COLUMNS

Hope for Humanity: Cybersexism edges women out of online communities

Streetview: Is it important to you that the commencement speaker is an Ohio University alum?

Party Lines: Obama skirts major media for 'Ferns' sit-down

Obama skirts major media for ‘Ferns’ sit-down

Sitting between two ferns, President Barack Obama spoke to actor Zach Galifianakis this week about the Affordable Care Act in an almost-last-ditch effort to get more young people to sign up for private health care plans by using the federal and state government-run marketplaces.But I’d bet most people reading this column, which appears in a college newspaper, already knew that. That’s because Obama’s sales pitch, in some ways, worked.As the White House would tell you, funnyordie.com, the website that hosts the semi-scripted show, was the No. 1 source of traffic yesterday to healthcare.gov, the federal marketplaces.And even if you’re 18-34 and you didn’t sign up for health care after watching the “Between Two Ferns” piece online, the president made his pitch and you remembered it. And, judging by the “Funny or Die” meter on the Galifianakis episode, you likely laughed.But some critics argue that a sitting president appearing on a Web-only, tit-for-tat comedy show — with a microphone pinned on to his lapel with masking tape — is not the best use of precious presidential time and resources.As The Washington Post noted, with the advent of the Internet, Obama is the first president who is able to bypass traditional news media in favor of more laid-back, non-traditional media that will be kinder in its line of questioning.For example, The Washington Post noted that Obama last met with the newspaper in 2009. Since then, Obama has given interviews to People, Entertainment Tonight and The View, as well as entertainers Jay Leno, Steve Harvey and Jon Stewart. NBA legend Charles Barkley interviewed the president this year. Now add Hangover star Zach Galifianakis to the bunch.Obviously, the White House’s agenda can be better delivered unfiltered by lighter media outlets. So it’s a no-brainer, perhaps, that a president with more than 27 million Twitter followers — many more than The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other top news outlets with a beefed-up Washington Bureau — doesn’t feel like he needs to cozy up to the traditional news media.Because they will ask tough questions and write stories that have deep context from seasoned reporters who know how Washington does and doesn’t work. That’s probably a scary thought for a president facing approval ratings near or touching his all-time lows, depending on the poll.But Obama often talks about what this nation’s leaders can do versus what is the right thing to do. He said that about the NSA programs that have come under intense scrutiny.“The power of new technologies means that there are fewer and fewer technical constraints on what we can do,” the president said in January during a landmark speech on U.S. intelligence gathering. “That places a special obligation on us to ask tough questions about what we should do.”I wonder how he would feel about applying that logic to disseminating his agenda.Now that traditional media — with reporters who will vet information and offer in-depth looks at a president’s public policy agenda — is becoming eclipsed by brand new forms of “light” media, should the president opt for the easy way or the hard way to inform the American people of his White House’s plans? Because we know he can opt — and is opting — for the easier way. But should he?Regardless of what he thinks of that, my prediction is an obvious one: Obama’s not going to stop the light interviews — which history might be kind to — any time soon.Joshua Jamerson is a junior studying journalism and local editor of The Post. What did you think of Obama’s “Between Two Ferns” interview? Talk about the episode with him at jj360410@ohiou.edu. 

