PA E 6 THE BEHREND BEACON MARCH 17 2000
NATIONAL CAMPUS NEWS
Bidi boom: flavored cigarettes catching on
by Valerie Danner
Campus Contributor
Columbia College
March 09, 2000
CHICAGO (TMS) --
Jr. said he was smoking marijuana
with some friends five years ago,
when someone decided to pull out a
strawberry-flavored bidi. The thin,
brown cigarette, imported from In
dia, resembled a joint, so Castle said
he decided to try it.
"I was curious," Castle, a 22-year
old senior at Columbia College in
Chicago said. "It made me mildly
high for five minutes; it helped me
unwind."
Castle said he was hooked on bidis
from that moment on. He even cred
its his first puff on a bidi with help
ing kick his marijuana-smoking
habit.
He isn't the only one loving bidis
these days. Figures on bidi use in
the United States are still in their in
fancy but are slowly trickling in
as bidis' popularity rises. Research
ers consider the preliminary results
disturbing. A study published last
year in the Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report showed that in a sur
vey of 642 youth in Massachusetts,
40 percent said they had smoked a
bidi in their lifetime, while 16 per
cent said they had lit one up at least
once in the previous 30 days. Of
those surveyed, 23 percent said they
smoked bidis primarily because of
Gloria Steinem tells students
feminism worthless unless
used outside classroom
by Meredith Goldstein
Knight-Ridder Tribune
March 08, 2000
NORTON, Mass. Apryl Berney
remembers the 1998 Time Magazine
cover that featured the floating heads
of Susan B. Anthony, Gloria
Steinem, and Betty Friedan, next to
the emaciated face of lonely, con
fused thirty-something Ally Mcßeal.
The headline asked: "Is feminism
dead?"
"No. Of course not," answered
Berney, 21.
It's not that feminism is dead, it's
just that its message is expanding
and there are different women lead
ing the movement, she said. Young
feminists now address issues of race
and class and all of the inequities that
make it more difficult for those on
the bottom rung of the ladder to
move to the top.
"The third wave is
about responsibil
ity. We aren't all
middle-class white
ladies anymore."
-Kathryn Baxter,
women's studies
major,
Wheaton College
There is a group of strong young
feminists, Berney said, and thank
fully, they are nothing like the tele
vision character Ally Mcßeal.
"I swear it was the fifth time they
asked that question," Berney said,
shaking her head. "Feminism isn't
dead. That's just the way the media
sees the issue."
Berney and other women's stud
ies students at Wheaton College cel
ebrated their feminism and the be
ginning of Women's History Month
with a visit from Steinem.
The 66-year-old icon of the
women's movement came to speak
about the history and future of
women's rights and to receive the
school's Otis Social Justice Award.
Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine
in 1972 and founded the Women's
Action Alliance and the National
Women's Political Caucus.
Steinem agreed that feminists are
still hard at work. Young women to
day have just as much to fight for.
They're learning how to work for
equality, and how to better their situ
their taste
The flavorful tastes of bidis are se
ductive, but pack a mean punch, ac
cording to researchers at the Center
for Disease Control (CDC) in At
lanta. The CDC reports that bidis
contain less tobacco than traditional
cigarettes but still have three to five
more times the amount of nicotine
and tar. CDC researchers say bidis
which are unfiltered also re
lease more deadly chemicals, such as
ammonia and carbon monoxide.
Ernest Castle
In India, where bidis are manufac
tured, it is estimated that 500 billion
of the cigarettes are produced and
consumed each year. Bidis consist
of tobacco, which is hand rolled in
tendu leaves giving the cigarette a
brown, herbal-like appearance but
a low combustibility, which causes
a smoker to inhale more deeply. The
smokes' seemingly harmless facade
and shredded tobacco has earned bidi
packs a spot on shelves in both to
bacco shops and health food stores.
Critics of bidis say consumers are
being duped by manufacturers'
claims that bidis are a "more natu
ral" smoking alternative.
Smokers particularly young
ones are lured by bidis' cheap
cost, too. They sell for $2.20 for a
pack of 25 compared to $2.50 to $3
for 20 cigarettes. And they come in
a variety of flavors everything
from chocolate and vanilla, to more
exotic flavors such as mango and
lemon. The United States is the only
ations, she told a group of about 60
students and teachers mostly
women who attended a panel dis
cussion on the future of feminism.
