Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 09, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 2001 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Megaphone and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Southwestern University.
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Features
March 1, 2001 3
Austin Mardi Gras celebration gets wild
Caley Thomas
Megaphone Staff
Many of you may have heard
about the local mayhem occurring
in our state’s capital city over the
past weekend Some of you may
have even been there for part of the
show, but for those who weren't,
the following is a rundown on the
highlights of the festivities
Friday, February 23, 2001: For
the most part, a relatively quiet
night on the drag in Austin; the
occasional drunks, druggies, crack-
whores, and sp on and so forth..
Saturday, February 24, 2001:
Forget the customary exchanging
of beads; the hooligans out on
this night brought Mardi Gras to a
completely different level. Before
arrival in Austin, a strange sensa-
tion came over your dearest journal-
ist giving the impression something
was not quite right regarding the
evening's aura. This could poten-
tially be attributed to the accident
that occurred on the way to the
Mardi Gras festivities on IH-35--
when a drug-induced driver spun
out in front of us, careened off the
middle divider, and ended up dam-
aging our own mode of transporta-
tion as well—but I prefer to call it
innate intuition.
Upon arrival, it was clear to me
that if there was one thing for cer-
tain. the walk from our parking spot
to 6th street was a ridiculously long
way. On the bright side, it was
quite easy to find the way towards
the epicenter of the night’s action;
the steady How of inebriated pedes-
trians marked the path quite clearly,
with the sweet stench of cheep
booze to entice us along the way.
After traversing roughly six
blocks of urban torture, weighed
down by the highway wreck fiasco,
and the plethora of Mardi Gras
beads hanging from our neck, we
reached our destination.
This brings me to the next point
of the evening: what is it that people
find so incredibly fascinating about
Mardi Gras beads?
Why is it that this growing
custom has such an effect on the
general public during this time of
the year? A simple excuse for low-
ering your inhibitions, or do these
beads possess a strange mystical
power brought here by extraterres-
trials which overcome humans that
have no way of either fathoming or
counteracting their effects? Some
of our very own Southwestern Uni-
In Austin and other cities across the country people celebrated Mardi Gras last weekend
versity students had the following
to say.
Jenny Cuevas, a senior, spoke
her mind on the subject: "1 don’t
have anything to say about Mardi
Gras beads, except that they 're very
sparkly and serve multiple func-
tions...."
Senior Wendy Hayter com-
mented, “It’s definitely the mys-
tery behind exactly how one attains
them."
Natalie Berry, a freshman had
this to say: "I went last night, and
pretty much hated it. I thought
the whole experience was more or
less degrading for women, and it
seemed like most of the guvs there
weie leally duly. Foi instance. tilde
would be one girl surrounded by
forty guys all gawking at her...not
necessarily my idea of a great
time..." Certainly, Natalie’s con-
cerns are well taken by many.
Yesenia Garcia, a sophomore,
had this to add: “I think it has a lot
to do with the whole Mardi Gras
concept; the idea you have to do
something outrageous to get them,
so if people see you with them,
then they'll know you've done
something crazy. And they’re just
pretty—a great decorating accent to
put in your room." It seems as
though while some women hold
negative views towards the con-
cept of Mardi Gras, others hold the
pseudo-holiday in higher esteem.
Jackie Poplawskv, a freshman,
added: “It's the perfectly round,
silky smooth beads that tit so com-
fortably around mv neck that cause
me to do almost anything to attain
them.'
Throughout the evening, there
was pleats v-t alcoholw coremrnp
tion going around (solely lot those
over 21 of course), lewd sexual
acts, and overall the atmosphere for
the majority of the evening could
best be described as a tree-tor-all
Roman < )rgy
Overall, this was your typical
Austin Mardi Gras celebration, that
is, until about 2:00am when all
hell broke loose and the bowels
of hell spewed forth grotesque acts
ol wicked, wicked immorality onto
the unsuspecting crowd in down-
town Austin.
Despite the police forces’ best
intentions at visual intimidation,
(i.e. gigantic billy clubs, electric
prods, and dressing up in full riot
gear for patrolling up and down 6th
street) they were no match for the
pure, unadulterated activities which
fate had planned to bestow upon
this night. Standing relatively sta-
tionary on the corner of San Jacinto
and 6th Street for the majority of
mv time there. I was able to objec-
tively analyze the movement pat
terns and overall mood of the crowd
as they shifted throughout the eve-
ning.
Fortunately for accompanying
friends and myself, I sensed the dis-
turbance in the force via the dark
side before it actually happened, and
as we were merrily making our long
Ct't'HTESY Mt'VC'X'.I YCOS.r < >V1
journey back to our parking spot,
there were reports being simultane-
ously created on both CNN Ftead-
Ime News and local news stations
about what was happening at that
moment. In recapitulation, we were
most likely no more than a block
away from 6th street when the first
shot of tear gas exploded in the air,
causing unsuspecting partygoers to
run for cover.
