Bomb Me Baby One More Time

By Laura Kelsey, Opinions Editor

ds is easy to maintain when
students are sheltered from the world.
It is not deliberate—if kids are never
allowed the exposure, they might grow
up thinking that puppies rule the world
and there is no such
thing as genocide.
Ignorance is bliss—
and I have been
blessed with it for
far too long.

The Canadian
public school
system failed me
in a few ways,
but mainly on its
presentation of
history. While I
was celebrating
my friend Katie’s
birthday, Rwanda was drowning in a
torrent of hate-driven slaughter. I ate
cake and smiled while children my age
had their limbs hacked from their torsos
by blunt machetes—and I had no clue.

I wasn’t deliberately ignorant; it’s
just that no one discussed this in school.
I never knew about the Rwandan
genocide until years later when I
watched Hotel Rwanda, which made me
feel like an unaware jerk. How could

“Maybe if we taught
our children about the
horrors of war and
genocide when they are
young then a sense of
caring would be instilled
within them as
they grew.”

something so devastating occur in my
lifetime without my knowledge?

No one really cares about Africa—
you hear it all the time: “Those negros
are killing themselves, it’s their own
fault.” “Why don’t they just stop having
sex? Then the population, hunger, and
the AIDS problems
would all be solved.”
“They should rise up
against their corrupt
governments and take
back the donations
that have been
stolen.”

History is
repeating itself in
Darfur. Millions of
Africans are dying
from various causes
and the West doesn’t
care. But maybe if we taught our
children about the horrors of war and
genocide when they are still young then
a sense of caring would be instilled
within them as they grew? Isn’t that the
point of history class—to learn from the
past to have a better future?

History classes in public schools
all have a Canadian viewpoint, as they
should, but some main and recent acts
of history are left out— we weren’t
even allowed to watch Schindler’s List

in my high school. I
appreciate Lois Riel
and all, but a little less
Red River Riot and
more Dieppe may have
helped boost patriotism
within students, too.
Recently, I devoted
a day to watching
documentaries on You
Tube about Rwanda.
From there, I moved
onto Bosnia and
Cambodia. I’d heard
scatterings of these
stories on the news,
but obviously not to
the gory extent that I
discovered on my own.
It’s not like my
knowing about the
carnage would change
anything—one girl
can’t stop a genocide—
but learning about
them has changed my
viewpoint on other
races, and given me
compassion for the
millions that have
died during these
slaughters or have sought refuge in our
peaceful-by-comparison country. Just

 

acknowledging the plight of others can
make you a better person.

 

Beauty or the Beast — Which Are You?

Sunny
Park

sunny side up

  
 

P lastic surgery has its pros and
cons, advantages and disadvantages,
good points and bad points. In my
country of Korea there are many women
who suffer after plastic surgery. One
of the most tragic tales is that of the
“Fan Woman.” People called her “Fan
Woman” because she has a head that
is shaped like a watermelon that has
fallen off the back of a flatbed truck
onto blazingly hot asphalt. Why is her
head that way? Here is her story. The
“Fan Woman” worked in a club because
she wanted be a singer. Yes, she was
pretty, and she sang pretty well, but she
always though her angular face would
be a detriment to her music career.

She thought she could be prettier, and
the thought became an obsession. She
bought a tub of illegal silicon, and
injected it into her face. Things weren’t
turning out as she expected, so she kept
injecting more, and more. That was the
biggest mistake of her life. Look at her
before pictures—she was lovely. And
now it looks like some psycho took a
baseball bat to her head. It’s a tragedy of
nearly Shakespearian proportions.
After her initial mistake, she

continued to inject herself, poisoning
her body in the process. Following her
lack of success with silicon, she injected
herself with paraffin and bean oil. In
the end, she lost not only her looks,
but also her job and her dream. Shortly
afterwards, information about the “Fan
Woman” was given to a television
station. At that time it was hard for her
to breathe, as the skin under her jaw
had stretched and blocked her throat.
Many Koreans became
concerned about her
heath, and the TV station
decided to provide her
with the assistance she so
desperately needed.
Following her
television appearance,
she had plastic surgery
four times to remove
the chemicals that
were slowly killing
her. She also received
psychological treatment.
Today both her physical
and mental state are much
better. As a result of her
fame, she has become
a bit of a celebrity in
Korea, and has started a
show business career.
Asians have a long
history of suffering
for beauty. Consider
the ancient practice of
foot binding in China,
or the stacked, brass
coils used to extend the
necks of Karen women. | _
In fact, some of the

 

earliest records of reconstructive plastic
surgery come from sixth century India:
the Hindu medical chronicle Susruta
Samhita describes how noses were
recreated after being chopped off as
punishment for adultery.

Plastic surgery is like a double-edged
sword. In Korea, there are many women
who are engaged in service jobs, such
as waitresses. Men in the country do
not want to be served by women that

for beauty. “

are not attractive, so women who want
these jobs seek plastic surgery. Recently
I visited the Cactus Club, and from the
look of the waitresses, I can’t help but
imagining that the situation in Canada
is probably similar to Korea. Without
plastic surgery, many women in Korea
would find it hard to get work. There
is an advertisement in Korea that reads
“nobody knows why women who live
on an uninhabited island correct their
make up.” People who get plastic

“Asians have a long history of suffering surgery say they get self-confidence

and pride in themselves. Yes, surely
the beauty could be working to
improve something in person’s
mind. If people can develop a
positive attitude about themselves

©. instead of drilling their faces with

silicon laced needles, it seems to
me that the world would be a better
place. Sadly, many women believe
' that their only choice is to have
plastic surgery.

People always talk about
disadvantages of plastic surgery,
and bad examples like Michael
' Jackson and the “Fan Woman,”
are common. On the other hand,

_ Pamela Anderson can thank plastic
_ surgery for her successful film and
| television career.

Plastic surgery is a choice,
and people make good and bad
choices all the time. I think it is
important for people to consider
the positive and negative when
deciding on plastic surgery. People
should consider all of their options.
_. Remember, too much of one thing is
good for nothing.

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