2009/12 Marquette Journal

Volume 105, Issue 4 December 2009 marquettejournal.org

The Gender Issue

Cold

HARD

PLASTIC

Are students too concerned with appearance and forgetting their own self-worth?

Also in this Issue: Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 1 Women’s athletics through the years • Gender Equality • The Metrosexual man • The falsehoods to “happily ever after”

2 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Contents the marquette journal | December 2009

Featured Fighting to fit the mold

By Patrick Johnson Battling to have the perfect body has led some students to encounter physical and mental health problems.

How much is too much.....16 Drawing the (surgical) line

By Jesse Carpender Plastic surgery is more than a nip here, a tuck there.

Students tell their tales of going under the knife for cosmetic and reconstructive surgery..............................23 Princess perfect

By Rosemary Lane Has an obsession with “happily ever after” distorted our view of love in real life?............................27

A golden history

9

By Joey Kimes While women have been attending Marquette University for 100 years, women’s sports have only recently achieved a major presence on campus.

The Gender Issue Have students found themselves trying to fit a mold, or are they more willing to tame beauty’s evil beast?

16

26

Photo Illustration by Sara J. Martinez

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 3

What’s Inside

Empowering equality

By Alexandra Engler In celebration of the women’s centennial at Marquette, we examine how women have worked to achieve gender equality over the past 100 years...................................................7 Ladies, start your engines

By Tony DiZinno After Title IX passed 37 years ago, women have fought to earn a strong reputation in professional sports......8 Going against the grain

By Marissa Evans A brief history of the man of the year: Rev. James McCabe. Thanks to him, we celebrate the centennial of women at Marquette......................12 Major minority report

By Kevin Griffin Gender segregation among majors is a prevalent issue on campuses nation-wide. Several colleges at Marquette aren’t as diverse as they’d like to be..........................................25

21

Metroman

By Matthew Reddin

Beauty’s evil beast

He’s not gay, he’s metro. What’s up with the metrosexual man?............26

By Brooke McEwen Eight out of 10 women are dissatisfied with their reflection. Issues with body image are some of the main concerns for young women everywhere.

Journey Amy Brechon This incredible freshman is a five-year survivor of breast cancer.................30

Blogs Stylephile

By Alise Buehrer Speak volumes with this winter’s accessories. We guarantee you’ll make a statement....................13 4 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

The Marquette Journal publishes weekly blogs on many different topics, such as pop culture, diversity, cars and fashion.

Check them out every day, only at marquettejournal.org.

find us online

marquettejournal.org

2009-2010 Staff Editor-in-Chief

Sara J. Martinez Managing Editor

Patrick Johnson Features Editor

Brooke McEwen Copy Chief

Jesse Carpender Senior Reporter

Caitlin Kavanaugh Online Assistant

Joey Kimes

Features Assistant

Kevin Griffin

Promotions Director

Jacob Weisenberger Photographers

Writers

Alise Buehrer Sarah Butler Jesse Carpender Tony DiZinno Andreana Drencheva Alexandra Engler Marissa Evans Becca Galvan Valerie Gamsky Brooke Goodman Kevin Griffin Patrick Johnson Caitlin Kavanaugh Ericka Kelly Joey Kimes Rosemary Lane Brooke McEwen Jennifer Michalski Brenda Poppy Matthew Reddin Ryan Riesbeck Veronica Shaheen Simone Smith Ben Wessel

Laura Bulgrin Marissa Evans Kevin Griffin Sara J. Martinez

Chief Designer Patrick Johnson

Designers

Sara J. Martinez Brooke McEwen

Contributors

Anna Andrews Mark Ayers Ty Calland Gretchen Clark Zachary D’Arienzo Lauren Frey Arianna Green Courtney Johnson Patty Marra Jim McLaughlin Molly Newman Joseph Woelfel

Chief Photographer Brooke McEwen

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The Marquette Journal

from the editor W e had hoped for a reprieve, but the past couple of months have been marked by tough times and tragic turns. The campus community continues to mourn the unfortunate death of freshman Andrew Siebenaler, and we head into final exam week with heavy hearts.

There’s really nothing I can say except that I hope you find a way to end this semester on a positive note. Enjoy your well-deserved break after what promises to be a difficult exam week ahead.

As far as we know, this is the first themed issue of The Marquette Journal in … a very long time. In honor of the Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette, the 32page magazine you are holding right now is dedicated to celebrating women.

This edition of the Journal not only focuses on women’s issues but also recognizes how these issues relate to men and to all students.

The objectification of both women and men in the media has led us to want something we will never be able to achieve. While it’s important to strive to be your best, many young men and women have developed distorted perceptions of beauty, falling into vicious cycles of obsession with appearance.

Many of your fellow students have experienced or are currently struggling with eating disorders. Some have sought plastic surgery, which can boost self-esteem as well as save lives.

In preparing for this issue, the Journal had its own problems with body image. As a perfect complement to what we talk about, some models requested we re-take their photos because they weren’t happy with their own appearances.

It’s hard looking in the mirror every day and not being happy with what you see, but the reality is that it is not reality.

I hope you see that you are an important piece of the puzzle, and you really are wonderful the way you are. Explore some of these issues with the Journal, and please send us your feedback.

We are here to build community and to get you talking about what matters.

1131 W. Wisconsin Ave. #006 Milwaukee, Wis. 53233 editor@marquettejournal.org Faculty Adviser

Dr. Steve Byers

sara.martinez@marquette.edu Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 5

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Empowering equality interested ?in Liberating women’s roles is an important step in achieving gender equity

W

By Alexandra Engler

hen the first female students walked on campus to go to class 100 years ago, Marquette was a different world. Gradually, it has evolved into a world with just as many obstacles but a much brighter future.

According to Mary Anne Siderits, an assistant professor of psychology, this is the time not only to celebrate the centenniel of women at Marquette, but also to continue moving forward using the accomplishments that women have achieved.

Siderits says its time to pay attention to the important lessons women have given society.

Women can enter career fields previously thought unsuitable for them. According to Siderits, society should take a “no holds barred” approach to women’s roles. Even though this may not be completely accepted, it is becoming more so.

This is not just subject to the female gender, however. Empowerment comes when society does not feel the need to trade or specify roles, but rather to open up possibilities for both genders.

“If women’s roles are liberated, the necessary complement is that men’s roles are liberated, too,” Siderits said. “Women and men are free to do what flows from their capacity, interests, wishes and dispositions as persons — not just as their gender.”

Empowerment is not only an important lesson in regards to economic statuses or job qualifications. It also applies to how women are viewed in the media.

Modern culture impresses dangerous values upon young women, according to Ana Garner, an associate professor in the College of Communication professor. Portraying women as scantily-clad sex objects in the media shows that there is still a great need for young women to learn that their power does not just reside in their sexuality.

“I would like to have the world accept and see women as empowered full citizens instead of just sexual citizens,” Garner said.

According to Elaine Maly, executive director of the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, even when women are seen as businesswomen in the media, it’s frequently still in a sexual manner.

There are however, many successful and powerful young men and women who can be leaders for others.

According to Maly, channeling women’s natural power is something that the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee is working toward. By providing a network of philanthropy, the organization harnesses “the power that women already have for social change that we want to see,” she said. This in turn creates a basis for the social change into women-led solutions.

Maly also said that women are still not necessarily on the same level as men in pay equality.

“There is talk about women and how successful women have become — their economic power and being in places of leadership they have never been at before,” Maly said. “But we need to be careful because what that means is some women have gotten ahead, but women have certainly not reached parity.”

The best way to reach economic equality is through education.

More women than ever are attending college, working to reach job and economic equity.

“It’s no secret that education is the most surefire way to achieve longterm success and economic independence,” Maly said.

Much like the liberation of women’s roles in society liberates men, the education of women will in turn educate society.

“What people are coming to understand is that when you invest in women and girls, they take care of their families,” Maly said. “When families are thriving, communities thrive and whole cities, towns, states and nations thrive.”

Thriving communities create greater opportunities for equal participation in society. The United Nations Development Programme for Women Empowerment understands the importance for gender equality in society.

“Development cannot be

achieved if 50 percent of the population is excluded from the opportunities it brings,” said Helen Clark, an ambassador for the UNDP. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed the importance of the role of equality in democratic governance. “If any man asks why I support better accountability to women, here’s my response: because a government that answers to women will answer to you, too,” he said in a report.

Gender equality is not just a global issue. It also needs to be addressed on Marquette’s campus, according to Desiree Valentine, chair of Marquette’s feminist group Empowerment.

Empowerment focuses on creating safe and open discourse about gender issues facing Marquette and the college culture.

According to Valentine, the group looks to move past formal equality, or equality under the law, which she believes the feminist movement has already achieved. Instead, she said Empowerment aims to remove de facto discrimination, or discrimination by practice.

“This is just on a daily basis,” Valentine said about de facto discrimination. “There is still ridiculously high numbers of sexual assault on college campus and the world at large.”

To fight these issues and to advocate women’s empowerment, Valentine stresses the importance of discussion. She said that when speaking with her peers about Empowerment’s cause, she tries to do it with an open mind and has found it “eye opening.”

A century ago when women looked ahead, they envisioned great possibilities. That imagination was the force that created the world today. It’s possible the best lesson young women can learn is to create high expectations for their futures and work to achieve them.

