xt7rv11vhz2w https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7rv11vhz2w/data/mets.xml The Kentucky Kernel Kentucky -- Lexington The Kentucky Kernel 2006-01-31 Earlier Titles: Idea of University of Kentucky, The State College Cadet newspapers  English   Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Kentucky Kernel  The Kentucky Kernel, January 31, 2006 text The Kentucky Kernel, January 31, 2006 2006 2006-01-31 2020 true xt7rv11vhz2w section xt7rv11vhz2w SPORTS
THE

UK women's basketball soars into Top 25 for the
first time in 13 years BACK PAGE

i W OUR OPINIO

Student Government right to give students easy
avenue to spealr out on meal plan PAGE 4

 

Tuesday, January 3i. 2006

Celebrating 35 years of independence

www.lrykernel.com

After little response, UK stops touting grad contracts

By Wes Blevins
n: mm m

Midway through a “full-court
press" of its pilot program for gradu-
ation contracts, UK has made a deci-
sive shift in its approach —— opting
not to actively advertise the course
plans to incoming freshmen and cur-
rent students.

Instead, UK is now mainly rely-
ing on students to promote the pro
gram —— but some university advis—
ers doubt whether the program will

survive.

The graduation agreement guar-
antees students in 14 majors will
graduate in four years, provided they
follow the guidelines of their depart-
ment’s curriculum map. Each partic-
ipating program provides an eight-
semester course plan designed to en-
sure a diploma in four years.

If a prescribed course is unavail-
able, the university will pay the tu-
ition and fees associated with the
class, which will be taken in a future
semester.

Dueinlargeparttoalackof stu-
dent participation, the graduation
contract program isn’t where UK ex-
pects it to be, said Richard Greiss-
man, assistant provost for program
support. Out of roughly 1,000 stu-
dents in eligible majors in the fresh-
man class of 2004, 15 percent — or
150 students —- enlisted in the pro
gram, he said.

The deadline for current fresh-
men to register for this year is May 5,
provided that students have taken all
the proper courses thus far.

Cathy Hunt, an adviser and stu-
dent services director for the College
of Communications and Information
Studies, said her office hasn't re—
ceived any further information on
the program and said she isn’t sure
how much longer it will continue.

“We’ve heard nothing at all about
the graduation contract since the
2004-05 academic year ended,” she
said. “No university advisers were
asked to advertise it to incoming
freshmen for this year; no interest
sessions were held at the summer ad-

vising conferences.

“Nothing has happened at all.”

UK began an aggressive effort in
2004 to advertise the program
through the media, campus organi-
zations and mailings to incoming
students and their families, but the
university “didn’t get many takers,”
Hunt said.

“It wasn’t a lack of advertising, it
wacsl a lack of participation,” Hunt
sai .

Cindy Iten, director of advising

See Contracts on page 2

No university advisers were asked to advertise it to incoming freshmen for this
year nothing has happened at all.”

- Cathy Hunt, College of Communications adviser, on UK's graduation contract program.

 

The film “Munich” opens with the story of the 1972
Olympics. But Gary Conelly has his own version.

Tragic Games
can’t smk career

By Kaycee Brown
IHE KENTUCKY KERNEL

Growing up, Gary Conelly al-
ways believed the Olympics would
be the ultimate achievement of
his swimming career

He started as the best in Fres-
no, Calif., and then graduated to
grueling workouts under a leg-
endary college coach that helped
produce a conference champi-
onship and more than a dozen na-
tional honors.

“Ever since I started swim-
ming. I assumed I would go to the
Olympics,” he said.

Then terrorists
from the Palestinian
group Black Septem-
ber took 11 Israeli ath-
letes hostage in Mu-
nich, Germany, tainted
the event Conelly had
worked toward his en-
tire life.

“It was a very bit-
ter experience,” UK’s
swimming head coach
said. “Much more bit-
ter than sweet.

“I’ve talked to oth-
er friends and people I
know who were
Olympians, and 99 per-
cent of people who go through the
experience didn‘t get what they
want

But ultimately, Conelly could-
n’t turn his back on the pool —— a
decision no one regrets.

