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Male-centered films fail to challenge gender on screen

I’m not really sure when films about women teaming up to take down a man started to be seen as “girl-power” flicks, but they’re not.

In past years Hollywood has spit out films such as “John Tucker Must Die,” “The House Bunny” and a more recent creation that has caught my attention, “The Other Woman.” These films are being promoted as female-positive and are supposedly meant empower women, but are in fact doing quite the opposite.

“The Other Woman” is a movie that follows the story of three women who discover that they are sleeping with/dating/married to the same man and decide to “team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timing SOB,” says the IMDb page.

The problem is that even though the message may be positive — women setting aside differences and working together to achieve a common goal — it is still male-centered. It is not empowering to women if all their thoughts, feelings, motives and ideas revolve around a man.

For some reason there is this widespread idea that the only way to have a supposedly strong female character is to pit her against men, to have her overcome some adversity caused by a man or to have her reject the other female characters.

In just under a minute, the trailer for “The Other Woman” already pits two of the female characters against each other in a physical altercation, accuses one of them of being a “stripper” based on her apparel and, in a joking manner, one of the characters says to another, “You don’t think you can take her?” in reference to the main woman discovering her boyfriend’s wife. I had to stop watching the clip after that.

One of the worst parts of films like “The Other Woman”, at least for me, is the type of press coverage they receive. A quick Google search of the film’s title pulls up articles such as “Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton are Hotter than ever for ‘Other Woman’” and “Kate Upton Dawns Bikini in New Clip from ‘Other Woman.’”

This coverage does nothing to promote the careers of the actors, directors or writers of this film; rather, the articles draw attention only to the positives and negatives of their physical appearances. This kind of objectification of females in film only adds to the gross overarching problem of misrepresentation in the media.

A film about three white, heterosexual, privileged women trying to get revenge on a white, heterosexual, privileged man is not progress for the mainstream entertainment business, an arena that desperately needs a reality check.

Commentary: Music faculty interpret Brahms

By Graydon Weaver
Transcript Correspondent

As winter began to loosen its grip, several staff members displayed their musical talents in the Jemison auditorium of Sanborn Hall.

Distinctive musicians in their own right, together they presented the works of one of the most famed classical composers.

The work of Johannes Brahms was the theme of the night.

“I get a feeling of emotional exhaustion after playing the first movement,” said Dr. Frank Chiou.

Chiou, the assistant professor of Piano and Theory opened the concert with two solo piano pieces.

Karl Pedersen, principal violist of the Columbus symphony, later accompanied Chiou. Crystal Stabenow , adjunct professor of voicesupplied vocals for the final two pieces.

The Brahms pieces performed presented a challenge for the musicians. While the viola and piano parts complimented each other, the two performers played almost completely different pieces, which required great skill and precision to form one comprehensive piece of music.

Stabenow sang in German for the final two pieces, which exemplified the importance of Brahms and other classical works: the brilliance that surrounds the composition, not necessarily the content.

Though the majority of the audience could likely not translate the lyrics, Stabenow’s clear operatic voice drew the crowd’s attention.

“Expanding your appreciation for different kinds of music, especially classical music could benefit a lot of people,” said junior Stephen Telepak, an audience member.

Student magician raises money for philanthropy

Ohio Wesleyan student magician, sophomore Bill Boaz. Boaz has been performing professionally since the age of ten. Photo courtesy of Bill Boaz

On a night of magic and mischief on the appropriately timed date of April Fool’s Day, nearly 500 people made their way to the Strand Theatre for a philanthropic performance.

Last Tuesday sophomore Bill Boaz preformed his renowned magic tricks as a way to raise money for his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, philanthropy event.

“I became interested in magic at the age of four,” Boaz said.

“I was watching TV and saw David Copperfield making a glass ball float – an illusion I now perform a version of in my own show – so I told my parents, and they saw I was instantly enamored by the art,” Boaz explained.

This event was a first time production for the fraternity.

