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BOD MAGAZINE The Bod Magazine is published in fall and spring by students at Washburn University. 1700 SW College Ave., Topeka, KS 66621.
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FEATURES 6 ERIN GRANT PHOTO COURTESY OF TAYLOR KELLER
NETIQUITTE
Professor Erin Grant inspires students to become the best they can be. “I was glad to come here. This place has been life changing in terms of caring about students.”
“Some of these technologies are designed to be intrusive in our lives.”
SOCIETY
16.
12. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION What are people on campus saying about marijuana legalization? “I get frustrated driving in Denver.”
14 PHOTO BY RACHEL CIUMMO
GOT MILK? (TRUE STORY).
CLIMATE CHANGE Washburn faculty and students discuss what climate change means to them. “There’s propaganda and then there is science.”
“You broke the toilet,” she murmured, awed.
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PHOTO BY RACHEL CIUMMO
• Editor-in-Chief: Rachel Ciummo • Copy Editors: Abbie Barth, Rachel Ciummo, Shayndel Jones, Adam White, Wesley Tabor • Advertising: Josey Trimble • Writers: Abbie Barth, Deyja Cardenas, Maggie Gile, Alex Landwehr, Wesley Tabor • Designer and illustrator: Rachel Ciummo • Photographers: John Burns, Rachel Ciummo, Louis Collobert • Faculty Advisor: Regina Cassell
Bod Magazine SPRING 2019
M Melody Baker earned a Master’s Degree at twenty-two. Read her story on page 8.
PHOTO BY LOUIS COLLOBERT
Get to know Erin Grant “Whether it’s over email or in person, I make myself available to help anyone who needs it, school related or not.” PHOTO BY JOHN BURNS
Washburn University relies on faculty and staf f to build a link between the university and its students. Building these relationships can make a dif ference between the success and failure of the university, which Erin Grant says is an important aspect of higher education. Between love for Washburn and her two children, Grant keeps herself busy helping others. A self-proclaimed criminal justice advocate, she makes teaching ethics and other facets of criminal justice a priority.
Aside from making sure her students learn the curriculum and pass their tests, Grant also sees herself as a mentor for reasons other than studies. When it comes to explaining what sets her apar t from her higher education peers, she puts emphasis on the impor tance of making connections and working with her students outside of the classroom. “A lot of students don’t hate me, which is cool. I think I have a dif ferent point of view compared to other instr uctors in the world when
it comes to how I treat my students. Whether it’s over email or in person, I make myself available to help anyone who needs it, school related or not,” said Grant. “Half of the kids I end up advising ever y semester aren’t even of ficially my advisees. They just know I’m always there and tr ust me to keep them on track.” According to Grant, instr uctors should continue to learn just as students do; she believes this is an impor tant factor in being an ef fective educator.
Bod Magazine / Features
“I teach based on how I learn. I take tons of classes through our CTEL program on campus to learn how to change things and keep my classes relevant and ef fective,” said Grant. “We have to explore and teach how to make information ef fective… I star ted keeping up with things that go right and things that go wrong in each semester in my bullet journal. It’s impor tant to reflect and find out what works and what doesn’t.” Close friend and coworker, Melanie Worsley, chair of the criminal justice depar tment, agrees that Grant stays tr ue to her words and lives by her own advice. “I appreciate that Dr. Grant is open to new ideas. When we have brainstorming sessions where we discuss teaching strategies to use in the classroom and ideas for our criminal justice programs… she brings fresh and innovative ideas to the table and gets excited about new ideas others have,” Worsley said. Outside of work, Grant only has one explanation that chews up her free time. “My children. My kids really are my life right now. They’re my main focus besides work,” Grant said. Her two sons, Henr y, 7, and Harold, 2, keep Grant active and on her toes. Between stor y times, church activities and playing games, free time is a rare occasion for Grant. She says the time spent with her sons is being used to shape them into decent people while setting them up for success. “I want to teach my kids to always be self-aware. Take care of yourself
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and notice how you treat people because it matters,” said Grant. With all of her ‘immediate’ family living in a dif ferent state, Grant says she’s found her own little family here in the Topeka area. When the oppor tunity came to teach at Washburn, she jumped on the chance to leave her hometown and build a life for herself.
