Friday inside
Music for the holidays Various campus choirs and orchestras are preparing for the 79th annual Holiday Vespers concerts. The concerts will be held at the Lied Center this weekend and will feature opera pieces and holiday standards. PAGE3A
Flu on the rise Health officials are worried about flu numbers rising at an unusually high rate this year. With the stress and sleep deficiency that finals bring, students are particularly susceptible right now.PAGE 3A
A film student tells the story of the 129th Reserve Division for his documentary short. The divisions deployment was extended, leaving families to work together to pass legislation to relieve soldiers. PAGE5A
War-inspired documentary
Victory in California
The Kansas volleyball team swept the Long Beach State 49ers in three games in its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. PAGE12A
Women come home
The Kansas women's basketball team is ready to play its
first home game of the season tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse. PAGE 12A
Weather Today
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Two-day forecast saturday sunday 4519 5538
Mostly clear Partly cloudy and warm Josh Molgren, KUJH-TV
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Briefs 2A
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Sports 12A
Sports briefs 9A
Horoscopes 10A
Comics 10A
KANSAN
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Friday, December 5, 2003
Sean Smith/Kansan
Claven Snow, Lawrence resident,and his fiancée, Vanessa Hays, Topeka senior, smiled before kissing. Claven, 25, who was born a woman and has been taking testosterone injections for 21 months, has known Hays since before he began his physical transition to become a man.
From girl to man: Body matches mind
By Johanna M. Maska
jmaska@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The waiting room at the doctor's office is packed with men and women reading magazines. As the door opens, a few impatient faces look up.
"C.J.," the nurse calls. A man about 5-foot-6, with dark jeans, dark shirt and closely cropped hair, walks to the door.
"The left — We'll do the right cheek this time," she says. With a jab, she sticks a needle in his butt.
Jessica Matta
This biweekly injection of testosterone has become routine for Clavene. This way, he can more easily maintain his male appearance. The reason: Clavene was born a girl.
In the privacy of a sterile four-by-five examining room, Claven Snow pulls down his pants and asks the nurse, "Which cheek did we do last time?"
Born Nov. 27, 1978, Jessica Matta was the fourth of five children. She played the piano, sang in the school choir and played with toys. Like many other young girls, she had been promised equality.
Vol.114 Issue No.72
Family, friends and teachers figured lessica was a tomboy.
My mom told me I could be anything
I wanted to be, Claven recalled.
At age 6, she began cutting her hair
In the second grade her teacher asked what she wanted to be when she grew up.
snort. She didn't like dresses; she preferred G.I. Joes to Barbies; she would attach her hair bows to her shirt and wear them as bow ties.
The teacher called her parents and they agreed on treatment. Within days, her family rushed her to an institution for psychoanalysis where she was diagnosed with "gender dysphoria." The prescription was simple: "girl" stuff.
"I want to be a man like my daddy." Jessica said.
There it was.
Unusual, not unique
"They probably spent thousands of dollars on pink and white dresses, hair bows and therapy," Claven said of his parents. "I never did really feel like a girl, but I did learn to shut up for about 15 years."
Claven is transsexual. Although born a female, he is undergoing hormonal replacement therapy to look and feel like the man he is.
Transsexuality is as old as humankind, said Dennis Dailey, University of Kansas professor in social welfare, who has worked with transsexuals in his private practice as a therapist.
SEE TRANSITION ON PAGE 6A
Contributed photo
Left: Claven, still dressed as a woman, at a 1993 homecoming celebration at his high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Pictured right is his friend and date, Matt Pinkston.
Wescoe Terrace expansion set for May
By Laura Francoviglia
editor@kansan.com
Special to the Kansan
Students will have more dining options in Wescoe Terrace next fall after the building and the food court are remodeled and expanded.
"We want it to be a welcoming and warm place for students to go, but a different dining experience than the Kansas Union or the Burge Union," said Michael Myers, assistant director-retail of KU Memorial Unions Food Services.
Wescoe Terrrace will be closed by May 14,2004. Stop Day, when construction will start.
Students taking classes during the summer won't be completely disadvantaged, though. They still will be able to lunch from food carts near Wescoe Terrace.
Myers said the planned reopening was Aug. 19, the first day of school.
Wescoe's new food options will probably include Chic-fil-A, Pizza Hut and a stand that will sell Asian cuisine.
Wescoe's salad bar will be updated to include different salads, such as Caesar and pasta salads. Sushi still will be available, and the Mill Valley Deli will remain because of its popularity.
Wescoe Terrace's expansion also will include a separate convenience store, which will stay open longer for students who study at Anschutz Library. The convenience store will sell coffee and smoothies, similar to what the jittermugs store at the Kansas Union offers.
The bottom floor of Wescoe Hall will be expanded to where the patio is now. New walls will be constructed on the west and south sides of the building to allow for more space. Wescoe Terrace will be constructed into a food court with more options and more tables, similar to the unions.
"I'm not worried the unions will lose business to Wescoe Terrace, because we will have different food choices to offer students," said Jay Glatz, director of KU Memorial Unions Food Services.
Though the project is still in the planning stages, Glatz estimated it would cost $500,000.
The projects may be broken into two phases because of the high cost of renovations and building design. As a result, the convenience store may open later than the food court.
SEE WESCOE ON PAGE5A
Satirist fills ballroom with students, laughter
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
astairrett@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Mo Rocca told a crowd of more than 670 about his favorite field piece from Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. The story was about a Key West, Fla., ban on cock fighting. Animal rights groups would not allow the animals to be put to sleep, and rogue roosters roamed the streets. Rocca asked a resident, "What's the best way to handle big, ferocious cocks?"
Rocca, a Daily Show correspondent and commentator from VIH1's I Love the 80s, spoke in the Kansas Union Ballroom last night. Student Union Activities sponsored the event and had to add 50 seats to the room. People had to be turned away at the door because the room was full.
Robyn Conaway, Sallisaw, Okla., senior, watched Rocca on I Love the 80s and NBC's The Today Show.
"He puts a funny spin on intelligence," she said.
He shared his opinions on the Democratic nominee for president, fondness for presidential grave sites and *Daily Show* moments. The crowd roared with laughter while watching a never-aired clip of Rocca butting in on an on-the-spot interview during the 2000 elections. Rocca gradually crept up to a politician being interviewed by another reporter, inching his microphone closer and closer to the politician's face until made contact, creating wrinkly jowls. The
other reporter swatted Rocca's microphone away, but he kept poking. The politician kept talking through the entire incident. Rocca kept a straight face but told the audience he could hardly keep his composure.
He showed other clips from the Daily Show, including a piece with correspondent Stephen Colbert, parodying the mudslinging between CNN's Aaron Brown and Geraldo Rivera. In the piece, Colbert delivered the word "poopalanche" straight-faced. Rocca said it was the funniest word ever spoken on the Daily Show. He said he enjoyed making fun of the news although it bothered him that politicians were tripping over themselves to get on comedy shows.
Before the Daily Show, Roca wrote for the PBS children's series Wishbone. Later, he made $150 an hour as a contributing editor for Perfect 10 magazine, which features nude models without breast implants.
Rocca said his next project was developing a reality show for POX which involved released convicts and a doughnut shop to acclimate him. He said it was part Touched By An Angel, part The Restaurant.
Oh, and the best way to handle big ferocious cocks? Use gloves.
Edited by Erin Riffey
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Satirist Mo Rocca watched along with the audience as a video of his appearance on The O'Reilly Factor played. In the segment he facetiously defends the social benefit of lingerie-clad and pregnant Barbie dolls in a debate against Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America. He spoke last night to a full ballroom in the Kansas Union.
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