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SPORTS: Former Kansas lineman Dana Stubblefield was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, Page 7.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
VOL.102,NO.145
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1993
NEWS:864-4810
Paul Fequiere, left, and Len Scales embrace as they watch yesterday's gay rights parade in Washington. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in the nation's capital for equal rights for homosexuals.
Gays march for civil rights
Men, women rally at historic Mall to end prejudice
Associated Press
The U.S. Park Police estimated the crowd at 300,000. But march organizers said the event drew 1.1 million, a turnout that would rival the great civil rights and anti-war protests of the past quarter-century.
"We are the new American refugees, coming home from exile." Torie Osborn, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, exhorted the mellow, enthusiastic crowd.
WASHINGTON — Gay men and women spilled across the historic Mall yesterday demanding acceptance and equal rights from a society that often scores their community. "A simple matter of justice" was their rallying cry.
In brilliant, summery sunshine, they came by the hundreds of thousands to tell the United States who they are and what they want: everyday citizens seeking an end to legal discrimination that threatens their jobs, privacy and peace of mind.
Police arrested four people for disorderly conduct during the march but said overall it was peaceful.
Some same-sex couples held hands or hugged in an atmosphere they described as more comfortable and supportive than what they encountered in their daily lives.
At least two cross-dressers were on the program, including a male come-
"You can walk around holding hands and being completely natural with each other without fear," said Mr. Warner, a graphic designer from Brattleboro, MN.
The formal program was a blend of music, political speeches, biting humor and insistent demands for rights. One speaker drew a laugh when she announced that red-sequined dresses were burned in front of the FBIS J. Edgar Hoover Building — a reference to recent published accounts that Hoover liked to wear women's clothing.
than who poked fun at straight fears about letting gays into the military.
the subject spoke volumes about the historic moment. The first gay march on Washington since 1987, in the planning for two years, came in the first 100 days of the first White House openly sympathetic to gays.
Clinton, who invited gay leaders to a White House meeting earlier this month, lent support from a distance. In a speech in Boston to newspaper editors, he said he had paid a price for trying to end the military ban.
Gay military veterans and a few still in active service were introduced to the crowd on the Mall. Allen Pemberton, an employee at Bethesda Naval Hospital, predicted discharge proceedings would start as a result of his public acknowledgement that he is gay.
In a message to marchers, he declared, "I stand with you in the struggle for equality for all Americans, including gay men and lesbians."
Thousands of people came not for the rhetoric, but to shatter stereotypes that others have about them.
"All gays aren't flaming queens," said Steve Starr, 43, a Denver travel agent marching alongside Robert Jacobson, 37, a telephone company technician. "We don't cross-dress. We don't wear heels. We're just normal gay men."
March contingents ranged from parents with their grown gay children to gay parents pushing their toddlers in strollers.
From North Carolina came the Pride Marching Band. From Colorado came Buddhists for Civil Rights Justice. There were lesbian social workers from Kansas, gay cowboys from the Mid-Atlantic Gay Rodeo Association and gay American Indians who assembled under a huge monument to World War I heroes.
T-shirts and banners advertised attitudes from humorous to defiant. "It's not just a phase," and "Friend or phobe?" "I can't even think straight" and "Hate is not a family value."
Some marchers said they were angered by Clinton's absence, but others said it was politically astute and better in the long run.
Committee prepares for rain
Graduation could move to Allen Field House
By Dan England Kansan staff writer
The KU commencement committee is preparing for Stephen Grabow's gut feeling
"I just know it's going to rain," said Grabow, professor of architecture and urban design and head of the committee.
"This is the wettest spring I can remember," Grabow said. "Rain is the committee's No. 1 concern right now."
Grabow said he was basing his prediction on the rainy weather Lawrence had experienced recently.
Grabow has been at the University for 20 years and has been head of the committee for 11 years.
If Grabow's prediction turns out to be correct, there will be two ceremonies — both of which will take
place in Allen Field House. One ceremony will be for those who graduate from the College of Liberal Arts and will be for everyone else. Gabrow said.
Commencement will begin at 2:30 p.m. May 14 - if it does not rain.
If heavy rains fall on the morning of commencement, an announcement will be made at 1 p.m. to postpone the ceremony. The announcement will be made through local radio stations, the KU Information Center, Sunflower Cablevision and two blasts of the University whistle.
Two more whistles at 4 p.m. will indicate that the ceremonies will be held indoors. If the weather clears, graduates will assemble at 5 p.m. for a 5:30 procession into the stadium.
For indoor ceremonies, graduates from the college will gather at the field house at 5 p.m. Graduates from the other schools would gather at 7
Jim Scaly, assistant to the chancellor, said the dual ceremonies had been the University's rain plan for at
least 15 years. Scally takes Grabow's prediction of rain with a grain of salt, despite the unusually wet spring.
