San Francisco Foghorn

              Hil-l-nOM & FAIRNESS
VOL. 104     ISSUE 17
FDGHORN.TJSFCXEDTJ
^     " ——    „ri^n^iN.u^v^^caJ  FEBRUARY28, 2008
Ho'ike Event Displays Hawaiian Culture Blood Donation Discrimination
HUNTER PATTERSON
StaffWriter
The newly formed Hawaiian Ensemble fiUed McLaren hall with a night of
traditional dancing, singing and authentic
Hawaiian food last Friday as part of their
Ho'ike event.
Margaret Higgins, vice president for
University Life, kicked off the performance with a traditional Hawaiian dance,
performed alongside USF student and
Hawaiian Ensemble Vice President Mahe
Lum. Higgins also introduced the event
and expressed her pride in the dedication
of the event's many dancers and organizers.
Ho'ike featured other USF students,
as well as professional dancers and musicians, who performed in traditional Hawaiian dress that included lots of feathers
as weU as tattooed and bare chested men,
and women in bikini-esque costumes.
The event foUowed the narrative of a
grandfather teaching the history of Hawaiian culture to his granddaughter. This
history was explained through a series of
10 dances, many of them choreographed
by club members. Hawaiian Ensemble
President Jenna Waipa spent a lot of time
researching the history that formed the
backbone of the dances.
"In Hawaiian culture, history and legend are told through poetry. The gods and
legends came through stories. I wanted
to teU a whole story, and for people to be
able to foUow the story with me," she said.
Waipu spent many hours in the library
researching and also talked to her grandparents to help her understand the history
behind the dances she was creating.
Mele 'O Hawaii, one of the dances created by Hawaiian Ensemble, teUs the story
of Pele, a Tahitian goddess who leaves that
island in search of a new home. She hope-
Above: a USF student performs a traditional H
sity Life, Margaret Higgins, performs the first
Hunter Patterson/Foghorn
awaiian dance. Below: Vice President for Univer-
dance before introducing the event last Friday.
lessly wanders the Hawaiian Islands before
coming to the big island where she makes
her new home. Waipu said, "The tone is
supposed to be very desperate because she
keeps getting rejected and she is at her wits
end when she gets to the big island."
The Bon Appetit catered menu boasted traditional Hawaiian food including
roast pig, long rice and salmon.
USF student Chris Culkin attended
the event. "It was a great, I couldn't be
more proud of a student club," he said.
Waipu was also pleased with the event.
"We didn't get a lot of funding so everyone
did it from the bottom of their hearts. The
parents of the dancers and faculty on campus came and supported us," she said.
Approximately 200 people attended
the sold out event.
Cultural Body Image Ideals Evaluated
Tatsuya Kawauchi/Foghorn
Female students check out the Eating Disorder Awareness display in front of the cafeteria.
KAMILLA NOSOV1TSKAYA
StaffWriter
Food taking over your life? This poster, accompanied with a picture of a
person with their hands handcuffed
looking at an empty plate, definitely got
student's attention, if not caused them to
check out a body image awareness workshop.
In honor of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, the Counseling Center and
Health Promotions Services are sponsoring a workshop to promote health awareness from Feb. 24 to Mar. l.This five-week
workshop serves to bring awareness to the
fact that the main idea of body images are
culturaUy driven by expectations of soci
ety. What it- means to be a beautiful man,
woman, or person is brought on with expectations that carry a level of problems.
Furthermore, addressing these issues.can
bring a lot of anxiety and stress for those
sensitive about their body image.
Turi Honegger, Ph.d and Megan Gallagher are the two main faciUitators from
the Counseling Center, and they are committed to promoting this worskshop.
Honegger said, "Ideals of beauty are perpetuated by media and are considerably
different in different cultures. The purpose
is to converse openly with students on the
issues and also to come to an acceptance as
BODY: Continued on Page 2
RICKY ANGEL
StaffWriter
A pamphlet at the Blood Center of the
Pacific at Turk and Masonic reads "Give
Blood. Be a hero." On the back of the pamphlet, another section reads, "The foUowing
people are at risk of catching or spreading
the AIDS virus and must not donate: ...
Men who have had sex with another male,
even once, since 1977."
People who weigh less than 110 pounds,
are under the age of 17, are former intravenous drug users and even people who have
traveled and lived in certain countries cannot donate blood. However, the fact that
gay men cannot donate blood carries and
perpetuates the long stigmatized view that
homosexuality is synonymous with having
HIV/AIDS.
