Brown and White Vol. 120 no. 9

              Vol. 120 No. 9
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
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Page 16
ONLINE
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LIFESTYLE
By ANGELA FARREN
Creating a comfortable environment for all students - LGBTQIA and straight alike - begins with one simple act: thinking before you speak.
ThinkB4YouSpeak.com raises awareness about how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students hear homophobic remarks and experience harassment every day. They often feel disrespected, unwanted and unsafe because of such remarks.
The website’s goal is to reduce and prevent the use of homophobic language in an effort to create a more posi­tive environment for LGBT people.
A phrase like “That’s so gay” is a common homo­phobic remark. These slurs are a common part of many students’ everyday language and are often unintentional.
According to ThinkB4YouSpeak.com, most students do not recognize the effects these remarks have on oth­ers, but the casual use of this language often translates into more overt harassment.
Most people do not intend for their speech to sound harsh or insulting. However, the casual and constant use of anti-LGBT language is directly related to the physical abuse of LGBT students.
According to the website, nine out of 10 LGBT stu­dents reported being harassed at school within the last year.
More than one-third of LGBT students have been physically assaulted at school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.
It sometimes seems as though this form of verbal ignorance can be overlooked, but this is not always the case.
The story of Sirdeaner Walker and her son Carl Walker-Hoover reveals that anti-LGBT taunting can have dire effects.
Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old Massachusetts boy, hanged himself on April 6, 2009, after enduring bullying at school, including daily taunts for being gay, despite his mother’s weekly pleas to the school to address the problem.
Walker-Hoover’s was the fourth suicide of a middle-school aged child linked to bullying during the 2008-2009 school year, according to the website.
Schools know that violence toward LGBT students is a problem that should be dealt with proactively.
The website shows steps schools are enacting to become safer environments for LGBT students. These include training on LGBT issues for teachers and school staff, creating school- and district-level policies that ad
Website helping to correct casual use of word ‘gay’
By KIRK GREENWOOD
The Market on the Square, a convenience store on campus operated by the Lehigh Uni­versity Bookstore staff, has moved.
As of the first day of the spring semester, the store, which formerly occupied a 1,000-square-foot space directly across from the bookstore in Campus Square, has been relocated inside the bookstore, adjacent to Starbucks on the ground floor.
Steve Schatten, general manager of the bookstore, described the move as more conve­nient for students.
“I think what we discovered is that the idea of ‘convenience store’ means it should actually be convenient for students,” he said.
Schatten explained that the bookstore’s snacks and other convenience offerings had been housed on the second floor of the book­store (the part that now houses school and dorm supplies) until fall 2008 when Starbucks was added downstairs.
“At the time, we didn’t have room for a con­venience store downstairs, and it seemed silly to sell soda and chips upstairs and coffee down­stairs,” he said. “We always wanted to have food on the same floor as the coffee.”
The bookstore decided to move its con­venience offerings like chips, soda, cookies, candy, the ubiquitous ramen noodles and other snack foods into the retail space on the other
See MARKET Page 3
See THINK Page 3
Wiz Khalifa chosen as 2011 Sundaze headliner
By SARAH FREEMAN
You know what it is: Sundaze 2011. This year, University Productions is proud to present Wiz Khalifa as the headliner.
Wiz will be appearing at Sayre Field on Sunday, April 10, as part of his 2011 Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour.
Wiz will be joined by Mac Miller, another artist of Wiz’s choice and the winner of Lehigh’s Battle of the Bands, said University Productions’ music di­rector, Jean-Philippe Panier, ’12.
“Half rock tour, half environmental campaign, Campus Consciousness Tour aims to inspire and activate students in an electric atmosphere, while leaving a positive impact on each community the tour visits,” the Campus Consciousness Tour website said. “In addition to edu­cating and mobilizing students, the tour includes many greening elements and is run to have a minimal environmental footprint.”
The Campus Consciousness Tour first visited colleges around the country in 2006 featuring Guster.
Past headliners included Passion Pit, Ben Harper, O.A.R. and Drake.
The Campus Consciousness Tour is an initiative started by Reverb.
Guster’s Adam Gardner and en
See WIZ Page 4
n Barnes and Noble now houses the former Market on the Square as an easier to navigate one-stop shop for students.
B&W photo by MEAGAN CARTER
Junior 197-pound Joe Kennedy wrestles the University of Pennsylvania’s Micah Burak at Leeman-Turner Arena on Sunday. The team defeated the Quakers 35-4. See the story on page 16.
We invite you to our pinning
Campus Square convenience store relocates to bookstore