UPbeat Spring 2015

A University Press magazine

Mudbug Madness See page 14.

Inside: • Mothers • Muslims • Midgets and more.

April 2015

UPbeat A University Press Magazine April 2015

CRAWFISH — page 14

EDITOR Lauren Van Gerven

STAFF

STUDY

Kristen Stuck

— page 4

Grant Crawford Elizabeth Grimm Desmond Pickens Caitlin Duerler Coty Davis Aarynn Davis Kyle Swearingen Brooke Stinebrickner

BIRTH

Okolo Ifeanyichukwu

— page 10

Olamide K Oladunni

PEACE ADVERTISING

— page 8

Melissa Conley

This issue of UPbeat is a production of the University Press staff.

UNIVERSITY PRESS A THIRTEEN-TIME ASSOCIATED PRESS MANAGING EDITORS AWARD WINNER

©University Press 2015

Cover photo by Grant Crawford

SMALL — page 18

www.lamaruniversitypress.com

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‘How Do You Study?’

Cleanliness of thought BROOK TAIT Studying takes time, but Brooke Tait has found a unique way to maximize her time — doubling up those precious moments in the shower. “I have three kids,” the Fannet junior says, “I have a 13-year-old, a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old. If I’m at home, it’s constantly, ‘Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.’ In the shower, they pretty much leave me alone.” Brooke says she uses the time to go over what she learned in class. “If I am having to give a speech, the shower is where I usually practice — the showerhead is my audience,” Brooke says. “I just go over stuff, I think about what I have to say, what I would say. When I’m told essay questions, I think about writing it and I say it out loud — people write it down to get what they want to say out, I just say it.” There is some material Brooke cannot study under the falling water. “For the most part, if it is something I don’t know about, then I will have to sit down and read the book,” she says, but textbooks do not respond well to a good soaking. For Brooke Tait, a good shower cleans not only the body, but refreshes the mind.

Text and photo

by Brooke Stinebrickner

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Swayed by Nature

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JOSH CARROLL Tingling skin and sweat tracing down the body. Exam time is nerve wracking for all of us. But for Josh Carroll, the tingling of the humidity and the sweat of spring heat, mixed with the smell of freshly-cut grass, means it’s time to study. While students flock to the library to plunge themselves into countless hours of memorizing equations or terminologies, the Hardin junior takes his books and embraces the fresh air. “I’ve always found outside, under a clear sky, refreshing and it helps clear the mind,” he says. “The best place to study varies — as long as it’s quiet. Rainy weather is distracting but calming, and sunny weather is nice and better to study in.” Josh’s preferred location is the gazebo by the Maes Building, where shade is offered from the sun. At times, being outside can be too noisy.

“If I can’t find a better place, then I go inside.” Studying al fresco was recommended by a friend, Josh says, and “it helps keep me focused if I am studying with someone else.” The Computer Information Systems major may spend most of his time indoors, but he needs to unplug and enjoy a fresh breeze of air to let the information really sink in.

Text and photo by Elizabeth Grimm

Signs in the Window JENN HOLT If you happen to be playing sand volleyball outside of Morris Hall on a sunny afternoon and you glimpse a young woman making intricate hand signals in the window, it’s probably just Jenn Holt practicing sign language. “Studying during the day is what helps me focus,” the Missouri City freshman says. “It helps when it’s a beautiful day, because when I need to take a break, I can just look out of my window.” The American Sign Language major, who hopes to become an interpreter when she graduates, says she likes to sit by a window with music playing. “But not too loud,” she says, “I like to have background noise so it doesn’t get too quiet. The good thing about having my window open is getting the fresh breeze that comes in. It’s like new ideas blowing my way.”

Growing up, Jenn played softball, but a shoulder injury ended thoughts of a collegiate career. “I do miss playing a lot, but honestly, I love signing and that’s what I have a passion for,” she says. Until the day that she walks across the stage to get her degree, Jenn will continue to sit near the window and practice signing until she feels her signs are fluent enough to take on the world of interpreting and teaching.

Text and photo by Aarynn Davis

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‘Call’ of Study

JOHNATHON DILBERRY Many “Call of Duty” fanatics around campus play the game for fun.

However, for Johnathon Bilberry, it is more than just a video game. It is his key to good grades. “I used to hate studying for a test or anything because it was so boring,” the junior business major says.

“Every time I went to the library or just sat in my room reviewing my notes, I would always end up falling asleep, or get distracted by something else.” So, Johnathon decided to play while he crammed. “Playing ‘Call of Duty’ keeps me active and engaged in what I am studying — my grades have improved a lot since.” The Houston native says he started studying and playing the game one night before his accounting mid-term his sophomore year. He was caught up in multiplayer survival matches, and did not want to stop. Johnathon pulled out his notes and started studying in between matches. He made a 90 on the test. “From that moment two years ago, I realized I had accumulated the best study method for myself,” he says. “It’s a unique way of making good grades.” His GPA has risen, and with “Call of Duty: Advance Warfare” just released, Johnathon has his sights set on more A’s.

