December 4

Today my GSI (Graduate Student Instructor), when taking attendance, told me he liked my sweater. For some odd reason, knowing that his statement was a compliment, I had a difficult time mustering up a "thank you." In fact, what came out of my mouth sounded like a sheep saying "franks." He continued taking role without acknowledging my baaaaaa.

In one of my political science courses, the professor used UC Berkeley as an exception to the general rule that political and social involvement typically declines after high school. Contrarily, students tend to get more involved in clubs and extracurricular activities at Cal regardless of their involvement in high school. Just today, I saw a poster for a club called ACCAJA (A Club for Chinese and Japanese Affairs). I also saw a Prop 8 club that was promoting a march called "A Day without A Gay". Interesting.

When I was in high school many more moons ago than most students on this campus, I was involved in a few clubs. Once I got to Cal, I continued my involvement by joining the Black Recruitment and Retention Center (which unsuccessfully attempted to raise the declining black population at Cal--that has incidentally declined at the same alarming rate that the Asian population has increased), played basketball, and accidentally found myself a member of a radical group called BAMN, which conducted several (violent) protests against affirmative action--that I steered clear of.

Anyhow, my walking through campus each day at noon, I can't help but reminisce on my experience as a student heavily involved and revel in Cal's social conscience. Today, I actually considered starting my own club. Movement, rather. I've become nauseous several times en route to class from noticing the grown trend of girls of all shapes and sizes wearing lycra, spandex, leggings, etc. I equate this trend to men punching holes in their stomachs and eating their jeans and underwear so that their leg flesh will cover their undergarments. That was definitely a strange analogy but I just can't comprehend the idea of wearing stockings essentially with nothing covering them. One out of 10 girls who walk by in such an outfit give me a different type of sensation just below my stomach actually, but the other nine are the sole cause of my noxiousness. That stuff is so tight that I really feel that it is no different from painting your legs. My biggest issue with the nylon and lycra is that it doesn't hide texture. Some of those cotton tights leave a little to imagination and allow the observer to give the (oft overweight) model of the garments the benefit of the doubt. However, the lycra and nylon reveal cottage cheese, craters and at times, thinning in the thigh area from excessive rubbing and friction.

I'd like to lead the movement to ban this trend that like the recession, is moving our society in the wrong direction.