Bates College SCARAB The Bates Student Archives and Special Collections 1-23-2007 The Bates Student - volume 136 number 11 - January 23, 2007 Bates College Follow this and additional works at: https://scarab.bates.edu/bates_student The Newspaper of Bates College Since 1873 VOLUME 136, NO. 11 TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 200 LEWISTON MAINE Outing Club Events Postponed, but Herzig Discusses Research Winter Carnival Prevails Connecting Democracy and Body Hair Removal ANDREW SIMON Yet, because the “injectable form often STAFF WRITER remains unavailable because so much is used to make Vaniqa...millions suf¬ Principles of liberal democracy are fer from painful premature death when historically linked to practices of body there is an easy cure,” said Herzig. hair removal in the United States. That According to Herzig, this situation was the message of Bates Associate is a result of our allowance for “rea¬ Professor Rebecca Herzig’s recent talk sonable suffering.” Herzig posed the titled “The Affliction of freedom,” part question, “How do we determine what of the Faculty Excellence in Scholar¬ kind of suffering is reasonable?” ship Series. Herzig discussed her cur¬ Professors “allow extra time for rent research, which has been driven students who find exams too taxing,” by her interests concerning “which ac¬ and the Americans with Disabilities Act tions count as suffering, who gets to mandates that employers must provide count as a sufferer and when is it noble “reasonable accommodations” to the to suffer?” disabled, cited Herzig, indicating that Within the context of a “cultural suffering endured by slow-working critique” of past and present American students and the handicapped is con¬ society, Herzig proposed the idea that sidered unreasonable. Yet, she said, the pain associated with body hair re¬ countless Africans are allowed to suf¬ moval is related to the “freedom and fer from a curable illness. consent” to suffer, a notion which she Unique to the liberal democratic says is culturally embedded in the system is the “freedom to suffer,” which United States. Conversely, the citizens Herzig says is, to a great extent, mani¬ of poor countries are largely forced to fested in practices of body hair remov¬ suffer involuntarily and unnecessar¬ al in the U. S., which began as early as ily due to the practices of developed the 1870s. Early hair removal practices Thursday night, mentalist Craig Karges performed psychic tricks in the Mays Center as part of Winter Carnival. countries. involved the use of X-rays to remove In a startling example of this phe¬ upper lip hair, despite the known dan¬ nomenon, Herzig discussed the plight gers, because for many women it was of central African nations where hun¬ a “worse kind of suffering than having REGINA TAVANI costumes at last Tuesday’s a cappella famous traditions. Unfortunately, this dreds of thousands of people die each hair.” concert, the dinner in Commons last year’s unseasonably mild weather left STAFF WRITER year of infections caused by endemic Herzig described letters she had Wednesday that was followed by a Lake Andrews’ ice too thin, holding African sleeping sickness. Until the found dating back from the early 1900s Despite its delayed arrival, winter Family Fun Night and desserts in the up the BOC’s events for another week. late 1990s, a powerfully effective drug in which women expressed suicidal is finally here in full force, bringing Gray Cage and the dance at the Silo Thus, this Thursday will feature a free treatment had been readily available thoughts as a result of being unsuc¬ not only wind, snow and frigid tem¬ this past Saturday. skate and pond hockey on the Puddle in the affected countries for over two cessful at getting rid of their body hair. peratures, but also the annual Winter Winter Carnival brought mental¬ at 4 p.m., followed by an Equipment decades, helping to combat the deadly Interestingly, recent testimonials Herzig Carnival. ist Craig Karges to campus Thursday Room open house in the basement of disease. However, the drug’s manufac¬ found on the Vanica website expressed A Bates tradition dating back night, along with a karaoke night in Hathorn Hall. turer, Aventis, removed the drug from remarkably similar concerns to those 88 years, Winter Carnival al¬ the Little Room. These were followed On Friday, starting at 10:30 a.m., the market in 1999 because it was un¬ early 20th-century women. ways guarantees cold-weather fun. up on Friday with a Midnight Breakfast the BOC will lead a 32-mile torch run profitable, leaving up to 400,000 Afri¬ Herzig also revealed that in her The Chase Hall Committee, which pro¬ in Commons and a Pie Boys Flat Con¬ from Augusta to Lewiston. Their return cans to die each year from the poten¬ research, she found that body hair re¬ duces many of the events, chose this cert in the Mays Center. On Saturday, will