Who wears short shorts?

Unlike most students, I didn't "return" to Bloomington last week. Living here during the summer reminded me how wonderfully tame this city can be if you spend it as a Bloomington resident rather than an IU student. It has been amusing to overhear returning students either express their excitement or apathy for their rekindled presence in B-town. \nMore amusing, of course, is spotting a puzzled freshman hugging a campus map. (Don't worry, we were all there once, too.) But one thing that isn't quite as entertaining about some new freshmen is the way they dress.\nPerhaps turning 20 this summer has made me an old fogy, but I am disgusted with the clothes some of these young women wear. I constantly see very low-cut tank tops matched with short -- we're talking short -- skirts. When did a strip of material barely covering your butt become fashionable? \nPerhaps the Britney Spears generation is starting to graduate from high school. My mom, a fifth-grade teacher in Illinois, has also recognized how differently young girls are dressing. I've noticed the skimpy clothes are becoming trendy for all teenage girls, and the class of 2008 is just debuting the new fashon-line in colleges this year.\nI acknowledge there are plenty of upperclassmen who exhibit the same behavior, but this trend is worse and more widespread among the class of 2008. What happened to these ladies' self-respect? I admire the woman who has the body to wear what she wants as well as the woman who doesn't worry about societal pressures. But Gloria Steinam and other women activists didn't fight for women's equality so you could walk around campus looking like a stripper.\nI don't know about anyone else, but I came to IU to get an education -- not to put on a daily fashion show. The clothes you are wearing are obviously not comfortable, so what's the point? I believe there is a time and place to wear such clothes. For most of us, it's in our bedrooms. And for some, I understand it's acceptable to wear risqué clothing to parties and bars. But I actually saw one girl in a short skirt and flip flops moving into the dorms. She couldn't even bend over to pick up a box. I was shocked that she had the nerve to wear this outfit in front of her father. If I was her, I would have been completely embarrassed.\nI'm not asking any girls to buy granny panties or jeans that sit just below the chest. But there is a middle ground between wearing "old-people clothes" and pants with the buckle 12 inches beneath your belly button.\nMy word of advice for the new college girls: Get over yourselves and grow some self-respect. The only "looks" you will be getting are the disgusted ones from your professors, upperclassmen and peers. The guys you are trying to impress won't treat you like a lady because you're simply not acting like one. \nWhile it's exciting to have more freedom than you've ever had, with freedom comes great responsibility. A lot of freshmen might think, "I don't have to grow up for another four years." But the way you carry yourself (and dress yourself) now reflects upon you as a human being -- your parents are no longer accountable. You are always an ambassador for yourself, and if you want to be taken seriously, you'll dress accordingly.\nLess is not always more when it comes to perusing the closet.