Cheerleading bill leaves decency to eye of beholder
By KRISTEN MACK
Houston Chronicle



Exactly�what constitutes a suggestive cheerleading routine was left to the imaginations of lawmakers this week after state Rep. Al Edwards declined to demonstrate the moves he wants to ban.



"We can't describe it or demonstrate it," said Edwards, D-Houston. "But we know it when we see it."


Edwards' bill would prohibit school dance, drill and cheerleading teams from performing in an "overtly sexually suggestive manner."


The measure has gotten Edwards national attention, and Tuesday's hearing before the Public Education Committee was at turns serious and ribald.


"I'm trying to get a feel for it," said Rep. Rob Eissler, a Republican from the Woodlands with a propensity for puns and double-entendre, as he asked Edwards the extent of the suggestive cheerleading problem.


Edwards' original bill called for a reduction of state funds to school districts that knowingly permit such performances.


But he filed a substitute in the committee requiring only that districts take appropriate action against dirty dancing, as determined by the district.


"You're not taking away their money, you are just telling them to clean up their act," said Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, the committee chairman.


Several people testified against the bill, including members of the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who said cheerleading and school dance instructors across the state are overwhelmingly opposed to the bill. They fear it could lead to selective prosecution.


Margeaux Goodfleisch, a senior at Austin's Westlake High School, testified that Edwards' bill was too subjective.


"How can you expect a hard-working team to have to sit out a year because they didn't meet an imaginary standard during their dance?" she said.


The problem with the bill is that it does not define the conduct it regulates, said Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville.


"There's nothing to tell them what they can or can't do. It's got no teeth, no sanctions and no effect," he said.


Edwards, however, said he still thinks his bill has a chance of passing out of committee and to a vote of the full House.


It was left pending Tuesday.

quote:

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Originally posted by Scott Brumley:
15. People who try to look you in the eye on the elevator

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OR at a urinal! Eyes forward at all times, fella. Eyes forward!

Panel: No suggestive cheerleading


A House committee Tuesday approved a bill that would ban suggestive cheerleading at high school athletic events.

Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, said he filed the measure after seeing teenage cheerleaders gyrating at football games in his district. "The eyes of the nation are on Texas to see if we're going to take a stand," Edwards said.

The bill was approved by a 6-0 vote, and Edwards predicted continued support in the full chamber.

"There's no normal, intelligent legislator who could say that trying to stop exploiting our young girls out there in public like that is wrong. . . . How could they not be supportive," he said.

This bill speaks volumes about the leadership in Austin these days. If this gets enacted, I can' wait to see the first time that they try to enforce it. At least it doesn't create a criminal offense (yet).

...spoken thru a microphone...
"Red team leader, this is blue team leader. The cheerleader 3rd from the right, that is MY right, your left, is shaking what her momma gave her just a little too much. Take her down. We'll provide cover. MOVE. MOVE. MOVE.
(and watch out for the football team running a bootleg to the weakside.)

We need legislation to fund schools, teachers, and other public staff. Our personal security is under siege because we don't have enough money to build new prisons, and the list goes on. Our response from Austin:

1. We are being too hard on criminals

2. We are not being hard enough on cheerleaders

Well, it sounds as if we have elected the most competent legislative body we could have. Sort of makes you wonder what the legislator's opponents would have done if elected.

I'm just surprised there is not a surcharge and driver's license suspension attached to the violation...

Granted they should know better, but maybe we should express these opinions to our legislators?

I just wonder what the odds are on Rep. Edwards winning the Texas Monthly "Bum Steer" of the year award or winding up on that same publication's list of "Ten Worst Legislators?" He has to be in the running.

http://wcco.com/water/watercooler_story_100071946.html

College Suspends Sexy Dance Team

Apr 10, 2005 6:18 am US/Central
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) San Jose State has suspended its dance team after a sexy routine at a basketball game triggered a confrontation involving an elderly alumnus and and a 20-year-old dancer.

The team is suspended until it develops guidelines to represent the university "at the highest possible standard," the division of intercollegiate athletics decided last week.

The confrontation, captured on videotape by a parent, erupted after a dance during a March 5 home game to the raunchy lyrics of "Move Somethin'" by LL Cool J.

"It was vulgar," said Ray Silva, 74, a San Jose businessman and major university booster. "It was like a burlesque, with bumps and grinds. I just came unglued."

