Author: Glenn Hampson

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Stories In Focus

Movie Review: “Thor: The Dark World”

Before diving into the actual film itself, can we just take a moment to admire the genius that is behind the Marvel franchise? This brand is a money-making juggernaut, and its momentum is now unstoppable. To introduce each superhero in their own separate movie before combining them all into the behemoth that was the first Avengers film was completely unprecedented and truly brilliant.

Courtesy of media-imdb.com
Courtesy of media-imdb.com

With that being said, I felt as though Thor 2: The Dark World is the 5-minute breather that Marvel had to take before cranking out A+ superhero movies again. The movie exceeds expectations as far as special effects and fight scenes are concerned, and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) put on great performances. However, the writers who created the storyline seemed confused as to what movie they were writing. Allow me to explain.

The plot begins thousands of years ago, when Thor’s grandfather led the forces of Asgard in a war against the Dark Elves. Their leader, Malekith, had created a super weapon—otherworldly floating goo called “the Aether” that turns everything into darkness—but he was defeated before he could deploy it. The Asgardians, unable to destroy the Aether, decided instead to “bury it deep where no one can find it.” Surely, this problem will never surface again thousands of years later.

Fast forward to the present; Thor has returned to Asgard, leaving his love-interest, astrophysicist Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman), behind on Earth. While searching for a way to contact Thor, Jane stumbles into an alternate dimension, where she comes into contact with—whoops, it wasn’t deep enough—the Aether. This alien fluid enters her body and refuses to leave. Malekith and his army, who have been in suspended animation and conveniently forgotten on their starship all this time, are awakened by Jane’s meddling and come looking for the Aether.

So now Frodo, Sam, and their friends must try to destroy both the Ring and Sauron before they usher Middle Earth into a new age of darkness.

Oops, I mean:

So now Thor, Jane, and their friends must try to destroy both the Aether and Malekith before the latter usher the universe into a new age of darkness.

It seems as though director Alan Taylor just copy-and-pasted some of Tolkien’s ideas, which takes away from some of the originality that defined the first Thor. However, with that said, I’d still recommend seeing this film in theaters. The battle scenes are breathtaking, and with the storyline of The Dark World taking place all over the universe, it’s really a sight to behold on the big screen.

Perhaps the biggest draw would be to see the character development that occurs in Loki and Thor. The uninspiring script is transcended by the now revealed backstory of these two characters and their relationship between each other. During the course of the film, we learn that Loki may not be the all-around villain that he was portrayed to be in the recent Avengers movie, while Thor makes some self-realizations of his own. Watching these two interact is as satisfying as watching the action sequences.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this film enough to say that it is worth the price of admission. Thanks to the success of the Avengers, every Marvel film from here on out is a must-see anyway. It does not matter if Chris Hemsworth was replaced by a trained monkey at this point. As long as there is a 3-minute clip after the credits roll of a sneak preview of Avengers 2, that movie ticket is money well spent.

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Stories In Focus

The Howards: A Houghton Legacy of Love and Learning

It is fascinating to watch professors David and Irmgard Howard together, and it is difficult to explain why. If you ever have the privilege to sit down with the two of them and have a conversation, this feeling will make sense to you as well.

Howards_NewFor example, if there is a question presented to them that requires both partners to answer, there will be a slight pause when the Howard’s look at each other. This is the part that is hard to explain, because you can feel the presence of the information highway that is passing between David and Irmgard, a connection that slows down time and allows the two of them to non-verbally communicate with each other before answering the question. Perhaps that’s just the power two people gain with forty-five plus years of marriage.

The Howards have been teaching here, David in History and Irmgard in Chemistry, since 1970. This effectively makes them the most experienced faculty couple here on campus. The swing set near the science building used to be the place where their home stood. There, David and Irmgard raised four children while continuing to teach at the college. “I was teaching full-time and she part-time,” said David. “This allowed us to switch off with child care, so we never really had to hire a babysitter. We always had a parent right there with the kids. We lived within walking distance to our job as well, so it was as convenient as you could possibly imagine.”

