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This Day In USC History September 3, 1986 - The drinking age on campus increases from 18 to 21 in accordance with state law. I •aiUCCOCk Friday, September 3,1999 Women in Art Frida ■ B Mexican Special to The Gamecock Top: Frida Kahio, in a self-portrait titled “Self-Portrait dedicated to Dr. Eloesser,” 1940. Bottom: The artist in a rare photograph taken during her trip to the United States in 1942. by Caitlin Bright & Rachel Helwig The Gamecock A woman stands tall and proud, sucking on a loosely rolled, filterless cigarette, dressed in a high-collared, traditional shirt and a long, flowing, ruffled skirt. . Her hair, tied neatly in a tight bun, looks as proud and digninfied as her stance. Her defining eyebrows, a signature char actersitic, are arched elegantly as she speaks to the world on her views of art, feminism and politics. This woman is Frida Kahlo, a Latin-Amer ican artist who became a symbol of strength, vitality and courage in a time of political un rest. Kahlo was bom in 1907 in Coyoacan, Mex ico, at a time when women were raised to be lieve that their sole purpose was to have chil dren and obey their husbands. Kahlo, however, often ignored these traditional, societal re straints. With a precocious air, she did only what pleased her. At school, she ran around with the boys, flaunted her promiscuity, chain smoked and amazed her classmates by often stating her desires to have children with Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican painter who was commissioned to paint the walls of Kahlo’s school. uatrng irom the National Preparatory School in Mex ico, Kahlo en rolled in a busi ness school to help support her family’s floun dering financial situation. That same year, Kahlo was in volved in a seri ous ous aujiueui and was almost left for dead. She recovered, but the process was a long and painful one for Kahlo, often leaving her with a sense of isolation and mental re gression. During this period of recovery, Kahlo be gan painting the self-portraits for which she is best known. After her recovery, Kahlo fur thered the relationship with Rivera that she had begun at school. Her acquaintance with Rivera even tually led to an unconventional romance that would last until her death. Kahlo and Rivera married in 1929, and for a time she took on the role as the typical, submissive wife. n__x_ one pui up with his many infidelities, mys terious excur sions and his artistic career, which always overshadowed her own. Rivera’s work often took them to many places, and Kahlo traveled out of Mexico for the first time in her life. How ever, as Rivera im mersed himself in his work, Kahlo was .... jk,'-'———-:j:- I left alone to suffer in illness and the report I ed loss of a ' child. Kahlo’s mother soon died, and her work created , during this pe |f riod began to emphasize ter ror, suffering and pain. To add to Kahlo’s suffer ing, Kivera s miideuties soon turned to Kamo s sister. Because of this, Kahlo and Rivera sep arated, only to rejoin in a pact that allowed each to have affairs, but with an understand ing that these affairs were separate from then own special relationship. K a h 1 o ’ s many affairs led her to relationships ^ with artists and social rev olutionaries, such as American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, Hungarian photographer Nickolas Muray and many women artists, as well. One of her most fas cinating affairs was with Leon Trotsky, who came to stay with Kahlo after his exile from the Soviet Union. During this time, Kahlo _i • __ aiiu ixivcia could often be seen appealing to the govern ment on behalf of someone seeking asylum or at political rallies. Though Rivera’s infi delities hurt Kahlo,they al so caused her own identity to come forth, and they result ed in some of the most productive years ot her artistic ca reer. Kahlo soon became accepted by artists such as Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso and Sal vador Dali. Kahlo’s world was rocked even more when Rivera asked her for a divorce. Af ter this, Kahlo began to truly explore her world and define herself in her own terms, not those of Rivera. These paintings caused the surrealists to accept Kahlo as one of their own, though lat er Kahlo would say, “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” This real ity of love and despair, failing health, and political activisim has shaped both Kahlo’s work and the world’s perception of her. A laige crowd, famous and common persons alike, at tended Kahlo’s burial in 1954, as her body was laid out on a straw matt and cremated. Her house was opened to the public as a museum. Despite the many hardships Kahlo endured, her integrity, honor and esteem live on through her beautiftil self-portraits and paintings. Special to The Gamecocl “Roots,” above, and “The Two Brides,” below, were botl painted by Frida Kahlo. Major no longer the issue to college students by Amy Lindgren Knight-Ridder Newspapers It’s back-to-school time. Kids, do you know what your college major will be? If you’re a high school senior or a college freshman, you’re prob ably sick of that question by now. Even if you do know, it’s tiresome to repeat yourself to friends and family members and total strangers who can’t think of anything else to ask you. Get used to it. If you’re headed off to a lib eral arts college, you’ll be getting this question a lot during the next few years. Oddly enough, after you’ve graduated, the num ber of people asking about your major falls off sharply. Maybe folks are only interested in your decision when they think they can still change it. Joan O’Connell, a college adviser at Cretin Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minn., and director of Life’s Work, a private advising practice, says the choice of a major is a stressful decision for ' many families. While the student and the parents both want the decision to work out well, they come from dif ferent places when making it. The parents see the price