FORUM
“I would love to see us be more in your face and up-front,” - James Jackson, diversity education coordinator of Multicultural and Academic Initiatives, on the racial tone on campus [see story, p. 1]. Thursday, April 24, 2008 4
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PEOPLE ON THE STREET
If you had a bike with a basket, what would you keep in it? “One can of Diet Coke.”
“I would keep water and sunglasses.”
AMBER RINEHART, Senior, Actuarial Sciences
EMILY DEHNHOFF, Graduate Student, mental health and school counciling
ALEX CHOMYAK Senior, biology
STEPHEN MCLAUGHLIN, Freshman, Computer Science
KAMPIRE BAHANA COLUMNIST
CHAD PUTERBAUGH COLUMNIST
See CHAD | Page 5
VISIT US AT BGNEWS.COM Have your own take on today’s People On The Street? Or a suggestion for a question? Give us your feedback at bgnews.com.
Educate and entertain me in school, or else
What I learned in school As my last column, I wanted to leave readers with some of the lessons that, throughout college, I feel were most important. My academic career at the University started regrettably similar to the way that everyone starts college: I knew everything. People had always told me I was bright, and eventually it just went to my head. But eventually, I began to associate with people that I would actually characterize as being bright. Suddenly, all of my puny accomplishments from high school became regrets that I had not done more, I had not read more, I had not studied harder. The recognition that some people have earned their accolades is humbling, and humility cannot be overrated. In addition to learning that I am not hot stuff, there was also the startling revelation that no one else is God incarnate either. There is not a person on campus, nor anywhere else for that matter, who can boast knowledge of all things. Thus, if there is to be any sort of productiveness in human actions, there needs to be cooperation. In the realm of individual behaviors, however, there are many more nuanced and humbling facets to consider. Keeping in mind that you do not know everything, how exactly do you learn what you don’t know? Why, you read about it, of course. Books, literature, statistics, studies, papers: They all abound. I’ve already mentioned the absurdity of supposing that you know everything you need to know in life, why not get over yourself and find some things to read? If we consider that sociologists and physicists and other markedly learned people read, is it so hard to accept that it might be a good practice for everyone? If you are to engage in any sort of literate project, it is important to know that you do hold some ideas about the way that the world works. Whether these things are accurate is of no consequence because they exist. When I read, I know that I have amazing bias toward works that encourage human cooperation, as opposed to competition. In this sense, what I read and how I read it are tremendously affected by my assumptions about what is right. While these things may simply be a matter of taste, it is important to remember when criticizing anyone. Are you being fair? Or are you responding to some assumption that you have? And if it is the latter, is it fair to critique others’ assumptions? You are not unique in the
“I wouldn’t. Baskets are dorky.”
“Puppy dogs and monkeys.”
MARK GOREY | THE BG NEWS
Trash TV and politics don’t mix MARISHA PIETROWSKI COLUMNIST
Since it’s nearing the end of the semester, it’s likely that the amount of work most students have to do is mind-numbingly large and requires most of their outside of class and sleeping time devoted to getting everything done before May 2. So, many students are probably watching their fair share of television in order to avoid the responsibilities that are so integral to final grades. While there is a constant barrage of “trash TV” that pops up on a regular basis (I hope that regardless of your sadness over “Rock of Love 2” ending, you all
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“Even President Bush made an appearance on ‘Deal or No Deal’ on Monday night, quipping about his low approval ratings in comparison to the high ratings of the game show.” remembered that “A Shot at Love II” started this week!), in recent weeks, a new common theme of American television seems to involve the inclusion of as many political figures as possible in a program’s running time. Last week, Stephen Colbert had Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards on the same “Colbert Report” and were given the chance to prove that they are capable of being president (Clinton fixed Stephen’s TV screen, Edwards read The Wørd and Obama put “political distractions” On Notice). If appearing on a fake news show wasn’t enough of a detachment from the political realm, all three presidential candidates appeared on Monday night’s “WWE Raw,” using the platform to gain publicity and show their connection to average American (“Hill Rod” introduced herself to
the crowd, Obama asked if people “smell what Barack is cooking?” while Sen. John McCain presented the idea of an attack on dissenters by “McCainiacs”). Even President Bush made an appearance on “Deal or No Deal” on Monday night, quipping about his low approval ratings in comparison to the high ratings of the game show. No longer does the average American have to take time out of their busy TV-watching schedule to seek out news about the politicians and their positions on the topics that affect them; if they TiVo the right shows, they’ll learn everything they need to know about the candidates! The New York Times published an article about political popular culture, and explained
See MARISHA | Page 5
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Show draws attention to important issue “America’s Next Top Model” always tries to cast people that have had or have a difficult life to attract viewers: This current season was no different. Tyra Banks, the producer of the show, casted Fatima, a young girl born in Somalia, who had the rigorous procedure known as female genital mutilation done to her at the very young age of 7. Within the show Fatima came out to the rest of her cast ates with her terrible experience of going through FMG. She stated, “Female genital mutilation is removing the entire clitoris and sewing the two labia together. I’m going to dedicate my life to making sure no one
