WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Coming out to be celebrated
By Nathan Dayani
ndayani@kansan.org
Kansan staff writer
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of National Coming Out Day, KU Queers and Allies will sponsor a party Friday starting at 9 p.m. at Ecumenical Christian Ministries.
Patrick Ross, KU Queers and Allies publicity coordinator, said the party would be a safe environment where people could feel at ease with their sexualities.
"It's a way for people to meet anyone in a setting that's not dangerous and confrontational," said Ross, Topeka freshman.
National Coming Out Day began on Oct. 11, 1987. The AIDS Memorial Quilt, which at the time had more than 44,000 panels as an homage to AIDS victims, debuted that same day. The day was also marked by about half a million protesters who marched in Washington D.C. advocating gay and lesbian rights.
Chase Richards, KU Queers and Allies director, said National Coming Out Day marked the headway the lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual community had made in American society. But despite this advancement, Richards said many people were still reluctant to come out of the closet.
"As much progress as there has been in the past 30 years, that's still not enough for some people to get rid of their fear and hesitation," said Richards, McPhrson junior.
Richards said Friday would be an opportunity for students yet to
come out of the closet to be honest with themselves and feel confident about their sexualities.
"In our society, the most salient issue is fear, and when you remove the cause for having the fear, you have more control than you did before," he said.
Ryan Nistler, Olathe junior, initially came out of the closet during his senior year of high school. Nistler said he was fortunate that his friends and family were supportive of his decision to be open about his homosexuality.
"I know there are a lot of people who haven't had good experiences with friends or family - I just kind of lucked out," Nistler said.
Nistler said coming out of the closet was empowering because he could be honest with himself
and with others. He said his openness about his sexuality made his friends and family more understanding and respectful of the gay community.
Richards said that when people were open about having a different sexual orientation than the heterosexual norm, they could help combat homophobia and other sexual stereotypes.
"When a person who would otherwise be homophobic has to confront the reality that a close friend of theirs or a relative isn't straight, they have to either get rid of their homophobia or cut ties with their friend," he said.
"More often than not, the person reconsiders what he or she thinks and does not cut ties with their friend," Richards said.
—Edited by Matt Gehrke
Kansas grad student to speak at K-State
The University of Kansas and Kansas State University don't always have to be rivals.
Christine Robinson, KU graduate student in sociology and Lawrence resident, will be the keynote speaker Friday at K-State's Coming Out Day Conference at the university's
student union.
Robinson will speak on gender identity at the conference. She said people often confused gender identity with sexual orientation.
"People tend to assume that males who express femininity are automatically gay or females who express androgyny or masculinity are automatically gay," she said. "This is not necessarily the case."
In addition to Robinson's speech, the conference will also include workshops about
Robert Wilson, conference organizer at K-State, said the conference would be an opportunity for different groups to develop networks and establish partnerships.
the implications of coming out, gaining support from friends and family and health care issues related to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered community.
The conference begins at 3 p.m. and ends at 9:15 p.m. For more information, contact Wilson at 785-532-7823 or go online at www.k-state.edu/qsa/conference.
Watchdogs monitor illegal downloading
By Kyle Ramsey
By Kyle Ramsey
kramsey@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students who use file-sharing programs such as KaZaA and Limewire should think twice before downloading a song, movie or software application.
The Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America and other similar watchdog groups monitor the Internet for illegal trading of copyrighted material. These groups have the ability to identify files students are downloading illegally and send that information to University of Kansas officials.
The University has received 57
complaints so far this semester and eight during the summer, Jenny Mehmedovic, assistant to the vice provost for Information Services said.
Finding copyright violators is as easy as searching for the copyrighted material. Because the material being searched for is stored on personal computers connected to the Internet, computer programs used to download songs, movies and software often lead groups such as the MPAA to violators' IP addresses, Bill Kline, assistant director of Network and Telecommunications Services said. IP addresses function similarly to a street address.
A phone call to the MPAA to
verify its investigative practices was not returned yesterday.
University officials plan to focus their counter measures on education instead of punishment.
On the first offense, Mehmedovic sends the student an e-mail asking that the files in question be removed within 24 hours. Subsequent offenses are followed by a similar e-mail and disciplinary action administered by the dean of students.
Mehmedovic is working on a Web-based tutorial that will teach students about the issues surrounding file sharing and copyright law. Students who have violated the University's Internet-use policies will be required to complete the tutorial,
followed by a quiz.
"We really and truly try to do education," Tuttle said. "If education doesn't work, then yes, it's a violation of student codes and responsibilities."
Jane Tuttle, assistant to the dean of students, said many students did not realize that downloading an mp3 or similar media files violated federal laws.
Punishments for violators vary from suspension of their network connections to expulsion from the University. Tuttle said her office had dealt with only 3 or 4 incidents since last year, none of which resulted in serious action against the students.
— Edited by Lauren Beatty
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Above: Lawrence senior Sarah Lafferty's old bedroom in the basement of her parents' house is now a utility room.
Parents shift spaces as children move places
By Matt Stumpff
By Matt Stumpf
mstumpf@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
After leaving for college, students may find that their high school havens have morphed into meeting places for their mothers' sewing circles.
Parents treat their children's vacant rooms differently when their offspring leave for college. These transformations often reflect the students' changing roles in their families. Students have mixed reactions when their parents take creative liberties with their old room.
Some freshmen don't expect their rooms to change soon after leaving for school, said Connie Sanchez, Shawnee freshman. But she said her family didn't waste any time converting her room.
"It's like the dressing room for my entire family now," Sanchez said. "It's kind of annoying."
Other students are not bothered the changes.
Sarah Lafferty, Lawrence senior, also said her parents took their time before changing her old room.
Her parents renovated part of the basement for her to have a bedroom when she was still living at home.
"It was untouched for a couple of years," Lafferty said. "And then my dad all of a sudden was like 'I want a work room.'"
Lafferty said she didn't mind the change because she wasn't planning on moving back into
her parents home.
Lafferty's mother, Kathy, said it was easier to make the change because her daughter still lived in Lawrence.
Some students take steps to prevent anyone from shifting the scene of their former sleeping spaces, said Amanda Berry, Shawnee freshman.
"My room is pretty much the same as when I left because I lock my door when I leave," Berry said.
Parents may also choose to preserve the memories of their children's youth by keeping their bedrooms unscathed, said Brooke Fogler, Cherry Hills, Colo., sophomore.
Fogler said her parents hadn't changed her room since she came to the University of Kansas. She said she wasn't worried about an imminent change because her 24 year-old sister has an old room that is still the same.
Other childhood rooms fall prey to students' younger siblings.
Tiffany Woods, Chicago sophomore, said her little brother wanted to upgrade, so he took her room when she moved out.
Parents sometimes threaten to change rooms but don't follow through, said John Jackson, Pflugerville, Texas, sophomore.
"They always say they're going to change it," Jackson said. "But they're lazy like me, so they're not going to do it."
— Edited by Adam Pracht