Catherine Story
Managing editor
Lyndon is not my school.
The halls are plain or decorated with manufactured admissions propaganda and the events are generic and unimaginative. This campus has never looked like a student friendly or student run community.
The question I ask is: who really owns this school?
The reason I am dwelling on the ownership of this school is the recent expunging of student art in the hallways.
I realize the “danger” of having students feel that they can paint on any wall on campus without repercussions. There are always people who do things through hatred and angst and the school does not want those views to be a community representation.
There is however the question of who makes the decision of what can and cannot be put on the walls. Whose opinions does this school represent?
The faculty and administration of this college are put in place and paid to help students develop into freethinking and intelligent adults.
It’s upsetting for me to hear staff ask, “what gives students the right,” when discussing the painting project of the experiencing the arts class. My question is what gives the administration the right to demand that students get permission?
There is a web of paperwork that students need to fill out to do anything around campus that usually slips into the student services department and is never seen again. It is only through the SGA that students are granted money to create new activities and clubs and that SGA is made up of bitter club representatives who would generally prefer to be elsewhere.
The dilemma that is posed to me is the assertion that the administration has taken to wipe out the student artwork when they claim that the campus is too broke to pay for independent studies or up to date technology. Why are the man-hours and paint supplies so readily available to wipe out creative thought but not available to help students learn?
The administration may claim to embrace the creative and artistic students within the college but it seems quite the opposite when you hash through their actions. There is a new music room in the lower level of Vail that students are supposed to be able to practice in. Unfortunately because of the location, right below the administration offices, they are not allowed to practice before 4:30 p.m.
The students on this campus are treated like visitors. They are not allowed to leave a mark or make too much inconvenient noise. It’s the mentality of an administration and faculty that refuses to embrace their student’s creativity and expression without specific guidelines and restrictions that causes student’s lack of involvement as well as the low retention rates.
I doubt the school realizes the message they are sending their new students when they cover up paintings because of a little bit of mess. If the campus is having trouble with freshmen retention it’s probably not a good idea to erase freshman artwork from the halls.
Perhaps Elizabeth Norris, Department Chair of Music and Performing Arts, misunderstood, President, Carol Moore when she said, “I picture artwork on every single wall,” in her state of the college address. It seems she meant a picture that the admissions department purchases or perhaps she wants more big screen TVs displaying Power Points.
Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Difficult to move
Sam Monroe
Special to the Critic
Mobility on campus is a problem for some. And the elevators are out of date.
Do you think getting up and down the hills on campus is difficult? Try doing it on crutches or in a wheelchair.
After a hockey game a few weeks ago I found myself on crutches. What is it like living on campus while on crutches? Well, it is not fun. None of the Stonehenge residence halls have elevators and therefore, it makes it difficult to get up and down inside the dorms. Luckily I live on the first floor, however not all students are that lucky.
Going across campus now takes longer than it did before and getting up and down some of the hills takes a good amount of upper body strength. However, it could be much worse at a larger school.
There are elevators in both VAIL and LAC, making it easier to get from floor to floor and class to class. However, the elevator in VAIL and the elevator going from the theatre lobby to the classrooms upstairs both have one thing in common. The expiration dates on the certificates in both of them are April 28, 2008. That was nearly seven months ago. The elevator in LAC isn’t set to expire until early in 2009.
There are also ramps and handicap entrances attached to every building on campus. This makes it easy for students who have been injured to get around and get to classes and other events.
Professor Alison Lathrop was recently in a wheel chair on campus, because of tendinitis in her heels. However, she was able to get up for short periods of time and walk short distances. She attempted to keep her wheelchair just in her lab so it would make it easier to move around.
“I was always able to get where I needed to go,” she said, making sure to mention that some times she needed to get up and walk. She also mentioned that the front doors in the theater lobby are very heavy and the doors in the hallway leading to the science wing are also heavy and difficult to open and would be harder for someone permanently handicapped. She said she wouldn’t be surprised to see doors that open with the push of a button on the LSC campus in the distant future.
Lathrop said she had to make sure that she thought ahead each morning and make sure she got all her Xerox copying done in one trip to VAIL. She also said the hardest spot to move around was the outdoor hallway connecting VAIL to the science wing.
When asked if she was concerned about the expired certificates in some of the elevators she responded with “I didn’t notice,” however, she did add, “that would be concerning.”
“I was delighted with how helpful everyone was, and that I was given a temporary handicap sticker. A little concerned about getting in to some doors,” Lathrop said of her overall experience.
Special to the Critic
Mobility on campus is a problem for some. And the elevators are out of date.
