All right, Saint Mary's women, listen up.
Some of us are angry about the Jockular cartoon. Some of us are upset. Some of us are frustrated. I'm sure that some of us think it was amusing, although I've yet to hear from anyone claiming that particular emotion.
After I read the cartoon, I was in the "upset" category, not so much over being called a "parasite" as over the knowledge that the authors of Jockular were going to get exactly what they wanted - that is to say, a colossal uproar.
The purpose of the cartoon was to make us look ridiculous. What Jockular does is not original - the authors of tabloids do it all the time when they make up far-fetched stories about people who are currently in the media spotlight. A story about alien abductions is automatically more eye-catching when it's someone of importance - say, Condoleezza Rice - being abducted.
As a result of the great things our women are doing, Saint Mary's is in the spotlight. Now, while I won't dignify the authors of Jockular with any emotions so complex as jealousy or bitterness, I do acknowledge that some Notre Dame students might feel that way. Jockular got wind of this sentiment, mixed a faulty understanding of actual parasitic behavior with some bona-fide sophomore doltishness, and voila - The April 6 strip was born. I say, good for them. Adolescent male stupidity was something I had hoped to avoid in college; that's actually one reason I chose to matriculate to Saint Mary's (which I did, by the way, without any knowledge of our big rooms).
Rice does not react to anything written about her in the tabloids because she knows it's not true. More importantly, she knows that tabloid readers do not expect it to be true because, well, they're the tabloids. As with any victims of obviously untrue press, it's time for Saint Mary's women to recognize that the best way to retain our dignity might be to let some of it go. In the end, we'll find we have more than enough left over.
Kimberly BurkartfreshmanSaint Mary's CollegeApril 12
