Pink din finally dying

Marisa O’Neil

Pink is so last week.

The media frenzy following six Ensign Intermediate School

students’ removal from a school portrait last week for donning pink

and black reached a fever pitch on Friday. On what radio and

television host Ryan Seacrest declared “Think Pink” Friday, a few

students went against the grain amid a sea of pink-clad teenagers.

Kristen Cahn and Alex Barton, both 14, wore homemade shirts that

said: “Pink is so last week.” The back of the shirts read: “Green and

yellow is the new pink” and had Seacrest’s name crossed out.

“Last week was the only time people should have worn pink,” Alex

said. “Everybody’s making it into a big deal.”

Natalie Walker, 14, predicts the pink bandwagon is on its last

legs.

“I think it’s going to die,” Natalie said. “Ryan Seacrest said it

was ‘Think Pink Week,’ not ‘Think Pink Two Weeks.’”

Annie Sauoji, 14, didn’t believe the hype, either. She was quick

to disassociate herself from the fray, calling her pastel jacket

“salmon,” not pink.

“Ryan Seacrest did not start pink,” she said.

The disc jockey and “American Idol” host, known for his pastel

attire, took up the cause celebre after Ensign principal Ed Wong told

a group of students to remove the pink and black shirts, armbands and

other accessories for a school photo last week. Wong made the

decision because pink and black are associated with a party crew,

said Newport-Mesa Unified School District spokeswoman Jane Garland.

Party crews and dance crews are groups of teenagers who hang out

together and might take part in some petty crimes such as underage

drinking and tagging, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tim Schennum said.

Sometimes, such activities can progress to full-blown, gang-style

crimes, he said.

Whether the six boys were actually in a party crew, using a school

photo to make a statement was not appropriate, Garland said. Some

students complied with Wong’s demand and participated in the photo

without their pink attire, while others walked out in protest.

After an article in a local newspaper brought attention to the

photo ban, Seacrest declared it “Think Pink Week” on his radio show

and asked his listeners to wear the color for “Think Pink Friday.”

Newspapers from Philadelphia to Tuscaloosa, Ala., picked up the story

and local television news crews started showing up at the school.

On Friday, a vast majority of students complied with Seacrest’s

request.

“Now everyone’s wearing pink because Ryan Seacrest was supposedly

going to come here,” Barton said. “And he didn’t even show up.”

Those who didn’t have any pink in their closets got a hand from

Kai Danbara. He handed out 500 hot pink shirts emblazoned with the

logo of his sportswear company, OC 1503.

“There are valid points on both sides,” Danbara said of the pink

hullabaloo. “But civil liberties far outweigh the dress code.”

The tempest in a pink teapot has obscured the school’s true

function, Garland said. She estimates that students have lost a full

day in instructional minutes because they’ve been so distracted by

the media attention.

“We need to get our eye back on the ball,” she said. “This should

have been over and done with, but it’s become this circus. It’s easy

to lose perspective. [Children are] in school to learn.”

Claire Havok, 14, and Connie McGuire, 13, stood outside Ensign on

Friday afternoon, watching with distaste as eager students crowded

around television cameras and reporters. Neither wore any pink.

“It was last week,” Claire sighed. “Everybody’s making a big deal

of it. The media is making it into something it isn’t.”

“Pink is for breast cancer,” Connie added.