In the past, “Miss OWU” was hosted as Sig Ep’s spring philanthropy.

Former Sig Ep president, senior Jake Miller, said the fraternity decided last year would be their final “Miss OWU” pageant.

“We decided to change our philanthropy event this year because the magic show attracts people of all ages, Greek life or no Greek life, whereas Miss OWU attracted a more narrow audience,” Miller said.

“We also got to open the event up to the community of Delaware,” Miller added of the magic show.

Boaz said the fraternity’s switch paid off and that the money they raised nearly doubled what they received last year.

Boaz performed two sets of magic to benefit Sig Ep’s national philanthropy, Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“A number of our brothers are now, or have been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Boaz said.

“This organization was especially important to Jakob VonDerVellen, a brother who was very active in BBBS before he passed away in a car accident two years ago.”

“In addition, it was just recently named as our fraternity’s national philanthropy,” Boaz added.

By charging five dollars at the door, the brothers were able to raise about $2 thousand for their cause.

All is fair in love, war and ‘Heartbreak House’

Cast members of Ohio Wesleyan’s rendition of George Bernard Shaw’s period piece “Heartbreak House.” Photo by Megan Pinto for Communications

The largest war to ever engulf the globe is happening right outside, but the inhabitants of George Bernard Shaw’s “Heartbreak House,” are more concerned with their love affairs.

In “Heartbreak House,” the feminist writer depicts the course of a day in a mansion in Sussex, England.

Over the course of the show character’s become fixated on romance while ignoring that they are living in the middle World War I.

Ohio Wesleyan’s theatre and dance department’s rendition of the play was directed by Professor Elane Denny-Todd.

Denny-Todd said that after 22 years of working at OWU, she was excited to finally produce one of Shaw’s works.

The cast of “Heartbreak House” is comprised of ten students from various class years.

Making the first appearance on stage was Ellie Dunn, played by senior Jenea Dominguez.

Dominguez’s character struggles throughout the show with the decision of whom she will marry. Eventually she settles on the absent-minded Captain Shotover, played by junior Luke Steffen.

Dominguez said she auditioned for the play because she wanted to perform something of Shaw’s as well as work with Denny-Todd.

Senior Kati Sweigard takes on the role of Hesione Hushabye. Sweigardvdescribes her character as having an “intense personality and a ton of confidence.”

Sweigard said that Shaw intended to write the play as an examination of wartime upper-class British society.

Junior Hannah Simpson, who plays Lady Ariedne Utterwood, agreed with Sweigard. Simpson added that Shaw’s play is a critique on how self-absorbed people can be.

“Shaw wrote this play to point out the follies of mankind, particularly those of the upper-class, on the eve of WWI,” Simpson said.

“Instead of being concerned with the consequences that will inevitably rise from war, the characters in ‘Heartbreak House’ fill their minds with trivial matters,” Simpson continued. “Such as who gets the last word in an argument, or not receiving a ‘proper’ greeting when he or she has entered the house.”

First family of Wesleyan sports honored with baseball renovations

Photos by Jane Suttmeier

Athletic Director, and former OWU Head baseball Coach Roger Ingles and his wife Jo, an award winning journalist for Ohio Public Radio, were honored Sat April 5 at. Littick Field for the dedication and hard work they have given to OWU athletics. Donations from alumni Mark and Ginny Shipps, Dale and Marilyn Bruce, and Chris McComish and his wife were used in honor of the Ingles’ to replace the backstop’s netting system, add new fencing and a new warning track. The Athletic Director said it was an honor to see his wife honored for her years as an honorary piece of the OWU community.

“I was honored that these donors felt moved enough to make our current athletes experience even better through their generous gifts,” he said. “If I contributed in some small way that is great and the event was special but it really was a recognition of the Ohio Wesleyan spirit that lives within our alumni each and every day.”

Northwestern athletes seek to unionize

Northwestern University football players will vote April 25 whether to unionize after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in March that players are employees of the school and have the right to form unions.

Northwestern is appealing the decision.