THE BG NEWS LISA HALVERSTADT, EDITOR IN CHIEF 210 West Hall Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 | Phone: (419) 372-6966 E-mail: thenews@bgnews.com Web site: http://www.bgnews.com Advertising: 204 West Hall | Phone: (419) 372-2606
goes through what I went through…. young girls are being circumcised and some are dying in this process.” FGM is currently practiced in 26 of the 43 African countries (Demographic and Health Surveys). In Somalia, where Fatima was born and raised, FGM is 98 percent prevalent among its people, and this procedure is taking, on average, two million women’s lives per year. While many of these countries have outlawed FGM, the procedures are still being practiced. The number of cases in the U.S. are rising because immigrants are bringing their traditions with them. The parents of the girls who have undergone FGM usually are the deciding factors on whether or not they receive
the surgery. This is because the procedure is typically done between the ages of 4 and 10. Female genital mutilation is a violation of women’s human rights since these young girls do not hold the knowledge needed in order to decide if they want to go through with the dangerous procedure. For this reason the U.S. Congress passed a law stating that if the procedure is practiced on a person under the age of 18 it is considered a federal crime. Although female genital mutilation was not originated in the United States, it is becoming a major problem because it is a violation of women’s human rights. — Brittany Cerasi and Callie Gear Freshmen, AMPD and Dietetics
DAVE HERRERA, SENIOR EDITOR CANDICE JONES, SENIOR EDITOR KELLY DAY, CAMPUS EDITOR TIM SAMPSON, CITY EDITOR STEPHANIE GUIGOU, DESIGN EDITOR BRIAN SZABELSKI, WEB EDITOR KRISTEN MOONEY, COPY CHIEF CHRIS VOLOSCHUK, SPORTS EDITOR ADDIE CURLIS, PULSE EDITOR CHRISTY JOHNSON, SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR ENOCH WU, PHOTO EDITOR
A warning for my future professors; I will not be doing any more group projects. Ever. Every single semester I have been at the University I have had to do at least one group project, sometimes three or four. Every semester I have hung out with a group of people and collectively complained about stupid group projects and stupid group partners under the mistaken impression that their work is more important than yours. Every semester the library computer lab collects this cloud of funk from the sweat and carbon dioxide of panicked groups, putting together PowerPoint presentations that no one will ever see again. Where do the presentations go when the semester is over? Is there a PowerPoint purgatory where the Profile of Zimbabwe commiserates the Comparison between Yahoo and Google on their short shelf life? While we’re talking about PowerPoint, I’m curious; what did professors do before Bill Gates conquered the world? Did they actually use a projector or — gasp — the blackboard? Were they actually forced to, I don’t know, be creative in their lesson plans? Maybe class was, dare I say it, interactive? I can’t imagine that planning 16 weeks of lessons is easy, but 16 weeks of the old bald guy talking to himself and then another week of students awkwardly reading word-for-word their slides and making everyone bored and uncomfortable, is not my idea of a fun or educational time. Attendance policies suck and would not be so necessary if class wasn’t about as interactive (and pleasant) as a dentist visit. I’m just saying. Since I have your attention I would also like to point out that spending $150 on a textbook that weighs more than a small child and lugging it all over campus three times a week only to open the damn thing twice really makes me mad. It is not the first time this has been said and it probably will not be the last, as every single semester I sell my books for a tenth of what I paid and conclude that they would have been more use-
“I hate being the only one to talk in class, but I will put my hand up to avoid falling asleep. Feel free to shut me up by saying something intelligent yourself. ” ful for bludgeoning someone than learning. The dull class atmosphere is not just the fault of professors. This might surprise you, seeing how opinionated I am, but I hate being the only one who contributes in class. It is one thing to complain that class is boring but if you know the answer and let the whole class stew in awkward silence instead of opening your mouth then you only have yourself to blame. It’s funny how the quietest people in class are always the loudest people at the bar that night. I hate being the only one to talk in class but I will put my hand up to avoid falling asleep. Feel free to shut me up by saying something intelligent yourself. And when you do contribute, please don’t be the person who uses like as a punctuation mark. “Like, my mom, when she was, like, working for the State Department, she, like, had to, like wear a, like, veil, like when she was in like, Saudi, like, Arabia.” When did it become uncool to sound like you know what you’re saying and are passionate about it? Why do so many women feel the need to apologize for having an opinion and talk like everything is a question? I mean, like, you can’t, like, expect anyone to, like, take you seriously, if you like, totally sound like, you don’t like know what you’re talking about? It always saddens me when young female professors equate being likable with sounding unknowledgeable. As role models, what are you teaching the young women who want to enter into academia? That they have to sound like Valley girls to be listened to? We know that you had to work hard to get where you are at and that you must be intel-
See BAHANA | Page 5
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