I want to teach my kids to always be self aware. Take care of yourself and notice how you treat people, because it matters. -Erin Grant
“I live ver y far away [from family] on purpose. I’m sor t of the black sheep. It doesn’t matter what I do because I won’t be accepted by them because of their views. I don’t need anybody. I’m figuring it out on my own,” said Grant. “Family is who you choose and I have plenty of people here that I consider family without being blood related. I’ve
got my kids. The rest of my family is more of my choosing.” According to Grant, following her first initial inter view there was no chance she would go anywhere else. The atmosphere and welcoming faces gave her a feeling of purpose. Since then, she has made tremendous ef for ts to make Washburn a better place to learn and give students a sense of pride in their learning. “I told myself that if I didn’t get this job, I wouldn’t get a job anywhere. They hired me pretty soon after [my inter view] and I was glad to come here. This place has been life changing in terms of caring about students,” said Grant. Making students a priority has allowed Grant to leave a legacy with both people who have taken her classes as well as people who she teaches alongside. “Dr. Grant is a true asset to Washburn University because her primar y focus is on teaching. She excels in her ser vice work and in her scholarship, but where she really shines is in the classroom,” said Worsley.
GRANT’S INVOLVEMENT ON CAMPUS -Faculty Senate Secretary -Diversity Committee -Assessment Committee (HLC) -Scholarship Committee -Masters Program Director -CJ Instructor
YOUR WORK ETHIC IS
HOW PEOPLE ARE GOING TO NOTICE YOU IN THE END. -MELODY BAKER
MELODY BAKER
Aside from the stress of star ting a new journey away from home, attending college also holds some of the most testing times of our lives. This experience took on a whole new meaning for Track and Field athlete, Melody Baker. Baker is not only a role model for the Washburn athletic depar tment because of athletic capabilities but also because of her success academically.
SCHOOLING At only 20 years old, she has received both an Associate’s of Science in Psychology (2016, the same year as her high school diploma), a Bachelor’s degree in Forensic Investigations (2018, three days after her 20th bir thday) and is on track to receive a masters in criminal justice in May of 2020, shor tly after her 22nd bir thday. She credits her bachelor’s degree as her biggest life accomplishment to date. She reflects on the impor tance of social suppor t while obtaining her degree(s). “I really wanted my dad to be able to see me accomplish [my bachelor’s degree],” Baker said. “I didn’t want him to miss the oppor tunity to see me accomplish my goals so I worked really hard to get it done and now I can say I have three degrees at age 22, and my dad was there for all three.”
PHOTO BY Louis COLLOBERT
FAMILY Baker credits her parents, Dale and Joyce Baker, for her rigorous work ethic. Baker’s mother is an exer cise physiologist who helps people regain their strength after hear t attacks and similar hear t-related issues. She is also a par t-time professor at Johnson County Community College where she teaches entr y level EMT courses. According to Baker, her mother became a cer tified EMT to teach others when intensive situations occur. Dale Baker, Melody’s father, taught for more than 40 years before retir-
ing. Although receiving a degree in social sciences, he found a passion and taught math during his career. Baker said her friends remember quirky tricks he [Dale Baker] would use in order to teach the girls dif ferent mathematical formulas. “If you meet him you’re instantly friends with him. He’s one of those people who knows ever ybody. There’s not a time where we can go out together and him not see somebody he knows. Ever y single time, he takes the time to sit and talk to them for a while. He’s so charismatic and kind, and always puts ever ybody else first,” Baker said. “He cares
about ever yone regardless of who they are. He’s good at being a good person.” Baker said she’s already absorbed more positive characteristics from her dad than she could have ever asked for. “I already see a few of his best traits in me. I’m talkative and can make a conversation with anyone. He’s good at being respectful and knows when he can help. He makes ever ybody feel really welcome and they know if you need help, he’s there for you. I feel like I’ve developed that too,” Baker said.
WORK ETHIC
MELODY’S ADVICE FOR FRESHMAN 1.
RELAX, IT’S GOING TO BE FUN!
Considering I came as a freshman straight out of high school, I knew absolutely nobody. This experience has been great. The saying ‘best days of your life’ is definitely probably the truest statement I’ve heard. They just keep getting better as the time passes too.
2. DORMS ARE ACTUALLY A GOOD THING I know dorms seem terrifying. The thought of living with five or six other girls and sharing two bathrooms, I thought ‘this isn’t going to work’ but living in those dorms and living so close to ever yone and getting to know people, it was the best year of my life.
3. IT’S OK TO SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS The best way to enjoy college is to take it the way it’s supposed to be. Take your time, go to school and make friends, so you can make connections that will last while you’re here. You’re going to need them. One time, I was working on a paper that was due soon and I kept making excuses not to go hangout with my friends that were asking to go out. One day, I decided to take a break and do it before I came back to finish my homework. Take all the oppor tunities you’re given to go have fun because you deser ve it and it really won’t kill you.
