4A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF HAITI KANSAS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2008
SPEAKING OUT (CONTINUED FROM 3A)
curricular activities.
After Hong moved to Lawrence, her relationship with her father actually became better. Through her intercultural communication classes, she learned that the way he expressed his affection might be cultural because East Asians tend not to be as expressive as Westerners. She started to appreciate what her father gave to her and her brother, providing the family a nice house and paying for her college.
"I know that's how he shows he loves us by trying to give us things he didn't have when he was younger," she said.
Hong has brought her partner, Bencken,
to her father's house several times,
although she introduced her as a friend
and not her spouse. His attitude surprised
Hong,because he seemed more accepting
with Benken, talking to her and remem-
bering her, which he never did with her
other friends.
"I want to tell him so he realizes who she is in my life" she said.
Hong thinks her father may be starting to realize she is a lesbian because she has brought only women home.
"I think he's working on getting used to it in his head whatever he thinks is going on," she said. "But then of course, it may be a completely different story if I actually tell him. He can't escape it and then the whole world may fall apart."
Hong said she would wait to tell him until after her graduation in May.
"Telling a little white lie is not harmful, but lying your entire existence about who you are — that can only be detrimental for you."
Rivera inadvertently came out of the closet in his parents' kitchen. That's where his mother found an essay left there by his sister Shaina that referred to his sexuality.
Until that time, he had struggled with whether he could be both gay and a good son, deciding that staying quiet was one way to protect himself and his parents.
"In my head, I thought that's something they don't need to know," he said. "It's something that would complicate their life more — the way they interact with their friends, like, 'Oh, they have a gay son?' I never want that sort of pity on my parents."
After his mother read Shaina's essay, she
walked into her sister's room sobbing, asking if it was true. Shaina said their parents, who had been in denial of Julian's sexual orientation, were both worried that their son would experience discrimination and that they wouldn't have grandchildren.
"I was mad at my sister at first. I wanted it to be part of my story," he said. "Now, I have to move on."
Despite the revelation, Rivera was relieved when his parents still treated him well. He and his parents haven't yet talked at length about his sexuality, but he is hoping to have that conversation soon.
Both of his parents came from the Philippines to work as nurses in the 1970s. Rivera was born in the United States and grew up in Lenexa.
Rivera struggled with his sexual identity in high school. Many friends at school knew he was gay, but his parents didn't. He said having a double life aggravated him. He recalled having an impulse to yell at his parents one evening when they expressed disapproval of his gay friends at school.
Rivera even once considered attending reorientation therapy to change his sexual orientation because it conflicted with his Catholic faith and parents' expectations.
"I thought that was what would make them happy." Rivera said.
Reading books about homosexuality made him realize that the therapy could not change his sexual orientation and could only be harmful to him.
Rivera said his mother was always like a best friend. They talk about everything, from his major to family gossip. They now need to talk about his sexuality.
He said he once introduced his boyfriend to her as his friend, and she cooked him a meal. Rivera said he was sad his mother recognized his boyfriend as just one of his college friends and didn't know how important he was to him.
Rivera graduates in spring and said he hopes to have the conversation about his sexuality with his parents before then.
"I hope they continue to be proud of me and still see me as the same person."
Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
Julian Rivera, Lenexa senior, struggled with whether he could be both a good son and gay. His mother found out he was gay after reading an essay by Rivera's sister that referenced his sexuality and was accidentally left out in his parents' kitchen. He and his parents haven't vet talked at length about his sexuality. Tyler Waugh/KANSAN
Kacey Carlson: Wicca-ed witch of the Midwest?
cumbow@kansan.com
BY ALISON CUMBOW
The shop smells like incense. The walts are covered with splotchy paint. The door creaks loudly when it opens or closes. Herbs and spices line the racks. Customers touch everything. They pick up gems and decks of cards and turn them over and over in their hands.
A witch sits in the back corner of the store on the loveseat typing at a computer. She has faded red hair, and her bangs are in her face. She's not wearing a black pointy hat, she doesn't have a wart on her nose and her last name does not have a cardinal direction in it. Her name doesn't start with "wicked," either. In fact, her name is mundane. The witch is Kacey Carlson.
