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The Good-isms: Nobel Peace Prize Winners Reward Exceptional Activists

By Jordan Williams | Oct. 12, 2014

While the reward of activism is, more often than not, the success of one’s efforts to help others, great honors still exist to bring the accomplishments of activists of all ages and backgrounds to the eyes of the world. The 2014 Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded in Oslo, Norway this past Friday, and one of this year’s winners was my hero, Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan. The second honor went to Kailash Satyarthi, who has been an activist from India for over three decades. Both winners were awarded based on their activism for children’s freedom and educational rights around the world and in their respective nations.

Between the Lines

Guest Column: NLCS nausea

By Ian Ording | Oct. 12, 2014

It’s a damn shame that the most interesting League Championship Series in years doesn’t matter. There’s nothing more fun than teams who have struggled for as long as the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals in a position to win it all.

Cassie Fait

AfterTASTE: 9 Tables restaurant offers gastronomic experience

By CASSIE FAIT | Oct. 9, 2014

Gastronomy is not a word often found in a college student’s vocabulary. When I tell people I am taking a French Gastronomy course, they often look at me with a confused look and ask, “like the stomach?” Gastronomy actually deals with the culture and art surrounding food.

Bailey Breece

Societal Sexism: Misconceptions about feminism

By Bailey Breece | Oct. 9, 2014

Despite common misconceptions, feminism is not about man hating. Feminists do not want men to be considered less than women. In fact, most feminists simply want equality. The problem is when someone has a privileged status, that person can perceive someone taking away that advantage as having their status lowered.

The Post

Artistic Achievements: Removal of art programs is detrimental to children

By Juannie Williams | Oct. 9, 2014

The early childhood period is crucial for the development of a child’s character. Children develop interests, habits and personality based on their own acquired knowledge, their surrounding environment and their interaction with others that contribute to how they view the world during this time. Specifically, the visual and performing arts are crucial components during a child’s early years of schooling, as it promotes self-expression through healthy mediums and individualism.This is an extremely important idea because through these experiences, a child can become more sophisticated, appreciative, empathetic and well-rounded as he or she continues to learn in the traditional classroom. I’d like to think of visual and performing arts as learning subjects in a non-traditional classroom that are equally important to an individual’s growth.Several grade schools and community recreation centers offer art programs ranging from choir, and theater, to band and orchestra. The programs help fuel children’s interests in wider subjects. Between the ages of 5 and 11, children often begin learning instruments, singing, acting, painting, drawing or sculpting, and as a result, they learn how to appropriately express themselves and understand and appreciate the artistic expressions of others.Arts have played a major role in the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools across the country for decades. All students should have the opportunity to get involved with music, painting and other art forms. Unfortunately, due to various budget cuts, fine art programs in some schools are being discontinued.It’s all too regular that fine art programs are first in line to be eliminated. Why? Why do schools see sports as more vital and important than the arts? These are important questions that we must consider. Not all children are athletes. Not all children are artists. Every individual has his or her own priorities and preferences, so why selectively limit opportunities for artists and not for athletes? Not only does the elimination of art programs affect children, but it leaves many art and music professionals without a job. It makes for an unhappy life for both the students and the teachers.Throughout my childhood, I participated in several choirs. I first joined my elementary school choir at the age of 10 and continued to participate in choirs until I graduated from high school. If it wasn’t for my fourth grade music teacher — who encouraged me to continue singing and never lose sight of what I love — I wouldn’t be as expressive as I am and I wouldn’t have as great of a connection to others as I do.I don’t believe that cutting athletic programs would yield different results. The action would be just as detrimental as the elimination of the art programs. If the school is facing budget cuts, it’s time to get the community involved to preserve the arts. It’s not only important to students but also for teachers. Juannie Williams is senior studying English and Spanish. Email her at jw206410@ohio.edu

Nowstalgia

Nowstalgia: Scary movie classics still haunt us

By Hailey Bibbee | Oct. 8, 2014

It seems as if every week, a new horror movie appears in theatres (i.e. Paranormal Activities 1, 2, 3, 4, whatever; The Purge, Insidious, The Haunting in Connecticut, etc.) Demons, loud noises and sub-par acting. How spooky. In the spirit of October and Halloween, I will suggest a few eerie and genuinely frightening movies for the haunting season.