Baker’s parents not only pushed her but they also made sure to teach structure and to grow skills to interact with others outside of her normal routine by placing the youngster in Girl Scouts. “I was in Girl Scouts, which helped me develop the good work ethic mentality. I joined in kindergar ten as soon as I was finished doing ballet and my parents were super suppor tive of it,” Baker said. “I even led my own troop through high school, which taught me how to get priorities straight and handle responsibilities before I even left for college.” Having a work ethic means more than just a good résumé for Baker. “My parents made sure that I knew that having a good work ethic shows your wor th. It doesn’t define you necessarily, but it’s one of the biggest par ts of you. I want people to know they can rely on me to get things done and do them well. Your work ethic is how people are going to notice you in the end.” As the oldest sibling, Baker said that having somebody constantly looking up to her is great motivation to do her best.
Bod Magazine / Features Her younger brother, Adam Baker, has been accepted into the Kansas State University engineering program where he will begin in the fall. For now, he’s finishing up his senior year at Baker’s old stomping grounds, Olathe Nor thwest, to finish out the Baker legacy. Hard work hasn’t been absent in Baker’s road to a successful college lifestyle. She credits her ability to balance a heavy workload by taking responsibility for her own actions early on. “I got a job when I was 15 in order to prevent my parents from having to pay for the things I wanted… on top of the things I needed. It taught me discipline. My mom always told me to make a to-do list and check things of f as I finished. I still do that to this day with my homework and work schedule,” Baker said. “Between Girl Scouts, spor ts and my parents, my work ethic has always been there. Being a leader in spor ts and Girl Scouts has motivated me to be the best leader I can be.” Becoming a great leader in the Washburn Track and Field program has not gone unnoticed. Head track coach, Cameron Babb, says he looks up to Baker as inspiration. “She’s probably the most brilliant athlete I’ve ever had. She’s so smar t and I don’t know how she keeps ever ything together. She’s still got a 4.0 GPA as well as being a track athlete and never misses practice, as well as holding down a par t-time job. I don’t know how she finds more hours in a day than ever ybody else. And to still be the girl that’s upbeat and smiling, never complains, that’s hands down the most impressive thing to me. She’s the girl you want on your team,” said Babb. Being an athlete means being a good teammate both in and out of
11 competition. Babb claims that Baker is a pro at this responsibility. “She’s really the first person to of fer help if there’s something that anybody needs. Whether it’s a recruit or one of the kids needs a ride, she’s one of those people who’s the first to of fer her help,” says Babb.
“I like to live by the golden rule, and I think everybody else should too. It’s the ‘treat people how you want to be treated’ rule that we learned in kindergarten. You never know what somebody is going through, so treating everybody with kindness is most important.”
-MELODY BAKER When it comes to growth, Babb claims Baker has no problem working hard to get the results she wants to see. “She was in my ver y first recr uiting class here at Washburn, so she’s been here since day one. As a freshman that needed a lot of growth and development at this level, she’s at the point now where she’s star ting to see some personal bests in events she didn’t even originally compete in,” Babb says. Baker wishes to share her gift of positivity and also ingrain optimism into those around her. She uses her dad as a template when considering how to treat ever ybody she encounters, both in competition and in ever yday life.
KINDNESS “I like to live by the golden rule, and I think ever ybody else should too. It’s the ‘treat people how you want to be treated’ r ule that we lear ned
in kindergar ten. You never know what somebody is going through, so treating ever ybody with kindness is most impor tant,” Baker said. “It could make a huge dif ference in how others see you and also how they see themselves if you treat them nicely.” Being kind to others also takes a bigger meaning with Baker as suicide prevention is a cause she’s passionate about. “I had two friends commit suicide in high school and it sucked. If I had to pick a cause I was passionate about and a committee to join, it would be about suicide prevention. People need kindness and understanding. It would make the world a better place to know somebody is always there for you,” she said. As for life as a whole, Baker said she has already lear ned many lessons that hold a lot of weight in how she goes through ever y day. She has realized that time is of the essence, and wasting any of it would be a disser vice to this precious gift that we’re given in this lifetime. “Don’t take time for granted. My parents are older, so time is of the essence. Him being my dad at that age, I don’t take anything for granted. I make sure to be in contact with him ever y single day. Time is shor t so you have to be careful with what you do with it,” Baker said.
FUTURE As for future goals, Baker keeps it shor t and simple. “I want to be the best possible person I can be and live the best life possible, which I think I’ve done a good job of so far. Just live life to the fullest. I really want to land the dream job [something that puts my skills to use and pays well], pay of f my student loans and just have a good life that I enjoy.”
Washburn Q&A on Pot Legalization BY DEYJA CARDENAS KANSAS BACKGROUND
In the past few years, marijuana legalization has become a popular topic in America. Washburn University Political Science Professor Linsey Moddelmog explains why this is such a relevant topic to Kansans in 2019. “I think it’s an important issue because we see other states making new laws which makes Kansas consider the issue again. There’s a growing consensus that we have a lot of people in our prison population and they may be there for victimless crimes and it’s costing a lot of money. I think that there’s a group of individuals who also consider the medical benefits that may come with it. Even Oklahoma is approving medicinal marijuana and I consider Oklahoma a little bit more conservative and religious than Kansas. The way we’ve been treating chronic pay is through Oxy and now we know we have a horrible Oxy and heroin epidemic. Well, that was a legal drug and it had horrible consequences and we have an illegal drug that may not have those consequences,” said Moddelmog.
