TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
PAGE*5A
THE UNIVERSFLY DAILY KANSAN
opinion
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I'm still closed, but the recent LGBT articles in the UDK have really given me courage. Thank you!!
In Harry Potter, every year there is a new Darks Arts Teacher. At KU, every year there is a new football coach.
Going down the mountain on your butt more than your skis... Pure talent. #steamboat
That moment when you're disappointed your roommate returned because you were hoping she failed out.
Way too many people in my home-town have made awful life decisions and are Mizzou fans. It's good to be back
Don't Whoe during the Rock Chalk Chant. Mizzou would whoo. Do you want to be like Mizzou?
I have to do what now on the 17th?
You know your game sucks when the only thing you talk to the girl about is the guy she's talking to.
My 7-year-old brother's bball team has less turnovers than Tyshawn.
The best part of winter break so far was learning that The Magic School Bus is still on TV.
How can you go into Mrs E's at a busy time wearing spandex shorts and expect everyone to not look at your butt?
Rule of thumb for KU busses:
no bus is truly full until the entire surface area of your body is being touched by strangers
Bus driver Dan, route red misses you.
Waiting for the day when someone who isn't a foot taller than me asks me on a date. *shortgirlproblems*
Tip to Hash bus riders: shower first, then board the bus.
So I need to accept that the water here is perpetually cloudy just because I live in McCollum?
I believe that camping should be a fully catered affair. I'm hungry and have no money.
I wish I was a man so I could grow a sweater for my face.
You get the weirdest looks when you walk down Jayhawk Blvd. with a swivel chair on your head...
I say we Occupy Allen Fieldhouse and demand lottery reform.
Life should be like a Hollywood film: completely preten..ous and utterly predictable.
Physics class in Budig. Never in my life have I seen more people who have exactly the same wardrobe clustered together in one room. Or probable Trekkies.
The squirrels around lawrence are magical.
To the guy at Steak 'n Shake: sorry for staring, but you were quite attractive. Congratulations on that!
Media creates distorted body image
LIFESTYLE
A few years ago, I was a typical self-conscious, Cosmopolitan-obsessed, female college student who always felt like I needed to lose weight to be satisfied with myself.
I had an average 5'4, size 6-8 build, but my weight submerged preoccupied my mind and controlled my mood. My life revolved around what I was eating, when I was going to exercise and how my clothes fit.
No, I didn't have an eating disorder, but I still had a problem. No matter how many calories I didn't eat or how many inches I lost, I was never satisfied with my body.
I slaved away on an elliptical trainer for hours each week, working desperately to rid my legs of that god-awful cellulite.
Coming to terms with my weight and being happy with the body I have took a long time. I had to stop allowing media images define what I thought my body should look like. I had to educate myself on the difference between "healthy" and "culturally ideal."
After researching body image in the United States, I learned that
media and the weight loss industries want Americans to be unsatisfied — otherwise the "health" companies make no money.
Our culture constantly feeds us "size does matter" messages and implants distorted perceptions of beauty in our minds with altered images of nearly anorexic women in every magazine.
We are constantly told that we need to buy books, magazines, pills, videos and ridiculous workout gear so we can get a little bit closer to looking like the models. We tell ourselves that maybe then we'll be happy — except the "then" always seems to allude us.
Because of this marketing, educated, talented and beautiful young women (and men) continue to give into the hype.
Americans reportedly spent $60.9 billion on dieting and weight loss in 2010, according to data from Marketdata Enterprises, Inc.
The media choose to not only use models who are an estimated 23 percent thinner than the average American and mostly statistically anorexic, according to research by sociologist Jean Kilbourn, but they Photoshop these women so their figures are literally impossible to achieve.
Educating myself on false perceptions of beauty made by the media for strictly profit purposes was essential for my self-esteem. It was liberating to realize the media doesn't want me to be happy with my body because they don't make money that way.
According to research provided by Media- awareness.net, women's magazines have 10 times more ads and articles that push weight loss than men's magazines do, and three-quarters of the covers of women's magazines include at least one message about altering a woman's appearance.
I also learned that I had to sur
round myself with healthy friends and family who weren't constantly making me feel self-conscious about my weight.
So, instead of telling yourself to lose weight for this New Year's resolution, focus on gaining confidence instead. Get stronger, not smaller. Trust me, it's much more rewarding.
Now, I run and exercise because I like the way it makes me feel. I eat healthy because I like giving my body the fuel it needs to get stronger. I could are less about losing weight.
Most importantly, I had to gain confidence in myself to know that there is much more to my body than its appearance. I didn't realize this until I completed my first triathlon. Pushing past physical limits made me truly appreciate my body.
Matney is a senior in journalism from Shawnee
- Illustration by Ryan Benedick
CAMPUS
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Kansas fans celebrating during the starting line up. Kansas won against the University of North Dakota 84-58.
