SPEAK
1
MEAN GIRLS
A SMALL RUMOR
THAT MADE A BIG
DIFFERENCE
Contributed photo
Lifted spirit: Laura Erdall (center) finds comfort with her competitive cheerleading team after her friends ostracized her from their social group and spread a hurtful rumor about her around school.
I watched the lunch lady fidget with her hair net as she stirred the marinara sauce with a large spoon. Sweat trickled down her face and the pit stains on her over-sized white t-shirt had turned a yellowish tint. I wondered if she was as lonely as me. I quickly snapped out of my gaze when I felt audge on my shoulder to keep the line going. I grabbed a bag of Cheez-itz crackers and blue PowerAde and tapped my foot impatiently while waiting for my change.
This was the worst part of the day, walking through the cafeteria to get to the bathroom. I made sure to not make any eye contact; I focused my attention on the tiled floor and made my way past all the lunch tables. As if I timed it perfectly, whispers began to fill the room. Conversations stopped and the giggles surfaced. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood straight out and I could feel my face begin to boil. Don't cry, Laura. I had 15 feet to go; I could see the women's bathroom straight ahead, my sanctuary and my escape.
Once I made it in I went to the last stall, threw down my backpack and slowly lowered my body to the ground. I always went to that stall; it had the most graffiti scribbled on the side of the walls. I enjoyed reading the poems, the love confessions and the "I hate the world" remarks. I heard the last set of hands being washed and the door swing behind them. I was finally alone. I began to sob, something that had become a daily ritual in the last couple of months.
Rewind to two months before and you wouldn't have even recognized me. I was outgoing, sat in the front row bleachers at the football games and would hitch rides with the cute senior boys. But that New Year's Eve changed my life forever. That night I not only lost my best friend, the queen bee of our sophomore class, but my friend group completely shunned me and my entire grade
eventually rejected me. It's interesting how one person can have so much power, and how that power can hypnotize others around them and eventually make them followers. Is this a cliché of Mean Girls? Maybe so. But it doesn't feel like a cliché when it happens to you. One rumor turned everyone against me.
On New Year's Eve I stayed at my best friend Anna's house. It was after midnight when her brother and his friend, who were both freshmen in college, stumbled through the side door of their sunroom. He dangled a half bottle of Jack Daniels in front of us and motioned that we follow them to the basement for some drinks. A good hour of playing cards and darts went by, and before I knew it I was alone on the couch with my best friend's brother. I'd had a crush on him two years before, so you can imagine my excitement when he leaned in and kissed me. I mean, come on; I went from being his little sister's dormy friend with braces to making out with him on the couch.
"What the hell?" I heard Anna demand from the doorway minutes later. We pulled apart quickly as she threw a water glass across the room and stomped upstairs.
A few days later, the majority of my high school already received news that I had "slept" with Anna's older brother, and this lie made a pack of 16-year-old girls seem like savages. They shoved me in the hallway and called me "bitch" in the classrooms. I would
get threatening text messages from numbers I didn't even know. The harassment became so horrible that I stopped going out and would stay home every weekend.
I woke up one Saturday morning after another eventful night of playing Super Mario Kart with my fifth-grade brothers to find hundreds of strands of toilet paper draped in our trees, bushes and front porch. You would've thought a blizzard came through and hit our house. From far away it looked like a winter wonderland; up close, it was a complete nightmare. Written on the driveway in pink chalk and shaving cream was a painful message; "Slut" and "Go to hell."
What saved me was not therapy, but the girls on my competition cheerleading team that I was on throughout the entire year. Those women stuck by me through all of it, especially the senior captains. When I would get prank calls from Anna and the girls while I was out of town for cheerleading competitions, the captains would take my phone and demand that they stop. They'd also invite me over for sleepovers and would let me tag along to go out to lunch. They made me realize that I didn't need to be part of Anna's click because I was better than that. I had to start all over and go make entirely new friends, and I did.
If it wasn't for Anna and her followers I would've never met the amazing people that are still in my life today. I'll see the girls now and then when we all come back for breaks; we'll do a head nod and wave, but that's about it. People just pretend like nothing happened. Besides me, my mother is the one who suffered the most through it all. There were so many times she wanted to call the mothers of those girls and tell them what was happening. But I always begged her not to, and she respected my requests.
Whenever I'm feeling down she still says to me, "Laura, if you made it through what those girls did to you, you can make it through anything." I'll never fully recover from what they did to me but what happened has made me become the strong woman I am today.
// LAURA ERDALL
04
07
11
Parr opted for bouncy balls, which forced racers to spin around if hit by one.
peels that racers used against opponents. Every round eight participants raced through two laps on oversized tricycles. The winner each round won a $15 gift card.
"One hundred percent bounce ball every time," Parr said.
