Category: Uncategorized

Caroline Schaeffer

Writer

Now you may ask, what’s so enticing about a show set in the past? There weren’t even cell phones! The main characters can’t communicate at the speed of light! What’s the point of living in the past when the present is just as entertaining? To that I answer–at least from a girl’s perspective–escapism and costumes.

I’m going to throw it to the girls for a second and talk about how fun it is to watch a show with legitimate costumes. Sure, I love my shows that take place in present day and I admittedly covet some of the clothes I see on them, but there is something so much more elegant about the costuming in period dramas. Without sounding too silly about it, the costumes are almost like works of art. The care and detail put into what characters wear is so much more important in period dramas than in a show that takes place in the present. People of different classes, ages, and genders wore such starkly different clothing in 1912 than they did in 2012. One can sit back and appreciate the extra effort these shows put into “the little things” that make their shows special.

Escapism may be a much bigger draw for the general populace than costuming, but both of these elements (along with many others) are what draw me into period dramas. I have yet to get into “Game of Thrones,” but I’m quite the “Downton Abbey” enthusiast, and I’ve also been known to enjoy the late HBO drama “The Tudors.” The thing I like most about these shows is that they take you into a different world. They take the boring words from your history textbooks, the personality-less historical figures of your middle school history class, and turn them into real, relatable people. One of the most enjoyable parts about watching a period drama is allowing you to escape into the past, even if it is for just an hour.  The characters on the shows, whether they be are from the 16th century, 20th century , or a whole different world together, share relatable problems and feelings with people today. This makes the shows more applicable to our own lives and makes the past feel more real.

Ginny Jacobs

Contributing Writer

The University administration and local officials are considering a number of proposals to reduce the number of students living off campus in downtown Lewisburg and to regulate parties in students’ downtown houses more tightly.

I agree that as a campus community, we need to address out-of-control parties in downtown houses. But I feel it’s time to speak up about some of the advantages for students who are enjoying “the downtown experience.”

Living downtown as a senior has been one of the most valuable experiences of my time at the University thus far, and I think that it should remain part of the University’s culture. I would urge the various governing authorities to consider these pros before they rush to crack down.

Living downtown, I’ve had to pay bills, deal with a landlord, and take care of keeping a house clean and maintained. I’ve obtained a checkbook and written my first check. Working with my two roommates, we set up a plan to put all of the bills (for electricity, water, and internet) in our names and make sure they’re paid on time every month. During the summer, we had a water leak that caused extensive damage to the kitchen before we moved in, so we had to stay in constant contact with our landlord, figuring out how to proceed with getting the damage fixed and the problem corrected.

This followed the summer where I lived alone in New York City, about 1500 miles from my family in Dallas, and both experiences were valuable. After living in a dorm for the past three years, I think the autonomy that we learn by living on our own is an invaluable part of our education and of the college experience.

College provides a gateway between dependence on our parents and total independence. Ideally, it eases us gradually into that independence. By taking this away through stricter rules and regulations, the University risks depriving students of a good “middle step” between dorm life and independent life. That’s only going to hurt students in the long run.

Living downtown, I’ve had to learn how to live communally in a way that a dorm doesn’t require. I share a bathroom, kitchen, and common living area with two roommates, and we are solely responsible for keeping it clean. My mom isn’t around to wipe the sink or empty the dishwasher when I’m too busy to keep it up myself. I can’t call on my dad to install my 60-pound A/C unit or kill the big bugs.

The beginning of my school year was a little rough, as my roommates and I have different ideas about how clean the house needs to be. For the first few weeks, the cleaner of the three of us harped on the dishes that were left out, the coasters we forgot to use, the toothpaste left in the sink, and the hair in the shower drain. But now, after a few arguments and a series of passive aggressive “reminder notes” (love you, Sarah!) we have learned to work with each other and resolve conflicts.

Isn’t that the point of a broad liberal arts education? I may not remember all of the formulas and facts that I learned in college, but I know that on a daily basis I will rely on the values and ideals that my time at the University taught me. I know I can work on a team at a job after living with roommates. I’m better prepared to make decisions for myself on my own after living in my own apartment.

Arguing that we should adopt certain rules just because other schools have done so doesn’t make sense. In fact, plenty of other universities give students much more autonomy for off-campus living, yet we rarely consider that approach.

Many of my high school friends at other schools haven’t lived in a dorm since their first year, and I think they’re growing up faster than many of my fellow students. When I tell them about some of our problems with binge drinking and sexual assault, they are appalled. Given the freedom to live on their own, they act more responsibly. They no longer feel the need to get as drunk or go as crazy.

