Author: Carina Martin

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Campus International News

A New Kind of Adventure

After graduation, some Houghton students will head home to their families for the summer. Some will take the plunge into new jobs and internships. But some will travel abroad for a few weeks to seek a new kind of adventure.

This Mayterm, in a joint venture between the departments of political science and international development, Houghton will offer a Mayterm course in Sierra Leone.  “The Mayterm is designed as a field research experience for students of international development,” said Oakerson. “Because I’m a political scientist, there is always a political element.” Being so specialized, the course’s enrollment is strictly limited and normally only extends to international development students. However, Oakerson shared that he is “always willing to talk with any interested student to see if their background and interests are appropriate to be considered for enrollment.” He has personally approved every participant. The course was offered every year between 2009 and 2012, shelved for several years due to the Ebola epidemic, then revived from 2016-2017.

A photo from Mayterm.
Mayterm options this year include a political science and international development course in Sierra Leone, as well as several art courses across the Mediterranean.

“All of our work has been in the Northern Province, mostly in the vicinity of the City of Makeni, the provincial capital,” Oakerson continued. “We usually begin with a few days in Freetown, the capital of the country. Most of our work, however, takes place in rural villages, where we do intensive interviews with groups of village leaders. We choose research projects that we think will make a contribution to development. We have studied political decentralization, traditional agriculture, village governance, and customary land tenure.”

“Last year,” he recalled, “we did a comprehensive baseline development study of a traditional chiefdom—40 villages—located in one of the most remote sections of the country. In previous years we became involved in the design and implementation of a development project that connected village mango growers to a maker of juice concentrate for international export.”

“The research experience is essentially the same for everyone, except that students with

particular expertise and interest may be asked to work on some particular aspect of the course,” he continued. “For example, students minoring in public health may work on a healthcare aspect if relevant; students with a second major in environmental biology may work on a natural resource aspect.”

This May, Oakerson hopes to continue the past year’s work conducting feasibility studies for future development initiatives. “One [is] related to conservation and ecotourism possibilities,” he said, “and the other to the development of agricultural cooperatives able to process and market tree crops, including mangoes.”

Departing at roughly the same time, several art classes will immerse themselves in the most iconic settings of the Mediterranean: Rome, Venice, Florence, and Athens. On the trip, professors will lead two separate art history classes, a watercolor studio, and a photography seminar. Students will tour major historical sites like the Acropolis and Coliseum, cultural institutions like the Vatican Museum and Uffizi Gallery, and religious destinations like the Sistine Chapel and St. Mark’s Basilica. 

A photo of Houghton students posing overseas
This year’s Mediterranean art Mayterm will include a street photography tour to develop artistic sensibilities, along with plenty of time spent in museums to inspire papers, projects, or the student’s own art.

“It’s going to be based in travel documentary,” said Ryann Cooley, Houghton professor of photography, who will lead students on a street photographer’s tour of the Mediterranean. “My goal is to take a documental, cultural view of the people, the culture, and the environment.”

Although each student can choose their own stylistic direction for the course, Cooley has planned a variety of “exercises and assignments that teach how to see and compose photographs.” One capstone project will encourage students to “work on developing a story” about the people they meet and places they visit.

Rather than guiding participants through the intricate technical aspects of camera operation, the walkabout studio course will focus on developing artistic sensibilities. “It’s learning how to take good pictures,” according to Cooley. “But there will be no smartphones,” he elaborated, “because I want people to understand how to control different aspects of the photograph.”

The course will also take advantage of the rich cultural and artistic pedigree of the region. “We’ll be spending a lot of time in museums,” Cooley said. “All the people on the Mayterm will go to every museum. Those taking the art history classes will answer questions and write papers. The studio classes will create work based on things that we see in the museums. Other projects will simply be inspired by the work, by having it in the back of your mind.”

Cooley has taught similar Mayterm photography courses across Europe and in New York City, and was immediately fascinated by the prospect of seeing classical Athenian architecture and Venetian canal system. “Each [location] has something very intriguing to me,” he said. “I think they’ll all bring a sense of street life, which will be fabulous for shooting.”

