Author: Tyger Doell

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Campus News

Multicultural Center Unveiled

Monday evening was the official opening for the new Mosaic Multicultural Center, located in the area previously known as “The Hub”.

The story of the Multicultural Center is one of quick action and decision. The idea for the center had been around for some time, but really picked up steam after the Students of Color Leadership Summit, which Houghton students attended in the fall of 2016.  According to student body president Sergio Mata, the center only started to become a reality in the spring of 2017, when President Mullen called together a task force to address various racial issues on campus.  Issues they considered included the hiring diverse faculty, a bias response policy, and a statement of diversity. The center was devised by the task force, and it quickly went from a dream to a reality. “I’m surprised by the quick response of the administration in making this a high priority,” Mata said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction… we are catching up to where other institutions, especially Christian colleges, are.”

Marc Smithers, the Assistant Dean of Students for Residence Life and Programs, said this is what the Center is supposed to be. He explained that when the task force was designing the Mosaic Center, “we looked at what places like Calvin or Alfred State had on their campuses and modeled after that.” In addition to looking at other colleges, the task force collaborated with a lot of people around campus as well. Sergio Mata ‘19, Khadeeja Smith ‘18, and Kristen Sanasith, Coordinator for Tutoring and Testing Services, were all instrumental in the process of making the center happen.

Another person who helped out with making the center a reality is Shaphan Hestick ‘19, the Executive officer of Diversity and Inclusion. In his words, his position is to “act as a bridge between students of color and the administration,” meaning that his perspective was key in the formation of the Mosaic Center. Smithers and Sanasith would come to him with questions about things as seemingly trivial as the title of the center, the furniture choices, and the color scheme. Their goal was to make the Mosaic Center more inclusive, and Hestick was more than happy to give his opinion. “The administration wanted it to be a discipleship center, and have student life be involved in that, but I recommended that wasn’t a good idea,” he says. “I thought that students not involved in spiritual life might feel excluded.”

As far as what is going into the Center, Sanasith was very excited about the prospects. She said she “took into consideration the attributes and characteristics of what defines home for many of our diverse students.” She explained how all of her interior design choices reflect her attempts to make a warm and inviting atmosphere for the students who will be using the center. “I wanted to achieve a balance between relaxation and motivation for these students.” Making this space comfortable for students was Sanasith’s top priority, and she was integral to the design and execution of the center.

Now, the Mosaic Multicultural Center is in its last stages of production, and everyone involved in the project is optimistic about its impact. The purpose of the Center, according to its mission statement, is “to be the campus focal point for deep conversations, international connections and rich learning centered on the diverse experiences of the members of our community.” Hestick is optimistic that the Center will fulfill this function, specifically by providing a space for international students or students of color to be able to come and meet or relax without facing any pressure from outside influences.

“We are hoping the center will be a part of the emotional gratification of students of color on campus,” he said, “where we dignify a space for them to feel like what they’re used to.” From an administrative standpoint, Smithers hopes the Center will be a way for the campus to grow in terms of racial reconciliation. He hopes that through the Mosaic Center, Houghton can incorporate “effective and dynamic programming and education,” which in turn will “bring about greater cultural competency among students, staff, and faculty.”

The newly opened center is indicative of the work Houghton has done in recent years, and the work still left to do. Mata explained when he commented on the name of the center itself: “The name represents what it is – a bunch of us coming together, a mosaic of different pieces coming together to make a larger picture.”

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News

National // Questions Surround JFK Files

In the next few weeks, the United States will commemorate the 54th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, our nation’s 35th president. While the death happened a lifetime ago for many Americans, it still stands out in our national consciousness as the most impactful presidential death—as well as the most mysterious. Now, since the event has been brought back into the national spotlight by our current Commander-In-Chief, it is worth revisiting the controversy that surrounds it.

Here are the things we do know: On November 22nd, 1963, the President was riding in his motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas, when he rolled into Dealey Plaza. It was here that Lee Harvey Oswald, high atop one of the nearby buildings, shot the President in the head with a sniper rifle. Later that day Oswald also shot a city police officer, which further focused the manhunt on him. He was eventually found in a movie theater and arrested. Two days later, on November 24th, Oswald was killed by the owner of a local nightclub, Jack Ruby, on live television.