“It is important for each generation of college students to learn that we are counting on them to continue to work on equity around the world — for everyone,” Maly said. “With each generation, we make progress, but the job is not done.” mj

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Marquette Journal, December 2009M•arquette 7 Journal, December 2009 • 7

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Ladies, start your engines Since the inception of Title IX in 1972, women have been fighting for equality in professional sports

J

By Tony DiZinno

une 23, 1972. Two years and two months before President Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, eight years before the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey game, and exactly 17 years before this author was born.

That day marked one of the most transformational laws in our country’s history. Women were discriminated against in many areas and spent a majority of the 20th century trying to achieve the same standards that applied to men.

Title IX, a law passed in 1972, requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding.

It does not explicitly pertain to sports; however, part of its legacy to this day regards its success in the advancement of women in high school and collegiate athletics.

Authored in large part by Hawaiian congresswoman Patsy Mink, Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002.

“I think it’s the greatest law in the last 40 years in the U.S.,” said Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist during Marquette’s Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Memorial Lecture in September.

“The reality of Title IX is that we’ve lived it, and don’t even think about it, which is a success in itself.”

Brennan listed Mia Hamm as the living embodiment of a Title IX athlete. The women’s soccer star was born in March 1972, three months before Title IX was passed, and scored 158 international goals in her career, more than any male or female in soccer history.

She wasn’t the most memorable player during the U.S. team’s historic victory in the 1999 World Cup. But Brennan said without Hamm’s contribution as both a player and an icon, we would have never witnessed the majestic, memorable

image of Brandi Chastain ripping off her jersey after her game-winning penalty kick.

The concern is that such iconic images or opportunities will be limited in the future, as the finances are not necessarily there to give women the chance to compete on such a high level.

Photograph courtesy motorsport.com

Digging for more

It could be argued the culture of sports is a microcosm of the entire American way of life, embracing a patriarchal structure that gives more credit to men than women.

Paul Anderson, associate director of the National Sports Law Institute and adjunct professor of law, explained the ramifications of Title IX on society and its unintentional effects on sports.

“Compared to 1972, participation levels have increased exponentially,” Anderson said. “Though that number has gone up, it’s still not the level where men were in 1972. It is not remotely equal to men at that level.

“Title IX has nothing to do with sports,” he added. “There used to be more female coaches and administrators. There were actually lost opportunities related to college athletics in particular.”

Jean Grow, associate professor of advertising and public relations, said women in sports are embraced as more of a marketing tool than an area of realistic interest.

“To see Nike as the ‘purveyor of women in sports’ is to just move the brand because anyone will talk the talk at Nike,” she said. “All you have to say is who has primetime sports coverage related to sports media. Women are so far at the bottom of the barrel to find the statistic, it’s sadly low.”

Grow used to work with Nike and also mentioned the company “hitching on” to Hamm’s success during the 1990s. Of the 17 buildings on Nike’s property, she said, only two are named for women and one is for Hamm.

Driving for change

There is one series – albeit one that is not as well known in the U.S. as it was in years past – where women and men compete in the same event at the same time.

The IZOD IndyCar Series, the open-wheel auto racing championship that races every Memorial Day

8 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Indy Car driver Sarah Fisher is a women making a name for herself in the maledominated sport of auto racing.

weekend at the Indianapolis 500, has opened its doors to women racing in the same level. It’s not like the LPGA Tour or the WNBA with having a separate tour for women.

Janet Guthrie set the bar with qualifying for the 1977 race, and a year later recorded a ninth place finish in the 33-car field. Lyn St. James added her name to the field in 1992, and in 2000, she was joined by a then 19-year-old Sarah Fisher.

“My dad saw the tough side of people asking questions – why would you put your only daughter and child to boot in a race car?”

Fisher said. “The biggest thing I had to get used to was the media and so many people, as I had just graduated high school.”

She spoke to having accumulated a wealth of fan popularity and a best finish of second place in more than 75 races.

“I’m pretty much the same as everyone at home – do the dishes, laundry and run a business,” she said. “That’s the uniqueness of my career, a lot of people can identify with that and just being real. Everyone that comes through the autograph line, it’s great to see them still coming and I’m still amazed with.”

Fisher is one of three women that have competed in each of the last three Indianapolis 500 races, the others the notably hyped Danica Patrick and Venezuelan driver Milka Duno. Patrick is the most recognizable IndyCar driver and is teasing a move to NASCAR. Anderson said realistically, true opportunites for women in sports will arise when the playing field

is half male and half female. He said a driver like Patrick is more noted for being a female driver, not merely a driver who happens to be female.

“They want to be the story because they’re good, not because they’re female,” he said.

Fisher said she rarely, if ever, heard of the stigma of being in IndyCar just for being a woman.

Fisher and her husband now own their own team, which started in 2008.

“I don’t get a lot of feedback like that, especially now that I’ve started my own team,” she said.

“I’ve never driven for a big team, or a spot that was known to be competitive. What I’m doing now is putting myself in the absolute best situation and moving forward from that.”

Fisher is one of a handful of women moving forward in the world of sports. Other examples Anderson and Grow touched on were the college basketball teams at Tennessee and Connecticut, which consistently sell out games.

All said, though strides have been made, there remains much more work to ensure women in sports can continue to grow and get noticed. mj

A golden history A brief recount of the recent development of women’s athletics at Marquette

By Joey Kimes Photographs Submitted from University Archives

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 9

I

t’s a well-known fact that numbers mean everything in the world of sports, and some numbers carry more significance than others — one of which is the number nine.

It doesn’t just represent the nine-game winning streak with which the Marquette women’s soccer team opened the 2007 campaign. And sorry, but it doesn’t just stand for the seasonlow nine turnovers the women’s basketball team had against Utah in 2008.

Rather, nine stands for much more than that; and its power spans more than just the Marquette campus or the state of Wisconsin. Without nine, or Title IX for this matter, women’s athletics may not have gotten the respect and attention it rightfully deserved.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX, a law that mandates equal treatment of both genders in any educational setting that is supported by federal funding.

“Title IX required any university with federal funding to have similar athletic opportunities, scholarships and budgets for both sexes,” said Catherine “Tat” Shiely, the first coordinator of women’s athletics at Marquette.

It was about equality and opportunities in athletics.

“Marquette has a lot of students that get federal grants,” Shiely said, “and the university didn’t want to give that up. I don’t think that Marquette or any university would have added competitive athletics for women at that point.”

With Marquette entering into a new realm of athletics, one that few others had yet approached, the university was forced to face numerous issues that were unlike any it faced before. To ready itself for the upcoming ambiguity, Marquette chose to hire Shiely as the first coordinator of women’s athletics in 1975, where she remained until 1985.

Shiely said that she was responsible for budgeting, scheduling and recruiting for each of the women’s teams, as well as doing all of the behind-the-scenes things that coaches don’t typically do.

“Back in the early ’70s, you had to be the master of many things,” she said. “That was what was expected of you.”

According to Shiely, there was one instance in which she found herself mopping Marquette Gym after the ceiling was painted and dripped onto the court.

During a two-year span from 1974-’76, Marquette administrators prepared for the flurry of change that was quickly setting in upon campus.

Through a memo to the athletic department in 1974, then-assistant university legal counsel Patrick Hetrick made it clear that varsity athletics were not the sole change that Marquette was 10 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

going to undertake. Along with that, equality in intramural sports and locker room facilities would also be needed.

Shiely said that there were no facilities or equipment available for the women athletes at the inception of the program.

The next hurdle that stood in the way for Shiely and the rest of the athletic department was the dilemma of which collegiate affiliation to join — the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women or the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

According to a letter from Leotus Morrison, the president of the AIAW, to the presidents of all NCAA institutions in 1975, the AIAW was encouraging all colleges to allow the women to be affiliated with a separate organization.

“To assure a voice in decisions at this state in women’s intercollegiate sports development,” Morrison said in her letter, “it is necessary either to maintain a separate organization for the governance of women’s athletics or guarantee women’s equal voice at all levels of operation within a merged organization, which the NCAA Executive Council is apparently unwilling to do.”

She said the NCAA wanted nothing to do with women’s athletics at the beginning because it wasn’t a money-maker. The AIAW was geared toward making women’s sports better and more competitive. Once women’s athletics had proven themselves, the NCAA wanted to claim them.

“There was nothing for women at that time but the AIAW,” Shiely said. “I wanted us to stay with the AIAW, but when the NCAA wants something, it happens. I believed in the philosophy of the AIAW.” Only one other obstacle stood in the way: scholarships for female athletes. In a 1976 memo to chairman of the Marquette Athletic Board professor William G. Murphy, the Subcommittee on Title IX and Athletic Scholarship Policies made it clear that this was something that needed to be addressed.

At that time, men’s basketball had 16 to 18 scholarships per year to award to athletes, totaling about $85,000. The wrestling team could award five tuition-only scholarships that totaled $13,500 each year.

In 1976, there were three times as many male athletes as there were female. Because of this, the subcommittee on athletic scholarship policies chose to award female sports in general — not each individual sport — five tuition scholarships and eight textbook scholarships. These scholarships were for the three sports to share over a four-year period.

With equipment, affiliation and scholarships about sorted out, the fall of 1975 was the premier season for women’s athletics on campus.

Volleyball, basketball and tennis were introduced as nationally-competitive varsity teams that year.

