The Lion's Roar 06/13/2017

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’ THE LION S ROAR S O U T H E A S T E R N L O U I S IA NA U N I V E R S I T Y

Hammond, LA

June 13, 2017

Former student becomes trailblazer for LGBTQ+rights RIANA BRASELMAN Staff Reporter

One university student has made it her goal to be a voice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and other students in the state of Louisiana. Former student Niante Ricks has been advocating for the youth of the LGBTQ+ community by giving talks to high school classes and working with Louisiana legislators on laws that affect LGBTQ+ high school students. “Some students feel like going to school is an escape from what’s happening at home,” said Ricks. “But they’re also going to school with the same exact problems because they don’t have anybody there to protect them from the backlash that they’re getting from parents because they don’t accept their lifestyle. They’re still getting knocked down by their peers or teachers that aren’t there to protect them.” Ricks started working towards her cause when she was at Sci Academy. “By my senior year in high school, I’d learned so much about myself and the world around me,” said Ricks. “That pushed me to do the project that I did my senior year in high school, which was fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in schools to stop bullying and discrimination.” Ricks had decided to start small by going classroom to classroom, giving presentations to students in the lower grades. “For my project, I went around to different grades,” said Ricks. “I taught them lessons about LGBTQ+ bullying and what it means to be a bully and if you may not know that how they discriminate by the things you say. I saw how many eyes I opened.”

Getting more involved with the LGBTQ+ community, Ricks discovered state legislation that impacted LGBTQ+ students. “There’s this law known as the ‘No Promo Homo’ law,” said Ricks. “They prohibit teachers from being an advocate for LGBTQ+ students in school because they want to stop teachers from showing students that it’s a positive way to go. So, teachers aren’t allowed to step in and break up LGBTQ+ bullying because then they’d be violating that law. In doing research on it, I found out that a lot of teachers don’t know about this law. They aren’t aware that you can’t advocate for LGBTQ+ students inside of schools.” According to the organization GLSEN, there are currently eight states in the United States that have these laws put into place, Louisiana being among this number. “I’m still working with getting laws changed so I get things to move forward in Louisiana,” said Ricks. “I also want to start small and build different programs and branch outside of the state of Louisiana because we aren’t the only ones that don’t have laws protecting LGBTQ+ students.” Some of the ideas Ricks has to improve attitudes towards LGBTQ+ students is to give students a safe environment to express their support for students within the community. “I didn’t know there were different holidays dedicated to us LGBTQ+ students,” said Ricks “So, those should be initiated into some schools, or if students want to, they have the option to participate in like Day of Silence. LGBTQ+ kids can participate in that. That’s what I’m also trying to initiate to schools and not make it a constant thing but have it to where they’re making kids

aware. I’m also trying to get different clubs started like GayStraight Alliance or Prism. The LGBTQ+ kids would like to have a home and then also you can incorporate straight kids into those programs as well so they can feel like they have support outside of their own community.” Ricks grew up in New Orleans and has had a personal connection to the LGBTQ+ youth community since middle school. “When I was in middle school, I came out to my mom,” said Ricks. “Coming out to her was kind of rough for the both of us because it was something that she was new to, and it was also something I was new to. So, we had many differences with it. When I was in high school, that’s when I wasn’t living with my mom anymore. As time went on, I started living with different family members outside of my mother. Personally, when I got to high school, I didn’t get many problems from my peers. Coming out of middle school, it was different because kids were like ‘What’re you doing?’ I lost friends. I did lose a lot of friends when I first came out.” Since high school, Ricks and her mother have reconciled and are moving forward in their relationship together. After high school, Ricks enrolled at the university, and she wants to keep advocating for LGBTQ+ youth in the future. Ricks has observed her fellow LGBTQ+ peers and their interactions on campus. “I know that there are LGBTQ+ students on campus, but I really did not see much of them or if there are clubs and organizations that exist for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Ricks. “I feel like there should have been more awareness if there was a club or organization

Former athletic training major Niante Ricks has led talks to high school classes and worked with Louisiana legislators in the hopes of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. Since coming to campus, Ricks has noticed a lack of organizations available to LGBTQ+ students and has hopes for this to change. Zack Smith/The Verbatim Agency for Option B because I would have joined or became an advocate. The only time I’ve ever actually seen that community be together was, I think, in the fall semester. We had some church people on campus, and they were just going back and forth. That’s literally the only time I’ve ever seen them come together that way. Other than that, I haven’t

seen much. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t want to be judged or if it’s because nobody’s actually taking action to say stuff or be out there.” Ricks believes advocating for the LGBTQ+ youth can be as small as treating people with respect. “People have to embrace that community by just making

people feel at home and not so much of an outcast,” said Ricks. “I know how it can feel like you don’t fit in somewhere. Start small. Get a little bit of a group of LGBTQ+ kids starting an event to have our voices being heard. Probably get some people to come and also join over. I feel like that can be a big step forward.”