INTERVIEWEES Charlee Bonczkowski | President of the Washburn University College Republicans and chair of the Kansas federation of college Republicans Christopher Enos | Chief of the Washburn University Police department Annie Miller | Washburn University Assistant Professor of Political Science Jackson Woods | President of the Washburn University College Democrats and chairman of the Kansas federation of college Democrats.
Q: A:
What do you think are the risks of legalizing Marijuana in Kansas? Miller
Annie Miller, who graduated with her master’s in political science in Boulder, Colorado described one of her previously conducted studies in the state. The study examined human traf ficking and its correlation to dr ugs. The study found that human traf ficking corresponds with
the labor market. After the study, Miller said “some respondents did talk specifically about the ways in which marijuana legalization has changed the environment for labor traf ficking. The majority of respondents mentioned that the higher paying jobs in trimming weed is causing the industr y to see increases in entr y. It’s had some over flows in which labor is utilized in farming and agricultural communities. There are less agricul-
tural laboring oppor tunities since marijuana growers receive higher pay than most other agricultural jobs. This means that the marijuana industr y may be over powering the agricultural labor industr y. some communities describe risks for labor traf ficking as a result of that, now I want to be really clear to say it’s not ‘this happened because of marijuana legalization,’ we don’t have any data to suppor t that,” said Miller.
Bod Magazine / Social Issues
DID YOU KNOW? President Donald Trump decided that the heads of each designated state should decide whether or not Marijuana should be legalized, Trump stated, “The marijuana thing is such a big thing. I think medical should happen—right? Don’t we agree? I think so. ... I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state.” And so it is. Miller also mentioned risks with driving and tests used to measure levels in a person. “What are the guidelines a state is willing to accept, and ultimately, how will they implement those policies. One of the big questions in Colorado is, ‘how would we screen a driver for being high?’ And we do drug testing there, [in Colorado] and we tend to test for THC and not CBD but it’s still not a super sensitive test and I think there’s still a lot of questions for police departments and sheriffs around ‘what is too high to drive?’ I don’t think we have a lot of sensitivity in that testing.” Miller continued, “certainly on a personal level, I get frustrated driving in Denver because I think a lot of drivers are driving high and I worry about that because, to me, that is a public safety concern. I think that is certainly an interesting intersection in terms of the policy questions that is not specific to medicinal use of marijuana.”
A:
Woods
“We have DUI laws with alcohol. I would think that if we were to legalize marijuana that we should have serious DUI penalties, because we shouldn’t endanger other people on the road. It’s a privilege and a responsibility to drive a car. Use it [marijuana] well. Treat it
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similar to drunk driving, not the same because they’re different.” Woods concluded that drinking and driving is more of a risk than driving high.
Q: A:
What might be some cons of legalizing marijuana? Bonczkowski
Bonczkowski stated that she has heard the construct of marijuana being used as a “gateway drug” that leads into the habit of pursuing more hard drugs. “I can’t say they’re are addicted to marijuana, I can’t say that it has led to them to try other drugs. I can’t say if getting hooked on marijuana was the cause of them getting hooked on other drugs. All I know is that they started with marijuana and then started doing other drugs.”
A:
Woods
“Smoking stuff is bad for lungs,” said Woods. “If you have an edible [of legal age and dosage] then I don’t think that there any health risks. I don’t use marijuana but I know people who do, and they are well adjusted people. I can safely say that tobacco is worse for you than marijuana, because A) it’s [tobacco] addictive and B) it is consumed by smoking OR chewing, which messes up your teeth and other stuff. Marijuana is ‘healthier’ than alcohol in a general sense, as long as it’s not smoked.”
A:
Enos
“I think they’re [alcohol and marijuana] both dangerous drugs and you can say well ‘I’ve never seen anyone get into a fight with marijuana or I don’t think marijuana is a dangerous drug’ and, I don’t know about that. I do know that the trade around the illegal drug(s) is
dangerous. There are a lot of people that die every year as a result of the illicit trade of marijuana, and I think that is dangerous.” Chief Enos continued, “I’ve never tried it, I don’t know anything about it [marijuana] but I do know the marijuana trade is dangerous. That [illicit trade] is where I get concerned with students as many of them participate in the illicit trade of marijuana and they’re putting themselves in a dangerous situation when they do that.”
