health
In search of the body beautiful
Celebrities such as Kate Moss and the Soloflex man sometimes set society's standards of beauty. But those ideals may not be realistic.
Photo illustration by Jennie Zeiner / KANSAN
By Cathleen Siechta
Kansan staff writer
When supermodel Kate Moss' boyish and rib-revealing frame appears in Calvin Klein Obsession TV commercials, some women may be envious. Some men may be admiring.
Some students, however, may be appalled.
"I think Kate Moss has taken thinness to a very unattractive extreme," said Dana Zachgo, Salina junior. "I don't see anything appealing about skin and bones."
Moss' reign as a beauty trendsetter may be ending as more curvaceous models are strong-arming their way onto fashion pages and runways, creating a new image for women and perhaps a welcome change for some men.
But is the image worth emulating? Magazines plaster their pages with beautiful models, and students may let these images dictate for them what is desirable. This sometimes can be harmful.
Charlene Muehlenhard, associate professor of women's studies, said women often felt pressure to be more attractive. Although some women go to extremes, such as self-starvation, they shouldn't take all the blame.
Although many women struggle to be thin, many students do not find the physiques of supermodels such as Moss attractive. Nine of 10 KU male students interviewed said they preferred the voluptuous body of Guess model Anna Nicole Smith to Moss' waffle-like build. Most said Moss just looked unhealthy.
"There's this feeling among people about women that 'Well, they're the ones who do it to themselves,'" Muehlenhard said. "But the women do it because they want to be acceptable to men and society."
Many male students said they didn't care whether a woman looked like a supermodel as long as she was fit.
Sarah Hoffman, owner of Bodyshapes Fitness Club, 3320 Mesa Way, a club for women, said healthy was how most women wanted to look. Although the fashion industry tends to glorify fluctuating ideals of beauty, Hoffman said, health and fitness should be women's most important considerations.
"The shape of a woman's body is not as important as the condition," said Adam
"The focus now is not on how much you weigh or what size jeans you wear." Hoffman said. "That focus caused a lot of yo-yo dieting. Now, the trend is low-fat dieting and keeping a low percentage of body fat."
Walcott, Marysville junior. "A slim midsection, toned legs and low fat percentage are a must."
Some students disagreed.
"Shape is what makes women attractive," said Eric Parks, Hutchinson junior.
Although a supermodel ideal is not necessarily a student's ideal, many women still feel pressure to conform to such standards.
Diane Kobrynowicz, a graduate student in psychology who has taught a course on body image, said women's own body images often were inaccurate.
"There have been studies done that show that women want to look thinner than their ideal weight," Kobrynnowzik said. "And what men felt to be a woman's ideal weight tended to be slightly over a woman's ideal weight."
And what about men? Women may be surprised to learn that men, whose bodies have more muscle mass and are naturally lower in fat, also have insecurities about their bodies.
Chris Bangs, manager of The Fitness Center, 807 Vermont St., said men were just as concerned about their bodies as women. He said that some men who came to his club wanted to lose weight and that the majority wanted to keep fit and tone their bodies.
"If you have a genetically thick midsection, you can't change that." Bangs said. "Exercise can't change the composition of your body, but you can change the health of it. The people who come in here, men and women, want to be healthy and achieve better fitness."
Many female students said their ideal man should be fit rather than extremely thin or muscular.
Christie Green, Kansas City, Kan. senior, said that she didn't like men who were pencil thin but that she liked a man who watched his weight.
"I like men who are toned and fit, not chunky, and especially not wimpy and lanky," Green said. "I think an athletic build is ideal. Like the Soloflex man. He's muscular, but not too big."
But Zachgo said images of men and women in the media were not only unattractive at times, but also unrealistic.
"People like Cindy Crawford and the Soloflex man obviously have to work to look the way they do," she said. "It's unrealistic to put models in magazines and expect people to just say, 'That's what I'm going to look like.' I mean, it would be nice, but it's better to be satisfied with your own body image than to try to be someone you're not."
environment
An earthquake could happen in your backyard
By Cathleen Siechta
Kansan staff writer
Since the Los Angeles earthquake on January 17, there's been a whole lot of shakin' goin'on.
Just weeks ago, California suffered another aftershock, measuring at 5.3 on the Richter scale, from the January 6.6 quake.
But those who live in the heartland are safe, right?
Well... maybe
The New Madrid Fault, which runs through the bootheel of Missouri, may be a natural disaster just waiting to happen.
"The New Madrid Fault is perfectly capable of generating a major earthquake like those in California," said Ross Black, associate professor of geology.
The New Madrid Fault wreaked havoc on settlers for three months in the early 1800s. From December 1811 to February 1812, the ground around the New Madrid area rippled, entire forests fell and villages flooded with the water of the Mississippi river.
The Richter scale, which measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake, did not exist at that time. But seismologists have estimated the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were as intense as 8.7, equivalent to about 12,000 times the energy released by a nuclear explosion. Generally, earthquakes measured at 7 are considered to be extremely hazardous.
