Wednesday, January 28, 2015 // The Statement 3B
All the Pretty Things: The Power of Choice
Throughout my life, I have
encountered many choices that
are no different from the ones
facing every other person on this
earth. Each day I encounter deci-
sions that must be made: choices
concerning minor things, such
as what to eat for lunch, to major
decisions, such as what I wish to
do with my life and my education.
Each choice affects others, wheth-
er we see it now or not. And each
choice I encounter has a time limit
on it, a due date to make.
What college will I attend: Due
April 30th, 2014.
What will I do with my summer:
Due sometime before the school
year ends.
What will I do this weekend:
(Let’s be real) 9 p.m., Friday.
I have seen deadlines for all
of these choices, except for one
choice in my life I have yet to
make. I was born to
two amazing parents,
both supportive, both
my rock, one Polish,
the other Black. In my
eyes, they are no dif-
ferent. They are my
parents, they love me.
Who cares what they
look like and, in exten-
sion, what I look like?
Questions
from
strangers and friends
alike have come my
way more and more
often as I have grown
older, asking, “What
are you?” or “Why
don’t you act black?”
Standardized tests in elemen-
tary school stared up at me with
their blank bubbles, asking me
to choose what I see myself as. I
have encountered others who have
attempted to decide the answer
to this question for me (“You look
black, so therefore you are”) and
others that have decided, without
even expressing it, through their
treatment of me. This choice I
have been asked to make has been
a question that I still cannot confi-
dently answer.
I take pride in both sides of
myself. I take pride in the rich his-
tories that flow through me. Holi-
day meals range from kielbasa to
chitlins. Family stories touch on
the segregated United States to
work camps in Poland. I am lucky
to be able to take both of these
identities as my own.
As I think more and more about
this decision, I see that I do not
have to choose. This is the power
of choice. I have the option to not
choose. That is powerful.
T H E T H O U G H T B U B B L E
“You’ve got to want it. It’s a long process, especially
if you want to do a PhD … I’m taking a year (off) to
try and figure it out … I’m hoping in a year that I’ll
decide that it’s worth it.”
–LSA senior MARGARET BURNS
B Y J A C K LY N T H O M A S
ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MILLER
HOME IS WHERE THE
HEART IS
ON THE
RECORD
“I don’t have to lay in the hospital bed all day and night
anymore. I can get back to my life.”
–STAN LARKIN, first patient to receive a Total Artificial Heart
from the University’s Cardiovascualar Center. Larkin now has the
ability to wait at home for a transplant rather than in the hospital.
Famous by Association: Bulge-Gate
Well, the start of this year would
have been undeniably boring in the
entertainment realm if the great
Bulge-Gate of 2015 hadn’t swooped
in and given us something to ponder
for a solid week.
Apart from his various noise
complaints and speeding incidents,
Justin Bieber has been slowly
phased out by the likes of other teen
sensations such as One Direction
and 5 Seconds of Summer. So, in an
attempt to appeal to older audienc-
es and people in general, Bieber is
featured in a campaign for the new-
est Calvin Klein underwear line as
a very well-endowed model — or so
it may appear.
People called bullshit on the
spread right away. Think about it
— while he has been working out
more and is older, (have you seen
the thin mustache that took him a
year to grow, people?) it wasn’t long
ago that Bieber looked and sounded
like a prepubescent girl. To add fuel
to the already scorching fire, once
.gifs of Bieber’s alleged “before” —
a.k.a. un-Photoshopped — photos
were released, the Internet went
rampant.
Bieber’s people have been stick-
ing to the story that there was no
Photoshop fail. Even his personal
trainer, presumably an expert on
these matters (okay … ), came to his
defense. So who should we believe?
This Photoshop scandal brings to
light the entire concept of retouch-
ing and Photoshopping models and
celebrities in ad campaigns, movies,
magazine covers etc. I know girls
on my Instagram feed, regular stu-
dents like us, who clearly Photoshop
their pictures. But why? First of all,
it takes way too much time, and sec-
ondly, people definitely notice when
you look like a different person on
social media than you do in person.
But that’s beside the point. Society
has placed unattainable norms on
men and women. Women are sup-
posed to be skinny but curvy, with
perfect hair and makeup all the
time. And men are supposed to be
fit and muscular and well-endowed
in the ‘bulge’ department. While
I’m not defending Justin Bieber,
since his scandal gave me ample
entertainment (and something to
write about), the high standards
need to end and, hopefully, the Pho-
toshopping will stop with it.
In light of all this, Selena Gomez,
Bieber’s on-again, off-again girl-
friend/flame/stalker (why?) took
to Instagram during the scandal,
no doubt to try and get some of the
attention back to her. In posting
what people deem as a “cheeky”
photo during what looks like a
sad yoga sesh for one in a tropical
paradise, she has given her cryp-
tic stance on the scandal at hand …
move on, Selena.
This is the evidence thus far. But
will we ever know? Was it stuffed?
Enhanced? Photoshopped? Per-
haps we will know soon; as his
career continues to plunge, I am
sure a miracle, in the form of a sex
tape, is in his imminent future.
Maybe that’s why Selena’s doing all
that yoga?
B Y M A R I A M S H E I K H
RUBY WALLAU/DAILY
RUBY WALLAU/DAILY