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CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, January 17, 1996
3A
Club's focus to be diversity
Langston's will feature poet's name
by Adam Ward Kansan staff writer
Langston Hughes, the poet, playwright and Lawrence native, wrote a poem called Let America Be America Again.
"Let me be the land where Liberty/ Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath/ But the opposite is real and life is free./ Equality is in the air we breathe," he wrote.
It is in the spirit of Hughes that the dance club Langston's is named.
The club is in the former CJ's Dance Club.
It will be a place where minority students can come and be well respected, said Cordell Meeks III, Kansas City, Kan., junior.
"The club will have the spirit of black music but will not necessarily be a black club," he said. "We don't want to alienate anyone."
Meeks is also the director of marketing for the club.
Gina Thornburg / KANSAM
hip-hop. They started attracting an African-American clientele and were making money until 729 New Hampshire opened, he said. Then they went belly-up.
Vaughn Patterson Jr. is the general manager of the club. The owners of CJ's originally intended for it to be a fraternity bar, he said. But on Friday and Saturday nights they started playing rap, rhythm and blues and
After that, Meeks, Vaughn and Dannie Thompson, the owner, saw their chance. They bought the bar and created a place especially geared toward minorities.
The three eventually plan to add a lounge and a restaurant.
"We want to educate as well as entertain people," Meeks said.
The lounge will be a place where scholars, students and poets can come to study, talk, play pool or watch television. It tentatively is planned to open in 60 days, Meeks said.
"We are seeking to create a place like the Jazzhaus was for me when I first came to the University of Kansas," Meeks said.
A restaurant eventually will be added and will be finished by the summer, Meeks and Vauhn said.
"The final decor will include pictures of historical black leaders by each booth along with quotes," he said.
There will be a dress code of tucked-in shirts and no hats, he said.
Langston's will be opening this weekend.
Cordell Meeks, Daniele Thompson and Vaughn Patterson are the new directors of Langston's, formerly CJ'S Dance Club. Langston's will open Friday. Erika Oliver, Overland Park senior, on the African-American populace," "But it shouldn't focus completely she said.
"We want people to be dressed to impress." Meeks said.
A club that focuses on modern R&B and hip-hop was a good idea, said
Stouffer Place houses variety
By Scott MacWilliams Kansan staff writer
The Stouffer Place Apartments are a bit like the United Nations. Kids from every continent play the playground, and the games they play and memories they create could plant the seeds of international peace.
Yan-nian Lee is studying aerospace engineering and beginning his second year on campus. His wife, Sharon, and their two children arrived ten days ago and they have just moved into Stouffer Place.
"My daughter has been in kindergarten at Hillcrest for only one week, and already she has made new friends," said Lee. "The children can adjust quickly, and the
Many residents living in the 25 buildings are from foreign lands. Stouffer Place is University housing for married or single students with children.
Jonathan Long, assistant director of student housing, said the apartments were well-used.
"The buildings are generally filled to near capacity," said Long.
Long said standard one-bedroom apartments rented for $213 per month and standard two-bedroom apartments cost $247.
Two of the buildings have been completely renovated. The renovation included a complete remodeling, redecoration, new appliances, pitched roofs and central air conditioning. Some three-bedroom apartments also were created in the process.
Erica McDiffett moved into Stouffe Place last fall as a freshman. She found that Stouffer Place in August can be rather warm.
"It showed 90 degrees on the furnace thermostat one day," said McDiffett. "When the maintenance man was here, he found it was 110 degrees in our room. Then we got a window air unit, and it was better."
The refurbished apartments carry a higher price tag, with the two-bedroom units going for $318 per month and the three-bedroom units going for $413 per month.
Phil Garito, associate director of
student housing, oversees the maintenance of Stouffer Place.
"As far as the renovations, we are planning to do Building 12 next fiscal year if the funds are available," Garito said. "We are also putting new pitched roofs on four buildings this year, four next year, and three the year after that."
Affordability is a major draw for the residents who make Stouffer Place home. Gianying Lu has lived in Stouffer Place for one year. Lu and her husband have no children here, but she said she enjoyed seeing children play outside.
"It is a good place for children," Lu said. "It is quiet, safe, and they have playground equipment for the kids. I like being close to campus."
Student Senate already has full agenda
Possible campus fee tops group's to-do list
By Nicole Kennedy
Kansan staff writer
A new $90 campus fee to build a recreation center and a possible ball-out for KU on Wheels tops Student Senate's agenda this semester.
