Volume XXV, Issue 20
Educating Women to Excel
March 26, 2008
ON THE
INSIDE:
Continuation
p. 2
Event Update
p. 3
Restaurant Guide
p. 4
WEATHER
TODAY: Partly Cloudy.
Low 49, High 72.
Thursday: Partly Cloudy/
Wind. Low 56, High 76.
Friday: Partly Cloudy.
Low 60, High 82.
Saturday: Isolated T-
Storms. Low 49, High 79.
Sunday: Partly Cloudy.
Low 46, High 61.
Monday: Partly Cloudy.
Low 59, High 76.
Tuesday: Few Showers.
Low 53, High 73.
Source: www.weathoncom
Information retrieved
Tues. Mar. 25 at 3:30 p.m.
The Question of Flamboyancy:
Cultural Clashes
Julia Spruill
Contributing Writer
In America today
there are many cultural
clashes between Latin-
American and Anglo-
American cultures.
Latin-Americans do not
assimilate and accept that
certain traditions in their
culture can have other
meanings in America.
Anglo-American men
also do not accept that
the traditional dress of
Latin-American women
is not an invitation for
a sexual advance. Both
Anglo-Americans and
Latin-Americans must
leam tolerance towards
the traditions of one
another.
In her article "Don't
Misread My Signals,"
Judy Ortiz Cofer offers
criticism of her own
Latin-American culture.
She first points out the
paradoxical upbringing
that she experienced as
a young Puerto Rican-
American growing up
in New Jersey. Cofer
tells of how her parents
raised her under strict
Catholicism, careful to
preserve her purity, while
encouraging her to wear
traditional Latina dress
of bright, flashy colors.
Many Anglo-American
parents thought it was
too "mature" for teen
age girls. According to
Cofer, the traditional
Latina clothing presents
two problems for Latin-
American women.
The first problem of
traditional Puerto Rican
dress is that it invites
advances from men
who do not understand
"Island Culture." Cofer
says that what Puerto
Rican girls would think
of as acceptable, "attrac
tive" dress would be
considered a "sexual sig
nal" to the "mainstream"
Anglo-American male.
For this reason, a "cultur
al clash" ensues, in which
the white man thinks it is
appropriate to approach
the Puerto Rican girl
because she is "asking
for it." However, he is
sadly mistaken due to
cultural miscommunica-
tion. Puerto Ricans must
recognize that the culture
in America is different
and therefore some of
their traditions, such
as dress, can become
sources of miscommu-
nication. However, men
do not have the right
to approach women in
a sexual manner just
because of their cloth
ing. Primary colors and
jewelry do hot indicate
that a woman desires
every guy on the street to
Clashes cont. on pg. 2
How to Spend an Unproductive Evening
Tiffany Medford
Contributing Writer
College students are
very busy people. In one
week they typically have
a paper or test, countless
homework assignments,
organizational meetings,
teacher conferences and
for the really unfortunate,
a job. Clearly, their time
is very valuable. They
must balance these activi
ties in perfect harmony
so they can be successful
and sane. One false step
and their final grade or
job could be jeopardized.
Knowing these facts, one
would think that all col
lege students incessantly
work for either their
education or their bank
account. However, such
is not always the case.
Many college students
have found loopholes in
their laborious schedules.
An outlet for some is a
Saturday night out with
the girls; for others, it is a
relaxing weekend home;
for me, it is the curious
pleasure of being unpro
ductive on any given
weekday evening. The
process of doing nothing
for an entire evening is
quite simple and can be
replicated by all college
students.
Although I do not
waste every evening, I
find myself mystified on
the days that it does hap
pen. I wonder, "How is
it already bedtime?" and
"What did I do tonight?"
My stupor is not drug- or
alcohol-induced but rather
a fascination with how
someone as busy as I am
managed to accomplish
nothing throughout the
evening. To get a grasp
on that day's events, I
retrace my steps. First, I.
returned home at 5 p.m.
after a challenging day of
work and classes. 1 imme
diately trudged up the
stairs to the office and put
my book bag and purse
by my neatly organized
desk and proceeded to the
bathroom. After my pit
stop, I went into the bed
room, took off my shoes
and put on my favorite
gray sweatpants so as to
prepare for the hours of
homework that awaited
me. I proceeded into the
office at 5:20 p.m., sat at
my desk, and took a deep
breath before opening my
laptop; I began preparing
what I needed to accom
plish that evening by log
ging into Facebook. Every
college student knows
that Facebook is the best
resource for preparation
because it provides up-to-
date information on their
peers as well as photo
documentation of week
end activities (my favorite
part). I began looking at
the newest photos and
before I knew it, it was
6:05 p.m. Yikes! I spent 45
minutes Facebook stalking
when I should have been
doing homework. I logged
off and scolded myself for
the amount of valuable
time lost on such a frivo
lous activity.
Following my
Facebook expedition, I
pulled out my notebooks
and began thinking about
my assignments for the
evening. But in the*middle
of that action, I remem
bered I needed to check
my webmail, gmail and
Blackboard accounts.
I wanted to make sure
nothing had changed with
my assignments before I
spent countless hours per
fecting them. I told myself
that I would respond with
only brief sentences to
Unproductive cont. on pg.
4