Collide issue 16 pdf 3 by Kaitlin Schluter

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[letter from the editor]

On the importance of staying afloat and being aware in the Information Age.

collide www.theclause.org/collide

he Information Age and Generation Y go together like apples and updates, gates and windows or books and paper. Thus, it seemed only appropriate to dedicate an entire issue of Collide to the question: how do we deal with the constant influx of media in this digital and tech-savvy era? The Internet provides us with all that we need: Netflix to watch intelligent TV shows (page 10), downloads of e-books (page 18) and potential life-partners or a way to take a date out on Friday (page 14). This issue examines where technology has been (The History of Information, page 6) as well as where it is is headed. We are constantly barraged with messages and easier ways to do whatever we want via the latest app or download. But I want to look at what happens beyond the “right now” in culture. What does the Information Age look like beyond what the media is giving us currently? I turn to literature for answers. If you read Fahrenheit 451 in high school, you might have a foggy memory of robot hounds, burning books and a firefighter (or firestarter) set in a dystopian world where knowledge is burned—literally, and books are illegal. While I don’t fear the banning of books anymore like I did while reading Fahrenheit 451, I do fear the disappearance of the written word altogether whether that be in newspaper or book form. Fahrenheit 451 was written 60 years ago, and yet, Bradbury was onto something. In the novel, Faber is a retired

English professor who helps Montag, the firefighterand main character, defy the culture around him. Bradbury uses Faber to explain the importance of books in a way that 21st century, post-modern America needs to remember. Early in the novel, Faber tells Montag: “Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’d find

Arielle Dreher Editor-In-Chief

life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ you are.” I think our generation is slowly forgetting what texture in media and culture feels like. I haven’t quite bought into the idea of iPads, Kindles or PDFs as a form of reading for class, and I struggle to read from a screen for longer than 30 minutes at a time. I hate that Borders closed a couple years ago, and Lord knows

when Barnes and Noble closes, I might actually shed tears. Even still, I am helplessly and hopelessly dependent on my technology. I don’t go anywhere without my phone, although I do try not looking at it for hours on end. I check my Facebook a solid five times a day, and I am ashamed to even admit that. I am fully engaged in some forms of social media, yet I loathe others. Twitter seems overbearing to me. Tinder seems shallow. I don’t have the time to blog daily or read an entire newspaper, but I shouldn’t have time to go on Instagram as much as I do in a day either. In an afterword to his book Media Unlimited, Todd Gitlin foresaw the changes that the Internet would cause. “We live in the early years of the so-called Internet age, and prophecies have a way of expiring quickly. But certain shifts suggest the direction of change…” Gitlin points to the Internet after this line and then later says that percentages of book readers is steadily declining with the rise of the torrent of media around us. Gitlin said this in the edited and updated version of Media Unlimited in 2007. Six years later, and Gitlin is still correct. The media torrent that surrounds us today is something we cannot avoid. The Information Age has ushered in a new era of thinking, whether you think it’s a dumbing down or not, it is here. And like Gitlin, I pose the question that we need to start thinking about, “As for the media as a whole, what could stop the flood but a catastrophic breakdown of civilization?”

Editor-in-Chief Arielle Dreher

adreher09@apu.edu

Art Director Sarah Ottavis

sottavis09@apu.edu

Online Editor Ashley Cameron

acameron10@apu.edu

Copy Editor C. Amaris Felton cfelton09@apu.edu

Publicist Chelsey Barmore

cbarmore10@apu.edu

Busness Manager Erin Lee collideads@gmail.com

Faculty Advisers Kyle Huckins khuckins@apu.edu

Tim Posada

tposada@apu.edu

Contributing Writers

Katelyn Montalvo, Melissa Quintero, Scott Jacob, Emily Leyva, Moriah Larson , Marisa San Miguel, Brooke Seipel, Caitlin Trude

Located between the Caf and Cougars’ Den Café. On Facebook, Instagram or on Twitter @apucollide.

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Mission Statement

Collide is a publication of The Clause, a multi-media student voice of undergraduate Azusa Pacific University. Our stories seek to bring people together on our pages where our ideas collide and stories impact readers. We provide narratives, inquiries and dialogue in a Christian academic setting that values individual’s stories as well as community concerns. Our writers are student-journalists interested in crafting articles that connect with readers and challenge them to grow as people and reporters. www.theclause.org/collide • 1

CONTENTS 8

Features 8

How to Find Depth in Culture

10 Intellivision 12 Generations 14 The Cupid Project

18 RIP Books

22 Holy

Technology

24 Parenting and Technology

Shorts 6 History of

Information

7 Swipe for

Humanity

6 Seven Sins

of Social Networking

Threads 4 Numbers 4 The List 5 Coffee and

Conversation

RIP Books Getting rid of paper and all the books too.

Intellivision TV can be good for your brain after all.

How To Seek Depth In Culture Hipster or not?

2 • collide • october 2013

The Cupid Project Virtual dating meets the real.

Parenting and Technology Do kids need iPads to survive?

5 Timeless Jobs

4 Technology

Done Right

Exclusive

Social Media: Use and Abuse

collideonline theclause.org/collide

[venture] Plant Paradise

by Katelyn Montalvo

hese are just some of the questions asked in a survey by the Pew Research Center regarding social networking sites and our lives. They found that the number of users on those using social networking sites had nearly doubled since 2008. Facebook users also seem to be more trusting, more politically active, and more likely to posses close friendships. However, there are numerous studies that correlate Facebook use to depression. High school and college-aged Facebook users are especially prone to feel envious, sad and lonely after being on the social networking site. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” However, the human habit of overestimating other people's happiness is nothing new. Montesquieu, the 18th century philosopher, said, "If we only wanted to be happy it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, which is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are." If Michael has 40 “likes” on his profile picture and Rob only has three, then Michael is seen as the more successful individual. We forget that social networking sites, such as Facebook, allow people to portray themselves in whatever way they choose, and no one is going to post a status about a broken home life or the panic attack the person had during class the other day. “Social networking has elevated the introvert, whether the real life dynamic has changed or not,” says Azusa Pacific adjunct professor of communication Phil Lollar said. Yet, famed international anthropologist Stephana Broadbent notes that most people use technology to communicate with just a small network of family and friends. She admits that technology has the potential to broaden our communication with others, yet most people do not take full advantage of these resources, such as Skype, Twitter and Facebook. Rather, a husband may use his cellphone to call his wife during a break at work. Technology has the power to either enhance our personal lives or destroy them. “The genie is out of the bottle,” says Lollar, and “we can’t get rid of these devices, so we need to learn to cope with them.” He goes on to discuss the ramifications of putting your entire life on Facebook, recognizing that it will follow you forever.

Visit theclause.org/collide to read more.

When I was younger, I always wished I could fly so I could travel the world. I wanted to be immersed in other cultures. Sure I could hop on a plane and go wherever I pleased, but that takes time and costs money. My roommate suggested we take a trip to The Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden. I’ll admit, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of walking around in a garden. It’s hard to get excited about a bunch of plants…or so I thought. Located in the heart of Arcadia, California, The Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden takes you all over the world without ever stepping foot on a plane. Imagine being immersed in the gardens of South Africa, Australia or South America. I felt like I was actually in different countries.

Visit theclause.org/collide to read more.

