Monday
February 17,2003
Vol. 113.Issue No.98
Today's weather
50°
Tonight: 18°
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Tell us your news
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Kansas baseball sweeps No. 6 Louisiana State in three games p.10A
Protest targets state sodomy laws
John Nowak/Kansan
Womyn's Empowerment Action Coalition radical cheerleaders perform in front of the Capitol in Topeka during Saturday's protest against sodomy laws. About 60 people braved freezing temperatures and traveled to the Capitol to speak out against Kansas' oral and anal sex laws, which many say are discriminatory against homosexuals.
By Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
It was five degrees below freezing Saturday afternoon, but protesters outside the Capitol in Topeka still managed to hold their rainbow flags high.
About 60 people attended the protest against sodomy laws, which was organized by the University of Kansas' Womyn's Empowerment Action Coalition.
"We must fight together to ensure everyone has the right to decide what to do with their bodies, when and with whom," said Lea Carland, Lawrence junior and WEAC member, in her opening statement.
The protesters focused on Kansas' sodomy law, which criminalizes consensual sex between members of the same sex.
"We must fight together to ensure everyone has the right to decide what to do with their bodies,when and with whom."
Lea Carland Lawrence junior
"It's very primitive that our state holds onto this law," said Jessica Craig, Topeka sophomore and WEAC member.
Kansas is one of four states that still has sodomy laws on the books, said Christine Robinson, a Lawrence activist who recently received her doctorate in sociology. The other states are Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
"Is this what our constitution means by equal protection under the law?" Robinson asked the crowd Saturday.
"No — this is an expression of legislative bigotry."
Robinson also addressed the problem with the state's "Romeo and Juliet" law, which gives homosexual teens harsher prison sentences than heterosexual teens who engage in identical consensual sex acts.
WEAC members, each wearing a shirt that read "Sodomite," participated in a pep rally during the protest. One cheer proclaimed, "You run your body; let me run mine." Cook said radical cheerleading was an alternative way to express political ideas.
"It plays on how we see cheerleaders who don't have an intellectual or invigorating message," Cook said. "It's fun, and it made people stop thinking about how cold it was."
Cook said she couldn't feel her toes by
Potential war in Iraq big issue for families
SEE LAWS ON PAGE 5A
By Cal Creek
ccreek@kansan.com
kansas staff writer
As a war with Iraq seems to loom closer, students at the University of Kansas have found their lives both affected and altered.
Some students have family in the military preparing to go overseas, others have family returning after spending years or months preparing for the possible war, while some students must consider taking part in the military action themselves.
"We don't get to see my dad on a day-to-day basis, and there's always that possibility we won't see him
again."
Stacey Archambault
Leavenworth sophomore
Leavenworth sophomore Stacey Archambault faced one of the most difficult tests of her life yesterday when her father left his station in Maryland for Ft. Benning, Ga.
On Thursday,
Maj. Bruce
Archambault will be shipped to
Kuwait. Stacey
Archambault didn't get to see her
father before he left. The last time she saw him was in November, when he came to town for a deer hunting trip.
Her father is scheduled to be in the Middle East for two months, though it could be longer. While Stacey Archambault has mixed feelings about her father's duties, she said she has ultimately honored by her dad's work.
"We're also very proud that he's able to do this and stand up for the country," Archambault said.
"We don't get to see my dad on a day-to-day basis, and there's always that possibility we won't see him again," she said.
This is not the first time Archambault and her younger brother have dealt with separation from their father because of the conflict. He was also stationed in the Middle East during the Gulf War when he acted as a field artillery officer. Stacey Archambault was about 5 years old at that time. Her father would send packages to her and her brother containing sand, dead beetles and dinosaur fossils. She said the packages and her youth
SEE MILITARY ON PAGE 5A
A march for peace
Demonstrators march down Massachusetts Street on Saturday protesting possible war with Iraq. Saturday was a global day of protest, and about 1,600 people attended the demonstration in Lawrence, said Jim Redden, member of Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice. Allan Hanson, the coalition's coordinator, helped organize the march and rally and said so many people coming together to protest war was moving.
Kellev Weiss/Kansan
Rugby team stages 'man auction'
Members raise $1,600, pledge to fulfill whims of the buyer's' demands
By Kelley Weiss
kweiss@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Will Lenz was the last rugby player to take the stage for the "man auction" Saturday night and ended up selling for $105.
Kansas Jayhawks Rugby Football Club members decided selling themselves in an auction would be a great way to raise money for the team, said Lenz, Gurnee, Ill., senior.
The rugby team had been planning the auction for two months. Twenty-five players participated in the event Saturday night at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St.
The players took the stage clad in a variety of outfits, including a ballerina costume and seatless cowboy chaps.
Other players didn't waste any time taking off their clothing. Matt Lechtenberg, Lawrence senior, was quickly left wearing only a short pair of blue shorts.
Arrie Boden, 2000 graduate from Salina, said she would have fun making her player clean and cook for her.
"I'm going to make him fix oysters — a natural aphrodisiac — and go all out," Boden said. "I want a salad, main course and the dessert has to have whipped cream involved."
The women who bought the rugby players will have a three-hour window to assign jobs to the players. Matt Kenney, Kansas City, Mo., senior and rugby team member, helped to organize this year's event. He said the players had to garden, cook, clean, empty gutters, massage feet and go out to dinner with the women who bought them.
Elizabeth Duroche, Olathe senior, said the auction helped the team get money that the University didn't provide.
Kelley Weiss/Kansan
"They don't get much funding from
Jason Simmons, Wales rugby club team member, dances in the KU Men's Rugby team's "man auction" at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St. The auction took place Saturday night and raised about $1,600 for the team.
the University for their teams," Duroche said. "Some people think they do this auction for the hell of it, but they really use the money for the team."
Kenney came on stage as "Professor K" and danced to "Hot for Teacher" by
SEE AUCTION ON PAGE 5A
V
0