Every man in America, when the topic of female menstruation comes up, goes “nananana.” A guy friend of mine blocks his ears. He almost blushes just because I have mentioned the word “period” sitting in a public coffee shop. He could not believe I would write about the topic. That fact alone made me more adamant. Why is it not OK to talk about? Why must we, as young women, always be clean, groomed and almost totally hairless? Girls and women in many developing countries do not go to school or work when on their periods. Many of them can’t because they simply cannot afford the cost of sanitary supplies. The impact on development if females subsequently cannot attend school or are fired, which is a common happening, is massive./Bethany Breeze, UIdaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: I’ll simply repeat Bethany’s question: “Why must … young women always  be clean, groomed, & almost totally hairless?” Do we have unfair expectations of women?

Ron Howard’s decision to leave Vince Vaughn’s gay joke in “The Dilemma” is inexcusable. The joke first started gaining notice when it was referenced in trailers promoting the movie. The full line from the movie is, “Electric cars are gay. I mean, not homosexual gay, but my-parents-are-chaperoning-the-dance gay.” Howard and Vaughn are taking inanimate objects and giving them values associated with a group of people. They are saying, “Electric cars are like whatever your thoughts are about gay people.” They are also saying, “Electric cars are like that gay guy you know.” Really? Are electric cars just like all the other cars except they enjoy the companionship of same-sex electric cars?/Robert J. Taylor, University of Idaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: Does columnist Taylor have a legitimate beef re: use of the word “gay” to describe electric cars??

How much do you love seeing a college woman hocking a huge green spitball of mucus on to the ground? Not very much, I hope. With that image in your head, it may be harder to take a dip in public the next time you have a hankering. There is a time and place for chewing tobacco, unfortunately. There shouldn’t be, but if you choose to take a dip while hanging with your friends, that’s OK as long as I don’t have to see it. But when someone thinks it is real slick to pop in a chew before class, and then bring a water bottle to spit it in — a clear one even — that’s too far. Way too far. No one wants to see you spit brown stinky residue into a clear water bottle. Just because you have something to spit it in does not make it appropriate, and because the water bottle is clear, we can all witness the action/Dara Barney, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do you chew? Or go with girls that do?

While to the older population the word “boobies” might seem insensitive or disrespectful, the word has a young vibe, making it easy for teens to relate and respond to the intended message. There is nothing wrong with high school students showing support for a cause, especially one that affects so many people. Any principal who believes a wristband with the word “boobies” on it is the worst obscenity issue within their student population is sorely mistaken and a little out of touch, whether they know it or not/Layout3, UI Argonaut. More here.

• Cutline: Laramie Junior High School ninth-grader Kollin West poses wearing a “I (heart) boobies” bracelet in Laramie, Wyo. School officials objected to the bracelet, which is meant to raise breast cancer awareness, and ordered West to wear it inside-out because they considered the bracelet’s wording inappropriate. (AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)

Question: If there’s such a disconnect between young and old re: the “I Love Boobies” slogan, is it an effective one for breast cancer awareness?

But, falling for a guy after a party, dating for a few weeks and becoming completely infatuated is not my idea of love. Classic case: Significant other is fallen for, priorities become messed up because every waking minute “needs” to be spent with them and teenage hormones kick in. But then guess what? You get sick of spending every second with each other, and the inevitable break-up comes. Then all you’re left with are bad grades, an empty wallet after all those dates because it wasn’t “romantic” enough to stay home and maybe a bad taste in your mouth after all that making out — or a cold sore. How can someone become so infatuated with another person that fast?/Dara Barney, University of Idaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do you mind seeing public displays of affection?

Writing for Off The Cuff (a University of Idaho column), Tanya says: “Saturday night I said goodbye to my career as a waitress. Now that I am no longer a member of the serving community, I would like to request a few things from the public. Please tip your server 20 percent since 10 percent is what they were tipped in 1980, do not say you are ready to order unless you really are, if you know you will need 15 cups of extra ranch then please give your server a heads-up, and remember servers are human too, and make mistakes sometimes.”

Question: Have you ever served as a waiter or waitress? What would you like to say to the dining public?