[digest] Syria: Suicide Bomb Kills 30 In the most drastic demonstration against president Bashar alAssad, an al-Qaeda-linked al-Nursa Front drove a truck filled with over a ton of volatile explosives into a busy checkpoint. While the intended targets were government soldiers, most of the victims were civilians. The blast caused a nearby petrol tanker to ignite and increase the area of destruction. Images from Syria TV showed multiple firemen battling the residual flames from the explosion. Hama remains an important location in the Syrian conflict, as it hosted some of the first responses against al-Assad when the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. Hama’s historical significance in the Syrian conflict runs deep. Former president Hafez al-Assad, the father of current president Bashar, ordered a crackdown in 1982 against the Sunni opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

Visit theclause.org/collide to read more. www.theclause.org/collide • 3

[threads] Android v Apple Smackdown

Round #1

Round #2

Round #3

Apple: 900,000 available applications

Apple: Average weight, 3.48 ounces; average height, 4.87 inches

Apple: Average battery life, 6 hours, 15 minutes

Android: 975,000 available applications

by Emily Leyva Illustration by Michelle Yee

Android: Average weight, 5 ounces; average height, 5.41 inches

Android: Average battery life, 4 hours, 10 minutes

*Read more rounds and find out the winner at theclause.org/collide OCCUPATIONAL NOTE

BOTH SIDES

Timeless Jobs

Techn Done Right vs. Techn Done Wrong

by Marisa San Miguel

by Ashley Cameron Have you ever been curious about the origin of why elbows on the table are bad? After a quick Google search, you will find it was because in the Middle Ages, it was a sign that you were unhealthy and did not have enough strength to hold your head up. Or, if you are looking for more current information, you can quickly search to find out what exactly a government shutdown means, or the main points of Obamacare. Either way, you have this information within your grasp. However, there is a certain point that you can cross to where your use of technology is too much. According to a study done by Presta, an electronic company, with a sample size of 500, 38 percent of college students cannot go 10 minutes without checking their email, tablet, laptop, or smartphone, 73 percent of college students cannot study without technology and 65 percent of students use digital devices to create presentations (Goodbye, fold-out display boards). Illustration by Michelle Yee

With the creation of selfcheckouts and driverless cars, it is no surprise that more employees are at risk of being replaced by a computer. An Oxford University study found that 47 percent of total US employment is in the "high risk" category of jobs that could be automated within the next 20 years. Here are the top nine fields that are likely to withstand:

THE LIST

1. Health Care 2. Government Officials 3. Writing 4. Psycholofical Fields 5. Educators Caregivers 6. Caregivers 7. Customer Service 8. Repair and Maintenance 9. Law

NUMBERS According to MCH Strategic Data, regarding public high schools across the nation

21.4 54.1 percent of responding districts had established “Bring Your Own Technology” policies in some of all of their schools.

percent of responding districts were using tablets or e-readers.

10 or 10: The Good, the Bad and the Awkward of 2013’s Viral Sensations. By Caitlin Trude

The Harlem Shake 4 • collide • october 2013

Paperman

Taylor Swift and the Goat

Baby Laughing at Dog eating Popcorn

Real Beauty Dove Sketches

Round #4

Round #5

Apple: Average response time, 70 milliseconds

Apple: Operating system focuses mainly on simplicity and sleek design

Android: Average response time, 115 milliseconds

Android: Operating system focuses on allowing consumers to modify content and fix bugs

BUSINESS NOTE

Apple Pulls Ahead

PHOTO CREDIT: Bottom: Youtube, Right: Jim Willis, Top Left: Michelle Yee

by Melissa Quintero Apples used to beat Coca-Cola only in nutritional value, but not any more! Apple Inc. has recently overthrown Coca-Cola’s 13-year reign as the No. 1 Global Brand, knocking it down not one but two spots lower into third place, following Google in second. Coca-Cola’s brand value only increased $2 billion from the previous year while both Apple and Google increased by more than $20 billion. Technology definitely ruled the top 10 this year. 1. Apple 2013 Brand Value: $98.3 billion Change in Brand Value: +28% 2. Google 2013 Brand Value: $93.2 billion Change in Brand Value: +34% 3. Coca-Cola 2013 Brand Value: $79.2 billion Change in Brand Value: +2%

percent of the districts with tablets say they are being used in all of their schools. –Sarah Ottavis

Lie Witness News-Coachella 2013

Prancercise Workout

Coffee

& conversation

by Brooke E. Seipel ost everyone who watches TV or is on the Internet for longer than 5 minutes comes across commercials for Match.com, eharmony and Christian Mingle and wonders, “Do people actually use online dating?” Truth be told, recent figures by U.S. researchers show that around 35 percent of married couples meet online. Multiple APU faculty members have actually found their spouses on dating websites, including journalism professor Jim Willis. Seipel: How long have you and your wife (Ann) been married? Willis: We met online on New Years Eve of 1999 and we’ve been married just about 13 and a half years now. S: What did your first encounter with your wife look like? W: We met on a site called oneandonly.com. I was in my office at the University of Memphis and it was Y2K time, so myself and others were there looking at our computers to see if they (the computers) were going to survive the millennium. I had been kind of active on this oneandonly.com for a few months trying to break out of my daily routine and meet people from both in and out of Tennessee, and up popped a message from Ann on my screen. That was our first meeting. S: Were you at all apprehensive about using a dating site? W: Sure, I think we (those of us trying internet dating) all were at the time.

Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal

We didn’t know what would happen; it was uncharted territory for us. There wasn’t much before the late 1990s. It was a new thing. I know her family was concerned about meeting a guy from another state that she didn’t know [from] online. It was as tricky back then as it is today for online daters because online you can be anyone you want to be. You have to follow the rules for safety to make sure the person you’re talking with is the person they say they are. We were kind of the pioneers of that 13-14 years ago. B: Where did things go from there with Ann? W: We communicated online for two months and somewhere around Valentine’s Day we met in person. We were married about six months after that, in July of 2000. So far it’s so good, and I expect it’s going to go on for forever. B: Would you recommend online dating to someone? W: It’s a tricky thing to answer. Examine the reasons why you’re doing it and be ready to be surprised, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively, and follow the safety rules. If you’re willing to do that, I think it’s a really good way to meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet.

Miley Cyrus VMA

What Does the Fox Say? www.theclause.org/collide • 5

[shorts]

Seven Deadly Social Networking Sins by Katelyn Montalvo

he strata of the social-networking world is built upon its idiosyncrasies; in other words, people may complain about the annoying stuff posted on the internet, but when they are alone at night surfing the web, that same annoying stuff makes it all worth it. It’s what makes social networking interesting. Just make sure you are not the one being laughed at. 1. Facebook creepin’: Remember that guy who bumped into you on the Walk? If the only thing that transpired between you was a muffled “sorry” don’t add him on Facebook the next day. It’s especially creepy if you have no mutual friends. If people do add you, do not “like” their 14th profile picture. They will immediately know you have been stalking them, and it’s best to only share that with your roommates during some late-night pillow talk. 2. Extreme displays of love and hate: I’m talking to all you couples out there (you know who you are) who post statuses about the great date at Outback Steakhouse you had with your baby boo boo bear <3 <3 <3 :) :) :) :). A rule of thumb: exceeding two hearts or smileys is bordering on lovey dovey; ain’t nobody got time for that. Furthermore, racist

#THROWBACK

History of Information by Caitlin Trude

The Information Age got to where it is through a series of evolving communication mediums – no way did the world jump from caveman’s art to iPads in an instant. This timeline follows a brief overview of the history of communication methods in between the two extremes. 6 • collide • october 2013

