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Political Report A Farewell to the Obamas
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Michelle Obama: Girl of the Southside
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Farewell 4
to Obama He was the first Black President, the first President to use Twitter, and for many Stetson students, the first President that they will truly remember. The Reporter looks back on the Obama presidency and the former First Family, remembering their impact on American society and history.
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I’m out for black presidents to represent me Jason Cruz Editor-In-Chief
Photos by Pete Souza Note: This article was written during the final weeks of Obama’s last term.
For 2,922 days
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When Obama won the highest office in the land more than eight the United States existed in a state of years ago, I ran through the halls of anomaly: its president was black. my middle school with unabashed Alright, the brother was light brown glee. We had spent so much time and he had a white mother and imagining what this might mean, he descended not from slaves but my friends and I, if it could really from Kenya, but no one, neither happen. We dared to dream a little his supporters nor his opponents, bigger until finally it felt like justice let him forget that when they saw was beginning to flow from the him--they saw black. Both Cornell mountaintop. I barely understood West and Ben Carson agreed that his policy positions or his story, he was not black enough. Ta-Nehisi but in that moment I felt a kinship Coates, one of the chief essayists of with the black people being shown the president’s two terms in office on TV screens screaming in wild titled his retrospective “My President jubilation I never had before. Those Was Black.” celebrations shouted the same Last September, Pres. Barack Obama message playing in my head: “It’s helped open the National Museum really gonna be one of us!” of African-American History Unfortunately, we have learned how and Culture, which concludes its millions of Americans hated sharing journey through centuries of black the People’s House with one of us. oppression and achievement with Tupac Shakur rapped, “and although a shrine to the president and his it seems heavensent/ we ain’t ready family. And for each of those 2,922 days I held pride and admiration for to see a black president.” He did not live to see his words proven true. the only president ever to look like me.
Racists hounded Obama as illegitimate, inherently untrustworthy, anti-American and utterly criminal for reasons which hardly ever went beyond the color of his skin. Studies show anti-black racism potently increased in the aftermath of a black man, typically held near the bottom of American society, becoming our chief executive. On the first day of his presidency, Republican leaders vowed to practice scorched earth politics and deny the mandate of the largest popular vote winner in U.S. history. They revoked his right to appoint a Supreme Court justice, attempting to give him threefifths of a presidency. I write just prior to the inauguration of Obama’s successor, a man who founded his political career by demanding the President of the United States show his birth certificate. Watching all of this unfold took its toll, but the president himself often
reminded me that though he, myself and millions more may always be despised in our country for our race, we will never be any less worthy of the respect and equality too often denied us. As a candidate he delivered his famous “More Perfect Union” speech, charting a path through black pain and oppression while pushing for America to finally engage in an honest conversation about race. After Trayvon Martin’s killer walked free, President Obama used his pulpit to try and explain the black outrage brewing nationwide for the boy Obama said could have been his son or even him. On a podcast he noted that racial progress is “not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public.” His two black Attorneys General, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, aggressively enforced civil rights laws and investigated discriminatory practices such as the Ferguson, MO, police department plunder of black citizens. Hesitant to directly address race early in his presidency, Obama could not stay quiet as the Black Lives Matter movement gathered national attention and support. He spoke about our need to care for black folks before “a CVS burns and we don’t just pay attention when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped.”
Following the racist massacre of nine innocent black people in Charleston, S.C., Obama delivered the eulogy to Rev. and state senator Clementa Pinckney. In his best black preacher cadence, the President honored his friend while reminding us all of the continued need for systemic change for black people across the nation. When he slowly burst into singing “Amazing Grace” my secular heart overflowed with love. He launched a task force on 21st century policing, led the push to reduce discrepancies in drug enforcement which had dismantled black families
and neighborhoods, and invited prominent black criminal justice advocates to the White House on multiple occasions to discuss avenues for progress. One thing as important as Obama’s executive authority was his symbolic stature. I will never forget images of black kids staring in awe at the President who looked like them, or the small boy who felt Obama’s hair and realized it felt like his own. The first time I trekked to the White House last October, Obama was hosting a BET party I would later read about several times. Each retelling was a jubilant celebration of blackness, black artists, black progress and black struggle, presided over by a man who had been made to carry so many of our hopes and dreams. Barack and Michelle Obama danced with an 106-year-old black woman who never thought she would live to see people like her occupy the White House, let alone get to meet them.
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Left: Stevie Wonder feels a bust of Martin Luther King Jr., placed inside the Oval Office by President Obama. Below: Barack and Michelle Obama dance with Virginia McLaurin.
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Obama requested Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monae perform for Independence Day, had a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. moved into the Oval Office, and generally embraced black culture in a way no president could before.
During his farewell address, Obama said “when minority groups voice discontent … they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised.” That will be my takeaway from eight years with Barack Obama. That all I will always be grateful that Obama’s of us have a shared birthright in the United States which has never presidency coincided with my been freely given to us, one that the formative years. He profoundly influenced my political beliefs, made coming administration may attempt to revoke. We all deserve equal justice me smarter, more compassionate, more willing to disagree with people I in every realm of public life and must admire, and better able to understand fight until we all have it. No, black people did not enjoy full equality the world around me. He helped me during the Obama presidency, but we raise my head high as a black person have made progress, been afforded in a nation where simply affirming that our lives matter inspires outrage real chances to strive and knew that our leader was sympathetic to our and resistance. When giving the pains, open to working with us, cared commencement speech at Howard enough to try and right historic University last summer, he was wrongs. He has given a generation black excellence on full display. His of Americans a new view of what message was a reminder that there is leadership can look like and inspired no one way to be black, that we are connected by our oppression and that so many of us to live our best lives. Let no one tell us ever again that there we must continue to lift every voice is anything black people cannot do and sing long after his time is over. and do well.
To echo Larry Wilmore, let me say farewell Mr. President. Living in your time will always be one of my life’s greatest honors. For all of us standing behind you, you did it, my nigga.
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I imagine how she gets ready in the morning. She wakes up wearing a black silk bonnet, yawning off yesterdays and anticipating tomorrows. I know she always remembers to turn off the faucet water when she brushes her teeth, and never forgets to lotion. Her clothes, tailored and fashionable, fit like a warrior’s uniform. Before she leaves for work, she sprays perfume, and somehow I know its scent: power. The First Ladies before her often had to make a choice: to be bold or beautiful. Most chose the latter, demurely folding under the shadow of their presidential husbands, or performing a difficult Jackie Kennedy balancing act. However, Michelle Obama struck onlookers by being bold, beautiful and black, unapologetically.
The years following Obama’s election, she chose her words more carefully, launched a relatively non-controversial campaign – and though she made sure her roots were always freshly relaxed, still she maintained her bluntness, passion always unaffected, unwatered down. She wore bright colored clothes, from evening gowns to workout clothes, and raised her daughters much like my mother raised me -making sure we never doubted our own intelligence.
But I felt reassured that day, not because of the secret service agents stationed, but because I saw a tall black woman, 5’ 11’’ — as tall as I am today — in a bright green dress, smiling. Her back was strong and her arms were lean, and I knew nothing bad could happen.