"We have a pretty full plate," said Ken Martin, Student Senate Executive Committee chairman. "It's going to be quite an interesting semester to see how everything shapes unpolitically."
senators have concerns about imposing the fee without a student vote, Martin said.
The proposed recreation center may cost as much as $21 million and would be financed by student fees. Senators may vote on the recreation center issue by mid-February, but some
For the students to be able to vote on the issue, Senate would have to call for a referendum. With a referendum, students would have a chance to vote during the elections in April for or against building the center.
If 10 percent of the student body votes for the project, the $90-a-student campus fee would be phased in during the next five years, Martin said. Senators also will examine the financially troubled campus bus system.
KU on Wheels will be about $140,000 in the red by the end of this semester, said Ron Vanderslice, KU on Wheels coordinator.
Student Senator Gustavo Alvarado, who is also
Vanderslice said that the transportation board may ask the Senate for a loan this semester to cover the deficit.
a member of the transportation board and the Student Senate Finance Committee, said he believed a Senate loan to the bus system might not be enough to solve the financial problems.
"I think they should really push for a campus and city transit system," Alvarado said. "The city of Lawrence wants a transportation system."
"The attitude we're getting from the board is, 'How much should students pay for transportation?" Vanderslice said.
Vanderslice agreed that someone besides students would have to help cover the bus system's operational costs for the next five to 10 years.
Other Senate issues to be discussed this semester include campus lighting, a possible park-and-ride system that would allow students to park on West Campus and take a bus to the main campus, and the possible addition of a parking garage north of the Kansas Union.
Impasse hurts visa availability
By Susanna Lööf
Kansan staff writer
For more than 100 international KU students, the recent federal government shutdown was more than just a minor inconvenience.
The shutdown closed all U.S. consulates worldwide, preventing the students from getting
their visas on time for the sp r i ng semester.
"There was a lot of frustration, a lot of problems and a lot of very worried students," said Gerald Harris, director of International Student Services.
Jose Coronado-Gonzalez, Bogota, Colombia, graduate student, went home for the holidays and arrived the same day the U.S. government shut down
Fortunately, the embassy gave priority to students, Cornado-
Gonzalez said.
"It was really bad," he said. "People were cussing and almost insulting the embassy staff."
Cornado-Gonzalez went back to the embassy when it opened January 10. Even though he arrived at 6.15 a.m., about 100 people already were waiting in line. By the time the embassy opened at 8 a.m., about 500 people were in line.
But the opening of consulates and embassies did not mean an end to the troubles for many students who were going to KU for the first time. Because their KU documents showed a Jan. 8 arrival date, they were denied visas.
Harris said he had to fax new arrival-date information to the
Because Cornado-Gonzalez's visa to the U.S. had expired, he called and went to the embassy in Bogota repeatedly for help getting a new visa. However, the embassy staff told him they could not do anything.
Jose Coronado-Gonzalez
Columbia graduate student
consulates and all students who had contacted International Student Services.
"It cost us
"itme a bit," he said.
"We sent
out more than
100 faxes."
However, the cost was small compared to what the
University would have lost if the visa problems had prevented students from attending the University, Harris said.
Harris said that two students decided to wait until summer before coming to the KU because of their visa problems. As of yesterday, about 130 of the nearly 200 international students admitted to KU had arrived.
But it is not clear whether the visa problems were the reason students didn't return, Harris said.
Cornado-Gonzalez received his visa Thursday, and he arrived in Lawrence yesterday. He said he thought it was wrong that the shutdown had caused problems for people applying for visas.
"It was unfair, because we did not have anything to do with it," he said.
Kansan staff report
Senate searches for students to fill seats
Students who missed last spring's Student Senate elections now have a second chance to compete for office. Senate is accepting applications for six open seats, including one each for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts and Law, and three seats for graduate students. Interested students can pick up an application in the Senate office, 410 Kansas Union. Applications should be returned to the office by 5 p.m. Jan. 26. Though there are only a few seats available, Ken Martin, head
Though there are only a few seats available, Ken Martin, head of the Student Senate Executive
Committee, said Senate seats would become available throughout the semester as senators left or were dismissed from office. Senate seats are allocated to the University schools based on the number of students enrolled in each school.
A Replacement Senator Committee of five senators will review the submitted applications and interview the applicants. When the committee makes its selections, the full Senate will vote for or against the candidates.
For more information, contact Martin at the Senate office at 864-3701.
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