#selfie #lookingood #tongue #shopping

or sexist YouTube comments are never okay, even when posted anonymously. If your username is xXxAryanGurllxXx you already have a big problem. Your hate is better left for your therapy sessions and should also be kept away from the interwebs. Whether you really plan to kill Miley Cyrus or not, please refrain from putting it on YouTube, and let’s just get back to the music, ya’ll. 3. TexxxT tAlK?: ~*!**~~~ iF yEw St!lL tAlK lykE diS oN dEe iNtErwEbz dAn yEw mUst sP3eNd aTleAst 20 minuzz On erRy p0sT, bCuzz yEw R sT1LL N jR –hi aNd yeW hAve 2 mUch tYme oN yuR hAndz. gEt sUm h0bBiez b4 yEw dEsTroY dAh eNgl1Sh lAngUagE 4 gEwd!!~~ pLzzz&tHanKyEw!!~*!*! 4. Showing off that six-pack: Avoid posting pictures on Instagram of yourself at the gym or mirror shots with minimal clothing. It’s even worse if you hashtag things like #healthfreak, #swollcity or #gettinripped. Those of us who had a handful of BBQ Pringles, a Snickers and reheated ribs for dinner are not impressed. 5. Tweeting about your food: No one cares about your curry quinoa dish unless you’re a contestant on Junior MasterChef. Now that’s impressive! In the grand scheme of things, count yourself 3500 B.C. During this time period, the Phoenicians developed their own alphabet. Scholars and scribes wrote on papyrus, and the Egyptians were ahead of the times with their hieroglyphics. Some may call it the earliest form of Pictionary, but the Egyptians were onto something as they became one of the most powerful, architecturally-savvy empires. 100 A.D. Around 100 A.D., writers and readers upgraded to bound books and started to move away from scrolls. By this point, the use of paper spread from eastern Asia and continued moving westward. The Roman government started carrying mail throughout the empire, long before the days of the Pony Express. While handwritten letters

3 in the higher percentile if you simply eat and digest food three times a day. Chew, swallow and repeat. No picture is needed. 6. Selfies: These should be taken on a case-by-case basis. If your selfies exceed five per week in a non-ironic way then you should be required to wear a paper bag over your head for a month. However, selfies for the sake of a good and horrifying snapchat are permissible, so long as your “ugly face” is actually a hideous

seem to have more sentimental value now that technology is so prevalent, they served a more practical purpose in times when mass company emails didn’t exist. MIDDLE AGES If you want to hear the tale of sword-wielding Beowulf, you had better pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable – it would be a good while before your local storyteller made it through the entire story. Bards (a.k.a. skilled poets and sometimes musicians) were an important part of keeping the legends of old alive, as books were not common household items. 1450 While China was already ahead of the game in the field of woodblock printing (think stamping, but for each individual letter or symbol),

#AGOODTRANSACTION

Swipe for Humanity

by Ashley Cameron The Mission: Repurposing small, everyday acts, to do more, by doing good.

2 1. Dan Eckman and Alex Piering 2. Lysh McAllister 3. Brian Miller 4. Jordyn Ivey

4 distortion of your real physical features and not just a kissy face. A great standard across the board: the more double chins the better! 7. Senior citizen posts: Try to disassociate yourself from any post on Facebook that might remind you of your great Aunt Helen, such as her picture albums devoted to her two dachshunds, Maude and Clyde. Stay away from Farmville invites and graphics of inspirational quotes, especially if it’s in a calligraphy font.

Europe followed suit for a while before the invention of the Gutenberg printing press. With this invention, book printing increased, which eventually led to the Gutenberg Bible in print. Because books were more common, book ownership was no longer limited to the upper class. Few could afford bound books prior to the invention of the printing press. 18TH CENTURY American newspapers began circulating in the late 1600s during the colonial period but gained more popularity when the Revolutionary War broke out. Benjamin Franklin pioneered one of the first newspapers, along with John Campbell, who began The Boston News-Letter. From this century onward, print news continued to be a prominent communication medium, especially during the Gilded Age.

Swipe for Humanity takes advantage of the age of consumerism we live in by using a common daily act swiping a credit card - to benefit the world. Founded in 2012, this Los Angeles nonprofit takes 50 percent of all “swipe fees” and gives them to good causes. The Purpose: “Swipe for Humanity started when we noticed that Fostering a more there was this trend of people (whether businesses responsible, considered approach to or consumers) wanting to do good, and that living. nonprofits were not only doing great work, but were also in search of sustainable funding,” representative The Vision: Catalyzing Regina King said. After partnering with Wells Fargo, a healthier and more educated business and Swipe for Humanity came up with a solution to find sustainable funding by working with willing consumer culture. businesses to match their credit card swipe fees. When someone uses a credit or debit card for a purchase, the bank charges that business a processing fee. Swipe for Humanity began to match these processing rates and redirected 50 percent of the fees from in-store and online purchases to nonprofit organizations. “We asked ourselves if there was a way to address all these ‘needs’, and find a way to embed doing good into daily living,” King said. “That's when we stumbled upon the untapped potential of the everyday transactions that take place when consumers swipe their credit cards at businesses.” Different businesses can reach out to Swipe for Humanity by following the five steps outlined on the website. Swipe for Humanity’s success stories include job-creation programs in Uganda, refugee missions in China, anti-human trafficking causes in Los Angeles and breast cancer awareness worldwide. Its blog features images, videos and descriptions of the causes Swipe For Humanity supports.“If you’re a business or any other organization that accept[s] credit cards (in-store or online), and you want to do good, Swipe for Humanity makes perfect sense,” King said. To get involved and help organizations get their funding, visit Swipe for Humanity’s social networking sites (Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram) to stay updated on which businesses the nonprofit is currently supporting.

19TH CENTURY No longer did “calling a friend” mean shouting one’s name from a distance; communication was made easier when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Although letters were still commonplace, a phone call meant being able to say what needed to be said faster – another added benefit was the absence of hand cramps from letter-writing. 20TH CENTURY With the emergence of radio and television, people were easily exposed to marketers and advertisers, which created a society engulfed by commercialization and consumerism. Radio and television provided additional outlets for entertainment as well as news – it was only a matter of time before television became

the center of many homes. Though the earliest computer was invented in the 1930s, the Microsoft and Apple rivalry was not initiated until 1985. The internet was in the development process prior to this time, and increased in usage in the coming decades. 21ST CENTURY When technology upgrades accelerated, slick mobile phones replaced the old dinosaur phones, laptops replaced bulky monitors, Kindles replaced textbooks and flat screens took over antennae TVs. In the cyber world, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others created in the mid-2000s combined texting and smartphone capabilities and have changed the meanings of “like,” “friend,” “follow,” “tag” and “stalk.” www.theclause.org/collide • 7

HOW TO IN CULTURE Find depth

How hipsters and mainstreamers can agree to be in-betweeners sometimes. Who was the first hipster?

by Emily Leyva

n 2011, hip-hop artist Big Sean released a song called “Dance (Ass)” which ranked No. 10 on the “Billboard Hot 100.” Since 2010, the hit reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians averages about 3.5 million viewers each episode, and the Twilight series is worth approximately $2 billion. While some members of older generations accuse young adults of being shallow, self-absorbed and lacking any kind of cultural or intellectual depth, young adults are also being judged by other young adults who take pride in seeking intelligence and independence apart from trends and popular media. Based upon the popularity of our entertainment, they may have the right to do so. Granted, there are some that faithfully track more underground entertainment outlets such as independent films and local bands, but those individuals often run the risk of being labeled as (gasp!) hipsters. Maybe the term isn’t offensive to some, but to a few mainstreamers, nothing can be worse than grouping themselves together with a bunch of thick-rimmed glasses wearing, Apple-product loving, Urban Outfitters employees. You are either classified as an automaton droid, mindlessly following 8 • collide • october 2013

the herd, or a condescending, blogging hippie making assumptions about the intellect (or lack thereof) of a mainstreamer. We are seemingly destined to love either independent, thoughtful material like a hipster or shallow, mindless media like a mainstreamer. But with the emergence of current media production, it may be safe to say that there is a middle ground between hipsters and mainstreamers that reflect values from both ideologies. By indulging in some of society’s current trends, there are ways to be grounded in cultural depth like a hipster but still enjoy swimming in the mainstream. In its most recent season premiere, Keeping Up With The Kardashians hit a low rating of 1.79 million viewers, which is a whopping 40 percent drop from its first season premiere. As thoughtless reality television programming is losing viewership, it is slowly being replaced by creative and intelligent shows in which hipsters are proud to partake. Shows such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey and Sherlock continue to break viewership records and set a higher standard for complex plot lines while still entertaining the masses of the mainstreamers (see page 10 for more on smart TV).

