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upcoming EvEnTs
March 31, 2016
Volume LXXXIV No. 4
This EdiTion CONCORD HOSTS SYMPOSIUM ON POVERTY N : ews
Christian Pridemore
Jacqulyn Gross’ poster was one of many presented at the symposium. Photo By: Christian Pridemore tion, Wilkinson was unable to attend for his part of the Symposium. Wilkinson’s TED talk entitled, “How Economic Inequality Harms Societies” was displayed for the audience, and can be found on YouTube. Dr. Rank’s opening address comprised the first hour of the symposium, but was easily summarized by Dr. Eppard. Eppard said that Rank is one of, if not the leading expert of poverty in America and that Concord was very blessed to have him give the opening address. Rank talked about how
think about poverty. Social policy, because our culture supports it, our social policy treats poverty that way, it looks at individuals. Even our social science, the way we study poverty, tends to focus almost solely on individuals. [Rank] says this is the wrong thing to do. Individual levels shows you who was at a higher risk of poverty, but it doesn’t tell you why poverty exists, and this is particularly important to sociologists.” Eppard continued by saying that Rank’s research focuses more on the
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context behind what causes poverty, and not just what is perceived as causing poverty. The example that Eppard gives is that of single mothers, which Eppard says are not inherently problematic, but appear as such in the United States where over half of all single mothers are poor. Meanwhile, in other countries, the percentage of poor, single mothers is less than seven percent. Eppard goes further into Rank’s message, saying “Individual characteristics absolutely matter. And in most countries having a lack of things like social capital, economic capital, cultural capital… having a lack of resources is going to put you at a high risk of poverty. But it’s not the same risk; it’s not even close to the same risk in some countries versus others. That’s really what his research focuses on. In the U. S. we tend to lose sight of that which means we tend to develop policies that lose sight of that. And so we have much higher poverty rates, and the childhood poverty rates here… as much as one in five, sometimes one in four, depending upon the year, of our children live in poverty, and that’s appalling in the richest country in the world.” After the opening address SEE SYMPOSIUM, P. 2
• MyCU Loan Dashboard • CU Geography Courses • West Virginia Literary Symposium
studeNt Life: • Self Defense Class • Men’s Basketball
Arts & eNtertAiNmeNt: • My Only Safe Haven and Motion Theater • Tactile Art Show • In the Heart of the Sea Review
OpiNiON • Batman v. Superman Review
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The Concordian Newspaper does not endorse any one political candidate. Campaign materials are only included by request of a candidate’s party.
With the new addition of the loan dashboard to the MyCU page, many students might be thinking about how they’re going to start paying their loans back. Those students will be considering how they’re going to be tightening their belts in order to be able to afford their payments. Hopefully, some of these same students gained a little perspective at the 2016 Poverty and Inequality Symposium held on March 9th 2016 in the main auditorium of the Alexander Fine Arts Center. While it is true that students fresh out of college will be making adjustments to their lifestyles to pay back loans, the Poverty and Inequality Symposium talked more about how people all over the country have to make the same kinds of adjustments in order to make a living, and how this kind of poverty relates to countries all over the world. The symposium itself consisted of three main highlighted events: Dr. Mark Robert Rank from Washington University in St. Louis, who gave his opening address entitled, “Towards a New Understanding of American Poverty,” followed by a poster presentation session from Dr. Lawrence Eppard’s Social Deviants students, and concluding with a presenta-
people should view poverty at a more holistic level rather than at an individual level. Eppard stated, “As a culture we tend to look at individuals when you
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tion from Richard Wilkinson, a Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at University of Nottingham. Unfortunately, due to an error in communica-
• Concord Hosts Symposium on Poverty
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came the students’ presentations of their research posters. The posters all focused around three themes as they relate to poverty: work, marriage, and education. Eppard said that the students had to pick sociological sources to render these claims problematic, and much of what was discussed in the poster presentations was
also touched upon in Rank’s address. Topics discussing the kinds of opportunities afforded to people, like their parents’ incomes, quality of primary schooling, and types of job openings available to certain individuals, were all concerning factors in poverty as it related to both work and education. As far as poverty as it related to marriage, Eppard said “What’s interesting about the marriage research is that Americans expect more from their spouses today than ever
before. You not only expect them to be a good lover, good financially, have a good job, but to be a good parent, be communicative… I mean all these things that a 1950’s family wouldn’t expect from a father.” Eppard goes on to talk about how these kinds of rising standards led to an increase in divorce rates, and how these rates have still not changed a lot for the poor class. One of Eppard’s students presenting in the Symposium, Jacqulyn Gross, presented her poster on
Poverty and Marriage for Eppard’s Social Deviants class. When asked how the course material related to the Symposium, Gross said, “Poverty in itself is a deviant act. Most people don’t want to be poor, most people view poor living as not normal.” As stated, this is the first Poverty and Inequality Symposium, but Eppard is proud of its resounding success and has big plans for more symposiums in the future. Eppard says that he plans to host the next Sym-
posium in the Fall semester 2017, and wants to make the event even more grand than before, expanding it into an all day event filled with poster presentations, community organizations, faculty research presentations, a social justice artwork exhibition, and plenty more food. Students are urged to be alert for the announcement of this next Poverty and Inequality Symposium in order to gain some perspective and learn how to stand against such inequality and injustice.
