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KU says it keeps close eye on student visa status By Matt Erickson merickson@ljworld.com
As reports emerged Friday that the U.S. Homeland Security Department has ordered extra security in the student visa process in the wake of the Boston bombings, officials at Kan-
sas University and Kansas State University said they’re already keeping close tabs on the status of their international students, as required. In order to keep their certification to enroll international students, KU and other universities must update a federal
database at least every semester on each student’s status in school, said Chuck Olcese, director of international student services at KU. That process begins before international students’ visas are ever approved. When an international student applies to
KU, Olcese explained, he or she must use an application process different from that for domestic students. Prospective international students must submit not only their academic qualifications but also proof that they can fund their education for at least
one year. If they’re accepted, KU will issue an electronic form that allows the visa process to begin. That form includes the specific program the student is applying for, how long that program is expected to last, and Please see VISAS, page 2A
Artists preparing for big event
Breezy
SCHOOLS
District studies racial disparity
Low: 45
High: 50
Today’s forecast, page 10B
INSIDE
By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
who will be showing off their creative passions at this weekend’s Art in the Park, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in South Park. “I think this is really going to be one of the best years for Art in the Park ever, just because of the quality of art we have,� said Amanda Monaghan, president of the Lawrence Art Guild, which organizes the event. “It’s a good
“Whiteness as property,� Luis Versalles called out to the Lawrence school board and a handful of administrators during a recent workshop. “What do you think that means?� The hired consultant who works on racial equity issues waited patiently while his audience struggled to come up with an answer. Having already been through a number of workshops designed to raise their awareness about racial disparities in education, h o w e v e r , Doll most were starting to get the idea. It means, Versalles explained, that the things white people enjoy — the social status and privileges that come just from being white — represent a kind of property right. Further, he said, much of the American legal and education systems, as well as all other facets of society, are designed to protect that status and privilege. The phrase comes from the title of a 1993 Harvard Law Review article by Cheryl I. Harris, and it sums up one of the key concepts behind what’s
Please see ART, page 2A
Please see RACE, page 2A
Defense key in win over Baylor On a cold and damp day, the KU baseball team’s defense was plenty sharp, limiting the Baylor Bears to four hits and two runs. Page 1B
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QUOTABLE
This is the night to come and tear up our community. This is the town to be in (on Saturday) night because they know there’s no police around to do anything about it.�
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
TED FREEMAN WILL HAVE HIS CRAFTED BIRDHOUSES available at Sunday’s Art in the Park event in South Park. Both his large and miniature houses are made from recycled and polished tin and wood
Art in the Park set for Sunday By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com
— Julie Trower, of Valley Falls, one of several concerned town residents criticizing a new auxiliary police program that allows some private citizens to patrol the town in place of police officers. Page 5A
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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.155/No.124
2A 1C-6C 10A 2A 2B, 10B 5C 4A 9A 5C 1B-8B 2B, 10B, 5C 26 pages
On March 14, Lawrence artist Daniel Ramirez got fired from his job at a Kansas City, Mo., jewelry store. Because of art. He had recently gotten back into painting, many years after a stint as a “public artist� — hint: it required spray paint — in his native Mexico. Excited about his new pursuit, he changed his screen-
If it rains If it rains Sunday, Art in the Park will be made up the following Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cancellation will be announced by 8 a.m. saver at work to one of his portraits. He picked the wrong day to do so. His boss, fresh off
an epic argument with his co-owner wife, saw Ramirez’s computer, proceeded to cuss him out and, with that as his warning, fired him. “He told me to get out. I did,� Ramirez said. “But I think it was the best day of my life, because now I’m doing what I wanted to be doing.� Ramirez, who has since decided to make a career out of expressionist painting, is one of the many local artists
ECM pastor retiring after 22 years of listening By Matt Erickson merickson@ljworld.com
Thad Holcombe has overseen a capital campaign that raised $835,000, watched a weekly vegetarian lunch program grow to serve hundreds of students and helped provide a place for a retired professor to continue a human sexuality course that had come under attack. But the most important part of his job, he says, has been to just listen. Holcombe will retire June 30 — his 73rd birthday — as the minister for Ecumeni-
cal Campus Ministries after 22 years on the job. He said he’s tried to make ECM, located just north of the Kansas University campus, a place where students, no matter what they believe, can come talk about questions ranging from their career hopes to their faith to their sexual orientation. And all the while, he’s been there to lend an ear. “It’s a place people can come and kind of pause and talk candidly with one another without feeling like they’re judged,� Holcombe said.
Celebration Ecumenical Campus Ministries will have a retirement party for minister Thad Holcombe from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the ECM building, 1204 Oread Ave., just off the Kansas University campus. Dessert and drinks will be served, and organizers say they expect 300 or more visitors.
Please see PASTOR, page 2A
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
THAD HOLCOMBE, campus minister at Ecumenical Campus Ministries, pictured on Friday, is set to retire this summer, after 22 years of building relationships with community members and students.
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