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Tmuksday, June 17, 2010 | The Red a Black
Dallas Duncan | Editor in Chief editor@randb.com
Daniel Burnett ! Managing Editor me@randb.com
lee Williams | Opinions Editor opinions@randb.com
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Plastic freedom
That tingling sensation exists everywhere
AJ Green makes another swan-dive into the
end zone and the urge to proudly wear the No.
8 can be satisfied post-game at the bookstore.
Maybe you need to finally pay off those late
fees at the library that have been adding up
since last semester.
Or, even more extreme, your Xbox live sub
scription is about to run out and NCAA 2011
comes out in only a month!
The only issue? You don’t technically have
the money right now.
You’ll pay it off. You swear.
Let’s face it society thrives on credit, using
fear t actics to quiet down any reason that’s
• screaming from your gut to cut your cards.
Want to move up in life and buy a house?
Tired of driving your mom’s gray mini-van?
Have the urge to move to California as soon
as you walk the stage and complain of anxiety?
Unfortunately, all these circumstances
require credit or a very rich grandparent.
I am definitely a sucker for the “quick plas
tic fix” my $2,000 worth of credit card debt
would support that.
Now, I find out the University is actually prof
iting off of my poor decisions?
To be honest, it’s hard to get upset.
It's my own fault if I fall victim to corporate
marketing schemes. Yes, the University and
Bank of America make money if I remain in
debt, however, I see a trade off.
When 2 a.m. rolls around and I want to pass
the time consuming large amounts of Choo-
Choo. my credit card makes this possible.
Perhaps I just want to have a Friday night
with the guys and a few beers are in order.
Illogical thinking? Most likely. I’m paying
more in the long run to have my fun up front,
but like I said, it’s a trade off.
Students’ don’t have to fall victim to these
advertisements we choose to; I choose to.
I like to think I have a big enough brain to take
care of my own finances.
At some point personal responsibility must
be called in to question.
Is it ridiculous that the University is making
money off of my debt? Of course.
Is it also ridiculous that Camel and Marlboro
rake in billions as we slowly kill ourselves?
McDonalds didn’t make us fat, and the
University and Bank of America aren’t to blame
if we swipe our credit cards.
- Joe Williams for the editorial board
Real beauty isn’t
found in Photoshop
It isn’t news that maga
zines targeted at teen
age girls and women
fill their pages with pic
tures of waif-thin models
and celebrities —a very
small minority of women
who stand above s’B and
still weigh below 120 lbs.
Our mothers would tell
us, “this isn’t realistic
honey, real women simply
do not look like this,” and
we, the young and impres
sionable daughters, would
listen to them and say,
“Okay Mom," while simul
taneously thinking to our
selves, “...but I would still
kill to look like her one
day."
Look at any newsstand
today and not only are the
covers of Seventeen and
Vogue displaying the per
fect body, but so are mag
azines ranging from
Women’s Health to GQ.
Basically, the message
is being driven home and
hard especially when
the impossibly gorgeous
women on these covers
are no longer limited to
that minority group of
genetically gifted models,
but now include actors,
singers, and even reality
TV stars that were once
stay-at-home mothers.
Is the entire world just
getting hotter? I think not.
What we’ve got here
over and over again is a
case of foul play.
Newsweek recently
published an article called
“Unattainable Beauty: the
decade’s most egregious
retouching scandals" that
exposes various celebrity
pictures before and after
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NEWS: 706433-3002
News Editor: Thomas Hooper
Associate News Editor: Beth Poliak
Sports Editor: Ryan Black
Variety Editor: Anne Connaughton
Photo Editor: Wes Blankenship
Design Editor: Haley Temple
Chief Copy Editor: Lisa Michais
Copy Editor: Elaine Ketch
Maria T.
JKgL f Alzuru
retouching.
In every picture the
waists of the women were
reduced, any signs of cel
lulite smoothed, and, in
one case, Demi Moore’s
hip was accidentally
removed altogether.
Obviously, this distor
tion of the female image
has not proven to be suffi
ciently troubling to our
society, since the retouch
ing of images continues
inching to a higher and
higher extreme.
That’s the issue.
Have you seen Heidi
Montag lately? If not, you
have clearly been living
under a rock.
The 23-year-old reality
star underwent 10 plastic
surgery procedures in one
day after already having
augmented her breasts
because, as she says, she
wants to “feel perfect.”
