L i f e L e s s o n s • G e n o c i d e • wa r h o l • r e c e s s i o n Volume 105, Issue 2 October 2009 marquettejournal.org
Bargains at at a a
BIG cost
cost
Ethical shopping struggles to make a difference in the global community
Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 1
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Contents the marquette journal | October 2009
Featured Grasping for life Genocide has plagued the world’s past. Does this affect you, and how can you help change the future?.................................7 Stylephile This fall, the runway doesn’t dictate what you wear — You do...............................13 Labeled Milwaukee businesses venture into the “ethical shopping” movement: fair trade and humane working conditions.........................17
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While I was away College has taught more than the Three R’s. Time from home has given students a few other life lessons on three popular addictions.........................22
L I F E L E S S O N S • G E N O C I D E • WA R H O L • R E C E S S I O N Volume 105, Issue 1 October 2009 marquettejournal.org
BARGAINS AT AT A A
BIG
7
13
COST
Ethical shopping struggles to make a difference in the global community
MARQUETTE JOURNAL, OCTOBER 2009 • 1
On the Cover Photography by Brooke McEwen Design by Patrick Johnson Illustration by Patrick Johnson and Brooke McEwen
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Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 3
What’s Inside
T he Journal Online You can only find these stories exclusively online at marquettejournal.org
Finding the silver lining In what has been called the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. A trip to Hell and back This season your fuel for fear is only minutes away ... and a trip back to high school. Debunking swine flu The real deal on H1N1. Should students be concerned or is it just media-hyped hysteria? Wisconsin’s new face Technology and Internet have led our private lives into a very public world. Is it for better or worse?
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More than pearls and high heels The office has seen a change as more women begin to step out of traditional roles and into high-powered positions in and out of the workplace. Public Market has fresh options Even after two centuries of servicing the community, many generations continue to find the fresh value at the Milwaukee Public Market........................................16 26.2 miles in their shoes The students have finished the race and are ready for another marathon in Madison, driving Indy cars, running a triathlon and taking time to stop and relax........................20 Breaking a habit Milwaukee prepares to enact a smoking ban. Will businesses be able to thrive or find themselves going up in smoke?....................30
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A taste of pop The Milwaukee Art Museum’s latest exhibit takes visitors on a journey through Andy Warhol’s last decade of pop art. Journey Freshman Gery Molina explores Marquette as a new member to both Milwaukee and the United States.
Blogs The editors of the Marquette Journal publish weekly blogs on many different topics such as pop culture, diversity, cars and fashion. Check them out every day, only at marquettejournal.org.
find us online
marquettejournal.org
from the editor 2009-2010 Staff Editor-in-Chief
Sara J. Martinez Managing Editor
Patrick Johnson Features Editor
Brooke McEwen Copy Chief
Jesse Carpender Senior Reporter
Caitlin Kavanaugh Online Assistant
Joey Kimes
Features Assistant
Kevin Griffin
Promotions Director
Jacob Weisenberger Writers
Alise Buehrer Sarah Butler Jesse Carpender Anthony DiZinno Andreana Drencheva Alexandra Engler Marissa Evans Becca Galvan Valerie Gamsky Brooke Goodman Carolyn Green Kevin Griffin Patrick Johnson Caitlin Kavanaugh Ericka Kelly Joey Kimes Sara J. Martinez Brooke McEwen Jennifer Michalski Brenda Poppy Matthew Reddin Ryan Riesbeck Veronica Shaheen Simone Smith Ben Wessel
Chief Photographer Brooke McEwen
Photographers Laura Bulgrin Marissa Evans Patrick Johnson Lauren Stoxen
Chief Designer Patrick Johnson
Creative Consultants
Alise Buehrer Jacob Weisenberger
Contributers
Jeff Hatke Colleen Hyland Jack Kelly Kaitlin Kovach Ryan Regan Jennifer Solorio
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The Marquette Journal
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave. #006 Milwaukee, Wis. 53233 editor@marquettejournal.org assteditor@marquettejournal.org Faculty Adviser
Dr. Steve Byers
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his year has been crazy, and we only have a few months left. What could we call 2009? The year of dead celebrities and swine flu? The last year of the decade has gone by rather quickly, for me at least, and I can’t believe that in about eight short weeks we’ll be entering the ‘10s. Is that what you’d even call it? Our three-month hiatus from Marquette University, while well-deserved and surely relaxing, brought some of the most memorable events of the year. Midsummer was shaken up by the death of pop icon and my lifelong hero Michael Jackson. Our parents’ angel, Farrah Fawcett, just happened to say goodbye on the same day. Less than a week later, we heard of the unexpected passing of infomercial personality Billy Mays. Making headlines in August were American football player Steve McNair and broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite. Earlier this month, we saw the International Olympic Committee deny Chicago the 2016 Olympics, and we hear whispers of swine flu every time someone coughs in class. From what I can remember, the past few months have just been depressing and scary. And this issue really won’t lighten the mood. We talk about problems that affect us academically, professionally, locally and globally. The world is changing, but so is the Journal. We’re here to dig a little deeper and to talk about what’s going on in the world and how it affects students. Read this issue and respond — we can only produce quality content if we know what interests our audience. Please e-mail me or post comments to our Web site. We’re here to be your voice. Take the pages of this magazine and think, share and respond. Maybe we can lighten the collective mood of the last few months of this decade, and hopefully we can do that with your help.
editor@marquettejournal.org Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 5
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6 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
Grasping for life
Genocide’s grip on our past and present
By Caitlin Kavanaugh Photographs by Lauren Stoxen The voices numbered in the millions. They belonged to the Jews, Poles and Romas of World War II. They were overworked, starved, beaten, gassed and burned at the hands of the Nazis. These were the voices of those who were castrated, injected, thrown into ovens and stripped of all human dignity. Though the death camps were liberated in 1945, the survivors were barely recognizable, each one a mere skeleton of him or herself, and each one haunted by memories of death and anguish. Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 7
As the world saw Hitler’s escapades revealed, it was vowed that such atrocities would never take place again. Following Raphael Lemkin’s coining of the term “genocide,” the United Nations formed a preventive genocide convention in 1948 and swore to keep the world free from genocide’s evil grasp. The reality is that the Holocaust is still alive. Genocide is still happening. And now the people of the world are asking, “Why?” To begin to understand why, it is important to understand who is responsible. But is blaming someone for the world’s genocide as easy as pointing a single finger? “It’s all fine and good to say that Nazi Germany started all of that — it makes it so easy,” said Irene Guenther, published author and professor in the history department. “We figure, ‘Oh Nazis, they’re like green people with horns on their heads.' But in fact, that whole notion of making a better, fitter race — that’s a pretty old one.”