Thedoctor'shmlage

In Fresno, at the base of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, Conel-
ly tasted success early.

“Iwasusuallyinthetopwhen—
ever I competed because there
weren’t as many people to com-
pete against,” he said. “Because it
was such a tiny town, I received
lots of positive reinforcement,

plish it."

“I think what-
ever anyone
does, you get
the ultimate in
your head and
try to accom-

Gary Conelly

Ull swimming head coach

which made me want to continue
to do better.”

Conelly started swimming
competitively when he was 10
years old.

“I never took swim lessons,”
he said. “My older brother had
just started swimming, so I decid-
ed to start, too.”

From that point on, Conelly fo
cused on being the best.

“I think whatever anyone
does, you get the ultimate in your
head and try to accomplish it," he

said.

With the goal in mind, Conelly
attended Indiana Uni-
versity to learn from
legendary Hoosier
swim coach, James
"’Doc Counsilman.

“He had a way of
making you feel like
you were the most im-
portant guy on the
team,” Conelly said. “I
think a lot of the team
actually thought of
him as a father figure,
so we were all trying
very hard to live up to
his expectations and
gain his praise.”

Under Counsil-
man’s instruction,
Conelly became the conference
champion in the 200meter
freestyle in 1970 and earned either
All-American or Honorable Men-
tion in individual and relay events
more than a dozen times.

'l'hel9720lynplad

Indiana served as the spring-
board to even greater swimming
heights for Conelly In the summer
before his senior year, he swam in
the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

He led off the 800meter relay
and posted a time that would have
given him the bronze medal, had

See Conelly on page 2

UK head swimming coach Gary Conelly stands in front of a poster he received when he
competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Conelly swam the BOO-meter relay in the Olympics that summer before his senior year
of college. He ultimately earned either All-American or Honorable Mention in individ-
ual and relay events more than a dozen times.

 

loll-ml sun

 

High court
nominee set
for last vote

By Glenn Thrush
___¢___.
unison

WASHINGTON — Samuel Alito
is expected to be confirmed as the
Supreme Court’s 110th justice today
after an improvised, last-ditch fili-
buster attempt by Senate liberals
flopped yesterday.

By a larger-than-anticipated 72-25
margin, the Senate voted to end de-
bate on Alito, killing a quixotic cam-
paign mounted last week by Massa-
chusetts Sens. John Kerry and Ed-
ward Kennedy, both Democrats.

“This was a battle that needed to
be fought." said Kennedy, exiting the
Senate chamber after the results
were apparent.

New York Sens. Charles Schumer
and Hillary Rodham Clinton both
voted for the filibuster, even though
Schumer privately argued that such
a move would hurt Democratic can-
didates in this year‘s mid-term elec-
tions.

The liberals needed 40 votes to
block Alito, but failed to galvanize
fellow Democrats against Alito —
just as polls show their failure to
turn popular sentiment against him
during confirmation hearings. In the
end, 19 Democrats voted with 53
from the GOP majority.

Yesterday's cloture vote clears
the way for Alito‘s odds-on approval
today ~ just in time for President
Bush’s prime-time State of the
Union speech.

“I am pleased that a strong, bi-
partisan majority in the Senate deci-
sively rejected attempts to obstruct
and filibuster an up-or—down vote.“
Bush said in a statement Monday
night.

Filibuster proponents had pri-
vately predicted that they would lose
by a few votes. but they attracted few
party centrists, turning the vote into
a rout.

 

ABC journalists
slowly recovering

By Hatea Gold
in: ms moms nuts

NEW YORK ~ ABC News an-
chor Bob Woodruff and camera-
man Doug Vogt showed improve-
ment yesterday, a day after a road-
side explosion rocked their vehi-
cle as they traveled through Iraq,
spraying shrapnel that left them
both with severe head injuries.

The two journalists, who were
airlifted to a US. military medical
center in Landstuhl, Germany, on
Sunday night, remained in serious
but stable condition. ABC News
President David Westin said that
doctors there reported that the
two men showed signs of improve
ment, although Woodruff — who
sustained upper body injuries, as
well — had more extensive
wounds. Both could be transport-
ed to the United States for treat-
ment as soon as Tuesday.

