A Wrinkle in Time
Botox trend smoothes worries, wrinkles of mirror-conscious college crowd
Monica Lewis | For the Wichitan

Graphic by Daniel Chavez

For students anxious about the furrows and facial creases from sun--worshipping, stress or cursed genetics--breathe easy. Botox is here. Botox was approved for cosmeticpurposes last April, and its popularity has soared. Josh Barger, a senior criminal justice major, has been wooed by the possibilities of Botox to avert wrinkles and slow the appearance of aging. He is 23 years old. “I am not trying to change who I am. I am just preventing the aging process, which most American people attempt every day,” he said. Botox, a form of botulism, was originally used in the early 1990s to minimize muscle spasms, or “tics” of the face. Botox is injected around facial muscles and weakens the nerves and the ability of the muscles to contract. To accommodate the Botox boom, The Cosmetic Laser Center in Wichita Falls provides Botox injections locally. Cosmetic treatments, once a female-dominated pursuit, are now appealing to men. The beauty industry is seeking to reel-in male consumers who are concerned with their appearance. Callie McPherson, Cosmetic Laser Center staff member and Botox recipient said, “The tide is turning. They are actually marketing to men.” McPherson cites the minimal amount of maintenance as a primary reason for the increased number of male Botox patients. “They come in for 15 or 30 minutes,” she said. “It’s a quick office visit. You don’t have to do anything afterwards.” Barger said he views the treatments as preventative because, “I can go in every couple of months and have some shots, that don’t hurt at all, and prevent having to have something more dramatic later in life.” Carolyn Johnson, the technician who performs Botox injections, said that while she provides the injections for a wide age range of patients, the majority are in their 30s. Johnson admitted receiving Botox treatments herself. “I thought if I was giving them, I should experience it, too,” she said. The actual procedure is simple. The forehead is given cold compresses to constrict the capillaries and reduce the possibility of bruising. Using a 30 gauge needle, one of the smallest available, a series of injections is given across the forehead. Droplets of blood that well from the skin are quickly wiped away with a round, yellow sponge. The skin becomes red and raised, a side effect Barger said vanishes within an hour. More cold compresses are applied, completing the procedure. Both Barger and Johnson term the sensation of Botox injections as a “heavy” feeling. They said it is not painful or unpleasant, but rather the slight awareness of the Botox fluid under the skin before it is absorbed by the muscle. The full effects of the injections are achieved in seven to 14 days. However, Barger said the results are almost immediately visible to him. According to McPherson, the results last two to three months, “depending on the strength of the muscle.” As the muscle regains its strength, movement of the skin, like frowning, for example, reveals wrinkles. A patient returns every few months or as the partial paralysis of the muscle begins to fade. At The Cosmetic Laser Center, a Botox treatment for one area, such as the space between the eyebrows, costs $250. Treatment for two areas of the face run $375 . Johnson said most Botox patients consider their treatments enjoyable and relaxing. For many, it is a luxury that has become a necessity, she said. Staff members and patients alike share the sentiment that, “Even if my family has to go without meat, I would not give this up!” Barger counters any accusations of vanity by comparing Botox injections to hair coloring or low-fat food consumption. “I see lines and wrinkles on older people,” he said. “Aging is going to affect you. If a couple of shots and a couple hundred bucks can prevent all of that, it’s worth it.”

 

Juan Tapia | The Wichitan

MSU Police Officer Mike Cross watches for storms when he’s not watching for crime. The only tools he needs are a map and his hand radio. Now until July 1 is prime storm season.

He calls it fascinating, mesmerizing and addictive. Officer Mike Cross is not talking about his job on the campus police force but his captivation with storms. Yes, storms. Cross is a storm watcher. He loves nothing more than getting a call on his licensed hand radio and it’s a message that a storm is brewing. “It’s a fascination watching storms as a kid. When you see it, it’s one of those phenomena of nature which mesmerizes you,” Cross said. “You get a real adrenaline rush.” Cross describes his interest in storms not as a passion but more of a curiosity that started a long time ago. “Being from a part of the country where there are a lot of thunderstorms and tornadoes, you get drawn into it and it makes you want to get involved,” he said. Cross made it clear he is a storm spotter and not a storm chaser. He said he does storm spotting not only for sport but also as a job. The purpose of having storm spotters, Cross said, is to try to protect the Wichita Falls area by telling people a storm is coming. He said there are two storm spotters organizations in Wichita Falls and two other storm spotters on campus, David Gaines, a graduate assistant in the history department and Mark Morgan, a supervisor at the central plant. Gaines is the emergency coordinator for the Wichita Falls area. Cross said he had been involved in storm spotting with the group since 1993, but he did it with the police department in Wichita Falls before that. He said he serves on the advisory board for the storm spotters group. He is also a trainer for people who are interested in storm spotting. “When our pagers go off we listen for an update,” he said. “We have anywhere from 15 to 50 times a year when we go out.” Storm spotters go to classes conducted by meteorologists from Norman, Okla., every year. The biggest danger during a storm is for people on the highway who try to chase storms and tornadoes. These people are putting themselves in danger. The majority of people killed in the 1979 tornado were trying to outrun it in their vehicles. It is the risk factor which spurs on the fascination, Cross said. “When you see the aftermath that’s when you get that fascination.” Most of the time Cross goes out storm spotting alone. After a storm, Cross changes from a storm spotter to a damage assessment man. The storm spotters group on campus sends all of its weather reports to the Norman National Weather Service on the OU campus. Cross has a few tips for MSU students for this storm season. He encourages students to stay inside a steel reinforced building during a storm. If you are in the dorms stay on the lower floors, preferably the first floor. If you are in the coliseum get out. In the 1979 tornado the roof collapsed and this could happen again. You do not want to be in a large open place like the coliseum; instead you should find a smaller room. The smaller rooms are safer because there are more studs in the wall closer together, which makes the room stronger. For students who live in a apartment, the center of the apartment is safer. “Do not run out and get in your car to try to run. Wait it out.”

