Month: April 2013

Categories
News

President Obama Unveils Budget Proposal

This past Wednesday, President Obama unveiled a new budget plan to be sent to Congress. Obama’s proposal will also be considered next to other plans that have already been proposed, including, most notably, two separate competing plans drawn up by Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in the House and Senator Patty Murphy (D-Wash.) in the Senate.

Courtesy of money.cnn.com
Courtesy of money.cnn.com

Obama’s proposal, a ten year plan, calls for about $300 billion in new spending measures for employment and public works, along with major new taxes for the wealthy, and some entitlement reforms. The plan calls for, among other things, an extra charge of 94 cents added to the cost of a pack of cigarettes. (The proceeds from the charge will be used to help finance programs for preschool education, programs that Obama mentioned in the State of the Union Address earlier this year.) Besides this striking feature, the plan will also call for $700 billion in new tax increases for the wealthy which, not unexpectedly, does not please many Republicans in Congress. However, the President has also made several concessions to Republicans, such as reducing Medicare benefits for wealthy couples.

By far, however, the largest concession that the President’s plan offers the Republicans is to reduce Social Security by applying a chained consumer price index (chained CPI) that will be less generous in calculating benefits. (Along with Social Security, the chained CPI will index  spending and taxes by tying them directly to the rate of inflation.) Compared to the old model of calculating benefits, the new formula will cause benefits to tick up at a much slower rate. This is expected to save the federal government about $130 billion within the next ten years.

This is a bold step by the President, as trimming Social Security is often considered untouchable by the members of his own party. Regardless, some Republicans in Senate are pleased with the concession and see this as a point where Republicans and Democrats can begin to compromise, though many Republicans advocate for higher Social Security costs. Other Republicans, however, do not see Obama’s move as a conciliatory measure and do not think that the concession really reforms entitlements. According to the Washington Post, Representative Ryan said that, “I don’t see this as fundamental entitlement reform as much as clarifying a statistic which does happen to save money.”

Obama’s proposal comes several days late – 65 days, to be exact. Usually in Washington, the president is the one to initiate discussions on the budget but, with several fiscal crises in the first quarter of this year, Obama’s initiative was delayed and the Senate and House of Representatives have already proceeded with their own initiatives.

Republican congressional plans generally seek to balance the budget within ten years and cut spending. Their counterparts, Democrat congressional plans, also seek to reduce deficit, but not to balance the budget. President Obama’s plan is no different in this respect. Regarding the level of national debt, one Republican plan from the House will level off debt within ten years, but another  plan submitted by the Republican Study Committee would reduce it significantly. Obama’s plan, like other Democrat plans, will not reduce national debt significantly and  will continue to let it to swell.

Budget talks in the upcoming weeks will continue to be debated.  Continue to keep an eye on the news for further developments.

Categories
Arts

Things to Eat: Bread

The first time I made bread, it turned out like a rock. I asked my mom what had happened. You killed the yeast, she told me. If you want to make bread, know this before anything: don’t add boiling water to the yeast. If the recipe says warm water, then that does not mean boil water and let it cool for a few minutes before using it. My sister does that, but I’m wary. I turn the hot water faucet on as hot as it will go.

Courtesy of Isabel Sanders
Courtesy of Isabel Sanders

There are basically two kinds of breads: quick breads and yeast breads. Quick breads include things like banana bread. Yeast breads take much longer to bake, roughly two hours give or take for the whole process, and include your typical sandwich breads. You can make an enormous variety of breads. I used to make bread every Sunday morning last year when I lived in a townhouse. I started with basic wheat bread: water, yeast, butter, a little brown sugar, wheat and white flour. Then I branched off into other wheat bread recipes. Then oatmeal and rye. Finnish pulla.

After you realize that warm water does not mean boiling water, making bread is pretty simple, especially if you choose a standard recipe like the one outlined above. Things get more complicated if you branch off, but if you can buy ingredients and read a recipe, you’ll be fine. For example, rye flour and the caraway seeds make rye bread rye. Trying out new bread recipes might mean buying other kinds of flour, adding molasses, eggs, or even cocoa powder to your dough, or shaping the dough into braids or circles.

