My friend Brenda, or "Brendita" as I call her should really think about changing her major or minor to Women Studies like me because she is always finding article for me to read about women.
She had the TBT (a local daily paper) this morning and pointed out three articles to me. I read them and used them to post in the extra credit blog for my Women and Social Action class. I thought it would be a cool idea to post them in my blog as well to see what ya'll think!
The first one is about a white homecoming queen at an all black university. In this day and age with us having our first black president, I say why not? It's time for a change. Why she posted a letter to President Obama on her website is beyond me. Did she feel that she was being misunderstood? What would Obama do? Let me know what you think.
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Tampa Bay Times 10/19/2009, Page T016
The fairest of them all
A non-black student is named queen at a historically black college in Virginia, setting off a debate.
By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post
Nikole Churchill, a tall, thin woman with long, dark hair, was named homecoming queen at historically black Hampton University last week.
The next day, she appeared with her court at the football game against Howard University, another historically black school.
All this would be unremarkable except that Churchill is the first homecoming queen at Hampton who is not black. That apparently did not sit well with a handful of people at the game, who heckled the senior nursing major.
This bit of unpleasantness, along with similar comments online, may have passed unnoticed except for what Churchill did next. She posted a public letter to President Obama on a Web site asking him to visit the campus and help with her predicament.
“I feel as though you could relate to my situation,” wrote Churchill, 22, who grew up in Hawaii and performed a hula as her beauty-pageant talent. “I am hoping that perhaps you would be able to make an appearance to my campus, Hampton University, so that my fellow Hamptonians can stop foc using so much on the color of my skin and doubting my abilities to represent” the school.
Obama hasn’ t responded, but the Virginia school, established in 1868 to educate freed slaves, has become embroiled in a discussion about race, the role of historically black colleges, and alternatives to mainstream definitions of beauty.
Even those who had supported C hurchill when she was crowned were angered and confused by her letter to Obama. Student body president Matthew Washington, 20, said he wishes she had let him know about her concerns before writing the president.
“There are always color issues: The light-skin, dark-skin thing. The long-hair, short-hair issue. But to issue a blanket statement like that?” said Washington, a senior economics major from Los Angeles. “It just really put the university in a negative light.”
The comparisons Churchill made between herself and Obama also angered some students: “We all had to go through a lot more racial intolerance than what she had to in a pageant,” said Brittany Riddock, 19, a sophomore public relations major from Atlanta. “There is no comparison at all between a black man becoming president and a white woman winning a beauty pageant at a black school.”
Last Monday, Churchill found herself standing alone at the front of the student center theater, looking out at dozens of Hampton students who wanted to vent their frustrations and hear her explanation for the letter. This was her first introduction to many of the student leaders there. Churchill attends Hampton’s satellite campus in Virginia Beach, a handful of classrooms on the 10 th floor of a high-rise, where about 90 students study nursing and hotel management or take education-certification classes. Churchill, who has a white mother and an Asian father, explained how she was hurt by the comments hurled anonymously online and personally at the game, and that she couldn’ t believe she was being judged by the color of her skin, according to several students who were at the meeting . She told them she thought that reaching out to Obama would help the situation.
The debate encapsulates some of the changes sweeping across the campuses of historically black colleges. These schools still produce a disproportionate number of black college graduates, and they retain their social missions to bring higher education to poor students and those from deprived backgrounds. But they have been changing in ways that often carr y a heavy symbolic weight: for instance, when Grambling fielded its first white quarterback, and that about half of Southern University Law Center graduates are white.
When the Hampton beauty pageant began on that Friday night, the 10 contestants came swirling onto the wooden stage at Ogden Hall in black leotards, flowing skirts and coin-covered scar ves, performing an Arabianthemed dance for the crowd of several hundred people.
T he contestants took turns modeling swimsuits and ball gowns. T hey answered questions and explained their platforms. When the talent portion arrived, Churchill, dressed in a hot-pink and white swimsuit, a skirt and thick necklaces made from yards of tiny white shells, performed a traditional hula.
As the two-hour pageant neared its conclusion, the women lined up under the stage lights to learn the verdict of the five judges.
“It was obvious who was going to win” after the first runner-up was announced because the two women stood out, said Lapraya McCoy, 21, editor in chief of the weekly student newspaper, the Hampton Script .
“But it was kind of like there was this pause before everyone applauded. Everybody was just stuck, surprised this had actually happened.”
That night, Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with the news. Some said she represented a step for ward for the school. Several questioned why students don’ t vote for the homecoming queen. Others argued that Churchill didn’t represent a typical Hampton student, not just because of her race but also because she doesn’t attend classes on the main campus.
“She doesn’t have the same experiences as we have,” said Arianna Griffin, 18, a sophomore political science major from Seattle. “She didn’t get a big brother or big sister her freshman year. … She doesn’t live in the dorms.”
“There were a lot of people who asked, ‘What message are you sending by picking her?’ ” said McCoy. “There are different reasons I think people decide to attend (historically black colleges and universities). They know who goes here. They thought that was the playing field.”
