Volume XII, Issue 1

The Gadfly “To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology

Vol. XII, Iss. I January 28, 2010

There’s A Million Things To Be The students and specifically the girls, at Franciscan University need a serious pep talk. There is a severe lack of motivation on campus and it is turning into an epidemic. There is so much “stuff” (seminars, retreats, talks, etc.) about learning how to be a real women of God, how to learn to affirm your friends, and bask in the feminine genius, but little to nothing on practical things that you need in order to survive in life. Instead of all this “affirmation” that campus seems to be obsessed with, we should help our friends to learn and do practical things. Give seminars on how to find internships,

schedule your time more efficiently to finish work so you can go and have fun, how to budget college loans, how to look for an apartment, how to balance a checkbook, and perhaps learn to do life skills in realistic terms.

Being feminine is more about one's personal attitude. If you are indeed going to promote these goals, which are fundamentally good ideas, knowing the good intentions behind them, advertise it not for being “feminine” but perhaps to promote solidarity for the girls on campus. Think of it this way: when one thinks of men, one doesn't think of them as hunting

and bringing back the bacon.

Rather, a man is someone who has formed his own opinions and can live for them while also being kind towards others, and when he sees some injustice he can maturely step up to task. It would be interesting to note how guys would feel if they told each other that by wearing pants it affirms their masculinity. Or through having a pants-wearing week and converse shoes make them more masculine. It might sound like, "hey man, I like your pants, real masculine...," rather ridiculous sounding. And just the same with the idea of girls emContinued on page 4

Why We Here!

Right before break, I had an end of the semester epiphany. It seems relevant now that we are beginning another long semester.

Our professor announced that he would be teaching during the final exam period for fifty minutes because our exam was to be a take-home essay.

While most of us were thankful for a take-home essay, there was a small amount of dissent in the room due to the fact that there was to be a lecture. The main complaint was that the lecture would not be beneficial because we would not be tested on the information covered in the lecture.

We’re too smart for extra lectures! I had no idea! No wonder college is voluntary. We don’t need to learn anything else; we already know everything. However, the students on this campus flock to Scott Hahn’s weekly lectures, the Theology of the body, and other such opportunities Franciscan has to offer. Why is attending a normal class period such a travesty?

Some of the most intelligent people alive never pass up the opportunity to learn new things. A true scholar should be in school to learn for the sake of learning, not to simply earn as high a GPA as possible, stuff a

resume full, and earn a degree in the easiest or most profitable field possible. If that were the avenue for all professional people, most especially doctors and teachers, the world would be in great trouble. Can you imagine watching a TV cooking show in which the chef hated food? An anorexic chef! Or what about the prospect of a new Crocodile Hunter who is terrified and repulsed by reptiles? I’m sure the shrieks would be entertaining, but what would we gain? There would be no more great thinkers, original ideas, or progress. A passion for discovery and knowledge is necessary in every Continued on page 6

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St. Clare, pray for us!

Staff: Michael J. Ruszala (M.J.R.) Amanda LaMuro (A.L.) Tony Leccece (T.L.) Emilyn Haremza (E.H.) Daniel Romeyn Davis (D.R.D.) Maria Cecilia Rocha (M.C.R.) Charles Pobee-Mensah (C.P.M.) Copy Editor Caitlin Garrett (C.G.) Layout Editor: Rosalie Doudna (R.D.) Business Manager: Anna Tang

From the Editor’s Desk Callow Youths, Oh, Christmas, you saucy wench, playing with me, granting me fulsome hopes, and leaving me all too quickly. Ah, me. Sorry about that.

Anyway, after reading Mr. Haas’ zesty letter to us, it has come to my attention that some of you have misplaced ideas about me. First of all, I am not the pope. I know this may shock you that Pope Benedict has not been moonlighting as a college newspaper editor in his free time but we do not speak ex cathedra from The Gadfly and therefore may print opinions that differ from your own, you pillars of Catholic virtue. Second of all, I am not a man and therefore, ladies, you may not and cannot have my babies so please stop asking. Gillian is a Welsh girl’s name and is pronounced with a soft g like Gillette or gin. Thirdly, we believe in the God-given right of everyone to voice their opinions and God bless America.