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Campus Sports Stories In Focus

Setting A High Bar: Gwen Stokes

Ever since she arrived at Houghton two short years ago, Gwen Stokes has been turning heads on the track. On January 19, at the annual Highlander Invitational, she blazed ahead to set a personal best in the high jump— her main event—while also setting a season best in the long jump. Along with her teammates Mikayla Gaffney, Madelyn Kruth, and Emma Fox, she also finished third in the 4x400m relay. In the high jump, she is now ranked #1 in the Empire 8 and #15 in the nation among NCAA Division III athletes.

Although Stokes has only been setting records at Houghton for the past few years, her love for the sport goes back to her toddler days. “This is my 5th indoor track season doing the high jump,” Stokes said, “but I’ve been doing track since 7th grade and have been around track since I was born.”

Photo of Gwen Stokes.
On January 19, at the annual Highlander Invitational, Gwen Stokes ‘20 set a personal best in the high jump and a season best in the long jump. In the high jump, she is now ranked #1 in the Empire 8, and #15 in the nation for NCAA Division III athletes.

Patrick Hager, Houghton’s track and eld coach, also highlighted Stokes’ lifelong familiarity with the sport as one of her most valuable assets. “Gwen was a very touted recruit for our program a couple of years ago,” he said. “Her high school accomplishments in cross country, and as a power athlete in track, were unique. What I really like about Gwen is that she comes from a track and eld family, and has deep knowledge of the sport. She’s what you would call a true ‘track junkie.’” Stokes’ passion for the technical aspects of the sport, such as progressive rankings and times, keeps the entire team on their toes.

“We knew she could help us take the next step as a program,” Hager said, but added that Stokes’ introduction to the Houghton track team had not always been an easy one. “[It] came with some growing pains,” he said. “A lot of it was just adjusting to new coaching and new training. Thus far this year, she’s jumping at as high a level as she ever has.” Stokes also spoke of the difficulties she had encountered since transitioning from high school to college track, describing a year filled with injuries and missteps. “I wasn’t performing to the level I was capable of or the level I wanted to be performing at,” she commented. “But my coaches and teammates were all very supportive. It has also been extremely challenging working through injuries while still balancing training, and trying to get my athletic workload just right to minimize injury and maximize performance.”

That consistent, enthusiastic support from teammates has been crucial not only to Stokes’ exceptional standout performances, but also to her fierce and consistent dedication to the sport. “One of the most special and encouraging experiences for me in track was at NCCAA Indoor Nationals last year in the high jump,” she recalled. “A bunch of my teammates came and sat and watched me jump the whole time, even though I wasn’t jumping particularly well. To me, that was more meaningful than the All-American award I received that day.”

“I’m really happy to have reached this level in jumping,” Stokes said of her recent accomplishments as a Highlander. “I am so thankful to have had such supportive coaches, who will do anything to help me succeed, and amazing teammates, both in high school and now here at Houghton. My entire family has also been very supportive and encouraging, trying to help me achieve the most I can, so I am just very happy to have been able to perform well for all those who have invested in me.”

Categories
Campus News

Eco-Reps Debut Kill-A-Watt Challenge

Between January 22 and February 12, Houghton’s Eco-Reps organization will hosting a townhouse energy saving competition, dubbed Kill-A-Watt. Townhouse residents will vie with each other to see which residence can conserve the utility costs over the next month.

Claire Brower ’18, an International Development major, submitted a proposal for the competition as part of her internship application.  “We’ll measure the kilowatt hours used for those three weeks,” Brower said. “Whoever has the greatest reduction over that time period earns a pizza and wing party.” Although she had originally envisioned the event as a competition between dormitories, the townhouses are the only student residences on campus whose meters can be individually monitored, making them the ideal location for taking accurate measurements. Eco-Reps is also distributing free energy efficient LED light bulbs to every townhouse that signs up to participate in the challenge.”

