Collide issue 19 pdf by Kaitlin Schluter

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For students, by students | March 2014 | Issue 19

Historical Myths Busted cavemen live longer than you think

Reading the Fine Print

what are you giving away when downloading apps

COACHELLA

2014 preview

[letter from the editor]

The spectacular, absurd, ridiculous and difficult now “Perspective changes everything.” ...Well, of course it does. I remember thinking the first time I heard that quote. Duh. If I stand on a mountain, I will have a birdseye view. If I lay on the ground, I get an ant’s perspective on life. Empathy is what finally gave that phrase meaning, power and ultimately, significance. Perspective is lifeless without empathy. We have to work to see things a different way. We are raised with perspective; we grow into lenses with which we see and perceive the world around us. College is a place to nuance our perspectives, add ideology, theology and hopefully a few friends. But, how do you actually change perspective? At this point in life, I would argue that genuine empathy, emotional responses for others followed by action, is what can alter perspective—significantly at least. All of that to say, I think this issue will be a good exercise in awareness, empathy and hopefully a glimpse at what the future could potentially look like with or without perspective. Although this issue had no planned theme, one organically emerged. In light of perspective, it is important to study and recognize the past. History has several perspectives to offer in various forms like stories, myths (Page 8) and even fairytales (Page 5). This issue pays homage to traditions that have laid the foundation for the ways we exist, think and live. A simple yet excellent example lies in the historical significance behind our body language. Why do we shake hands with strangers or give a thumbs up for excellence? (Read more on Page 4). Tradition is a part of everything we do, especially in practices. Handwriting is becoming an extinct practice in classrooms (See Page 20), and while it seems profitable to embrace technology, it also seems just as beneficial (to me) to not throw out the old for the sake of the new. In the sea-

son of Lent, Christian tradition is at its highpoint, in a time period dedicated to remembering—and perhaps moving past memory to deeper convictions. If Lent seems overbearing, try leaning into that discomfort (or cooking a lent-food-free recipe, see Page 10). We are all a part of the world’s history that defines us as individuals and collectively as humans. Whatever people, stories, circumstances or experiences make up your history, they follow you and define what life looks like now. The present is enticing for instant gratification, but it al-

Arielle Dreher Editor-In-Chief

ways seems to lose its flavor in competition with the tantalizing future. The importance of being “present” is thrown around a lot in everyday conversation, and sometimes this might just mean finally attending that one indie festival in the desert. (Yes, that’s a Coachella reference; no, I am not going, and yes, we have an entire spread about it on page 22.) Jokes aside, the “now” becomes “then” quite quickly, and if we’re not careful we might spend our entire lives in the regretting the past and dreading the future. Sometimes being present gets too crowded with distractions, and it is refreshing to hear about places like Myrahouse (Page 16) build on the idea of just be-ing.

While it is beneficial to recall, remember and utilize history in the present, it is also beneficial to forecast and look to the future in hopes of change and progress. This issue dedicates a large part of its content to the future because as college students, let’s face it, we are forced to look at the world through our changing scopes and think big. We haven’t been thrown into the world yet, so dreams don’t seem unrealistic— yet. Our writers discussed the future of our generation as a whole (Page 28) based on what we care about most: ourselves or others. The landscape of culture and society is changing too. Celebrities are taking stands on previously accepted norms in privacy (Page 40), while women are attempting to overcome a long-standing history of downplay in the American media (Page 32). The demographics of the U.S., itself, are changing, and America’s future ethnic background looks much different than even a decade ago (Page 38). The future is not stuck in some dystopian novel anymore. With technology and a quick-shifting culture, our society is beginning to blend the “now” and “10 years from now” in ways that are exciting at times and terrifying at others. While putting together this issue, I was reminded that in the midst of the chaos of life, perspective can be formed, especially through discipline (like going to church, see page 44). In a time when perspective is changing as quickly as the present, the questions seem to be neverending. Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote in a letter to a young poet, “Do not hunt for the answers just now--they cannot be given to you because you cannot live them. What matters is that you live everything. And you must now live the questions.” I cannot say it better. Live the questions, or else risk not living.

collide www.theclause.org/collide

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

Business Manager Erin Lee collideads@gmail.com

Faculty Advisers Kyle Huckins khuckins@apu.edu

Contributing Writers

Katie Brown, Lauren Duran, Kimmi Ligh, Emily Leyva, Taylor Schablaske, Alex Scrivner, Paige Smith, Allison Thompson, Dadrienne Thompson

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.

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CONTENTS FEATURES

16 Day at a Commune Ever wonder what it is like to live in a commune? Staff writer, Alex Scrivner, explores the community at Myrahouse in Claremont.

Experience Rio Martinezright Coachella talks about fromhow your he found love bedroom abroad, Page 8

32 Women in Media How do the media represent women? Have we finally reached equal representation onscreen?

42 Pedorazzi

Kristen Bell will not allow the paparazzi near her daughter. Learn how celebrities are fighting back.

SHORTS

4 The Origin of Gestures Ever wonder why we give a thumbs up,?

THREADS

5 Snapchat Stats So exactly how many snapchats does the average user receive per day?

ON THE COVER Courtesy of Audio Collective, an Australian music blog (audiocollective.com); Pharrell Williams performs at a local music and arts festival. 2 â&#x20AC;˘ collide â&#x20AC;˘ march 2014

threads

How to take the perfect selfie On her own talk show, Katie Couric recently interviewed Randi Zuckerberg, CEO of Zuckerberg Media, about how to take the perfect selfie. With a few tips from Zuckerberg and a few of our own, we seem to have perfected the art.

By Lauren Duran

MEOW VS. RUFF How cats and dogs define types of people

the first three steps are taken from Zuckerberg, and the rest are from staff writer Lauren Duran

1. Choose an area with good natural lighting.

5. Hold the camera steady.

2. Shoot from a 45-degree angle, holding the camera directly in front of you slightly above your head.

6. Smile and show off those

pearly whites or go for a sexy, smoldering look.

7. Snap away and share it with

your friends on all of your social media networks!

3. Be aware of your surroundings. LEFT TOP: Muse; LEFT BOTTOM LEFT: Allison Thompson. LEFT BOTTOM RIGHT: Eva Wilhite; RIGHT ANIMALS: Creative Commons;

FUZZY FACTS

Check for any objects or people in the background that could potentially be in the photo

4. Choose the best side of your

face and tilt your head sideways slightly.

*Check Instagram or Facebook compulsively to make sure you are racking up the likes. (Come on… everyone totally does it.)

Have you ever wondered why some identify themselves as “cat people” while others claim they are “dog people”? It seems that every person can identify as one of the two types. The unending debate between the two species (...of humans) is the topic of a study entitled: “Personalities of Self-Identified ‘Dog People’ and ‘Cat People’” by Samuel Gosling, Carson J. Sandy (psychologists from the University of Texas) and Jeff Potter (researcher with Atof Inc.). Gosling found that people even go so far as asking a potential dating partner or roommate about their animal counterpart. The research also found that dog people score higher on extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness, while cat people ranked higher on neuroticism and openness. Even a person who does not own, or ever intends to own, one of the two animals can identify as either a cat person or a dog person. As proven by the study, a dog person is loyal, direct, kind, faithful, utilitarian, helpful and a team player. A cat person, on the other hand, is graceful, subtle, independent, intelligent, thoughtful and mysterious. Past research on the topic has been inconsistent, but Gosling and his colleagues drew the results from an online survey of 4,565 volunteers The study found these results to be consistent for both women and men. In total, 2,088 participants claimed to be “dog people,” 527 were “cat people,” 1,264 said they were both and 686 said neither. So what’s the verdict? It might be ruff, but maybe meow you can determine if you are a cat or dog person.

–Allison Thompson

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threads

The Origin of Gestures

The Thumbs Up

relationship between two people just by crossing their fingers to indicate their level of closeness. Morris, Collett and Marsh attribute this practice back to the evolution of sex.

Common Meanings: O.K., One, Hitch-hike The common origin of the thumbs up has been accounted for in Roman history, particularly in the coliseums whenever Caesar would signal to spare or kill a fallen gladiator. But scholars have concluded that the direct thumbs up and thumbs down gesture is a myth based on a succession of mistranslations. While it is true that Romans would stick their thumbs up in the air to signal a stabbing gesture with a sword, the “thumbs down” portion was actually misinterpreted. Instead, the Romans would hide their thumbs in their clenched fists (symbolically sheathing their swords). In Gestures, Morris traced the practice back to a medieval custom used to seal business transactions. Over time, the mere sight of an upraised thumb came to symbolize harmony and kind feelings. Extending the thumb increased in popularity during World War II, with pilots who used the thumbs up to communicate with ground crews prior to takeoff. This custom may have originated with the China-based Flying Tigers, who were among the first American flyers involved in WWII. The Chinese pilots would say “ting hao de” (“very good”) and gesture a thumbs up, which in Chinese meant “you’re number one.”

Common Meanings: O.K., orifice, zero, threats Typically, it is thought that the circular shape of the fingers indicated an “O” and the remaining three fingers were merely a “K.” The OK expression did not begin to gain momentum until the mid-1800s. The A-OK gesture was originally thought to be a somewhat new form of communication, but Morris and his team of researchers found that in the first century A.D., a Roman teacher wrote, “if the first finger touch the middle of the hand edge of the thumb-nail with its extremity, the other finger being relaxed, we shall have a graceful gesture well suited to express approval.” This suggests that the “AOK gesture” was used long before it was linked to the “OK” meaning. The exact date of the shift remains unknown.

Common Meaning: Greeting In archaeological ruins and ancient texts, handshaking was believed to have been practiced in ancient Greece as far back as the fifth century B.C.. Several Greek paintings from this era that are still on display in Berlin, Germany depict soldiers shaking hands. The handshake is thought by some to have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hand is not holding any weapons. While it is true that the history of some gestures can be debated, one phenomenon that can be agreed upon by all scholars is the theory of gesture-blurring. What one culture defines as a friendly gesture, another culture might consider an insult. But more education about other cultures, even their nonverbal ways of communication can help breach barriers.

