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Show •V '-V . . "> June 2, 2008 In defense of the Wonderbra Let the stars decide who wins Are voters focusing more on what the candidates are saying or on who supports them?"' battling on, trying to pick up Spencer Shell U support and votes wherever .; Opinions editor they can, it calls into question It's no question that ce- how much of an effect there lebrities have a large influ- is when a celebrity endorses ence on the public. With a presidential candidate. much of the media jumping Chuck Norris may be on the Opportunity to let us the sole reason why former all know about what celebri- presidential candidate Mike ties are saying, wearing, eat- Huckabee even had a shot in ing, doing, or giving birth to, the Republican race. Accordit creates an opportunity for ing to the Associated Conpeople who look up to these tent, the week after Norris celebrities to mirror them if cast his support for Huckadesired. bee, searches for Huckabee While many of the re- on Yahoo rose 457%. percussions of these actions Last December, Oprah may seem minute, the actual Winfrey endorsed Barack effect of what celebrities do Obama in his run for the and how we follow can be White House. With Oprah alarming. being one of the most influThis political season has ential people in America, already shaped up to be an how much of an advantage is interesting and historical this giving Obama in his camchain of events. With the) paign? Jennifer Aniston, Will democratic frontrunners still Smith, and George Clooney the fact that with American also support Obama. Hillary Clinton has the Idol someone can vote more support of Rosie O'Donnell, than once, it's still alarmMadonna, Janet Jackson, ing hew much attention this Tina Fey, and Barbara Stre- televjsion program receives, Assuredly,, there are many isand. It makes sense that if po- eligible voters who know litical awareness in America mo^e about the contestants is on the decline, celebrity on;American Idol than the endorsements could do a lot presidential candidates. In reality, celebrities realto turn around a candidate's campaign. It would be good ly are not that much smarter news for the candidate who than the general public. In wants 'the ignorant voter's fact, many of them are more vote, one who has no ictea stupid. Regardless of celebriwhat the issues are and where1 'ties' knowledge of what is rethe presidential candidates ally going on, think for yourself, get informed, stop being stand behind them. The 2004 presidential a drone, and act on your own election reportedly received personal opinion. Otherwise this presidenaround 121 million votes between George Bush and John tial race is going to become Kerry; comparatively, Amer- even more of a popularity ican Idol received a record contest, with more focus be97.5 million votes this last ing taken away from issues season in the finale. Despite that actually matter. Know me, because I know celebrities Jack Waters g replied "yes." I'm sure it would return nothing more Editor in chief There are too many thriving off the thrills of anything attached, no matter how loosely, to celebrities. I know too many people who know someone who knew a kid who dated someone famous. When some hear that 1 attended the nearby Pleasant Grove High School, their eyes are usually filled with a look of reminiscence, and they ask, "Do you know that kid who won Survivor, Todd. Herzog?" f he answer is no; I do not know him. I know people that know both him and his family. I hear they're nice. I'm not sure that it would be beneficial to either the conversation or to my well being had I than a "cool." Concerning members of The Used, yes, I went to school with Quinn. I vaguely knew him. I'm sure this is intriguing so that they can tell friends, "I have a friend who went to school with Quinn from The Used." To which that friend will reply, "cool." My brother Matt recently sent me pictures of two houses. The first, a house inhabited by the sister of Laurence Maroney, running back for the New England Patriots. The second, a house that Cedric the Entertainer used to live in. There's no need to search deeply for the purpose of the pictures because, of course, there wasn't one. I was perplexed, wonder- ing why anyone would be in awe after seeing a house inhabited by the sibling of an NFL player. Or the former house of a comedian. Of course, I didn't feel the urge to reply to the pictures. He would not get a "cool" from me. Matt is living in St. Louis, doing what many have been suckered into doing: selling security systems. How emotionally vapid must this "profession" be in order to transform a glimpse of celebrity into the apparent highlight of a person's day? I doubt I was the only unsuspecting recipient of the pictures, which are entirely free from any glitz worthy of an MTV Cribs episode. The infatuation with celebrities has gone too far. Nevertheless, it occupies the Letter from Dr. Laura Hamblin I am currently living in Amman, Jordan, on sabbatical leave from UVSC, gathering oral histories of Iraqi women refugees. (It is estimated that there are 750,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan.) My focus on women refugees is based on the fact that although women have little to no say