KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011 / NEWS
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ISLAM (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Fugate said he was reluctant to tell his family about his new religion, but after the initial shock, his family had been supportive.
"I think my mom was kind of scared for me because she wasn't sure about what this thing was that I was getting involved in," he said.
Around the time Fugate informed his family about his decision, MSA held Islam Awareness Week at the University. Fugate's mom came to the event, and he said she had a positive experience learning about Islam.
"The more she learned about it, the more she respected it and respected my decision," he said.
Since his conversion, Fugate has adhered to the Islamic way of life, which includes praying five times a day and not consuming alcohol or pork. Fugate said difficulties arise when friends want to
go to bars or when food contains pork or alcohol, but he follows the Muslim way of life to become a better person, not out of obligation. Other
gation. Other
m em b e r s
noticed his
devotion to the
religion.
"You can't even believe he was a convert; even his lifestyle has changed so much," said Farah, Firman.
Despite his immersion into Islam, Fugate said he still maintained a part of his Greek identity. He said he was learning to
speak Greek
"I looked at other religions because I found some beliefs in the Orthodox Church that didn't really make sense to me."
a junior from Selangor, Malaysia.
GARRETT FUGATE
Sidrah Sheikh, a junior from Chicago and vice president of MSA, said Fugate sometimes even led prayer services.
speak Greek and appreciated Greek values. And even though he said he felt religion was more important than culture, he didn't think being a Greek-America
"When I met him, I honestly thought he'd been a Muslim his entire life," sheikh said.
Muslim convert was a contradiction.
"Muslims are very diverse," he said. "You see people from all over the place."
— Edited by Caroline Bledowski
PAY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
with re-working the 2011 budget.
Rather than cut essential services, jobs and raise tuition, DeGraaf said he was simply simply asking that legislators "sweep back into the bottom line," or approve salaries that were sufficient, but not unnecessarily excessive.
"If the real concern is for our kids and the educated kids of our future, and if they're concerned about their paycheck and they're making three times the average wage," DeGraaf said, "then maybe
they've got their priorities wrong."
they've got their priorities wrong. Constitutional officers like the governor and state-elected officials, such as DeGraaf, would also undergo a pay cut under the proposed bill.
"I'd rather have 80 percent of my check than nothing," DeGraaf said.
Kansas Representative Tom Sloan, R-45 said that while this was not his idea of the appropriate way to balance the budget, he understood how it might pass.
"If I lived out in rural Western Kansas, I could easily vote to reduce faculty salaries if the alternative was that you plow the snow from my roads." Sloan said.
House Bill 2014 is still some time away from becoming a law and must pass through multiple channels, meaning additional amendments can be expected.
The bill will be debated in full sometime this week.
Edited by Sarah Gregory
BULLYING (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
one student's experience of antigay bullying in school.
Precious Porras, assistant director of the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center, said she hoped people would be moved by the film. She said that, even apart from bullying, people could be casually intolerant in their daily conversation without realizing it.
"You hear people say, "That's so retarded," or, "That's so gay," Porras said. "But some of these words can really hurt. You don't know who's in the room and how it's going to affect them."
About 80 people watched "Bullied" on Saturday, when the Headquarters Counseling Center showed the film at the Lawrence Public Library.
Diane Genther, a graduate intern at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, participated as a panelist in the public discussion that followed. Genther said the issue of identity-based bullying had received more national attention recently and that she hoped this meant the national mood was moving from awareness toward sympathy and acceptance.
For those who would like to work for greater tolerance, Genther recommended education, examining one's own biases and going out and meeting people with different perspectives.
"There's stuff happening at campus every day where you can step outside of your comfort zone and learn something new," Genther said. "I would challenge people to take advantage of those opportunities."
Edited by Dave Boyd
Pixie power
Megan Singer/KANSAN
Kelsey Bob, a junior from Overland Park, tries doing pullups during a Marine Corps recruitment challenge. Bob was dressed up as the "Career Fairy" to promote Wednesday's career fair.