Text and photo by Coty Davis

Wheelin’ in the grades MACY RIGGS Over the high-pitched sound of rubber wheels, with the world speeding by, Macy Riggs listens to the cadence of a familiar voice — her own. The Beaumont senior listens to her class notes while she rollerblades. “I like to work out and I needed to study, and I got tired of reading for hours and hours in my room, so I decided to put the two together and study while I work out,” Macy says. When she first started college, the management information systems major says she was overwhelmed with the amount of lecture material. “I tried to think of a way to study while I do something else, because it was notes after notes after notes of stuff I was trying to learn,” she says. “I got an iPod touch and used the voice memo app.

I would make voice memos of me reading through my class notes each day.” Then it was just a question of finding the time to listen to the notes. “I like to rollerblade at the hike and bike trail in Beaumont, (so) that was my mode of study — I would rollerblade miles and miles while I listen to my notes.” It’s a system that works and Macy is rolling toward graduation in May. Text and photo by Kyle Swearingen

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Thoughts in Motion SABO OGBEIDE Sabo Ogbeide is a haptic learner. “I just can’t sit still while studying,” he said. “I need to be active to stay focused.” Haptics learn better by experience, experiment and just moving. They have to pace around the room, they must have music or a television playing in the background. “I pace around my room while studying for an hour and then I take a 20 minute break, I repeat the same process over and over again,” the sophomore nursing major said. “I have to constantly be in motion while studying so I don’t get distracted.” When he was in high school in Nigeria, Sabo could not understand his classmates. “I would always look at other students and wonder how they were able to study while sitting still in a quiet atmosphere.” Sabo says that he can’t study for a long time without daydreaming.

“I had more success studying while listening to music because I kept moving my head and my legs to the beat,” he says. “The motion keeps me focused and awake.” So if you see someone pacing around with a textbook in hand, don’t worry — it’s probably just Sabo cramming for a test.

Text and photo by Okolo Ifeanyichukwu

Dreaming of an A

Text and photo by Olamide K Oladunni

KETURA MCCLINTON Lying in bed relaxing with jasmine-scented candles lit all around a small-sized bedroom, lights are dim and the mood is set, and no one can disturb Keturah McClinton as she zones out on her full-sized mattress. Bose headphones cover her ears and a sleep mask covers her face. This might not sound like an ideal college study session, but for the 23year-old Lamar University business major, this is the only way she knows how. “I keep my trusted sound recorder on in all of my classes,” she says. “I learned a while back that I am more of an audio learner. I love to record the lectures and go back home and listen to them in a relaxed state until I fall asleep — and even then I have them playing in the background on a speaker so the information can seep into my subconscious.” The Houston senior has been studying this way since high school and plans on continuing her study habit into graduate school. “Some of my professors don’t really lecture and they bombard us with notes, so sometimes I read the notes onto my sound recorder and play them to myself continuously,” Keturah says.

While some students may sleep in class, Keturah sleeps on good grades.

More People, page 22

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Education key to

LAUREN VAN GERVEN GRAPHIC BY DESMOND PICKENS

STORY

BY

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peace, understanding MEDIA

PORTRAYALS OF

There are two sides to each story. Both sides, however, are not always given equal weight. This is how it goes in all areas of life, including in the media.

Freedom of the press means that news media are free to publish any information or opinion they desire. What is not allowed is libel, a false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation.

But what if such a statement isn’t hurting one person specifically — but an entire group, or religion?

After Sept. 11, 2001, Mohammad K. Hamza, professor of counseling and special populations, shifted away from his research centered around online education, to work on discovering the truth behind media bias and terrorism, and the consequences it has on Muslims around the world.

“I did a lot of counseling and planning for online education,” Hamza said. “Me and my colleague Alhalabi, from Florida Atlantic University, developed something called remote labs, so my work was mostly in computer science. Then 9/11 hit. When 9/11 hit, suddenly all my interest shifted.”

Hamza said he was shocked by the propaganda and broadcasts by reporters such as Fox News commentators Steven Emerson and Daniel Pipes.

“I started saying, ‘Well, is there anything we can do to counteract what is going on?’” he said. “I wanted to see if the media, whatever the kids were watching, if that was impacting them.”

In his own life, Hamza had two specific examples of how the media affected people around him.

“After 9/11 things changed,” he said. “It changed for the worst. The father of my daughter’s best friend said, ‘Well, you can’t talk to her anymore, she’s a Muslim.’ My good neighbor said, ‘Please don’t take it personal, but I’m afraid for my daughter because you might be targeted.’ And his daughter wouldn’t even talk to my daughter anymore. So, there were two separate incidents, and I’m going, ‘This is the impact of the media. The media is really doing a very bad job.’”

Hamza said that his biggest issue is how the media bias affects children.