When did the message
that real women don't
look like the ones on the
magazine covers get lost?
We should worry
because other little girls
like Heidi Montag are
going to grow up and want
to retouch their bodies,
except they won’t do it on
paper with Photoshop
they’ll do it with a scalpel.
Maria T. Alzuru is a
senior majoring in
Political Science at
Columbia University
Online Editor: William Brown
Editorial Cartoonist: Bill Richards
Editorial Adviser: Ed Morales
Staff Writers: Auryn Baruch, Mitch
Bfomert, Kelsey Byrd, Sarah Jean
Dover, Lisa Glaser, Brittney Holmes,
Jen Ingles, Grace Morris, CC Nolan,
Crissinda Ponder, Zack Taylor, Allison
Williard
Opinions
College student turned reality star
Gainful employ
ment is overrated.
Forget working
for the summer forget
running the register at
Kohl’s, pushing shopping
carts at Wal-Mart or tak
ing tickets at
Beechwood.
I’ve decided to
become a reality-televi
sion star instead.
Now, before you get all
judgy, think about it
this is completely logical.
Who’d bother working
9-to-5 when you can just
hop on over in front of a
bunch of cameras and a
national audience?
Oh, but it's so hard.
Really? It’s never been
easier!
We live in a hyper-real
world now; anyone who is
anybody (and who can
do, frankly, anything) can
grab his or her moment
in the spotlight.
Sure, it used to
require that you be— at
least really good-look
ing, or somewhat talent
ed or kind of weird.
However, now every
day tasks can become
preparation for your 15
minutes.
Been digging around
in your attic preparing
for that seasonal garage
sale? Bump that: head to
Antique Roadshow
instead.
(Retro, as they say, is
always in ... and who
would ever dream of
throwing away home
made arts and crafts any
way?)
Secretly harboring
dreams of world (err,
bakery) domination?
If the Cake Boss can
do it, so can you!
Dying to share your
nights as a security
guard at the Playboy
mansion with the world?
It’s not like Ryan
Seacrest has anything
better to do.
Expanding shouldn’t mean conforming
Music has always been a
treasured and important
part of my life.
It's the one thing that is always
there, no matter how I feel or
where life drags me.
It can heal wounds, lift spirits,
bring people together and put oth
ers at ease.
It seems to me, however, that
music has slowly evolved into a
shell of itself over the recent years.
Simply put, pop culture has
completely taken over the musical
spectrum.
You might ask, “why is that so
bad?”
For the typical Top 40 listener
who watches MTV in their spare
time and has two stations pre-set
on the radio, I suppose it’s not
that bad at all.
Some might even enjoy the fact
that every genre of music has
evolved to include “pop” In it's
name.
Pop-rock, pop-punk, pop-jazz
and yes even pop-metal.
What happened to originality?
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
Kayaking enthusiasts can stay in Classic City
As someone who routinely says,
“kayaking is cheaper than therapy,”
I was excited this morning to see
an article entitled “Two kayak ven
ues offer options for adventure this
summer.”
However, that turned to disap
pointment pretty quick when I was
finished reading. Right in our own
back yard, just up Atlanta Highway
right before the 316 split is a little
shop on the left called Big Dogs.
About 7 weeks ago they expand
ed their business, adding Big Dogs
on the River— a kayaking outfitters
on the Middle Oconee.
What really surprised me is that
there was just an article in the
Banner-Herald on May 9 and they
Our Staff
Photographers: Halleigh Amsden,
Abbey Boehmer, Emily Karol, Jon Kim,
Laura McCranie, Jesse Walker
Page Designers: Abbey Boehmer,
Elaine Ketch
ADVERTISING: 706433-3001
Advertising Director: Natalie McClure
Student Advertising Manager:
Courrtnr ob Tat Hills
▲ Viewers tune in to The Hills for a glimpse of rich people's problems
Carlson
(That’s right, Kim
Kardashian, you and your
spastically-bobbleheaded
family can suck it.)
Oh, but what if you’re
a little bit different
what if you can’t do much
of anything at all?
Well, if you can read
Oust a little) and memo
rize a few choice lines (for
just a few minutes) then
you’re one solid producer
meeting away from land
ing your own MTV 2 con
fessional (for a few short
seasons).
If Jersey Shore
deserves its own drug
soaked showcase, why
shouldn’t Athens?
