Opinion – Page 12 – The Transcript

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Taking the post-OWU plunge into “the real world”

We are two weeks away from graduation. I’d say the real world is knocking on the door, but at this point I feel more like the first little pig in his house of hay, and the world is huffing and puffing. For those of us who don’t yet have a job, the stress of finding one has kicked in, hard – almost as hard as Christian Grey has sex.

What’s the next step for us seniors, you ask? Good question. Some of the members of our class have job offers or are off to grad school (congratulations, you make us proud). I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of us are still trying to figure something out.

If I get asked one more time what I’m doing this summer or after graduation, I might punch someone in the face. My hatred for this question is so blatant that during a Spanish class, my teacher asked everyone in it but me, stating that, “She knows how much this question irritates me.”

I have absolutely no idea what I’ll be doing this summer, let alone with my life. I don’t even know which country I will call home in two weeks. And while that and other things such as grades and finding a job are absolutely despairing, I find comfort in the fact I have around 400 other anguished seniors who are still trying to find their footing.

In my desperate attempts to find a job, I sent applications almost around the clock. I’m an addict. I’ve been selling myself for the past four months. Sending resumes, cover letters, doing Skype interviews, phone interviews, regular interviews, you name it. Last week, I came to the conclusion that I was damn tired of selling myself – I was ready to take this body off the streets.

So I took a break from applying. Yet, I realized very quickly that it was a bad idea, and I fell off the wagon. I’m once again a victim of the likes of websites such as Indeed.com, where they feed you hundreds of job prospects, all of which require at least 1-2 years of experience despite being called entry level jobs. However, that’s a whole different can of worms – I’m not tackling that subject right now, as I am pressed for time. I need to apply for some more jobs.

I’d like to reminisce to high school. No, not the fond memories of our athletic peaks (for most of us, this is undeniably true, sorry y’all), but to graduation memories. Remember how hard it was to leave your high school, your friends, people you’ve known for a large part of your life? Yeah well multiply that by googol (that’s a 10 with 100 zeros behind it for non-science/math majors).

While Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan are a home to many of us, they are not our hometowns. I can go back every summer to Rio and see most of my friends. However, it’s a little trickier to find all of my OWU friends – we don’t all have a place in common besides this school, and our time here is over. That’s what makes this so hard.

I have made friends, connections, and memories that I will never forget. Take comfort in your fellow senior classmates’ struggles, share, bond, hang out, laugh, cry, whatever floats your boat. We can only walk this plank for two more weeks before we fall into the sea that is the real world – make ‘em count.

House of Cards on the hill?

On Feb. 1, 2013, Netflix premiered a political drama series, House of Cards. Starring as the gruesome politician, Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, the series shows the corruption and immorality that awarded Underwood the top seat in the White House.

Throughout the release of the three seasons, every year the series has led many American viewers to question as to whether or not the corruption taken place in the show actually occurs in present day politics.

In the most recent season, released on Feb. 27, Frank Underwood, as president of the United States, engages in both domestic and foreign politics just as every American president would. However, Underwood’s motives in engaging in the situations he often finds himself in, makes you question his intentions and motives.

From past seasons, one could easily make the connection that Underwood does not always make decisions based on the best interest of the people of the United States, but rather for his own benefit. Now that he has reached his goal of becoming president (that is on the resignation of the past president), now what would keep him from doing the best thing for the American people, rather than for himself?

This has left many Americans questioning whether the corruption taking place in the series is viable to the politics in Washington, D.C. today and if there is any truth to the corruption.

Particularly as the 2016 presidential election quickly approaches, viewers constantly question the validity of what politicians spew as they try to make a convincing and lasting impression on the Americans who watch the many debates. Trying to decipher what is fact and fiction is the ultimate goals when listening to both the politicians speak in House of Cards and on the Hill in Washington D.C.

Although it is evident that corruption does take place in politics, how severe and prominent is this corruption? I have heard many people that currently work on The Hill say that they refuse to watch House of Cards because it is too similar to American politics.

When Beau Willimon produced House of Cards, was he re-creating scenarios from past experience or events? Or did he create them just from fiction? Whatever the answer may be, as Americans, it is our job to not fall into the traps many politicians lay for us. We must keep a straight mind and focus on the main objectives in politics and what is best for the United States.

