Volume 126 Issue 99
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
kansan.com
4
the student voice since 1904
CAMPUS
West Campus cafe to close grill
MIRANDA DAVIS news@kansan.com
Students from the KU School of Pharmacy are working this week to fight the closing of the grill inside Mortar and Pestle cafe, located inside the school of pharmacy on West Campus. The cafe would stay open, but the grill is the only hot dining option on West Campus and would potentially be replaced by a KU Dining drop-off service.
items will be brought in by KU Dining for students during breakfast and lunch times. Dining is looking at bringing in a rotating selection of hot foods during lunch, such as soups, hot sandwiches and pizza. Dining is also only walking off the grill portion, they are not planning to remove it. Reid said that they are hoping they can come back once West Campus develops more.
tle will be moved to other campus dining locations around campus, to fill open spots.
Mike Reid, director of public affairs for KU Memorial Unions, said that KU Dining wants to keep the grill open, but has lost money every fiscal year that the cafe has been open and that the cafe would have to double its sales to break even. Mortar and Pestle opened in 2010 with the new pharmacy school building and has recorded losses every year.
The students collected signatures at Mortar and Pestle Monday afternoon as a way to bring light to a relatively unknown issue, and started a "tweet-a-thon"
"This is the last thing that we want to do." Reid said.
According to Reid, the only portion of the cafe that is closing is the hot grill, but other
"This is the last thing that we want to do."
MIKE REID Director of Public Affiars for KU Memorial Unions
"When the density of people over on that side of campus starts growing again we will definitely look at adding more services back into the operation," Reid said.
that encouraged students to tweet their concerns at the @ kudining account using the hashtag #saveMortarandPestle.
Reid also said that the employees from Mortar and Pes-
The campaign was organized by a group of 4P (graduating May 2016) Pharmacy students
who say the closing of the cafe could potentially damage the Pharmacy school.
"We have lots of faculty and staff all over West Campus that utilize this space," said Hollie Resseguie, one of the students organizing the campaign.
The group created a letter to send to the director of KU Dining Services, Nona Golledge, that aired many of the concerns students are feeling about the closure.
"As the only pharmacy school in the state of Kansas, KU School of Pharmacy is the sole ambassador of the profession for our state. It is vital that we
represent the profession well for the many guests and events at the school and represent our school well to attract future pharmacists. A shuttered facility does neither. The broader community's expectations of KU research departments and School of Pharmacy are high, and this is an image issue KU Dining needs to take seriously"the letter stated.
If the grill were removed then the nearest hot dining facility would be Mrs. E's, lo-
AT A GLANCE
SEE CAFE PAGE 3B
KU Dining Services is closing the grill portion of the Mortar and Pestle Cafe inside the School of Pharmacy, the only hot dining option on West Campus.
A group of students is campaigned KU Dining's decision through letters, a tweet-a-thon and an online petition.
KU Dining hopes to someday reopen the grill portion of Mortar and Pestle.
UNIVERSITY
Campus coming out for 'Gaypril'
JESSICA MITCHELL news@kansan.com
Ellen DeGeneres came out during the fourth season of her show in 1997. The shock of people's reactions was so overwhelming that she moved to a new city and went into complete isolation. She told People magazine that it was difficult to cope, and that she felt rejected. Fifteen years later, Ellen is now a household name, is recognized as one of the most powerful and influential people in the country and is even a face for CoverGirl cosmetics. Coming out is often a defining moment in a person's life, whether he or she is a college student in Kansas or a famous comedian on national TV. What will people think? How will they react? Four University students shared pieces of their experiences in honor of this month-long LGBT celebration, "Gaypril."
Rex Miller
Freshman from Olathe
Preferred pronouns: he/him/his
My name is Rex Allen Mill
er. My parents named me that because they thought it sounded like a football name. That obviously didn't work out. I was born in Bethesda, Md., in a naval hospital to two linguist parents, both of whom are Republican.
Growing up, I did not clue in to the several cues that I got. For example, I made a remark to my brother that this guy on TV had the deepest, bluest eyes I've ever seen. My brother was I've just like, "We don't say that about other guys." I also had this best friend growing up that I was super grabby with. It didn't dawn on me that this wasn't the straightest behavior ever. I just assumed that, oh I am so close to this friend because he is my friend, not because I have a crush on him. People say that they knew they were gay at like the age of 6 or something, but I didn't start clueing in until like 14.