Hope for Humanity: Cybersexism edges women out of online communities

“All of my social media sites were flooded with threats of rape, violence, sexual assault, death. And you’ll notice that these threats and comments were all specifically targeting my gender,” Anita Sarkeesian said of her battle with cyber harassers, one of whom developed a game for punching her face into a bloody pulp, in her 2012 Ted Talk. Sarkeesian, a feminist pop culture critic perhaps best known for her “Tropes vs. Women” YouTube series, will speak Thursday in Baker Theatre at 5 p.m. Part of the Law, Justice, and Culture Center’s series on Critical Resistance in the Digital Age, Sarkeesian’s presentation focuses on the unprecedented scale of cybersexism she faced after launching a KickStarter campaign to raise money for a series of videos examining common representation of women in video games. Sarkeesian’s experience is far from unusual for women with significant Internet presences. In “A Woman’s Opinion Is the Miniskirt of the Internet,” left-wing journalist Laurie Penny recounts her experiences with direct threats made to both her and her “school-age sisters” as a result of her job. She writes that as a woman, “having (an opinion) and flaunting it is somehow asking an amorphous mass of almost-entirely male keyboard-bashers to tell you how they’d like to rape, kill and urinate on you.”Here at Ohio University, we’ve seen this phenomenon manifest itself as members of F--kRapeCulture were contacted on personal phones and social media accounts by men’s rights activists threatening to teach them “how it feels to be really raped,” as well as anonymous OU Confessions tweets saying FRC members “just need to be fked hard.” We’ve seen groups organized around harassing the supposedly “man-hating feminist” Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones and making an OU student falsely associated with the Court Street incident delete her social media presence to deter the threats.Amanda Hess’ piece “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet” suggests that the solution offered to the aforementioned student is almost universal: delete your accounts, modify your Internet use, and ignore the hate speech. “Don’t feed the trolls” is the cliché advice given to those who experience Internet bullying, as if this were an adequate response. Sounding suspiciously like the supposed rape prevention advice which recommends women don’t wear x things in y places, our conventional coping strategies for Internet harassment are neither progressive nor feasible in the digital age.Anita Sarkeesian’s story has a happy ending. Raising more than $120,000 for her series, she continues to produce content for Feminist Frequency that both critiques existing video games and imagines media that could make the gaming community a powerful cultural safe-space open to all. Hopefully, that possibility exists for the rest of us as we graduate into an Internet culture still much more hostile to those who are aren’t straight white men than we are prepared to admit.Bekki Wyss is a junior studying English literature. Have you experienced gender-targeted harassment online? Tell her about it at rw225570@ohiou.edu.

Beyond the Books: Smart, skillful money management is key for college students

Guys, budgets are severely underrated.

Gamer Girl: Wireless phone hook-up is car's coolest tech perk

This spring break for me was a memorable one. After waiting for what has felt like forever since getting my driver’s license, I finally purchased my first car: an adorable white Ford Focus.

Post Streetview: Have you ever heard of or used Box? Will you use it now that OU has a subscription?

Gamer Girl: Wireless phone hook-up is car’s coolest tech perk

This spring break for me was a memorable one. After waiting for what has felt like forever since getting my driver’s license, I finally purchased my first car: an adorable white Ford Focus. There are a ton of really fun features about the car, but to avoid boring you all with my excitement, I’m going to focus on one of the coolest things: Sync. To be honest, I never really knew anything about Sync before I got in the car for a test drive. I’ve always loved cars with some fancy-schmancy tech features, but I never thought it would be something I would actually have. Sync is a feature in newer Ford cars that allows you to wirelessly connect your phone through a Bluetooth connection. Connecting it took less than five minutes. All I had to do was turn on Bluetooth and enter a specific code. Now, with the press of a convenient button on my steering wheel, I can say a variety of voice commands to control my phone. Phone calls go through my car so I can talk without even touching my phone. I can answer the calls, call anyone from my contacts or even type in a specific number with the number pad on my console. I can also ask Sync to read recent text messages to me. As someone who is always attached to my phone, this makes driving super safe, but also doesn’t make me disconnect during my drives.I also love the media features Sync has. Through this wireless connection, you can play anything from your phone — music on your device, your favorite Pandora station, your current audiobook selection or whatever else you desire. It’s so nice to not have the clutter of cords that would usually allow you to do this, and you don’t have to worry about having bad audio quality from the cords that connect your device through the cassette tape player or the cigarette lighter. I’m sure there are a ton of other things Sync does that I’ll be obsessing over, but for now, you can find me on the roads cruising to my 2000’s Hits Pandora station and constantly calling my mom to tell her just how much I love wireless dialing. 

