Opinion – Page 13 – The Transcript

Louisville: land of the independent and home of the weird

As quickly as Louisville pushed me out, it pulled me in again. Louisville is a city with an inviting twang and hospitality with flair. Louisville prides itself on feeling independent from the rest of Kentucky. In the 2008 presidential election, Louisville was one of the only cities in the state to vote democratic. Our electric blue rebelled against the overwhelming wall of red.

The pride of rebellion rings throughout the city. A Louisville rebellion is a challenge to normality. The city is painted with murals declaring our unyielding attempts to “stay weird.” Our streets are lined with shops promoting their independence. In Louisville “Mom and Pop” shops are hailed as royalty and the city divides depending on which stores hold their loyalty.

Our oddities are our battle cries. We wear them boldly and share them with anyone who may partially be listening. We recount the years that we have attended the annual Zombie Walk down our favorite road, Bardstown. We spout off any and all of the facts we have learned while living in Louisville; our production of 90 percent of the world’s disco balls usually at the forefront of our memory.

Louisville's iconic Bardstown Road. Photo courtesy of oceanllama.com. — Louisville’s iconic Bardstown Road. Photo courtesy of oceanllama.com.

Louisville is a city that loves Louisville. Kentucky politician Albert “Happy” Chandler famously corralled that undying affection into a quote that has been recited endlessly to me and by me. A quote that has been printed on posters and tee shirts and mugs that will hold coffee with bourbon. A quote that every Louisvillian I know holds to be true: “I’ve never met a Kentuckian who wasn’t either thinking about going home, or actually going home.”

Louisville is a winding city that travels through me – all of its roads crisscrossing and converging to one spot. Each house has a multitude of potential routes of access. A drive toward home could be as quick or as prolonged depending on each turn taken. It weaves paths through sheltered catholic school kids, wandering college graduates, to the newly perfected family living in the Victorian house on the corner.

Louisville is a city of land. As only the 28th biggest city in America, we have more than 100 parks – Cherokee being one of the most visited in the nation. Almost every building has a floral counterpart. Our parks are not a sectioned off square of grass as in many cities. Our parks are monumental spaces of life. They are capable of engulfing you and losing you. They are engrained into the city.

Louisville's Waterfront Park. Photo courtesy of asla.org. — Louisville’s Waterfront Park. Photo courtesy of asla.org.

Waterfront Park carries Louisville. It is the spot for cruises on the Belle of Louisville. It holds the skate park for youths in revolt. It sits on the edge of the murky Ohio River and looks across, mockingly, at the state of Indiana. It is the setting for picnics, strolls and for live music. In the warmer months our local public radio station hosts free concerts featuring plenty a Bluegrass beat. Young mothers dance with their Montessori toddlers, hula hoops are spun and tossed in the air by barefoot hippies blowing bubbles while the city’s adored cellist performs under a string of fairy lights on stage.

Louisville has a hold on its inhabitants. It is a lover from years past who still brings a smile when remembered. Louisville is for lovers. Louisville is for haters. Louisville is for agents of relevance, children of small-business owners, and for old couples who sway in their wicker chairs and sip on sweet tea.

Louisville is longing. Louisville is rebellion. Louisville is odd. Louisville is self-admiration. Louisville is land. Louisville is devotion. Louisville is pride.

After long wait, Kendrick Lamar delivers

How does someone follow up a critically and commercially acclaimed album? Many musicians had to do it- just ask Nirvana, Adele or a myriad of other artists. The latest artist that had to deal with the quandary was Kendrick Lamar.

Almost three years after his breakthrough album, 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar released his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly. It was a long wait for Lamar fans; the album was supposed to come out late 2014, and he kept releasing songs, such as “i”. And on one of the last episodes of The Colbert Report, he performed an untitled song. But on March 16, Lamar dropped his latest masterpiece. It came out a week early, which surprised many fans.