Silva said he shouted at the dancers: "Trash, that's trash. Get off the court."

Dancer Tarah DiNardo confronted Silva at the end of the game, gesturing emphatically as the two shouted at one another. John Glass, an associate athletic director, stepped between them and grabbed DiNardo's arm, apparently bruising it.

The dancer filed a complaint with police, but authorities declined to prosecute. Her angry father has hired an attorney.

"I don't want people to lay hands on my daughter," said businessman and ex-Marine Joey DiNardo. "There's too much dirty dancing going on," he acknowledged, but added: "You don't grab anyone or call the girls trash."

Tarah DiNardo says the dancers have simply been doing what sports officials asked. "They wanted more makeup, more hair and sexier uniforms" to boost ticket sales, she said.

"That doesn't strike me as anything we'd want," said Mark Harlan, the university's new associate director of athletics. He said the dance team's role is being reevaluated.


(� 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

[left hand on left hip which is stuck way out to the side:
-Right hand up at about eye level with index finger in the "#1 position" with a slight wag.:
-Head bobing left to right w/a slight up and down (all done w/the neck):]

"You go, gearrll."

[aaaaannnnndddd scene.]

So, am I the only one that stood up and tried to act out JMH's directions just to get a better feel for the comedic value of JMH's post?

House approves ban on 'sexual' cheerleading

Cheering, heckling punctuate debate on House floor.

By Mark Lisheron
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
The Texas House might not be able to define the overtly sexual routines of public school cheerleaders, but it is pretty sure school districts will know them when they see them.

The House, to the surprise of some representatives who heckled with pompoms and recorded fight songs, passed a bill Tuesday night calling on districts to act against any group performing "in an overtly sexually suggestive manner" at a school event.

State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, wielded two of the pompoms distributed in the House as it considered a bill banning 'overtly sexually suggestive' cheerleading. Her colleague Senfronia Thompson of Houston got in on the opposition when she yelled about the 'ridiculous bill.'

The bill, introduced by Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, passed by a roll call vote of 65-56. The first vote on the bill was a 64-64 tie, but the votes of several representatives who were not present at the time of the roll call were discounted.

[OK, for me, the real issue is how does a "record" vote of 64-64 change to 65-66 on a "roll call" vote. That likely means somebody, for sure inadvertantly, pushed to vote button on an absent member's desk. Is this another Florida debacle?

What is the bill number? I want to check this out!

In honor of John Bradley, I am going to answer my own post; it is HB 1476 and reads as follows:

Education Code Sec. 33.088. CERTAIN SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE PERFORMANCES PROHIBITED. (a) A school dance team, drill team, cheerleading team, or any other performance group may not perform in a manner
that is overtly sexually suggestive at an athletic or other extracurricular event or competition sponsored or approved by a school district or campus.
(b) If the commissioner determines that a performance group described by Subsection (a) has performed in an overtly sexually
suggestive manner, the commissioner shall inform the appropriate school district and the district shall take appropriate action against the performance group and the group's sponsor, as
determined by the district.

I would celebrate your posting with a little dance, but it might get me in trouble. Besides, if you have seen me dance (as some at the Predicate Bowl can report), it is not a pretty sight. But I can assure you, it also is not sexually suggestive. On the contrary....

Hey am I the only one who thinks there is more wrong up in Oregon than a drunk football player stealing rams for whatever? The Oregon State Sheep Center, where they are being used in a study of homosexuality in sheep? And the findings will tell us what?

I would like to see the research funding proposal on that study. Oh yeah and we are trying to police our cheerleaders, I think that horse already left the barn. Maybe they can make the violation a State Jail Felony and give them automatic probation or a chance at probation from a jury. Or to prevent overcrowding and co-mingling of "criminals", they could send them all to the Moral Majority Cheerleading Camp and PAC. What do you expect when A&M now has "cheerleaders" at basketball games. At least at A&M we do great things like study cow flatulants and cloning pets, etc. that will one day make this world, well a more interesting place to "bump and grind" in. And now I will step down from my soapbox hopefully in such a manner as to not be charged with any offense.

I just hope they make it a state jail felony.

Next week, this bill is slated to be the topic of a feature on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. I can only imagine the good press our fair state is going to receive. And with that, we cue the banjo music.