LOAN DASHBOARD NOW AVAILABLE James Hoyle
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they run out of money before they finish their program. Two, to decrease student loan debt, and to also [help] students plan.” Flanigan added that the process began with the University of Indiana in Bloomington. They had started a pilot project that received federal grant money to create a tracker and a form of loan education for their students so that they could not only monitor their borrowing, but also become aware of their borrowing limit. What they found was that the more that they educated students on loans, the less money was needlessly borrowed and the less number of students defaulted. Overall, the rate of borrowing decreased by roughly 11%. As a result of this study, Indiana state legislature passed a law that requires all state colleges to inform students what
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their student loan debt is, in paper form, every year. A group of concerned staff members gathered together in the summer of 2015 and began to question how they could implement a similar system at Concord University. Jamie Boggs, Director of Web Development, came up with the idea of a dashboard that students could see. The group was interested in this due to its visual nature. It is also helpful because, unlike Indiana, this can be viewed whenever a student pleases. “In Indiana, they’re doing it in paper, not a dashboard like this, so it’s really cutting-edge,” Flanigan said. The Loan Dashboard is now active and can be viewed by Concord students, though it is only available to undergraduates and not graduate students.
Editor-in-Chief I’ll be the first to admit that my D.C. Comics knowledge is pretty basic. I can identify the mainstream characters, and I remember the origin stories of a few of them. Other than that, I’m pretty fresh when it comes to D.C. I’ve never watched a Batman movie, or Man of Steel, and I hadn’t even heard of the Justice League until a couple of years ago. I’m pretty strictly a Marvel girl. Still, I think that gives me a unique perspective on D.C.’s newest creation, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. As always, if you haven’t seen it yet, be aware that this review may contain spoilers. The basic premise of the movie is in the title. Two of the biggest heroes in the D.C. universe finally come together for what is supposed to be a knockdown drag-out fight for supremacy. Superman’s status as an almost deity-like entity is under scrutiny when his body count of innocents is finally considered (which is great, because that is a factor that typically gets ignored in superhero movies) and Batman sets out to take down the world’s favorite alien. At the same time, Clark Kent, who is (spoiler alert) Superman in disguise, is trying to take the focus off of himself by ousting the vigilante Batman
Batman v. Superman brings together three of D.C. Comics most popular superheroes. Photo courtesy of comingsoon.net as a menace to society. Essentially, the plot of the whole movie seems to be “Yea, I accidentally killed some people, but at least I’m not THAT guy.” From the beginning, the movie sets off into a violencefilled superhuman extravaganza, filled with just the right amount of witty banter and a lukewarm romance to ensure all parts of the box office equation are satisfied. Overall, I thought the movie was fun. There are lots of explosions, chase scenes, not-sosubtle threats from the sort of undercover Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, and gratuitous amounts of testosterone. Fun for the whole family. Sure,
there are some plot lines that are shaky at best, and some weird out-of-left-field concepts that are mentioned just enough to pique the interest and then never mentioned again, but what do we really expect from comic-based superhero movies anymore? The movie was already three hours long, I don’t imagine too many people would be willing to sit through three more hours of movie just to answer some questions that really weren’t all that relevant to the task at hand. Social media has been abuzz with criticisms for the movie from what I am assuming are D.C. fans. I’ve seen that it was “a hot mess” and “not in a good
way.” That may be true. I don’t have enough knowledge of the universe to really make a fair assumption, so I’m just going to keep my focus on the punching and shooting than on the canonical soundness of the movie. Other comic conspiracy theorists are curious about the timing of the release. It could be argued that Marvel is the comic brand that is dominant right now, with two Avengers movies already out and more installments on the way, and any comic fan is keenly aware that Captain America: Civil War will be releasing stateside on May 6. Anyone with any knowledge of the Marvel uni-
