THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY,OCTOBER 5,2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 34
EMBRACING IDENTITY
Students enjoy freedom of coming out
BY SAMANTHA COLLINS
scollins@kansan.com
One day during her junior year, Chloe Alexander decided to dress as a man. She didn't want attention and she didn't want to cause trouble. She just wanted to be herself. So Alexander, a senior from Merriam, bound her breasts and arrived in class with men's clothing.
"I started not seeing myself as female anymore," Alexander said.
She said the first time she went to class dressed as man she didn't know what to expect. She didn't know how they would react, if they would react or if they would just pretend nothing changed. To her surprise, her fellow classmates were not alarmed about the sudden change in attire. She said she imagined the process of coming out of the closet to be an emotional roller coaster.
Alexander, who identifies herself as queer, successfully came out of the closet, and she said she hoped many others would follow her.
"It's rarely like the big dramatic thing they show on television," Alexander said. "It was really relieving and fun."
In celebration of National Coming Out Day, which is Oct. 11, Queers and Allies will host Kate Bornstein, a transgender activist and author. Bornstein will perform tonight in Hashinger Hall Theatre at 7 p.m. to promote awareness of gender and sexuality issues. Bornstein called her performance "On Men, Women and the Rest of Us." She said she would raise more questions on gender and sexuality than people would expect. She said even most heterosexuals have something for which to come out of a closet.
"There's lot of closets to come out of, not just gay and lesbian,"
Sara Thompson, a senior from Salina, fell in love with her freshman-year roommate. She didn't understand this sudden attraction to her roommate. She said she didn't want to ruin her friendship with her roommate with her romantic feelings. She had to come out of the closet to herself first. She said at first she was confused because she didn't look like a lesbian. She often questioned her sexuality after that, and she wasn't quite sure what to
She said people needed to stop lying to themselves and find out who they truly are as sexual human beings. At the age of 62, Bornstein spent almost half of her life lying to herself about her gender orientation. In her thirties she went through a sex change, yet she still tied about her gender orientation.
Bornstein said.
"I was pretty sure I was straight up until college," Thompson said. "Then I realized that I don't even like dudes all that much."
"I'm not a man or a woman,"
Bornstein said. "I just myself."
Then she started to realize that throughout her life she had always been attracted to women. Whether it was a small crush on another girl from high school or falling in love with her roommate, she knew she couldn't lie to herself. She said her openness with that one girl led her to realize that she was attracted to women. She finally told her roommate about her feelings after feeling depressed and anxious about telling her, she said. Her roommate was surprised and had no idea that Thompson has feelings for her, but she accepted Thompson.
"It was the best reaction she could have given me," Thompson said.
"Although I secretly wished she was passionately in love with me too but she wasn't."
Joel Layton, a senior from Overland Park, is bisexual. As a sophomore in high school, he gradually began to tell his friends and mother about his sexuality. He said he never felt a weight lift from his shoulders afterward, but he did feel a little relief.
"I didn't have to play pronoun games with" people who I was attracted too," Layton said.
She said she felt great the next day after her confession. She said she felt like she was hiding from her best friend and afterward she could finally be herself.
Although coming out of the closet can be a freeing experience, Bornstein said if there was a chance of injury, both physically and emotionally, then a person should wait.
The only person left to tell was
his father, but he never did. He said his father was a very conservative man and he was afraid that if told him, his father would disown him. He said that after all, his father was his financial support, especially at the age of 15.
"It was a scary prospect." Layton said.
Layton never got the chance to tell his dad about his bisexuality because he died shortly afterward.
Borstein said the best thing about coming out was that a person didn't have to stick to it. She said this performance was all about National Coming Out Day. Once someone comes out, that person can come out as something totally different later — the options are endless.
"I hope you do, or life will be awfully boring" she said.
ADMINISTRATION
— Edited by Roshni Oommen
Inflation catches up to state funds
BY STEPHEN
MONTEMAYOR
smontemayor@kansan.com
"I think it's really disturbing," said Gary Sherrer, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents.
State funding for higher education has failed to keep up with inflation since 2005 as students now pay more for their education than the state, a report released Thursday by the Legislative Division of Post Audit found.
The report found that one in six students in Kansas had excess credit hours, but those hours represented a small proportion of all credit hours attempted by students.
The audit's primary purpose was to determine whether the state has too many college students with excess credit hours. Excess hours occur when a student has more credits than 115 percent of what is necessary to graduate.
