"News is the first rough draft of history."

The Voice of the College at Florham

"News is the first rough draft of history." - The Voice of the College at Florham

Monthly Archives: April 2012

Day of Silence protests bullying

Photo by Joe Castillo. Two students duct tape their mouths for the Day of Silence.


LUCILA SPARKES
Advertising Manager

Some people attract attention by protesting with violence; some participate in a peaceful march. But on Friday, April 20, students at the College at Florham peacefully protested with silence.

Day of Silence is a national youth movement designed to bring attention to the silence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people may face when bullied or harassed because of their sexual orientation. At the College at Florham, Day of Silence and Breaking the Silence Party were sponsored by FDU’s Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA).

With the event, SAGA sent out goody bags to all participants that included official cards for recipients to explain why they would not be speaking, pins with the phrase, “I Support Day of Silence,” candy and a sticker to cover their mouths.

Most board members and a few participants took the sticker a step further by actually covering their mouths with duct tape.

SAGA is starting to have a known presence on campus. However, with Day of Silence, it highlighted the stereotypes that some people project towards lesbians and gays. It is a misconception that, to be in this club, students must consider themselves a part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community.

There are straight members who are allies for the LGBT cause. One ally and member of SAGA is Taylor McQueen. To McQueen, Day of Silence is important because not only is it supporting her gay friends but it is a way for people to notice her silence as she remembers others who did not have the ability to speak up for themselves.

When taking part in the event, McQueen noticed that many people focused on her sexual orientation rather than her purpose of being silent.

While explaining this frustration with others, she bluntly expressed what many others in the room also felt: “Focus on the cause rather than thinking about me.”

At the party, not only were there refreshments accompanied by loud laughter from the students who had been silent all day, but there was also a camaraderie while swapping stories of their silent day.

Members discussed some of the ignorant things that stuck out in their minds from the entire day.

Most notable were quotations from bystanders, such as, “The tape must make it hard for them to eat” and “Oh I forgot we are all taking a vow of silence.”

As students gathered at the party and discussed their stories, one could see the pride and excitement in the face of Emily Moratti, vice president of SAGA.

Provost Greene to retire

MATT HEINLE
Editor-in-Chief

At the end of this school year, Campus Provost Kenneth Greene will be leaving Fairleigh Dickinson University’s College at Florham after 38 years of service.
Greene first worked as an assistant professor of political science after arriving at the campus in 1974, and was promoted to full-time professor in 1982.

Greene assumed the role of the social sciences and history department chair from 1979 to 1997 and served as assistant, then associate, provost at the university from 1997 to 2002.

Despite the many years he has spent with the school, Greene is the first to admit how fast the time has passed.

“It doesn’t seem that long. It went by pretty quickly actually,” said Greene. “There were some good years, some bad years, and some good years again.”

Greene is departing just as the John and Joan Monninger Center – arguably his biggest alteration to the College at Florham – is set to be completed within the upcoming semester.

Even as the stage is set for his exit, Greene continues to speak of his responsibilities at the university in the present tense.

“We’re all together in this, it’s just how we do it,” said Greene.

Greene said that his time at FDU was spent in pursuit of maximizing the school’s strengths as a “small college” by implementing positive changes at the academic level, as well as by improving the campus facilities.

“I really like small colleges,” said Greene. “They have small classes, so there’s lots of personal attention and there’s a chance for you to get involved.”

Besides the new Monninger Center, Greene has also overseen successful alterations to Twombly and the Dreyfuss building while acting as Campus Provost.

His hopes for the university in his absence will remain the same as they were while he served as provost. Greene stated that he would like to see Fairleigh Dickinson continue to be “an exceptional small college,” as well as keep students “very intellectually active on campus.”

Though Greene was open to discussing the changes that have occurred and his dreams for the school, he was also candid about the things he wished were different.
“Money has always been an issue,” he said.

With more money to spend, Greene would have liked to have hired more full-time faculty members, as well as spend more on “campus beautification.” Above all, he intended to supplement the means for students to actively engage themselves on campus as much as possible during their time at FDU.

Greene anticipates he will be applying those same holistic values towards his retirement plans, which he said will be made up of primarily working on his golf game, reading more and doing some home remodeling.