More rules, I believe, might serve to make University students even more reckless, rather than giving them the chance to learn self-responsibility. And that’s a lesson many college students need to learn, just as I did. Many of us have already had helicopter parents growing up. We won’t learn if we have a “helicopter university” micromanaging our last year before adulthood.

Justin Marinelli

Writer

Making headlines this week was the news that New Jersey just became the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage. This sort of thing hits home for me, especially as New Jersey happens to be where I was raised. This is normally the segway at which I begin to discuss my own position on gay marriage, but I feel no need to do that here. It strikes me as much more intellectually satisfying to point out that gay marriage is a societal inevitability, and that in the future we shall see more states enact similar resolutions.

To show why, I’m going to go off in a few different directions, and then tie everything back together. First, let us begin by defining exactly what laws are. Laws are merely codified social tenants backed by government force. Social norms may be the unwritten rules of society, but written laws are the other side of the same coin. If cultural norms change, the laws will eventually change as well. This is why, for example, trial by combat is no longer a legally valid method of settling disputes.

The second thing we must realize is that two big cultural shifts have precipitated the now common acceptance of the idea of same-sex marriage. The first has been the evolution of marriage from an economic contract for the purpose of raising children to a public declaration of mutual love and affection. The second has been the gradual acceptance of public homosexuality. The combination of these two things means that people of non-straight sexual orientations are more free at this time to publicly express their love for each other, and this is reflected in societal views on same-sex marriage.

The third thing to understand is that now we have legal recognition of same-sex marriage in some states, so the pressure on lawmakers in other states to enact similar legislation will increase. Lobbying groups for this sort of thing are going to step up their efforts, and public demand is going to rise as well.

Tie all this together and what do you get? First, the cultural shift leads to a legal change in a only a few places initially. Then, this leads to a build-up in pressure on other states to legally recognize gay marriage as well. Eventually, the tipping point is reached, and same-sex marriage becomes accepted in short order across many states.

We have reached the tipping point at which the push for same-sex marriage is now insurmountable, and I believe we will soon see legal recognition of same-sex marriage become official in many more states. Do I think that same-sex marriage will become recognized in every state? Perhaps. States like Alabama and Texas will probably hold out for many years yet. But I would not be surprised to see same-sex marriage become legally recognized in a majority of states by 2020.

Justin Marinelli
Writer

As I have established in previous pieces this year, I believe that the legitimacy of a government derives from its capacity to govern the populace. A government that refuses to govern, like ours, quickly hemorrhages its legitimacy, contingent on the arising societal dysfunction. Luckily, though, things seem to be carrying on just fine for the most part, so I see no need to declare the illegitimacy of the current government, and I look forward to the day it resumes its duties. Still, it does concern me that it was allowed to shut down in the first place.

It strikes me as downright absurd that our government can just stop functioning without our elected officials suffering any sort of repercussions. If a business were to shut down due to internal disagreements, would there not be lay-offs and reorganizations to prevent such a thing in the future? Yet, does anyone really expect that similar measures will be adopted by our government with its unperturbed functioning?

It seems that the incentives for our elected officials to avoid a government shutdown are simply too ambiguous to be reasonably effective. While it is possible that there will be reprisals in the next election, I suspect that Democrats will blame Republicans, Republicans will blame Democrats, and there will be no unified condemnation of both parties for their childishness and immaturity. It is because of this that I have decided to propose a few measures that should be implemented to ensure that we do not again suffer the embarrassment of having a non-functional national government.

First off, in the event of a government shutdown, all members of Congress should become immediately ineligible for re-election. They may finish serving the rest of their tenures, but that should be the end of their political careers. They should be banned from holding any other political office in the future, whether it is a federal, state, or local position, since they have demonstrated their inability to live up to the responsibilities of public service.

Additionally, Congressional pay should be suspended for a year. Why should we pay people who refuse to work? Our taxes pay their salaries so that they can make laws and govern our country. If they refuse to hold up their end of the bargain, they should not receive compensation. The contract is violated, and thus rendered void.

Finally, there is nothing like public shaming to keep people in line and really hammer home the impropriety of certain behavior. I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to putting politicians in the stocks for a day as punishment for this kind of impropriety, but I prefer a more subtle approach. Why not make them wear a scarlet letter, at least until the shut-down is over? Nothing like a little social opprobrium to keep people within the  bounds of responsible and reasonable behavior.

