A Fresh Perspective

A Constant Calling

2009-12-20T01:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I was stuck inside. Two feet of snow from an East Coast blizzard were piled outside of my front door, so I decided to curl up in my warm home and turn on the television. I rarely get the chance to do so amidst the busyness of school, so I took my time flipping through the channels. However, I found myself unable to turn away when I stumbled upon the History channel. I held my breath and couldn't move as I re-watched the terror of 9/11, documented solely through civilian footage.

The documentary featured camera footage and phone calls that pieced together the events of that morning, second by second, to tell the story from tons of different angles. There were clips taken from the views of apartment windows, anywhere from one block away to across the river in New Jersey. I watched a fire crew preparing to go up in the towers just minutes before the first tower collapsed. I saw people of all different backgrounds stand in the middle of the streets, absolutely paralyzed by what they were experiencing firsthand. My stomach clenched as I saw the shaky perspective of debri-covered camera lenses running through the streets to flee the oncoming clouds of billowing smoke.

In some cases, I could hear the reports of newscasters or radio broadcasts faintly in the background, but this was a different kind of documentation. It was more personal. It included the sobs, the silences, and the tiny details that often get neglected when packaged into clean-cut newstories only available after someone has sorted through and processed the details. This documentary was much more raw, and utterly much more gripping.

As I watched, I wondered what it is that made those normal, everyday people stop for a minute to grab their cameras and press "record." It was the same instinct that resulted in the front-page stories of every paper (inside and outside of the U.S.), with the two burning towers and the terror-filled headlines that shared with the world what had happened. If I had been in New York City on the morning of September 11, 2001, I am almost certain I would have been one of the people frozen in the street with horror, or one of those running for their lives out of fear. However, after taking a journalism class on news writing this semester, I realized that I can no longer be selfish; I can no longer ignore the responsibility I have.

Because of technology and global awareness, everyone can be a part of history-making. Now, I think it is almost a duty. Even though I know it is not my personal calling to be a CNN news anchor or a writer for the NYTimes, I have a right and an obligation to share what I see and experience with the world. It is in the recording of significant events with blogging and journaling, taking pictures of things that move me, and always being aware of the world around me that I can help make history and be a part of journalism today.

Craving the News

2009-12-20T00:44:00.001-08:00

A Reflection on a Day at the Newseum
By Heather Lobe

In their book Elements of Journalism, Bill Kovach and Ted Rosentiel stated that within every human being there is a basic desire to know what is going on in the world beyond their own experiences. They call this hunger the "awareness instinct."

I have never been so convinced of this as when I went to the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 2009. It was utterly inspiring. I was stunned to see so much tangible proof that the news is core to who we are as humans.

That day, I was inundated with different forms of newstelling, as I made my way through seven levels of galleries, theatres and exhibits on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street in D.C. This museum is dedicated solely to the purpose of "educating the public about the value of a free press in a free society," through telling the, "stories of the world's important events in unique and engaging ways," according to the Newseum's mission statement.

I was not convinced that one form of sharing the news is more effective than others, especially as I continued to be moved by the inspirational stories of news and the history of journalists over the last 500 years. There are certainly times when power of a printed piece carries the weight of an event or opinion solely through the carefully crafted words of a hard-working journalist. However, a multimedia piece can be most effective in other circumstances when images and words need to be combined.

I was particularly struck by the power of the picture to tell a story, to make one aware, and to bring about change as I stepped into the Pulitzer Prize Photography exhibit on the first floor. A quote that I read somewhere within this exhibit stated, "Photographers record the defining moments of our world and our time." There is something about the instant story-telling ability of a picture that truly captures what words cannot. I couldn't stop gasping as I walked past picture after picture of devastating circumstances or events, and laughing aloud when I came across the seldom image that captured joy. I realized that these journalists particularly realized the necessity to keep clicking even in the midst of crisis. Several quotes and captions within this gallery reminded me that journalists have to have the eyes to see what others wouldn't notice, or what the average person might turn away from.

1994 Pulitzer Prize photograph, Kevin Carter

And this, I was reminded of throughout my exporation of the entire Newseum, is what distinguishes journalists from the rest of the world. They are brave enough to look for the facts, risk their lives, and uncover the truth about aspects of life that others might ignore or fail to notice. But it is thanks to these remarkable individuals that we as citizens are able to satiate our "awareness instinct," and continue to live in the light of the news.