“I’ve seen and talked to many children, specifically as a psychologist,” he said. “I can’t

MUSLIMS

SOURCE OF CONFLICT

“Within ten years, if this is not taken care of, ISIS will be the dove of peace compared to what is coming next.” tell you the number of times I’ve talked to kids and teenagers — since we’ve started talking about ISIS and ‘American Sniper’ — that those kids come to me, and say, ‘Today, this is what they called me, this is what they said to me, that I belong to ISIS, just because I’m a Muslim.’”

Another big issue is when acts of terror happen at the hands of a Muslim, Hamza said. The media immediately links that person’s identity to his religion, while this is not so when people of other religions commit similar crimes. Hamza cites the recent example of non-Muslim Roger Stockham, who was stopped by police forces prior to executing a plan to bomb a Michigan mosque.

“You didn’t hear about it,” Hamza said.

“It’s not this Christian, or this Jew did this, but it is this Muslim. Like the psychiatrist out of Fort Hood. He was a major in the army, and then he went nuts. Why does religion have anything to do with it?”

Oney Fitzpatrick, associate provost of student retention — who joined Hamza’s research after spending time in Morocco and doing preliminary research on what American college students really know about Islam — said that the whole idea of biased information is to get people to think a certain way about whatever the information is.

“That’s how stereotypes are perpetuated,” he said.

The level of attention a news channel gives to a certain event shapes the ideas of the public.

“What’s sad, is when they kill 200 Christians it’s all over the news, but nobody says anything when they kill 10,000 Muslims,” Hamza said. “Why? Because when I show that they are killing everybody, then I show that it has nothing to do with Islam.

That’s very important, but when I only show

to you that they are killing Christians, what’s going to happen to you? You’re going to hate Muslims.”

Hamza said that he has no problem as long as the information is authentic and real.

“Cast it as it is,” he said. “It’s amazing, it’s really pathetic and sad when they twist (the truth), and when they twist it, sometimes the public is naïve, watching only one channel — being programmed by one channel — and thinking that this is the truth. It is not the truth.

“Objectivity is very important to me, especially as a researcher, because, the more you reveal the unbiased truth, the naked truth, the better it is. The more you poison people’s minds with hatred, just because you don’t like someone — if you’re gender-biased, ethnic-biased, whatever it is — then you know what? You are twisting the truth. If we take again the bias part, what is happening, we are creating hatred. Is that good for our society?

Of course not, that’s my point.”

Hamza said that this is a key reason why he moved from computer science into media bias and its impact.

“I switched to the human model, the cognitive, because there is something seriously going on here,” he said. “Many researchers such as Dr. Ashraf El Hubi, Dr. Oney Fitzpatrick, renowned multicultural expert Dr. Carlos Diaz, and Dr. Betty Duncan joined me, so we started putting a lot of work in it.

Then some people from overseas, such as Dr. Farah from Al Balqa University in Jordan joined us.

“The first part of our research, which took about 10 years, was all about Western media.

Now, we are starting to work — we started last year — at collecting data on how they perceive us, because there are two sides — I’ve seen it from here, I want it to be fair, so how do they see us from over there as well.”

Fitzpatrick said that most people don’t get another perspective, which is why it is important not to focus just on the American side of the issue.

“We want to go back across the ocean and interview people doing the same kind of research, who are looking at what the views in their countries are, to see what their views are See MEDIA, page 17

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Braced for Birth

STORY BY ELIZABETH GRIMM • PHOTOS BY YVETTE MICHELLE

DOULAS

OFFER

SUPPORT

Pushing, screaming and pain — this is normal for women who are giving birth. For mothers, the child who will receive enormous amounts of love is worth enduring the long, drawn out pain. Pregnancy and birthing can be a rough encounter, where women may feel alone and need support in the decisions of birth.

That’s where doulas come in.

Doulas provide unbiased support whether it’s during pregnancy or after, even offering support after the loss of a baby.

Most people are unfamiliar with doulas, and those that do know of them often confuse them with midwives.

“I think a lot of people don’t know what the role of a doula is,” doula Amy Jones said.

“They don’t understand what the difference between a midwife and a doula is — there’s a big difference. I think that probably the biggest misconception is that if you have a midwife you don’t need a doula or if you have a doula you don’t need a midwife, or that the roles kind of

FOR

PREGNANCY

overlap — and that’s really not the truth at all.

“Midwives do all the medical stuff. They’re doing blood pressure, checking cervical dilation, doing any lab work monitoring the babies.

They’re just making sure everyone is medically okay — physically okay. And that’s a really big job and so that’s kind of where the gap is — the support gap. Whoever is doing those medical jobs, that’s really their primary focus. A lot of times men want to be really helpful, but they just don’t know what to do. You know it’s not intuitive for them to be nurturers. We feel that doulas fill a gap — a support gap in maternity services.”

The role of a doula is to support the woman, not make decisions, doula Heather Thomas said.