in the preparation, execution, and aftermath of war, inevitably they bear the brunt of the costs of war. One of the women I've interviewed is Fahima Jabbar Nadir; she is the mother of five children, three of whom were born deaf. Fahima's youngest daughter, Nour Al-Asadi, is five years old — still young enough that a cocular implant could enable her to hear. I am conducting a fund raising project to gather the 3,000 Jordanian Dinars ($4,500 U.S. dollars) necessary for the implant. If you would be interested in donating money toward Nour's implant, please write a check to "Iraqi Health Access," which is the Non-government Organization that my translator, Hala Al-Sarraf, is the CEO of, and forward the check to Dawn Chase, Academic Advisor, English/ Literature Department, mail code #153. If 45 people donate $100, 90 people donate $50, or if 180 people donate $25, all of the money would be raised. All donated money will go directly towards Nour's surgery. I would be happy to give information on how the surgery goes to the donators. Thank you for your consideration. minds of many — and often — and will likely remain that way. There are instances in which the infatuation has been used for some good. The AP reported that Bill Cosby has decided to put three of his sweaters worn on "The Cosby Show" up for sale on eBay. The minimum bid is set at $5,000, with proceeds earmarked for a nonprofit organization that benefits educational programs. It's named in honor of Cosby's only son, who was murdered in 1997. So the next time someone tries to use me as a variable in a cfose-to-celebrity formula, maybe I'll oblige them with the "yes" they crave. It may not make the difference that Cosby is making, but at least it will elicit a "cool." A3 Loraine Gholdston Opinions writer | No matter what one's size or style is, all clothes sold to females in the United States seem to have one thing in common: they expect all women to have the same body type. From the classic V-neck to the square neck to the dramatic "plunge," there is no neckline I have found that was meant to flatter an A cup. I've heard it said that a woman who wears a Wonderbra is misrepresenting herself in order to land a man. Of course, you won't hear that from a woman who has had the horrifying experience of trying on top after top just to look in the mirror to see a disproportionate image that doesn't look good in anything - because everything is made for women who look like they came out of a box with a Barbie body and a matching plastic smile. The woman with the large jeans and small top is having a bad enough time as it is — then they come out with those low-rise things. I think I've figured it out to a certain extent. The fashion designers assume that everyone wants to look just like the stars. So they go ahead and assume that everyone has Lucy Liu's shoulders, Jessica Alba's bust, Penelope Cruz's waist, Beyonce's behind, Jessica Simpson's thighs, and Jennifer Lopez's legs. Oh, and that they all weigh about as much as half the Olsen twins, which is probably slightly more than the weight of a duck. But knowing that women do grow up and still need clothes, they keep the same style and just make it bigger. What you end up with is lowrise jeans in an XL shaped like the legs of an XS, and an XS top shaped like an XL bust. And don't think women haven't noticed that men's clothes cost, on average, two dollars less per item - for far more material. After much trial and error, some embarrassing outfits, and more money than we'd like to admit, some women have figured out how to assemble an outfit that doesn't require plastic surgery. In many cases, this includes the Wonderbra. It fills in where some women can't, and hides the fact that most women don't have perfectly flat stomachs by making them look a bit more proportionate. None of these outfits can include low-rise jeans without resulting in the dreaded muffin top. Who designed those things, anyway? Voyeuristic men looking down the streets, watching all the cracks walking down the sidewalks? This is why a lot of women have started wearing their pajama pants outdoors. They're cute and comfortable and not embarrassing, not to mention about ten bucks less than a pair of jeans. But even if we're just wearing plain old T- shirts, some of us still like the Wonderbra. We don't want the Dolly Parton look, we just want to look good enough in our clothes to give us that little bit of self-esteem we need to make it through the day. So if you're anti-Wonderbra, don't bark at us. Get a hold of those fashion designers and bark at them to design clothes that don't make us feel silly without a little boost. by Jordy Kirkman Letters to the editor requirements opinions@uvu.edu • Letters must be lumed in on Wednesday by noon in order to be printed in the next edition. • We make no guarantee that letters will be printed. • Letters 300 words or less have a greater chance of being published - anything longer will be edited for content. • Please provide an electronic copy regardless of whether or not you wish to submit a hard copy. • All letters become the property of The UVU Review as soon as they are submitted. SUDOKU EASY Salam, Dr. Laura Hamblin 1 Need More Cash? 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