Category: Opinion

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Faculty: you need to talk

By: The Transcript Editorial Staff

At their Nov. 16 meeting, members of the faculty voted not to allow student representatives, including a Transcript reporter, into the room. Following the online publication of a story covering that decision–the cover story of tomorrow’s issue–many students, alumni and faculty began engaging in discussion on social media sites and in comment section of the story on The Transcript’s website. Some accusations were made, some facts were disputed and many members of the OWU community expressed their discontent. And the faculty needs to talk about it.

Let’s get this out of the way first: why are faculty upset about student presence in their meetings? The faculty are not enemies of the first amendment, they are not conspiracists or villains. In fact, plain student attendance at faculty meetings is not the issue at hand. Faculty are upset because OWU business, their business, has appeared in the Delaware Gazette on more than one occasion.

Since the first gathering in September, the Delaware Gazette has been publishing all Transcript coverage of the monthly faculty meetings. You can also find these two stories on The Transcript’s website. You see, The Transcript has a sharing agreement with the Delaware Gazette; any story or photo we publish, they have the right to use. And vice versa. It’s important to note here that even if the Delaware Gazette did not have the right to use our exact stories, any information published online would be available to them. If they wanted to write a story about the meetings using our online or print coverage as a source, they could. That’s how the media works.

Some members of the faculty are concerned that allowing Transcript reporters to cover the meetings, and thereby allowing the Gazette to do the same, might compromise the privacy of the forum: faculty will not be willing to share their real thoughts or feelings for fear of being quoted in a newspaper, and perhaps more importantly, OWU’s private dealings will be made public.

Faculty with this mindset believe that there should be an official meeting space for internal discussion. And they believe that that meeting space should be at the faculty meetings.

At The Transcript, we believe students should be given the privilege of knowing what the faculty decide in their meetings. We are as invested in this school as they are, and information between the two groups needs to be shared. That’s why we have the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) to represent our interests to the faculty and administration. But we have The Transcript to keep the powers-that-be honest. Journalists represent the student body as much as WCSA does. And to only allow WCSA into the meetings would be to trade one administration for another.

Here’s the problem: faculty need to decide whether student representatives (all student representatives) can be allowed into the faculty meetings. And if they allow The Transcript, their meetings will be public, period.

Let’s step outside the western state of mind

Beirut, Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Beirut, Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

As I woke up from my weekly Friday nap on Nov. 13, I checked my phone. Expecting a few texts or a Snapchat or two, I was instead greeted with alerts about the Paris terrorist attack. That woke me up immediately.

After the deadly terrorist attacks in Beirut the day before, I didn’t know what to expect. When I heard a concert hall was attacked, my heart broke. People going to end their week with some great music were instead greeted with terror and death. The Islamic State (ISIS) has taken credit for both attacks.

It’s an unfortunate reality we live in now. We hear about these atrocities all the time, and this point, some people might not have the visceral reaction they once had. And honestly, who could blame them? When something like attacks on innocent civilians seems to occur almost everyday, we almost become numb.

My social media accounts are littered with posts about standing in solidarity with Paris. What about the attacks in Beirut? I don’t see anything about standing in solidarity with them on my social media accounts. Whenever a country experiences a terrorist attack, or any type of attack, we have to support them, even if they are not a Western country.

Admittedly, it’s hard to think outside such an American-­centric bubble. France is one of our oldest allies, so of course our support extends to them. But we need to be reminded that these brutalities carried out by ISIS happen everyday in Iraq. Other than some articles in various news outlets, how much attention do we really pay to countries like Syria and Iraq, which are going through attacks like these almost everyday?

I don’t want anyone to think I’m downplaying the Paris attacks, because I am not. They are horrific and despicable. But we need to step outside our typical Western mindset. If as much attention was being paid to the attacks in Beirut as in Paris, who knows what the response would be. Granted, the Beirut attacks didn’t kill as many people as the ones in Paris, but they were still devastating.

Maybe I’m thinking like this because I’m an international studies major and I’m currently taking a class that focuses on terrorism. Or maybe I’m thinking about this because I see news reports about ISIS beheading ethnic Afghanis, including children. Or maybe I’m thinking about this because I’m feeling completely hopeless about this world.

If we open our eyes a little bit more, we will see that we aren’t the only ones affected by these atrocious acts of terror. We can grieve with others who have experienced something like we have. Maybe we could even try working with them. If we look outside our typical Western viewpoint, who knows what we’ll find.

Senioritis? No such thing in college

About four years ago, I was suffering from a case of senioritis. I was a high school senior, already admitted to college and enrolled in said college. School didn’t matter much anymore, and other than maintaining my grades, I became very relaxed about everything. That’s not really the case this time around.

Here I am, a senior again. However, I have a different case of senioritis. I don’t know what I’m doing upon graduation, and that scares me. A lot. I don’t think I have senioritis, I think I have something else. I think I have a case of “Oh my god, I am a college senior and I have no idea what I’m doing when I graduate”­itis.