Get it now? I’m not so
crazy. The airwaves are
Barber
Where is the true artist?
When I am looking for some
thing new to play on my iPod, I
feel as if I am in a musical coffee
shop.
“Can I get the low-fat
Alternative?”
“Do you carry Diet Rap?”
“One decaf Hardcore, please.”
I refuse to accept any passion
less, trendy music substitutes.
The sad thing is, I believe all
this popular music is coming from
greed.
Catchy songs sell, and that’s
what all of this comes down to.
Bands seem to be moving away
from that ‘enough money to make
it to our next stop’ mindset.
Don’t get me wrong, I want
bands to ‘make it.’ I want them to
do well and make a profit off of
advertise in the Flagpole.
Having already become one of
my favorite summer activities and
being so close to home (5 minutes
instead of 30 or 40), I highly recom
mend checking them out.
The cabana on the river is a nice
place to relax, before or after your
trip and can be reserved for parties.
Be sure to keep an eye out for
the lone black duck who hangs in
the trio, the sweet little otter who
swims the river back there, or the
blue heron who gracefully swoops
through the sky overhead
TONIA DOUSAY
Graduate Student, Livingston, TX
Learning Design A Technology
Lauren Jones
Account Executive*: Katherine
Blackstad, Rachel Britain, Sarah
Carlton, Stacey Joseph, Kelly Pierce,
Haley Winther
Sales Associate: Brittney Johnson
Classified Adviser: Haley Winther
Production Manager: Sam Plttard
Publisher: Harry Montevideo
crammed with channels
that are crammed with
empty air.
They’ve gotta put on
something. We can look
at the Ray Js, Michael
Lohans and Holly
Madisons of the world
and think, "Maybe the
Mayans cut out just in
time.”
But not me; I’m Jump
ing right up on the band
wagon.
I’ll tone up, slim down,
darken my skin and
bleach my teeth. I may
not have perfected the
art of the blank stare yet,
but I’ve been mainlining
The Hills. It’ll take.
I’ll collect a few frene
mies, develop a drinking
habit and begin to talk
REALLY, REALLY
LOUDLY.
Occasionally, I’ll even
re-enact scenes from my
daily life as they’re hap
pening.
Editorial board members include w*s Blankenship, Dates Ouncsn, Crissmda Porte, Haley Taupe.
Joe WHiami
Phone (706) 433-3002 | Flax (706) 433-3033
opinionß@randb.com | www.redandblack.com
540 Baxter Street, Athens, Ga. 30605
Pretty soon l’m
almost certain —one of
those Real Housewives is
going to keel-over in a
hair spray-induced coma,
and I’ll be ready and
waiting to shed the bor
ing, sensible skin of my
college life for the glitz
and glam of a star.
My Kate Oosselin wig
will be here any day now,
and then it’s off to
Hollywood.
You’re more than wel
come to keep toiling
away at your higher-edu
cations while I’m riding
high on a wave of tabloid
fueled fame.
Where will your bache
lor’s degree leave you?
Me me you can
catch every Friday at 10.
See you on VHI.
—Adam Carlson is a
sophomore from Dallas
majoring in magazines
and film studies.
their art.
What I don’t want, however, is
these bands compromising their
art for the money.
In all honesty, should every CD
coming out be crafted together
with over-worked "singles”?
Do we want music to move to a
bland, generic sound that is com
pletely unoriginal and absolutely
predicable? I, for one, do not.
We, the audience and listeners,
need to start embracing genres
such as Experimental and Indie.
We need to support our local
music scene - our local artists.
We need to move away from this
Daughtry-esque, Star 94 move
ment, where one song cannot be
differed from another.
Stop listening to what’s ‘cool’
and what’s ‘in’ and start listening
with your heart only then will
we find the passion that has been
missing from the airwaves.
Jody Barber is a senior
psychology major at
the University of West Georgia
Flamboyance has appeal
I would like to commend one of
your writers on a thoughtful, well
written piece about “Glee”.
I might comment though, that it
wouldn’t be a highly rated show if
the gay character acted ... well, less
“gay”.
I understand that gay people
range from stoic to flamboyant, but
a gay person dressing conservative
ly and wearing an oxford shirt
wouldn't draw attention.
CHRISTOPHER SMITH
Senior, Alpharetta
Political Science
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Cleaning Person: Mary Jones
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