Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, September 27, 1999
Ethan Morales, 4, Lawrence, prepares himself for opening ceremonies. The Welcome Back to School Powwow at Haskell Indian Nations University included tribes from around the country last Saturday. Photo Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Haskell powwow begins with dancing and fire
By Todd Halstead
writer @ kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
Apache fire dancers and the veterans of the gourd clan opened the Welcome Back to School Powwow at Haskell Indian Nations University Saturday.
"It's to welcome students back to town and to give them a good warm feeling that they are welcome to the city of Lawrence," said Bruce Martin, powwow director.
This year, promoters of the powwow recruited five Apache students from Arizona who were able to perform the fire dance.
After sunset, the fire dancers emerged from the darkness adorned with antierlike head dresses and danced to the undulating voices of the drummers.
Manny King, registrar and master of ceremonies at the event, was impressed by their dancing.
"We try to get them every year, but it never works out because if they don't feel good about performing, they will not dance. In fact, they almost pulled out at the last second tonight." King said. "I thought it was really neat, I really enjoyed them."
The powwow began in the afternoon with a gourd dance. In the middle of the powwow grounds, located at Haskell, sat
a group of drummers who beat out the rhythm to which the dancers performed
Dianne Reyner, Haskell junior, said that members of the gourd clan must be nominated and are usually veterans, but that others could be initiated into the group.
At sunset a single-file line of dancers led by two veterans carrying the American and Kansas flags initiated the Grand Entrance — the beginning of the dance. The dancers circled the drummers in the middle of the arena in a flurry of dancing.
Jeremy Shield, Haskell alumnus, is lead singer of the Thundershield drum group and travels to various powwows in the area.
He related singing at powwows to birds singing early in the morning.
"Those birds are telling the elements that they are enjoying their life here on Earth. That's pretty much the same thing we're doing here," Shield said. "I sing to the elements to let them know I'm enjoying my life."
Shield, a member of the Crow and Oglala tribes, said that the powwow was more of a social event, where people come together to enjoy themselves, sing and dance, rather than a religious ritual.
"A lot of the dancers dance for those
who can't dance anymore," Shield said.
who can't dance anymore," Shield said. Ira Toshavik, a member of the Caddo Commanche tribe, has been dancing for more than nine years.
"Traditionally you are reenacting hunting, a battle, or a journey," Toshavik said. "You try to tell a story of either how you killed your enemies or how you took down your prey."
The powwow was open to anyone in an attempt to strengthen bonds between the non-Native-American and Native-American communities.
"It makes us feel good to share this with the Lawrence community. Any events at Haskell are open to the public," Reyner said. "We try to bridge the gap between the two communities."
gap between the two communities The First Nations Students Association, a University of Kansas organization that promotes awareness about Native-American culture on campus, was involved in helping with the nowwow.
Laurie Ramirez, Lawrence graduate student, is president of the organization.
New emergency contraceptive no great breakthrough to Watkins
"There's a lot of events like this powwow that happen at Haskell that the larger community, especially KU, doesn't take advantage of," she said.
—Edited by Mike Loader
By Amber Stuever
Kansan staff writer
A woman can prevent one of the 2.7 million unwanted pregnancies that occur every year in the United States, even after the heat of the moment has passed.
Preven, a drug just recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is one of several emergency contraceptives that can prevent pregnancy up to 72 hours after sex.
Emergency contraceptives have been available since the 1970s, but Preven is the first FDA-approved product marketed in the United States as an emergency contraceptive.
“It’s different in the way it’s packaged, but it really isn't any other,” he said.
Henry Buck Jr., Watkins Memorial Health Center head of gynecology, said that although Preven was a relatively new product, it was not any different than the contraceptives Watkins had been prescribing for years.
Bob Emerson, staff pharmacist at Watkins, said the health center carried
Preven, but to his knowledge, had never dispensed it.
Buck said he was more apt to prescribe Ovrel, a product that was cheaper than the $21 Preven and prevented nausea, a common side effect of emergency contraceptives.
"We can do for the students about the same thing and give them the nausea pill, which is helpful," he said.
Emergency contraceptives are relatively popular at Watkins, with usually at least one prescribed to a student per day, Buck said.
However, according to Carolyn Fleming, Preven product director, emergency contraceptives have been a well-kept secret. She said only 1 percent of all women have used an emergency contraceptive and only 11 percent understood them.
Emergency contraceptives can be used up to three days after sex, but work best if taken within six to 12 hours. They could be useful in situations in which a contraceptive malfunctioned, was misused or was not used at all.
Emergency contraceptives work in the
same way as birth control by stopping or delaying ovulation. If no egg is released, a woman cannot become pregnant. They are different than the European "abortion pill." RU-486, because they work to prevent a pregnancy rather than to end a pregnancy.
Buck said that although emergency contraceptives were effective, he recommended birth control to women who requested products such as Preven.
"We much prefer other kinds of contraceptives," he said. "It should not be used for intermittent contraception."
Emergency contraceptives also fail to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
Students interested in Preven, Ovrel or other emergency contraceptives offered at Watkins can get a prescription at the gynecology department. They must take a pregnancy test to ensure they are not pregnant from the month before, but no other gynecological exams are necessary.
Edited by Mike Loader
For more information online, log on to:
http://www.preven.com
Singin' the blues
Cotton Candy from Cotton Candy and So Many Men performed Saturday night at the Harvest Moon Blues Festival. The festival took place Friday, September 24 and Saturday, September 25 at Clinton Lake State Park. The festival featured nine regional blues bands. Photo by Tara Kraus/KANSAN
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