HOLIDAY BRIEFS
Free relationship checkups
available this week
The College of Education is offer
ing free relationship counseling
from noon to 8 p.m. on Feb. 12, 13
and 14 at the Center for Family
Therapy, located at 720 E. 13th Ave.,
Suite 304.
The private sessions last up to one
hour and are intended to help cou
ples discuss strengths and areas for
growth, according to promotional
materials for the event.
The Center for Family Therapy is
staffed with graduate interns from
the College of Education's Marriage
and Family Therapy program.
To schedule an appointment, call
the Center for Family Therapy at
346-3296. Walk-ins are welcome.
Romantic comedies
now showing in EMU
The International Resource Center is
presenting a winter movie series enti
tled "Romantic Comedies." The series
began on Jan. 9, and movies will be
shown every Friday at 7 p.m. through
March 12. This week's movie, "Chun
hyang," is a rendition of a folk tale of
two lovers separated by class, and it will
be shown in Korean.
The movies are shown in lan
guages including Danish, German,
Mandarin and Hebrew. All showings
are free, and popcorn is included.
The IRC is located above the post
Tim Kupsick Freelance Photographer
International Student Association intern
Remi Nagata, left, and public relations
officer Georgia Mu hang a sign on the EMU
on Monday advertising an ISA dance.
office in the EMU.
Valentine's dance
to be held on campus
The International Student Associ
ation is hosting a Valentine's Day
dance on Feb. 13 from 9 p.m. to
midnight at Riley Hall. The music
selection will range from dance hits
to more "romantic" slow tunes. A
University identification is required
for this free event.
—Jennifer Sudick
NEUMAN
continued from page 10B
expect it?
The problem is all pressure. You
can try and fight Valentine's Day by
swearing off the gifts, but on the
14th, even the strongest break down
and buy a valentine. However, I have
hope for the future that with the aid
of this soapbox we might shake this
holiday once and for all. You may
laugh, but it has happened before
(remember Columbus Day?) and it
can happen again.
Today, I am declaring our inde
pendence from Valentine's Day and
the newly documented psychological
disorder Post-Romantic Stress Disor
der (or PRSD).
For those of you who haven't heard,
PRSD is a tragic disease characterized by
palm-sweating nervousness, mass con
sumption of chocolates, flashes of red
and pink in the peripheral vision, and
the compulsion to make dinner reser
vations. What I am getting at is that we
have rights.
First and foremost, we have the
right to ignore Hallmark. Any compa
ny that sells you dancing snowmen
one month and useless kissing bear
figurines the next must have an
ulterior motive (I'm betting they also
own the company that makes those
cardboard boxes you shove into your
attic filled with seasonal crap). A card,
no matter how nice of a card, is still a
poor excuse for true sentiment.
We have the right to avoid pink.
Some people love pink; it looks
good on them, it's stylish and it
makes them look tan. I don't care.
Pink should not be worn on Valen
tine's Day — it's garish and simple
minded. You're not in second grade
anymore. It's time to put away those
cutesy outfits. The same goes for
those orange-and-black witch socks
you pull out on Halloween, but
that's a different column.
We have the right to eat normal
priced food on Valentine's Day. Just
because you waited three hours for a
$ 15 dinner plate at Beppe & Gianni's
Trattoria does not mean that you had
a good time. Price does not always
equal romance.
And finally, we have the right to feel
loved without vesting a certain day
with phony romantic overtones —
come this Valentine's Day, if you have
a valentine, just let them know that
they are loved and maybe get them a
box of those chalky heart candies.
Nuff said.
Steven Neuman is alreelance
reporter for the Emerald.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
SHAKRA
continued from page 10B
division that has gotten the human
race into this predicament we're in,
with our dropping bombs and spy
ing, with pornography, prostitution
and rape still commonplace. Our so
ciety's concept of "love" too fre
quently revolves around the objecti
fication of another. This is
unhealthy; it promotes a disconnect
and allows for dominance over an
other because after all, we don't love
them. What we pay attention to de
termines what we ignore. All the
more extreme with love. We love this
but not that. This dominance is not
love; it's a fashion.
Still, lonely on Valentine's Day is
a tough place to be. Having been
there before, probably having a
thought literally along the lines of,
"A Valentine's Day without someone
,to jcover with kisses?" I can say it's
y . : tjvr ,V>AVO \ < «;'•
difficult. However, this problem be
gins to dissolve when we start to love
all beings, living and non-living, un
conditionally. In the past, I have fall
en under the spell of many of the
previous notions of love I just men
tioned. Therefore, it is actually quite
difficult to be able to say "I love un
conditionally." But this is what I'm
trying for.
Let's sow our seeds for peace on
this Valentine's Day, and keep re
membering the simple things. If we
can eat, breathe and sleep comfort
ably, this is more than large por
tions of the world have. So let's stop
focusing on the definition and the
labels, and start cultivating a care
and respect for our bodies and
minds, and a mindfulness for all life
in our actions.
Contact the Pulse editor
at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
InternattovuvLStudent Association/
prei&nty.
no date? wfio saidyoi i needed one?
Ivxfbrm&tuovx/
hen: 9:00_pm to 12:00 am
Where* Kdey HatbCl lth£rPattericms)
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