“Even with your doctors, doulas are not decision makers — they are strictly support,” she said. “They are not going to talk to your doctor on your behalf. They are not going to intervene with your doctor — they’re not supposed to. That’s a huge misconception, where a

CHOICES

doula’s role is.”

Thomas said that some men think the doula is going to replace the father’s role in the birth team.

“That’s not the dynamic we promote,” she said. “We really promote dad being mom’s primary support, and our goal is to really bring them together. Whenever we’re working with a couple, we devote an entire prenatal visit to showing dad how to support her — physically, things to say to her, helping them communicate with each other, and find things that she may not want or women tend to find helpful or irritating and then minimizing that. Actually, at the birth, our primary role is to physically support mom so that dad can sort of be in her face and her primary emotional support, if that’s the dynamic the couple wants.”

The role of a doula is to be supportive and unbiased, Tiara Little, doula in training, said.

“It’s nice to have someone who will help educate you and help give you answers to things that you have questions about,” she

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said. “It’s an unbiased support.”

Little said sometimes, family dynamics can be confusing, and that doulas are able to offer advice and support that is objective and in tune with the mother’s wishes.

“It’s not a sister who might have a different opinion about what she thinks you should be doing — we love our mothers, but it’s not coming from your mother,” she said. “We are just there to give them the support that they need.

Even for postpartum and helping women that want to breastfeed, of having a good latch and initiating that even if they might not have that breastfeeding support.”

Jones, who is also a breastfeeding peer counselor, said that doulas educate parents on pregnancy.

“I think that’s one of the biggest questions we hear most often out of dad is, ‘I really want to be her support person, why do we need you?’” she said. “A lot of dads feel intimidated by the thought of inviting someone into their birth space. Men want to protect and they want a job to do, also. Men are protectors and they are also typically really task oriented. In that way, we help prepare them prenatally by giving them specific jobs to do while their partner’s in labor.

“I think a lot of the work we do, that maybe people don’t know a lot about, is the prenatal work. It’s a really big part of working with doula clients and preparing them prenatally for what birth is going to look like, what’s going to be helpful and not helpful, and what it’s going to sound like and smell like. We have them watch birth videos and we get on their living room floor with them, we do positioning with them and we show them things that they can expect us to suggest during labor.”

Jones, Little and Thomas are members of the Whole Mothering Center, Southeast Texas first cooperative doula practice. The collective encompasses a wide range of personal and professional experience, personality types and practice styles for expectant mothers. Thomas said that there is a wide network of doulas nowadays, and it is important to make and keep connections.

“Connecting with a larger community is really important to us,” Thomas said. “We make sure that we maintain good relationships with Houston-area doulas if we need to refer someone over there. One of the things that we feel is really important for doulas in general is a peer review process. It’s something that midwives have, doctors have, other professional organizations have it and it’s not something that’s established within doula care. We do that in our particular doula group and we also work with a couple of Houston area doulas to do that. We learn from those experiences.”

There are many different methods for childbirth, Jones said, mentioning hypnobirth, a self hypnosis used as a way to cope with pain.

“It’s just repetitive use of these CDs they send you, like tracks and affirmations,” she said. “The coolest birth that I’ve ever been to —

I’ve actually been to two births with this mom — she’s a local mom who’s had home births.

She does hypnobirth. Both of her births have been, water births (and) home births (and) have been, what she says, completely pain free. She did the hypnobirth and just a lot of preparation during her pregnancy and I remember at both of those births it was exactly the same thing. We were all just kind of there, just watching her labor, because there wasn’t much that she needed from us. At a certain point she would reach down and feel and go, ‘I think my babies crowning.’ And sure enough, both times, she knew.”

Doulas support whatever birthing situation the mother feels is best for them, whether it be in a hospital or a home birth. Thomas said hospitals are not bad, but home can provide a more comfortable atmosphere.

“Hospitals and doctors have policies, and even midwives have standards and policies from their governing bodies that they have to operate within,” she said. “And because of the amount of liability that hospitals and doctors have to cover, they are more conservative in their practice. This is their livelihood. This is their job. This is how they See DOULA, page 20

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Doula Heather Thomas, far left, assists Jessica and her husband with the birth of Jessica’s baby.

Doula Amy Jones, below, uses touch and pressure to help Jessica’s birth process.

UPbeat graphic by Desmond Pickens

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Crustaceous King of Spring PICTURE

STORY BY

GRANT CRAWFORD

SOUTHEAST TEXANS GATHER FOR MUDBUG FEEDING FRENZY It’s that time of the year again — the time when friends and families come together to sit and feast.

No, it’s not Thanksgiving, or Christmas — it’s crawfish season.

Depending on the weather, availability and overall size, prime crawfish season starts around the beginning of March and ends sometime in June.

Some people refer to them as mudbugs, others call them crawdads, but the folks of Southeast Texas don’t get too wrapped up in the name of these fresh water crustaceans, only the quality.

One popular location to get a hold of this Cajun delicacy is Juju’s Crawfish Shak, located in Fannett.