This time, it’s much different. Last time I was a senior, I had a clear idea of the future. I was set in my choice of college and all I had to worry about was maintaining my grade average, which wasn’t hard. Now, it’s a different ballgame. No, this time it’s a whole other sport. What sport, I cannot tell you. Maybe it’s something very complicated that many don’t understand but it’s very alluring and people want to know about it. Or something like that.

When I was younger, up until last year, I was incredibly excited to graduate and start my life.

After having a taste of “freedom” when I spent my semester in Washington, D.C. made me even more excited. But as soon as I started my last first day of classes, it became real. I won’t be a student forever. I cannot pull a Buster Bluth and be a professional student.

Just thinking about the future makes me anxious. My heart starts pounding, my palms sweaty and my mind swimming. Yeah, I’ve applied for jobs, but as of Nov. 8 at 2:17 p.m., I am still unemployed. Here’s hoping that won’t be for long. But I need to remind myself, it’s still early to find a job. At least I’m not applying to law school or graduate school, like many people I know. I need to take a deep breath and calm down. Easier said than done.

I don’t think senioritis in college exists. Maybe once I become employed I will amend that statement, but the unknown is too scary. I wish I could go back to high school senior me and say, enjoy the relaxation while you can, enjoy having the next four years of your life set, because that’s not going to happen again for a while.

Nine out of ten college students admit to using Netflix

Ross Hickenbottom, Transcript Correspondent

 

The cast of the first season of the popular Netflix show "Orange is the New Black."
The cast of the first season of the popular Netflix show “Orange is the New Black.”

On my news feed yesterday, I saw a headline that confused me. It read, “Netflix Binge Watching Negatively Affecting College Students.” Seriously? We get one thing that makes us happy, and there are negative affects from it? No way!

Here are some stats for you: “Nine out of ten college students admit to using Netflix.”

“After watching three or more episodes in a row, it is considered binge-­watching.”

Are you guilty of being a “binge-­watcher”?

The answer is, probably.

Since Netflix was founded in 1997, more than 30 million people worldwide have registered for the online streaming website, and it’s no secret that college students like you and I occupy a rather large percentage of those people.

But, to call myself a “binge­-watcher?” Ouch.

It’s simple. People subscribe to Netflix because they like the ability to watch as much of a show as they would like in one sitting. They like the ability to watch a whole season of “The Office” when they’re laid up in their beds on winter break (or on a Thursday). They like to take study breaks with quick seasons of “Bob’s Burgers.” It’s okay. We’re obviously not alone.

The cast of The Office, which has been on Netflix for years.
The cast of The Office, which has been on Netflix for years.

In a world like ours, waiting on that new blockbuster to come out in theaters or a TV show to air next week is a struggle, so we resort to Netflix, where we don’t have to have the patience it takes to wait for the new “Grey’s Anatomy.” Want it now? Here it is!

But, as college students, should we have Netflix at all?

Of course we should.

Netflix’s target crowd is us, with their wide variety of young adult­-oriented programs; they’re trying to suck us into their extremely long list of subscribers, and it’s working.

In actuality, Netflix shouldn’t be a “concern.” If binging on Netflix is of public concern, our public needs new concerns. Let’s be honest, we could all be doing something significantly worse than Netflix. Being a couch potato isn’t all that bad, especially when you have a whole world of shows and movies at your fingertips.

Netflix On, my friends. Netflix On.

We cannot lose our common sense

As a journalist, and especially as the editor­-in-­chief of this paper, I have dealt with my fair share of ethical issues. There’s always the fine line of wanting to grab people’s attention and being offensive, and that line is easily crossed. I’m extremely supportive of the freedom of press and speech, but common sense is also important.

A close friend recently sent me an image from the front page of another university’s front page.

Her friend goes to Plattsburgh State University of New York (SUNY Plattsburgh), and her school’s paper, Cardinal Points, published an extremely offensive cartoon on Oct. 23. The article was about minority admissions at schools across the country, and SUNY Plattsburgh’s part in that story. Innocuous enough. However, the editorial board decided to accompany the article with a cartoon of a black student wearing a cap and gown walking through a run­-down neighborhood. The cartoon will not be reprinted in this paper.

When I saw it, several thoughts ran through my head. Who would publish a cartoon on the front page (The Transcript publishes cartoons on the opinion page)? Besides the placement of the cartoon, I had some other questions. Who approved this? Who in their right mind would think this was okay? My friend told me students at SUNY Plattsburgh were upset, and rightly so.

The paper is an independent publication, just like ours. But I would like to think we have more common sense than to publish something that would offend the entire campus. The editorial board at Cardinal Points apologized, but I’m not sure how much difference it will make for their reputation.