The Northwestern players are represented by the College Athletes Players Association, which is pushing for collective bargaining to enable the athletes to receive long-term medical coverage, increase scholarships, allow them to profit for use of their likeness, provide due process rights in disciplinary situations and allow them to get paid by their school as employees.

Jay Martin, OWU head coach of soccer said the decision on the Northwestern union case could affect college sports across all three divisions once the precedent is set.

“I think it’s good for student athletes to have a voice at the table,” Martin said.

“My concern is that and subsequent things will harm programs more than help them.”

He said Division I schools could probably afford to pay student athletes as employees but then programs might have to be cut.

“What you could see is top student athletes from Division I programs start to consider Division II or III schools where less time is committed to athletics,” Martin said.

“On the other hand, if programs are deleted, you could see the same result.”

Martin also said there is an “unintended consequences joke” in sports that every time Division I messes up, it passes the role to Division III.

“Nothing happens that doesn’t have some sort of effect on us,” Martin said.

“This could lead to a change in the dynamics of college sports. In Europe, for example, sports operate as local clubs. Depending on how this goes, ten years down the road, in some sports that could be a possibility.”

Tom Watts, head football coach, said student athletes should have a voice but the idea to unionize is unnecessary.

He also said OWU sports teams could not be affected no matter the outcome because it is a Division III college.

“I do not think this will affect D3 sports, because we are not creating revenue that D1 sports do,” Watts said.

Martin also said he understands why the Northwestern players are pushing for a union.

He said athletics are time consuming, with Division I athletes putting up to 60 hours into sports on-season and Division III putting at least 12 hours in a week in order to receive credit.

“Ten years ago student athletes weren’t allowed to get jobs. So they had virtually zero spending money and couldn’t go out like the other kids,” he said.

However, he does not think OWU’s student athletes give up more time than any other programs on campus.

“In that respect, I look at athletics as being no different from other disciplines.

“Our theatre department spends just as much if not more hours outside of the classroom than us,” Martin said.

Martin said there is also no difference at Division III schools with potential scholarship money awarded for non-academic related programs.

“We’re not allowed to have athletic experience as part of the financial aid package here,” Martin said.

“Athletic coaches aren’t even supposed to walk into financial aid offices, so to speak.”

Women’s golf hopes to finish strong

With the spring golf season reaching its final stretch, the women’s golf team hopes to make good on one of their biggest goals this year: winning the conference championship.

In order to do so they will need to win their last two matches, concluding with the NCAC Invitational, May 2-3.

“The team is much better from my freshman year and we have improved greatly this season as well,” junior Ally Lichwa said.

Sophomore Ashley Saylor added that everyone has been working hard and is striving to improve with each match.

“We’ve worked on becoming confident in ourselves and while statistically none of the matches count more than any others,” she said.

“We are even more excited for our upcoming home tournament and conferences.”

Though snow caused the cancellation of the March 30 Swing Fore The Cure event, there are still three invitationals left in the season.

From April 12-13 the team will host its home tournament, the Lauren Bump Invitational, and April 26-27 they will travel to Indiana for the DePauw Invitational, which serves as the first weekend of conference play.

While Saylor expressed a strong team desire to represent well as tournament hosts, their main focus is on trying to win the NCAC.

Their final opportunity to do so comes at the NCAC Invitational, where the winners will be crowned as conference champions.

Conference play is split into two weekends, with all four counting towards crowning a champion.

The overall first place team and first place individual qualify for the national tournament.

According to Saylor, though they have never won the conference championship, they won a tournament in the fall which was their first ever number one finish.

“All in all, I’m happy to see that our program is growing and I can’t wait to see how it is when I’m a senior and after I graduate,” said sophomore Amy Greenwood.

Lichwa said winning at conference is something that she takes pride in trying to achieve.

She added she wants to show the campus that the team can do it, and pointed to their yearlong improvement as a positive step.

