monday. september 15.2003
sex on the hill
the university daily kansan 3b
By Eric Rosa correspondent@kansan.com Kansan correspondent
The picture glistens. Her smile is wide and bright, her skin smooth and soft.
It's Jackie LeSage, Wayzata, Minn., junior and Miss August in the last installment of the Women of KU calendar.
LeSage said she'd never done anything like it before. She was raised to be modest and never felt comfortable enough with her own sexuality to smile for the shutter in a swimsuit.
But in late 2002, LeSage went through some changes. She was newly free from a long relationship and felt a new freedom. She was taking Dennis Dailey's "Human Sexuality in Everyday Life" course, which made her feel somewhat liberated. She tried out for the Women of KU calendar, but kept it secret.
but repeats I just assumed I wouldn't make it." LeSage said. "I didn't even tell my roommates."
The application process to become a calendar model incorporates modeling experience and a photo portfolio with GPA, extracurricular activities and hobbies. With applicants growing every year, the process has become very selective, in both the model's appearance and academic achievement.
"The average GPA of our group is something close to 3.9," said Rob Curley, The Lawrence Journal-World online editor, who took over the calendar three years ago. "It's harder to get into the Women of KU than to get into most sororities."
After she was accepted into the calendar, LeSage's life changed in certain ways. People stopped her on campus because they recognized her from the pages.
The experience also changed some of her goals, and she is a columnist for The University Daily Kansan. She had gone
through a transformation, an emergence.
"Being a part of it is great." LeSage said. "It is the kind of thing that can change your life, for the better."
Curley also thinks highly of his publication.
Now the calendar is celebrating its five-year anniversary. The 2004 edition will bring back faces from past years, like LeSage, with mostly new photographs and up-to-date biographical information
There are tons of these calendars across the country," Curley said. "Women of Florida State, of UCLA, but most last a year or so and go away. This is one of the longest running calendars in the country."
The Women of KU calendar has been featured in Playboy, Maxim, and has seen airtime on ESPN.
Shannon O'Connor, Emporia senior, is returning for her third calendar. O'Connor has taken a larger role within the calendar's selection process, helping to choose new models for the last three years.
"We don't just look at a beautiful face and body," she said. "We want people who will reflect well on KU."
Edited by Dave Nobles
JAYHAWK
By Eric Rosa correspondent@kansan.com Kansan correspondent
Long, bare legs slightly crossed with a soft face and a shy smile. Sure, he's sexy. But he is 91 years old as well: the first Jayhawk mascot for the University of Kansas.
Drawn in 1912 by University of Kansas student Henry Maloy, the mascot sports a pair of shoes, which are said to be for kicking opponents, according to www.kuhistory.com. Perhaps he has a tough side as well.
has a tough seat in The Jayhawk has changed much in it's 91-year artistic
tenure, but the 1912 Jayhawk sports the sexiest look of all, said Jacob Neece, Topeka sophomore.
"I think it's those big, round eyes and that nice, full beak," Neece said. "You have to appreciate that about a Jayhawk."
Not everyone agrees that this Jayhawk is the sexiest, though.
"Although I haven't normally thought about our great mascot in
versions of our mascot. And it conveys the image of the strong, silent type."
DENNIS DAILEY
By Hamy C. Jackson
hjackson@kansan.com
Kansan sani staff writer
The door to Dennis Dailey's office is crowded with clippings he's collected in his years at the University of Kansas.
Pro-safe sex comics, a handful of fortune cookie-type sayings and AIDS awareness stickers, among other things, are taped to the wooden door. It's easy to get lost in the clutter, but one phrase stands out.
"Survivors Motto," it reads. "Living well is the best revenge."
The statement's not a new addition. It's been on Dailey's door for nearly 30 years. Confident, gregarious and back teaching his "Human Sexuality In Everyday Life" class, Dailey is living this credo.
ley's popular class.
Any wear-and-tear from last year's ugly battle with Kansas Wagle isn't immediately visible.
