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CLARION UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1913
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DECEMBER 5, 2013
VOL. 100 ED. 12
“Save the Music” rally draws support, attracts crowd Anastasia Bates STAFF WRITER
CLARION, Pa. - Around 20 pages worth of signatures were gathered during a rally to raise awareness about recent cuts made to the music department as part of the Workforce Plan. Students held the rally on campus to attract attention to the student’s displeasure at the cuts to their departments. President Karen Whitney released the Workforce Plan last month, which saw cuts to several departments, including music. Students at the rally held signs and asked students and staff to sign a petition in the Free Speech Area outside Gemmell on Nov. 22. Psychology major Maddy Gordon attended and said, “It equals around 500 signatures. It was important for me to be there because I’m in the band, and music is a huge part of my life. Band was there for me when nothing else in my life was stable. I hate that it’s the first to get cut because for so many students it’s their escape from reality. Music helps with depres-
Andy Grove / The Clarion Call
Students and faculty gather in the Free Speech Zone outside Gemmell for the “Save the Music” rally Nov. 22. sion, and playing music is my escape from my depression.” She continued, “Also, the majority of my friends are music ma-
jors, and this does impact their lives. They cannot go to graduate school and get their masters’. We achieved in getting signatures and
fighting for what we believe but we won’t know if we achieved in keeping the department for a little while. We’re fighting it the best we can.”
Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Music Studies Dr. Henry Alviani was also in attendance. He said, “I have a person-
al interest in it, which is not the primary thing because I am going to come out OK.” “I have a very strong commitment to the liberal arts of which music is a very central part, and this is and always has been a liberal arts college. We have a 48 credit liberal arts general education requirement for everybody regardless of major, and if we take away music that may have an effect on other arts as well and the quality of education here; for all majors for anybody wanting a liberal arts education.” “People are making a commitment, the students and their parents who are supporting them to pay the extra money to go to a quality school where the arts are considered more important than apparently they are here,” said Alviani. People who stopped by the rally were largely supportive and generally spoke of how the rally will capture campus and community attention while discussing the cuts to the German, French and psychology departments that could happen in 2015.
International students share cultural experiences at panel Amerigo Allegretto ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
CLARION, Pa. - Eight foreign exchange students at Clarion University shared their experiences in the U.S. at the “International Student Panel” Tuesday Dec. 3 in the Still Hall Auditorium. Each student hails from a different country across the world. The students who spoke at the panel are as follows: Ahmed AlDhahri (Saudi Arabia), Anastasia Bates (England), Anh Lu (Vietnam), Chisom Obiezu-Umeh (Nigeria), Ryo Ogura (Japan), Angele Schembri (Malta), Mario Serrano (Ecuador) and Emmelie Ylinenpaa (Sweden). “It’s great for the university because the students who are mostly just from Pennsylvania get exposed to people from whole different worlds and cultures,” said international programming
and study abroad coordinator Raymond Feroz. Two topics discussed by the panelists were culture shock and homesickness. “I miss a lot of things over there [Ecuador],” said Serrano, who is from Quito, Ecuador’s capital. “For example, talking in Spanish. Here, there’s a couple of people who I can speak Spanish to. It’s a big experience. It’s totally different.” Serrano said he chose to come to Clarion because he heard the university had a good business program and that some of his family live close by. Lu talked about differences in American and Vietnamese culture, including social behavior, food and education. “A culture shock I had was in the classroom, how the students treated the professors. I thought it was really disrespect-
ful a lot of times,” said Lu, who used examples of students putting their feet on tables and chairs, and how they address professors. Lu also spoke about how controversial subjects like sex are talked about openly in America, but is frowned upon in Vietnam. After each panelist spoke about their experiences, a questionand-answer segment followed. One question asked was about each panelist’s respective country’s stereotype of America was. “Growing up, all you would see is “High School Musical,” you see “16 and Pregnant” and you see all the movies with the quarterback and the mean cheerleaders, and that’s really what you have in America,” said Ylinenpaa. “But I know a lot of American people, and that’s not the case.”
Tyler Lobdell / The Clarion Call
International student Ahmed AlDhahri speaks to the crowd about his experiences at Clarion. University president Karen Whitney closed the panel, saying having the foreign exchange students in Clarion is beneficial. “You honor us with your presence,” said Whitney. “We are a better university because you
are here, and we have a better unity because you are here.” Study Abroad vicepresident Stephanie Lightner said having the exchange students is “very enjoyable.” “I love hearing about
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
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INDEX
Student shares story in UPMC commerical. FEATURES PAGE 5
Film student releases own short film. ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 9
Johnson looks to lead by example for CU basketball. SPORTS PAGE 12
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different cultures, and I feel like other students share that sentiment, so I definitely think people learned a lot. I did myself,” said Lightner. “It’s good to have all the different aspects and ideas of the world.”