Cancer survivor speaks at recent Tangipahoa Professional Women’s Luncheon REGINA PERGOLA Staff Reporter

At the Tangipahoa Professional Women’s Organization luncheon, recent Ponchatoula High School graduate Emily Hines gave a speech. She talked about her battle with acute promyelocytic leukemia and how she managed to survive the cancer while maintaining a 3.6 GPA and scoring a 30 on the American College Testing, ACT. Her speech was aimed to motivate others to not give up when faced with adversity. “I am a 17-year-old leukemia survivor,” said Hines. “Adversity is something that everybody faces in their life. I missed out on my entire senior year because I just finished chemotherapy December 3rd of 2016. Cancer has made me a better person, and it has given me more blessings than any that it could have taken away from me. The Tangipahoa Professional Women’s Organization hosted a luncheon where Before I had cancer, I struggled with social they celebrated the journey of Emily Hines’ battle with acute promyelocytic anxiety, which is crazy because now I have leukemia. Hines is a recent graduate of Ponchatoula High School who speaks on sang in front of 9,000 people, and then behalf of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Regina Pergola/The Lion’s Roar headed over to chemotherapy right after.

Even now, people go, ‘How do you do this?’ and ‘How do you not get nervous?’ Well, people don’t think that little cells you can’t even see with your naked eye are far scarier than any person can ever be. I take that newfound confidence, and I just run with it.” Hines has traveled twice to California to speak on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and to Washington D.C. to speak about funding to state representatives. The makeup company, Mary Kay Cosmetics, had a representative set up a table with samples of their products at the Tangipahoa Professional Women’s Organization luncheon on May 24 from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Rosaryville Spirit Life Center. “Well, I think it’s a great group,” said Diane Pierce, an independent sales director with Mary Kay. “I am actually a co-founder. We went to some meetings in Mandeville to their professional women’s group and decided we needed a group like

that in our area here. So, we started it eight years ago. I think it’s very needed in this area, women supporting women. I love that we do support each other, and we do support locals. It’s such a fun group to be with.” Monica Bourque runs a mobile boutique. She placed little goodies on the table at every place for the women attending the meeting. “I’ve been part of TPW for over a year and these ladies are just amazing, and they just push you to be the best you can be, and they support you in all of your challenges,” said Bourque. “I don’t think women have enough of that in their own lives. I am feeling really blessed to be a part of this group.” TPW supports students through scholarships, and at their next meeting in June, they will be awarding 16 $1,000 awards to students. Otherwise, TPW aims to help business women expand their network and have a support system to help grow their own ambitions.

Louisiana universities allowed to continue selling college-affiliated beers JONATHAN RHODES Staff Reporter

Louisiana lawmakers recently ditched a ban proposed by Caddo Parish Representative Cedric B. Glover to the House Committee on Education and the Workplace to get rid of college-affiliated or sponsored beers for all Louisiana schools. The ban was shelved after it met some opposition and after Glover was convinced that a conversation on the subject has started. He is worried about how university endorsed

alcohol will increase binge drinking and alcohol abuse. University leaders stated that branding beer is one way that they fill up budget gaps after millions of dollars have been defunded from higher education. Schools that have such branding deals are Louisiana State University with Tin Roof Brewing Company’s Bayou Bengal Lager and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with Bayou Teche Brewing for Ragin’ CajunsTM Genuine Louisiana Ale. Owner of Blackened Brew

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Anthony Donze believes that there is nothing wrong with Louisiana colleges endorsing beer and that it will not increase irresponsible drinking. “You have college kids who are 21 and up,” said Donze. “It is such a big part of the community, like Gnarly Barley is a big part of the Hammond community and Tin Roof is a big part of the Baton Rouge community. I don’t know how much money it produces for education, but it has to be a decent amount. Alcohol will always be a part of college.

You can’t always look at it as a bad thing. You have to find the good in something and use it for the best even if that means using a brewery and co-oping with them to make beer. I don’t see anything wrong with that.” Representative Chris Broadwater made a point in a “U.S. News” article that not giving the universities every opportunity they can get to generate money could “Do harm to the youth of our state.” He also stated that it would be ironic if lawmakers made it legal for LSU and Southern

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Campus Life.................................2 Opinions.....................................3 A&E............................................4

Horoscope, Crossword, Sudoku....5 Sports.........................................6 News..........................................8

University to grow medical marijuana, which is illegal, and “Prohibit them from profiting off of something that is legal.” “The breweries are not stupid, and the schools are not stupid,” said Donze. “They aren’t going to promote beer to underage kids. In this day and age, if an underage kid wants to get alcohol, they will get alcohol. If the school uses it for the betterment of the students and to help make school affordable, then I don’t State lawmakers have agreed to allow see anything wrong with it.” universities to sell their affiliated beers despite a ban proposal. File Photo/The Lion’s Roar Stay Connected With Us!

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