KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13. 2011 / NEWS
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CAMPUS
LGBTQ group shows being gay is OK
The Watson Library lawn sees a lot of tabling and a lot of calls for action and awareness. Few are as exciting and bubbleridden though as Queers and Allies' annual Kiss In. Every year, members of the LGBTQ community and their friends gather on couches, blankets or just the grass to show passersby that it is OK to be gay.
"We want to give people a safe space," Rachel Gadd-
Nelson, director of educational outreach for Q&A, said."It isn't the normal thing you see on campus but we want to play into that. We want to educate people on why they are shocked."
Gadd-Nelson said normally the Kiss In gets a good reaction from people inside and outside the community. There was concern at one point about feeding the stereotype of hypersexuality in the LGBTQ community, but Gadd-Nelson and the other Q&A members say it is worth getting the word
out about "heteronormativity."
According to the Kiss In handouts, heteronormativity is what "prevents queer and trans couples from holding hands and showing affection on campus and in public" and it is what "otherizes" the LGBTQ community.
"We are not here to shock people," Kemi Adewunmi, a KU alumnus from Wichita, said. "We are here to open their eyes."
Shauna Blackmon
Sarah King (left), a junior from Olathe, and Kayla Slovak, a senior from Derby, attend the annual Kiss In. Members of the LGBTQ community and friends gathered on campus and showed support for the equal treatment of homosexual relationships
GREEK LIFE
Greek community gathers to commemorate Jason Wren
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
The fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon led more than 1,500 members of the greek community in observing the second annual Jason Wren Initiative on Tuesday. Jason Wren, a former pledge member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, died of alcohol poisoning on March 8, 2009.
The crowd filled the lecture hall at 120 Budd Hall to mark the occasion with a talk by Rick Barnes, a professional public speaker. Barnes stood before a tall banner bearing Wren's name and a list of the event's sponsors, including the Delta Gamma sorority and Coca-Cola, as he discussed the dangers of alcohol.
Barnes opened his talk by asking why students came to college in the first place and closed by providing the answer. The reason, he said, was opportunity. Opportunity to be educated and to build lifelong friendships.
"Don't mess it up with this thing called alcohol," he said.
"Sure," he said. "But slow down. The issue is how you drink."
But Barnes said he took care to set himself apart from public speakers who judge their listeners and issue unrealistic prohibitions. He said he was aware that many in the audience would, at some time, choose to drink alcohol.
Barnes said that there was a difference between high-risk drinking and responsible drinking. As he offered statistics to support this point, Barnes tried to overturn myths and misconceptions about drinking.
the importance of getting eight hours of sleep and practicing sound study habits. He said that honesty was very important with respect to drinking and that secrecy was dangerous.
He also mixed his message with humor and advice. Some of the targets for his humor included Kansas State University, public urination and the inferior intelligence of men as compared with women. He also said that women will sometimes go to the restroom in groups, and many in the audience laughed appreciatively. Barnes talked about
As Barnes spoke, the Jason Wren Initiative banner gradually came unstuck from the wall, first hanging crookedly to one side and then falling to the floor. Barnes ignored the incident and continued with his talk, finishing with a hypothetical story of an off-campus party, where most of the students are having good, responsible fun, with the exception of one partygoer, who is engaging in high-risk drinking and behaving in a ridiculous manner.
There is always, he said, "that one idiot drunk."
Barnes urged the audience not to behave as this person often does.
"We're asking you to drink responsibly," he said.
Jessica Janasz/KANSAN
Edited by Amanda Sorell
Rick Barnes presents "Drink Think: A Personal Approach to Alcohol" in Budig 120 Tuesday evening. The presentation was for the second annual Jason Wren Initiative, which honors Jason Wren, a KU student who died two years ago because of alcohol poisoning.
MYTHS AND FACTS, AS PRESENTED BY RICK BARNES
**Myth:** Eating a big meal prevents intoxication.
**Fact:** Food slows intoxication, but does not prevent it.
**Myth:** Beer is less intoxicating than hard liquor.
**Fact:** By serving, they are equal; one 12-ounce beer is equal to one ounce of hard liquor.
Myth: Most college students consume many drinks on multiple nights of the week.
Fact: Two-thirds of college students average less than one drink per day.
Myth: A person who has passed out from drink ing should be put to bed.
Fact: Passing out from alcohol can be a medical emergency. The person should be taken to the hospital.