a spokesperson. We don't like mobs," Kumalo said. "If there is a riot in Kansas City, the media most likely would go to Jesse Jackson in Chicago." Kumalo said he supported
the boycott against Coca-Cola.
"This may sound cynical, but if Coke wants to empower Blacks, why not start in Atlanta, where they are headquartered?" he said.
"If everyone wanted to see Blacks empowered, they would try to work for the end of apartheid. It is like trying to take a rotten cake and put vanilla 'icing on it. All you are left with is a sweet, rotten cake. You must change the ingredients."
Kumalo said that because changes did not come rapidly in South Africa, many Americans got frustrated and gave up the fight.
"That is why Ethiopia was wonderful for the U.S. We sang 'We Are The World,' we held hands, we wrote our checks and three weeks later, we saw the trucks arriving, and we would come back and see the children smile."
Kumalo told of how he perceived the U.S. through a biblical story.
"When Moses was able to convince Pharaoh to let the people go, he did not celebrate until he crossed the Red Sea," Kumalo said. "Miriam, his wife, wanted to party. Moses said we are still dealing with Pharaoh here."
"Nelson Mandela is still walking between Pharah and the Red Sea. But everybody here is ready to bring out the tambourines, and the Coke."
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