Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 00:02:44 -0500
From: aa3398@freenet.lorain.oberlin.edu (Kevyn D. Jacobs)
Subject: Flint Hills Alliance Meeting Thursday, March 31



TO: Recipients of the Manhattan Queers (MQ) email list
FROM: Deb Taylor, President, The Flint Hills Alliance, Inc.


Dear Flint Hills Alliance Friends:

This Thursday at 7:30 pm (UFM Building) will be FHA's second meeting of
regrouping, meeting, organizing, and brainstorming.  Our last meeting
two weeks ago brought out many people who support FHA and want to see it
grow.  We had a great and exciting time.

During this meeting, we plan to talk more about the future of the FHA.
More specifically, what should our goals be?  Where and on what issues
should our focus(es) lie?  How active (and in what capacity) should we
be with the queer community, with the Manhattan community, and with KSU?

Do we want to be recognized as a social or political or community center?
Or do we want to be a healthy portion of all three?  Can we even accomplish
this?

Please do not think that the entire meeting will be one of "what are
gonna do?"  Here are some other items we plan to discuss:

First, the phone line.
A committee is being formed to figure out the best way to make the phone
line useful for callers, inexpensive to operate, and easier on volunteers'
time.  Suggestions are to get funding from the United Way (we are looking
in to this) and/or to hook up with the FONE center.  In the case of tthe
FONE center, we could use them to screen calls and my fully utilize our
volunteers.  Lot's more is involved in this, including properly training
volunteers and tracking our traffic.  We'll discuss this on Thursday.

Second, training for volunteers who wish to speak about l/b/g issues on
panels/bureaus:
Interest is growing at KSU (different departments, frats and sororities,
university counseling, etc.) and in Manhattan for speakers. In the past,
groups have encountered difficulty both in getting volunteers (through
BGLS) and in getting speakers who give healthy and thoughtful answers
other than "Since I'm bisexual, some days I prefer vanilla and other days
I prefer chocolate."

In view of this, I would like to see us form a committee which will look
into both finding and properly training volunteers.  Your input will be
appreciated.

Third, a newscenter.
I have recently spoken with the editors of CAMERADO of possibly expanding
this newsletter in terms of information, as well as circulating it to more
queers &  queer-friendly people in Manhattan.  This of course would
mean volunteers to help the editors (in terms of typing and writing).
also means
I believe that, as the Alliance grows and becomes more active, having some
sort of community newsletter will enable all interested parties to be well
informed and to feel more like a community.

Forth, social activities.
Both Eileen Meyer and Pat (from Wamego) have come up with some great ideas
to get people socially involved.  Eileen is planning a social/fundraiser
for Saturday, May 7, out at Tuttle Creek.  She envisions a volleyball (sand
of course) tourney with groups paying very small fees to enter.  We will
also picnic and offer games and plenty of socializing.  Pat has already
tossed this idea out to KU and Topeka and they want to participate.  I
believe this will be a great way to see each other and meet new people.

In addition to this particular social, I would like to see more brunches
and potlucks.  These are stress-free ways to be together and have fun.

Fifth, guest speakers and/or special events for our third Thurs. mtgs.
I strongly feel that we are lucky to have such interesting and talented
"speaker potentials" in Manhattan.  What we need to find out is what does
the community want to hear about.  I believe that we can offer the same
sort of speaking engagements we offered during the KSU conference in March.
In addition, we can hear from the Manhattan AIDS Project, Amnesty Intl, and
other groups.  Bob Minor, a professor from KU, gave a very interesting
talk on gender conditioning during KU's group meeting.  I'll bet he could
be persuaded to visit us.  I am open for all sorts of ideas.

Instead of speakers, some Thurs. evenings could be reserved for talent
shows and/or art shows (or even potlucks!).  As you can probably guess,
we need volunteers to work on this!!

Sixth, OUTREACH.
I believe that we really need to start networking with as many groups and
leaders in Manhattan and KSU as possible.  During the KSU conference I was
absolutely amazed at the huge amount of support available on campus.  I
also believe we need to network more with our existing allies such as
the Manhattan AIDS Project, the Women's Resource Center, and NOW.  Why wait
until some horrible event occurs in our area before we rally together?

I'd also like to see more interaction between gay men, lesbians, and
bisexuals.  In light of the recent mode of togetherness, however, I do
not envision this as a problem.


HOW CAN YOU HELP?
First, your input at our Thursday meeting.  You can come to either
volunteer your services or merely offer ideas.  I do not want to force
people to do something with which they are uncomfortable.  If you want to
come just to listen, that's great, too.

If you cannot attend the meeting but you have some thoughts/ideas you wish
to contribute, please free to e-mail me (dtaylor@ksuvm.ksu.edu) and I will
forward your thoughts to the group (I apologize for the short notice--I've
had the flu).

I believe that, in light of the surgence of queer awareness/support in
Manhattan and KSU, and among our community, now is the time to develop a
strong and cohesive Alliance.  We can accomplish anything together,
don't you think?

Believe in hope, and I'll see you on Thursday.

Deb Taylor
Acting President
Flint Hills Alliance