TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5,1995
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS 864-4810
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
SECTION A VOL.102, NO.72
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SPORTS
Walking man
Meet Steve Ransom, a walk-on player on the No. 1 men's basketball team. Page 1B
Just a number
FEATURES
It's easy for life inside Chemistry 184,KU's largest class,to be an anonymous one. Page 8A
Microsoft under investigation
NATION
The antitrust division of the Department of Justice is examining whether the software company designed Windows 95 to disable other programs. Page 5A
WORLD
U. S. soldiers enter Bosnia
The first of about 20,000 U.S. soldiers to be sent arrived yesterday. Page 5A
(USPS 650-640)
WEATHER WINDY AND COOL
High 52° Low 28°
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is free. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
INDEX
Weather: Page 2A
Opinion ... 4A
Nation/World ... 5A
Features ... 8A
Sports ... 1B
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 4B
Bryant Freeman represents the voice of Haiti to the United Nations.
But to many at the University of Kansas, he is known simply as
Our Man in Haiti
Bryant Freeman discusses Haitian politics with Centenus Gaston, a resident of Cite Soolei, a seaside slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Through such interaction, Freeman learns how average Haitians feel about their country's political situation. Freeman shares their thoughts with the commander of U.N. troops in Haiti.
Story by Novelda Sommers
Photographs by Paul Kotz
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The grayhaired professor steps from his rented Hyundai into Cite Solell, the poorest slum in Port-au-Prince. He calls it Haiti's second largest city, where 250,000 people live in absolute squalor.
About 25 boys and young men surround him before he can shut the car door. He is obviously a "ban", Haitian Creole for both "white" and "foreigner". With its smog and its stench of human and animal waste, this part of town does not get many tourists.
"Le m te levve maten an, m te gen po ki memn koak ule pa ou, men m te sevi ak twop savon - konsa po mwuen an toubl kounge a," he tells them in Creole, a mixture of French and West African languages. The crowds emits with laughter.
The crowd erupts with
The professor translates.
"I was talking about skin color," he says, almost shouting to be heard over the street noise. "They said, 'You can't be a Haitian because of your skin color.' I said my skin was the same as theirs this morning, but the soap I used was too strong and it turned my skin white."
Creole spoken is Creole understood, an old Haitian proverb says.
As easy as that, Bryant Freeman, director of Haitian studies at the University of Kansas and one of the world's foremost Haiti specialists, has bridged the gap between himself and some of the poorest Haitians.
Freeman first visited Haiti 35 years ago while he was a French instructor at Yale University. He wanted to study a French-speaking nation in the Western Hemisphere. He discovered that only 15 percent of Haitians spoke French but that the majority of Haitians spoke Creole.
Now he knows more about the country than most Haitians do.
That is why he works for the United Nations as an adviser to U.S. Army Major General Joseph Kinzer, commander of the 6,000 U.N. troops in Haiti. A long way to come for a white kid from Richmond, Va., and a French professor in thick glasses.
That is why in 1993, the United Nations hired him to train U.N. observers in Haitian language and culture. That is why he joined the U.N. mission in Haili last February.
See HAITI, Page 6A
Boys at St. Joseph's, a Catholic orphanage in Port-au-Prince, examine their new books the day before school starts.
Professors schedule early finals despite rules
By Phillip Brownlee Kansan staff writer
Taking a final early may sound great, but it's against the rules, a University official said.
"I understand why students want to do it," said Carol Holstead, assistant professor of journalism and chairwoman of University Calendar Committee. "But it was designed this way to be fair to students."
University Senate Rules and Regulations forbids tests from being given during the last week of classes or on Stop Day unless a comprehensive final examination also is given during the regularly scheduled final examination period.
The problem with that, Holsten said, is that the University couldn't control how many tests a student might have in one day. According to policy, no student is required to take more than two final examinations on the same day.
"If we made this optional, everyone would give their tests during the last week." Holstead said.
Also, when professors give finals early, there are, in effect, fewer days of class.
"The Board of Regents is very clear about the number of days of classes we should have," Holstead said.
Although it is against the rules to give finals early, it still happens.
"Generally, students don't want to complain because they are afraid of retaliation."
chairwoman, University CalendarCommittee
Carol Holstead
"We probably get three or four calls at the end of each semester," said Molly Mulloy, administrative assistant for University governance. "It's a real crisis for those students," she said.
Carol Prentice, assistant to the
vice chancellor for academic affairs, said it was hard to estimate the number of professors who gave tests early because student complaints were divided between academic affairs, University governance, the calendar committee or were settled directly with the instructor.
5
"A lot of times the instructor doesn't know about the rule," Prentice said.
Holstead also said that there were no standard penalties for professors. When a student complains, either the professor or the department is contacted and told that the instructor cannot give the test in the last week of classes.
But often students are afraid to complain, Holstead said.
"Generally, students don't want to complain because they are afraid of retaliation," she said. "And clearly, some students like it."
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