The News Argus, September 2003
The News Argus
The Student Newspaper of Winston-Salem State University
Nicole Ferguson
Editor-in-Chief
George Croom
Managing Editor
Janell J. Lewis
News Editor
Reporters: Stephanie Price, Crystal Bullock, Lisa
Bcx)ne, Daryl Smith, Demond Cureton, Troy Smith,
Brandlyn Bryant and Daysha Lynei Scruggs.
Photographers: Erik Warren and Garrett Garmes
* The News Argus is a monthly campus newspaper
for the students, faculty and staff of WSSU.
* Opinions expressed in The News Argus ar« not
necessarily those of the faculty or staff at WSSU.
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ANOREXIA, from page 3
"I don't ’want a booty
like J. Lo," Doswell said.
"1 don't want to look like
Beyonce because she is
fat."
Her roller coaster with
eating disorders began in
anticipation of an
exchange program trip to
Japan.
"I didn't want to be fat
on the trip," Doswell
said. "So, 1 just stopped
eating. It was that sim
ple."
Thirteen pounds later,
Doswell was still not
happy with her new,
thinner self. So she forced
her weight lower into the
upper 90s. By spring 2002
she was eating only rice
or fruit and exercising
incessantly, stealing laxa
tives and throwing up the
little food she consumed.
But she did not know that
her behaviors had a
name.
"I went online one day
and found out that what I
was doing was actually a
disease," she said.
The Web has become a
haven for young women
with eating disorders
who feel they have
nowhere else to turn for
help and support. The
issue of race and stereo
types about eating disor
ders are hot topics for
members of the Colours
of Ana Web site, created
as a support system for
girls and women of color
with anorexia and other
eating disorders.
Many girls on the
www.coloursofana.com
site wrote that they have
heard negative com
ments from other blacks
suggesting that they
developed anorexia
because they are trying to
be white by becoming
thin.
"I have an eating disor
der because I am sick, not
because I am wanting to
be white," wrote one
woman. "We need to get
past this .sort of exclusivi
ty. It is just not helping."
In the mid-'80s Zina
Garrison, a professional
tennis star, looked
around the tennis world
and did not see anyone
who looked like her.
"I didn't really have
anyone to look up to,"
Garrison said in an inter
view. "At the time it was
basically myself, Jackie
Joyner-Kersee and
Florence Joyner who
were the pivotal African-
American women ath
letes doing something."
At 21 years old.
Garrison was ranked in
the top 10 of women's
tennis and had beaten
Chris Evert. But still she
struggled with self-
image.
"1 was in a short skirt
all of the time, and I was
always told that 1 didn't
have the figure to fit the
tennis skirts," Garrison
said.
In an effort to fit the
mold of the all-white
world of women's tennis
and the emptiness she felt
as an athlete and public
figure. Garrison tumbled
into bulimic behavior
without actually know
ing that she was develop
ing an eating disorder.
Purging took a toll on
Garrison's health. Her
hair started to fall out.
Her skin became blotchy.
Her nails softened.
Garrison became too
weak to play the game
she loved. After watching
a television show on
bulimia and eating disor
ders, Garrison recog
nized her behavior as an
illness, got help from her
trainers and went on to
return to the top of the
tennis world as a winner
of major tournaments.
Even now. Garrison
said, "Recovery goes on
day by day."
Kaelyn Carson was not
as fortunate. At 5 foot 8
and 115 pounds of solid
muscle, Kaelyn Carson,
of Comstock Park, Mich.,
was a brown-eyed beauty
with long, curly brown
hair and big dimples. But
after a 14-month battle
with anorexia and bulim
ia, Carson died at age 20.
She weighed 75 pounds.
Carson, who was bira-
cial — African American
and white — exemplifies
the fact that no one is
immune from eating dis
orders because of her
race.
"She was everything,"
said her mother, Brenda
Carson. But now she is
left with only memories
of her daughter, who was
a member of the National
Association of Collegiate
Scholars, Miss Michigan
American Teen, a cheer
leader and a track star.
