Student questions hairstyle remark

I initially enjoyed the article about Rodney Smith in the Feb. 23 issue of the Exponent and as I was reading the article, I felt the need to commend you all for presenting an interesting aspect about a basketball team member. The fact that he is a poet and singer is good to share with Exponent readers. The author was doing well until he stated that "before the second of four games, Smith changed his hairstyle from a normal hairdo to corn rows, but he said it wasn't symbolic of anything; he just liked the look."

Now I feel the need to express disapproval of the obviously poor word choice and lack of thought put into that statement. I want to ask Paul Trembacki to define "normal," and I would like to know why the question of his hairstyle even became a subject of discussion. As a minority at this institution, I am well aware that your sense of normality is probably equivalent to what you see every day, but that does not justify you making discreet assumptions about what a normal hairstyle is. So are you saying that his corn rows are abnormal?

Mr. Trembacki, look at what is normal to other people, and you will see that his corn rows are as normal as your crew cut (or whatever hairstyle you wear). I find Rodney's corn rows to be very normal, and I am highly offended when someone implies that something that deviates from their everyday, limited views on hairstyles is abnormal. The world is much bigger than West Lafayette so you should open your eyes, expand your mind and choose your words a little more carefully.

Menthia Clark

graduate student