OPINION
‘Colbert Report’ offends
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, April 4, 2014
An exploration of femininity
Racially-controversial tweet from satire show stirs social media uproar Emily Cole Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com
Twitter has changed the way that people watch television. Many shows have verified Twitter accounts and encourage the use of hashtags. The verified accounts tweet quotes, behind the scenes looks or about upcoming segments that will appear on the show. These verified accounts are run by people who are hired in the media department of the show, rather than the host of the show directly tweeting. In some cases this can lead to problems, as Stephen Colbert found out on March 27. Colbert is an American political satirist who hosts “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. “The Colbert Report” is known to feature some skits that offend different racial groups. However, last week it was a tweet this time that offended a racial group. On March 27, Colbert created a skit to poke fun at the owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder. Snyder refuses to change the name of his team even though it offends many Native Americans, but he tried to make himself look better by creating “The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.” Colbert’s skit involved him bringing up an “offensive” character that Colbert created named “Ching-Chong DingDong.” Colbert stated that some find this character an offensive depiction of an Asian American and he refuted this by saying that Ching-Chong Ding Dong from Guangong is a China-man who
would choke if he ever heard that he was stereotyped. Colbert stated that people wanted him to remove the character, however, Colbert didn’t want to do that, and so for compensation he created “The Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” Obviously this was just a joke, however, it offended many Asian-Americans.
Over the many years ‘The Colbert Report’ has been on television, Colbert has poked at and has said many politically wrong things. This incident is no different from any other night on this show.” A person running “The Colbert Report” Twitter account tweeted “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing The Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever,” without adding any content from the original skit. The tweet sparked outrage all across America. Eventually a hashtag about the tweet was started, #CancelColbert and it was started by Suey Park, a writer and activist. All it took was one tweet and soon it became a trending topic. Thousands of people all across America were demanding for Colbert’s show to be cancelled. Eight hours after the controversial
tweet was sent, Colbert’s personal Twitter account (@StephenAtHome) got involved. Colbert personally tweeted “#CancelColbert- I agree just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that though? I’m @StephenAtHome.” The Colbert Report’s Twitter (@ColbertReport) also tweeted “For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome. Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert.” These two tweets show that Colbert does not agree with and would never send out the controversial tweet. However, it does not change the fact that the tweet was sent out and it reflects the view of the show. People still feel the same way and are pushing to have the show canceled. Starting the hashtag #CancelColbert and pushing for the show to get canceled is a drastic measure. Yes, the tweet was wrong but it fits with the nature of the show. Over many years, “The Colbert Report” has poked fun at and has said many politically incorrect things. This incident is no different from any other night on his show. People need to put the situation into perspective and realize that the tweet did not reflect Colbert’s opinion and let one of the greatest political satirists live on.
Photo provided by U.S. Army
Preparation is paramount as registration dates approach Gabrielle Prusak Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com
It’s that time of the semester when everyone starts to stress out about what classes to take for next semester. Plenty of people have panic attacks, some people cry on the floor with confusion and others freak out until they get what they need. But have no fear—there are plenty of ways to not stress out about it. One way to not stress out about it is to take your time figuring out what classes you need to take. Look at the classes that are listed for next semester at least once a day. Make sure you look at your Degree Works and see what classes you need to take. Then make a list of all the classes that you need and see if they’re being offered this semester. Don’t worry if they’re not listed for the fall, as there is always the spring semester. But make sure you’re keeping track of all your classes. You should also be writing down the times and the CRN number. This will help you to make your schedule easier and quicker. Another way is to make as many different possible schedules as you can. As you go up in years, there will be more classes to choose from so making more schedules will be a lot easier. Don’t be afraid to say
“no” to a time slot if you really don’t want it. If you can’t get up at 8 a.m. no one is going to penalize you for it, especially if there is a later time. There will also be different time slots for the class during the next semester. Your adviser is also a great resource because they know how your program works and what you need to graduate with. At this point, your adviser should at least know you well enough to tell you what courses you need to take and give you some advice on what courses you will enjoy. If you don’t know your adviser well, but you have a professor that you are comfortable with, you’re always able to go and talk to them. There isn’t a professor or adviser that will turn down a student at this school. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Lily Choi | The Oswegonian
from anyone. The most important thing to remember is that people do drop out or transfer during the summer. If you don’t get the class you want right away, you can always keep an eye on it over the summer. A lot of people claim this doesn’t happen, but in reality, there are people who don’t do as well as they’d thought or transferred to a different school at the last second, leaving an open spot just for you. So don’t stress over not getting into that class you really wanted right away. You have all summer to keep checking. I understand that this is a very stressful time of the semester, especially with room changes that are right around the corner, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. If you just relax, take your time with your schedule, ask for help and make as many schedules as you possibly can, you’ll be fine. Don’t forget to check over the break to see if there is a class you really wanted that is open. You don’t have freak out. You can always overload with the permission of your professor and you can always take a summer or winter course. Scheduling should be the most exciting time of the year because you get to choose the next classes you will be taking. It’s one more semester closer to graduating and one more semester of learning more things you’ll need for your future. Don’t stress it, embrace it and enjoy scheduling.
