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Increased pill prices While birth-control pill manufacturers increase the price of their drugs, so must Watkins Memorial Health Center. This means more expensive pills for University students. PAGE 3A
Irish pride
A Kansas student celebbrates her cultural heritage. Keara
Hays adjusts to Kansas after growing up in a small town in Caherline, Ireland. Hays grew up around a family gas station, pubs and red hair.PAGE 5A
The new class Kansas football signed 16 members to the 2004 recruiting class. The class included players at every position, and included top players from Texas and Kansas.PAGE 1B
The bench isn't so bad Despite a lack of playing time, freshman guard Omar Wilkes is confident in Bill Self, and takes the time on the bench to watch and learn. PAGE 1B
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index
Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 1B
Sports briefs 2B
Crossword 6B
Classified 7B
Vol.114 Issue No.86
KANSAN
IN ITS 100TH YEAR AS THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Photo illustration by John Nowak/Special to the Kansas
Doug Case, a former president of the Association of Fraternity Advisors, calls gay, lesbian and bisexual greeks the "invisible membership." In the AFA's newsletter
1996, he published a survey in the AFA's newsletter that proved queer members did exist. Based on the data, Case estimated that 3 to 4 percent of sorority members and 5 to 6 percent of fraternity members are queer. That's close to the general population percentages reported by the National Health and Social Life Survey: between 2 to 5 percent of women and 3 to 5 percent of men.
percent of women and 3 to 5 percent The membership isn't as invisible as it used to be
"SO, DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?" It didn't get any easier, even on the umpteenth time they asked. "Yeah, I'm somebody," Thomas Franklin said again. It was a crappy answer, but what else do you say during fraternity recruitment?
lives of queer greeks change.
When Case was a student, most gay men and lesbians didn't come out until after graduation, if at all, because of rejection and violence. Today, fraternity and sorority members are coming out in schools across the nation.
More often then not, particularly in fraternities, they're being accepted for who they are.
Several fraternities at the University of Kansas have had gay presidents. Both Case and Shane Windmeyer, who has edited two books about queer greeks and lectures on the topic, are gay fraternity members. They've seen the lives of queer greeks change.
Around him, members and recruits of Phi Kappa Tau swirled in a blur of bowling and small talk. He thought about his life at Independence Community College. It was so small-town, but people there didn't care that he was gay. They'd elected him student body president and homecoming king. Now, here he was at the fabled "Gay-U," in the relatively enlightened year of 1998, bending the truth to please people he didn't know. This was getting old.
"So, do you have a girlfriend?"
"No, but I have a boyfriend," Thomas said.
sure:
The members of Phi Kappa Tau had already decided to ask Thomas to join. He'd been to other recruitment events and they'd seen that he was a strong leader, a good student and a swell guy. So what if he was into men; they'd heard their chapter had accepted guys like him before, and Thomas was too much of an asset to lose. They offered him a bid that night.
Everyone struggles with rejection and popularity, and everyone worries about getting a date. The issues were the same, only the details were different.
He knows people think it must have been an awkward life, but it wasn't. Thomas never felt like "that gay black guy." He wasn't a token or a freak. Everyone struggles with rejection and popularity, and everyone worries about getting a date. The issues were the same, only the details were different. Looking back, the one experience that made him feel different, and the hardest thing he ever did, was telling the fraternity he was gay.
Every new member of Phi Kappa Tau gets a nickname, usually a joke that plays on his personality or appearance. Thomas' was Lamar, after the fey African-American fraternity member in Revenge of the Nerds.
accepted them. Case wasn't as shocked. He compared it to coming out to family. Even the kind of father who freaks out when boys can't throw a football is going to be hard-pressed to permanently reject a gay son. After all, Case said, this isn't some random pansy — this is his kid. More importantly, this is a person he knows, not a faceless stereotype. Case said respect for the person would outweigh disrespect for the stereotype more than 50 percent of the time.
Most people who responded to Doug Case's survey were terrified of coming out and surprised when their chapters
than 50 percent less. Nonetheless, Thomas' decision to come out early in his Greek career is rare. Fear of what might happen keeps some people silent until they're upperclassmen. In the past, when rejection was the norm, it was common to not come out until years after graduation.