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Shows to queue for this summer

The return of warm weather and sunny days also brings some of the best reasons to hole up inside with the television all day. A few of my favorite shows will be gracing the screen once again in the upcoming months, and if you aren’t already obsessed with them, you should start catching up.

Game of Thrones (April 12)

Photo courtesy of watchersonthewall.com.

Everyone’s favorite fantasy drama is coming back with, hopefully, a much better season. Season four, although I gladly watched its entirety, was unsatisfying and lacking in narrative. Each episode felt like an excuse to kill off unnecessary characters or build personalities for characters that no one really cares about (all eyes on you, Gilly). And yet I am holding out hope for season five. Game of Thrones is my ultimate guilty pleasure. It is decadent, overly violent and sexualized and does not try to hide its obvious ploy to prey on the most basic forms of entertainment. It embraces its excessiveness and through that it thrives. Despite my every instinct to scoff at something so animalisticly enjoyable, I am still hooked. Plus, I will never turn down an opportunity to watch Emilia Clarke in any situation, but especially when she is plotting to take over the world by way of dragons and well fitted dresses.

Hannibal (June 4)

If up until now you have been spared my heated rant on the brilliance of Hannibal then I have failed as a fan. I repeatedly urged my family to begin watching for months before they finally gave in, and now they regret not starting it sooner. I can say with complete confidence that Hannibal is one of the best shows on television today. I have enjoyed it much more than some of the more beloved shows i.e. Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Mads Mikkelson as the titular character is absolutely mesmerizing. He plays the repugnantly evil man in his stages as a well-respected therapist, before his unsavory habits are discovered. He befriends the unassuming Will Graham, played by Hugh Dancy, and begins a path of sadistic manipulation. The two establish one of the most captivatingly disturbing relationships that rapidly muddles the distinction of a protagonist. Aside from having a fascinating plot, Hannibal also excels in cinematography. The repeated scenes of Hannibal preparing dinner are equally repulsive as they are stunning. It is a masterpiece of a show that has left me feeling incomplete while not on the air.

Project Runway (Late July)

Competition shows stress me out more than most things. I so quickly allow myself to care about each contestant and root for almost all of them. I watch the end of each episode of Project Runway through a blanket I’ve hid myself under so I don’t have to see the designers cry when they get Heidi Klum’s “Auf Wiedersehen”. I still hold a grudge against the girl who won four seasons ago with a line composed of the same shapeless maxi dress. You don’t need talent to sew a maxi dress! Project Runway has been my go to reality show for years. It has just the right amount of drama and the contestants, usually, actually exhibit talent and compete for legitimate reasons unlike many of the popular Real World, and Bachelorette types. Plus it never gets old living vicariously through the struggles of making a ball gown in less than 24 hours, and then criticizing those who fail when in fact I couldn’t even load a needle in a sewing machine.

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Treating elderly like toddlers needs to stop

Every time I hear someone call a senior citizen “adorable” or “cute,” I have to try not to cringe. If there is an older couple walking arm in arm down the street or an elderly woman pushing a cart through the grocery store, chances are someone nearby is saying “awww” or “that’s so cute.” The worst offenders are teenagers and young adults.

I’m asking you to just stop it already. Seriously, stop. There is almost no way to say something like that without being downright patronizing.

Would you like people younger than you to routinely call you adorable? How about decades from now? Yeah, didn’t think so.

My grandma is giving and thoughtful and beautiful, but she is not cute. She lived through the Great Depression and World War II. She had four children over the course of two decades, and now has eighteen great-grandchildren. She can make a grown man cry with her scolding, has laugh lines around her eyes almost as deep as her heart and the only German she remembers from her childhood are the swear words. My grandma is 89 years old, and no way in hell is she cute.

My grandpa is hilarious and ridiculous and sweet, but he isn’t cute either. When he was in his eighties, he fell out of a tree while sawing off branches and left a dent in the ground that is still there years later, and then got right back up. He can out-work people a third of his age, can identify nearly any tree just by looking at its leaves and lost half a finger long before any current OWU student was born. My grandpa is 91 years old, and he is anything but adorable.

Calling the elderly “precious” or “cute” or whatever demeaning little adjective you can think of is not a compliment. It’s so common though, most of us don’t even realize we’re doing it. Until a few years ago, I never saw anything wrong with saying a friendly elderly man dressed in his Sunday best, bow tie and all, was adorable or saying two older women laughing together while having brunch at a café were being cute. However, we should never use the same words to describe babies as we use to describe senior citizens. Our grandparents, and their entire generation, don’t deserve to be infantilized. They deserve some respect.