Do you think getting up and down the hills on campus is difficult? Try doing it on crutches or in a wheelchair.
After a hockey game a few weeks ago I found myself on crutches. What is it like living on campus while on crutches? Well, it is not fun. None of the Stonehenge residence halls have elevators and therefore, it makes it difficult to get up and down inside the dorms. Luckily I live on the first floor, however not all students are that lucky.
Going across campus now takes longer than it did before and getting up and down some of the hills takes a good amount of upper body strength. However, it could be much worse at a larger school.
There are elevators in both VAIL and LAC, making it easier to get from floor to floor and class to class. However, the elevator in VAIL and the elevator going from the theatre lobby to the classrooms upstairs both have one thing in common. The expiration dates on the certificates in both of them are April 28, 2008. That was nearly seven months ago. The elevator in LAC isn’t set to expire until early in 2009.
There are also ramps and handicap entrances attached to every building on campus. This makes it easy for students who have been injured to get around and get to classes and other events.
Professor Alison Lathrop was recently in a wheel chair on campus, because of tendinitis in her heels. However, she was able to get up for short periods of time and walk short distances. She attempted to keep her wheelchair just in her lab so it would make it easier to move around.
“I was always able to get where I needed to go,” she said, making sure to mention that some times she needed to get up and walk. She also mentioned that the front doors in the theater lobby are very heavy and the doors in the hallway leading to the science wing are also heavy and difficult to open and would be harder for someone permanently handicapped. She said she wouldn’t be surprised to see doors that open with the push of a button on the LSC campus in the distant future.
Lathrop said she had to make sure that she thought ahead each morning and make sure she got all her Xerox copying done in one trip to VAIL. She also said the hardest spot to move around was the outdoor hallway connecting VAIL to the science wing.
When asked if she was concerned about the expired certificates in some of the elevators she responded with “I didn’t notice,” however, she did add, “that would be concerning.”
“I was delighted with how helpful everyone was, and that I was given a temporary handicap sticker. A little concerned about getting in to some doors,” Lathrop said of her overall experience.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Haunted wheelchair: the real story.
Letter to the Editor :
The Halloween issue of the “Critic” contained an article about Emma Vail and the infamous wheelchair and I must add my two cents to the discussion of this beloved campus myth.
With deep respect for Alan Boye, I must make a correction to the information on the two Emma Vails. I refer to the book “In One Man’s Life” by Albert Bigelow Paine, a biography of Theodore N. Vail’s life, for the following. Theodore N. Vail did indeed have an older sister named Emma who was born in 1842. Vail married his cousin Emma Louise Righter on August 3rd, 1869.
In 1905 Mrs. Vail’s health was shaky but T.N. Vail was assured by her doctor that an upcoming trip to England could be taken without worry. The book continues, “Mrs. Vail, who at this time seemed better than usual, remained at Speedwell Farms, which she preferred to all other places….She died suddenly, February 3, 1905. Her husband, who had received no warning of the approaching change, arrived from England, a little more than a week later.” For those who don’t know, the current Vail building sits on the site of T.N. Vail’s mansion which was the centerpiece of Speedwell Farms.
The wheelchair was purchased in 1976 as a stage prop for the Twilight Players’ production “These Ruins are Inhabited” which was set in a nursing home. The revival of the show happened last year at Homecoming with the chair pressed back into service onstage. Dennis Koch, an alumnus and former employee of LSC, confirmed that he purchased the chair at a yard sale. The chair lived backstage in storage for many years. The stories that have been passed down of its adventures, along with the reported sightings of Emma’s ghost, were often centered in the theater. That must be where the supposition began that the chair was hers.
Pat Webster
LSC Library
The Halloween issue of the “Critic” contained an article about Emma Vail and the infamous wheelchair and I must add my two cents to the discussion of this beloved campus myth.
With deep respect for Alan Boye, I must make a correction to the information on the two Emma Vails. I refer to the book “In One Man’s Life” by Albert Bigelow Paine, a biography of Theodore N. Vail’s life, for the following. Theodore N. Vail did indeed have an older sister named Emma who was born in 1842. Vail married his cousin Emma Louise Righter on August 3rd, 1869.
In 1905 Mrs. Vail’s health was shaky but T.N. Vail was assured by her doctor that an upcoming trip to England could be taken without worry. The book continues, “Mrs. Vail, who at this time seemed better than usual, remained at Speedwell Farms, which she preferred to all other places….She died suddenly, February 3, 1905. Her husband, who had received no warning of the approaching change, arrived from England, a little more than a week later.” For those who don’t know, the current Vail building sits on the site of T.N. Vail’s mansion which was the centerpiece of Speedwell Farms.