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History of Eugenics o old and familiar in fact, that most people would be surprised to learn it has roots in the United States during the Eugenics movement. These roots, however, are hardly touched on in history classes. “I have never had a history course, nor have I ever used a textbook in all the years that I’ve taught, where eugenics is included,” Guenther said. So what is eugenics? According to a compiled document Guenther provided which cited Edwin Black’s, “War Against the Weak,” and Phyliss Goldstein and Alan Stoskopf’s, “Race and Membership in American History,” eugenics has a lengthy past. The term itself is Greek for “good in birth,” and was coined by English mathematician Francis Galton in 1883. Galton’s ideas preached the possibility of obtaining a perfect and “fitter” race. In a sense, eugenics was a human breeding program, aiming to breed the best with the best in order to create the most advanced form of human possible. Surprisingly, most of the world went along with it, particularly in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia. The reason for this acceptance was partially because of authors like David Jordan. In his book, “Blood of a Nation,” Jordan spouted his beliefs that characteristics such as poverty, prostitution or criminal behavior could be passed down through the blood. The Carnegie Institute started funding scientific expeditions for more research. By 1911, scientists proposed a solution which listed the “best practical means” for ridding the human population of defective traits. Among the top ideas suggested was the use of euthanasia. What did this mean for society? Essentially, those who were deemed unfit — prostitutes, the mentally ill and the disabled — were either thrown into institutions or were sterilized to prohibit them from reproducing. Some institutions fed their mentally ill patients milk from diseased cows, believing that if they were worthy additions to the human race, they would survive.
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What is perhaps most shocking about this era is that the Eugenics movement gained governmental support with the case Buck v. Bell. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes summed up the court’s majority opinion stating, “It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.” Equally shocking is the Court did not reverse its decision until 1972 after approximately 100,000 people had been sterilized. As Guenther puts it, “Eugenics became this wide category that you could throw into anything you didn’t like or that scared you.”
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Genocide Prevention hile it is safe to suggest that the practices during the Eugenics movement were frightening, Guenther notes that it shouldn’t be marked as the beginning of genocide. “I think there’s been slaughtering going on since human beings have been around.” For instance, even before the principle of eugenics, one doesn’t need to look far in American history before finding questionable acts. Take, for example, Christopher Columbus. “Not that many people know that Columbus was a genocidal murderer,” said Austin Reece, a philosophy professor at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee, referring to Columbus’ treatment of the Native Americans upon his voyages to the New World. Historical scholar, Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States” says that most, if not all, American history text books attempt to paint Columbus in a flattering light rather than exposing the darker elements of his character. Is it really easier to reconstruct history rather than face it?
While scholars debate about Columbus and his portrayal, Reece notes that it does bring up important questions: “What does that mean that we celebrate Columbus Day? What does that mean about us as a country?” It is difficult to say, but it makes one wonder, How does America really view genocide and does it try to prevent it? The start of genocide prevention, as Guenther explained, began after the formation of the Genocide Convention in 1948. Although the United States eventually ratified the convention in the late 1980s, some believe that the country has done little in actively preventing genocide since the ratification. Guenther is inclined to think that the U.S. could be doing more. “We have made ourselves into this role as a moral conscience or yardstick. … It is important to follow through.” She said that what the United States often does is either ignore witness accounts of genocide or “dance around the word ‘genocide’ ” because the use of that word implies action, which can be politically risky. Samantha Power, author of “A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide,” takes a similar stance. In her book, she challenges the United States in particular to be more proactive, using 20th century genocide episodes—such as Rwanda and Cambodia—and outlines how the United States reacted to each. Power argues that politicians only become involved in matters of genocide after the public demands action.
and most of these children were as young as 5 years old. They were stolen from their homes and beaten and brainwashed into submission, forced to fight in a war that lasted over 11 years in Sierra Leone. To make the situation resonate more with students, Klein tells them to “imagine someone kidnapping your 4-year-old brother, giving him an AK-47 and commanding him to kill.” Klein explained that a similar war situation is happening in Uganda. “For the past 23 years, a rebel army led by Joseph Kony has been trying to overthrow the Ugandan government, and they have resorted to abducting children (to build an army),” Klein said. Currently, the war is filtering into other parts of Africa, including the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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How can we help?
Reece agrees with Power, but admits that he finds optimism within the American government. “I’m hopeful … some individual politicians take a stand and act diligently and compassionately,” he said. “Great policy change comes only after a few things have happened: moral outrage, a collective consciousness and collective effort.” In order to reach this collective effort, Guenther said that we must overcome stereotypes within America’s culture. “Let me tell you a story about being in a doctor’s office,” she said, while leaning forward in her chair. “They had the radio going, and they’re reporting on the Sudan, and the nurse says to me, ‘Oh, those Africans, they just always kill themselves.’ ” It is stereotypes like this, Guenther explained, that prevent people from taking action, since it causes them to feel disconnected from those who are suffering.
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Taking action mily Lonergan, a former student of Guenther’s, said she feels that part of overcoming stereotypes begins with education as well as self-reflection. “Maybe that’s where it starts, with our involvement and taking a hard look at ourselves and saying, ‘What have we done? What haven’t we done? And how do we change that for the future?’ ”
Marquette seems to take this notion to heart, evidenced by its passionate students and their dedication to genocide prevention. Kerstin Klein, a senior in the College of Communication, started the Marquette chapter of Invisible Children in 2007 and currently serves as its president. Invisible Children is a global organization that fights the use of children solidiers in the African country of Uganda. Thanks to the organization, Marquette students can get involved and raise money and awareness in a variety of ways. At the end of the year, all proceeds help to restore a country where citizen abductions and civil war are the norm. Klein said that because of the intensity of the cause, people can be scared away, but she is determined to bring awareness to Uganda’s children soldiers. “We’re trying to bring excitement to the cause and get people to do something about it,” she said. However, the issue of disconnect proves to be a problem. There are people who still don’t know what a child soldier is. What is it like to be one? What does it mean? Matthias Seisay, a counselor/recruiter with the Educational Opportunity Program and a refugee from Sierra Leone, has seen children soldiers and dealt with the aftermath, firsthand. He admits that while some people are remarkably informed on specific issues in Africa, there are many who believe Africans “live in trees.” In regards to describing what effects war has on children soldiers, Seisay had a difficult time putting it into words. “It is not a Hollywood movie,” he said. “These are people who are paying for a war that is designed and implemented by adults ... and kids are paying the price with their blood, sweat and tears.” He remembers seeing children with weapons so large, they could barely hold them. According to Seisay, they had to lay down or kneel before they could actually operate those guns. It was a really sad situation, he said,