In his farewell address, Barack Obama addressed his wife, “You made the White House a place that belongs to Her oration skills had the wisdom of a everybody.” But moreover, Michelle’s thousand black grandmothers and the frankness inspired me to be a little quietly self-assured confidence, too. less afraid to be myself: a young “The closer” they called her, because black woman who is allowed to be she knew how to tap into a person’s passionate, resilient, beautiful and core with her words, resonating with smart without sacrificing one attribute audience members like a final chord. for the other. For that, I forgave her for With growing nostalgia and perhaps a replacing my middle school’s candy bit of the rose-colored glass it affords, vending machine with healthy snacks. we all love her. Across media and We speak a lot about Barack’s legacy partisan lines, we are all in love with and his accomplishments, but it is the beautiful “girl of the southside,” the Michelle’s that I carry with me day-tostatuesque woman who graced covers day, a positivity that urges me never to of Vogue and Essence. Even though I be complacent. Her words stick with remember when she was compared to me: “There are still many causes worth a monkey, a terrorist, “emasculating” sacrificing for, so much history yet to and as part of the angry black woman be made.” caricature that I knew too well. I feared those stereotypes, making sure not to be too passionate in debate class, letting white girls touch my hair without permission; but as the critiques of Michelle continued, at times relentlessly, I realized that the world would always criticize a black woman unafraid of her own sexiness and strength.
I watched her throughout the campaign, her narrative unfolding. A girl from the southside of Chicago, holding a bachelor’s from Princeton and a law degree from Harvard.
Photo by Lawrence Jackson.
I was in seventh grade when a man who looked like my family was inaugurated as President of my country. My school held an assembly that day so that every twelve-year-old could witness this piece of history. My mother was at work, holding her breath through most of it, fearing an assassination attempt or a crash during the parade, something that would take this dream away from her, take away this man who looked the same as my family.
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While other speakers circa Obama 2008 heralded Barack as some sort of political messiah, Michelle brought a dose of reality. She conveyed that this was a man with as many flaws as a human could have, but who would work endlessly for the greater good of this country. Our country. He was a man who forgot to put his socks in the laundry but would never forget the people who needed his help. He was a man who wrote bad poetry, but would write great history. He loved too hard and aimed too high — and she was living proof. The love of his life who probably was a little out of his league.
Michelle Obama preparing to deliver a commencement address.
Veronica Faison Staff Writer Note: This article was written during the final weeks of Obama’s last term.
Girl of the Southside
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Stetson students'
An overwhelming majority of Stetson respondents approve of President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama’s time in office, according to Hatter Network’s online poll. Almost the same amount of people said they will miss the Obamas, whose administration officially ends tomorrow at noon. While those who disapproved of the Obama administration often did so vociferously, they were in the clear minority of people polled. Poll results show 45.6 percent of participants strongly approve of Pres. Obama’s handling of his office. They are joined by another 20.8 percent who approve. Slightly more people, 21.5 percent, strongly disapprove of the 44th President than merely approve. 12.1 percent of our respondents said they disapprove of Obama’s performance. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barrack Obama handled his job as president?
21.5%
45.6% 12.1%
20.8%
Strongly Approve
Approve
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
Michelle Obama’s popularity amongst respondents dwarfs her husband’s, with 63.8 percent strongly approving of her performance as first lady. Another 14.1 percent approve, while 12.1 percent disapprove and just 10.1 percent strongly disapprove.
Overwhelming
Approval of the Obamas
as they leave office Jason Cruz Editor-In-Chief Despite large differences in their respective approval ratings, Barack and Michelle Obama received similar “yes” responses when respondents were asked if they will miss the couple. The President carried 65.8 percent of the vote to the First Lady’s 67.1 percent. Considering presidentelect Donald Trump’s current approval rating sits in the 30s or 40s depending on the poll, it is likely that some respondents were influenced by their knowledge of who will be replacing the Obamas. Will you miss President Barack Obama?
34.2%
65.8%
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michelle Obama handled her job as first lady?
10.1%
Will you miss First Lady Michelle Obama?
Yes
12.1%
No
51%
14.1%
Strongly Approve
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Approve
32.9%
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
67.1%
Yes
No
When asked to choose the highlight of Obama’s presidency, 32 people chose the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare and currently under siege by Congressional Republicans eager to repeal the legislation under Trump. Obama’s signature legislation has been embattled since its passage in 2010 and 18 people listed it as the lowest point of his presidency. Other moments popularly chosen as Obama’s highlight included his support of the establishment of marriage equality, the killing of Osama Bin Laden and his economic stewardship. His poise also drew support, with one student remarking “Couldn’t tell you, I’m not political and didn’t closely follow the news or what he did as president, but I can tell you he always appears to be a man of class and respect, which I think highlights his entire presidency.” Another told us “Even though I don’t personally agree with his policies/ politics, I do believe he is one of the most honest presidents we have had, with no real scandals against his character.”
Many of Obama’s critics took to the highlight question with irony and excitement at the end of his time in office. Several people said there were no highlights during the past eight years, while a few said the last day of Obama’s presidency will be its highlight. One student said “dividing the nation” was the best job the president accomplished. Asked to name the lowest point of the Obama presidency, responses often flipped between Obama’s supporters and his critics. The Affordable Care Act stood tall in critics eyes, while many who approve of Obama said there were no low points at all. Some respondents said “everything” about Obama’s administration were its lowest points, with others citing his initial victory and inauguration. Overall the responses were varied among things such his foreign policy in general and the military’s handling of the Syrian civil war specifically, his inability to unite an increasingly polarized country, his failures to keep campaign promises such as closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp or passing stricter gun laws, and his inability to work with intransigent Congresses.
Even though I don’t personally agree with his policies/politics, I do believe he is one of the most honest presidents we have had, with no real scandals against his character.
The 149 respondents were asked to rate their approval of Pres. Obama’s performance in a variety of areas. The areas were the economy, foreign wars, civil rights, healthcare, criminal justice issues, women’s rights, LGBTQ issues, diplomacy, immigration, and the environment. The results are shown in the graphs below.
Do you approve of the way President Obama handled LGBTQ issues?
Approve 12.8%
Disapprove
7.4% 48%
Strongly Approve
32.5%
Strongly Approve
Strongly Disapprove
Approve
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
Do you approve of the way President Obama handled economy? Do you approve of the way President Obama handled women’s rights?
12.8%
7.4%
36.2%
10/1%
18.1%
50.3%
Do you approve of the way President Obama handled healthcare?
31.5%
Do you approve of the way President Obama handled Strongly Approve diplomacy?
Some of the criticism took on fiery language. One respondent claimed Obama was “encouraging hate amongst the American people and telling us it’s ok to blame everyone Strongly Approve else except ourselves for our own mistakes” and another who said he spent his time “inciting violence and racial divide by publicly chastising police officers before all the facts were even collected.”
Approve
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove Strongly Approve
10.1%
25.5% 21.5%
32.2%
Approve
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
37.6%
43.6%
13.4% 24.4%
Approve
23.5%
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
Strongly Approve
Do you approve of the way President Obama handled civil rights?
Approve
Do you approve of theDisapprove way President Obama handled Disapprove Strongly Immigration?
18.1%
26.8%
26.8%
32.9% 15.4%
12.8% 33.6%
33.6%
Strongly Approve
Approve
Disapprove
Strongly Disapprove
Strongly Approve
Approve
Disapprove
He always appears to be a man of class and respect, which I think highlights his entire presidency.
Strongly Disapprove
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The Women's March Jordan Bennett Contributor Photos by: Deb Holewinski Courtney Converse Izzy Lorjuste
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on Washington January 21, 2017
will always be known as the day the largest march in U.S. history took place. The Women’s March erupted in more than 550 cities all over the country including Washington D.C., Orlando, Atlanta, San Francisco and St. Louis. Just in Washington D.C., the march was said to have brought out an estimated 470,000 participants according to the New York Times. In some locations, the sheer amount of people made actually marching impossible and most people were only able to stand or shuffle forward only a few inches at a time. Many Stetson students, faculty, and staff attended the Orlando march as well as the Washington D.C. protest. These individuals were excited to share their experiences of the event with The Reporter.