"The third wave of feminism can
not be defined by Who Wants to
Marry a Millionaire?" she said.
"Young women have a lot to accom
plish and are doing some great
work."
Steinem, who dressed in black
with her hair tied neatly in red rub
ber hands, sat a few seats away from
purple-haired Kathryn Baxter, 21, a
women's studies major who spoke
on the panel about the next genera
tion of feminists.
"There is this notion that we are
done, but we are not finished,"
Baxter said, as Steinem offered an
approving glance.
Young feminists, she said, must
focus on ending domestic violence
and rape. They must fight for the
rights not only of white women, but
also of people of different races and
ethnicities, homosexuals and
transgendered people (transsexuals
and transvestites).
"The third wave is about respon
sibility," she said. "We aren't all
middle-class white ladies anymore."
Many women of Baxter's genera
tion consider themselves "third
wave" feminists. First-wave femi
nists are said to be the pioneers of
the movement, the women who won
the right to vote and took the first
steps toward independence. The sec
ond-wavers, like Steinmen and
Friedan, author of The Feminine
Mystique, brought women out of the
kitchen and fought for abortion
rights and birth control.
The young "third-wave" feminists
say they're fighting not only for true
equality, but also for the identity of
a movement that many think was left
behind in the 19705.
Many of these young women are
studying feminism in university
women's studies programs. They
read the work of authors and theo
rists such as Angela Davis, bell
hooks, Andrea Dworkin, and Linda
Alcoff.
Steinem said it's inspiring to
watch the movement grow and be
come a respected part of academic
institutions. But feminism is worth
less, she said, unless it can be used
as a tool outside of the classroom.
When she speaks at universities, she
is often asked what kind of feminist
she is. Liberal? Radical? Separat
ist?
"I mean please, what does this
mean?" she asked. "I'm not much
into labels. Feminism is about what
you do."
country that adds flavor to the ciga-
"They are something new and dif
ferent, and they've gotten recent at
tention from the media," said A.
Jenny Foreit, an associate in research
for the Campaign for Tobacco Free
Kids. "They're slightly forbidden,
and they are flavored so they're
easier to smoke."
Bidis started out big on the West
Coast, in particular California. How
ever, they are now creeping across
the country and into major cities,
such as Chicago, which last month
became the first city in the nation to
ban the sale of bidis.
"Teens are influenced by a lot of
things," says Jonathan Swaine, chief
of staff for Chicago Alderman Terry
Peterson, who introduced the bidi
ban bill. "This type of cigarette is
more powerful, and in addition to
that, is flavored, which markets it to
wards children. What was done in
Chicago was a preemptive strike."
The state of Illinois is following
suit. A bill to ban the sale of bidis
statewide recently passed in the state
house and is currently pending be
fore the state senate.
Bidis have been imported into the
United States for at least 20 years,
but only recently have found wide
spread popularity. Between 1995
and 1998, the value of cigarettes im
ported from India increased by 400
percent.
Amanda Serafin, 20, also has wit-
Berney, who became a women's
studies student after working during
the summer for the Feminist Major
ity Foundation in Los Angeles, said
Steinem's concern that feminism has
become too academic is a genuine
problem for young women who
study the movement.
"It's the struggle between theory
and practice," Berney said. "We
know the theory, but it's up to us to
put it into practice. That's where the
third wave has come from."
Sharon Lauricella, a Wheaton
graduate who just finished her doc
torate in women's history at the Uni
versity of Cambridge in England,
came back to the college with her fa
ther to hear Steinem speak. She ad
mitted that they were somewhat
starstruck to see her in person.
"It's really great that Wheaton
asked her to come. She is amazing,"
she said. "She really had a lot to
say."
Lauricella, 28, said it is important
for young feminists to know their
history. Seeing Steinem reminds
them that they have mothers, grand
mothers, and great-grandmothers
who fought for the same freedoms.
It's especially important on a cam
pus with a history of female solidar
ity. Lauricella said she realized the
importance of a women-centered en
vironment after attending
Cambridge's Corpus Christi Col
lege, which began admitting women
in 1988, the same year Wheaton be
gan admitting men.