Lacy “Juju” Carter has run the down-home restaurant since she was 19, when her father built her the crustaceous shack.

“I remember when we first started,” she said. “We would get all excited after selling like three bags of crawfish. Now I can’t even count how many we use.

“You’re only working a couple months out of the year, and you spend it cooking crawfish. You just can’t go wrong.”

Be prepared to wait as there’s often a line heading out the door.

Inside the crawfish joint you won’t find much — a few picnic tables surrounded by sweaty faces, with Zydeco music playing in the background.

There’s a BYOB policy at Juju’s, and patrons are encouraged to bring their own coolers. They also provide take-out service.

If you’re looking to avoid a drive Paige’s Seafood on Gladys Street in Beaumont has crawfish available for purchase, alive or boiled. Pretty much any decent seafood restaurant gets in on the crawfish craze.

Whether you like them spicy or mild, there’s nothing quite like a steaming plate of prehistoric looking monsters on your plate — unless they are already in your stomach!

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MEDIA Continued from page 9 about us, and how those have changed, or how they are changing,” he said. “Just to compare if you also find similar kinds of biases everywhere.”

A lot of biases in Western media are generated from information delivered by homogeneous experts, Hamza said.

“I mean, they’re all the same experts,” he said. “Suddenly, there’s an expert on terrorism. We didn’t see them before (9/11). They would talk, and they would secrete poison to the public. But now we know those individuals, and they come in and talk with a lot of confidence, and it’s really ridiculous, like Steven Emerson said that every Muslim family has the Jihad manual. We laughed about it, but it was sad — we were sadly laughing at all this.”

Earlier this year, the news showed ISIS all the time, ignoring the chemical weapons and killing by the Assad regime. Then “American Sniper” came out, which created more hatred, Hamza said.

“I swear to you, I knew something was going to happen,” he said. “Well, three incidents of killing Muslims happened.”

Hamza said one incident was portrayed as an angry driver, another as a parking lot dispute.

“These are three (incidents) all over the country, well why? — because people are now programmed to hate,” he said.

Muslim-Americans are upset, and tired of being associated with someone else, Hamza said. They are not happy and are suffering because of it.

“During the 9/11 era, it was a tragedy, so we did a lot of faith-based counseling,” Hamza said. “We tried to reach out to synagogues and churches, ‘For God’s sake, don’t believe what you see on TV. Question us. Our mosques are open. Come talk to us.’”

Hamza said that it was ignorance and lack of education that created harm.

If the same kinds of bias continue, the tensions between different cultures are going to remain, Fitzpatrick said.

“I don’t think it will be something that will be easily overcome,” he said. “If nothing else, we have a history now of distrust between one another. So if you’re asking will things get better? I mean, I think they could over time, provided we start dealing with some of the realities of what’s being put out there. But as long as information is skewed bias in one direction, I’m not very hopeful that things are going to change dramatically.”

Because of media bias and the trouble in the Middle East, there is identity confusion and anger amongst Muslims.

Hamza said that if we can’t treat everyone

with equality, we should at least try to show the world what is happening.

“Extremism, killing, transgression — I really don’t think it has a god, a religion” he said. “I think it has to do with two things — power and money. If we do not come together as people, under one god — the force, whatever you want to call it — and as one human race, I really think we are losing, because everyone is losing, the innocent are losing.”

Hamza brings up the conflict in Syria, where according to syrianrefugees.eu, more than three million refugees have fled to neighboring countries since the start of the war in 2011. Many of the refugees are parentless children.

“When the world doesn’t stand by them, and they are the victims of war — chemical wars — and no one jumps to stop it, what are (those children) going to turn out to be?” he said. “Compare that psychologically to AlQaeda when it was created. Who were their recruits? They were the Pashtun children from the war with Russia. They were angrier than hell about losing their parents and families. What would you do if you were one of those children?”

Hamza said that the anger is moving.

“It used to be only in Palestine, now it’s in Syria, it’s moving to Egypt,” he said. “It’s never too late, I don’t think it’s too late, but I don’t think that what I am asking for is going to happen, because fairness is only in the

eyes of the powerful.”

With ISIS having more than 30,000 welltrained and well-funded fighters, Hamza is worried about the future.

“So what is going to happen?” he said.

“I’m afraid to say what is going to happen, because it is not looking good. I am worried about it all over the world, because they are jumping from one place — Tunisia is now involved, Yemen is involved, they are involving everyone. And do you think it is not going to reach Europe? It has already reached Europe.”

After 9/11, Hamza looked at Al-Qaeda as a researcher and a psychologist.

“If hatred and fair dealings with the Middle East will not change — specifically by super powers — Al-Qaeda will look like the doves of peace compared to what might happen,” he said.

Now, ten years later, Hamza says the same thing about ISIS. He said that no human mind can comprehend what ISIS is doing, which is why he refers to it as a “Satanic State.” However, “Within ten years, if this is not taken care of, Isis will be the dove of peace compared to what is coming next.”