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When asked how they heard about the Women’s March, two Stetson students, Ann Roche and Ismode Lorjuste, explained that they heard about it on Facebook over winter break. Other people heard it from their friends or family members. Organizers of the protest made phone calls to inform people about the event and Facebook pages were made to spread the word. Suddenly, this movement became bigger than anyone would have imagined.
that “There was absolutely no violence. Everyone was incredibly nice.” “I felt safe and protected”, said student Clare Sullivan. The entire atmosphere surrounding the event was one of togetherness and acceptance. Groups dedicated to Native American rights attended the march in D.C. and anti-Trump supporters came out in Orlando. Regardless of the reasons why you decided to attend, you were welcomed at the Women’s March.
the march. Tevin Williams, a male graduate student, commented: “As a feminist, [I believe that] equal rights are for everyone. I believe that women’s rights are everyone’s rights and I wanted to be even more empowered and educated on the movement.”
Overall, every person I interviewed was grateful that they had the opportunity to experience the Women’s March. From hearing chants such as “Her body, her Although the title, Women’s I wanted to know specifically what choice” to seeing signs with picMarch, might suggest otherwise, caused people to participate in the tures of Donald Trump’s noticeable various types of people attended march. Courtney Converse said hair piece flipping back with the the event. There were men, women, that she wanted her voice to be caption “Nope”, there definitely people who identify as LGBTQ+, heard. “It was almost like calling.” were moments to remember. The old and young, and people of every She felt compelled to go and that movement itself sent a message to race and color. Despite some of the to refuse would be a disservice to our current administration that media surrounding the event that herself. While Holewinski said she people are unhappy and that evdisplayed areas of people protest- “never thought about being an ac- eryone does not have equal rights. ing the march itself, attendees tivist,” she understands that wom- To some, the Women’s March was stated that everyone at the march en in this country are not treated only the beginning, but it is a big was welcoming and peaceful. Staff equally and for that reason alone step in a positive direction. member Deb Holewinski stated she felt the need to be a part of
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6 8%
Trump's Approval: I
n a poll conducted following President Trump’s first week in office - a week marked by a stream of executive orders and vigorous protests nationwide - the vast majority of Stetson respondents noted disapproval of the president, his behavior, and his policies. Disapproval of the president was reflected as the majority opinion in each of the questions asked: 73 percent of Hatters stated disapproval in Trump’s handling of the presidency, a figure which would remain consistent across most of his policies. Most students polled did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. On all but one question Trump failed to muster support above 28 percent. On no question did the new president, who often boasts about his admirers and recently said that “any negative polls are fake news,” receive a majority of Hatters’ approval.
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Roughly two-thirds of students polled did not vote for Trump. In a Hatter Network poll conducted in September, 26 percent of respondents said they would vote for the then-Republican candidate, and the same percentage of respondents said they did vote for him in this survey. Almost 7 percent of people stated that they did or could not vote last fall. Taken together, the polls show that Trump’s lack of popularity on campus has remained consistent in the intervening months.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?
Approve 6.
73 2% Disapprove .
Did you vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election?
Did/Could not vote Yes
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6.1
.
On specific policy changes, Hatters remained remarkably consistent, with one major exception. Only when asked about Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership did Trump’s support rise above 30 percent. Commonly known as the TPP, American removal from the trade deal negotiated by presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had been promised by both Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton prior to the election.
%
73 2%
Do you approve or disapprove Donald Trump’s use of
No 7.1
Slightly more students disapprove of Trump’s behavior as president than his actual handling of the job. The longtime businessman and first president without political or military experience successfully led a campaign marred by his personal braggadocio and allegations of sexual assault, the latter of which he seemed to admit to on tape in 2005. Trump and his administration spent much of their first days in office debating the size of his inauguration crowd, at times lying outright.
Approve 6.
Disapprove .
Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trump’s Executive trade deal?
Approve 4.1
5 9% Disapprove 5.
7 8%
Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trump’s behavior as president?
Do you approve or disapprove Donald Trump’s Executive order authorizing construction of a wall between the US and Mexico?
Approve
Approve
5.
6.6
Disapprove 4.
73 % Disapprove .4
Week 1 Jason Cruz Editor-In-Chief The highly controversial executive order that temporarily bans entry into the United States by travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, and indefinitely halts the Syrian refugee resettlement program, received just 26 percent approval, in line with most other Trump policies polled on. The order has inspired waves of protests and lawsuits nationwide, leading to a showdown in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which could send the case to the Supreme Court.
Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trump’sexecutive order banning citizens from 7 Muslim majority nations entry into the United States?
Approve 6.4
73 % Disapprove
.6 Similar disapproval numbers came from Trump’s executive Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trump’s Executive orders reinstating the “Mexico order allowing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access City policy” halting federal funds pipelines to be construced? from going to international groups Approve 5.7 which provide abortions, allowing the Obama-blocked Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines to be completed, and authorizing the Disapprove 74 construction of Trump’s first campaign promise, a border wall separating the U.S. and its Since losing the popular vote to southern neighbor Mexico. Clinton in November, Trump has The wall was Trump’s first, and repeatedly claimed that millions of often most divisive, campaign illegal votes were cast in her favor. promise. His administration has provided When asked if Trump was correct no evidence pointing to this, to believe that rampant voter fraud and it is widely believed by cost him the popular vote, roughly experts and journalists that 20 percent, several points fewer the claim is baseless. This week than the amount of students who Trump announced that Vice voted for him and supported his President Mike Pence will lead an policies, said he was correct. investigation into any voting fraud.
.3%
While anti-Trump sentiment at Stetson rises much higher than the national average and provides some evidence for the narrative describing colleges as hubs of liberal politics, Trump has quickly proven he is no Teflon Don. Gallup polls show he reached majority disapproval nationwide faster than any other president since such polling began and those numbers have continued to worsen. With an unprecedented need for the Vice President to break a tie over one of his cabinet nominations yesterday, President Trump would do well to curry favor beyond his initial base of supporters before the rising discontent threatens his agenda.
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The Silenced #PowerOfTheFirstLady
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Quiet. Private. Enigmatic. Ever since Donald Trump first announced his race to the White House in 2016, Melania Trump has gracefully dodged the spotlight. She flitted into various galas and quietly held onto her husband’s arm at the occasional dinner fundraisers, but ultimately Melania—unlike any other campaigners’ spouses in recent years—remained noticeably absent from her husband’s crowdgathering events. While Donald Trump stirred up aggressive followers and used his staccato sentences to drive home fears of immigrants, Mexicans, Muslims, and “others,” his wife—an “other” herself who immigrated from Slovenia to the United States on a visa in 1996—reservedly remained in the couple’s extravagant NYC penthouse. Melania has recently been celebrating her position as First Lady by using the hashtag #PowerOfTheFirstLady on Twitter, though this power ironically never manifests itself without the filter of either Donald or his administration. Perhaps Melania isn’t as private as one thinks, but is instead the first immigrant voice that Donald Trump successfully silenced, to the point where Melania herself is complicit in her own silencing. After all, Melania’s life, in many ways, mirrors the ones that Donald Trump touts his hatred towards:
Lynn Walsh News Editor
ones of undocumented immigrants finally hear Melania’s unfiltered who slipped through America’s voice. However, parts of Melania’s tightly-wound immigration system. speech plagiarized Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. The Trump campaign’s statement following this embarrassment even hints at Melania’s minimal voice: “In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes…and in some instances included fragments that In November 2016, the Associated reflected her own thinking.” From Press released that Melania the get-go, Melania Trump’s voice modeled and earned over $20,000 was fragmented, rarely showing her in the seven weeks before she legally own thoughts, and ultimately not had permission to work in America. under her own creative control. The irony hits home as Americans While Melania reportedly can watched Donald Trump rave about speak six languages fluently, is his proposed border wall on the only the second First Lady to be campaign trail, while Melania born outside the United States, Trump sits at home, successfully and has a powerful immigrant having breached the United States’ success story in her own right, border herself and secured a her biography is absorbed by the wealthy husband as a benefactor. Trump administration. Melania’s As if accepting her role as a personal website was redirected silenced immigrant, Melania rarely to Donald Trump’s in July 2016, speaks her own mind. Perhaps effectively erasing her individual because when she does speak, her online presence once it was mind is not trusted by the Trump discovered her website incorrectly Administration to correctly echo stated she received an architectural Trump’s various agendas. The 2016 degree from the University of Republican National Convention— Ljubljana. Her biography remained the first major public appearance pliable as the Republican National of Mrs. Trump—serves as proof Convention’s 2016 program of this mistrust: Melania Trump wrongly listed that Melania was originally told the press how she college-educated, when in reality “wrote it [her speech] with as little she dropped out of college after her help as possible,” leading many first year. It appears that Melania’s to believe that America would past is not her own, but is merely
As if accepting her role as a silenced immigrant, Melania rarely speaks her own mind.