verse (or that owns a television and has seen the trailer) can see that the movie is essentially going to be Captain America vs. Iron Man, two different definitions of “good” fighting it out in an epic battle for the ages. Sound familiar? I’m no expert on the subject. I just like to watch people in latex hit each other while eating overpriced popcorn and candy. However, it does beg the question as to whether D.C. strategically timed the release of this movie to coincide with the hype of Marvel’s next sureto-be box office hit. It’s possible, I suppose, but if you asked me, most people are going to just watch both of them so they have adequate ammunition for all the D.C. vs. Marvel flame wars on the internet. Maybe they should make a movie about that too. Anyway, if you’re looking for something better to do than watch Chopped reruns on a Friday night, I would recommend trekking to the theatre to watch Superman and Batman duke it out. Just don’t go to the late night showing, or those monsters in the cinema industry are going to charge you double price for tickets. Speaking from experience, here. If you have seen it already, what’d you think? I’d love to hear your feedback, so drop me a line at Concordian.concord. edu.
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Americans in general place a great deal of respect on and pay a great amount of attention to higher education. From the moment a student first sets foot into high school, they are bombarded with the message “Go to college, earn a degree in something, and you too can become a success.” Unfortunately, many students do not have the means to pay the sometimes draconian costs of college. Throw in room and board and the price of schoolbooks, and students can often expect to pay quite a lot. While Concord is relatively cheap to attend compared to other universities, incoming freshmen often have to take out student loans. And they are increasingly doing so, often to their own detriment. In an article from
this will allow students to see exactly how much debt they have accumulated, an interest rate that they might use, how much interest the loans will accrue in ten years based off of that rate, and a grand total of the amount borrowed added with the interest. Marjie Flanigan, Concord’s Vice President of Student Affairs, says that Concord wants to assist students in navigating and understanding financial aid and student loans. “A lot of times, students seem to borrow the maximum amount because that’s what’s available to them, and not necessarily what they need. We had a few goals in mind while making this. One was to have students borrow only the amount they needed to go to school instead of getting check change and maybe spending it before they really need it and
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The Wall Street Journal entitled “Congratulations, Class of 2015. You’re the Most Indebted Ever (For Now),” writer Jeffrey Sparshott states that a little over 70% of those who graduated in 2015 have student loans. On average, each individual student owes roughly $35,000 at the time of graduation. This adds up to a country where, as of 2012, student loan debt has surpassed both automobile and credit card debt. Concord University’s administration is aware of how expensive college can be, which is why they have created a tool that will allow students quick access to see just how much one has borrowed and how much time it will take to pay off. When a student logs in to their MyCU account and clicks on the “Student” tab, they will find a new feature called “Loan Dashboard.” Clicking on
BATMAN V. SUPERMAN FROM THE EYES OF A DC COMICS NOVICE
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ArTs And EnTErTAinmEnT IN THE HEART OF THE SEA: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND MOBY-DICK Tsivia Chonoles
In the Heart of the Sea is not the most family-friendly tale. Photo courtesy of IMDB.com jerry-rigged sails. The boats drift for days, but before they can die of thirst, the sailors reach an uninhabited island. After finding skeletal remains on the island, all but three of
the crew decide to attempt to continue on to Easter Island. Stranded at sea, drifting for more than 80 days, and running out of food and fresh water, when members of the
crew begin to die, the rest finally turn to cannibalism as their last hope for survival. Once they had exhausted the dead bodies, crew members drew lots in order to decide
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A&E/Student Life Editor Beginning in the spring of 2017, Concord University’s geography department will be proud to offer a new addition to their mapping and Geographic Information Systems The course will focus on drone mapping. This course will be only the third of its kind in the state of West Virginia, hopefully
putting Concord’s program on par with those of WVU and Marshall. The course will be introduced as a part of the mapping coursework within the GIS emphasis for geography majors, says Dr. Joe Manzo, chair of the department, and will require a cartography pre-requisite. The class will teach drone maintenance as well as the multiple applications and legal implica-
tions of drone technology and usage, including where and where not a drone can fly. Drone technology will allow for the geographic mapping of areas that may not be so easily reached by people, including areas that are not only naturally hazardous, but also areas that may have been damaged by catastrophic weather events. This new program has received letters of support from Mercer,
Raleigh, and Summers County Commissioners as well as several parks programs, and will be geared towards student benefits in the hopes of helping to make students more competitive, and will potentially open up internship and job opportunities for geography students.