Control falls into the right hands

“When I was hired,” Shiely said, “Al McGuire asked me, ‘What do you need to be successful?’ ” Shiely said she needed money.

As the women’s athletic coordinator, Shiely said she was responsible for the budgets, coaching two sports and recruiting. From 1975-’86 she was in charge of coaching both women’s basketball and volleyball, something no one had ever taken on.

In her 11 seasons as the basketball coach, Shiely had a 111-148 record.

“At some point, you become exhausted,” she said. “I liked volleyball better because it’s such a team sport. Someone has to try to stop a ball at 70 miles per hour, while another tries to dig it and send it to the right place for the next person.

You just can’t (win) by yourself.”

She finished her collegiate coaching career in 1998 after 24 seasons, when she retired as the head volleyball coach after collecting 380 wins.

“If you look where we started and where we are now, we had great progression, great opportunities and great education for the athletes,” she said.

Shiely talked about how some of her former athletes went on to prolific careers, including an organ transplant surgeon and someone who uses computers to hunt for oil in Alaska.

Coaches set teams up for victory

Coaching consistency was the staple of Shiely’s term as coach of the women’s volleyball team. Since her tenure ended in 1998, that consistency has been missing.

“Obviously, lots of passion is needed,” said Rabbecka Gonyo, middle hitter and a junior in the College of Business Administration. “Volleyball is an emotional sport that relies on energy, and coaches need to supply that energy.”

Three coaches have led the team after Shiely’s departure, with Laura Farina being the first. After her three-year stint at Marquette ended, Farina was replaced by Pati Rolf in 2002.

Rolf was the only coach in Marquette history to finish with a record above .500, at 102-98.

She commanded the team until she left in the midst of the 2008 campaign and was replaced by interim coach Erica Heisser.

“It’s like being a freshman all over again,” Gonyo said about adjusting to a new coach.

“You have no idea what to expect, and it’s kind of nervous. A good transition is the sign of a good coach.”

The 2009 season saw the beginning of the next era of Marquette volleyball as Bond Shymansky took over control of the team as the fourth coach in team history.

“Bond knows what you can do, and he expects it from you,” Gonyo said. “He lets you know when you do both good and bad things.

It’s more powerful to have a coach compliment you because it can really bring you up.”

Success is the goal

Waiting isn’t something that anyone likes to do. It’s tedious and unbearable, and it takes determination and dedication to handle. Plus, it’s hardly ever worth the wait.

Dedication paid off for the Marquette women’s soccer team, as the 10 years it waited to be elevated from club to varsity status now looks like it was worth the wait.

Prior to the notion of including women’s soccer as a varsity sport, track and cross country were added to the varsity athletics roster in the 1978-’79 season.

During the 1982-’83 academic year, the Marquette athletic department acknowledged the need for another varsity women’s sport, and the decision was clear that the 2-year-old women’s club soccer team was ready to be promoted to Division I. The athletic department, however, didn’t have the funding for another varsity team, so the recommendation was tabled until proper funds arose.

A co-ed rifle team was added in the 1992-’93 season, during which the need for a seventh allfemale varsity sport resurfaced.

According to a letter Bill Cord, director of athletics at Marquette from 1987-2007, sent to the Toledo University athletic director in 1993, there were a definite series of steps taken to decide if it was time to raise the level of competition for women’s soccer. Both the soccer and softball club teams were considered for promotion in 1992, and the student body voted to make club soccer the next varsity sport.

Along with the need for another team, Cord also outlined where the funding was to come from. With the dissolution of Marquette’s varsity wrestling program, the athletic department was able to transfer that team’s budget to women’s soccer.

With that decision, the club soccer team officially became the seventh varsity sport for women, and Jill McCartney was hired as the team’s first head coach in 1993.

Trying to field a team in time for the start of the 1993 season, the former club players were asked to try out for the varsity to mix well with the recruits brought in, said Michelle Powell, co-captain of the 1993 women’s varsity soccer team, in a letter to Cord during the team’s first season.

“As a freshman on the women’s club soccer team,” Powell wrote, “a Division I team was just a dream. Now as a senior, my dream has come true.”

On Sept. 1, 1993, the team took the field for the first time as a Division I sport against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Success didn’t come as quickly as the team had hoped, and it took nearly three weeks for the team to grab its first victory — a 1-0 win over Le Mars, Iowa’s Teikyo-Westmar University on Sept. 19.

From there, the women’s soccer program has steadily amplified its successes, building itself into a national power. One big step in this was the 1996 promotion of then-assistant coach Markus Roeders to head coach, the third in the team’s history.

Roeders has turned the youngest of Marquette’s varsity sports into one of the most successful. In his 14 years as head coach, he has compiled a record of 202-80-30, making him by far the winningest coach in the program’s history. Every season with Roeders at the helm has seen the team win at least 11 games.

Along with these wins, Roeders has also coached eight All-Americans, led Marquette to eight NCAA Tournament berths and has maintained a national ranking. Marquette women’s soccer ranked as high as No. 10 in the Soccer America polls this year but had its season come to an end Nov. 13 when it lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Dayton. mj

The Lady Eagles Marquette is happy to take on the 2009-’10 athletic season with varsity teams for women in: track & field, cross country, basketball, volleyball, tennis and soccer. The women’s athletic program has come a long way since 1972, and it hopes to continue making strides in the future. With the help of the University Archives, the Journal is able to photographically commemorate the progression of women’s sports over time at Marquette.

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 11

Going against the grain The Jesuit who empowered women is recognized after 100 years of coeducation.

Photograph by Sara J. Martinez

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By Marissa Evans

he Centennial of Women at Marquette marks the celebration of 100 years of coeducation on campus. While the celebration is a major milestone in Marquette’s history, one must take time to reflect upon the people that made this historic change possible.

In 1909, newly chosen University President the Rev. James McCabe decided to open Marquette’s doors to women.

“It was a daring move since Catholic colleges and universities worldwide were for males only,” said the Rev. Douglas Leonhardt, associate director of the Office of Mission and Identity.

The decision to allow women to attend the university came from McCabe’s hope to help Catholic elementary and high school teachers who happened to be Catholic Sisters. According to Leonhardt, while most of the teachers started at 20 years old, their education was not that large due to few opportunities in the religious convents.

Since the sisters were busy with teaching during the academic year, McCabe’s original plan was to open the university to women during summer school, Leonhardt said. In addition to the sisters, he also wanted the school to admit lay women.

“There was not an opportunity for many of the sisters to attend accredited schools to fulfill Wisconsin’s teacher certification requirements,” Leonhardt said.

But, McCabe’s decision was met with conflicting views. In addition to the responsibilities of being president, McCabe was also the religious superior to the Jesuit order on campus. When he made his request to allow women to attend Marquette, the Jesuit Provincial in St. Louis denied him the authority to make the change, said Leonhardt. After receiving a lack of support from St. Louis, McCabe sent an appeal to the Society of Jesus in Rome.

The Jesuit who brought women to Marquette was honored this year with the dedication of McCabe Hall.

“No one knows what was going through Father McCabe’s mind at this time,” Leonhardt said in an email. “However, two things seem clear. Father McCabe saw a need in the Catholic Church and was willing to go against a long-standing tradition and do something countercultural in Catholic Higher Education. Secondly, he was a good Jesuit and followed the procedures of the Society of Jesus in appealing his decision to Rome.”

Since the initial enrollment and acceptance of women at Marquette, attendance has greatly increased.

The 2008 freshman class boasted a 53 percent female ratio, according to the Marquette University Admissions Web site. But the impact the past sisters had on education in the elementary system decades ago is still remembered today by Jesuits at Marquette.

While McCabe stepped down

12 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

as university president in 1911, his willingness to allow women in Catholic institutions had a lasting effect on the success of women at Marquette.

“That year (1909) there were two women graduates. One had a Bachelor of Science — her name was Daisy Wolcott — and then a woman who graduated from the law school that was assumed by the university,” the Rev. Tad Burch said. “There were at least two women graduates in 1910 (from) the professional schools.”

According to Burch, Sister Mary Remi Harrington was the first person to get a Bachelor of Science one year and a Bachelor of Arts the next year in 1913 and 1914, respectively.

Overall, McCabe’s courage to forego tradition as well as his desire to help women better themselves has changed the university’s

character forever.

With each passing year, men and women alike graduate from Marquette with newfound perspectives and outlooks on life and their futures ahead.

“It's nice to get a different perspective, from females and males alike,” said Meghan Dillon, a senior in the College of Health Sciences. “Not to discredit single-sex education, but its just great to hear different viewpoints from various aspects of life and to be able to learn about different experiences people have to or have had to go through throughout their life.” mj

Stylephile

By Alise Buehrer Photographs by Brooke McEwen

Cara MacLean, Junior, College of Communication Oliver’s Trendz barrette. Vintage pearl necklaces and gloves. Anthropologie rose necklace. BCBG Max Azria crystal bracelet. ExpressM pearl bracelets, crystal band ring rhinestone2009 earrings.• Clinarquette Journal , Dand ecember 13 ique clutch with Carolee Limited Edition brooch. BGBG Max Azria dress.

I

f a picture is worth a thousand words, bold jewelry is worth a million. As the focal point of modern fashion, statement accessories are today’s biggest trend and tomorrow’s timeless heirlooms. With delicate beading, colorful enamel and light-catching shine, a prize-winning trinket can become the centerpiece of any glamorous ensemble. By layering on the most chic winter designs, any girl can make an entrance that leaves the critics speechless.