a means-to-an-end that serves Donald Trump best; if his wife appeared educated like past First Ladies, Donald would appear more presidential. The infamous Trump alternative truths appeared much earlier than many thought: at the beginning of the Trump campaign when he effectively erased the true life of the one person closest to him, Melania. The only aspect of the First Lady’s work that initially appeared to be her own is Melania’s campaign against social media bullying—an ironic one, considering President Trump’s notorious Twitter usage that mocks news networks, actors, politicians, and immigrants, to name a few. But even in her own campaign, Melania is not trusted to act alone. Donald Trump, in his most recent White House press conference said that, “helping her [Melania] and working with her will be Ivanka, who is a fabulous person…” Again, Melania’s introverted personality plays the sidekick to the more powerful Ivanka. One of the First Lady’s few unscripted moments—so far as one can tell—involved Melania reporting to CBS’s Lesley Stahl that she has rebuked her husband for his volatile tweets, stating, “You know, of course, I did many times from the beginning of the campaign. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t…I think he—he hears me. But he will do what he wants to do in the end…I give him my opinion. And he could do whatever he likes with it.” However, in these words, Melania seems to painfully realize that
her thoughts are not heard by her husband, and he does “whatever he likes” with her words. The First Lady ultimately bows to both her husband and to her stepdaughter, despite her adamant protests to the contrary. Her words, in the end, do not have the alleged #PowerOfTheFirstLady behind them.
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Cathy Downes A Moment with Stetson's New Title IX Coordinator Jason Cruz Editor-In-Chief On Feb. 14, I sat down with Catherine “Cathy” Downes, Stetson’s new Title IX coordinator and executive director. Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success Dr. Lua Hancock announced Downes’ hiring in an email on Jan. 27. Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation, touching on a number of topics related to the federal investigation Stetson is currently under and how she sees her job shaping up.
Hatter Network: How have your first few weeks at Stetson been? Catherine Downes: It’s been very busy. It’s been really really good. Everyone has been super nice, very excited that I’m here. It has really been quite busy. Just trying to put names and faces together in terms of daily operations, who do you call for this and who you call for that. It’s been good but as you can see [gestures towards her office] I’m not quite unpacked yet.
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HN: What are your exact responsibilities? CD: As the Title IX Executive Director and Title IX Coordinator, my job is to make sure that we as a university are properly implementing and in compliance with the federal laws surrounding Title IX, and in this case because they’re so closely tied together CLERY, parts of the CLERY Act, which include the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). So all of those things have different elements of education and prevention elements, reporting elements, procedural elements in terms of when you receive a report what do you do with it as well as writings of the policies and such. I will have this overarching 300,000 foot view of what’s happening on this campus as well as the Gulfport campus and the centers in Tampa and Celebration to make sure that we are in compliance with federal laws and regulations. And once we know the all of that is done and done properly, moving into what else can we do to make it better because meeting the requirements is quite a lot of elements that you have to do to make sure that you’re in compliance.
HN: Last fall the Department of Education launched an investigation based on a student’s complaint. Can you talk to us at all about that? CD: Well I can’t tell you, obviously I wasn’t involved or any of that. I can tell you that the university did what was asked of them which is, when the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) sends a letter saying there’s been a complaint filed against you they list the things that you have to do and that they need to get. It’s kind of like an audit of your system. They want to look at your prevention measures, they want to read your policies, and they’ll look into anything related to that specific case, and they’ll look at other cases. So they’ll ask for information about your records that show what cases you responded to and they’ll give you a timeframe that they want to see stuff from. So that is kind of the first stage of responding to that letter. And so that all occurred before I started, but we did respond. So it’s kind of a wait and see what the Office of Civil Rights does next. They may do phone interviews, they may come to campus, they may not do anything for a while. Right now they have, I think I just heard last week, something like almost 300 open cases. And I’m sure there are some that are more complex, the complaints are more complex and there are some that are less complex than what the Stetson case is. Right now we’re kind of in that holding pattern to see what they want next.
HN: And when you came in was there a briefing about that or were you, when you interviewed for the job were they sort of like “hey by the way this is going on”? CD: Well I actually knew about it. I saw it in the local newspaper. And then [Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success] Dr. Hancock was, she was very open from the beginning. She said “if you weren’t aware from the local news, this complaint was filed and we’re responding to it.” Of course the time I interview I was not employed so I was not privy to any of that information. That would have been inappropriate. And since I have come on board I have had access to what was turned over to the Office of Civil Rights so that I can begin to read and see how the university responded. It’s likely that when they’re at the next step they will request to meet or speak with me, depending on how they handle the investigation. HN: But so far you haven’t met or spoken with them? CD: No I have not, no. HN: I assume you plan on cooperating fully? CD: Oh of course yes. And you know from what I can tell the team here that put all the information together, ‘cause it is a lot a lot of information, did a really good job in a really short period of time and it’s going to take time for the Office of Civil Rights to sift through all of that.
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
HN: Is there any worry that the student completely leaves Stetson before it’s all said and done? CD: That’s always a concern with a student who has been identified as a victim of anything, whether it’s a theft or bullying or something as serious as a sexual assault. It’s something you’re always concerned about and want to be sure that we put in measures to assist that student, depending on what that is. If it’s extensions for academics, extending deadlines that they might have missed because they were caught up in an investigation or if it’s just counseling services or things like that. Whatever their concern is we try to make sure that we have resources for that person and we provide them with a university support person who can kind of and help them navigate those different areas because sometimes you don’t know what what you need, you don’t know what your options are, or you don’t fully understand or you think “I’m fine going to classes”and then you suddenly realize that you have missed three assignments. And so that becomes really overwhelming and rather than say to someone “Gosh I don’t know what I’m going to do because I’m behind” you just try to keep catching up which can cause more stress. So it very much depends on the individual. I would hope that she would reach out to her university support person and speak up, say I need some assistance here and see what we can do to help her. There may be times when that person still feels like the best thing for them is to leave, but I think you know we always want our students to feel safe on campus.
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HN: Have you been in contact with the student? CD: You know, I have not. And I think it’s important to note that sometimes when you keep contacting someone that has been the victim of a crime that is a form of revictimization. I want to respect her privacy and whatever heard as I was there. I don’t know how public my information is, I mean you know you found me, so I think that anybody that wanted to come in and speak with me I’m happy to do that. I’m happy to meet with any student and talk about what their needs and concerns are.