But while we know these things for certain, it is the things we don’t know about Kennedy’s death that have ignited controversy, both then and now. Questions have arisen as to why Oswald might have wanted to kill the President, what kind of connections he might have had to the Soviet Union, and whether or not the very government that Kennedy led wanted him (or Mr. Oswald) dead. Such skepticism arises from ideas like the “magic bullet” theory, which centers around the argument that the governor of Texas at the time, John B. Connally Jr., was also shot in the car with Kennedy by the same bullet. Proponents of this theory have advocated the possibility of a second shooter and cast doubt on governmental claims. Other theories have ranged from communist conspiracies to government cover-ups, so many hoped that the classified government files on the event, ordered to be released by President Donald Trump on November 3rd of this year, would clear the confusion.

Yet a thorough reading of the files, dubbed the “JFK Files,” leaves much to be desired. They reveal some information about the situation, but overall provide more questions than answers. Only some of the documents actually pertain to the assassination itself, while others simply detail the United States government’s paranoid struggle against communism. What the files do mention about the Kennedy assassination is vague at best. They describe a conversation in which Oswald called both the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico in an attempt to gain a visa to reach his wife in the Soviet Union. Other files record an interview with a Cuban intelligence officer, in which he simply said that Oswald was a “good shot.” Dispersed among these puzzling records are still more files which claim that the Soviet government called the assassination a “well-organized conspiracy,” and a call to the FBI from November 23rd, 1963 in which someone claimed to be out to kill Oswald.

The attempts to demystify this admittedly murky and divisive event by the U.S. government seems to have failed, and questions still remain as to how ethical the acquisition of this information actually was. One of the files states that the number of phone taps near the Mexican embassies were “limited only by the availability of a listening post nearby,” meaning a potentially limitless number of phones could have been tapped by the CIA. In an age when it is easier than ever to spy on ordinary citizens, and during which our government openly admits to a policy of relentless espionage, such a revelation is only likely to add ambiguity rather than clarity to our national consciousness.

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Opinions

Thankful. . . But For What?

The leaves are falling, the air has that crisp chill to it, and people are beginning to plan their breaks. This can only mean one thing: Thanksgiving season is here. Thanksgiving is a great holiday full of family time, stomach enlargement, and tryptophan hazes that we Americans just can’t seem to get enough of. But there is another thing that this holiday contains, which our culture seems to lack in great quantities: thankfulness.

One of my least favorite phrases thrown around during the Thanksgiving season is “have a thankful heart.” This isn’t because I think having a “thankful heart” (whatever that means) is bad; I think we should always be thankful for what God has given us. The reason I don’t like this saying is because it completely ignores thankfulness and appreciation as they should be.

Let me explain. We live on a campus where everyone is talented in one way or another. We have CAB members, RAs, writers, musicians, preachers, videographers, artists, and many more than can be listed here. The student body participates in coffeehouses, discussions, and performances, which doesn’t even begin to cover the accomplishments of our students. Still, I see a self-confidence problem on campus. So many of my friends with these amazing talents tell me that they have a hard time finding self-worth, and that they end up comparing themselves to others.

This is where having a “thankful heart” doesn’t cut it. Many of us just assume that others know their self-worth, and thus avoid telling them how much we appreciate the things they do. But how can others know that what they’re doing is good if we haven’t told them? How will people be encouraged to continue in what they’re passionate about when all we do is consume what they produce, then walk away? When we live life only thankful for the things God has given us personally, rather than the people, it takes away from the lives of others and from our own lives. Our friends end up feeling as though their contributions don’t matter, and that is a disservice to the wonderful people who surround us.

If you think about it, this kind of thankfulness is even scripturally based. We know we are made in God’s image, and that we are each given differing spiritual gifts. Thanking another person for their contributions to a party, a performance, or even just our friendships and relationships is like telling God that He has blessed you abundantly. He has not only given you the ability to enjoy your own gifts, but to enjoy the gifts that He has given others as well.