hile it seems like a tall order, Seisay said that every little bit of giving helps. “It can be anything. It can range from book drives at the end of semesters to school supplies of any nature,” Seisay said. There are also larger ways to get involved, including Lobby Days, which takes passionate students all the way to Washington, D.C. The recent agenda, Klein said, is to get the LRA Disbarment and Ugandan Recovery Act to move forward in the Senate. This bill would require the United States to provide further assistance to the Ugandan government, which has explicitly requested U.S. support. Elizabeth Lajeunesse, a sophomore in the College of Education and president of Marquette’s Darfur Action Coalition, said the expelled Sudanese refugees in the Congo also need attention, and she hopes to use DAC’s efforts to send some relief. While planning is still in progress, she said the group has great things in store for this year, but it wasn’t always easy. Alexandrea Newell, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences and vice president of DAC, said that initially, she felt intimidated trying to take on genocide. “We’re all just college students stepping into these huge calls,” she said. But she still recognized the power of an individual. “This is our world, and we can really move the world. It’s a ripple effect,” she said. This ripple effect is why it’s important to be conscious of our actions, Reece said. “I think that’s at the heart of ethics, taking the time to understand all the consequences that flow from our actions. Did it harm? Did it help?” Or as Abraham Lincoln put it just before signing the Emancipation Proclamation, “We cannot escape history. We (…) will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” Although it’s been 147 years since Lincoln spoke those words to Congress, they still hold significance today, especially when applied to the topic of genocide. As history repeats itself and blood is continually spilled, the question remains: “What will you do?” The choice is yours. mj Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 9
More than pearls and high heels Women continue to move toward leaving their legacy in the business world
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By Kevin Griffin f success in business is about making a lot from a little, Carol Schneider is a shining example. Schneider said she started her own company 38 years ago out of her neighbor’s bedroom, complete with bed, barking dog and $500. Today, Schneider is CEO of her company SEEK; a $40 million staffing and career services organization business with 13 offices in Wisconsin and one in Charlotte, N.C. Schneider’s success story is indeed a business triumph, yet its significance digs deeper. Her story is an exemplar of the changing face of business. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, one in five business firms with revenue of $1 million or more is owned by a woman. According to Schneider, there is still an issue with credibility and how women are perceived in the workplace. In the year that Marquette is honoring the centennial celebration of women at the university, the business field is still in the juvenile stages of integration. A field that at one time was thought to be untouchable for women is shaping up to become a laboratory for growth, success and diversity. Carla Rutley is a Wisconsin woman who is no stranger to the business world. Rutley is the associate director for Milwaukee Women Inc., an organization that works with southeastern Wisconsin CEOs in an effort to advance the placement of women on corporate boards. “We need some change,” said Rutley, referring to the current status of businesswomen in leadership roles. “Women need to be presented with opportunities in board position roles. It provides diversity of thought perception for a company. We want companies to be decisive.” The health care industry is an area in which Rutley sees the soundest proof of the need for women in higher business positions. “If you look at those companies, 85 percent of purchasing decisions
are made by women, yet the top decisions are made by men. There seems to be a disconnect,” Rutley said. Since its inception in 2002, the impact of Milwaukee Women Inc. is starting to show. “We are starting to see advancement, and the result is greater diversity,” Rutley said. “We are also partnered with several Milwaukee businesses, which support our initiatives and operations. Whether it is talent, sustainability or growth of a business, we have a synergy that really breeds helpful to each other.” Regardless of gender, Rutley’s formula for business success is simple. “Go after what you want.” Last month, Marquette was a showcase for the changing face of business when the University chose Angela Braly to speak at the 10th annual business leader’s forum. Braly is the CEO of insurance giant WellPoint Inc., with 35 million people insured worldwide. “She is one word: inspiring,” said Christine Polewski, a registered nurse for Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee who attended Braly’s
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lecture. During her address to Milwaukee business people, community members, Marquette students and faculty, Braly preached the importance of asserting oneself as a leader in the workplace, regardless of gender. “A leader is someone who leads people to a higher purpose and never stops learning,” Braly said. Braly had a valuable message for businesswomen as well: assuring that gender can’t hinder success. “There are still barriers for women, but now more than ever, women are moving up. Women still have every opportunity to lead, learn and succeed,” Braly said. Braly added that she should not be mistaken as a female business pioneer, and it’s the women before her who deserve all the credit. In an event that included Milwaukee’s most successful business men and women, Braly’s luncheon made a clear statement, business is no longer a man’s game. Gerry Stilp, a private banker for US Bank in Milwaukee, attended the event. Stilp is a 1967 graduate
of Marquette’s business school, and he said that his business classes only had a handful of women, and his accounting class had only one woman. “Since then, we have come a long way,” Stilp said. “More women in business are a sign of today’s welcoming, integrated and quality workplace.” Stilp, however, also acknowledged the difficulty to one day have just as many women in business as there are men. “Men don’t get pregnant and have to miss work for a baby. I think sometimes women are really torn between a career and a family, and that’s a tough decision,” Stilp said. “Men typically put the child-raising and the vast majority of responsibilities to the wife. It shouldn’t be that way. We as men should share more in that. That’s only now coming into place.” Brenda Wittrock, an engineer for the Brewer Company, also attended the leadership forum. Wittrock said she generally works with all men on a daily basis. “It can be difficult,” said
Photographs by Brooke McEwen
Journal JABBER Vampires Twilight sparked a craze that continues to bite into pop culture. When will it be over? That is something we aren’t sure of, but hopefully an end comes soon. The world might not be able to take another blood-soaked, love-filled storyline.
The Remake Trend
Wittrock. “They approach problems differently and have different ideas, but I think that is what makes me valuable. I represent a different point of view, and I think that only makes our company stronger.” Wittrock also mentioned that some of her biggest difficulties as a woman in business come from people outside the office. “When I work with customers or suppliers, they look at me as their little daughter, which is hard to overcome. In that scenario, it is hard to come off as someone as respectable as the next engineer or employee,” Wittrock said. Barbara Kren, a professor in the College of Business Administration, believes the future is bright. “When I was graduating, it was mostly men with business degrees,” Kren said. “Now I would say it is about half and half. That’s a very good sign.” Kren also acknowledged what she refers to as a “glass ceiling” that needs to be broken. “Women are becoming managers and senior managers, but once
we reach the partner level, these boards and CEOs are still predominantly men,” she said. Kren mentioned that some of the problems women had generations ago aren’t so prevalent today. “I don’t think there is a problem these days with training or schooling,” she said. “I think schools are just fine with women in the classroom and in business organizations. Things have really come around.” Before teaching accounting, Kren was an auditor for Ernst and Young, one of the “Big Five” auditors and one of the largest private companies in the United States. Kren said her experience in business taught her that you can’t let your feelings get hurt, that business is tough for women and that you have to let criticism and prejudice just roll off your back. The one common school of thought between Milwaukee’s business students and leaders was that having women in the workplace breeds greater diversity. Diversity of a workplace with women leads to greater innovations and
results in stronger businesses. “At these board meetings and company gatherings, you have to look around the table and ask, ‘Can a woman bring a perspective not already represented?’ ” Rutley said. “If the answer is yes, then that diversity of thought needs to be brought in.” In a country where women were once not permitted to vote, there appears to be no previous time where women had a greater chance to test the business waters. If history continues to repeat itself, then women will be showing up more and more on corporate boards where their representation today is still somewhat minimal. Despite the obstacles, the norms or the difficulties, the message from Milwaukee’s most successful women is simple. Perhaps Carol Schneider put it best. “Women pour themselves into their positions, and they won’t quit until they succeed.” mj
From horror to romantic comedy and from family to suspense, no film is safe from a remake. In the last few years, we have seen an exponential increase in remake films. It should be blamed on the poor judgment to cast Lindsay Lohan in remakes of The Parent Trap, Herbie and Freaky Friday.
