FRIDAY,OCT.12.2001
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Lesbian student praises local support
LAURIFISK/KANSAN
Scotland junior finds comfort in activities of coming out week
Laura Hatwell, Stirling, Scotland, junior, a member of Queers and Allies, said Lawrence offered tremendous support for the queer community. Hatwell "came out" during Coming Out Week last year.
By Paul Smith Kansan staff writer
"I was tired of lying to myself," Hatwell said. "I woke up that day and just stopped caring about what people thought."
On that day, the junior film student from Stirling, Scotland, told her best friend, Heath, that she was a lesbian. He responded by telling her that he was gay.
Hatwell woke up yesterday on her one year "out- adversary" in a different country and feeling strange.
"It was a good kind of strange," Hatwell said. "It let me know I'm progressing and getting through life the way I want."
Hatwell, a member of Queers and Allies, has participated in the organization's National Coming Out Week and said she wished the gay community in Stirling had se
much pride.
"I never had a coming out week," she said. "This is the kind of thing I came here for."
Caitlin Giddings, Prairie Village senior and social officer for Queers and Allies, met Hatwell this semester through the organization.
"We're really excited about the Coming Out Week activities." Giddings said. "Laura is really enthusiastic about everything, especially queer activism and getting involved in the queer community."
"I had a massive crush on Tiffany," Hatwell said, in reference to the mall-rat singer who had a hit record with "I Think We're Alone Now."
But Hatwell said she had difficulty coming to grips
with her sexuality since she was four years old.
She said she couldn't figure out why she liked the singer so much, but during
"I tried to fight it off." Hatwell said. "I knew there was an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) society at Stirling. I didn't go there because I was afraid."
her teen years, she lined her bedroom walls with boyband photos to suggest she was heterosexual.
However, a week after she came out, she met her partner, Sarah, at a gay social gathering.
"My mom tried to use religion against me," Hatwell said. "She was a closet Christian. She came out of the closet when I did."
But Hatwell's parents weren't as accepting of their daughter's public acknowledgment of her sexuality.
Giddings said that it was difficult for Hatwell to be overseas without much emotional support from her family.
Hatwell said that Lawrence was probably one of the best places to be gay because of its supportive community. It's truly a liberal oasis in a conservative desert, she said.
"But she's hopefully found some new, supportive friends here," Giddings said.
"I've gone down the right path," Hatwell said.
Contact Smith at 864-48410
Man to be arraigned on charges of battery
By Michelle Burhenn Kansan staff writer
Arraignment for Howard Blaylock, who is charged with battery of an 18-year-old KU student, is set for Wednesday, Oct. 24, in city municipal court.
At that time, a trial date will be set, said Tom Porter, city prosecutor. Blaylock does not have a lawyer yet.
injuries. Hauser said he had no communication with the defendant before the assault. He said that Blaylock was "really intoxicated."
was really intoxicated.
"I was sitting there for 10 minutes just having a cigarette," Hauser said. "I didn't even talk to him. He just came out of nowhere. I just turned around, and he was hitting me."
city prosecutor.
He repeatedly struck Michael Hauser, Gurnee, Ill., freshman, in the face at 4 a.m. Saturday in front of Oliver Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The Public Safety Office said it was unknown if Blaylock was intoxicated, and Hauser suffered only minor injuries.
Hauser said Blaylock hit him in the face about 10 times before about five people from Oliver broke up the fight.
Hauser said he only realized he was injured when he could not eat food. He went to Watkins Memorial Health Center, which sent him to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
rial Hospital. "I went to the doctor on Monday, and they said my jaw was broken, and I needed to have it wired shut to heal it," Hauser said with his jaw wired shut. "It was fractured in half."
fractured in half. Hauser said because the assault occurred so fast, he didn't realize his injuries until later.
didn't realize his injuries until later. "It just happened out of nowhere," he said. "It happened in like five seconds, and it was over."
Blaylock posted his own cash bond. He is in the military at Fort Riley.
Four KU students named finalists for national Truman Scholarships
Contact Burhenn at 864-4810
By Sarah Hill Special to the Kansan
Four KU students found out this week that they're one step closer to winning a Truman Scholarship worth $30,000.
Maureen Perry, Eden Prairie, Minn., junior; Derek Teeter, Oakley junior; and Rebekah Moses, Great Bend junior, were chosen as the KU nominees for the scholarship. Another nominee may be announced later this semester.
Institutions also are allowed to nominate a community college transfer student, which the University did for the first time this year. Johnson County Community College transfer Peter Freund, Olathe junior, who is working with Sen. Sam Brownback in Washington, D.C., this term, is also a nominee.
Deadlines to turn in applications for the most significant national scholarships, including the Truman, Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships, have already passed. The deadline for the Marshall scholarship applications is today, and the Goldwater scholarship deadline is Monday.
