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77je Blue Banner — Sierving the University of North Carolina at Ashe\ille since 1982
Thursday, February 8, 2007
In regards to a
skewed perspective
By Kristen Marshal]
News Eorrut
It’s no small secret that journal
ists, by and large, are not well
liked by the masses. Not only are
they manipulative, but they’re
liars and thieves. They are biased
and push their own agendas. They
will do anything for a story, for a
few exploitive words from a
grieving widow. Journalists are
jaded, heartless snoops who
believe that tragedies should be
sensationalized. Bring on that
Pulitzer!
The public stopped considering
journalists as trustworthy messen
gers somewhere between Stephen
Glass, high-profile plagiarist
extraordinaire, and Geraldo
Rivera, the mustached idiot who
gave away the positions of U.S.
troops overseas.
But perhaps journalists are sim
ply misunderstood. Perhaps they
all have the most honest of inten
tions at heart (excluding Rivera,
that idiot), with their collegiate
ideals still in tact. Maybe they just
want to change the world the only
way they know how: by writing
about it.
At their best and most pure state,
journalists are truth seekers and
public informants. They are the
whistleblowers, the exposers of
scandal, the modern-day freedom
fighters, hoping for justice
through the printed word.
Remember those kids who spent
the majority of high school listen
ing to Rage Against the Machine,
hoping for the day when they, too,
could fight The Man and start a
revolution? They probably
became journalists, realizing that
the easiest way to make a cause
known, the easiest way to change
the way people think, is informing
the world of the injustices many
ignore. Make them see, make
them look and read so they under
stand just what’s got you so riled
up.
Sadly, somewhere along the
line, while trying to fulfill their
idealistic fantasies of world peace,
some journalists turned wayward
and rotten, spoiling the bunch.
Of course this is hard to believe
(considering you, dear skeptic, are
reading this in a newspaper), but
most journalists are good at what
they do. In fact, they can be uti
lized to your advantage. Say
you’ve got an organization that
Kri.stcn Marshall
News Editor
never gets any recognition. Why
not talk to a newspaper or news
station and get the word out? Got
an event coming up? Tell us, and
we’ll tell everybody else.
Journalists are, after all, the mes
sengers. If there’s a cause you’re
fighting for, if there’s something
important the people should know,
a dangerous toy that needs to be
recalled, a stupid president that
needs to be revealed, an unjust
war that is being fought, journal
ists should be the first jjeople
talked to.
Despite their preceding reputa
tions, they’re not out to skew the
truth, to sensationalize a tragedy
or to ruin lives. They are simply
out to tell the truth, and they have
the constitutional right to do so.
However, they should also be
equipped with the ethics to deter
mine what should be put into a
story and what should be left out.
These ethical choices are made
every day, and sometimes, a
wrong decision is made. Because
of continuous mistakes made
recently by many notable journal
ists (including the unforgivable
falsification of facts and plagia
rism), the rest of us continue to
fight to right the wrongs.
The important thing for anybody
to realize when speaking with a
journalist is nothing is considered
“off the record.” If a journalist
has identified themselves as such
and as long as you’re speaking,
you are on the record and anything
you say is fair game. However,
that does not mean everything said
should be written. Again, ethics
come into play. The public should
think of journalists as the middle
men, transferring your words to
the page or the airwaves. Above
all else, they are out to deliver the
truth, which tends to upset people
because, more often than not, the
truth hurts.
The Blue Banner
Editorial Board
Spring 2007
Karpen Hall 019
828.251.6586
banner@unca. edu
Allie HaaJoe
Editor-in-Chief
KristaiMamhall UsaGiU«pic
News Editor Managing Editor
Sports Editor
Melissa Deckeit Adam HiUbeny
PennieLeas
Features Editor Entertainment
Photo Editor
Editor
Suzanne Edwards
Emily Sigmon
Business Manager Wally Horn
Business Editor
Advertising
Sara Champagne Director
Michael Gouge
Online Editor
Faculty Advisor
The Blue Banner Policies
The Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each
Thursday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks.
Our office is located in Karpen Hall, 019.
The Banner welcomes letters to the editor and articles and considers them
on a basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be
e-mailed to banner@unca.edu and limited to 300 words. They should be
signed with the writer’s name, followed by the year in school, major or
other relationship to UNC Asheville. Include a telephone number to aid in
verification. All articles submitted are subject to editing.