Although Greene lives nearby, which is an indication that the campus will not be too far from his watchful eye, he has faith in his successor, Peter Woolley.
“I think he’ll do a really good job. He’s committed to the place,” said Greene.

Woolley will be assuming the role of Campus Provost during a time that Greene feels is a healthy one for the university.

“I have really been impressed with the students. I think they have really responded to the small college atmosphere,” said Greene.

He went on to report that there has been less vandalism on campus currently than there has been in the last ten years and that, overall, there is more participation on the part of students.

“I think the direction we’re moving in is the right one,” Greene said. “It’s just, can we do it faster?”

The answer to Greene’s question will only come along with the passage of time, but what remains unarguable is that Fairleigh Dickinson University will be left without the talents of a man who dedicated a large portion of his life towards the betterment of the school.

According to Becton College Dean Geoffrey Weinman, who has known the outgoing provost during his entire tenure and has worked with him closely over the past seven years, Greene provided a “foundation on which to build the future.”

University Provost reflects on year

MATT HEINLE
Editor-in-Chief

On July 1, 2011, at the start of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s new fiscal year, Christopher Capuano was named the new University Provost. The position puts him directly under University President Michael Adams in the school’s hierarchy and the increase in responsibility has come as no surprise to the man assuming the role.
“It’s been a challenging year for me, and I knew it would be,” said Capuano.

Capuano, who had been serving as FDU’s Vice Provost of International Affairs, was named University Provost after a national search conducted by the school. A university-wide search committee composed of administrators and faculty was appointed to review the potential candidates, both internal and external.

The review process consisted of phone interviews, followed by campus “call-ins” for applicants who made it past the first screening. The top three candidates were then selected from this pool with the university president eventually making the final appointment. At the end of the entire process, Capuano was the last man standing.

The promotion did not relieve him of one of the primary responsibilities of his old job, which was overseeing the development of FDU-Vancouver. While serving in his new role, Capuano continued his oversight of the Vancouver campus, which has moved past its “break-even deficit” (the amount of money that has been invested on the part of the school) and is close to making $1 million, he said.

While the fast turn-around at FDU-Vancouver was a pleasant surprise to Capuano from numerous standpoints, it rendered him incapable of turning over the reins to someone else once he received his promotion.

“Managing the growth sometimes is more difficult than handling the start up,” said Capuano.

The new University Provost has been up to the challenge, though.

“I want to see the university continue to build on its reputation of providing a global education,” said Capuano.

This sense of commitment to and understanding of FDU’s mission leads one to believe that Capuano is the right man for the job, and he reflects his beliefs in how much responsibility he has shouldered in terms of managing the overall growth of Fairleigh Dickinson.

“We need to remember that that’s who we are. We need to remember that [being the leader in global education] was a founding principle in the university,” said Capuano.
Besides his management of growing FDU’s brand, Capuano has also tended to the task of strengthening it from within in his short time as University Provost.

“I’ve put a lot of time into reorganizing academic affairs,” in an effort to make things more efficient, said Capuano.

During this reorganization, Capuano restructured the system so he would have significantly fewer people reporting directly to him, which in turn allowed him to identify and pursue his goals in a much more efficient manner. By streamlining, Capuano has structured a better vehicle through which his message can be heard more clearly.

His message is simple: “Continue to enforce quality programs and programs that are connected with careers,” while promoting “uniform standards for quality across the university.”

Part of that search for quality rests in retaining the highest accreditation standards for Fairleigh Dickinson’s academic departments. Just recently, FDU’s Silberman College of Business was renewed for its AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation, which according to the university website is the “world’s preeminent accreditation authority for collegiate schools of business.”

Maintaining such accreditation standards allows for graduates of the school to “connect to employers,” according to Capuano, by proving their worth across a universal set of standards.

While FDU’s ultimate direction under Capuano’s watch has yet to be seen, his first year as University Provost has been guided by foundational principles of the school both from a business and philosophical perspective.

Quincy Troupe, Talib Kweli recite poems, raps for WAMFEST

MELANIE ANZIDEI
Managing Editor

Last Thursday FDU welcomed poet and journalist Quincy Troupe and rapper Talib Kweli for WAMFEST’s grand finale event. The event, which was a celebration of both men’s works and inspirations, filled up Lenfell Hall from front to back with students and faculty alike.