In fact, there’s even a verse about this sort of thing. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes to the church in Corinth and tells them not to compare themselves to others. He says that each spiritual gift that God has given them is valuable in its own way, and rather than desiring someone else’s gift, we should appreciate our own, as well as those of others. Paul says that “the parts should have equal concern for each other” in verse 25, and I have to believe that this refers to gratitude for one another as well.

So this Thanksgiving, while you’re sitting around the table saying what you’re thankful for, it’s not bad to be thankful for the nice things you have. But while you’re at it, consider who is sitting at the table around you. They all have gifts and talents that you wouldn’t dream of having, which is a real cause to celebrate. Their uniqueness and hard work in their respective interests allows you to have a greater quality of life, and that is a gift to be thankful for.

Tyger is a junior majoring in inclusive adolescence education and English.

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Reviews Stories In Focus

Facing Forward, Looking Back

If you’re anything like me, you hear the name of Miley Cyrus and cringe a little bit. When her name is invoked in public, there are often looks of scorn and flashbacks to a Spandex-clad, hammer-licking past that none of us wish to relive (including, it seems, Miley herself). So I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I got a notification from Spotify telling me that Miley had a new album out. I was apprehensive. Still, as a college student who is always looking for ways to procrastinate, I clicked the play button. Wow, am I glad I did.

If I could describe her new album “Younger Now” in one word, it would be “mature.” It’s miles and miles ahead of Miley’s older songs, all dripping with pop star dreams and the monster that fame makes of us all. In her new album, Miley revisits her roots in the Memphis country music scene, borrowing from influences like Elvis, Dolly Parton (who makes an appearance in the track “Rainbowland”), and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. The album has the reflectiveness that is often evident in these kinds of songs.

It’s not hard to see why, either. This album is a statement from Miley herself that she isn’t the same person she was. The album’s title track, “Younger Now,” is a ballad to both the past and the future. She explains that, while she is a completely different person now, she doesn’t necessarily regret where she’s been. As a junior in college, it is easy to relate to her sentiment: I’m both the same person and a completely different person than I was two years ago.

Other tracks on the album deal with topics in a similarly mature way. “Malibu,” which has risen to the top as one of the most popular tracks on the album, has a soft guitar riff that lulls the listener to consider their significant other under the lens of the California sky. “Rainbowland,” in which Dolly Parton makes a guest appearance, sings about unity and harmony in the homey, grassroots style that Parton herself is known so well for. “Week Without You” borrows its style from Elvis, with its opening electric guitar rhythm that is meant to get our hips swinging and our thoughts rolling.

Then there are other songs where Miley’s individual voice comes out, which further proves how mature she has become. “Bad Mood” is a rock and roll ballad that anyone who has ever “woken up in a bad mood” can relate to. “Inspired,” the final track on the album, describes her songwriting process, and where she draws her inspiration from.

Just in time for fall, with everything around us starting to change, Miley’s newest album rings true to the adult in us all. Just like this is a season for reflection on where we’ve been, and looking forward to where we’re going, Younger Now is an anthem for those who are in a different place than they were before. As college students, we look at our middle and high school photos and feel the things she’s feeling. Even those of us who are juniors and seniors can look back to our freshman selves and realize just how far we’ve come. After listening, I am reflective and optimistic, looking forward to what else Miley has in store for us.

 

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Opinions

Teaching Tech Literacy

Recently, I was scrolling through Facebook when I found a post from one of my old teachers. This teacher shared a study done on high school students, which set out to decide whether typing or handwriting notes is more effective as a study strategy. Not surprisingly, the study concluded that students who wrote out their notes by hand remembered the content better. What surprised me, though, was  my teacher’s caption for the post: “Stop telling me that if I’m not using [the latest technological gadget] that I’m not teaching it right!”

As an education major, to me this seems like a response to an entirely different problem. Of course, I’m not here to tell him that he’s “teaching it wrong.” After all, this teacher was one of my favorites, and I learned a lot from him. My issue with his comment is not that he’s teaching anything wrong, but that he’s not teaching something very important: technological literacy.

We live in a world where we have instant access to any kind of information we could possibly want. Don’t know the answer to a math problem? In school, the teachers will tell you to think about it, tell you to figure it out yourself, tell you that it just makes sense. The one thing they won’t permit you to do, though, is take out your phone and look it up. As a high school graduate, when I don’t know the answer, I Google it. Do you see the disconnect here? We live in the information age, yet some of our teachers continue to act like they are the only source of information to which we have access.