White men also hurt by stereotypes
By Trevor Worden
Staff Writer
As we all know, the Super
Bowl occurred recently. With
this annual event came a wave of
men crowding televisions,
pounding down beers, each other
and encourages many stereo
types.
Our society constantly meas
ures, compares and expects men
to be certain things. We have yet
to break free. Men, especially
white middle-upper class men,
are some of the most hated peo
ple in the world.
Unlike women and minorities,
white “middle-of-the-road” guys
are stuck. Women kicked down
unconventional stereotypes
about their supposed place of
housework and motherhood.
Through their collected effort,
minorities have leveled many
hierarchical situations.
White middle-upper class men
never had anything to rebel
against because they were
oppressing others with their ty
This powerful group of men
had no social injustice or uncon
ventional stereotypes to deal
with until now.
Granted we might have thrown
this stereotype upon ourselves,
but that part is debatable. Either
way, men are held to standards
and criteria that prove supposed
manliness.
Women are a diverse gender.
They can become whatever they
want on their own terms and then
celebrate that same diversity
within their gender.
Trevor Worden
Staff writer
Society expects men to earn a
lot of money in order to care for
their partners or families. Men
have to watch sports, especially
NASCAR, football or basketball
games, and the occasional soccer
game.
Men must like meat, preferably
red, and eat pounds of it at a
time. They must take care of
heavy lifting such as trash bags,
groceries, yard work and other
miscellaneous maintenance. The
list goes on and on.
The interpersonal theory sug
gests there are inherent differ
ences between men and women
and how they relate to each
other, according to John
Birtchnell in his book How
Humans Relate: A New
Interpersonal Theory.
Differences in gender have
potential to be accomidated and
overthrown, according to
Birtchnell.
Men do not deserve the stereo
types or social constrictions just
as women do not. While there
are minor differences between
gender relations, these restric
tions can,and should be broken
down and virtually erased.
The media plays to these social
constrictions on men with T.V.
shows, music videos, and com
mercials. Businesses market to
men by including scantily clad
women, fast cars and the combi
nation of the two.
Apparently they see men as too
dumb to realize these things are
all superficial and have no last
ing importance on a meaningful
life.
More recently, Burger King
has created a theme song for
their fine establishment. The
song lyrics read, “I am man.
Hear me roar in numbers too big
to be ignored, and I am way too
hungry to settle for chick food.”
The lyrics go on with, “Oh yes.
I’m a guy. I’ll admit I’ve been
fed quiche... I will eat this meat
till my innie turns into an outtie.
I am starved, 1 am incorrigible, I
am man.”
This continues with men in
manly jobs such as construction
workers who lift a car off of a
bridge into a dump truck while
another man pulls the truck by a
rope. The stereotypes in this one
commercial are numerous.
Not all men are construction
workers. Not all men lift cars off
bridges onto dump trucks. All
men do not tow cars in trucks for
absolutely no reason. All men
are not incorrigible.
Stereotypes rule every man’s
life. This is completely univer
sal. Each of us deals with devia
tions of these stereotypes.
One Facebook.com group
“Man Law,” states rules that
every real “man” must abide by
Such laws include, “Thou shall
not rent the movie The
Notebook^ and “Under no cir
cumstances may 2 men share an
umbrella,” and “If a buddy h
already singing along to a song
in the car, you may not join
him...too gay.”
This group perpetuates the
stereotypes and social constric
tions we are forced to face every
day as men.
Garrison Keillor, host of
NPR’s “A Prairie Home
Companion,” wrote a book enti
tled “The Book of Guys:
Stories.” Every man should be
allowed to stay home, enjoy life
and be artistic, according to
Keillor. Every man needs to be
able to roam free without limita
tions or deadlines, because that
is how a man would thrive best.
Women should dominate in the
work force and in all things com
petitive because women are
much more successful at such
things, according to Keillor.
Men must break out of social
norms. It is imperative that we,
as a gender, embrace ourselves
and all of our potential and
explore where else that could
lead us.