The mayhem continued on for
some time, and not only were
the people on the street effected,
but Mardi Gras celebrants inside
6th street establishments were also
banned from coming out on the
street due to the escalating violence
11j ihr- stiudh1 >!i v»rnt* w *jr
forced to remain inside the respec-
tive establishments for more than
two hours.
Overall, it is estimated that
nearly 50 arrests took place, and
this is not counting the people who
were too ‘out-of-sorts’ to make it to
jail, and had to proceed directly to
the hospital. In lieu ol the situation,
however, and keeping in line ysith
the festive spirit. I yyas informed by
an anonymous source that stomach
pumps for the first 100 usitors to
Breckenridge were tree.
This is perhaps the most heait-
warming aspect of the horrific
ordeal; that the community was
able to come together under times
of great duress from law enforcers
and offer each other comfort, sup-
port. or in this case, free stomach
pumps to the first 100 hospital y isi-
tors.
Austin, Texas, va’ll: what a great
place to live, especially it tear gas.
billy clubs, and free stomach pumps
I v 'A | V|! \ mii t1 »< » k. i . >» i r i t fun M i i. • 1
weekend. One thing is for sure:
it you do intend on driving down
for the Mardi Gras festivities next
year, please be sure to bring a gas
mask, a little money, and a lot ot
beads...these are the surest mgre
clients tor happiness in an Austin
Mardi Gras xveckcnd.
Body and Image
Week a success
Sarah Mfyer/Photo Editor
Winner of the Body and Image Week art contest, this photo is the work of the SU Women s Swim Team
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Tune In
ARGH-TV Southwestern University
Clock Show
a«i Thursday at llan and Hum
news
produced by students
Channel and time subject to change Check SU cable connection for details Broadcast begins March 6
Marwa Abdalla
Megaphone Staff
Last week the Southwestern
University campus took part in
National Eating and Body Image-
Awareness Week Activities on
campus included panel discussions,
an art contest and an exciting spring
Fashion show.
Participants in these and other
activities were able to better under-
stand how individuals can deal with
and recover from eating disorders
like anorexia nervosa, bulimia ner-
vosa and binge eating.
Although Eating and Body Image
week is over, the issues and prob-
lems it focused on remain. In the
United States between five and ten
million adolescent girls and women
and over one million boys and men
suffer from eating disorders or bor-
derline conditions of eating disor-
ders. On any given day 1 out of
every two women and 1 out of every
4 men is on a diet and 81% of ten
year olds say they are afraid of being
fat. Our ideal image of beauty has
shaved off several pounds over the
last few decades. Marilyn Monroe
was a size 12; today the average
woman model is 98% thinner than
the average woman. So is it the
media’s fault that society is obsessed
with being thin, or is there some-
thing deeper than that?
What many people don’t realize
is that eating disorders are serious,
potentially life-threatening condi-
tions that affect a person’s emo-
tional and physical health. They
are not “fads” hor are they “phases’*
that people go through, fiiey are
complex, confusing, and sometimes
deadly conditions that involve more
than just food. Gating disorders
affect all kinds of people; they do
not discriminate.
Another aspect ot Body and
Image week is the art contest held
in the Olin I obb\. Students sub
mitted artwork in multiple torms.
Photographer Sarah Meyer and the
swim team won the contest with
their Bare Determination” photo
session. The first photo displays the
women's swim team topless with
their backs to the camera. “The
photo was deliberately scratched and
worn to sav something about bod\
image,” said Meyer. 1'he back of the
photo reads “Refuse to be Squashed:
SU Women's Swim learn." The
reason this theme was chosen had to
dii with SU administration's request
that the t-shirts made from the photo,
not be worn due to the nature of the
photo. The photo can be seen on the
right.
The second photo in the set was
a similar photo. The women's swim
team is depicted from the front cox -
ering their breasts. The back reads
“Bare Determination."
To conclude, athletes are at
increased risk to develop eating dis-
orders and other pathogenic weight
control techniques because certain
sports often place such an empha-
sis on body weight and composi-
tion. People with eating disorders
may he perfectionists, have a strong
desire to^please others, base their
self-assessment on achievement and
performance, and/or be willing to
tolerate pain and sacrifice them-
selves to meet their goals. /
Dealing with or helping a friend
deal with an eating disorder can be
difficult but help is available.
Information about eating disor-
ders can be found in the Health
Services, office in the Robertson
Center or can be found online at
www.edap.org 1 or
www.aabainc.6rg.
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Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 09, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 2001, newspaper, March 1, 2001; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634824/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.