Butterfly is a bit of a departure from his previous albums. It’s musically diverse, incorporating funk, call and repeat and traditional rap. His songs talk about everything from Wesley Snipes, Kunta Kente and a shout-out to Oprah Winfrey. The album grapples with Lamar’s simultaneous sense of pride being a Black man, while the self-hatred that he feels. Listen to the songs “i” and “The Blacker the Berry” back to back, and you’ll get it. The album also tackles the idea of race in America; for example, in “Wesley’s Theory”, Lamar comes to the conclusion that once a Black man becomes successful, everyone, including the government, will try to take it away, as evidenced by Wesley Snipe’s tax issues.

Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" album cover. Photo courtesy of thefamedriven.com. — Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” album cover. Photo courtesy of thefamedriven.com.

There are obviously some cheekier, sexier songs (“These Walls”) along with a mournful, complicated ballad, which is seen as the opposite of “i” (“u”). The most interesting song on the album is the 12-minute “Mortal Man”, in which Lamar conducts an interview with the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur, one of Lamar’s idols. The interview is taken from a 1994 discussion on Sweden’s P3 Soul radio show. The discussion between Lamar and Shakur spans from subjects like legacy and how to handle success.

Kendrick Lamar has been hailed as the rapper of a generation. That’s pretty big praise, and a lot of hype someone has to live up to. But Lamar does deserve that distinction, and To Pimp a Butterfly is a prime example that Lamar intends to live up to those tags.

Why Matt Youse should come to OWU

My brother, Matt, is a senior in high school. He just received his letter of acceptance to OWU a few weeks ago, and even though I know OWU is not his first (or second…) choice, I’ve decided to make a case for my school. This column is for him, but it is also for all prospective students questioning why they should come to a school that is chronically under construction.

Matt, as my brother, you pretty much know the cliff notes on everything that’s going on with me this year. You know that I’m over being in college. You know I’m frustrated the university is essentially cutting my department in half for the third year in a row.

But for as much as I have to complain about, I have a lot more to love about OWU that I want you to know. And in an effort to be as transparent as possible, I want to be explicitly clear about what OWU cannot give you.

OWU does not have a fancy film programs like the ones you are looking at in Boston College or NYU. James Franco will never teach any of your classes. You will not have access to expensive new equipment. You won’t be able to intern at a major production company and still live on campus.

Delaware, Ohio cannot offer you sushi delivery at midnight. You won’t be able to easily get from one place to the other via public transportation. There are no Broadway theaters. You won’t be seeing any political marches down Sandusky Street.

You will see a glaring poverty gap between students and the university employees who serve them lunch. You will see your friends fail after your first semester because even though OWU is easy to get into, it’s not easy to stay here. You will see every treadmill in Welch occupied because the weight room was cut in half for construction, so now all the bros are infiltrating the mostly-female gym and hogging all the cardio machines.

If you have a one-night stand, you will run into her the next day on the Jay. Guaranteed. If you send an angry email to your professors, you will most likely still have to take another class with them. You won’t be able to blow off your classes and sleep in. You won’t be able to get away with parking in the wrong spaces, and your car will get booted and you’ll have to pay $50 cash to get it off.

You will really hate it here sometimes. But most of the time, you will love it.

You will love it because you will have professors like Paul Kostyu, who even though you hate him because he is literally the hardest grader in history, you love him because he will do everything he can for you, from getting you internships to getting you new equipment to use. You will depend on him, and he will pull out all the stops for you.

You will love it because you will have advisers like Joan McLean, who will be able to take 150 percent of the credit for why you’re graduating on time. She will sit with you and talk about life for four hours at a time, give you hugs and wipe your tears.

You will love it because you will have friends that make your life so full, when things are right with them, things are right with the whole world. You will love it because even though you might hook up with some rando at Clancy’s and run into them everywhere, that person will eventually become your friend and you’ll be able to joke about all the dumb stuff that happened between you.

You will love it because social justice issues on campus are addressed publically by Chaplin Jon Powers. You will love it because when you email President Rock Jones, he will personally respond to you and schedule a time to meet with you. You will love it because your professors will play in a rock band at Roops Bar on Sunday nights. You will love it because the members of the SLU community will teach you about the kinds of people we never got to meet in our tiny cornfield town.