“If I think that I can create a monster somewhere, and that monster is not one day going to get me, I have news for you — you are not going to be able to control it, and that’s See MEDIA, page 21

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It’s not a small COLUMN

BY

KRISTEN STUCK

Tall shelves not only issue when you’re 4’ 10” Technically, I am a midget.

A midget is the term used for a proportionate dwarf. According to Little People of America, dwarfism is defined as a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4’10’ or shorter.

Now, most people don’t think, “Oh look! A midget,” when they see me, but they do often think, “Where is that small child’s parents?”

You see, I’m a measly 4’10,” and have quite the baby face for a 25-year-old woman.

At best, most people think I’m in high school when they initially meet me.

I know when I am older I’m going to love

that people think I am so much younger than I am, but for now, it’s generally more of a nuisance.

For starters, I can’t reach most things.

When I’m shopping I have two options — I either climb the shelves to get what I need, or I have to wait for someone to come near me so I can ask them to get it for me. I’ve literally given up on buying certain things, at times, because I couldn’t reach them and there was no one around that could help me.

Just in case you didn’t know, those shelves aren’t really made for someone to climb. I don’t want to brag, but I’ve probably

broken more store shelves than you have.

Work is also a challenge. I work in a pharmacy, and even though I have worked there eight years, new customers always assume I know nothing about my job. It isn’t unusual for new customers to not let me help them. It always comes full circle when they have to deal with someone who is “older and wiser,” but doesn’t know what they are doing.

They always come back to me.

Along with people automatically assuming I have no idea what I’m doing, I am constantly referred to as “sweetie” or “baby.”

Apparently, if you look young, you should def-

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world after all initely always be called one of these names.

Also, people love to touch you. Even though I am little, I still have a personal bubble that I don’t like strangers to enter.

But I still get a pat on the head.

Going anywhere where there is an age limit is always a challenge. Whether I’m going to buy lottery tickets, liquor, walk into a casino, or even a movie, I am always carded.

Always.

They don’t just check my ID either. Oh, no. They check my birthday, they quiz me on every aspect of the ID, they use the black light on it, they stare at me repeatedly, then back at the ID, and then when they still can’t figure out how I have such a good fake ID, they call someone else over.

It’s exhausting. I can’t even imagine the pure pain that their brains are feeling. How could this pre-teen obtain such an amazing fake ID? The upside to this situation is I am normally pretty safe, because there’s always one security guard who follows me around all night.

Safety first, right?

Another downside is all the obstacles that “normal-sized” people fail to even notice.

I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many side mirrors I’ve walked right into going through parking lots. I’ve literally hit one so hard that I fell down.

Nothing is more embarrassing than running into a stranger’s car, and then having to peel yourself up from the concrete praying to every god that you can think of that you didn’t break anything on the vehicle — and that no one saw you do it.

On top of the embarrassment, there is also the giant red mark or goose egg on my forehead. Obviously, that is a telling sign that I just clotheslined myself.

Out of everything though, the worst thing is when I am out anywhere and a stranger flirts with me.

I am well aware of how young I look. Even all done up — which I am normally not — I still look like I might be 16. That means that when someone who doesn’t know me comes on to me, they probably think I’m at least that young.

Let that sink in for just a second.

There is nothing creepier than that — and it happens far more often than it should. It makes me worry about society a little bit.

“

Such terms as dwarf, little person, LP and person of short stature are all acceptable,

although most people would rather be referred to by their name than by a label.

”

I would, however, love to be the bait on “To Catch a Predator.” I would absolutely love to lure in some creep on the Internet to be busted at a nice house by Chris Hansen. I have a bit of a mean streak in me that would take full advantage of making these people feel like they are even smaller than I am.

So NBC, if you read this, please contact me.

Now, of course, the men that hit on me always aren’t older than me. In fact, sometimes they aren’t even men at all — they still haven’t even hit puberty.

These young lads are sometimes even more persistent than the creeps. It’s really hard trying to convince someone that, in fact, no, you don’t go to their middle school — and certainly are not in their art class. I’ve probably made several young girls who actually do go to their school look quite mean.

After I tell you “no” once, I don’t like to repeat myself. After a few times, I get agitated. A few more times, I get mean. There is a good chance that I have made a few boys cry.

Dating in general is a hassle.

I genuinely feel bad for the guys that I have dated. No matter who I date, it never looks right. To make it worse, I have a tendency of being attracted to men who are older than me.

No man ever enjoys dealing with this hardship. I’ve learned to look past the stares of people around me, because I have dealt with them for as long as I can remember, but for someone who hasn’t had to deal with it, it’s rough.

Of course, looking like I’m still a baby isn’t always bad. I get into most things cheaper because they think I’m a child. At first, I hated it when I would buy a movie ticket and they would ask if I needed a children’s ticket.

But then I realized I’m a broke college kid — I just saved $5.

I also quite often buy children’s clothes.