Baking bread usually occurs in this sequence: mix ingredients, knead dough for eight minutes, let dough rise in bowl for an hour, punch risen dough and form into loaves, let dough rise for half an hour, bake for thirty minutes. And the result? A slice of bread way heartier and tastier than the flimsy pieces you usually find in the grocery store. Kneading bread can also be therapeutic. Don’t have time to make bread? Try walking down to the co-op and buying some of theirs. Yum, I mean YUM.

Lastly I would advise future bread makers not to be afraid of failing. Even a semi-experienced bread maker like me still has the occasional rock loaf that didn’t rise. Just feed it to the birds and try again!

Categories
Arts

Things to Do: Delectable Collectables

Some of our readership may not be aware that Houghton Safety and Security’s very own Gordon Arber is also a small business owner. He and his wife Debbie own Delectable Collectables, formerly The Old Garage next to the firehall in Angelica on West Main Street.

Courtesy of Gordon Arber
Courtesy of Gordon Arber

“I’ve been dealing in antiques and collectibles for at least 30 years,” Arber said. “I just love it.” Delectable Collectables offers a diverse selection of glassware, furniture, comics, toys, primitives, records, jewelry and art. The inventory is constantly changing.

“I always wanted to have my own co-op, and then this building was available in Angelica, so we tried it on a rent to own basis,” said Arber. This is their fourth year owning the business, and he and his wife were able to buy the building last year.

Delectable Collectables has around 25 vendors that rent space, and last year they were able to purchase 20 new display cases. They rent the display cases to vendors, and vendors can also pay for space in the store by the square foot. “Many of my vendors have sales periodically,” Gordon said.

I have had the opportunity to visit Delectable Collectables myself, and my favorite part of the trip was the $1 grab bag. After spending an hour browsing in the shop, it felt silly to leave with nothing, and this was a cheap but unique option.

Each grab bag is a surprise; after purchase you can open it and see what little treasures you are coming away with. My favorites were an old pin, a tiny address book, and a diva tattoo. It was exciting to discover what was in my grab bag!

Delectable Collectables is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. year round. “Like” their page on Facebook, and stop by the shop next time you are in Angelica to support a community member and a local family-owned business. As Arber said, “It’s a fun place just to come and browse and go down memory lane.”

Categories
Arts

Annual Film Festival

The annual Film Festival is on Friday, April 12 this year, a night for Houghton’s amateur filmmakers to showcase their current creative endeavors. The first event of the evening, a formal event, will first feature a “Blue-Hue” pre-party that will be hosted at 8 p.m. in the Van Dyk lounge.

arts&sports_filmfestThe competition, following the pre-party, will take place in Wesley Chapel promptly at 9 p.m. As in any competition, the judging and awards will follow the screenings. Categories this year range from animation and comedy to commercial and drama. According to one of the judges in the competition, Sally Murphy, points are awarded according to different elements of the films such as acting, directing, and cinematography.

The awards are given for achievements such as best actor or actress, best cinematography, best editing, and of course, best picture. The competitive nature of the festival aside, contestant Aaron Fitzgerald, senior, regards it as an opportunity to “celebrate the work of filmmakers on campus.” Cory Martin, junior, said that the purpose of the festival is a chance for students to proudly “display their art to the public.”

Expectations are high for this year’s turnout. “In the past, the Houghton Film Festival has been a big letdown for me. The content was not good. It did not provide a good context to show something you had worked hard on. It was a popularity contest,” said Fitzgerald. “On further inspection, the quality of work and the attitudes of the people submitting films this year seems to be a much higher level and I am happy that I submitted something.”

Submissions this year range from the serious to the comical; “some are stupid and make you scratch your head and laugh, and others are on a more serious note,” senior contestant Andrew Jones said. From an animation film based on a Richard Simmons’ dance video submitted by Martin, to a short film-poem that adapts Ulysses by Tennyson entered by Fitzgerald, this year’s entries are sure to both entertain and encourage thought-provoking dialogue for filmmakers and attendees alike.