Lady Gaga Not much can be said. Even after a recent canceled concert tour, she sits on top of the charts with her electronica hits and still manages to stir up controversy. Latest question: man, woman or both?
Glee Simply golden. High School Musical can’t even touch what Glee has stirred up. Single Ladies and football, who would have thought?
Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 11
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Stylephile Photographs
By Alise Buehrer Brooke McEwen
by
The cycle of fashion is constantly evolving. Trends fade and seasons change, but only one set of standards is worth following: your own. The key to obtaining irreplaceable style is to embrace iconic elements of your own character. Here, four students showcase their distinct fashion personalities and style, share their inspiration and prove that rules are meant to be broken. Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 13
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Jacob Weisenberger, Senior, College of Communication: “Experimentation defines my personal style. If I find an interesting shirt or jacket, I find ways to make it work in my wardrobe. I’ve learned that secondhand and vintage clothing stores are the best places to find unique looks on a college budget. About 60 percent of my clothing comes from vintage stores.” Above: French Connection hoodie. Diesel jeans. Vintage blazer. Handmade jewelry. Left: Vintage oxford, cardigan and shoes. Diesel jeans. Handmade jewelry.
Ryan Regan, Junior, College of Communication: “My style is all over, but it’s mostly V-necks, tees and tanks. Anything that grabs people's attention is money, so artistic messages and bold graphics are key. Dark wash jeans for going out, light wash for casual occasions. My inspiration? The city of angels.” Above: Yoko Devereaux shirt. Good Society jeans. Converse shoes. Castano hat. Left: Warriors of Radness shirt. True Religion jeans. Converse shoes. Cover Models Colleen Hyland, Sophomore, College of Business Administration (Left):
Jennifer Solorio, Sophomore, College of Communication (Right):
“My style is classic. I dress up for every occasion, whether it’s a Saturday night or Monday morning class. I love building outfits from accessories and fusing new trends with timeless silhouettes.”
“This past summer, my entire wardrobe consisted of dresses. I plan on bringing them into fall with boots, tights and fitted jackets. Edgy details can completely transform feminine ensembles.”
Cover (p.13, right): J. Crew dress and belt. David Yurman jewelry. Left: Polo Ralph Lauren oxford. J. Crew skirt, belt and necklace. Tory Burch ballet flats. David Yurman bangle and earrings.
Cover (p.13, left): Kimichi Blue blouse. H&M dress. Vintage belt. Left: Annabelle dress. For Joseph jacket. Vintage boots.
Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 15
Public Market gives fresh options After two centuries, generations continue to experience more
Photographs by Marissa Evans
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By Marissa Evans n a world of fast-paced industrialization and foods that consist of unpronounceable ingredients, it is almost all too rare for one to find stores that make chocolate from scratch or sell spices from all over the world. But the Milwaukee Public Market has all of these treasured treats and more. Originally founded in the late 1800s by Irish immigrants, the Milwaukee Public Market, located in the Historic Third Ward, was the hubbub of market activity, according to the Historic Third Ward Association. The development of factories and warehouses along the Milwaukee River, as well as the first railroad link between Milwaukee and the Mississippi River in 1849, helped spur more productivity and allowed the Irish to trade their market goods to settlers out west. However, when a devastating fire burned through the Historic Third Ward on Oct. 28, 1892, 440 buildings were destroyed, leaving 1,800 people homeless. Paul Schwartz, operation and communications coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Market, said that during the 36 years of renovation that went on after the fire, Italian immigrants began resettling the area and brought with them their fresh produce, pastas and spices. By 1915, the Historic Third Ward had 45 Italian groceries, 29 Italian saloons and two spaghetti factories. While the Great Depression and World War II caused the decline of the warehouse industry, the now restored and renovated Milwaukee Public Market serves as a reminder of the urban market atmosphere the Historic Ward is known for. “It was basically built to preserve the market feel of local food and gathering. We aim for a cultural village,” Schwartz said. An endless array of ethnic foods and fresh ingredients await shoppers at 17 Public Market vendors. They sell items such as chocolates, coffee and spices as well as sushi and ravioli. Although the economic recession has hurt many shops, Schwartz
said the Milwaukee Public Market is still financially stable, with gross sales continuing to increase in the past year. “The reason why the market is sustaining is because of the vendors. Each is great at what they do, and many of them have been voted best of dining in Milwaukee,” Schwartz said. Milwaukee Public Market vendor Kehr’s Candies was founded in Milwaukee in 1930. This family-owned shop, with locations in the market and on Lisbon Avenue, specializes in old-fashioned candy. “We have been in the Milwaukee Public Market for four years but have been keeping the tradition alive of old-fashioned candy-making. We still make our stuff from scratch, from truffles to turtles to meltaways,” said Andy Skeels, the shop’s manager. Skeels said many customers still buy a box of Kehr’s Candies for the holidays. “To this day we still have local second- and third-generation customers coming to our stores, remembering growing up eating our candies,” Skeels said. Another shop thriving in the
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market is The Spice House, which has between 200 and 250 spices in its store and has specialized in custom blends for 52 years. “We have stuff from every continent except Antarctica, and we try to bring in spices from the country of origin,” said employee Kate Stearns. “We just started with organic, but we search for best flavor over organic quality.” According to Stearns, The Spice House has customers locally and worldwide and serves 300 people weekly. Keeping the spirit of the market alive, the vendors work together to ensure the success of one another as needed. “If anyone needs something for a demo, vendors are open to barter-
ing. We love the barter system, so we do trading all the time,” Sterns said. Besides food, the Milwaukee Public Market offers free Wi-Fi and cooking class demonstrations. It also hosts the Outdoor Urban Market between June and October. It consists of works from local artists, jewelers, musicians, photographers and more, adding another dynamic to the thriving marketplace. “We offer food, events, beer and cheese tastings and just allaround local appeal. We’re an allaround view of Milwaukee,” said Schwartz. mj
Labeled Budgeting for the label is a bigger cost than you might think By Alexandra Engler Photographs by Patrick Johnson It’s all about the label — really, it is. But not the label that says Gap, Coach or Forever 21. It’s the label right below that; the one that says Made in Ecuador, Mexico or India. Armed with Internet access, any buyer can use that label to find out what possibly could have gone into an item’s production. For instance, a shirt bought from Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Piperlime or Athletica (collectively known as Gap Inc.) about two years ago that has a label reading “Made in India” may tell the buyer more than he or she bargained for. One of the New Delhi sweatshops, which were raided in 2007 by local police, could have made the shirt. In these sweatshops, the police found child workers as young as 10 years old, according to British newspaper, The Observer. Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 17