Matt, OWU will not look shiny and fancy until you after you graduate. But honestly? Who cares. The community here speaks for itself. For as much as I can complain about it, I love it. After a terrible high school experience, OWU brought me back to life. OWU is the reason I made the 10 best friends of my life. OWU is the reason I found confidence. OWU gave me the four best years yet.

You will succeed tremendously wherever you decide to go, but I hope you come here. Partly because it’s the best, and partly so I can come back and visit you.

*Free t-shirt not included

It happens at home, too

Growing up as a Jewish woman, I was always surrounded by other Jews. I went to Hebrew school, a Jewish overnight camp, the Jewish Community Center and part of a large, vocal Jewish family. So being Jewish was part of my blood.

I can’t remember the first anti-Semitic incident I encountered. I remember hearing rumblings in my high school that someone threw coins at another student and said, “Jew, pick them up. You don’t want money to go to waste.” There were some casual incidents I encountered, like people saying, “You don’t look Jewish!” or “Speak Jewish!” One time, my hairdresser told me I don’t have Jewish hair like my sister. When I came to Ohio Wesleyan, I met people who have never met a Jew before. They would ask me if I celebrated Christmas. I said no, and they asked me if I was sure. Was I sure I didn’t celebrate Christmas? Yeah, I’m positive.

But those incidents are minor compared to what’s going on for Jews around the world. In January, the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo was attacked. And outside Paris, a Kosher grocery store was also attacked, and is suspected to be connected with those attacks. There has been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, which The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg illustrated in his brilliant feature “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” But it’s happening at home, too.

I’m from Milwaukee, which has a large and active Jewish population. But go anywhere outside Milwaukee and our state capital, Madison, and Jews in Wisconsin are sparse. Unfortunately, Wisconsin saw a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2014, “more than twice those seen in recent decades,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. There were 33 confirmed incidents in 2014, compared with the 13 in 2013. One example of an incident was “at one business, a hairdresser told a potential client that she doesn’t cut ‘Jewish hair.’” And no, that hairdresser was not mine.

Even more disturbingly, over a two-day period, there were 39 acts of vandalism in Madison, which is supposed to be the bastion of liberalism in Wisconsin. The acts ranged from swastikas on garage doors and KKK spray painted on a side of a house, the Wisconsin Gazette reports.

So, what are American Jews supposed to do? Do we follow Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s advice and move to Israel? Do we stop openly calling ourselves Jewish? Do we wear yellow stars on our clothes? No. The answer is not as simple. Anti-Semitism has been around for thousands of years, and it will be around long after we’re gone. There is no easy way to combat or ignore it.

My concern is these incidents will get worse, possibly to the point in which people will be afraid to openly identify themselves as Jewish. There is no easy fix for this issue; there are some people who will just be ignorant or narrow-minded. Education could be an option, but there will always be people who will not want to learn.

I want a world where people can proudly wear their Star of David necklace or their tallit. I want a world where people don’t feel like they need to flee their homes in fear of their lives just because they have a mezuzah on their doorframe. My wish is for my children to be proud of their Jewish heritage and not have to be quiet about their religion. I also hope they will not be asked if they’re sure if they don’t celebrate Christmas.

An American crisis: police brutality

During the racially heated 1960s, civil rights characterized a decade of social combat. This time period also saw plenty of physical conflict that was taken to the streets. Black and white photos of black and brown people being mangled by government dogs, blasted by fire hoses or just straight assaulted with police nightsticks have been permanently burned into our past, all while they were only fighting for their humanity. As Americans, some us believed those hardships marked a point of social growth.

However, it is 2015 and the same old crap still continues. Police brutality needs to be treated as a national crisis. The topic was finally brought to national attention following the murder of Trayvon Martin. His bag of Skittles must have been a very menacing weapon in the eyes of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

Next, the murder of Michael Brown brought the predominately black city of Ferguson, Missouri into the spotlight. This case was problematic for the black community because Brown was already stereotyped as a thug. Whether you’re a Michael Brown opponent or supporter, witnessing a grieving mother who just lost her child to those who are meant to “protect and serve” is resonating.