Photo Credits and information: www.newseum.org

The Pursuit of Truth

2009-12-20T00:02:00.000-08:00

This semester in my journalism class, I've been given assignments to watch movies and read books about journalism. We were required to watch Good Night and Good Luck, All the President's Men, and read a novel written by my professor, Jo Kadlecek, called "A Minute Before Friday." In all three of these pieces, I was most struck by the whole-hearted, and at many times extremely challenging, pursuit of truth.

In September, during one of our first classes, my professor told our class of reporters that in searching for the truth, we would have to be willing to have our thinking challenged and let go of assumptions. As a result, the knowledge of the truth would eventually "set us free," she said. Three months and several articles later, I don't know if I can call myself a real reporter, but I can say that I am moving closer towards truths of all kinds.

The main text for our class was a book called "The Elements of Journalism," by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. In it, the authors outlined some core rules for journalists to live by in the modern age. They included principles, that in short, all led towards the same goal: "to provide people with information they need to be free and self-governing."

In order to do this, Kovach and Rosentiel insisted that the first obligation in journalism must be to the truth. However, in watching these films and reading my professor's book, I realized that truth is a very complicated thing. As I watched Woodward and Bernstein track down source after source to verify their details, I wondered if I could have had the same stamina or courage to uncover and print details of such a large-scale scandal as Watergate. But these journalists put their lives on the line, and they did in fact print the monumental story, solely for the purpose of letting the people know the truth. The truth was buried beneath layers of lies and cover-ups, but they continued to pursue it until it was found.

The 2005 film, Good Night and Good Luck, written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, told the story of a newsman's historical fight with Senator McCarthy. One of the taglines for the movie even stated, "In A Nation Terrorized By Its Own Government, One Man Dared to Tell The Truth." That man, Edward R. Murrow, followed his desire to dig deeper and used clips of McCarthy's speeches to reveal truths that no other news reporters dared to express. Not only did Murrow begin to bring to light facts and opinions that would challenge the Senator's power and position, but he fought the Senator all the way through to the end of McCarthy's hearings. Murrow's truth-seeking was truly a public display of what journalism can be- a check of power for those in authority, an expression of a variety of views, and an attempt to find what is best for an entire people-group (not just one man of power).

Finally, the main character of "A Minute Before Friday," Jonna Lightfoot, pursued the truth in the city of New York, a place where truth is certainly hard to come by. As a religion reporter for a fictional paper in the Big Apple, Lightfoot encountered a secretive case regarding money for religious purposes being used illegally by an Ivy League university. Despite the obstacles and authorities that would dissuade any normal person from pushing onwards, Lightfoot eventually discovered enough proof to make all right. However, her discovery put her job and others' lives on the line, and I was really thankful that the truth was able to be revealed by the end of the novel (thanks to Lightfoot's hard work and connections).

The trend in these pieces is not just that they all focus on different aspects of journalism, but that these journalists all worked hard to find what was true. This often required sacrifice and pushing against authority, but through following the elements of journalism outlined by Kovach and Rosentiel, all of these incredible journalists were able to discover and reveal truth.

Shifting Between the Pews (a photo essay)

2009-12-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

Shifting Between the Pews

2009-12-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

Bethany Joy Floch, who grew up in a conservative nondenominational church, began to question her religious background in high school, and has attended an Anglican church since her arrival at Gordon College four years ago. Danny Awad was raised in a Christian home, met some rough life experiences, found God again before attending Gordon, and has since fallen into a period of disenchantment and searching. Morgan Donovan decided to become Catholic last year after spending her whole life in the Baptist tradition. And Carolyn Conlon spent last semester in the Middle East surrounded by Muslims and is questioning the validity of all she used to believe.

It’s bound to happen. People often make transitions in their faith over the course of their adolescent and young adult years. College students ask big theological questions. At Gordon College, an “independent, multidenominational Christian college,” more than “40 Christian denominations are represented by Gordon’s students, faculty and staff,” according to Gordon’s public web site. This provides an extremely open context within which students may explore the answers to questions of faith. Questions at the college are encouraged, through classes that challenge theological perspectives, global education opportunities that open students’ worldviews, and chapels and lectures that introduce different lenses for looking at the Christian faith.

