#opinion – Page 4 – The Transcript

Hymn for the Weekend: let’s try not to get offended

Ela Mazumdar, Transcript Reporter

As many eagerly watched the new music video for Beyonce and Coldplay’s “Hymn for the Weekend,” it seemed that not everyone was thrilled with the video, which, according to many people, appropriates Indian culture and is blatantly disrespectful.

As an Indian woman, issues of cultural appropriation are incredibly important to me and hit close to home.

Although I live in the U.S., Indian culture is a part of me and a part of how I have grown up, so when someone tells me that my culture is being appropriated, I take a very critical stance on that issue.

However, in this case, I do not see this video as a form of cultural appropriation, but rather one of appreciation. Yes, it may be somewhat ignorant and is problematic in the grand scheme of things, but it also captures all that makes India and its culture colorful and beautiful.

This is not to say that video is completely flawless, but simply that it does not seem to be intentionally disrespectful. I found that Beyonce could have obviously researched traditional Indian clothing, and that there were some visual elements which were heavily exaggerated, but again that’s what music videos are all about.

As someone who has been to Mumbai, I see this video as a glimpse into India with its poverty, happiness and people who smile regardless of their harsh circumstances.

I do understand why some people could be offended, but I also have seen a number of comments on BuzzFeed, most of which don’t seem to understand the meaning of appropriation.

I am not saying that my voice is the voice of all Indians or that it should be, and if people are offended, they have a right to those feelings.

I’m just saying that sometimes those who have been oppressed tend to expect oppression and don’t believe that there is a chance that people in the media (and in general) are just curious and excited about our culture and choose to explore it in different ways.

I do not believe that this video gives a holistic view of India, but it does highlight some of my favorite things about India. The video especially showcases elements which I believe are inoffensive.

I think that the song and the representation of India are positive. I could be the only one thinking this, but that might because I am hopeful that there are people out there who find new cultures to be exciting and go into understanding them differently and with respect.

I believe if they make mistakes along the way, that’s OK. At least they made an attempt and learned something along the way.

The college love game

Olivia Lease, Online Editor

*Disclaimer: this article isn’t really about love, it’s about the various ways we, as college students, commit ourselves to someone we “caught the feels” for.

“Uncle Moe, are you going to keep Olivia forever?”

This was the question my boyfriend’s 6-year-old niece asked him when we visited last weekend. I almost choked on my gum.

But this is the question many college relationships are faced with, how serious should things get and how do we label that? Never mind the fact of wondering whether someone is “the one” (if you even believe in the idea).

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all Carrie Bradshaw on you and pretend like I’m an expert on relationships.

I’m only 20 and I tend to think of serious relationships as a later emergence in adulthood. There are other things I need to accomplish first; that sort of thing.

Apparently I’m not alone in this thinking. Sociologists have even coined a new term for what our generation is doing. It’s called “emerging adulthood.” Members of our generation typically continue their education, get a place, travel, try a few relationships out and lastly get married.

A slow easing into adulthood.

It’s interesting to talk with my grandparents because then I hear about how marriage was the first step for them into adulthood. My grandpa Norm has mentioned to me a few times that he was first married when he was just 19 years old.

Things are different for our generation. I’m happy I go to a school where I am not expected to get an M.R.S. degree.

According to BusinessInsider.com, there are 50 colleges where you’re most likely to meet your future spouse. This list was published in 2015 and included a few of our neighbors, Oberlin College and University of Dayton (being numbers 42 and 29, respectively). OWU is nowhere to be seen, but maybe that’s a good thing.

I’m guessing the majority of us aren’t here to find a spouse.

What I have noticed, though, is a polarizing distinction for most relationships. Most couples are either refusing to label things or they’re all in.

Hook-up culture is prevalent here, but so is commitment culture. Promise rings, lavalier necklaces and even engagement rings are proudly worn by several of my friends.

In a world of Tinder, OKCupid and Grindr, companionship even seems to come in pixelated form. There are issues with that as well since you’re reducing a three-dimensional person to a two-dimensional profile.

What happened to just dating?

As college students, we are forced to constantly be forward thinking. Maybe this stems from being asked, “What do you want to do after graduation?” on a regular basis.

We are privileged to get to decide what to do with our lives, but the multitude of options can cause anxiety for some, me being one of them. This future-related anxiety may even transfer to relationships when pressured by outside forces.

My advice? Don’t let a fear of the future affect your relationship. Being with someone means enjoying the moment, not planning out your future.

Good luck out there.