HN: Does your office plan on, as things develop in the investigation, releasing information regarding it to the student body? CD: I don’t think that we would. I think it depends on what OCR determines, what they want to do, because some of that will be public information. Similar to when we received the complaint, the university put out a statement. And so much of what goes into one of these investigations is confidential. So it kind of depends. I would say that if there are sanctions or fines or things of that nature against the university that would be public domain and I would imagine we’d probably put a statement out. But we’re not going to get ahead of the game.
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HN: You said you dealt with a case at a previous institution. The Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights is changing because of the new administration. Do you think there will be any differences in how the previous administration handled this case and how this one does, especially considering that the case was launched in the final months of the previous administration? CD: They have their own procedures to follow. So they’ll follow those procedures regardless. I think you’re more likely to see a difference in any new cases that are filed, but they are still bound by whatever policies and procedures they had in place at the time the complaint was filed. So that’s what they’ll have to follow. Now how harsh their sanctioning might be if they came to a finding of this or that and they come to a sanctioning phase, they sometimes do just a resolution agreement. A resolution agreement is when they say “Well it looks like you haven’t met this part, you haven’t implemented this part of VAWA. So if you could change that part of your policy and implement this procedure, if you agree to do that then we’ll consider this a resolution”. A lot of times it’s things like that. It’s your much bigger cases like your Penn State, the University of Minnesota, things like that, Occidental College is another one, where there might be fines and heavy sanctions against the university. But most cases end with what they call a resolution agreement and that is when the university agrees to maybe implement certain education, maybe rewrite a policy, that kind of thing.
HN: Do you expect to the student herself will be contacted by the Office of Civil Rights, or will they be working just through the school? CD: No I’m pretty sure that they will reach out to the complaining party. That’s what my experience was in the past, they did reach out to that individual that filed a complaint to update them. Maybe after reading all of our material they might have questions about the complaint that she fired. I’m not 100% sure what all they would do but again their objective is to look into the complaint and see if the complaint has merit, if there are legitimate things the university should be doing differently as a result of this complaint that was filed and if so what would that be, what would that look like.
HN: Speaking more generally, having been here a few weeks and looking at your job and our policies, are there things that you think that we should be doing differently? CD: I think it’s a little premature for me to say. Right now what I can say is that for me I feel like I know where to go for the policies and procedures. I know much of the prevention work that’s being done and so I feel like those things are happening and there might be tweaks in the policies or procedures but right now I feel pretty good where it is. But that’s the kind of thing that I’ll know better once I see it working, because as you know it’s many pages of information when you start reading the policies, and the definitions, and the procedures. Something can look right on paper but then when it’s actually implemented it may look different. So I need to see that process from beginning to end a couple times before I can make any kind of decisions like that. But I have a lot of respect for [Director of Student Development and Campus Vibrancy] Matt Kurz and for [Director of Community Standards] Jess Varga and Dr. Hancock and Dean [of Students Lynn] Schoenberg who have been managing both of these cases. They have done a very good job from everything that I’ve read and I feel like their policies and stuff are really solid. Are there places to improve? Of course. There’s is always places to improve. I do think that there does seem to be a lot of questions or concerns or just a lack of knowledge about Title IX among the student body and I can see where that’s something that I can be doing right away. I’ve had many many student meetings actually already to talk with students about what Title IX is and how it applies to them you know whether they know it or don’t know it and how they can learn about it better. HN: Have those been individual meetings? CD: Mhm. HN: Are student requesting those with you or? CD: Yeah just like you did. They all have different reasons for wanting to know the information. I hope that as I become better known and I know the campus more I will have the opportunity to meet with different student clubs or organizations or departments or whatever, particularly those that are active and involved in this kind of prevention work.
HN: Do you have any plans on hosting a campus-wide event? CD: Probably. I’m still in that very early stage of figuring things out. But I think we’ll be doing some outreach and trying to figure out the best way to do that. It might be a large campus-wide event. It might be a more intimate one-on-one, more casual, meet and greet type of thing. Depending on what kind of questions people have someone that would be appropriate in a large event and some of that would not be appropriate in a large event. So I kind of envision there being a variety of different ways that I would reach the student body and the rest of campus to because it is dependent on everybody.
HN: One last question. What brought you to Stetson? CD: Well I live in the area. I had been at Embry-Riddle. I’ve done Title IX work from before we really were calling it Title IX. This seemed like a great opportunity. It was very clear to me by the the way the position was designed, that it was a position overarching the different campuses, that this was something that Stetson was committed to. That was very important to me so I said well here’s an opportunity for me to focus on an area I’m very passionate about, do some really good work, and help another university do it well, better than they’re already doing it. At the same time I didn’t have to pack up my family and move, that was a bonus. I’m very happy to be here and I think that there will be some very exciting and good things that come out of my ideas and blending them together with the students’ ideas and the folks who’ve already been doing this work. I think we’re going to do some really great things.
For more information on the Title IX process at Stetson or to contact cathy titleix@stetson.edu
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10 Minutes with Volusia Congressman Ron DeSantis Jason Cruz Editor in Chief
Congressman Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican party, won his first congressional campaign in 2012. A Jacksonville native, DeSantis served as a JAG officer in the United States Navy before deciding to run for office. His district includes Stetson, DeLand, and the rest of Volusia County. On February 9th, I spoke with the Congressman about his relationship with Stetson, working with President Donald Trump, and his outlook on the future for young people.
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people rather than empowering the bureaucracy. We had limited success but now we have an opportunity to potentially do more so I’m hopeful that the next 200 days will be very very active in the Congress so we can get some stuff done. HN: You’ve come in now with President Trump and I’ve done some polling here at Stetson that shows that he’s pretty unpopular among the university. I wonder if you would speak a little bit to why you support him and what it’s like to work with someone who is sort of new to this game in a way similar to how you were when you came in. You’re a young Congressman who’s sort of fresh to the political game here.
HN: As I said you joined at a pretty young age relative to the rest of your colleagues in the Congress, especially in the Senate. What’s that like, being one of the young guns in a body like this?
