"IImagination is the highest kite one can fly."
~Lauren Bacall~

All quotes for this section are taken from: "A Book of Bliss: thoughts to make you smile." Sourcebooks, INC. Naperville, Illinois. 2002.

Green tip of the week:

Use cold water to wash your clothes rather then warm.

FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION
WITH FILMMAKER DANIEL KARSLAKE

The highly acclaimed film For the Bible Tells Me So will be screened on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium in H.B. Crouse Hall on the Syracuse University campus.

Filmmaker Daniel Karslake will join faculty, staff, and local community members for a panel discussion immediately following the film, moderated by Dean Thomas V. Wolfe of Hendricks Chapel.

Through the themes of faith, love, and family, this film explores how five Christian American families handle, or sometimes tragically fail to handle, having a gay, lesbian, or bisexual child. This film offers healing, clarity, and understanding to those caught in the crosshairs of Biblical scripture and sexuality identity.

Refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by the LGBT Studies Program & Minor, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Hendricks Chapel, and the LGBT Resource Center

The Guerrilla Girls use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose sexism, racism and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture. They are authors of stickers, billboards, posters and other projects (including an installation for the 2005 Venice Biennale,) and several books. They will talk about their work, their philosophy of activism, and their campaign against the appalling lack of ethics in the art world.

Date: TODAY!!!
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, renowned artist Miss Richfield 1981 will be performing in Syracuse as a benefit for 2 local charities, CNY Pride and SyracuseCares. The performance will be held at the Palace Theater, 2348 James Street, Syracuse, NY at 8:00 PM. A buffet of homemade desserts will precede the show. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door, and may be purchased online at www.cnypride.org. VIP tickets for seats directly in front of the stage are also available for $40.

In addition to sell-out performances around the country, Miss Richfield 1981 performs each summer at the Art House Theater in Provincetown, MA and has been a headline performer for Atlantis Events, the country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) vacation and cruise company. Miss Richfield has appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as well as on "Today" on NBC. The New York Post recently said, "Miss Richfield 1981 is the must-see act in Provincetown." The Boston Globe said that Miss Richfield is "very topical and often hilarious."

What makes Miss Richfield unique is the combination of Midwestern sensibilities with an off-thepage humor, stemming from its creator Russ King. As a former journalist and Minnesota native, King created the character with a rich history that begins with her life-long goal of being crowned beauty queen of her first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. Since then, the character continues to promote the values and principles of Richfield, Minnesota, "where butter is a spice and gravy is a beverage." The depth and richness of the character, the one-on-one improv with the audience, a professionally trained singing voice, and an athletic approach to physical comedy, creates both fun and flexibility for Miss Richfield to bring her talent to any type of performance arena - stage, screen, or street!

CNY Pride, Inc. is an all-volunteer, tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation, which organizes events in the Syracuse, New York area to encourage, empower, and celebrate the local LGBT community and their friends, families, and supporters. Since 1996, they have produced the annual CNY Pride Parade and Festival, which provides a forum for community members, organizations, and business to come together and interact.

SyracuseCares is a non-profit fund-raising group of individuals that raises money for HIV/AIDSrelated organizations including The Friends of Dorothy House and Women's Effort. They are currently in the process of incorporating and applying for not-for- profit status.

For more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please contact Michael Weinberg by email at info@cnypride.org or by phone at (315) 699- 5679.

When: March 8th, Doors Open at 7:30pm
Where: Willard Straight Hall Memorial room, Central campus
How much: $7 per person

"Melissa Ferrick has the kind of relationship with her audience that few artists are blessed with. Her live performances are fierce and funny, outspoken and vulnerable, passionate and real. They are powerful and charged with the kind of energy that's hard to find, and impossible not to move to.

She's been gaining fans since her first release at age 22 on Atlantic Records, when she toured with Morissey, lead singer of the Smiths, arguably the most important indie rock band out of England in the 80s. Her next three recordings were released by indie label What Are Records. In 2000, Melissa launched her own label: Right On Records. Her 2006 release, In the Eyes of Strangers, marked the label's sixth release. She's performed with major artists like K.D. Lang, Tegan and Sara, Ani Difranco, Julie Wolf, Alix Olson, Doria Roberts and many more." You do not want to miss this amazing performormer!

more info: HERE!

If you are going to be near or in NYC for spring break come join Alumni Relations on CBS's The Early Show! Now's your chance to be seen on national TV!!! Details are below:

On Thursday, March 13th, we have been invited by CBS' The Early Show to participate in two outside morning segments. We will meet at 7:30 a.m. at 59th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

SU will participate on the 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. segments. Our spokesperson will be the Syracuse University Alumni Association President, Wally Bobkiewicz G'89 Maxwell, who will answer any questions on behalf of the group. Pom-poms and banners will be supplied. Please wear orange and bring your loudest SU cheering voice. Members of the Sour Sitrus Society, cheerleaders, dance team, and Otto will be there, too! We look forward to seeing a large contingent of SU alumni, parents, students, fans and friends.

