CAMPUS/AREA UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, November 7, 1996
3
Local artist is sowing seeds of love
Community garden and mural planted to benefit Lawrence
Rebecca Ramaglia / KANSAN
Local artist Dave Lewenstein works on a mural on the wall of which Lewenstein started in August and expects to finish soon, Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Mississippi St. The mural depicts the phases of harvesting.
13
By Ashlee Roll
Kansan staff writer
The wall of the Community Mercantile Co-op that faces Mississippi Street is getting a facelift, thanks to local artist Dave Loewenstein.
He's been painting a mural since August on the wall of the Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Mississippi St., and is almost done.
Loewenstein, who used to work at Community Mercantile, received a $500 grant from the Lawrence Arts Commission to paint a mural in Lawrence, and he got to choose the location.
"Its a great wall," he said. "And it is located near the Lawrence Community Garden Project."
The mural has several panels, each depicting a phase of harvesting.
"It is the literal sowing of seeds and growing things," Loewenstein said. "But it can also be a metaphor for the growing and taking care of things like family, children and each other."
An earth element is represented on each panel. Air, earth, water and fire are incorporated in the mural.
Loewenstein also is the founder of the nonprofit Lawrence Community Garden Project, an organization for people who don't have room for their own gardens.
The garden project provides ground and seeds for Lawrence residents who want to plant them.
And the mural fits in with the philosophy of both Community Mercantile and the garden project.
"The mural design is a community-based design, and it fits in well with the principles of the store," said Kelly Speight, operations manager of Community Mercantile.
Speight said the mural made the store easier to recognize.
The mural begins with a quote from
Nobel peace prize winner Adolf Perez Esquivel: "We cannot sow seeds with clenched fits, to sow we must open our fists."
Loewenstein is a full-time muralist who has painted other murals in downtown Lawrence.
But this mural was done on a volunteer basis — the $500 grant is used mostly for supplies — because he considers it a labor of love.
"It is a cultural work." he said. "Public works of art can improve the community, and, as an artist, I try to do innovative things."
The mural is a community project. Loewenstein used friends as models for the mural and had help from about 25 people.
"I invited people to help paint," Loewenstein said. "Now, they have a sense of ownership in it."
Scholarship hall hit by hungry thief
Kansan staff report
A hungry intruder stole a meaty midnight snack earlyFriday morning.
KU police said an unidentified person entered Amini Scholarship Hall between 12:15 a.m. and 9 a.m. and took almost $70 in meat from the industrial refrigerator in the kitchen.
Sgt. Chris Keary said the suspect entered the Amini through an unlocked door near the kitchen.
"This does happen occasionally in environments where there are areas of common use," Keary said. "When residents have access there is more traffic, and more traffic means more opportunities that a door could be left unsecured."
Frederick Souder, Bartlesville, Okla., graduate student and scholarship hall director at Amiini, told police he discovered that one deli turkey breast, 10 pounds of ground beef and 24 frozen burritos were missing Friday morning.
Keary said he did not think the suspect lived in the scholarship hall. He also said security problems usually were fixed quickly.
"I'm sure they will secure the doors in the building," Keary said. "You don't want to take the chance of losing more food or other items."
Biographer to discuss Confederate raider's attack on Jayhawkers
By Erin Rooney
Kansan staff writer
In 1863, William Quantrill and his raiders came to Lawrence, burned the city and murdered 200 men. Today, Edward Leslie will come to Lawrence to talk about these gruesome events and the book he wrote about them.
The Devil Knows How to Ride: The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill is a biography of the violent Confederate raider. Leslie spent five years researching and writing the book, which he will present at noon at the Oread Bookstore in the Kansas Union.
"He was a normal human being with a natural predisposition for violence," Leslie said.
Leslie started research on the biography with the mind set that Quantrill was a psychopathic murderer. Eventually, he came to a different conclusion.
"He was a normal human being with a
natural
predisposition for violence."
