10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2007
AWARENESS
Organization encourages gender-issue consciousness
CWS plans Women's History Month projects
BY SASHA ROE
sroe@kansan.com
Members of various KU organizations discussed the role of gender and the way it affected their organizations Tuesday. Students met with the Commission on the Status of Women to raise awareness about gender issues and to plan a community service project for Women's History Month in March.
Lawrence senior and CSW president Liz Stuewe, said that today's gender issues were as dramatic as the 1960s, but the work of CSW was still very important. Stuewe said the group worked to empower women while including men and transgender people as well. She said the main goal was to get students to
Brendan Shaw, Milwaukee senior and vice president of CWS, leads a group discussion at the "Making a Difference" program Tuesday night in the English Room at the Union. The discussion was over gender roles and sexuality.
Jessica Crabaunh/KANSAN
possible community service projects for Women's History Month in March. Ideas for projects ranged from advertising, concerts and calling into the Free For All with positive comments and questions about gender issues.
stop and think about gender and its place on campus.
"Gender issues are everywhere but they work differently for different kinds of women and men."
"There are people out there that still don't believe women are as capable as men." Stuwe said.
Students broke into groups to talk about how gender affected their organization, or how gender issues weren't addressed enough in their organization. Groups also discussed
JOEY SPRAGUE Professor of sociology
Milwaukee, Wis., senior and CSW vice president Brendan Shaw, suggested a project highlighting the derogatory vocabulary used against women. Shaw said that students could paint or write derogatory words on a public space that could later
derogatory word project for Women's History Month.
Joey Sprague, professor of sociology, said that it was important to remember that each race and class had different gender issues. She said white women were supposed to be skinny, and women of color were expected to be strong.
be destroyed to symbolize the need to do away with the negative language. The groups discussed how sexual reference words like "slut" only contributed to a society that looked down on women. The group decided to work on the
"Expectations put everyone in a
box," Sprague said. "Gender issues are everywhere but they work differently for different kinds of women and men."
Sprague encouraged the group to get involved in substantial ways. She said women didn't need to be told to ignore negative messages about themselves, but that the messages needed to be stopped. Sprague told the group a Chinese tale to get her point across. In the tale, people were trying to pull babies out of a river. When a man asked them what they were doing, they responded a man was throwing babies in the river, and they were trying to save the babies. The man pointed out that they should just stop the man, not keep pulling them from the river.
"It's easy to say let's pick something small," Sprague said. "But have a big idea."
The KU Commission on the Status of Women was the first in the nation founded by Emily Taylor in 1956.
Edited by Meghan Murphy
Joey Sprague, professor of sociology, speaks about the difference students can make regarding gender roles and the views of sexuality. Students from different organizations met in the English Room of the Room to hear Sprague speak on "Making a Difference."
Jessica Crabaugh/KANSAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The bathroom at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis where U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested in a sex sting is shown Sept. 7. Karen Evans, information specialist at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport said the airport has since been giving directions to the men's room near a central food court and shopping area. "It's become a tourist attraction," said Evans.
SCANDAL
Senator Craig claims entrapment
WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig said he was entrapped in a sex sting at an airport men's room and was not aware of the bathroom's reputation as a spot to cruise for gav sex.
"Well, I certainly am now," Craig told NBC's Matt Lauer in an interview aired Tuesday night.
"Were you prior?" Lauer asked.
"Not at all." Craig responded. "I go to bathrooms to use bathrooms."
BY MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Craig said it was a "tough call" when he decided not to tell his wife or children about the arrest.
"I didn't want to embarrass my wife, my kids, Idaho and my
friends," Craig said. "I should have told my wife. I should have told my kids. And most importantly, I should have told counsel."
Suzanne Craig said that when her husband told her the story was about to break, "I felt like the floor was falling out from under me. And I felt almost like I was going down a drain for a few moments."
Craig, a three-term Republican, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June.
After the matter became public, Craig tried to withdraw his plea. But a judge in Minnesota refused, saying Craig's plea "was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence." On Monday, Craig appealed that ruling to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
wife said their marriage was based on love.
Craig, 62, said he is not gay, and in the NBC interview, he and his
Craig also discussed his relationship with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Craig was Senate liaison for Romney's campaign, a post he abandoned when the scandal became known. Romney called Craig's conduct "disappointing and disgraceful" and immediately dropped Craig when the guilty plea was revealed.
Craig, who initially said he planned to resign, reiterated that he would not leave his Senate seat until his term expired in January 2009. He said he would not seek re-election.
"I was very proud of my association with Mitt Romney," Craig said. "And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."
Craig said he would continue to pursue his legal options.
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