Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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This Day In USC History August 27, 1990 - The Russell House went smoke-free in accordance with the Clean Air Act. i I_ »©amctocH ' Body art exists in many forms by Rachel Helwig EtCetera Editor The quintessential rite of passage for many Amer ican teen-agers comes when they finally reach the age of 18. Besides being able to buy pom, 18-year-olds are able to legally pierce or tattoo whatever they want. This desire to decorate the body isn’t limited to Americans — or to teen-agers, for that matter. While often associated with rebelliousness and counterculture, both tattooing and body piercing have origins in cultures that are centuries old, along with a less permanent op tion, Mendhi. The art of Mendhi, which consists of applying a paste made from a henna plant to the skin, is an art that has been around for centuries. Most often associated with Indian and Middle Eastern cultures that have mar riage ceremonies, the art has become ingrained into American society by the likes of Madonna and other celebrities seen sporting the designs. The paste, made from henna and other aromatic herbs, ;s applied to the skin and left to dry. Once re moved, the paste leaves a reddish-brown or orange stain, which then darkens. The stain can last from a week up to a month. The designs vary depending region of the world, but most involve intricate designs applied to the hands, feet, arms and shins. They often include flowers, stars and other geometric shapes. While Mendhi is gaining in popularity, more typi cal forms of body art for American teen-agers include tattooing and body piercing. Tattooing, once associat ed with Hell’s Angels or as a rite of passage for sailors, is now becoming a more accepted form of self-expres sion. Designs for tattoos range from the sentimental to the scary. Depictions of religious icons, odes to past girl friends and mythical creatures grace the bodies of many Americans. The influence of Mendhi is now being seen in the increasing popularity of tribal designs or geometric shapes, as opposed to the traditional pictorial tattoos. But tattooing is illegal in South Carolina, so those interested most often go to either Georgia or North Car olina to have their tattoos done. No matter where they get their tattoos done, those interested should research the establishment where they’re going to have the tat too done to be sure of its credentials. Also, because tattoos are permanent, you should be sure of the de sign and placement of the tattoo. No one wants to be 40 years old with a tattoo of a knife in their back with the words, “So does everyone elese." Caitlin Bright, an art history sophomore, went with her friends to Savannah last Christmas to get tattoos. Bright liked the outcome so much that she’s planning to get more done. “I did it as a spontaneous reaction to wanting to de face my body because of my age,” Bright said. “But then I liked it.” Another option available to those interested in ex pressing themselves is body piercing. This idea has most ly been gaining popularity with people under 30. According to Sarah Wooten, a piercer at Body Rites in Five Points, almost any part of the body can be pierced, “as long as it’s safe.” Wooten said the most common piercings are navel and tongue. Wooten, who has five piercings herself, said that she sees body piercing as an art form and a means of self-ex pression. She said she believes that “people feel a self-con scious need to decorate their bodies, whether through their hairstyles or tattooing or body piercing.” In fact, Wooten said she thinksthat some accepted forms of body beautification are even more extreme than piercings or tattoos. “I think that things that people are doing these days to make themselves look better, like cosmetic suigery, are way more extreme,” she said. Campus Notes Literacy Council needs volunteers The Literacy Council of Greater Co lumbia needs volunteers to tutor adults for all levels of literacy. For more information, call the council at 765-2555 or contact Joan Kirk patrick at 777-3799 or joank@gwm.sc.edu. Blood drives to be held The American Red Cross is holding blood drives from 7:30 a.m. to 6130 p.m. through Sept. 1 at 2751 Bull St. For more information, call the Amer ican Red Cross at 251-6000. Business fraternity rush to be held Alpha Kappa Psi fall rush information - sessions will be held at 8 p.m. Mon day in RH 205 and Tuesday at the RH. For more information, call De Lane Stone at 544-4427. CHDC offers self help workshops The Counseling and Human Devel opment Center will be offering on going workshops focusing on tech niques of relaxation and self-sugges tion to improve participants’ ability to manage stress, concentrate, over come worries and fears and develop a more positive outlook on life. The workshop will be held from 2-3:30 p.m. beginning Wednesday, Sept. 8. For more information or to register, call the CHDC at 777-5223. I 1 Caitun Bright The Gamecock Fashion Sense Tips for ladies to avoid problems with tube tops by Raina Clark Staff Writer he return of the tube top has been an eventful resurgence this past season. Every label from DKNY to FUBU has jumped on the trend, and all the little girlies don’t seem to know when to quit. OK. The “boob tube,” as it has been so fondly dubbed, is suggestive of its name. Generally, young women who are less endowed have a certain revere for this article of clothing because it tends to give the same results that a Wonderbra affords (squishqge and such). Unfortunately, though, this small, square piece of fabric has been used and abused by too many large-busted women. Take a moment and visualize with me. Imagine a sexy young thing dancing around a club. She’s wearing a flaming red tube top, and she’s looking good. Then, oops! Way too much bounceage! She was grinding a lit tle too hard, and wow! Everyone else at the club now knows she has two piercings in that happy region between the stomach and collarbone. The music dies, embarrassment ensues and eyes are shifted to opposite ends of the club. But there is a very simple three-step program that the ladies can follow in order to avoid these awkward predicaments. Here are three easy ways to keep humanity’s vi sion clear of unsightly views: • Leave the tubes to those of us who can barely reach a C in the Victoria’s Se cret hierarchy. \ • Please, please, please, no unlined white tubes in an air-conditioned