Category: Opinion

By Elizabeth Childers
Online Editor

Christmas has arrived. Don’t believe me? Watch cable for an hour or go get a coffee from McDonald’s. “Unwrap a little joy?” I’m still unwrapping my winter clothes.

What happened to Thanksgiving? The holiday dedicated to binge eating while thanking the universe for only having first world problems? Anyone else remember turkey, ham and sweet potato casserole? I do. Or at the very least, what happened to Black Friday, a purely consumer-based holiday specifically to drain our bank accounts and make company profit quotas? Why do marketers insist on holiday specials and music in the stores? And this was starting before Halloween.

Maybe Christmas has been moved up a week so we all can spend time playing with our new gadgets before the end of the world on Dec. 21. That would explain some of this mess, but I think they forgot to include everyone else on that memo.

In my family, Christmas preparations and cheer don’t start until the day after Thanksgiving when my mom’s favorite station starts playing Christmas music. Is a whole month really not enough time for stores to shove their commercial messages down our eye sockets and into our lint-lined pockets? They have put us on the Christmas rat race so early that, by the time we reach our finish line, we’re too exhausted to crawl out of bed and open sweaters, iPads, GPS’s, cameras and puppies.

Obviously, I’m making fun of our commercial dependency that has become Christmas. It seems the spirit of Christmas giving (and I don’t mean of electronics) has disappeared. Even if you’re not Christian, is it so bad to have a time of year when we give a little of our time and good will to a stranger or family who has less than we do? For the last few years, my mother has lamented that she “just isn’t in the Christmas mood.” And I wonder if that’s because of how materialistic we’ve made this time of giving.

One of her favorite Christmas stories isn’t about the best prime rib she ever made or how much I loved the doll house they got me when I was six. Her favorite story is about a stranger in Lowe’s. The man not only helped her get down the tree she wanted while employees were no where to be found, but let her have it despite it being the last one, and the tree his wife had sent him for. He even helped her take it to the car, since it was a nine foot tree.

So this is my way too early Christmas message: screw consumerism. I’m not doing my shopping until the last minute, as it should be. They don’t need my money a day before that. Instead, I think I might spend a few evenings ay my local food bank over break, or convince my family to sponsor a home for the holidays.

Not to be cheesy, but won’t you join me in the true magic of the holiday season, not the Macy’s brand?

By Elizabeth Childers
Online Editor

Trash overflowing in the stairwells. Recycling that hasn’t been taken out in weeks. Dirt and hair tumble weeds float down the hallways and bathrooms that are rarely cleaned. Think I’m talking about Smith? Guess again.

This year is the first year I have not lived on the second floor in Welch. This is also the first year I’ve run across issues with my building being unclean and having the uncomfortable realization that I’m out of toilet paper while in one of our public bathrooms.

In my previous building, our housekeeper, who was a wonderfully delightful woman that would leave us a card every year before Christmas break, would come in every Tuesday morning, mop our bathroom, clean our showers and counters, and take out our trash. At the beginning of the year, she would let us know her cleaning day and asked what time would work best for us for her to come and clean. She was amiable and always did a fantastic job. My roommates and I always chipped in for a card and box of chocolates for her to show our appreciation.

This year however, has not been as pleasant.

Immediately, my roommate and I noticed our bathroom was not being cleaned, though toilet paper was supplied. The trash can in the stairwell, after only a few days, was overflowing with trash, and we weren’t sure if there was a spot to place bigger things. (We later on noticed the dumpster across the parking lot.) And this weekend, starting as early as Thursday, the hallways began to reek of the unpleasant, pungent odor of moldy garbage and bad food.

And let’s not forget about our community kitchens. This is a running problem I’ve seen in every building, save Welch (seeing a pattern here, folks?).
Our kitchen, located in the basement, has been a mess from the get-go, with trash littered on counters, crumbs and food strewn on tables, and a sink constantly surrounded by dirty cooking utensils. If I were you, I wouldn’t even think of going near the microwaves or toaster ovens down there since they look like they have bio lab experiments growing on the insides.

Our RA has been on top of these issues from the beginning. Over the course of the semester, he has been working with his residents and other higher ups to try and get these issues resolved. And a few days after the first series of e-mails, the dorm was looking better. But honestly, this odorous weekend has been the brick that brought the Jenga tower down.

I’m not saying Building and Grounds needs to be our nannies. I don’t expect them to pick up after every single mess made by every student on this campus.
We are adults, and we should be able to do our fair share, like washing our own dishes and cleaning up spills when we’re done cooking, or placing trash in the proper places. But considering we each pay around $10,000 to live here, I would say we can at least expect them to take out the trash an extra day a week, or run a sweeper in the hallway every Wednesday.