Not everyone who waits to come out now does so out of fear. A guy might identify as straight when he joins but realize three years later there's a reason Playgirl is more interesting to him than Playboy. That's what happened to Danny Cohn, another KU student who came out to his fraternity in the spring of 1998.
No one suspected Danny was gay. He dated a lot and got the lookers, too. Hot
SEE CLOSET ON PAGE 6A
Dialogue to address affirmative action
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Affirmative action has sparked debate among politicians for years, but tonight University of Kansas faculty and students will be the ones weighing in on the controversial issue.
The Multicultural Resource Center will hold "Special Treatment for Special Mis-Treatment: Is there really a need for affirmative action?" at 7 tonight at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Diversity Peer Education Team, is part of this year's Diversity Dialogues series.
Andrea Pantoja, Mission junior and president of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, said she thought the discussion would lead to an intense debate.
"I think a lot of people can say it's a good thing and a bad thing. I'm sure it will be a heated conversation if there's a diverse group of students there," she said
Santos Nunez, program director of the Multicultural Resource Center, said the panel would include professors from political science, philosophy, journalism and other disciplines, in addition to students with a variety of majors. She said the panel would primarily discuss the elements of affirmative action and the controversies associated with it in recent years.
Mark Dupree, Kansas City, Kan., senior, and Big 12 delegate for the Black Student Union, said affirmative action was an important issue, especially at a predominantly white institution where viewpoints could be lopsided. Students need to look for both sides of the issue, he said.
"It's like my mother always said, 'If you don't go looking for the truth, the truth won't find you,'" Dupree said.
Tom Keating, Marysville junior and president of the KU Young Democrats, said some form of affirmative action was still needed.
sun headed
"Affirmative action is an issue that we are not finished with in this country," he said. "There is still a need for it, but it might take on a different form than it has in the past."
Ali Bannwarth, Independence sophomore and secretary for the University of Kansas College Republicans, agreed that it was an important issue to discuss.
"I think any discussion is always worthwhile, especially about issues that are controversial," she said.
Edited by Stephanie Lovett
Hashinger renovation influences food options
Students, architects discuss eatery plans
By Azita Tafreshi
atafreshi@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
E's Express will soon receive a makeover as part of the upcoming Hashinger Hall renovations.
Peg Rodger, food consultant for Envisions Strategies, and Andrew Pitts, architect with Treanor Architect P.A., have been meeting with students, faculty, and staff since Tuesday evening to hear how they would like to see the sack lunch alternative to Mrs. E's transformed.
Nona Golledge, assistant director of dining services for the Department of Student Housing, said the student input gathered from those meetings would help to guide the renovation plans.
"We're pretty open at this point," Golledge said. "We have some really general ideas, and we're just really anxious to hear what students have to say."
near what she studied.
Jennifer Meilt, Rushcenter sophomore and vice president of programming for the Association of University Residence Halls, said although students have the option of going to the Kansas Union or Wesco Terrace to grab a bite to eat, she
A coffeehouse with tables and soft seating would provide students with a unique environment for both relaxing and studying is an idea she had heard mentioned, Meill said. She said she would like the shop to have a local coffee vendor with an atmosphere comparable to Java Break, 17 F. 7th St.
"I would just really like to see a place where students can hang out and talk and eat at any hour of the night," Meitl said.
would like to have something similar on Daisy Hill.
"It's kind of more retro, and I think it would really fit with Hash," Meitl said.
Other proposed concepts for the facility thus far have included fast-food franchise options such as Taco Bell or Papa John's and extended hours.
Ben Heath, Overland Park junior, said a 24-hour venue would be ideal for when students get an attack of the late-night munchies. But he said it might not be practical to offer food that students can already have delivered to the residence halls because they will continue to go off-campus to get exactly what they want.
"I know that Pokey Stix are essential," Heath said. "So unless they put in a
Amanda Kim Stairrett/Kansas
Carol Rudolph, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore, served Andrea Bridges and Jennifer Mayo, Lenexa freshmen, sacks of food at E's Express on the second floor of Heshinger Hall last night. Rudolph said E's Express was busiest every half hour, after buses unloaded on Daisy Hill. E's Express will undergo a makeover in 2005. Bridges and Mayo had their own ideas for improving E's Express." I think we should have PB and J all the time," Mayo said. "You can't go wrong with PB and J."
SEE RENOVATION ON PAGE 8A