CAMPUS / AREA
University Daily Kansan / Friday, April 10, 1992
3
About 40 'kiss-in' for noon audience
By Shelly Solon
Kansan staff writer
About 40 people yesterday took their feelings out in the open during a "kiss-in" in front of Wescoe Hall sponsored by Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas.
Two men shared a picnic and an embrace. Two women met and exchanged kisses on the cheek. Everyone formed a large circle and embraced atonice.
Lisa McGraw, library assistant in the School of Architecture and Urban Design, said the kissin was designed to attract a crowd. Many of the students have come up to the event, which lasted less than an hour.
"I engage in as many public affectionate expressions as I can," McGraw said. "I've held hands with my girlfriend downtown, and no one has said anything. It raises people's consciousness, and it should be more of an everyday thing, not just as part of a side show. It should be a part of life."
Despite reported harassing telephone calls this week to the GLSOK office, the kiss-in-waited smoothly. GLSOK members filed reports this week with KU police about harassment during Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week, which began Sunday.
KU police officers stood near the kiss**im**
Lt. John Mullens, KU police representative, said that for about 10 years police had come to events on campus that were likely to attract large crowds.
"Last year during the war, we had people out
with both sides were protesting." Moulens
Mullens said threats to the group also were a reason why police were on hand.
said. "We're usually out here if it's a political or emotional issue."
Michael Lovegrove, Haysville freshman and GLSKO member, said people who made harassing telephone calls usually never followed through on their threats.
Onlookers gathered about 15 feet away from he kiss-in.
One onlooker said that the kiss-in was sick and that the University should not have allowed it. He said that there was not one thing that was acceptable about the kiss-in.
Another member of the crowd said, "Adam was meant to be with Eve, not with Steve."
No one who spoke against the kiss-in wanted to be identified.
Greg Wilson, GLSOK member, said gays and
touched him again to give him a look. If the
she hadn't heard him say anything, he
"We have to go through a lot of hassle to prove that we are not a threat," Wilson said.
Wilson said most people would not make negative comments in public during the day.
"People who are really scared of us and hateful make their disgusting remarks and come out at them."
Bentley Brownfield, GLOSK member, said he not thought about how people would react to
"I get a lot of support from the people I'm with in the architecture school," Brownfield said. "Most of them asked me if I was going to the kiss-in today. Being 'out' makes a difference. I'm just a normal gay person to them."
Michael Danovsky, left, Minneapolis, Minn., graduate student, Gordon Lyons, center, Lawrence sophomore, and Patrick Davis, Wichita sophomore, embrace a "kiss-in" in front of Wescool Hall.
Kristen Petty / K\NSAN
STUDENT ELECTI N
SENATE
Business
Architecture and Urban Design
Kurt Broekelmann, Vision Woodside Design
Business
Jason Frahm, Vision
Phillip Frenker, Vision
Education
Education
Liz Pedersen, Vision
Marcie Rosenbaum, Vision
Fine Arts
Engineering
Ed Austin, Vision
Robert Thompson, Vision
Steve Yates, Vision
Courtland MQuire IV, Vision tie to be decided later between Stephen McBurney, Vision and Renee Rosen, Unlssg
Graduate
John Altevog, Write-In
David Barney, Independent
Laura Cohen, Unless
Patrick Dilley, Vision
Kristy Dorsey, Unless
Jonathan Folland, Unless
David Allen Gawell, Vision
Will Ingram, Vision
Susan Loyacono, Unless
Dan Murtaugh, Marcia Quiros, Vision
Mary Shirosehite, Unlarks
Journalism and Mass
Communications Nicole Roberson, Vision Jennifer Zucco, Vision
Douglas Deady, Vision
Arthur Jackson III, Vision
Law
Liberal Arts and Sciences Carlos Fleming. Vision
Individual seat results
(unofficial results)
Julie Garney, Vision
Travis Harrod, Vision
Diane King, Vision
Jason McIntosh, Vision
Tonya Sanchez, Vision
John Schwartz, Vision
Chad Seymour, Vision
Liz Shanker, Vision
John Shoemaker, Vision
Alan Tik wart, Vision
Mike Ware, Vision
Non-Traditional
Marian Taylor, *Unless*
*Nunemaker*
Jill Bechtel, *Vision*
Tim Dawson, *Vision*
Kristen Evolsier, *Vision*
Natalie Greenstreet, *Vision*
Kara Laricks, *Vision*
Eric Medill, *Vision*
Nikki Millard, *Vision*
Shannon Newton, *Vision*
Kathryn Price, *Vision*
Brent Roeder, *Vision*
Benjy Schwartz, *Vision*
Daron Sinkler, *Vision*
Shanda Vangas, *Vision*
Off-campus
Amber Almanza, Vision
Pearl Braithwaite, Vision
Kristin Lange, Vision
Mariol Romero, Vision
Desev Tauriosz, Vision
Julie Chadwell, Vision Jennifer Davis, Vision
Mary Male, Write-In
Jennifer McFarlane, Write-In
Social Welfare
Pharmacy
Residential
Jennifer Switzer, Vision
LA teacher makes GALA speech
By Shelly Solon
Kansan staff writer
Uribe discusses her dropout prevention program for gays, lesbians
When a gay student at a Los Angeles high school dropped out after repeated abuse from peers and teachers, Virginia Uribe knew she had to take action.