New ‘300’ sequel rises above expectations

300: Rise of an Empire MPAA Rated R, Our Rating 3/5 If there is one thing I am not a fan of in this world, it’s imitation.It may be the sincerest form of flattery, but I feel, generally, it is lazy, unimaginative and extremely restrictive. I disliked the fourth season of Community before it was cool to do so; I thought Kick-Ass 2 was a juvenile attempt to be as funny and edgy as the original; and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 was a hazily made reminder of why the Phil Lord-Chris Miller touch is so important.And so I had my reservations about 300: Rise of an Empire. Due to commitments with Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder did not return to the helm of this film, although he did earn a screenwriting credit this time around.Taking over is Noam Murro, whose only other film is Smart People, the movie that was a rip-off of every movie that has wheedled itself into the Sundance Film Festival for the past decade. I feared the worst.Apparently, I shouldn’t have because, much like this week’s other surprise, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, the movie captures the insanity and visual style of the original while blending in its own sensibilities. Is it as good as the original? No, but it is still a worthy successor.Based on Frank Miller’s comic book Xerxes, this movie is not exactly a sequel or prequel, but rather a sort-of inbetween-quel. It primarily follows Greek General Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he leads his army against the Persian invasion, commanded by Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and Artemisia (Eva Green).Let’s be honest: No matter how many fans the original had, it was no masterpiece. It was silly, stupid and about as historically accurate as Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor. But it was a shiny, well-oiled piece of fun entertainment, and kept its aspirations thankfully low.Much is the same with 300: Rise of an Empire. It’s still as stupid, silly and historically liberal as could be, but it knows it and tries to stay loyal to the original’s spirit while also infusing its own spunk. If anything, the film appears to be at its weakest when it tries to kiss the heels of the original 300.Case and point: the slow-mo, fast-mo thing that even Snyder has moved away from. It was fun enough back in 2007, but it is old now, and everyone and their grandma has tried to either copy or parody it. I am a little more lenient here because it is the sequel to the film that made this popular in the first place, but still. Do we need it in every other scene?With that said, this film succeeds quite well in action. The battle scenes are clearly shot, well-choreographed and CG-bloody as can be. This time, I make that final point in the best way possible. Though it grows repetitive as the film progresses, it is clear Murro and the screenwriters know what the audience wants and serve it in hearty portions.Where the film doesn’t succeed as well is when it tries for an emotional tug. More so than the first, this film tries to make you care about the characters. Though a noble effort, it ultimately is unsuccessful, weighing down the film with a great deal of time is spent trying to make you feel for these guys when, really, you don’t.What struck me so much about this continuation, in a good way, was the presence of strong female characters. One of the few returning characters is Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), who not only gets more screen time, but plays a more prominent and central character than in the original. The female character that surprised me the most was Artemisia, who is not only the most developed character, but also the most interesting and entertaining.Green always brings flair to her performances, even just as the love interest in Casino Royale. But here, she not only gets room to shine, but uses her sexiness and mystique to her full advantage. It is key in why this sequel succeeds, and Murro and his crew seem to know it.I still don’t think this movie passes the Bechdel test, though.This installment succeeds in that, thankfully, it has a sense of humor about itself. It is more self-aware about its silliness and makes comedic use of it. Though nowhere near as quotable as the original, a line uttered by Artemisia in the third act is as worthy as any line repeated by 13-year-old boys after the first one.Additionally, the sex scene is one for the record books.Like the original, the film departs pretty open-ended — in fact, even more so than the original. It seems like they are hoping for a third 300 to make its way into theaters. Though I can’t guarantee fans will line up to see this one like they did the first time, I can say that it is worth the investment. It might be a cover band, but it’s admittedly a pretty good one. Will Ashton is a junior studying journalism and a writer for The Post. Talk 300 with him at wa054010@ohiou.edu.