By Emily Leyva

he importance of hand gestures is a greatly underestimated and understudied form of communication. Hand gestures are a significant part of nonverbal communication which makes up 70 to 90 percent of communication as a whole (depending on the research). Although gestures may seem like a trivial form of speaking or conveying a message, origins of such communication have deeper meanings and history that can be traced culturally and biologically. In the book Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution by experimental psychologists Desmond Morris, Peter Collett and Peter Marsh, the most common gestures today have a longer history and more unusual usage than what we may perceive.

The Crossed Fingers

Common Meanings: Protection, “OK”, Good, friendship, swear oath, copulation The crossing of the index and middle finger has two traced origins: one being a sign of the cross, the other, as a sign of a pair or a couple. The act was originally a cryptic sign of making the Christian cross. Christians would protect themselves against evil by crossing their fingers. If the gesturer was facing some kind of turmoil and was in need of God’s aid, he would perform the act in hopes of warding off bad or evil spirits. Today, the crossing of the fingers acts as a good luck charm or a form of encouragement and support such as, “I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!” Crossed fingers can also represent a bond or unity between two people. Because the two fingers are so closely attached, speculators can describe a 4 • collide • march 2014

The Ring aka “A-OK”

Handshaking

Coffee & Conversation By Kimmi Ligh

rofessor Diane Glancy is an award-winning poet, novelist, playwright and essayist. Some of her latest works include the novels Stone Heart: A Novel of Sagagewa and the Cold and Hungry Dance. She was invited to teach Creative Writing at Azusa Pacific University two years ago. During her time at APU, Glancy has taught Creative Writing: Poetry, Drama and Film, and Advanced Writing in Poetry and Fiction. This is her last semester teaching at APU. Kimmi Ligh: What has your experience at APU been like? Diane Glancy: I had been retired for several years, so it was great to be in the classroom again—especially a classroom in California. I had taught in Minnesota, where the winters are long and cold. KL: What are you planning to do after you leave APU? DG: I will return to Kansas and Texas and help with the grandchildren and continue writing. KL: What are some of your current projects? DG: I have several books forthcom-

ing: Uprising of Goats, the voices of 10 biblical women, Ironic Witness, a novel about a minister's wife who finds herself in hell, and ONE OF US, about the BTK murders in Kansas [a serial killer with a “bind, torture, kill” pattern]. I also have a nonfiction book, Fort marion prisoners and the trauma of native education, and a companion collection of poems, Report to the Department of Interior I work on several things at once, and have worked about

LEFT TOP: The Drawing Journal; CENTER RIGHT: Kimmi Ligh

New German Fairytales By Kimmi Ligh

on Schönwerth's collection of fairytales was published in Germany by curator Erika Eichenseer. Eichenseer helped found the Franz Xaver von Schönwerth Society, which is committed to promoting the historian's work. Scholars have recently begun to translate the fairytales, like "The Turnip Princess" into English. Similar to the story of Thumbelina, the princess in this story comes out of a turnip, but she promptly disappears. Then, by pulling out a nail from a bear's foot, the prince releases an enchantment and discovers that the beautiful princess who emerged from the turnip is actually an

10 years on this group of manuscripts, which will now be books. Now I will start on the next group. I want to look at the voice of Job's wife first of all. KL: What is one positive memorable experience from teaching at APU? DG: I taught at a liberal institution for years where I could not talk about faith, or if I did, it was not received well. I love to talk about Scripture and read from the Bible at the beginning of class.

Fun Facts ugly old witch. Once he realizes the ugly witch is the princess, she becomes beautiful again. Like most fairytale endings, the beautiful princess and prince get married and live happily ever after. The other stories promise to be as unusual as "The Turnip Princess," and are likely to be as violent as the original Grimm fairytales. These stories are important because they represent an ancient part of the German culture. Contrary to popular belief, the Grimm brothers did not create their stories, but like von Schönwerth, they collected what was already in the culture as part of the oral tradition.

Fairies can appear in different shapes and sizes. Some are tiny as butterflies, other can be huge as clouds. They are born to solve problems. In general every fairy posses special gift, so when problems occur, different fairies feel obligated to offer a help. But beware! If a fairy helps you, simple thanks is not enough. Fairy expects something in return. In most cases this should be some kind of gift. www.theclause.org/collide • 5

shorts

One Click is all it Takes Smartphone apps can be convenient and helpful, but the risk is higher than many users think

By Katie Brown

any smartphone users take advantage of free apps such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook in order to stay in touch with their friends and family. These apps help users keep track of what is going on in each other’s lives. However these apps are also keeping track of you— even when they are not in use. Whenever a user downloads an app, he or she either wittingly or unwittingly gives that application permission to access phone functions or collect data. Some apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook require more permissions than others. On an Android phone, for example, after hitting the install button for an app, a list of permissions appears that a user must accept before downloading. Most of the permissions are under titles like “microphone,” “camera,” “your location” and “reading interaction info.” It is only when clicking these titles that the user can view a brief description of what the permission means. When clicking on the “camera” permission, the user will see that the app can take pictures or record videos with the phone’s camera “at any time without your confirmation.” Along the same lines, the “microphone” permission allows the application to record audio without the user’s consent. Other conditions, like one titled “reading interaction info” allows the app to collect data on a user’s interactions with specific contacts, including how often the user texts, calls and emails each contact. Another titled 6 • collide • march 2014

READING

THE FINE PRINT “your messages” allows the app to read all a user’s text messages, “regardless of content or confidentiality.” The numbers of permissions for popular free apps vary. For example, on Snapchat there are a total of 12 permissions, on Instagram there are 13 and on Facebook there are 23. The iPhone makes reading the permissions even more challenging because it directs users to a generic privacy contract that does not come up automatically before downloading

the app, instead of giving a brief summary of the permissions like Android phones. In fact, according to The Guardian’s blog, Apple did not grant users access to the list of specific permissions until 2012. The Guardian also reported that a YouGov survey of 2,272 British citizens found that 59 percent have downloaded apps, but that only 62 percent of them are concerned about resulting privacy issues. Over 40 percent said

What are you allowing your phone to access when you simply hit “OK”?

SNAPCHAT THESE STATS

billion is the amount Facebook wanted to buy Snapchat for, which Snapchat declined

150

approximate number of snaps the most active Snapchat user gets per day

20-50 is the average number of snaps a user receives per day

400

they have decided not to download at least one app due to these fears. Some users do not want to take the time to consider what they are giving applications consent to do. Sophomore computer science major Hannah Gonzalez was surprised when she learned of the permissions required by Snapchat; however, she said she plans to keep the application. “I think if you use it [the app] responsibly, it’s probably worth it. It depends on how you use it,” Gonzalez said.

She added that knowledge of the permissions is not enough to deter some people. “It doesn’t matter because even if people know, they are still going to use it,” Gonzalez said. Ultimately it is up to the individual user to decide if the use of an application is worth the cost of his or her personal information. However, if the users do not have knowledge of these permissions, the decision is made for them.

average number of snaps the Snapchat site processes each day

6.84

is the number of Snapchat users

–Kimmi Ligh

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shorts

Myth busters: Historical Edition With a lot less explosions and a lot more research. Many of us are content to accept what we learned in history classes and seldom dispute the sources. But believe it or not, there are “facts” that have been misinterpreted or completely fabricated. These errors continue to mislead people, even in everyday conversation—until now.

By Emily Leyva Myth No. 1 Cavemen only lived until an average age of 30

In a recent study from the University of Santa Barbara by Michael Gurven and Hillard Kaplan, the research indicated that the “hunter-gatherer” lived until an average age of 72. The researchers found that, “departures from this general pattern in published estimates of life expectancy in past populations (e.g., low child and high adult mortality) are most likely due to a combination of high levels of contact-related infectious disease, excessive violence or homicide, and methodological problems that lead to poor age estimates of older individuals and inappropriate use of model life tables.” In other words, mortality rates were very high for infants and children, but risks were greatly reduced after cavemen reached their 20s. When deaths from imperiled infancy, youthful misadventure, epidemics and disease are factored out, the caveman’s lifespan was actually very similar to today’s life expectancy.

Myth No. 2 A fleet of stockbrokers on Wall Street threw themselves out of a window after the stock market crashed 8 • collide • march 2014

On Oct. 25, 1987, The Washington Post pinned Will Rogers as the father of a famous joke made about “Black Thursday,” also known as Oct. 24, 1929. In his newspaper column for that day, he wrote: “When Wall Street took that tail spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and speculators were selling space for bodies in the East River.” Later, a New York correspondent for a British tabloid wrote that Broadway was covered

with dead bodies. The rumor grew, circulated and eventually became an associated image for the famous crash. In reality, The Post reported only two suicides were committed (in regards to the crash) by jumping out of a window by the end of 1929.

Myth No. 3 George Washington (or at least his biographer) can tell a lie

The famous tale of the nation’s first

es students the value of honesty is not very honest itself.

Myth No. 4 Witches were burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials

In 2007, Smithsonian magazine discredited the common belief that the accused were burned to death after being found guilty of witchcraft. According to the town records, 20 were killed by alternative methods. Nineteen women were accused and hanged on Gallows Hill, and a 71-year-old man was pressed to death with heavy stones. Nearly 200 people had been sentenced to prison for practicing witchcraft and several of them died in their jail cells without seeing justice or the flames of accusation.