This is probably my favorite thing about being little. Although it can be a little difficult to find things that are age appropriate for me, I love it when I can find something good in the children’s section. Little boy’s T-shirts are my favorite things.

I usually pay about half of the price of a normal pair of shoes, too. I can’t even shop in the adult shoe sections of most stores. It’s horrible trying to find a good pair of high heels in my size. When I do find any shoe in my size, I almost always buy them because I never know when I’m going to find another pair.

Another upside to being the smallest in my group of friends is going anywhere with them and having people say anything about “their kid.”

These are the moments when I generally play up my small stature the most.

I can’t help but love it when my friends — who are only a few years older than me at best — get asked about me being their child.

The utter horror on their faces makes it so sweet. It’s probably the sweetest payback for all the times that they have made fun of me for not being able to reach things or get in anywhere without an ID. It’s also a guarantee that I will follow them around the rest of the day calling them Mom or Dad, and basically forcing them to buy me things in front of strangers.

Anyway, long story “short,” little people are people, too. It’s a big world for a “normal”-sized person, but it’s absolutely gigantic for us midgets.

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DOULA Continued from page 11 support their families. Understanding that their goal at the end of it is a healthy baby, a healthy momma. Your experience is secondary to that goal. It absolutely must be.”

Jones said that expectant mothers need to understand that doctors are consultants, not decision makers.

“There’s a lot of things that women don’t understand about the way doctors practice,” she said. “Sometimes, there’s this misperception that doctors are decision makers and that’s actually not the case. They’re consultants and they’re trained to provide services, like treatments for whatever ailment you have. They can do surgeries, they can prescribe medications, they can diagnose conditions and treat conditions. But you can decline any of those things at any given point as long as you’re still mentally capable to do that.”

Many people believe that once a woman has had a cesarean, they can no longer have a VBAC — vaginal birth after cesarean — but that is not true, Jones said.

“One of the things that’s really tragic about our area is that there’s not really anywhere in a hospital in Southeast Texas that a woman can go get a VBAC,” she said.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a practice bulletin in 2012, and said most women are good candidates for TOLAC — trial of labor after cesarean, even women who have had multiple cesareans, Jones said.

“There’s not a doctor in Southeast Texas who will allow a trial of labor after cesarean, even though their own governing bodies say that they should,” she said.

“Most of the hospitals in Southeast Texas have VBAC bans and most of the OB’s in Southeast Texas won’t do it, even if the hospitals allowed it. The big hospitals in Houston, the big trauma centers in Houston and Galveston, they will do VBAC and they will even do VBAC for women who walk in in labor.”

Doulas focus on what sort of experience the woman wants for her birth, Leia Koehler, doula in training, said, adding that many C-sections are performed in hospital because the birth is failing to progress according to a set guideline.

However, part of that is due to the environment, she said.

“The labor isn’t progressing because the mom is stuck to the bed,” she said, adding that research shows that moving around helps stimulate the birth process.

“I think our biggest thing is that for the hospital they do this all the time — it’s an everyday thing,” she said. “It’s their job and that’s wonderful. but for this woman, this is her experience and this is the experience that she wants. And so we just do our best to help her get that.”

Daphne Garcia, doula in training, said that it is important to create a bond between the mother and the doula.

“Before you go and have a baby, you’re going to meet me at least three or four times,” she said. “We’re going to have an hour consult, and possibly an hour and a half meeting for three separate occasions, and we’re going to go over laboring positions and we’re going to be comfortable with each other — we’re going to be friends. There’s a lot of comfort knowing that someone is there. Whoever their partner is, it’s how to best help the mother. There are techniques that help a woman, that a woman wants, that a husband may not even know. We

Doula Amy Jones assists Emily, who is also a doula, as she pushes through her pregnancy.

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DOULA Continued from page 20 do not take the place of a husband, we add to it.

“Birth is the most natural thing and somewhere along the way, (doctors) were like, ‘You’re in pain, let’s do this and add this.

Obviously, the medical interventions have helped in some ways but really, a normal pregnant woman, or even someone who may have a little bit of issues, can still have a natural birth or a vaginal birth without (drugs).”

Koehler said that every woman has different needs when it comes to the type of support and birth experience they want.

“Many times, the doula is doing things that the dad or somebody would have to be doing,” she said. “Going to get food or drinks — the doula is doing that while the dad or partner is providing the hands-on support.

(Doulas are) making suggestions about position, providing hands on pain management, massage or pressure (or) using intelligent touch to help with pain. And every mom is so different. You don’t know what is going to relieve pain for one mom and what is going to make another mom swear at you.”

MEDIA Continued from page 17 what’s going on” Fitzpatrick said that for extremist groups, such as ISIS, using religion as a tool is not a new tactic.

“Like many religions, you can use it to put your point forward, to pull out whatever parts support your views,” he said. “That’s probably what ISIS has done.

“It’s not the first group to have done that.

Many people have argued that over the centuries that Christianity has done the same thing with the crusades, or to justify slavery.