the fair trade movement relies on socially responsible goods for success In response to the uncovering of more and more sweatshops worldwide, worried “ethical shoppers” arose. Barbara Senn, one such ethical shopper, is the manager and operator of Four Corners of the World, 5401 W. Vliet St., a local fair trade store not focused on profit. According to Senn, the price markup is worth it, especially for the hard work the artisans put in to get their product out there. Senn’s ultimate goal is to eventually not have fair trade stores, inevitably putting herself out of work. Fair Trade For All, 5201 W. North Ave., and Third World Handcraft Shoppe, 5305 W. Capitol Drive, are other Milwaukee locations that offer fair trade accessories, crafts and home décor. According to Senn, an easy way for college students to shop ethically is to replace everyday purchases with fair trade substitutes such as fair trade chocolate, coffee and tea. Shopping local fair trade stores isn’t the only way consumers can be assured their clothes were not made in sweatshops. Retail giant American Apparel is devoted to using only American union factories, according to the company’s commitment policy. Other retail stores are trying to improve their standards. According to Senn, Kohl’s is one company that is trying to improve factory conditions in response to the National Labor Committee report accusing Daisy Fuentes’ clothing line, sold at Kohl’s, of using sweatshops in Guatemala. After the NLC report, Kohl’s started to work with third party monitors to ensure the vendors producing its goods were using ethical standards, Senn said. Gap Inc. is also revamping its social commitments in response to the sweatshop incident two years ago. The company set up a subdivision on its Web site to outline social responsibility, where CEO Glenn Murphy said, 18 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
“As I travel around the world to our stores and the factory where our products are made, there is a sense of pride in knowing that we take our commitment to social responsibility seriously.” Lawrence Soley, a professor in the College of Communication, advises shoppers to be cautious. He said, “Even when companies claim they don’t use sweatshops, they still do.” Shoppers may find it difficult to distinguish between a garment made in humane conditions and one made in a sweatshop. Sachin Chheda, executive director of the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition, said to consider while shopping: “If the deal seems too good to be true — it probably is.” The problem is not whether people want to buy garments produced in sweatshops. According to Chheda, when people are educated about sweatshops, they are willing to pay a little bit more for fair trade. Others argue in support of free trade rather than fair trade. Free trade, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “trade based on the unrestricted international exchange of goods.” Free trade supporters, like those in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and Central American Free Trade Agreement, argue that fewer trade restrictions are better for American corporations. Free trade has been one of the main components of America’s economy by allowing it to expand its companies across borders. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, free trade has added $500 billion to $1 trillion to annual income over the past decades. Soley said that despite the appeal of free trade, it has disastrous long-term consequences. “Free trade does have some immediate benefits, and those are cheaper goods. They are less expensive because they are produced in
countries with very low labor costs and where the labor costs are kept down usually by exploitative means,” Soley said. The effects of free trade not only are hurting the employees in developing nations, Soley said, but they also are harming America’s economy. Free trade moves countries’ wages to the lowest common denominator, resulting in an increasingly impoverished labor class as well as a tremendous amount of outsourcing. Some fair trade supporters view free trade as beneficial only to the elite. “Neither country benefits from this. It’s just very few people at the very top of these corporations who receive the benefit from this free trade,” Chheda said. According the Chheda, the main difference between fair trade and free trade is “whether or not the people making the product should share in
Other Wisconsin Efforts the profits of that sale.” Fair trade, Chheda said, benefits all involved in production, not the CEOs. “It means that your dollars are getting you the thing that you want, but it assures that the person who made the product is getting a fair wage, the product was made in a healthy workplace and the production environment was taken in account,” Chheda said. “It becomes a ‘win-win’ where not only do you benefit from getting the product you want, but also the person making the product really benefits.” Chheda advises students who want to stay active in the fair trade movement to pay attention to the national debate over free trade vs. fair trade. One of bills currently in Congress is “The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act of 2009.” The bill, known as TRADE act, will require a “review and
renegotiation of the existing trade agreements.” Three of the 106 original co-sponsors are (Wis.-D) representatives Tammy Baldwin, Steve Kagen and Milwaukee’s Gwen Moore. Wisconsin and Milwaukee have become leaders for the country in the campaign for fair trade, according to Steve Watrous, coordinator of the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign. Organizations such as the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign, SweatFree Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition have been working with the governor and state Legislature to reform public policy on fair trade. The Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign pioneered the 2003 anti-sweatshop purchasing policies for the City of Milwaukee. In the past few weeks, Watrous, the city purchasing director and the Milwaukee Public Schools purchasing director have discussed prospective purchases.
The fair trade movement is not constrained to Milwaukee. Socially responsible goods have lined the shelves of Small World Market, an environmentally friendly fair trade store located in Historic Downtown Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (Door County). The store’s motto vows to “change the world: one purchase at a time.” For more information about the store, go to smallworldmarket.com.
“We are working to make sure that no taxpayer money is spent to buy clothes made in sweatshops,” Watrous said. With fair trade legislation in Congress, ethical shops on the rise and a growing globalized economy, consumers may be the deciding factor for the future of fair and ethical trade. According to Watrous, there are some things that have been accomplished, but there is much more that needs to be done. mj Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 19
26.2 miles in their shoes The Finish Line: Student runners take off their shoes and relax after the Chicago Marathon By Brooke McEwen The 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon beckoned runners the world over to test their endurance on the city’s streets on Oct. 11. Nearly 35,000 participants showed up on the cold race morning, including some familiar faces from Marquette. As part of the final leg of the Marquette Student Media Marathon Convergence Project, The Marquette Journal followed up with some of MU’s own runners to hear a firsthand account of 26.2 miles in their shoes.
Pre-race excitement
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oe Woelfel, a senior in the College of Communication, and Jeff Hatke, a senior in the College of Business Administration, trained for the race together. But once they arrived at the race scene, they approached the starting line of their first marathon differently. Woelfel said Hatke seemed more intense at the start. “Jeff got really into it,” Woelfel said. “I was just looking at the skyline. I couldn’t stop thinking about free beer at the end of the race.” Callista Pappas, a sophomore in the College of Education and firsttime marathon runner, said the prerace intensity was overwhelming. With thousands of runners waiting to race, Pappas didn’t cross the starting line until 20 minutes after the first participants began to run. Runners pulled off their warmups and threw them to the side of the street, Pappas said. Participants screamed with excitement and chattered in foreign languages. Igor Borba, a graduate student in the College of Arts & Sciences, said that after running the Chicago marathon last year, he felt prepared for the race to come.
“I knew more of what to expect and ran a better pace,” he said.
At the starting line
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oelfel said the first 10 miles bored him, but he knew he would hurt later. He enjoyed seeing Marquette supporters along the race course. Spectators and runners alike cheered him on when they noticed his Marquette shirt. For Hatke, the first 10 miles teemed with energy and excitement. He said he felt caught up in the moment as he observed other runners
20 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
and looked for his family. Pappas said miles six through 15 felt tough. The cold air chilled her, but once the sun came out, she felt better. On the other hand, neither Woelfel nor Hatke felt cold. Both said they felt relieved the temperature was low, so they wouldn’t overheat.
Crossing the finish line
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fter 26.2 grueling miles, Pappas said she crossed the finish line singing T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” at the top of her lungs.