This disconnect leads to unhealthy growth. We have a generation of young adults who know how to memorize facts, but don’t know what to do with them. In our “fake news” era, we are saturated with facts, but don’t seem to have a way to process the information, or determine how reliable it is.

If teachers and professors embrace technology, though, they can help turn things around. Rather than standing up in front of a class to spout off facts, what if teachers just told their students to look it up? If students come to class having already learned the material, then teachers have more freedom during class to teach students how to process it through class discussions and activities. Computers can give us hard facts, but they still can’t do any of the mental processing for students. The role of teachers, then, could be to guide students through the process of discerning which sources of online information are reliable and useful.

Since not every student learns the same way, technology can also provide freedom for students to approach learning in new, engaging ways.  Many students have different strengths, and many being stronger in technological areas like photography or video. We live in a world where the majority of career paths will ask their employees to use technology to present information in some way or another. Rather than teaching students that the only way to succeed is through writing down facts, we should be showing them how to use technology so they can be successful in their future jobs.

Having different learning styles isn’t a bad thing, either, especially in the information age. There is a wealth of educational research involving student mindsets, and the general consensus shows that when students enjoy learning and the things that they’re working on in school, they perform better. Rather than insisting on arbitrary teaching techniques in the classroom, teachers can allow students to use technology in creative ways that may enable them to learn better. Using technology to give students freedom to learn in their own style keeps them engaged in the work they’re doing, increasing their likelihood of performing better in class and on assessments.

I think it’s safe to say that teachers can and should embrace technology in their classrooms. They aren’t doing their students any favors by staying away from it, and they aren’t doing any favors for themselves either. If teachers want to make a difference in students’ lives, sometimes that means we have to change our approach. It can be uncomfortable, but it will be worth it in the end.

Tyger is a junior, double majoring in inclusive childhood education and English.

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Campus Stories In Focus

SPOT Review: All Caught Up

When I first heard the theme for this year’s SPOT, “The Big Catch-Up,” I have to admit I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to sit through a two-hour long recap of a year that many people (myself included) considered to be pretty rough. When I sat down in my seat and watched the lights slowly fade as the variety show began, I didn’t expect much.

I am happy to say, however, that I was proved wrong. The hosts did an amazing job of keeping the audience engaged, using the original theme to their advantage. While I waited for a dig at the politics of 2016, I was pleasantly surprised that the hosts instead chose to focus on some of the more positive aspects of the past year. They proved that dance crazes and Internet memes can unite a divided world in a way that negative quips can’t.

If the hosts did a good job, then the musical acts did even better. Every SPOT, I am always happy to see talented individuals make their way onto the stage to give performances that, in some cases, I didn’t know they were capable of. But while usually I walk away from SPOT with one or two musical acts in mind that I didn’t particularly like, this semester’s variety show left me with no ill-feelings towards any of them. From the SPOT band serenading us with nostalgic 2016 songs, to parodies about freshman couples and translated languages, to expert singers and instrumentalists (bagpipers included) who never cease to amaze, it’s safe to say that our campus has a plethora of students with outstanding musical talent.

While the hosts and music were amazing, my  favorite part of SPOT was the comedy. I found myself relating to the video about doors being held open, and even a day later saying the “Things You Overhear at Houghton College.” I also discovered that one of the possible penalties for breaking the Community Covenant was being tackled by accented cops I didn’t even know Houghton hired. And of course, digs at those overly-affectionate freshman couples are always a must. My favorite comedy act, however,  was Carpool Karaoke. Seeing your favorite celebrities singing in the car is one thing, but seeing the dean of the chapel doing it is even better. Nonetheless, my favorite part of the whole act was professor Gaerte admitting what I think we all kind of already knew: he is the boss.

Overall, I felt that all those who were involved in SPOT did an excellent job, whether they were the hosts, part of the acts, or a part of the tech team. Although I haven’t seen too many SPOTs in my time here at Houghton, I can safely say that this one was my favorite by far. Our ability to laugh at and with ourselves is something that brings us together, and Spring 2017 SPOT proved it.