“I took the idea from a friend who had done something similar,” Brower said, explaining that inspiration for the Kill-A-Watt competition the idea from similar programs at other colleges and organizations. The event’s clever moniker, however, came from Houghton Sustainability Coordinator Brian Webb, who also serves as the faculty advisor to the Eco-Reps organization.

Aside from supporting sustainable energy usage, the exercise is also designed to reduce waste in one of the college’s most significant expense areas. “The primary goal of the Kill-a-Watt Competition is to encourage students toward good stewardship by learning to become mindful of their daily energy consumption,” he said. “Most of us could easily cut our energy use by 25% or more just by adopting simple habits, such as turning things off when not in use. As cliché as it may sound, switching light bulbs to LEDs will also save most people another 25%. Most students probably don’t realize it, but our electricity bill is one of the college’s largest budget items. The more we’re able to reduce that, the more we have to spend on programs and projects that directly benefit the students’ educational experience.”

Webb also highlighted the ethical and moral implications of reducing energy usage. “Energy isn’t free, and most of the time it comes with significant consequences for God’s creation in the form of pollution, greenhouse gases emissions, human health impacts, [and] biodiversity loss,” he said.  “Aligning our daily practices with our belief that caring for God’s creation matters helps us live faithfully. And saves money in the process.”

Categories
Stories In Focus

In Memory: Dr. Warren Woolsey

Dr. Warren Woolsey, professor emeritus of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Houghton College, passed away on Christmas Eve last year. He was 95 years old.

Dr. Woolsey’s life and legacy ranged across continents. He was born in Marion, Indiana on April 2, 1922, the son of Pierce and Mildred Woolsey. “He was raised in a very straight-laced Christian home, rejected it, and later came back to faith,” his son, Dr. Stephen Woolsey, remembered.

Pulled away from his studies at Houghton by active service training as an Air Cadet, he graduated in absentia in the year 1942. His squadron conducted 30 missions throughout southern Germany, occupied Austria, and Italy’s Po River Valley.

Later in life, this period of military service became a touchpoint of emotion. According to Woolsey, his father was “basically, increasingly, a pacifist. He knew that innocent and guilty people alike had died. He never talked about it…I know it was disturbing to him.” Regardless, a conviction that his role in the war had been necessary, given the cruelty of the Nazi regime, remained with him for the rest of his life.

After the war ended, Dr. Woolsey briefly attended Columbia University. Scholasticism later gave way to missions, as he and his wife moved from the halls of the seminary to the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. By 1950, they were living in Sierra Leone and wholeheartedly dedicating themselves to evangelism and education.  After moving to Freetown, Sierra Leone, Dr. Woolsey took up a position as the first president of the institution now named as the Evangelical College of Theology. After returning to the United States in 1966, Dr. Woolsey joined the Houghton College Religion and Philosophy Department to teach classes in New Testament Theology, Christology, and missiology.

The well-known Bible scholar was intensely private man, who not only maintained a steady devotion to personal virtue and cared deeply for his students, but also grew to reject some traditional conventions. “He was such a true introvert,” Woolsey shared, “but he gave everything he had to give. Since he died, so many people have sent cards saying ‘Your father helped me through such a dark time.’ He had a kind of availability to his students.” On Facebook, former students described the elder Dr. Woolsey as a “sweet, godly gentleman” who changed lives through his “incredibly kind and generous” scholasticism.

That integrity also manifested itself in a rare sense of administrative dignity. “In faculty meetings where feelings were flying,” Woolsey said, “he would quietly stand up and make a pronouncement that clarified things and allowed faculty to reach a conclusion they could all live with.”

“Another thing is, he was pretty traditional when it came to gender roles,” Woolsey said. “For most of his life, probably, he was ambivalent about women in ministry and in positions of leadership. But when my sister came along, and was exploring her own vocation in ministry and graduate education, he started giving her books that we would now view as very positive studies of Christian feminism. By the end of his life, he was not just accepting of, but a huge advocate for, women in all kinds of leadership, whether scholarly, ministerial, or political.”  Woolsey also remembered a time when Dr. Woolsey agreed to serve as faculty advisor to a controversial theatrical performance, which pointed out hypocrisies in the church and had drawn the ire of some administrative staff.