Troupe, 72, has had the luxury of being able to meet legends like Jean-Paul Sartre, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis during his lifetime.

According to his website, quincytroupe.com, he is “an awarding-winning author of eight volumes of poetry, three children’s books, and six non-fiction works.”

Kweli, 36, has worked with stars like Mos Def and Kanye West. According to host Wesley Stace, Kweli is “one of the most important and admired artists of his generation.”
Troupe and Kweli were both influenced by related genres of music, jazz and hip-hop. Both artists agreed that jazz influenced the early years of hip-hop when Kweli’s career took off.

“I grew up listening to music,” said Troupe. “I grew up with the music. All kinds of music.”

One of his greatest influences was Miles Davis, a jazz musician about whom Troupe wrote a biography and memoir, “Miles: The Autobiography of Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe” and “Miles and Me.”

“Miles was the one that changed the way I listened to music,” said Troupe. “I was 15 years old. And so from that point it was, you know, all kinds of music. But, Miles was a big influence on my life.”

Kweli also was greatly influenced by music. He explains how, growing up, his parents, both professors, filled the house with vinyl records of all genres. But even outside of his home, music was everywhere for Kweli.

“Everything was hip-hop. So I got accustomed to that,” he said. “And then my worlds were colliding because the trend in hip-hop was to be cultured, was to go back in your past and that worked well with how you grew up. So, hip-hop that was culturally relevant made me love the art in hip-hop.”

Aside from being influenced by music, both artists have influenced each other. Kweli has read Troupe’s biography on Miles Davis.

He explained how Troupe’s book made him better comprehend the connection between jazz and hip-hop.

“I read the book because I knew I was a fan of ‘Kind of Blue’ and I knew that some records had been sampled using Miles,” said Kweli. “My father was a real ‘Blue Train’ Miles Davis fan. And that’s all I knew going in. But what I learned was the connection between, an even deeper connection between, jazz and the music I was into.

“Because hip-hop at the time was being vilified and talked about in a negative way that some of the imagery, some of the negativity [that hip-hop] was being held responsible [for] was unfair. But, I felt like these were just young artists that expressed themselves and the difference was we express ourselves with words… When I read Miles’ book I was like ‘Man, if Miles Davis came out now, he would be a gangster rapper.’ He would be hard. He would be just uncompromising and I made that connection.”
Troupe and Kweli shared with the audience their works.

Troupe read two of his poems, each of which he performed with speed and enthusiasm.

One poem was a tribute to basketball star Magic Johnson while the other, titled “Slipping and Sliding Over Syllables,” was his own reflection of the at-the-time, up-and-coming genre of hip-hop.

Kweli recited from memory two of his raps, “Distractions” and “Lonely People.”

Kweli explained in detail the origins of “Lonely People,” which was influenced by The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” The rap took Kweli about 20 minutes to write after a night at a Florida club called Opium. There, Kweli saw the loneliness on people’s faces even in the middle of a crowded club. The irony inspired him to write “Lonely People,” which he described as “real organic.”

At the end of the event, Stace thanked both artists for coming to FDU and moderated a question-and-answer session between the artists and their audience.

One of FDU’s own lands spot in Garden State Film Festival

MELISSA KRENEK
Entertainment Editor

It’s about that time again, folks. The weather is getting warmer and all major parts of campus are filled with film crews and excited faces.
Senior Thesis Night for FDU film students is Tuesday, May 1, at Clearview Cinemas in Morristown. The students will get to show off their talents in the art of film and screenwriting.

Many of these projects will go on to receive further acclaim. In fact, one already has: “Ever Last,” a story about an overweight superhero created by FDU’s own Chris Dimoulas, who graduated in 2011.

Dimoulas started writing, directing and acting in his own films when he was 15. His first film was a black and white short entitled “The Last Job.”

Ironically, “The Last Job” made such a splash in his school’s film department that videography classes showed it as an example of “what not to do” in film. Fast forward several years, Dimoulas is miles away from his “how not to” days, and extremely pleased with his film debut.

“Ever Last” centers around an assistant bank manager named Kimberly Alves (Angeline-Rose Troy) who meets a mysterious man, Wolf Sutcliff (Sean T. McGrath), an overweight immortal, when he robs the bank she works for.