This evening would not be possible, of course, without the interest of Houghton students in the art of filmmaking. Jones is looking forward to the Festival as an opportunity to showcase his videos on a larger scale than the in-class critique. Jones said, “Video is such a big part of our culture and it’s great when I can contribute my own ideas and stories. I just enjoy telling stories through film, and much like writing, acting, singing, or painting, film is just another way you can tell a story in an engaging and entertaining way.”

Senior Nicholas Quigley said, “I wanted to submit my piece to share with my friends what I actually do as a communication major.” His entry, Visions, is a submission in the Drama category; he said that his piece “is an ambiguous piece that takes you on a journey in and out of this guy’s head as he deals with his darkest time in his life. What I love about the piece is its ambiguity that leaves the viewer open to interpreting it as they want.”

This year’s Film Festival is a celebration of film that offers a chance to view some fantastic amateur films by fellow students. Murphy said that it is an opportunity to “feel a little Hollywood glam,” making this an event that students will not want to miss.

Categories
Arts

Atoms for Peace Release Album

“Atoms for Peace” is variously referred to as either a supergroup ‘including’ or a side-project ‘belonging to’ its most famous and influential member, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Technically speaking, it might better be described as a supergroup formed as the result of a side project of a side project, considering that the band’s first and only album originated due to a string of live performances of Yorke’s 2006 solo release, which was, in itself, a foray away from Radiohead.

Courtesy of collapseboard.com
Courtesy of collapseboard.com

It was in 2009 that Flea (bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers), Mauro Refrosco (Forro in the Dark percussionist and tour performer for Red Hot Chili Peppers), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead producer), and Joey Waronker (Beck and R.E.M percussion journeyman) joined Yorke to provide live renditions of his highly computer-generated The Eraser. The chemistry and material developed during the practice sessions for this tour period would, several years later, materialize into the group’s February 2013 Amok.

Though surely crucial to the finished product, the names of the producers and percussionists are, perhaps unsurprisingly, not nearly as eye catching as is the renowned moniker Flea. Almost always performing in some state of undress, this is the same Flea who, in the early days of RHCP, joined his bandmates on stage wearing nothing more than a single, strategically placed sock; it is also, perhaps less famously, the same Flea who voiced the feral child character of “Donnie” in the now classic cartoon show, The Wild Thornberrys.

Such a past doesn’t seem to immediately accord with Yorke’s social activism and highbrow music recognition. The seeming disparities between Yorke’s public image as the chic albeit weird British vegan and Flea’s long, and very punk American history are bridged by a single word: ability. Only a bassist with the technical skill and acumen that Flea has would stand a chance of turning anything that Yorke made on his laptop into a playable, performable track.

Flea is evident throughout Amok, making himself immediately apparent in the opening track, ”Before Your Eyes,” and particularly integral in tracks such as “Stuck Together Pieces” and “Reverse Running.” Without his invigorating line delivered starting a minute into “Dropped,” something like a sped-up version of Weezer’s “Only in the Dreams,” the track would lose both momentum and appeal.

Although neither the riffs nor the jumpy, explorative bass are completely beyond the punk and funk roots with which he is so long acquainted, Flea does, overall, settle into an uncharacteristically understated role. His consistent bouncing along underneath Yorke’s familiar “Creep” croon and varying degrees of synth inundation doesn’t so much overwhelm the Chili Peppers legend as it does sublimate him, making him more of a textural accent than a center of attention.

While playing find-the-Flea throughout Amok provides a familiar point of reference, navigating the more computerized extremities of the album is a much more nebulous task. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the sessions that produced the album, Yorke commented, ”One of the things we were most excited about was ending up with a record where you weren’t quite sure where the human starts and the machine ends.”

This certainly seems to be the effect. There are points in certain tracks that seem to occur in a realm entirely above where traditional instruments and voices can follow, such as the whole of “Ingenue” or the psychobabble interlude in “Unless.” Luckily for the group, this ethereal realm also happens to be where Yorke’s voice seems most comfortable.