Others went for banana peels.
"What's more fun than wearing a banana suit?" Kaplan said.
Heather Kaplan, a sophomore from Shawnee, handed out peels to racers. She also donned a banana suit for the event.
Kaplan and other event staff originally tried to eat the bananas for the peels but gave up after about 10.
The event is just one of several events SUA is producing in the remaining month and a half left in the semester. SUA vice president of communications Andrew Fillmore, a junior from Belle Plaine, spoke about some of the highlights:
Rain had threatened to derail Kansas Kart, but the sky held for the event.
KU'S BEST DANCE CREW
Auditorium Tuesday, April 19, to speak about the "It Gets Better" project, which he created.
"It Gets Better" consists of a series of videos designed to communicate to gay and lesbian youth that "it gets better" regardless of the hostility or insecurity they may be experiencing. Celebrities and politicians have lent their names to the cause, including President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Fillmore said that although Savage often did his "Savage Love" presentation, the Union event will be focused on "It Gets Better."
The event is $5 with a KU student ID.
Students will have the chance
MIKE POSNER
SUA will host hip-hop artist Mike Posner at Liberty Hall Tuesday, April 26.
Tickets are available at the SUA Box Office on the fourth level of the Kansas Union and are $15 for students.
Posner is perhaps best known for his songs "Cooler Than Me" and "Please Don't Go."
SEE SUA ON PAGE 3A
Travis Young/KANSAN
to use Allen Fieldnouse and Memorial Stadium to house major events.
Johnson said the platform stemmed from listening to a friend's parents reminisce about their time at the University.
"They talked about how when they went to school they remember having concerts after basketball games," Johnson said. "And we would like to welcome big name artists and speakers, things like that, back into Allen Fieldhouse and even Memorial Stadium."
KUnited's goal is to make those venues more accessible as an option to infrequently house big events.
SUA president Rachel Anderson said attempts were made year after year to have an event in Allen Fieldhouse.
"Something like what KUnited is proposing would be ideal," Anderson said. "But the question will still be do we spend a huge amount of money for that one show or spread it out over the entire year?"
Travel Young/KAN Jon Sabilla, a senior from Lawrence, dresses up as Mario for SUAS Kaurk Karent Thursday afternoon and cheers Jeni Burrows, SUAS special event coordinator from Beille Plaine, drives through the finish line. There was a track set up in the parking lot of the Visitors' Center with various obstacles and had bad of different opportunities the drivers could pick on.
Funding will always be an issue to book events, Anderson said, but developing a partnership could help fray those costs.
Anderson, a senior from Manhattan, said as an organization SUA had discussed this idea extensively.
e lottery pick (top
skieff will go a few
vants names
time is right, the old certainly now the or those guys to go level," Self said. Kansas with Thomas Jeff Withey as the posts, but Kansasunning for several class of 2011.
ted by Samantha Collins
dony, the assistant
ector, said it's not an
ole feat KUnited is
empting.
"But.," Marchiony said, "It is very difficult to schedule outside events at Allen Fieldhouse." During the
copy this is one of us and we look for ing down with them "what can happen" d.
academic year, the Fieldhouse is rved exclusively
for basketball and in the summer it is reserved for camps.
Historically, though, it's been done.
AN ft
Even artists such as Bob Marley and Louis Armstrong once graced the University with their musical presence.
As recently is 2006 Allen Fieldhouse hosted comedian and actor Bill Cosby during Homecoming week.
Marchiony said the first discussions regarding this kind of proposal would most likely take place between himself and the Athletics Department facilities staff.
"Certain artists won't come because we have to be able to offer them a sell-out space and this could help in bringing any artist." Johnson said.
Without knowing specifics and without speaking to other staff members, he said it was difficult to discuss feasibility.
"We would talk about it as a department and decide on whether or not it would be something we would want to schedule here and something we would want to represent," Marchiony said.
Neither Marchiony nor Anderson said they had personally spoken with KUnited coalition members.
INDEX
Classifieds ... 8A
Crossword ... 4A
Cryptoquips ... 4A
Opinion ... 5A
Sports ... 10A
Sudoku ... 4A
SEE COALITION ON PAGE 3A
WEATHER TODAY 75 60 Cloudy
SATURDAY
90
68
Partly Cloudy
orecasts by University students. For a complete detailed forecast for the week, see page 24
RELAYS | 3A
Some events move to downtown
Kansas Relays moves three events to downtown Lawrence.
FOOTBALL | 10A
Y
Team has first spring practice
Coach Turner Gill studies his players during practice to decide on their positions.
Kansas needs to strengthen its defense for weekend's game against Oklahoma St.
☆
SOFTBALL|8A
After losing its two games against Oklahoma earlier this week, the Kansas softball team fell 0-8 in its conference record.