Philip Niles, Sophomore, College of Communication Tommy Hilfiger oxford. Calvin Klein tie. Nordstrom pants and belt. Victorinox Swiss Army watch.

14 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Megan Mohnen, Freshman, College of Arts & Sciences Cära headband. Vintage fur stole and cocktail rings. GAP clutch with Franchesca’s Collection brooch. Forever 21 earrings.

(Left) Forever 21 key necklace. Anthropologie yellow beaded necklace.

Givenchy crystal choker. J. Crew gold and crystal bracelet. Dolce & Gabbana watch. Express crystal bracelets. Banana Republic ring and earrings.

Forever 21 dress. Mossimo for Target belt. Aldo clutch.

(Right) Banana Republic charcoal pearl necklace. Ann Taylor Loft rhinestone necklace. Vintage brooches, earrings, and clutch. Fred Boutique flower ring. Oliver’s Trendz rhinestone ring. BGBG Max Azria dress.

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 15

Fighting

to fit the mold Male students find that battling for the perfect body can lead to physical and mental health problems, but being comfortable in their own skin should be a priority.

T

By Patrick Johnson Photographs by Laura Bulgrin

he perfect body has graced the covers of magazines for decades. It’s the body that girls and guys could only dream of having. The one that teenagers and college students post up on their walls to stare at once they enter their bedroom door.

Farrah Fawcett donned a red swimsuit in 1976 that sold more than 12 million posters in the past 33 years, according to a report by CNN. The perfect body has been one to pine over, an ideal aspiration. This obsession has traditionally only applied to women, but that’s beginning to change.

16 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 17

The hard, muscular body has bulked up in the past few years, increasing largely since Generations X and Y’s childhoods.

Stan Weston created the original G.I. Joe action figure (not a doll beause a doll applied to girls) in 1963 to teach boys power, respect and the importance of deeds that a man must live up to and accomplish. The action figure has recently undergone a makeover that leaves young boys striving to be something they can never obtain.

According to Bradley University’s “The Body Project,” the character is completely unrealistic due to his enlarged proportions. The biceps of most of the G.I. Joes are larger than the figure’s head. “The Body Project” also believes that potentially harmful messages will arise from this size increase.

From G.I. Joe to everyday life, men have trouble believing their bodies are making the grade.

“Men see these idealized, muscular men in the media and feel their own bodies don’t measure up,” said Tracy Tylka, assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University, in a 2006 interview with “Live Science.”

Television, film and advertisements become our beliefs — whether it be a Calvin Klein ad featuring a model with a flat stomach, defined arms and perfect face or an episode of “90210” where every character manages to be muscular and fit. If the character doesn’t look like we want him to, we don’t see much more than his face. The epidemic of our nation is vanity.

“The Body Project’s” initial goal is to increase awareness by providing resources and research to educate students on the many forces that influence body image issues, one large force 18 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

being the media.

“Instead of seeing a decrease in objectification of women in society, there has just been an increase in the objectification of men. And you can see that in the media today,” Tylka said.

Dove launched its Campaign for Real Beauty in order to free women and future generations of women from beauty stereotypes. The campaigns, while incredibly positive, have chosen to focus on the female population.

Unilever, the company that owns Dove, also owns Axe body spray and deodorant. How can a company be so positive to one gender but stereotype another so heavily as needing to promote the “axe effect”? Where does this stereotype leave the objectified men?

From the media to heath risks, men are at as much threat from body image issues as women are. The only question is, can a society built on “man code” and patriarchy finally realize that the boys and men are in trouble?

Building up the perfect body

Get bigger. Run faster. Flash your guns. Lift more weights. Sculpt your six-pack. Release some stress. Binge on food. Forget to eat. Vomit it all up. Struggle with image, but don’t let anyone see. Why? Because you’re a man.

America is home to almost 8 million people with eating disorders, according to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. More than 2 million more people suffer from anorexia or bulimia than the population of the state of Wisconsin. Of the 8 million, 1 million are men. More men suffer from eating disorders than there are people in the state of Montana.

Imagine how many more suffer from poor body image issues.

“I believe (body image issues among) males are definitely not noticed as much as females,” said John Krazter, general manager for the Rec Plex. “That is not to say there are problems, and I am sure there are some at Marquette, but I have not had an issue in our facilities.”

Kratzer said he has seen an increase in the use of cardio equipment at the Rec Plex. The weight room used to be the primary source of exercise.

Barbara Troy, clinical assistant professor of dietetics and nutritional consultant to Student Health Service, said signs are constantly popping up when it comes to identifying body image issues and eating disorders.

“The muscularity issue can also come up where a male spends hours in the gym in an effort to achieve the desired look,” Troy said.

“Dramatic changes in food intake/types of food can also dovetail this increased exercise pattern.”

Kratzer said he has seen similar instances in the Rec Plex.

“A staff member or I have noticed that an individual may be spending too many hours working out,” he said. “Some obvious signs would be the physical appearance, which may be signs for bulimic or anorexic behavior.”

When circumstances surface, Kratzer said there are resources on campus such as the Counseling Center and Student Health Service that he refers to for support.

The present culture has seen trends like “heroin chic” in females (developed from the ultra thin, anorexic-like body types of models in the 1990s who were thought to obtain their size from the use of heroin or other drugs) come and never leave. Now a new trend has risen in the ranks, one that hits men hard.

Comfortability

“As women have had to deal with the unhealthy thin culture portrayed in the media, men have also been bombarded with unrealistic images of the male body,” Troy said. “Most specifically, the typical male body in the media is tremendously muscular and ‘cut,’ having a physique that is unattainable by most males.”

Troy believes that athletes are most susceptible to body image stigmas.

“Males can also fall prey to the thinness craze, especially when involved in distance running or wrestling sports. Fatigue and dissatisfaction with race times related to under-eating/overexercising is a common complaint,” she said.

Faking it for show

It doesn’t take much for someone to develop body image issues. Zachary D’Arienzo, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, went through a traumatic event that led him to shut down emotionally. D’Arienzo said he was overweight most his life, and his weight loss

made him feel better about himself.

“My problem arose after the bulk of my weight was off, and I was frightened to gain any of it back. I found myself eating better for fear of weight gain, not because I felt better,” he said. “If I ate bad one day, I would compensate the next day by severely restricting myself.

My emotions were completely tied into what I ate because I was so scared to gain any of that weight back.”

D’Arienzo said he monitored himself closely to insure that he lost weight. He became scared of the weight he might gain.

“I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, but as I look back it’s obvious how scared I was of weight gain, and how that fear ran most of my actions,” D’Arienzo said. “That could have led to some very bad patterns had I not broken out of it.”

The male stereotype is a major reason for hiding body image issues, according to D’Arienzo. He believes that it is a struggle

(above from left to right) Zachary D’Arienzo, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences; Joe Woelfel, a senior in the College of Communication; Michael Calland, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences; and Mark Ayers, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, pose to prove that being comfortable in their own skin is a priority in life.

because the man is traditionally seen as “the rock in the relationship.”

“A man can still be the strong emotional presence, fulfill the ‘man code,’ and act as society depicts a man, but still be struggling with an eating disorder,” he said.

When plastic breaks

Eating disorders are constant struggles, struggles that never go away. John Preston* is a Marquette student who suffered from bulimia.

“In seventh grade I began to have problems with how I looked,” he said. “The funniest part about it all was that I wasn’t that big of a kid.”

Preston began to binge eat and would later force himself to throw up.

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 19

“I’m not proud of what happened to me, and I definitely am not proud of what I did,” he said.

“The most difficult part about it all was that I couldn’t stop myself. It was the worst feeling of my life.”

He kept his bulimia hidden from his family and his friends until his freshman year of high school.

“I had this routine that I followed everyday. I would eat as though everything was normal and then I would go home and let it all out,” Preston said. “One day I decided I ate too much at breakfast and too much at lunch. I left my sixth hour class to go puke in the bathroom. That’s when my friend caught me.”

After pleading, Preston convinced his friend not to tell his parents. It was that moment that Preston realized there was something that needed to change.

“People don’t necessarily understand how serious eating disorders can get. Mine dragged me all the way to hurting myself and my friend,” Preston said. “I vowed after that day to change, but it wasn’t easy.”

Slowly but surely, he began to become more comfortable in his own shoes, but he admits that his “disease” will never go away.

“I have marks from my loss of weight. I look at my fingers and remember what I have done,” 20 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

he said. “While I may not find myself over a toilet barfing my brains out anymore, I will always live with scars that got me to where I am today.”

While in Preston’s case his self-image was so low it brought him to suffering from bulimia, it brings realization that body image issues do exist among men.

Building the perfect doll

From the image to the attitude, society ingrains in our heads an image of what a man is expected to be.

“Just as men are given a societal image of emotional and physical strength, they can continue to portray this image as they struggle with an eating disorder,” D’Arienzo said. “The fact that one with an eating disorder is in denial of it sounds cliché, but it is severely true, and I could never have admitted that what I was doing unhealthy — just normal actions toward keeping weight off.”

Marquette has made many efforts to assist students with body image and eating disorder issues, one of them being “Love Your Body Week” put on by the Center of Health Education and Promotion’s Peer Health Educators.