"Don't close your eyes
to it," her mother said.
If you would like
more information about
eating disorders or need
help, contact: The
National Association of
Anorexia Nervosa and
Associated Disorders at
anad20@aol.com, or call
(847) 831-3438.
Have we all simply been misled
By Eric Mink
KRT
In a manner of speakings I
guess we were soldiers. We
weren't drafted, we didn't volun
teer and we didn't even leam
what we had done until the sec
ond anniversary of Sept. 11 was
almost upon us. But in the fear
and confusion of the immediate
aftermath of the attacks, the com
mander in chief needed the peo
ple of New York to serve their
country; He needed us not to
panic.
So he misled us.
Through his National Security
Council, WTiite House Council on
Environmental Quality and
Environmental Protection Agency,
he told those of us living in New
York at the time that the air was
safe to breathe, that walking and
working in lower Manhattan
posed no real health risks, that
residents could return safely to
the homes and shops of their
downtown neighborhoods once
the World Trade Center perimeter
had been secured, the far-flung
debris cleared and the ash and
dust cleaned up.
A recently released EPA internal
investigation revealed that none
of this was true. At best, the
administration lacked any data to
justify such statements; at worst,
it recognized the potential dan
gers to health.
Either way, the administra
tion chose reassurance over alarm.
And either way, the president was
right.
It doesn't take much imagina
tion to envision the impact on an
already shaken nation if millions
of New Yorkers had gathered up
their families and fled the city in
fear. The president couldn't
chance it.
For this one-time New Yorker,
whose risk of exposure to toxins
was admittedly negligible, the
problem is not the deception of
the relatively few for the greater
good of the country at a moment
of unprecedented national crisis.
The problem is this administra
tion's habitual, condescending
dissembling in service of its politi
cal/ideological agenda:
Under the Bush administra
tion's "Clear Skies Initiative," the
air will get dirtier. Permissible
levels of many pollutants will
increase, and the timetable for
cleaning up others will be extend
ed far into the future. Its "healthy
forests" proposal will result in
fewer trees. Its clean-water regula
tions have rolled back allowable
levels of arsenic in drinking water
to a 1942 standard.
Meanwhile, the administra
tion is letting pollution from older
power plants continue to damage
human health and plant and ani
mal habitats. States are forced to
take the administration to court,
using up limited time and tight
budgets. Said one state attorney
general: "I'd like to spend the
money fighting polluters."
The respected scientific jour
nals Science, Nature, Lancet and
others have commented that
administration officials are now
questioning nominees to ostensi
bly impartial scientific review
panels about their political views
and voting records. Yet the
administration has challenged the
scientific validity of reports on
global warming.
The administration's "No
Child Left Behind" plan sets
impossibly rigid standards for
academic achievement by public
schools and then fails to provide
schools the funds necessary to
make good-faith efforts to meet
them.
The administrationannounced
an ambitious program to fight the
lethal AIDS epidemic in Africa,
but is now working to reduce the
funds needed to run it.
The administration's specious
claims that Iraq had nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons
at the time of our invasion com
pletely unraveled over the sum
mer in a swirl of hilariously con
tradictory explanations. Here's a
thought: If Iraq DID have
weapons of mass destruction
then, and the United States DOES
N'T have them now, who does?
Does that make America safer, or
at greater risk than it was before
the war?
Then there's the depressing
economic litany: mischaracterized
tax policies, exploding budget
deficits and the economic recov
ery that nobody feels, least of all
the intractably unemployed.
I want to believe what my
president tells me. I lived through
the dispiriting disillusionments of
Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra
and even Clinton-Lewinsky, and
— contrary to the ceaseless bleat
ing of the right-wing media — it
was not fun for progressives. But
this administration is making is
very hard to take anything at face
value.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Eric Mink is commentary editor
for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Readers may write to him at: St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 North
Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. 63101,
or e-mail him at emink@post-dis-
patch.com.