CENTER: Douglas O. Linder

Myth No. 5 Vincent van Gogh Cut Off His Own Ear

president portrays an overly excited six-year-old Washington eager to use his brand new axe. Upon receiving his gift, he axed everything in his path, including his father’s cherry tree. When his father confronted him, young George hesitated and said, “I cannot tell a lie. I did cut the tree.” The origin of this story was traced back to Parson Weems, a famous book seller and storyteller. The anecdote was first published by Weems in

1809, roughly 10 years after Washington’s death in the fifth edition of his biography, Life of George Washington the Great. The cherry tree story reportedly came from an old neighbor who knew Washington as a boy, yet the source was unreliable since very little was known about Washington’s childhood, especially the relationship he had with his father, who died when he was 11. Oddly enough, the story that teach-

The tortured artist and painter is best known not only for his Starry Night painting, but also for his insane and desperate act of love by cutting off his own ear and sending it to Rachel, the then current object of affection who was also a prostitute. However, a book published in 2009 by Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegansrecent titled Van Gogh’s Ear, Paul Gaugun and the Pact of Silence paints a different story. The historians argue that van Gogh may have fabricated the story in order to protect his friend Gauguin (another object of his obsession) who may have chopped it off with a sword during a heated argument. The biography states: “On the evening of December 23, 1888 van Gogh, seized by an attack of a metabolic disease, became very aggressive when Gauguin said he was leaving him for good. The men had a heated argument near the brothel and Vincent might have attacked his friend. Gauguin, wanting to defend himself and wanting to get rid of ‘the madman’ drew his weapon and made a move towards van Gogh and by that he cut off his left ear.” Kauffman and Wildegansrecent say that the real version of the story never surfaced because the two men both kept a “pact of silence.” www.theclause.org/collide • 9

Food Cravings For Lent

Students commonly choose to give up their favorite food and drink choices for Lent. Chocolate and coffee are two of the most popular items to expel from diets this time of year. But choosing to give up such integral parts of a college student’s diet is not an easy task. Two easy-to-follow recipes will allow for avoidance of those two items while still providing plenty of flavor and enjoyment.

By Allison Thompson 10 • collide • march 2014

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DINE & WINE

CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE SERVES 6 / 45-60 MINUTES

Students who give up chocolate for Lent can choose to make a delicious and easy dessert that requires 11 simple ingredients. I present: Caramel Apple Cheesecake. The recipe comes from the “Spend with Pennies” blog, which I found through Pinterest. I modified the ingredients slightly, but I tried to remain true to the original recipe. Cheesecakes can be intimidating, but this recipe features a very simple crust. This recipe is a great way to avoid chocolate while still enjoying a delicious dessert. It will definitely impress your roommates, significant other and family! Ingredients Crust: 2 cups flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 sticks butter (softened) Filling: 3 packages cream cheese (8 oz. each, softened) 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 eggs Apple Mixture: 3 granny smith apples (peeled, diced into small pieces) 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg Topping: 1 cup brown sugar (packed) 1 cup flour 1/2 cup quick oats 1 stick butter (softened) caramel topping (to drizzle) recipes and photos by Allison Thompson 12 • collide • march 2014

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. The recipe says to line a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. (I chose to use a nonstick pan and use cooking spray instead.) 2. Combine flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl, and cut in butter with two forks (or a mixer) until the mixture is crumbly. Press the mixture into the pan and bake it for 15-20 minutes. (When I baked it, 15 minutes was plenty of time.) 3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until the mixture is smooth. (I didn’t have a mixer, so I used a whisk instead, which worked well.) Add the eggs in one at a time, while mixing to combine. Pour the mixture evenly onto the baked crust. 4. In a medium bowl, toss the diced apples, sugar and cinnamon until combined. Sprinkle the apple pieces evenly over the cream cheese mixture into the pan. 5. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, quick oats and softened butter until crumbly. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apple layer in the pan. 6. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the filling is set. Check whether the filling is set by shaking the pan and ensuring it is firm. (My cake was ready in 45 minutes.) 7. Let the cheesecake cool, then place it in the refrigerator for four hours, or overnight. 8. Remove the cake from the pan and cut it into 16 evenly-sized bars. Drizzle with caramel topping. Enjoy and share (or don’t)!

Toss the diced apples, sugar, and cinnamon until combined

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Bake for&45-60 DINE WINE minutes until you reach your desired crispiness

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CHAI TEA LATTE SERVES 1 / 10 MINUTES

As college students, dependence on coffee is widespread. However, for Lent, students often choose to forgo the beloved brew in favor of a different, still-caffeinated option. I give you an easy threestep recipe for a homemade Chai tea latte, courtesy of a blog titled “The Nutrition Twins.” This recipe allows for students to enjoy a delicious, caffeinated beverage while giving up coffee for Lent and saving the $4 that could be spent on a coffee shop alternative.

Ingredients

1. Place the tea bags, cinnamon, ginger and allspice in a coffee filter of a drip coffeemaker. (I left out the ginger and allspice, but feel free to add them for extra spice!) Add the cup of water and brew the tea according to the instructions of the coffeemaker. 2. While the tea mixture brews, combine the non-fat milk, soy (or almond) milk and brown sugar into a small pan. Cook and stir the milk over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

2 individual Chai tea bags 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice 1 cup Water 1 cup Non-fat milk (or preferred type) 1 tsp Brown Sugar 2 tbsp Vanilla Soy milk (or Vanilla Almond milk) 3. Pour the milk mixture into your favorite coffee mug, stir in the tea, and enjoy!

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Natalie Kennedy joins a friend in planting some fresh produce right in her backyard

A Practical Co-operatio

The Myrahouse in Claremont, CA fosters a community committed to holistic care and meditation 16 â&#x20AC;˘ collide â&#x20AC;˘ march 2014

on By Alex Scrivner www.theclause.org/collide â&#x20AC;˘ 17

he tempo and cadence of a typical southern California lifestyle distilled as I walked onto the Myrahouse pathway. The sounds were no longer cars speeding by or radios blaring in and out, but instead the flowing of water from the pond that funnels through the garden and frogs croaking. The Myrahouse in Claremont, labels itself as a “co-operative, ecologically sustainable living environment with monastic rhythms” that provides holistic education, organic gardening and eco-spirituality to residents. Those who live in the house help sustain the property along with any community members who are interested in being involved with the house and/or what the house stands for. Eco-spirituality, though defined in a myriad of ways, can be understood as the pursuit of a personally experienced relationship between an individual and his or her environment throughout daily life. APU alumna Natalie Kennedy, B.A. physics, moved into the Myrahouse in early February as she transitioned from university life into the “working world” or “real world” or whatever “they” are calling it these days. “I was looking for a place where I could center myself,” Natalie said. This centering of self Natalie desires is the exact intent that the co-founders of the Myrahouse had in mind when beginning their movement of upholding holistic principles in a shared living style. In 2001, Dr. Rev. Sung Sohn and his wife Myra Sohn built the 10-bedroom Myrahouse and surrounding garden grounds in hopes of supplementing the community with a resource for “raw” living and healing spiritual routines. The Sohns’ desire was for the residents of the house to incorporate these ethics and habits into their own lives during transition periods. My visit to the Myrahouse began with putting my hands in the earth to make dinner. From the house garden, Natalie and I picked from the seasoned vegetables; our fresh picks included green onions, arugula, yellow and red swiss chard and collard greens. Naturally, the kitchen is outside and we 18 • collide • march 2014

took turns going in and out into the night to keep an eye on the vegetables. I was amazed at how satisfying it was to be so intimately connected to my own food source and to be involved from beginning to end in the process of making my meal (Natalie must have felt even that much more satisfied since she aided in growing the vegetables!). I found myself questioning why it seems everything is constantly so pressured against time in our culture, even the act of sharing a meal which is the most primordial of daily exercises. For Natalie, the “monastic rhythms” instilled into life at the Myrahouse have been a critical part

The Myra House pond and grounds encourage a co-coperative, ecologically sustainable living enviornment

Co-operative living is something found not only to be spiritually awakening but more valuable psychologically as well. The human being is proven to be healthier when it is in an environment where the motive is cooperation, in contrast to competition. of understanding her place as part of Christ’s church and within the global community. “I know that God is pleased when we live life more humbly and honestly with others and ultimately for God’s glory,” said Natalie. “There are many people in the world who have found this truth and seek to live among others of similar passions but vastly diverse backgrounds.” Co-operative living is something found not only to be spiritually awakening but more valuable psychologically as well. The human being is proven to be healthier when it is in an environment where the motive is cooperation, in contrast to competition. In the article “The Psychology of Co-operation”, clinical psychologist and author Oliver James links co-operative living to to the innate need to feel loved and as part of a

group. “Co-operation is linked to the neuropeptide oxytocin which greatly increases feelings of love and affiliation ... creating a sense of relaxation and a reduction in the tendency to interpret others as threatening,” James writes. A study done by The Human Genome Project found that a country’s rate of depression could be estimated through whether the society was generally more cooperative (collectivistic versus individualistic) or not. America as a nation is found to have one of the highest rates of mental illness at 26 percent. For Natalie, she lives synchronically when assisting with her shared house responsibilities along with her work at Ecoterra compounding pharmacy operated by Myra Sohn. Working at the pharmacy is not a requirement for living at the Myrahouse but just another opportunity to actively engage in

TOP RIGHT: Alex Scrivner

serving the surrounding community through holistic care. “Practically and presently, this looks like listening to the hurts and pains of clients who are seeking healing at Ecoterra and exchanging a few words of hope as they come in and out on their journey towards health,” said Natalie. Succeeding dinner at the Myrahouse, I was able to participate in their weekly Sunday night meditations which are open to the whole community. The meditation is a self-guided two hour period with two sessions of sitting and an intermission period of walking meditation. The last 20 minutes were spent with all the participants in a circle, facilitating a platform for the group to express their general gratitudes and insights in their lives which came from that week.