"We have a long way to go,"
Westin said in a statement yester~
day. “But it appears that we may

’a. J" 2’...
ii .‘rg, n.

have also come some distance
from yesterday.”

Woodruff on Monday respond-
ed to stimuli on his hands and feet
and briefly opened his eyes, ABC
correspondent Jim Sciutto report-
ed on “World News Tonight." Vogt
was awake and joking, which
“gave us a chance to smile today,”
Sciutto said.

Vogt’s wife, Vivian, and
Woodruff’s wife, Lee, along with
his brother and sister-in-law, wait-
ed at Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center for updates about their
condition. They were joined by
Melanie Bloom, a close friend of
the Woodruff family and the wid-
ow of former NBC correspondent
David Bloom, who died in Iraq in
2003.

“Having seen him, we think
he’s going to recover eventually,”
Woodruff’s brother David told
ABC. “It's going to be a long road,
but I think he’s a strong guy and
he's going to make it.”

 

Revealing strip mining's consequences

UK lecturer jets to New

York to promote new book

8y Dariush Shafa
THE KENTUCKY KIM].

A lecturer in UK‘s English de-
partment is spearheading the fight
against a form of coal mining popu-
lar in Eastern Kentucky, in the hope
that his new book will help raise
people's awareness of mining and
fossil fuel practices.

Erik Reece first published an ar-
ticle in Harper’s Magazine in April
2005 entitled “Death of a Moun~
tain," which chronicled the story of
Lost Mountain near Hazard, Ky..
and the effects of mountaintop re
moval, a mining practice that in-
volves blasting off mountain tops
with explosives and bulldozing the
rubble into surrounding valleys.

Critics highlight pollution con-
cerns associated with this mining
method, as well as its aftereffects _.
which Reece said creates virtual
wastelands where mountains and
forest once were.

 

"I'm setting out to make this a
mainstream issue and to get urban
readers to pay attention." said Re
ece, who's taught at UK since 1999.

The book. “Lost Mountain: A
Year in the Vanishing Wilderness,"
is being published by Riverhead
Hardcover and will be released
Thursday Reece also won Columbia
University's John B. Oakes Award

for Distinguished Environmental
Journalism this week for that same
essay on mountaintop coal removal.

Reece said the book is an exten-
sion of his Harper‘s article. which
blossomed out of time spent in the
UKowned Robinson Forest. near
Hazard. with the UK Summer Eng~
lish Writing Program over the past
four years.

“I have such an affinity for
Robinson Forest that I had to write
about what‘s threatening it." he
said.

Reece also worked with students
and scientists at UK’s facilities in
the forest while working on the
book.

“I owe a lot of the information
in the book to all of the scientists
who participated in our program,
and to the students," he said. adding
that he wants the program to get a
boost from the book. “I hope that the
attention the book gets calls atten-
tion to the program because it's one
of the most innovative educational
experiences around."

Randall Roorda, an associate

Seekeeceonpagez

. . .I
h”

 

      
     
      
 
  
   
  
    
     
 
    
   
    
   
    
   
     
  
   
    
    
   
  
     
      
       
   
     
    
    
  
   
         
  
  
   
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
   
  
  
 
   
 
   

PAS! 2 | Iuesday, Jan. 31, 2006

  

 

 

Contracts

Continued from page I

 

in the College of Arts and Sci-
ences, said it seemed as far as
students were concerned,
there wasn’t a need for the
agreement.

“It didn’t mean anything
to them,” lten said.

Initial plans called for an
expansion of participating
majors beyond the original 14,
but Interim Provost Scott
Smith decided to' hold that
number steady After UK’s
new permanent provost,
Kumble Subbaswamy, takes
office July 1, he will decide
whether to increase the num-
ber of majors that participate
in the contract program.

A group of UK students
advocated the idea in 2002,
modeled after a similar pro
gram in place at the Universi-
ty of Iowa.

Greissman said universi-
ties that have been successful
in developing graduation con-
tract agreements automatical-
ly enroll students in the pro
grams. But when UK started
its program in the fall of 2004,

 

sion about whether to enroll
or not.

“One hundred percent
participation is not meaning-
ful if students aren’t in-
formed about the program,”
he said.