The University Honors Program administers most of the scholarships. The program's director, Barbara Schwen, said that several of the scholarships have a quota of students accepted from each college or university.
"They need to be officially endorsed by KU, so we have internal competitions to see who can go forward," Schowen said.
The Truman Scholarship application process is an example of the work it takes to compete on a national level.
This scholarship is open to juniors who are committed to careers in public service.
Applicants are required to submit a policy proposal with their application.
Teeter suggested that the Senate ratify a treaty that wouldn't allow states that use the death penalty to execute anyone younger than 18 years because some states don't have a minimum age.
"Juveniles aren't as culpable as adults are," said Teeter, who plans to one day become a prosecutor.
Usually, nine or 10 students apply for the scholarship at the University. Then applications are read, and students are invited for interviews. From that point, at least four students receive the University's approval and continue onto a regional competition.
"There are around 700 applications that are received nationwide," Schowen said.
A group of readers narrowse those nominees down to 250 finalists. These applicants are then granted regional interviews, and about 75 scholarships are awarded each year, Schowan said.
Karrigan Bork, Lawrence senior, won a Truman Scholarship last year. He said he was impressed with the quality of the other applicants.
Bork will graduate this year with a bachelor's of science in biodiversity, a bachelor's of arts in environmental policy and a minor in chemistry. He said he hoped to obtain a government internship before studying environmental law.
"It was really inspiring to meet other young people dedicated to their causes." Bork said.
The Truman Scholarship provides $3,000 for the senior year of study and $9,000 per year for three years of graduate study.
Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships focus on two years of graduate study in Great Britain, and Fulbright Scholarships cover almost all expenses for one academic year of study in the country of the applicant's choice.
Hodgie Bricke, assistant dean of International Programs and coordinator of Fulbright Scholarships at the University, said that about 20 KU students apply each year to the national competition for international graduate study.
Five to nine KU students win each year on average, Bricke said, and 357 have won Fulbright Scholarships since 1949.
Fulbright applicants must present a proposal directed at research in a specific country. More than 100 countries support these scholarships through bilateral agreements with the United States.
Students with a bachelor of science or equivalent degree are eligible for this scholarship.
"About three-quarters of this year's candidates are graduating seniors, and the others are graduate students," Bricke said.
For more information on these scholarships, contact the Honors Program at 864-4225 or the Office of International Programs at 864-6161.
Contact Hill at 864-4810
By Leita Schultes
Kansan managing
editor
Their resumés are impressive: fraternity president, program director for Mentors in the Lives of Kids, co-director for the Center for Community Outreach and Jubilee Cafe coordinator.
The resumés belong to seniors Robert McKenney, Clinton, Mo., and Anneliese Stoever, Overland Park, who will both receive Ex.C.E.L. awards at tomorrow's football game.
Rachel Cornish, vice president of University Relations, said both were deserving of the award, which stands for excellence in community, education and leadership. The award is annually given to two KU students — one male and one female — by the University homecoming committee, Student Union Activities and the Board of Class Officers.
McKenney and Stoever will each receive $500 from the Board of Class Officers and will help plan the Blueprints conference, which is a workshop for KU student leaders that takes place in February. The two were chosen
from 10 finalists and an original pool of 30 contestants.
Cornish said the award began 10 years ago when the board of class officers and SUA noticed awards existed for education and leadership but few also included community service.
"They felt an award was needed to recognize these people," she said.
Dawn Grier, Wichita senior, lives with Stoever and agreed that she needed recognition for her efforts.
"This year I haven't had achance to see her much," Grier said. "She's so busy with CCO (Center for Community Outreach). She's there all of the time."
Stoever said one of the most gratifying activities she had participated in since coming to the University was an alternative spring break when she went to New York to help with after-school programs in the Bronx. She said poverty was the same whether in New York, Kansas City or Lawrence.
"It was amazing," she said. "Just to hear the kids talking about how they were scared to go home."
McKenney said he enjoyed the LeaderShape
program last year. The program is sponsored by the Department of Student Housing and is meant to equip students with leadership skills while emphasizing teamwork, integrity and ethics.
"It helps you develop a vision," McKenney said. "I just found it a place to really find out who I was and what I was trying to accomplish."
McKenney said after graduation he wanted to become a traveling consultant for his national fraternity and go to graduate school before teaching high school chemistry.
Stoeover reacted to the prize money as many students would. First she thought she might blow it on a shopping spree, but later she changed her mind.
Stoever said she wanted to donate half the money to the Multicultural Resource Center for a diversity retreat taking place Friday, Nov. 16. She encouraged students to donate money not only to the terrorist attack victims but also to local charities.
Contact Schultes at 864-4810