Category: Stories In Focus

Acceptance speeches highlight political issues amidst the sparkle of Hollywood.

Every year as the cold of winter settles into my creaking bones and no sign of sun rises on the horizon there is one night that manages to lift my spirits and give me a reason to cheer, argue, wonder about and remind me why I fell in love with film in the first place- The Oscars.

Yes- I understand the Academy is corrupt, I understand that what is decided that night is not the most objective determination of what the best things happening in the industry are, and I understand you have to take it with a grain of salt- but when you see the glamour, the discussion, the bright lights and big performances- you can’t help but be swept away in it all.

This year Oscars were hosted by none other than Neil Patrick Harris. Harris kept this year’s style light and quippy with a few pointed jabs here and there that ultimately won over audiences both at the event and at home. However the witty host also made the first challenging comment of the night saying in his opening speech, “Tonight we honor today’s best and whitest- I mean brightest.” The joke opened what was to be a theme that night- using the Academy Awards as an opportunity to question the status quo.

Historically the awards have been just that- a night set aside to rain accolades and pat backs. The winners would give quick thank-you speeches and the night was, although glamorous, quite brief. Over the years there have been exceptions- speeches that surprised us or moved us. Who could forget Halle Berry’s acceptance speech when she was the first black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress? But in recent years the Oscars have become increasingly more political, more profound and more thought-provoking. Speeches have begun to stand for something and this year is the best example to date.

This year we saw two exceptionally well-deserved Oscars go to performances portraying lives wrought with severe illness- Julianne Moore playing a professor fading from early onset Alzheimer’s (Still Alice-heartbreaking, beautiful, powerful) and Eddie Redmayne as none other than Stephen Hawking as he deteriorates from ALS (The Theory of Everything– classic, methodical, elegant). Both winners dedicated their awards to those suffering with the illnesses and Moore spoke eloquently on the red carpet speaking to the misconceptions of Alzheimer’s in general.

But Moore was not the only woman to give an interesting interview on the red carpet. Much attention was given to the launch of the campaign “AskHerMore” which encouraged interviewers to ask the actresses on the red carpet more than just about her outfit. Fittingly this was followed later in the night by Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech in which she called for equal pay and treatment of women in the workplace. The speech, though somewhat controversial, caused an outcry of support- even bringing the one and only Meryl Streep to her feet in excitement.

Arquette won her award for the innovative film Boyhood by Richard Linklater which follows the lives of a single mother and her two children for twelve years, the same amount of time he used to film it. As the viewer watches the film unfold he or she are also watching the actors grow along with it. The film is new and interesting and beautifully made. It also ultimately calls into question issues of abuse and women’s rights and is therefore so fitting to be a voice for Arquette’s call to arms.

Not-so-subtle Arquette was followed by a similarly long-standing issue of social justice which still needs some work- the civil rights movement. The film Selma, though not a front-runner, is a beautiful look at Dr. Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. This year the film took home the award from best original song which left barely a dry eye in the house. Upon accepting their speech writers John Legend and Common used the opportunity to discuss current discrimination in the US saying, “We know that the Voting Rights Act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now in this country today. We know that right now, the struggle for freedom and justice is real. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. We are with you, we see you, we love you and march on.”

And lastly, this year’s best picture and best director awards were given to the incredible film, Birdman and even it was sure to make sure it made a political point. Birdman is a dark comedy which follows the dying career of an ex-superhero film star. We see him struggling to hold himself together with a last-ditch effort at re-boosting his career through a self-directed Broadway play. The film is surreal and beautiful and shot as one continuous tracking shot almost to the very end. Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, and the whole cast deliver performances that are edgy, surprising, and heart-wrenching. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu keeps each scene singular with innovative crossing narratives and beautiful ways of playing with time. The film is truly a masterpiece and the director a treasure. As he moved to accept his second Oscar of the night he closed with a brief silence, a look of humility and said he dedicated his award to “My fellow Mexicans. The ones who live in Mexico, I pray that we can find and build a government that we deserve and for the ones who live in America I hope you are treated with the same dignity and respect as those who came before them and helped build this country.”

It seems fitting that such a night full of glamour and opulence should end on such a note of humility. Film has always been about other worlds- other ways of seeing. But it is refreshing to see it challenged as art should be. For that reason this year’s Oscars should be one to be remembered- not only for the fine films and deserved awards, for Lady Gaga’s awesome performance and John Travolta’s second hilarious bumble- but also for the ideas that were challenged and hope that films and those making them can aid in changing our world for the better.

Ray Parlett, as the director of campus safety and security, has to deal with emergencies before they happen.