"Sometimes I worry that students
don't remember that this was once a
women's college," she said. "I think
it's important that they understand
the importance of that history."
Lauricella said that women, young
and old, define feminism differently.
It has many faces, many names. It
stands for different causes and be
liefs.
She remembers that in Whitman,
Mass., where she grew up, the word
feminism was used infrequently.
Most people were white, and most
made a decent living. Residents
were educated and sexism was of-
ten disguised.
But she does remember a public
school teacher who would refer to
the 19th Amendment, which gave
women the right to vote, as the "idiot
amendment."
Lauricella remembers getting an
gry and wanting desperately to de
fend her freedom, even though she
was just a young student who knew
little about the women's movement.
"I realized when I got to school
that that something had a name," she
said. "It was being a feminist."
nessed the popularity of the hidi.
Last year, she worked a part-time job
as a telemarketer. There was a room
set aside for smokers to take a break.
It had only one small air vent, Serafin
said.
"The fan wouldn't suck up the hidi
smoke," Serafin recalled. "I'd come
out of the room smelling like a bidi.
The smell just lingered. - Though she
was turned off by the smell, curios
ity did get the best of her, and she
said she did try bidis. However, she
says they made her feel horrible.
Castle is aware of the health risks,
but he said he's addicted to hidis. "I
quit a couple of times, and I never
smoke more than 3 a day," he says.
KRT PHOTO BY RICH SUGG
Bidi cigarettes from India, shown here at Tobacco Road Smoke Shop in Kansas City, Kansas.
Pirating music off Web prompts
U. of Texas to block site
by John NV. Gonzalez
Knight-Ridder Tribune
March 12, 2000
AUSTIN, Texas --Joining scores of
colleges around the nation, the lfni
versity of Texas is cracking down on
students who use the campus com
puter network to download songs
from the Internet
Such a practice often violates ted
eral copyright laws that are designed
to protect entertainers. However,
university officials' primary interest
is in ensuring that the computer net
work, which serves 75,000 students,
faculty, and administrators, is avail
able for higher-priority academic
Though UT hasn't disclosed how
much of its network capacity, or
bandwidth, was being usurped by
those accessing music, counterparts
around the nation have estimated that
40 percent or more of their band
width is monopolized by music
downloads, sometimes driving up
costs.
Much of the commotion centers on
the Web site www.napstercom,
where music can be downloaded.
The Web site has been rendered in
accessible on several university com
puter systems, including UT's.
While some students defended the
move to make tiapstercom off lim
its, others said it is futile to try to
eliminate the activity by targeting a
Web site.
"It's only a matter of time before
a thousand mini-napsters are out
there on the Net," student Anand
Kumar Inala wrote in a letter to the
Daily Texan, the student newspaper.
The university will not be able to
track the new Web sites that inevita
bly will appear to take napstercom 's
place, the sophomore predicted.
Inala signed a petition to remove the
block on napstereom.
For all the same reasons as UT,
Texas A&M University is consider
ing steps to discourage music down
loads. So far, no World Wide Web
sites for music swapping have been
blocked for Aggie computer network
Texas Tech, Texas Christian Uni
versity, Oregon State, University of
California-Berkeley, University of
Penn State newspaper apologizes for fake quote
TMS Campus
March 09, 2000
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (TMS)
Student journalists working for
Penn State's Daily Collegian
apologized for a fake quote attrib
uted to women's basketball coach
Rene Portland in the Wednesday,
"It just becomes very addictive."
After nearly two years of smoking
bidis, he started experiencing respi
ratory problems and headaches, ail
ments that he links to his bidi-smok
ing habit. So, Castle switched to
clove cigarettes, which are dipped in
honey and rum and are typically big
ger than a bidi, but still pack a punch.
"It just gives me a slight, sensual
little lift," Castle says. "You have to
be careful not to inhale too deeply.
There's no buzz if it's not inhaled
properly.
"When you do it right, your toes
should tickle," he added. "It's a nice
little buzz." Clove cigarettes are not
a part of the ban in Chicago. How-
North Dakota, and Boston Univer
sity also have taken steps to hinder
access to nap.slercom.
