University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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the 2008 ied Best AC. With Daniel il hair has Sexiest Man CW McCo- 'I any more ration of 'n sweeping those of red. The 1 the world some Flaming nainsrream Zuomo of n Gibbard porting '. Ameri- :ion of such ined in lfath Walter re, distill- ck 'n' roll rded kiflgi ' frenzy. S EveniU5 YQ Iliff News, and took his mustache with him. This was the first step in the fall of the follicles and the rise ofthe razor. At least thatis the way Aaron Perlut, chairman of the Ameri- can Mustache Institute, sees it. Cronkite retired and it seemed like all of the mus- tached newsmen went away, ', Perlut says. And it just kind of steamrolled until mustaches were deemed uncoolf' The following two decades, the hair had a difficult time reaching outside the realm of blue collar labor and secondary math and science education. The men came back, or rather, the hair did, bursting out of the cheeks and chins of Americas men like the sprouts ofa new spring, after a particularly harsh and trying winter. Gavon Laessig is rarely seen about town without some sort of decoration adorning the lower reaches of his face. Recently, he shaved his mustache in order to move in a more beardy direction. For him, facial hair is an ac- cessory, a distinctive complement to one's overall look. Whereas women have makeup, all manner of jewelry and a number of hair-oriented accessories, Laessig is of the mind that we must work with what our gods gave us. Nick Kellerman, Kansas City, Kan., junior, thinks similarly. f'People associate all of their clothing and things as ways to define yourself as a man, and what better way to do that than with facial hair, says Kellerman, who has personally been growing sideburns since the age of 1 6, inspired by Elvis Presley, and braving some ridicule from time to time. And though the reception to his facial hair around here may have warmed recently, he actually just returned from a land of little appreciation for it. Kellerman spent a year abroad in Asia, where he says facial hair is considered dirty and suitable only for an old man, which coincidentally became his nickname among the company he kept. He also says most of the guys he mot had a bit of difhculty growing facial hair. So this writer suspects a mere case of jealousy. Aside from a completely logical idolatry of the King, Kellerman holds a few more reasons for his sported scruff. It keeps you warm in winter, he says, and if your relationship is going too good, it can give your girlfriend something to bitch about. Which brings up one ofthe pitfalls of a man,s pursuit of facial greatness. What will the ladies think? Perlut of the American Mustache Institute says he believes that most women find the mustache objectionable and that men who wish to have something on their face will engage in what he calls the 'fspousal compromisew of a full beard. I-Ie also believes these men to be weaker-willed and at odds with the essential principles-for example, that the beard is weaker than the mustache-of the Institute. joshua Anderson, Perry junior, says his wife pos- sesses a similar kind of ambivalence toward his beard, with a hint of positivity. This works for Anderson, as he possesses one of the most popular styles of facial hair in the Lawrence area: the ulaziness beard. The laziness beard is the official facial hair oftliose who prefer to ask not, f'Wlij' grow facial hair?i', but rather, '4Why shave? Why go through the effort of scrape ing hairs from your face, day after day? The laziness beard can be recognized by its uniform length and complete lack of signs ofgrooming. It would be very easy and possibly offensive to confuse an ordinary laziness beard with a beard that is grown as a religious practice. Certain Orthodox groups ofjudaism do not allow shaving, as it is prohibited in the Talmud. Monks of Orthodox Ch ristianitj refuse to shave their facial hair as a demonstration oftheir lack of concern with the values of this world, and highlight their focus on the next. The act of growing facial hair as an act of rebellion is not limited to those following some divine law. Such secular facial rebellion was quite popular in the iiltraf rebellious 1960s, and has been carried on by both fans of the era, and those that see some similarities between our world and that one. The American Mustache Institute has launched ca in- paigns to Hght this discrimination. In one case, a high school student in Royse City, Texas, was forced to leave class to go shave his mustache The student, Sebastian Pham, proceeded to approach the Institute to intercede on his behalf. The Institute sent .iii ea mailto the school board about how it felt the schools ac- tions were discrimination. The incident led to a coninienr on the Institute's blog, allegedly from a school district employee, bringing up homosexual connotations of facial hair. There was no ofhcial policy change. But the tide seems to be changing. KU students, Lau- rence city commissioners, our mustached U.S. attorney general and even this writer are all joining hands with millions ofmen across this country to let the world know we will not shave. BEARDS W 34