Everyone who participated in the meditation service (including Myrahouse members) have positions and roles of responsibility to balance in life. With a synthesis of a cooperative lifestyle to encompass these different positions and responsibilities, everyone I engaged with seemed to be aware of a deeper and bigger purpose to life, a life that is interwoven and cooperative versus polarized and competitive. I saw this in the way they approached their work and their studies. If there was a complication or challenge in their lives, they were thankful to experience growth from it, and if they had a life circumstance not going how they deemed best, it was never another person’s fault for putting them in that arduous situation. Perhaps not everyone would be able to live a life as Natalie and other

residents are living during their time at the Myrahouse, however, there is a challenge that others can engage in, one that I readily accepted and hope to adapt into my own life: the challenge to “practically and presently” live cooperatively with one’s own natural environment however and whenever possible. An Average Myrahouse Day: Morning: Feed the chickens, collect the eggs and work in the garden to harvest fruits and vegetables for smoothies and salads. If there is time, go for a morning hike on a nearby trail close to the house. Afternoon: Work at EcoTerra and work with clients seeking holistic methods to heal their bodies. Evening: Free time, tea time with Dr. Sohn and other housemates and/ or meditation. www.theclause.org/collide • 19

Students are spending less time writing and more time typing

The Importance of Handwriting Why schools might be making a big mistake eliminating handwriting and cursive from their curriculum By Dadrienne Thompson

emember those tissue-paper thin pieces of paper with the blue dashed lines used to teach students how to write their letters? Imagine elementary school without them. Welcome to the classroom of 2014. While not all schools have forsaken teaching the lost art, the reality is handwriting is used less and taught less in school curriculums. More often, students prefer to type because of accuracy, efficiency and just plain convenience. Face it, listening to a professor and typing the words is more accurate than trying to write every little thing down and sometimes even abbrevi20 • collide • march 2014

ations get messy. Today laptops and tablets are more accessible and schools are adapting to using these devices in the classroom, which pushes the use of technology in schools rather than old-fashioned written work. Dr. Nancy Brashear, a professor in the English department at APU, believes in the importance of learning handwriting. As a California credentialed teacher and reading specialist, her teaching has given her firsthand accounts of the process and future skills that handwriting provides. “Technology certainly has its place in today's society and education, and students need to learn those skills, too,

but not as a substitute for learning to handwrite,” Brashear said. According to an online article by Reading Rockets, “The Importance of Teaching Handwriting,” handwriting has been neglected in the everyday curriculum of primary grades but might be returning. Although typing makes for an easier experience in the classroom, especially in the college setting, students benefit from handwriting. Handwriting affects students academically through test taking, speed of taking notes and classroom work. Students with disabilities also benefit from handwritten work by means of focus.

TOP LEFT: Sarah Ottavis

Handwriting is assessed by legibility, speed and execution. There are different methods to teaching handwriting and each one requires practice and patience. Dr. Louis Spear-Swelling, the author of “The Importance of Teaching Handwriting,” gives different methods for parents and teachers to use for improving handwriting in children. She writes, “Children should learn a highly consistent way to form a given letter every time they write it.” She continues to explain specific letters to practice with and how to execute this practice. She also illuminates the idea of a child gaining

better focus when his or her writing is legible. A simple practice like this one mentioned shows handwriting in a raw form. A student begins in third or fourth grade with both manuscript or print and cursive writing. What happens after this transition? Does the introduction of technology and computer programs interfere with this learning? According to Brashear, “handwriting allows students to be more thoughtful and to pay closer attention to the content at hand than does the use of technology.” She also said children should learn both handwriting and technology. Being adaptable to change is an important trait. Children gain access to computers at a young age in the classroom. In a study done by the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, children from ages 6 to 11 were tested for their speed of writing or typing and their ability to write or type fluently. The result of the study showed that younger children wrote at a slower pace when typing at a keyboard than when writing. Their findings stated that, “this should not imply that keyboards are inherently disruptive of writing. But where this writing tool is to be encouraged, its optimal use may be the one where the visual-manual coordinations are smoothly managed.” The result of the study concludes with an idea for a touch keyboard, which allows minimal monitoring of the hands and allows the eyes to “roam free.” This keyboard operates on the idea that memory is associated with the interactions of a person’s eyes and hands. However, it doesn’t take technology to connect the brain and motor skills. Handwriting, in fact, is connected to the brain. So much so, it is considered a science. “The Science of Handwriting” gives a brief overview of several studies done to explain how people interact differently when using pen and paper over typing. Brandon Keim, the author of the “The Science of Handwriting” from the The Scientific American, explains the study done by the neurologist Karin James. James examined the brain activity of different people in two different experiments in 2008 and 2010. James explains that a motor activity, that was expected to interact, responds when letters or letter-like shapes are observed. When

the participants were shown how to write these shapes, visual areas were heightened as well, showing “hands help to see.” Simply put, science supports the idea that the motor skills involved in writing trigger memory and brain activity. Writing is visual but also includes the movement of the hand which helps the brain to remember what was written. Writing down tasks such as lists for grocery shopping, or writing down assignments for homework are easily remembered when written down on paper than when typed on a computer or phone (since there are apps for that too). Handwriting not only helps in academics but also exercises one’s creative abilities. According to Keim, more creativity is shown when writing than when typing because there is not as much restriction such as, typing the right letters or the correct format. Revisions are easier to make when handwritten because there is more freedom when brainstorming and making changes. Handwriting seems to work best with our minds. “The act of writing (physically) slows down the mind so that one can consider thoughts in a way that busy life doesn’t allow,” Brashear said. Although handwriting may be more time consuming, it gives the person the opportunity to reflect on what is written. They have the hands-on experience of what was said in a classroom or what was in their mind. Dr. Brashear believes technology has its place as well and requires skills that should also be acquired, but handwriting should not be forgotten altogether. Handwriting might be returning to school curriculums, but technology is becoming the new outlet for learning. For example ABCmouse.com is a website for young children that teaches them how to read and write through educational games. The benefits to handwriting assignments are positive to the brain. Not all assignments must be handwritten, but it does help to occasionally put down the tablet and let the ideas flow on paper instead of a screen. Give the fingers a rest and let the pen or pencil work some magic, or maybe experiment on what method helps material stick to the your brain. Computers or other devices are not bad or disruptive to learning, but sometimes a break is necessary. www.theclause.org/collide • 21

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OUTKAST MUSE LORDE THE 1975 LANA DEL RAY

Photos courtesy of Audio Collective

SKRILLEX

By Lauren Duran

ADVENTURE CLUB

It’s that time of year again, the weekend-long Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is coming to Indio, Calif., on April 11-13 as well as April 18-20. With 167 bands set to perform, and three major headliners including OutKast, Muse and Arcade Fire, it is guaranteed to be a festival you don’t want to miss. However, if you seemed to have misplaced the $375 and won’t be attending this year, maybe consider turning on a Coachella playlist, closing your eyes and pretending you are out there front and center of the main stage...you never know, it could possibly work. For those interested in hearing more from up and coming artist, Couchella is calling your name streaming online musicians via http://couchellafestival.com/ all from the comfort of your humble adobe.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS

2014

ARCADE FIRE

COACHELLA

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Outkast prepares for their upcoming performance held on the Coachella stage this April

ARCADE FIRE

MUSE

Wake up with Arcade Fire at Coachella on Day 3 of the festival. The indie rock band is set to headline the festival on Sunday, April 13 and 20. Originating from Quebec, Canada, band members Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Will Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsburg and Jeremy Gara have found much success in their music over the past 13 years. In 2004 they released their first album Funeral and since then have won many awards. In the past, they have been nominated for Best Alternative Studio Album for all three albums and even won Album of the Year for The Suburbs in 2011. Over the years the band has experimented with its sound and currently is focusing on a futuristic disco groove while incorporating new unique sounds of a LCD Soundsystem as well. You don’t want to miss the bands performances of “Reflektor,” “Afterlife” and “Wake Up.”

Muse is ready to cause an uprising and stir up some mmmmmmmad madness at Coachella this year. The famous English rock band is headlining the second day of the festival on Saturday April 12 and 19. Band members Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard have come a long way since 1994, when the band members entered a local Battle of the Bands competition. Making a name for themselves in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, the alternative rock band strived to do the same

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LANA DEL REY

in the United States as well and they have done just that. In 2006 they won a Grammy award for Best Rock Album for their album Resistance and in 2012 they performed “Survival,” a song from their most recent album The 2nd Law, in the closing ceremony of the Olympics in London. They were also nominated for Best Rock Song in this years Grammy’s for “Panic Station” and Favorite Alternative Band in this years People’s Choice Awards. Concertgoers can expect to hear songs both old and new from Muse next month.

With a unique style of vocals and melodies, Elizabeth Wooldridge Grant, more popularly known as Lana Del Rey, will also be performing on day three of the weekend long festival, April 13th and 20th. 27-year-old Del Rey has been writing music since she was 18, and in 2010 she released her first digital album Lana Del Rey followed by Born to Die in 2012, which featured famous tracks “Summertime Sadness,” “Born to Die,” “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans”.

OUTKAST MUSE ARCADE FIRE

later and OutKast’s most famous album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, was released with hit singles “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move,” winning them a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Following their famous album and amongst rumors of breaking up, the band members began going their separate ways working individually with different artists. However, on Jan.13 the band announced via Twitter, “Outkast will return to the stage with a full festival run of over 40 dates to celebrate 20 years. #Outkast20 - Team Outkast,” which will include Indio’s famous festival. The boys are ready to make a comeback with some of their famous tracks.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS

Ready to shake it like a Polaroid picture with OutKast? This April, OutKast will be headlining the first day, Friday April 11th and 18th. The American hip-hop group originally formed in 1992 when Atlanta native band members André “André 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton came together to form a band. The sound OutKast produces is a blend of Southern soul, funk, pop and effortless rap music making it extremely versatile and appealing to a larger audience. Their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was released in 1994 and their first moment of recognition occurred in when their hit single “Player’s Ball” hit No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Tracks chart. Fast forward 10 years

LORDE

Outkast

ADVENTURE CLUB THE 1975

THe 1975 English alternative and indie rock band The 1975 have finally made it big after seven years of fighting for their spot in the music industry. After taking on many different band names over the years, the band finally settled on “The 1975” after coming across the back of an old Beat poetry book, which read “1 June, The 1975”. Their album was co-produced by Mike Crossney, who also works with bands such as The Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and Foals. In 2012, band members Matthew Healy, Adam Hann, George Daniel and Ross McDonald released their first EP “Facedown,” followed by “Sex,” and lastly “Music For Cars.” They finally found success in “Chocolate” a song off their last EP. The boy band plans to take the stage on day three of the festival, April 13 and 20.