Q: A:
What might be some of the benefits of legalizing marijuana? Miller
“Different states have made different choices about where that money goes. In Colorado, even though we were early adopters in 2012, there are still a lot of questions unanswered about how to spend the money that’s made on recreational marijuana. Should it go into infrastructure and affordable housing or youth education and awareness?”
A:
Woods
“You can tax it and regulate it, [public safety], and those taxes can go towards education or addiction prevention. You free a huge burden on the law enforcement system.”
A:
Bonczkowski
“I think overall it would not benefit Kansas. Legalizing marijuana can bring in more people and more business, but... you are essentially dealing with more people who are smoking marijuana and using drugs. It’s a possibility, it’s not for sure of course, but I think the cons would outweigh the pros with marijuana here in Kansas.”
WASHBURN OPINIONS ON CLIMATE CHANGE BY MAGGIE GILE Matthew Miller, a Meteorology professor, has a viewpoint people may find interesting. He states that climate is an ever-evolving thing and that there is no perfect state of the atmosphere that we should strive for. Others on campus like Kellis Bayless, a Biology professor, see it as an issue that needs some attention from us all.
Bayless lists two reasons why climate change has become such a political topic. “One is that we’re gathering more and more data ever y year suggesting that humans are negatively impacting the climate,” Bayless said. He also said one of the main solutions to climate change is using a lot less fossil fuels. Unfor tunately, this
makes up a chunk of the American economy. If the gover nment were to suggest that less of it should be used, then they could get push back from large corporations that make money from fossil fuels.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Bayless also said students who wish to help prevent climate change
ar e welcome to join the campus group “Ecobods.” He also believes students can make a positive impact on climate change. Students can do things like make sure their heaters aren’t turned up too high in the winter or carpooling. Even something simple like turning lights of f during the day could help.
Bod Magazine / Social Issues
Christopher Hamilton, a political science professor, is another advocate for preventing climate change. He sees both bad and good in how climate change is being repor ted in America.
THE MEDIA Hamilton has noticed that American media tends to gloss over climate change which lessens awareness. On the other hand, he said that it seems a large por tion of the world is covering climate change as it happens and have star ted up their own ways of tr ying to prevent it. “Ther e’s pr opaganda and then there is science,” Hamilton said. He mentioned the “sixth extinction” and how climate catastrophe is one element of the greatest risks we have towards extinction. He suggested the documentar y, “Merchants of Doubt,” which covers how corporations paid others to lie about things for decades. “The greatest body of the greatest Scientists in world histor y, the British Royal Society […], condemned Exxon-Mobil, and now Koch industries, for spending many millions to create lies and a false “debate” in the clueless mass media and mislead people about the climate crisis when there is no debate among the real scientists,” Hamilton said.
AMERICA Hamilton said the pr oblem in America lies in the fact that the press and media can be bought out and ignore repor ting the problem or mislead consumers. He also mentioned that corporations conver ting to clean energy could be expensive.
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OTHER COUNTRIES Countries like Qatar and Jordon have big oil industries but acknowledge that they will eventually r un out of oil. Because of this, they have decided to invest in the Sahara Forest Project. This pr oject involves building greenhouses to grow plants to eventually create bio-mass fuel. They plan on eventually replacing oil companies with bio-mass fuel companies to continue making money.
There’s propaganda and then there is science. -Christopher Hamilton Jennifer Ball is a business professor at Washburn and expressed some of her thoughts from a business perspective. “Businesses will conver t to clean energy when they find it profitable to do so,” Ball said. Ball said that alter native energy is more expensive than carbon based energy so businesses will be reluctant to conver t. A business might conver t to improve their reputation, assuming that the increased revenues will outweigh the increased costs of conversion. “They might believe conver ting voluntarily will help them avoid government regulation of fees down the road, which may be more costly,” Ball said. When asked if clean energy could create more jobs, she said it would but only “at the expense of “dir ty” energy”. It would just be a trade, going from one to the next. Making jobs, but eliminating others.
“The real costs savings will come from cheaper energy down the road, which I assume clean energy will be cheaper soon, and decreased societal health costs, which are significant,” said Ball. So we see there is some concern about how the Ear th’s climate is changing and how individually and economically this could be changed.
MORE OPINIONS Then we have Matthew Miller, a Meteorology professor, explaining how there is no evidence suggesting that climate change is a good or bad thing. “If we assume that a war ming planet is all bad and that a cooling planet is all bad, that suggests that we are at the per fect temperature right now. We just don’t know if that is the case or not,” Miller said. To add to that, he says global increases in temperature don’t always get reflected at a local or regional level. Take Topeka for example, over the last several decades the growing season has shor tened by a few days. At the same time, however, the winters have been warmer. “So, we end up left with lots of questions that need to be researched and politics need to be taken out of this entirely… We need to properly tone the message so we don’t sound alarmist nor dismissive and instead tackle this thr ough adequate r esearch, developing reasonable, financially responsible, ef fective ways to best care for our planet,” Miller said. With all of these dif fering viewpoints across campus, we should each focus on better understanding climate change and what that means for us and the planet.