Enjoy

Editor in Chief: Gillian LaMuro (G.L.)

Letter to the Editor ** Please note that the views held in the individual articles do not necessarily express the views of the whole staff. **

Interested in joining our staff?

Email us at notestothegadfly@gmail.com

~Mission Statement~ The Gadfly is an attempt to “bite the sleeping horse” in the spirit of Socrates. It is a student publication whose purpose is to facilitate discussion concerning campus and cultural issues as they pertain to students of Franciscan University. It aims to be a forum for open, well-thought out, and honest discussion towards the end of knowing and loving truth in its most robust sense.

Advisor: Dr. John White Advisor Extraordinaire

I was appalled by Gillian's defense in the November 17 Gadfly of Emily Rolla's article.

No one attacked the article just because it mentioned high-heels and called women the weaker sex; they attacked it because it is sexist and destructive. And it certainly is not true that no male readers had a problem with the article. I find it just as despicable as all the women who wrote in last week. Finally, note that no one should be commended for boldly writing an article contrary to popular opinion if it endorses chauvinistic behavior and codifies stereotypes. Emily's article is damaging and disturbing; attempts to defend it are even more so. If recognizing that is what makes a person a feminist, then everyone ought to be one.

The Gadfly can't bite the sleeping horse at Franciscan, because it is the sleeping horse--the

sleeping horse of the Franciscan University intelligentsia. From articles like "The Christian Music Debate," saving the average ignorant campus dweller from a position that no one actually holds, to the article detailing how a student courageously escaped living inside a sheltered little world and how the hopelessly lost average student can perhaps find a little realism by meekly imitating his immaculate example, to every damn article that could have said what it had to say in a paragraph but instead filled up three pages with the same damn terrible humor that pervades the entire publication, the Gadfly is a disgrace to the spirit of Socrates. ~Christopher Haas

St. Martha, pray for us!

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Uncle Screwtape Stirs the Pot: A New student Comes to FUS (Part 1) It’s a pity, you know, that Lewis intercepted almost all of my letters to you, my dear Wormwood. To think – that crafty chap! Now you can go to any measly human bookstore and buy the whole collection for $5! But no fears – there’s no task that technology can’t bring to our fiendish service.

Now I write exclusively by encrypted e-mail.

Now listen, Wormwood. I am sending you to a new client – Sam, a new transfer student at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Franciscan! Oh, that name makes me cringe!!

To think of all the souls won back by the Master – the new priests and married couples, Fr. Mike, households, starving theology majors! It shall not be said again! From henceforth it shall only be called “the Bubble.” In fact, Her Majesty, the White Witch, will turn any fiend to stone who refuses to comply. The place is a dangerous assignment because of their tight community, positive peer pressure, and commitment to the Master. But even there, you can turn the pitchfork just right so they don’t even know what hit them. Take ‘em from the pack and cook ‘em little by little.

The first thing you must do, Wormwood, is isolate our dear client.

Now charity is the heart of Christianity, and charity is all about community. The Bubble brings out this connection uniquely. There’s something I cannot emphasize enough – our usual peer pressure tools are reversed there.

They don’t dare each other to do drugs and sleep around, they have each other go to Mass, join households, and do works of mercy! Ugh. If this spreads, this is very dangerous. If they get hooked on things like that, they’ll bring their families, parishes, and coworkers into the Enemy’s camp for years to come. In fact, their idea of

household hazing is carrying around stuffed lambs on campus!

Most students in the Bubble receive the sacraments. Of course, you must try to keep our client from the sacraments – those dreadful tools of the Enemy – but here’s a trick. Focus on the disposition.