Records also indicate that the New Madrid earthquakes were felt as far away as Kansas, Canada, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
One other earthquake along the New Madrid Fault was of similar intensity to this year's 6.6 quake in Los Angeles. In 1895, the Fault produced a 6.2 quake.
Black said that micro earthquakes, those measuring 3 or lower, occur in the New Madrid area, and even in Kansas, often. These quakes, however, are not intense enough to be felt. Black said that if a large earthquake occurred along the New Madrid Fault, Lawrence residents could feel the tremor.
Since then, earthquake activity has continued on a more moderate scale in the New Madrid area, with the most recent significant quake occurring in 1976. That quake measured 4.9 on the Richter scale.
Earthquakes in the 6-6.5 range within the New Madrid seismic zone recur an average of once every 75 to 100 years, according to some estimates. Therefore, the area is due for an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6, since the last one of this magnitude occurred over 90 years ago.
Dave Dick, a Shawnee Mission Junior who grew up in St. Louis, said he never worried about earthquakes even though he has lived in the New Madrid area.
"We would feel it, but it would probably rattle a few dishes, and that would be about it," he said.
California has indeed had more experience with earthquakes than most states. One reason for this is that California is home to the 600-mile San Andreas Fault, and is crisscrossed by several smaller faults.
"Iguess because the New Madrid is so far south from St. Louis, I never thought about it," Dick said. "You only hear about the earthquakes in California."
The New Madrid Fault runs in the bootheel of Missouri. Though relatively inactive for many years, it is capable of producing quakes as intense as those suffered by Californians.
The New Madrid seismic zone
Will Gunderman/KANSAN
Source: Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis University
A fault is an area where the rocky plates that make up the earth's surface slide against each Often, this creates movement that is not always smooth. The plates can stick together, building pressure. When the rock can no longer withstand the stress, the plates surge past each other, creating an earthquake.
is everything on it."
"It's an eerie experience," said Ashley Ressler, a Balboa Island, Calif., senior, who has experienced the earthquake. "It just feels like the whole earth is shaking, and so
Despite the risk of an earthquake causing property damage or physical harm to those in its path, some Californians still wouldn't leave their shaky state for the what may seem like the calm Midwest.
"Earthquakes don't bother me anymore," said Shawn Schlegel, Covina, Calif., senior. "I guess I've never heard of an earthquake in Kansas, but I'd rather go through an earthquake in California than a tornado in Kansas any day."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 9
APRIL 6,1994
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
EXHIBITIONS AND LECTURES
Tour du jour — Margaret Killeen, NEA Intern in photography, on Considered Space; Pho-
photography, on Considering Space: Photographs from the Collection, 12:15 p.m. tomorrow at North Balcony Gallery in Spencer Museum of Art.
Tour of the month — "Decorative Art at the Spencer Museum," 1 p.m. Sunday at Spencer Museum Lobby.
Exhibition — Ante America, March 20 - May 15 at Spencer Museum of Art.
Hallmark symposium — Moe Lebowitz, illustrator/designer, 6 p.m. Monday at Spencer Museum Auditorium.
Program — Resume Writing and Interviewing Skills for Women, 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union.
Exhibition — Works by R. Gregory Waistrom,
April 1-30 at Full Moon Cafe, 803 Mass-
achusetts St.
PERFORMANCES
Exhibition — Considering Space: Photographs from the Collection, March 27-April 30 at Spencer Museum of Art.
Music in Central Court — Murphy Woodwind Quintet, 7 p.m. tomorrow at Spencer Museum of Art.
Master's Recital — Ching-Fang Tsal, plano,
7:30 p.m. Friday at Swarthout Recall Hall.
Inge Theatre Series — Pot Pouri Productions:
"Dinner Theatre" and "Mixed Media," 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday at Inge Theatre. $6 public, $3 students. $5 senior citizens.
Japanese Puppet Theatre — "Shonanza," 2 p.m. Saturday at Swarthout Recital Hall. $5 public. $3.50 all students.
Inge Theatre Series — Pot Poull Prodctions:
“Betrayal,” 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Inge Theatre.
$6 public, $3 students, $5 senior citizens.
Student Recital — Ayren Dudrey, harp, 6:15
p.m. Saturday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
Student Recital — Jesse Wake Krebs, composition,
7:30 p.m. Sunday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
Faculty Recital — Kansas Brass Quintet, 7:30
p.m. Monday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
Spring Concert — University Symphony Orchestra,
7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Kansas Union Ball-
room in the Kansas Union, Free
Master's Recital — Andy Stuckey, baritone,
7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
Spring Music Honor Recital — Graduate Music
Honor Recital, 7:30 p.m. today at Swarthout
Recital Hall.
Performing Ensemble — Cotton Wood Winds of Lawrence Woodwind Quintet, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Drive
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