After the “first-year full-
court press" of advertising,
Greissman said administra-
tors decided not to take the
same aggressive push in 2005.

“I felt our best shot at
reaching a student was
through his or her adviser,”
Greissman said.

Considering the under-
whelming results of the pro
gram thus far, Greissman said
it was unclear what else UK
could do. As an alternative, he
said he wants to see student
organizations take the lead in
advertising the program.

The future success of the
program depends on finding
more effective ways to encour-
age students to participate,
since they were the ones to
push its inception in the first
place, Greissman said.

“The thing that makes me
proud is it was developed
with the help and initiative of
students.” he said.

“It's up to students to take
the lead in advertising the

 

he wanted to take a different program to freshmen." .
approach by allowing stu- E-mazl
dents to make their own deci- newsmlkykemelcom
Participating Majors

I Agricultural Economics I Dietetics

I Art History I History

I Art Studio I Journalism

' BIOIOGY . I Mechanical Engineering

I Civil Engineering
I Communications Disorders

I Decision Science and
Information Studies

 

I Nursing
I Psychology
I Social Work

 

 

 

 

Continued from page i

he been swimming in an individual
Olympic event. Since he was not eligible
to swim in an individual event, it only
mattered how the team did in the relay

“It would be easy to be bitter about
the experience, but in life that was only a
breath,” Conelly said.

Although he didn’t come home with
a medal, Conelly said the best part was
being in the Olympic Village with people
from all over the world.

“There was such a camaraderie. We
gave each other Olympic 1972 pins from
our countries. It made you feel really
good, like it was the whole point of (the
Olympics), not just what you see on TV,’

Conelly said.
But Black September, a Palestinian
terrorist organization. turned the

Olympics into a tense, 23-hour spectacle
the world watched unfold on television.

On Sept. 5, Conelly, along with most
of his teammates, returned from an all-
day swimming exhibition to find team-
mate Mark Spitz, who won seven gold
medals for America, with bodyguards.
Eleven Israeli athletes had been taken
hostage, and Spitz, a Jew, didn’t rule
himself out as a possible target.

“When we came back, there were sol-
diers and armored vehicles all over the
place,” Conelly said. “We were really
kept in the dark about what was going
on.

“Initially, we were told that the Is-
raelis escaped and the terrorists were
captured,” Conelly said. “We didn’t learn
about the disaster at the helicopters
(where the hostages were killedluntil
much later." ,

After such a traumatic event, Conel-
ly’s desire waned after he had worked so
hard to get to this pinnacle in his life.

“The impact was dramatic," Conelly
said. “It was very depressing and
seemed even more so since there had
been this great feeling of connectedness
and community and goodwill only a few
days before. Typically, everybody would

    

 

 

 

congregate in the middle of the village,
but none of that was going on.

“It made me want to go home and get
away from all the bad feelings.”

Conellythecoach

Even after a bitter Olympic experi-
ence, Conelly stuck with the pool.

“Once I finished school, I started
helping Doc coach at IU, leading me to
coach for 32 years," he said.

After he graduated with his master’s
in English from Indiana and swimming
jobs in Spain, South Carolina and Flori-
da, Conelly came to UK in 1991. In the 15
years since, his teams have won five con—
ference championships.

“He was a really cool guy and
seemed really knowledgeable about the
sport, so he was a big reason why I came
over here,” said team captain and All-
American swimmer Steven Manley, who
emigrated from Ireland to swim for UK.

Fellow captain and All-American
swimmer Daniel Farnham agreed.

“He pushes you, but he also has a
sense of humor and keeps practice fun

 

m Inna-Is | mrr
UK swimming head coach Gary Conelly watches his swimmers practice yesterday at the Lancast-
er Aquatic Center.

and entertaining.” he said. “He’s a real
down-toearth guy. He’s really easy to
talk to." ,

Manley said Conelly’s unique style
makes competitive swimming more en-
joyable.

“He has a way of motivating people
that’s not a traditional way of coaching,”
Manley said. “It‘s a more relaxed style.
He brings the best out in his athletes.”

Conelly’s Olympic experience, a goal
he worked toward his entire childhood,
was marred by terrorism.