Without an openness to the sacraments and what they offer, those graces will bounce right off him like water off a duck’s back. You know that the Eucharist and the sacraments are tied to community, and that if you douse any interest in community in our client, you can frustrate much of the sacraments’ effects. Snuff out an openness to charity! Give him a sense of his own self-importance, and keep him closed in on himself.

There are many ways the students misuse our peer pressure tool in the Bubble, but at all costs, you must keep our client from joining a household. Tell him he’s too good for household, tell him anything!

Households are a big part of the problem in the Bubble. Not only will they have him receive the sacraments regularly, but they’ll keep him living it out and give him a place to practice it. They’ll work through a lot of wounds and secret habits or problems which could otherwise be a very strategic target for us. Furthermore, household will give him a new sense of what Christian community is all about, and he’ll take this with him wherever he goes. He must never be allowed to taste it! Or if he does join, then poison the household with lukewarmness, envy, or resentment.

Then he’ll miss it after all. Oh, my dear Wormwood, there are always alternatives if Plan A fails! Always (Continued on page 6)

Tell us what you think!

Email notestothegadfly @gmail.com

Professor Quotes of the Week:

"Don't you become a diphthong when you are understressed?" ~Dr. Spinnenweber

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St. Etheldreda, pray for us!

Continued from page 1

bracing femininity with skirts. We need to change how femininity is viewed and how to get a healthier view on what it really means to be feminine or masculine for that matter. Challenge yourself, challenge the beliefs of peers, form opinions, learn, grow, and stand up for what you believe in. Being feminine or masculine will only happen when you become yourself and find what you want to live for. Affirmation in something as superficial as clothes, wearing certain styles of shoes, or other menial possessions, gives the wrong impression on what to think.

It is important and imperative that people feel a need to take charge in some sort of issue but perhaps we can start to do something more productive and practical. The dehydrated use of the feminine genius is becoming too cliché on campus when it has its

roots in such high moral standards.

It is true that society gives the impression for women to believe that by flaunting their bodies it is what they should do and that is wrong.

But on the other hand, are the girls here not mature enough to know that that is false? Movies and society are such lofty and ambiguous things to blame for one’s own feelings of insecurity. Out of most college campuses it would seem that our campus, with its high moral reputation, would be the last place one would have to go to in order to find forming feminine characters ourselves in a unique whoWe arefind so lacking in opinions and laboratory here at Franciscan self esteem. We know the truth and University—a microcosm supposedly, "the truth will set and you magnification of the Christian free." Thinking objectively on the confrontation with secular culture situation, it is annoying that students here seem to lack the ability to express themselves more openly and appear to suppress opinions.

How are we, as the upcoming generation, going to be able to handle the world if we struggle with such

issues as these?

To all the girls and guys who need "affirmation": be yourself, for crying out loud, because who you are is more important than seeking recognition from others to know that you are a valued individual. You will find more respect for becoming what you believe in than for trying to become who you aren't. So, wear skirts and high heels if that is how you want to be—wear whatever, it doesn’t matter—think what you want, just PLEASE don't do something for the sake of not knowing what you believe in or following others just for the sake being bored. In the words of Cat Stevens, “ If you want to sing out Sing out./And if you want to be free Be free./'Cause there's a million things to be./ You know that there are."

~Anna Tang

How Do You Mark Time?

One thing struck me while at home. I think it was a frisbee.

Maybe. With decorations like a clock. Just kidding. But an idea came to me. The clocks in my house are all set for about the same time. About. Right now, the one in the kitchen 11:35, the other reads 11:38, and the one in the bathroom reads 11:41. There are more clocks throughout the house, and believe me, no two clocks read the same time. My phone, however, says 11:33, same as my computer. The clocks around the house are set manually. My parents had to wind them or program them to another clock or to whatever time they thought it was.

Thus, the discrepancies. My

phone, however, is connected to a satellite that gives it the time; there are no discrepancies.

I think there's a lesson here.

When you make a decision based on what you guess is right, or what someone else said is right, you float around the mark, such as the clocks all floating around the same time, yet not quite zeroing in. However, when you look to a higher authority, when you're connected to that higher authority, it will always give you an exact time. But you have to be connected. You've got to have the capabilities to read what that higher authority is giving you.

