NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006 ▼ INTERNATIONAL THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3A Culture sharing at World Expo Students prepare for global event BY ANNE WELTMER aweltmer@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER University of Kansas students and members of the Lawrence community will have the opportunity to travel around the world in a matter of hours without leaving the Kansas Union. The International Student Association's World Expo will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Friday at the Kansas Union Ballroom. The expo is one of two main events in the organization's annual International Awareness Week. "Even though KU has so many international students, they don't usually interact with American students." Burduli said. "It's really hard for those two groups to connect." Giorgi Burduli, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, sophomore and ISA public relations officer, said the event was his favorite because international students got to share their culture with the entire community instead of just each other. The University of Kansas has 1,575 international students from 105 countries, according to University Relations. The World Expo will feature 50 of those countries. Each exhibit will be different. Burdul said some would include slide shows, maps, posters, flags and other artifacts from the country. Others would have national dishes to taste. Farashta Sediqzad, Overland Park sophomore and ISA president, said she and her other Afghan friends would be doing an exhibit on Afghanistan. Sediqzad was born in Afghanistan. stan, but because of the country's current situation, she has not been back since she was 3 or 4 years old. She said she liked to travel and learn about other cultures, so the World Expo would be a "mini-vacation" for her. She also said she liked to share her culture with other students. "I think a lot of American students, a lot of my friends, don't really get the opportunity to travel outside the U.S." she said. She wanted to show them what it was like to be in her country. Last year, she said many people asked about her thoughts about the war on terror, and she said she was against all war. She saw the exhibit as a way to "set them straight" on what was happening in Afghanistan. Burduli said the event wasn't just for American KU students but for the community, and other international students. He said he learned a lot about other countries by wandering around the World Expo last year. ISA expects attendance from local schools, the KU community and the Lawrence community. He said ISA had high turnout in previous years partially because of its advertising. He said it placed ads in The University Daily Kansan and the Lawrence Journal-World. He said the organization also had access to many of the list servers on campus because many of the group's members are also involved in other clubs. The other main event of the week, the Festival of Nations, will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. — Edited by Cynthia Hernandez Please pass the kosher salt Melinda Ricketts/KANSAN Josh Broger, Chicago freshman, Jay Gordon, Houston freshman and Eryan Cohen, Tulsa, OK senior, dip greens in salt water during the Passover Seder put on by KU Hillel on Wednesday evening. The salt water symbolizes tears of oppression and the bitterness of slavery, while the greens symbolize spring and hope. Passover Seder is a meal and sit-down service combined that is meant to tell the story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. The Seder service is a traditional series of rituals performed in order and is led from a Hagadah, the traditional Passover prayer book. The rituals all relate to aspects of the Exodus. "I like going to the Seder because it reminds me of who I am. When you're on a college campus your thoughts kind of wander around and it helps me get back to who I am," Gordon said. SPEAKERS Transgender women speak BY MELINDA RICKETTS mricketts@kansan.com KANSAN STAFFER WRITER Most people would not, given the choice, subject themselves to expensive, painful surgeries and the risk of losing their spouses, losing their friends and estrangement from their children. That is, however, exactly what the three women who spoke at Transgender 101 on Wednesday evening did. They spoke, along with an attorney, about issues and challenges regarding gender identity and expression during the panel discussion. Donna Rose, the main speaker and a transgender advocate, lived her life as a man until she was 40, when a series of events forced her to confront her gender identity. One of the main things that forced her to evaluate her identity was the death or her father. "Sex, in my vernacular, is the physical representation of which gender you are," she said. "It's a pretty simple equation. Penis, boy. No Penis, girl." From Rose's perspective diversity is a good thing, and she doesn't understand why people have the desire to put other people in boxes. She said a lot of people asked her if being a transgender meant she was homosexual, or if she was transgender because she preferred to wear women's clothes. Rose said that was when she realized that being a transgender person was not something that needed to be "cured or