Editor’s Note: The author of this editorial proceeded to empty the trash for the entire building after writing this editorial.

I feel like I just won a season of that awful TV show Survivor, when I can proudly say that I have successfully survived nearly four years of living on Chartwells food. Is there any way I can get a medal for that?

Only now am I starting to feel the effects of my lack of nutrition. Not to point any fingers, but I do recall a particular moment during my freshman year where I thought I was the token human being in the world suffering from the black plague, but in reality it was just a minor case of food poisoning.

Here is yet another prime example of the quality of food at our university: earlier today I picked up soup from Bishop Café and one of the Chartwell’s employees asked me to let her know how the soup tasted and if I enjoyed it because it looked absolutely awful to her. Seriously?

Yes, this is a dramatic example, but it still is true. A girl can’t survive on the surplus of fried food that is offered all the time on campus. The same unhealthy options are offered every day of the week. Even though I only venture into Hamwil and my personal favorite, though overpriced, Thomson Corner, I still feel that I have very few options.

Just the thought of dabbling with the fine dining at Smith makes my stomach turn.

Smith, to me, is like the Fear Factor of OWU. Out of the three occasions I’ve been there, I felt like I was force feeding myself with an identical, though blander, version of Hamwil in hopes to win some lump sum of cash, but instead I have to settle for an ice cream cone to go.

What’s even worse is that I feel like I’m going to rehab every time I leave for break; I literally undergo withdrawal from chicken tenders and then have to detox my entire system.

Margaret Bagnell
Transcript Reporter

By Suzanne Samin
A & E Editor

When I read Ohio Wesleyan’s slogan, “the opposite of ordinary,” I interpret it as a statement about our diversity and unique opportunities in both education and service.

To me, it says that our university, our campus, is a place where people of any race, religion, creed or walk of life can find acceptance.

It says to me, “We are not a box.” There is no “ordinary” OWU student, no exclusive “type” that defines us as a whole.

Given this message, it comes as a great disturbance to me that our campus could be a place where anyone would feel unwelcome – that anyone would be discriminated against, violently or otherwise, for who they are or what they believe.

Earlier this month, I caught wind of an unfortunate incident involving a student who had been harassed and assaulted on our campus for something I truly believed we accepted at Ohio Wesleyan – being a member of the LGBTIQA community.

Given our very active PRIDE group, our Spectrum Resource Center and the number of resources available to LGBTIQA individuals on campus, I was deeply disappointed, and, frankly, depressed to hear that a man associated with one of our fraternities on campus had thrown beer bottles at this individual, while yelling anti-gay slurs.

While the appropriate measures have been taken, and formal charges are in the process of being filed, I still cannot fathom the implications of this hateful act for our community.

Given our commitment to diversity, interdisciplinary connections, and cultural understanding, we should be completely and utterly ashamed, as a whole, that this is a plausible event on this campus.

Take a second to consider this: not only did someone choose to physically harm someone for being perceived or identified as homosexual, but also there were people there who laughed.

There were people there that stood by and did absolutely nothing: your classmates, your friends, your Greek brothers or sisters.
These were people whom you pass every day on the JAYwalk who perpetrated this crime, or allowed it to happen.

Being silent and being inactive is a form of perpetration. When it comes to discrimination of any kind, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

We boast a plethora of beliefs at this university: religious, political or otherwise. Some of these beliefs do not accept the queer community.

However, the fact that a crime such as this could transpire here goes against everything that I, in my three years at this university, felt that we stood for.

No one should feel entitled to push his or her beliefs onto others. The persecution of others for living their lives is inexcusable.
Those actions are not the sort this university endorses and I, for one, will not stand for them.

When events like this happen, I have to ask myself how many more events or discussions we need to have to get this across to our students and faculty.

Everyone on this campus, and I mean absolutely everyone, should feel ashamed and responsible for these kinds of attitudes continuing to exist here at Ohio Wesleyan.

I know I certainly am.

As a member of the Women’s House, I am saddened, but also motivated – because this is further indication there is so much more to be done.

The bubble of acceptance and equality on this campus is a gift I, and other students here, have come to appreciate.

Those of us who are part of the SLU community, or any other equality organization, have been reminded we are not anywhere near finished in generating discussion and change on this campus.

Our bubble has burst.

For those who had seemingly nothing to do with this incident, I encourage them to deeply examine how they treat others, and how they respond when they witness others being mistreated. It is our responsibility as a student body to change and grow for the better – and every action and reaction, no matter how small, makes a difference.

For those who were there and did nothing, I hope you have given it thought and have found some sense of accountability.

