You whore! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. This letter was just too much fun for me to sit back and not say anything about. I must give credit to April Young she struck a nerve. I haven’t seen a response like that in a long time. Go figure. When I first read the letter, my jaw must have hit the floor, but I had to laugh at the description of ISU women as whores. That was until I realized, hey, she’s talking about me, too. Whore is a pretty strong word to describe women at Iowa State. When I think of whores, I think of a Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” or the toothless, crack-addicted varieties you find swarming bus terminals in large cities. Definitely not your everyday Midwestern college girls. In contrast to those whores, the women at Iowa State dress quite stylishly. If I had to classify our attire as whore or conservative, I would go toward conservative. Maybe 40 years ago tanks and halter tops were too revealing, but social norms have changed since then. More people wear tank tops and such than people who don’t. I have even seen many middle-aged women wearing sleeveless shirts so that would disprove Ms. Young’s point that our parents would be appalled at our appearance. Baby boomers invented the skin look. Ever seen “Woodstock?” Hippies were all about getting naked. There is a time and place for all clothing. Summer clothes has always been more revealing than any other season for the mere fact that they are cooler. In hot weather, the last thing on people’s minds as they walk out the door in the morning is, “damn, I sure look hot today. I’ll bet all the guys will want me now.” It’s more along the lines of “this is the coolest outfit I own, I sure hope I don’t die.” I know for a fact that less clothes are going to keep you cooler. I found this out the hard way last week when I woke up to an overcast sky and silly me thought it meant it would be a cool day so, I left wearing jeans and a tee shirt. By the time I got back at 3:00 I had to peel the clothes off of me. The next day the morning looked the same, but this time I anticipated the exponential growth of the temperature by the time my first class was over, so I left wearing shorts and a halter top. I was still hot, but it was much more bearable than the day before. I didn’t feel out of place either since 95 percent of the girls on campus were wearing the same thing and looked more comfortable than people who were covering up plenty of skin. I even saw a few guys wandering around with no shirts, which is a lot more skin than even the skimpiest shirt would show, and I never caught myself thinking, “look at him, what a slut.” Wearing as little as possible (within reason) in the heat is sensible, not slutty. As for wearing pajamas to class, I don’t know about the rest of you, but it isn’t all too often I see people donning their unmentionables. There is always the random middle of the week early morning lecture that you just don’t want to get ready for, but most people take the time to throw on some wind pants and a sweat shirt at the very least. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable, but at least do it tastefully. Most mothers would be offended by seeing their daughters walk around in pajamas before they would by seeing them walking around in a tank top and shorts. I would be embarrassed to wander outside my floor, let alone all over campus in the stuff I wore to bed the night before. Call me crazy, but the last I knew, making a feeble attempt to be presentable didn’t constitute “dressing up.” If caring about your appearance makes you a whore, then go sluts! Whether Ms. Young meant to be harsh or not, her comment was taken in the worst possible way. No one wants to be called a whore, especially on a whim. Women of Iowa State: you look wonderful so don’t let off-hand comments get you down.