Guillermo Contreras, a junior in the College of Health Sciences who suffered from body

image issues since he was 13 years old, believes that this week can be very beneficial in educating the Marquette community about men’s body issues. “‘Love Your Body Week’ would be a great place to start advocating for this cause,” Contreras said. “Last year, I attended a speaker who spoke entirely on female body image and did not place any importance on men. It felt almost as though the speaker only saw women as having these types of problems in society and men not having anywhere near the same type of issues.”

The goal is to make pro-social efforts to change this mindset of what it means to have body issues. It starts at the source.

“Any step toward accepting yourself, who you are and even how you look helps to make you a stronger, more confident individual,” Contreras said. “Never disregard the small steps, and if someone is dealing with body image, get help and support from those you hold dear and near to your heart.” mj *Name changed for privacy.

Beauty’s evil beast Women are constantly working to achieve flawless skin and perfect hair, but what are they feeling behind the makeup mask?

By Brooke McEwen Photographs by Laura Bulgrin

W

e suffer from a centuries old epidemic without giving it a single thought. Side effects have changed over the years, for what once caused 18th century women to constrain themselves in corsets later inspired the 1960s “Twiggy” look and the 1990s “heroin chic.” Despite the body’s everchanging paradigm of perfection, the ideological makeup of the body image plague has remained the same: dissatisfaction in our own skin that has spanned the generations.

Plucking hair, eating too little or too much and investing in costly plastic surgery have all been accepted in one form or another as ways to perfect our appearance. Today women can even purchase the technologically advanced Brava Bra that, according to its Web site, applies a “gentle amount of tension to breasts” that builds new tissue and increases bust size. Just wear it for 10 to 14 consecutive weeks.

So at what point does a little primping turn into an unhealthy obsession? And how do we feel about society’s pressure to look perfect?

According to research conducted by Lydia Boyd of Duke University Libraries, “today the American cosmetics and beauty aid industry totals over $20 billion in sales and is dominated by hair and skin care products that are heavily advertised in print and on television.”

It’s no wonder we’re touched by the concept of body image in our day to day lives. Body image hits us from every direction.

Sarah Kikkert, a sophomore in the College of Communication, said she notices not only the media’s emphasis on today’s stick thin, body flaunting beauties, but also their flawless skin, hair and lips. The image ideal air-brushed onto advertisements and digitally modified in photographs screams beauty without blemishes.

Brenda Litza, a senior in the College of Education, said she believes the media doesn’t point out an individual’s true beauty but instead calls attentions to a person’s flaws. Eyes don’t have to wander any further than the magazine racks at grocery store check-out lines to find Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 21

entertainment magazines covered in photographs of celebrities who are now considered “fat.”

Litza said “Toddlers and Tiaras,” a reality show on TLC that follows child beauty pageant participants and their parents, serves as a prime example of the lengths an individual will go to attain illusory physical attractiveness.

The TLC Web site profiled the reality show as a look into the stage world pageants.“On any given weekend, on stages across the country, little girls and boys parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes,” the Web site read. “ ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ follows families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles and lots of cash.”

But the images we see portrayed in mainstream television shows or movies rarely reflect reality.

“Some people don’t even question it (the media’s portrayal of beauty),” said Ophira Edut, healthy body image advocate and author of “Body Outlaws.” “It’s fascinating what a brush stroke can do.”

She said we forget about the manipulation that goes into advertising, movies and photographs.

Sharing the office with a Photoshop expert has opened her eyes to image retouching wonders.

We see the flawless faces of makeup models, but we also see advertisements of buff men lifting weights at Bowflex machines. Do men suffer the same effects of body image lows by viewing these ads as some women do flipping through fashion magazines?

Emily Kitchin, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said she feels women suffer more than men from body image issues.

“Men can look how they want, and women are expected to be perfect all the time,” Kitchin said.

Kikkert said she believesan unhealthy body concept affects men, but the masculine side of the problem is largely ignored.

“We pretend like it’s not an issue,” she said.

“And maybe it’s not as much.”

James Schaeffer, a first-year student in the

22 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Dental School, said he has never felt much pressure to fit the perfect physical appearance bill. He felt more pressure to participate in sport activities than to project a certain physique. As a result, he believes body image is an issue that affects women most directly.

“On TV, you always see the hot girl with the couch potato guy,” he said.

According to the Social Issues Research Centre Web site, all research to date on body image shows that women criticize how they see themselves in the mirror more than men do.

“Up to eight out of 10 women will be dissatisfied with their reflection, and more than half may see a distorted image,” the Web site said.

Men tend to be either pleased or indifferent with their reflection and generally have a more positive body image than women, the research concluded.

While television, advertisements and magazines call attention to beauty’s physical form, Schaeffer said beauty goes to depths much deeper than a mirror’s reflection. In terms of relationships, physical appearance may spark a casual friendship or a first date, but a long-term relationship must have a deeper foundation, he said.

“What a person does defines beauty,” Schaeffer said.

Physically attractive doesn’t mean anything coming from a mean-spirited individual, he said. Beauty is how someone carries herself.

Kikkert said, “Confidence is always sexy.”

In the end, Kikkert wants the person she dates to respect who she is and not how she appears, she said. When dating, she looks for initial attraction to someone, but physical appearance doesn’t make or break the deal. Sincerity wins out over the external show. So what’s a girl (or a guy) to do to feel an inner sense of body image peace in a fast-paced society that stresses need for a flawless bod?

“Mind has a lot to do with it,” Kikkert said.

Kikkert tries to care about her appearance in a healthy sense, she said. She exercises because

she feels better when she feels she is taking care of herself. She likes to wear makeup to class and make an effort not to sport sweatpants.

“When you care about your appearance, you are caring for yourself,” Kikkert said. “You want to be presentable.”

Schaeffer said we have to create our own idea of beauty and not allow outside concepts to influence us.

“If you’re healthy, be happy,” he said. “Create your own ideal. Don’t base it on others.”

Edut said we can foster healthy self concepts by educating ourselves and not taking what we see at face value. We know better, but the pressure is still there, she said. It’s traumatic to the human mind to be ostracized, rejected and not look the way you’re supposed to.

“Fill yourself with images that make you feel good,” Edut said. “Aspire to be fit and healthy.

Don’t just buy into it. Have the guts and the courage to be different.”

The gorgeous and glamorous of the world don’t embody the only type of beauty, she said.

We need to reconsider what beautiful means.

One way to change beauty’s definition and gain a healthier self image is by revealing and embracing its diversity. It comes in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds.

“Beauty is more of an inside-out idea,” Litza said.

Maybe finding our inner beauty is the cure for which we’ve been searching for centuries. We’ve looked far and wide for a miracle cosmetic to give us flawless appearances, but we just may find our constant battle with self image masks beauty in its purest form: the simplicity of our true selves, makeup free and hair undone. mj

Drawing the (surgical) line Plastic surgery can seem taboo, but some students have found it necessary

By Jesse Carpender Photo Illustrations by Sara J. Martinez

I

t’s the year 2025 and almost everyone is beautiful, at least in the mainstream sense of the word. Symmetrical face, full lips and breasts, youthful skin: for a woman of the future, these features can be easily attained by a visit to the plastic surgeon.

In fact, women with slightly larger noses or less-than-perky breasts are the minority. Their friends ask, “Why haven’t you had cosmetic surgery yet?”

It sounds like an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” but this scenario may not be far from reality. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Americans had 12.1 million cosmetic procedures in 2008, up 3 percent since 2007. Of all cosmetic surgeries, 91 percent are women. Men are catching up: pectoral implants have increased 203 percent since 2007.

In popular culture, plastic surgery is a sexy villain or a miracle worker. In the FX television show “Nip/Tuck,” plastic surgeons are immoral seducers, and their patients are vain, corrupt or mentally unstable. On the other hand, plastic surgery saves lives on “Extreme Makeover.” Plastic surgery can be celebrated as a human achievement in the ability to reconstruct our bodies, or a vain activity of the bored and rich. Which attitude will follow us into the future?

Attitudes toward plastic surgery depend largely on the circumstance.

Plastic surgery is broken down into two types: cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery. Cosmetic surgery is elective, motivated by appearance and self-esteem and is usually not covered by health insurance. Reconstructive surgery is usually non-elective and is performed in cases of birth defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, infection, tumors or disease. According to the ASPS, 4.9 million reconstructive procedures were performed in 2008.

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 23

the strawberry hemangioma was removed, she didn’t have an earlobe. Surgeons made skin graphs from her eyelid.

“It was subtle things that made huge differences,” she said. Surgeries opened up her eyes and gave mini-facelifts, evened out her facial features, thinned scars and made them more skin toned. Skin therapy helped make the scar softer.

Most of Schatzel’s surgeries were covered by health insurance. In the future, she will have more local surgeries to fix smaller details.

Schatzel said that while most people are accepting of reconstructive surgery, some could learn to be more polite.

“When I was a kid, it was harder,” she said.

“I’ve had people say, ‘What’s wrong with your face?’ Well, that doesn’t exactly make me want to tell you.” “(Reconstructive surgery) saved my sight in my right eye, so I’m thankful for it,” Schatzel said.