“It was beautiful,” Pappas said. The race finish only left her wanting more. Pappas said she hopes to run another marathon this spring in Madison. Woelfel said his last two miles felt best by far. He said he probably passed 200 people and finished thinking, “that was way easy.” Five hours later, after soreness crept into his muscles, he felt differently. Woelfel said he doesn’t think he will run another marathon — he ran this one to test himself. When a friend told him he couldn’t understand the strenuousness of marathon running, he took the statement as a challenge. He hopes to train and explore the sport of triathlon in the
Photographs courtesy Jeff Hatke
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Stepping it up Jeff Hatke (above) geared up early Sunday morning for the start of the race. After nearly four hours Jeff crossed the finish line in his first Chicago Marathon. Joe Woelfel (center), Hatke and Tom Kelly (right) all received medals for completing the race. They even took a little time to pose for a photo in front of Buckingham Fountain.
years to come. Hatke said he knew he hurt while he ran but didn’t stop. When he crossed the finish line, he felt as if he could hardly take a step without falling. Hatke said he’s not sure right now if he will he will run another marathon in the future. As he crossed the finish line, the emcee announced that participants should sign up for next year’s marathon, a daunting thought after just finishing the race. For now, he feels satisfied just crossing “running a marathon” off of his life goals list. “You’ve got to have something that makes you want to do this,” he said. “I wanted to check it off my
lists of things to do.” Now that Hatke has completed a marathon, his other life goals include driving an Indy car and going on a safari. Borba said he set a personal record and looks forward to running his next race. He plans to run the Chicago Marathon again in the future, but since he is graduating in December and returning to his home in Brazil, he will shoot to run his next marathon in Rio de Janeiro. He said he will run marathons as long as his body will allow. He remembered finding inspiration in seeing an 85-year-old marathoner at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon last year. mj
Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 21
ONLINE Check out marquettejournal.org daily to see brand new content. On Nov. 12, the Marquette Journal will be releasing its 3rd issue of the year ... exclusively online! For Updates: Follow us on Twitter: @MUJournal Become a fan of the Marquette Journal on Facebook. Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 21
22 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
While I was away The lessons that parents didn’t want their kids to learn at college might just be some of the most influential. By Andreana Drencheva, Brenda Poppy and Joey Kimes Photographs by Brooke McEwen Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 23
Lesson 1: Social media disconnect 24 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
Internet, with Facebook, with instant
“With the
messaging, everything expands so that things we used to keep private become things that we disclose in public. So what’s the difference between putting it up on Facebook and saying it to the person next to you in the classroom? I don’t think there is one.”
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arents send their kids away to college in hopes that they will learn everything needed in order to succeed in the real world. That’s what happens — but with a twist. Academics are what parents expect their children to learn, but they don’t know about the other lessons their new college student might encounter. No longer is there a set of eyes watching the student’s every move. This new sense of freedom — something so unlike anything a lot of college students experienced at home — leads to new situations and life lessons. Unfortunately, not all of those experiences are going to be beneficial. Exposure to booze and tobacco tempt students with a lure of doing something illegal or against the wishes of their parents. Social media outlets hook students in a totally different way, giving them the ability to be everywhere and to know everything — except for how to interact face-to-face.
It’s not just the traditional and obvious temptations that students today face while away at college. Technology and an ever-growing spotlight on the media make today’s college students confront life lessons they may never have expected to deal with. It isn’t this confrontation that is truly important. It’s how each person chooses to respond.
Finding a balanced diet
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By Andreana Drencheva
ere is a joke for you: A man and his wife are sitting in front of a computer, writing an email: “Dear Andy: How have you been? Your mother and I are fine. We miss you. Please sign off your computer and come downstairs for something to eat. Love, Dad.”
Funny? Yes. Sad? Even moreso, mostly because it is so true. We think this scenario doesn’t apply to us and, technically, it doesn’t. No Marquette moms live in Cobeen or Mashuda. But consider the following situations: 1. A student “Tweets” her roommate to let her know they need to talk instead of actually going to talk to her, which might be easier since they live together. 2. A student uses the chat option on Facebook when he needs to tell his roommate something but is too lazy to walk the two feet between their rooms. 3. A student e-mails a classmate to ask questions about class while they are actually in class, but they never talk face to face. 4. Every time a student wants to reschedule an exam or ask for an extension of a deadline, she e-mails the professor. Most of us can identify ourselves with at least one of the aforementioned scenarios because we are victims of societal disconnect from our comMarquette Journal, October 2009 • 25
Lesson 2: Boasting about binge drinking 26 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
pulsive need to be connected on various social media platforms. We “Tweet” about our daily activities. We complain about school on our blogs. We write on friends’ Facebook walls to say hi, check out pictures and read status updates. We check our e-mail as soon as we get to a computer. Before that, we log on to Facebook just to see what is going on, in case something important happened during the five minutes we were offline. We know who our floormate from freshman year hooked up with while studying abroad in Chile. We know where the guy we met while we were backpacking in Europe is working now. We know how many shots of tequila the girls we befriended while in Cancun for spring break two years ago had last night. We know that the redhead from our history class overslept today. We know more about what our friends are doing than ever before, but we know our friends less than ever before. Since we spend so much time online trying to keep in touch with all the random people in our lives, we don’t have time to build real and deep relationships. “We risk to lose depth to get more breadth,” said Kristen Foster, associate professor of history. “Deep and meaningful relationships take time, but we want too much, too fast.” Foster said she has noticed that her students feel much more comfortable with electronic communication than with face-to-face communication. “This is not an entirely new phenomenon — people have always felt more comfortable with
face-to-face communication,” Ekachai said. It is an addition to it. “It is about finding the right balance. We can use social media and face-to-face communication. It is not an either/or situation,” said Martha Hurtado, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. Social media gives us an opportunity to start a community and to finish conversations for which we didn’t have time. The only way we can build a real community or a real relationship, however, is through honest and meaningful face-to-face communication. So sign off your computer. Go out and talk to people. Get to know who they are and what they think instead of reading what they had for breakfast and checking out their drunk pictures from Thursday night at Caffrey’s.
Taking credit
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By Brenda Poppy
t’s everywhere. It frequents classroom halls, breakfast tables, dorm rooms and crowded streets. Some people do it in whispers, others make sure the whole room can hear. This phenomenon is called boasting. Though once in a while a singular voice is heard touting the highest grade in the class, the majority of this boasting revolves around a common theme: drinking. The stories vary greatly, centering on anything from drunken exploits to intoxicated wipe-
There is some social status that people perceive they gain by talking about it. Unlike other behaviors that are illegal, (drinking) is not considered to be socially unacceptable in the student role.” Bragging usually comes from a need for encouragement and acceptance from peers. In a college setting, talking about alcohol misuse and abuse brings students together. “When people boast about drinking, it seems as though they are admitting to personal failings, but actually, in the student role, there is some prestige or status that can be gained through behaving stupidly,” Franzoi said. “In contrast, an adult behaving that way wouldn’t be viewed nearly as positively.” Everybody loves a good “drunk” story, and telling anyone and everyone about it can help to foster friendships and bring old friends closer. “The people that they respect are the ones who are approving of this kind of behavior and probably engage in it as well,” Franzoi said. “It helps them to feel part of a larger group. They get the social identity by that. If their group of friends met them with disapproval, it would quickly curtail this behavior.” In the psychological sense, boasting is a social method by which college students seek acceptance. It is not merely a way to entertain friends, but it is also a technique used in colleges across the nation that aids students in forming bonds and living up to perceived social expectations. It is, in a sense, jumping off the common bridge and being proud of it.