Our clocks around the house don't have the machinations to

connect to a satellite. Thus, they often go slower or faster, they drift away, even if they had been programmed to match the time given from a connected clock or phone. They have no accountability. They can keep floating around the mark, being slower or faster to the time, making me feel like I'm late for work or if I've got more than enough time to get there.

What kind of clock are you?

Are you connected to a satellite?

Or are you allowing yourself to drift around the correct time, not quite zeroing in? ~Elizabeth Michalski

St. John, pray for us!

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A Note From the Crazy High-Heels-Wearing Girl Wow. I’m flattered that my little article got people talking. Dialogue is great, although I feel a lot of people misunderstood what I was trying to say. I feel like a politician, needing to make an official statement or something. I’m not going to recant what I said, but rather clarify: Do you need to wear heels to be feminine?

No. However, does wearing heels add to the idea of femininity? Well, I believe so.

A friend of mine once said, “I love the click of high heels. It sounds like church.” He went on to say that his mother would always wear heels for church on Sunday mornings. A woman in her Sunday best is, quite frankly, what I first think of when I imagine someone feminine. My own mother has always been very Mrs. Cleaver-type of woman.

She would wear heels and skirts, and put on an apron to cook dinner to the sounds

of Dean Martin’s crooning. I, personally, find nothing wrong with wanting to emulate that. Perhaps that’s a little 1954, but if anyone looked at my wardrobe, they’d see that I have a lot of vintage and retro-inspired pieces. The clothing was modest, and family was key during that time.

While it is true that you will often find me dressed up, I honestly don’t wear heels all the time.

Sometimes I’ll wear flats or skater shoes, jeans and Tshirts. I’m not saying everyone should go around looking like Secretary Barbie. I’m suggesting that perhaps women can try to dress up every now and again when it’s not required to embrace femininity—the same idea as the 7-day skirt challenge (which I did). As I explained before, I personally see heels as a means of doing so; maybe you disagree. Maybe you are upset because you

just can’t take heels- they hurt your feet too much or are bad on your knees- that’s okay. I can’t wear flats because my feet cramp up and there’s bad arch support. Just don’t take my article to heart. Good grief! I didn’t think people would get so upset! If I seriously upset you, tackle me the next time you hear my heels behind you. I was giggling the whole time I typed it up. If you know me personally, I hardly ever take myself seriously. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe what I said, but rather I thought people would find the article a source of entertainment and girlish silliness, not a serious debate about the meaning of womanhood.

~ Emily Rolla

Pop Culture Seminar Quote: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick [butt], and I'm all out of bubblegum.”

- They Live (1988)

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student who desires to not only excel academically, but to expand their mind and ability to think.

On the other hand, school sucks. Exams stress us out, causing girls to eat too much chocolate and expand their waistlines rather than their intellects. Papers take so much time and effort. Reading for philosophy and literature courses is a recipe for a headache. All these things interfere with household commitments, our social lives, and God forbid we can’t check our Facebook! It is often difficult to remember that this is a university and not a Catholic condo of fun on the beach. Like they say, “Offer it up!” Nobody (except maybe Mama and Daddy, but even their power is not absoContinued from page 3

remember that.

Self-importance is the key to everything. When it comes to Christian manhood talks, theology of the body seminars, retreats, FOP’s, extraordinary form Masses – whatever – you must convince him he’s too good for it. Tell him that’s fine for the rest, but not for a more perceptive and reasonable sort like himself who’s seen the world – unlike the rest of the poor ignorant souls in the Bubble. Tell him he knows all about manhood and doesn’t need to hear about it from some longwinded speaker. When it comes to works of mercy, tell him he has better things to do than waste his time doing something that will be forgotten tomorrow and probably won’t make any difference anyway.

Have him think about those hypocritical Christians he used to know, and tell him that all this pious stuff is nothing but blowing one’s horn

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

lute) is forcing us to be here. College is not obligatory, but an opportunity.