 

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end, I’ll still be taking all of the hours that I need to graduate. Who knows, there is a chance the cost could increase later on,” said Fisher. “I will still be taking my normal 16 hours,” said Hester. The state mandated an increase of two dollars per credit hour this year. That increase will likely remain for several years to help universities offset the budget problems. Many other schools in the state are raising their tuition costs by larger percentage margins to facilitate their budgets. Hester said that should come as no surprise to students. “There are several different options other than raising tuition, but that is the first one that comes to mind,” said Hester. “I think, in a way, it was the best way the administration could have helped,” said Fisher. Dunn said she believed MSU has one of the best staffs in the state and cited the fact that their administrative costs are among the lowest of all the colleges. Despite Rogers’ desire to not balance the budget on the backs of the students, many are accepting of the fact that MSU will need their help over the next couple of years. “I am okay with it as long as it goes back to the students when it is all said and done,” said Fisher. “If they can find a way to help out financial aid and students on scholarships, that would be great.” Dunn also realizes that students have a responsibility to the university in the same way the school does to its students. “At some point it is up to the students to help out.”

 

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But the reality of the sport can only be carried so far. “Dying is based on the honor system,” Whittaker said. “If you get hit in the body or the head, and you feel like it was a killing blow, you fall down dead.” “I can’t wait to try it,” Giles said. “It’s a sport they’re willing to teach everyone. Training is strict, though, and careful safety procedures are followed.” Even celebrities such as actors Sean Connery and Val Kilmer are skilled in SCA combat. In climbing the royal ranks, Kilmer has won two Crown Tournaments, making him a duke for life in the Middle Kingdom. Seventeen kingdoms exist in the United States, with Texas and Oklahoma forming the Kingdom of Ansteorra. Kingdoms are then divided into smaller groups called baronies and shires, with each fighting one another in highly attended tournaments. But the Middle Ages, however, was about a lot more than fighting. “Anything a medieval person did, someone in the SCA does it,” said Jill Roy, known in the SCA as gypsy Gillian de Kockerham. “We’re a teaching organization who has researched everything from period leather working and wool weaving to belly-dancing.” Almost all of the costumes, armor and weaponry used by the SCA are made by its members. Often SCA members are called in as extras for Hollywood films relating to the Renaissance time period, Roy said, because their costumes and weapons are so authentic. And though the fighting is most popular, members are quick not to forget the gentler side of courtly love. MSU Associate Professor of psychology Jacqueline Cuevas, otherwise known as Lady Jacqueline von Kern, sponsors the annual Scholars’ Tournament and sells books at weekend events. “The reason I like to is because the members in the SCA tend to be very unusual,” Cuevas said. “They’re well educated, and you don’t have to force them to read like I do my students.” She plays a merchant, wearing peasant garb, and sells people books she’s bought from wholesalers on topics relating to the Middle Ages, ranging from old-fashioned healing techniques to biographies on Queen Elizabeth. “People want to have a connection with the past,” Cuevas said. “You have to understand, we’re the survivors of a group of very courageous people who struggled with the strangeness of a new land and new customs. They passed their learning on to us, and we should remember that.” The group meets every first and third Sunday evening at the Outdoor Education Center on MSU’s campus and always welcomes the curious. “We try to stick to Medieval times,” Wright said, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t overlook modern-day items.” They use duct tape on swords. They serve hot dogs at many events. Their speech is perfectly normal. It’s just the subjects of that speech which may not always be. “One time, me and a buddy were asking each other who killed and died the most in the Pennsic War,” Whittaker said. “I estimated in five days of fighting, with one to two battles per day, I died nine times and killed 150 to 160 people.” Yes, this is normal to them, though normal is a word taken lightly by members of the SCA. “I promise,” Wright said while straightening his tunic, “they’re all strange except me.”