Carlson, Chicago native and co-owner of The Village Witch, 311 N. Second St., is a psychic. Her job incorporates her personal beliefs, her religion and her passion. She gives readings to customers who seek her help. She reads tarot cards, and she counsels her customers for $60 an hour.
Carlson's loveseat is next to an altar. There is a woman in the Mandala painting above the altar, which seems to closely resemble a shrine. The woman in the painting has a familiar face.
The painting's subject is recognizable because she is sitting right next to it. The woman in the Mandala painting is the same woman on the couch - Carlson.
The word Mandala comes from the Hindu language. It means "concentric
energy circle," and it is associated with spirituality. According to famous 19th century psychiatrist Carl Jung, a Mandala was a representation of the unconscious self.
Carlson used a photograph that had been previously taken of her to create the background of the painting.
"It was taken when I was pregnant with Rain, but I didn't know it yet," she said.
In the picture and in the Mandala, Carlson was pregnant with her only daughter, Rain Michael. Her daughter hasn't seen the painting yet, and she never will. She died for no particular reason during birth, Carlson said.
She had tears in her eyes when she spoke of the experience. Although her baby girl died in June 2003, when Carlson talked about it in a hushed whisper, it was as though her grief was fresh.
Carlson said when her daughter passed away, she was given a prophecy that she would have 100 daughters.
Carlson painted 100 mothers on the bottom of the Mandala and 100 daughters on the top. She said all of the figures were channeled through her from various deities — or as her friends call them, her "rice krispies" — the voices that speak to her and show her things in her head.
Vixey Rose, a friend of Carlson's, said the fact that Carlson channeled 200 deities was amazing.
"Channeling a deity is exhausted," she said. "I ve only channeled two."
Carlson identifies herself as many things. She is a Wiccan, and she is a witch.
She also calls herself a synchronist and a white magician. She is a practitioner of the three-fold law — doing something negative or positive and having it come back three times.
She leads study groups, and she is quick to inform anyone about her field of expertise — from the study of tarot cards to what it means to channel a deity.
Carlson said, to a certain extent, she felt she had always been a Wiccan, but she wasn't raised that way.
"It is true that people who define themselves as Wiccan or Pagan will say that they are kind of born that way," she said. "You find out progressively that there are other people that believe that way."
Carlson said she was raised Christian.
Carlson said she had never seen a tarot deck before she made her own at 11. She said she invented cards with pictures on them that she could tell fortunes with. She said they had a striking resemblance to actual tarot cards and that she made 21 of them — the number of cards it takes for an actual reading.
"But I did my first magic spell when I was four, and I sort of invented a tarot deck when I was 11," she said.
"Suddenly I found there were names for things I had already sensed and that there were other people who felt that way, too," she said.
When she was 18, Carlson said, she read her first book that defined the word Wicca.
A whole new world opened up for
Carlson after that.
"I dove in," she said. "I started reading everything I could get my hands on."
Carlson said she has psychic ability,but she considers it a very young science and said that everyone has at least some of the same abilities as she.
"The way I define psychic ability, I often use the metaphor of musical ability," she said. "Everyone is born with some talent, a little bit of talent. There are Mozarts out there, and there are people who can't hold a tune."
Carlson's strong gaze could make someone wonder if she was reading their mind or seeing their inevitable future.
During her days, Carlson is busy helping others decipher hidden meanings in their dreams and what their problems might mean for tomorrow.
Nicole Monroe, a customer of Carlson's, said she helped her immensely.
"I came into the shop, I was in chaos, and I got a reading from her, and it helped put things into perspective for me," she said. "She had never met me before, but she was able to pin down seven or eight things about my personality that people I had known for years couldn't."
"Customers come in here to ask advice. We're very careful to not sell anything that is intangible." Carlson said.
Rose said Carlson was especially good at healing.
Carlson said she sees up to 25 people a day, and that her count depended on the type of weather.
