Opinion
February 28, 2013
page 9
on campus
Will more security actually improve safety? Corey Aspril Staff Writer
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here was a bias-related incident in Schlosser Residence Hall on Feb. 10. This incident occurred between the hours of 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., and involved writings on dorm room doors’ whiteboards. These writings contained messages of a racially unacceptable and threatening nature. Instances of harassment and hate crimes such as these are not tolerated by Elizabethtown College, as President Strikwerda explained at last Thursday’s open forum. Since this has happened, security in Schlosser has been raised and will have a great effect on how behavior will be recognized in Schlosser. As of now, the individual or individuals responsible for this deplorable act have not been identified. Some of the students in Schlosser feel as though security will be seen more in the building so they can solve the problem. “It was not fair to those individuals who those comments were towards, but I think since then that security has
been elevated and will stay that way until there is a solution,” first-year Schlosser resident Mary Clyne said. The RAs of the building think that they will have more protection so that this doesn’t happen again. Jessica Leidy, an RA in Schlosser, said, “I feel that it’s a shame it happened. The community we built in Schlosser is strong. The campus as a community has a very open mind in learning about ethnic, religious, racial and cultural differences as this college is founded on ideas of openness, understanding and those ideas as a liberal arts college. I feel that the security in Schlosser will be raised and looked more into to prevent these kinds of things from happening.” B oth Residence Life and Campus Security are actively investigating the crime. Campus Security is helping to figure out how to solve this problem as well. “It was deplorable and I was disappointed that it happened. Unfortunately, a lot of people are like that in the world. There are a lot of people on campus doing a lot of good work to raise awareness
Photo: Matthew P. Butera
After the bias-related incidents that took place in Schlosser Residence Hall, security measures have been increased to better protect all students in the building
about the problem and to hopefully change the mindset of some people. Just hopefully something good will happen to have a unifying effect on the campus community, and we will see what we can do to make the security in Schlosser more active,” Dale Boyer, Assistant Director of Campus Security, said. These types of occurrences are seen in today’s world and unfortunately cannot be stopped, but at our College this sort of behavior is not tolerated, and
security will be raised in order to keep these types of incidents from happening. It is a school based on liberal arts ideals and is supposed to help the students open their minds to different cultures. It also has a very strong belief in the fact that diversity is a good thing to have in society. The College urges anyone who has any leads on who did these things to contact an RA or Campus Security. Anonymity can be retained whether reporting by phone, email or website form.
PUT YOUR RECORDS ON On the Turntable: Vacationer Genre: Dream pop/ Alternative rock
Alexa N. Viscardi Columnist
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don’t know about you, but I need a vacation. With spring break right around the corner, what better band to feature than Vacationer, whose gentle island beats invite you to close your eyes and imagine you’re on the beach, relaxed as can be. With songs that revolve around summer holidays, Philadelphia-based band Vacationer wants to give you the soundtrack to your kick-back session.
Multi-instrumentalist and lead singer of Vacationer Kenny Vasoli, a graduate of Hatboro-Horsham High School, started Vacationer as an experiment in music after taking a break from the well-known band The Starting Line. Vasoli’s musical experience also includes playing bass for Motion City Soundtrack and Saves the Day. Vacationer’s sound is similar to that of Walk the Moon or Vampire Weekend in their carefree approach to every track. Songs “Trip,” “Everyone Knows” and “Summer’s End,” remind me of summers
spent with friends: whole days of being outside, playing volleyball or Frisbee in the yard and then sitting around the fire pit at night making s’mores and telling jokes about that one time when so-and-so did that one thing that was so funny. Vacationer’s first full-length album, “Gone,” was released in March 2012, and the band is currently on tour. Perhaps Vacationer will be making a stop in your town this summer, but until then, I’ll be jamming out to their album and looking forward to brighter — and warmer — days ahead.