Cosmetic surgery: “My family members don’t call me ‘Rudolph.’ ”

Reconstructive surgery: “If you don’t take care of it, your daughter could go blind”

Lydia Schatzel, an ’09 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences, has had more than 10 reconstructive surgeries. Two weeks after her premature birth, Schatzel began to develop a strawberry hemangioma — a giant blood birthmark on the outside of the skin. Strawberry hemangiomas are fairly common and usually go away in adolescence, but Schatzel’s was in a vital area: her face. More specifically, her right eye and earlobe.

“It was the size of a baseball over my eye and a golf ball over my ear,” Schatzel said. It was dangerous because if the hemangioma grew over her eye, it could be forced shut which would prevent synapses from forming. At 4 weeks old, Schatzel’s eye was shut.

“My parents rushed me to the ER for emergency surgery to open the eye,” she said.

“The doctor basically told them, ‘If you don’t take care of it, your daughter could go blind.’ ” Schatzel had more than 10 surgeries spread out every one and a half to two years, the most recent during her freshman year of college over Easter break. In the beginning, the surgeries removed tissue but allowed growth and attempted to keep her face as symmetrical as possible. Early surgeries were necessary because of health risks but later became more cosmetic.

“One procedure, they put a balloon in my forehead and would inflate the balloon every so often to form more skin,” Schatzel said. She experienced other progressive surgeries. After 24 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

When Mary Roberts*, a Marquette senior, broke her nose in a soccer game in 2008, she had to make a decision. She needed surgery in order to breathe, and for five months, she could only use one nostril. She could have reconstructive surgery, called rhinoplasty, which would functionally fix her nose, although it would look somewhat abnormal. Or, she could have cosmetic surgery as well.

“I was okay with my nose. It was my family nose — it was always crooked. My mom pushed me to have cosmetic. She said, since you’re going under the knife anyway, this is a great opportunity to fix your nose. It made me kind of insecure,” she said.

Roberts decided to have the cosmetic surgery as well as reconstructive. “It wouldn’t have looked the way it looked before,” she said. The surgery consisted of two hours of reconstructive surgery and three hours of cosmetic surgery. Of the $15,000 price tag, insurance covered about $8,000.

Roberts’ surgery was performed in December 2008 by Dr. Dean Toriumi, a Chicago facial specialist who was named one of the five best rhinoplasty surgeons in the world by “W Magazine.”

“He requires psychological backgrounds,” Roberts said. “He’s very selective of his patients. He wants people to get surgery for the right reasons.”

During recovery, Roberts wore a cast on her nose for a week. Her physical activity was limited for two months, and she had to stay out of the cold.

“It wasn’t that painful,” she said. “The worst part was getting the stitches out.”

During rhinoplasty, it is common for surgeons to attach extra cartilage to the neck behind the ear to be used in case of future surgeries, she said. Her neck was another source of pain because of the added cartilage.

Roberts still deals with some complications from her surgery. She does compressions on her nose 10 times a day and wears a mask when

she plays soccer. “It’s still sensitive. It’s mostly numb,” she said, flicking her nose to show that it has no feeling.

Although her surgery involved more cosmetic than reconstructive work, she said, “Everyone tends to view it as reconstructive. I’ve never had a negative reaction.”

Roberts said she thinks people would have more of a negative reaction if the surgery had been purely cosmetic.

But she is satisfied with the results of her surgery. “I would never consider getting anything else done,” she said. “The most important part is that I can breathe now, and my family members don’t call me Rudolph.”

How much is too much: “We can’t all look like robots.”

As with most activities, plastic surgery is unhealthy in excess. The extremes pique interest, and as a result, most media coverage of plastic surgery is sensational — especially when celebrities have a little nip or tuck.

Web sites such as CelebrityPlasticPics.com or AwfulPlasticSurgery.com are obsessed with knowing every detail of star surgery. Gossip mags such as Star Magazine or OK! Magazine discuss celebrity surgeries as controversial, usually citing a surgeon who speculates on the type and cost of the alleged surgeries.

“With cosmetic surgery, people wonder, why do you need it? And reconstructive is seen as a kind of blessing,” Schatzel said. “Even the way the media portrays it: a woman attacked by dogs, the doctor who worked on her is a hero.

But people in the limelight who take it to an extreme, like Michael Jackson — magazines say, ‘Oh, so-and-so got their nose done.’ It’s seen as gossip.”

Sitting in Dr. Toriano’s waiting room, Mary said she saw women “with money to spend” who obviously had lip injections, face lifts or cheek implants.

“It was a little weird,” she said. “I don’t judge them for having it. But if you’re having excessive surgery, something else could be wrong — like a self-confidence problem. I think some people have issues they should deal with instead of seeing plastic surgery as a hobby.

“You’re given one body, one life. We can’t all look like robots.”

American women have been taught that they must be beautiful. But beauty is defined narrowly by images in the media and by strict cultural standards of youth, health, symmetry, weight and body shape. Plastic surgery can be seen as an effect of growing up in a beautyobsessed culture.

How can we cause women to feel imperfect and then judge them for taking action? Where should we draw the line between an acceptable use and amount of plastic surgery and unhealthy, excessive surgery? Why do we celebrate the technology and achievements of reconstructive surgery while judging cosmetic surgery? Just as we consider a repaired body to be a miracle, perhaps we should feel the same way about repaired self-image. mj *Name changed for privacy.

Major minority report

Photograph by Kevin Griffin

Jake Thayer, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, studies in Emory Clark Hall. Thayer is one of 24 men in the college of 383 students.

Segregation among majors is a common trend at universities, including Marquette

M

By Kevin Griffin ost people choose their careers, but Richard Fehring didn’t.

“I was in the first lottery group for the Vietnam war,” said Fehring, recalling the days when he knew he would be on the front lines. But Fehring never made it to the battlefield. In fact, he never made it out of the hospital.

It was in the yearlong waiting period between being drafted and being shipped out that Fehring heard his calling. What he heard was a nighttime radio advertisement calling for student nurses. As a biology major at Marquette, Fehring already had some of the background required to be a nurse.

“The ad was talking about the student nurse corps program,” Fehring said. “Essentially, it paid for your training and then gave you a job in the army after.”

Even at that point, Fehring admits that he didn’t think a man like himself would go into nursing. That was until he saw Donald Billie, a male nurse featured in the glossy pages of Marquette’s Alumni News. “That’s when I thought, ‘there’s a male in nursing. Maybe I can do that,’ ” Fehring said.

Today, Fehring is a professor in the College of Nursing and is the only male faculty member. As

for the male representation in the nursing classrooms, it’s mostly the same, with 24 males up against the College's 359 females this year.

Nursing, however, is not the only college that is seeking more of a balance. On college campuses, gender segregation in majors is a frequent trend.

According to the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the College of Education is only 23 percent male, while the College of Engineering has a staggering 79 percent male. The challenge Marquette's colleges are faced with is often a matter of finding a healthy balance.

Balance is exactly what the College of Engineering is trying to achieve. Opposite to the College of Nursing, engineering’s females often seem to be lost in the crowd.

However, engineering dean Stan Jaskolski said the school has been making progress and has seen “a dramatic change that has been a necessity for a long time.”

In fact, the College of Engineering has made it clear just how important its women are by establishing a recruiting process most college basketball teams would admire.

“We are targeting all women’s high schools,” Jaskolski said. “We do seminars, teach one-day classes, and do whatever we can to expose these women to engineering. Once they experience it, they see that this is not for men alone.”

The success of engineering’s recruiting process has been undeniable. In 2007, the college offered a one-semester course at Divine Savior Holy Angels, an all-girls Catholic school in Milwaukee. Of

the 17 women enrolled in the class, all 17 applied to the College of Engineering. Jaskolski said all were accepted, and all but one received scholarships.

“This never would have happened if we didn’t take aggressive steps to expose these women (to engineering),” Jaskolski said, “and I am glad we did.”

Jaskolski believes that a lot of the men-only engineering misconceptions are derived from conventions developed over the years.

“If you look at history, it has always been the men who have done the hands-on work like engineering," Jaskolski said. "Today, that is simply not the case."

Kirsten Lehman, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, started her undergraduate career in the College of Communication, where females are in the majority according to Institutional Research and Assessment, outnumbering males 574 to 347. She said the gender separation within the College of Engineering was intimidating at first. Social stereotypes are what usually force students into certain majors, she said, and the results are gender-segregated fields of study. "(Fewer) men will be nurses because some see it as a very feminine career. Being a nurse is much like being a mother, in the American sense of the word 'mother,'” Lehman said.

She also acknowledged difficulties that come along with a segregated classroom.

“Your voice is underrepresented,” Lehman said. “It can be intimidating to be in the minority because saying the wrong thing might

give those like you a bad name.

You can get to feeling like you are carrying the reputation of your entire group on your back when you do things.”

Jake Thayer, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, echoed the same issues with being “one in a few.”

“I have been looked down upon by some peers for being in the program. In the classroom, it is sometimes hard to relate to my classmates, being that the majority of them are female,” Thayer said.

Kathleen Cepelka, associate dean in the female-dominated College of Education (77 percent female), warned that gender segregation at the college level spells bad news for the future.

“We need to have more diversity in the role modeling we provide to the people we teach, and therefore more males would be advantageous to our profession,” Cepelka said about the College of Education.

Cepelka said the College is always looking for more men to enroll but has no strategic recruiting process.

