THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY MAY 4,2009
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MONDAY, MAY 4, 2009
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CAMPUS
Sexy Week brings sexy back to students
BY BETSY CUTCLIFF bcutcliff@kansan.com
Sexy Week has come to campus, bringing with it free condoms, coloring books with pictures of sex organs and a multitude of information about sexual health.
The week is hosted by student group Delta Force to promote awareness of all things sexy. Each day will focus on a different sexual issue, including the importance of having a wholesome self-image, the difference between consensual and non-consensual sex, and involvement in spreading awareness.
"It's important to encourage a variety of perspectives on sexuality and this is a really clever way to open up the conversation," Snyder said.
Samantha Snyder, Topeka senior, said she thought having Sexy Week was a good way to bring up the topic of sexual health, especially in a college setting.
Delta Force, a student organization involved in activism and awareness about issues affecting
students, will be stationed in front of Wesco Hall every day this week. The group will pass out condoms, literature and other items such as coloring books and pins according to each day's theme. One major theme is promoting sexual health and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, sexually active adolescents and young adults are at a higher risk of contracting STDs. The CDC site also states that those who are infected with STDs are at least two to five times more likely than uninfected individuals to get HIV if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact.
Learning how to be safe, but to also have fun, will be one of the topics discussed on Wednesday during "Sevv is Healthy" day.
"A lot of the stuff we'll be talking about is kind of faux pas," Sam Atherton, Overland Park junior and vice president of Delta Force, said.
Tanner Wilbanks, Lawrence
senior, said though some of the material may be awkward, the purpose of the event was to open dialogue and make students more comfortable talking about sexual issues.
"We aren't there to offend or shock," Wilbanks said. "We are there because it's a fact of life. People at the University are having sex and we are trying to make sure they are both healthy and safe while doing it."
This marks the second year Sexy Week will be on campus, and the first year Delta Force added a new day to promote activism, with opportunities such as volunteering at a women's crisis center or working to educate more students about sexual health.
Atherton said the week would try to cater to people of all sexual orientations, and offer as much information as possible on healthy sex in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender as well.
Edited by Jesse Trimble
SCHEDULE FOR
SEXY WEEK
Monday —"Sexy Is .. Myself": issues of body image, individuality and diversity.
Tuesday — "Sexy Is Consent": discussing the importance of consent, along with information regarding domestic violence and prevention.
Wednesday — "Sexy Is ... Healthy": about the practice of safe sex, and all the things that go along with it.
Thursday — "Sexy Is ... Action": learn how to get involved in issues of women's rights and other areas at the University.
Friday — "Sexy Is ...
Fun": massive Stop Day
part at a location TBA.
Mesbah Islam, Overland Park sophomore, prepares for the second annual Sexy Week. Islam is part of Delta Force, which is coordinating the week of information on sexual health and safety. Sexy Week begins with "Sexy 1," Myself" day, sponsored by Queers and Allies on Wesco Beach.
Libby Napoli/KANSAN
NATIONAL
Clinton joins board of Oklahoma City National Memorial
BY SEAN MURPHY Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Bill Clinton recalled the profound impact of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing on the nation and his presidency during a private tour of a memorial and museum honoring the 168 people killed.
The former president announced Saturday he is joining an honorary national board of trustees that will promote the privately operated Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. Clinton was president when the powerful truck bomb tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.
On his fifth visit to the site,
the former president declared that the resilience of Oklahomans in the bombing aftermath showed people could draw strength from one another and prevail while confronting "the worst in humanity."
He added: "The memories I have here ... have changed my life and, I think, fundamentally changed the lives of the nation."
Others joining Clinton on the honorary board are former Secretary of Homeland Security
"My life has been indelibly marked by the people I met here," Clinton said Saturday in addressing about 200 museum supporters, bombing survivors and former workers. "I came here, more than anything else, to say 'thank you.'"
The trustees are to work with the staff and board of the memorial to advance its mission of remembrance and education, said Bill Scheiing, chairman of
the Oklahoma National Memorial Foundation.
Tom Ridge; the Rev. Billy Graham, who led a National Prayer Service days after the bombing; former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and his wife Cathy; and Lee Woodruff, author and wife of TV news reporter Bob Woodruff, who was critically injured in Iraq.
Clinton also was honored with the Beacon of Hope Award for supporting the memorial. The award was carved from wood taken from a limb of the memorial's Survivor Tree and mounted on a base of granite that had been salvaged from the shattered Murrah Building.
He said the national board would help with fundraising efforts for the memorial, which is privately owned and operated. The memorial and museum are sustained through museum admissions and sales, a marathon, private fundraising and earnings from an endowment currently at about $14 million, Scheihing said.
Clinton's "presence on the national board will provide both historic perspective and the committed passion of someone who bore witness to both the tragedy and to the hope this place represents for future generations," Schehing added.
Former President Bill Clinton speaks to a crowd at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Saturday in Oklahoma City.
ASSOCIATED PRESS