Children not pornographic material
The Daily Eastern News
I
Opinion
page
Friday, April 16, 1999
Page 4
Helping
Haiti
S
aturday morning, several members of
the campus and Charleston communities will don their walking shoes and
and attempt to raise a record amount of
money to help aid the less fortunate citizens of
Haiti.
Some Haitian citizens live-in conditions far
worse than many of us can imagine, so grab
your raincoats and gloves and head out to
brave the chilly day that is expected to be
accompanied with light rain, or donate money
in the form of sponsoring a candidate if taking
a leisurely five mile stroll in the rain is too
much to ask.
Walkers are
Unity walk
responsible
for gainStudents and Charleston
ing
a
minimum
of $5
residents are encouraged to
in pledges and the
participate in the Unity walk to
raise money for Haiti this
pledges can be desigSaturday.
nated to the specific
areas of need in Haiti, such as the education of
young Haitians or to fund health care needs
and medicine for the sick.
The walk is sponsored by the Haiti
Connection and will begin at 11 a.m. in front
of Buzzard Building and carries the theme of
“What is Within Surrounds Us.”
Dan Fitzgerald, the event coordinator and
Haiti Connection co-chair, said he had a few
ulterior motives when organizing the walk.
One reason he cited was “to increase unity
among students through campus wide events.”
A five-mile walk, run or skate can be an
excellent opportunity to work off Saturday’s
dining service brunch and meet a handful of
new people that share your interests in helping
the less fortunate. And T-shirts will be sold for
$5 to help you remember the time you helped
make a few people’s lives easier and the
friends that were made on that chilly overcast
day.
A congregation of bright yellow rubber jackets will be waiting for fellow walkers at 11
a.m. in front of Buzzard Building. Hope to see
you there.
editorial is the opinion of the editorial board of The Daily
Eastern News.
■ The
“
Today’s quote
In union there is strength.
Aesop,
Reputed Greek author of Aesop’s Fables
”
didn’t think much when
Demi Moore was on the
cover of Vanity Fair in only
a painted-on suit.
I didn’t think much when
Janet Jackson only covered her
breasts with her hands on the
cover of Rolling Stone.
I’m not against pornography, Nicole Meinheit
Features editor
I’m not even against the most
graphic magazines that can only
be called masturbation material;
But I was offended when I saw
the cover of the April 15 issue of Rolling Stone.
The cover places 17-year-old pop star Britney Spears in
only her underwear with a purple Tele-Tubbie cradled in
her right arm and a phone pressed against her left ear while
she gives a sultry stare to the camera.
Looking inside the magazine shows the 17-year-old in
her bedroom. Again giving the camera a sultry star as she
is positioned against a back ground of dolls in a room that
screams childhood.
Further on, she is walking next to a bicycle that she is
obviously too big to ride on, glancing over her shoulder
with the same sultry look. The bicycle is not only too
small, indicating a child’s bike, it comes complete with
basket ... a feature I haven’t had on my bicycle since I was
12.
While I do not think the parents of a 17-year-old girl
should allow her to pose in in her underwear, the clothing
choice is not the most offensive part of the issue.
She may be 17, but other children have been pushed as
sex symbols at that young of an age (i.e. Hanson) and, as
Spears admitted in a television interview, she only did it
because it was Rolling Stone.
Spears has spent a lifetime in the spotlight and is making the most of her time there before the public gets tired
of hearing “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” and loses interest faster than the Spice Girls fell apart. She is working the
system, and who can blame her for trying to make money.
What I do have a problem with is that she is most obvi-
President Surles thanks
campus community
I am amazed to have completed
my first month as president of Eastern
Illinois University. Indeed, I have
been engaged pleasantly in the work
of this splendid university. My children, Lisa and Philip, and I were
especially delighted with the attendance and tremendous showing of
support at the community wide reception held in my honor.
It is my hope that Eastern and the
larger university community will continue to thrive as we enter the 21st
century. Eastern Illinois University
has played a vital role in the lives of
many in this region and in the state. I
ously portrayed as a child.
Three separate pictures surround her with children’s toys
“Does Rolling
(implying that she is a child),
Stone really have a yet the opening paragraph of
the story describes her body
right to portray a like that of a heroine in a 99
cent romance novel complete
child as a sex
with a pre-bird-crach picture of
symbol?”
Fabio on the cover.
Does Rolling Stone really
have a right to portray a child
as a sex symbol?
Perhaps, they can place a scantily clothed 17-year-old
on a cover, but to repeatedly point out that this sex symbol
is a child is wrong.
If she hadn't been cradling a Tele-Tubbie and phone I
wouldn't have thought anything of the cover. Perhaps a little alarmed that the parents of a 17-year-old allowed her to
pose like that, but not disgusted.
Children are not sex symbols. While a 17-year-old may
be old enough to be a sex symbol, the 12-year-old whose
bike she was pictured with is not old enough.
While Rolling Stone did not make Spears physically
look younger, they put her with objects that made her seem
younger and that is wrong.
Rolling Stone, or any other magazine cannot say, look
here is an adult dressed up like a child isn’t that sexy and
that is exactly what Rolling Stone is doing.
The pictures could have been done and showed her
room, complete with a doll collection, had they put some
clothes on her, or they could have dressed her as a sex
symbol, had they left the childish innuendoes out. I’ve
never heard anyone say, “check out that sexy woman with
the Tele-tubbie!”
The entire spread is an oxymoron mixing childhood
with sex ... two distinct areas that should not be mixed.
Nicole Meinheit is a sophomore English major and a monthly
columnist for The Daily Eastern News. Her e-mail address is
cunmm2@pen.eiu.edu. Columns are the opinion of the author.
■
Your
turn
Letters to the editor
to take an active role in sustaining our
cherished university.
Carol Surles
Eastern President
pledge my best efforts to ensure that
Eastern maintains its distinction for
offering affordable and accessible
academic programs of the highest
quality.
I appreciate the many cards and
letters from the university community,
and I heartily accept the commitment
of those who have offered to join me
in promoting the university. As we
actualize Eastern’s mission as a find
public comprehensive university, I
hope you will recognize you vision in
our programs at Eastern. I invite you
Send letters to the editor via e-mail to cudmp2@pen.eiu.edu
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