“He had this deep integrity,” said Woolsey, who remembered his grandmother’s daily admonition: “The honor of the family is at stake.”

“A while ago, for some reason, I was assigned to an Honors interview in the seminar room where his painting was hanging,” Woolsey said. “I was doing this interviews with Dad literally looking over my shoulder, it was sort of an extension of that mentality. Remember…the honor of the family is at stake.”

Categories
News

National // Accidental Panic in Hawaii

At 8:07 a.m. on Saturday, Hawaiians woke to a mobile phone message that many had feared since tensions with North Korea reached a violent pitch last year: “Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound To Hawaii. Seek Immediate Shelter. This Is Not A Drill.” As multiple news agencies and state officials quickly clarified on Twitter, however, the message was a drill.

Over one million native Hawaiians and vacationing visitors received the alert, which sparked a mass panic across the eight islands. “Children going down manholes, stores closing their doors to those seeking shelter, and cars driving at high speeds cannot happen again,” Hawaii’s governor, David Ige, said in a statement later in the day. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard described similar scenes of abandoned cars and streets. “You can only imagine the panic, the terror, the chaos and confusion that ensured,” she told George Stephanopolous on Sunday morning.

It was a lengthy 38 minutes before the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) sent out a correction specifying that the message had been an error. It took another five hours for Ige to issue an official broadcast about the early morning events, though he refused to place blame on public officials due to the complex and multifaceted feature of the error. Vern Miyagi, HEMA’s lead administrator, also took responsibility for the mistake and for the agency’s severely delayed response. “We made a mistake,” he said. “The wrong button was pushed.”

Later revelations, however, showed that the error may have been significantly more complex than a “wrong button.” On Monday, state officials released an image of the dropdown menu that triggers HEMA alerts. The panel, which also contains critical Amber Alerts, tsunami warnings, landslide road closure warnings, high surf warnings, and a variety of other statewide alerts, drew wide criticism among interface designers for its confusing layout and inconsistent language.

According to The Washington Post, the missile warning system has been in place since late November, and was developed in conjunction with the re-activation of the Hawaiian islands’ Cold War-era nuclear warning siren. Both protocols were initiated in response to growing fears of a North Korean nuclear missile attack.

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reported that Hawaiian officials had issued an updated alert system protocol. From now on, according to USA Today, all tests and warnings will require verification by two parties. The button to send out follow-up messages, which had not been programmed correctly, has apparently been reconfigured as well.

On Tuesday, Jan. 16, a Japanese television broadcaster also sent out a false alarm emergency text message warning citizens that North Korea had launched a missile and that citizens should take shelter to avoid the impending threat. NHK, the broadcasting station, corrected the error just five minutes later. Makoto Sasaki, an official NHK spokesperson, said that the “staff had mistakenly operated the equipment” that is used to receive and deliver news alerts.

Response to the events from North Korea was significantly less somber in tone. According to The New York Times, the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported with exuberance that “the entire island [of Hawaii] was thrown into an utter chaos at the news that a ballistic missile was coming in.”

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Opinions

Grow Up, Respect Kids

My brother was born in the same month that the Harry Potter cheetahs came to the National Zoo. To this day, my most pressing memory of the day that I first met him is driving home from a week of summer camp in my cousin’s bright red Hyundai, talking about those cheetahs. It was a courageous attempt to help me avoid thinking about the fact that my family was now one person larger. (The cheetah’s names, if you’re interested, were Draco, Granger, and Zabini.)

I cried when I held my brother for the first time, but it wasn’t a “miracle of childbirth” moment. As a lifelong only child, I was terrified of infants, I was terrified of pregnant people, and I was terrified of breastfeeding. Mostly, I was terrified of that curdled yellow vomit we’ve somehow resolved to call “spit,” and which mothers have some preternatural ability to arrest in a napkin before it slimes its way onto your T-shirt.