Whatever the finer technicalities behind the particular indefinable noises happens to be, it is hard not to appreciate them simply for their immaculate precision. They are hard to explain and figure out, but, somehow, they “just work” and we appreciate it. Indeed, isn’t this the way we often think about and thank our machines? This, it seems, is precisely Yorke and company’s point.

While both the intriguing collaborative product of RHCP and Radiohead and the mysteriously alluring mechanization are worth considering, Amok is, as a whole, a journey to nowhere. The album lacks the energy and smart distinctions, subtle or otherwise, needed to alert the listener to progress or development. There are no maps and no landmarks; a writer for Pitchfork describes it as “giving a perpetual sense of jogging in place.” It is ironic that an album which ends with the repeated lines, “to run amok, run amok, run amok,” does, in fact, pan out like a treadmill stuck on some useless in-between speed.

Categories
Sports

New Tennis Coach Selected

Next fall, yet another sport will be introduced to the athletic department at Houghton: tennis. Coach Charlie Ellis will lead both the men’s and women’s teams.

Courtesy of atheletics.houghton.edu
Courtesy of atheletics.houghton.edu

Ellis has over 30 years of experience within the tennis world. He began learning what he could at a young age until he joined the tennis program at the University of Georgia. Ellis was ranked eighth in college tennis and then went on to be first in the state of Georgia, earning a World ATP top-300 ranking. From there Ellis went on to coach and then settled into the field of club management, where he has stayed for over 20 years.

The nationwide search to find Houghton’s first tennis coach was extensive and competitive, in hopes of finding a near perfect fit to Houghton’s athletic program. Athletic Director, Harold Lord, said that Ellis was ideal for this position. Lord believes that Ellis will be a “quality member to the department, campus, and community”.

Up to this point Ellis has developed numerous tennis programs for all ages and skill levels ranging anywhere from toddlers to elite adult players. He also spent time as the general manager for Sportime Fitness in Schenectady, NY where he taught lessons to over 100 players. In addition, Ellis founded Fair Play Tennis, a company dedicated to helping young athletes create individual plans to enjoy and succeed at playing the game of tennis.

Ellis approaches this new opportunity with three principles in mind. He begins with the foundation of a faith based team with players who “show a godly respect for one another.” His next principle is that each athlete will have a particular group of people who will be devoted to promoting and maintaining his or her academics. Lastly, Ellis wants the team to “enjoy the journey of getting better at tennis.”

As Ellis looks forward to the upcoming season, he is eager to be working at a college level again. He said he wants to “get as many people involved and interested as possible in embracing the game of tennis.”

Lord said that the addition of tennis will hopefully create a different atmosphere on campus, spurring students to play recreationally. He said that, “tennis is an intercollegiate sport that will last a lifetime.”

As a result of the integration of NCAA tennis into the athletic program at Houghton, the first season will have an abbreviated schedule. The season is also split, with the women’s team beginning with their Empire 8 conference meets in the fall while the men’s team participates in non-conference events. The teams will then switch in the spring.

Each team will consist of approximately 12 to 15 individuals who will play both singles and doubles matches. The season will conclude in the spring with the NCAA National Championship.

Bethany Chesebro, freshman, began playing tennis sophomore year in high school. She chose Houghton knowing that there were plans to form a tennis team. Chesebro said she is excited “about being part of a team and being challenged at a more competitive level.”

Categories
Opinions

Students Shouldering Unnecessary Responsibility

It may seem as if all The Star ever writes about is Senate, but perhaps that is because interesting things do in fact take place there.

xtlxsec7c0vzramwas1mSometimes it is not even the funding requests or committee updates themselves, which are the real issues and discussion-starters for Houghton’s student government, but rather the implications that come with these seemingly basic requests.

Climbing Club approached the Senate with a request for $1,000 to go towards renovations for the climbing wall and shoe closet. Usually the Climbing Club makes a request for $1,000 toward a specific climbing trip’s expenses. In the past, the club has gone to Colorado, Canada, and several other prime climbing locations.

This year, the club chose to forfeit their trip in order to use the funds to repair the climbing wall. As of now, the small holes and other damages to the wall pose a problem to climbers, particularly small children, who come to the wall on Mondays when it is open to community members.