Wolf tells Kim that he has been alive for thousands of years and that he feels that he has no purpose in life. Kim decides to help him find a reason for his so-called meaningless existence.

“I pretty much just wanted to write my senior thesis with Sean T. McGrath,” Dimoulas stated in an online interview. “And I thought it would be interesting, different, and comical to write about an overweight superhero, but it quickly changed to a story of the woman who meets him and has to live with him through extreme circumstances.”

Dimoulas said that he wrote the characters based off of the two actors he wanted to work with, Troy and McGrath.

Both Dimoulas and McGrath are members of the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon; many of that fraternity’s members hail from film and theater backgrounds.

For a guy who started off as a high school gag, Dimoulas has made his way up the film ladder.

“Ever Last” was screened at the 10th Annual Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park on March 25.

The festival brought in 193 films from 17 countries to be presented in seven venues in and around the Asbury Park area. Acting greats like Ed Asner were in attendance.
With Senior Thesis Night around the corner, Fairleigh Dickinson will be churning out new talents in the film world, and hopefully they, too, whether actor or director, are able to get their foot in the door through this great opportunity.

Campus groups put new spin on ‘Vagina Monologues’ at recent even

ANNIE SENDROWITZ
Staff Writer

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, and it is important to keep in mind that sexual assault is happening whether we hear about it or not.

To boost awareness, members of the College at Florham community staged “The Vagina-Penis Monologues.”

Usually, “The Vagina Monologues” is performed with only women speaking. But Brittany Coleman of Phi Sigma Sigma decided to include men in FDU’s version.

“I wanted to include men’s monologues because I think that there is a lack of dialogue between men and women about issues of sex, relationships and rape,” Coleman said. “If men are able to have an open conversation with women and other men about these issues then there is a greater chance of both groups learning from each other.”

Coleman explained that the event was meant to promote knowledge about sexual health, raise awareness about sexual assault, showcase creative writing on campus and highlight diversity among the student body involving issues such as sexual orientation.

The event featured members of Phi Sigma Sigma, Phi Sigma Kappa and FDU’s Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA).

Coleman said participants read original content dealing with sexuality and relationships; after that, there was an open forum between the audience and performers.

“The purpose of this event was to help educate and open up dialogue regarding sexual and relationship issues that relate to campus and personal life,” she said.

The event turned out to be a successful way to raise awareness of the topics of sexual assault, rape and relationship issues.

Review: ‘Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man’ turns the tables, twice

AYINDE J. STEVENS
Staff Writer

Once upon a time, a man had to prove to his fellow villagers that he was the man of the village, the provider, the protector and so on. Once he succeeded, he chose the woman of his dreams and they lived happily ever after.

Today some men no longer feel that they have to prove themselves to women. This has left some women in a lurch; they don’t know what to do with men acting like boys.
But have no fear, Steve Harvey is here!

Harvey, the comedian, actor, radio personality and now writer, has looked down from his god-like perch and has decided that the women of earth need help. So what does he do? He writes a book.

The book, titled “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment,” is the guidebook for a modern woman to figure out the modern man. The book also gives women tips, tricks and other advice about how the male mind works. It’s like in the NBA finals, when one team gets the other team’s playbook. Now imagine if the book came to life in film and this is the result.

Lauren (Taraji P. Henson) is with Dominic (Michael Early) the dreamer, Candice (Regina Hall) is attached to Michael (Terrence J) the mama’s boy, Mya (Megan Good) keeps dating players like Zeke (Romany Malco) and Kirsten (Gabrielle Union) has been with her non-committal boyfriend Jeremy (Jerry Ferrara) for nine years.

The women each get a hold of the book and begin their preemptive strike by using a specific tactic in the book that addresses each of their man’s personal flaws.

One of the most interesting tactics is when Mya withholds her “cookies” from Zeke for 90 days. She doesn’t even let him in the house until the fifth date. Now that’s commitment.

It doesn’t take long for the men to find out about the book and when they do, they turn the tables on the women by simply going along with both the book and the women themselves. In theory this would work out for all involved, but it takes less time for the women to catch up than the men.