I first told my brother, and that was not terribly eventful except for when my brother told me I was going to tear the family apart. That felt awesome. After asking out this guy on a date I felt like I had to tell my parents. For some reason I decided to tell my mom first, and I thought shed be nice about it. The thing is, she did not get it. I told her that I was going to this play with a guy, and she's like, "Well, if you want to go with your friend I'm okay with that." I told her, "No, I asked him out
on a date." She became really confused and just basically got angry. In our family any time you say anything it's like a debate, so I had a prepared list of rebuttals to the responses I was going to receive. However, she said something that entirely floored me. I could not respond to it at all. She said, "Oh, well, it's impossible for you to be gay because gay people don't exist." I mean, obviously, if she did not believe that gay people exist there is nothing that was going to change her mind.
I've attempted to come out two times since then, the first time happening in 2011 or 2012. Each time going roughly the same way: response, response, response, then that one thing that I just cannot argue with because it's so insane. So, yep, that's about where we are; I've made the attempt but it hasn't happened.
A lot of people say that I'm a normal guy who happens to like guys. A lot of people spin it that way. The thing is, while that's kind of true, what coming out does for you is it gives you access to an entire culture that a lot of people are not even aware of. That's what's really cool about it is gaining access to an entirely different worldview that I probably would not have even known about if I were straight.
A lot of people talk about how they've known they were gay their whole lives. For me, I didn't really ever think too much about it. When I was in high school, I did think it was a little off that I wasn't super boy-crazy like the rest of my friends, but I was just concerned about the friends that I had and the activities I was doing. I do remember having strong attachments to some of my female teachers in high school, but I just thought they were cool and I wanted to be around them. It was nothing beyond that. I even had a boyfriend during my early years of college at Johnson County. Then my younger brother actually came out that he was gay. That was quite a shock, but my family has always been super accepting so it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, no prob-
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE SINCE COMING OUT?
Grace Long
Graduate student from
Overland Park
Preferred pronouns:
they/them/their
SEE LGBTQ PAGE 3B
UPCOMING EVENTS
CHECK BACK WEDNESDAY FOR MORE COMING OUT STORIES
April 9:
April 2:
Burlesque Night at Chateau
10 p.m.
Short burlesque performances followed by the performers teaching the audience the basic of burlesque dancing.
Pride Prom at Chateau
Theme: Viva Las Vegas
Come dressed in your best casino outfit to enjoy this year's Pride Prom.
April 10:
Bobbi Lancaster
Wisconsin 3140
7 p.m.
Bobbi Lancaster is a trans woman professional golfer. She will be sharing her story about being a trans woman and a professional athlete.
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April 15:
A panel consisting of Trans* members of our community. There will be an opportunity for questions. This is a safe space for both the panelists and the members, this means that we expect respect on all sides. It also means that audience members do not need to be afraid to ask questions that may be inappropriate in other situations.
Trans* Talk
Location: TBA
7 n.m
April 17:
GAYLA
Union 4th floor
3 p.m.
SUA and Queers & Allies will be having a pride-themed Tea at Three for all to come. There will be rainbow cake, cookies and tea.
April 18:
April 18:
Brown Bag Drag
Outside of the Union (Woodruff is the rain-out location)
12 p.m.
Join Daisy Bucket and student performers for a fabulous drag show in front of the Union.
April 23:
Sex-Ed Boot Camp
Woodruff Auditorium
7 p.m.
A fun, zesty, and informative boot camp on all things sex.
April 30:
April 30:
HIV Testing Day
Union
10 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Free, quick and confidential HIV testing.
April 30:
Inde CLASSIFIEDS 7B CRYPTOQUIPS 5B SPORTS 8B CROSSWORD 5B OPINION 4B DUDOKU 5B All contents, unless stated, © 2014 The University Daily Kansar
April 30:
Kiss-In
Stauffer-Flint lawn
10.30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Come hang out with Queers & Allies while they promote LGBT visibility on campus.
Don't Forget
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
Section A is a joke.
Happy April Fool's Day!
Today's Weather
Mostly Cloudy. Zero percent chance of rain. NE at 9mph.
HI: 54
LO: 44
IT'S CLOUDY!
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