“Unfortunately, drinking is often considered to be a social role of being a student.” mediated communication. Social media has made communication much easier, faster and more efficient, thus people, especially younger people, prefer it over any other communications medium,” said Daradirek “Gee” Ekachai, associate professor of advertising and public relations. Social media has created a major shift in the way we communicate. Its effectiveness and quickness reflects our fast-paced, productivitydriven society. “My life is too hectic and too busy to have time to meet with my friends face-to-face, that is why I meet them online,” said Katrina Kurniati, a junior in the College of Engineering. “It is there, it is easy and it saves me time.” “We are adding another tool in our communication repertoire,” said Scott D’Urso, assistant professor of communication studies. “Just like other technologies that have come along over time, such as the phone or e-mail, people are adapting their communication practices to maximize their communication effectiveness, regardless of the method or channel used.” Although social media is a fast and easy way to communicate, it is not necessarily better. “It is a great tool, but it is not a substitute for
outs ending with the usual three-to-five stitches. None of these stories are what would usually be considered flattering, yet they continue to flourish in the halls of academia, evoking a large range of reactions. “I find this type of behavior very immature,” said Dominique Reid, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. “I don’t think that going out and drinking is wrong, but the fact that they have to talk about it afterward is juvenile.” Matthew Mueller, a freshman in the College of Communication, holds a different view. “As long as it doesn’t affect me in any way, I think it is amusing,” he said. “People boast because it is entertaining. People like to make others laugh.” Making people laugh is a large part of drunken storytelling, and this is not a new phenomenon in the college world. Images brought forth by the likes of “Animal House” forcefully demonstrate this idea. In a sense, drinking has become inexorably linked to college life. “Unfortunately, drinking is often considered to be a social role of being a student,” said Stephen Franzoi, professor of psychology. “So when students talk and brag about drinking, in a sense what they are doing is letting others know that they are conforming to this expectation.
Looking at this type of behavior from a communication standpoint differs from the psychological viewpoint. Lawrence Soley, a professor in the College of Communication, believes that bragging serves as a method to gain acceptance as it is an example of the evolution that is taking place in the way people communicate. “Cultural standards have changed a lot from when I was young,” Soley said. “Clothes, haircuts and the language that people use have changed, as well as the distinction between the things that you keep silent and the things that you speak openly about. I think this kind of behavior represents a cultural change in what we speak about and how we speak about it.” This shift has had a great impact on communication. Conversation topics that people used to reveal only in small, personal groups have evolved into mass communication. With the help of social networking, small scale communication has all but disappeared, giving rise to everyday mass communication. “It is part of the norm that people speak about things that before would only be spoken about with loved ones,” Soley said. “With the Internet, with Facebook, with instant messaging, everything expands so that things we used to Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 27
Lesson 3: Taking a puff like it’s no big deal 28 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
keep private become things that we disclose in public. So what’s the difference between putting it up on Facebook and saying it to the person next to you in the classroom? I don’t think there is one.” Somewhere within the always changing realm of communication, in between blogs, Facebook and Skype, society has managed to misplace the rules of what was once considered social etiquette. Now instead of keeping embarrassing drunken faux pas to oneself as reminders of why 12 shots and six games of beer pong might not be the best idea, the highlights of the night are posted all over Facebook. Social norms and communication theories aside, it is up to every individual to decide if this social act of bragging should be preserved through the ages.
Peer-induced addiction
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By Joey Kimes
n college, everyone has their bad habits — those things we shouldn’t do, but we do anyway. No one really has a problem admitting they have a bad habit but call it an addiction, and that’s a whole different story. What’s the difference between a habit and an addiction? Both are used to describe situations, actions or behaviors that tend to occur more frequently than others. Occasionally, these words are used interchangeably. But these words aren’t the same; there is one key difference between them. Some habits can be stopped rather easily — addictions aren’t so simple to quit. They take time and effort to break, energy to
“I only do it rarely here. (Smoking) was more frequent over the summer because there were more people at home that smoked.” Addiction to tobacco products, mainly cigarettes and chewing tobacco, isn’t something that is anticipated when reaching for the cigarette that first time. According to Above the Influence, “No one ‘plans’ to become a drug addict, and every one of the millions of people with … dependency started out thinking they had it ‘under control.’ ” Unlike Fries, most smokers pick up that first cigarette long before getting to college. According to a smoking research Web site, smokingfacts.net, the average age for someone to start smoking is 16, and almost every smoking addict started smoking while in high school. A college setting may not be the place where smoking addictions start, but this is where they are continued. Walking out of any residence hall or academic building on campus, one can usually find a few smokers standing there, enjoying a few puffs of a cigarette. What is it that keeps smokers going back to such a deadly habit? “I really think that there is a lot less peer influence now than there was in the past,” said Erin Blaney, junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. “We also realize the health impact that it may have on us.” The Some-Smoking-Facts Web site echoes Blaney’s statement, saying that 6 million teenage smokers currently know the health risks associated with smoking, but have chosen to ignore them. Although smokers on Marquette’s campus were very hesitant to comment on much, there was an overwhelming consensus about the adverse effects the nicotine was taking on their bodies.
ness campaign aimed at using Big Tobacco’s (Philip Morris, Reynolds American and Lorillard) words against them, knowledge about the dangers of smoking is becoming more clear to young smokers. Providing only the facts in its advertisements and never actually saying “Don’t smoke,” the “truth” campaign aims at giving young people the information so that they can make an informed decision on their own. “I think the ‘truth’ ads are abrasive,” said Dylan Huebner, a sophomore in the College of Communication. “I don’t like how they are trying to make it look like Big Tobacco is lying to you.” Huebner, a nonsmoker, also added that he hasn’t seen an ad for cigarettes in five to 10 years. With the “truth” campaign revolutionizing the way information about smoking is being presented, Marquette is doing what it can to help with it. Marquette’s Center for Health Education and Promotion has numerous programs set up for students, both to spread awareness and to help those who want to quit. Health Education will help to set up any student with a cessation clinic if wanted, as well as providing them with a “survival kit.” The tobacco coalition has been established on campus, giving students, staff and administrators a chance to communicate the health risks of smoking. This organization is designed to further knowledge, and is in no way for or against those who smoke. On Nov. 19, Marquette will participate in the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. This event asks all smokers at Marquette to cut back or quit smoking for that one day.
“I only do it rarely here. (Smoking) was more frequent over the summer because there were more people at home that smoked.” persevere through and determination to not fall victim to it again. College life taunts students with the same addictions that the real world does, but campus life makes it a lot easier to give in and “just try it once.” Smoking is one of the more common addictions among college students. According to the Web site for Above the Influence, a national youth anti-drug campaign, 75 percent of young people who use tobacco find it hard to quit because of the addictive nature of the drug. “I wouldn’t say I’m addicted,” said Kevin Fries, a junior in the College of Business Administration. “My first cigarette was over the summer before my junior year. It was for a friend’s 18th birthday, and one of the things he wanted to do that day.