What the men and women don’t realize is that they need each other. At the end of the day everyone needs to compromise, which is perhaps the biggest theme in the entire movie. Sometimes the woman has to take a step back and other times the man needs to step up his game.

What makes the movie enjoyable and less of a two-hour infomercial for the book is Kevin Hart, who plays Cedric, the guy getting divorced. All he has to do is say something and you are laughing so hard you have a headache. Hart makes the movie worth the price of admission.

The comedy is also not shallow and overtly crass like “Bridesmaids,” which makes it a pleasant surprise to watch with this well rounded cast.

So sit back, relax and bring on the headaches.

Getting out of dodge: How to grow up using dodgeball

MATT SERGEANT
Contributor

My brother, five years my senior, and his friends started playing dodgeball in the summers together to keep in touch when they went their separate ways at the end of their adolescence to respective colleges, and managed to keep the game alive for a few summers as they made their way towards separate majors, separate apartments, separate significant others and separate lives. Somewhere in the mix, I was invited to tag along.

I remember following my brother’s big blue Camaro in my somehow less cool Hyundai Sonata as a 16 year old with a six-week old license. I remember how grossly overdressed I was, black fleece and straight legged blue jeans. I remember meeting in the center of the court and reminiscing about middle school capers and current events and really just being a fly on the wall to this strange, at least in my mind, adult world of such far off concerns as “rent” and “real jobs” and “relationships that didn’t start in homeroom.”

Someone brought a boom box and someone else brought a ludicrous mix CD sporting such fan favorites as “Tunak Tunak Tun,” a ridiculous Indian pop song, “Build Me Up Buttercup,” random sprinklings of hardcore gangster rap, and what felt like every bad anthemic single that came out from 1998 to 2003. Two people were picked as captains and the captains picked two teams. We lined up against the wall, and a friend of my brother’s from childhood wearing a day-glow green t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and shorts so short they’d make Daisy Duke blush (who is now married with a kid on the way) takes a deep breath and screams over some Third Eye Blind song: “3…2…1…DODGEBALL!”

Some five years later I stand holding the same chain link fence staring at the faces of the next generation, my friends with their younger brothers in toe, and this time I’m fighting for sonic dominance with “Semi-Charmed Life.” I had become the de facto leader wearing obnoxiously loud clothing and singing along to every worn out anthem of our youth. I was no longer Dan’s little brother. Somewhere along the foggy road of time I had shed that skin and blossomed into this weird symbol for innocent adolescent debauchery, rebelling against the oppressive authorities of small town decency with silly outfits, annoyingly loud and obscure music, and bags upon bags of flamboyantly colored kick balls in varying states of disrepair. Somewhere along the line, I was promoted. Somewhere I became Sarge. And I loved every second of it.

Then I moved. I left my Americana hometown behind in a cloud of dust as my Sonata pulled out of my parents’ gravel driveway with “Born to Run” blasting from my dilapidating speakers, middle finger pointed straight up as I intentionally doubled the speed limit as I left the town limits for the last time. I fulfilled the adolescent cliché of running away from your deadbeat small town life and heading out into the big bad world with nothing but a deck of smokes in your pocket and a story to tell. It felt great.

Except it didn’t.

I should have been ecstatic. I mean, for the first time since I graduated from the crib, I would not have to sleep in bunk beds. I was not living with my parents. I was a senior in college and it was the middle of July, with the summer spilling out in front of me like water from a garden hose. And I was happy, for a while.

Then the first Monday came and went, the day where I would finish patching popped balls and speed to the court to set up before kids started to trickle in, and I didn’t think about it that much. Another Monday came, and I restlessly paced the house, being plagued by a feeling that I was forgetting something so outrageously obvious that I better well find it now before someone calls me on it. Another week went by and I took the balls I had saved out of my trunk and stared at them, running my fingers over the rough raised rubber, dribbling them and listening to the soft “doink, doink” as it bounced off the pavement, wishing there was someone around so I could ask them to throw it at me, so I could feel that horrible visceral sting, look down at my skin and see the subtlest imprints of the rubber in my flesh as blood rushed to the wounded spot, making my skin blush, like it was embarrassed that it got hit. I was alone in a big house, lying down on my brand-new queen size mattress, and wishing to God that it was a bunk.