The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, advisors, or administration. They belong only to the author.
STUDENTS COMPETE IN STATE LITERARY SYMPOSIUM Christian Pridemore Staff Writer On March 19, 2016, West Liberty University hosted the 24th Annual West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium. 31 applicants from eight WV colleges and universities submitted original papers on literary topics for presentation at this competitive event. Of these 31 applicants, 23 were selected to present their essays orally at the symposium, including six of Concord’s own students: Amanda French, James Hoyle, Madison Jorgensen, Brittney McPherson, Kirston Smith, and Savannah Richmond. Brittney McPherson, a CU senior English Education major, was awarded second prize for her presentation of her essay, “Pistol Whipped: The Physical/Verbal Phallus in
Aphra Behn’s The Rover and Shakespeare’s King Henry IV part Two.” Dr. Elizabeth Roth, who represented CU on a statewide panel of English faculty reviewers who chose the papers to be presented at the symposium, gives a description of the nature of the competition: “It had two phases: first the review panel picked out what we thought were the best papers to be presented, so even being selected to present was an honor in itself since all of the essays were certainly worthy contenders. Then, at the symposium, the oral presentations of the papers were considered. There was also another part of the competition for the written document itself. So there were prizes given for the two best written papers and the two best presented papers.” The rubric for the oral pre-
sentations included criteria such as organization of the material, vocal delivery, physical delivery with gestures and motions, facial delivery with keeping eye contact with the audience, and, if applicable, a presentation aid such as a PowerPoint slide show. The written portion was judged based upon the same criteria English professors use to grade essays written for undergraduate classes, such as clarity of the writing and interpretation of the subject matter. According to Dr. Anthony Patricia, another CU English faculty member who served as a judge at the symposium, the quality of all the presentations was excellent, so the competition was fierce. Dr. Patricia stated that it was not easy to judge the competition because of the high quality of the material that was presented by all
the students at the symposium. Both Dr. Roth and Dr. Patricia agree that simply being invited to present at the symposium is an honor worth noting on applications and resumes. Dr. Patricia added that the oral presentation phase of the competition “gives students a really good experience of presenting their work to other people. Whether they’re going on to graduate school or going on the regular ‘job market,’ being able to present yourself that way is a skill that everybody is going to need.” Students interested in entering next year’s West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium competition are encouraged to contact Dr. Roth at rothl@concord.edu or Dr. Patricia at agpatricia@concord. edu for further information.
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Many of us probably remember Herman Melville’s “MobyDick” from when we were younger; some of us may have even had to read it in school at some point. Not many people know, however, that Melville’s seminal tale is based off a true story. This winter, Chris Hemsworth starred in a film titled In the Heart of the Sea from director Ron Howard (Rush, The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind), which tells the very true story of the whaleship Essex, originally launched in 1799. Be warned, this tale is not for the faint of heart. The movie tells the history of the ship’s sinking in 1820, at the peak of the Nantucket, Massachusetts whale oil industry. One of the most profitable whaling ships at the time, the Essex was deemed lucky and, after a refitting, was sent out on her final journey in 1819 captained by George Pollard and his First Mate Owen Chase (portrayed in the film by Benjamin Walker and Chris Hemsworth respectively). After being at sea for months with little success, Captain Pollard decides to follow rumors to whaling grounds 2,000 miles west of Ecuador, despite the tale of a vengeful white whale destroying the ship of a Spanish captain and killing six of his men. Once they reach the bountiful waters, the Essex is attacked by the albino sperm whale and capsizes, killing two of the crew and leaving the rest of the crew, twenty sailors in total, stranded in three whaling boats with
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who would be killed and eaten. 89 days after the sinking of the Essex, Chase’s whaleboat was rescued by a passing whaling ship, with a total of three survivors; 93 days after the sinking of the Essex, Captain Pollard’s whaleboat was rescued with a total of two survivors; the third whaleboat was lost with three men inside. The three men who stayed behind on the island were rescued in April of 1821. The movie is told from the point-of-view of now-grown Thomas Nickerson (portrayed by Brendan Gleeson), who was a cabin boy on the Essex when it sunk as he tells his story to Herman Melville (portrayed by Ben Whishaw). After the tale is told, we are shown Melville leaving Nickerson’s home and eventually sitting down to pen the famous first words of “Moby Dick”: “Call me Ishmael.” A frightening, heart-wrenching tale of men and their readiness to do anything to survive, the sinking of the whaleship Essex is probably one of the darker moments in American history, providing a harrowing look into the potential danger posed by the whaling industry. As with any on-screen adaptations, the film takes a slight creative license from the recorded recollections of Owen Chase and 14 year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, as well as from the non-fiction novel it takes its title from. Despite its 42% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I recommend In the Heart of the Sea to anyone who enjoys movies with a bit of action, a lot of heart, and a feeling of gritty realism.