Homecoming festivities begin tonight with a car show and a “Hampton Idol” singing competition. Then, a fashion show, step show, gospel concert, pep rally and parade. Miss Hampton University will be officially crowned the Homecoming Queen on Wednesday night. A concert Thursday night will feature Fabolous, LeToya Luckett, formerly of Destiny’s Child, and rapper Jeremih. The homecoming football game Saturday is against South Carolina State.
Churchill has told organizers she plans to be at as many events as possible so she can meet the students she now represents.
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The next one is about boys getting the HPV vacination. This one is for my good friend, Mrs. Jones. Hey Mrs., remember the heated discussion about Viagra and birth control pills a few months back infront of Tampa Theater? I can't wait to hear what you have to say about this one!
Tampa Bay Times 10/19/2009, Page T023
RESPONSIBILITY AND FAIRNESS
On HPV, boys get off easy Sex involves two people, so why is it only girls are vaccinated?By William Saletan Slate.com Should boys be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus?You’ve probably heard about girls being vaccinated everywhere for HPV. The virus has been implicated in cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. But it can also cause diseases that affect men and boys: oral, anal, and throat cancers, not to mention genital warts and juvenile onset rec urrent respirator y papillomatosis, an infant respirator y condition that may result from maternal HPV infection.“Recent data on the use of the HPV vaccine in males suggest high efficacy against vaccine type infections and externa l genital lesions,” says a study published two weeks ago in the British Medical Journal. So, should boys be vaccinated? No, say the authors. “Our results suggest that if vaccine coverage and efficacy are high among preadolescent girls (12 years), then including boys in an H PV vaccination programme is unlikely to provide good value for resources compared with vaccinating girls only. … [O]ur analysis favours HPV vaccination of preadolescent girls (with continued screening in adulthood) as a valuable inter vention for its cost. … Including boys in the vaccination programme, however, generally exceeded conventional thresholds of good value for money.”Why vaccinate girls but not boys? T he authors cite several factors. First, HPV is more likely to harm girls. Second, the vaccine is more effective in girls. Third, the rate of viral transmission depends on the virus’ prevalence “in th e opposite sex at any given time.” If girls are routinely vaccinated, there’s nothing for boys to catch or transmit.In other words, boys don’t have to get vaccinated for the same reason they don’t have to wash dishes, do laundry, buy birth control, or think about other people in general: Girls will do it for them.Why do HPV vaccines work be tter in girls than in boys? Because they were designed for and tested in girls. It’s true that HPV affects girls more than boys, but the same can be said of pregnancy. There’s still a male in the equation somewhere. Boys certainly share the pleasure. Why not share the responsibility? And what about that infant respiratory condition? Shouldn’t men do their part to prevent it?If you want to see a world where men wash dishes and do laundry, it isn’t hard to find. It’s a world where men live, have sex, and share household responsibilities with other men. They don’t have wives or girlf riends to think about and take care of ever ything for them. They have to do it themselves.T he same is true of protection from sexually transmitted viruses. The authors of the British Medical Journal paper concede that they “only represented heterosexual partnerships and therefore did not reflect HPV transmission among men who have sex with men, who face a high risk of anal cancer and may realise a greater benefit from HPV vaccination.”But the argument for vaccinating gay men isn’t just that they might benefit. It’s that vaccinating women won’t help them. They can’t count on somebody else to take care of the problem.What would happen to straight men if women weren’ t vaccinated? T he authors played out that scenario in their mathematical models. “If coverage in girls ends up being low, then vaccinating boy s became much more attractive,” the lead author concedes.Maybe routine vaccination of both sexes is overkill. But in that case, perhaps we should ask why the par tner who takes care of the birth control should ge t the vaccination, too.
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This last one was just because it inspired me. God, if only I had this much determination as this 16-year-old does when I was her age, where would I be now at age 37? Madame President?
Tampa Bay Times 10/19/2009, Page T017
AUSTRALIA GIRL, 16, TRYING TO SAIL AROUND WORLD ALONE
A 16-year-old Australian steered her bright pink yacht out of Sydney Harbor on Sunday to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail unassisted around the world. Jessica Watson’s plan to make a 23,600-mile journey through some of the world’s most treacherous waters has sparked a debate about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a dangerous feat. Watson and her family insist she is an experienced and capable sailor, and say she will be in constant contact with her support team via radio, e-mail and a blog (jessicawatson.com.au). The first leg of Watson’s eight-month journey will take her 34-foot yacht past northern New Zealand, then Fiji and Samoa.Briton Mike Perham, 17, in August laid claim to being the youngest solo round-the-world sailor after completing the trip in nine months , though he stopped for repairs, which counts as an “assisted” trip. “Without assistance” means a vessel may not receive any kind of outside help. A craft may be anchored or beached during the attempt, but any repairs must be made without outside resources or help.
These articles are just something that made me think on this cool Monday morning. I really should be reading my Women and Social Action assignment for this week! Let me know what you think!
