| Summary: | february 6, 1981 the concordian page 11 The Graduate Host families sought By Allen Barkve Are you pretty? Are you handsome? Does your overnight bag weigh above or below 40 pounds? Do your eyes sparkle or dazzle? Are your eyelashes long? Does your butt look right? These questions, when asked seriously, arouse a feeling in the average young person. The feeling is like sitting at a card table. You know what you have in your hand, and you have to play your strong suit. The real pain arrives when you play your ace and get trumped. Attractiveness is a craze. Some reap its advan-tages while others cry for a "misdeal/* but the game is picking up speed. Communication research shows that the attractive individual is perceived as: smarter, happier, possessing a better personality and more desirable to meet than a person who is perceived to be unattractive. Amazing? Not really, you all knew it all the time I bet. Reinforced by television and especially advertis-ing, the attractiveness appeal has sold everything from semi-trucks to zit cream. This phenomemon suggests a preoccupation with attractiveness that is unparalleled by any society. I believe the "nerd" is a step in the right direction. The typical "nerd," as portrayed on the one to ten "How to rate guys" poster, or "Spaz" in Bill Mur-rays "Meatballs," are counter-examples that suggest that even someone that looks like a total loser has a chance. It prods us to become deviant, actually paying attention to our preference and not fads or trends. To a degree, movies and television may actually reflect what is so obviously present in our social in-teractions. How many times have you heard the phrase, "She looks like she could do better." Most of us have an inherent, subjective judgement when it comes to comparing people. The rating system of one to ten is alive and doing quite well. Some timely advice is this: (not that I'll follow it, you understand) Find another measurement for desirablity. Clean out your overnight bag. Travel light and you won't get as upset over excess bag-gage. Keep a positive self-worth (just tell yourself: There's always going to be someone uglier than me.no.that's not right either.) Most of all remember that attractiveness is most alluring in first impressions. It just follows that the second, third, fourth, fifth and so on, are still up for grabs. American host families are be-ing sought by the American Scan-dinavian Student Exchange (ASSE) for 25 Scandinavian high school students from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland for the 1981-1982 high school year. Interested persons should con-tact JoAnna Brewer. Rural Route 8 Box 900 Bemidji Minn. 56601. Telephone (218) 751-2921. Letters must contain the writer's telephone number. The students, age 16 and 17, will arrive in the United States during late August 1981, attend the local high school, and return to Scan-dinavia in late June 1982. All of the students have been very carefully screened and selected by their school representatives in Scandinavia. They are all fluent in English and have complete medical-liability insurance and their own spending money. American families with either small children or junior high school age children are especially invited to participate as host families in the ASSE program. Participating families are eligible for a $50 per month deduction as a charitable contribution on their federal income tax return. ASSE is also seeking American high school students, age 16 and 17, who would like to spend a high school year with a Scandinavian family or participate in a six-week family stay in the summer of 1981. LETTERS continued from page 2 To the editor* . I'm writing in response to the recent S.A. Newsletter in which the Student Association evaluated their performance, and gave themselves grades. But my ques-tion is, is this a fair evaluation? If it is, then shouldn't we (the students) make our own evalu-tions of our classes? (HA, HA!) However, there is a definite need for evaluating our S.A., because it is a vital part of our campus. But isn't there a better way to do this? One option might be to have the president and vice president evaluate their own commissioners; after all, isn't this their job? Chris Mason To the Editor: What is needed to stop the sophistic diatribe of the students and the administration is to break the weakest link in the intervisita-tion issue. If people were to violate inter-visitation en masse and plead in-nocent, the Social Responsibility Board (SRB) has several guarantees; anyone who pleads in-nocent to a violation of the Social Responsibility code must necessarily have a hearing, must be informed in writing of the charges, and must have the right to present their own witnesses. Concordia's weak spot is the SRB. They must fulfill these guarantees. Thereby the SRB would become ineffectual by a massive overload. If these viola-tions were continued and we utilized self-restraint, intervis could be increased to the desired 6-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday. If people would declare that they are responsible, that they can control their lives; moreover, if they would believe in the purpose of Concordia, ie., to influence society and not sit on their hands,, then a change could occur. We can have the requisite increase and put an end to this nonsense that has occured for the last 13 or more years. Moe Wick To the editor: I am writing to support Leigh Remick's Jan. 16 plea for more OFTEN IMITATED NEVER DUPLICATED 1629 University 310 Center Ave. 232-9908 2364550 stringent handgun control, which was so harshly criticized by Bob Mlynar's and Molly Olson's letters of the past two weeks. I found their criticisms totally unconvinc-ing and unsupported by the facts. I first question Bob Mlynar's assertion, "No amount of gun control is going to stop a person from obtaining a gun if he/she has his/her mind set on it." This state- LETTERStopage12 Don't forget to vote for your favorite legs Feb. 9,10,11 MAKE TRACKS FOR VINLAND 1st Annual Red River Loppet ^ Ski Race and Skiathon Saturday, February 14, 1:30 p.m. Meet-Dike West, Fargo * 16 kilometers * $6.50 Registration Ribbons and awards for all age categories * Beautiful color patch awarded to all finishers. This event is both a Ski Race and a Skiathon. Everyone is most welcome to participate as a racer or simply tour the course in the Skiathon. Sponsored by •Concordia College Sons of Norway -Krlngen Lodge, Fargo -1960 Minnesota Ski Expedition Across Greenland For registration contact: Skiathon Committee Paul Erickson, Advisor P.O. 22, Concordia College (218) 299-3640 Vinland National S Center SONS OF NORWAY OUTREACH PROGRAM 3075 thdutfpi AMd Lortto, MmntclM 35.157. USA
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