All of this to say: I know exactly how you feel when you say you don’t want kids, and I’m not trying to convince you that you do. So please hear me out. On one level, I understand the “childfree” mindset perfectly. It has its perks: perfectly clean upholstery, going to the movies at 11 p.m. with zero repercussions, leisurely weeklong vacations, cushy retirement accounts.

Even more importantly: no gummed-up sippy cups, no mushy peas spooned out of a jar, no dinky plastic cutlery, no soggy diapers, no mini-vans with Cheerios cluttering the floor, no endless reruns of Thomas The Tank Engine or Frozen or Cars 14, no blankets that can only be hand washed because someone decided to gnaw holes through them. No time off work (okay, maybe that’s a benefit). No morning sickness. No frumpy stomach. No constant exhaustion.

Some of us will choose to have kids, for many reasons. Some of us will choose not to have kids, for an even wider variety. Some of us will choose to have kids, and then not be able to, and then pretend that we had never wanted to anyway. Some of us will choose not to, and then wonder thirty years later whether we made a mistake.

But the operative word in all those possibilities? Choice. In this age of hormone pills and UTIs, I want to throw out a word of caution to the cheerfully childless. While having children may be purely optional these days, treating them kindly and respectfully is not. No child deserves to be treated like some sort of lifestyle enhancement that you can agree or disagree with. A personal, private decision does not entitle you to hurl the epithets that I have seen aimed at children this year. They are not “monsters,” “vermin,” “snot munchers,” “sh**heads,” “runts,” “whiny brats,” or “hellspawn.” They’re just tiny people who drop things a lot.

You expect people to say those kinds of things on the Internet, I thought that I would never encounter kind of language at Houghton, but I was wrong. Just a few months ago, a large group of elementary schoolers visited the dining hall as part of an on-campus educational event. I stood behind a pair of young women who were apparently so disgusted that children had been allowed to interrupt their daily routine that they publicly talked about throwing one of them off the roof. If this story sounds a little like public shaming, it is, and I hope at least one of those people is reading it.  

It’s totally fine to dislike noisy toddlers or feel a little uncomfortable around babies. I’m not asking you to teach Vacation Bible School, or become a crossing guard, or patrol parks with a Kleenex, ready to wipe snot off the nearest sniffly face. But kids are small, insecure, and vulnerable. They deserve kindness and gentleness from everyone they meet.

Some people might protest that it’s hypocritical, even cruel, to be kind to a person or group that you secretly dislike. “It would be dishonest to pretend to like kids,” they remark sagely, “when I actually can’t stand them.” If you’ve said this, I’m here to tell you that you sound about as mature as that kid in high school who said he wasn’t racist because he hated everyone equally. Divorcing your public behavior from your private feelings isn’t dishonest. It’s called being an adult. If you don’t like children, that’s fine. But maybe it’s time to stop acting like one.

Carina is a senior majoring in communication and writing.

Categories
News

LEGO Store Engages Community

This year’s spring theatre production will be Woyzeck.  The performance will be based on a play by Georg Buchner, but its script will by adapted by Ryan Stevenson. Stevenson, a visiting artist-in-residence will also serve as director for the production.

“A hapless soldier loses his wife, his wits, his dignity, and his life,” explained Professor Rebekah Brennan, the producer.  “A play about power and its abuses in war, work, medicine, and love, Woyzeck was left unfinished when its author died, at the age of 23, in 1836. It remained unperformed until 1913; the newly-discovered play galvanized a generation of playwrights and directors and helped create modern theater. The text’s open-endedness, flexibility, and fundamental strangeness have continued to inspire innovative stagings, creative adaptations, and original retellings. This is one of them.”

Earlier this year, The Old Vic hosted a production of Woyzeck that featured John Boyega, “Finn” from the new Star Wars films, as the title character, as reported in The Telegraph.  Several films have also been produced based on the film, including one as recently as 2013.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Büchner based Woyzeck on an account of an actual murder case in which a soldier killed his mistress in a jealous frenzy and was subsequently the object of medical controversy regarding his sanity. Büchner did not organize the work into acts, and there is no definitive text of the play. The events, rather than appearing in definite chronological sequence, are presented as a series of related occurrences.”  The article explained also that the play features naturalist and Expressionist elements.

