PC|Bluestocking

Last Friday was the grand opening of the PC Senior Art Exhibit.  This was event was a chance for seniors and other art students to exhibit their work and impress not only the campus community, but also visiting art critics and enthusiasts.

As an attendee, I can tell you that if you were not able to come you missed one of the highest attended Fine Art events I have seen on campus for quite some time.  The Harper Art gallery was packed to capacity for the event and more and more people kept streaming in.

The Senior Exhibit displayed the artwork of the following seniors:   Gabby Ballenger, Kelsey McKee, Billy Schilling, Elizabeth Styron, Michelle Thilges, Samantha Thomas, and Maggie Wyman.  All of these seniors not only displayed their artwork, but also offered it for sale.  Prints created by non-seniors were also on sale for interested buyers. All sales of student artwork go directly to their respective artists.

I encourage readers of this article to support PC’s artists by going by the Harper Center sometime this week and, if you have the money, buy some student artwork.

Photography by Akeem Favor

All artwork are the sole property of their respective creators.

“What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Germany?” –Mary Ellis

“Hitler.”–Student

This simple quote started off last night’s CIH event which confronted the issue of cultural and national stereotypes with a light-hearted approach. To be fair, other words were tossed around too, such as beer, Oktoberfest, and pretzels, before someone mentioned Hitler, but I digress.

The country specific stereotypes confronted last night included: German, French, Irish, American, and South Korean.

Mary Ellis started off the event with a slide show presentation on Germany and an amusing video of the famous song “Springtime for Hitler” from Mel Brooks’ The Producers.  Following the introduction was a surprising amount of statistical information and facts.  For instance, did you know that the Tuetons, an ancient tribe in Germany, used to consider beer a significant offering to the gods?  Another interesting fact about Germany was that statistically speaking, almost every German male owns a pair of lederhosen , but only wears them during significant cultural events?

Gwen, our own visiting French student, prepared a presentation on her very own country.  Imagine how shocked I was to see the first slide of her presentation: a frog wearing a beret accompanied by a block of cheese and a glass of wine.  I was so shocked in fact, that I missed taking a picture of it (which says a lot to people who know me).

Among other things, including a crash course on how to cook escargot, Gwen discussed the characteristics regarding the typical French stereotype.  Interestingly enough, the infamous beret was originally worn by French fishermen before fashion designers decided to make it a mark of high fashion.  In regards to the French’s love of cheese, Gwen had this to say: “Cheese is France!  I’m not ashamed to say it!”  As for the stereotype that the French are always having sex, ( and if not, at least always thinking about it), Gwen with a laugh and a wink said that this one stereotypical characteristic was “true”. To get to the heart of the matter, she ended her presentation with a clip of everyone’s favorite amorous French skunk, Pepe Le Pew.

If anyone reading this knows Conall (our international student from Ireland) personally, then you know his presentation on the Irish stereotype was one of great amusement.  Before formally starting his presentation, Conall took advantage of having everyone’s attention to call the French football (soccer) team “…a bunch of dirty cheaters.”  Apparently this is a recurring inside joke between him and Gwen regarding a previous football match between Ireland and France in which, I suspect, that France emerged victorious.

Conall went on to examine the stereotypes regarding the Ireland and its people, from the belief that the country looks like a postcard wherever you go and that all the Irish have red hair.  The latter was confirmed to be false on two accounts: Conall obviously does not have red hair and that Scotland actually has the highest percentage of redheads.   One stereotype that I was previously unaware of was that people think that the Irish are addicted to potatoes, which seemed strange to me.  However, Conall was quick to enlighten us: “I love potatoes.  I complain about American potatoes, because there is something off about them.  They. Just. Don’t. Cut. It.”  Conall also confirmed that the Irish do indeed like to drink and ended with a clip from Family Guy in which Peter visits his father in Ireland.

Jordan Anderson took on the task of dealing with the stereotypes of Americans among the international community.  In order to find out exactly what these stereotypes were, Jordan interviewed the international students living in CIH.  Apparently we are described as being greedy, lazy, ignorant of foreign culture, and uncaring about the environment.  Jordan combated these stereotypes by presenting facts and relevant statistics.

Finally, Mary Ellis wrapped up the program in an interesting way.  Although she wanted to do a presentation on South Korean stereotypes, she was intrigued to find out that there were none.  So instead of giving a presentation on South Korean stereotypes she gave one on South Korean facts and statistics.  Did you know that the martial art known as Tae Kwon Do originated from South Korea or that South Korea has the 13th largest economy?