But the UK coach has moved on, im-
mersing himself in his work. He says be
ing an active participant in the lives of
young swimmers is the reward the
Games didn’t deliver.

“From the times when they’re ram-
bunctious as freshmen ... to see them lat—
er become more aggressive about swim-
ming,” Conelly said. is the best part of
his job.

“Watching them grow up _ it’s excit~
ing to see them go through that transi-
tion."

E-mail sportsw kykernelcom

 

Reece.

him. He kept at it and he worked at

it.”
Reece said he also

 

Continued from page 1

professor of English, directs the
Summer Environmental Writing
Program and was with Reece when
he first went to Robinson Forest.
“When Erik got there, he had a
chance to see the devastation surface
(strip) mining had wrought and to
say the least, he was taken aback,“
Roorda said. “I'd say once he started

wants the book to have a
larger and more wide-
spread impact.

“The short-term hope
is that people will start
conserving energy and
join the fight against
mountaintop removal,“
Reece said. “The long-
term hope is that we will
wean ourselves off coal

work on this, it totally preoccupied gy.

“I'm setting .
out to make
this a main-
stream issue."

and move toward alternative ener-

Erik Reece

UK lecturer and author

Reece‘s book also takes an in-
depth look at people in
coal country and how
they have been negatively
affected by the mining,
along with some back-
ground information.
“There’s going be a lot
more profiles of people
who are living around the
strip mines and having a
tough time," he said.
Roorda said the work
Reece is doing not only
makes people at the university
proud. but also demonstrates what

people can be capable of.

means to make a difference.”

Roorda said Reece has captured a

special opportunity.

3 difference. He’s an exemplar"

“I am, of course, tremendously
proud of him,” Roorda said. “Erik is
showing a lot of people in the depart-
ment and in the university what it

“Not many of us end up working
on projects of such moment," Roorda
said. “This is an instance of some-
one who has prepared himself and
found a situation where he can make

Reece maintains the book is ulti-
mately about Kentuckians and for

them to draw attention to the situa-
tion.

“I‘m fighting for the land. the peo
ple, the people‘s children. I'm fight-
ing for the health of the environ-
ment,” he said. “People’s health is di-
rectly related to the health of the en-
vironment. Too often, environmen-
talists get marginalized."

Reece. who is heading to New
York City to promote his book today,
said he‘s glad for the opportunity to
get the word out.

“I feel like I’m on the right side of
the fight."

E-maz'l d9hafamkykernelwm

 

 

 

 

to Clint

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IIIIW IEIISIIIII

Mill Hill 2006

 

 

 

 

O

 

Want to be apart of one of
lJK's most popular campus mom?

   
   

If you have any questions

contact SAB at 859-257-8867
Ask for Grace Hahn or Laurie Schick!

studentactivitiesboa rd

is now accepting
applications for

2006 Homecoming Chairs.

Applications can be found
at 203 Student Center or
visit us online at

munching

AP. . Elisations are due

 

 

  

' .s’f-x
A-i .fis
s .- «t

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Doug Scott

Tuesday Features Editor

Jan. 31, 2006 Phone: zsr-ms
PM! 3 E-mail: dscottOlrylternelcom

 

TECHCHECK I not just for geeks
‘Free' Web space a no-brainer for students

There’s a little secret among campus
techies, and that’s flee Web space.

UK offers use of a server to all stu-
dents called SWEB,
the student Web serv-
er. UK offers 500 MB of
storage space on
SWEB, and your own
personal Web site.
This, of course, is in
addition to the U-Con-
nect locker and email
services, and is com-

 

Roggf pletely free.

eh“. SWEB, located at
_ http://sweb.uky.edu, is
rtcn coLuuiust

a cuttingedge Apple
Xserve running all the
latest software, which means it can han-
dle anything you throw at it with
thoughts to spare.

To get started on SWEB, you need to
create an account using the university’s
Account Manager, located at
http://iweb.uky.edu/uams. You can re-
quest a new account here using your stu-
dent ID and personal access code, and in

anywhere from five minutes to an hour.
you should be ready to go on SWEB.