Beyond the Books: Smart, skillful money management is key for college students

Guys, budgets are severely underrated. College will always serve as the loudest testimonial of this, screaming from the tops of towering piles of tuition bills and student loan paperwork. A day in the life of a college student quite clearly showcases the importance of keeping a budget. Quarters are sacred for the simple purposes of parking meters and laundromats. Found $5 bills are the only things that make spontaneous lunch purchases possible, and $20 bills are honey from the heavens that give you the wings that you need in order to fly into the weekend financially able to grace yourself with any kind of restaurant food that your little heart might desire. Any bills above 20s are essentially nonexistent — as far as we are aware, anyway.When money isn’t available to us, we notice and we notice fast. Think of the last time you couldn’t buy something, or go somewhere simply because you didn’t have the money. I’m quite familiar with that sharp, sudden mental pain that reminds you of the digits your bank account doesn’t currently hold.Attending college and being out of your parents’ home will inevitably show you that you need to handle your finances with care.  You can’t just borrow money from your parents off-hand like you used to, and asking them for it starts to become embarrassing. What I’ve found to be the most helpful thing to do for myself financially is simple. At the beginning of each week, I take 10 minutes to think about what I need to spend money on, and then compare that with how much money I actually have to spend for that week. Keeping a budget is a small, but mighty concept that keeps me from embarrassingly kissing the $5 bill I occasionally find in my coat pocket.  It’s a simple concept, but it’s vital as well: Don’t buy what you want before you have bought what you need. When it comes to managing your own income, the word “need” will never carry so much importance. The biggest pitfall for college students are the wantful purchases that we make. When the ice cream just looks so good that it’s practically angelic, or the late-night calzone delivery feels like the soul mate you’ve been waiting for, it’s your pre-planned budget that will keep you grounded. Should the end of the week find you with some extra dollars, that ice cream or calzone could serve as the perfect celebration for all your money-saving hard work. Budgets are cool — they have style. A budget is basically the next best thing just waiting to be discovered. Reiterate those thoughts in your mind until they stick, and you will feel lame for not keeping track of your money. At the end of the day, bank accounts are finite, and so is your life by association.  Simply take that reality in to account (pun intended), and spend your money accordingly.  April Jaynes is a senior studying journalism and anthropology. Have any tips for successfully managing money in college? Email April at aj188310@ohiou.edu.

Post Streetview: What was the last song you listened to and where did you hear it?

College Matt-ers: For student trustees, resignation is most meaningful action

Before spring break, the four finalists who will be interviewed by the governor for Ohio University’s student trustee position were selected. OU’s next student trustee won’t be announced until the Leadership Gala in the spring, but I do have a suggestion for the first official act of whomever is chosen:

Between the Lines: Sochi internship was memorable (in a good way)

Amid political issues, terrorism threats and Western criticism, my experience with NBC at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games was life-changing.

From the Editor's Desk: Investigation into fire reveals surprising facts

Salutations, comrades.

Beauty and the Bobcat: Dress warmly, stylishly until spring really arrives

The weather outside has definitely been frightful and even though “spring” break is upon us, we won’t be breaking out shorts or crop tops any time soon. I’m sure most people are wishing upon a star for warmer days to come. I know I am, because I hail from the tropical climate of Florida. Being a Floridian doesn’t only mean I have reptilian blood, it also means that I don’t fully understand one of the major Ohioan clothing staples: North Faces.

Party Lines: Dingell's retirement underscores Washington's partisanship problem

The national media heavily reported this week that U.S. Rep. John Dingell, the Democrat from southeast Michigan who has served in the House longer than anyone else, is retiring.

Between the Lines: Keeping up with clothing and technology trends proves tricky

I finally pulled the trigger this past December. After months of careful deliberation, Internet searching and checking side-by-side reviews, I finally… bought a brand-new iPad.

Hope For Humanity: Age gaps complicate rape culture conversations

After reading John Spofforth’s letter about my column in Monday’s paper, which asked, among other things, whether “butt dancing and oral sex clubs” in the ’90s “increased the incidence of casual sex, rape and venereal disease,” I called my dad. He and I agreed that the letter specifically isn’t something that can be addressed in its confusing state of misapplied statistics, but that there is a general disconnect in inter-generational discussions about rape culture. My dad and I obviously aren’t the only voices representing our respective generations, but this week, I bring you our thoughts on speaking the same language when we talk adult-to-adult about this issue.

Beyond the Books: Excuses for procrastination are silly, illogical

Procrastination never mattered so much as it does when you’re working toward something that’s actually worth it.