We also learned the reason for why South Koreans ask that guests remove their shoes when entering a house.  First, and most obviously, it makes the floors dirty.  Second, there are heaters in the floorboards in Korean homes, so the floor is warm and comfortable.  Finally, South Koreans believe that if you wear your shoes for too long, your feet begin to stink.  Therefore, they encourage the removal of footwear as often as possible to prevent “the stink.”

All in all, I had an awesome time attending the event.  So saying, I would like to take this time to put in a plug for upcoming CIH events which will be announced as their corresponding dates approach.  Do your part to disprove the stereotype that Americans don’t care about foreign culture by coming to at least one CIH event this semester.

Remember, only you can disprove stereotypes.

Links:

“Springtime for Hitler”

“Pepe Le Pew”

“Family Guy Goes to Ireland”

Photos by Akeem Favor

As you may or may not know, McKenzie Wells, of Presbyterian College Jazz Combo fame, is competing for musical dominance on Popstation ™.  The winner of this competition will “…enjoy an all expenses paid three night stay in NYC at a ridiculously hip hotel.”  The winner will also have their own album produced by a professional recording studio with the assistance of a professional production team.  If Ms. Wells is chosen for “The Big Deal” from amongst the group of #1 artists, she will be headed to the Big Apple.

Ms. Wells currently has two songs entered into the competition: Make Some Noise and High Fashion.  Her first song, High Fashion, was entered in the first round of the competition, is currently #2 on the charts, and has only 24 hours to reach number one status.  Her second song, Make Some Noise, is entered in the second round of the competition, is currently listed at #1, and also needs your vote to make sure that she stays there.

To vote, just follow the links below; listen to the auditory decadence of Ms. Wells’ voice and vote.

High Fashion (VOTE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT):  http://www.popstation.com/music/2/132/672

Make Some Noise (VOTE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE): http://www.popstation.com/recordings/view/1241

Artwork the Property of McKenzie Wells

For those students about to register, I offer this class for your consideration.

American Popular Music is a General Education course (meaning anyone can take it) taught by Dr. Richard Thomas.
The course description is as follows:

“A general survey of popular music in America from the end of the 19^th Century to the beginning of the 21^st Century.  The principal popular music genres of Musical Theater, Jazz, Country, and Rock will be the focus of this course.  Composers, performers and performing mediums of these styles will be discussed within their religious, political, and economic contexts in order to gain a greater appreciation of their meaning and role in society, and place in the development of modern American culture.”

Sweet, I’m down to the last new professor (unless there are any others that have escaped my attention).  Since he was not in any of the science buildings, I actually had to put effort into finding and interviewing Professor Nolan, so I hope you will excuse the delayed article.

Professor Nolan went to Princeton University to obtain a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.  He also has two masters degrees.  He earned a masters in Sacred Theology at Andover Newton, and at Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned a masters in Divinity. He is currently working on his doctorate in theology there as well.

In addition to teaching the intro courses, next semester he will be teaching Virtue and Vice (focusing on Aquinas, Augustine, and defining virtue in a Christian context) as well as God and Globalization (looks at the roots of capitalism and the role of Christianity in the development of capitalism as well as its role in globalization). 

When asked why he chose Presbyterian College, he responded, “When I was at Princeton I lived next to two PC alumns.  They love PC and they talked a lot about it.”  They were also the ones who pushed him to apply here when he learned there was an opening in the religion department.  Professor Nolan also likes the connection to the Presbyterian Church, as he’s an ordained minister.  I asked him what he thought of the school, and he thought it was great.  He said the students seem appreciative of their education and they take the school motto (Dum Vivimus Servimus-While We Live We Serve) to heart.  “In my Christian faith, it’s very important to express that faith in service to others.

Finally, I asked him about activities he would like to be involved in.  Devotional groups, Thornwell, and football games appealed to him (the latter as a spectator), and he seemed interested in the bike club as well.

Remember my article last week about Dr. Gordon, our new Biology professor?  Probably not, since I don’t think anybody knew about the website but continuing on with that idea, I conducted another interview with Dr. Peterson, our new adjunct Physics instructor.

Dr. Peterson did his undergrad work at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and his graduate work at Auburn University in Alabama.  His major concentration is in nuclear fusion, but has since moved away from saying  it’s, “too technical to be practical.”  His focus has moved toward sustainable energy, especially in the area of designing houses to reduce energy use (using white shingles instead of black to reduce the use of air conditioning, etc.).  In that regard, he couldn’t have chosen a better year to come, since our CEP calender is very green-centric.

