The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 03, 1999, Page 6, Image 6
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