RD: One is, well I think a couple things. One is you’re talking about some of the hot spots in the world like with ISIS in Iraq, I know those places because I served in Al Anbar Province and that was before ISIS had really created, you know we were really dealing with alHatter Network: What are your Qaeda in Iraq at the time. So I’m young enough to have kind of like first-hand ties to Stetson? knowledge about some of that stuff. Ron DeSantis: I was a baseball player And another thing is that we deal with all through college and Stetson was on RD: If you look I think the president different stuff, with say like a student did very well with senior citizens. He my radar as a younger kid because of loan. I mean I still have student loans, the baseball program. I’ve been able to didn’t do as well with some of the young and I’m still paying for those. So I’m folks and I think he’s got a chance to attend some games since I’ve been in young enough to where some of the the Congress. You guys have got Corey correct that by having good policies things that we’re discussing I have firstand an agenda that fulfills his campaign Kluber chucking in the big leagues. hand knowledge of. Not that someone promise to make America great again. So just from a baseball perspective it’s in their sixties or something they something that I’ve always really had a If you look over the past - I don’t know wouldn’t. Maybe they have knowledge lot of respect for. And then in terms of - 10 years, it’s not been great for people of how a certain business operates or who are getting out of college. You go schooling, we get interns from Stetson whatever. But in terms of some of the back 20 years ago there were a lot more and I have high confidence that if military stuff, and some of the stuff that opportunities. Now a lot of students are people are going through the Stetson younger people are dealing with, that’s coming out deep in debt and don’t have curriculum that they’re going to be not something that’s very far removed opportunities to have the types of jobs competent and able to do a good job from my experience. that I think we want for them. So if his and that’s been the case for us. policies succeed in really engineering HN: It’s my understanding that you HN: What inspired you to run for strong economic growth you’ll see that were born in Jacksonville toured ripple through and you’ll see more Congress? turn around, you were in the military opportunities, particularly for young RD: I had been in the military serving people. So for me I think proof will be and stuff like that. What brought in places like Iraq and Guantanamo and in the pudding. I think a lot of those got out and thought the country was in views now are just basically runoff from you into Volusia county when you a funk and wanted to stand for some of the election and I think he’s got a chance decided to run for Congress? the key principles that make America to enlarge his coalition that other RD: So I ended up when I got out of unique and try and get us on a more previous, at least recent presidents may the military I was in Naval Station solid limited government footing. So I not have had as much of an opportunity Mayport Florida on the east coast. And ran in 2012 with a message of reform to. so we ended up, my wife and I when we in Washington and really empowering
got married, we bought a house in St. Johns county. The district that we have is Volusia, Flagler, St. John’s, and now part of Lake county. I wasn’t necessarily planning on running for Congress so, it was just kind of a fluke thing where with redistricting and stuff. But let me tell you when you are running for office you learn so much more about different stuff because you go to your day today and someone might go to their job or their church or whatever and they may even be very involved in their community but for example like in DeLand I’ve gone and toured the different businesses that we deal with. So you have medtronic which is big with medical devices, and we have a very robust parachute operation.
which is really nice and some of the other folks. I also really like the baseball stadium and the baseball program. Yale, I went to Yale and played baseball for Yale, and when Yale came to play Stetson, I think it was two years ago maybe 3 years ago, they played a threegame series so I was able to go and watch couple of those games. I think Stetson, it was surprising, but it was a good place to watch a game.
HN: If students want to reach you what’s the best way? Are you going to be coming back for any town halls in the near future?
RD: The best way to get in contact with us if they have concerns it’s just [At this point I could no longer hear to call my office. We had a town hall in DeSantis. After we reconnected, he Mount Dora a couple weeks ago, next continued] week coming up I have a telephone town hall which is usually easier for RD: You have that type of stuff. It’s people because you just call in and really when you’re campaigning and when you get in to just see the different ask questions. I think that’s going to be on either Wednesday or Thursday, things that you would have just in one county like Volusia. And then you go in it’s all my websites you can check that the DeLand area and you go downtown, out. And yes I will be back I will be which is really I think one of the nicest down, but we are in session a lot over downtowns in Florida, and then you go the next hundred, hundred and fifty days so I’ll be in Washington way more to some of the businesses there. And than Congress usually has been in then you go to the coast and you have Washington so that may make some of NASCAR and you have some of the the telephone town halls a good option. other things so it’s really interesting to be able to see that and see the different Because you know if I do a town hall in Mount Dora someone from Palm Coast issues that pop up in a diverse county. probably isn’t going to drive over there. And if I do one in DeLand you’re going HN: What’s your favorite thing to have people who won’t drive over to about DeLand? DeLand. So we do the telephones so RD: I think it’s the downtown and people can dial in and ask questions. the restaurants. When I first started HN: I have a question from a running for Congress in 2012 my wife and I would knock on doors and then student here. They said that we would end up going to a bar and Florida is being affected pretty grill or something or end up for lunch a lot of times doing like more fast food heavily by climate change. They type, Moe’s. I think it’s nice scenery, wanted to know what your I think it’s won a lot of awards and I think that’s merited. I think there’s other stance was on environmental downtowns throughout the district. policy. We now have Lake county Mount Dora
RD: Well I don’t think that the federal government or the state government is going to be able to control the global climate. I think if you look at some of our coastlines we’ve been dealing with a lot of erosion issues up and down the coast. We just got a project for Flagler Beach to do dunes, renourishment. I’ve traveled the state enough to see you have certain areas, like south Florida where it floods relatively routinely. But I think that we should do a lot of mitigation to make to make sure that we’re keeping the integrity of the beaches and the shorelines. I think it’s important for Florida and I think it’s good for the economy.
HN: I’d be a bad journalist if I didn’t ask this last question. Before Marco Rubio announced he was running for re-election you were vying for his Senate seat. Are you going to be running for the Senate seat against Bill Nelson in 2018? RD: I do not have plans to run for that. You know you never know, life’s always full of opportunities but I just think that we have so much going on right now in the Congress that to kind of launch a campaign at this point, maybe as we get in later and I’m not necessarily saying the Senate. But we’re focused here. I thought I had a good chance in 2016. Obviously Marco changed his mind and it is what it is. But we’ll have to see how things shake out.
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Hello Viewers, It’s been another great month here at WHNN. This month, we really tried to focus on content quality and special effects in graphic design. As you may have noticed, for the first time this month, we had an anchor backdrop with the official WHNN logo. This backdrop also changed during anchor voiceovers to match the story they were telling. We believe that this visual aspect adds more to the viewing experience than just a blank background. Our talented on-air and show production team has also been working hard to make each show delivery better than the last. Our anchors and reporters arrive on set each week eager to make sure you stay informed on all of Stetson’s latest news, and our camera operators and floor director make sure that they look good while doing it! We’d also like to update you on our marketing social media department. T-shirt designs are in! If you’d like your very own WHNN t-shirt, please message our Hatter Network Facebook page, and we will be sure to get back to you. Be sure to keep a look out for our WHNN press releases (posted to Hatter Network Facebook page). This informational piece will tell you what to look forward to in our upcoming weekly newscast, and it will keep you updated on all behind-the-scenes, and business related news regarding our station. Stay tuned… Samantha
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Rather than provide a letter for this issue, Station Manager Tony Pizzo simply submitted this image to the Hatter Network Gmail account.
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Stetson Theatre’s “Rhinoceros” Jason Cruz Editor in Chief
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The actors did well with tough material. Ionesco’s script moves swiftly through berating the town drunk into the shock of initial rhinoceros sightings It could happen to you. One day all to the terror of fighting off an active those kind, well-meaning people transformation, in one of the play’s you know and love change into best scenes. Leading star Anders unrecognizable shades of themselves. Hammerstrom did a great job as Where once stood the rational, loving Berenger, who attempts to rise above co-worker now stands a tower of his lush nature to save what humanity impotent rage. All around you their faces contort and shift until you can tell remains around him. Hammerstrom brought enough disquiet to the who they used to be but have no idea what made them what they are now. A auditorium for the rest of us, covering stampede disrupts your town cracking over the occasional awkwardness of his the foundations and shaking the rafters, attempts to romance Monika Lamud’s Daisy. Lamud’s turn as the Berenger’s leaving all around you unsettled until object of romantic pursuit produced only you remain the same. much of the play’s later comedy, even as This horror is at the center of Eugene the world turned horn side up. Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, a play Stetson’s A play called Rhinoceros will always theater department put on last month. be judged on the strength of its The general plot follows a small pachyderms, and Stetson delivered, French town where residents slowly especially considering the constraints but surely transform into rhinoceri as of a small school’s theatre department. their passions become inflamed and Vasili Loparnos, as Jean, torturously their intellectual defenses crumble in moved from the initial stages of the face of brute animality. Written transformation into a raging hurricane in the mid-twentieth century, the of a man overcome by his emotions. By French playwright’s script has come to the time green scaly skin appeared with be identified as a commentary on the help from the lighting crew, sadness, rise of dangerous populist ideologies such as fascism in western Europe and fear, and pity intermingled right until his final communism to the east. Against the reincarnation. A series of currently rising tide of nationalism across Western Europe and the United projector screens at the back of the stage displayed States, viewing Ionesco’s ludicrous premise leaves one with a sense of dread settings and short video clips, including I can only imagine is not unlike that which the play’s original audiences felt. scenes of rhinoceri Produced in Second Stage theater, the riding through cast and crew took advantage of their limited resources to immerse viewers in the bewildering action on stage. Dr. Nathan Wolek’s sound design floated the noises of a cafe around the room before amplifying the sinister march of the humans-turned-rhinos. Students playing rhinos wore black outfits and donned black caps before stomping across the stage in menacing unison. The effects often brought the weightiness of the play’s absurd horror town onto viewers.