ably You’ve prob d of never hear r. he or ... him

If you want to look like a hipster, it’s as easy as obtaining a new pair of nonprescription glasses and watching YouTube tutorials. If you want to become a mainstreamer, keep listening to popular music stations and watching Michael Bay films. Maybe the changes that need to be made in order for the mainstreamer and the hipster to understand one another aren’t so drastic after all. There is a way to enjoy both sides of culture by finding a satisfied medium and here is how: 1. Give and receive suggestions for movies and books, but don’t be judgey. Some hipsters will often avoid suggesting things to others simply because a mainstreamer has probably never heard of it. And you’ve seen YouTube, filled with comments like, “I liked this song/artist before it was popular!” or what is actually interpreted as: “I liked this before it was cool, therefore I am more culturally aware than you.” Instead of belittling others for acknowledging good material, take pride in your discovery and be grateful that others are appreciating its beauty. Keep recommending songs, bands, movies or shows to someone from the opposite trend. An exposure to different types of media can help change another’s perspec-

PHOTO CREDIT: Youtube

tive. 2. Shop at Hot Topic. Before you roll your eyes or drop your mouths, have you shopped in there lately? Maybe once upon a time it used to be an avenue for punk-rock and gothic fashion accessories, but there are artifacts that appeal to both hipsters and mainstreamers! Rejoice while walking in, and enjoy your favorite childhood characters alongside your current obsessions that are plastered and merchandised onto the walls. The items range in themes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Dr. Who to John Lennon. I bet you a Starbucks that both hipsters and mainstreamers will come back with several culturally significant treasures. 3. Don’t Shop at Wal-Mart or Claire’s Accessories. Their aisles are flooded with “mainstream” merchandise like One Direction and Justin Bieber, the exact music that parents and hipsters associate the shallow mainstream media with. Even the mainstreamers avoid these stores and shop elsewhere when searching for the latest trends. 4. Here today is not gone tomorrow; don’t be afraid of the dated pastimes. Most hipsters have got the right idea when jotting down thoughts, poems or song lyrics in a journal, so mainstreamers and in-betweeners, this one is directed at you. When was the last time you wrote a letter to anyone? Furthermore, when was the last time you wrote in cursive? How about the last time you grabbed a book off of the shelf in a library or bookstore and sat in a lounge chair? (see page 18) For most of us, it’s been a while, mostly because there is no need since everything is digitally produced. Plenty of scholars and professionals still read a physical book because it enhances learning, broadens perspectives and allows you to experience another universe without a screen in front of you. And it doesn’t matter which book; any kind of reading makes you look smarter and more independent. 5. But don’t forget the present either. The Breaking Bad series finale had nearly 10.3 million viewers; The Walking Dead season four premiere reached an audience of 16.1 million. Lana Del Rey’s cinematic sounding album Born to Die has spent a remarkable 81 weeks on the U.S. “Billboard Top 200 Albums” charts while author

“May the trends be ever in your favor,” as the Wyoma Films’ Hunger Games parody trailer, “The Hipster Games,” says.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is ranked No. 26 of the best-selling books of all time. On the surface, the sheer power of numbers in these entertainment options can be labeled as mainstream and thus predictable or shallow, but ask any fans of these shows, artists or writers, and they will tell you otherwise. The main reason for their popularity? They’re really, really good, thought-provoking and creative forms of entertainment, created by talented people. Indulging in any of these genres is a win-win and a middle ground for both the hipster and mainstreamer. 6. Ask a member of an older generation what he/she used to listen to/ read/watch. Each generation accuses the former of being intellectually and culturally inferior. Generation Y accuses Generation X of being narrow-minded and stubborn to change. In order to gain insight, it could be beneficial to ask a parent, grandparent or mentor what he or she considered in his or her days to be deep and meaningful media. While hipsters or mainstreamers are in the midst of defining their cultural preferences and tastes in media, looking at past cultural phenomenons as references can influence each group’s view of how trends in the past have developed into the trends they are today. It’s funny to think about mainstream trends “back then” being hipster media now. While socially separating yourself as a hipster or mainstreamer is not entirely bad, it is not entirely good either. Creating labels can bring together those from the same social

background together, but it can also create invisible barriers and tension between particular groups of people. If the guidelines above are followed, the two ideologies, which are represented by two different types of culture-consumers, can meet in the middle and shake hands instead of butting heads. It should be a shared objective to understand and consider the values and interests of others in order to maintain a tolerant and well-rounded society. Or as Aristotle said (hipster readers wake up), always seek the Golden Mean, the desirable balance between two extremes. Dive into both types of media and engage culture at both ends of the pool. How do you drown a hipster?

In the mainstream How much does a hipster weigh?

A Hipstagram

Why did the hipster burn his tongue? Drank his frappuccino before it was cool

Why do hipsters take the subway?

It’s underground

www.theclause.org/collide • 9

Intellivision

note to self: Primetime is getting its act together with engaging, stimulating television that might just do more than entertain viewers. Can TV increase brain activity or provide an outlet for analytical thinking?

by Moriah Larson

e have chosen plenty of American Idols and rejoiced over one too many roses given out by The Bachelor. But have our perceptions become distorted by this mindless and mundane entertainment? Past studies certainly affirm this supposition to be true. Evidentiary Support Suggests a Shift In November 1969, Dr. Herbert Krugman performed a study, pertaining to the physiology of watching television, and found that within 30 seconds of TV exposure, his subject’s brain switched from predominantly beta waves – indicating alertness and conscious attention – to predominantly alpha waves, indicating minimal focus. However, when Krugman’s subject turned away from the screen to read a magazine, the 10 • collide • october 2013

beta waves reappeared, revealing that alert attentiveness had replaced the daydreaming state. While the correlation of physical brain activity with cognitive events has been an unquestionable scientific triumph, many psychologists remain unsatisfied, because neither neuroscientists nor philosophers have adequately explained how such patterns give rise to subjectively felt mental states. Therefore, the puzzle of how these processes transform into individual awareness persists as the cardinal mystery of human existence. Yet after years of related investigation, Dr. Alison Preston, a professor in the Department of Psychology and section of Neurobiology at the University of Texas, has come to understand the brain as a prediction machine, specializing in detection and recognition, anticipation of threats and storytelling.

“It’s not the premise that matters, but the story. Breaking Bad tells a great story,” said Richard Walter. Industry Commands Audience Attention With over 115 million televisions in American households and close to 120 scripted series available, the desire for mentally stimulating shows has never been as prominent. Around the mid-1970s, the term “quality” began to pass from the trades to public discourse – assuming complex dimensions like artistic excellence, sophisticated subject matter and commercial affectivity – with an educated, affluent audience. As a result of this expansion, Dr. Elizabeth Cohen, an assistant professor at West Virginia University, believes television fans started to seek more thought-provoking programs,

PHOTO CREDIT: TOP RIGHT; NBC.com. TOP LEFT; Edmund Francis Muzada

Talk about a transformation! hoping to invest in the shows’ continuances. “I think over the past 20 or 30 years, television has slowly gotten audiences more accustomed to watching shows with such complexity,” Cohen said. “Compared to television in the past, today’s shows thread together multiple narratives, introducing us to more characters and painting better representations of human experiences.” From brilliant writing to inspired acting, Cohen went on to express why she thinks shows such as Sherlock and The Big Bang Theory continue to captivate viewers. “[Because] many complex shows offer a lot of excitement, people are finding pleasure in them, just like they might take pleasure from a roller coaster ride,” Cohen said. “In that way, these programs help to make us feel more human.” They Asked, It Delivered Although its series finale aired September 29, Breaking Bad endures as a prime example of intelligent television—chronicling one man’s descent from an upstanding citizen to an underworld criminal. To ‘break bad’ in the American Southwest, means to “let loose, cause trouble or let off steam,” which series creator and executive producer Vince Gilligan felt fully encompassed the show’s offbeat quality. “This show is ridiculous. A high school chemistry teacher partners with an incorrigible former student to manufacture and sell methamphetamine,” UCLA television professor Richard Walter said. “It’s not the premise that matters, but the story. Breaking Bad tells a great story.” In the pilot episode, just seconds after being informed he has inoperable lung cancer, chemistry innovator turned high school teacher Walter White, calmly assesses the reality of his situation. The doctor, stunned by White’s lack of emotion, asks if he fully understands what he is being told, to which Walt nonchalantly replies, “Best case scenario, with chemo, I’ll live maybe another couple of years.” Throughout the show’s five seasons, both White’s life and the story intricately unravel, unveiling a sinis-