It can be hard to avoid repeating the phrases we hear around us, but we owe it to the remarkable parents, nurses, veterans, teachers and students who came before us to give it our best shot.

The little things matter most

I want to begin by congratulating the four members of the class of 2016 who were voted to the Senior Class Council. Juniors Shelli Reeves, Milagros Green, Kelly Johnson and Sean Roskamp will make up the council for next year’s graduating class.

As most of you probably don’t know, the process of electing the president and vice president was broken this year.

After Ben Miller and Brittany Spicer were elected to be president and vice president on March 27, they received congratulations from Rock Jones, the President’s assistant, current Senior Class Council President Liz Fisher and friends around campus. Everything was peachy and it seemed like a normal election. Not so fast!

Soon after, they received an email from the post-graduate intern Hillary Fowler to notify them of the upcoming run-off election. Apparently, if candidates win without 50 percent of the vote, there must be a run-off election. These rules were never stated prior to the election.

With not even half the junior class voting and three candidates running for president and VP, gaining 50 percent is nearly impossible.

The run-off election took place this past week with even fewer people voting. Reeves and Green won even though they didn’t receive as many votes as Miller and Spicer during the first election.

Now, at this point, I’m not really mad, just disappointed. I can’t help but feel bad for Miller and Spicer. According to the stated rules (or lack thereof), they won the spots fair and square the first go around.

Ohio Wesleyan blew it. This is pathetic. How hard is it to run a fair election? Many students, including myself, had the same response when hearing the news: chuckled and let out a big “that’s bullshit.” No wonder the school is losing so much money. Yes, this is on a very small scale and no one will care in two weeks, but sometimes it’s the little things that matter most in life.

Keeping your word is a great quality to have. I like to think I’m someone who keeps my word. I’m sure you would like that reputation as well. And I’m 100 percent certain OWU wants to be viewed as an esteemed institution. Why else would we hire a branding consultant and get a brand new tour bus?

Ohio Wesleyan, if you’re reading this, it’s too late. But for next time, communicate with the candidates a little more thoroughly. If potential students hear about the professionalism of the Senior Class Council election, maybe enrollment will go back up.

“Wasted on the Dream” is a wasted opportunity

"Wasted on the Dream" album cover. Photo courtesy of brooklynvegan.com. — “Wasted on the Dream” album cover. Photo courtesy of brooklynvegan.com.

Wasted on the Dream is an album that I really want to like. No matter how hard I try though, Jeff the Brotherhood has made it pretty difficult.

With eight full albums in tow, Jeff the Brotherhood has come a long way since their early high school beginnings in 2001. The band, composed of two actual brothers, Jake and Jamin Orrall, hail from Nashville, Tennessee.

Held up as the album most true to their roots yet, Wasted on the Dream makes me afraid for how much I enjoyed their more dishonest pieces of work. If anything, I feel as though Wasted on the Dream is the brothers’ least cohesive and characteristic album. It rings with their typical party-rock feel, but wholly lacks their usual thrilling spark of raw sound.

I held out hope for the album up until I began to hear hints of Weezer in the Brotherhood’s guitar riffs. It was at this point I closed the door of my room so none of my housemates could mock me for listening to something so kitschy.

Wasted on the Dream is basically a G-rated stoner-rock album. Pitchfork writer Ian Cohen aptly compared it to “’responsible’ parent[s] letting the high school kids get drunk at their house because they gotta do it somewhere.”

“Cosmic Visions,” the album’s third song, embodies those college freshmen who just found out about alcohol and can’t stop talking about how many Mike’s Hard they can pound back. It is an anthem for people who spend all their time trying too hard to look cool.

Featuring Best Coast front woman Bethany Cosentino on “In My Dreams” also seems like desperate parental grab at relating to the “hip” kids.

I am reluctantly disappointed in Jeff the Brotherhood. After recent binge listens to the band’s 2012 album Hypnotic Nights, I wonder what has been lost in those three years. The band feels less energized, less enthusiastic. Perhaps they have been caught in the loop of only creating music that they’ve succeeded with in the past.

The largely negative criticism of this album, however, could potentially be a wake up call for the brothers. Rock and roll can’t survive solely on writing minorly catchy songs about smoking weed and drinking beer.