I hope you have examined why you accepted the events unfolding, or why you did not do something to stop them.

I hope you eventually let go of whatever guilt you may have in exchange for motivation to cause change for the better.

I cannot say I know how to even begin addressing those of you who committed this crime.

All I can say is the anger I have expressed in writing this is not hatred aimed at you, but towards the attitudes you exhibited. To hate you, or anyone, would be to go directly against my own cause.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is hate is an ordinary thing that happens every day – on college campuses and city streets alike.

Hate is an ordinary emotion that fuels thousands of actions. However, we create the climate of this campus and we have the ability to change it.

It starts with changing our problematic attitudes individually, and then reflecting that to others. Slowly but surely, it can make a difference.

If we are going to call ourselves “the opposite of ordinary,” then we must live up to it.

By Breanne Reilly
News Editor

When I first heard about the SlutWalk, the name took me aback.

Slut is a misogynistic term aimed at people, mostly women, who are considered to be “loose” or sexually promiscuous.
It is an insult.

And I do not believe that reclaiming a derogatory term, such as “slut,” makes it any less of an insult.

Arguably, embracing the word, “slut,” can give it a nearly harmless or positive connotation.

The often used phrase, “Hey, slut,” has made the word part of an ironic greeting. But, in my opinion, this casual use of the word is merely casual sexism.

In the case of SlutWalk, however, the word’s use has evolved into a sense of empowerment for women.

Sluts are now people who exercise their rights to their own bodies by embracing their sexuality and dressing however they want.

As part of the SlutWalk, participants have the option of dressing “slutty” or provocatively if they want to make a statement.

Last year, some students dressed in skirts, heels, bras and bathing suits.

Usually, I do not care what anyone wants to wear any night or day of the week. But I do have a problem with this part of the Walk.

If we encourage participants to dress “slutty,” aren’t we defining a certain type of style and certain parts of our own clothing in a negative way?

I understand this part of the Walk is meant to deliver the message that women should not be raped merely because they dress or act a certain way other people may deem unacceptable.

I understand we live in a society where blaming victims is common.

It seems when a woman is raped, her character is measured in relationship to her skirt length.
Her “slutty” attire is almost always used as an excuse for the attacker’s behavior.

But the truth is, women are raped regardless of what we wear, who we know or what we do.
Women are raped because rapists are foul.

There is no other reason.

In my mind, there exists no legitimate reason to blame a victim for rape and not the attacker.

And that, for me, is the point of the SlutWalk.

Although the word, “slut,” bothers me, SlutWalk is not just about the taking back the word.

And although I think the optional dress code is questionable, it also is not about what participants wear.

It is about the blame placed on the victim in a society that tells women “don’t get raped” when it should be preaching “don’t rape.”
I support this message, being a woman myself, and strongly believe we, as a society, should work to end this blame game.

Homecoming. Bring on the competition.

Actually, bring it or else.

Is it me, or is homecoming this year a bigger deal than it ever was before? I’ve been lucky enough to watch students rip down fliers, bribe students for votes and even form a fan club or two in an effort to earn royalty status. The outcome of this year’s homecoming king and queen competition has literally reached the level of “The Hunger Games.”

Maybe people are trying to relive the glory days of high school, or maybe they’re just trying to leave Ohio Wesleyan with an overload of extracurricular activities and a crown to go with it, who knows!

Either way, I have never seen such cold-blooded competition to win homecoming king and queen.

The day the list of nominees was released, I’m sure hearts broke, and that moment most likely made those who didn’t make the list reminisce about that one time in high school when they didn’t make the varsity team or that other time when they didn’t get the part in the play.

But come on, people! What’s the big deal about being the king or queen? I just can’t understand why anyone would actually want to spend a Saturday morning freezing at Selby field. It just doesn’t seem like fun, and definitely not worth a shoddy crown and titles with minimal glory that will be old news come next week.

I spent a whole seven hours dabbling with the idea of running for homecoming queen. That rumor was short lived. I quickly realized that running would likely be the biggest joke among my friends, not to mention the fact that I wouldn’t be able to pull a Lindsay Lohan by smashing the crown and throwing it to my peers, let alone receive the key to the city of Delaware. No thank you, homecoming.

But still, people continue to scatter fliers and consume newsfeeds on Facebook. Now even I feel the need to participate in this fight for king and queen by helping some friends run a publicity campaign or two. So sue me.

In reality, when it comes down to it, homecoming is fun. It’s an old tradition of placing pieces of plastic and fake diamonds, ideally cubic zirconia, on people’s heads to make them feel special.

So to all you voters, vote — and good luck to the nominees. May the odds be ever in your favor!

Margaret Bagnell
Transcript Reporter