Sincerely,
A former commitment phobe

Je suis “Transcript”

The events in Paris at the headquarters for Charlie Hebdo a few weeks ago were reprehensible. The perpetrators’ disregard for human life and blatant contempt for free speech disturbs modern sensibilities. Any violence committed in the name of censorship reminds us, both as men and women and as members of the Fourth Estate, that an attack on journalism is an attack on the public.

In an attempt to summarize the philosophy of Voltaire, biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

These simple words reveal a sacred truth of journalism. Regardless of the content or manner of expression, no individual or entity, has the right to suppress another’s speech. We might not agree with everything we read or see, but in keeping with the ideals of a free society, we must permit all people their voice. To put qualifications on that principle is unacceptable.

We conceded that Charlie Hebdo is a problematic publication. But problematic magazines, troublesome articles and disagreeable ideas should never be silenced in the name of neutrality. Charlie Hebdo‘s editors, cartoonists and writers aim to generate offensive and controversial content, and they have every right to do so. That is a right we, The Transcript editorial staff, know is worth defending.

We are not Charlie.

We are journalists.

Obama’s step is important, but only part of a long path tackling college sexual assault

By The Transcript Editorial Staff

The current epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses in an issue that is all around us, but is rarely seen and even more rarely discussed openly.

That changed last week, when President Obama took an unprecedented step in acknowledging the problem on Jan. 22, with the release of the report “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action.”

The White House report, which declared that women in college are at a greater risk of sexual violence than anyone else in America, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

This is not a just an issue that occurs in a few colleges and high schools around the nation, or in faraway countries, or just women, but a public health crisis that affects every town and every university in the United States.

Most of the time the media, as servants of the public interest, fail to focus adequate attention to the topic.

If a study found that only 12 percent of terrorist attacks (or, based on their recent headlines, Justin Bieber DUI incidents) were being reported to law enforcement, CNN would be covering it every day; if studies showed 1 in 5 people were experiencing any crime at all and it could be connected in some way to exclusively African-American men as perpetrators, Fox News would be covering it every hour.

But reframe those statistics to their original context—college sexual violence—and the numbers only receive attention when they’re released in a study and announced by the President of the United States. Yes, individual incidents receive national press for a few days, but the overall issue and the culture continuing it are almost never brought up.

In almost every case, journalists are missing the forest for the trees, and by doing so we fail in our duty to serve the public interest and present the full spectrum of human experience, even when it is not what people want to be told.

As the editors of the independent newspaper and guardians of the public interest on this campus, we hope to avoid this oversight and focus on what really affects students on campus. Sexual violence is definitely one of those things.

It should also be noted that sexual violence is not limited to college campuses, but occurs with increasing frequency in high schools, in the home, in places of worship, in the military—everywhere in our society.

But as both students and journalists, it is college sexual violence that we must focus on primarily.

Throughout this semester, and into the future, we will shine a spotlight on this under-reported issue, using a variety of tools of the journalistic trade: investigative reporting into the frequency and results of sexual violence on this campus, coverage of OWU-related events to raise awareness, and more opinion pieces from our staff, both individually and as a board.

We also welcome letters to the editor and columns on the topic from our community’s survivor advocates with Counseling Services and HelpLine; from activists; members of the university administration; Public Safety and Delaware police officers; and from survivors themselves.

Same high standards apply to new, exciting media

As you’ve seen, there have been some changes to The Transcript, especially if you’re reading online.

This semester, our weekly standard black and white print editions will be supplemented by web-based color copies, available via email on computer, tablet and smartphone.

In addition to the online subscription, The Transcript will increase the multimedia news reporting begun over the past two semesters. We will also offer monthly commentary on the activities of your student government and green initiatives on campus, courtesy of our guest columnists.

These steps are an exciting change for The Transcript, as we adapt to the evolving media market and expand our work into new forms.

While we grow digitally, though, our staff—editors, reporters and photographers—will continue, as always, to follow the ethical standards and traditional techniques of professional journalism.

In the last few weeks of last semester, we as an editorial board were tested; we faced the kind of hard news stories that rarely occur on college campuses.

Two students hit by police cruisers while legally crossing the street, six days apart. The news that a now-former student had reportedly made threats against the university, and the decision whether to identify him after he was arraigned, knowing the controversy it would cause.

These stories may continue to develop over the next few weeks, and there may be similarly troubling news stories to come. As the new editor I would like to say that I support the decisions made by my predecessor, and they were in line with the high standards of professional journalism and quality news reporting we all aspire to.

At the same time, though, I’d also like to emphasize that as student journalists, we don’t enjoy having to report on stories like this occurring in our community.

The hardest article I’ve written was last spring, interviewing students whose friends and family avoided the Boston Marathon bombs by half an hour or less. I really didn’t want to write up that story, but it was breaking national news with significant OWU implications; someone had to do it. I told myself that would be my last story of the semester, that I would take the last three weeks off, and then the campus was on lockdown following a fight-turned-shooting three blocks away and I had to do one more story again.