The 2014 Staten Island case of Eric Garner was particularly disturbing because the entire execution of the father of three was caught on video, and perpetually played by news organizations here to Timbuktu. According to the New York Times, from 2009 to 2013 over 1,022 complaints were filed by New Yorkers in which they said New York Police Department officers used chokeholds, which were banned since the death of Michael Stewart in 1983. Of the 1,022 complaints, only nine were substantiated. Nine out of 1,022? To make matters worse, NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton doesn’t believe race is relevant to his officers when making split-second, life-ending decisions; go figure.

The most recent occurrence of police brutality bloodied a black UVA student, Martese Johnson. His bloodied face which was mashed into the concrete while being cuffed has made the front-page of publications all over. The Alcoholic Beverage Control cops who arrested Johnson, an honor student, claimed he possessed a fake id, which he was never charged with having, and was publicly intoxicated. Witnessing this video imparted some fear in me; all you have to do is swap Martese for Graham.

The elemental root of these events is easy to see Slavery was only abolished 150 years ago. Black and brown folk are the only bodies in this country ever accounted by the state as valueless. The Nation.com columnist Mychal Denzel Smith said it best, “History is present whether we invite it to the table or not. We don’t escape America’s history of racism because we believe ourselves to be good people, or that we’re just doing our jobs. It’s already defined our lives.” Aside from our shameful history of slavery and genocide of native people, the modern root is veiled racism and unconscious stereotyping. How can we come to trust our community protectors if they are racially profiling? Sad thing is, many local law enforcement makes people feel anxious and unsafe, watched and controlled. A solution lies somewhere, but where? Changing these sentiments will be one hell of a task for the American mind.

Thoughts from a conflicted Cincinnati baseball fan

The 1970s Cincinnati Reds were one of baseball’s great lineups, and versatile star Pete Rose was one of their leaders. Near the end of Rose’s 26 year career in the Majors – when he was a manager not a player – it was revealed that he’d bet money that his team would win; gambling on your own games is the greatest sin of baseball, ever since the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series in 1919.

In 1989, Rose was given a lifetime ban – barring him from entering the Hall of Fame – which remains today; many such bans are commuted but his has not been. Rose’s supporters and opponents alike believe the league’s punishment has been more severe because he denied the allegations for more than a decade, finally coming clean in his 2004 memoir.

He remains under the ban, but on March 16 Rob Manfred, the new commissioner of baseball, gave the strongest sign that it may be lifted, saying he’d consider Rose’s repeated request for reinstatement on its merits rather than rejecting it immediately.

To invert the famous question from the 1919 Black Sox scandal: Why’d you say it wasn’t so, Pete? Why’d you say it wasn’t so?

You had it all; there’s no doubt you were bound for the Hall for your performance as a player. Two World Series rings with the Reds, more than a dozen league records, a spot on the All-Century Team.

When I was playing as a kid, I took on part of your batting style – not as aggressive running the bases, obviously, but my hitting was similar. I went for finesse, rather than power – I could do just as much, if not more, off a well-placed bunt or line drive as anyone could with a hard hit ball to the outfied.

Heck, sometimes when I knew the catcher couldn’t hold on to the ball I’d let them strike me out, just so I could make a run for it and beat the throw to first. You probably did that at one time or another – probably not intentionally of course.

My main idols were more contemporary Reds with that style, such as Ryan Freel, but before that, when my dad was the age I was then, you were winning pennants for the Reds the same way and that’s what I heard about.

I want to write this column about why you should be allowed in the Hall, why I think it’s hypocritical for the league to keep you out and not give a similar ban for steroid use, why steroid use is actually worse.

But it’s just not that simple. There’s no way to spin this as the league going after you and my Reds completely without justification, even after 26 years.

No matter what else has happened since then, you messed up, and then you denied it, and no amount of bravado or tearful apologies will change that. This isn’t a David and Goliath, Reds versus establishment, fight. It’s about what you did – to your legacy, to yourself and to our team.

I can’t just rally around you blindly as if you didn’t let us all down too. You let the fans down, you let the organization down, you let your teammates down.

You realize that, at least by now – just look at your roast five years ago, when you broke down and admitted what you’d done to everyone else, to the game. But holding it in a casino? Really? How was that a good idea? How have a lot of the things you’ve done since then been a good idea?

