T-shirt creator defends political message
John Foster-Keddie swaps "Voting is for
old people" shirts for proof of youth votes
BY DAHVI FISCHER
PULSE REPORTER
Elections are just around the cor
ner. For Democrats, Republicans and
others, voting season stirs up debate
and controversy. In some situations,
though, it is not a matter of political
stance that has been the topic of
heated debate, but rather an article
of clothing.
Some may recall the infamous
T-shirts made by VintageVantage,
which were taken off the racks at Ur
ban Outfitters clothing store in Febru
ary. The shirts, which boldly stated
“Voting is for Old People,” took heat
from college students and adults alike.
“This shirt’s real intention is to
sum up the current state of political
affairs, pointing a finger at all who
have been so apathetic in the past,”
25-year-old creator of the shirt John
Foster-Keddie said.
Foster-Keddie, a Yale graduate who
started his own T-shirt business in
summer 2001, the year after he gradu
ated college, has decided to combat
the controversy. Because it was never
his intention to discourage young peo
ple from voting, Foster-Keddie provid
ed an offer on his Web site, www.vin
tagevantage.com, to send anyone a
free “Voting is for Old People” T-shirt
if they promised to wear it on voting
day, take a photograph of themselves
wearing it while voting and then send
a picture to the company. Foster-Ked
die plans to post the photographs on
his Web site and may put them all into
a book to be published in the future.
After around 600 free shirts had
been sent out, the company started
charging $9.50 per shirt to cover ship
ping and handling because giving
away so many T-shirts for free was
causing VintageVantage to lose a sig
nificant amount of money. The shirts
originally cost $18.99 (not including
shipping and handling). With the new
price tag, Foster-Keddie said his com
pany is not making any money but is
at least not losing any more of it.
Unlike the negative response Foster
Keddie received in regards to his initial
release of the “Voting” T-shirts, he
seems to be receiving a much more
pleasant response to his latest course
of action.
“The response has been huge.
We’ve sent out close to 1,000 shirts at
this point. People love the idea. It’s a
random, fun thing to do at the polls,
and who doesn’t like free stuff?” Fos
ter-Keddie said.
University interior architecture ma
jor Lena Hawthorne, said the new T
shirt idea is a bright one. Hawthorne
said she could see how the T-shirts
originally confused people, but she be
lieves Foster-Keddie’s new idea is a
good way to smooth over the problem
and get across what he had aimed to
in the first place.
“Since people have taken the shirt
the wrong way, I think the idea to have
people wear the shirt at the polls is a
good way for him to prove the point he
was trying to make in the first place,”
Hawthorne said.
University international studies
major Seth Davis also sees where Fos
ter-Keddie is coming from.
“The shirt is intended to get young
people to vote. Obviously, nobody re
ally thinks that only old people should
vote,” Davis said. “The shirt is not real
ly encouraging young peoples’ voter
apathy, but it is pointing out the voter
apathy that does exist in younger gen
erations that needs to be addressed.”
Despite the publicity and discussion
the “Voting” T-shirt caused, and all of
the heat Foster-Keddie, his company
and Urban Outfitters took for provid
ing them, Foster-Keddie is not going to
be more cautious about the T-shirts he
will produce in the future.
“We definitely haven't changed at
all. We’re constantly looking for ideas
that are witty, irreverent and that
make people think. That’s what the
voting shirt was all about, and that’s
what our shirts have continued to be
about,” Foster-Keddie said.
dahvifischer@ daily emerald, com
Zapp: positive energy keeps *
participants coming back
Continued from page 9
schedule. During the school year,
dancers rehearse about six hours per
week and perform locally; when
summer starts, practice time increas
es to around 30 hours per week to
prepare for a season of touring.
Tours have taken ZAPP members
to Hawaii, England and around the
United States, and next summer,
they hope to travel even farther — to
Italy or the Czech Republic. Zreliak
said ZAPP’s two trips to Hawaii the
past two summers required disci
pline in order to keep the dancers
out of vacation
mode.
“To keep
them focused,
we got them up
at 6 a.m. every
day and hiked
up Diamond
Head crater and
back,” she said.
Other tour
experiences in
elude performing with a live ska
band in England, a late-night swing
show in New York City and a water
front performance in Tennessee in
front of thousands, which Graduate
ZAPP dancer Eileen Beringer cites as
one of her favorite memories.
“That was the most people I have
ever performed in front of,” Beringer
said. “That’s when I knew that I'm
in this company that is
just amazing.”
Beringer, an 11-year
veteran of ZAPP and in
structor at On Your Toes
School of Dance, said
the passion of company
members has grown
over the years, as well
as the team’s unity and
talent.