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LANA DEL RAY

Electronic dance music is something that can also be promised at Coachella this year. Music artists Christian Srigley and Leighton James, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, teamed up to start Adventure Club in 2011. The band started as a pop-punk style band, but eventually began producing Electronic Dance Music (also known as EDM) to set themselves apart. Although they have only been around for the past three years, the members of the group worked their way to the top by reaching out to fans via social media networks. They have performed at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas as well as the Ultra Music Festival in Miami and Seoul, South Korea. Concertgoers can look forward to their most popular songs “Rise and Fall,” “Need Your,” and “Gold.”

SKRILLEX

LEFT AND RIGHT: Audio Collective

ADVENTURE CLUB

PHARRELL WILLIAMS Pharrell Williams, also known as simply Pharrell, must be feeling extremely happy to hit the stage in just a few short weeks. After just releasing his new album G I R L earlier this month, the 40-year-old singer-songwriter still has it in him and will be performing on day two of the festival. After over 20 years in the music industry, at one point in his career, Pharrell collaborated with Chad Hugo in which they became known as “The Neptune’s.” They released their first single “Frontin’” in 2003 and three short years later Pharrell released his own solo album In My Mind, where he began collaborating with other popular artists such as Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Gwen Stefani. Since then, Pharrell continues to collaborate with popular artists, and can be heard in hit songs such as “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk, and in his own collaboration with Justin Timberlake in “Brand New” on his new album G I R L.

LORDE 17 years old and taking the world by storm is New Zealand singer-songwriter Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, better known as Lorde. Growing up, Lorde participated in singing and drama classes and at 16 years old she signed with Universal Music Group. Since then, the pop star has released the hit single “Royals,” which hit the No.1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. During the 56th Annual Grammy Award she received four nominations for her hit single and won Song of the Year as well as Best Pop Solo Performance. Although she probably won’t perform on a tennis court, it is certain Lorde will take one for the team and hit the stage on day two of the festival, April 12 and 19.

Pharrell Williams performs at a local music and arts festival in preperation for Coachella

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ARCADE FIRE LORDE PHARRELL WILLIAMS ADVENTURE CLUB THE 1975 LANA DEL RAY

Another popular EDM artist expected to be at Coachella this year is Sonny John Moore, more commonly known as Skrillex. Moore was originally the lead singer of post-hardcore band From First to Last; however, he decided to venture off as a solo artist in 2007. In 2009 Moore took on the new name, Skrillex. He soon after released his first EP “My Name is Skrillex” via Myspace, followed by “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” as well as “More Monsters and Sprites.” In 2011, Skrillex was nominated for five different Grammy Awards and won Best Dance/Electronica Album, Best Dance Recording, as well as Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. That same year Skrillex was named MTV’s Electronic Dance Music Artist of the Year. Today he is most famously known for hit songs “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” “Bangarang,” “First of the Year” and “Kyoto”. His performance is guaranteed to keep you awake and alert with unique beats and dubstep style dance music.

“Hey ya!” -OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below “Clarity (feat. Foxes)”- ZEDD - Clarity “Burn”- Ellie Goulding- Halcyon Days “Pompeii”- Bastille - Bad Blood “Shadows (Feat. Alex Mills)” - Hot Since 82- Little Black Book “Madness”- Muse- The 2nd Law “3’s and 7’s”- Queens of the Stone Age- Era Vulgaris “Bangarang (feat. Sirah)” - Skrillex- Bangarang “Team” - Lorde - Pure Heroine “Shake”- Lets Be Still - The Head and the Heart “The Hurry and the Harm” - City and Colour - The Hurry and the Harm “Hearts Like Ours ” - The Naked and Famous” - In Rolling Waves “Safe and Sound” - Capital Cities- In a Tidal Wave of Mystery “Reflektor”- Arcade Fire - Reflektor “Blue Moon” - Beck- Morning Phase “Come a Little Closer” - Cage the ElephantMelophobia “Rise and Fall (feat. Krewella)”- Adventure ClubRise and Fall (Single) “Enjoy the Ride” - Krewella - Get Wet “Summer” - Calvin Harris - Summer (Single) “Sex”- The 1975 - The 1975 “The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt.1 ”- Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea “Latch (feat. Sam Smith)” - Disclosure - Settle “Video Games”- Lana Del Rey- Born to Die “Barbra Streisand” - Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand (Single) “The Rockafeller Skank”- Fatboy Slim- You’ve Come a Long Way Baby “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” - STRKFRS********r “Cherry Wine (feat. Amy Winehouse)- Nas- Life is Good

SKRILLEX

LEFT AND RIGHT: Audio Collective

SKRILLEX

MUSE

playlist

OUTKAST

COACHELLA

Who are We? Generation “Me” Vs. Generation “We”

By Alex Scrivner

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EWE www.theclause.org/collide â&#x20AC;˘ 29

he era of the millennial generation is overwhelming to its predecessors, peaking with a population of 80 million. The millennials, typically inclusive of individuals born between 1980 and 2000, are the largest generation in history and their intentions as well as their developing habits are hotly debated (more so by boomers and Gen Xers than millennials themselves). With technology connecting this generation like no other, the rest of the world awaits anxiously as a social media-driven youth aspires to leave its impact for the next generations to come. The millennials are not only pivotal for the future but also have an ever-growing significance for the current political and economic status. The argument can be broken down and polarized into seeing the millennial generation as "generation me" or "generation we" (following the trend set by author Jean Twenge in Generation Me). Of course, the conversations of how the millennials are radical in their impact on the world or merely a continuation of a trend are taking place outside of the generations’ momentum. This article aspires to present the two sides of the ongoing discussion. However, if you yourself are a millennial, chances are you won't align with either—why pick one, right?

“Generation Me” The big idea is that this generation is increasingly more narcissistic and less empathetic than any other generation prior. Also, this generation places more value on matters of material and extrinsic worth and relies on themselves and their own ingenuity more than any of their predecessors. 58 percent of college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982 60 percent of youth believe that their guiding morality will be what they feel is right in any given circumstance 44 percent of millennials are willing to endorse products or services through social media in exchange for rewards 27 percent of millennials are already self-employed 54 percent either want to start a business or already have started one 59 percent of executive decision-makers and 62 percent of higher education authorities rate recent college graduates a C grade or lower for preparedness in their first jobs Adult members of generation Y have been found to be the most averse to working long hours, preferring a more flexible approach to the working day It is estimated that only 5 percent of Generation Y adults do not own a mobile phone, and even fewer do not own a computer. 41 percent are satisfied with the way things are going in the country Millennials found that becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment were less important in comparison to previous generations Compared to boomers, millennials were less likely to have donated to charities, less likely to want a job worthwhile to society or that would help others, and less likely to agree they would eat differently if it meant more food for the starving. They were also less likely to want to work in a social service organization or become a social worker, and were less likely to express empathy for outgroups

Time Magazine, National Study of Youth, Aimia, US Chamber of Commerce, Kauffman Foundation, Forbes Magazine, generationy.com/facts, Pew Research, San Diego State University, 2009

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“Generation We” The big idea here is that this generation is community-oriented and altruistic. Members generally feel responsible on a personal level for the well-being of the world and the people in it. With this they are also a generation that is more accepting of all peoples in society due to their enhanced global awareness following technological advances. 61 percent of millennials feel a personal responsibility to make a difference in helping the state of the world 45 percent favor preferential treatment to improve the position of minorities 42 percent of millennials think that “our current economic problems show what happens when you rely too much on the market and reduce regulations on corporations” Approximately 65 percent of Generation Y (millennials) says that it supports same-sex marriage 47 percent are more tolerant of races and groups than older generations 49 percent of people ages 18-29 said they have a positive view of socialism and only 43 percent say they have a negative view

Huffington Post, US Chamber of Commerce, American Progress, generationy. com/facts, Pew Research, 2011

In your opinion do you find that you are a part of a "me" generation or a "we" generation?

Skylar Snider, senior music major, Generation Y “My first instinct is to say that our generation is a ‘we’ generation. And after reading the definitions of the ‘we’ and ‘me’ generations I would go even further and say that not only is our generation a ‘we’ generation but previous generations, our parents’ generation, the baby boomers was a ‘me’ generation. But you can find anything you look for everywhere you look. For example the counter culture revolutions of the 60s are more often thought of with ‘we’ generation characteristics. But again that was the ‘counter culture’ not the norm. The same could be said for our generation. The people that I know or the people I choose to surround myself with characterize the ‘we’ generation. And while there may be a lot of people of our generation that are more ‘we’ than ‘me’ there’s also a lot of narcissists too. Just like APU may not be a party school but you can still find a party and everything that goes with it if you look for it, or you could just throw one yourself. I don’t think you can characterize so many people, an entire

generation, in such narrow terms. The language people use has a funny way of affecting reality. Worse than a prophecy is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you’re not careful you could trap people in the expectations you have of them. You could trap yourself. But if you must define an entire generation at least wait until the next one shows up and you can judge them by their fruits. Descriptions are usually more accurate after the thing has occurred, not before. And don’t forget that the current generation was raised by the previous. But frankly, if I can only directly control my own actions, why should I give a care about characterizing other people or how they characterize others? Let me work out my own character before you give me one. In the words of John Hughes ‘we accept whatever it is that we did wrong . . . but we think you’re crazy making us tell you who we think we are, what do you care? You see us how you want to see us . . . in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions.’”

Michelle Rao, senior global studies major, Generation Y “I think our generation is certainly a ‘we’ generation in the sense that we are becoming more aware and involved with issues happening globally. However this doesn’t necessarily constitute for the fact that our generation is not a ‘we’ generation when it comes down to the word ‘community.’ Our generation focuses so much on helping everyone globally that we lose ourselves in the community aspect locally. Certainly I think every generation has been or still are part of the ‘me’ generation where the focus is solely based on oneself and the desire to step on anyone’s toes to get where they have to. But I certainly do think that our generation is becoming a ‘we’ generation. Slowly but surely.”