Take "whoo" out of chant
Preserve the ominous silence in the original cheer
We all know the chant: the world-famous, eerie, and historical chant which echoes through the rafters in Allen Fieldhouse and across the gridiron of Memorial Stadium. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU."
This time tested fan favorite has enthralled crowds, and chased out opponents for over a century. However, this great tradition has recently been tarnished by a continually growing number of "whoo" birds who are degrading the intentional pronounced silence which is supposed to separate each line in the chant.
We're all taught the chant at traditions night during Hawk Week. The chant is simple.
"Rock Chalk
Jay hawk,
KU," repeated
in rhythm.
The simplicity makes the chant unique and makes it what Teddy Roosevelt called the "greatest col
Many students have not taken kindly to the "whoo" crowd. A Facebook group titled "There is no Whooo in the Rock Chalk Chant" currently has 1,081 members, and is growing at a
Adding "whoo" draws away from this atmosphere and degrades the traditions that this University has proudly stood behind for decades.
atmosphere in Allen Fieldhouse or Memorial Stadium. Adding "whoo" draws away from this atmosphere and degrades the traditions that this university has proudly stood behind for decades.
But what is this "whoo" nonsense? "Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU...whoo?" The silence between verses is to be treasured, and used to alarm opponents. The silence is special, and heightens the already fantastic
lege chant he'd ever heard."
rapid rate.
Those who partake in the "whoo"
are not intentionally disrespecting
the chant in any way, but just assume that "whoooing"
is the correct thing to do after hearing it done that way for as long as they've been on campus.
Growing up as a diehard KU fan, however, I can tell you that, having heard both versions,
there is nothing like the spine tingling and breath taking sound of the chant before the "whoo" existed. When you add in the awful "whoo", the Rock Chalk chant is transformed into more of a cheer. Why would we want to transform one of our greatest and longest standing traditions into simply another cheer which every other college has? The chant stands is a firm contrast to the cheesy and lackluster cheers of other colleges. We need to regain a firm hold on our tradition and restore the chant to its true and wonderful form.
After searching far and wide, I have yet to find anyone strongly attached to the "whoo." There are those who are indifferent and don't mind it either way, but for the most part, most people have been anti "whoo."
Nobody knows for sure when this atrocious trend began, but it's high time we put an end to it. Each and every Jayhawk has the responsibility to take back our chant, and all of us can help. Let's return the chant to its true form, and continue to haunt opponents for many years to come. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, and whatever you do, please, please don't "whoo."
Schlesener is a sophomore in journalism and Italian from Herington
from the OP-ED editor's desk
Opinions make the world more exciting
This semester, I have the task of putting together an opinion.
This semester, I have the task of putting together an opinion page for the Kansan. Besides finding writers, I found myself questioning what makes an "opinion" page. Of course, the title may seem self-explanatory, but when it comes down to it the idea of an "opinion" is slightly harder to define. It's not an argument or angry rant. It's not an intellectual treatise nor is it a research paper or news story. It just an opinion, but then again an opinion depends on so many other factors besides plain facts.
As a classics major, I remember the famous quotation found at the Oracle of Delphi: "TNΩΘI ΣEAYTON" in English "Know thyself." And while I am interpreting it in a grossly different way than the Greeks intended, I would like to add that we should know not only our own thoughts, ideas and opinions but also those of others.
Because to "know thyself" requires knowing what came before you, what currently surrounds you and what may come after you. Knowing ourselves is a collective effort because not a single person can survive without the assistance of others. Simply put, human beings are social animals, and our day and age proves best that social animals seek socialization.
Besides that, not one single idea is original in itself. Every idea comes from another idea or inspiration. So, although we are unique beings from each other, we thrive off each other.
I know that many of you get upset when you see a column run that contradicts your beliefs or political views. As human beings we have a natural tendency to be defensive of our beliefs and ideas. Occasionally, we sit here and think,
"Wouldn't it be nice if everyone just agreed with me?"
But it actually wouldn't be nice. It would make our world the most uninspiring and tedious place to live, and it would certainly put me and many others out of a job.
I challenge all of you, the readers, to read the columns which you disagree with. We're here to share the ideas of students like you - undergraduate, graduate, law school, transfer, freshman, senior, international or non-traditional (and many more).
And we urge all of you to write to us. Send us letters to the editors, submit ideas for columns and if you truly feel passionate about a topic, apply to be a columnist or editorial writer.
Disagree, debate and speak up. Don't ever settle for monotonous agreement. I guarantee there cannot be one person in this world with whom you agree completely, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to those who have something to say that conflicts with your opinion. The smartest people are the ones who know not only themselves, but also everyone else.
Knutsen is a sophonine in classical languages from Overland Park
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Alexis Knutsen, opinion editor
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Ian Cummings, Lisa Curran, Alexis Knutsen, Angela Hawkins, Mandy Matney and Ryan Schlesener.