I went back later to see the parents and pick up some home cooked leftovers. It wasn’t the first time I walked these hallowed grounds after a period of absence with a sense of solemn reflection. Whole semesters used to fly by without me fighting the makeshift lock to enter the court. But still, the air was different because it was now officially a memory. I had moved; next summer would be spent scouring the Earth for a writing job, not assaulting high schoolers and old classmates with playground balls. As a man who is as allergic to maturity as I am, this was a tough pill to swallow.

The asphalt was the same. I walked to the court and stared at it; the glare from the sun made it sparkle. The amount of DNA embedded in that asphalt from all of us, the sweat, spit, blood and skin cells from an ill advised, but oh-so-badass dive to get Mike out and send half of your team sprinting back in as the tides turn and the Dodge-Gods smile in your favor. It wasn’t just the physical traces we left behind, we left years there. All of the weird social drama that infects all of us at that age was filtered through the lens of a chain link fence. Friendships were cemented, relationships blossomed, relationships went horribly wrong, relationships started again, there were bitter fights and bursts of laughter, all with a Wu-Tang Clan soundtrack.

It was quiet, though, and I was wearing jeans instead of short shorts, and there was no Indian pop rock to annoy the neighbors. I stood in the center and watched the wind blow, watched leaves twinkle down from their perches. The fall was here, winter was on its way, a hard rain was a-gonna fall, and the clock kept ticking. I walked to the gate, locked it behind me, and turned around to see six years of kids trying not to grow up, trying to find Never Never Land together in a cage behind an ice cream shop.

Mommy Wars: newest political fight may hit close to home

MONIQUE VITCHE
Staff Writer

Whether you have been paying attention to the cable news shows, reading blogs or checking out the trending topics on Twitter, you may have come across the phrase “Mommy wars.”

The last time this so-called war on “Mommy” was given media attention was during the Clinton presidency.

After President Clinton was in office the media was silent on this phony war – until now.

Mitt Romney has been vocal about his wife Ann playing a significant part in his campaign, specifically where women’s issues and the economy are concerned. In response on CNN, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said that Ann Romney has “never worked a day in her life” – a comment that stirred up a bit of controversy.

Almost immediately, President Obama distanced himself from Rosen and said that he and his administration believe that stay-at-home mothers are an invaluable part of society.

Ann Romney has gone on the record to defend her choice to stay at home and raise five boys.

When Rosen eventually went back on CNN and apologized for the remark, that should have been the end of the discussion.

Clearly it wasn’t because phrases such as “the Mommy wars are back” and “the war on mothers” began popping up on blogs and cable news channels. Fox News, in particular, took its outrage to a whole new level. Its news anchors and pundits didn’t even blink before attacking Rosen for her comments, and continued to do so even after she apologized.

Since the controversy, both Romneys have said to supporters that this has been a “gift” to their campaign.

Upon hearing that, I began to wonder if this gift was one that could certainly land Mitt Romney in the White House in November?

Naturally, Jon Stewart quelled my fears by digging up a clip of Mitt Romney saying that he wanted individuals who have children and are on welfare to have the dignity of work. It’s a little different from the rhetoric he has been spouting more recently.

I think what’s most important about the controversy over what Rosen said is that the media created it.

Now that Rick Santorum is out of the race and Newt Gingrich refuses to follow suit, even though his time as a prospective candidate is waning, the 24-hour news desks have to shift focus from the Republican primaries to the general election.

This means that anything representatives of either party say will be discussed ad nauseam by the cable news shows.

Although I am not a mother, I can understand both sides of the issue. My sister is raising two young boys and, until recently, she was a stay-at-home mother. However, in order to provide for her children, she needed to work.

People can say that motherhood is a legitimate career, and that’s fine. I won’t argue with them because it is hard work and I’ve seen that with my sister raising my nephews. However, it’s not the hardest job in the world.

I’ll even bet that my sister would find trying to run a country or come up with a cure for a debilitating disease more stressful than making sure two kids have their homework done and are taken care of.

From the editor’s desk: To you

MATT HEINLE
Editor-in-Chief

Since this is probably the last thing I will have published for some time, I will be careful not to waste my words.