TOP RIGHT: Skylar Snider; RIGHT CENTER: Becca Brown; BOTTOM LEFT: Richard Slimbach

Richard Slimbach, Professor of global studies, sociology and TESOL, baby boomer generation “The idea that ‘all millennials are apathetic’ is sheer nonsense. Most of the students I have the privilege of working with have high ideals and a strong commitment to those ideals and values. But they also know that their ideals must be actionable. Whereas many in my generation wanted revolution, activist students today prefer evolution— small, steady, scalable, and incremental steps in the direction of their vision. Few identify themselves as ‘radicals’; fewer still advocate an overturning of ‘the system.’ Sure, some are ‘slacktivists’—unwilling to push companies like Apple and Starbucks to be more socially responsible, yet willing to Facebook and Twitter all hours of the day. Thomas Freidman may be factually correct in claiming that ‘Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades.’ But it may also be true that the old strategies of activism and resistance don’t work in today's technological environment. Looking at Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, a blending of online and offline tactics helped to scale these grassroots movements.” www.theclause.org/collide • 31

WOMEN IN By Katie Brown and Kimmi Ligh

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MEDIA www.theclause.org/collide â&#x20AC;˘ 33

n the 21st century, women have supposedly made gains for equality in the media. However, the media are still having trouble portraying women (fairly, if at all). In fact, the portrayal of women in the media might be the reason that women still aren’t represented equally in comparison to their male counterparts. Despite the fact that the most recent United States Census found that women make up 50.8 percent of the country’s population, women are still grossly underrepresented in film, television shows, broadcasting and late-night talk shows.

her cunning and sexuality.” One film commentator, Alison Bechdel, developed a test for gender representation in film, which later became known as the Bechdel Test. The test has three main criteria for determining if a film is fair in its portrayal of women. It has to have at least two named women in it, these women need to speak and they have to discuss something other than a man at some point in the film. Two women with names does not seem like too much to ask, but even the average viewer can pick up the disparity of female versus male protagonist. “In most movies the lead female only talks about guys, what she is doing wrong and why she is single. I guess to me it just seems unrealistic that guy

mander in Chief also conducts research projects about female characters onscreen, and uses that information to advocate for change. The institute’s website states, “Our mission is to work within the entertainment industry to dramatically alter how girls and women are reflected in media.” In one project the institute presented its findings of gender inequality on-screen to a group of television and film executives who were in charge of creating content. After the presentation, 70 percent said they planned to use what they had learned for future projects. 68 percent actually used it for planning two or more new projects and 41 percent used it for four or

talk is the center of every girl’s life,” sophomore applied health major Alyssa Azevedo said. Azevedo has found that the media depicts a status quo especially for single women who are asked regularly why they are single or without a “man”. “It is shown through the movies that if you are a woman and don’t have a man you are either a lesbian or there is something wrong with you,” Azevedo said. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, founded by its namesake and former star of the television series about a female U.S. president Com-

more projects. The findings prove that the film industry is capable of changing the way it portrays women on-screen if people are willing to advocate for that change. According to Main, women need to be willing to stand up to the film industry and explain their misrepresentation. “Film entertains, but it also reveals. If a woman feels misrepresented or underrepresented, then she should feel obligated as a woman to step up and address the film industry for their error,” Main said.

Film

According to the latest study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media at San Diego State University titled “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Onscreen Representations of Female Characters in the Top 100 Films of 2013,” women comprised 15 percent of protagonists, 29 percent of major characters and 30 percent of all speaking characters in 2013. The study also uncovered evidence of gender inequity in film. Thirteen percent of the top 100 films had an equal amount or more major female characters compared to the number of major male characters. Even when women are represented onscreen, their portrayal is different than their male counterparts. The study found that 75 percent of speaking characters had an identifiable goal, but that male speaking characters had an identifiable goal 79 percent of the time, while female speaking characters had a goal 67 percent of the time. Twenty-one percent of male characters were leaders of some sort, while only 8 percent of females were. “It is funny; as a nation that drifts further and further away from the Christian faith, we love to keep our gender roles the same as in biblical times,” APU sophomore film major Madeline Main said. “A woman then was supposed to be humble and serve her man, but was praised for 34 • collide • march 2014

Television

TOP LEFT: Youtube Screnshot

With its wide variety of channels, television has the capacity to air shows that appeal to just about every media consumer. Television has featured women in lead roles even since its conception. Shows such as I Love Lucy in the 50s and Rosanne in the 80s had strong female actresses carrying the bulk of the script. Today women have much more representation due to the expansion of television. Susan Isaacs, actress and author of Angry Conversations with God, recognizes that some shows on the air today like Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, New Girl have strong female protagonists. However, the way women are portrayed on TV as a whole has not improved entirely. “Women have always been objects of sexual desire in the media,” Isaacs said. “The loosening of restrictions on cable has made prime time networks scramble to keep up. As a result, the sexual objectification of women has become more graphic and demeaning.” According to Isaacs, the greatest number of female-led shows come from reality TV. This form of television show, however, rarely lends itself to the positive portrayal of women. “It’s just a bunch of catty broads, bickering over money, men, booze and plastic surgery,” said Isaacs. “‘Nero fiddled while Rome burned,’ and America just sits in front of the TV, watching girls behaving badly.” In June 2004, Natasha Walker, a

writer for The Guardian, wrote about the British show Ladette to Lady, which revealed many of the problems with the reality TV industry. It is a show where, according to the producers, they take “five weeks to reform ten loudmouthed ladettes in a finishing school of etiquette, manners and social graces.” The show puts women in a controlled society where the people on the show attempt to police the women’s sexual and social behaviors. Producer Rod Williams told Walker: “I couldn’t really envisage doing this show with men.” Walker uses sarcasm to draw attention to the fact that while Williams couldn’t imagine teaching men how to behave, he liked the idea of teaching women how to behave. “There is an obsession within reality television with finding the appropriate limits for women’s behavior,” writes Walker. Walker argues that there is a cumulative effect for women being criticized on the media for being too loud, old or big. For instance, Kitten on Big Brother was called things like “loudmouth lesbian,” “attention-seeking brat” and “sinner.” Gordon Ramsay called British Parliament member Edwina Currie, who would have been 59 at the time Walker’s article was written, “the old lady who refuses to die.” On the show I’m a Celebrity, journalist Jennie Bond was called an “old slag.” Michelle McManus on Pop Idol was called “grossly overweight” by com-

mentators, who said she had a “penchant for third helpings.” In reality television, there is often a tendency to portray beautiful people, especially women, fighting each other or being sexually explicit. The public seems to enjoy watching it, perhaps because they compare themselves to the people they see on reality television. “Media creates consciousness,” says Academy Award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda in Miss Representation, who blames chiefly the male producers and directors behind the scenes for shaping the content of media. “And if what gets put out there that creates our consciousness is determined by men, we’re not going to make any progress.” For instance, the show Bad Girls Club puts self-proclaimed “bad girls” in the same house, where fighting and sexual promiscuity are encouraged and frequent. “In a world of a million channels, people try to do more shocking and shocking things to break through the clutter,” CEO of Common Sense Media Jim Steyer says in Miss Representation. “They resort to violent images, or sexually offensive images or demeaning images.”

Broadcasting

The 2011 documentary Miss Representation shows many examples of the poor treatment of women in media: reporters asking Sarah Palin if she had breast implants, or commenting that if someone were to water-board Nancy Pelosi, she would not admit to having plastic surgery. In the documentary, executive director of Women in Media and News Jennifer Pozner asks: “The fact that media are so derogatory to the most powerful women in the country — then what does it say about media’s ability to take any women in America seriously?” Time writer Charlotte Alter says that “women are vastly underrepresented in sports journalism.” Two out of the 183 sports talk radio hosts on Talkers magazine “Heavy Hundred” were women. According to Alter’s research, in 1999, 36.9 percent of staff in the newsrooms were women, and in 2014, that number has lowered by 0.6 percent. Katie Couric, a journalist, author www.theclause.org/collide • 35

Film still from I love lucy

36 â&#x20AC;˘ collide â&#x20AC;˘ march 2014

LEFT: Youtube Screnshot

and talk-show host, was one of the first solo female news anchors for a weekday evening news show on major news networks. However, in December 2013, her show was cancelled after two seasons due to low ratings. Barbara Walters, a broadcast journalist, author and talk-show host, was the first female co-anchor for evening news broadcasting. However, she announced that she will be retiring from ABC News and The View this May. Christina Johnson worked as a broadcast journalist at Public Radio for several years. Johnson never wanted to be the “side kick” female on the show. “Today it [the side kick] has become a required, stereotypical role for women. You are expected to laugh at the male host’s jokes no matter how bad they are, or embellish on his antics,” Johnson said. “The woman is always talking about the traffic, weather, or having a bad hair day. It’s like the clock has gone backwards for women in broadcasting both on TV and radio.” Professor Mary Beard, a Cambridge television historian, suggests that female broadcasters are instructed to copy the “deep authoritative” tones of a man when they speak. “It’s not a coincidence that even on radio, the successful women presenters tend to have unusually deep (i.e. male) voices,” Beard writes in Radio Times. “Some of these [voices] are ‘natural.’ I suspect, but don’t know, that when those voices aren’t natural, women in public positions get encouraged, as Margaret Thatcher was, to go down a register.” A.A. Gill, a TV critic, told Beard she was too unattractive to be in television programs. She believes that companies hire attractive female broadcasters to keep the public watching their channel. “You need only think of how most viewers accept, without a blink, the craggy, wrinkled faces and bald patches of male documentary presenters, as if they were the signs of mature wisdom,” writes Beard. “Yet in the case of women presenters, grey hair and wrinkles often signal ‘past-my-use-by-date’ – or at least glaring eccentricity and deficient grooming.” However, Sue MacGregor, the former Today program broadcaster, admits

in The Independent that although her voice is lower than most females, she could not think of any women on the radio with male-like voices. When women are hired in broadcasting, for both television and radio, Johnson believes that their on-air sound and personality was not taken into consideration as much as their appearance. “I don’t think women are often hired, even on radio, with a strong balance of their broadcasting skills, but how they will look on bus promotion signs, [or] TV commercials, if it’s TV as a news reader,” said Johnson. “I was very fortunate...Public Radio never put women in roles of less significance[s] than the male counterparts, or rarely. I was expected to cover the same types of stories. I could host the Morning Show or any other shift

exist. Unless you are watching E! or some type of Entertainment Tonight segment, your late night laugh is from a classic American funny man. Of course, there are still popular female-hosted talk shows, like Ellen, The View and the Wendy Williams Show, but these are not given primetime slots, and instead are typically aired in the afternoon. The numbers alone explain the discrepancy. Our media permits women to host shows when viewership is coming from homes during the day, yet when it comes to “prime time” women virtually disappear. Late-night just got a lot less funny.