room. • If you have cleavage (even before the shirt is on), don’t try to force the twins in to abnormal positions (think: Tight cloth ing equals poor circulation). Ex-child stars who squandered riches now sell their stories by Jeff Wilson Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Former child star Paul Petersen thought “The Donna Reed Show’ ’ gravy train would never end. He played Jeff Stone on the popular 1960s television show until he was 21, and there was quite a fortune in the bank. “Lassie” star Jon Provost was 3 when he started his television career. He “basi cally retired’ ’ with a nest egg when he was 18. And Brandon Cruz had a bundle of cash after “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” left the air. That was then, this is now. These TV icons, riding high during the formative years of the baby boomer generation, squandered their riches, and now they’re out there sell ing their tales. Financial services giant SunAmerica Inc. is paying them to appear on talk shows to discuss how poor financial planning left them with little of their Hollywood for tunes. It is SunAmerica’s way of promoting its retirement planning services. Each of the former child stare has set tled into non-entertainment careers. Petersen, 53, founded the nonprofit A Minor Consideration, which serves as an advocate for the new generation of child hood stars and athletes. He talks about the “terrible choices in my 20s: drugs, alcohol, bad people.” He said he bought 20 cars, five homes and 30 televisions. “There was a pile of money, and the mistake 1 made is that I didn’t save my sav ings. 1 thought this gravy train would con tinue,” Petersen said. “When I look back at buying a sports car at 17 and my first house in Beverly Hills, I think now, ‘Why didn’t I buy it in Bur bank?”’ he said. Provost, 49, also has regrets. He now works for an escrow title com pany in the Northern California commu nity of Santa Rosa. His spending spree began when he dropped $6,000 (1960s dollars) for a Lo tus sports car. “I pretty much partied my money away,” Provost said. “During the 1960s and 1970s, the mot to was ‘live for today,’ and we didn’t re ally plan for the future. The money was there, and I never really understood about money. “I went out and bought cars. I was turned loose in a candy store. What can I say? It was instant gratification,” he said. Cruz, 37, remembers buying 12 surf boards, six wet suits and airline tickets in one day for an around-the-world surf ad venture. He eventually lost a significant amount of money in failed real estate deals. These are the stories SunAmerica wants America to hear, and it’s betting that these familiar faces will appeal to the boomers. SunAmerica won’t say how much it pays the former child stars. The firm made a $10,000 donation to A Minor Consid eration, but Petersen said his fees for per sonal appearances are significant. “It’s so easy to forget that the future is going to come,” Petersen said. “If it takes a bunch of vintage celebri ties to change the thinking, then that’s what it will take,” he said. Petersen said he has recovered finan cially since blowing his fortune. “Once 1 got my bearings, my life is fine. We’re cool,” he said. “I’ve learned my lessons. “But I’m concerned. I see my friends with pretty fancy ZIP codes who have no savings. If I can speak to them, then I feel I can speak to everybody.” Provost agrees they can have an im pact. “For people who grew up with Lassie and Timmy, they can relate to me because of the image I portrayed of being wholesome and honest,” Provost said. “They’ll know I’ve made mistakes and learned from them.” ‘During the 1960s and 1970s, the motto was ‘live for today,’ and we didn’t really plan for the future. The money was there, and I never really understood about money. I went out and bought cars. I was turned loose in a candy store.’ Jon Provost former ‘Lassie’ star George TkorogoocL wants only tke kest songs on kis alkum by Mary Campbell Associated Press NEW YORK - Don’t call them covers. Call them the best songs that Geoige Thoro good can fmd. “I fmd good songs that need to be ex posed,” Thorogood said in a recent inter vipw “The original recordings might not be that good, but you can hear a good song in there. To a person hear ing it now for the first time, it’s a new sopg” he said. “That’s been the idea of this band, pretty much from day one, to do that.” The Destroy ers released their first record in 1975. Their first hit, “One Bour bon, One Scotch, One Beer,” is a song by John Lee Hook er, one ofThorogood’s main influences. (The others are Chuck Berry and Elmore James.) He calls what he plays a form of blues boogie. “It has been done before, by Canned Heat, Savoy Brown, Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller,” he said. “They showed me the way. I try to pick out obscure songs those guys missed or amn t want to do. “It gets harder all the time to find good songs for a CD. Writing gets harder, too. What do you ! do to not keep repeat ing your self?” he said. Although Thorogood was advised to use only ..... that he could be paid composer’s royalties, he reasoned diat if some of the songs weren’t good, the albums wouldn’t sell. “I always say, get the best songs on the album,” he said. His new album, “Half a Boy - Half a Man,” includes two of his songs: “Just Passin’ Thru” and “Not Tonight (I Have a Heartache),” which has a country flavor. The guitarist-singer doesn’t see much difference between his music and country. i v e got a slide guitar. They’ve got a pedal steel,” he said. Thoro good,46,en joys humor in rock mu sic. He cites two exam ples: Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me (Not to Come).” “If you do a show and make people laugh and dance at the same time, it's great,” he said. “I like people to get the songs and have a chuckle.” He’s impatient with rockers who go on TV talk shows and act depressed about their tours and record sales. “You dream of being in a rock band,” he said. “Why would you be depressed? I say, 'What did you dream of in the 11th graue: iou reuu ingit!’ “Doing it is still fun for me. Of course, I wouldn’t be sitting in front of you talk ing about it if it wasn't.” Thoro good and the De stroyers toured with the Steve Miller Band for five weeks this summer. “If we can’t work with the best, we go out alone,” said Thoro good, who has toured with Santana, Little Feat, the Allman Brothers, Z. Z. Top, the Rolling Stones and the J. Geils Band.