review
‘Mighty Be Our Powers’ promotes change, encourages women to advocate for peace Samantha B. Weiss Opinion Editor
Editor-in-Chief Brianna E. Wiest Managing Editor Elizabeth A. Enwright Assistant Editor Allison M. Rohland News Editor Jill A. Norris Features Editor Kaitlin M. Koons Opinion Editor Samantha B. Weiss Sports Editor Alexis L. Morris Photography Editor Katie J. Brumbach Copy Chief Tara B. Hayes Webmaster Evan J. Todd Illustrators Zach M. Link Sarah M. Knight Asst. News Editor Sarah R. Wertz Asst. Features Editor Vanessa L. Andrew Asst. Opinion Editor Ellen C. Wilson Asst. Sports Editor Adam N. Moore Asst. Photography Editor Leah E. Nissley Asst. Copy Editors Hannah C. Blecker Brighid T. Flynn Kaitlin E. Gibboney Kelsey A. Grant Joanna P. Gruber Sarah B. Kennedy Emily E. Vasas Lead Reporter Austin M. Whitlock Business Manager Benjamin L. Frey Advertising Manager Trevor N. Bower Advertising Reps Calla M. Heathman Jennifer A. Hughes Brooke S. Wachtel Faculty Adviser Kelly L. Poniatowski The Etownian is the student newspaper of Elizabethtown College. All editorial decisions are made by the student editors. With the exception of editorials, opinions presented here are those of quoted sources or signed authors, not of the Etownian or the College. The Etownian is published most Thursdays during the academic year by Susquehanna Printing. Submissions to the Etownian are always welcome. We will make every effort to print submissions, but we do not promise publication. Submit letters to EDITOR@ etown.edu. Connect with us: Facebook: Etownian Twitter: @Etownian
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arvard University Women’s Studies professor Laurel Ulrich Thatcher once said that “women who behave seldom make history.” Leymah Gbowee, whose all-female peace movement changed the history of Liberia, chose to misbehave for the sake of her people. She documents the struggles and victories of the movements and her personal life in her autobiography “Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War.” Civil war tore through the country of Liberia, leaving death, illness, pestilence and a dwindling population in its wake. It had no regard for age, ethnicity or gender. It had no problems destroying families and enlisting children to its cause. It served the warlords and laid waste to the rest of the country. It wasn’t until her four-year-old son asked for food that she could not provide that Gbowee truly knew what war meant and what it was doing to her people. Gbowee stresses in her novel that women and children are the true victims of war, especially in nations like hers. While the men fight and die, the women are brutalized, raped, forced to find employment that barely exists, provide for families and watch the horrors, which they neither support nor accept, destroy lives. In the case of the Liberian civil war, displaced women were also drafted into military or rebel service; most didn’t survive the conflicts into which they were thrown. The women in this story take it upon themselves to change their own situation, rather than waiting on the men who created the problems to do so. Despite her heavy emphasis on the innocence of most women, she acknowledges fault in both the men and women of her country and calls for a joint resolution. Surviving the torrent of bullets that rained on her city one day and the abuse of her husband, Daniel, the next, Gbowee
The Etownian
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Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, among other awards, for her efforts to end the Liberian civil war. Many organizations backed her inititiative to better protect the women and children of the war-torn country.
found strength in her faith and turned to God for help. She says that her prayers were answered in the form of a group of female activists. What started as sit-ins, with thousands of women cloaked in white, turned into the incorporation of women in government decisions and disbarment programs. The changes that these women made did not take place over night, nor were they easily accomplished. Gbowee suffered from the separation of her family, while other women endured physical and mental abuse, in an attempt to dissuade them from their cause. Be aware that the book is not only terrifying, but also very real. Not everyone is prepared to handle the brutality that Gbowee describes, and for that reason, the novel is
inappropriate for children and young teens. Even some adults may find the story too graphic for their taste. However, the story needs to be heard and much to Gbowee’s credit, she doesn’t change the facts or soften the reality of the war for the sake of readership. Without a doubt, the book deserves five stars for excellent storytelling. Gbowee manages to entrap the war between the pages, telling the story in amazing detail, while enticing readers everywhere, especially women, into action. She calls to the women of the world to misbehave and change history with her, to never stop working for peace and equality. Gbowee will visit Elizabethtown College this April to give lectures on peace-making and the work she and her organizations have done in Liberia and elsewhere. Specifically, she will present the annual Ware Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17.