There is much more out there
than beer, naked women and
making money. It is the 21st cen
tury. Let this be the era in which
man finally evolves into a better,
more intelligent collective being,
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Women still not equal after years of struggle
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By Ashley Horne
Copy Editor
We live in a scx:iety where peo
ple want to believe men and
women are treated as equals, and
anytime we see something con
trary, we push it aside and reaffirm
this belief of equality. Why, as a
society, do we reaffirm this false
belief when women still take baby
steps and struggle for positions of
power?
Recently, Nancy Pelosi became
the first female Speaker of the
House of Representatives. Her
appointment came as a huge step
for women, because she is second
in line for the presidency. This is
just one among the many firsts
American women have accom
plished in the past century, but look
at how long it has taken women to
get this far.
Women have struggled through
out history for recognition as
man’s equd, and from the early
1800s, women fought for the right
to vote and finally won it in 1920.
Many women thought once they
won the vote, equality would come
with it. It turned out to be just a
false appearance of equality.
Women could finally vote in the
United States, but that achieve
ment opened up a new box of chal
lenges. They had to fight the
stereotype of women just being
mothers and homemakers and
accomplish the right to work as
lawyers, businesswomen and even
congresswomen.
Little by little women have won
these small battles and asserted
that they are capable of holding
powerful positions that were once
reserved for men. In 1917, women
began to fill power roles in the
House of Representatives, the
Senate and the Supreme Court. But
today their numbers remain low. ’
Now, finally, a woman holds the
third highest power position in
America. At the same time Nancy
Pelosi became Madame Speaker,
Congress welcomed the largest
female contingent in American his
tory. It appears women may make
history again in 2008 with a strong
female presidential candidate.
Hillary Rodham Clinton will not
be the first woman to run for pres
ident, but she is one of the first
female candidates the public is tak
ing seriously.
Current polls show that 60 per
cent of the public states they are
ready for a woman president. So it
appears that women are finally
being treated as equals in 2007, but
then again, you can never tell. The
polls may say 60 percent of
America is ready, but plenty of
critics continue to place doubt on
our capabilities.
How are women considered
equal when theories of them being
the weaker sex still surface? Many
critics say America is not ready for
a woman as president for the sole
reason that the rest of the world
would not respect the United
States. Yes, America is one of the
most powerful countries in the
world, but why would the United
States be less powerful with a
woman in charge?
Think about all of the tough deci
sions men and women make every
day. The list is probably different
Ashley Home
Copy editor
for each person but essentially the
difficult and time-consuming tasks
are just as tough for both sexes.
Many countries want to box
women into the homemaker, sub
missive stereotype. However, it
can easily be argued that if a
woman can run a successful fami
ly, she can also run a successful
country and maybe even a country
with higher morals and less cor
ruption than the one we currently
live in.
It is hard to hear people say that
other powerful countries would
lose respect for the United States if
a woman is in power, when they
respect the baboon currently living
in the White House just becau.se he
has a penis. By now people certain
ly must realize that a person’s sex
has no effect on their amount of
brains and common sense.
Why is it so difficult for women
in America to be respected? The
world considers the United States a
powerful, progressive nation, but
this certainly is not showcased
when compared to the number of
women in power in other countries.
Thirteen democratic countries cur
rently have a woman as their presi
dent or prime minister. America
falls behind a lot of smaller coun
tries in terms of this kind of
progress.
Currently the United States is
ranked 67th among world democ
racies for number of women in leg
islative offices. Sweden is No. 1 on
the list, with 165 women in their
version of Congress. Over 47 per
cent of their legislators are women,
The United States is well behind
this number with only 16 percent of
Congress represented by women,
With 87 women in Congress, we
have the highest number in history
for America, but this number does
not scream progress.
What happened to the idea that
the members of Congress should be
representative of our country’s pop
ulation? Women make up 51 per-^
cent of our population, but it seems
they are not equally represented.
Historically men have dominated
society, and even after women have
proven themselves worthy of
equahty, men continue to dominate
the legal system, controlling
percent of Congress.
To be a progressive nation where
dreams are supposed to come true,
the United States lags behind i
large chunk of the world. At 1
women can say they eventually wii
gain recognition, as historically
they have slowly gained mau)'
achievements. Maybe a female
president and an appropriate repre
sentation in Congress are the next
achievements for women toward
becoming truly equal.
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