— STAFF EDITORIALS —
Service semesters are staples, should stay
Academic Service Learning Semesters are a small aspect of this university, but an important one. Our program has developed so much that we are the only Jesuit university that has three different international sites. Xavier prides itself on this program, as it should because it is one of a kind.
There’s a section of the prospective student website devoted to the programs, it’s plastered all over Xavier marketing materials and some students even choose to come to Xavier so they can one day participate in a trip to Ghana, Nicaragua, India or Over-the-Rhine.
The 2005 fall issue of Xavier magazine had four stories about the Ghana semester. The latest issue of the magazine had another feature about an alum in Africa. Obviously the university loves the fact that it has ties to these countries. Are they going to break these ties a mere three years after they’ve boasted about it in their alumni publications? We hope not.
Also, we sometimes forget that 20-30 of our peers participate in these semesters and they bring their stories, experiences and knowledge back to the XU community.
So to take all of these things away from the student body would be disheartening at best and enraging at worst. It is the sincerest hope of the Newswire that the administration does everything they can to keep these programs here. They are too valuable to lose.
So if the program is faltering and the big-wigs feel that it needs to be re-evaluated, then it should. We totally support that. In fact, hiring another person to help with international student programs will help.
If we are still promoting these programs then we should still have these programs. There is no reason to mislead prospective students. So let’s make some decisions and get some things done soon. The university is taking many steps forward with its campus expansion, but it is taking a giant step backwards if it abandons Academic Service Learning Semesters.
Working on our workout hours
We at the Newswire, while working on our intellectually stimulating spring break bodies have noticed quite the influx of students working out at O’Connor Sports Center recently.
Attributing this to New Years’ resolutions/Lenten promises/freshman weight-gain realizations, we’ve been pleasantly accepting of this minor inconvenience.
However, we then realized that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, O’Connor opens an astonishing 4.25 hours later than its Monday/Wednesday/Friday counterparts, delaying heart and appearance-healthy activity until 10 a.m.
Oh, and opening at 11 a.m. on weekends seems counter-productive, allowing late-night partiers to sleep until double-digits.
We know Xavier is a huge party school (sarcasm), but some of us like morning workouts.
And finally, closing the facilities at 5 p.m. on Sundays? Really, Xavier? Really?
I mean, maybe it’s just us, but this mentality of “let’s control the Xavier Rec overpopulation?” Cut us some slack.
Eyes and ears open wide
Darren LaCour
Opinions & Editorials Editor
You know, I think I used to be homophobic.
Not because I was a hateful person, nor because my parents were, nor because my religious leaders told me to be.
But basically, because I was ignorant.
I didn’t understand homosexuality, and I didn’t know any homosexuals; all I knew was that homosexuality is different, and different tends to scare people.
And so, I responded in the way that is all-too-common nowadays: I looked at
homosexuality as unnatural, as sinful, as dangerous.
Thank God I grew up.
I attribute so much of that growth to experience. Coming to college, I met new people, I looked at things in new ways, I learned about situations I knew nothing about. (I also, through listening to Fr. Graham’s wonderful homilies, learned how to use tricolon most effectively.)
Attending the Xavier Alliance’s showing of the movie “For the Bible Tells Me So” has been one more step in that journey to fully understand the world that surrounds me.
Though I would like to think I’ve already come far away from the homophobia that might have dominated my views in high school, I still feel like the film helped me see how other people deal with similar revelations.
As I was watching it, I couldn’t help thinking how imperative it is for people to purposely expose themselves to different ideas and to challenge their existing presuppositions, especially about people.
How can people harbor so much hate against individuals? How can people believe that others would subject themselves to such discrimination if they felt they could choose this battle? How can people’s view of an all-good and all-loving God warp their perceptions of other people into something so negative and discriminatory?
I still feel that the basic answer to this question is that people refuse to learn. They refuse to open their eyes and see, and they refuse to associate the things they speak out so passionately against with real people.
You know, if everybody had a gay friend, these problems would all but go away. It’s a lot harder to really believe someone is an abomination destined straight for Hell if you really care about them.
I’ve decided to opt-out of furthering my problems with the conservative, narrow-minded, Bible-thumping, unyielding and ignorant Christian right, because that doesn’t help anything either. We have to learn to understand those people, too.
I don’t think you have to be “cool” with homosexuality, either. But you have to understand that gay people are still people, no more nor less than you and I.
My faith still tells me that a homo-erotic lifestyle is wrong, but so is any sexual relationship outside of wedlock (and I do apologize that a homosexual one isn’t an option in the Church, because I know that the past 20 years have been pretty hard for me to deal with; I’m really looking forward to my wedding day...er...night).
Besides, we’ve all got crosses to bear. Don’t hate people because theirs are heavier than yours.
