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Show Monday • September 1, 2008 In Defense of the Croc • Loralne Glueck-Gholdston Opinions writer I've seen at least three articles online this week complaining about Crocs. It seems people thought they were so ugly, there was no way they could stick around. Lo and behold, they're still here, much to the horror of the fashion police. One writer even admitted to teaching his son to make fun of people who wear them. How constructive. Woe to the incessant whiners who defile their vocabularies daily with bitter complaints about shoes they don't have to wear. Just the sight of them! So hideous! They're like holey clown shoes! Only dorks would ever wear them, right? Well, I must be the queen of Dorkopolis, because I love my Crocs. In fact, I need to replace them, since I've worn off the treads on the soles. No, I don't think they're pretty ~ "or even cool. I don't wear them to make other people happy. I wear them to give my spine and my feet a break. I can't tell you how much I care about what other people think of my choices in footwear when I'm not wallowing in pain all night with a backache from wearing giraffe when I do. The worst part is when it flares up and I can't think about anything except how much my back really, really hurts. Compounding the issue is how much I walk. I love walking — it helps me clear my mind and gives me lots of opportunities to take pictures of bugs. But if I walk a couple of miles in the wrong shoes I will be feeling it until I can force someone to give me a massage. pretty, fashionable shoes. Because I don't. I'm sure I could try to care less, if I wanted to. But 1 just can't do it. I was born with scoliosis -- that is, an S- shaped curve in my lower spine. People can't really tell if they don't examine the one shoulder that's slightly higher than the other, the one leg that's slightly longer, and the fact that I try not to run because I look like a double-jointed Undeclared Of course, I'm guilty of going out to concerts and clubbing in high-heeled boots with my friends. No, I don' t wear Crocs to go dancing - they are the suckiest shoes ever for that. It's like putting two plates in a mud puddle and trying to ski on them. But my feet hurt quite a bit at the end of the night. Lucky for me, I have a husband who loves to rub them. Making a habit of it, however, is not recommended. One thing that really bugs me about Crocs, though -aside from being impossible to dance in — is how much static electricity they generate. I constantly have to ground myself before touching anything metal, and I've learned to touch the back of my wrist to the freezer doors at the store before opening them. Fewer nerve endings there than in the fingers. But I suffer though the electroshock grocery experience because I need my spine. I use it every day. So if you have nothing better to do with your time than complain and moan about someone else's footwear, I suggest you find a more interesting hobby. Like theta-orthodics, or perhaps sports medicine. Or maybe just, well, minding your own wardrobe. Jordy Kirkman If puts you to sleep for exactly 90 minutes. I'm Selling miracle pill to Ui€ new fieshnun. Good doing business with you! Enjoy! -Thank god (or freshman. Wo-*! Ill lake a bottle. I'm about to go to history That iounds pretty illegal. What's ii wjpposed to do? miracle PHH Apathetic inaction • David Fullmer Opinions writer The top news headlines on a popular Web site are "2 policemen killed, 7 wounded", "Bombing of Pakistani government bus kills 8" and "100 militants killed in Afghanistan." Similar stories will be seen on CNN and local news stations. What effect does this have on the consumers of this media? Does it somehow inspire people to aggression? Does it subconsciously convince people they need to buy a gun for protection? No. It makes them collectively say to themselves "I'm glad its not me" and "It's not my problem." The bombardment of violence in the news, movies and television isn't a call to action, but rather a call to apathetic inaction. When the media only shows us the negative and violent content, it gives the impression the entire world is abandoning the idea of the golden rule. The golden rule has changed to "Why should I help someone else if they aren't willing to do the same?" A 78-year-old man was a victim of a hit and run as he was walking across a Hartford, Connecticut, street earlier this year. The man is now paralyzed after the incident, but that's not the worst part. After he was hit, the man lay motionless in the middle of the street as cars caught a glimpse of him in pain and continued driving. Pedestrians paused on the sidewalk to look at the man, but continued to go about their own business. Eventually a police officer found the man and took him to a hospital. Upon seeing the video, the mayor of Hartford said, "We have lost our moral compass." I couldn't have put it better myself. Media violence isn't going to generate violent tendencies in the population. But it will more likely change how we act in certain situations. Good people want to keep away from violence in all situations, and sadly that sometimes means not intervening and helping where help is needed. We have all seen a terrible car accident on the road as it happened, or right after it happened. We drive by really slow and let it all sink in. Why don't we stop and help? Why don't we take time to help one another out? I remember going to a department store with my • father when I was really young. There was a shoplifter running toward the entrance and my father tackled the man and held him down until security came. I am confident that my father would act in a similar manner should that situation arise again, but I am equally confident that more often than not, people would let the shoplifter run past simply because it's "not their problem." Violence in the media does not inspire violent acts. People commit acts of violence because of the situations they have put themselves in. They are feeble acts of desperation, not copycat acts from movies or television. Hopefully we can all find the courage to do the right thing ~ because good people not doing the right thing is "everybody's problem." / ARE YOU IN? new semester new discounts imagine an apartment where everyone wants to be Dne today and off your monthly w iPhone 3G mobile broadband in your hand 1 IWQ Spvfcfcg Swdmnlng Pood «tft iMufa • Mly Eq^pfMd FHMU fattr wt* Rw Wttyrti ' M Hi I M N W K I Stiff k Svdil Loagi «Wt W»vW9K, Rttdm, M M k wd fkiy PM9 Tkbti \ o*i) • Uundry ROM tn hwy Mkfag 0 i Utt but r t M vHtfc nnriatoUVU m l ITU \ 0^ i U.. 1270Wmi1J0Souii 0nmWahW058 tMdShmdkdrton fdUU •{ Mention Tkt$ Ad and Receive $100 off l$t Month's Rent NEW LOWER RATESWft (& ,-, % VAvw.parkwaycrossing.com *or more fftformatlon, visit UVU AT&T Wireless site: www.att.com/wlr«rl€#*/uvs€»tucl©Trt« Or visit our retail location: 3University Mall - 575 University Parkway #ArefertoFAN* 105796 |