Coming Out Week, sponsored by Triskelion, began Thursday, with comedienne Julie Goldman performing to a standing-room-only crowd, according to Leslie Meltzer '03, Triskelion Coordinator at the "Coming Out Week Stein Night" (See related article, p. 23). This was the first event of a nine-day introduction to Triskelion's efforts throughout the year."I think there's definitely a high level of awareness this year of the Coming Out Week activities, due primarily to our publicity push," Meltzer said. "If the turnout of the Stein Night and CONTROL are any indication of the overall excitement level, I'd say we're doing okay."

CONTROL, the Coming Out Week dance, occurred in the atrium of the Shapiro Campus Center Saturday night. The event filled the atrium, according to Triskelion Social Coordinator, Aaron Schwid '05. The dance was sponsored by Triskelion, Student Events and the Student Sexuality Information Service (SSIS).

"Between the two events, we raised over $800 in voluntary donations," Schwid said. Donations were given to AIDS Action. "We are very proud of those numbers, and they speak highly of the Brandeis community as a whole, as more than half of the attendees of our events were straight supporters."

"We are publicly demonstrating the strength of the GLBTQSA (Gay-Lesbian-Transgender-Questioning-Supporting Alliance)," Schwid said.

Asked about the purpose of Coming Out Week, Schwid said, it was "to show how much fun it can be to be queer, thus easing some of the trepidation of 'closet-cases' who are considering coming out."

Many students noticed the 25-foot condom Triskelion put up in Usdan on Friday, and later moved to the Shapiro Campus Center for Saturday night's dance.

Last night, Triskelion presented two movies on issues of homosexuality in Upper Usdan, "Nico and Dani" and "Kissing Jessica Stein." Thursday, the annual Big Queer Dinner will be held in the Shapiro Multipurpose Room. "This is consistently a very popular event," Meltzer said.

The Coming Out Week event schedule will conclude on National Coming Out Day, this Friday. Asked about what is planned, Meltzer would say only, "It's sure to be a hit.