Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/49480
OPINION Getting Under Your Skin by MICHAEL KOTLAREK AND SARAH GARZA It seems there has been quite a bit of interest in the topic of tattoos and tattoo studios. Let's face it, in a military community there are certain industries that thrive, no matter in which part of the country you may reside. Tattooing is one of them. My fi ancée Sarah and I are owners and tattoo artists of Hot Rod Tattoos in Fayetteville. We have read both articles recently featured in the Up and Coming Weekly, and would like to share our views and opinions with the community. There are so many criteria to consider when choosing a tattoo studio and artist for your next tattoo. Yes, the studio being licensed, autoclave spore test results and clean atmosphere are important, but tattooing is a permanent procedure and consumers need to also be concerned with the artist's experience. The tattooing laws in N.C. are very lenient compared to other states. Just as "E" of Cherry Blossom Studios quoted, "any idiot can buy a kit online and start jacking up his friends the next day with no idea about cross contamination or risk of infection"; any "idiot" can become a Tattoo by Mike Kotlarek. tattooist in N.C. An individual needs only to pay $250 annually for an artist permit and $1,000 annually for a privilege license. There is no state requirement for prior experience or specialized formal training in fi rst aid or blood borne pathogens/cross contamination to become a tattoo artist or studio owner in this state. There is no requirement for artists to be vaccinated for Hepatitis A or B. Many of the above criteria are required for other occupations that pose a similar The Last Tail Gate by PITT DICKEY To appreciate what is beautiful, you have to know what is ugly. Sometimes beauty is a detached retina in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes beauty is just a stray eyelash. Beauty can keep us from actually seeing what is in front of us. Today we shall attempt to see beyond the beauty that is the Tar Heel football program. Let us consider the sage advice from famous lower case poet e. e. cummings who wrote in a slightly different context the immortal lines: "ponder, darling, these busted statues/of yon moth eaten forum." Let us ponder the busted football program at UNC. As yet another forgettable Carolina football season drifts into the dust bin of history, take a moment to refl ect on the wonder that was the last couple of years of our gridiron glory. Andy Griffi th once said, "What it was, was football." Two years ago the Heels were about to begin a bright shiny season full of hope, high dollars and unprecedented nationwide media attention. Then the program unraveled with intimations of immorality, tutoring twists and curious grading procedures. Alas, some of our fi nest gridiron gladiators were banished to the sidelines for chunks of the season. The Most Excellent High Overlords of the NCAA decreed that our football sins would not go unpunished. The Heels ride to the top of football prominence halted. A funny thing happened to us on our way to the forum. The Heels had a near death NCAA experience reminiscent of Emily Dickinson's cheery lines, "Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me/The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality." Coach Butch got canned by Chancellor Holden Thorp right after the Most Worshipful Very Large Rams had to send in their money to secure their seats in the Blue Zone where the elite meet to eat, drink and complain. The idea that the university had concerns about its overall reputation instead of its overall won/ lost record in football did not sit well with the Very Large Rams. They may fi nd themselves sitting for years in "yon motheaten forum" of the Blue Zone if our new Athletic Director Bubba doesn't pick a big-time football coach to resume our march to football Valhalla. Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes you get it. UNC got a big time WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM football coach and got an NCAA close encounter of the third kind. When we were just another average football program, nobody cared about us. Once we began to threaten to climb up the gridiron hill to big TV dollars, like Sisyphus, the rock of prominence rolled right back down on top of the football program. The NCAA is a paragon of virtue piously exploiting fi nancially insecure college students for the greater glory of TV money. The NCAA follows Faulkner's theory that "The past isn't dead. It isn't even the past." All of the past sins of Carolina football, real or imagined, are to hatch out of the mud to be laid at the feet of the NCAA. Like a capitalist roader in Mao's cultural revolution, UNC had to indulge in an orgy of self criticism. We sent ourselves off to the NCAA re-education camp for teams who dared deviate from the NCAA line. The Heels' self punishment offered at the NCAA altar included vacating our football wins for the last two years. This seemed curious as I still remember UNC beating Notre Dame despite the memory hole into which the Athletic Department banished Carolina's wins. I had hoped that the NCAA would vacate our two losses in the Charlotte Tire/Weedeater/Obscure Bowl. I wouldn't have minded sending those losses into the memory hole. Apparently we get to keep our losses. A group of us got together for a Last Tail Gate party at the Dook game to bid a fond adieu to Carolina's Interim Coach Withers who did an excellent job under very diffi cult circumstances. Coach Withers, a decent man, will never bring UNC to the level of football prominence that will get us investigated again by the NCAA. Naturally he has to go. UNC needs a new football coach. Joe Paterno is looking for a job. Synchronicity. JoPa is a proven winner who achieved not only an NCAA investigation but various criminal investigations at Penn State. It is a perfect fi t. Hire JoPa to be UNC's new football coach. If JoPa's parole offi cer will let him come to North Carolina it's a done deal. Big time football is beautiful. See you around the campus. PITT DICKEY, Contributing Writer, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. DECEMBER 7-13, 2011 UCW 5 risk of contamination through bodily fl uids. Some daycare and educational occupations require at least a formal fi rst-aid certifi cate. The state laws regarding tattooing need serious attention as they were put into effect back in 1994; or guidelines that supersede the N.C. State Statutes should be developed for the City of Fayetteville. There are nearly 30 tattoo studios that operate within the city limits, and clearly this is an industry that generates substantial revenue for the city through tattoo permits and studio licenses. The process of creating stricter laws is lengthy and often is met with resistance. Until that happens, it is the responsibility for the sake of the tattoo industry, and public safety of the community, for all tattoo artists to hold themselves to a higher standard. There are tattoo artists in Fayetteville who actually care about the art of tattooing and hold the craft sacred. These tattoo artists will be proud to show off their portfolio and ensure you are educated about your entire experience. As respected members of the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and members of the Military Affairs Council, Hot Rod Tattoos feels it is our duty to inform and educate the community about our industry. There are tattooists and there are tattoo artists, and there is a big difference between the two i.e., the one who is out for your money and the one who has the heart for your interest, as well as our sacred craft.