She had found that gay and lesbian students at Fairfax High School, where she taught, wanted to drop out. She wanted to give Uribe wanted to give the same some hope.
She started Project 10, a dropout prevention program for gay and lesbian youths that has become a model for schools across the nation including Lawrence.
Uribe talked about the program last night in a speech to about 60 people at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. The program was part of Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week activities.
Uribe said isolation and low self-
esteem contributed to gay and lesbian
students wanting to give up.
"There is no support for these kids from any of the major institutions in our society, and they have horribly low self-esteem because they are constantly told they are evil and sick," she said.
Teachers and administrators have an obligation to provide support for gay and lesbian students, Uribe said.
"These kids should be able to come to school and be safe from physical abuse from their peers and verbal abuse from peers and teachers," she said. "People have to look at this as another form of prejudice that people have to be educated about."
Uribe said her program had been attacked by fundamentalists and other groups.
"I just tell them over and over again like a broken record, 'Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect,'" she said.
Uribe said that when gays and lesbians went to college, they were on their way to survival.
"There is no support for these kids from any of the major institutions in our society."
Virginia Uribe founder of Project 10
"The problems lessen because on college campuses there is usually an organization that provides support," she said.
Eric Barnhart, co-chair of GALA
Week, began the Sexual Orientation Support group (SOS) in 1991 for gay and lesbian students at Lawrence High School when he was a student there. SOS was formed to address the same problems Uribe saw in Los Angeles.
"People hated themselves and thought they had to pretend they were heterosexual," said Barnhart, now a KU freshman. "Some guys dated girls to cover up."
But having the group gave them hope. he said.
Jeanne Poull, Lawrence High School senior, said support groups such as SOS helped students deal with the pressures of being gay and lesbian.
"I was having some emotional problems and it helped me," Poull said. "But I think problems such as suicide affect the really closeted people even more. I was open so I did not directly deal with something like that."
Cosmosphere identifies falling piece of sky
Kansan staff writer
Bv Katherine Manweiler
A foot-long piece of metal that fell from the Tuesday about 15 miles northeast of El Dorado has been identified as part of a Russian rocket booster, official for the Kansas Cosmosphere said yesterday.
MaxAry, executive director of the Kansas Cosmosphere, supervised the analysis of the metal, which landed near the Cassoday interchange of the Kansas Turnip.
The North American Air Defense command confirmed that a Russian spacecraft was launched
"We are still very committed to the idea that it is a piece of Russian space hardware that has landed," Arv said.
He said all of the factors involved in the landing of the debris made it an unusual event.
"It is not unusual for space debris to be re-entering the atmosphere, but it is very unusual that all of it doesn't burn up." Ary said. "It is also unusual that landed on land, especially in a populated area."
Thousands of fragments from meteorites and other space debris fall to Earth daily, but most are burned up or disintegrated into dust before they reach the ground. he said.
Kansas Highway Patrol Turnipcapt. Ted Thompson said that noone saw the metal fall but that a turnipke employee found it about noon Tuesday. The metal was so hot when it fell to the Earth that it started a small grass fire.
It was still hot when the employee found it, Thompson said.
Ary said that large, red letters could be seen on the burned metal but that the letters did not spell anything.
"There were only two letters on the metal that was found," he said. "At this point, we don't even know which part of the booster it is from, but it is very distinctive Russian lettering."
Ary said the United States put few rocket boosters into orbit because of the risk that part of the boosters might re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
"Boosters are so large that if they re-enter, there is a chance that not all of it is going to burn up on reentry," he said.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.