Edward Leslie
Leslie supported this argument by explaining that Quantrill accepted the surrenders of foes and returned stolen property to Unionists. Leslie said Quantrill even felt a level of sorrow for some of the acts that occurred in the raid on Lawrence.
author
to protect portions of Jackson County, Mo., from Kansans who crossed the border during the war. The Kansans who went into Missouri looting were primarily Unionist guerrillas called Jawhawkers.
"Quantrill apologized that he'd lost control of the men because they had gotten drunk," he said.
Leslie's book explains that Quantrill's band originally formed
Portraying Jayhawkers as violent pillagers often is not discussed at the University, and this view interested Ruth Lichtwardt, assistant book buyer for the Mount Oread Bookshop.
"When you hear about this in Lawrence you hear only a little of the story, but never do you hear the full story that this book tells," Lightwardt said. "It does not paint a pretty picture of the Jayhawk by any means."
After conducting his research, Leslie also was surprised that the University chose the Jayhawk as its mascot.
"I do find it interesting that KU would use the name for the school's team." Leslie said.
A book signing, concluding at 1:30 p.m., will follow the presentation.
Leslie lives in Massillon, Ohio, 20 miles from Dover, Ohio, where Quantrill was born.
Loans, taxes important to voters at KU
Re-election leaves students wondering about education
By Ashlee Roll
Kansan staff writer
The campaign promises have been made, and the votes have been tallied.
But some students question the effects of Bill Clinton's re-election on higher education.
"Dole had an agenda, and Clinton had his," said Ryan Kauffman, Overland Park junior and chairman of College Republicans. "If Clinton pushes his through, working together with Congress, I don't think there will be any
Most students agree that the average student will be affected by the way a Democratic president and Republican Congress work, or don't work,together.
don't think there will be any major changes."
Kauffman also said that if Dole had been elected, it would have been easier for him to work with Congress than it would be for Clinton.
Bill Clinton
Maggie Wilson, Lawrence
sophomore and College Republicans events chairwoman, said that the status quo of loans and scholarships for college students would not change.
"A lot of concern was raised that Republicans were trying to cut student loans," Wilson said. "They just wanted to reorganize so more people could get student loans."
"The Medicare and Social Security reform isn't going to happen now," Wilson said. "But we are going to be spending money bailing out the system."
Wilson also said that the biggest issue facing students was the state of Medicare and Social Security.
Democratic students, however, think differently.
Aura Negretti, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, said she voted against Dole because of his plans for student loans.
Negretti, who is an education major, said that with Clinton in the White House, there would be more opportunities for her after college in the job market.
"With Clinton, people like me will get more loans so they don't have to work two jobs so they can go to school," she said.
Negretti agreed that Social Security and welfare were big problems for the nation but said that the problems were not going to be solved overnight or in four years.
"The Democrats and Republicans are at a point to see who can do it first," she said. "It is a slow process, and it needs to be re-evaluated. You can't expect instant results."
The Devil Knows How to Ride The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill and His Confederate Raiders Random House $30.00
Photo©Flaine Wittig Karam
Thursday, November 7 From 12 noon until 1:30 In the KU Bookstore, Kansas Union
See Author Edward E. Leslie as he speaks about his provocative new biography of "The Man Who Burned Lawrence."
The Mt. Oread Bookshop KU Bookstore Kansas Union, Level Two 864-4431
Presentation & Booksigning
THE HARBOUR LIGHTS
BOOKSHOP
50 c Pool
13 Beers on top
1031 Massachusetts, Downtown
NATURAL WAY
• NATURAL FIBER CLOTHING • NATURAL BODY CARE
• 820-822 MASS. • 841-0100
fifi's 925 IOWA
841-7226
Lunch & Dinner
Great Food
Stupid Human Tricks Philanthropy
to further benefit the United Way through Rock Chalk Revue
Come perform stupid human tricks for great prizes and a good cause!
Thursday, November 14 10 am to 2 pm 4th Floor Kansas Union $10 per person
Sign up at the table located at Wescoe Beach or in the Kansas Union lobby