It is not surprising that the club is making the effort to pay for repairs and renovations to the equipment that they use every day. They take pride in what they can offer to students and community members, and they want to see everyone safe and satisfied.

What is surprising is that a student organization on campus has to go to another student organization in order to find the funding to repair part of Houghton College’s facilities. We at the Star are not entirely sure when the maintenance and upkeep, and the necessary finances, of the college’s facilities and grounds ever became the responsibility of students.

And though the SGA has plenty of money to pass around to different clubs and organizations on campus, it is not the SGA’s responsibility to see that renovations are made to a climbing wall that poses safety hazards. According to Tyler Kempney, president of the club, the wall has recently passed inspection, but that does not mean that a small child could not get his or her fingers or hands stuck in small holes and cracks in the wall while climbing. This could easily lead to serious injuries and the damages could also lead to a loss of interest in rock climbing.

We sincerely appreciate the efforts of the Climbing Club to provide a safe environment; what we take issue with is not their actions. But what we can not reconcile is why they have had to even take these actions. The Equestrian Society is not responsible for buying arena footing, though members are arguably the ones doing the most riding. The Gadfly Society does not have to pay for the chairs and desks they use while philosophizing, even if they should break one. Mercy Seat is not responsible for painting Presser Hall or fixing a leak in the roof of the chapel, and so why does Climbing Club find itself having to pay for renovations if they want them done? How do Houghton’s commitments to excellence and community line up with a potentially dangerous facility?

Ultimately, though, the issue is larger than the climbing wall. This is not the first time that SGA has funded events or projects that, as Senator Wynn Horton put it, “It’s not our responsibility to pay for.” Why is it that students seeking to attend an academic conference specific to their major have had to turn to SGA to get there? Is there a disconnect between these academic departments and the funding they need to make the learning experience truly beneficial and better than at other institutions’?

If so, and if SGA has to continue funding trips to conferences and repairs to facilities, Houghton College, as an institution, can not then make the claim that it provides students with wonderful opportunities and outlets. In reality, without students allocating the limited funds they can control, other students could not have the experiences for which they hope in coming to Houghton.

We may indeed be more powerful than we think, but this power should not come at the price of the institution shirking the simple responsibility of safety.

Categories
Opinions

Ambiguity and Confusion in the Imitation of God

As a kid, my parents bravely took me on a trip to the geysers at Yellowstone National Park. This was daring because they were taking me out on a wooden walkway, surrounded by boiling water mixed with sulfur. I remember being terrified that the wooden structure would break, and my entire family would plummet to our boiling doom. I thought it much better to remain on the dry land, away from the scary wooden walkway, where nothing bad could possibly happen.

Courtesy of travel.nationalgeographic.com
Courtesy of travel.nationalgeographic.com

My mother would have none of this. She had dragged two squawling toddlers across the continent, and had no intention of remaining on the boring, dry land when she could be walking six inches above a boiling geyser. As I loudly denounced her, she dragged me by my skinny wrist out to the observation platform. Every time I tried to bolt, she would bring me back, until it finally dawned on me that the wooden walkway was not in fact going to plunge us into Nature’s cauldron.

As a senior in high school, I was pulled aside by a well-meaning, but very conservative, friend. He was afraid that “those professors” with their theories would undermine my pure, simple, uncritical faith. He was afraid I would wander off the walkway of faith, and boil to death in the sulfurous world of academics. Little did he know how correct he would prove to be.

At Houghton, I have learned to doubt. I have learned to doubt simple answers, quick replies and the reduction of life to the formulaic. There are very few parts of my pre-college life that I haven’t learned to doubt. Morality? Check. Faith? Check. Political affiliation? Check. Social views? Check. Star Wars vs. Star Trek? Check. The list goes on and on, until at last I realize that I have, at some point or another throughout my college years, held every single opinion on almost every issue Out There in the world. I have waffled between the isms like a sail in a crosswind.

I also doubt whether this is a bad thing.