NEW GEOGRAPHY COURSES
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SELF DEFENSE CLASS HOSTED AT CU Tsivia Chonoles
RETURNING BANDS ROCK CONCORD Christian Pridemore
Staff Writer
Chief Deputy Bailey and Corporal Murphy demonstrate some of Chief Deputy Bailey’s self defense tips. Photo By: Tsivia Chonoles information about both how to potentially deter attackers and how to react in multiple scenarios if you are attacked,
including how to escape from a hair grab and a choke hold. When asked if they hope to hold the class again, Svendsen
said “We’re hoping to aim for every semester, and he’s willing to do it”. Overall the class seemed to be
MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM MEC CHAMPS James Hoyle
Staff Writer Concord University’s Men’s Basketball Team managed to stave off ruin at the Mountain East Conference Championship, coming from behind, defeating Notre Dame University, and claiming their first MEC Championship ever. The final score was 70-64. This historic win gives Concord University a record of 22 wins and nine losses this season, thus ensuring Concord University a spot in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament, which began on Saturday, March 12. Notre Dame, by comparison, falls to 22 wins and 10 losses. Both teams started slow. Fatigue had set in, as this was
the third game that both had played in three days. Concord turned over the ball 12 times during the first half, which meant that they were trailing Notre Dame by double figures for a few stretches of the game. By the second half though, Concord found their footing and their second wind. They switched to a solid defensive strategy. This, combined with powerful offensive moves from the likes of Terry Hopewell, Jametrius Wade, and Tommy Bolte, helped Concord slowly eat away at Notre Dame’s lead. However, senior guard Rob Reed was a major source of Concord’s success. He finished out the game with a total of 12 points scored, including three consecutive three-pointers. Because of this, Reed was
named the MEC Tournament’s MVP. In a press release written for theet.com, Concord Head Coach Chris McBride had this to say: “It was a heck of a championship game. Notre Dame jumped on us early and had us down double digits twice in the first half. I don’t think either team played particularly well, but when you’re playing your third game in less than 48 hours you’re going to have some tired legs and you’re going to make some bad decisions.” McBride added that, “Rob (Reed) made two big ones in a row for us to start the second half and everyone just seemed to have a huge sigh of relief at that point. Then we started playing. We switched to the zone and held them to 30
percent shooting in the second half. We had to because Gaiter was dictating everything for them in the first half. We had to find a way to neutralize him and it seemed to work.” Though Concord University was down for most of the game, they never lost faith in their ability and their commitment to winning the game. Speaking to The Bluefield Daily Telegraph, in an article entitled “Conference champs: Concord scrambles to MEC crown,” Rob Reed said, “I knew we could beat anybody in this league so we were never worried about coming in here and who we were going up against.” Coach McBride, in the same article, said that he is very proud of his team and how they performed despite fatigue and being under
a success, with all who attended enjoying the chance to learn how to protect themselves.
Concord University welcomed back some familiar faces on Wednesday, March 9, when the bands My Only Safe Haven and Motion Theatre returned to the Subway Stage once again to give us their soulful performances. Safe Haven began the night by performing some of their original songs such as “This is Your Story, Not a Goodbye Letter” and “Falling Up,” in addition to such pleasant surprises as a well articulated cover mashup between Michael Jackson and Nirvana. What made this performance from Safe Haven all the more appreciated is the fact that the lead singer, Kayla Saunders, confessed to the audience that
Motion Theater rocked the Subway Sides stage alongside My Only Safe Haven. Photo By: Christian Pridemore she had been feeling ill the night before the show.