So I just wanted to say, especially since there’ll probably be more serious news stories to come, that our attitude in covering these stories is not one of joy at how good it’ll look on our resume, but more “if not us, then who?”

We are Ohio Wesleyan’s journalists, the staff of the university’s paper of record, and it’s not a job taken lightly. Our duty is to report the truth and the OWU community’s public interest, not to the stories that groups on campus—or even the majority of students—want us to talk about, or not to talk about.

While we rely on the university for funding, decisions on what to print are not made by the administration, the trustees, faculty, fraternities and sororities, WCSA or any other student organization—not even the professors of the department of journalism can kill a story that isn’t potentially defamatory if we are committed to running it.

That’s not a challenge to any of the groups mentioned, but an explanation of how an independent newspaper operates on a college campus.

We as a staff pursue the stories we believe best serve the public interest and the tenets of ethical journalism—seeking and reporting the truth accurately and fairly, minimizing harm, acting independently and being accountable.

For example, many among us may not enjoy the harsh reality expressed by President Obama last week, when a report released by the White House said the American college environment puts women at the greatest risk of experiencing sexual violence. It’s not a pleasant thing to be reminded of, whether briefly on national news or in the pages of this paper. But we have a duty, as expressed in our staff editorial, to report on this, and bring it into the spotlight, as servants of the public interest.

While the section editors (News, A&E, Sports and Online) have control over their specific content, ultimately the final say—and accountability—over our content is with me, your Editor-in-Chief. I take responsibility for what we publish this semester, and I welcome any input—positive or negative—you wish to offer in the form of letters to the editor, which can be submitted to owunews@owu.edu.

About Today: Looking Back 12 Years

This 9/11 Memorial honors two OWU alumni who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The local fire station flies their flag at half mast to honor the lives lost in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

By Spenser Hickey

News Editor

The physical signs on campus may have been few, but the grim weight of memory still sat heavy on us all.

Around campus, things were different today. The JAYWalk seemed quieter, and the time between classes seemed longer; the day as a whole seemed more drawn out, offering added time to reflect and look back on that morning, 12 years ago.

There were some reminders – not that we needed them. One student wore an NYPD shirt; another had one with the New York City skyline; the flag at the fire station on the aptly named Liberty Street hung at half-mast. I never heard anyone say what had happened verbally, but we all knew.

In what has become a memorial custom of our modern age, many took to social media to offer their reflections and commemorations for the lives lost that day; one student mourned her father, while another posted that he was pulling an all-nighter in Beeghly for the first time since the night US Special Forces killed Osama Bin Ladin.

Ohio Wesleyan was not spared by this tragic attack on America – Douglas Cherry, Class of 1985; Edward Luckett, Class of 1984; and Ann Judge, Class of 1973 were among the 2,977 victims.

They have been honored with a memorial rock and garden on the academic side, but this year there were no special services, or university-wide commemorations of the lives lost among the OWU community. Twelve years is a long time, and eventually the yearly memorials and moments of silence end.

But even without these traditional rites, even if no one brings the day up in conversation, the pall remains, as it always will. This day was the Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination of our generation, and the memories – where we were, how we found out – will never fade. That day affected all of us, not just those who live in and around New York, or Washington, or Shanksville, PA.

Since that day we have witnessed one successful terror attack at home and many more abroad, as well as a number of failed ones, and fought and ended two wars, waged in the name of those killed, and sent military troops around the world as part of an ongoing global war. Last night, the President made the case for another foreign intervention in the Middle East.

Today – or at least this piece about today – is not the place to discuss whether the war in Syria is right or wrong, or if the NSA should have the power it does, or if surveillance by federal and police authorities of the Muslim-American community has overstepped the bounds of civil rights; I mention these as ways we as a nation and a society have been affected by the tragedy.

We have become more fearful, more patriotic, more aware of global issues. The day and the years that followed changed us, changed our culture, as shows like 24 and Homeland played up our fear of terrorist infiltration and our trust in renegade government agents willing to do whatever was necessary, regardless of if it was legal.

America was at war, and when sacrifices were needed we rose to the occasion, whether as first responders on the day, or soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines in the wars that followed; we showed the world and ourselves the depth of our resolve, as we did again after the Boston Marathon, as we may have to again.

As the day winds down and we go on with our lives, let us take some time to remember the 2,977 men and women who stepped from this earth into the arms of our national memory.

In what remains of today, and on the day next year, and the year after that, take some time to remember them, and those they left behind who will never forget, because of the events of that day – this day, 12 years ago.