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GE 8A
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2005
VOL. 116 ISSUE 53
ACTIVISM
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Shirts agree: 'fine by me'
Students can show support for gay community
BY TRAVIS ROBINETT
trobinett@kansan.com
KANSAAN STUFF WRITER
A national T-shirt campaign is coming to the University of Kansas to promote acceptance of the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community.
Today, KU's LBGT Programs and Services office will give out 225 T-shirts that read "gay? fine by me." from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wescoe Beach.
Michael Franklin, LBGT resource coordinator, said the T-shirts would show people the University was a comfortable place to be themselves. He said anyone who wears a T-shirt would demonstrate that they were accepting, which could make coming out of the closet easier for those around them.
"I imagine if everyone who was gay came out of the closet," Franklin said. "It would cause people who know that person to re-evaluate their views on homosexuality and possibly become more accepting of it."
According to www.finebyme.org, the campaign started at Duke University during the spring of 2003. The Princeton Review had named Duke the most gay-unfriendly school in America. In response, 10 students decided to distribute T-shirts with an anti-homophobic message to change the perception of the university.
Maddie Dewar, president of the Alliance of Queer Undergraduates at Duke, said Duke's homophobic reputation was mostly true. She said the student body was conservative as a whole and didn't have a large LBGT population or an LBGT center.
Dewar said the LBGT community at Duke took off a couple of years ago when resources fell into place, thanks to supportive faculty. She said the T-shirts were a part of that change.
"We wanted something that wasn't in your face, so a statement could be made in the most normalized way." Dewar said. "It was the
first time we really saw how accepting and affirming the campus can be."
Franklin said he got the idea to bring the 'T-shirts to the University of Kansas last February from a convention in St. Cloud, Minn., where "fine by me" representatives gave a presentation about the campaign.
Franklin said the campus climate at the University was open and inviting to the LBGT community, but many LBGT issues remained unspoken in spite of their acceptance.
"I think most people would say gay people are 'fine'
Jon Dennis, Hutchinson senior, said he wouldn't have a problem wearing the T-shirt because promoting tolerance was important.
"I came from a small town where the issue is not nearly as accepted as it is here," Dennis said. "It's worth the efforts to bring about discus-
think most people would say gay people are fine by me,' but there is a difference between saying it and doing something about it."
Michael Franklin LBGT resource coordinator
by me,' but there is a difference between saying it and doing something about it," Franklin said. "Most people aren't actively involved. The shirts are a nice, simple way to show support for a community that has been marginalized."
sion, because discussion is the only way to gain acceptance."
Franklin said the first 225 T-shirts were sponsored by limited private funding Franklin's goal is to hand out 2,000 T-shirts.
ceive T-shirts contribute $5 toward the purchase of future shirts. He, said every penny would go toward the purchase of more shirts, which cost $4.70 each, plus shipping.
He asks that people who re-
- Edited by Becca Evanhoe
Taylor Miller/KANSAN
Michael Franklin, Leavenworth graduate student and LBGT resource coordinator, shows one of the "gay? fine by me." T-shirts he will hand out on Wescoe Beach today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Franklin said that 225 T-shirts will be given out today, but before the year is over, he hopes to give out 2,000.
ACADEMICS
Language centers seek federal honor
BY FRANK TANKARD
fiankard@kansai.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
KU foreign language departments will turn in applications this month to keep a prestigious federal designation and about $350,000 a year, which comes with it.
The last time universities applied for National Resource Center designation, in 2003, three KU language centers earned the designation: the Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
The NRC designation, which lasts four years, amounts to about $250,000 a year in federal grants to each language program, plus about $100,000 a year in scholarships for graduate students. The Department of Education will choose NRC
The NRC designation, which lasts four years, amounts to about $250,000 a year in federal grants to each language program, plus about $100,000 a year in scholarships for graduate students. The Department of Education will choose NRC programs in the spring.
programs in the spring.
programs in the spring.
The Kansas African Studies Center hopes to regain the designation it lost in 2003.
SEE LANGUAGE ON PAGE 4A
COURTS
Gidden's assailant also gets probation
Jeremiah Creswell, 24-year-old Olathe resident, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge at the Douglas County Courthouse on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, former Kansas basketball player J.R. Giddens, also pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery. Under his plea agreement, Giddens received the same 12 months probation, but also agreed to attend two anger
Judge Stephen Six accepted the plea, reached between Creswell's attorney, Billy Rork, and the state of Kansas.
Creswell will serve 12 months probation under the plea agreement.
management classes at the University of New Mexico, where he transferred. Giddens faced a disorderly conduct charge but it was dismissed after the agreement.
The charges came from a May 19 altercation, in which Creswell stabbed Giddens in the right calf, outside the Moon Bar, a nowclosed establishment at Ninth and Iowa streets.
Crimson against the blue
Creswell suffered head injuries that required staples and stitches, Rork said.
-Steve Lynn. Staff writer Ryan Schneider contributed to this story.
Megan True/KANSAN
Students walk on Jayhawk Boulevard, past the Natural History Museum and Dyche Hall Monday afternoon. According to www.weather.com, the high temperature was 61 degrees, and the weather will continue to stay sunny and in the mid-70s and upper 60s throughout the week. Leaves and autumn foliage are at their peak for color change in eastern Kansas.
POLICY
Bikers beware of new policy
Bikes that block will be impounded
BY JOHN JORDAN
jjordan@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Removed vehicles will be stored by A&M Towing, which handles all towing for the University of Kansas. The towing service charges $30 to confiscate bikes and $5 a day to store them.
Students and faculty who chain their bikes or mo-peds where they obstruct access to campus stair wells or hand-capped ramps now face the risk of having their bikes impounded.
Complaints sparked the provost's office to update the policy.
The policy change, which took effect Oct. 20, allows the Academic Achievement and Access Center and Human Resources and Equal Opportunities office to decide if a bike should be removed.
Locks and chains will be cut on bikes, mo-peds and scooters that obstruct access to sidewalks, ramps, stairwells, handrails, doorways or halls.
Kim Andrews/KANSAN
Ken Stoner, Student Housing director, said this time of year the University reminds students to not put bikes on railings.
When sidewalks get icy, students need the railing to walk up the hill, and the bikes impede using the rails.
The University will begin cracking down on bike riders who are not abiding by bike campus parking policy.
Also, around scholarship halls, bikes often are found clinging to the stairs.
Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the chancellor, said these bikes concerned the chancellor's office.
"This is obviously a problem," Johnson said. "And with winter weather coming, it's going to be more of a problem."
Rachel Cloud, Lawrence senior and Miller Scholarship Hall resident, said bikes were
SEE BIKES ON PAGE 4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise,
© 2005The University Daily Kansan
Soccer success could lead to championship Kansas faces Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Jayhawks roll into the game or a six-out-of-seven game winning streak. PAGE1B
Tonque in Beak
The monthly satire page returns with a fresh set of topics, ranging from the new placement of faculty seats at Allen Fieldhouse and Facebook. PAGE 1B
Lacrosse rolls on
Lacrosse rolls on The Kansas women's club lacrosse team dominated the Tulsa Tornadoes with a 18-3 victory last Sunday. Next on the lacrosse team's schedule is a trip to Nebraska to take on Creighton and Truman State University. PAGE 58
Index
Comics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2B
Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B
Horoscopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B
Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
40
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All contents, unless stated otherwise.
© 2005 The University Daily Kansan
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