But inside that framework, how do students who are self-professed “Christians” deal with their faith questions and transitions, and where do they find answers?

With statement of faith signed and Bible in tow, most Gordon freshmen come ready to learn and grow in their faith. Some enter with extremely conservative backgrounds, knowledge of only one style of worship, or very “set” views on theological issues. Most have only seen their faith through one lens for the majority of their lives. Suddenly, they come into contact with new perspectives and their paradigms are challenged.

“Trying to treat the Bible as a textbook became slightly disenchanting,” said Awad, a senior biblical studies major from Foxboro, MA. Awad’s struggle began when he took classes in the biblical studies department at Gordon. However, the biblical studies classes are not the only ones that challenge students in their beliefs.

“I realized that I’m a result of the things I’ve gone through,” said Denise Walters, a junior art and psychology double major from Walpole, MA. Her readings for a psychology class during her freshman year taught her that individuals’ beliefs and choices are comprised by what she learned as, “culture, upbringing, and genetics.” And Walters began to wonder if the faith she’d grown up in was “the right one.”

Similarly, Morgan Donovan, a junior communications arts major from Brunswick, Maine, was surprised her first year to meet, “many different people with different backgrounds.” She attended a different church in the area every Sunday. “I was no longer really sure where I fit in,” she said.

The introduction to a spectrum of beliefs can be a point for many young people that catapults a time of questioning. They often begin to question what is true and how to be sure of their own place and this period of questioning that many college students experience is certainly not limited to Gordon College.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “Americans change religious affiliation early and often.” In an article from April of 2009 called, “Faith in Flux,” statistics from a 2007 survey found that more than half of American adults have shifted in religious affiliation at least once in a lifetime. “Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24,” reported the Pew Forum article. “And many of those who change religion do so more than once.”

Little wonder then, that students at Gordon continue to question faith when introduced to issues such as new styles of worship, different views of salvation, gifts of the spirit, homosexuality, free will, or communion. Students begin to explore prior beliefs, which sometimes shatters previous judgments and "certainties." They discuss questions with professors, mentors, or other students who share similar questions. They also seek answers within new churches.

Senior Bethany Joy Floch said that once she was in college, she visited a church that helped her relearn how to express her faith after a challenging period of uncertainty about religious traditions and practices. Floch, a Pike scholar in comparative literature from Wheaton, Illinois, and Dallas, Texas, found Christ Church in Hamilton.

Floch was attracted to the foundation of the Anglican church within the calendar, the rhythms that help structure one’s life, the liturgy because her own “words often fall short.”

“I could begin to hold onto things again,” Floch said. “I could plant my feet there even though I hadn’t felt that way in two to three years.”

Floch is not the only student who has come to new conclusions. Walters has been asking big questions of her faith for the last few years since her psychology classes began to break apart her prior beliefs. She said that she is now, “trying to put the framework back together.” Carolyn Conlon, a senior from Wakefield, MA, who studied abroad last year through the Middle Eastern studies program, said that her exposure to the Muslim people was a turning point in her faith.

“I’m questioning the core of what I believe,” said Conlon. "But I’m okay living in the tension. I know you’re supposed to wrestle in your faith because that’s how you grow.”

Although many students struggle to make their faith their own, many also express the freedom at Gordon to do just that. Morgan Donovan, who converted to Catholicism last spring said of her questioning, “In the process I almost hit every denomination. I’m glad I’m [at Gordon] for that. I think Gordon is good for teaching people to question what they believe a little bit. Other colleges think for you.”

Eyes on the Prize- The Media's Role in the Civil Right's Movement

2009-10-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

Statistics have a tendency to surpass our attention. But when those numbers and words are attached to faces, there is a greater potential for shock, reality, change.

In the Civil Rights segment of Eyes on the Prize, a PBS series documenting the American experience, one is able to see the hard evidence that shocked the nation into change for racial equality.