The amount of pouty expressions on the faces of the dissenters was quite entertaining due to the fact that many college students are studying to be teachers. What are they going to tell their students when they moan and groan? A teacher who gets crabby when forced to learn is an absurd notion. Maybe that’s why so many of the most successful students on this campus were homeschooled. Their parents knew better than to allow them to be taught by teachers who were not as qualified as they could have been. However, for those of us who attended public schools, there was the occasional teacher worth listening to. If everything boils down to

pieces of paper, tests, diplomas and money, then none of this really has a point. If you want nice grades on your tests, I’m sure anyone on campus would be more than happy to scribble a bright red “A+” on your papers for you to take home to your mama. We could probably find you a magnet to stick it on the refrigerator, too.

Maybe the notion of learning something new every day is old fashioned. Who really wants to expand their mind? Being narrow minded is going to be a great help to the world. Lord knows there are not enough narrow-minded people around here.

What is all this education business here for? In that case we should all quit school!

before the masses.

But if he gets involved in the Bubble, we still have our ways.

Our favorite trick is taking something good and turning it sour.

He’ll always remember the sour part and never go back to the good! Bring out the grapes of discord in ministry, emphasize the hypocrites in prayer, make him join an exclusive faction. One of the big cracks in the Bubble is the divide between traditionalists and charismatics. Have him pick a side – doesn’t matter which one – and get him to disdain the other one.

There are a few more tricks in the playbook, my dear Wormwood. Never underestimate human weakness even if he gets entrenched in the Enemy’s camp.

Get him so involved and overbooked that he flunks out of school. Or keep him focused in his new lifestyle on the positive

peer pressure and not on the reality itself. Keep his motives mixed.

Sure, he might start going to FOP’s, talks, and ministries because it’s the popular thing to do, but the trick is to keep it there! Or get him to expect warm fuzzy feelings in prayer all the time. When tough times come and his friends are all gone their own ways in the world – well, that’s when we can start having our fun.

Wormwood, until I write again, I’m sure you can be creative with your client. The Bubble is a dangerous place, but you’ll figure it out in no time. *Please note: this article is in the style of C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters which records the correspondence of Screwtape, an experienced devil, with his nephew Wormwood.

~M.C.R.

~M.J.R.

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

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Confession Lines at FrancisFranciscan University of Steubenville is a microcosm of Catholicity unlike any other outside of the Vatican. The Catholic faith is truly alive here on campus and the majority of students actively participate in the sacraments. While it is wonderful that so many Catholic youth are living their faith here at Franciscan there is the issue of common courtesy towards fellow students. This seems to be largely an issue with the confession lines at Christ the King Chapel.

Over my time here at Franciscan I have observed this phenomenon of the exorbitant lines for confession at Christ the King. Every time that I’ve gone to confession on campus I’ve waited upwards of twenty to thirty minutes before a priest is ready. Now I understand that certain people prefer to go to one priest over another for confession. However, that is not the issue at hand. When there is a long line for confessions maybe people should be more considerate towards fellow students and keep the line moving so that everyone can make it to confession. Furthermore, confession is not supposed to be a chitchat session between you and the priest. Confes-

sion is for the repentance of sins in line with Roman Catholic theology. If a student wishes to have a prolonged conversation with the priest, maybe scheduled confession times are not the most appropriate area to do so. The fact remains that all of us on campus are busy. Between classes, plays, clubs, and friends there isn’t all that much free time left for the sacraments. So when I need to participate in the sacraments and when I go to confession I really want to be able to do so without having to wait in line for a millennium.

Maybe I’m not the holiest person; I’ll admit to that. Compared to most at Franciscan, I am a complete and total heathen. However, I think that it is a part of common courtesy towards fellow students to keep the confession line moving by going to confession and saving the conversation for a private meeting with the priest. If there is not a line for confession then there isn’t a problem and feel free to chat it up with father till confessions are closed. However, if there is a line, be considerate, be brief. Keep the lines moving.