There must be a space for ambiguity in this world. Back on that wooden walkway in Yellowstone, I was convinced we were about to topple into the geyser. My four year old brain knew nothing about structural integrity or about the fact that wood floats on water. I didn’t know that the government sent out inspectors to make sure that no one plunged to their doom in the geyser. The entire regulatory and building structure of modern society was almost entirely unknown to me. I hadn’t learned to trust the world.

Nor would I have learned about the trustworthiness of modern carpentry if I hadn’t eventually wandered out onto that wooden walkway. The only way to learn to trust is to nearly fall into boiling water. I could hardly have known, later in life, that airport terminal arms, skyscrapers, bridges, or the infamous road climbing into the Dalmatian hillside called “The Stairway to Heaven” were reliable if I hadn’t learned to trust that walkway.

Similarly, I could hardly learn to trust modern society and its multitude of intellectual, spiritual and moral developments without going through a period of complete bewilderment and ambiguity. As human beings, we can’t learn without experiencing confusion, and we can’t love without feeling pain. Houghton’s official religion, Christianity, contains this belief at its core.  God entered the particularity and confusion of human existence, and felt pain, in order that we might understand love.

Here’s to ambiguity and confusion in imitation of God. Here’s to inching out slowly, ever so slowly, onto the wooden walkway. Here’s to continuing to study and analyze and synthesize. May you never wander off the walkway, but please don’t remain back on the land looking anxious. If I try to bolt to the land, make sure I don’t succeed, and when you try to bolt I’ll drag you back to the observation deck. The confusion and the uncertainty is good, and ambiguity is actually healthy, for this is the only way to learn to love. May God protect us all from the denial of confusion, and the elimination of ambiguity.

 

Categories
News

A Letter from the Student Financial Services Office

Houghton campus is finally starting to thaw and that means a season of preparing for finals, getting ready for Mayterm, graduation and most importantly- letting loose on the long-awaited summer. However, this time of year also marks another season: that of readying ourselves for the upcoming financial school year. FAFSAs are completed and packages for both incoming and returning students are rolling out the doors of the financial aid office.

Courtesy of http://springflingcny.wordpress.com/
Courtesy of http://springflingcny.wordpress.com/

This year timing is especially important because it marks a new policy change for The Student Financial Services Office at Houghton College. Students have been receiving emails regarding this policy change- the introduction of EBilling which keeps us in-line with Federal Regulations regarding tuition overload; SALT, which will help students understand their financial responsibilities, enforcement of Church Match deadlines, and a comprehensive checklist to ensure all students are financially registered before returning to campus next year.

In previous years Houghton has given much grace when it comes to financial registration. Over the years we have seen this result in frustrating situations for our students. Students arrive on campus excited for a new semester and quickly become involved in academics, activities and friends. The last thing they want is to add financial strain to their lives. For that reason the new policy will strictly enforce that a student must be paid in full before he or she arrives on campus in August.

The process to be financially registered has not changed dramatically. Students will receive their tuition bills in July. Bills will be due August 16th. Students will be expected to pay the bill by that date. This means that any alternative payment plans and loan applications should already be in place and approved. After August 16th it will then be too late to apply for loans or make other arrangements.

Until a student formulates and communicates a plan in conjunction with SFSO to pay their bill, their housing key will be withheld, a stop put on their account, and their meal plan frozen. The intent of this is to alleviate the frustration and stress that accompanies long overdue bills.

If the student has a special circumstance where the usual payment plans and methods are not possible, they must communicate this with SFSO so that an acceptable alternative payment method can be decided upon before the 16th of August.

Once a student has reached a $0.00 balance on their account, an email will be sent confirming this. The email will act as financial clearance to return to campus, move into their housing and attend classes.

The hope is that through this strict financial policy, the billing process will be easier and smoother for both our students and the institution. Our intention is to engage with families and work through their plans at earlier dates so that the burdens of finance do not linger over the heads of students as a new semester starts. In addition SFSO will be able to proceed efficiently and without the fear of financial dismissal of students we feel should not have to leave our campus prematurely. Moving forward we are optimistic about the new policy and we are looking forward to August where we will find all students financially registered and ready to start a fresh year of academics, activities and friends.