Greenwood elaborated further, saying “I feel like our team has a lot of potential this year and I feel like we’re going to surprise a lot of people with how we finish.”

Greenwood said the NCAC is very competitive, and winning would be a big deal to everyone on the team.

Saylor added that this year’s team has already become a part of OWU history, and that she hopes the hard work put in will put them in the school records again.

Civil rights leader receives honorary degree

Near the end of an already emotional speech on campus, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) delivered a passionate call for unity.

“It doesn’t matter whether we’re black or white, Latino, Asian-American or Native American, it doesn’t matter whether we’re Democrats or Republicans, it doesn’t matter whether we’re straight or gay – we’re one people, one family,” Lewis said.

Lewis came to campus to receive an honorary doctorate degree, and as one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, he has seen firsthand the violence that can follow division.

“Congressman John Lewis was on the frontlines of virtually every struggle for racial justice in the 1960s,” said Professor Michael Flamm of the university’s history department.

Flamm, professor Paula White and Terree Stevenson ’95, all nominated Rep. Lewis for the honorary degree. White is chair of the education department and Stevenson is director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

In their nomination form, submitted last academic year, the three say that Lewis “is one of the towering figures of the modern civil rights movement.”

“The path he chose was brutally hard at times, but the results historic,” said Michael Long, chairperson of the Board of Trustees, which unanimously approved Lewis’ degree. “This is exactly the type of educational experience we seek to provide at Ohio Wesleyan.”

Lewis received his honorary degree from university President Rock Jones and Rev. Myron McCoy ‘77, an at-large trustee.

“Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,’” McCoy said in his introduction. “Congressman John Lewis is such a giant.”

Lewis rose to prominence within the civil rights movement with his involvement in sit-ins in Nashville, challenging segregated restaurants. Despite beatings and arrests, he and other activists, trained by Rev. James Lawson, continually practiced nonviolence in the style of Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau.

“I literally grew up by sitting down on those wax counter stools,” Lewis said in an interview before the speech.

His lecture, following the presentation of his degree, focused on his experiences in the civil rights movement and modern politics and his belief in the need for unity and reconciliation rather than bitterness and anger.

Jones said that the lecture provided “a terrific evening.”

“I was thrilled so many people were here and so thrilled we were able to hear him speak so powerfully and eloquently about his life and about what it can mean for all of us,” Jones said.

“There were some great questions, people identifying with his life and with the commitments he’s made and thinking about the work that’s still to be done.”

Senior Madeleine Leader was among the students who asked questions of Lewis following his speech, describing how members of the black community and allies have struggled to make their voices heard on campus.

“I was wondering if you can offer any advice so that we don’t get burned out, we don’t become hostile, we don’t become bitter because obviously we want to create positive change for people in the future,” Leader asked.

“Continue to be hopeful, continue to be optimistic and continue to negotiate,” Lewis replied. “Never give up.”

“I think that his approach is extremely important,” Leader said afterward.

“It’s something that we as students today don’t entirely understand because we want everything, now now now. I think embracing his message of love and not getting bitter is only going to help us.”

Even though they’ll be graduating, Leader said they hope to “get in good trouble,” as Lewis put it.

Junior Brianna Robinson, co-director of Ohio Wesleyan’s performance of “Butterfly Confessions” – a series of readings on the experiences of black women – said she thought the event was “absolutely amazing.”

“I kind of wish that (Lewis) knew what we just did over the weekend, but I think it’s amazing that we got to do it and then this is probably one of the greatest events that OWU has ever put on,” Robinson said.

“I think it’s amazing that we got to share the same timeframe of him being here.”

Spectrum Center, scholarships receive endowment

President Rock Jones recently emailed students and staff about a donation given by Trustee Dan Glaser (’82).

The donation is a five-year endowment of $850,000 and is to be used as a scholarship for students coming from single-parent households, and also go towards the Spectrum Resource Center and the Ohio Wesleyan Fund.

“I am deeply grateful to Dan for his leadership as a trustee and for this generous gift to his alma mater,” Jones said.