Technology and its Effect on Etiquette By Wesley Tabor
“Where relationships build is through the interactions. You know, where the weird conversations happen,” said Tracy Routsong, professor of communication studies. “The times where you’re talking at dinner and your green beans go flying across the room… you remember that, as funny as it sounds.” Despite this viewpoint, in the new digital age there are people who manage their friendships and relationships solely online. “It’s really been a positive experience to stay in contact with some of the networks I am involved in,” said Geof f Way, assistant professor of English. “These social networks help develop friendships even though
I may not see these individuals ever y day.” Breaking of traditional norms such as texting at the dinner table provide examples of this shift in practice. “Five or six years ago in my interpersonal communication class was the ver y first time a student admitted that they broke up with someone via text,” said Routsong. “I remember the outcr y in class, I remember it so vividly… I don’t think it would have that same pour of emotion that it once did.” These norms and the relationship between technological understanding and interpersonal skills may link back as early as childhood education. Kids are being exposed
to technology in schools at younger ages than in the past. Utilizing technology they’ll need to know how to navigate as adults might not seem like such a bad thing as kids are getting more comfor table with a fast-paced environment. “The potential downside is when you are star ting out with chromebooks in hand or cellphones in hand at such a young age, they aren’t going to learn that face to face dynamic,” said Routsong. “Those social skills are so impor tant as you go to college and career readiness.” An example of these lost interpersonal skills can be seen in the change of understanding proper etiquette when making a phone call.
Bod Magazine / Social Issues
“We teach things now that we didn’t have to teach before,” said Routsong. “I’ve had to teach people how to end a phone call… you have to formally conclude. This isn’t the case with texting.” In a technology-driven society, interpersonal skills can go a long way. Especially since the casual phone conversation and back-and-for th dialogue aren’t regularly taught anymore. Another shift in etiquette knowledge comes from how to properly email college professors by developing a formal and respectful tone. “There’s actually a couple of readings that I have students look at in English 300 about how to email your professor,” said Way. “We don’t talk about email etiquette in the way we should, we just assume that people know even though we shouldn’t.” In some ways, tech etiquette can combine the real-world with the vir tual by impacting how others view you professionally. “You really have to consider the channel of communication,” said Routsong. “You have to think about the medium you’re using, especially if it is a serious conversation over business or a romantic relationship.” The common understanding is that users are behind the advancement in technology, and social media, texting, etc. are the tools that need to be diligently controlled by the user. Calendar updates, reminders, text messages and notifications blur the lines for many, and tug on their ability to maintain some sense of self-control. “Distractions are a big par t of netiquette,” said Routsong. “Knowing
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when it’s time for something and knowing when it’s not time… that’s what being an adult is… it’s really easy to fall into that trap.” “I find calendar updates and reminders to be more hindering than helpful,” said Matthew Smoker, a freshman psychology major. “If I am pulling up my phone for a calendar update then I might respond to a text and then you enter the rabbit hole.”
I find calendar updates and reminders to be more hindering than helpful. - Matthew Smoker The reliance on technology has pushed innovation in interesting directions and as these upgrades occur, our reliance on technology is likely to increase because of the ever-expanding ser vices that are of fered to users. “I can remember my first bulky cell phone back in like ’94 or ’95… and you’d walk out the door and forget it and you’d think ‘ah, I will be fine, not a big deal. Now you turn around and go back inside and get it because you’re going to be lost during the day,” said John Haver ty, assistant director of information technology ser vices at Washburn University. Daily reliance on technology can pull users in, keeping them in a state of constant connectivity. “Some of these technologies are designed to be intrusive in our lives,” said Way. “The designer of each app, each company, wants you to stay on their platform; new features keep you coming back.” “That’s what those apps are de-
signed to do,” said Way. “That’s half the battle… understanding that apps are designed to keep you coming back for more. Social media focuses on notifications, and they draw you in.” There has been a recent trend by iOS with several new tracking apps. “You allow yourself to get distracted,” said Way. “That’s why we’re seeing this proliferation of apps that are tracking ever ything, but those numbers can be skewed for dif ferent reasons.” Regardless of the possibility of skewed data, some have found these apps to be useful. The screen time app is an app developed by iOS to help with exactly that, understanding where your time is going and which apps you are spending your time on. “It can help keep you accountable,” said Smoker. “It can also help you locate which apps you’re spending the most time on and then you can tur n notifications of f or disable cer tain apps altogether. I use it to see how much time I spend on my phone and how I can decrease my numbers to minimize distractions.” Haver ty also mentioned that students can setup email inbox r ules to help minimize the number of notifications someone may receive ever y day. “I use filters ver y heavily,” said Haver ty. “I don’t want to receive a notification for ever y little thing that I receive… some things I have set up to go directly to my trash.” “Just like anything else… technology isn’t good or bad,” said Routsong. “It’s how you use the technology that becomes a benefit or a detriment to a person.”