CALLOWAY, from page 3
WSSU parking enforce
ment about two years ago!
I was hot about that and
initially refused to pay it
since issues like that are
SUPPOSED to be cleared
up before you graduate.
A few months later I got a
threatening letter saying
the matter would be
turned over to a collec
tions agency if I didn't
pay it. Of course I bit the
bullet and paid the dang
ticket because I didn't
want it to put an ugly
mark on my credit.
Avoid the department
store cards. When the nice
sales clerk at Express says,
"you can save an extra 10
percent if you open a card
today" say no thank you.
That 10 percent savings
will be out the window if
you don't pay the bill on
time. That card has an
interest rate of around 22
percent. A good ole
Master Card or Visa with
a rate under 10 percent
will do just fine and it
works in Express and
everywhere else.
One of the best things
my dad did for me when I
was in college was to
open a joint credit card in
both our names. I used it
for necessities and he got
the bill. Because he was
getting the bill I never
abused the card but at the
same time I was able to
establish a credit history, a
must if you want to even
tually buy a house or a
car I know you're grown
and you don't need your
parents to go in on a card
for you. It's a good way
though to get a credit card
and police yourself at the
same time if you lack the
proper self restraint to
stay out of trouble.
Knowing my parents were
checking my bills sure
kept me in check.
I know you want to look
your best and have the
best for the game, the
party, the whatever, but
don't ruin your credit try
ing to do it. Be smart and
you'll look better and
have better than anyone
else whenyou're able to
get a good job because of
your good credit. Plus
you won't have the stress
lines in your forehead
caused by calls from bill
collectors. Nor will you
be rejected when you try
to get the things you want
and deserve.
BUSH, from page 3
exporter of violence and terror," he
said. "Iraq is now the central front.
Enemies of freedom are making a
desperate stand there — and there
they must be defeated."
He urged countries around the
world to contribute troops, money
and other aid. His appeal for inter
national assistance was an acknowl
edgment that rebuilding Iraq has
been far more difficult than adminis
tration officials had hoped.
In addition to seeking troops and
financial support from the United
Nations, Bush will ask Congress to
commit another $60 billion to $80 bil
lion for the effort.
"The terrorists have a strategic
goal. They want us to leave Iraq
before our work is done," Bush said.
"They want to shake the will of the
civilized world."
Top administration officials
acknowledged earlier Sunday that
the mission in Iraq is far from over.
despite Bush's declaration four
months ago that major combat had
ended. And members of Congress
from both parties warned that the
situation could spin out of control
unless Bush commits more troops
and money.
"It's going to cost more and there
will be continued sacrifice on the
part of our young men and women,"
Secretary of State Colin Powell said
on the Sunday talk-show circuit.
"We have a long way to go."
Powell expressed hope that other
countries would send as many as
15,000 troops to join 140,000 from the
United States and about 22,000 from
Britain and other allies.
Bush's speech was his first prime-
fime address on Iraq since his May 1
announcement that major combat
was over. Polls indicate that public
opinion about the war has deterio
rated steadily since then, along with
Bush's approval rafings.
Although most Americans contin
ue to say that they approve of Bush's
performance as president, the aura
of invincibility that surrounded him
in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 ter
rorist attacks has faded amid con
cerns about the economy and devel
opments in Iraq. About half of
Americans think the war is going
badly.
Democrats have become increas
ingly vocal in criticizing Bush's han
dling of Iraq. Republicans are start
ing to join them.
"Every assumption the adminis
tration made about what would hap
pen after the war was dead wrong,"
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the top
Democrat on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, told CBS on
Sunday. Biden, who recently visited
Iraq, predicted that the price tag for
U.S. operations there would swell to
at least $100 billion next year.
The Pentagon estimates that the
war is already costing U.S. taxpayers
nearly $4 billion a month. Sen.
Harry Reid, D-Nev„ said on CNN
that Bush and his advisers left the
impression that Iraqi citizens would
throw bouquets at U.S. troops, "but