OPINION 1987 H.U. REVIEW, Searcy, Ark. 721432 Tom Lloyd, a freshman from Shreveport, Louisiana, has his hair cut in a flattop "to be different:' But he may not be "different" for long, since the flattop seems to be gaining popularity on the Harding Campus. (photo by Darin Martin) Flattops are Lousy times at ~ • (r~w a-head of the Harding? times The Harding Primer by Bill Rankin Lesson 7: Togetherness - A mediation on the Head Louse Quite frankly, I can't see what all this fuss is about lice. Everyone is so upset. You'd think it was an epidemic! To my way of thinking, this is one of the best things that could possibly happen to Harding. It's a Godsend. Seriously. (I notice that some of you out there in newspaperland are scratching your heads trying to figure out what I'm talking about (at least I think that's why you're scratching your heads) while others have now classed me as a total loony and are about to skip the rest of my article. Give me a chance, okay?!?) Why is it such a neat thing? I can sum it up in one word: Togetherness. Here at Harding, we' re always complaining that we're not unified - that we have factions and cliques and little groups everywhere. We have chapel talks and devotionals about how we are all "one body" and about how all of us should love one another, but for the most part they fall on deaf ears . Well, this lice thing is a great opportunity! Think of all the social barriers it breaks down! Freshman and senior, athlete and non-athlete, popular and unpopular - all suddenly thrown together under the banner of equality. Beauty and ugliness mystically linked through the existence of a tiny, parasitic, blood-sucking insect. Yankee and Southerner finally joined in the intestines of a little white speck. How could we be so ungrateful as to try and eradicate this blessing?? Having lice is a small price to pay for unity. And yet , sad to say, a faction on this campus (goodbye togetherness) still wants to exterminate the poor Pediculus Humanus var. capitus (head louse). How could this be?? Are these the same people that support Amendment 65?? Are these same people that are called "right-to-lifers" by the news media?? Yes they are, and it makes me mad! I'm shocked! How can we possibly be so hypocritical that we can march on the state capital one day to protect the unborn and the next turn right around and brutually murder millions of unborn lice without even shedding a tear? How can we manipulate our morals so that we can actually be happy at the death of a host of God's·creatures?? This is not right , friends . The Bible says that we shall be known by our fruit , and I'm afraid that if we keep this up, ours is going to be rotten to the core. Either we love and value life - all life - or we don't. It's as simple as that. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I think it's time we finally made a stand: Friends, we have an immense opportunity here. We can remold Harding into the institution that it was meant to be. We can unite under the banner of brotherhood . So let's all put our heads together and see if we can't make this thing work. I'm sure that in the glorious future, our children's children will thank us for the strivings that we made. The choice is ours. Let's not louse it up. by Karen Reynolds Bison staff writer You may have to look a little closer to see it, but the hair is there. Short and immovable, flattops have become an epidemic! Anumber of students on campus ha~e chosen this particular hairstyle for various reasons. Perhaps Senior Pete Colligan was "ahead of the times," when he arrived on campus in the fall of 1983 with very little hair - all of which was standing straight up! He had had the cut ever since he came out of the Marine Corps in 1981. Enrique Gomez, a freshman from San Antonio, voiced his reasons for having the cut. "It was cheap - a $3 haircut. It doesn't take as long to dry, and little or no shampoo; just run a bar of soap across the top." Gomez, sharing another positive note, added that there is a noticeable increase in the number of dates! Despite the benefits, Gomez said, "Your ears get cold and you have to put up with questions like 'Are you in the Army, Marines, etc.?' ' ' Freshman Tum Lloyd from Shreveport, LA., says he does it "Tu be different, to make a statement.'1 He continued, "It's a clean cut, but watch out for split ends! " Freshman Kelly Helpenstill from Longview, Texas, wore his flattop throughout high school. "It's easy to keep, and you don't have to worry about it." One problem, however, that Helpenstill stated was that "everybody wanted to touch it." Benefits are that it is "cooler, and cheaper on the shampoo." The motivations and attitudes about flattops vary across campus. Nevertheless, it is a widely accepted and, as we can see, widely experimented trend. To "top it off," flattops are here to stay for a while.
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