“Houghton College arranged our schedules so that we could…” Irmgard began, but then was cut off by her husband. “Well, we arranged our schedules and they agreed to it,” said David, and both professors shared a laugh. “Right, we could always switch off,” finished Irma.

Remnants of this schedule remained in the class schedule until very recently. Some science labs used to begin at 2:15pm instead of 2:00pm like it is done now. This was so one Howard could run home to take care of the kids while the other Howard ran to begin the next set of classes. One couple affected the schedule of a whole college for almost forty years.

When asked if the school has changed over the years in terms of hiring both men and women as professors over the years, the Howard’s explained that the college has employed married couples since they started back in the 1970’s and has been willing to work with couples and their complex schedules. They also agreed that working as a married couple is not any different today than it was back then.

“My conclusion is that, if you’re not in direct competition with each other, that working together is a great way to strengthen a marriage,” explained David.

After forty-four years of working as a team and teaching at the same school, retirement is on the horizon for at least one Howard, with Irmgard in semi-retirement this semester. As far as the other Howard is concerned, it may still be a while longer before he’s ready to move on.

In response to the question if he was looking forward to retirement as well, David answered with a definite “No.”

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Opinions

Residence Hall Rules are an Insult to Integrity

Houghton College prides itself on being different from other schools. What makes Houghton unique is the school’s concentrated effort to help guide students into leading a holier way of life.

resA result of that effort is reflected in the college’s rules regarding the dormitories. Residence halls are not co-ed, and there is a four-hour window in the evening for those of the opposite gender to visit. During those visiting hours, doors are required to stay open, so that everybody can see what is going on inside the room. Open hours are not held on Mondays or Thursdays.

Now, there is one other place in the world that I have been to that has a similar policy regarding visitors. Granted, this is going to be an extreme analogy, but hear me out.

A psych ward.

To clarify for those who are reading this (and are now pretty worried about where this is going), I have never been admitted to one. I have visited one however, and have experienced what it’s like for the people inside. Imagine a place where you are checked in on by nurses, the doors always have to be open so that you can be watched, and visiting hours are limited for friends and family who want to see you. Now replace nurses with RA’s. How much different are the rules of the dormitories here at Houghton as compared to those of a psyche ward in a hospital?

“I understand what open hours are meant to do,” said Josh Bailey, a junior who now lives in the townhouses. “However, I also feel that they limit our freedom as mature college students, and restrict the opportunities that we have to grow up.”

What are the positives of the current open hour policy? It gives the residents of a hall a break from the opposite sex. There’s a level of privacy that can be experienced when open hours are not in session. I suppose the obvious answer is that we’re less likely to have sex, although based on the culture that has been established here, I don’t think that’s too much of a concern anyway.

Then again, isn’t it a little frustrating to be babysat? Isn’t the open door requirement kind of a slap in the face of our beliefs and character? Isn’t the four-hour window a little too restricting?

Houghton College prides itself on being different from other colleges. A different kind of student is attracted by this place; those who wish to live according to the values of Christianity. Shouldn’t we be given the opportunity to show that we can be trusted to hang out in a dorm at noon on a Monday?

Ashton Oakley, a junior who used to live in Lambein, suggests that open hours should be extended so that the only restricted times would be somewhere along the lines of 12:00pm-9am. This would allow us to still have a safeguard for the evening hours, but also allows us a greater level of freedom that people outside of Houghton take for granted.

In reality, since our classes take up most of the morning and the afternoon anyway, we wouldn’t take full advantage of the expanded open hours. However, it would be nice to allow students to feel as though they have more freedom than a mental patient.

 

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Stories In Focus

Fitting In: Transfer Students’ Experiences

Cindy Austin, the Transfer Admission Counselor at Houghton College, loves her job. Officially, she works with students who are trying to make the transition to Houghton from another school. Unofficially, she is also the go-to information source for transfer students who are already enrolled and on campus.

“I’ll get calls from students all the time,” said Austin. “They’ll say something like ‘Hey, remember me, the student who wanted to transfer here? Well, I’m here now, and I need a ride home for Thanksgiving, what do I do?’” Laughing, she explained that helping transfer students who are already here, in addition to getting them here in the first place, is what makes her job fulfilling.