This column has provided me with an appropriate outlet to express myself when I felt it necessary, and while I appreciate that opportunity for independent thought, I would like to dedicate this last piece of space to the people in my life who have always, and will always, be there when I need to vent.

This column has been there for me for a year. You will all be there for me for the rest of my life.

I have been blessed in so many ways, not limited to the work I have been able to complete in my time here as Editor-in-Chief. I’ve watched my last full year of college fly by me faster than any of the 21 years previous, and it’s eerie how quickly the hands on the clock seem to be gaining momentum as I get older.

Two life-altering experiences have happened to me this year that will ensure that I will change for the better.

This year, I learned the meaning of hard work. Hard work, in the purest sense, is giving everything you have to something. You give so much and so freely that in the end you forget what you’ve given. If you were to ask me what was on the front page of a recent issue, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But if you put that issue in my hands I could probably tell you what nightmares we faced trying to get it out.

The responsibilities of being Editor-in-Chief have caused me to be in such a state of hyperfocus that the only elements of it I have internalized were the circumstances that were wholly outside of myself. The rest of the experience was me, and what I chose to give to it, which was everything I had. Thus, the whole year just seems like a blur.

I think that the reason it’s been hard for me to put this year in perspective is because I gave it my all and, as with everything else in life, it’s hard to fully separate yourself from something that is truly a part of you.

For better or for worse, each of the 17 issues I published this year has been a part of me. Now that it’s over, I have only just started to take a step back and reflect on what has happened. The reason I am able to do that now is because it’s over. Only when a big part of your life vanishes, never to be seen again, are you inspired to ponder what that missing piece had meant to you. Only when that happens do you take stock of what is left in the wake of the departure and consider how valuable it is.

Relinquishing my position at The Pillar is an example of how loss causes reflection.

Saying goodbye to my grandfather, who passed away on April 13, provides another one.

My grandfather, Thomas Ford, was a wonderful person whose life had a distinct impact on my own. If he wasn’t the man he was, I certainly wouldn’t be the man I am today. In fact, if he hadn’t been such a guiding presence in my life I know I wouldn’t even be able to confidently call myself a man in the first place. I have a pit in my stomach thinking about how much more I could have given him in his time here. What turns the pit into a black hole is knowing that this realization didn’t crystallize in my mind until he was gone.

The truth is what I used in an attempt to comfort my family at the wake and the funeral.
Being a journalist, I’m pompous enough to think that the truth is one of my specialties. I told them it was the right time for him to go. He was 79 with a slew of previous health problems and hospitalizations. He was a man with nine lives who had finally used them all up. At least he got to see all his grandchildren settled in college and pursuing careers, I said. At least he was able to witness our lives beginning as his came to a close. Even though I believe this is the truth, my sentiments were always prefaced with “at least,” as if these realizations had meant nothing in the wake of losing him. The truth is; they did mean nothing.

He was that important, that loved. His death, though ultimately expected, was not easier for anyone to bear. I had to ask myself “why is that?”

The answer I came up with was that humans, as a race, are never ready to consider mortality until it becomes offended at our ignorance and smacks us directly in the face.

Mortality is a concept that is so heavy, so nebulous, that you are incapable of truly wrestling with it unless someone you have loved for your entire life is lying stiff in a box, right in front of you. It is only then that you know that you will never, ever be able to see them again.

There’s an old saying that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I have always believed this since I was a little kid, but it’s as easy to forget as it is to believe. The components of a daily routine morph your aptitude to think about your life with gratitude into a fat, disgusting sense of entitlement.

When you lose power in a hurricane you never want to turn on a light more, never want to store something in the fridge more. But, instead, you find yourself emptying out the fridge in the darkness because you don’t have any other option. You recall while you are doing this how easy it is to take things for granted, how when something is there for you every day it becomes subject to neglect. This is certain for lights and refrigerators, and it takes on a whole new meaning when it pertains to people. Especially the ones we know in our hearts mean everything to us.

Despite the pain, going through the loss of my grandfather has ensured me that I won’t take anyone I love for granted, ever again. This column, this space in my life, is dedicated to everyone who stood by me this year. Every word that I have written is a pledge to you, and I hope that it will stand here forever in ink. So as one chapter ends for me and another begins, I promise, I will never forget you.