Almost all music shared on the
Internet is copyright protected, ac
cording to the Recording Industry
Association of America. The asso-
ciation is leaning on universities na
tionwide to curtail unauthorized
copying. The pages of several
students who oft erect pirated songs
already have been knocked off
A&M's network at the insistence of
the trade group, officials said.
With 100 million computers online
worldwide, the association said it
was forced to shift most of its anti-
piracy resources away from compact
discs to the Internet.
But within a college population
that often thumbs its nose at the cor
porate world -- including the music
industry and its copyright protections
threats of legal consequences for
pirating often go unheeded, experts
Students called UT's recent deci
sion to block access to napstercom
"Draconian." Napstercom is one of
the most popular Web sites for ac
cessing music files in the 1\41 3 3 for
mat.
"It never ceases to amaze me how
people can claim censorship, when
what they're doing is breakiiw fed
eral law by downloading copy
righted material onto their comput
ers," said Thomas Putnam, director
of A&M Computing and Informa
tion Services.
Student reliance on high-speed
campus computer networks to speed
ily acquire new music has been surg
ing since mid-1999, when software
for sharing songs proliferated. The
MP3 format enables music to be
compressed into relatively small data
files. The files can be easily stored
and transferred from computer to
computer. Though the sound qual
ity isn't always as good as a com
pact disc, it is usually at least as good
as the radio.
The downloaded music is prompt
ing heated debate between the enter
tainment industry and a handful of
Web site operators who enable wide
spread sharing of songs from music
collections stored on personal com
puters worldwide.
March 1, edition of the newspaper.
A student on the staff whom
the Collegian has declined to iden
tify slipped the bogus quote into
another writer's story, thinking it
would he removed I t
:ore the p;;
per went to press. It wasn't.
The quote implied that Portland
has had improper relationships
ever, Foreit said the clove cigarettes
can be just as harmful as bidis and
more traditional smokes.
"The clove releases chemicals that
act like an anesthetic," Foreit said.
"It makes it easier to hold [the tox
ins] in the lungs for a longer time."
It is still too early to tell whether
the ban in Chicago will have an ef
fect on the growing popularity of
bidis or even if other cities will fol
low. But ban or no ban, people of
ten find what they want no matter
what, and bidis are no exception.
The Internet holds several Web sites
for bidi vendors. With a credit card,
it's easy to get a pack.
UT's Academic Computing and
Instructional Technology Services
office said it made napstercom off
limits after it registered so much traf
fic that it became "detrimental" to
the entire campus network.
"My interest, my responsibility, is
making sure that the network infra
structure on the campus operates,
and is useful and usable by the
75.000 people that make up this
community," said Bill Bard, direc
tor of UT's Office of Telecommuni
cations Services and deputy director
of the office that monitors computer
usage.
While not as problematic at A&M,
music downloading is a concern. It
is heaviest in Aggie dormitories,
where high-speed Internet connec
tions are built into rooms, Putnam
said.
Putnam is frequently asked about
the university policy on music down
loads. His stock answer is the con
trolling authority is federal law, not
campus rules.
"If the FBI shows up at your door,
university policy is really irrelevant
if you've got a computer full of copy
righted software or copyrighted mu
sic," Putnam said.
The Recording Industry Associa
tion of America is in contact, seek-
ing to raise awareness about copy
right law or to alert the school if a
student is detected sharing pirated
music via the university's network,
Putnam said.
Using search engines, the associa
tion can easily find student Web sites
that offer pirated songs. When it
does, the association notifies the stu-
dents' universities, citing the new
federal Digital Millennium Copy
right Act.
"They file [notice] with us offi
cially and we have legal responsibil
ity to take down that site," Putnam
said. "We're trying to teach the stu
dents that they have liabilities . . .
and what they're doing is illegal."
The issue raises perplexing legal
questions, Putnam said.
"One of the really untested areas,
in terms of legal precedent," he said,
"is institutional liability for what a
student does with their own com
puter that happens to be located on
the campus."
with students.
"The individual's actions went
against training and Collegian
policy," editor Stacey Confer
wrote in a column apologizing for
he incident. "That staff member
has been disciplined and will no
longer be allowed to work for the
Collegian."