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GAY LIBERATION FRONT AT UB |
RIOTS OF 1969 | 2000 PROGRAM | TIMELINE OF LGBTA | LGBTA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION |
COMMUNICATIVE CREATIVITY |
COLLEGE OF URBAN STUDIES |
FOOD CO-OP | TO EMAIL RICK LANDMAN |
UB's LGBTA |
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Back in the early 1970's, U.B.'s course-registration was implemented by "hole-punched" computer cards. Every student would go to the gym where tables were set up in long rows around the perimeter. Each teacher or aid stood behind the table with packets cards that looked like Swiss cheese. Each card represented one seat in the class, and when the cards were gone, the class was closed. Registration was sort of like a flee market. You would walk around the tables picking up the treasures like the section that you wanted at 2:00 in the afternoon, or were stuck with the 8:30 am section if you got to the table too late. When you finished getting all your cards in order, you put a rubber band around them and dropped them off at the computer center. A few days later, you would get your program confirmation in the mail, listing all your classes. I guess it was more personal than today's internet registration, since you did get to see the teacher face to face to ask any questions about the course. Well, in my senior year, I found out that I had another hurdle to jump if I ever wanted to graduate. The State had a requirement that you had to take at least one physical eduation course. At that time there were no other requirements. You could graduate without taking an English class or a math class, but you had to take phys-ed. Now besides being rather short in stature (5'2" tall) I was still rather young and rather flamingly out. I never had to take gym in Junior High School or High School for some reason I was always the class monitor who took attendance. But now they expected me to go into those locker rooms and play football, or baseball, or something with all those tall jocks. Not likely. I even was part of the Student Association group that banned inter-collegiate sports in 1969. I hated swimming, and had flat feet so running was also not a good choice. Then I spotted Bowling 101. That I could do. So I did some quick research and found out that if a woman bowled a score of 100 she would get a "B" and if a man bowled a score of 100 he would get a "C". The decision was clear. I was going to take Women's Bowling 101. So I found a female friend during registration and asked her to go to the Bowling table and pick up a card for Women's Bowling 101, which she did. I placed the card in my packet and turned it into the computer center. The next week I went to my class in Norton Union (I think the bowling alley was there). For that era, I guess you could consider me to be what is called today a "flaming queen", although I wasn't anything close to what you see on Jenny Jones. But I did wear red nail polish from time to time. So I enter the room and hang with my fellow classmates until the teacher shows up. The teacher showed up and gave me a funny look and asked, "Are you in the right class?" I looked at my registration card and answered, "Is this Women's Bowling 101, section 3?" She said, "Yes". "So I am in the right class". "But this class is for women only!" I just stood there and looked innocent and asked, "Why?" What difference does it make? All that we had to undress was our shoes and we did that in front of everyone anyway. Besides, I always looked better in heels, but they insisted that we all wear flats. So with a little determination and quiet threats I refused to leave the class and got a B, I think. To this day, I lift up the ball and hold it out not to hit my boobs. They had to turn the class into a co-ed experience, since if they would have made wearing a skirt a requirements, I had the cutest gray skirt with a pink flannel poodle on the side that would have looked great for the class. 
To read other stories written by Rick Landman, click below:History of the GLF There By the Grace of G-d..." |
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