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O8 - O9 l JAYHAWKER BOLDLY BEARDED AND AM ELESSLY MUSTACHEDZ A GROWI look around at my fellow revelers at the Replay Lounge. I see two bearded men sitting at the bar, laughing. In the corner, a man with a mus- tache smokes a cigarette. Two more mustached gen tlemen sit along the wall and discuss favorite musi- cians. In fact, it appears that more than half of those able to grow facial hair in this establishment have done so. These sightings are not mere isolated instances Bewhiskered fellows can be seen all over Lawrence. They sell you tacos. They style your hair. They even serve on the Lawrence City Commission. Our town is run by the fuzzfaces. It seems that after 30 years of hibernation, the hair is back. It is so back. just how back is it? As the American Mustache Institute, a pro-mustache NG TREND advocacy group, points out on their Web site, the 2008 Academy Awards brought us the Hrst mustached Best Ac- tor winner since Paul Newman won in 1987, with Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Heck, facial hair has appeared in some form on People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive list-including Hugh Jackman to Matthew McCo- naughey-for the past four years. It doesn't get any more official than that, does it? In the world of motion pictures, the incubation of hair on the faces of famous people has also been sweeping the biz. Such immensely popular faces, such as those of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, have been covered. The anti-shaving movement has also been sweeping the world of music, with many notable indie acts sporting some distinctive styles, including Iron and Wine, The Flaming Lips and The New Pornographers, Even more mainstream acts have been jumping the ol' wagon. Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Brandon Flowers ofThe Killers and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie have all been recently sporting some all-natural chin covers. The 1970s were a golden era for facial hair. Ameri- cans Hlled movie houses to sit in quiet appreciation ofsuch legendary mustaches as Burt Reynoldsi They tuned in each night as the news came forth from underneath Walter Cronkite's mustache, as if it were acting as a sieve, distill- ing the truth to its most reliable form. Where rock fn' roll had its Ted Nugent, disco had ABBA and its bearded king, Barry Gibb. The country had flown into face fur frenzy. And for those with the look, things were good. Then, in 1981, Walter Cronkite left the CBS Evening

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ON CAMPUS DINING 3'5lD1NlNG GOES 'TRAYLESS, rays recently Went missing from all three residential dining halls. But this wasn't part of some strange crime spree. It was all part ofthe plan. KU Dining Services conducted an experi- ment aptly named 'gTry it Traylessf, The idea aims to eliminate much of the food wasted by students in cafeterias. Similar experi- ments have been successful at other college campuses, including the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Connecticut. Sheryl Kidwell, assis- tant director of KU Dining Services, said the results had been calculated and were signihcant. Without trays, total liquid waste was reduced by 53.6 percent, food waste was reduced by 38.2 per- cent and paper waste was reduced by 12.6 percent. I think the results are signihcant and speak volumes to part of the rationale behind this change, Kidwell said. Kidwell wandered through Mrs. Eis during the tray-free meals. She said she had heard a Wide range of comments from students, most ofwhom seemed to understand the experimentls goal. She said many students commented they ate less food without trays, which they said would be good for them in the long run. Rob Goetsch, Overland Park senior, volunteered at Mrs. Es for both days of the experiment. He said dining without trays made discarding food easier by reducing the amount ofwasted food, but also made washing dished more difficult because the dish-Washing system was designed to use trays. One of the volunteers in the dish room at Mrs. E's was Kim Hernandez, Hutchinson junior. She said she saw how much students threw away during one dinner session and was shocked. Hernandez, an international studies and environ- mental studies major, said she noticed students reacted to the situation in different ways. She said some students disliked the change, while others were supportive of the idea and its benefits. Students need to start caring more about the World they live in, Hernandez said. If this is one way KU Dining Services can help reduce KU's footprint on the environment, then I am fully supportive of their effortsf, Kassidy Spring, Garnett sophomore, volunteered in the GSP dining hall. She said the difference in food waste between the two trial days was clearly noticeable. Spring said working with the project made her more conscien- tious about the amount offood she wasted. With the promising results of the experiment, Kidwell said, the residence halls will remain without trays while KU Dining Services reviews the experiment's findings. I really feel this proved to be a worthwhile and benehcial trial and going trayless may be the new norm for residential dining, Kidwell said.