ST UD EN TS ’ F R E E T I ME BY ABBIE BARTH
What do students do when they are not attending classes or studying? Do they work to pay bills, binge watch “The Office” on Netflix or go home to see their families? In 2019, students seem to be doing a little bit of everything. Many students want to reduce stress so they join clubs or find activities that they enjoy. Others want to find a sense of community, which Washburn offers with over 125 student organizations. For the majority of students on campus, working to support themselves becomes top priority.
1.
MOVIES
One student, Brandon Eber t, a Freshman Political Science major, says his favorite way to destress is by watching his favorite movie, Juno. “I tr y to watch it at least once a month,” said Eber t. “I think last month I watched it four times.” “It’s just whenever I am stressed or whatever I watch Juno and then go back to what I was doing,” said Eber t. It is impor tant for students to find
an outlet for their stress, considering the ever present pressure to pass classes in order to walk on graduation day. While some students watch their favorite movies, others return to their hometowns to par ticipate in their favorite activities.
2.
SWEDISH DANCING
Baylee Wolf, a freshman Psychology major, likes to retur n to her hometown of Lindsborg, Kansas and meet up with her for mer Swedish
Dancing team. Baylee has been a Swedish dancer since elementar y school. Now that she has graduated high school, she likes to par take in various alumni events in her hometown. “When I’m back home in Lindsborg, it’s something that if there’s something going on with Swedish dancers, I can go and dance with the group when they have the alumni dances,” said Wolf. “It has been one of my hobbies for all of my life basically.”
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Not only is it a fun hobby of hers, it is also a good way to balance her two social circles; her Washburn community and her hometown community. “It is something fun to always show of f here at college and fun to do with friends from high school and in my community,” said Wolf.
3.
RC RACING
Another student at Washbur n enjoys a fun hobby within his community. Taylor Keller, is a sophomore Business major. His favorite hobby is Remote Control racing. “RC” racing is a single player competition involving small one foot long tr ucks, some of which can go up to 50 mph. “I live in a town of 300 people, and three years ago I got an RC tr uck,” said Keller. “So now we have about 25 people out of our 300 that have these tr ucks and ever y Sunday this summer, we would get together and race.” Apar t from his RC racing hobby, Keller also owns and operates his own t-shir t making company. Not only does he have a fun hobby, he also has a profitable one.
4.
PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS
Some students choose or have to spend their free time working or r unning their own business. One student on Washburn’s campus that r uns her own business is Jennie Wilson, a sophomore. This marketing major r uns her own photography business, JW Photography. That alone sounds busy enough, but the tricky par t is that her clients are all in W ichita, her hometown.
PHOTO COURTESY BAYLEE WOLF Wilson spends the majority of her time throughout the school week r unning her business and then commuting back to Wichita on the weekends to actually do the photoshoots. “Through the week I am usually editing. That is about 30 hours of editing. For ever y one hour I’m shooting, it takes about two to three hours editing,” said Wilson. Her business is more than a hobby, it is how she makes a living. “Throughout the week while I’m here, I do a lot of talking to clients. I do about two weddings a month. I go home ever y weekend. If I don’t have a wedding, I usually have senior photoshoots or family ones and stuf f like that.” During midter ms, W ilson finds herself the busiest, balancing a busy
school and work schedule. “There were weekends where I had like eight or nine shoots in two days. And then I had to edit them during the school week when I had school,” said Wilson. W ilson plans on moving back to Wichita next year so she can focus on her business and spend less time commuting. “It’s something that I really enjoy,” said Wilson. “[But] it’s been a little harder than I thought.” As Ichabods we ar e all her e to advance our education, but we also here to grow in the process, whether that is through meeting new people, joining clubs, staying connected to our communities, or r unning our own business, we are all here to grow and learn.