It is hard to imagine how the nation would be different today, had no one decided to cover the landmark events of the protests, rallies, meetings, services, speeches, or police activity. Thanks to the media coverage, change could be sparked as reporters captured video clips of children being put in jail, songs of freedom being sung in churches and streets, hundreds of people being treated inhumanely with fire hoses and beatings, and thousands march on Washington in 1963. After watching this particular segment of Eyes on the Prize, it is hard to ignore the large role that media played in achieving change.

photo credit: Washington Post online

Book Reading Gathers Together Young and Old

2009-10-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Book Reading Gathers Together Young and Old
By Heather Lobe and Michelle Webber

Five little boys sat on the hard-wood floor of Chester’s Place this past Saturday, laughing and audibly gasping in unison as a retired Gordon professor read to them from a lamp-lit corner and his comfortable armchair. These boys were joined by their parents, alumni of Gordon College, who attended this reading as a part of Homecoming and Family Weekend. While Homecoming 2008 featured a reading by C.S. Lewis, this year’s reading brought a more noteworthy connection to the Gordon community.

Peter Stine, who taught English at Gordon for forty years, read passages from Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and Wednesday Wars. These adolescent novels were written by Gary Schmidt, of Gordon’s class of ‘79, a professor of English at Calvin College. Schmidt is a recipient of the Newbury Award Honor, the 2009 Alumni Award, and is a former student of Stine’s.

During the reading Stine used hand gestures, different voices to distinguish characters, and dramatic pauses and moments of silence for emphasis. Stine first read from the humorous Wednesday Wars, a book about a seventh grade boy who struggled through his weekly readings of Shakespeare. One of the passages from this reading that received the greatest reaction was about Romeo and Juliet, as the main character stated, “Those two wouldn’t make it long in the seventh grade.”

Schmidt’s other book, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, dealt with deeper topics of race and community tensions, as a small town in Maine attempted to eliminate people of color. Stine said that Schmidt’s books carried strong Christian messages without being overt. He compared the themes of reconciliation and redemption in Schmidt’s books to the approach taken in The Chronicles of Narnia. Between the humor targeting the younger audience and the deeper reaching themes that adults could understand, this Homecoming event appealed to all ages.

Exploring the Psalms with the Rabbis

2009-09-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Rabbi's Visit to an Evangelical Christian College
By Heather Lobe, Contributing Writer

Three times a week, Gordon College students fill the pews of the chapel, where they are often exposed to the perspectives of “a variety of Christian worship practices,” according to the institution's chapel mission statement. This fall Gordon has invited four Jewish scholars to share with students the relevance of the Psalms for both Christianity and Judaism.

“For almost 40 years, Gordon College has hosted rabbis and scholars on Judaism for a variety of lectures and discussions,” said Jo Kadlecek, of the Office of College Communications in a press release from August. The first of this fall’s lectures occurred on September 11, featuring Rabbi Baruch HaLevi’s perspective on Psalm 145.

HaLevi spoke about the relevance of Psalm 145 for the Jewish people, but also focused on its significance to humanity in general. HaLevi said that we should not be concerned with the historical accuracies of who wrote the Psalms nor the literal interpretations, but we should know that the Psalms deal with “human truths.” Many students in attendance agreed. “The message he gave applied to all,” said Ashley Rodriguez, a senior secondary education and history major.

Lauren Irlbeck, a senior biblical studies and youth ministry major, is currently taking an Abraham Heshel class at Gordon, and she spoke of how Heshel, a 20th-century Jewish theologian and philosopher reached out to the Christian community to bridge Jewish-Christian relations. “This rabbi’s visit is very reminiscent of that work," Irlbeck said. "Without understanding our (Jewish) history, we don’t understand the depths of our faith.”

As Rabbi HaLevi said, “It is the same God but we don’t all have the same experience of him.”

Photo credit: Rabbi Baruch HaLevi's website
http://www.rabbib.com/rabbibsstory/biographypropics.html

The Newcomers Series

2009-09-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Naarita Arnold loves to paint, enjoys Dr. Wilson’s Old Testament class, and is getting used to the independence that comes with being a college freshman. But she differs from other Gordon College students in one particular way. She is the first student to attend Gordon from the South American country of Bolivia.