Parlett defined an emergency as “anything that has the potential to cause a threat to life or property or disrupt our operations” in reference to Houghton. Emergencies range from levels one to four, from water leaks and individual injury to major fires and natural disaster. He writes the emergency plan which is the reference for how to approach these emergencies as they come.

Parlett wrote his first emergency plan in 1999, and “essentially rewrote it” in 2008, in large part because of the emphasis on specific individuals instead of general positions. As people moved on, references to specific names were no longer applicable. To resolve this, a general contact page was created, listing the positions, the corresponding individuals, and their information. “As we have transitions, we can change that page,” Parlett explained.

This idea of a general framework in fact applies to the entire philosophy of the emergency plan. In considering emergencies, Parlett explained that a lot of what goes into creating an emergency plan is “identifying key players in general types of issues.” This is logical, because as Parlett put it, “they are the ones dealing with it.”

He further noted that “the critical part of that is having the right people in the right place.”

Essentially knowing who to call and where to gather is so important because not every scenario can be predicted. “There is no plan that has every possible contingency,” Parlett explained. If you tried to anticipate every way a situation could go, “the plan would be so cumbersome you would not remember it.” It would be an “impractical reference.”

Parlett’s emphasis on generalities comes from his understanding of emergencies. “Emergency by nature is fluid, fluctuating all the time,” he said. He noted, with a smile, that you cannot expect an emergency to go “as planned.” How, then, are they to be dealt with? Parlett identified flexibility as “absolutely critical,” and further noted drills as an effective way to practice it. “That is the value of doing a drill. It forces you to exercise flexibility and recognize how necessary flexibility really is.”

This was demonstrated in a Gillette fire drill two years ago. The planned situation was meant to replicate a major fire, and while the drill was going on, one of the key people involved had an asthma attack. “It demonstrated that even in an orchestrated situation things didn’t go as planned,” Parlett said. Those dealing with the “emergency” had to adapt to the situation as it came.

Training, then, is an essential aspect of emergency preparedness. Accordingly, the most recent revisions to the emergency plan have come from the “education perspective.” Faculty and staff are being trained to respond to the “more catastrophic” emergencies, when they would need to “take charge.”

Parlett noted that students and faculty the have the chance to be informed as quickly as possible. He encourages students to sign up for WENS, the wireless emergency notification system. Through this they can be notified of an emergency occurring by email or text. Students can sign up online through a student portal, and faculty through a faculty portal. An email will soon be sent out with more specifics about WENS. Students and faculty can rest assured, then, that a plan is in place with the appropriate personnel to deal with any emergency and that they will know about it as soon as possible.

Malcolm J. Bell, a senior music composition major, has always had a love and passion for music. A native from Buffalo, New York, Malcolm began playing the piano when he was three years old. Throughout his childhood years, he had developed the skill of composition and directing gospel choirs. Later in his teenage years he began to receive recognition for his work in performance, composition, and directing which included recognition from Western New York’s Business First magazine as an “Extra Curricular Star” Currently at Houghton, Malcolm is involved in many musical ensembles such as Symphonic Winds, The Philharmonia Orchestra, College Choir, Houghton Jazz and various chamber groups at Houghton. In addition to participating in these ensembles, Malcolm has served as the director of the Houghton Gospel Choir for the past three years. Eventually, Malcolm hopes to earn a doctorate in either music composition or music theory so that he can teach in the college classroom. Some of Malcolm’s hobbies are reading, writing literature, and watching the Buffalo Bills.

Check out Malcolm’s work at:

Senior Faculty Member J.L. Roederer to retire, after 44 years as a French professor at Houghton College.

It is hard to imagine a man with a name as French as Jean-Louis becoming anything but a French professor. For Jean-Louis Roederer however, his vocation was anything but straight forward, and Roederer has since become far more than a French professor to the Houghton community. Roederer, senior faculty member and Houghton alumnus (’64), has been teaching at Houghton College for 44 years.

The senior faculty member is chosen based on years of full-time service at Houghton College, not age.

Roederer was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a French father and a Lebanese mother. As a multi-cultural child, Roederer spent the first decade of his life in a house speaking three languages and hearing five from his relatives. His father worked as a lawyer in international law, and he was attuned to the rising tensions in the Middle East during the 1950s. One day, Roederer’s father sat him and his sister down and flatly told them that they were to learn English, because they were moving to America the next year. Several years later civil war broke out.