tag and push their kids to make up their minds. They shudder to think of their offspring “finding themselves” at $1,000 a credit. Unfortunately, many teen-agers are not yet equipped to make such a de cision. This is where advising comes in. As O’Connell notes, much of her job is to reassure parents and students. Some of the things she tells them: •About 75 percent of students nationwide change their major at least once. •Students should study what they love, even if it’s liberal arts. Liberal arts majors are not less em ployable than others. •Students should take required courses (“distribu tion credits”) in math, science, language and phi losophy early. This gets them out of the way, but also exposes the students to areas they might not have considered. And, above all, O’Connell advises, remember that education is important. “It’s not so much what students major in,” she says. “It’s that they get educated. Students need to think in terms of skill instead of major. The skill of writing, the skill of presenting yourself, the skill of working with others — these are all skills you can get in any major.” O’Connell, whose background includes 13 years as the director of career development at the College of St. Catherine, also warns against tak ing a major to cash in on a hot career. “Careers go in cycles,” she said. “The hot, new careers are not always going to be there when you graduate. I can’t tell you how many students I saw struggle through curriculums they didn’t like because they thought there would be jobs.” This is a mistake that older students don’t make as often, O’Connell said, because they have the benefit of more life experience. “Older students have a better sense of who they are,” she said. “They have a little more to base their decisions on, and they tend to pursue a course that they know is going to be a good fit for them. They’re also further along developmentally.” So what’s a teen-ager supposed to do; wait to grow up before choosing a major? Actually, tak ing a year or two off from school is a time-honored option. Some people use the time to travel, oth ers work to save money for tuition and others volunteer with such agencies as the Peace Corps or Americorps. Military service also can fill the gap, while providing assistance for later tuition. O’Connell supports the idea of time off, but she has some advice for teen-agers who are con sidering this path. First, she counsels students to ap ply to college now, then defer entrance after being accepted. That’s because everything from mailing transcripts to taking the entrance exam can be done more easily from the high school. Having a college acceptance in hand also can motivate you to keep your break short. O’Connell’s other piece of advice is to make a firm plan for the time off. The plan should in clude some exploration, and possibly work with an adviser, to help further the decision-making process. Without this plan, she warns, it’s easy to find your self in the same spot a year later. Whether you delay or go directly to college from high school, don’t panic over the decision of a major. In most colleges, you won’t need to make a firm choice until the end of your sopho more year, and even then changes will not be cat astrophic. As O’Connell points out, the stakes for this decision are probably not as high as they seem now. “The choice of a major is not going to predestine the rest of your life,” she said. “And if you make a change, it’s only the first of many changes you’ll make in your life. Your goal in college is to leave knowing how to make those changes.” Campus Notes Literacy Council needs volunteers The Columbia Literacy Council needs volunteers to tutor adults for all levels of literacy. For more information, call The Columbia Literacy Council at 765-2555, or Joan Kirkpatrick 777-3799. E-mail her at joank@gwm.sc.edu. Red Cross holding blood drives The American Red Cross is holding blood drives from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 at 2751 Bull St. For more information, call the American Red Cross at 251 6000. CHDC to hold workshop The Counseling and Human Development Center will offer a drop-in, self-hypnosis work shop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. start ing Sept. 8. For more informa tion, call the center at 777 5223. SG announces open senate seats Six seats are open in student senate: Social Work (1), Education (2), Nursing (2), Liberal Arts (1). Applications can be picked up at the SG office and must be returned by Sept. 13. For more information, call 777-2654. USC Orchestra to open 1999-2000 season The USC Symphony Orchestra opens its 1999-2000 season at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Koger Center, with a concert version of John Philip Sousa’s operetta “El Capitan.” The lead role will be sung by Metropolitan Opera tenor Anthony Laciura. Tickets are $14 for the general public, $ 11 for senior citizens and USC faculty & staff, and $7 for stu dents. Tickets are available at the Coliseum box office or by calling (803) 251-2222. MS Society needs volunteers The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society needs volunteers to par ticipate in its “Breakway to the Beach” bike tour from Sept.25 26. The volunteers are needed to velp check-in cyclists and provide water and snacks at the rest stop. For more information, call the MS Society at 799 7848. Midlands CROP walk to be held The 1999 Midlands CROP Walk will start at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at Finley Park. CROP is planning to raise $50,000 in order to fight hunger. On-site registration begins at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call Harvest Hope Food Bank at 765-9181, or visit the Midlands CROP website at www.midnet.sc.edu/crop. Briefs can be submitted to RH 333. They will be edited for length, clarity and substance, and they need to include a tele phone number and contact name. We can’t promise to print everything, but we promise to try. National Hispanic Heritage Month