It used to be just an after-school
activity, and now you’re here pour
ing out your soul and being with
these people and trying to get better,
and it’s happening,” she said.
“Every year the movement gets
more energetic. You just have a blast
with these people in the audience
watching you, and you’re not un
comfortable because you have peo
ple next to you on stage working just
as hard as you are.”
The idea of a unified company is
what ZAPP Assistant Director
Cheryl Lemmer describes as its cen
tral philosophy. While ZAPP has
participated in competitions in the
past, Lemmer said it has abandoned
competing in order to become
stronger as a group.
“We believe in the company and
being good people and good
dancers, and competing doesn’t al
ways encourage that,” she said.
“You don’t dance well because you
want a trophy; you dance well be
cause you love it.”
“It used to be just an
after-school activity, and now
you’re here pouring out your
soul and being with these
people and trying to get bet
ter, and it’s happening. ’’
Eileen Beringer | ZAPP dancer
B e r i n g e r
added that
competition
within the com
pany itself is
absent, which
has created a
welcoming en
vironment for
dancers.
“The reason
people keep
coming back is
the positive feedback and way of
teaching from Cindy and Cheryl,”
she said. “It’s a family atmosphere.
We’re not trying to get better than the
person next to us, we’re all looking to
learn and get better as one, as op
posed to, ‘let’s fight.’”
Both Zreliak and Lemmer said
that their goal for ZAPP is to have it
recognized as a professional touring
SURGE DANCE
When: Oct 16, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 17, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Hult Center
Cost: $15
Style: Urban and hip-hop
Hurt ticket office: 682-5000
company. Current
ly, dancers are un
paid and rely on
fund-raising and
their own money
to pay for tours.
Lemmer said the
first step to
achieve this goal is
to obtain more
funding from do
nations and grants.
At the moment, ZAPP is rehears
ing for their upcoming show,
S.U.R.G.E. (Strictly Urban Rhythms
Generate Excitement), which will
take place at the Hult Center for the
Performing Arts on Oct. 16 at 7:30
p.m. and Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. Lem
mer said the show will feature high
energy, urban dancing to hip-hop
and rap tunes.
natchilingerian@ daily emerald, com
A campus tradition—over 100 years of publication.
Murphey: No Slytherins allowed, please
Continued from page 9
Northwesterners who drink cheap
beer are another group that makes me
very nervous. As a California trans
plant, I can’t possibly express how de
lighted I was to live in an area with so
many good breweries. However, I
quickly became horrified by the
amount of PBR, Natural Ice and Mil
waukee’s Best consumed by bar pa
trons in lieu of the delicious stouts,
IPAs and porters that don’t cost much
more. This may be excusable in any
other part of the country, but here it is
like drinking Franzia on a trip to Italy.
People who would drink cheap beer
in the Northwest are worse than peo
pie with poor judgment or bad taste;
they are people who consciously
choose an inferior product. This could
very well be a major contributor to
the fact that our choice in the upcom
ing presidential election is between
boring and stupid.
Finally, 1 strongly believe that Tom
Felton, otherwise known as the ac
tor who played Draco Malfoy in the
“Harry Potter” movies, should be re
stricted from participating in any
American elections. I realize that
Malfoy is a “fictional character,” but
how could anyone so convincingly
play a character as calculating and
snotty as Malfoy without being pure
evil in real life? I also realize that
Tom Felton is not a citizen of the
United States and therefore would
not be able to participate in any
American elections anyway, but you
never know with those Slytherins.
Please take the time to consider
my plea, and join me in a campaign
that I believe will help restore in
tegrity to the democratic voting sys
tem and possibly save the United
States from collapsing under the
weight of the poorly educated and
unnaturally obese masses. 1 also
want to remind you that if you dis
agree with any of this, it means that
you’re wrong.
ryanmurphey@dailyemerald.com
02026/
Commuiity
Center far the
Performing Arts
8th &
Lincoln
. Tonight •
lasonWebley
Singer-Songwriter
8:oo pm, $8 door
. Friday •
"KickAss Manifest”:
In the Name of Cod,
Severed, StopStynGo,
The Enola Gays, Under Enuff
Heavy Metal
7:00 pm, $5 door
. Saturday.
Sabjilar
Khakass Throat Singers
8:00 pm, $12 advance, $14 door
. Monday.
Buck 65
wilim Bianco
Hip-Hop
8:00 pm, $10 advance, $10 door
- Wed & Thurs, Oct. 13 & 14 •
TechNyne,
Project Deadman,
Skatterman£Snu?Brim,
Kutt Calhoun,
BijKrinKaliko
Hip-Hop
7:00 pm, $18 advance, $22 door
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