Although Breaking Bad has ended, the ramifications of smart telveision left behind are still noteworthy today.

ter nature spreading within Walter. However, as journalist James Meek suggests in his article, “It’s the Moral Thing to Do,” this evil essence is not due to Walt’s lung cancer. Instead as White’s great personal justifications for his bloody criminality become less meaningful, his essential wickedness, in the form of selfishness and malice, grows at an alarming rate. Whether Walt is cooking meth, committing murder or causing mischief in Albuquerque, New Mexico, television critic Craig Simpson proposes that White’s debauchery provokes more than just the senses. In his article, "Hurtling Toward Death," Simpson considers Breaking Bad to be a show about three reactions. There is the chemical, when pseudoephedrine is mixed with iodine crystals and red phosphorus to make crystalline methamphetamine; the physical, where cells in human bodies grow uncontrollably and metastasize into malignant cancers; and the emotional, in the overwhelming feeling of despair after being told you’re going to die. All of which, Breaking Bad expounds upon, making its presence as a television show so enticing and surprising. Heisenberg is Born White’s actions are not those of a desperate man, but are instead the conscious decisions made by one traveling down a criminal path. To supplement this premise, Walter creates a dual identity under the pseudonym, “Heisenberg,” which Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff Jensen readily acknowledges as a metaphor. “While Breaking Bad is certainly open to many interpretations... Heisenberg was a means to an end.

It was Walt’s Mr. Hyde and his hiding place. It was a constructed personality — a part to play — that helped him cope with, and deny, the evil things he was doing,” Jensen said. “Yes, Heisenberg allowed Walt to exercise certain qualities that were essentially Walt. But Heisenberg became a thing unto itself, and Walt increasingly allowed it to take him over.” Alluding to Werner Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle,” this relationship ultimately reflects the extent to which White’s life is heavily steeped in the unknown. Like a particle identified in space, where his character is going—the certainty of his future and the direction his life is heading— is impossible to gauge. Thus, on a purely linguistic level, uncertainty is the foundation of Breaking Bad as it prompts audiences to think harder and delve deeper. According to an Entertainment Weekly article by James Hibberd, the series finale of Breaking Bad shattered records with 10.3 million viewers tuning in to see how the saga of Walter White would end. Whether it is through a series’ anti-hero who sells meth or simply its multidimensional plot, the future of television appears bright. In the words of Walter White then, “tread lightly,” because at any given moment an “intellivision” show might just grab your attention and utmost devotion. “Viewers want one and only one thing at the very least, and it has nothing to do with the ‘type’ of show,” Walter said. “They want to be engaged, that is, not bored. At the most they want their lives to be changed forever.”

www.theclause.org/collide • 11

TECHNOLOGY

Through the GI GENERATION

16%

Ages 75+ Percent who use social use social networking today: 16 Twitter: 1% networking Pinterest: 2% Instagram: below 1% Facebook: 30% Percent who use the Internet: 30 Percent who watch a video online: 20 Percent who use some form of IM: 4 Born between 1901-1924 Notable technology: Radio, Telegraph, Early Record Players Own a smartphone: 5% Majority use technology for family reasons Technology is viewed as something that isn’t necessary but is convenient and more often, a stumbling point of pride for those who don’t want to learn how to use it.

64-74 year olds

Twitter

35%

Facebook

2% Instagram 12 • collide • october 2013

34%

GENERATION X

75+ year olds

Ages 47-65 Percent who use social networking today: 45 Twitter: 10% Pinterest: 12% Instagram: 3% Facebook: 57% Percent who use the Internet: 75 Percent who watch a video online: 57 Percent who use some form of IM: 32 Born during the return of soldiers after WWII between 1946 and 1964 Notable technology: the cassette tape, computers, first video games Own a smartphone: 34% Majority use technology for business and personal affairs, such as banking Technology is viewed as something resourceful but problematic.

Instagram

-1%

2% Twitter

1% 30%

Facebook

SILENT GENERATION Ages 66-74

Percent who use social networking today: 34 Twitter: 2% Pinterest: 4% Instagram: 2% Facebook: 35% Percent who use the Internet: 58 Percent who watch a video online: 40 Percent who use some form of IM: 29 Born during the Great Depression and World War II Notable technology: Radio, Telephones, Television as a household item Own a smartphone: 13% Majority use technology to stay in touch Technology is viewed as something helpful but difficult to use.

45%

47-65 year olds

Twitter

10%

12%

Facebook

57%

Instagram

Pew Research Studies and Gallup polls show that there are some interesting differences in how each generation uses technology. Pew Research created its “Digital Divide” catalogue from numerous surveys ranging from 1,700 to 2,500 respondents from each generation. The surveys show compiled data of the way each generation uses technology as well as the racial, economic and geographic differences in technological use. The following information was collected through the “Digital Divide” catalogue and shows how the it has affected each generation. BY BROOKE SEIPEL

Generations 62%

35-46 year olds

73%

use social networking

Facebook

16%

19%

Twitter

14%

Instagram

GENERATION X

Ages 35-46 Percent who use social networking today: 62 Twitter: 16% Pinterest: 19% Instagram: 14% Facebook: 73% Percent who use the internet: 86 Percent who watch a video online: 66 Percent who use some form of IM: 52 Born between the late ‘60s and ‘70s Notable technology: cellphones, first Apple Computer, CD-ROM invented Own a smartphone: 59% Majority use technology for research, shopping, banking Technology is viewed as something convenient that makes life easier.

MILLENNIALS

18-34 years old Percent who use social networking: 83 Twitter: 27% Pinterest: 19% Instagram: 30% Facebook: 86% Percent who use the internet: 95 Percent who watch a video online: 80 Percent who use some form of IM: 66 Born between ‘80s and early 2000s Notable technology: Internet, MP3 and iPod, laptops Own a smartphone: 66% Majority use technology for entertainment and networking Technology is viewed as something that works easily and can solve problems.

86%

Facebook

Instagram

83% use social networking

Twitter

27%

30%

18-34 year olds

19%

www.theclause.org/collide • 13

THE CUPID PROJECT

Marisa San Miguel discovers how the online dating world works and actually puts one website to the test going on good, better and…better dates.

by Marisa San Miguel

14 • collide • october 2013

is this for real?

