College students should consider how their clothes affect others

I think college students should be allowed to express themselves, and if they choose to let the clothes that they are wearing speak for them, then they should apply the rule that states that you should think before you speak. Basically, I am trying to say that I think college students should consider how what they wear will affect others.

Have you ever heard the phrase "dress for success?" When I hear that phrase being uttered, I picture people dressed business casual. However, when I looked up the term "appropriate" dress on the Point Park University Web site, I found the following: "Proper attire, including shirt and shoes, must be worn at all times in public areas of campus (i.e. lobby, laundry rooms, food service areas, elevators, etc)."

It is important to note that Point Park students are able to be successful without adhering to a strict dress code. Also, students are able to bend the rules by walking around wearing stockings or slippers, and some students even prefer to walk around bare foot. I will continue to do my best to dress appropriately, and I hope my fellow students will do the same. Being a college student has not made me want to change the way I dress, but I know there is a difference between the dress code rules for high school students and the rules for college students.

At Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Mich., Bretton Barber wore a expressing opposition to former president George Bush shirt to school. The shirt upset one of his fellow students so much that he reported Barber to the administrators. Barber, who had a shirt on underneath, was asked to take his shirt off. After he refused, he was left with no choice but to go home.

Shortly after the incident, he took the issue to a federal court, and "a federal judge ruled that he had a first amendment right to wear the shirt to school," according to Pember and Calvert, who co-authored the book titled "Mass Media Law."

Now in college, I do not think that kids would be as sensitive to what other students are wearing. For example, a lot of students wear Obama shirts at Point Park, and I have not heard of any occasion when students who do not support Obama complain about the shirts. All college students know that after college they are going to have to do their best to make it in the real world. I recently came across an online article, titled "Dress Code For College Career Day," written by Hendrik Pohl. The article caught my attention because of the following statement:

"It is never too early to start planning your career, and college is a good time to do that. With HR departments and headhunters considering prospective employees as early as sophomore year, making the right impression early on could guarantee that you get a job right after you get your diploma."

I agree that it is important to be thinking ahead during your sophomore year. For example, I spent the spring semester of my sophomore year of college interning at Walt Disney World. I was required to live in an apartment in Orlando, Fla., and I not only worked at EPCOT, but I also took some courses. Beside it being a chance for me to work on becoming more independent, it was also a chance for me to observe for myself the results of a strict dress code. All students participating in the Disney College Program were expected to dress business casual when attending their classes and were expected to wear uniforms when they were working at the parks. The following statement that I found when visiting the Disney College Program site explains the Disney Dress Code:

"As Cast Members at the Walt Disney World ® Resort, our appearance reflects the commitment to excellence and show quality for which our Company is known."

I also came across an online article titled "Boundless Line: A Moment of Silence for a Pioneer of the Casual Workplace," which was written by Steve Watters. The following supports the belief that having a dress code is not a horrible thing:

"Lobbied by the Hawaiian Fashion Guild, the state senate in the early 1960s issued a proclamation recommending 'aloha wear' for business attire all summer long, says Ms. Arthur, also a professor of apparel marketing at Washington State University. In 1966, Aloha Friday became official, according to her 2000 book, 'Aloha Attire.' She contends that Hawaiian shirts were vessels that carried casual Friday around the country."

Sometimes in the real world, employees are able to dress a little more casual on Fridays. Overall, it seems as though working adults are required to follow a dress code. However, the college world in general is different from the real world. An online article, titled "Dress Code at College," which was written by Tom Tessin and from the Web site ezinearticles.com included the following:

"Many colleges do not require a dress code for their students, but some of the ivy league universities do have certain insignia's that the students are very proud to wear. Many of the Ivy League universities provide the students with their own numbers and jerseys when they are athletes. Their students are often used to getting their own special jackets with the insignia that designates what university that they are attending. Most students wear their university's dress wear when it comes to important events."

Barbara Drago, a senior medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, said, "I think there should be a dress code, so people don't come to class under-clothed - especially girls. I don't think there should be uniforms or that you should have to wear dress clothes. Just as long as people are covered up, which means no really short skirts or tops that expose everything."

Harvard University is breaking into the fashion business. The online site, The Delaware Employment Law Blog, written by Molly DiBianca, featured the following statement:

"Harvard apparently has its own take on the 'school uniform' idea. It's set to release it's own clothing line, called 'Harvard Yard.' And, according to Fashionista, the line isn't cheap - we'll have to wait and see how a $220 pair of pants impacts the wearer's perceived social status."