The Classics?!

“Dost grant me, hedgehog?”

Richard III Act 1, Scene 2

- DRD

j|Çx? j|à tÇw jtzzxÜç In Defense of Men In response to the many responses to “In Defense of High Heels” I would like to make some simple points. When I read the original article, I liked it. In the next few weeks I started to see a few more girls dressing nicer and I appreciated it. Life is nicer when there is beauty around you. It seems that women really catch people’s (in this case, mine) attention when their outfits are well put together and harmonious. There is nothing sinful about this at all.

When I read the responses to the article, I was livid and insulted. You see, I love heels (even though they hurt) and last Lent, my Lenten sacrifice was to dress down enough to wear my household jacket with my outfit for that day of the week. I realize that it is a common understanding that dressing up makes one less able to do dirty work, clean house, etc. but let me tell you, I am one of the student custodial workers (my apartment is also very clean and I plan on continuing to dress classy when I am a mother) and I dress up for work too (if you have ever been in the JC, the chapel, or the fieldhouse, the chances are nine out of ten that I cleaned the place where you stood, and also arranged the furniture you sat in), though it is different in degree than what I wear to class. As an additional response to this current controversy I now wear heels to work as well. As a side note too, in Italy, women’s tennis shoes for everyday are often wedge heels that range in height up to four inches. I have a pair and someday I might even wear them to work (when I learn how to walk in them well enough).

Though it bothers me to read about girls defending their right to not look nice (it doesn’t hurt ladies, dip your feet into the waters of effort here, it’s easy and you know you want to), I am taking the time to write this when I should be memorizing the documents of Vatican II because of the specific reference to men needing to be reprimanded and not encouraged for treating nicely dressed ladies differently. Lay off. Strong men are literally on their way to becoming extinct in our society, don’t put them down for doing something completely natural and good in appreciating the good. I notice when women dress up and appreciate it; are you going to get mad at me for this too? Apparently if I was a man, I would need to be reprimanded.

A man is more touched when a woman cares about her appearance because it reminds him that she doesn’t have what it takes to be crashing and catapulting herself through forests like he might. It reminds

him of his masculinity and he likes that. In loving ourselves, we serve to help other people love themselves. That’s why people get married. If you as a woman were to make a tactical error in the above physical activity of crashing through forests, and have some kind of spectacular crash or accident, you might feel less feminine afterward, providing you had major scars. A man in the same situation would feel more masculine. That’s just the way it is. If you are a woman and you want to do the stuff men do, like join the military and fight in combat, go ahead, it’s allowed, but it won’t make you more feminine (which, again, is okay) but it would make a man feel more like a man.

I would also like to respond to the idea also brought up about nuns being a better example of femininity. It’s all about grace girls, and the nuns are displaying more of a grace of the character and spirit than of the walking down the sidewalk, but they both are about the same thing. Also, grace does not equal weakness in either situation. Girls in heels don’t go back to their rooms and say “man my feet hurt, I wish I was weaker.” At the same time nuns know that Jesus did not say “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you more weakness and it will be fantastic.” No, He said, “and I will give you rest.” therefore implying that a person would be stronger after they had rested.

I would suggest that we on this campus concern ourselves with topics of discussion that have more of an effect on the rest of the world, than they do in dividing us. Perhaps we could talk about mission work for example. Or, you could take up learning a new language, like Swahili, and then you could go home and teach the children you baby-sit how to say “high heels” in Swahili. Or perhaps you could research the influence of feminism (who was the one to originally whisper in your ear to place so much significance on your “rights” in the first place) on men in America.

For one last point, learning to dress nicely goes along with learning to tie your shoes and combing your hair. It used to be a sign of maturity. Don’t pick on men about their clothes either. Instead of getting mad at some guy (who is probably concerned with some paper he is writing) for wearing shorts, go change out of your workout clothes (if you aren’t working out at the moment), put your hair up and go tell him he is doing a good job. ~Clara Bauer