Volume 126 Issue 49
kansan.com
Tuesday, November 19.2018
KANSAN
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Watkins Student Health Center will have gender-neutral bathrooms this week to give gender-queer people the option to use a bathroom they identify with better. Gender-queer people don't associate with either gender.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
BETTER BATHROOMS
FOX SEARCHLIGHT AND REGENCY ENTERPRISES
Watkins Student Health Center will open gender-neutral bathrooms for Transgender Awareness Month
KAITLYN KLEIN
kklein@kansan.com
Every time Grace Long goes into the women's restroom, they hesitate. As a student, they wonder who will be on the other side of the door and how they will react to their short, brown hair, their men's clothes and their masculine appearance.
Sometimes women stare.
Sometimes they look confused and surprised. And as if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, sometimes women speak up.
"You're in the wrong bathroom." As if Long couldn't come to the conclusion on their own if that was indeed the case.
Long identifies as gender-queer, meaning they don't identify as male or female, and prefers to be referred to with the pronouns "they" and "them" rather than "he" or "she".
Gender-queer people choose not to identify themselves as a particular gender because they believe gender roles are socially constructed binaries that don't include everyone.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Long has been corrected on their bathroom choice at bars, restaurants and even at a funeral.
"I'm 25 years old; I think I know what restroom I'm going into," Long said.
that gender-queer and transgender people face on a daily basis, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Watkins Student Health Center will open gender-neutral bathrooms this week.
Because of encounters like this
Michael Detmer, a coordinator for the LGBTQ Resource Center, organized the event by converting bathrooms to be single-use and gender-neutral for Transgender Awareness Month.
Students who pass by the restroom will notice a different
"If you see someone in the bathroom, that's probably the bathroom they are supposed to be in, so you should just leave them be."
ASHLEY MOG
ASHLEY MOG Women, Gender and Sexuality studies professor
sign next to the door, as well as a "stop" or "go" sign to let students know whether the bathroom is currently occupied.
Detmer said it's important to remember that even within the LGBTQ community, transgender people have different issues to work through, including the transition process.
The event's goal is to educate students and show that the University supports the health and safety of transgender and gender-queer students.
"We group the LGBTQ together and we say that we're all one population, one community," Detmer said. "But we often forget that each one of those letters stands for a different person and a different gender or sexuality."
Though the bathrooms will only be gender-neutral for one week, Detmer wants students to know that there are permanent gender-neutral bathrooms on campus and that there's a task force that continues to look for single-use, lockable restrooms on campus that can be converted into gender-neutral bathrooms.
Ashley Mog, who teaches Introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, discusses gender-neutral bathrooms and the anxiety transgender and gender-queer people face when using public bathrooms with her classes.
She said she thinks if people thought about how transgender and gender-queer people felt when doing something as basic and necessary as going to the bathroom, there might be more support for gender-neutral bathrooms.
Mog tells students in her class, "If
you see someone in the bathroom, that's probably the bathroom they are supposed to be in, so you should just leave them be."
Grace Long said they wish that people would understand that "that's just one place where you don't want people to look at you
funny."
SEE GENDER PAGE 3
CAMPUS
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Strong Hall will see improvements in accessibility next July. A new wheelchair entrance has been approved by the University will help increase campus-wide accessibility.
Strong Hall wheelchair entrance approved
AMELIA ARVESEN
aarvesen@kansan.com
The ramp project was approved last week by the University's Capital Projects Council. Plans to add an accessible front entrance have been in the works and designs have been released to coordinate with the reconstruction of Jayhawk Boulevard.
"This Strong Hall entrance endeavor has reflected the best of KU's community spirit," said Jamie Lloyd Simpson, director of accessibility and ADA education. "Countless numbers of students, faculty staff and administrators converged to assess the value of the project, the means by which to accomplish it and dedication to its accomplish-
One of the University's most iconic buildings, Strong Hall, will get a facelift next July if funding for the accessible ramp project is approved by the Board of Regents and the legislature in the near future.
University Architect Jim Modig and University Fire Marshal Bob Rombach conceptualized a new approach to creating an accessible front entrance. Their vision was studied by an external architecture firm and approved by the Cam-
ment."
the Provost and the disability resource office called the Academic Achievement and Access Center.
"As a wheelchair user, it just doesn't seem right to me to have to enter through the back of the building."
pus Historic Preservation Board. Strong Hall houses numerous offices and student resources, including Offices of the Chancellor,
Currently, the only wheel chair-accessible entrance is in the
DOT NARY research associate
back of the building. This is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the University strives to exceed expectations and is committed to including everyone and cultivating a diverse community.
"As a wheelchair user, it just doesn't seem right to me to have to enter through the back of the
building," said Dot Nary, a research associate with the Research and Training Center on Independent Living, in a previous article. "It seems to send a message to all campus members that wheelchair users as a class of people are not as equal as others."
To address concerns, the Student Body Senate worked closely with AbleHawks and Allies members in October to create a resolution asking administrators to fund the ramp project. Eighty-two senators sponsored this resolution.
"The new entrance will be more welcoming," said Cynthia Marta, president of the AbleHawks and a masters student in social work from
SEE STRONG PAGE 3
FDA bans trans fats already rare at KU
YU-KYUNG LEE
yklee@kansan.com
At KU residential dining halls, trans fats won't be missed.
While the federal Food and Drug Administration announced plans to ban trans fats entirely earlier this month, dining halls have already ditched trans fats for the most part. In fact, at the residential dining halls, the only item on today's lunch menu containing trans fats is the snickerdoodle cookies.
Since 2006, the FDA has required trans fats to be listed on nutrition labels. This led to voluntary changes in the food industry, including some by KU Dining Services.
"We recognized the evidence-based research and reformulated many of our recipes to reduce the amount of trans fat," said Mary Rondon, registered dietician from KU Dining Services. "For examples we made a conscious effort to switch over to trans-free fats in our recipes and fryers. We have been using 100 percent canola oil in our recipes and fryers for years."
Soon, KU may have a totally trans fat-free menu. Trans fat from partially hydrogenated oils is considered nonessential for any body function and the government recommends totally avoiding trans fats.
"It's kind of a double whammy of negative effects," said Kelsey Fortin, health educator at Student Health Services. "It simultaneously increases bad cholesterol while decreasing the amount of good cholesterol in our body."
At the University, reducing trans fats is just part of the University's effort to promote better eating habits among students.
For now, the FDA still has almost two months before deciding whether to ban trans fats. The organization opened a 60-day public comment period on Nov. 8 to gather information on whether the ban should be implemented and how trans fats could be phased out of foods.
The Better Bites program and commitment to sustainability and organic foods offer students more lower-calorie and freshly prepared food options. Through the Net Nutrition program online, KU Dining Services provides detailed nutritional information for campus dining.
Starting this year, Student Health Services is also offering Eat Well Live Well, a nutritional program designed to help students make healthy eating choices. Through one-on-one sessions with Fortin, students can learn the federal guidelines on nutrition.
These trans fats are found in fast foods, processed snacks, fried foods, nondairy creamer, shortening and commercially prepared baked goods.
The FDA is targeting only trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils, which are added to foods to increase shelf life. This process makes liquid vegetable oil become solid fat.
The top risk associated with bad cholesterol is heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Index CLASSIFIEDS 13 CRYPTOQUIPS 5 SPORTS 14 CROSSWORD 5 OPINION 4 SUDUHD 5
SEE FAT PAGE 3
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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