kick off the lighting of the bonfire tially curable sleeping sickness. moval among men, particularly wax¬ year’s theme, “Bobcat the Builder,” to Women’s Ice Hockey hosted “Rock ‘N and the Puddle Jump. With Saturday’s Herzig said that a few ^ears ago re¬ ing, is a very recent trend which has be a reflection of the current outdoor Skate” at Underhill Arena, which fea¬ Olympic Games, including toboggan searchers discovered that the drug was become more pronounced since the activity on campus. Winter Carnival tured ice-skating with glow sticks and pulls, ski tosses and three-legged to¬ effective in removing unwanted facial 1990s. She expressed hope that, in co-director Adam Ratner '09 said, “as a a live DJ. boggan races among other activities, hair when applied topically by wom¬ opposition to the freedom to suffer, group, we thought that it would be a Of course, Winter Carnival would Winter Carnival will, after its extended en, and the drug was reintroduced in “other worlds of freedom may still be good idea to incorporate construction, not be Winter Carnival without the two-week duration granted by Mother 2004 under the brand name Vaniqa. possible.” into the theme due to its prevalence Outing Club’s host of outdoor events, Nature, finally draw to a close. on campus this year.” most notably the Puddle Jump, which The theme found its way into the is perhaps one of the college’s most Speaker Challenges Traditional Biblical Lewiston GLBTQ Organizer Talks about Local Youth Program Thought In Zerby Lecture ALEXANDRA KELLY Bill Biaine-Wallace as one to whom he In her lecture, King focused on two SAM NAGOURNEY sion, “young people who find their ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR was “petrified” to preach when he took gospels passed over for inclusion in the ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR way to OUTright are very resilient." a position at her church in Arlington, New Testament of the Bible: those of In the question and answer ses¬ Judas Iscariot and Mary of Mag- Mass., King has recently co-authored Mary and Judas. Bates Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, sion, Sargent spoke about homopho¬ dala were two disciples of Jesus Christ "Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas" Mary of Magdala, King said, has Transgender, Queer and Questioning bia in the Lewiston/Auburn area. whose gospels were not included in the and "The. Shaping of Christianity" with been falsely portrayed as a reformed [BLBTQ] club OUTfront invited Pen¬ “Lewiston has quite a reputation sacred texts that make up the Bible. To fellow scholar Elaine Pagels. The book prostitute through 1500 years of West¬ ny Sargent, the program director of for it reaction and response to diversi¬ study them though, says Harvard Pro¬ will be available in March. ern culture. OUTright Lewiston-Auburn, to speak ty and underneath that there are some fessor Karen King, is to gain insight into King said that the study of early sa¬ “There is not a shred of historical about her experiences with local wonderful people in the community," the different groups and ideas present cred texts helps scholars to examine, proof for this,” she said, pointing out GLBTQ youth. Sargent spoke about she said. during Christianity’s formation. and even re-write, important aspects of that jhe idea does not even exist in the the concept of “intersecting oppres¬ Sargent explained that due to the King, the Winn Professor of Eccle¬ Christianity’s formative period, a<g they texts that are part of canon. Instead, sions” and the lack of visibility in ru¬ lack of available resources, GLBTQ siastical History at Harvard’s Divinity examine the diversity of thought that King described Mary of Magdala’s role ral communities. support at local schools typically School, delivered the annual Zerby Lec¬ existed at that time with regard to the as both a devout follower of Christ and Noting the lack of “things like depends on caring individuals like ture in contemporary religious thought: shaping of the religion. She reminded one of the foremost disciples. intellectual awareness [and] cultural school counselors or other allies. “The Shaping of Christianity: Gospel the audience that there was no New In looking at the origin of this discussions” in rural Maine, Sargent In regard to a question about Discoveries from the Egyptian Desert” Testament canon in early Christianity, portrait of Mary Magdalene, King said shared the story of a fourth grade stu¬ GLBTQ Somali youth, Sargent admit¬ in the Muskie Archives Wednesday and that her work is to examine how that religious traditions have an ongo- dent from China, Maine who, devoid ted that there was zero Somali pres¬ night. that canon came to be. See MARY OF MAGDALA, page 4 of any other place of support, found ence in her organization, and “that Introduced by College Chaplain OUTright Lewiston/Auburn.