“It will make a significant difference, both in the short term and in perpetuity.”

The Ohio Wesleyan Fund are scholarships that don’t necessarily go towards tuition. The money goes to resident halls, sustainable living, Day on the JAY and also provides funds for athletic competitions.

Senior Sophie Crispin, one of the student interns at the Spectrum Resource Center, said she was shocked and excited when she learned that part of the donation will be going to the Spectrum Resource Center.

Crispin said the donation will be put into an account and the center will receive its interest, so the Spectrum Resource Center’s budget will not be immediately affected.

However she said the donation will help with future projects.

“We’ll continue to do a lot of the things we currently do, but we have a couple, pretty cool ongoing projects we hope to add,” Crispin said.

Junior Kyle Simon, also a Spectrum intern, said he was very surprised by the amount of money given to the center.

“This donation will be a larger part of the Spectrum Resource Center getting more involved and planning more events for the Ohio Wesleyan community,” Simon said.

Crispin and Simon both agreed that this donation will help the Spectrum Resource Center thrive in the long term.

Crispin said the center has been funded by a donation from another trustee, Frank Quinn, but Glaser’s donation will further help to sustain the center.

Currently, the center helps with safe zone training, works with PRIDE, National Coming Out Day and other programs. The center also works to bring in speakers and artists, according to Crispin.

Mumps the word

By Ellin Youse and Caleb Dorfman
Editor-in-Chief and Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan University’s campus has not experienced an outbreak of mumps in at least 45 years, but that isn’t stopping OWU’s Student Health Services from taking precautions.

According to Jose Rodriguez, director of public affairs and communications at the Columbus Public Health Department, there were 116 cases of mumps reported in Franklin County as of Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., with 93 being connected to The Ohio State University.

On March 28, the Delaware General Health Department reported, “Several cases of mumps in [Delaware] county.”

Marsha Tilden, director of student health services at OWU, said none of the cases are at OWU.

Tilden said she could count on two hands the number of students on campus who have not received the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccines.

According to Tilden, because OSU is a public university, their students are not required to receive the MMR vaccines like they are at OWU. However, Communications and Media Relations Manager at the Ohio State University, Dave Isaacs, said the university has come to the conclusion that the outbreak is not the fault of a lack of vaccinations.

“We see no evidence of that, we are seeing evidence that our students are highly vaccinated,” Isaacs said.

“Most states require students attending college to receive at least one does of the vaccine before they enter school. That said, we are encouraging any student who has not had the vaccine to come to the health center and get that taken care of.”

Isaacs said the student health center at OSU is making mump vaccinations a top concern in scheduling appointments.

“Our health center right now is fully staffed, and we are absolutely prioritizing students requesting for vaccinations for the mumps,” he said.

Isaacs agreed with Tilden in the most crucial preventive measure people can take towards contracting mumps is staying educated on staying healthy in general.

“The most important thing anyone can do to stay healthy is to learn the steps they can take in order to protect themselves and others,” he said.

“The mumps spread through liquid droplets, like the cold and flu viruses, so the tips to stay healthy are relatively the same. Wash your hands as much as possible and be up to date on your vaccinations.”

Tildensaid a case of the mumps has a typical incubation period of 15 days, but the disease can be present in someone’s body for up to 25 days without showing any signs or symptoms.

According to Tilden, the proximity in which a virus can spread is a factor in why OWU students should be concerned about the outbreak. Given the small size of OWU’s campus, the threat of mumps is not to be taken lightly.

“I think the main concern for any virus that is highly contagious, is the close quarters in which students live,” Tilden said.

“So any university that has students who live, eat and attend class together are at risk. Students should protect themselves by avoiding close contact with those that are ill, cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, wash hands frequently and don’t share cups, eating utensils etc.”

Tilden said vaccines are available for those who have not been vaccinated or have only recieved one dose of the vaccination at the Delaware General Health Department, which is located at 1 West Winter Street, and at the OWU Student Health Center.