MU Diversity News
Columbia Tribune
Ke Chen, right, holds the tail of a lion costume before members of the Chinese Folk Dance Group practiced the Lion Dance during a rehearsal yesterday at Memorial Union on the University of Missouri campus.
Jennifer Faddis, News Bureau
All spiritual experiences are based in the brain. That statement is truer than ever before, according to a University of Missouri neuropsychologist. An MU study has data to support a neuropsychological model that proposes spiritual experiences associated with selflessness are related to decreased activity in the right parietal lobe of the brain. The study is one of the first to use individuals with traumatic brain injury to determine this connection. Researchers say the implication of this connection means people in many disciplines, including peace studies, health care or religion can learn different ways to attain selflessness, to experience transcendence, and to help themselves and others.
Emily Smith, MU News Bureau
Pregnant women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) before, during or after pregnancy often suffer adverse health effects, including depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and chronic mental illness. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that women who experience intimate partner violence are more likely to seek health care for their infants than non-abused women. Awareness of mothers with frequent infant health concerns can help health care providers identify and provide aid to women in abusive relationships.
Joey Soto, The Maneater
Gay men and lesbians throughout the nation "called in gay" on Wednesday. Their act, and the act of sympathizers, was part of a nationwide event called, "A Day Without a Gay." The idea spurred from two Californians' initial idea of "Join the Impact."
Amanda Wysocki, The Maneater
The Department of Student Life diverted $30,771 from the diversity fee to the equipment reserve fund, and the groups the fee is supposed to benefit want that money back.
Gretchen Mahan, The Maneater
The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department hosted a Kwanzaa celebration on Dec. 6 at Douglass High School as an effort to educate students and the community about African American culture.
Becky Anderson, Cory Stottlemyer, The Missourian
Although hundreds of thousands of people across the nation had expressed interest in "calling in gay," the reality of "Day Without a Gay," an event to protest the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California, proved to be more lackluster than the Facebook event predicted.
Christian Basi, News Bureau
In 1942, Robert Naka was forced to leave the University of California-Los Angeles where he was a sophomore engineering major. Naka, along with 120,000 other Japanese-Americans, was taken to a Japanese internment camp for what was intended to be the duration of World War II. Instead, after nine months, he was relocated to the University of Missouri.
Joey Soto, The Maneater
Gay men and lesbians throughout the nation "called in gay" on Wednesday. Their act, and the act of sympathizers, was part of a nationwide event called, "A Day Without a Gay." The idea spurred from two Californians' initial idea of "Join the Impact."
Amanda Wysocki
The Department of Student Life diverted $30,771 from the diversity fee to the equipment reserve fund, and the groups the fee is supposed to benefit want that money back.
Columbia Tribune
Zeinab Chami planned to save money from her part-time job and get a little more from her family. But the 24-year-old graduate student ultimately couldn’t round up enough to pay for a trip to Mecca.
Eva Dou, The Maneater
Students deconstructed their views about sex in small circle discussions Wednesday evening. The "Race, Religion and Sex" dialogue was part of You in Mizzou's monthly series on diversity issues.
Emily Smith, News Bureau
The statistics for sexual assault are unsettling; the Department of Justice reports that one in five college women will be the victim of attempted or actual sexual assault during their college years. In a new study, researchers from two universities, including the University of Missouri, have found that college women often are unaware of drug-facilitated sexual assault and fail to recognize the risk of certain behaviors, including leaving drinks unattended.
Emily Smith, MU News Bureau
The statistics for sexual assault are unsettling; the Department of Justice reports that one in five college women will be the victim of attempted or actual sexual assault during their college years. In a new study, researchers from two universities, including the University of Missouri, have found that college women often are unaware of drug-facilitated sexual assault and fail to recognize the risk of certain behaviors, including leaving drinks unattended.
Stephanie Hermes, Columbia Missourian
A $50,000 grant will help some Columbia churches start a faith-based initiative to address the problem of teen relationship violence.
Gretchen Mahan and Ryan Schmitz, The Maneater
Although Kwanzaa isn't until the end of December, MU students and Columbia residents are celebrating early.
Join UNA-USA Mid-Missouri for a silent auction benefitting the Hero Campaign for children in HIV/AIDS affected communities.
I welcome this opportunity to mark World AIDS Day here in Doha at this important conference. AIDS continues to be one of the most devastating epidemics in history. People are still being infected with HIV faster than we can get them on treatment. AIDS is still one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, and it is the number one killer in Africa.
Andrea Kszystyniak and Rebecca Berg, The Maneater
About 20 people gathered Monday night beneath 235 illuminated helium balloons in the Firestone Baars Chapel at Stephens College in commemoration of World AIDS Day and the 235 people in mid-Missouri who have died of the disease.
Sam Butterfield, The Maneater
In the wake of last week's terrorist siege of prevailingly Western targets in Mumbai, India, American students of Indian descent were shaken and uncertain about India's future security. Palwasha Khan, director of the South Asian Student Association and a Pakistan native, said she saw the attacks as an opportunity for unity in the South Asian community, as, she said, partisan nationalism divides the nations of South Asia.