This may not be completely fair; you showed a lot of signs of gambling addiction back then. But if you had to put down money on the games, you could have retired and then done it the next day. You knew the rules, you knew what you were doing. Why’d you do it, Pete?

How’d you get to that point? How’d the game get here, now?

My brother was a big fan of Sammy Sosa; loved to see him play for the Cubs. Well, Sammy Sosa put cork in his bat and used it against the Devil Rays. Sure, he said he only used the one in a game by accident; that it was meant for batting practice. Sure, all his other bats were clean. But still, corking a bat was just as clearly against the rules. Why’d you do it, Sammy?

And then there were the steroids. Why, oh, why did that happen, everyone?

In 2005, Jose Canseco said on 60 Minutes that around 80 percent of the players were using performance-enhancing drugs. Scores of stars – including Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire – all got caught using them. None of them have been banned; if they are the Hall of Fame may have a missing gap when no one, or very very few, from my childhood was deemed worthy.

I can rant at you, Pete Rose, all I want, but it’s not just about you; you’re just a stand-in. This is about one of my favorite sports, the ball games I grew up watching.

Baseball was the national game for so long; we reflected the spirit of America. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, symbols of resistance in the Great Depression. Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and so many others, ushering in civil rights.

But somewhere between those glory days and now, we lost all that. ESPN said on March 19 that baseball’s not dead; it’s struggling but has a lot left to hang onto. But all they talked about was the money.

What about the public’s trust? What about the public’s interest?

We were the national pastime, and that used to mean something. Somewhere, somehow, we lost all that, and it’s a lot more complex than just one man’s gambling or a whole bunch of men and their steroids.

I still want to see Pete Rose in Cooperstown; I still will watch the games come Opening Day this April, when I can.

But the more I write this the more I realize things just aren’t the way they were anymore, when the game I grew up with was so simple and idealistic.

Maybe it never will be again.

Maybe it never was.

It still made for some great memories, though.

Whatever happens to the fate of the sport, or Pete Rose and the Hall, at least we’ll all still have that.

Bishop Bash

By: Matt Cohen and Ben Miller

We went into Bishop Bash with skepticism like most people on campus. After reading the Yik-Yak feed, hearing the bad reputation of Drake Bell and looking at the lack of Instagram followers of Liberty Deep Down, how could we not have some doubts?

Let us first start by saying Liberty Deep Down was amazing. The band most OWU students had never heard of rocked Gordon Field House this past Saturday night. Not only were the members of the band fun to talk to and easy to work with, they were also great performers with a lot of energy and passion.

Many students shrugged off the event with no questions asked because of the headliner Drake Bell and the unknown band Liberty Deep Down. This was the wrong move.

As fans of music and talent, the way they performed on stage was much appreciated and impressive. We can definitely see these guys making it big time one day. And we’ll be able to say that line everyone loves hearing: “we saw them before they were famous.” Where as you’ll be disappointed of your ignorance of Bishop Bash and music. You call yourself a fan of music? Please.

Being skeptical of Bishop Bash is one thing, but not going because you think you’re too cool is crazy. The band Liberty Deep Down that OWU provided was good. They took over the stage and energized the crowd. Just because we didn’t get Cage the Elephant or Beyoncé doesn’t mean you should not have gone.

The point we are trying to get across is if you weren’t at the concert on Saturday, you really missed out on Liberty Deep Down. Any music fan would have enjoyed their performance.

P.S. If the band is looking for some PR reps for this summer’s tour, we are available.

Festival season

The time for flower crowns and crowded campgrounds is upon us once again. Spring is coming; we are ditching our coats and gloomy winter playlists for the sunny music festivals across the country.

Festival season is a rare and coveted time for music lovers. One of the first big-name festivals, South by Southwest (SXSW), has been running annually since 1987. Located in Austin, Texas, SXSW just wrapped up its two-week long festival on March 22. SXSW is widely known for its all-encompassing interactive qualities.

