OPINION
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Wisecat : Getting through
grief as life goes on
Marty Salgado Advice Columnist
Editor’s note: You can ask WiseCat for advice @orion_opinion on Twitter or via email at wisecat@theorion.com. This week’s question was asked on campus.
Question for Wisecat I have recently lost a dear friend of mine. Between work, school and life, I’m finding it hard to grieve. -Anonymous
Dear Anonymous, If you’re having a hard time grieving, one of the best suggestions I can give is to allow yourself to cry. This is a healthy part of grieving. Cry while remembering the good times as well as the bad. By remembering the bad, you’ll realize how much depth your friendship actually had, which not only leads to reminiscing but grieving as well. Think about the fighting you experienced in your friendship and also how much you cared about that person. This reminds you that your friendship was special. I also suggest thinking about them periodically throughout your day in classes or at work. But don’t let the death overwhelm you or take over your life. If your mind wanders, know that it is a natural part of the grieving process. Think of the person’s funny habits or perhaps the way they moved their hands or the way they laughed. Write these memories down so you will never forget them. Celebrate your friendship through these tales. By sharing these stories and funny habits with others, you can come to terms with the passing. Knowing that you have all of these special moments with you for
Think about the lessons your friend would have wanted you to take from their passing. Friends are always teaching us something, so take their passing as their last lesson to you as a friend.
— WiseCat Marty Salgado can be reached at wisecat@theorion.com
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Giving back doesn’t require a membership for the blood bank BloodSource to host a drive in a highly populated area, such as the Bell Memorial Union. Forty might be a large number, but there are many ways Paul Smeltzer to accomplish it. Opinion columnist Begin by having your friends pass Most people think of community ser- around sign-up sheets in each of their vice as a bureaucratic organization where classes. Even if the turnout for each is individuals sign up for the club and meet slim — maybe out of eight classes, only eight people volunteer — if you have at every so often to plan future events. However, giving back to a community least eight friends passing around signdoesn’t only consist of a special group up sheets, you’re set. You could also share the idea in a group of individuals who’ve passed a screenwith similar interests, like at a church or ing process and certify themselves to sporting event. parade around in matchOnce there’s a list ing T-shirts that trumpet of 40 volunteers, contheir organization’s altrutact BloodSource at istic actions. 800-995-4420 or visit In its purest form, bloodsource.org. helping the less forAfter you’ve met tunate involves no the quota of 40 dues, meetings or people, don’t stop memberships there. Let any — just people last-second voldonating their unteers join the time to a good event too. purpose. Other than I’m not asking for a numbashing any ber of tables and organization for chairs, Bloodhelping the comSource does the munity — just rest. They’ll give clarifying that you a handbook helping others on how to procan also be done mote the event, outside institusettle on how tionally based to hold the efforts. event, schedSome students ule a date and who want to get even provide involved in town refreshments for don’t want to donors. sign up months in Helping others is a advance for credits noteworthy action. Howor have the obligation the orion •ILLUSTRATION BY liz coffee ever, a problem arises when of writing a paper for Community Action Volunteers in Educa- groups start to qualify community sertion. They prefer not to drink their faces vice actions as something greater than off in Greek organizations and like to see simple altruistic acts. We should know each one of us has the their good deeds just as they are — pure, potential to help people in need. From without any sort of write-off. So, to get around all the hype of photo events held by Greeks and CAVE to oneopportunities, resume material and nifty man jobs such as buying a homeless man titles, create your own community ser- food, real community service comes in vice project. You could pick up trash all shapes and sizes. It’s not going to pay, redeem past misin Bidwell Park, volunteer at the Butte Humane Society or boycott the bars in takes or look great on job resumes, but it will make the world a better place. Chico — all very doable. Starting a blood drive is also easier than you think. Paul Smeltzer can be reached at All you need is a list of 40 volunteers psmeltzer@theorion.com
| A7
THUMBS Thumbs up to spring finally arriving. This means we are halfway through the semester, Wildcats!
Thumbs down to having sex with your ex. This is not the best way to stroll down memory lane. How about lunch instead? Column B7
Thumbs up to the open mic nights all around town. Way to spread the creativity bug. Story B6
Thumbs down to midterms the week after spring break. We may have brought our books home with us, but let’s be honest: We never opened them.
TALKING POINTS
the orion •PHOTOgRAPH BY Nicholas carr
Following the recommendation and support of California State University Chancellor Timothy White, the CSU Board of Trustees has taken action in making all majors 120 units in the interest of consistency. It will also free up space for 3,000 to 4,000 more potential students, White said. No complaints here, Wildcats. This is a solid educational advancement for the CSU system. It’s good news for future students out there considering expanding their education. We appreciate the chancellor’s office’s attempts at finding a balance between providing students a good education and not having them stick around in college forever.