With the switch to Active Directory
last year, the SWEB server now authenti-
cates with the campus account server, so
your username and password are the
same as your U-Connect username and
password.

The student Web server offers a basic
Web file manager, which is sufficient for
anyone used to the U-Connect Locker ser-
vice. Personally, I think the SWEB inter-
face is a lot cleaner.

When you log in, there will be a
“’www’ folder in your account. Anything
you put in this folder will be viewable by
the entire world. Now, if you want to
share “mytermpaperdoc” with 6 billion
people, you can just drop it in the “”www
folder, and access it anywhere by point-
ing . an Internet browser to
http2/ /sweb.uky.edu/ ~ yourusername/m
ytermpaperdoc. Try it yourself - you
can download this article at
http://sweb.ukyedu/~rgchuiZ/20060131d
oc!

Of course. if you don’t want to let the

 

world see your files, you can simply stuff
it elsewhere.

What’s great about SWEB for the
computer-savvy is that it offers secure
shell access, meaning those not happy
with the Web interface can take more di-
rect control of their files. Secure shell, or
SSH, is also more secure for both the
server and users because all transfers
are encrypted. More advanced users can
also use secure shell to create secure
“tunnels" through the Internet.

As far as I’m aware, SWEB offers
more student space than any other pub-
lic server on campus and is usable by
people from anywhere with basic point-
and~click knowledge of computers to
more advanced console hot-doggers.
Since part of your ever'increasing tu-
ition money is going toward this service.
you might as well get your money’s
worth.

E-mail
featuresWrykerneLcom

 

By Charlie Denison
mm m came

The Lexington Art League certainly
knows how to start the year off right.

After the opening of the 2006 Nude
International on the second Friday of
the year, the Fourth Friday celebration
was just as stirring. A line stood wait-
ing from outside. In all, more than 600
gathered to see the art, the studios, hear
the music and mingle amongst the
artists and supporters.

“January’s Fourth Friday is always
big,” said Dan Burns, a glass artist.
“They’re almost as big as the Halloween
Fourth PYidays.”

Burns, a volunteer for the art
league, was taking out trash and doing
dirty work Friday. But he was in high
spirits and enthused to be a part of the
event.

Other volunteers had similar joyful
attitudes about the evening.

“I love supporting this community,”
said Deborah Knittel, a retired English
and drama teacher. “It makes it even
more exciting when the turnout is so
encouraging.”

"Fourth Friday’ a hit with

Knittel’s job Friday was to recruit
members to the art league. For students.
the membership charge was down from
$25 to $15. By the end of the night, 50
new members were recruited.

In the basement of the Loudon
House, studios were open. Tiffany Fin-
ley, a good friend of art league special
events coordinator and artist Marin
Fiske, volunteered to stay in Fiske and
Kandace Tatum's studio.

“I‘m not an artist, I’m a supporter,"
said Finley, who pointed out some of
her favorite pieces of Fiske‘s. “She’s
very creative. She even used dead bees
she found in her garage in one piece.“
The basement had another spectacle. es-
pecially for swimmers, in the Project
Space, a newly formed exhibition space
at the art league. The area was occupied
by the former swimmer and lifeguard
Ray Neufeld‘s constructed video of a
swimming pool. that is. according to the
art league Web site, “engaging. chal-
lenging. and experimental in both con-
ception and execution.” With your
shoes off, slowly walk around on the
mat and simply imagine.

local artists

Among all the volunteers and artists
there were students, some of whom
were aspiring artists.

“You can’t go wrong here." said art
studio senior Talena Sanders. “I mean.
there are naked people."

With the Nude International paint-
ings and sculptures the nudity could not
be ignored. Sculptures like Everett
Cox's “Bourges-Buttress Figure One”
stimulated conversation. It portrays a
woman —- her back bent A thrusting
her pelvis forward.

“It's been a real experience,“ said
Richard Becker. a freshman and candi-
date for Student Government Senate. "1
even got to meet Gatewood Galbraith.“

“We really just want to give our com-
munity the best of everything." said
Fiske.

On Friday night, the art league
community did not need anything more
~~ 2006 is off to a roaring start for the
art league as the member count steadily
approaches 800, and the year has only
just begun.