He's still lecturing in the same manner, using the same salty language and teaching aids he's always used.
It's been nearly six months since Sen, Susan Wagle (R-Wichita) attached a rider to a budget bill designed to end Dailey's popular class.
Dailey's unrestrained classroom manner contrasts with his silence when the Wagle affair was unfolding. Members of the University's faculty encouraged him to speak out; but Dailey refused to take the bait.
Dailey's stoicism earned him respect from faculty. Ted Frederickson, professor of journalism, said he told Dailey to speak up when he was investigated last year. Dailey refused, telling Frederickson he thought commenting would give the issue more attention than it deserved.
"He's someone I really admire," Frederickson said. "He's very courageous."
The O'Reilly Factor, the sensational Fox News show that made Wagle's cause a national news story, hasn't mentioned the instructor it dubbed the "Perv Prof" in months. Wagle herself hasn't brought the issue back either.
fight. He even expects one.
Yet when asked, Dailey's adamant he's still ready for a
"I'm sure something else will happen this year," Dailey said. "I'm sure of it."
When he decided to make teaching sex his career, Dailey expected backlash, and his class has had its share of complaints through the years. But last year's showdown was more personal than any attack Dailey had experienced in his career. It became, Dailey said, a witch hunt.
"It reminded me of McCarthyism." Dailey said.
On a recent day, giving a lecture about how men and women express attraction, Dailey battled an adversary he's more familiar with than Sen. Wagle: his class getting antsy at the end of class. A din rose among the students, but Dailey continued, bellowing about the differences between men and women.
Perhaps it was Dailey's confidence that guided him through last year's trouble. It's a confidence that on display in his classroom.
men and women. "Men," he belted, "will yell, 'Wow, look at those bozangas.'"
Giggles and uproarious laughter followed. The book-bag shuffle stopped. Dalley's won the battle for his class' collective attention. The precious last five minutes of class were his.
Other lessons involve less colorful vocabulary, but almost always include a personal example from Dalley's years of experience. Even as he's taught at the University, Dalley's kept a small,
private practice, counseling people about their sexuality. To explain a lesson about sex perceptions, Dailey talked about a young man who got into a car accident and lost feeling below his legs. This was to illustrate there's more to being a great lower than sex. Other days, Dailey will pepper his lectures with stories about his three grandchildren, or his own life.
dren, or its own children. Dalley's show will, eventually, have a last performance, though he's postponed his bow yet again. Dalley is in the fourth year of the University's five-year retirement program. He had planned for this fall to be the last semester for "Human Sexuality in Everyday Life." The decision to keep going, he said, is at least in part because of spite — part of continuing to live well.
But the end will come. There's too many other things Dailey wants to do. He already takes two days a week off to spend time with his three grandchildren. And he wants to write a book, inspired by his historical Lawrence home. More time for antique auctions, another passion, also would be nice. Dailey boasts about his collection of Jayhawk memorabilia, which he says is one of the best in town.
Until then, he's content to keep teaching his 500-person class.
"Some people are spooked by large classes and lots of people," he said. "That's never been me."
Edited by Ashley Marriott
The Jayhawk of 1929 is indeed a fierce-looking bird, with a face that radiates anger and a pose that would indicate he is stomping off somewhere.
"The talons on the feet also give the Jayhawk a dangerous, dark edge that adds to the Jayhawk's mystique," Reid said.
sity's presentation. Reid said the competition among other university mascots came up short.
Reid is something of an expert on the Jayhawk, with his experience as bookstore manager. The bookstore owns the copyright of the 1946 Jayhawk, the University's present mascot.
"I think there is no question that any version of the Jayhawk is much sexier than mascots such as the doughboy Herbie Husker or the Wildcat with a grossly oversized melon of a head," Reid said.
- Edited by Ehren Meditz
One can only imagine the extent of Vinnie's embarrassment after waking up hung over next to a lawn ornament.
C
4