“Society and parents may encourage you in a certain direction and they may send you signals, but ultimately it is up to the student how they perceive those signals,” said Cheryl Maranto, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Students must remember it is ultimately their own choice.”

No matter what the influence is, Cepelka’s recommendation to all her education students when picking a major is plain and simple.

“Regardless of gender, be passionate, and the barriers will be overcome.” mj

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 25

Metroman A brief look at the guy who really takes care of himself.

Online

www.marquettejournal.org

Read all of this, and more, online today!

From Olympia to Vancouver The winter Olympics are on their way, and we’ve got the background you need to know before this February’s Games.

By Andreana Drencheva Venture with vampires Vampires represent our desires, but why exactly have characters such as the Count and Edward Cullen become so incredibly popular? Sex appeal, panic and blood might just be some of the reasons.

By Cailtin Kavanaugh We are ... United Celebrating 100 years of women sparks an energy in men to dig up their educational history. It’s their turn to talk about Father McCabe.

By Jennifer Jorgensen A T-shirt, leggings and Ugg boots, oh my!

Women wear the latest and greatest fashions, but the guys they may be trying to attract might not be buying in to some of the fads.

By Jennifer Michalski A ring by spring Are some of the women on Marquette’s campus here to get more than their Bachelor’s? A look at the “Mrs.” degree.

By Sarah Butler Tying the knot Marquette can be seen as a “relationship” campus.

The married couple might not be as uncommon as most may think.

By Brooke Goodman 26 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

By Matthew Reddin Well-dressed.

Well-groomed.

Young professionals in the urban community. Generally a member of the upper-to-middle class, and upwardly mobile. Attentive to fashion and not afraid to prove it.

And, most importantly, blatantly heterosexual.

Meet the metrosexual.

Metrosexuality was a term first coined in 1994 by British journalist Mark Simpson, who used it to refer to “the single young man with a high disposable income, living or working in the city (because that’s where all the best shops are).” The term didn’t take off in mainstream media until the late ’90s and early 2000s, but once it did, it became a staple of pop culture — primarily because the metrosexual is by definition a creation and prisoner of a consumer-focused economy.

Ramon Hinojosa, assistant professor of sociology who specializes in men, masculinity and gender studies, said an integral part of metrosexuality is their consumeroriented lifestyle. Metrosexuals put an emphasis on fashion, spa treatments and shopping to a degree that is normally associated with women or homosexual men.

“The metrosexual is always making a statement via fashion,” Hinojosa said.

Hinojosa says that metrosexuals retain what he calls “hegemonic masculinity,” a stereotype of masculinity that has access to social power, but also are able to embrace traits that have been traditionally restricted from them in the modern era.

Hinojosa puts it simply: “Metrosexuality is masculinity with aspects of femininity.”

According to Hinojosa, there is little difference, behavior-wise, between the stereotypical gay male and the metrosexual. As a result, metrosexuals are always very openly heterosexual, so there is no question of their sexual orientation. This is a trait that he says can be most clearly seen in the case of metrosexual celebrities like David

Beckham or Jesse Ventura.

“These men are very, very heterosexually active,” Hinojosa said.

Because metrosexuality is a way of being masculine rather than an alternative to masculinity, Hinojosa says it should be categorized as a different “narrative” to describe what being masculine is, not a third gender. Partly because of this, metrosexual men don’t always define themselves specifically as metrosexual, or identify with other metrosexuals in the way that other groups based on gender practices do.

“You probably won’t find groups of metrosexuals hanging out together,” Hinojosa said.

Metrosexuality is thought of in mostly the same terms by Cassie Duckert, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences. In describing a metrosexual as someone who pays attention to his appearance beyond the traditional man, she suggests a friend she had in high school as a model for the average metrosexual.

“My girlfriends and I would always take him shopping with us because he’d honestly tell us what he thought of the outfits we’d try on,” said Duckert, who emphasized this fashion-conscious aspect of the metrosexual over other traits.

Other students, like Jill Davis, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, emphasize the feminine traits of the metrosexual over others.

“He (a metrosexual) is a guy who is very in touch with his feminine side,” Davis said.

Davis describes her boyfriend as metrosexual, saying he exemplifies her definition of the term.

“He cares about what he looks like and tries to follow the trends of fashion,” said Davis. “He doesn’t just get out of bed and put on whatever smells clean.”

Despite his feminine aspects, however, Davis agrees metrosexuals are decidedly masculine.

“Just because a guy is in touch with his feminine side doesn’t mean he turns into a girl. Metrosexual men are guys, ... they just care a bit more about what they look like and read a fashion magazine once in a while.” mj

Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 26

Princess perfect ‘Disney’ culture and an unrealistic view of life, love

By Rosemary Lane Photographs by Brooke McEwen Photo Illustrations by Patrick Johnson and Sara J. Martinez

W

hen Nicci Williams was young, she wanted to be Jasmine, the princess from “Aladdin.”

“She was ballsier than the other princesses. She wasn’t innocent. She snapped back at people,” Williams said.

“She was like me. She wasn’t passive or pale or calm.”

Williams, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, said she was a “girly girl” as a child, dressing in frilly dresses and Belle-patterned pants with matching decal sweatshirts.

“I wanted to be a princess in general my entire childhood,” she said.

So did Ellie Kemmeter, a junior in the College of Communication, who looked up to Cinderella.

“She had blonde hair, and my favorite color was blue. She had the whole rags to riches, and I thought that would happen to me,” Kemmeter said. “I wanted to be a princess.”

Disney impacted many girls who watched its fanciful movies, convincing viewers that, as Cinderella sings, “Every girl can be a princess.”

Disney tapped into watchers’ fantasies, whisking girls away into a glittering snow globe of rubies, gold dresses, handsome princes, pumpkin coaches, fairy godmothers and overweight mice who could talk (“Gus, Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 27

Gus!”). A world where dreams, most importantly of Prince Charming, could come true if you only believed (Do I sound like I’m singing yet?).

Cassandra Duckert, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, said Disney’s transformative nature was its appeal.

“Disney made you believe anything could happen,” she said. “And if you’re an everyday person, you could become something special if you work, or something happens.”

But did Disney’s fairy-godmother-like presence in girls’ lives instill too high of hopes?

That Prince Charming would appear at the end of your troubles if only you just peered into a wishing well?

Ana Garner, a professor in the College of Communication, said the fairy tales and stories show our cultural expectations that the prince on a white horse will save the damsel in distress, as in the Disney movies.

“Happiness is achieved by getting some man to fall in love with her, then her life is complete,” Garner said. “I would be surprised if in their subconscious, girls still aren’t thinking about those same kind of things.”

Although the Disney princesses grew more independent throughout the century, they still achieved “happily ever after” through a man.

The princesses have reflected our cultural standards throughout time, from the “fairest of them all,” Snow White, to the newest black Disney princess, Tiana, a waitress from 1920s New Orleans with a jazz-playing alligator as a sidekick, who stars in “Princess and the Frog,” to be released Dec. 11.

Disney’s intense effect on viewers (the 28 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

company expects $4 billion in revenue for 2009) affected girls’ perception of love, gender roles and race, consciously or not, from Snow White to Tiana.

Snow White, Cinderella and the narcoleptic blonde “Those of Walt Disney seem barely alive. In fact, two of them hardly manage to stay awake,” said writer Kay Stone in “Understanding Disney.”

Disney’s early princesses pave the way for passive princesses. They wait for the prince, look pretty, sleep, talk with animals and sing.

Only a man’s kiss literally brings them back to life.

Snow White was the “one who started it all.”

Disney’s first princess, spawned in 1937, was modeled after the pin-up girls and silent movie actresses of the ’30s, wrote Elizabeth Bell in “From Mouse to Mermaid.”

She was “the fairest of them all,” reinforced by her name, Snow White: fair-skinned, blueeyed, slender, docile and happy to sweep the floor of the seven dwarf’s cottage, as blue jays and deer tapped on the window.

Walt Disney described her as “a kind, simple little girl who believed in wishing and waiting for her prince charming to come along.”

Ashley Dobner, a junior in the College of Business Administration, said when she was 7 years old, she asked her mom why Snow White couldn’t get up on her own.

“I always wondered why she needed someone to kiss her to wake up,” Dobner said. “If it’s that simple, why not get up?”

Cinderella followed the same trend. She happily scrubs the floor, not changing her life.

As soon as she loses hope, a plump, matronly fairy godmother arrives to give her a sparkling blue dress and a fancy updo (Cinderella was modeled after Grace Kelly, wrote Bell).

If only Mrs. Doubtfire godmothers could save us all.

She reinforces Disney’s philosophy that if you keep believing, your dreams will come true, according to Mark Pinsky, author of “The Gospel According to Disney.” But what does that mean for girls? Women can’t throw a penny into a fountain, hoping Robert Pattinson will bite them or they’ll land a job at Vanity Fair (Maybe those are just my dreams).

Of course, Cinderella was magical to watch.

And generations of girls loved her.

Duckert said she liked Cinderella the best because she went from a maiden to a princess who married a prince.

“Because that’s the ultimate, you get the prince,” Duckert said.

Duckert said she relates to Disney’s happily ever after, because she plans to get married and have children. However, Duckert said that’s what she was raised to want in the small town of Waterloo, Wis., and realizes that’s not for everyone.

“It gives you the feeling that a guy should rescue you, but sometimes, you have to rescue yourself,” she said.