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e c an
i n w g o r t ar
ºf l a c ale
ah
GOT MILK?
e intol e r tos
I am lactose intolerant. This doesn’t make me special, interesting or even unusual. Humans lose their ability to digest lactose after infancy more often than not, and I’m not even completely unable to break that par ticular molecule down. I just need to watch it after a small cup of ice cream. Rather, it’s my seeming inability to remember this little tidbit about myself that has put me in somewhat special, interesting and unusual situations. There was the one time where after failing to realize lasagna had cheese in it, I spent most of the 8th grade formal in the bathroom with
a book I had stuf fed in my purse in case such an occasion arose. There was also that time when I realized that my debate coach kept Lactaid specifically for me in his glove compar tment, because he didn’t want me to hurl all over an opponent. (This worr y had merit. There’s a reason I refuse to eat Chipotle.) At this point in my life, it would per fectly be within people’s rights to call me insane. I mean, that’s the definition of insanity, right? Doing something over and over again, expecting a dif ferent result. However, I would argue that it wouldn’t be fair to attribute that term to me the first
time I got in a spot of bother due to my need to consume dair y. I didn’t know. I was innocent. The only thing I could truly be accused of was that I knew that theoretically, something bad could maybe happen. As most of life’s great disasters do, it began at a sleepover. We had movies, we had enough clothes to last a week, and popcorn had been placed ar tfully around the basement in colored bowls. We were set. Once all of our parents had dropped us of f (only after having the thinly veiled are-you-sure-so-and-so’s -parents-aren’t-serial-killers conversation), we convened in the basement.
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Bod Magazine / Stor y time We chatted about school, chatted about our teachers, discussed if we wanted to just throw the movie idea out and just watch an entire season of some anime. Eventually, the host’s mother poked her head into the basement and asked what would later be known as the fateful question: “Are all of you girls OK with pizza?” I could have said something. I could have of fered to eat toast. I could have sucked it up and eaten nothing but popcorn. But I didn’t, because nothing can quite replicate the anticipation one feels the second a greasy cardboard pizza box opens, right after all the steam escapes. It’s a beautiful thing. Not only did I eat the pizza, I ate a lot of it. My hear tless friends, who knew exactly what pizza did to me, double-dog-dared me to eat twice what I had put on my plate. It’s fine, I thought to myself, as I chewed the first heavenly slice of piping hot cheese pizza. I’ll be fine. I know exactly what I’m doing. After all, I’m twelve now. I was not fine. It all came to a head around one in the mor ning. Another friend eventually checked to see if I was all right, and after a sad little no escaped from underneath the door way, said friend decided to wait it out, par tially because we were friends and par tially because she had to pee. Finally, I was in a state where it would be sociably acceptable to be in public again, and I flushed. The water rose to the top. Call me naive, call me someone who has always lived in a house full of prodigious plumbing, but I had never seen this happen before. I ner vously knocked on the door to aler t the friend leaning on the other
22 side, then urgently beckoned her in. I hurriedly explained the problem to her in a low whisper, tr ying not to wake the parents of the house we were staying at. “You broke the toilet,” she murmured, awed. This was a step too far. “Did not,” I hissed, eyes bugging out with misplaced anger. “This was not me. It was the toilet!” There was only one thing to do in order to prove my innocence. Before she could stop me, I reached over and flushed the toilet several times.
“Nothing can quite replicate the anticipation one feels the second a greasy cardboard pizza box opens, right after all the steam escapes. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Somewhere, deep inside its chrome workings, the toilet laughed. It knew exactly how it wanted to respond. Respond it did, and water star ted gushing ever ywhere. Both of us began freaking out, tripping over each other and using bunches of fantasy cuss words. We had to get help, but even amid the pool of water that was happily making its way to the edge of the bathroom, eager to meet the living room carpet, it was unthinkable to get an adult. We could only tr ust our own. The friend hurried of f to get the friend whose house we were r uining. A floor below, where ever yone was finally star ting to drop of f, the pipes did what they had been threatening to do for years, and began to spray water ever ywhere. In the midst of
all the confusion, information was shared, and the source was determined. A small squad went to work finding plastic trash cans to catch some of the water, while the friend whose house was beginning to look like it would qualify as a victim of flood damage ran up the stairs to find me standing petrified over the toilet. She ran over and pointed wildly at the toilet plunger, which was hanging out innocently a few inches in front of me. “Why haven’t you..? No. Star t plunging!” My eyes, already watering with panic, star ted to swim. “I don’t know how!” “Oh for heaven’s sake,” she muttered. “How?” She took over, while I took of f downstairs to help with the trash-can brigade. Eventually, we cleaned/hid the mess as best we could. We all got to sleep, ate breakfast, left with our belongings, and made arrangements for the next sleepover. Apparently, insurance had come through a few weeks before and declared the pipes fine, but thanks to me, the homeowners were able to make the ver y valid point that if your entire house and plumbing system can be described politely as “at risk,” all because someone had too much pizza at dinner, it was not fine, and insurance needed to pay for it. Which they did. Happy endings all round. We joke about it from time to time, all of us. I still get tagged in a variety of potty-humored memes. But more impor tantly, I made it a priority to learn how to use a toilet plunger, a skill only heathens don’t have. As a side note, I have recently discovered the glories of frozen yogur t. I’ll be fine. I know my limits. After all, I’m twenty now.
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