Lisa Bloch, director of communication
at the Blood Center of the Pacific, said,
"The federal government, specificaUy, the
FDA, is the one who decides who can and
cannot donate blood; it is not up to the
individual blood center. AU blood centers
are bound by the FDA policies, whether
we agree with them or not."
On Jan. 29, this policy was placed under
scrutiny after San Jose State University's
president Don Kassing announced his decision to suspend aU campus blood drives
on the grounds that they are discriminatory against homosexual males. In his letter
to the SJSU campus community, Kassing
wrote, "Our purpose is to respect our policy of non-discrimination and the climate
that the policy is intended to create on our
campus." He raised several arguments as
to why the ban is outdated and unnecessary, citing that "the deferral dates back to
1983, 'when the risk of AIDS from transfusion was first recognized,'" and that "nu
cleic acid testing has since greatly reduced
the risk HIV/AIDS once posed to blood
supply safety." So far, SJSU is the first and
only university to institute such a ban.
USF has not chosen to foUow suit. Ka-
mal Harb, director of Health Promotion
and Services at USF, said that while he
disagrees with the discriminatory policy
that bans homosexual males from giving
blood, he also believes the need for blood
is very high, and ultimately that need takes
precedence over the other issues.
Blood transfusions are needed every
three seconds. Out of the 60% of people
who are eligible to donate, only 5% do,
leaving great blood shortages. Considering
the gay blood barring, many blood centers are advocating a change in policy that
would aUow gay men to donate blood.
Bloch said, "Blood centers across the
country, including ours, do not agree with
the policy regarding men who have sex
with other men. We feel that this policy
is outdated and should be changed to
better reflect current science. In fact, the
three national blood banking networks,
the American Red Cross, America's Blood
Centers, and the American Association of
Blood Banks, have aU been trying to get
the FDA to change the policy to a one-
year wait time, instead of a lifetime ban.
That way, it is more in line with other risk
deferrals, such as getting a tattoo."
Bloch also stressed that a boycott of
the blood center wUl only cause harm to
patients; in fact, she said, the only way to
reaUy change the policy is by contacting
the FDA and advocating change through
them.
"We hope that people who agree with
BLOOD: Continued on Page 2
Safety Concerns Shorten Atrium Hours
LAURA PLANTHOLT
News Editor
Rumors circulating about why the
silent study atrium adjacent to
the library was no longer open 24
hours a day included tales of an alcohol-
fueled late night dance party and vandalism of furniture. These stories are far from
the truth however, which is more a bureaucratic blunder than a student disciplinary
scandal.
According to USF Project Management project planner J.J. Thorp, the conflict
arose in late December, when the library
building underwent a routine inspection.
When they got to the atrium, the officials
noticed that the doorway between the
atrium and the main library building was
marked with a green emergency exit sign,
yet that doorway was locked at night and
days when the library was closed. Having
an emergency exit door locked is hazardous and in violation of building codes, so
officials mandated that the atrium either
no longer remain open at night or else the
library leave the adjoining doors unlocked
during that time, which would be a significant security risk for the library fuU of
expensive books and computers.
Since the initial inspection, the facilities management team has worked closely
with the city, and removing the exit sign
was agreed upon as an amenable solution
for aU parties concerned. The exit doors
that lead outside on the opposite waU are
sufficient to meet the room's minimum requirement for emergency exits. Now the
only steps left in the process are to have
the illicit sign removed, which should
be done in a matter of days, and to have
Tatsuya Kawauchi/Foghorn
Freshmen Kelsey CoUigan and John Tremeroli study in the atrium whUe it is open during regular
library hours.
city inspectors verify that the sign was in
fact removed, which could take up to two
weeks.
Having the atrium closed at night has
been an inconvenience felt heavily by some
USF students, who may be deeply habituated to studying in that space during
those late night hours. Junior Tal Tamir,
who regularly studies in the Atrium, said
he has actuaUy gotten less studying done
since the new hours were implemented.
"There are no other places on campus that
are sUent with good lighting and seating,"
he said. Tamir tried studying in the Parina
Lounge, but found it too noisy, and said in
his room he just can't concentrate.
Thorp recognized the inconvenience
this development has had on students, but
said his top priority aU along has been to
ensure that the building was safe, with a
sufficient number of exits, in case the worst
should happen.
Foghorn staff mem-
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bers debate the pos-  Qbq
sibility of a campus-  £ ___\
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wide smoking ban      g
The College Players
ran "Breath", a student
written production,
last weekend
SAN FRANCISCO FOGHORN
2130 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118
m
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Lady Dons prove
victorious on Senior
Night by defeating
rival Santa Clara
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