Brennan said that Ryan Stevenson,”a seasoned actor and director of both stage and film”, is looking forward to directing his adaptation of the classic story. He hopes to find a cast that will “help delve further into adaption and to create a theatre piece that reflects his cast and their strengths”.  She referenced also his passion for His “the inspiration and growth of his cast members throughout their show’s run” and creating a relatable production.  She added, “Mr. Stevenson’s energy and creativity have inspired many, and he is excited to bring something new to the Houghton College campus.”

“Mr. Stevenson is looking for all levels of theatre experience, so if you’ve never been on stage before but have always wanted to try it, this is the show for you,” Professor Brennan commented.  “Students are encouraged to sign up for a slot, however, walk-in auditions are welcome.”  Additionally, anyone participating can take the course for 1 credit or opt out of taking it for credit entirely.  She added that any students interested in auditioning should email her if they would like further information.  Audition forms are also available over email or in person at the audition.

Professor Brennan emphasized that students uninterested in acting are still welcome to participate.  “We will be in need of a stage manager, set builders, costume/prop director, help with tech, make-up and other aspects of theatre production,” she commented.  Professor Brennan explained that students involved outside of acting will also have the opportunity to take the course for credit if they choose.

Auditions will take place in the Greatbatch School of Music’s Recital Hall on Monday, December 4 from 7:40 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Tuesday, December 5 from 7:10 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Rehearsals for the play will start on Monday, January 8.  The performances of Woyzeck will be held at Houghton Academy Tysinger Auditorium the second weekend in February.

Categories
International News

International // Korean Missile Tests Intensify

This year’s spring theatre production will be Woyzeck.  The performance will be based on a play by Georg Buchner, but its script will by adapted by Ryan Stevenson. Stevenson, a visiting artist-in-residence will also serve as director for the production.

“A hapless soldier loses his wife, his wits, his dignity, and his life,” explained Professor Rebekah Brennan, the producer.  “A play about power and its abuses in war, work, medicine, and love, Woyzeck was left unfinished when its author died, at the age of 23, in 1836. It remained unperformed until 1913; the newly-discovered play galvanized a generation of playwrights and directors and helped create modern theater. The text’s open-endedness, flexibility, and fundamental strangeness have continued to inspire innovative stagings, creative adaptations, and original retellings. This is one of them.”

Earlier this year, The Old Vic hosted a production of Woyzeck that featured John Boyega, “Finn” from the new Star Wars films, as the title character, as reported in The Telegraph.  Several films have also been produced based on the film, including one as recently as 2013.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Büchner based Woyzeck on an account of an actual murder case in which a soldier killed his mistress in a jealous frenzy and was subsequently the object of medical controversy regarding his sanity. Büchner did not organize the work into acts, and there is no definitive text of the play. The events, rather than appearing in definite chronological sequence, are presented as a series of related occurrences.”  The article explained also that the play features naturalist and Expressionist elements.

Brennan said that Ryan Stevenson,”a seasoned actor and director of both stage and film”, is looking forward to directing his adaptation of the classic story. He hopes to find a cast that will “help delve further into adaption and to create a theatre piece that reflects his cast and their strengths”.  She referenced also his passion for His “the inspiration and growth of his cast members throughout their show’s run” and creating a relatable production.  She added, “Mr. Stevenson’s energy and creativity have inspired many, and he is excited to bring something new to the Houghton College campus.”

“Mr. Stevenson is looking for all levels of theatre experience, so if you’ve never been on stage before but have always wanted to try it, this is the show for you,” Professor Brennan commented.  “Students are encouraged to sign up for a slot, however, walk-in auditions are welcome.”  Additionally, anyone participating can take the course for 1 credit or opt out of taking it for credit entirely.  She added that any students interested in auditioning should email her if they would like further information.  Audition forms are also available over email or in person at the audition.