However, Cinderella was one of the stories given to the syndrome of “intellectual women who passively wait … for Prince Charming,” Pinsky wrote in “The Gospel According to

Disney.”

Molly Moran, a sophomore in the College of Communication, half-jokingly said she blames Disney for corrupting girls.

“It’s not realistic. It’s dependency. Life is happily ever after when you end up with a prince, but you can be happy by yourself,” Moran said.

“Sleeping Beauty’s” princess Aurora, modeled after Barbie, was possibly one of the most ideal, “beautiful” princesses. Her first gift was even beauty.

She too is happy cleaning and singing to swallows, isolated from the rest of the world in a cabin in the woods with three feisty fairies, a situation similar to Snow White’s.

But she just can hardly stay awake, and has little to say until “an act of necrophilia makes that relationship consummated,” said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.

After she lies down, the prince wakes her up.

The ultimate rescue fantasy. All she has to do is lie down and a prince is at her side.

Plucky princesses With the advent of ‘80s teen princess Ariel, the Little Mermaid (Alyssa Milano, star of popular ’80s TV show “Who’s the Boss?”, modeled for the character), Disney princesses got a bit more i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t.

Thompson said, “Disney princesses made after 1980, these women were very likely watching Oprah during the day, and that all seeped in.”

Little Mermaid swims up to the surface,

Dreams are wishes your heart makes A few of the women of student media take pride in showing they have the ability to be powerful and beautiful while living their own dreams, independent of whatever hopes they may have picked up from lifelong Disney influence. The princesses (from left to right) Arianna Green (special to the Marquette Journal), Gretchen Clark (MUTV), Sara J. Martinez (Marquette Journal), Molly Newman (Marquette Tribune), Courtney Johnson (Advertising) and Patty Marra (MUTV). On page 27: Lauren Frey (Advertising).

which was highly forbidden in her “under the sea” community. Belle, a bookworm, saves the repulsive beast from himself. Jasmine stands up to the evil Jafar. Pocahontas gives up love in the end for more woods prancing. And Mulan even dresses up as a man to save her family’s honor.

These princesses also took on different shades, appealing to a wider range of girls.

Williams liked Jasmine because she looked like her.

“I think it was her color was close to mine, not just how she acted. It was just that she was closer,” she said.

Dobner preferred Mulan. Dobner, a selfproclaimed tomboy, did not identify with Disney princesses when she was young. She said they were just pretty faces. Dobner even refused to dress up as Cinderella for Halloween like her mom wanted, choosing a blue Power Ranger costume instead.

But she did like Mulan for her tenacity and the balance of her feminine and masculine side.

“She didn’t run from bad things. She kicked ass. She beat people up, but she was good about it,” Dobner said. “I also like, being a tomboy,

she was a tomboy, but still feminine.”

Still, the princesses lived in male-dominated worlds, where a man fulfills her life and ends the movie.

The townspeople in “Beauty and the Beast” stare at Belle in bewilderment when she prances through town with her nose in a book.

Gaston even says, “It’s not right for a woman to read. Soon she’ll get ideas, thinking.”

Belle is also still defined by her beauty, Thompson said. Even her name means “beautiful.” And she’s expected to look past the beast and see true love on the inside, while the beast is not.

“She’s expected to overlook the fact that this guy is highly undesirable, to the point that he has tusks,” Thompson said.

And Pocahontas, while she knows the woods better than clumsy John Smith, still wonders “What’s around the river bend?” and has to get swept off her feet.

“She doesn’t get into a dug-out canoe and roll across the Atlantic,” Thompson said. Disney makes the prince come to her.

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 29

The perfect life All of the Disney princesses have wide implications for girls. They’ve made every girl want a princess wedding (when Princess Diana wore her silk taffeta wedding dress, she was compared to Cinderella and fairy tales over and over, Thompson said). And Thompson said the word “princess” is used constantly on all romantic realty shows, such as “Joe Millionaire,” “The Bachelor” and “Average Joe.” “If one turned that into a drinking game and took a shot every time they heard ‘princess,’ you’d constantly be hammered,” he said.

And Disney has raised expectations for girls, making them think perfection is attainable.

Still, most girls said they aren’t biting.

Lauren Stolz, a sophomore in the College of Communication, who has four Disney folders and grew up playing with crowns and wands, said girls today have a more realistic view.

“Everybody wants their Prince Charming, but it’s not what they’re focused on,” Stolz said. “I don’t know when you realize that. Maybe the first time you get your heart broken.”

Kirsten DeGuzman, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, said she thinks about this idea a lot. DeGuzman said she grew up on Disney.

She had princess Barbie dolls, slippers and music boxes. Every Christmas, DeGuzman’s mom gives her a princess-themed present. Her first was a box of Pez covered with the faces of Disney princesses. Her senior year of high school, she received a pink aluminum lunchbox with Aurora, Snow White, Belle and Jasmine on the front. She’s even thinking of running the Disney princess half-marathon in March.

“I’ll probably be the one running with a tiara,” she said.

Still, even though DeGuzman grew up loving princesses, she said she thinks in reality. She said it would be great to have that “perfectly ever after, but that means I’d have to wait for someone to do it for me, versus me doing it for myself and being the strong person I know I am.”

Trent Carlson, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said he has seen all of the Disney princess movies and has noticed how the guy always saves the girl.

“Maybe it’s time the girl goes after the man,” Carlson said. “Or they focus more on the princes.”

Disney impacted girls in a way that perhaps no other media has. If nothing else, Disney allowed girls to feel pretty, to live in a dream world of royalty and ball gowns, to wish and to think big.

A chance, as Duckert said, “For an everyday girl to become something special.” mj

30 • Marquette Journal, December 2009

Journey Photograph by Sara J. Martinez

Name: Amy Brechon Age: 19 Year: 2013 Major: Nursing Campus Activities: MUSNA, Intramural sports, Relay For Life My Journey: I guess that you could say that I’m a normal college freshman here at Marquette — except for maybe one thing: I am a five-year breast cancer survivor.

The roads I took to get there: In August 2004, when I was 13 years old, I discovered a lump in my left breast while I was showering. I felt uncomfortable, but I told my mom. She assured me that it was probably nothing — just a “normal” part of developing.

When it didn’t go away after a month, we went to my pediatrician who ordered an ultrasound and sent us to a surgeon. The radiologist and surgeon agreed that I needed to have surgery, and the lump would have to be removed.

On Oct. 18, 2004, they removed a tumor about the size of my thumb.

Everyone was afraid that it might be cancer, so they sent a biopsy to Mayo Clinic. I wasn’t really worried because I didn’t quite understand what was going on, and my parents kept telling me that it would be OK. They said that they would take care of everything, and that was just fine with me!

Besides, whoever heard of an eighth grade girl with breast cancer?

Bad news came back from Mayo a week later: My tumor was malignant. Its official name is cysto-sarcoma phyllodes tumor, a very rare type of tumor — rare to find in young women and rare that it would be malignant.

A month later, my parents took me to a breast cancer surgeon in Chicago to remove more tissue from my left breast to be biopsied just to be sure that all of the cancer was gone. Those margins came back clear, and we were all relieved.

Even though my cancer had a low-malignancy, radiation and chemotherapy would not help to fight it.

This experience may sound scary, but for me, it wasn’t. I was so young, and I don’t think I understood the seriousness of it all. My parents told me not to worry — so I didn’t!

We kept my “situation” private until the following summer, when my mom’s friend asked if I would be able to be the co-honorary cancer survivor for our local Relay for Life. My parents discussed it for days without telling me. They were afraid that I was still too young and might not be able to handle the attention it could bring.

Eventually, they asked me what I thought, and I assured them that I could handle it.

I must admit, that first speech went rather well, even though I choked up a couple of times.

My family and my high school basketball coach and team were in the audience supporting me, and I felt a strong bond with the other survivors and their families.

Word got out in my community, and my family and I were impressed by the positive, supportive reaction we felt. I started getting requests from local Girl Scout troops to come and share my story with their members. I would tell the girls, who were about my age when I found the lump, that you are never too young to examine your breasts. Start now! I also told them; if you do find something that scares you, don’t be afraid to tell someone. It could save your life.

Continuing the Journey: Over the past couple of years, my story has gotten a lot of exposure not only in Illinois (where I live) but also all over the country. I have spoken to reporters from television and newspapers. I have met wonderful, supportive people and many brave cancer survivors. I have been given many wonderful opportunities.

I am one of the lucky ones!

Now, I must turn my negative into a positive.

I am very driven to spread my message about breast self-exam to all.

This fall, I was awarded the 2009 Woman of Strength Award from the Get In Touch Foundation. This “grass roots” foundation’s mission is to educate girls in grades 5-12 on the importance of breast self-exam and teaches them how to examine themselves. Its founder, Mary Ann Wasil Nilan, also a five-year breast cancer survivor and receiver of the Oprah Magazine and CoverGirl “Giving Beautiful Back” award (February 2009), has asked me to be their Ambassador of Hope, a position that I am proud and excited to fill.

We are in the process of planning a “GIT Your Pink On” Day at Marquette where all the proceeds will go directly to the foundation. Hopefully, we can make “GIT Your Pink On” a yearly event at Marquette and as a campus we can “Be the Difference.” mj

Marquette Journal, December 2009 • 31

32 • Marquette Journal, December 2009