Madeline’s new cure-all elixir
Madeline LaFave
Editorial Columnist
What if I told you that I was using a miracle drug that can remedy obesity, depression, drug addiction, smoker’s lung, sleep troubles and many other impediments affecting your daily life? What if I told you that this drug can get you high, make you happy, improve your academic and social life and make your body run like a machine? And what if I told you that this drug was free and legal? Would you do it?
My name is Madeline and I am mild-to-moderately addicted to running. I come from a family of non-runners. Athletes, yes, but none of us have the lean, bony, fatless body that typical runners have.
My siblings and I stuck to contact sports in high school, and all four of us began running in college to stay in shape. All three siblings have completed at least one marathon, including my brother who qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon.
I began running half-marathons my freshman year of college, and four or five later, I am ready to train for my first full.
I quickly found out that running is neither easy nor boring, as I had once perceived it to be in high school, yet it has the potential to be the most energizing, spiritual, relaxing or challenging part of my day. My self-esteem and confidence sky-rocket during marathon training.My life changed drastically when I committed myself to the sport, and I have an intense desire to share this passion with others.
To those of you who feel unworthy of this miracle drug, I address you specifically.
For the over-stressed and over-worked: Studies have shown that distance running does wonders on the brain. Anxieties become mere annoyances on a run and are put out of the mind. Running provides the perfect mental environment to work out problems. It is one of the most efficient workouts for the schedule-oriented, giving you solid exercise in the least amount of time. Making time for this daily run will force you to improve time-management skills, therefore time is utilized more effectively.
For the smokers: It has been proven that even smokers can recover full lung potential through running. What an awesome gift. There is about 50 percent unused lung potential that can be utilized when running.
For the drug-users: There’s a well-known phenomena in the runner world called the “runner’s high.” The runner’s high occurs when the natural chemical Anandamide crosses the blood-brain barrier, creating feelings commonly associated with those of Tetrahydrocannabinol—feelings of euphoria, relaxation and cessation of pain. Last week I spoke with a professional who described the runner’s high as similar to the endorphin high of heroin.
Finally, for the scared: If you have a desire to begin running, that is the first step. The hardest part is getting out the door. Throw on some athletic clothes and shoes and run up and down campus a few times if that is what fatigues you at first. Read up on tips for beginning runners online, head to the gym and try it out on a treadmill or enlist a friend to try it with you. The main thing is to get started and later you can define your goals more clearly.
I could write endlessly on the benefits of running, but my main reason for writing this week is to plug the Flying Pig Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half-Marathon and 10k races, which will take place the weekend of May 4. Cincinnati’s Flying Pig marathon was recently listed among the top 10 most fun marathons. I highly recommend researching this amazing event online and considering participation. Three months should be allotted to train for the half-marathon, and 12 weeks until race day is Sunday, Feb. 10.
I recommend Hal Higdon’s Novice training schedule which you can print
out for free online from www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/nonce.htm
So drug-addicts, smokers, fatties, skinnies, downers and normal people unite!
Try out my drug to solve nearly any problem. Come on, everybody’s doing
it!
Doc Talk
Dear Doc,
Over break I got sick from something I ate. Are there certain foods which are
proven to be higher risks than others?
-All Cleaned Out
Dear All Cleaned Out,
The highest risk foods are raw foods. Meat, poultry, eggs and shellfish are
common sources. Unpasturized milk and juice, although uncommon in the city,
are sources too. Raw fruits and vegetables can also be a problem. Washing them
can reduce, but not eliminate, the risk. The food preparer can reduce the risk
of spreading disease by handwashing and cleaning surfaces used for raw foods
before laying other foods on the same surface.
Dear Doc,
My roommate gets a lot of bloody noses and leaves the blood soaked tissues on
the sink stand. It’s disgusting. How do I protect myself?
-Grossed Out
Dear Grossed Out,
You should be careful. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV can be spread to open
wounds or dermatitis. If you’re going to clean up after your roommate,
get some disposable gloves and cleansing wipes or spray (Lysol) to clean the
sink area.
— LETTERS TO THE EDITOR —
Mixed reaction, Mixed intent
We are delighted the “mixed message” was not lost on you! We feel the same way. We have had mixed feelings about using the pole dancing event for promotion. While it seems our puritan roots in the “naughty naughty” attitudes toward sex has given traction to an explosive, ubiquitous, lucrative industry there is a larger moral ethic. Should porn be illegal? Pay-per-view only? Censorship? How much? Why? Our “mixed” feelings as a country are evident when the very definition of porn is strongly debated at the Supreme Court level.