Cassie May, Columbia Missourian
In some of the coldest weather so far this winter, dozens of Columbia community members participated in World AIDS Day, walking down College Avenue with fistfuls of helium-filled balloons Monday evening. Illuminated by blinking lights, the 235 red balloons represented the lives of the 235 North Central Missouri residents who have died of AIDS during the past 27 years.
Jenna Youngs, Columbia Tribune
As guests yesterday trickled into Stephens College’s Firestone Baars Chapel, the shrieking sound of helium filling 235 red balloons could be heard from the hallway. At 5:30 p.m. the shrieking stopped, and volunteers gathered with guests to memorialize people who died from complications of AIDS.
Columbia Tribune
At MU, four panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display all week in the Bond Life Sciences Center. The quilt is composed of 40,000 panels, each panel representing someone who has lost his or her life because of complications from AIDS, according to an MU news release.
Kelsey Jackson, MU News Bureau
The University of Missouri Bond Life Sciences Center is partnering with the Sexual Health Advocate Peer Education (SHAPE) program, Rain, Trail to a Cure and the MU Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative to recognize World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. MU officials will host a series of commemorative events, including the display of four quilt panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Off Campus Diversity News
Molly Harbarger, Columbia Missourian
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Columbia is working to gather support to create a domestic partnership registry for couples 18 and older who are in cohabitating relationships.
Lindsey Howald, Columbia Tribune
On Cami Wheeler’s wrist is a chunky beaded bracelet, and she carries a woven bag. Colorful and ethnic, neither seems to fit with the traditional American fashion, but they provide clues to her months spent in Kenya.
Stephanie Rapp, Columbia Missourian
From Bible study groups to Sunday school programs, countless groups of people in Columbia gather throughout the week to discuss sacred Scripture in an effort to better understand it and apply it to modern life.
Columbia Tribune
Tears of joy and relief flowed freely as a Missouri National Guard unit came home just in time for Christmas from a pioneering mission in Afghanistan.
Leslie Beddingfield, Columbia Missourian
Raucous tables of children talked loudly while some parents struggled to light menorahs on Sunday at Congregation Beth Shalom. Some held balloon animals and candy. Others ate lollipops and potato pancakes, or latkes.
Jenna Youngs, Columbia Tribune
With the holidays rapidly approaching, finding last-minute gifts for children with disabilities could pose a challenge.But family members and friends shouldn’t worry - presents don’t have to be specifically designed for children with disabilities for a child to be able to enjoy it, says the assistant director of the Great Plains ADA Center.
Joe Meyer, Columbia Tribune
Communication is critical for police officers responding to a crisis, especially if it involves someone who is mentally ill or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Columbia Police Department is developing a Crisis Intervention Team to help train officers how to recognize and handle crisis situations involving mentally ill or impaired people.
Columbia Missourian, Ashley Cirilli
Dee Campbell-Carter distracted first-graders at Rock Bridge Elementary from thoughts of Santa and got them excited for the day after Christmas — the start of Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration beginning Dec. 26 and ending Jan. 1. Campbell-Carter, who has celebrated the holiday with her family for fifteen years, shared the history, meaning and practices of Kwanzaa with the students.
Amy Lorentzen, The Associated Press
The gay marriage debate moves to the Midwest this week as the Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments in a challenge to the state's ban on same-sex marriage
Joe Meyer, Columbia Tribune
The leader of the Columbia chapter of the NAACP said she is disappointed by the results of an internal police investigation that cleared a school resource officer last week of actions he took to break up a student fight in October at Hickman High School.
by Patricia De Bidegain, Columbia Missourian
Kandi Grossman is an artist, a dancer, storyteller and a creator. With a master’s degree in women studies, Grossman is the artistic director and founder of Moon Belly Dance Studio. Under her eye, "Woman," a fusion of hip-hop, modernism, belly-dancing, jazz and theater will be presented this Saturday. "A woman is so complex and paradoxical — strong, vulnerable, creative, sensual, humble," Grossman said. "What I wanted to do is portray the essence of her, as well as to show the real side of women: delicate and raw."
Karen Cernich, The Washington Missourian, Columbia Missourian
Franklin County native Katie Asckar is living the life she always dreamed about. Earlier this week, the young wife and mother flew to Brazil where her husband, David Asckar, a native of the South American country, will serve as pastor at his home church in Bauru.
The Associated Press
Missouri is getting three new community-based clinics for military veterans.
The Associated Press
The Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities wants to remove the word "handicapped" from signs indicating parking spaces for the disabled.
Announcement
Come celebrate this African-American holiday which is based around developing positive families and communities. There will be awards given, entertainment and a holiday feast. This celebration is FREE.
Melissa Davlin, Columbia Missourian
If you're lucky, George Friel Jr. will lift up the back of his shirt and show you his well-crafted body art. But be prepared. The intense tattoo depicts Jesus Christ's crucifixion, with blood dripping out of Christ's wounds.
