dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 114, NO. 43 • SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
LGBT community spreads wings in
Drag queens, kings strut their stuff for LGBT awareness, dollar bills Alex Buscemi
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Photos by Hannah Cleaveland / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Miss Patio Furniture (top) and Samantha Hunter (bottom) perform at the annual Birdcage, a laughter-filled show that students and Hunter started over 30 years ago.
Drag kings and queens strutted their stuff on the catwalk for LGBT awareness — and the audience’s dollar bills — Tuesday night in the Russell House ballroom. The annual Birdcage event, hosted by Carolina Productions and BGLSA, showcased student performers lipsynching and grinding alongside professiona l queens i n a za ny, hilarious and raunchy show. Samantha Hunter, 58, who started The Birdcage back in the ’80s, took the runway fi rst as host and emcee. Hu nter made her way i nto t he audience, sitting on laps and leaving black lipstick smudges on foreheads in exchange for cash. “What’s your name?” she asked one
audience member. “Steffan.” “How old are you?” “18.” “Oh s---” Before heading off, she lounged on the edge of the stage. “This is where y’all do what we like to call in the business ‘make it rain.’” One by one, audience members made their way to the stage, dropping dollar bills on her as she tossed her fake hair back and forth. Next up, Miss Patio Furniture walked dow n t he aisle to A nna Kendrick’s “Cups,” f lipping and tapping red solo cups like the music video, except instead of a table, she used the audiences’ laps as a surface. Miss Roxi Seymour Cox took the stage lip-synching Adele’s “Rumour Has It.” The announcer touted her as a world-class “illusionist”; she bore an uncanny resemblance to the British R&B star. LGBT • 3
Tunnel exhibit Greene goes green again raises awareness of social issues
Healthy Carolina brings back fresh produce, freebies Khadijah Dennis
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Shedding a little light on an otherwise rainy day, the vendors of the Healthy Carolina Farmers Market rolled out their fresh produce on Greene Street on Tuesday. The market, a part of Healthy Carolina, aims to offer students an opportunity to fi nd fresh and locally grown produce at an affordable price. Marking the second farmers market of the semester, Mandy Feeks, a graduate student, is hopeful for the rest of the semester and the market’s growth. “It’s an af fordable way for st udents to eat healthy,” Feeks said. “I would highly recommend students to come out.” Last year, the market was named one of the 10 “most impressive college farmers markets” in the country by Mother Nature Network. The farmers market even includes products not always found in a local grocery store. “We recently got a vendor back that sells goat cheese. I heard it’s a favorite of students,” Feeks said. “We also feature an organic farm that sells interesting things and a vendor that sells fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juice.” The farmers market will sometimes feature other vendors that offer students campus information. Sustainable Carolina and Campus Recreation had a presence at the market with flyers and freebies.
Students discuss experience after exploring different topics Davis Klabo
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USC’s Tunnel of Awareness exhibit seeks to illuminate social just ice issues for interested students. The exhibit, which is in the Capstone House Campus Room, opened Monday and closes today. It will be open from noon to 4 p.m. The tunnel, which uses the tagline “turn on the light,” is an interactive social justice experience that provides participants with the opportunity to move through different exhibits that focus on specific issues of social awareness. Volunteers said the tunnel has attracted over 400 participants so far. All current and future resident mentors were required to attend the event to improve their knowledge of social issues that could affect their residents. The five topics explored by this year’s tunnel were body image, poverty and homelessness, LGBT and disability issues, civility over social media and anxiety. Each issue had its own room with issue-specific TUNNEL • 2
Kamila Melko / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Students buy produce from vendors on Greene Street.
MARKET • 2