Also at the University of Idaho Argonaut, Illya Pinchuk laments that computer generated imagery is killing the movies: “Summer was a bad time for movies this year. Between ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Robin Hood’ and, God help me, the latest installation in the ‘Twilight’ saga, it’s not hard to see why many shunned theaters like they were the plague. To get my movie fix, I turned to Netflix and TV, catching up on ‘popular’ movie offerings I had missed out on. I was not impressed. Somewhere between the flashy-but-hollow ‘Avatar,’ the braindead-made-for-12-year-olds ‘Transformers 2,’ and the trying-too-hard ‘Star Trek,’ a realization hit me — I hadn’t seen a good movie in ages. What happened to the days of real-life action, of true comedy via social commentary, to the intelligent scrip-writing and the raw, masterful directing? Three letters: CGI.” More here. (AP file photo/20th Century Fox: Neytiri and Jake are shown in a scene from “Avatar.”)

Question: Which movie was the last good one that you’ve seen on the big screen that didn’t rely on computer generated images for action sequences?

Everyone has that friend they like to grab a beer, watch a game or go on a road trip with him is some of the most fun you have ever had. You have stories about drinking so much one night that neither of you can believe you didn’t puke the next day. You have been close for years and will be for many more. But he has one habit that you cannot get past, and he knows it all too well. Your best friend has a pair of sky-blue crocs that appear whenever a trip to the beach is mentioned. Crocs, the rubbery combination of shoes and sandals, have been around for some time. They are perfectly acceptable in our society for little kids and old ladies, but grown men of reasonable intelligence should know better. Though crocs may have a certain level of comfort, they scream “lazy” and “haven’t grown up yet” to the rest of the world/Steve Carter, University of Idaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do real men wear Crocs?

Yesterday I went to the library to print some pictures for a class. I was in a hurry because I had the class in 20 minutes, so I wasn’t paying close attention, but when I looked up the guy diagonal from me was spitting his chew in a Dr. Pepper bottle. Say whatever you want, but that is disgusting, and my instant reaction was to gag. The sad part is he was cute until I saw him do that/Elizabeth Rudd, FrontRow Editor. More Off The Cuff here.

Question: Have you ever chewed tobacco? Or dated someone who did?

Sex sells. We know this, and especially advertisers know this. We see it every day. Misogyny in commercials is abundant. If the commercials are not telling us how to look, what to wear and how to act, then they’re enforcing stereotypes of various men’s perspectives of the “ideal” woman — the femme fatale, the heroine, the perfect housewife, the sex kitten and the corporate climber — all are typically young, white and unnaturally thin, not to mention the beat-into-the-ground stereotypes of the too chatty, too bossy or weak and helpless woman. The popular Super Bowl commercials earlier this month were no exception. There was the male-only category, in which no women appeared at all, such as some Bud Light, Nextel, Hyundai Genesis and Cars.com commercials. Even the talking E*Trade babies were boys/Anne-Marije Rook, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do you agree with Argonaut columnist Anne-Marije Rook that television ads are loaded with misogynistic sexism?

As someone who is a strong supporter of both faith and reason, I get tired of hearing people, even highly educated people, talk about faith in a way that completely misrepresents it. For example, it is not uncommon to hear a sentence that goes something like this: “Faith, by definition, is believing something without evidence or even against the evidence.” Part of what gets to me about this type of comment is they are usually made with such authoritative ease and self-importance, but my main problem with them is they are completely wrong. Faith does not refer to believing something even when reason points in the other direction. On the contrary, the Bible claims following reason will lead us to faith/Benjamin Ledford, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Are faith and reason mutually exclusive? Or does reason lead to faith, as Argonaut columnist Benjamin Ledford contends?

Others seem to think his message will inspire people everywhere to work harder and be more compassionate. Worst of all, however, are the countless depictions, both on the Internet and in print, of Obama as a superhero. I have just one humble question for those who depict our new president in this way: really? It wouldn’t bother me if children were drawing pictures of Super Obama, but even then it would prompt a reminder he is only a man. What bothers me is we have intelligent adults drawing these pictures and making these statements. Does this not concern anybody else? If history shows us anything, isn’t it that this sort of adoring, blind trust and devotion for a leader is at best naïve and at worst dangerous?/Benjamin Ledford, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Are you concerned that many Americans are simply smitten by the new president?

Jens Olson, UI Argonaut Web editor

Regardless of whether students are allowed to live in the same suite together, individuals who choose to engage in sex will. Through this restriction, the university is preventing students from gaining a maturity they will need when they graduate and likely will be faced with living in a mixed-gender community. By offering a co-ed option, the university would actually have been offering a chance for a safer transition into mixed-gender situations with resident assistant supervision and the right to choose a roommate. This should not be worth arguing. The Idaho Values Alliance was wrong to make assumptions that prevent students from taking more responsibility in life/UI Argonaut Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Agree? Disagree?