Conclusion

With so many people in the world watching television every day, media make a significant impact on the

“Women have always been objects of sexual desire in the media,” Isaacs said. “The loosening of restrictions on cable has made prime time networks scramble to keep up. As a result, the sexual objectification of women has become more graphic and demeaning.” as required without having to have a male front it. This is very rarely heard anywhere else.”

Comedy and Talk-Shows

Have you noticed what connects all late-night comedy shows on TV? Besides the laugh tracks in the background and cheesy sets, all late-night hosts are male with the exception of Chelsea Handler who gets a half hour slot for her show, Chelsea Lately. Even with the replacement of Jay Leno, the appropriate men slid into place with Jimmy Fallon taking the big seat for the Tonight Show and SNL-alumni Seth Meyers taking Fallon’s spot in Late Night. Except for Handler fans, it is difficult to even recognize the absence of a strong female host during latenight TV because they don’t really

country’s culture and social structure. But in all aspects of media, talk-shows, reality TV, film and broadcasting, women are often not only underrepresented but viewed in an overly sexualized and derogatory way. The media is perpetuating a skewed view of reality for women. Broadcaster Christina Johnson admitted to this discrepancy in the media. “Of course there are exceptions,” said Johnson, “but I have little respect for media consultants until they start looking at women who are more than side kicks and [who] lead with their class and intelligence.” It’s time for the media to start using their impact to create a change in how our society views women—if the media starts the trend, society will have to follow. www.theclause.org/collide • 37

The FUTU demographics Of Am Diversity and population numbers as cultural catalysts will literally change what America looks like, but first, we need to ask the right questions. By Taylor Schablaske

he United States represents one of the most diverse countries in the entire world and is becoming more varied racially each year. People with ancestors that came from all over the world who make up the population of this country all have their own unique histories and backgrounds that shape the cultural fabric of society. With the increase in immigration and people of different races coming together to live in the US there has been an increased population of multiracial individuals. The 2010 Census showed that people who reported a background of mixed race grew by 32 percent to 9 million between 2000 and 2010. In comparison, the single-race population increased 9.2 percent. In all, the U.S. population increased by 9.7 percent since 2000. Many multiple-race groups increased by 50 percent or more. The increasing population of the U.S. and the inner-mixing of cultural groups that comes with interracial marriages leads to “mixed race” terminology. Most Americans have at least two ethnic backgrounds if not more. 38 • collide • march 2014

So naturally, a common question to ask a person when their racial background seems mixed or indeterminable by sight alone is, “What are you?” When that question is asked, the response will be something like, well, “I’m half of this, half of that, a quarter of this, a quarter of that.” Another answer may even be, “Heinz 57,” a term some use to describe a mix of numerous ethnicities. But, is “what are you” even the right question we should be asking each other? Does that question truly ask where a person comes from and what heritage they represent? A more appropriate question we could be asking is, “Who are you?” It is one of the most basic questions, but it can represent so much. What it represents signifies? for some people can mean be where they are from, whom and what they represent, and how they have become the persons they are. Asking about a person and not just their racial background grants them the opportunity not to be defined by whatever society associates with their racial makeup. Racial heritage is important, but a person is not

summed up by their race. A recent graduate from APU, Marcus Mendillo, who is of Vietnamese and Italian descent, identifies as “mixed” but does not let that define who he is. “I’ve honestly never really thought about being any different than anyone else, I grew up around people from pretty much every race, so I’ve always just considered myself American,” Mendillo said. So, can “American” be the acceptable answer? Or is identifying as “American” forsaking other ethnic identifications such as Hawaiian, Hispanic, Norwegian? In the future, will people of different origins abandon their heritage to consider themselves American, or will all cultures finally be recognized equally? Alex Huskey, an African-American pastor from Indiana, believes that race is something that will always be considered an important classification to remember where we have come from and what we represent. “Even though it seems that the demographics of our country are changing rapidly there is still a need to ful-

URE merica ly understand cultural differences so that we can learn how to continue to respect each other and grow from what each other brings to the table or offers as productive members of society,” Huskey said. He also believes classifying people into racial categories may be beneficial. “It’s important for people to identify where they came from and so they can learn how to live better together,” Huskey said. He also shared that people learning to live together does not always depend on race; he used marriage as an obvious yet clear example. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the same ethnicity or the same race, you still come from different cultures and you still have to make those cultures work together,” Huskey said. “There are important parts of each culture that is going to be an important part of raising a family or even how to come together as one.” With the demographics of the nation changing drastically over the years, Americans must learn to accept each other and recognize that each person represents a different heritage and origin that could be shared with everyone when people work to live together in the same community, state or country. Large racial umbrella terms generalize and suppress the unique nature of heritage and ethnic backgrounds. The terminology used

even in the Census lends itself to a broad governmental approach to asking, “What are you?” The largest multiracial groups in the 2010 Census were “white” and “black” (1.8 million); “white” and “some other race” (1.7 million); “white” and “Asian” (1.6 million); and “white” and “American Indian” and “Alaska Native” (1.4 million). Many people are a mix of races and chose to identify with whichever one they feel more connected with or influenced by. Perhaps, any of the above options equate to the same as “American.” Masudul Biswas, a communication professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, believes “American” should be an acceptable answer to, “What are you?” “I think the basic fact is: everyone is American. In the next 50 years most of the non-white population by then will be second, third, fourth generation immigrants. That population will be culturally American,” Biswas said. As more generations are born in the United States, “American” is becoming a more widely acknowledged answer for an ethnic background, but “American” also implies that the different origins that people in this country come from should be recognized. “Those who come to the United States, [they] become assimilated to the culture, so this is how we consider they are all to an extent American. There are children born here, go to school with other Americans and they grow up in American society, so they also become culturally American,” Biswas said. Biswas explained that for now at least, culture can be defined as American. “Within the culture there can be diversity, like in origin,” Biswas said. “That you need to recognize, because diversity is not only about accepting, you also need to recognize different groups.” It is not only the mixed race population increasing, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82 percent of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants. In other words, the future

America is going to look significantly different. As the racial makeup of America is changing each year, and becoming even more of a melting pot, there are still inequalities and differences that may never go away. People in our country are becoming more accepting of others from different origins and backgrounds, and by asking the right questions, the future of the American people will tend towards progress because we dared to stop asking WHAT people are and started asking WHO they are.

19%

one in every five Americans will be an immagrant in 2050

29%

The Latino population, already the nation’s largest minority group, will triple in size and will account for most of the nation’s population growth from 2005 through 2050. Hispanics will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, compared with 14% in 2005.

47% Whites will become a minority (47%) by 2050.

2050

Births in the United States will play a growing role in Hispanic and Asian population growth; as a result, a smaller proportion of both groups will be foreign-born in 2050 than is the case now.

www.theclause.org/collide • 39

photos (of kids) please

By Paige Smith

40 • collide • march 2014

TOP LEFT: Youtube Screnshot

ustling city streets, flashing light bulbs, following people into car garages, banging on windows, yelling out vulgar names, threatening to leak other’s private information, jumping out of trees and from bushes are all just a few ways that paparazzi get a rise out of celebrities today in order to get a newsworthy picture of day to day lives. During a promotional tour for the Kickstarter film, Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell was pulling into a parking garage, when a photographer banged on her window when she refused to roll it down, called her the C-word and threatened to tell people where she was staying. She revealed this terrifying moment to HuffPost Live host, Ricky Camilleri. "People act like animals and that's just not OK with me. It's absurd and we've gotten to a point where we've just lost our humanity," Bell told Camilleri. In an interview with Ellen Degeneres, Bell explained that she and her husband, Dax Shepard, were not going to show any photos of their 1-year-old daughter, Lincoln, publicly because unlike her parents, she is not a celebrity. They do not want to make that decision for her, but rather allow her to make it when she is of age. Bell publicly presented social media viewers with the pressing issue of minors, who are not celebrities but celebrity children, being photographed and published without parental consent. What Bell deliberately stated to the media is exactly what many celebrities have been trying do and say for years: ‘Stop taking photos of our children without parental consent.’ Bell took to Twitter and stated she would no longer associate herself or do interviews with media outlets who published unconsented photographs of her children. According to Bell, if a celebrity is at an event with his or her children where they know they will be photographed, or if it is for a magazine spread, photos are allowed. Otherwise, taking pictures of celebrity kids

in public is off limits. Bell does not want to impose or look down upon celebrities who allow photos to be taken of their children publicly but just simply wants to give the parent who the right to privacy with his or her child. In Bell’s interview with HuffPost Live she described the situation in a way that would make it understandable for any parent. The analogy she used can be compared to a permission slip a parent must sign for field trips. "I signed up to be an actress,” Bell said in the interview with HuffPost Live. “I also signed up to be a parent and I take my role as a mother very seriously, and you do not have permission to photograph my daughter.” Other actresses besides Bell have been bombarded by paparazzi to the

"I signed up to be an actress,” Bell said in the interview with HuffPost Live. “I also signed up to be a parent and I take my role as a mother very seriously, and you do not have permission to photograph my daughter.” point where they press charges. For instance, Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner went to Sacramento to convince state legislators that their children are not safe due to the paparazzi. Up until now, the media has simply ignored the pleas from these individuals to stop publishing their children without their consent, along with other minors who are not in the media. Consent is a dangerous legality that journalists must acknowledge in their practices. According to Dr. Daniel Pawley, associate professor of communication studies at APU: “‘Consent’ is an unattractive concept to First Amendment journalists. It implies restriction and the fact that

you're giving the power to sources of news and images rather than exercising responsible power yourself.”