Could it be peer pressure? According to the American Cancer Society Web site, it may be peers that draw a student in for his or her first cigarette, but it is the addiction that gets him or her to reach for another. “I don’t feel a pressure to smoke,” Fries said. “I have one friend, who is very addicted to cigarettes, and he pressures me to smoke more often, but I typically don’t listen.” The ACS Web site said that of 100 random teenage smokers polled, only three thought they would still be smoking five years later. When the same 100 were asked the same question five years later, 60 of them were still smoking. Starting to smoke while in college isn’t something that many do, but neither is quitting. However, the media is beginning to make it more socially acceptable to quit. With the introduction of the “truth” campaign, a smoking-aware-
Whatever it is that gets someone to pick up that first cigarette doesn’t matter. The fact is that addiction keeps them coming back again and again. Media campaigns against smoking are changing the way facts are presented to the public, giving viewers the facts to make an educated decision on their own, with no pressure either way. With the limitless information on the Internet, it’s easier than ever to make an informed decision about smoking. mj
Marquette Journal, October 2009 • 29
A
QuickSide Note Celebrates 105 Years in Publication
Breaking a habit Wisconsin and Milwaukee get ready for July 2010 smoking ban
U
By Simone Smith The Marquette Journal has experienced some major life changes since it was first published in 1904. The baby Journal was nothing but a yearbook (called the Marquette Hilltop yearbook) until 1915, when it became a literary magazine, featuring student’s poetry and fiction pieces. In the 1960s, the Journal’s awkward teenage years, it began to include feature articles along with its literary elements. The Journal experienced an identity crisis in the years that followed. Some years, it was a literary mag; others, feature writing was more prominent. Then, in 2006, the Journal settled down to become a student life magazine. The literary content was dropped, and feature writing became the Journal’s specialty. In the past few years, the Marquette Journal has continued to strengthen and streamline its content, and in 2008 the Society of Professional Journalists named it the “Best Student Magazine” in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota. It still survives as the oldest student media publication at Marquette.
p and down Water Street, action-packed on weekends and sometimes even weekdays: bars, pubs and restaurants provide much of the reverie and nightlife for downtown Milwaukee. But what would happen if these businesses lost a major portion of their profits and customers, or even worse, ceased to exist? Those fears are becoming more widespread as the smoking ban in Wisconsin, to go into effect July 5, 2010, approaches. Businesses around Marquette University understand that they have to comply with the ban, but many are taking it with a grain of salt. “The smoking ban will affect us. A lot of employees smoke too, so we’re going to be affected too. I don’t agree with the ban, but I can definitely see the reasoning behind it,” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, manager at the Water Street Brewery. The ban, which takes the legislative name “2009 Wisconsin Act 12” stipulates that “smoking will not be allowed in: state or government buildings, taverns, restaurants, hospitals, clinics, multiple-unit residential properties, sports arenas and bus shelters.” According to a legislative brief, the Act “addresses the growing concern in the state and nationally over the health hazards associated with tobacco use and the effects of secondhand smoke.” But what exactly are the effects of smoking a cigarette? Originally believed to have curing effects, science has discovered that smoking tobacco does the exact opposite. According to abovetheinfluence.com, “tobacco is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the United States.” According to the American Lung Association Web site, “secondhand smoke causes health issues as well as premature death in children and other non-smokers.” But tobacco proved to be a lucrative business long before the ciga-
30 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
rette was ever invented. According to the Boston University Medical Center’s “History of Tobacco” Web site, the plant helped “finance the American Revolution by serving as collateral for loans the Americans borrowed from France.” During World War II, cigarette sales were at an all-time high. However, the harmful effects of tobacco usage, as well as the additive nicotine, were common knowledge before the Surgeon General report was tacked on to packs of cigarettes. As far back as 1826, scientists concluded that nicotine was a dangerous poison. It wasn’t until just recently that the government has taken measures to loosen tobacco’s hold on society. Thirty-two states have enacted a smoking ban, including Wisconsin’s neighboring states: Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Wisconsin’s own smoking ban was signed into law last May by Gov. Jim Doyle. The Milwaukee
Rock Bottom Restaurant in Milwaukee. Some businesses just flat out hate the idea. “I don’t agree with it. I’ve been in other cities where it’s been enacted, and they say that it doesn’t affect business, but it does,” said Greg Wittig, vice president of operations at Mo’s Irish Pub. Some Marquette students are rejoicing at the idea. “I’m very happy to hear that they’re passing a smoking ban because a lot of people in my family have died from smoking cigarettes,” said Maurice Sharpe, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. “I understand that people like to smoke and might feel the need to, but they’re probably better off not smoking.” Although the effects of secondhand smoke and the long-term use of cigarettes have proven to be harmful for smokers and non-smokers, has the time come for businesses to possibly pay the price? Some bar pa-
The Great State Debate Illinois
Wisconsin
Fines for smoking inside an establishment: $100 to $250 for individuals Up to $250 for businesses
Fines for smoking inside an establishment: $100 to $250 for individuals $100 for businesses
Took Effect: Jan. 1, 2008
Takes Effect: July 5, 2010
Smoking Prevalence: 22.3%
Smoking Prevalence: 24.1%
Sources: thecurrentonline.com and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Let us know which state you think has made the better effort in the smoke-free movement. Go to marquettejournal.org and take our poll. Journal Sentinel reported the story the same day and said that violators of the indoor smoking ban could be fined between $100 and $250. Despite smokers being part of the bar and pub scene population, the article quoted Doyle as saying “smoke-free businesses can thrive.” Some businesses agree. “Most people don’t realize this, but Rock Bottom in Minneapolis increased in patronage due to more families coming to our restaurant,” said Jennifer Kotas, manager of
trons like to smoke. Some smokers like to drink. Almost everyone likes to go out for a night on the town. Will it become impossible to enjoy all of these simultaneously after July 5, 2010? Will business ultimately be harmed or helped? Businesses are either eagerly awaiting the change or holding their breath and hoping that they don’t go up in smoke. mj
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(414) 288-3924 Bob, Chris & Jenny, Licensed Barbers
Specializing in men’s haircuts!
Hours: • Monday – Friday 9am to 6pm • Sat. 9am toMarquette noon Journal, October 2009 • 31
Pairings The Haggerty Celebrates 25 Years Persian Visions Contemporary Photography from Iran October 14, 2009 - January 17, 2010
Haggerty MuseuM Of art
Marquette University 13th & Clybourn Streets Milwaukee, WI 53233
marquette.edu/haggerty 414 . 288 . 1669 32 • Marquette Journal, October 2009
Persian Visions was developed by Hamid Severi for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran, and Gary Hallman of the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota and toured by International Art & Artists, Washington, D.C.
Support for the Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran exhibition and programs are provided by the Marquette University Andrew W. Mellon Fund and the Milwaukee Arts Board. Support for Pairings The Haggerty Celebrates 25 Years is provided by the Joan Pick Endowment Fund.