During the span of the festival, attendees not only get the chance to see thousands of live music performances, there is also a smaller film festival that occurs within the SXSW umbrella. New and noteworthy directors host discussion panels and present their work. In past years artists such as Lena Dunham and Mark Duplass have screened their films to SXSW audiences. The city-wide festival also places a heavy emphasis on innovative technology and offers attendees the opportunity to hear presentations and sit in on panels discussing emerging technology.

SXSW seems like a mecca for some of the hippest happenings in the current music scene and if not being able to attend is bumming you out just as much as it is for me here are a couple nearby alternatives:

Nelsonville Music Festival- Nelsonville, OH May 28-31

Small and growing fiercely, Nelsonville is a festival with its values in order. Based around a zero waste policy, all eating and drinking ware is recyclable and sometimes compostable. Festival-goers are also encouraged to take advantage of water refill stations by bringing reusable water bottles. Volunteers work through the course of the three days to educate everyone about having an environmentally friendly festival experience. Nelsonville also supports local vendors by serving food and drink from places such as Columbus’ Mickey’s Late Night Slice and Pomeroy’s Snowville Creamery.

In keeping with the local support, Nelsonville’s lineup frequently contains lesser-known artists from Ohio, such as Good English from Dayton, Speaking Suns from Yellow Spring, and Columbus’ Bummers. However, Nelsonville is no stranger to hosting big names on their stages as well. Past years’ headliners include Kurt Vile, The Avett Brothers, and Wilco. This year The Flaming Lips and St. Vincent are taking the main stage.

Forecastle Festival- Louisville, KY July 17-19

Forecastle first began in 2002 as a neighborhood event in a small park and now thousands of people from across the world attend. The festival does not offer camping areas which forces attendees to explore the vibrant, and growing in popularity, city of Louisville. Artists such as My Morning Jacket, Girl Talk, and Jack White perform against the Ohio River backdrop along Louisville’s downtown Waterfront Park.

A festival in Kentucky is nothing without ample bourbon supply, and Forecastle creator J.K. McKnight is well aware. The Bourbon Lodge is a Forecastle staple and contains local food and beverages, such as Buffalo Trace and Four Roses, for the tasting.

Activity fee increase would prove student investment

It’s in our blood at Ohio Wesleyan to complain.

That’s not a criticism. Our complaints aren’t petty or vapid but substantive. They’re real responses to real problems. We don’t resent tuition increases because we’re penny-pinchers. Rather, we hate to see our friends leave because they cannot afford OWU anymore.

Sometimes our complaints lead to solutions. But other times we fall short and solutions fail to materialize.

This week, though, the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs posed a strong solution to part of a big problem facing the university – raising the student activity fee to offset the budget shortfall low enrollment has caused.

OWU had about 100 fewer students this year. Fewer students entering the university and paying tuition means the university has less money to spend.

Some calculations tell us just how much less. Last academic year it cost $51,180 to attend OWU (tuition, average room and board and the student activity fee). Taking into account the average tuition discount of 60.9 percent, or $31,169, the average student paid $20,011.

Multiply that by 100 and you get about $2,000,000. That’s a big drop.

Administrators have to make up for it somewhere, WCSA is rightly concerned it will have detrimental effects on some of the most important services students use every day.

The student activity fee hasn’t increased since 2011, and a modest hike to help preserve such crucial services just makes sense.

WCSA would use part of the higher fee to help fund different student affairs departments. Some are vital to student health and safety, such as Counseling Services, Health Services and Public Safety. Others, such as the Community Service Learning Office and Career Services, enrich our lives as students and future citizens.

Beyond serving our own interests as students, increasing the fee shows we care about the university and the people who do important work for us. It shows we’re financially and emotionally invested in this place and want to make it the best it can be.

It’s complicated, though. Not every student can afford any more costs, and we can’t afford to lose any more of our talented peers to money.

So I think WCSA ought to make its proposal more progressive. Instead of an across-the-board increase, each student’s fee should be adjusted based on how much they and their family are expected to pay for their education, according to the Federal Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA).

Students who have lower expected contributions and can afford to pay more get a bigger hike, and vice versa. This would ensure students who cannot take on any more financial burdens would not have to.

Students complain because we care. We must channel that passion into solutions. WCSA has made us proud by putting forward a good solution, and we ought to help the council make that solution work.