as the players described the action. Included with the ominous marchers in black ripped straight from the streets of a totalitarian city, the presence of the bewildering beasts never quite left the room. The cast performed a difficult script admirably. Many of the play’s big moments happen off stage and require the actors to shout into corners and closets. Extended segments of dialogue carry complex philosophical arguments about the role of emotion in daily life, the potential advantages of mob mentality and populist leaders, and what it is about being human which makes it worth Hamlet’s thousand slings and arrows. The Theatre Arts department’s performance of Rhinoceros delivered a great mixture of entertainment and critical reflection. With so many of Ionesco’s fears returning to prominence today, this production stood as a worthy reminder of our civilization’s fragility. Characters watch in disbelief as a coworker turns into a rhinoceros. Photo by Ken McCoy.
Every spring, the town of Loxford gathers together to crown their May Queen - a young lady who sets an example of virtue for all those around her. But what happens when the council cannot find any girls suitable for the role? Thanks to some particularly scathing reviews from [the maid], this is exactly the situation the council finds themselves in, until they discover a solution: What if they crowned a May King instead? Enter Albert Herring, portrayed fantastically on this night by Michael Rodriguez. Essentially an early 20th century mama’s boy, Albert is the picture of virtue - he does not curse, drink, or engage in any sort of debauchery whatsoever, and lives in obedience to his mother. However, the title of May King proves a big shoe to fill, and Albert resists the idolization of his own virtues. He is eventually convinced, however, by his mother (Emily Goodwin), whose desire for the prize money outweighs her interest in her son’s comfort. Act II ends fittingly with the neighborhood children mocking Albert in song after his mother smacks him on the “thingamajig”. After quite a long buildup, the story really takes off in Act III, as Albert’s somewhat less virtuous friend (portrayed by Ryan Kirk) decides to prank him by spiking his lemonade during the banquet. The next day, the discovery of his May King crown trampled in the street leads the town to believe he has died. During a somber memorial at his mother’s shop, they are shocked to see Albert himself, returning to regale them all with his tales of debauchery from the previous night. The townspeople are outraged, but Albert doesn’t seem to care, ending the show by thanking them for funding his night out.
Stetson
Opera Theatre Presents
Albert Herring Kitty Geoghan Creative Director
Although, like most operas, Albert Herring goes on for at least an hour longer than strictly necessary, the energy of the cast and their ability to tell an engaging story kept the audience from losing interest. The live orchestra and vocal performances displayed all the talent one would expect from the Stetson School of Music. To many in the College of Arts and Sciences, the activities of music students can be rather mysterious. What exactly goes in Presser Hall? We may never know, but the Opera Theatre performances show us a taste of what they’ve been able to accomplish over there. According to several members of the cast, there was no shortage of challenges in the production of this year’s opera. With an extraordinarily difficult opera from the start and a date conflict that caused the rehearsal period to be drastically shortened, the cast found themselves attending almost daily rehearsals, pushing themselves to their limits in order to produce a good show. Their efforts paid off, however, as the opening performance of Albert Herring proved entertaining to all members of the Stetson and Deland community. The show itself was an interesting critique of the concept of virtue, and the talents of the entire cast drove this point home marvelously. With phenomenal vocal performances and an intriguing, funny storyline, even non-opera fans were able to enjoy this impressive production.
Michael Rodriguez as the goody-two-shoes fruit shop clerk Albert Herring. Photo by Bradley Monroe
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First Impressions I See You started 2017 off on the right (musical) foot. Upon first listen through this 10-track collection, it is clear there is lots of movement in the sound. The XX (pronounced “The ex ex” not “The exes” like I had thought for a silly amount of time) wrote in some fascinating and smart textures while staying maintaining a catchy, accessible style. It’s been nearly 5 years since their last full studio album Coexist. Known for strong synth riffs and simple yet poignant lyrics (“The stars and the charts and the cards make sense // Only when we want them to”). Their sound is still poppy with tasteful sirens in opening track to grab attention. For fans of the XX, the duo’s familiar vocals mixed with a new playful beat do not disappoint. I See You has more color in the sound texture than any of The XX published pieces. It utilizes reverberation and sounds almost celestial at times though still substantial. The XX are known for generating a tranquil, contemplative mood.
Favorite Tracks “Say Something LovinG”
“A Violent NoisE”
A modern love song pleading for remembrance of a romance that once was. “Say something loving // I need a reminder, the feeling’s escaped me..”
An example of how The XX create a mood. Sublime melody. The electronic components develop so satisfactorily that make it a pleasant listen.
The XX's
I See
You Kait Forsythe Features Editor
Why You Should Listen X You listened to and liked Ian van Dahl’s “Castles in the Sky” as a kid X You don’t mind confusion on band name pronunciation X You like smart poetry X You take baths with candles and/or incense X You are mesmerized by electric guitar vamps
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I See You - The XX Release Date: Jan 13, 2017
Vanguard Robert Armstrong Music podcast showcasing EDM tunes that demonstrate unique sounds and styles. Wednesdays @ 4pm-6pm Jam Sesh! Jad L “In my opinion, it should be called ‘Had to be Jad.’” -Tony, Station Manager Fridays @ 12pm-2pm WHAT Radio Exhibition Dylan Forehand, Noah Reed Dylan Forehand and Noah Reed share lesser-known music artists with each other and discuss elements of the music they find interesting. Fridays @ 2pm-4pm
Practical Psychology Lyndsey Fekete Pretty neat analyses of individuals and their psychological roadblocks. Let’s figure it out! Fridays @ 8pm-10pm Jazz Culture Tyler Olivia Thomas A finely curated mixture of jazz from artists such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, and more talented individuals. Thursdays @ 2pm-4pm
Godspeed Zak Berkel, Georgia Reed General talk and comedy show interspersed with random music including oldies and goldies. Fridays @ 10pm-12am
Trapping Your Soul with RnB Ayala Edouard Get your weekly fix of Trap, Soul, and RnB while discussing some of the latest controversies with fellow hatters. Wednesdays @ 10am-12pm
Wisdom of Was Thomas Wasman, Ben Cashman, David Royal Discussing various sports and entertainment topics, along with lots of great music. Mainly NFL news and analysis, and all things cinema, old and new. Thursdays @ 6pm-8pm
Kevin Sullivan! Kevin Sullivan “And his number-loving evil twin brother, Sevin Kullivan.” -Tony, Station Manager Wednesdays @10pm-12am
Tiny Tunes Nora Glover “I was surprised. I mean I expected like small tunes, right? We’re talking WAY SMALLER. -Tony, Station Manager Mondays @8pm-10pm
stetsonwhatradio
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Promotion and Tenure Policies Dr. Chris Ferguson Contributor I wanted to share some observations regarding the promotion and tenure procedures at Stetson University in hopes that they might start some dialogue on these. I have now been involved in several promotion/tenure cases including pre-tenure reviews as well as been through the process myself successfully. Most of my thoughts focus on transparency issues, clarity and balance of standards and efficiency.