Once in America, Roederer attended The Stony Brook School in Long Island, NY where his father found employment as the French teacher. Roederer was active in many sports, however Roederer cites his high school Cross Country coach Marvin Goldberg, a Houghton alumnus, as having the greatest impact on his life and future career. Throughout the trials of his life, his coach’s shout to “Keep running!” would return to him and enable him to persevere. Coach Goldberg also initiated Roederer’s long connection to Houghton.

Roederer attended Houghton College as an undergraduate from 1961-1964 with a Major in French, and minors in Spanish and secondary education. While at Houghton, Roederer also met his future wife Sandy (then Carlson), a fellow French major, who he married in 1965. The year after graduation, Roederer taught French in a Long Island high school, at 20 years of age. However, his calm demeanor and creativity with his students fostered a mutual respect. After a year of teaching in Long Island, Roederer received a call from his Houghton mentor and friend, Dr. Gordon Stockin, then Houghton’s language department’s program director. Stockin asked Roederer if he would be interested in returning to Houghton to lead its French program. Roederer accepted, and moved back to Houghton to teach that fall.

At the age of 22, Roederer faced the unusual task of teaching students his own age. Roederer took to the challenge head-on, and even started Houghton’s first Cross-Country team in addition to teaching. “I entered as the junior faculty member, and here I am at the other end of the scale!” Roederer said with a smile. Although Roederer found himself in a wonderful position out of college, and enjoyed his work, Roederer remained unsure whether teaching French was absolutely what God wanted him to do.

Over the next three summers, Roederer earned his Master’s degree in French from Middlebury College in Vermont, and continued to teach at Houghton.

Roederer has always fostered many interests, including a love of aviation. He learned to fly small aircraft in Olean, NY, and began to consider enlisting as a military pilot. His wife Sandy was less than thrilled by this prospect, especially once they had their first child. Roederer then looked into missionary aviation, which was marginally better as far as his wife was concerned.

In 1972, Roederer was accepted as a candidate for Moody Aviation’s missionary pilot program. He resigned from Houghton, his family sold their house, and that summer the Roederers headed to Tennessee on a long shot. After a week of evaluation in many areas, including flight, and plane maintenance skills, Roederer didn’t make the cut. It seemed that he had been led down a dead-end.

A friend, seeing that Roederer had nothing lined up for the fall, offered him a high-school job in the Adirondacks, which Roederer accepted. Roederer taught there for the next four years, but he and his family could not be torn away from Houghton so easily, as they returned to spend each summer there. After four years of this annual migration, Paul Johnson, Roederer’s replacement at Houghton, asked him if he would consider joining him as an additional French professor. After Johnson warmly welcomed him back in 1976 the two became fast friends. They shared the  French department until 1998, when Johnson retired. Between the two of them, Johnson and Roederer were the French department, “Johnson had the gift of administration and did very, very well for the Foreign Language department.” Roederer recalled. He said Johnson “is one of the major reasons I stayed as long as I did at Houghton after coming back.” Roederer lauded, “He constantly pulled for me.”

In his time at Houghton, Roederer has taught every French course in the book, as well as Spanish for ten years. In the process, Roederer has become renowned among students for his gentle, amiable nature, and his sense of humor. “It’s like everything that comes up in class he has a funny life story he’s willing to share,” said Leah Shadbolt, a junior with a French Concentration. She first met Roederer when she visited Houghton as a prospective student, and has taken a class with him every semester since. “He’s just so patient all the time, and really kind.” The personal impact that Roederer has had on his students’ lives is evident in talking with them. “He was such great positive influence, and a great spiritual mentor,” Rachel Anacker, senior, confided, illustrating the support that Roederer provided when she was going through a hard time last fall.

The resilience and creativity that Roederer exercises in his teaching stem partly from his father, who often quoted the Portuguese proverb, “God writes straight – but he uses crooked lines.” Looking back on his life, Roederer sees the many twists and turns as times that God was working. Even Roederer’s failure to become a pilot ended up being the event that brought Paul Johnson, Roederer’s long-time colleague and dear friend, to Houghton.

Although Roederer has many things he wants to do in retirement, he nevertheless foresees a huge transition. “I think it is going to hit hard, like running into a brick wall.” Roederer gratefully acknowledged the great support of his colleagues past and present, especially Marlene Collins-Blair and David Kinman over the last few years. “I see in them character that honors God in all they do, and a desire for excellence in their careers that inspires me to do my best each day.” Roederer said it is hard for him to imagine a better community to live in, or a better college at which to teach. “One of the most beautiful things about Houghton is the people.” Roederer expressed, “You have a great ethos here of helping each other.”

Jean-Louis Roederer and Sandy, his wife of 50 years, plan to remain in the Houghton community they so love. Art Professor Gary Baxter is expected to be the next full time senior faculty member.