Jordan Williams

The Good-isms: Volunteering with homeless animals is good for the soul

By Jordan Williams | Oct. 5, 2014

Countless activists devote their lives to helping others and giving a voice to those without, so how could we forget about our furry, four-legged friends? Celebrity animal activists strive to make a difference in the lives of shelter animals every day, and as much can be said for the men and women of local animal shelters here in Athens.Actor Ian Somerhalder (popularly known as Damon Salvatore in the television series, The Vampire Diaries), spurred by his love for animals and the planet, established the Ian Somerhalder Foundation in 2010. Despite his acting schedule, Somerhalder has taken his role in the foundation seriously, speaking on the foundation’s behalf about topics ranging from animal activism to climate change. The foundation aims cover a spectrum of goals that focus on the betterment of life for at-risk animals and the environment by supporting green energy and global conservation. They also strive to establish awareness of deforestation and its effects, the eradication of shelters that dispose of unadopted animals, and the care of abused or neglected animals.The Foundation believes that everything on Earth is interconnected and interdependent, which is why the foundation does not discriminate what they support. It has greatly expanded since its inception four years ago. Somerhalder recently released a statement announcing the foundation’s plans to introduce the ISF Sanctuary Project, a plan to purchase a large chunk of land to be used as a sanctuary for wildlife.The beauty of animal activism is that anyone can help. Athens County has several shelters that host charity events every year. Last Saturday, OU’s Alpha Phi Omega fraternity hosted their annual charity walk, Friends of the Shelter Dogs 5k. The walk took place in TailGreat Park Saturday morning. The Friends of the Shelter Dogs volunteer group will also host a “Purses for Pooches” event at Market on State, East State Street on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 6-11 p.m. to further fund the program.I have been wishing to get involved with local volunteer work ever since I moved to Athens, and volunteering for shelter animals has been a perfect fit for me. As a life-long animal lover and a five-year vegetarian, I would do anything to get adoptable animals into good homes. I plan on devoting any time I can volunteering with shelter animals in the area. Luckily, the Athens Humane Society has several opportunities for students to give back in a variety of ways. I look forward to helping these animals find good homes and live better lives, and I hope more people will join me.Jordan Williams is a junior studying English and Women’s and Gender studies. Email her at jw719111@ohio.edu.

Grant Stover

Nurturing OUr Nature: Nurturing OUr Nature: a call to action

By Grant Stover | Oct. 5, 2014

Fall is here. October is already bringing a chill to our campus. In the words of Paul Simon, “The leaves that are green turn to brown. And they wither with the wind, and they crumble in your hand.” The changing of weather always makes me think: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Sophie Kruse

Gamer Girl: Depression shouldn’t be the topic of a video game

By Sophie Kruse | Oct. 5, 2014

With all the recent news over the “Gamergate” controversy, I decided I should probably check out Depression Quest. Here’s the CliffNotes version of the scandal: Zoe Quinn, an indie game developer, was subjected to a massive amount of harassment after the release of her game, Depression Quest on Steam in August. When the game was released, her ex-boyfriend wrote a pretty nasty blog post claiming that Quinn cheated on him with a journalist from Kotaku, which resulted in more favorable news coverage of her game.After this was posted, it seemed like the entire online gaming community had something to say about it — many members of the community piled her with threats of rape and death.I don’t think I even need to say that there is no reason for the amount of harassment Quinn received.I was really excited to play Depression Quest, an “interactive fiction game” that has you read through the story as you’re making decisions. I hoped that it would properly capture the way that depression feels.The game is playable on Steam or on the web. The main page says that the primary goal of the game is to spread awareness, and players are able to continue for free or pay what they want. A  portion of the proceeds will be donated to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.While I’m glad I played it, I was really displeased. There wasn’t anything that was particularly offensive towards those that suffer with depression — that was my main fear.Moreso, the game felt immature and a little rushed. It was extremely short — I think it took me about 30 or 45 minutes to complete it. It’s a text-based game, so the only action is choosing your decisions.As someone who has — probably much like many readers — suffered time and time again from depression, it felt like Quinn and her team channeled the thoughts of someone going through depression and wrote a script in one or two nights.I’m glad that Quinn made this game, as I think it gets people thinking about the topic. However, I just don’t think that depression is something that can be illustrated in a game.For example: many of the choices you have are already crossed off. The point of that is so players understand that these are choices that a depressed person couldn’t or wouldn’t choose (like ordering food and grabbing a drink when you get home for the evening).Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand Quinn’s reasoning for this and that it is something many people face. But I think it could have been better executed if there were a variety of choices in the spectrum, like maybe not being able to order food but being able to munch at your apartment.All in all, I’m glad I played the game, but it left me unsatisfied with a title I was looking forward to checking out.Sophie Kruse is a junior studying journalism. Have you played Depression Quest? Email her at sk139011@ohio.edu or tweet her @kruseco. 

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