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need to “protect” senior faculty’s anonymity should supersede transparency. Related to the above, I am not sure individual faculty member letters at the department committee level are necessary. I have not seen them before at other universities, though I suppose we cannot be unique.
belies an evaluation system where all three areas count for 100% of an evaluation. Given that the research requirements are pretty minimal, the current system would appear to drive all faculty toward heavy service loads that will interfere with research productivity. It may be valuable to reconsider a One problem that I have observed “two out of three” system (which I have heard was a previous is that, at least in practice, the standards for research and service system) where teaching excellence are unbalanced. My impression is is a must, but faculty could be I should say that my comments that standards for research tend to rewarded for focusing more on either research or service (some should in no way be considered a be rather minimal, but standards of each would still be expected, “diss” toward the folks who have for service fairly dominant (this worked hard to develop the current may be more true at the professor but faculty would be evaluated for their overall contribution to system. It is clear a lot of good than associate professor level). Stetson, not negatively evaluated thought and effort went into it. From the Faculty Satisfaction if they have a strength in one area Survey from last year it seemed One issue of concern is the nonand a weakness in another.) At transparency of department-level that many faculty complain about present under the current system, a the high service load at Stetson reviews. As I understand, letters faculty member could win a Nobel (and often blame administration written by individual faculty Prize for their research and still be members as well as the committee for this), but these standards, and denied promotion if a committee chair’s review letter are not shared faculty enforcement of the same, felt they were weak in service/ with the faculty member (although would appear to perpetuate this leadership. problem. I think this is one area curiously the chair’s review letter I believe that we can work harder is shared with the faculty member that is really not working as we bring in more research productive to make expectations standards during 2nd and 4th year reviews, faculty. This is also an issue where clear from day one for junior so there is some inconsistency service requirements are fairly faculty, as well as to keep research there.) Openness of review minimal on paper (perhaps 15% a priority through the assistant letters will enhance the degree to or so for most faculty), but the professor years. Although which they are evidence-based, anecdotal, I have heard from some professional and on point. Given “all or nothing” P&T evaluation that, at the department level, more system used by Stetson (in which junior faculty that expectations one must excel at all three of are not always clear or made clear senior members are evaluating teaching, research and service) to them early on in the time at junior faculty I do not think the
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Stetson, or they may be told not to worry too much in the early years about the tenure process or research specifically. I am also concerned that some junior faculty, upon achieving the minimum stated requirements for research may be being told to back off of research in favor of service from that point forward. Although it is important for promotion/tenure standards to have clear guidelines/goalposts, the current standards keywords system (i.e. rigor, maturity, evolution) tends to be laborious and confusing. I am not saying things like rigor and such are not important, just that the keywords system tends to create letters that are rigid, ill-thought out, and lacking narrative flow often making them difficult to read/follow. Granted, I have seen a few good letters using the keywords, but they have been the exception, at least in my experience. I understand that this system replaced a kind of “free for all” in the past, but I think the pendulum has been swinging too far from pole to pole and the current approach is too rigid. We need clearly stated objectives and goalposts, but I think the narrative structure of letters can be a bit more open.
Stetson needs greater clarity regarding faculty who begin their careers at Stetson while already in a senior rank (i.e. associate professor or equivalent.) Unfortunately, in many circumstances, clarity is not often provided by appointment letters. I think committees are trying to deal with this in good faith, but in the absence of clarity, mistakes will be made. I think, again, that it is typical to evaluate senior faculty according to “time in rank” not “time at Stetson” and that all activities related to research, teaching and service would be considered, not just those at Stetson.
In summary, I believe we can improve our P&T process to a point where we are looking comprehensively at faculty’s overall contribution and promotion of Stetson University. Stetson’s strengths will come in diversity, including finding ways to capitalize on and encourage people’s specific skills and assets which will ultimately differ from one person to another. We have a lot of great folks here and we are bringing in a lot of wonderful new faculty and I am sure we can tweak our P&T system a bit to meet the exciting changes and challenges our university will see in forthcoming years. I remember being a student here (class of ’93!) and what an amazing experience it was. As always, I am beyond proud to call myself both an alum and faculty member at this wonderful university and I am excited to see how we take Stetson into the future.
Regarding service/leadership, Stetson may wish to reconsider the range of activities that count toward this category. At present, the evaluation appears to be heavily weighted toward activities specifically occurring within Stetson campus (committees, administrative tasks, etc.) While these are certainly important, I Dr. Ferguson is a full-time Professor think it would behoove Stetson of Psychology at Stetson. to consider a wider range of activities, including community service, service to professional associations, government service, public relations, etc. If it promotes Stetson at all, it should be considered service, and people are going to have different strengths and weaknesses.
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The following is a work of satire. Neither the author nor Hatter Network support violence towards anyone.
During the incredible pomp and circumstance of a decently attended presidential inauguration, one small video came to dominate social media discussions. While filming a streetside interview, alt-right figure Richard Spencer, who claims Nazis hate him but really seems into doing Nazi stuff, took a sucker punch from to the face from a passerby who quickly ran from the scene. In the video, Spencer stumbles away holding his jaw, fixing his hair and looking bewildered. This admittedly-unwieldy slug in broad daylight inspired backlash, laughter, and a lot of memes. Twitter hero @punchedtomusic quickly set about the vital task of collecting the breathtaking number of videos syncing Spencer’s pain to songs. Quickly a movement was born. If you want to join the #resistance and get your Nazi punching credentials, here are 5 steps sure to make you internet famous/hated/get you arrested/feel pretty damn good about yourself.
2. Harness your anger. 4. Step up and take on Somewhere in the back of your mind, meaningful political a pledge to nonviolence is nagging at you, telling you not to punch the action identified Nazi. The endless stream of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes you see paraded out whenever a protest includes some violence is scrolling in front of your eyes. Your parents probably told you to harm no one.
Now that you are flush with adrenaline and a potentially misguided sense of moral fortitude, do the right thing: get active. If you think fascists are a little too powerful, use your own political power. Call That’s all well and fine, but remember your representatives to support issues you care about deeply. what these people’s goals include. Protest peacefully. Help others Spencer wants us to practice a “peaceful ethnic cleansing” to remove do the same. And when the time comes to shift the levers people of color from the United of power, as it always does, perform States. The “think tank” National the most sacred act a citizen can and Policy Institute includes research attempting to provide proof that black punch a ballot sheet. Get out and vote every chance you get! students are inherently inferior to white students. Their legions online After all, this is America, gosh insist on spreading racist lies and darnit. fake news while engaging in targeted harassment. Even Captain America, Superman, and the very existence of the US military agree: when people want you and people like you dead, it’s time to punch.
1. Find your local Nazi. 3. Form. Is. Everything. While our pioneering star found the Nazi who-would-lead-them-all waiting for him in the nation’s capital, you may not be so lucky. Fortunately for you, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks hate groups, quite a few of whom operate in the central Florida area. Plus, they have become quite recognizable of late given some stellar PR work. Heck, they may even visit your college campus!
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The Washington Nazi Hunter left much to be desired when he socked Spencer. Clearly his heart was in the right place, but watch that video again and you see a gangly, unfocused shot. He even leans on Spencer’s shoulder for leverage into the face area. Don’t be that guy. Remember folks, when you’re ready to knock a fascists lights out its thumb outside your fist, fingers curled tight, rotate your hips to generate power, and put your weight into it.
How to Punch a Nazi Jason Cruz Editor in Chief
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Spring Sports Update
Photos by Kitty Geoghan
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