"The only thing that seems to be predictive at all is weather," she said. "It's interesting that in really horrifying weather, people come in."
Besides her work, Carlson founded a charity group called Tribe Threee. Monroe and Rose said that Carlson's way of igniting compassion in others is what made Tribe Threee so successful. The foundation raises money through parties for various causes throughout Lawrence.
During her time off, Carlson has made it her mission to find her supposed children. She made a MySpace page devoted to the cause.
"Many women have identified themselves as feeling like they are my daughters," she said. "It's become my mission to find those women and provide whatever kind of mothering is needed."
Carlson wears bat charms around her neck to symbolize Rain Michael and some of the other "daughters" she has accumulated since the death of her own.
Carlson said in retrospect, the thought of someday having 100 daughters helped her recover from the pain of losing her child. So far, Carlson said 12 people have told her they thought they were her children, and she is on the hunt for 88 more. Although Carlson identifies herself in a not-so-traditional way, her goals in life are similar to many others' — to have all sorts of love, except with a lot more children.
Edited by Lauren Keith
HEMENWAY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Hemenway has been chancellor during a record enrollment of 30,102 students this fall, with a freshman class with the highest ACT scores in school history. Hemenway oversaw the distribution of more than $310 million for renovations and additions to the school's student housing, research labs and athletics complexes.
Lynn Bretz, director of University Communications, has worked with previous chancellors including Gene Budig, who was the chancellor before Hemenway. She said that Hemenway made students his first priority when he became chancellor in 1995. Hemenway worked to improve the student experience at the University by opening student
The University also saw a 54 percent increase in minority faculty and a 33 percent increase in women faculty since Hemenway became chancellor.
"He wanted every student to have the potential to have an international experience and a research experience," Bretz said. "That dramatically impacted the quality of education students get here."
services offices during the lunch hour and providing more computers on campus for faculty and student use.
"One of the things I'm proudest of is the way that the University of Kansas has become one university," Hemenway said. "We need to think of ourselves as one university. The medical center, Lawrence campus — all of it comes together as a University that everyone can be proud of."
Hemenway had a tough time picking out his favorite times during his tenure.
Hemenway leaves at a time of economic crisis but said that didn't have any effect on the timing of
his decision. He said he would work on the budget during the next seven months to help make the new chancellor's job easier. Donna Shank, chair of the Kansas Board of Regents, said in a press release that the regents would appoint a committee to begin a national search for Hemenway's successor.
Hemenway said he felt confident he made the University a better place than it was when he arrived.
"What the job is really all about is creating a greater university — brick by brick, step by step," he said. "That's the way I tried to do it, and I think we've had considerable success doing it that way. My recommendation to the next chancellor would be to adopt that motto, too."
— Edited by Lauren Keith
Robert Hemenway timeline
June 1995: Hemenway becomes chancellor at the University.
August 1997: University reaches contract with Coca-Cola that provides funds for some scholarships and student services.
April 1999: Hemenway proposes the University institute a two-day fall break beginning in 2001.
October 2001: University breaks ground on Dole Institute of Politics.
April 2003: Bill Self is hired as coach of men's basketball team.
June 2003: Lew Perkins is hired as athletic director for the University.
September 2004: Forbes magazine lists the University as one of its top 10 "IQ Campuses."
December 2004: Ruth Anne French, Partridge senior, is named third-ever Rhodes Scholar from Kansas.
June 1995: Hemenway becomes chancellor at the University.
Cancer Institute and comprehensive cancer center.
June 2007: Fixed-rate tuition compact is approved for all incoming freshmen.
January 2008: KU football team wins Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech, 24-21.
April 2008: KU men's basketball team wins NCAA National Championship against Memphis, 86-75.
August 2008: Record 30,102 students enrolled for the fall semester.
September 2008: U
2005: Hemenway announces the intention for the University to achieve designation as National Cancer Institute and comprehensive cancer center.
Specialized Chemistry Center. It's the largest federal research award made in Kansas history.
June 2009: Hemenway will step down as chancellor
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