The following band, Motion Theatre, gave what can truly
be described as a rock concert reminiscent of a time when
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Three weeks ago, Concord University’s Students for Campus Safety organization put together a self-defense class open to all students. The class was well-attended with over twenty participants, all but a few of them were female Concord students. The class, organized by Students for Campus Safety president Keri Svendsen, was taught by Chief Deputy Darrell B. Bailey from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from Corporal L.B. Murphy. Deputy Bailey provided an informational handout with detailed
TACTILE ART RAISES AWARENESS James Hoyle
tremendous pressure. “These guys deserve a lot of credit for what we have done in this gym and that shows what we preach to them, that you have to be your best when you are at your worst,” he said. With this win, Concord moves on to the NCAA Division II Regional Championship. Concord is the only team to beat West Liberty twice in one year since 2008. They hope to add to that in the coming match. Should Concord pull this off, they will be moving into the semifinals. If they do not, then their historic season ends. However, this championship win has earned this team a place in the annals of the history of Concord University for all time.
Staff Writer While many museums and art galleries have a strict policy of “look, but don’t touch,” this was not the case at the latest art show at Concord University. The university played host to a tactile art show on Thursday, March 24. It lasted from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m and was hosted by Dr. Lauri Redimiller, professor of art, and Keri Svendsen, a student of psychology. Tactile art is different from most other forms of art, as it does not rely on the sense of sight to be appreciated, nor does it rely on sound. Instead, in order to appreciate the art, it has to be touched and felt thoroughly. Artists working in this style have to make certain that each piece is not only safe
to touch from all angles, but also that it feels interesting in the hands of those experiencing the piece. Through this tactile craftsmanship, those that lack the ability to see or the ability to hear or those that are impaired in either function are able to experience art to its fullest extent. The idea for this art show first took root, according to Svendsen, roughly a year ago. Dr. Reidmiller, in one of her classes, allowed her students to appreciate some tactile art that was created for a similar show in Ohio, and thought that it would be a good idea to bring such an art show to West Virginia. Along with the art professors at Concord University, students (including Svendsen), along with other artists such as Queen Brooks of Columbus,
Ohio displayed their work in the Butcher Gallery for one week. Though it took some planning, Svendsen was happy that it “…came together nicely.” Everything about this art show was built with those with disabilities in mind. For the visually impaired or the color blind, most of the pieces had distinct shapes and were brightly colored. Each of the plaques displayed the pieces’ names in large, boldface type, with braille just below for those who could not make out the words. In addition, for those wishing to truly experience the tactile art, goggles were available to visitors. Some pairs were deliberately blurry to simulate the issues that visually impaired people face on a daily basis. Others were painted over with black paint,
so that those wearing them would have to experience the artwork from the perspective of those people who cannot see at all. Guides were there to help escort those that chose to wear the goggles around the exhibit. Svendsen said that is very important that people become aware of tactile art. “You go to a lot of art galleries that are fantastic galleries…but there’s always a ‘don’t touch, don’t touch!’ or you can’t even have your flash on, there’s not a lot of opportunities for blind and visually impaired students to really enjoy art, because it’s no fun to have someone go and describe the art, because that’s someone else’s perception. You can’t get your own perception of something.” Dr. Reidmiller added that some museums offer white glove tours, where
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rock concerts were much more interactive. The band’s lead singer, Greg Lilly, and the lead guitarist, Robbie Lanham, had the most interaction with the students in the audience. Both Lilly and Lanham danced all around the Subway stage and through the Subway and Starbucks areas, jumping on tables, talking with students about varying topics of self-worth and the vulgarity of a rock lifestyle, and they banged their heads like there was no tomorrow. Motion Theater performed a multitude of songs, some of the more noteworthy ones being “Skin and Bones” and “Atom in Eve.” Both bands were very talented, and Concord students were left with their minds and bodies thoroughly rocked.
blind and visually impaired people can touch the paintings. However, she insisted that is no real substitution, as someone cannot properly experience the texture or the thermal qualities of an art piece in this way. Following the show, Randy Gilkey, the blind guitarist of the local band The Boatmen, performed. He played several songs, most of which were old favorites from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Overall, the event was attended by several students, and the organizers hope that the art show not only brought awareness to those with different needs than most people, but also helped them understand their daily struggles.
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