For more information please call the Office of Alumni Relations at (800) 782-5867

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: March 6, 2008

On the way home from work in Rochester, Patricia Martinez stopped at a liquor store and bought a small bottle of Champagne to celebrate her marriage to another woman. The wedding took place in Canada nearly four years ago, but it wasn't until Feb. 1 that a New York appellate court declared it valid in the state.

Last week in Manhattan, a State Supreme Court justice, ruling in a divorce proceeding, recognized the Canadian marriage of two New York City women, known publicly as Beth R. and Donna M. - or Mom and Mommy to the two young children they had been raising together.

Less than two years after New York's highest court refused to legalize gay marriage, leaving it up to a divided Legislature, courts in Rochester and Manhattan, as well as state and local officials, have begun to carry out what some say is the de facto legalization of gay marriage - and gay divorce - in New York for the price of, say, a ticket to Toronto.

Advocates for same-sex marriage say the two court decisions last month granting reciprocity in New York to gay marriages in other jurisdictions simply underline what most people would consider common sense.

"If a heterosexual couple got married in France and then came here, they would be married," said Jeffrey Wicks, a lawyer who represented Ms. Martinez in cooperation with the New York Civil Liberties Union. "We recognize foreign marriages, just the same as we recognize Mexican divorces."

This year's DELAY THE REAL WORLD Fellowship will award $5,000 to the twentysomething who proposes the best plan to avoid the cubicle.

The winner will be selected on the basis of the quality and originality of his or her proposal. Last year's winner, Andrew Morgan, is currently biking, teaching and making a documentary in Central America. 2006 winner Daniela Papi used her prize to live in Cambodia and work with PEPY Ride, which supports educational projects in developing countries and disaster relief areas.

For contest details and full bios of past winners, visit http://www.delayingtherealworld.com/fellowship08/

Application deadline is April 23, 2008. Contest is sponsored by Running Press and Avalon Travel, to celebrate the spirit of DELAYING THE REAL WORLD: A TWENTYSOMETHING'S GUIDE TO SEEKING ADVENTURE, by Colleen Kinder.

"Colleen's book isn't about how to buy a Eurail pass and have a great summer vacation. It's about how to put off the pressures of post-graduate adult life and continue your education beyond the classroom. That means traveling the world, working abroad, volunteering for causes you care about, and not caring about people busy counting their 401(k) contributions back home. Colleen makes it clear that if you plan it right, the education provided by a year spent squishing grapes barefoot on a farm in Denmark can be more illuminating than four years of papers and finals, and far more rewarding than life as a corporate drone."

The 2008 Institute offers five experiential courses at the undergraduate and graduate level focusing on enabling participants to manage disputes and differences collaboratively -- in both professional and personal settings. Registration begins March 19th.

For registration information visit
http://www.yesu.syr.edu/students/current/ registrar/index.html

For Summer Institute updates visit
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/parc/summe r-institute.asp

:Senator John DeFrancisco has been assessing public opinion on several issues with a survey posted at

http://www.senatordefrancisco.org/50/Y ourOpinionCounts.aspx

Participants are asked to weigh in on a number of issues, including marriage equality, stem cell research, abortion rights and other important concerns. If you are in Senator DeFrancisco's district (only constituents are being surveyed), you may want to put in your 2 cents worth.

If you don't know who your Senator is, check here:
http://www.senat e.state.ny.us/
Click on "Senators" then look under "who is my senator"

Title: Alcohol and Communication Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM)
IRB #: 03-212
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephen A. Maisto, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Syracuse University
Graduate Research Assistant: Sarah Woolf, M.S., Department of Psychology, Syracuse University

Purpose of Research: The focus of this study is on the role of alcohol and arousal on the risky sexual decision-making among men who have sex with men (MSM). This research is important in that it will assist in the development of research-based HIV prevention interventions that target MSM.

Job Description: We are looking for one research assistant that is able to devote at least 5 hours/week to working in our lab, although the time of these hours is flexible. As a research assistant, you will be assisting the graduate assistant (Sarah Woolf) with the administration of the experimental protocol. This involves interacting with and breath-testing participants with a Breathalyzer. Your other main task will be to assist with participant recruitment, and provide ideas and suggestions for how to make recruitment more effective on both the SU campus and in the wider Syracuse community as well. The research assistant will also be required to meet on a weekly basis with Sarah Woolf and/or Dr. Maisto in order to evaluate weekly goals/assignments.

Requirements: The chosen candidate must have strong understanding, sensitivity and connections within the MSM community and be able to provide valuable suggestions for how to improve participant recruitment.

Compensation: The research assistant will be paid $10.00/hour

Main Contact:
All interested parties are encouraged to contact Sarah Woolf by either email or phone to set up an initial interview. Email: sewoolf@syr.edu
Phone: 443-3284

The staff at the LGBT Resource Center would like to wish everyone a very peaceful and relaxing Spring Break!

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward on Saturday night!