This may all sound extreme, but is not the very idea that our government can simply stop governing in the event of sufficient disagreement an extreme possibility in itself? This is such a departure from historical norms of governance that the overwhelming majority of humanity throughout time would be unable to comprehend it. Moderate solutions cannot fix extreme problems. We need strong measures in place to discourage politicians from shirking their duties, and strict punishments in place for those that do. To do anything less is to invite dysfunction, squabbling, and an ineffectual government.

Caroline Schaeffer
Writer

Anyone with a laptop knows the deal: you go on your computer with the intention of getting some work done, you open up your e-mail, Moodle, and then Facebook happens. Suddenly your productivity level has shot down to zero and you’re scrolling through your news feed with a level of attention that your statistics teacher wishes you would give to your homework. Inevitably, one of these many Facebook posts will lead to a BuzzFeed article or a post on Tumblr. As soon as you click on it, you can say goodbye to productivity of any sort. Why is it that we’re entertained by things like BuzzFeed and Tumblr? Realistically, all they are is a stream of photos and animated pictures called graphic interchange formats (gifs) with captions underneath them. Such sites hook people because they are relatable and make procrastination easy.  

Tumblr pages like #Whatshouldwecallme and the BuzzFeed website in general do a great job with creating a general sense of relevance to everyone’s life. The posts are never incredibly specific–they’re simple, funny, and quick to read, everything the young adult’s mind and attention span desires. These posts are funny because the pictures, (often taken from popular television shows and movies) help to make our everyday experiences more humorous. A gif of Zooey Deschanel shoving her face with food is funny, but it’s made better and more relatable to the masses when the caption beneath it reads “Me on a diet.” It validates the way we feel about our own lives, and it gives us permission to now share these habits with the rest of the world via social media. Everyone wants to feel like they’re special, but no one wants to feel like they’re “special.” Gif websites not only allow people to see humor in the simple things in their life, they let them know it’s okay that they occasionally spaz-dance around their living room because, hey–Zooey Deschanel does it too!

In all honesty, the posts on these websites provide people with a good reason to not do their work. When you’re avoiding doing work–and, if you’re like me, you’re always in this predicament–gif websites provide a perfect distraction. By going on them and reading through the articles, you almost convince yourself that you’re doing something productive. It’s a step above online shopping and Facebook stalking, so it feels as if you’re not really avoiding your homework at all–you’re just doing something else.

BuzzFeed and Tumblr provide an effective form of procrastination and self-validation for people. They are simple, fun to read, and often humorous. The only real issue with them is that two hours after clicking on them, you realize you have a Spanish essay due tomorrow and the most progress you’ve made on it is a blank document and an open tab to the “Google Translate” page. On the bright side though, I’m sure it would make a really funny gif.

El McCabe
Writer

As you have probably heard by now, the U.S. government is shut down until further notice as of Oct. 1, 2013. On that day, Facebook and other social networking sites erupted with statuses and comments about the shutdown. It was the first time millions of people heard about this huge issue, let alone understood the implications. The issue did not exist for so many people because of the lack of interest with current events that continuously plagues our generation. Even after people inquired and found out the causes and implications, they continue on with their daily lives, in the process pushing such political issues to the side and assuming they will fix themselves.

Though this issue extends past students trapped in the “Bucknell Bubble,” it is still prevalent on campus. University students and other people of our generation feel like political and government issues are reserved for the “adults.” We demand the respect of adults, yet part of us still does not want to face the adult world and its issues. This paradox leads students to shelter themselves from adversity and remain uninformed.

What people do not realize are the consequences of this mindset. First of all, without any understanding of politics and current events, students will not be able to participate in the governmental decision-making process and help make crucial changes to our government. America needs our generation to step up, voice our opinions about political issues, and make a difference in the outcomes. This access and knowledge to political policies, events, and strategies is essential to informed decisions in the voting booth and functioning in the “adult world.”

Unfortunately, this shift in thinking often does not happen for young people until after college or even graduate school when they enter the workforce. Those who have no knowledge of current events prior to entering the workforce find themselves struggling to catch up with all that has happened in the last 25 years of their lives. That is a long time to be uninformed and unaware. It is crucial this process of information happens sooner.

I am not saying go study The New York Times and become obsessed with every negative news headline you see. Since almost every news headline is negative, you can drive yourself insane becoming fixated on it all. Simply watching a little bit of the news a week or reading the weekend paper can make a world of difference. Only then will our generation be able to make a dent into political happenings and participate in all aspects of society.