Dr. Peterson came to Presbyterian College because he liked the idea of a small school and the increased contact with students.  When asked how he liked it here he replied, “I really like it…It would be a nice school for me to end up at” (he isn’t on tenure track).  He also stated that it offered freedom in class and research to pursue his own goals.

Finally, when asked about what activities he would like to be involved in, he showed interest in the Bike Club at PC.  Not only has he ridden his bike across the country in two stages, he plans to bike along the coast of Australia, and exressed hope to bike across other continents as well. It seems he would feel right at home (or on the road??) with PC’s Bike Club.

On Thursday, September 24, Presbyterian College’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi will be hosting a fundraiser for a local affilliate of the RAINN organization.  RAINN, claimed by Worth Magazine to be one of  “America’s Top 100 Charities,” specializes in raising money to prevent rape, abuse, and sexual assault throughout the country. Representatives from the local RAINN affilliate, the Greenwood “Sexual Trauma and Counceling Center” (STCC), will be on campus throughout the day, and PC’s very own public saftey officers will also be helping with the fundraiser.  The fundraiser will take place between 8am and 3pm outside of Springs Student Center and GDH.

When Johnathan Hunsinger, the Philanthropy Chair of Alpha Sigma Phi, was asked about the upcomming fundraiser, he had the following to say:

“We in ‘Alpha Sig’ care very much about charity.  Not only is charitable giving the  right thing to do to help those in need, but Charity is also one of Alpha Sigma Phi’s “five values.”  Last year we took a progressive revamp of our service comittee and became actively involved in Habitat for Humanity.   We raised money for many local charities, including the Laurens County Humane Society.  Throughout the year we will continue to help those in need by becoming involved in the “Big Brother, Little Brother Program” as well as a new Boy Scout program that will be opened at the Thornwell Home. If this RAINN fundraiser for the STCC is big enough, we will have a campus wide RAINN day later this year.  If you can, please be there to show your support.  We also plan on hosting multiple events throughout the year for the  humane society, our local battered women’s shelter, habitat for humanity, the Thornwell Home, and our own national Philanthropy, Live-Strong!”

Johnathan also wanted to let everyone know that there will be sign-up sheets for free self-defense lessons–hosted by RAD.

We have several new professors at this school, and I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Gordon, our new Biology professor.  If I learned anything from my Project Life article, it’s that Campus articles don’t really lend themselves very well to making savage insults and jokes, because as fun as it is to write mean things about the Academy Awards, I just don’t have the heart to say mean things about new teachers and hematopoietic stem cells. It’s just one of those things.

Dr. Gordon was an undergraduate at College of Wooster in Ohio, and completed graduate school at Ohio State University.  His concentration of studies is in fields of plant genetics and microbial genomics, and as you might have guessed he is our new Genetics professor, though he also teaches Introductory Biology as well, both semesters.

Dr. Gordon likes being in a liberal arts college, and he likes the people he gets to work with, collegues and students.  “The people are very welcoming,” says Dr. Gordon.  He’s also excited about the opportunities he’ll have to do research with students.

When asked what activities or classes he would like to become involved in, he responded with Bioinformatics (the application of information technology to the field of molecular biology–which I’m not sure is taught but certainly seems like an interesting subject), research in the summer with students, and fishing (which if I recall correctly is done o’plenty in Genetics Lab).  So, if there’s anyone who has not met Dr. Stuart Gordon, let me say this.  Don’t screw up his good impression of us.

Today, as almost every day since I have been here, I was asked how I like it in here so far. Long story short, the answer is, Mesdames Messieurs, I really, really like it. Of course it is very different from France and Frenchies. It is also very different from what I expected.

I pictured myself alone, in my room, depressed, studying hard because it was all was on my agenda. I imagined that I would rather eat my fingers than the food proposed, thinking it would not be eatable. I checked Clinton’s size on the Internet and that made me do the Dramatic Squirrel look.

But if I had known, I wouldn’t have been that scared. You people are lucky. And nice, too. Many of you helped me and the other internationals to get used to this new American life. And yes, even though I hear some complaining, the food offered in GDH is good – and if the French says so…

Yeah, I miss kissing people’s cheeks when I meet them, I have dreams about cheese at night and sometimes when I’m tired I wish you could all speak French and bring me a bag of croissants. Granted. But the truth is I am doing very well in PC thanks to ya’ll.