handled." She said that when she saw him in the casket she realized that his physical body was just a shell, and what was really him was all the memories and experiences she shared with him. "To me, to think that sexuality has to do with being trans will lead you down a path where you'll never understand it," she said. "Sexuality doesn't have anything to do with being trans, being trans doesn't have anything to do with sexuality." Rose said the most painful part of the change was losing her family. For a while they wouldn't speak to her at all. She gained, however, a renewed appreciation of who she was. "Now when I think about death and I think about laying there and wondering if I have any regrets, I'm confident that the answer is no," she said. Jamie Tyroler, another transgender woman on the panel, said that gender roles were thrust on people before they were born and could be constraining. "One of the things that really came home to me in this process is that the concepts of male and female are so limiting and really don't make a lot of sense, when you think about it," she said. Donna Ross, the third member of the panel, had her transition chronicled in the local media. Because she was a hockey announcer at the time, she knew she would have to face the public. She said that facing all the difficulties that she did, many people thought she was out of her mind. Like the other members of the panel, she realized, however, that her gender transition brought her closer to her true identity. "I'm not out of my mind. I was out of my body, and now I'm correct," she said. THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS Edited by Timon Veach Alternative Breaks Winter Spring Weekend ARE YOU A LEADER? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF VOLUNTEERISM? DO YOU WANT TO HELP FELLOW KN STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE? Apply to become an Alternative Breaks Core Apply to become an Alternate Member. Positions Available: Director (2). Winter Break Coordinator (2) Spring Break Coordinator (2). Weekend Break Coordinator (2) Public Relations Finance and Fundraising CAREER ADVICE FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS Alternative Breaks send more than 150 students to locations throughout the US to volunteer for non-profit agencies on our winter, spring, and weekendbreak programs., Applications online at www.ku.edu/~albreaks Applications due to 428 Kansas Union on APRIL 14th MONDAY, APRIL 24 @ 7:30 PM KANSAS ROOM AT THE UNION SAGE the Student Association of Graduates in English Tuesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m. in the Olympian room of the Burge Union. Panelists: Professors Amy Devitt and Frank Farmer Filmworks Film Festival THEME: THIS IS THE END Held At: OldCathen Studios Possible topics include understanding the level of scholarship and writing needed for academic publishing, places to seek publication, how academic publishing "works" (you may not see the paper published for a year or more after it is accepted), understanding peer review, etc. Please attend! The panels are informal and largely driven by the questions from audience members. OBJECT: A TOWEL april 23rd at 7:30 PM Bell Arts: Olderaders Studies (located at 9th and Avalon, right off of Iowa) Guidelines: 1) Must be 10 minutes or less 2) Must demonstrate both the theme and object of the festival Rules: NO RULES Films Des By: Friday April 14th by 4:00 PM in Oldfatha Studies at the front desk (DVD, MiniDVD, VHS) Awards: Trophies are given to most original, viewers' choice, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place * Snacks and drinks will be provided at the screening For questions contact Taylor Sleen (taylor.sleen@merrimackmail.com) April 13,2006 funded by: SENATE PAID FOR BY KU CCO is in need of Co-Directors (2) Communications Director Financial Director Technology Director Center for Community Outreach are now hiring paid director positions for next year. Deadline is April 24 for more information www.ku.edu/~cco KU Students for Life Bobby Schindler, Brother of Terri Schaivo Wednesday April 26th, 2006 7:30pm Kansas Union Ballroom Event, Part of Stand Up for Life Wee Sponsored by KU Students for Life International Awareness Week 2006 Soccer Tournament Sunday, April 9, 12:30 p.m. Monday, April 10, 3:00 p.m. Shenk Outdoor Complex (23rd and Iowa) Fashion Show & Language Fair Thursday, April 13, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. 4th Floor Lobby, Kansas Union **Movie:** "All About My Mother" (Todo sobre Mi Madre) Wednesday, April 12, 8:00 - 1:00 p.m. Check Rock Creek Natural Hall "Is the U.S. Violating International Law in Iraq?" Professor Sharon O'Donnell Tuesday April 11, 7:00 p.m. Woodford Auditorium, Kansas Union World Expo & International Athlete Autograph Session Friday, April 14 at 12:20 - 5:00 p.m. Kansas Union Ballroom "Festival of Nations" Friday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. Woodstock Auditorium, Kansas Union *Flavors of the World Dinner* Wednesday April 15. 6:00 p.m. Call for Artists for the F-WORD Artwalk Artists of all media needed for a progressive "woman artist/ woman inspired" artwalk to be held April 28th. Submit digital images to: comstwomen@ku.edu Submission deadline is April 31st (The F-Word is female/feminist) --- V