Interestingly enough, Paula Vogel (the playwright) was conflicted about writing this play herself. She wrote it when the National Endowment for the Arts was pursuing censorship of plays and in her zeal against this position she wrote a rather lurid and sexually explicit piece while showing the connection to violence. Examination of this issue is what we hope to provide. Some will be offended, some will find it erotic and a larger majority will have “mixed” feelings. Let’s have the discussion at the Women’s Center, in your classes or post-production!
Cathy Springfield | Director of Performing
Arts
Erin Mattingly | '00 Alum, Director of "Hot 'N Throbbing"
Safest sex
According to Matt Finger, 91 percent of universities and colleges with Catholic affiliation do NOT make contraception available to students. Why would Xavier University undermine its Catholic values and join the small minority of institutions that do offer contraception? Shoving condoms and birth control into the hands of young adults leads them to believe that sexual activity is not just accepted, but expected. I am suggesting that Xavier take direct action to discourage these activities. Nearly every established religion, not just Catholicism, views sexual intercourse outside of marriage as a sin.
Abstinence is the only method of contraception that is 100 percent safe and 100 percent effective. Birth control pills can lead to cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and blood clots, according to the Food and Drug Administration. A small number of women die each year from using oral contraceptives and the newer patch. What does that say about the guy who wants you to use the pill? Condoms are not 100 percent effective against pregnancy and while they can reduce the risk of spreading some STDs, they are ineffective against others. Contraception gives people a false sense of security.
Xavier University is a Jesuit university, which should be committed to Catholic values. We chose to go here and those values most likely played some role in determining that.
As college students, do we need contraception? No, nor do we need sex.
Jen Gramke | Class of '10
Promoting Unity
What has happened to the student section? I am not talking about energy, passion or desire for victory, which remain in abundance. I am talking about our unity. The student section has become a hodgepodge of different colors; blue, white, brown, green, grey (I think I saw a purple shirt the other day). Being a senior, I can remember the ‘good ole days’ when the student section would wear white for every game and blue for the Crosstown Shootout. I am not holding any one person or group to blame, but I think the following suggestions would increase the visual quality of the student section.
For the X-Shirt committee: NO baby blue shirts. I understand the need to turn a profit with new shirts, but reinventing the logo is a better choice than switching colors every year. Now if we really need to change shirt color on an annual basis, the committee should alternate between white and dark blue.
We as students are not free of blame. The brown UPS shirts are just weird because they are brown. I am all for groups honoring specific players—especially Derrick Brown (the best PR asset Xavier has). Now if the shirts were white or blue with brown letters saying, “What can Brown do for you?” with a picture of him posterizing someone, that would be a more successful shirt for our school.
Xavier students and X-Shirt committee, let us come together and make a unified
student section that wears the same color. Unity of zeal and spirit as well
as dress improves the overall quality of the student section atmosphere—right
now it is awesome, but with a little work, it can be legendary.
Zak Woods | Class of '08
Loss of liberty
Sept. 11 has transformed the United States from an open, democratic society to a closed, garrisoned state. The defining characteristics of a national security state are: (1) Visible increase in uniformed security (2) Lack of accountability in law enforcement (3) Reduced judiciary supervision on executive powers (4) Media in the service of the State (5) More and more national resources devoted to security threats (6) Patriotism moving to nationalism (7) Anxious wartime mentality and permanent war economy (8) Monitoring targeted individuals and groups (9) Direct attack on dissent (10) Increased and indiscriminate surveillance.
The impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on Muslims bears witness to the nation’s rite of passage. Tens of thousands of Muslims were registered, arrested, detained, humiliated and tortured.
Sen. Feingold reminded the nation that “wartime has sometimes brought us the greatest tests of our Bill of Rights.” Looking back in history, there is ample evidence of backlash against minorities during national crisis, e.g. the internment of Japanese-, German-, and Italian-Americans during World War II, the blacklisting of supposed communist sympathizers during the McCarthy era and the surveillance and harassment of antiwar protesters, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during the Vietnam War.
The pattern seems to repeat itself. With 9/11, we have adopted a policy of large scale preventative detention of Muslims and wholesale deportation of South Asians. It does not appear that we, as a nation, have learned from our past mistakes. We keep violating Constitutionally-protected rights of people during a national crisis, only to have to make amends later. The ill treatment of Muslims in America will likely meet with the same fate. The only question is when will the apology come? By then, it might be too late.
Kam C. Wong | Chair
Criminal Justice Department
Katherine Monasterio
Op-Ed Editor
Submit a Letter to the Editor
The Xavier Newswire 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-2129 On-campus location: The Publications House, 3739 Ledgewood Dr. Telephone: 513.745.3607 Advertising: 513.745.3561 Fax: 513.745.2898 Email: Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief Nathan Sergio
Advertising Manager Full list of staff contacts www.xu.edu/newswire