Arnold’s story is one of the “impossible becoming possible.” In 2000, Professor Bob Whittet led a group of Gordon students on a trip to Arnold’s city of Tarija to assist in the building of a small Christian school. Around the same time, Arnold’s art professor had encouraged her to pursue her gift in art, though the opportunity to do so in Bolivia was slim. Arnold dreamed that she could study art at Gordon, a place where she could grow spiritually, artistically and academically.

“Our resources economically made it seem impossible for us,” Arnold said. Yet Arnold’s father compared her to Joseph, to whom God granted great dreams. The family prayed for years and continued in their relationship with Whittet who continued to lead trips to Tarija. Arnold was accepted to Gordon in 2007, but the financial situation still seemed impossible. This past February, the prayers were answered when Whittet’s church decided to sponsor Arnold’s studies at Gordon along with her plane tickets home to Bolivia.

“Sometimes (life is) hard but God is on our side . . . if we look for Him, He will help us get through every step,” she said. While Naara Arnold referred to the challenges of freshman year, her journey has demonstrated that God truly has opened doors from Bolivia all the way to Gordon College.

On Writing Well

2009-09-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

On Writing Well, 30 Years Later
College Students Reflect on the Relevance of Zinsser’s Writing
By Heather Lobe

Jesse Poole, Maia Mattson and Sarah DiFrances have all read countless books on writing and journalism through their courses of study at Gordon. Yet all were thoroughly impressed with William Zinsser whose book On Writing Well is distinct in style and approach from other contemporary classroom texts.

“This kind of writing is timeless,” said Jesse Poole, ’12, a communications arts major from Ikoma, Japan.

“He treats us like informed individuals,” said Mattson, ’12, an art major from Annapolis, MD. While other texts on writing are often “repetitive and stale,” Mattson said that Zinsser’s voice is clear. “His writing demonstrated exactly what he advocated.”

Zinsser encourages simplification, reducing clutter, and being deliberate in our choice of words. And he does just that. Zinsser proves that longer isn’t better with his short, poignant chapters. Poole said that Zinsser’s writing is “entertaining,” especially in his examples. “It’s hilarious how he says not to do something, but ends a paragraph doing exactly that to make a point,” said Poole.

Zinsser also helps in “bringing us back to the purpose of our role as writers. To convey our message in the clearest possible manner,” said Sarah DiFrances, ’10, a communication arts major from Dousman, WI. According to DiFrances, Zinsser encourages that "we shed all that we’ve learned in academic settings, cast off the gimmicks of contemporary culture, and ignore the examples of political and corporate writing." In other words, we must get back to the basics.

In the process of recalling purpose and stripping down to the basics, Zinsser requires his readers to unlearn a lot of what has been picked up over years of learning, and often returns to the question, “What am I trying to say?” He suggests that writing will become more concise and effective if we focus on this question.

“It was written in the 70s but it feels like it could have been written today," said Poole. "The principles of journalism haven’t changed so Zinsser’s book should still apply.”

According to Mattson, William Zinsser is “not interested in getting students’ approval, but training good writers.” And his own writing has been doing just this for over 30 years.

College Students Mixed About Online Journalism

2009-09-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Even though Facebook and online news fit this age of convenience, most Gordon College students liked holding the pages of The Tartan in their own hands.

When students return to their residence halls at the end of each day, many say they are likely to have full email inboxes with upwards of fifteen new messages. While many read the news on BBC and Yahoo online, some Gordon College students expressed frustration when the announcement was made that the weekly newspaper was making a switch to solely online editions.

Senior kinesiology major Meredith Wilkinson said that it would be hard to find the time to read just another piece of “impersonal” writing online.

Ashley Rodriguez, 21, a history and secondary education major, agreed. “I’ll probably be less likely to read it online. . . I hate reading on computers.” David Dudics, a junior studying elementary and special education, loved being able to pick up The Tartan at the end of the week, take it back to his room and read it at his desk. Dudics said, “Unless you’re really into reading The Tartan, you’re not going to take the time to find it and read it online.”

After fifty years of The Tartan being available in print form, it will now be an entirely online publication. Dudics, Wilkinson and Rodriguez were supportive of the change to an online Tartan for the environmental and economic benefits. However, all believed that it would generally be read less. Dudics admitted that it is certainly “important to stay with the news, especially at your own college.” But will Gordon College keep reading it if The Tartan is just another piece of the Web?