The wheelchair was purchased in 1976 as a stage prop for the Twilight Players’ production “These Ruins are Inhabited” which was set in a nursing home. The revival of the show happened last year at Homecoming with the chair pressed back into service onstage. Dennis Koch, an alumnus and former employee of LSC, confirmed that he purchased the chair at a yard sale. The chair lived backstage in storage for many years. The stories that have been passed down of its adventures, along with the reported sightings of Emma’s ghost, were often centered in the theater. That must be where the supposition began that the chair was hers.
Pat Webster
LSC Library
Thursday, September 25, 2008
A new revolution is needed
By James Beaulieu
Special to the Critic
Thomas Jefferson once said, “A little revolution every now and then is a good thing,” and when I look out over this campus I see that we need one. The government that is in place to help the students here, SGA, is not helping us the regular student at all. That when there is a student issue that needs to be addressed the SGA is unavailable to help us. That with there commitment to the club and the groups here on campus, and the common student gets over looked.
The thing is that the SGA is unavailable to the common student. They have there meetings with the club and students reps and no one really knows who they are. So how can we as a school community communicate with our government which has “us” in there mind.
Well it seems the only way I can think of is by doing this. Evoking my first amendment right and write about it. There are other ways we can get our message to the SGA. We need to stand up as a school and ask for change. The Declaration of Independence says “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
This means if we don’t like the way the SGA is being run then we need to get rid of and institute one that has a better connection to its students. The answer isn’t give it more power but to give it a new order and purpose, to make it what it should be. This is a student government; so let the students run it and have more say in it then the administration.
I know it is not all the SGAs’ fault; a lot of it falls on the students themselves. I hear people complaining about current polices here on campus. Well, if you don’t like them, or want change, you need to be open and express those feelings to the SGA. The way to change things is to stand up for what you believe in and not just to bow down and take it. If you don’t like what’s going on its your right as students and Americans to stand up and try to make a difference.
So maybe this could be a call for reform and revolution. Take it as you will. But I see that the SGA needs to be abolished and remade into the image of what the students need. One where the students have more voice and where CAB is no longer the focus of the SGA. With CAB out of the picture then we can have real issues that matter to the student body and not to one group or another. The meetings should be in a town hall style where the common student can come and express there thoughts, ideas, and grievances to the SGA without hesitation and fear of being turned away.
If you see what I see, and feel what I feel, then you need to speak up. That’s the message here. Speak up. If we speak up then change can happen and that’s what this school needs. I can no longer stand by and watch this student body lose its voice in the school. I am willing to stand up and fight for change here and now, the real question is which one of you will be willing to stand next to me and fight?
Special to the Critic
Thomas Jefferson once said, “A little revolution every now and then is a good thing,” and when I look out over this campus I see that we need one. The government that is in place to help the students here, SGA, is not helping us the regular student at all. That when there is a student issue that needs to be addressed the SGA is unavailable to help us. That with there commitment to the club and the groups here on campus, and the common student gets over looked.
The thing is that the SGA is unavailable to the common student. They have there meetings with the club and students reps and no one really knows who they are. So how can we as a school community communicate with our government which has “us” in there mind.
Well it seems the only way I can think of is by doing this. Evoking my first amendment right and write about it. There are other ways we can get our message to the SGA. We need to stand up as a school and ask for change. The Declaration of Independence says “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
This means if we don’t like the way the SGA is being run then we need to get rid of and institute one that has a better connection to its students. The answer isn’t give it more power but to give it a new order and purpose, to make it what it should be. This is a student government; so let the students run it and have more say in it then the administration.
I know it is not all the SGAs’ fault; a lot of it falls on the students themselves. I hear people complaining about current polices here on campus. Well, if you don’t like them, or want change, you need to be open and express those feelings to the SGA. The way to change things is to stand up for what you believe in and not just to bow down and take it. If you don’t like what’s going on its your right as students and Americans to stand up and try to make a difference.
So maybe this could be a call for reform and revolution. Take it as you will. But I see that the SGA needs to be abolished and remade into the image of what the students need. One where the students have more voice and where CAB is no longer the focus of the SGA. With CAB out of the picture then we can have real issues that matter to the student body and not to one group or another. The meetings should be in a town hall style where the common student can come and express there thoughts, ideas, and grievances to the SGA without hesitation and fear of being turned away.
If you see what I see, and feel what I feel, then you need to speak up. That’s the message here. Speak up. If we speak up then change can happen and that’s what this school needs. I can no longer stand by and watch this student body lose its voice in the school. I am willing to stand up and fight for change here and now, the real question is which one of you will be willing to stand next to me and fight?
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