PHOTO CREDIT: Marisa San Miguel

what they see!

www.theclause.org/collide â&#x20AC;˘ 15

Dear Journal,

’ve always been a little intrigued by those cheesy online dating commercials with two strangers falling blissfully in love over the Internet. Meeting a potential partner at work or a bar has become a thing of the past. An increasing number of men and women are developing relationships online, and some even lead to marriage. Shows like MTV’s Catfish portray the real-life stories of finding love over the Internet. Even Mila Kunis admitted in the August 2012 issue of Glamour to browsing through online profiles on OkCupid with her girlfriends. I always viewed online dating as a desperate resource for the socially awkward, but I decided to see for myself what finding love online was all about, or if it was even possible. THE EXPERIMENT: I set up profiles on Match.com, eHarmony, ChristianMingle and OkCupid using the same photo and personal summary for all four sites. Match.com and ChristianMingle are commonly used dating websites, but unless you are a paying member of these sites, you are limited to merely winking, smiling or casually browsing profiles of other users. On eHarmony if you did not subscribe, you couldn’t even see the pictures of other users. As a college student, I was not about to pay around $30 a month to use these sites. OkCupid was one of the few free dating sites that allowed an unrestricted range of contact with other users. If it was good enough for Mila Kunis, then it was good enough for me. I decided not to initiate contact with any users, but rather, let them message me. I was completely honest about who I was in my profile and on my dates; however, I left out my true intentions of why I was on the website. My goal was to go on at least three casual dates to see if relationships can actually be developed online. October 2, 2013 I dedicated a couple hours of my day to tweaking my profile. With the help of my roommates, I wrote a short summary about myself, including how 16 • collide • october 2013

great I am at impromptu car karaoke. I then answered some arbitrary questions, regarding my religious background, what I find valuable in relationships and my social life. These questions were provided by the site to help me find with whom I was most compatible and created match percentages between me and each user. I was initially a little worried that people from school were going to find my profile and question my desperation. I couldn’t help but recall the days when my parents warned me about the dangers of talking to strangers on the internet, and here I was doing just that. October 3, 2013 Scrolling through the profiles of local users felt like a mix between Facebook stalking and online shopping. You could search based on certain qualities and even rate profiles, and as shallow as the whole process was, it was actually pretty entertaining. My roommates and I ended up casually browsing through pages of profiles. By the end of the day, I received about 50 messages from guys within a 20-mile radius. Some lacked creativity, like, “Hey! What’s up?” Others were cheesy: “Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?” I only replied to about a third of the messages I received. This usually resulted in creepy followup messages from guys who hoped for a reply. I looked for guys with wellwritten, witty profiles. I looked at their educational backgrounds as well as their photos. Guys with shirtless pictures or too many selfies would usually not receive a reply. The match percentage was taken into consideration, but it wasn’t the deciding factor. Out of the small fraction of messages I did reply to, I managed to find myself three suitable dates whose profiles fit my criteria. DATE ONE: October 5, 2013 Within a couple days of creating my profile, I was going on my very first date with someone I met online. His name was Alex*. He was a 23-year-old applying to med school. Although we had an unpromising match of 36 percent, our conversation through messages made him seem like a smart and cool guy so I agreed to his date offer. I wasn’t nervous for the date, but I was nervous about the guy being a

creep. I’ve seen way too many episodes of Dateline where girls go off to meet guys from the Internet who aren’t always who they appear to be online. Because of this, I may have been slightly paranoid. For safety reasons, I brought my roommates along. Yes, all four of them. We planned to meet at a coffee shop in Old Town Pasadena. My roommates sat at a different table, and we pretended not to know each other. He looked exactly like his profile pictures, although he may have been a little generous with his height. He wore jeans with holes that looked worn out in a non-fashionable way, and his shirt matched well, in the sense that it too had a hole in it. I’m not picky when it comes to men’s attire, but I would expect a little more effort for a first date. We talked about our school and future career plans…or rather HE talked about school and HIS career plans. I was more interested in the design in my cappuccino, and wondered when he was going to stop talking. As fascinating as the medical field is, I was not in the mood to hear about it for the next hour. While I was still sipping my cappuccino, he decided he wanted to walk around and find a place to eat. I was disappointed to leave my drink unfinished, but I agreed. I initially told my roommates to follow me if we left the coffee shop, so I subtly signaled to them that we were changing locations. We ended up going to a sushi restaurant down the street. This was after I told him I wasn’t a big fan of sushi. He asked me if I wanted to try his Japanese beer, and even though I declined, he still ordered one for me. We had only been at the restaurant for five minutes, and he already had two strikes. Because I didn’t order anything, I had to spend the next hour watching him eat and talk excessively about his ventures at Columbia and the differences in our faith (Christianity and Judaism). I was beyond uninterested, and he even asked to go somewhere after dinner. I knew I needed an out. Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person to be upfront and reject him on the spot, so as soon as he left to use the restroom, I texted my roommate and told her to call me pretending she was locked out of our apartment. I

tried to act disappointed that our date had to come to an end so quickly, but he bought the story, and I was finally home free. We made our way to the parking lot as I held my roommate’s car keys that I pretended were mine. Coincidently, we passed my roommates on the way to the parking lot, and I tried my best to keep a straight face. Our date lasted about two hours, and I’m not sure if I ever laughed once, or so much as grinned. He was a very nice guy who bored me out of my mind. DATE TWO: October 6, 2013 My second date was with Jake*, a 22-year-old college student. According to OkCupid, we had a 66 percent match. This was a higher percentage than the last, so I felt optimistic. For this date, we met at a golf course. I did not bring my roommates along

I laughed a little when he asked me how much I get into my articles, referencing Lois Lane from Superman. If he only knew...… this time. He played for a golf team, so teaching me how to hit a golf ball seemed like an appropriate way to begin our date. It was a pretty creative way of breaking the ice. I was almost taken aback by his confidence, but I felt comfortable. He suggested that we drive around in search of a so-called castle house. I was nervous about getting into a car with a complete stranger, but fortunately, I had nothing to worry about. While driving, we talked about school and our interests. He was already earning points in my book by not completely dominating the conversation. We finally found the house, and driving around gave us the perfect chance to get to know one another. Ultimately, I’d say it was a success. Unlike my first date, Jake actually made me laugh, and our equal use of sarcasm made for good conversation. I told him about how I hoped to have a career in journalism. I laughed a little when he asked me how much I get into my articles, referencing Lois Lane from Superman. If he only knew… We drove back to the golf course and continued on with our

conversation. He asked if I was comfortable with him smoking, and although I didn’t like that he was a smoker, he was courteous about it, so I allowed it. Then he said he wanted to play a game. He gave me a piece of paper and kept one for himself. He explained how sometimes the perceptions we have of ourselves are based on how others perceive us. We were to write a list of things we perceived about each other, but the catch was that we couldn’t read what the other person wrote until the date was over. I was at a loss for what to write, so I wrote words like, “funny,” “nice” and “confident.” After I got home, it wasn’t until I was telling my roommate about my date that I remembered the note. He wrote things like, “well-grounded,” “outgoing and fun” and “wildly attractive.” I was happy that he thought highly of me. I then realized how lame my list was for him.Overall, this date surpassed the first. DATE THREE: October 17, 2013 My third date was with Jeff*, a 24-year-old Cal Poly student. We had a 93 percent match, which was the highest yet, and decided to go on a simple dinner date to Applebee’s. Since he is nearly a foot and a half taller than I am, I was glad we’d be sitting so that we could literally talk face-to-face. We talked about foods we don’t like, embarrassing moments, weird things we dissected in biology classes and the advantages of being short/tall. I appreciated how the conversation played out differently than the previous dates. We ended up talking for about three hours, and about an hour after we paid, I’m sure our waiter was wondering when we’d be leaving. He was a pretty perfect median between Alex and Jake. We were brought up with equivalent

backgrounds, shared similar faiths and had more in common overall compared with my previous dates. It was a completely organic conversation in which I felt comfortable enough to be myself. He didn’t make me want to stab myself with the nearest fork, nor did we have to go on some random adventure. This date was the most simple of the three, but I found it to be the most enjoyable. It was a nice ending to my experiment. THE VERDICT Keeping up with these websites was actually a lot of work. According to the website’s tally, I was averaging about 150 visitors per week. I’m not sure if that’s low or high, but it felt overwhelming. My inbox was constantly filling up with updates, and I continually had to weed through heaps of messages. Not to mention that it was difficult actually finding time for these dates in my busy schedule. Websites like OkCupid really do give dating a whole new meaning. I was lucky enough to go on dates with three decent guys (who thankfully weren’t creepy). Will I continue to use these dating websites? No. I would much rather meet someone in the cereal aisle of a grocery store than behind a computer screen. By initially connecting with people over the Internet, I felt like I missed out on a certain essence of each person: the way they speak and their tone, the way they interact and their overall vibe. However, with that being said, I do think everyone should try online dating at least once. It was a good way to meet someone outside of school and interact with different types of guys. It was also a pretty good ego boost. Although online dating may work for some people, Cupid ultimately did not lead me to my perfect match. *some names have been changed for the purposes of this article

www.theclause.org/collide • 17

People gather around in and out of the lobby after a Sunday morning service at Mosaic in Hollywood, Ca.