"He says that every year," Scally said. "it's his job."
While rain may be an immediate concern of the committee, the growing number of graduating students in college is increasing about in two years, Grabow said.
The committee has discussed splitting the procession into two groups, one on each side of Campanile Hill. But for now the problems outweigh the benefits, Grabow said.
The hill's west sidewalk contains steps, and the University would have to separate the steps from the ceremony by blocking them off or even removing them. Grabow said. In addition, parents who line the hill to catch a glimpse of their children probably wouldn't be able to slide aside of the wall the graduates would be.
Sically said he was not as concerned about the number of graduating students as he was about the ceremony's growing attendance.
"Over the last few years, we have had a steady number of graduating students," he said. "But in that same time, we have had our attendance double. A few years ago about 14,000 people showed up. Last year over 30,000 were in attendance."
Scally said that he was encouraged by the interest in the ceremony but that it had caused traffic problems and left the committee wondering whether Allen Field House would hold that many people if did rain.
The one thing that the committee is certain about is that no guest speaker will appear in the ceremony The Board of Regents forbids Regents institutions to give out honorary degrees, a traditional gift to guest speakers, Scally said.
Kansas also has one of the longest processions in the nation at one hour and 20 minutes, which limits the actual ceremony to about 30 minutes. The committee tries to keep commencement under two hours. Grabow said.
"At Kansas, you have to earn your degree. "Scally said.
the $14.3 million Led Center is nearing completion. The formal opening of the hall will be celebrated during an eight performance run of the Broadway musical "The Secret Garden" Sept. 28 to Oct. 3.
New home of KU fine arts opened to media
By James J. Reece
Kansan staff writer
As construction workers rolled out the red carpet and glued it in place on staircases, Jacqueline Davis showed off the new home of KU's fine arts.
really love the building." Davis said.
Though it will not officially open until September, the Lied Center was open Friday for a media tour guided by Davis, the center's executive director. The tour was a preview to a public open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 1.
"It's fun to take people through it because we
She said the center officially would open Sept. 28 with a week of performances of the Broadway touring production of "The Secret Garden."
rnday, Davis led reporters around the 814.3 million center, showing off its vast stage, 2,030 seat hall, its dressing rooms and its administrative office, which will be home to six professional staff members and the school of fine arts' Concert, New Directions and Swarthout Chamber Music Series.
The building's luxury is due in part to Hoch
Auditorium, Davis said.
She said the 1991 loss of Hoch to a fire punctuated the need for the center, which Hoch initiated because of its small, unheated, shower-less dressing rooms.
Davis said many national music and dance acts avoided KU because of Hoch.
"The truth of the matter is that I was the one who was greeting these artists from all over the world," Davis said. "Then I would say, 'Let me
Story continues. Page 5.
Surgeon General supports KU immunization program
Gordon Parks, photographer, poet, composer, screenwriter and novelist gave a presentation Satur day at Lawrence High School.
See story, Page 3.
By Vicki Bode
Kansan staff writer
Kansas is a pioneer with its Operation Immunize program and should be viewed as a model for the rest of the United States, U.S. Surgeon General Antonio Novello said Saturday.
Operation Immunize, conducted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, is a Kansas campaign designed to vaccinate every child 2 years old and younger by 1905.
Novello spoke at a luncheon at Adams Alumni Center and visited two Lawrence health clinics to help promote the first weekend of Operation Immunize.
"I do not believe that in 1900 a child should be able to die from mumps or measles," Novello said, referring to a 1989-1991 U.S. measles epidemic.
Novello said that Kansas health officials had a lot of work ahead of them, but that she thought their child vaccination goal could be accomplished.
In the United States, 42 percent of the children have been vaccinated and, in Kansas, about half of the children have been vaccinated. Douglas County has a head start on Operation Immunize because 68 percent of the children already have been vaccinated.
Kay Kent, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said Douglas County still had work to do.
"We know we have a long way to go," Kent said. "We also know that what we've been doing hasn't reached everyone."
Fifteen immunization sites were set up in Douglas County yesterday and
Saturday. According to KDHE, 144 vaccinations were administered on Saturday.
Novello, a pediatrician, helped vaccinate some children at two Lawrence sites.
Novello said people were not aware of how important immunizations were.
"I don't think it has a lot to do with money," she said. "It has a lot to do with information."
"We aren't waiting for the federal government to make us do it." Slattery said. "We are pulling together as a community. I think it's going to work."
U. S. Rep. Jim Slattery, D-Kan., who also attended the luncheon, said he expected Operation Immunize to be successful.
Daron J. Bennett / KANSAN
U. S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello help out with the immunization of 18-month-old Brittney Austin Saturday at Lawrence Housing Authority, 1:000 Haskell. Brittney was admitted to the hospital, to give an oral vaccine and a driptenia shot.