Simple solutions for stress problems Sarah Cuddahee Contributing Writer opinion@oswegonian.com It’s almost that time of year again. Yep, the most dreaded time of the semester. Finals week. I can feel the panic coming from students as I walk on campus. But do not fret, there are ways to help reduce your stress and fear. Have you ever decided to take a walk around campus? I know you haven’t recently, but when it’s nice out, take a walk. Walk through the quad, by the Campus Center, or, my personal favorite, take a nice stroll down by the lake. But don’t walk on the ice unless you want to add more stress than you already have. The lake is a great place to sit and relax, shut your mind off and listen to the calm sounds of the water, swooshing back and forth. If you really focus on the air around you and the smooth sounds of peace, you will feel the stress leaving your body. It’s quite soothing. If you don’t like walking, try yoga. I personally had never done yoga before this past weekend at the gym, and it was amazing. Just let yourself go and focus on
your breathing. You become one with your body and release all the tension you’re feeling because of that dreaded 15 page research paper or the 50 question final you have to pass. Try and remember that this too shall pass and afterward you will find peace in freeing your mind. There’s also Zen meditation every Friday at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center.
Close your eyes and tune out the thoughts that are stressing you out. You’re only as stressed as you think you are.” There’s one activity which I find to be the most effective way to find peace for a moment, and that is listening to music. Music is a gift to the soul. Put on your favorite artist, or an artist you’ve never listened to before, and feel the words. Get lost in the music and the sounds of their voice filling your ears with phrases and words you might not even understand. Close your eyes and tune out the thoughts
that are stressing you out. You’re only as stressed as you think you are. Don’t think, just listen. Walk around campus while listening to music and notice the world around you without hearing anything that’s going on. It’s just you, the music and your perception. Finals week is scary, I know. It comes at us out of nowhere and we’re left with panic and confusion. How did it get here so fast? It was just Valentine’s Day! But relaxation and comfort are felt easily through the willingness of you. Let your mind be free of stress. Do this for yourself.
Devon Nitz | The Oswegonian
B5
Stephanie Mirambeaux Copy Editor opinion@oswegonian.com Porn tells us that all women look the same. Clean-shaven and so small she’s virtually non-existent. It tells us that women have sex the same way and they like the same things. Porn tells us that women are interested in the same positions and it tells us that all women like the lights on and have no qualms about their bodies. “The Vagina Monologues” tries to dispel those notions by addressing issues real women face every day. Oswego State hosted the play on Friday and Saturday in the Sheldon Ballroom. The monologues were started by Eve Ensler in 1996 and they covered topics like sex, relationships and acts of violence against women. Some people may find the content offensive but that isn’t what makes “The Vagina Monologues” so important. What makes the monologues so great is it shows there are women who share the same insecurities and who have gone through similar experiences regarding love and sex. While it’s difficult to make it more current because the performance is still the same as it was in the ‘90s, there’s the huge likelihood that women today feel the same. The show talked about real reactions from women who took time to notice their bodies, even the parts they didn’t like. They talked about how trips to the gynecologist are extremely uncomfortable and how no true effort is made for the woman to relax in that setting.
Women are made to feel like pariahs for not shaving or for having differently shaped, colored or formed body parts but, “The Vagina Monologues,” in so many ways, shed a light on that. They highlight how women are the same, but different at the same time. Those differences are a reason to celebrate. It evokes a feeling of liberation and solidarity among women. To hear that there are other people who are uncomfortable about the same thing brings out a bond. Women shy away from
What makes the monologues so great is it shows there are women who share the same insecurities and who have gone through similar experiences regarding love and sex.” talking about vaginas, like they’re something dirty, but the monologues are important because they focus on taking back female sexuality by making the word “vagina” less of a secret, something people whisper in the confines of their own homes. They’re important because it highlights the many different ways that women identify with themselves. It’s not just about living with yourself and your body, it’s about loving and accepting who you are. It’s about empowerment. “The Vagina Monologues” are important because they expose the dirtier thoughts and the vulnerabilities. They’re important because it allows for women to celebrate their vaginas and what it means to be a woman. The relationship a woman has with herself is the most important one she can strive to have.
