Well, I'm afraid I have to disagree for the most part with everyone here except for Terr. Now, I should explain that the standards are a little different for me, and I may be biased. For starters, it's been 4 years since I was in high school, so my perspectives have changed some. Also, I went to a high school with a total student body of about 300, and my graduating class was 65, so everybody knew everybody. And lastly, I do have to admit that I dated 2 of my high school's cheerleaders...not the most poplular cheeleaders, but cheerleaders all the same.

For the most part the cheerleaders at my high school were the same as everyone else. Sure, all the "popular" girls thought they should be cheerleaders, but at a school my size, almost anyone could get in. As a matter of fact, some of the most intelligent girls in the school were cheerleaders.

One last thought: I spent a couple of years going to Michigan State, and knew a couple of cheerleaders there as well. They were pretty darn nice, too...and, of course, good looking. On the other hand, I think all the rules kind of change when you get to college, especially one as large as MSU (student population: 40,000). As to whether or not they're important: no, probably not, but that could be said of a lot of things in our society. Anyway, that's my $0.02...