Brown and White Vol. 105 no. 21

              the brown and white lehigh university's student newspaper founded in 1894 vol 105 no 21 friday november 21 1997 all the lehigh news first author entertains students with poetry by billy stonberg news writer poet jim carroll amused and entertained an eclectic audience in baker hall of zoellner arts center tuesday with poems about omens his cats and performance artists dressed in a black leather coat and standing over 6 feet tall carroll delivered his spoken-word act to an excited audience carroll is most famous for his book the basketball diaries first published in 1978 and also released in 1995 as a film starring leonardo dicaprio the poet author and song writer is a native of new york city as a teenager he received a scholarship to trinity a private new york high school for his athletic and academic abilities it is about these years that carroll based his book the book draws from diaries he kept from ages 12 to 15 it chronicles his years as a high school basketball star and subsequent addiction to heroin carroll's reading was one stop on a tour which kicked off in 1996 the night began with carroll telling a silent audience to chill the first poem he read day at the races drew big laughs from the crowd many of carroll's poems were infused with the author's humor one poem in particular was about his experience with bad omens i went to let out my dog at 5 a.m and i saw a goat's leg on my door step carroll explained one of the funnier verses from the poem was about a large bat that tormented carroll who has a fear of bats my cats were now in the room bouncing off the walls with outstretched claws trying to down the intruder he said good cats i cheered get the fat bat good cats halfway through the performance carroll began reading some of his newer poems and the mood shifted to a more somber tone one of the most culturally relevant poems was entitled eight fragments for kurt cobain it talked about the late singer's life as an icon the poem has been published in the new york times and has also been read on mtv carroll finished up the performance by returning to more upbeat material at the conclusion of the performance eager fans gathered around carroll to b w photo by ashley merlin date rape activist katie koestner relates her experiences to students koestner tours the country with her speech yes/no weekend conference looks at race relations by chris litman news writer lehigh students and faculty attended a conference on ending racism last weekend in cambridge massachusetts discussions and workshops throughout the weekend emphasized the conference's theme of exploring whiteness to end racism led by experts in the fields of sociology urban studies and women's stud ies as well as prominent authors activists and counselors the group workshops defined and explored the meaning of white culture in the united states the goal for participants was to commu nicate with one another about their experi ences with race and take what they learned back to their communities to help others learn grow and take action the weekend emphasized the impor tance of activism within white culture and minority cultures for true progress toward ending racism many of the workshops that took place were sponsored by magazines and organizations that fostered their own ideology while also demonstrating ways to become active within a community adrian perry 98 explained awareness is a key issue in an examination of the mean ing white culture most people that belong to the white culture don't realize that they are part of it perry said they are unaware of the subtle white supremacy that occurs everyday which does not mean that they are a part of the klan but entails a historical context in which a particular group has been privileged over others becky johnson 98 felt she learned a lot about herself by attending the conference my experience with the conference was a reinforcement of my own explo ration of what it means to be white and be interested in race relations and ending racism johnson said being white is not just having white skin affiliating with a particular church and having ancestors from europe it is also a realization of the benefits that i have and have not received in being a part of a historically predominantly white male society she said jamie morris 99 learned that clear communication is essential in dealing with issues of race relations at first i couldn't define my own cul tural identity morris said i didn't know what white culture meant by talking with people from different sides of the issues and doing group work i gained a better under standing sara nowlin 99 participated in a work shop dealing specifically with youth and white culture it's essential that our age group can communicate not only with each other but to the older generation as well nowlin said the older folks can teach us things that they experienced and we can emphasize the issues relevant now and how they affect our future victim speaks out to prevent date rape by erin reiter news writer katie koestner recalled feeling terri fied and overpowered when she was raped as a freshman in college i felt powerless koestner said can you relate to that a situation most men never feel in their entire lives koestner delivered her speech in baker hall sunday she explained how she was raped within the first month of her freshman year at the college of william and mary in virginia koestner continued her education after being raped and graduated cum laude in 1994 after earning her degree she began touring the country with her speech on date rape entitled yes/no students listened quietly as koestner related her story she opened the program by telling about her childhood when i was little i wanted to grow up and be a ballerina koestner said see carroll page a5 see conference page a5 see koestner page a5 qfflk according to naval tradition if a ship is at sea more than 45 days each crew member is entitled to a ration of two cans of beer source time magazine the admissions process is different for each college see page a7 lifestyle a7-al4 horoscopes a9 crossword al 2 not just a face al3 faculty discuss gender views on campus see page a4 news al-a5 video conference a3 community summit a3 jfj basketball team beat rky^^es^lv !• i manhattan college lyl!!l | 65 " 62 - see p a 9 e a2 °- p sports al9-a2o jni wrestling al9 jji lehigh-lafayette i fc -*' : ' ; " j pullout 81-b8