E-mail
featuresurkykernelrom

 

Rappers are

By Curtis Stephen
srtcuu to my

NEW YORK — His name is Paul Slay-
ton, better known as the Houston-based
rapper Paul Wall. And these days, it‘s
hard for him not to spontaneously grin,
revealing some $25,000 worth of jewelry
on his teeth — a fact he likens to having
a disco ball inside his mouth.

After all, his collaboration with rap
superstar Nelly on the song “Grillz,” an
ode to platinum- and diamondencrusted
teeth, is the No. 1 song on the Billboard
charts this week as fans nationwide race
to their local jewelers for some dental
glitter of their own.

“It’s been incredible,” says Wall, 24,
whose latest album, “The People’s
Champ," was released last fall. “lt’s excit-
ing to see how grills has taken off. I defi-
nitely see more people saying how much
they love i

The grills phenomenon has a long
history. Once crafted solely for corrective
dental procedures such as crowns and
fillings, gold-capped teeth — also called
“from ” — slowly became chic in the late
19708. By the early ‘80s, as hiphop be-
came mainstream, stars such as the late
Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC and rap
pers LL Cool J and Roxanne Shante took
gold to new stylistic heights.

Yet it was the British-born and
Brunt-reared rapper Slick Rick, revered
for witty rhymes and eyedazzling jewels
ry, who is credited with creating early de
mand for grills.

all smiles going for grills

“They weren’t all pimps, but I‘d see
guys on the street who dressed really
flashy. I remember seeing one guy who
had a ruby in his mouth," Slick Rick
says. “Growing up, I just tried to blend
their style with mine."

Once southern rap emerged in the
late ‘905 and gave rise to everyone from
Juvenile to Lil’ Jon & The East Side
Boyz, jewelry-coated teeth have become
as enduring a symbol in hiphop as rope
chains and Kangols.

“Pamela Anderson, Ashton Kutcher
and Elton John can wear all the bling
they want, but there‘s one place they‘ll
never go. They won‘t get fronts because
it’s one of the last things that hiphop is
keeping for itself," says Minya Oh, a ra-
dio personality also known as Miss Info
and author of “Bling Bling: Hip Hop’s
Crown Jewels." “People don’t want rap-
pers to look like everyone else walking
down the street - they want them to
look like royalty.”

Urban jewelers and such Web sites as
gangstagoldcom are overwhelmed try-
ing to keep pace.

“It’s been crazy. People are asking for
grills with multicolored gold and dia-
monds that stretch out to eight teeth."
says Rudy “Freeze” Athouriste. owner of
Daed Jewelers in Miami. “A lot of people
are trying to incorporate this into their
budget. And with tax time and refunds
coming up, just imagine what’s about to
happen.“ says Freeze. who has been de-
signing grills for seven years.

'Ib produce the fronts, jewelers use a

waxy substance to create a dental im-
pression. which is then coated with addi-
tional chemical solutions and left for 30
minutes to harden. The metal is then do
signed to the customer’s taste. The New
York State Dental Association recom-
mends that any work involving a dental
procedure be done by a licensed profes-
sional.

“If we're just talking about some-
thing that fits and isn't worn all the time.
then that’s OK,“ says Dr. Matthew Messi-
na. a spokesman for the American Den»
tal Association. “But if it‘s worn for long
intervals, there's a serious risk for tooth
decay.“

Despite its surging popularity, critics
say grills are yet another example of hip-
hop‘s maddening obsession with bling.
Rappers such as Chuck D and Talib
Kweli, however, rail against the use of
“conflict diamonds“ culled from mines
in African war zones. When asked about
the controversy over grills. Wall says.
“You can spend $200 or $50 for tennis
shoes 777 it‘s about what you can afford.“

Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. author and vet-
eran hiphop journalist. says the indus-
try‘s fascination with avarice should be
viewed in a broader context.

“Most rappers are young men from
fairly tough circumstances who dreamed
of matching the materialism they saw in
captains of industry like Donald
Trump.“ Hinds says. “We need to do a
better job at promoting what financial
empowerment really means."

THE KERNEL ONLINE EDITION

www.kykernel.com
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