THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4,2010
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 54
DECEIVING DRINK
Four Loko raises health issues
Some want the new drink taken off the shelves
BY KELLY STRODA kstroda@kansan.com
Four Loko: legalized cocaine in a can.
That's how Urban Dictionary, a popular website that defines slang terms, describes the caffeinated, alcoholic beverage.
Four Loko seems to be sweeping the nation — but not without controversy.
After college students in two states were sent to the hospital after drinking Four Loko, universities, cities and states are encouraging bans on the beverages.
THE DRINK
The drink comes in a 23.5-ounce can and contains 12 percent alcohol — roughly the equivalent of drinking four to five 12-ounce beers. The caffeine content is about the same as a cup of coffee.
Mike Hathaway, manager of Cork and Barrel, 2000 W. 23rd St., said his store started carrying Four Loko about a month and a half ago.
"As soon as we got it in, it started flying off the shelves," he said.
Nathan Boehr, a senior from Topeka, said he first heard of the drink a few months ago when some friends bought it. Since then, he said he's had the drink on three occasions.
"One can was definitely enough to get me a buzz," he said.
SEE LOKO ON PAGE 3A
BY THE NUMBERS
660
Number of calories in a can of Four Loko
135
Milligrams of caffeine in a can of Four Loko
Grams of sugar in a can of Four Loko
65
23.5
Ounces in a can of Four Loko
12
Percentage of alcohol content in a can of Four Loko
26
Percentage of college students who said they drank alcohol and energy drinks together in a survey in 2008
30+
Students who were reportedly hospitalized in October after drinking Four Loko
CAMPUS
Photo by Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Joel Layton, Lenexa senior and Sarah Saunders and Cherae Clark, juniors from Kansas City, converse before the start of Queers and Allies '40th Anniversary reception Wednesday night at the Kansas Union. Festivities began at 8 p.m. and included informational videos, pamphlets and free small desserts.
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
Queers and Allies celebrates 40 years
BY KELLY MORGAN kmorgan@kansan.com
It began as an accident.
In June of 1970, when then KU-student David Stout turned in his final dissertation on homosexuality he had no idea that it would eventually lead to the formation of KU's Oueers and Allies.
That was before one of Stout's interviewees, a student at Lawrence High School, sought him out and asked Stout what he planned to do now that he had completed his paper. When Stout replied nothing, the student was less than thrilled.
"I said I was done." Stout said in a pre-recorded interview. "All that was left was to get the grade."
"I believe he shouted, 'what a fucking waste of time,' and stormed out," Stout said. Their next encounter also yielded a surprising event when the student arrived in Stout's office and handed him a small flier. The filier read, Out of the Johns and Onto the Streets and as Stout's eyes scanned further down the page, he
noticed that his name and contact information had been written on the very bottom.
This was one of the many stories shared last night at the Queens and Allies 40th Anniversary Party in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union. Around 20 people, both young and old, gathered together to learn about the history of the organization and see documents critical to the formation of one of the nation's first campus gay rights group.
The student had just finished posting dozens of similar fliers up and down Jayhawk Boulevard. Without ever volunteering, Stout realized that he had no choice but to go beyond his paper and form a gay liberation group.
"In many ways, this boy carried the idea, the seed and he impregnated me," Stout said. "He never did come to any meetings. He left me to nurse the baby."
"There were some pretty gutsy students," Tani Albin, the advisor
MUSIC
Trumpeter's practice pays off in Australia
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
SEE Q&A ON PAGE 3A
Required to play eight songs, back to back, all chosen by judges because of their difficulty. Li began to produce a clear, ringing sound in their ears. Li, a senior from Beijing, was chosen as one of three finalists in the 2010 International Trumpet Guild Conference's Orchestraal Excerpts competition in Sydney, Australia, over the summer.
He became the first Chinese national citizen to be chosen as a finalist in this 30-year-old competition that is open to all trumpet players in the world under the age of 25.
"It's kind of like Olympic diving," Leisring said, "you just set and go."
nroesler@kansan.com
Peixiang Li sat alone on stage, the spotlight gleaming off his trumpet. Waiting behind the judges was an audience made up of trumpet players from all over the world. Li pursed his lips against his instrument and took a deep breath.
Also in the audience sat some of the members of the Kansas University Trumpet Ensemble, including Li's professor and conductor Steve Leisring. Leisring placed third in the same competition in 1988.
Despite the quiet in the air, and
a stage only occupied by himself and his trumpet. Li said he didn't have time to be nervous. He was randomly chosen to perform before the other two finalists.
Li's mother had traveled from China to Australia to watch her son, the first University of Kansas student to make it to the finals of the Orchestraal Excerpt competition, perform. Li said she was happy to see his success. But for himself, he was happier to get a chance to go home. He had come to the University four years ago to study music and he said he was happy that the whole process was over and he could finally relax.
"It was painful." Li said. "I never got satisfied."
"I just had to grab the horn and play." Li said.
Li didn't remember much from his performance. He said it blew by him, and all he really remembered was all the work he did to enter the competition. The work paid off — Li left Australia this summer with a second place finish.
Li would record songs that he thought he played well, then listen to them and would rarely
For more than a year, Li worked on perfecting the songs he needed to send to the Trumpet Guild judges to make it into the finals.
SEE MUSIC ON PAGE 3A
Check out the online version of this story to hear the KU Trumpet Ensemble at work on kansan.com
JAYPLAY | INSIDE
Jayplay writer Josh Hafner looks at online culture and how it shapes people.
Why we act and interact online
FITNESS|6A
Faculty and students of all different fitness levels can benefit from the new way to work out at the recreation center.
BASKETBALL|1B
Resistance training is "the hot new thing"
Selby still waiting on NCAA clearance
Self reduces Selby's reps in practice to prepare Johnson as Taylor's backup
INDEX
Classifieds...5B
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise; 2010 The University Dally Kansan