A Physical
Education
teve Kowalski wanted to meet girls. He \
tried parties, went to bars, even considered
900 numbers, but he wound up in a human
sexuality course.
Students are getting
schooled
between the
sheets.
“I thought there would be tons of girls
in the class, and I thought it would be cool
to talk about sex with them,” the Bowling
Green State U. sophomore says. “I didn't
think I’d actually learn as much as I did.”
Feedback like Kowalskis isn’t uncommon.
As hundreds of sexuality and gender classes
are making their way
into curricula across the
nation, college students
urge
arc rinding out thercs more to the dirt)' deed
than G-strings and G-spots.
Howard J. Ruppel, an adjunct professor of
human sexuality at the U. of Iowa, says dozens of
students have told him his classes have helped
w 1
them look at sex its some
thing that can he studied and
researched, not just performed.
Like many professors teach
ing sexuality, Ruppel pushes his stu
dents to explore sexual issues as they pertain
to life outside the bedroom.
Ruppel on parenting: “Children need to
be taught about sex gradually rather than dur
ing ‘the big talk’ from a parent Parents
shouldn’t make up funny words for body
parts. Don’t call it a ‘thingy’ — call it a penis.”
Ruppel on teaching: “In the occupation
al world, what does Mrs. Thompson do
when little Johnny won’t stop playing with
his penis
when he’s been told repeatedly not to?
Those are the types of questions I try to
answer for my students.”
Apparently, the answers are the
right ones. Sexually enlightened stu
dents everywhere are reporting satisfac
tion — and it isn’t coming from the post
orgasm
cigarette.
“I came
away more knowl
edgeable about sex than I
thought possible,” says
Derrick Schlageter, a 97 grad of the U. of
Dayton. “I didn’t only learn what to do, but
what not to do. You can ask my girlfriend.”
And that, folks, is what they mean by
learning the hard way.
By Jack Buehrer, Ohio State U. / Photo
by Lisa Welty, U. of Minnesota
The spare change in
the couch might be
soda money for most
students, but for others,
counting every penny
Independent's Day
may be the only way they
can afford to pay for college. And
for students whose parents aren’t
helping them foot the bill, the
pennies often don’t add up —
unless they can convince the
•financial aid office that they’re
legally independent.
It used to be a piece of cake to get
grants and financial aid based solely on a
student’s income, but in 1992, Congress
reinstated the Higher Education Act, mak
ing independent status a sort of unattain
able Holy Grail. Now, to attain indie sta
tus, students must meet one of the follow
ing criteria: be born before Jan. 1, 1974; be
a veteran of the armed forces; be a student
in a graduate or professional program; be
married; be a ward of the court; or have
legal dependents.
Do you meet those requirements? Greg
Peterson, like a lot of you, doesn’t.
Peterson, a junior in architectural engi
neering at Kansas State U., says his student
loan debt after college will be between
$80,000 and $90,000.
With no financial support from his par
ents, Peterson — like millions of students
— says he would like to be considered inde
pendent but isn’t eligible under the criteria.
“If I were [considered] independent of
my parents, I’d be eligible for more loans or
grants,” Peterson says.
Tiffany Neuhard, who began college at
Saddleback Community College, Calif.,
says she was forced to drop out because her
parents refused to help her out financially.
Although she’s on her own, Neuhard doesn’t
fit any of the government’s definitions of
independent.
Now,
Neuhard
is plug
dollars
ging away as a cocktail waitress at a Las
Vegas hotel and casino to save enough cash
to head back to school. The good news is
she’s already been accepted at the U. of
Nevada, Las Vegas; the bad news is she still
can’t afford the tuition.
While Neuhard struggles to pay her own
way, other students with “special circumstances”
gain indie status through a dependent override.
“A financial adviser has the option of
It used
to be a piece
of cake to get
grants and
financial aid
based on a
student’s
income.
doing an override,” says Lisa
Yi, associate director of student
financial assistance at Kansas
State U. “But dependent over
rides arc rare — given to people with very
sad home situations.”
Without that aid, students like Neuhard
and Peterson will continue to face the decision
of heavy-duty borrowing or dropping out.
If it gets any worse, who knows? Maybe
we’ll have shotgun weddings simply for the
sake of financial aid. Imagine that. “With this
ring, I do affirm my independent status.”
By Portia Sisco, Kansas State U.
Illustration by Chris Selbold,
U. of Tennessee
• Bill Bradley — Duke U. — He’s a Democrat, a former senator
and, oh yeah, a legendary center for the New York Knicks.
• Jerry Lewis — George Washington U. — Apparently, the audi
ence was full of French foreign-exchange students.
• Queen Noor of Jordan— Harvard U. — Kind of like Queen
Latifah, but from Jordan.
• Spike Lee — U. of California, Irvine — Fans from all around
get on the bus to hear his speeches.
• Dick Vitale — U. of Arizona — He’s a real PTPer, bay-BEL
• The Dalai Lama — U. of California, Berkeley — Who’s his
biggest fan — Richard Gere or Beastie Boy Adam Yauch? Want
Tibet on it?