“I think that the important thing is for people to read, and to understand for themselves, and open discussion. There are always going to be people that are going to agree with the radical approach. And you take pieces out of it, to support whatever your particular idea is. It can be sound bites, videos, readings, whatever. You can continue your agenda and get people to believe whatever it is you want them to believe, if you present it long enough and in the right format, tap into what people have a need for and just capitalize on that.”

In order for things to get better, the public needs to be educated, Hamza said.

“People don’t have time to investigate and

Doulas take on many tasks throughout the pregnancy and even after the birth, Koehler said.

“Right now, I’m doing postpartum, so I go and support the mom after the baby has arrived and provide breastfeeding support if that’s necessary,” she said. “I can do food preparation, help light housekeeping — just coming in to help mom. I can help care for older children.”

Koehler also teaches prenatal yoga.

“I think prenatal yoga is really helpful to prepare for birth,” she said. “You work a lot with relaxation techniques — learning to kind of nip that fight-or-flight response and move over into the relaxation response. Going into that fight-or-flight mode is pretty much death to labor, because oxytocin will shut down. There’s a lot of things that are happening in a hospital just with lighting and the sounds of machines and having people come in and out that can trigger that fightor-flight.”

Doulas bring a wide range of expertise to the mother’s birth experience, Koehler said.

“There’s birth doulas, postpartum doulas — there are doulas that specialize in loss, the loss of a baby and can support you through that, and I think there have always been people that are there to provide death doula

“Extremism, killing, transgression — I really don’t think it has a god, a religion.

I think it has to do with two things, power and money.”

research,” he said. “So they depend on the media.”

Hamza said there is really only one way to improve understanding between cultures.

“Education, education, education — and reaching out,” he said.

Hamza said an inter-faith conference took place at the Islamic center in Beaumont last November.

“We invited the Rabbi of the synagogue, a few officials and Christian leaders — it was great,” he said. “And the reason why it was great, when you walked in, there were Jews, Muslims, Christians, everybody was there and was talking.

“I think that when you create a mystery, that’s where problems happen.”

Fitzpatrick said that it’s hard to get people to research and to look in to different matters, because people like their information quick

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services, and that’s something that is coming more and more into the mainstream — doulas that specialize in the end of life transitions,” she said.

Koehler said that women should know they always have a choice and a say in the birthing process — it just takes research.

“It’s her birth, and she has rights and she has the power of decision,” Koehler said. “She has the ability and even responsibility of researching her choices.

“I read something recently that talked about child birth, and how most women approach the purchase of a new computer, a new phone or a new car with way more research than they approach child birth. They’ll spend hours reading reviews and crowdsourcing information to make the decision about what new thing they’re going to buy.

“But they just walk into birth. They maybe go to the OB that their insurance says they can go to. They trust that doctor and certainly trust that doctor to manage illness if illness occurs — trust that doctor to be able to provide life-saving measures if they are necessary.

“But, research your options. Learn about the physiological process of birth, decide what it is you want from your birth. You have choices.”

and succinct.

“We don’t like the idea of digging into it,” he said. “But, I really think if you’re going to get into the real root causes, and you really want to institute change, that’s what it’s going to take — lots of conversations. It’s going to take more and more interactions.

“I think that we’re going to have to be willing to sit across from each other and debate, but I think, in the end, we’re going to have to be willing to maybe disagree on some areas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t coexist.”

Without looking at diverse sources, what one watches becomes one’s reality, Fitzpatrick said.

“For people, their perception is their reality,” he said. “What they get is what they are going to believe. Until we can expand that — and have a constructive debate — we are going to continue to see people build walls and there is going to be contention.”

Hamza said that the optimist in him believes that through education things will get better.

“I know I’m only a drop in the ocean,” he said. “But, my goal is to bring some peace to the world by taking time out of my own life, sitting, talking about it.

“So, in the next ten years — and I hope that what I think is going to happen doesn’t happen, but it’s not looking pretty — I hope for peace.”

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Keys to Conversation CALEB FONTENOT Pianist and composer Caleb Fontenot approaches jazz not only as art, but also as conversation — a conversation that has to be studied, broken down, and absorbed.

However, the “test” is no scantron, it’s the final sound that comes from the piano.

“What you do as a jazz player is look at tunes from the ’30s, ’40s and so on, that all the greats have written. The understanding of jazz is usually that you are able to absorb the language, the genre, and do with it what you want to.” The Lamar University alumnus plays a few notes. “If you think of the 88 notes that you are given on a piano, these are the only notes that have been used over time,” he says.

“Beethoven used these same 88 notes, Mozart.” Caleb graduated with a degree in music composition in December and currently works in the music department as a tutor, lab monitor and recording studio assistant. The Port Neches native says jazz people use the same musical language — the 88 notes — but have different conversations. “I take elements I enjoy and create my own sound, and put my influence on the tune.” Even though he has his degree, Caleb never stops studying the language of jazz.

Text and photo by Caitlin Duerler

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