As an editor, I would gladly run a contributor’s piece about something I disagree with or even take offense to. But there’s a difference between getting every side of a story and baiting readers with provocative, offensive content. Salacious headlines and front covers from newspapers and magazines grab readers’ attentions worldwide. For example, the day after the WDBJ shooting, in which a reporter and cameraman were killed on­air, The New York Daily News decided to have stills of the shooting on their front page. Would that grab readers’ attention? Probably. But was that the right thing to do? No.

Journalists want to get the important news out to their readers. But in doing so, we have to make sure we don’t cross that impossibly line. It’s a difficult thing to do, but we need to use our common sense during the editorial process.

Letter to the editor: the labyrinth

By: Tom Wolber, associate professor of German

 

OWU's labyrinth. Photo courtesy of Connect2OWU.
OWU’s labyrinth. Photo courtesy of Connect2OWU.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Rhinesmith family, Ohio Wesleyan University now has a spiritual labyrinth. Modeled after the circular labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral near Paris, it is situated in the shady, idyllic grove between Merrick Hall and the Delaware Run where it blends into the landscape. The official dedication and asperging (cleansing and blessing with water) took place on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. But the labyrinth had already seen hundreds of curious visitors before that, after it was completed just prior to the start of the 2015­2016 academic year.

Passersby are clearly intrigued, but many may wonder what it all means and how it relates to OWU’s mission. Here is a humble attempt to explain some of the mysteries.

A labyrinth is not a maze, with false leads and dead ends. Unlike a maze where you lose your way, OWU’s labyrinth has a single trustworthy path that can help you find your way. However, that path follows an enigmatic series of 35 tracks that take the visitor through eleven circuits divided into four quadrants each. With a circumference of 47 feet (about 15 meters), the total length approaches 1,000 feet (about 300 meters). During medieval times, pilgrims are said to have negotiated the circuitous path on their knees, which was both humbling and challenging.

That the labyrinth is sacred ground and a magical place is obvious. For some, it may simply be a sanctuary to patiently sit and rest for a while and to meditate in peace and quiet – a much­-needed respite in our noisy, fast­-moving world. There is a demand for retreats that encourage introspection. For others, the path may simply be a metaphor for the many unpredictable twists and turns that the journey of life has in store for us. The path can also be seen as a teacher in the never-­ending quest for knowledge and enlightenment. That would certainly jive with OWU’s educational mission. Is the path the key to a deeper understanding of the human condition, both conscious and subconscious? That, too, would be a perfectly plausible explanation. Some look at labyrinths as medicine tools and their paths as vehicles for hope and healing of that which is broken. Is it the path to the mysteries of the divine? That, likewise, goes well with OWU’s legacy as a religious institution founded by Methodism. The labyrinth is probably all of the above, and more. Thus, it is a laboratory where all kinds of research can be conducted, epiphanies had, and discoveries made. For example, some scholars have argued that the four quadrants may represent the four earthly elements of water, fire, earth, and air and that the twelve circles (including the center) may represent the planetary zodiac signs.

The labyrinth is symbolic of the indomitable quest for truth and fulfillment. It is a place where the body and the mind connect. Essentially built with rock and sand, the labyrinth nevertheless allows visitors to leave behind everything that is earthly and to soar above the mundane. It is a testimony to the dual nature of humankind, which is at home in both the physical (flesh) and metaphysical (spirit). Also, is it a coincidence that the convoluted path of the labyrinth is reminiscent of the twists and turns of the human brain, resembling a map and a blueprint? This labyrinth, and all mazes and labyrinths, has archetypal depth and fulfills a primal need, for “man does not live by bread alone.” Thus, the labyrinth is a mystical place that allows us to dream and to raise our soul to a higher level. It is also a place where body and soul, solitude and community, freedom and captivity, heaven and earth, cosmos and chaos meet and form a mystical “coincidentia oppositorum” where time and space are suspended and transcended. As such, however, the labyrinth also instructs us that certain things will forever remain unknowable and unfathomable, given the limits of human epistemological understanding.

Life Trustee Kathe Law Rhinesmith, class of 1964, has referred to the labyrinth as a tribute to and celebration of the human spirit and soul. She has also made it clear that OWU’s labyrinth is not about proselytizing. Instead, it was constructed with a non­-denominational, non­-sectarian goal in mind. The labyrinth is intended to resonate with people of all faiths, or no faith at all. The internationally renowned builder, Marty Kermeen of Illinois-­based Labyrinths in Stone, and his assistant, David Keller, are in agreement with that tenet, pointing out that labyrinths have been in existence for many millennia, pre­-dating Christianity by thousands of years. The labyrinth is also designed to be open and accessible to the public – school children, church members, concertgoers and dog walkers. There are no barriers, fees, or rules of any kind. Everyone is invited to seek knowledge and wisdom. The labyrinth does not require that its path be followed.

But the path is there, patiently awaiting anyone ready and willing to go on a transformational adventure.