‘Student-athletes’ merit voice
Ryan Deffenbaugh Editor-in-Chief rdeffenbaugh@oswegonian.com As compensation for my work as editor-inchief at this paper, I am given around $70 every two weeks. It isn’t much, and certainly doesn’t correspond to the amount of hours put in, but it’s a nice validation of the work and helps buy a few lunches a week on campus. The idea behind paying someone holding my position (along with the majority of positions on The Oswegonian’s staff), I imagine, is that we provide a service to the school. We report on news each week and provide an outlet that contributes to campus discourse and culture. We also net a modest amount of advertising revenue. I dedicate a large amount of my own time to running a publication, even though I’m still a student, and compensated for my efforts. No one seems to mind. Now, let’s say I’m a college athlete. I too would be giving up the majority of my time toward a cause. The games I play in, especially at the Division I level, draw substantial revenue for the school, and the connection that sports create between universities and alumni (and most importantly their checkbooks) is undisputed. Certainly more in both regards than any student newspaper. I am doing all this at the expense of my own time, which could otherwise be used toward a job, internship or other activities more toward my own individual benefit. Plus, let’s not forget, through the mere act of putting on a uniform, I am putting myself in physical danger. Yet, in this scenario, I should expect only a scholarship at Division I level, and absolutely nothing in Division II or III. A sentence like ‘only a scholarship’ could easily end a conversation. It does have a certain entitlement to it, at face value. College is expensive after all, and ways to pay for it aren’t easy to come by. But compare that $40,000-per-year scholarship to the $1,300 average ticket price for the Final Four this weekend in the massive Cowboys Stadium. Consider the almost 110,000 seats in the University of Michigan’s stadium, which sells out multiple times per year. Put it against the $5.2 million that Nick Saban will be paid to coach the University of Alabama football team this year, making him the highest paid public employee in the state. It doesn’t add up. The current system is both outdated and
exploitative and has to change. Players don’t need to cash in million dollar paychecks, but they should be able to afford lunch. Watch “Schooled: The Price of College Sports,” a documentary on the subject, and you will hear story after story of players who made their universities millions of dollars on the gridiron or court, and then went home to empty dorm-room fridges. Arian Foster, a superstar running back with the Houston Texans who signed a 4-year, $52 million contract in 2012, said that while on scholarship at Tennessee, he had so little food that he had to call his coach and beg for lunch for him and his teammates. What’s worse, had his coach been caught providing that lunch, the whole team would be investigated and possibly penalized by the NCAA. Profit off the players – just don’t feed them. Something’s wrong with that picture. This is by no means a new opinion. In fact, the issue has been debated for years. Unfortunately, the people who hold all the cards, the all-powerful NCAA, have been entirely inflexible to even a discussion on the idea. A recent court ruling, however, could be a sign that the NCAA won’t be able to cling forever to the concept of amateurism and the “student-athlete.” On March 26, a regional director on the National Labor Relations Board ruled that football players on scholarship at Northwestern University are employees of the university and thus have a right to unionize. The movement had begun in the fall, when the players, disgruntled with the college football system that benefits everyone except those on the field risking their necks, began to unite. They wrote “APU” on their wristband, for All Players United. They then petitioned to unionize in January. Now, in the grand scheme of getting players paid, the ruling is a pebble thrown into the ocean. The leader of the group, Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, has said that “pay-for-play” salaries are not even on the agenda for the group. Instead they will fight for better healthcare coverage, larger scholarship funds and other benefits. Beyond that, the NLRB only regulates private institutions and the majority of the largest athletic programs in the country reside in public universities. The team, by the way, is still yet to vote on whether to actually become an official union. But it’s a step, and one that sets a precedent that could allow more teams to unionize and fight for better benefits. And in a system that to this point has been under the complete and unyielding control of the NCAA, an entity with a lot to lose from having to extend larger benefits to athletes, any step that gets more players to the negotiating table is a positive one. In the meantime, players best suit up and get out there. Those alumni dollars won’t make themselves.