Once upon a time in a lan d far, far away , the written word was ac ceptable and read by all p eople, but th at was a long ti me ago. Now we only read on screens, if we read at a ll.

18 â&#x20AC;˘ collide â&#x20AC;˘ october 2013

R.I.P.

BOOKS The life of printed books seems dangerously close to a digital death. But how will that affect the readers of stories past, and where are we headed from here?

by Scott Jacob art by Michelle Yee www.theclause.org/collide â&#x20AC;˘ 19

S trolling down the lamp-lit streets of Paris, drifting past the delicate beauty that is Notre Dame in a sprinkling rain, one will find a historical bookshop called Shakespeare and Company. Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented this shop, finding solace in its close-knit corners, dusty shelves and vast array of printed literature. This store was more than a place of commerce; rather, it was a place where any individual could find connectivity, radical education and inspiration, each bundle of paper bound by glue and the author’s passion. Today, technology has become a behemoth of the consumer market, and due to the emphasis that has been placed on convenience, now e-readers, tablets and smartphones have formatted the method of printed books. This development begs the question of whether or not printed books are a necessary mode of production. Rocket eBook and SoftBook were released in 1998 but found little success due to short battery life and high pricing. What ultimately drove the evolution of the e-reader was the development of e-ink, a small charge applied to ink that is suspended in liquid and brought to the surface of a screen on command. This feature brought the second major release of e-readers in the form of the Sony LIBre. With the appearance of realistic ink on a page, this new development set a precedent for all future e-readers.

20 • collide • october 2013

From there, the popularity of e-readers sparked new innovation and competition. In 2010 the Kindle 3 was released, and the e-reader seemed to gain a corner of the book market. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales dropped by 2.1 percent in the first seven months of 2013, and 9.5 percent alone in July. Declining sales for printed books force the literary world to look back into the foundational reason of why people enjoy the concept of a story. Michael Durston is an assistant bookseller at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif., one of the few bookstores still thriving in a difficult retail era for books. “A lot of people who come in here just simply love their books,” Durston said. “The e-reader stuff is moving so quickly, and we do have a small electronic reader section, but the attitude of a majority of our customers is ‘I would rather just buy a tangible book.’” Vroman’s Bookstore was founded in 1894 by Adam Clark Vroman, and since then has worked at building a solid customer base among the people of its birthplace in Pasadena. Although Vroman’s stays in business due to the belief that printed literature is a necessary expenditure, Durston does not attempt to vilify the presence of digital contributions. “The digital realm came about when everything was feeling a little crowded,” he said. “Instead of miles and miles of underground old books, there can be an electronic compilation.” Returning to the visceral impact of a story is vital to grasping the argument for maintaining the production of print. “The printed book has played a tremendous role in the past,” Dr.

Adrienne King, an English professor at Sacramento City College, said. “For most of us (especially, those of my generation), it was the window to the world.” Previous generations grew up without the constant bombardment of electronic stimulation; if they desired entertainment, advice, or enlightenment, they picked up the words of another who was an expert in that field. Holding a copy of a novel, a research compilation or a work of nonfiction can act as a direct link to the past. Stories of personal value are amplified when the tattered cover, faded pictures and comfortable smell bring memories of a vibrant, nostalgic recollection into one’s present space. “I also take great delight in owning books,” King said. “It fills me with comfort and pride to enter my home office, where there are shelves upon shelves of books. I know that I will never be lonely, for while I have read many in my collection, there are so many yet to be read and this excites me!” Those who own collections or keep a library will tell you there is a much more personal connection to printed copies of the written word. When each book contains fresh ideas, complex characters and alternate universes, it is as if one can be earnestly understood by an author’s creation. he various critical comments and marks made in a book can ultimately show the evolution of an ideology, something that is lost in an electronic device. While an e-reader has the capability of highlighting lines of text, the device also filters out a majority of the reader’s character by not allowing personal, in-depth comments. The perennial relevance of printed

If we said goodbye to the art of printed word, it would unfortunately also mean the end of graphic design and innovative artistic work.

With the downfall of books, boo cover designers must also seek new employment.

“I sincerely believe there is still a need to collect tangible books for children and future generations. Printed pieces of paper can be misplaced, the Internet can crash, but the printed book will last.” –Dr. Adrienne King literature will be preserved by those who attach an emotional weight to the tangible proof of an author’s incarnation of a story. Individuals who have grown up searching for identity, hope and a means for change in the words of a book will desire that same passion for the subsequent generations as well. “I raised my children the same way I had been raised – with printed books,” King said. “However, with the advent of so many technological resources that can now be accessed, I suppose, there is much more reliance on the Internet, e-books, etc., so perhaps, fewer children are growing up with the attachment to printed books than I had as a child (or I provided for my children).” Through the smoke of a downturned economy and the recent technological developments made in book publishing, printed books remain a way for individuals to leave a legacy. If we said goodbye to the art of the printed word, it would unfortunately also mean the end of the graphic

design and innovative artistic work involved in publication. Literary collections like Penguin’s Clothbound Classics or Harper Perennial’s Modern Classics serve as excellent examples of how multifaceted the printed word can be by offering consumers not only a book to feed their minds, but a piece of artwork to grace their bookshelves. Senior graphic design major at Saint Mary’s College in Calif., Garrett Kieth, argues the importance of the mutual relationship between art, literature and the technology supporting it saying: “Through my education, and the rigorous, often time[s] tedious, work of sitting in front of a computer and hashing out designs, I have found that there can be a beautiful link between the art of cover design and technology in the sense that accuracy and vibrancy can be amplified using computer programs.” Intricate designs, lofty material and radiant lettering can not only bring out the innermost being of a book but

also provide insight into the owner. Human beings buy books that reflect their own ambitions, and as such, the stacks of books they come to possess act as an accumulation of who they are. Each novel embodies a piece of his or her soul; the books on the shelf eventually turn into a mirror. When the owner’s body gets weaker and fades, there will still be a depiction of their character for the next generation to discover and engage with. “Literature reveals so much in terms of a people – it is our mark on civilization,” King said. “As such, I sincerely believe there is still a need to collect tangible books for children and future generations. Printed pieces of paper can be misplaced, the Internet can crash, but the printed book will last.” An eventual death of printed literature may seem feasible to some, but in the end it will all come down to a group of consumers and the yearning to leave a lasting legacy of the written word. www.theclause.org/collide • 21

Holy Translation by Melissa Quintero and Mark Miller

A mural of Jesus Christ makes a bold statement at Biola University. 22 â&#x20AC;˘ collide â&#x20AC;˘ october 2013

PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Ottavis, Arielle Dreher

n the past, religion and technology did not mix well. However, the 21st century has started to change that norm. Even though several churches and missionaries use technology as a part of their ministry, there are still questions about the motivations and effectiveness of using digital tools to enhance their work. Missionaries especially have to address this issue and answer the question: does technology help or hinder mission work today? Bill Chesley, a missionary who has worked in Bible translation and linguistic survey in places like Africa, believes technology has helped the missionary field expand tremendously. He sees technology as a universal tool that can fix multiple areas in mission work. In Chesley’s experience, audio recordings have proven to be a successful method in the missionary process. Translators begin by translating different Bible stories, then trained language teams take over, checking the recordings. Recordings are then taken out to villages. From there, the native people could either learn the stories from recordings, or they could actually go out and play the recordings for other people. Many of them went from village to village sharing stories with those who were illiterate. “The word of God is distributed much more rapidly now. Audio and video presentations of Scripture stories have been very valuable both in producing accurate translations and being more accessible,” Chesley said. Translations are also downloaded and placed on the web. The publication process has been sped up, and time and money are saved by missionaries and translators alike. Previously bad conditions or locations of language groups made it difficult to share the Gospel, but if the Bible is made available online, people groups who have access to the Internet now have access to Scripture, perhaps in a safer environment. “Websites give people the opportunity to engage in discussions about the Gospel in the security of their own home,” Chesley said. “Where they might be afraid to go to a public gathering of believers or to be identified openly as a follower

of Christ, they can still have interactions with other Christians through web technology.” New translations of the Bible are essential so that other groups can have the same access to the Scripture in their native language. However, there can still be some downsides to making technology the main source of communication in this field. Technology will never completely eclipse the work of missionaries. According to Chesley, you cannot entirely eliminate the human element of ministry. “I don’t think there’s any substitute for face-to-face ministry, and when you have the opportunity to live with people and share God’s love with them during a time of need, that’s just such a remarkable experience,” Chesley said. Beyond the Internet, specifically Christian digital tools have been developed for missionaries throughout the world. Sophomore Christian ministry major Amy Bonds experienced how technology is used by missionaries in Cambodia on her APU action team trip this past summer. A missionary that Bonds’ team worked with, Glenys McDonald, explained to Bonds and her team how she learned of the organization, Call2All, while at a conference held by Youth With a Mission (YWAM). Call2All distributes small, solar-powered MP3 players containing recordings of the Bible in several different languages and uses them as evangelism tools in their mission work. “There is all this technology coming [out] that will help reach unreachable people groups, like groups that don’t have a written-down language,” Bonds said. “So even if there isn’t electricity you can still listen to it.” This type of “audio Bible” saves missionaries the time and effort of learning the various languages of the cultures they are trying to reach. “If you are going to go to an unreached people group you have to first know the language—which takes time. If it is written down, you have to learn how to read it, to figure out how to communicate with them and also you then have to do the work of Bible translating, which is not easy,” Bonds said. Another digital medium Call2All uses is the “Jesus Film” which trans-

lates the story of Jesus into hundreds of languages so people can watch and understand the story in their own language. In Cambodia, Bonds also learned that missionaries who attempted to reach the isolated cultures were often persecuted for their beliefs or for not properly communicating the word of God. “You have to know the context in which you are trying to teach to really be effective and not offensive,” Bonds said. “Information can be given to different people in a lot faster and more efficient way.” In several areas, missionaries are using technology to enhance their work or make their jobs easier. The image of missionaries carrying Bibles and crosses to a rural village is starting to change into an image of a missionary with an iPad and some audio players. Christianity is not the only major world religion that embraces technological advantages. The Church of the Latter-DaySaints has begun to incorporate social media and other digital tools into their mission work as well. The development of specific programs such as Latter-Day-Saints Technology (LDS Tech) has enhanced Mormon evangelism. LDS Tech allows men and women, who for various reasons could not serve on a mission abroad or away but still have the desire and passion, to do so online. Reasons such as family, work or distance can be crucial in deciding to pursue missionary work. One could conveniently serve a mission online by coding, designing, testing, communicating or organizing. LDS Tech has eliminated extensive traveling as a requirement in mission work, and Mormon mission workers can serve using their skills online. Technology in the mission field has its pros and cons, but regardless of its consequences, it has revealed religion to new countries and people previously isolated from the Gospel. Even though technology has opened the mission field to reach more people, the main focus of the Gospel is still best communicated through believers sharing their own stories. “People need to see the Gospel lived out in people’s lives and that[s] one thing that can’t be communicated through a website,” Chesley said. www.theclause.org/collide • 23

[POV]

technology ^

Treacherous in Parenting

Baby, don’’t cry, suck on this!

By Scott Jacob

eing a chunky, awkward, latchkey kid in sixth grade is not exactly the perfect formula for societal integration and popularity. What I – the rotund boy who preferred the backlight of a TV screen to a human face – learned in lieu of optimal social skills was how to dive into a world of pixelated characters and fabricated worlds. An overindulgence in video games became a form of technological gluttony that ultimately dulled my perspective of the world. In effect, my obsession with the gaming universe narrowed my desire for reading literature, embarking on outdoor adventures or becoming active in the arts. Children crave intellectual, emotional and spiritual stimulation as they grow. With this in mind, parents can shape the avenue through which their children reach developmental fulfillment, essentially either limiting or eliminating the excessive consumption of technology. But if success alone is not enough inspiration to remove the iPad from a 3-year-old’s hand, the overwhelming number of childhood ADD and ADHD cases, that can be linked to the overindulgence in media, should be. According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) research, the average number of ADHD cases increased by 3 percent each year from 1997 to 2006. In 2007, 5.4 million children in the United States were diagnosed with the hyperactive learning disorder. Not surprisingly, the Pew Research Center documents a dramatic increase in the youth ownership of cellphones. In 2004, 45 percent of adolescents in the 12-17 age group owned cellphones, 63 percent in 2006 and 71 percent in early 2008. The incessant barrage of texting, paired with an expectation of expedited downloads, blazing fast Internet speeds and overall instant gratification, creates a direct link to the diminishing attention span of American youth. There is little to compel an adolescent to engage in meaningful conversation with 24 • collide • october 2013

their parents or friends when they can simply veil their faces behind a screen and be sufficiently stimulated by outside influences that require no supplementary work. A 2013 survey from the CDC released statistics claiming that one in every 10 high school students in America is diagnosed with ADHD. Disregarding the fact that gaining access to drugs like Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse is an influential reason many kids claim to have ADHD, these statistics should be extremely alarming not only to current parents, but also to anyone who desires to have kids in the future. The dangers of technology are not hard to identify; cyber-bullying, easy access to pornography and volatile chat rooms are all legitimate concerns for parents. However, the real danger emerges when structured, intentional parenting is replaced by apps and games. Introducing the vast capabilities of smartphones into children’s early lives encourages them to become dependent and possibly self-absorbed in what is fundamentally a separate world altogether – at the adolescent age when their egocentricity reigns supreme. Devastating insults, vicious threats and heavily sexual conversations are made private and alarmingly simple by cellphones. Lyons is the principal of Gold Trail, a fourth-eighth grade school located a stone’s throw away from where gold was first discovered in California in 1848. “Too often, technology is viewed as some panacea guaranteed to create engagement,” Lyons said. “On the contrary, it is more often used ineffectively and absorbs resources that could go to more effective use.” One such resource is the attention and focus of students. An article written by the American Civil Liberties Union titled “Hello! Students Have a Right to Privacy in their Cell Phones,” states that 77 percent of students bring their cellphones to school, while 64 percent send texts

during class, and 25 percent have received a phone call during class time. Deterring the focus of a child or adolescent is not only the fault of the individual cheapening their education but also the parent who allows his/her child to own a cellphone at a young age. There has been an epidemic of parents who earnestly believe that without a cellphone a child will get lost, hurt or fall into some form of danger. It is as if there is some exponentially larger threat to children in the modern day that requires parents to embrace paranoia as the norm and shove a traceable piece of technology into the hands of their kid. A drastic alteration in the way parents view technology—treating the influence as a dessert rather than a main course in a child’s intellectual diet—will do wonders for the development of the next generation of youth. Cellphones, iPads, gaming consoles, computers and the inevitable introduction of countless more electronic devices force parents to decide whether technology will be primary or supplementary in the lives of rapidly developing family members. Parents are not only responsible for teaching their children how to become functioning members of society but also how to critically analyze the world, how to evaluate controversial issues and above all, how to love human beings. “We are becoming supremely disconnected from the natural cycle and rhythms of the existence that has framed human development for eons,” Lyons said. Human advancements in technology are not a work of evil by any means, but when human faces are traded in for pixelated text, and the stats of a video game character are revered above the struggles and laughter of a soul, parents have succumbed to the simplicity of the electronic babysitter. Scott Jacob is a senior English major and global studies minor. His true love is writing, only eclipsed by a hunger for truth.

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