#CaliforniaLaw

In August 2013, Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry attended a hearing with California legislators to discuss banning paparazzi from taking photographs of their children in public settings without permission of the legal guardians. Halle Berry explained to the Assembly Committee of Public Safety: "My daughter doesn't want to go to school because she knows 'the men' are watching for her. They jump out of the bushes and from behind cars and who knows where else, besieging these children just to get a photo." On January 29, 2014, after many conversations and meetings, two bills dealing with personal privacy, not only for celebrities but also for private citizens, were passed. California Assembly Bill 1256 edited the California Privacy Law, which included children’s activities taking place at public and private schools, medical facilities and other places where privacy exists to establish buffer zones around entrances and exits. The hope with this addition to the law is that individuals, including paparazzi, will not be able to impede the private lives of not only celebrities but also other citizens who are in the area. The second bill passed was the California Assembly Bill 1356 that made edits to the California Civil Stalking Law. This law now includes someone who has caused another individual “substantial emotional distress” while they were following them or photographing them. An example of what causes this distress and helplessness is when celebrities arrive at airports such as LAX and have photographers screaming and yelling to get a rise out of them. While celebrity voices may have been previously muted they are now being heard on a larger political level. The PAPARAZZI Reform Initiative, which was established in 2009 to educate the public on the paparazzi industry, is working to enforce these www.theclause.org/collide • 41

People stated that they would, however, make rare exceptions based on the newsworthiness of the photos. Hilton stated in his message to readers that he has a son of his own and this issue has been interfering within his personal and professional worlds. While he has agreed to no longer post unconsented photos, he will post photos where there is a mutual understanding of photographs being taken (e.g. red carpets, media event) or if they are from a social media account of the parents. Additionally, he added that he will never post photos of any celebrities attending funerals or paying respects to others. In the message he stated, “Hopefully other outlets can respect the feelings of humans who happen to be famous when they are in times of mourning.” changes to help protect privacy and safety. Founder Sean Burke in an exclusive interview stated: “Social media has changed the game. People can now broadly communicate and an entire conversation can happen without the media involved at all. The tables have turned a little bit—there is a lot more freedom of communication.” Rebuttals by media organizations against these changes had to do with the fact that it could affect newsgathering and First Amendment rights. This type of change could cause individuals to question the sanctity of their rights as citizens and as employed workers. Less than a year after these concerns were brought up at the California State Capitol, many media organizations have decided to join in on no longer publishing photographs of celebrity children without consent by the parents.

#MediaOutlets

Entertainment Tonight was the first to jump on the bandwagon of this campaign. People magazine, the leading tabloid magazine in the United States, and Perez Hilton within the past month have publicly announced, via their social media sites, that they would no longer be running or purchasing unconsented photographs of children. 42 • collide • march 2014

One reason for this change of heart could be that more female celebrities that have kids are becoming even more defensive and willing to speak out about this, specifically within social media. “I think they get it—the women who are involved, maybe men too, but mostly mothers who are running a lot of these things get it,” Burke said. On February 25, 2014, Jess Cagle, the editorial director at People Magazine, made a statement that the magazine would no longer be publishing

Celebrities have used Twitter and other social media sites to get the word out on the truth of what is being consumed. children’s photographs in their magazine. The statement said: “At People we pride ourselves on covering entertainment and human-interest stories with respect for the truth and compassion for our subjects. We grow and evolve by listening to our audience – but also by being fair to the people we write about in print and online.” Within this same editor’s letter

#Twitter

Twitter wars seem to be all the rage nowadays from Miley vs. Katy and Kanye West vs. Jimmy Kimmel, but the war that caught the attention and tugged at the hearts of followers and viewers was Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard vs. the media. While news and media outlets used to have control of the information given to consumers, now fans hear from their favorite celebrity before believing what is read or perceived in the media. Fans grabbed on tight to the Shepard and Bell power couple by supporting the ban of tabloid magazines that took photos of children and published them by paparazzi, with the Twitter Hashtag term “#pedorazzi.” Bell and Shepard asked fans and followers to no longer purchase magazines that purchased photographs of children. According to Burke, Bell and Shepard are simply informing consumers of what they are consuming. The process and length at which the individuals go to get a photo that is newsworthy of a child can be detrimental to their safety and privacy. Hilary Duff, a strong advocate of the movement, tweeted about this campaign. On February 25, 2014 Duff posted, “Children are not meant to be

consumed, and they deserve to have their anonymity protected. #pedorazzi #nokidspolicy” Celebrities have used Twitter and other social media sites to get the word out on the truth of what is being consumed. Media outlets are now taking a stance with celebrities and their viewers by no longer publishing these types of photographs. “They want viewers. It is very tough on the media right now because of the social media,” said Burke. “Think of how many mothers view these magazines and shows. If they start losing that base of viewership, because they are running photos, that a competitor is not, it hurts them a lot, dramatically I think.”

TOP LEFT: Youtube Screnshot

#Future

According to Burke, it is historic that celebrities have reached the point where they are able to communicate in such a way to get the media to change the format of their business. “The fact that they [the media] are voluntarily not running pictures that they would potentially get viewers from, when a lot of the media is hurting, is historic,” said Burke. “It’s a good sign where our media has come through a bit of this tabloid phase. We used to have kind of this hard news and then it turned really tabloid-ish. Hopefully we are coming back to a better news product.” While there are still many outlets that have not sided with the celebrities on their children’s right to privacy, it is still a great feat for the industry in a day and age that is all media-consuming. While the cameras will still be flashing at the stars of Hollywood, one can hope that it is not long until this activity subsides for the kids. While she may be the narrator of Gossip Girl, a private investigator in Veronica Mars or a girl-next-door with a Frozen side, Kristen Bell is first and foremost a mother to her daughter and will go to great lengths to protect her child. Just like other celebrities in Hollywood who have been fighting for years to gain this ban. The change is here and hopefully it will stay the change will hopefully stay.

[POV]

By Haley Oram

he highlight of my week is every Wednesday night. No, it isn’t Kaleo. It isn’t even with fellow APU students. It is with 20 women ranging from college age to new mothers to hip grandmas where we sit down, eat some cookies and get to dive into God’s Word. It is my weekly Bible study through my local church. If you are a student living on campus, it can sometimes feel like “church” is everywhere you go. People can be seen praying in the dining hall. Worship music echoes across Trinity Lawn. And we all have to sit through three chapels a week. These are all wonderful, but these aren’t church. A church is diverse in everything from backgrounds to ages. Everyone at APU is generally the same age and here for the same purpose: to walk across the stage, shake Jon Wallace’s hand and get that piece of paper that signifies your college education. That is the uniting factor, what brings this community together. At church, the unifying factor is nothing less than Jesus himself. People both alike and different come together to learn more about Christ. This spiritual union is one of the strongest connections available between people and God on this earth. It is an incredible experience to be united for one purpose, for one God. Though we do unite together for Christ at APU, our community is temporary. Trust me, as a senior in my last semester, your time here comes and goes so fast, even if you decide to be a super-senior and stay an extra semester. We all need to keep the reality of this community in our minds. It’s a short, designated season in a small, constrained environment. The church isn’t. No matter where 44 • collide • march 2014

He wants us to spur each other on to love and good works. So when it comes to the question of church attendance, the question really is why would you not want to take advantage of that blessing? reason to be burnt out. That is until I remember what God has done through the church, when I remember I have people who are dependent on me going to church with them. It is these Sundays, when God pushes me out of myself to attend church, that I feel the most blessed to sit through service. The church exists to glorify God and preach his Word. And for us as Christians, that is a complete blessing. For us as American Christians is it an even more profound blessing that we can meet without fear of violence. It is a blessing that we can hear God’s Word. It is a blessing to be around other believers in community. Hebrews 10:2425 gives us yet another admonishment for believers to stay in community: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the

Day drawing near.” God desires us to be in community; He wants us to spur each other on to love and good works. So when it comes to the question of church attendance, the question really is why would you not want to take advantage of that blessing? It is something God desires that we do, and that is because it is truly one of the greatest gifts he gives us. So go to church. Awkwardly text that classmate who goes to the 9 a.m. service and has room in her car. Sacrifice that extra hour of sleep. And if you still find yourself not wanting to attend church, I challenge to you to reflect on why that is. Because no matter your theological stance, I believe all Christians should have such a desire and desperate need for God that urges us, logically and spiritually, to seek more of God through church. And the beauty of it all is that I can guarantee that any church you go to where the Bible is opened and the Word of God is preached, you will be given truth that can affect your day, your week, your year—and even your life. Haley Oram is a senior English major who enjoys hiking, photography, and, of course, writing. You can usually find her at a local coffee shop drinking a caramel macchiato and working on her latest story idea.

TOP RIGHT: Arielle Dreher

The Blessing of the church: be a part

you are in the country and even the world, the church is there in some manifestation. It is present from the bustling urban setting of Los Angeles to the small back cobblestone streets of Spain. The church has a consistency, a permanence, a promise of being one of the longest-lasting institutions because it is from God. Without fail, even when my head propels me to church rather than my heart, the majority of my personal growth as a Christian has come from the church. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I was at church every Sunday before the service started and after the last donut was devoured. Now, I have complete control of my church attendance, and some mornings I have no desire to get out of my bed early on a Sunday morning. As far as ritualistic attendance of church goes, I have every