With the rate that transfers are coming in, however, Austin’s phone could well be ringing off the hook. According to a report by the New York Times, roughly one third of students who enroll in a four-year institution will transfer at some point during their college experience, and that rate is increasing each year.

The percentage of Houghton students that have transferred from another school have hovered around five percent since 2009. However, the college is likely to see the amount of incoming transfer students rise as the trend around the nation continues.

Austin believes that students may choose to transfer to Houghton after starting their college career elsewhere because of finances. “The majority of our transfers wanted to come here in the first place,” said Austin. “However, if the student is successful in academics, attending community college can basically be free. It’s difficult to compete with free tuition,” she explained. “So what we’re seeing now is an interest from students who have already completed their integrative study requirements in community college and now want to be a part of our major programs here.”

Junior Neal Fahey, who transferred to Houghton after attending Utica Community College, backed up Austin’s statement. “I originally wanted to come here because of the emphasis on faith,” said Fahey. “I just didn’t have the finances…God had plans for me here, so thankfully He drew me back and made it work.”

Of course, it can be difficult to transition to a different environment, as well as getting used to Houghton’s high standards for academics. So Houghton has taken steps to help transfer students adapt. “We are very gracious with transferred credits, so students don’t have to worry about taking classes they’ve already had,” said Austin. In addition, a required class called Transitions for Transfers was specifically designed to help students meet others and get acclimated into the culture of Houghton.

Angela Poblocki, a senior who transferred from St. John Fisher to finish her degree at Houghton, had mixed feelings about the class: “The Transitions class is a great way to meet other transfers, but it isn’t the most effective in building relationships,” she said. “The class enables us to be in one classroom together, but the interaction between the transfer students is limited…I wish the Transfer Transitions class had more group discussions with students, instead of just a speaker to the class.”

What Cindy Austin would encourage prospective students to do is apply to both community college and Houghton coming out of high school. “I think they would be surprised with how much we can help with the financial aspect,” said Austin. In the meantime, Austin will continue to help transfer students make the transition, officially or otherwise.

 

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News

Houghton Group Talks Business Development

For those unfamiliar with Houghton, a tour of the town would most likely take somewhere around thirty minutes, including stops such as the Houghton Inn, China Star, Subway, the post office, and the college campus among others. This small town persona has defined Houghton for some time.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

However, with the new Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex nearing completion, the college is expecting an influx of visitors coming to see events held there. With the arrival of large groups of people comes greater demand for food, housing, entertainment, etc. A question presents itself: can the small town of Houghton meet such demands?

Enter the Houghton Group, a committee currently comprised of twelve community members who are trying to prepare Houghton for the traffic it hopes to see when the Kerr-Pegula Complex is finished.

“We’re working off of the momentum provided by the Kerr-Pegula project… obviously, it’ll provide a big boost to our sports programs,” says Professor Kenneth Bates, chair of the business and economics department and one of the twelve members of the Houghton Group. “But it’s a wonderful facility in terms of providing venues and services to other people in the area. It will become the largest meeting place in the county. It’s going to be able to seat 6,000 people. We’re going to be able to host events here that we never have before.”

“Right now, there’s a couple places you can eat, a couple places you can stay,” says Ralph Kerr, another member of the Group, “But there isn’t anything else of any significance. So we asked ourselves, if we could dream a little bit, what would a new Houghton downtown look like? As we started taking about it, we put together a wish list, and we realized that we needed a group of people on this.”

What is on the wish list for a new and improved Rt. 19? Professor Bates did not give any names of the businesses being engaged, but he said that restaurants, retail shops, and an outfitters store are all on the radar. Also, improvements to the existing Leonard Park (next to Subway) as well as the creation of a whole new town park are being proposed, the latter complete with potential access to the Genesee River.

Phyllis Gaerte, Head of Community Relations for Houghton College and the chair of the Houghton Group, looks forward to the coming changes: “I believe with the hard work of this group, we are going to see a different and better Rt. 19 corridor running through the hamlet of Houghton in the very near future…. Most of all I am anxious to see what a positive impact this will have on Houghton College, our town, Allegany County and the Western New York region.”