Professor Brennan emphasized that students uninterested in acting are still welcome to participate.  “We will be in need of a stage manager, set builders, costume/prop director, help with tech, make-up and other aspects of theatre production,” she commented.  Professor Brennan explained that students involved outside of acting will also have the opportunity to take the course for credit if they choose.

Auditions will take place in the Greatbatch School of Music’s Recital Hall on Monday, December 4 from 7:40 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Tuesday, December 5 from 7:10 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Rehearsals for the play will start on Monday, January 8.  The performances of Woyzeck will be held at Houghton Academy Tysinger Auditorium the second weekend in February.

Categories
Opinions

Facing And Framing

On the way back from the holiday, I listened with bemused horror to an episode of Radiolab in which host Simon Adler interviewed a technologist from the University of Washington’s GRAIL (Graphics and Imaging Laboratory) who heads a team in charge of developing facial mapping software. In several years, her team hopes allow users to accurately project their expressions onto another person’s features.

The discussion is chilling. “I just think maybe America isn’t ready for this technology,” Adler says, pointing out just how easily it could be used to blast propaganda across the globe.

“When every technology is developed, there is this danger,” the developer replied. “Scientists are doing their job and showing off. We all need to think about the next steps…but I’m just a technologist. I’m a computer scientist.” She began to stutter. “There is not…not worried…too much.”

In “The Question Concerning Technology,” Heidegger worried that modern technology would “challenge” nature rather than “bring it forth.” In other words, he believed that future tech would focus less on bringing out the truths discerned in nature and more on demanding it fulfil our needs and desires. Everything, from trees and air to human voices and faces, must be manipulated for profit and pleasure. Heidegger envisioned an outlook that could only “reveal” truth by parsing, simplifying, and mastering nature.

In a way, what he feared most was modern technology’s neutrality, which can transform cornfields to food factories and mountains to mines—in the same way that the GRAIL program uses human faces and voices as raw materials to formulate destructive or peaceful messages.

Heidegger was writing about the atomic bomb, but the modern tech world has achieved an complexity (and absurdity) that he couldn’t have imagined. Remember when Google’s photo categorization programs catalogued African-American women as “gorillas”? When Flickr’s algorithms tagged images of Dachau as “jungle gyms”? It’s only going to get weirder from here.

Innovators and consumers alike, however, refuse to shoulder ethical responsibility for these issues. “It’s the consumer’s task to use this ethically,” the developer says, with confidence. Beguiled by the new technology’s potential, consumers quiet any moral objections by assuming the developers “already thought of that.” Both absolve themselves of responsibility. And now that the technology exists, we feel obligated to use it, as if abstention would be a waste.  

In a sectarian atmosphere, everything neutral feels positive. When we insist that technology’s amorality is a good thing, we dismiss valid concerns about the way its neutrality changes our own perspective and delude ourselves about exactly why technology can be so harmful.

“The threat to man does not come in the first instance from the potentially lethal machines and apparatus of technology,” Heidegger wrote. “The actual threat has already afflicted man in his essence. The rule of enframing threatens man.” We do not need to worry about racist AIs, automated factories, or killer robots (well, okay, maybe that one) as much as we need to worry that modern technology’s amorality—its inability to discriminate, assign value, and judge between things—encourages that tendency in ourselves too.

Technology is designed to replace human processes, but is almost never held to the same standards as the humans they replaced. Maybe we are just tired of holding each other accountable for our hurtful presumptions, classist biases, or unwillingness to respect others. How convenient that technological advances can allow us to stop even trying!

When I evaluate a new technological advance, my first question will always be this one: how easily or quickly could this create a damaging framework for humans to live? The GRAIL software, for instance, is troubling on this account. Will it prompt us to view the sacred human body and voice as elements to be manipulated or used however we choose?

As technology progresses further, asking this question will only become more complex—and more crucial. But we must not content ourselves with philosophical debates. We should also be willing to give actual answers, draw definite lines of morality, and have the courage to say “this far, and no further.”

