A lasting, appropriate gift
In response to the Ed Board’s article on Wednesday, I would first like to thank the Ed Board for its insightful article regarding the Dedman Center seal. Your article brought up some interesting points. Because, once again, the Ed Board has failed to do research into the process regarding class gifts, I shall enlighten you.
“Who decided on giving the seal in the first place?” the Ed Board asks. Well, back in the spring, the Ed Board might recall, we had elections for the Senior Class Council. Fifteen of the senior class’s most dedicated campus leaders were selected to come up with ideas for the class gift. Several ideas were brought to the University’s attention over the period of several months, and all were given earnest consideration by the University.
It is the opinion of the Council and of the University that senior gifts should be lasting contributions to the University, not items that will certainly become obsolete by the time our five-year reunions come around. The Ed Board suggested that computers or scholarships would have been better ideas for the senior class gift. Well, computers are anything but permanent, and, frankly, the funds traditionally raised by the senior class are not substantial enough to endow scholarships. However, the Ed Board should know that scholarships were considered by the Council.
When meeting with the Council, administrators spoke about the idea that the senior class is not buying a gift. Instead, the senior class is raising money for the University and in turn the University is recognizing that contribution. We are not directly funding the seal; instead, the Council believes that the seal is an appropriate way for the University to recognize the senior class’s donations.
For those naysayers out there who believe the Council did not put a lot of thought into this gift, I encourage you to speak with me, or Council members, to see just how hard we have worked on this. Again, the Council believes this seal will be a lasting and appropriate gift — whether or not the Ed Board thinks so.
Andrew Baker
Senior Class Council President
Designer Disorder
I have never seen so many skinny girls in my entire life.
Walking into the Dallas Hall girl’s bathroom during my first class a couple weeks ago, I heard someone throwing up. At first, I thought the poor girl was recovering from a vicious hangover… maybe it was food poisoning. But, after the door shut behind me the vomiting stopped. I know when I’m sick, there’s no holding the stuff down. I began to think that maybe this is how some girls become ridiculously thin.
Walking around the SMU campus, I can’t help but notice the prevalence of the emaciated bodies around me. It seems as though thin is definitely in, but I don’t understand why girls are jumping on the eating disorder bandwagon to drop the pounds. What is really going on here?
I have a pretty good idea what’s going on here, and I think a lot of you do too. It frustrates me watch girls resort to extreme measures to fit some kind of warped perception of beauty. However, the fact that no one is doing anything about this problem frustrates me even more.
According to an eating disorder website, “19 percent of college-aged women are bulimic.” I’m willing to bet the number is in the 30 percent range campus wide.
Residence halls perhaps witness the most eating disorder action. First-year students already feel uneasy in the transition from high school to college. Many girls get caught up in the rush, losing confidence in themselves. Quickly, eating disorders arise within the dorms.
Resident assistant Lauren Cook lives in Boaz Hall and stated, “It has become one of my biggest concerns as a first-year RA. You know it’s become a problem when girls come to you every morning complaining about the throw up in the showers.”
I can’t see how anyone can deny the proliferation of eating disorders on this campus, but the question here is why. Why are so many girls starving themselves or throwing up food?
Some might argue the media influences our perceptions of what looks beautiful. Celebrities and model’s bodies are beginning to look like the stick figures I doodle during my history class. We live in a society where we admire Hollywood starlets more than women like Kay Bailey Hutchison or Condoleezza Rice, women who are actually making a difference in our lives.
More than celebrities though, I think we should point the finger at ourselves. SMU girls strive for perfection. Just look at the fashion trends: Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s, Ugg(ly) boots. We constantly attempt to fit the stereotypical SMU mold.
Everything revolves around image here. Walking to class is like being on a runway. It’s almost impossible not to compare yourself to the blonde bombshell passing on your left, or to your gorgeous best friend on the right.
And this is where the problem of perfection comes into play. Eating disorders have become the new trend in a sense, only compounding the problem. It’s one thing to copy someone’s designer purse, but it’s quite another to copy their extreme diet methods.
The problem with eating disorders is overtaking our campus, and I know I’m not the only one who can see the exponential growth. But, no one is making enough effort to stop it.
Sure, our campus dedicates a special section of our health center to eating disorder counseling; however, the girls with the problem have to get there first. Even then, counselors require them to stay for only one session.
In order to turn the trend around, we must call out our friends who we know struggle with an eating disorder. We can no longer stand aside and watch with complacency as our peers battle with an addiction.
I don’t believe the problem lies in a lack of motivation to help friends, but I do believe the fear of ruining a relationship or talking about such a sensitive/taboo issue blocks the way.
The problem stops with us, and I think it’s necessary to keep pushing the issue if we truly want to help our friends. Educating people about eating disorders hardly meets the standards these days. I’m not saying we need to baby-sit or start a “red scare” hunt here. Because many girls with eating disorders live in denial about their problem, we need to hold them accountable for their habits.
I think Dove has the right idea. Their “Campaign for Real Beauty” attempts to redefine our society’s perceptions on what makes a woman beautiful. Campaignforrealbeauty.com describes how “six ordinary women were recruited off the street and chosen for their confidence and spark – bearing all in their underwear without having been airbrushed or re-touched in any way.”
Replacing real images of women in advertising and on television will help change society’s impression and expectations of body shapes, which can help turn the tide against eating disorders.
If women today, especially the ones found on the SMU campus, put half as much energy and competitive fervor into their careers and studies as they do to their looks, we would have one hell of a women’s movement.
Cheryl Dunlap
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs major