Google wants in your noodle Kevin Crittenden Opinion Columnist
the rest of your life will help you grieve and eventually gain acceptance. The friend may be gone, but the memories are not. Think about the lessons your friend would have wanted you to take from their passing. Friends are always teaching us something, so take their passing as their last lesson to you as a friend. In a time of grief, everything can be tough. Even a sudden change in wind can bring on strange emotions you have never experienced. If you catch yourself getting emotional in front of others, discreetly remove yourself and take care of your feelings until you feel calm again, but know that you have the right to mourn and to be sad in public or even on campus. Go along with your daily routine, and if you have to take a day off from classes, take it. It can be difficult to stay responsibile with school work, but remember the world doesn’t stop when tragedy occurs. Integrate my suggestions into your daily life at school or work, and always remember to share your thoughts and feelings with those around you. They are all there for you. You can also visit the Chico State Counseling Center in Student Service Center Room 430. Good luck, and I am sorry about your friend’s passing.
WedneSday, MARCH 27, 2013
Google wants you to wear its newest innovation: a perpetual wormhole strapped to your mug. It’s called Google Glass, and it looks like a headband made from a coat hanger with a tiny camera mounted on one side. The idea is that by wearing hands-free technology, we keep it out of our way. Convenience equals progress, right? Wrong. The problem with Google Glass is that it represents the dawning of a new era where our “digital” and “real” world selves are merged into one. Instead of an external device, like a smartphone touch screen, Google Glass has a digital interface made of glass that extends over one eye. The result is a constant digitized overlay, what its developers have dubbed an “augmented” reality. This overlay can take pictures and video, receive phone calls and conduct web searches all by voice command. Technology helps us to be more human and facilitates our desire to connect meaningfully with other people, according to cyborg anthropologist Amber Case. She argues we’re all cyborgs because when we use phones, they mentally transport us into conversations with other people. Yet even Case, who mentions the ubiquity of “ambient intimacy,” which is the ability to connect with anyone at any time, is worried about the effects of the non-stop connective potential technology offers. How can anyone really be present if their minds are not connected with their realworld bodies? Consider Bluetooth as a watered down preview of what Glass could be. I remember once walking through a crowd at a farmer’s market wearing my Bluetooth and talking happily about the previous night’s highlights to a friend who wasn’t physically there. I don’t expect to cut a decent bargain with the local vendors if I am splitting my interaction between the price of bell peppers and my own personal nostalgia. Bluetooth creates jerks out of normal
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people, because it disrupts the social contexts where other things are happening. But the infringement of “ambient intimacy” on social potential doesn’t stop at the farmer’s market, and I am not the only one who has been made to look jerkish because of it. Google Glass has been met with the patterned backlash that has also come with prior technological quantum leaps. The Sony Walkman was once regarded the same way in the early ’80s. We should consider the social fallout of using and abusing any tool this powerful before we adopt it. The concept of privacy has already melted away to almost nothing with cameras in every store, on every campus and in everyone’s pocket. Wearing Google Glass could be seen as a symbolic act of the invasion of privacy, because, as yet, there is no way to be sure whether someone using Glass is recording you. One Glass application called “Insight” is used to find friends in crowds by recording their “fashion footprint” and storing the information. Google, forbid we should have to exercise our short-term memory and locate people with our own eyes. The implications of such algorithm-rooted software are vast. It would not be far-fetched to conceive an app that could do what “Insight” does but with facial recognition software that links to online profiles. How convenient — stalking on the spot in the blink of an eye. Our generation and those younger have lived with a growing swell of perpetual distraction, negotiating multiple identities through meat-space and cyberspace. At this rate, the next step will be to internalize the whole device. Google will start an expensive microtech surgery that will distribute visual information directly into the senses at a thought’s command. We all need time to unplug. It’s in the solitary moments of our lives when we determine who we are. No one can text message your own selfknowledge. Kevin Crittenden can be reached at kcrittenden@theorion.com
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the orion •PHOTOgRAPH BY quinn western
A Chico State student was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing into a bridge on Vallombrosa Avenue near Memorial Avenue on March 13. The Chico Police Department arrests at least one person on suspicion of DUI every night of the week, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said. It would be one thing if we lived in a large community, like Los Angeles or New York, but Chico is a small town with a small population. One DUI a night is just unacceptable. While we are less fazed by the large number of arrests being made in our town, the student population should be aware of the issue and the serious consequences that come with driving under the influence.
STUDY BREAK
Movie Review: “OZ: The Great and Powerful” “The Wizard of Oz” is a classic. “Oz: The Great and Powerful” does not follow suit. As a prequel to both L. Frank Braum’s Oz novels and the 1939 film, “Oz” centers around James Franco’s character, Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, more commonly known as Oz. Filled with references to a Cowardly Lion, a Tin Man and a Scarecrow, the movie plays as an all too predictable setup. Packed with color and strong computer-driven graphics, this flick is a visually stunning voyage, but it falls flat in story line and characters. -Compiled by Trevor Platt
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