This isn’t just about impossibly complicated facial simulators, but all the technologies that we sanction with our attention and money. We need to do better. Maybe that means doing less.

Carina is a senior majoring in writing and communication.

Categories
Campus Stories In Focus

Just Like Us: Houghton Archives

“That’s my favorite picture of Willard.” Laura Habacker stands outside the front door of her office, gesturing at the larger-than-life portrait of Willard Houghton that hangs on the library walls. Her office is surprisingly warm and welcoming, full of light and crowded with row upon row of gray archival boxes, majestic old typewriters, and Dictaphones. “I’ve been putting signs up so people can find us!” Habecker says.  

While most archives are traditionally maintained to answer the questions and support the projects of the President, Habecker envisions a more open atmosphere. “This stuff is here to remind all of us why we do this,” she said. Still, only two keys to the room exist. One belongs to Habecker, and the other to President Mullen.

As part of an ongoing relationship with the New York Heritage Digital Collections project, Habecker also spends hours each week scanning tintypes and black-and-white photographs of the college and the towns, landscape, and people of the Genessee Valley. “I have a much broader perspective because I didn’t attend here,” she says. “I see the history with very different eyes than anyone else who’s been in this position.”

Habecker, who joined the library staff as resident archivist last year, has a cheerful smile and a youthful, contagious enthusiasm. “I love my job!” she says. “Every single day I get to go home with a cool story.” On several occasions last year, she says, she was so immersed in a scribbled manuscript or an unidentified photograph that she had to be reminded to pick up her son after school.

She has Willard Houghton’s treasured “pocket manual,” dated 1890, which contains sermon notes and Scripture passages and is positively riddled with typos. “He couldn’t spell for anything,” Habacker explains with a rueful smile.

Fascinating stories also abound in boxes sent from alumni and former faculty. “Can you get the scrapbook?” Habecker asks Jessica Robinson ’18, a library student worker who has been helping to organize the archives since Habecker joined the staff.

Robinson returns with a delicate green and red notebook, carefully wrapped in parchment paper. Inside, documented by fragile scraps of paper and a loose, carefree script, are the remnants of a young female student’s life. Clippings from the jokes section of the Houghton Star (an example:  A playbill for something called “Yuffalo Yills Wild And Wooly Circumambulating Circus Abomination,” featuring pink lemonade and a “Great Moral Drama” and whose staff was “not responsible for and pick-pocketing” that occurred during the show.

Hidden throughout the archives are sometimes surprising, always winsome reminders of the many ways in which these students were like us. One of these is the display of classic Houghton dry wit. In an entry entitled “In Freshman Math,” the student recounts a class period in which then-professor James S. Luckey (later the college’s second president) proposed enhancing Oberlin applications and preparing for advanced physics classes by studying analytic geometry, trigonometry, and calculus—“thus killing two birds with one stone.” Another student, described as “doleful,” replies: “It’ll probably kill three.”

Several pages later, a group of bonneted girls stare somberly toward the camera in one photo and then erupt into raucous, goofy giggles in another. Another photo finds them arranged around a favorite tree. “They called themselves the Allen Family,” Habecker says. On the facing page appear the girls’ names and nicknames, laid out together like the cast list of a play. They called one of the girls “Grandpa” and another one “Aunt.” I can’t help thinking of the many students I have seen cheekily sporting “Houghton Dad” or “Houghton Grandma” T-shirts.

Yet there are a few sobering reminders that, in many ways, they were not so like us. Tucked into a cedar chest in the back of the room, the college’s war flag is splashed with stars for every student who joined the army—along with three small triangles for the Houghton students who died in battles overseas.

In coming years, Habecker hopes to engage even more of the student body in exploring the college’s history. “The whole focus of the school is the student, so I want the students represented,” she said. “If it’s not for the students, then why are we here?”

To that end, the college archives are now open to students between 1 and 4 p.m. every Friday afternoon. Students are also invited to join in the adventure by sorting through documents, scanning and repairing photos, and moving records into acid-free storage.

Says Habecker, a gigantic grin on her face: “I’m willing to work with anybody!”