To the Editors of the Outlook:
This reply is in regard to the article that appeared in this week’s Outlook: “A Challenge for More Faculty to Participate in The Outlook.” It generated much discussion within my department since we were singled out as being among those departments who were most egregious in failing to involve ourselves in the activities of our school newspaper. One outcome of this discussion is that we found the accusation to be grossly false. One of my colleagues was curious as to just how involved we have been, and did a search for “psychology” and by last names over the last 12 months in the search option on the Outlook website. That search turned up 15 times that a faculty member from our department is mentioned in an article that appeared in print (eight of us are listed, by the way… the list is included at the end of this email). I have no idea how many times we were actually asked to reply to an inquiry or how many times our replies went unmentioned in the paper, but I was asked via email 3-4 times since September, unfortunately about matters of which I have no expertise. In one case I replied (see below) and in the other cases I forwarded the request to the rest of the faculty in my department. I see from the search on your website (listed below) that all of these requests were responded to by another faculty member in my department.
One Student’s Reaction to the Recent Knowledge She May Not Graduate on Time
Imagine the spring semester of your senior year in college. Schoolwork seems like a piece of cake, nights and weekends are well spent, and job searching is an exciting new adventure. The only thing standing between you and the professional working world is graduation.
As the May Commencement rapidly approaches, the thought of the four years at college coming to an end is bittersweet. Unless you are attending graduate school, the thought of prolonging your college career rarely crosses your mind.
My case is different. During an afternoon last week, I received an e-mail stating that I was not on-track to graduate in May. After the knots in my stomach settled, I called the Registrar to clarify this terrifying news. Long story short, I was missing nine credits of electives.
During the past four years of creating my schedule on my own, I made sure to complete all of the requirements that were listed on my academic audit.
I was under the assumption that once all of the requirements were met, I had no more credits to fulfill.
Where was my mix up then? What I failed to realize during my four years of scheduling classes is that near the top of the academic audit is a “Balance Needed” number that I passed right over every year, assuming that the requirements were the only necessary classes.
I was not graduating in the May Class of 2013. My eyes filled up with buckets of water ready to stream down my face as my mind raced for solutions. Nine credits. That is what was separating me from walking across the stage and receiving my diploma in May.
I had to get those nine credits. After a few days of figuring out my many options, everything worked in my favor. However, it came with a lot of unexpected stress that could have been prevented if I did a few things differently.
Swearing in public has become common for most Americans, especially among teens and young adults. Cursing while driving and during conversations, the scenarios are endless. While some consider cursing to be a sin or taboo others are voicing their First Amendment rights to swear in public. Has our swearing society gone too far?
Middleborough, Massachusetts thinks so. During a town meeting on June 11, 2012, residents of Middleborough voted 183-50 to make their foul-mouthed neighbors pay fines for public profanity. Residents encouraged the proposal by the chief of police to impose a $20 fine for swearing in public. It was made clear that this new law was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but rather to control loud, offensive language primarily used by teens and young adults in public settings.
However, the line that constitutes a word as a curse word seems to become more and more blurred each day. Over time, words that were once thought to be vulgar have evolved into words that we say and hear on a daily basis, becoming less offensive and less harsh than the meanings that they were once associated with.
Many now believe swear words do an outstanding job of expressing strong feelings because other words fail to communicate. For example, “What the heck are you doing?” doesn’t seem to exemplify the same feelings and emotions as “What the f*** are you doing?!”
I have a confession to make: I hate going out. A Saturday night spent in yoga pants, eating warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies, hanging out with my fiancé and my kitten while watching a marathon of Entourage episodes sounds like an ideal night to me.
When my best friend, who is a crazy party-girl calls me up, she knows to offer a night of going to the diner and hitting the mall or movies versus a night hitting the dance floor.
Don’t write me off as a wet towel just yet. I have tried the cliché college girl thing. Early in my four years at Monmouth, I went out most nights, stayed out late and partied. My grades suffered, I was always tired, I gained five pounds, and I was all around miserable.
It was not for me, so I started doing things that I enjoyed, such as staying in with a carton of Chinese food and a good book, going home on a weekend to hang out with my mom, laying out on the beach with friends or going window shopping. Simple things like that make me happy.
To me, going out takes money, time and energy, all of which I often feel I do not have enough of. If we are being honest, I have always been the little girl sitting at home, reading a Judy Bloom book or helping my mom make dinner.
I have always liked knowing exactly what I will be doing next, where everything is and the lack of expectations that staying in holds.
In all honesty, I feel that more people are, or want to be homebodies. Unfortunately, we feel that we need to go out, party, get crazy or else we’re not living.
Why Women Worry on Valentine’s Day
If there is one thing I have realized as I have gotten older it is that I really hate Valentine’s Day. Not to be a Debbie Downer or come off as the Grinch who Stole Valentine’s Day, but I honestly hate what the holiday has become. Apart from the fact that it makes single people feel even worse about being single, the day has become solely a hallmark holiday for retailers to play on womens’ emotions.
Women put so much pressure on their significant others to make Valentine’s Day special that they forget that it is not that important of a day. If your boyfriend or husband opens the door for you every time you go out, buys you flowers and brings you gifts on a regular basis, you should consider yourself a lucky woman. Therefore, why do you feel the need to pressure him into going above and beyond on one particular day?
In any relationship, I always emphasize that I do not want to do anything special on Valentine’s Day. I have no desire to stand in long lines at restaurants waiting for tables, holding the same bouquet of red roses every other woman is holding, or getting a cheesy teddy bear that will only end up in a pile of other cheesy teddy bears. I want to feel special on every date, but how can I feel special surrounded by dozens of other couples doing the same thing I am doing on the same day because it is what they are “supposed” to be doing?