"Neither the state nor Kansas' universities would save significant money by reducing excess credit hours," the report said.
The finding that inflation outpaced state funding for higher education is a first for Kansas. Universities have two main sources of funding, state appropriations and tuition revenues. Presently, the state's six universities receive a higher share from the latter category.
According to the report, tuition revenues in 2009 were $449,638,044 compared to state appropriations of $428,301,065. In 2005, state appropriations
SEE TUITION ON PAGE 3A
FOOTBALL|10A
Ch-ch-ch changes under Gill
Football players will have to hand in cell phones and avoid contact with women late at night on nights before game days, under coach Gill's new policies.
Finish your readings in 10 minutes
A Lawrence librarian reveals her strategy for getting through long readings in a shorter amount of time.
Classifieds...8A
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...10A
Sudoku...4A
INDEX
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY 8450
Sunny
THURSDAY 76 49
Sunny
CAMPUS
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2010 The University Daily Kansar
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Emily Willis, Salon Hawk owner, adds a pink hair extension to Salon Hawk stylist, Becky Gladman. Gladman remarked that adding a pink hair extension is "a good way to create awareness, and support the community by helping someone at the same time." Salon Hawk, located on the third floor of the Kansas Union, will be providing pink extensions through October.
Think pink on campus this week Breast Cancer Awareness supporters shine light on preventative actions for students
BY JUSTINE PATTON jpatton@kansan.com
Willis said she witnessed her best friend go through emotions Willis described as shocking.
Four years ago Salon Hawk owner Emily Willis watched her best friend crumble from a strong-willed, "punky" Lawrence police officer to a young woman whose life was suddenly at stake. The reason? She was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"She is the toughest girl I know," Willis said. "I never had seen her cry. She never wanted kids. She never wanted any of that stuff. And then I watched her go from a very strong, almost guy-girl, to actually going through, 'Well, what if I can't have children? What about this? I have so much left to do with my life.'"
Willis decided to do something to help her friend. She started selling pink hair extensions for $10 through Salon Hawk in support of breast cancer awareness. And four years later, at the kick-off of KU's Breast Cancer Awareness Week, Pink Hair for Hope is still going strong.
All of the profits raised by Salon Hawk are donated to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Willis said it was important to her that all of the money received stay local.
"Anybody that helps us is help
ing people here — real people that actually are going through something here, not just somewhere," Willis said.
If rocking pink hair isn't your thing, there are many other ways students can involve themselves to support breast cancer awareness this week.
Jenny McKee, a health coordinator at Watkins Memorial Health
Center, said empowerment was a major goal of Breast Cancer Awareness Week this year. She said the goal wasn't only to inform, but to get students to take
"It's one in every four women, and that could happen as early as 19."
EMILY WILLIS Salon Hawk owner
the information and do something with it.
"We really want to get people to a place where they can connect," McKee said.
Three interactive tabling events will give students the opportunity to take their loved one's health into their own hands. Students can send stamped postcards to remind their family and friends to get their annual exams.
"It's a nice way to tell someone, Hey, I care about you, and I want you to go get your regular
check-up," said Annie McBride, a graduate student from Omaha and student intern with the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
The tabling events, which will run from Monday through Wednesday, will also give students the chance to take control of their own personal health. Through an organization called Bright
Pink, women can sign up to receive monthly text messages to remind them to do their monthly breast exams.
"I think we can do a lot to educate people, but October is so pink," McKee said. "It's everywhere, and that's great, but these are ways you can really make a difference for both yourself and for someone that you care about."
People like Willis, however,
McKee said many students don't give breast cancer a second thought at this point in their lives.
"A lot of young people, especially young ladies, aren't even thinking about breast cancer, because that's something that happens to moms, anuts and grandmas," McKee said.
— Edited by Leslie Kinsman
Pink Hair for Hope extensions
know firsthand that it can happen sooner than later. Although she said her best friend's story had a happy ending — she had the cancer removed without having to undergo any chemotherapy and continues to serve the city of Lawrence as a police officer — Willis said students need to recognize breast cancer as a threat.
"I'te one in every four women, and that could happen as early as 19," Willis said. "My friend was 24, and to think there are seniors that are 24 here on campus, that really makes a big impact. You could be one in four at any time in your life."
Where: Salon Hawk located on the third floor of the Kansas Union
When: Through October
Cost: $10 an extension